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Lyons Township school trustees president resigns
Updated: July 3, 2012 9:41AM
The president of the board overseeing the Lyons Township School Treasurer’s Office has resigned to allow for an independent investigation of a $100,000 cash-out of benefits by Treasurer Robert Healy.
Edward Maloney of La Grange said he wanted to step aside after serving as president of the Lyons Township Trustees of Schools Board since 2004. The board oversees Healy’s office, which invests funds and manages payroll for 13 school districts and educational cooperatives in La Grange, Western Springs and Burr Ridge as well as other towns.
“I didn’t want to be involved in the hiring process,” said Maloney, a Democratic candidate for Cook County Circuit Court judge and partner in a Skokie law firm.
“I didn’t resign because I’m running for judge, but because I want an independent investigator to be able to look at the situation,” he said.
Edward King, a La Grange attorney for the three-member board, said a law firm was selected May 18 to conduct an investigation, but a representative of Louis Cainkar Ltd., with offices in Burbank and Chicago, declined the job because the firm previously represented the board on an unrelated matter, King said.
King said he’s compiling a list of firms for the remaining two members of the board, Karen Civinelli of Bridgeview and Theron Tobolski of McCook. The two haven’t set a date to choose a firm or name a replacement for Maloney.
“At issue is whether (Healy) is entitled to accrued vacation, and if so, was the computation correct, and was the correct amount paid,” King said.
Maloney resigned May 17 after talking at length with Robert Herguth of the Better Government Association. The BGA released a report the following day alleging that Healy converted unused vacation, sick and personal time into more than $100,000 in cash, “supposedly without informing the elected trustees to whom he reports.”
The BGA’s report was based on Healy’s salary, obtained from the Open the Books Portal, a project of For the Good of Illinois, a group pushing for government transparency started by businessman and former gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski of Hinsdale.
That group’s website shows Healy making $180,319 in 2009 and $295,703 in 2011. There was no entry for 2010.
“I don’t know if he did anything wrong or not,” Maloney said. “I felt very upset he did this without telling us. We don’t know if the hours he turned in were justified or not and what scale is he paying himself at. Were there vacation days earned in 2007 paid at a 2011 rate?”
Maloney said the three-member board overseeing Healy’s office meets quarterly to review operations. The office is funded through investments made with funds pooled by all the school districts. After office expenses, the districts have earned a combined return of about $2.5 million annually, he said.
“Everything has been running smoothly. Not one school board president has ever called us up because they were short of money, so I guess he was doing his job,” Maloney said.
“The money he cashed in was budgeted for his salary, so it was not any loss to the school districts, to the best of my knowledge,” Maloney said. “It wasn’t done to increase his pension either. He’s not ready to retire for several years.”
Healy couldn’t be reached for comment concerning the payout or a legal sanction in 2011 against Edward Murray, a representative of Wunderlich Securities, who did business with the treasurer’s office.
Murray’s relationship with Wunderlich was terminated in 2009 after it was discovered Murray initiated transactions resulting in high commissions to the detriment of the Lyons Township schools, according to a document from the Illinois Secretary of State Securities Department.
Murray, who was found to have acted unethically, was fined $1,000 and placed under six months’ supervision, according to the document.
Since resigning, Maloney said he hasn’t spoken to Healy or fellow board members.
