No Conflict Anymore For Elmhurst Alderman

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst Alderman Rex Irby said Monday he no longer has the appearance of a conflict of interest in matters involving Elmhurst's American Legion post.

As of Monday, the Ward 7 alderman said he no longer worked for the group.

"Therefore, there's no problem with those conflicts of interest that could have arisen, even though I wasn't on the (Legion) board," Irby said at a City Council meeting.

A month ago, Irby and Ward 2 Alderman Jacob Hill abstained from voting for the city's accounts payable, which included an $8,000 grant for the American Legion post. Their voters were counted as "present."

Irby became an American Legion employee in January, while Hill, a veteran, is on the group's board and appointed as its judge advocate.

At Monday's meeting, Hill voted present for the accounts payable, which included a payment to Elmhurst University, where he works as a professor and a librarian. He explained his vote to his colleagues.

However, Hill did vote for the community grants program, which includes $10,000 for Elmhurst University. Last month, he said he voted present in the first vote on the grants program because the university was on the list. He said Monday's vote was more of a formality; it was part of a package of items known as a "consent agenda." But he said he would do a better job of catching such issues, so he could abstain.

"I also did not sign the committee report for the community grants (that report originated in my committee), so I've tried to be diligent with respect to avoiding conflicts as that report made its way to council too," Hill said.