Kane Forest Preserve commissioner alleges political payback’s behind his being left off committees

GENEVA – Republican Mark Davoust has been on more than a dozen Kane County Board committees and named a chairman three times during his 18 years representing St. Charles voters. He also has been a past Forest Preserve Commission president pro tempore and served on three of that body’s committees.

But after the Kane County Board’s Dec. 13 meeting and a failed bid to become the forest preserve commission president, Davoust found himself without a committee assignment. Davoust speculated, without proof, that it was political payback from Commission President Chris Kious for challenging him for the commission presidency and negotiating with the Kane County Cougars about the organization’s unpaid license fees.

“I am, for the record, very disappointed,” Davoust said in a telephone interview. “I think that in 18 years of faithfully serving the forest preserve district in many capacities – chairing all the different committees and as president pro tem and having helped spearhead the most recent successful referendum – I still have a lot to contribute to the effort. I’m disappointed to be shut out this way and it feels like punishment for challenging the current president.”

Davoust was reelected last year to represent the Kane County Board’s 14th District. County board members have a dual role, also representing their districts on the forest preserve commission, whose members elect one of their own as president.

Kious, an Algonquin Democrat, said in an email that he uses his own judgement, as well as input from other board members when selecting candidates for committees or offices.

“I do not use the politics of quid pro quo to guarantee my selection as president. I do not offer positions on committees or offices prior to the election. I run on my merits alone,” Kious said in the email.

“I consider myself a part of a team, a team that is made up of commissioners who are willing to work together. A team of members who contribute their talents, regularly attend meetings, consistently use good judgment and conduct themselves ethically,” Kious’ email said. “On this team, each member abides by the same set of rules. Rank has no privilege here, including the president.”

Kious also wrote that he values the opinions of his fellow commissioners and that he is “committed to making sure that every point of view is heard at every meeting, whether they are appointed to that particular committee or not.”

At the Forest Preserve Commission meeting Jan. 10, Davoust questioned not being appointed to any of the commission’s four committees – Executive, Finance and Administration, Land Acquisition and Planning and Utilization.

“My name doesn’t seem to appear in any assignment on there,” Davoust said. “I can’t agree to that.”

At one point, Ron Ford, D-Aurora, offered to give him one of the two committees he was appointed to.

“Thank you,” Davoust said.

The commission voted 17-5 to accept Kious’ committee appointments, with Rick Williams, R-Geneva, abstaining and Monica Molina, D-Aurora, not answering and being marked absent – though she was present remotely for other votes that day.

“Certainly, everyone is welcome to contribute whether they are on a committee or not at any meeting and to make this the best forest preserve we can as we go into the future with change,” Kious said. “Feel free to contribute any time on anything. Your visions are welcome in the board meetings, in the committee meetings, and as a team, I think we can move our Kane County Forest Preserve forward in the future. There’s lots of big changes, but a lot of excitement. That’s my comment for the day.”

While vying for the presidency at the Dec. 13 meeting, Davoust said he talked with Kane County Cougars owner Robert Froehlich and took credit for the Cougars owner delivering a payment of $325,000.In November, the commission had voted unanimously to send Froehlich a demand letter for unpaid license fees, threatening to cancel the Cougars’ 2024 season if the fees remained unpaid.

The fees are still under discussion, Davoust said.

Kious privately chastised Davoust for talking to Froehlich because he went against a longtime understanding that individual commissioners were not to negotiate on their own, Davoust said.

“He reached out to me,” Davoust said of Froehlich. “I never negotiated with him, but I took the call. … Before we got to this [Jan. 10] meeting, he [Kious] took that opportunity to admonish me and said I should not have taken the call or said no comment or hung up or discussed the weather. To have taken the call at all was wrong.”

Davoust said he still would attend committee meetings and participate.

As to why he abstained from voting on the committee assignments, Williams said in a text that, “As a new commissioner, I felt I did not have enough experience on the board or with my fellow commissioners to make a thoroughly informed vote on an important issue, so I thought it was prudent to abstain.”

Molina did not respond to messages seeking comment about why she didn’t vote.