Kendall Ethics panel drops complaint against Vickery

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Kendall County board member Anne Vickery.

Updated: March 6, 2012 8:16AM

YORKVILLE — The Kendall County Ethics Commission has dropped a complaint against Kendall Board member Anne Vickery.

The panel spent most of the 45-minute hearing Thursday figuring out how to proceed in what was the first Ethics Commission meeting since its formation — and passage of Kendall County’s Ethics Ordinance — about five years ago.

Eventually, the three-member board of Darald Nelson, chairman, Lowell Mathre and Christine Heiman, the lone Democrat, voted unanimously to find insufficient reason for the complaint against Vickery, and to not recommend the state’s attorney’s office prosecute her.

State’s Attorney Eric Weis said that as far as he is concerned, that ends the case. He said the ordinance has no provision for appealing the commission’s decision

The complaint against Vickery was brought by former Kendall County Chief Judge James Wilson, who said Vickery violated Article 5 of the Ethics Ordinance by using county email for political or campaign purposes.

Last fall, Vickery had sent emails to three other Kendall board members asking them to attend a political function at her house for Pam Roth, a candidate for the Illinois House.

Vickery said she held the dinner to allow other Kendall officials and residents to get to know Roth because of the new political districts.

She said she had sent out more than 50 invitations through the regular mail, on special invitation paper, but ran out. She ended up sending invitations to the event to fellow board members Dan Koukol, John Shaw and Bob Davidson through email.

“I was in a hurry; I really didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings,””she said. “I made a mistake, but I had no intention to make anything more out of it.”

Wilson, who filed the complaint, did not attend the Ethics Commission meeting Thursday to address the panel.