The strained relationship between the majority on the DuPage County Board and Clerk Jean Kaczmarek was on public display recently as the board issued a censure against the clerk, outlining a list of complaints.
The censure resolution, approved on a bipartisan 15-1 vote at the county board’s Tuesday, Nov. 25, meeting, has no legal standing, but does put the elected body on record in outlining its list of grievances against Kaczmarek, many pertaining to financial reporting within her office.
Violating the rules and conventions of transparency
The board’s censure comes on the heels of legal challenges with Kaczmarek, which to date are approaching a taxpayer-funded $200,000, according to the most updated figures shared at the Nov. 25 meeting.
Board member Cindy Cronin Cahill, representing District 1, introduced and sponsored the censure resolution. She said the document’s introduction comes after repeated attempts of having Kaczmarek following the county board’s established system of accounting and financial oversight.
“We, who are ultimately responsible for the prudent stewardship of our neighbor’s tax dollars, take a stand and make it clear that violating the rules and conventions of transparency and responsible fiscal management is unacceptable in our system,” Cahill said.
District 2 board member Paula Deacon Garcia, chair of the county board’s Finance Committee, said she was supportive of the censure resolution and referred to it as “a loud way” in calling for protocol changes.
“I am seeing the lack of collaboration on our finance staff … and I just cannot stay quiet about it anymore,” Deacon Garcia said. “This is not fair to the staff — it’s probably not fair to her own staff, I don’t know — but I’m just saying that this is a pattern that needs to be stopped.”
County Board Chair Deborah Conroy, who did not have to cast a vote in her leadership capacity, described the deliberations concerning the censure of the clerk “as a difficult day” for the elected body. She also shared frustration with the deterioration of collaboration and communication in recent years.
“My Irish has hit an incredible boiling point,” Conroy said. “We have a clerk’s office who will not sit down with our finance department or our finance committee.”
Due process and defending Kaczmarek’s office
Among the 18 board members, District 5 board member Dawn Desart cast the dissenting vote, and District 1 board member Michael Childress abstained from voting. Board member Melissa Martinez, of District 6, was not present at the board meeting.
Desart defended Kaczmarek as the board weighed in on the contents of the lengthy censure resolution. She likened the board’s “demonizing of a respected elected official in our county” to watching the movie, “Lord of the Flies,” which depicts savagery and chaos after victims in a plane crash struggle in a chaotic environment for power.
“It’s just drama; a political show, and this body is so rabid against the clerk that I have no doubt you would impeach her if you could, but you can’t,” Desart said. “Censures are primarily used to signal political disagreement. It is my belief that this is exactly what is going on here.”
Childress, in explaining his abstention, said he would prefer due process carry out to let the state’s attorney’s office build a case to determine whether the board’s or Kaczmarek’s arguments have any legal merit.
“By doing this, we’re saying to the voters of DuPage County, ‘You’re not intelligent enough to figure this out,’” Childress said. “This is a political resolution. … Just because we don’t like what the clerk has done, it doesn’t just give us the ability to wipe out her due process.”
Kaczmarek issues statement about cut to her office’s budget
Kaczmarek was not present at the board’s Nov. 25 meeting to comment on the censure. She has, however, been issuing statements, including one earlier this month that took aim at the board for the appropriations made in her clerk’s office budget.
According to the statement, Kaczmarek indicated the board’s $8.98 million allocation to her office in the upcoming 2026 fiscal year is 28.4% less than her projected expenses of $12.55 million amid an election year that will include midterms.
“Surely the board can provide the funding we require to assure secure and fair elections for our 634,000 voters,” Kaczmarek said in the statement. “We cannot be expected to run democracy on the cheap.”
In terms of financial reporting, Kaczmarek in the statement indicated she provided Conroy and Deacon Garcia with an itemized list of expenses July 1. The fiscal year 2026 list of projected expenses also has been posted for public viewing.
“The county board isn’t providing enough money upfront, and when the insufficient funds run out, they refuse to give my office what it needs to serve the people of DuPage County,” Kaczmarek said. “I have no choice but to explore legal options to compel the board to fulfill its duty.”
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