Citing the ongoing dispute with the clerk’s office, DuPage County Board members voted Tuesday to censure County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek.

The resolution cites what board members describe as Kaczmarek’s refusal to comply with standard accounting procedures, budgeting policies and state bidding laws as reasons for the censure.

In addition, the censure resolution points to a legal battle between the clerk and the county board, which has cost DuPage nearly $200,000 in legal fees.

“Clerk Kaczmarek refused any appropriate fiscal transparency,” board member Cindy Cronin Cahill, who introduced the censure, said.

She noted that while a censure does not carry any penalties and cannot force any changes in the clerk’s office, it sends a message of disapproval from the board.

“We have to keep trying to work with the clerk’s office … this is kind of our last resort, sending a message to the residents of DuPage County that we cannot tolerate this kind of behavior,” board member Lucy Chang Evans said.

Kaczmarek, who was not at Tuesday’s meeting, responded to a request from the Daily Herald for comment via email.

“This meaningless political stunt is simply a distraction from the County Board’s shameful underfunding of elections,” Kaczmarek wrote. “I will keep fighting to continue delivering DuPage County voters the best run and most accessible elections in the state.”

Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson blamed county board members for the breakdown in communication between them and Kaczmarek.

“The board isn’t looking to have a discussion,” he said in an email. “They’re looking to dictate.”

Board member Dawn DeSart cast the only no vote on the censure resolution, and board member Michael Childress abstained.

DeSart suggested the board wait for the ongoing legal fight between the clerk’s office and county board to play out before censuring Kaczmarek.

In defending Kaczmarek, DeSart also called out the censure as “political theater” and questioned whether any board members made an effort to speak to Kaczmarek about the concerns raised about how she runs the office.

DeSart was also critical of board members who chastised Kaczmarek for not attending board meetings, arguing that when Kaczmarek attended a meeting in October to discuss her budget, board members took the opportunity to lambast the clerk.

DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy and other board members countered that the board and the county’s finance department have repeatedly asked the clerk to meet to discuss the budget, contracts and bills.

Conroy, noting her “Irish has hit an incredible boiling point,” also angrily pointed out that rather than sit down with the finance department to propose a budget amendment, the clerk’s office instead chose to provide suggested budgetary changes to a board member.

“While I have the luxury of sitting in this seat and not having to vote on this incredibly difficult decision for somebody in my own party,” Conroy said, “I want it to be known that if I did, my vote would be yes.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251125/local-politics/dupage-county-clerk-censured-by-county-board/