Republicans want Democrat Traynere to resign from the Will County Board after computer tampering conviction
Republican members of the Will County Board are calling on Democratic colleague Jacqueline Traynere to resign because of a misdemeanor computer tampering conviction.
Traynere, an 18-year member of the county board from Bolingbrook, said she’s not quitting.
“I’m not surprised,” Traynere said of the calls for her resignation at the end of a County Board meeting last week.
It was the latest development in an eventful month for Traynere.
She went on trial at the start of the month for the misdemeanor crime of computer tampering, accused of gaining access to the email of then-Republican board leader Judy Ogalla.
Traynere was found guilty on March 9.
Her defense was to claim that she was a whistleblower.
Traynere was the Democratic leader of the board at the time. Her defense was that she had entered Ogalla’s email to demonstrate how easy it was to access county board members’ emails at a time when everyone had the same password, and no one was taking action about it
Despite the charge and conviction, which became an issue in a hotly contested campaign, Traynere survived the Democratic primary on March 17.
Two days later, Republicans called for her resignation at a county board meeting.
James Richmond, the Republican leader of the county board, said Traynere’s actions were unusual enough to call for her resignation.
Richmond said he has worked in information technology for corporations since the late 1980s.
“I don’t ever recall anybody going into someone else’s email,” he said. “It just doesn’t happen.”
If Traynere doesn’t resign, Richmond said Republicans may pursue her removal from county board committees or seek a censure vote.
Traynere said neither is likely.
County board Speaker Joe Van Duyne, a Democrat, controls committee appointments. Traynere does not think Van Duyne will remove her from committees.
Traymere also does not believe the board has any legal authority to take a vote of censure against her.