McHenry Co. committee OKs plan to set aside $100,000 for Bianchi probe

The McHenry County Board's finance committee agreed Tuesday to pay as much as $100,000 to the special prosecutor investigating whether State's Attorney Louis Bianchi had his county-funded secretary do campaign-related work while on the clock.

The committee voted 5-1 in favor of a resolution setting the $100,000 limit and authorizing about $34,321 for work already done by the prosecutor, Henry Tonigan III, and his associates since September, when a judge appointed him to conduct the probe. The measure now goes before the full county board for final approval.

Committee member Mary Donner cast the only vote against the measure, saying that setting a $100,000 limit only ensures that's how much the county will end up paying.

"Don't we encourage them to (bill that much) by saying we're going to set $100,000 aside?" she asked.

Others on the committee, however, said it was smart to put the funding aside now and hope it is a high estimate rather than being forced to deal with it when money is tight at the end of the budget year.

"In order to be prudent, we wanted to set aside some money in the contingency fund now so we don't forget about that responsibility," committee chairman Marc Munaretto said.

Tonigan is investigating claims by former state's attorney employee Amy Dalby, who says that while working as Bianchi's personal secretary she performed numerous political tasks at his direction, including typing letters to campaign supporters, setting up a campaign fundraiser and tracking a donor list.

Bianchi has denied those accusations.

Tonigan, the former chief judge for Lake County, has given no indication as to how long his probe will continue.