Kane clerk suit drags on

The lawsuit between Kane County Circuit Clerk Deb Seyller and the Kane County Board is inching along and likely won't be settled out of court.

Seyller sued in September after the county board denied her request to go over her budget by $555,000 for this year.

Seyller argued that she was mandated by state statute to perform her duties, which required her to hire 11 more personnel this past year.

The board pointed to other departments that had to make do with cutbacks and said Seyller needed to do the same.

Both sides agreed in November to go to mediation to solve their differences, but that fell through.

“The mediation was not successful,” county board attorney Ken Shepro said last week. “At this point it's a question of what the new judge wants to do.”

Judge Kevin Busch recused himself from the case last week and no new judge has been appointed.

Both sides have submitted written arguments to the appellate court, but no date has been set for oral arguments. The next date in Kane County court is set for Jan. 4.

Congrats:

Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez was honored last week for his “Outstanding Service” to the 2010 U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.

Fred Zimmermann, a Toys for Tots volunteer and member of the Elgin Marine Corps League, said Perez gave permission this year and last year for drop-off boxes to be placed at the sheriff's office and at two places at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.

“(Perez) didn't have to do that, but he went out of his way,” Zimmermann said. As a result, nearly 150 toys were collected from that area this month.

Overall, Elgin volunteers helped collect more than 6,000 toys.

Aurora gangbanger sentenced:

An Aurora gang member was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a former friend in 2006.

Mario H. Nevarez, 20, of the 700 block of Spring Street, Aurora, was sentenced by Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon last week after being convicted of second-degree murder by Sheldon in a May bench trial.

On Dec. 27, 2006, a then-16-year-old Nevarez shot and killed 14-year-old Juan Carlos Flores with a derringer pistol. The two were pals until Flores accused Nevarez of stealing his sister-in-law's purse.

Nevarez and Flores were members of rival street gangs, and prosecutors argued that Nevarez had hoped the slaying would earn him more prestige with his gang.