DuPage wants agencies to embrace ethics
DuPage County officials are trying to make it easier for fire protection districts, sanitary districts and other local governments to embrace ethics reform.
The county board agreed Tuesday to take steps to help county-appointed agencies bring their ethics policies in line with the county’s ethics policy. Those steps include allowing other taxing bodies to use the DuPage County Ethics Commission and the county’s investigator general to review complaints.
The unanimous vote came nearly a month after county board Chairman Dan Cronin unveiled a plan to get two dozen local agencies to follow various recommendations in a series of reports by a consultant. That plan, dubbed the DuPage ACT (Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency) Initiative, includes prohibiting the use of credit cards, exploring consolidation opportunities and ensuring that public documents and meeting schedules are available online.
Cronin said the new ethics plan represents “a major step forward in accountability” because it will make certain that each public agency is held to a common standard of conduct.
“We found out through the (consultant reports) that there is a patchwork of different ethics policies,” Cronin said, adding that some agencies don’t have ethics rules. “So we thought it was very important to use what we believe is a model ordinance.”
Officials are hoping that agencies adopt the county’s rules when it comes to ethical conduct, political activities and the solicitation and acceptance of gifts by state officials and employees. Entities must enter into an intergovernmental agreement with DuPage in order to use the county’s ethics commission and investigator general.
The investigator general receives and conducts the initial review of ethics complaints. He also acts as a prosecutor of a complaint if a hearing is conducted, officials said.
On Tuesday, Cronin and the county board appointed Paul Moreschi to serve as investigator general. Moreschi, a former DuPage assistant state’s attorney, works as a criminal defense lawyer in Oakbrook Terrace.
The county board also agreed to fill two spots on DuPage’s bipartisan ethics commission. Naperville Republican Gerald Cassioppi was chosen to replace Ron Gibson, who didn’t seek reappointment. E.F. Todd Benson, a Democrat who lives in Elmhurst, will fill a vacancy on the panel.
The ethics commission, which meets on an as-needed basis to review ethics complaints, has five members — three Republicans and two Democrats.
Cronin said the county is committed to having the commission be more active, more relevant and meaningful. However, that doesn’t mean officials believe there’s been any wrongdoing at various local agencies, he added.
“We’re not looking for problems,” Cronin said. “I just think we need to have a mechanism in the event that there is a complaint.”