Siegel mailer misquotes newspaper article

A Lake County Board candidate misquoted a Daily Herald article about her opponent in a new campaign mailer.

The piece from Democrat Davita Siegel also attributes comments about Republican incumbent David Stolman to the Daily Herald that never appeared in the newspaper.

Stolman called the flier offensive and a personal insult.

"Using the Herald's logo to me made it beyond offensive," said Stolman, a Buffalo Grove attorney who's represented the 20th District on the county board and forest preserve district board since 1992. "It's terrible."

Siegel, a dental lab manager from Buffalo Grove making her first bid for public office, did not return interview requests.

The mailer, which arrived at homes this week, erroneously said board member Steve Carlson criticized Stolman in the Daily Herald for poor attendance. Although Carlson, a Gurnee Republican, spoke to the newspaper for a May 2006 story about persistent absenteeism at forest board committee meetings, he did not name Stolman or any other official.

The story pointedly stated Carlson was critical of board truancy "but hasn't publicly targeted specific commissioners."

The same section of the Siegel flier also said members of Stolman's political party believe he should be fired; no Republican made such a comment to the newspaper.

"It now gives credibility to something that is fictitious," Stolman said. "It's wrong."

Stolman insisted he's run a positive campaign and was angered by the partisan mudslinging. Although it has a mix of Republican and Democratic members, the county board doesn't decide issues based on political affiliation, he said.

District 20 includes the Buffalo Grove area in southern Lake County.