A opponent of a retroactive term limits ballot question (left) with Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson (right) at a Feb. 1 anti term limits open house at Real Time Sports in Elk Grove Village. (Tom Robb/Journal photo (c) Feb. 1, 2020)
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson has contributed $60,000 to the Committee to Oppose the Retroactive Term Limits Referendum with three contributions of $20,000 each since August.
Johnson gave $20,000 to the committee to oppose in August 2019, another $20,000 in January and another $20,000 on Tuesday, Feb. 11, according to state campaign disclosure records.
In its fourth-quarter 2019 filing, the Committee to Oppose began the quarter with $7,669, spent $6,807 and ended the quarter with $1,569 in cash on hand.
Committee to Oppose chair Kitty Vanderweel Weiner said besides the mayor’s contributions, the committee has continued to raise money with small donations. She said since August 2019, the committee has received about $30,000 in donations from more than 125 individual donors, Elk Grove Village residents and businesses. Those smaller donations would be reflected in first-quarter filings this spring.
Johnson reported raising $72,200 in the fourth quarter of 2019, bringing his total campaign war chest to $160,291. This month, campaign disclosure records show Johnson accepted a $5,000 donation from Comcast.
So far, $10,000 in Committee to Oppose spending went to legal fees for challenges to the term limits referendum petitions filed last July by Concerned Citizens of Elk Grove Village. Campaign disclosures show a $5,000 expense to the law firm Clark Hill PC on Sept. 14, 2019. Vanderweel Weiner said she paid Clark Hill another retainer of $5,000 last month. The Committee to Oppose has also paid for printing, including yard signs and mailers.
The petition challenge issue has made its way to the Illinois Supreme Court. Vanderweel Weiner said she expects the committee will owe Clark Hill additional funds by the time the Supreme Court renders its ruling on the case and other legal issues are resolved.
The firm Odelson & Sterk has represented Concerned Citizens of Elk Grove Village in petition challenges which made their way to the Illinois Supreme Court late last month.
Concerned Citizens state campaign disclosures show no legal fees, either as campaign spending or as an in-kind donation since the committee was created last summer.
“Attorney billing statements are privileged, and we will not be commenting on the contents therein and/or if any client has or has not received or paid any billing invoice(s) during the referenced period,” Ross Secler, an attorney for Odelson & Sterk representing Tim Burns and the Concerned Citizens, said in an email to the Journal when asked about the lack of reported expenses for legal services by Concerned Citizens.
Johnson said although individual billing invoices for legal services may not be required to be disclosed, if overall costs of legal expenses are a campaign cost, that total spending must be disclosed.
An illuminated truck displaying messages for term limits referendum proponents passes outside Real Time Sports Feb. 1, in spite of warnings by the owner of the shopping center he would call police for trespassing. (Tom Robb/Journal photo (c) Feb. 6, 2020)
Concerned Citizens of Elk Grove Village showed $6,108 in campaign spending, including $5,850 in spending with Illuminated Mobile of Chicago, presumably for a truck illuminated with panels of LEDs displaying messages advocating for term limits and using the Concerned Citizens logo.
Concerned Citizens reported $5,000 in individual donations in the fourth quarter of 2019, including one $3,000 donation from Jeff Kraft of Elk Grove Village, along with in-kind donations valued at a total of $1,018 for a meet and greet and Facebook advertising, both paid for by members of the Ciesla family of Elk Grove Village.
Campaign disclosures also show Tim Burns, the chairman of Concerned Citizens, gave the committee a $500 loan.
At the end of the quarter, Concerned Citizens had $469 in cash on hand.
In January, Sean Kugelberg, Concerned Citizens treasurer, gave the committee a $1,500 donation.
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