Plainfield mayoral candidates trade barbs on ‘cronyism’ and ‘sour grapes’

The two candidates running to be the next mayor of Plainfield have been blasting each other with allegations of past wrongdoing.

Village Trustee Margie Bonuchi and local attorney John Argoudelis are both on the ballot for the mayor’s office in the April municipal election. The sitting mayor, Michael Collins, is not running for reelection but is supporting Bonuchi.

The accusations flared up during a virtual candidates forum hosted by the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce last week in which Argoudelis went after village leadership for engaging in “cronyism.”

He pointed to growth in other villages and said elected leaders have been “asleep at the wheel while other towns progress and ... we’re more concerned about helping our friends and punishing our enemies.”

Bonuchi said she took offense to the suggestion that the village hadn’t been growing and pointed to the new Costco facility, among other recent developments. She then shot back and said Argoudelis was “not paying his bill” to the village.

This was in reference to legal action the village took against Argoudelis alleging he did not keep his law office, located on Route 59 in Plainfield, up to code.

Even though Argoudelis said he felt the village and fire department made him take measures which were unnecessary for a 2,000 square-foot building, he said he complied and spent about $15,000 for a smoke alarm system.

But he said the village still went after him for not complying fast enough and that his political rivals in the village were “persecuting” him.

Collins called Argoudelis’s allegation a “complete falsehood,” and said the village’s fire code is universal.

“We told (him) to do it (and) he didn’t do it,” Collins said. “This is not a political stunt.”

Still, when asked how many other commercial property owners the village has had to take legal action against for code compliance, Collins said he didn’t know of any.

Argoudelis made an allegation of his own against Bonuchi during last week’s forum. He said she received a “huge raise” for her job with Plainfield School District 202 while her husband was president of the Board of Education.

“My opponent has certainly used her government service to her advantage,” Argoudelis said.

Bonuchi is the director of technology for the district and confirmed in an interview she did at one time receive a raise while her husband was a board member, though not president. She argued it was not just his decision, but the decision of the entire board to give her the raise.

She also argued her workload at the time justified the raise because she was doing work beyond her job description and the district was planning for significant construction at the time, over a decade ago.

“I stepped up and did the work,” she said and added Argoudelis was incorrect on his facts.

Argoudelis also accused Bonuchi of politically associating with “shady characters” like Plainfield Township Supervisor Tony Fremarek, who is facing federal fraud charges.

Bonuchi said Fremarek’s arrest was a “shocker to all of us.” She also tried to flip the argument against Argoudelis, saying it he had a case of “sour grapes” over losing the job of township supervisor to Fremarek in 2012.

She also said during the forum that Argoudelis lost his law license for two months.

He interjected and said her allegation was “not accurate,” and later explained that, while he was suspended for five months in 2015 in connection with a probate case, he felt the punishment was not fair.

“I got punished more severely than I think I should have,” Argoudelis said.

Bonuchi responded to Argoudelis during the meeting and said, “Don’t cut me off. I did not cut you off with your lies.”

The moderators had to intervene and stop the back-and-forth.

After the forum, Argoudelis decried how the discussion was focused on accusations and not on substantive issues related to village government.

“This is petty ridiculous nonsense that keeps us from doing the things we really need to be doing,” he said.

The municipal election is April 6, although early voting has already begun.