Cicero Town President Larry Dominick is alleging the attorney for a failed primary challenger to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is claiming in federal court Madigan pulled strings to undercut his candidacy, is playing to the media and engaging in other dirty tricks to force Dominick to answer questions in a deposition about Madigan’s power.
On June 21, Dominick’s attorneys filed papers in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, contesting a subpoena from Jason Gonzales to depose Dominick. Gonzales lost to Madigan in the 2016 Democratic Primary Election, and has a suit going against Madigan and Madigan’s allies alleging Madigan used “political favors, control of campaign funds and precinct captains to discredit Gonzales.”
Madigan’s district does not encompass Cicero.
Cicero Town President Larry Dominick
| Town of Cicero
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly barred Gonzales last week from obtaining a copy of a 2014 state inspector general’s report on Madigan, which examined how Madigan may have wielded clout in Metra hirings. The judge ruled the report was not relevant to the primary election.
Gonzales’ attorney, Anthony Peraica, is claiming Dominick can shed light on the 76-year-old Madigan’s influence and methods. Attempted service of the subpoena on Dominick has met with controversy, as the process server was arrested by Cicero police on charges of theft and impersonation of a police officer.
Peraica, of Chicago, called the charges against the process server “false” and then filed a motion asking the U.S. Marshal’s Service to serve the subpoena.
Dominick is arguing he can say nothing pertinent to Gonzales’ inquiry.
“The relevant information that the Town President could have in this case is not readily apparent and is, at absolute best, tangential,” said one of Dominick’s attorneys, Sean M. Sullivan, of the Del Galdo Law Group of suburban Berwyn.
Sullivan continued, drawing the judge’s attention to other points.
“The Court must consider the manner in which Gonzales’ attorneys approached obtaining the deposition of the Town President, the sensationalized motion filed by Gonzales’ attorney related to the deposition, the history of a political grudge of Gonzales’ attorney with the Town President” and the “refusal of Gonzales’ attorneys to withdraw their motion or otherwise define and limit the scope of the Town President’s deposition,” Sullivan said.
The “grudge” to which Sullivan alluded concerns Peraica’s unsuccessful reelection bid in 2010 against Jeffrey Tobolski for the post of Cook County commissioner. Dominick endorsed Tobolski, a Democrat and criticized the Republican Peraica during the campaign. Sullivan noted Peraica was convicted of vandalizing Tobolski’s campaign signs during the election season.
Peraica also pursued two suits – both eventually dismissed – against Cicero on behalf of a person politically opposed to Dominick, according to Sullivan.
Sullivan claimed Peraica knew the identities of Cicero’s town attorneys and should have reached out to them and tried to resolve issues about the subpoena, but instead sent a process server “lurking” around town.
Sullivan said Peraica’s desire to depose Dominick is naive.
“It is unreasonable for Peraica to believe that a sitting mayor, who Peraica has a personal political grudge against related to Peraica’s own political defeats, would sit down to be questioned at a deposition unlimited in scope and without an attorney present to represent the Town President in a case filed against the Speaker of the Illinois House and heavily covered by the media,” Sullivan maintained.