This morning I delivered the attached letter to Mayor Churnovic’s office at the City of Crest Hill.

It is a
complaint about 44 violations to the city’s ethics ordinance by the mayor’s campaign committee. I hope
you will find this newsworthy and write a story about it.

The city of Crest Hill passed an ethic ordinance in 1999 that sets a $250 limit on contributions or
expenditures “on behalf of any candidate’s political committee.” Between November 2007 and
December 2008, the Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Nick Churnovic accepted 32 contributions and made
12 expenditures over that limit. This information comes from the Illinois State Board of Election’s
website detailing Churnovic’s campaign finance report and is also attached to this email.

When you examine my spreadsheet, you should note a few odd items.

• Allied Waste Services, who donated $500, received a $5 million garbage contract last week. This
contract did not go out for bid.
• Thomas Cowgill, who donated $330, was the city’s attorney at the time of the donation and
should have been aware of the contribution limit.
• El Guero de Crest Hill and Ricardo El Guero jointly contributed $3,000. El Guero hopes to open a
Supermercado grocery store next to city hall at some time in the future.
• Dean Tomich, who donated $500, regularly asks (and receives) zoning variances for projects he
develops within the city limits.
• Churnovic reimbursed himself many hundreds of dollars for meals, airplane tickets, and hotel
rooms. One reimbursement for $480 was for a “subscription.”

Mayor Churnovic is the city’s ethics officer and has responsibility for investigating and ruling on
suspected ethics violations. I am sure my complaint will be a conflict of interest for him. By you
exposing these facts in your paper, you will force the mayor to excuse himself and have someone else
undertake this investigation—probably Alderman John Vershay, the senior-most member of the city
council. I have no idea what the penalties would be if the committee was in violation of the ordinance.

If you have any questions, please call me on my cell phone at 815-XXX-XXXX.

Dax Young
Dax Young
XXXX XXXXXX XXXXX
Crest Hill, IL 60403

February 23, 2009

Hon. Nick Churnovic, Mayor

City of Crest Hill
1610 Plainfield Road
Crest Hill, IL 60403

Dear Mr. Mayor:

I am a long-time resident of the city, and am writing to ask you, in your capacity as the city’s Ethics
Officer, to investigate a serious violation of the city’s ethics ordinance.

As you are aware, Local Ordinance 2.05.100 places limitations on campaign contributions and
expenditures for candidates and their political committees. Originally passed by the city council in
November 1996, the ordinance states that “no person shall make contributions to or expenditures on
behalf of any candidate’s political committee in an aggregate amount exceeding $250 in any election.”

Included with this letter is a spreadsheet entitled “Suspected Ethics Violations by the Committee to Re-
Elect Mayor Nick Churnovic.” This spreadsheet lists 44 suspected incidents where the committee either
accepted campaign contributions or made expenditures over the $250 limitation set by Local Ordinance
2.05.100. The aggregated amount of these contributions total $20,540 between November 2007 and
December 2008; the expenditures for the same period total $5,872.

As the Mayor, Local Ordinance 2.05.062 appoints you to serve as the city’s ethics officer. Your duties
correspond to provisions of Illinois law, which include the investigation and prosecution of ethical
violations by candidates for city office. Therefore, this complaint to you is appropriate as you have the
authority to investigate and rule on suspected ethics violations.

Furthermore, I request that you open an investigation into the 44 suspected violations of Local
Ordinance 2.05.100 by the Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Nick Churnovic. If you believe that personal
interest in this case would preclude you from opening an investigation, it is appropriate that you
forward this complaint to the most senior-serving Alderman for prosecution.

Respectfully submitted,

Dax Young, 815-XXX-XXXX

CC: Alderman John Vershay

Mr. Dwayne Wilkerson, Acting Chief of Police
McKeown, Fitzgerald, Zollner, Buck, Hutchison & Ruttle, City Attorney
 Suspected Ethics Violations by the Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Nick Churnovic

Date Contributor Address City, State, ZIP Amount

11/20/2007 Allied Waste Services 808 S Joliet Street Joliet, IL 60436 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 Barr Investments 2701 Black Road, Suite 202 Joliet, IL 60435 $ 500.00
11/20/2007 Belisle Construction Inc. 1914 Donmaur Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
11/15/2007 Car Care Collision Centers 1808 N Larkin Ave Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
11/15/2007 Chicagoland Wholesale Mulch 2220 N Broadway Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
3/12/2008 Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. 318 Alana Drive New Lenox, IL 60451 $ 500.00
11/1/2007 Churnovic, Gary 340 W Superior, Unit 1403 Chicago, IL 60610 $ 1,000.00
11/15/2007 Consolidated Preferred Investors 721 W Lake St Addison, IL 60101 $ 1,000.00
11/2/2007 Cowgill, Thomas and Sandra 15332 Sunshine Circle Plainfield, IL 60544 $ 330.00
3/5/2008 CrestLake Holdings LLC 2250 Weber Road Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 Darcy, Terry 2022 Essington Road Joliet, IL 60435 $ 1,000.00
11/15/2007 Delaney Contracting Ltd. 2131 Oakland Ave Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 350.00
11/2/2007 El Guero de Crest Hill 1520 Theodore St Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 2,000.00
11/14/2008 El Guero, Ricardo 1520 Theodore St Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 1,000.00
11/2/2007 Fab Werks Inc. 911 Brian Dr Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
11/1/2007 Grate, Tony and Sue 500 Rookery Court Joliet, IL 60431 $ 330.00
11/13/2007 Gierczyk, James P. 17475 Jovanna Drive #2A Homewood, IL 60430 $ 1,000.00
11/13/2008 Hayes, Jim 1693 Plainfield Road Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
11/19/2008 Highland Plumbing P.O. Box 2218 Joliet, IL 60434 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 Hill, Greg 2433 Reeves Road Joliet, IL 60436 $ 1,000.00
11/14/2008 Joseph, Thomas H. P.O. Box 19451 Springfield, IL 62794 $ 300.00
11/20/2008 Kahriman, James 13250 W Cedar Cr Ct Homer Glen, IL 60491 $ 300.00
11/28/2007 Katsilieris, Nick 1200 Cedarwood Drive Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 1,000.00
3/5/2008 Lee Fry Companies Inc 825 North Cass Avenue, #209 Westmont, IL 60559-6402 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 Luttrell, Michael and Georgette 3708 Saratoga Drive Joliet, IL 60435 $ 500.00
11/19/2008 Masterson, Brian 1203 Theodore Street, Ste. 2A Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
11/1/2007 McEnery, William 160 LaGrange Rd Frankfort, IL 60423 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 RD Wagner Management Enterprises LLC 17220 W 145th Street Lockport, IL 60441 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 Serafin, Kevin 251 West Fairview Way Palatine, IL 60067 $ 350.00
3/5/2008 Serena, Joseph 21341 Timber Creek Court Shorewood, IL 60404 $ 500.00
11/13/2007 Slaboszweski, Dan 1927 Donmaur Dr Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 330.00
3/5/2008 Tomich, Dean and Ann-Marie 609 Westridge Road Joliet, IL 60431 $ 500.00
3/5/2008 RJN Group Inc. 200 West Front Street Wheaton, IL 60187 $ 750.00

Source: http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=20881
 Suspected Ethics Violations by the Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Nick Churnovic

Date Expenditure Address City, State, ZIP Amount

11/20/2007 Cornerstone Services 777 Joyce Rd Joliet, IL 60436 $ 275.00
8/18/2008 Cornerstone Services 777 Joyce Rd Joliet, IL 60436 $ 500.00
11/16/2008 Cornerstone Services 777 Joyce Rd Joliet, IL 60436 $ 250.00
11/15/2007 Prairie Bluff Golf Course 19433 Renwick Rd Lockport, IL 60441 $ 1,225.00
6/7/2008 AJ Hot Dogs 710 Theodore Street Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 500.00
2/15/2008 United Way of Will County 54 North Ottawa Street Joliet, IL 60432 $ 1,000.00
8/4/2008 Churnovic, Nick 1717 Highland Avenue Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 286.56
8/4/2008 Churnovic, Nick 1717 Highland Avenue Crest Hill, IL 60403 $ 495.00
11/30/2008 Jack Gibbons Gardens 14700 Oak Park Avenue Oak Forest, IL 60452 $ 480.00
9/15/2008 March of Dimes 310 N. Hammes Ave, Suite 300B Joliet, IL 60435 $ 360.00
8/18/2008 Senior Services Center of Will County 251 North Center Street Joliet, IL 60435 $ 500.00

Source: http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=20881