Columnist Jeff German: Chairwoman may soon find herself in hot seat

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

Rumors and speculation have reached a fever pitch over news that indictments are imminent in the FBI's political corruption investigation.

Will County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, the most powerful person in county government, be among those indicted? If so, will she strike a deal for leniency with prosecutors? Or will she fight to clear her name?

Amid the maze of rumblings, Kincaid-Chauncey's colleagues at the County Government Center are starting to prepare for the worst.

So please allow me to further the speculation.

All six of Kincaid-Chauncey's fellow commissioners, I'm told, privately have agreed that she must step down as chairwoman if she's charged in the two-year FBI investigation, which has been focusing on the political influence of strip club owner Michael Galardi.

Commissioner Chip Maxfield, who serves as vice chairman, likely would take over the commission's reins. The aim would be to minimize the damage an indictment might cause to the entire commission.

County Manager Thom Reilly has been given the assignment of breaking the news to Kincaid-Chauncey.

This scenario, however, would only happen if the chairwoman decides to fight any potential federal charges rather than agree to plead guilty in return for a lesser sentence.

If Kincaid-Chauncey were to plead guilty, she would be forced under state law to resign her commission seat, and her political career would be over in a flash. Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn then would be asked to name her replacement, which would have to be a Democrat (like Kincaid-Chauncey) from her district.

Kincaid-Chauncey's only hope to hang on to her elected office, assuming she's indicted, would be to fight the charges and demonstrate her innocence in court.

That's what two county commissioners, Jack Petitti and Woodrow Wilson, tried to do without much success 21 years ago after they were charged in a similar FBI probe into political corruption.

Petitti stayed in office for about 18 months until a jury convicted him of accepting a $5,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent. Wilson stepped down a couple of months later after he pleaded guilty to a similar charge on the eve of his trial.

Neither man, however, chaired the commission at the time of their indictments, so the commission has never had to deal with the dilemma it could face if Kincaid-Chauncey is indicted.

Still, her colleagues are ready to take quick action to remove her as chairwoman if she doesn't voluntarily step aside during any legal fight to clear her name.

I've spoken to several commissioners on this sensitive subject, none of whom wanted to go on the record. But all said Kincaid-Chauncey owed it to her colleagues to give up the leadership position under those circumstances.

These elected officials know that everyone's credibility on the commission -- not just Kincaid-Chauncey's -- is at stake here.

You can't, after all, expect the public to follow the laws the commission creates if the person who sets the commission's agenda and runs its meetings is accused of being a lawbreaker.