‘Town is Fractured,’ Shorewood Mayor Says of Gas Flap

SHOREWOOD, IL — The mayor of Shorewood apologized for pumping free gasoline into his Cadillac for more than five years, but continued to insist he did nothing wrong.

“I do not steal from anyone and I do not steal from the residents of Shorewood,” Mayor Rick Chapman said at Tuesday night’s village board meeting.

Plenty of the residents Chapman says he doesn’t steal from had quite a bit to get off their chests, and they took the opportunity to do so Tuesday night, with some defending the mayor and others accusing him of lying, and one going so far as to challenge him to take a polygraph test. The guy with the idea for the lie detector test, Tom Kirkland, is married to board member Cookie Kirkland, who ran against Chapman for mayor in the April 4 election and lost by a mere 46 votes.

“I’m going to make you an offer maybe you can’t refuse,” said Tom Kirkland, who went on to detail his plan to foot the bill for both he and Chapman to take a polygraph test. Tom Kirkland invited Chapman to question him during the test about a mailer that went out the day before the election showing the mayor pumping village gasoline into his 1999 Cadillac. In return, Tom Kirkland said, “I can ask you about the gas.”

When Chapman didn’t agree to the lie detector test, Kirkland said, “Yeah, I didn’t think so,” and walked away.

The mailer sent out on the eve of the election said, ““WOULDN’T YOU LIKE FREE GAS?” and, “VILLAGE PRESIDENT HELPS HIMSELF TO YOUR TAX DOLLARS.”

Tom Kirkland said Chapman “pushed the subject that” his wife was behind sending out the mailer.

Chapman explained that he started filling up his Cadillac with village gas because he was conducting so much of Shorewood’s daily business and has an aversion to filling out expense reports. He used the Cadillac solely for town affairs, which he found himself handling so much of after village administrator Kurt Carroll quit to go work for New Lenox, and then Carroll’s replacement, Jeff Fiegenschuh, ended up not lasting very long. The mayor said he filled in for Carroll before Fiegenschuh was hired, then ended up covering for that job again when the new administrator was gone after just six months.

Diane Lambert, the chairwoman of the Shorewood Chamber of Commerce, fiercely defended Chapman.

“This blows my mind,” Lambert said. “It’s so petty.”

Causing somewhat of an uproar from the sizable audience, Lambert said, “Every single resident in this room knows this is dirty politics.”

Lambert later apologized to Cookie Kirkland and said she wasn’t talking about her.

Outbursts from the audience prompted attorney David Silverman, who represents the village, to tell the crowd to settle down.

Silverman also opined that Chapman’s conduct did not cross legal lines.

“General law, criminal law, to have a criminal act, you have to have a criminal intent,” Silverman explained. “I don’t know if there’s a criminal intent.”

Tori Hofer Boyle, the daughter of former Mayor Bertha Hofer, said she was “offended” and told Chapman her mother paid her own way, apparently seeking no reimbursements from the village.

Two members of the public stepped up to tell how they have traveled the world extensively and find Shorewood to be the greatest place on Earth. A third, Tony Kallenbach, offered to pay for the gas Chapman used, which totaled nearly $2,500, according to records viewed by Patch.

“Just end it,” Kallenbach said.

The village board discussed whether Chapman should reimburse Shorewood for the gasoline he used, and even talked about reprimanding him. But never actually got around to doing anything.

Another member of the audience, Jyme Hurley, urged Chapman to do the right thing.

“Don’t let Shorewood down,” Hurley said. “Let’s go the right way. Let’s do it for Shorewood. The right way.”

Chapman told her he was heartbroken.

“It’s breaking my heart,” he said. “The town is fractured.”