Earlier this year, Oak Brook Village President John Craig insisted “there is not a cent of money in my campaign fund from a bar or a restaurant, nor will there ever be.”
That remark came during the Jan. 25 village board meeting—a day after the Better Government Association revealed that Craig had accepted, and then returned, a $10,000 campaign donation from Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse.
The BGA’s disclosure was significant because Craig doubles as Oak Brook’s liquor commissioner—and months before the October donation, he’d signed off on a liquor license allowing Gibsons to open for business in the western suburb.
Now comes word that a Gibsons investor also contributed to Craig, raising another conflict of interest question.
Dick Portillo, who runs the Chicago-area’s popular Portillo’s hot dog/Italian beef chain, gave $500 to Craig’s campaign fund around the same time the Gibsons check was cut, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Reached on the phone by the BGA, Craig said he didn’t know Portillo was part of the Gibsons ownership group—even though Portillo’s name is listed on the village’s liquor license application. Now that Craig is “becoming aware of that,” he said he “will return the $500 immediately.”
The donation was tied to “a little cocktail party that he attended, it had nothing to do with business,” Craig added.
Dick Portillo told the BGA the donation had nothing to do with Gibsons—and everything to do with helping a solid candidate and “great guy.”
“He didn’t solicit me or anything, I’ve been in this community for a long time, I have an office here, my grandkids go to school here…I just think he’s the best man for the job,” said Portillo about Craig.
He added: “Public service really takes a significant contribution and sacrifice…if I can get qualified people in office, I’m happy to do so…I’m a resident of Oak Brook and as a result I really have a personal interest in the leadership.”
Portillo noted that as an investor in the Oak Brook Gibsons, “I have no say in the management or other activities” of the restaurant. Documents filed with the village as part of the Gibsons liquor license application list Portillo and his wife as a “Class A Member” with no voting rights.
(Separately, the Portillo Restaurant Group has offices in Oak Brook, but no eateries or liquor licenses in the western suburb, Craig said.)
Portillo said he hopes this topic and line of questioning by the BGA “is not politically motivated by the other party.”
Craig is running against Oak Brook Plan Commission member Gopal Lalmalani in the April 5 election.
For the record: The BGA is a non-profit non-partisan group, and does not endorse nor back political candidates.
This story was reported and written by Robert Herguth, the BGA’s editor of investigations. Contact us with tips, suggestions and complaints at (312) 821-9030, or at rherguth@bettergov.org.
Oak Brook’s Continuing Drama Needs New Plotline
In the real-life Illinois town of Oak Brook, it’s getting about as surreal as anything on daytime TV.
Once again, a main character here is Oak Brook’s President, John Craig.
In November, the 76-year-old Craig was accused in police documents of being drunk and acting belligerently toward Oak Brook cops who were conducting a liquor license inspection at a local nightclub Craig was visiting. (Craig contends it was the officers who were out of line.)
Now, in a much milder re-run, police records show that Craig tried to shoo away two officers while they were conducting a Jan. 14 bar check at another establishment in town: Grotto Oak Brook, which, by the way, is the same nightspot that’s hosted Craig’s campaign fundraisers, and that’s caused major headaches for local police—in the form of brawls among patrons and noise complaints, village records show—since opening three years back.
The latest incident raises more questions about whether Craig was overstepping his bounds as village president and liquor commissioner by trying to protect a personal hangout.
(Craig declined to comment for this story, saying the Better Government Association engages in “yellow journalism.”)
Meanwhile, in another plot twist, a private attorney reportedly representing concerned residents spoke out at a recent village board meeting, accusing the cops of going easy on Dr. Gopal Lalmalani during a domestic-type response last year.
Lalmalani, a member of the Oak Brook Plan Commission, is running against Craig in the April election for village president (which is another term for “mayor.”)
Apparently, there was a heated argument between Lalmalani and his wife, and she called 911. There was no arrest and no charges, and no physical contact was alleged.
The attorney at the village board meeting, Douglas Drenk, said he spoke up because he wanted the Lalmalani incident and the police response to come out in the open.
Acknowledging there was a domestic argument that he’s “not proud of,” Lalmalani told the BGA he suspects the release and dissemination of the embarrassing information was part of an election-related dirty trick perpetuated by Craig and Oak Brook Police Chief Tom Sheahan, who Lalmalani said are “tied at the hip.”
Sheahan said he “wouldn’t even dignify that with an answer,” adding that he doesn’t get involved in elections or “dirty tricks.”
Craig wouldn’t comment on the incident.
One group with a new speaking role, however, is the Oak Brook police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, whose members just passed a no-confidence vote in Sheahan for, among other reasons, allegedly “alienating” his officers, driving down morale.
Unfortunately, the soap opera in Oak Brook drags on and on, and there may be more episodes to come.
At some point, taxpayers in Oak Brook may step up to change the channel or demand some better programming.
This blog entry was reported and written by Robert Herguth, the BGA’s editor of investigations. Contact us with tips, suggestions and complaints at (312) 821-9030, or at rherguth@bettergov.org.
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Tagged as douglas drenk, Dr. Gopal Lalmalani, john craig, oak brook plan commission, Oak Brook Police Chief Tom Sheahan, oak brook village president, village of oak brook