Mayor Claar's Ethics Called into Question

Should Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar accept campaign donations from a bar if he also serves as the village's liquor commissioner?

That was the question recently posed by Illinois Better Government Association’s Andy Shaw in a column that appears on the watchdog website Reboot Illinois. 

Nearly all Illinois mayors act as their town's liquor commissioner. 

"It’s perfectly legal but sleazy, a blatant conflict of interest: Taking money from places you regulate," Shaw writes. "Unfortunately, some mayors don’t get it. They wonder why the Better Government Association is concerned."

Shaw writes that Claar’s role as the town’s liquor commissioner came into question after the long-time mayor accepted campaign donations from sports bar Tailgater's just months after he approved a liquor commission fine for the bar. 

Tailgater's was fined $1,500 in Feb. 2012 for serving alcohol to two underage women in Dec. 2011. 

Then, in May 2012, Tailgater’s dropped a $1,000 donation in Claar’s campaign war chest, according to the report.

In his defense, Claar told the BGA:

... There was no quid pro quo and no connection between the liquor violation case and the donation. The bar, he adds, contributes to his political fund every year.

Shaw also mentions that Downers Grove has an ordinance "banning political donations to village officials from those holding or seeking liquor licenses, with stiff penalties for violators."

Read Andy Shaw’s full report on Reboot Illinois here.