Wheaton candidate bounced off ballot

Horrible timing has Scott MacKay wondering what might have been in the race for Wheaton City Council.

MacKay, a former downtown business owner, was kicked off the ballot for the spring election Wednesday after a special panel upheld an objection to his eligibility based upon unpaid property taxes.

MacKay filed his nominating petition Nov. 17, one day before a tax investment firm bought the property tax debt and took it off DuPage County's books.

A key question was whether that debt was owed to county Treasurer Gwen Henry's office or the city of Wheaton.

At a hearing last week, Henry testified that a consultation with the state's attorney's office determined that MacKay owed the county because it collects the taxes before distributing them to various government agencies.

However, attorneys for resident Kristen Seely argued that because the city was the ultimate destination for the money, the debt was actually owed to Wheaton.

On Wednesday, the election panel agreed with Seely and voted unanimously to keep MacKay off the ballot.

“In the nine years I have been on the council, this is the most difficult decision I have had to make,” said City Councilman Tom Mouhelis, before indicating he would sustain the objection. “I would much rather make the electorate make the decision on who sits on the council rather than this three-person board. But I'm bound by the law and took my oath of office, as I did in the Air Force where I served for 30 years. I will be voting one way, however, I feel another way.”

Ken Florey, the panel's attorney, said the challenge to MacKay's candidacy was unique. Ultimately, he said he felt the city's legal right to sue a homeowner for unpaid property taxes means the debt is owed to the city, not the county.

He recommended the board uphold the objection.

“There is just a difference of interpretation of the law,” he said. “Good people can have different views of the law.”

The objection was filed on Seely's behalf by attorney Mark Stern and said the roughly $11,000 owed by MacKay placed him in violation of a law that says anyone “in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the municipality” cannot run for office in that city.

“If you really look at the law, the decision makes sense,” said John Fogarty, an attorney at the hearing on behalf of Stern. “When you recognize that the city has the right to sue for unpaid taxes, it's hard to say that it's not a debt to the city.”

After hearing the decision, MacKay was visibly upset and said he will run again in two years.

Mayor Mike Gresk, who serves on the panel along with Mouhelis and City Clerk Emily Consolazio, said the timing of the filing made the decision even tougher.

“It's just so ironic and painful that had he waited until (Nov. 18), he would have been fine,” he said.

The ruling leaves five newcomers to battle for two at-large positions on the council. They are Alberta Adamson, Derek Bromstead, Jeanne Ives, Robert Molenhouse and Evelyn Pacino Sanguinetti.