Olson launches ethics reform bid in DuPage

Not content with the preliminary amendments to DuPage County's ethics ordinance, board member Debra Olson is offering a laundry list of her own that she'll also abide by in her upcoming bid for the chairman's office.

"I think we need to be expeditious about this," she said.

Olson's proposal calls for an outright ban for county board members and the chairman to accept campaign contributions from vendors that do business with the county, including businesses, unions, lobbyists, political action committees or professional service providers that have contracts worth more than $15,000 with the county. Her proposal also limits individual contributions, demands faster donation reporting, bans all gifts from vendors and unions and provides whistleblower protection.

Olson's proposal mirrors some of the recommendations that came out of the county board's transparency committee and borrows liberally from the Illinois Reform Commission recommendations as well. But it also adds some stricter campaign financing regulations like banning county commission appointees from donating to board members' campaigns. Olson said she's open to other suggestions as well.

"I think it's very timely," said board member Jeff Redick who heads the transparency committee. "There are some great ideas that are consistent with the recommendations that came out of the committee."

Olson said she'll introduce the amendments to the county's ethics and procurement policies at Tuesday's board finance committee. That committee is currently looking over some of the transparency committee's recommendations, but several board members complained the first draft didn't go far enough.

She believes these regulations can be put in place without adding personnel to enter and update the information.

"We currently have the people to scan things in and if we had a form that could be filled out on the Internet I'm hopeful we can do all of this with current staffing levels," Olson said.

Some of Olson's proposals would require legislation from Springfield. The county currently doesn't have the ability to prohibit or limit campaign donations to challenging candidates for county board seats. She is suggesting the county's legislative agenda should reflect the board's desire to be able to enact these types of amendments.

Olson is facing competition from two state senators and a local mayor in the Republican primary to replace outgoing board chairman Robert Schillerstrom. Her campaign coffers include several donations from people who have contracts with the county, but she said those funds were raised for her county board race. While she'll use that money in the chairman's race, she said all fundraising for that race will adhere to the guidelines she is proposing. Olson also loaned her campaign $80,000.

State Sen. Carole Pankau isn't willing just yet to commit to limitations on campaign contributions.

"I don't have a lot of personal wealth so I will need people to support me and I don't think there's anything wrong with that," she said. "If those are the rules at the time, then yes. But if they're not, I'm just as competitive as anyone else."

Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso supports ethics reforms as well, but said because he hasn't begun to raise funds for the race yet he hasn't set any guidelines.

"I support transparency 100 percent and as for the spirit of her plan it seems consistent with what we should all be doing though it would seem to require a bureaucracy of its own to keep it straight," he said. "I will not take any money that is improper or crosses the line and we'll do anything to avoid the appearance of impropriety."

State Sen. Dan Cronin is the other Republican seeking the GOP nod in February for the chairman's office. He is in Ireland with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and 37 other state legislative leaders, according to a Clare County, Ireland media release. He could not be reached for comment.