Chicago City Wire

In-Person Press Conference

Hillside IL – Voters are blasting Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch (State Representative 7th District) and Hillside Mayor Joe Tamburino for violating Illinois law.

On YouTube, Welch is running ads for his June 2022 Democratic Party primary election campaign.  But in his videos, Welch is standing next to two Hillside police officers on duty, with all three inside the Hillside government building. By Illinois law, that’s a big no-no.

Voters want Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to investigate Welch (who is a lawyer) and Tamburino for their misconduct, then issue maximum penalties.  They broke the law, wasted public taxes and took police officers away from fighting crime in today’s dangerous times.

 

Illinois law (10 ILCS 5/9-25.1) prohibits “Election Interference” by government entities.  It says, “No public funds shall be used to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or be appropriated for political or campaign purposes to any candidate or political organization.”

In other words, if you’re an Illinois politician, you can’t use government buildings, employees or resources - - especially police officers on duty - - for your political campaign.  But that's what Welch and Tamburino did.

 

Attached is a January 31, 2022 photo taken from YouTube by Romanelli with his I-Phone.  This is a screenshot while Welch’s YouTube ad was running. Romanelli took similar photos on Feb. 13, 15, 16 and 17, 2022.

 

The Jan. 31 photo shows professional photography equipment staged inside Hillside Village Hall.  It's visible as a reflection off the glass.  Since this photographer wasn’t acting in an official government capacity to serve Hillside taxpayers and residents, Illinois law prohibits this photographer from taking staged political photos inside the Hillside government building.

The photo shows two Hillside police officers - - Sergeant Shane Mikicic and Officer Johanne Nelson - - standing next to Welch inside Village Hall.  The officers are wearing official gear and uniforms indicating that they’re on duty. The Hillside police manual directs officers not to wear their official gear or uniforms unless they’re on duty.

In the photo, the officers' arm badges are different.  But all Hillside officers' badges are the same!  Clearly, Welch or someone from his team digitally altered the badges to conceal the officers' identities.

Even if these officers agreed to pose for Welch or were paid by him, state law prohibits officers on duty, officers standing inside government buildings and officers wearing taxpayer-issued gear to pose for political photos.  

The law makes sense.  Attached are the Hillside Police Department crime reports from 2021 showing that Hillside has serious crime problems.  Romanelli, who created www.hillsidespeeders.com showing hundreds of illegal speeders and who experienced a drug dealer shot non-fatally outside his home, can attest to this.  More Hillside residents concur.

Hillside's 8,100 residents, 300 businesses, 1,800 students at Proviso West High School and people traveling through Hillside need police officers on duty to be fighting crime, not taking staged political photos for Chris Welch.

Did Tamburino illegally order the officers to stand with Welch inside the government building?  Does Welch acknowledge that using government resources for his political campaign is illegal?  Foxx must investigate, then punish the wrongdoers.

During his 42-year tenure as Hillside mayor, Tamburino has violated the Election Interference law repeatedly:

•Illegally used public works employees to trespass onto private homes and steal political signs from Tamburino's opponents.  Romanelli has photos from April 7, 2021 of this.

•Illegally boasted about his April 6, 2021 re-election in the government-funded newsletter.  State law prohibits Tamburino from using government funds to promote his political activities.

•Illegally used government buildings and staff to coordinate a Proviso Township political action group for himself and mayors from Bellwood, Berkeley, Broadview, Melrose Park and elsewhere.  The "Proviso Municipal League" provides no government services to Hillside residents or other Proviso Township residents.  Instead, the League endorses political candidates and coordinates political activities for the mayors.  Financial donations are sent to Hillside Village Hall, another violation of state law.

Romanelli, Adams, Woodrick and others formed the Hillside Neighbors Political Party in December 2020.  For the first time in 40 years, Tamburino was challenged for mayor by Hillside resident Gwen Amber in the April 2021 election.  While she lost, a new Hillside political party was born.