DuPage chief to 'march to Springfield' for ethics rules

DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said he will "march to Springfield" to get the law changed if any new ethics rules don't apply to the dozens of boards and commissions he appoints.

A number of different initiatives are being proposed to make county government more accessible, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday from the county board's newly formed transparency committee.

The current legal opinion from State's Attorney Joseph Birkett's office indicates boards and commissions such as the water commission, election commission or emergency telephone system board don't have to abide by the county's ethics ordinance.

"I think it should apply," Schillerstrom said. "We'd hope they come along voluntarily because it's the right thing to do, but if that opinion holds, we'd march to Springfield to urge legislators to require transparency for those boards."

Schillerstrom makes some or all appointments to more than 50 different agencies throughout the county that have varying degrees of authority and oversight of taxpayer dollars.

Schillerstrom will forward the committee's recommendations on to the county board's finance committee and technology committee for further debate. Many of the proposed transparency initiatives would require a significant investment in technological upgrades, and it may take some time for the staff to come up with cost estimates for implementation. In the meantime, Schillerstrom said the transparency committee will cool its heels after holding weekly meetings for the better part of the last two months.

"I'm not going to dissolve the committee, but for the time its work is done," he said.

The committee made some late additions to the report Tuesday. Members are recommending the county's Web pages for county board members and other countywide elected officials provide a link to the state board of election's campaign disclosure Web page. That will allow anyone to see who is contributing money to an official's campaign.

The committee is also recommending other elected officials follow the board's transparency recommendations and initiatives, which could include a limitation of campaign dollars from companies that do business with the county. The current recommendation includes limits to campaign contributions from unions as well. Schillerstrom said he supports limiting campaign contributions from county vendors.