LF_012518

6 | January 25, 2018 | The lake forest leader NEWS
LakeForestLeader.com
Lake Forest City Council
Outside council hired to investigate lobbying costs for Amtrak stop
City Council reveals
details of Dec. 18-
19 exec session
Alyssa Groh, Editor
After convening in multiple
executive sessions
following the news of approximately
$192,000 of
lobbying costs for an Amtrak
stop, the Lake Forest
City Council announced
its decision to hire outside
council to investigate the
matter during its meeting
on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
During the meeting the
City Council unanimously
ratified the decision to hire
Leigh Jeter as the outside
council to investigate the
lobbying expenses.
“Ms. Jeter has been recommended
(to the City
Council) to conduct the
investigation due to her
background qualifications
and experience conducting
individual reviews of neutral
workplace matters,”
said Alderman Jack Reisenberg,
who is the point
person on the City Council
for the investigation.
Prior to opening her private
practice in 2017, Jeter
was a partner at Clark
Baird Smith LLP, and prior
to that, she was a partner at
Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s labor
and employment practice.
Information regarding
the lobbying expenses
surfaced during the Dec.
4 City Council meeting
when Mayor Robert Lansing
reported the City of
Lake Forest received a
letter from Joe McHugh,
Amtrak’s vice president,
stating Amtrak’s support
for an Amtrak stop in
Lake Forest. Lansing also
shared that the City spent
$192,911 in lobbying cost,
which he believed helped
Amtrak support the stop in
Lake Forest.
Prior to the Dec. 4 meeting,
the public, along with
some City Council members,
had no knowledge of
the lobbying cost.
It was revealed that City
Manager Robert Kiely approved
three payments toward
the nearly $200,000
lobbying cost through City
Attorney Victor Filippini’s
law firm to the Washington,
D.C.-based lobbying
firm, Chambers, Conlon
and Hartwell. The payments
were made between
March 2016-October
2017.
The news of the expenses
resulted in the City Council
meeting in executive session
for approximately four
hours immediately following
the Dec. 18 meeting
and continuing for another
three hours on Dec. 19.
Reisenberg noted Lansing,
Kiely and Filippini
were not in attendance
during the executive sessions.
Reisenberg explained to
a packed City Hall what
happened during the executive
sessions and what
Jeter’s role is in the investigation.
“[During the executive
session meetings, the
City Council] interviewed
many former and present
city officials individually
as part of our fact-finding
process,” he said. “We
also discussed personnel
matters along with financial
controls, compliance,
organizational issues that
impact the desire to financial
management and
governance culture. As a
result of those discussions,
and because of the confines
of the open meeting
“Thank you in advance for your patience as we
pursue this important matter. Please be assured
the City Council is taking residents’ concerns
seriously and ensuring a thorough and independent
review of all pertinent information.”
Jack Reisenberg — The Lake Forest Third Ward alderman on the City
Council’s decision to hire outside council to investigate approximately
$192,000 spent toward lobbying expenses for an Amtrak stop in Lake Forest
without City Council approval.
act, council decided several
days later, after those
meetings were complete,
to engage outside council
to provide an independent
and comprehensive review
of this matter.”
Jeter has already begun
her investigation, and
has met with various City
Council members, as well
as members of the Alliance
to Control Train Impacts
on Our Neighborhoods, a
group of residents committed
to stopping the proposed
third track in Lake
Forest.
Following the Jan. 16
meeting, the City Council
met in executive session
with Jeter to receive an update
on the investigation.
Jeter will continue
to collect relevant data
and conduct interviews
throughout the investigation.
Reisenberg said City
Council and residents can
anticipate an update on
Jeter’s findings in February
and a full report when
the investigation is complete.
He also encouraged anyone
with information on
the matter to submit relevant
information to Jeter at
Lake Forest City Hall, 220
E. Deerpath Road, Lake
Forest, noting attention to
Leigh Jeter.
Kiely did not speak
about the investigation or
the matter during the meeting.
Reisenberg ended his
statement by thanking
residents for voicing their
concerns on the matter.
“Thank you in advance
for your patience as we
pursue this important matter,”
he said. “Please be assured
the City Council is
taking residents’ concerns
seriously and ensuring a
thorough and independent
review of all pertinent information.”
Finance Committee
reviews recommendations
to improve finance policies
Before the City Council
began its meeting, the
Finance Committee met
to review commendations
to help improve oversight
and viability over expenses,
which were made
during the Dec. 18 meeting.
The recommendations
were made following
the knowledge of the
$192,000 lobbying cost.
James E. Morris, first
ward alderman and finance
committee chairman, and
Elizabeth Holleb, the director
of finance for the
City, reviewed four shortterm
recommendations
that were made in December
and discussed three
new recommendations.
The first recommendation
is to expand the distribution
of the monthly
contingency fund report to
include the finance chairman
so that the City Council
and the city manager
receive the monthly report.
The second recommendation
includes reeducating
operating departments
on the administration of
the contingency funds by
stressing city staff needs
to complete an approval
form before charges are
incurred.
The third recommendation
made by Holleb and
Morris suggested adopting
a policy whereby any third
party payments through an
intermediary must receive
City Council acknowledgement
and/or approval.
Finally, Holleb recommended
having outside auditors
review contingency
account activity and report
on any recommendations
that auditors offer.
In addition, Holleb presented
three new recommendations
to the Finance
Committee.
The fifth recommendation
involves the new
BS&A Software the City
received last year. The
software automatically
generates compliance reports
from the system.
The sixth recommendation
relates to the departmental
training. In addition
to the reeducating operating
departments on the administration
of the contingency
funds, the finance committee
would like to provide
specific departmental training
with each department
relating to purchasing process,
specifically including
discussions regarding items
such as requisitions, purchase
orders, incumbrances,
invoice payments and contingency
account administration.
The seventh recommendation
relates to goal setting.
As part of the budget,
each department provides
specific goals and objectives
for this coming fiscal
year.
Morris highlighted the
importance of the recommendations.
“We specifically wanted
to drive an accelerated
implementation of the four
recommendations from
[the Dec. 18 meeting,] and
we are well on our way to
completing the implementation
of all four of the recommendations
that we discussed
last month,” Morris
said. “... We believe these
additional recommendations
will be important in
our effort to strengthen the
City’s internal financial
management.”