CHANNAHON — Village President Joe Cook took several minutes during Monday's village board meeting to refute accusations of misuse of village credit cards, calling them "libelous," and said he has never abused privileges with his card.
"I never took anything from this job for personal gain," he said. "I've worked very hard for this village. . . and you can disagree with my politics, but don't call me a thief, and that's what this article did."
Cook referred to the Sept. 26 Chicago Tribune article that alleged he used his village credit card for $36,000 in purchases, dinners, and trips over a four-year period.
"My credit card was the default credit card of much of the village staff," he said.
Cook spent several minutes addressing several of the article's accusations individually, such as a $1,300 steak dinner at a Shorewood restaurant, a stay in a $1,400 time-share condo in New Orleans, and $1,300 on limousine rides to and from Chicago airports.
The steak dinner that was charged to the card, he said, was a meet-and-greet event the village held during the process of interviewing six police chief candidates. Attending were the candidates, village staff, the village board, and police department representatives.
"There were well over 25 people in attendance," he said. "The writer said it was a steak dinner. That was a bold faced lie."
The New Orleans condo stay was for a conference of the National League of Cities, Cook said, and it included a post-hurricane Katrina training session on emergency management. Having the condo enabled him to make his own meals at the conference, he said, and he only charged two meals during that time to the village.
Concerning the limo rides, Cook said everyone who knows him knows he does not ride in limousines. They hurt his back and knees, he said.
"We take cars to the airport," he said.
Cook said he has worked hard for the village during his terms as trustee and village president, even going out with a trustee one winter morning to defrost a resident's pipes and digging a ditch to enable another resident to be able to back out of her driveway to get to work.
"I continue to do this job because I love this community," he said, "and I will continue to do this job as village president as long as the village will let me."
The Tribune article also referred to alleged child support non-payment issues and Cook allegedly being sued for unpaid chiropractor and credit card bills. Cook is also facing federal charges of not filing income tax returns from 2005 to 2008. He has gone on record as not wanting to comment on those issues.
When time came for audience comments or questions, the only one from the dozens of residents who attended referred to an issue Cook called personal, and he declined to address it.
One audience member asked when his residential area was going to get city water, and another had questions about the newly proposed telecommunications tax.
Also this week, the Channahon village board approved sending a letter of intent to the Will County Governmental League that Channahon intends to participate with the Will Utilities Aggregation Group. Signing the document, Police Chief and Interim Administrator Joe Pena said, does not bind the village to participating.
Channahon is considering joining a group of municipalities to seek bids for lower electricity rates from suppliers.
The board this week also heard a presentation by Cook on a women's sports athletic facility Cook said would bring revenue to the village. He said the facility could contain indoor volleyball and softball, as well as several outdoor softball fields.
"Training would go on throughout the year," he said. "It's marketable, and we're certainly looking forward to bringing people to Channahon and showing them what we have."
Cook said from several people to whom he has spoken, his understanding is there are enough men's fields to accommodate needs, but women have to travel states away for athletic training. This is a niche that needs to be filled, he said.
Cook said he would like to put together a committee of board members, staff, community members, and people in the field to further investigate the possibility of getting a facility in Channahon. A good site, he said, would be on the former trailer park site at U.S. 6 and Interstate 55.