Editor's note: This article has been revised to correctly state that Roger Romanelli ran as an independent for Illinois state representative.
A Hillside village board trustee candidate has filed suit against the village, claiming Hillside’s mayor and the village are improperly using Hillside village workers, on village time, and other taxpayer-funded resources to aid political causes, including to boost the political operations of the mayor and Illinois’ powerful Speaker of the House.
On March 13, Roger Romanelli filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the village of Hillside.
According to the complaint, Romanelli asserts the village violated the Illinois Election Interference Law on several notable occasions.
In the complaint, Romanelli asserts he has the right as a Hillside resident, whose taxes help fund the village of Hillside’s operations, to sue the village on behalf of himself and other taxpayers in the Cook County suburb.
Romanelli ran unsuccessfully for village trustee in April 2021, as part of a slate of candidates headed by Hillside mayoral candidate Gwen Amber.
The complaint notes Amber was the first person to challenge longtime Hillside Mayor Joseph Tamburino for decades.
Tamburino has served as mayor of Hillside since 1981.
According to the complaint, almost immediately after the 2021 village election, Romanelli alleges he witnessed city workers gathering their opponents’ campaign signs, including from private yards, and throwing them into the back of city-owned trucks, while on the clock, being paid by the village. He said the campaign signs were then dumped in his yard, when he and another candidate called village hall to complain.
Then, Romanelli said the village of Hillside used an official village newsletter mailer, printed by the village, with postage paid by the village, to report election results, apparently to celebrate Tamburino’s victory.
Romanelli asserts the village further violated the state election law by using village staff and other village resources, paid by the village to promote political events for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, and to support election campaigns for Welch and his wife, ShawnTe Raines Welch, who was recently elected as a Cook County judge.
Romanelli also unsuccessfully challenged Welch as a candidate for state representative, running as an independent in November 2022.
Romanelli said the allegedly suspect events included a Welch political gathering in July 2022 at Proviso West High School, at which Welch purportedly addressed the crowd. While no village business was conducted at the event, Romanelli said the village provided village police as security and staged village firefighters at the event. Romanelli asserts the Welch political campaign organization never reimbursed the village for those costs.
“Since no official (Village of Hillside) government business was conducted at the July Event, VOH officials again violated IEIL by expressly supporting political activities by illegally using VOH government taxes, resources and staff…,” Romanelli wrote.
In October 2022, the village held an event supposedly reserved exclusively for Hillside residents aged 60 and over. However, the complaint asserted the event was actually a campaign event attended by both Speaker Welch and his wife, both of whom were significantly younger than 60. Romanelli said when he attempted to enter the event, he was removed by police officers, supposedly because he was younger than 60 years old.
“Using VOH government taxes, resources and staff, Tamburino and VOH officials coordinated an event to promote the political campaigns of Welch and Raines Welch at the October Event,” Romanelli asserted. “If no one under 60 years old was supposed to attend, Welch and Raines Welch should have been prohibited. Instead, they were allowed to attend and promote their political candidacies…”
Romanelli is seeking a court order permanently blocking the village of Hillside from “committing future violations of IEIL by using (village) taxes, staff, buildings, resources or vehicles to pay for, sponsor, coordinate, direct, order or assign any personnel or vehicles to any political events.”
He is also asking the court to order village officials and staff to “receive thorough training from the Illinois Attorney General’s office” about the Illinois law, “its purpose, its prohibitions and its penalties.”
Romanelli is represented in the action by attorney Anthony J. Peraica, of Chicago.