Illinois Statewide Conflict-of-Interest Analysis

Finding: Lynn Zeder served as Board President of D230 while her husband held employment with an entity in a financial relationship with the district. D230 simultaneously had no-bid insurance through Horton/Sandner Group, $54M in non-referendum bonds, and 513,123 miles of potentially fraudulent transportation claims. Zeder used her position to attack fellow trustee Mohammed Jaber when he raised TIF financial concerns that threatened Orland Park Mayor Pekau’s proposed TIF districts — demonstrating the board presidency was being used to protect political allies rather than the district’s financial interests.

Finding: The state senator who used D230’s school board as his political launch pad now chairs the legislative committee with oversight of the state agency (ISBE) that would investigate D230’s anomalies. This is structural capture: the investigator is the investigated’s former governance partner. Additionally, Will County Circuit Court sealed the ENTIRE Hastings divorce proceeding after his wife reported a 2020 physical altercation — with no public explanation of the sealing order.

Finding: Louis Dineff pleaded guilty in Operation Greylord — the largest judicial corruption investigation in U.S. history, exposing systematic bribery at Cook County’s 5th Municipal District courthouse. He served 6 months in federal prison and lost his law license. He then ran as a WRITE-IN CANDIDATE for Summit SD 104’s school board and was seated. Illinois has no pre-oath verification mechanism to catch non-petition candidates with disqualifying backgrounds. Dineff simultaneously served as Village Trustee and Lyons Township Democratic Committeeman — controlling school board votes, village contracts, AND the township patronage machine. His brothers operated the Dineff & Dineff law firm at the same address as the township Democratic organization.

Finding: Mike McTaggart, owner and CEO of Quest Food Management Services, served as Chairman of the IASBO Service Associates Advisory Committee — the body representing vendors serving Illinois public schools — while simultaneously being the vendor himself. IASBO is the professional organization for school district business administrators — the exact people who manage and approve food service contracts. McTaggart had chairmanship-level access to every upcoming contract expiration, RFP timeline, and key decision-maker across all of IASBO’s member districts. A LinkedIn reviewer who praised Quest stated they “first worked with Mike McTaggart and Quest while employed at Orland School District 135” — the same D135 that is a feeder district for D230 in Pekau’s geographic footprint.

Finding: IERMPA accepted an 18% aggregate Blue Cross Blue Shield premium increase in 2025 with no competitive bid documented in the public record. Salt Fork CUSD 512 — an IERMPA member — simultaneously reported spending 34.6% of ALL district expenditures ($6.24 million) on Fire Prevention & Safety, an anomaly that far exceeds any district in the state. Two major unexplained financial anomalies in a single downstate district that is also a member of an insurance pool that accepted double-digit premium increases without market-testing alternatives.

Finding: Per public records reported by Patch: Zeigler Auto Group donated $5,000 to “Keith for Mayor” on August 3, 2020. On September 8, 2020 — 36 days later — the Orland Park Board of Trustees approved a $4.5 million incentive for Zeigler to expand its dealership on 159th Street. Trustee Jim Dodge stated on the record: “The people of Orland Park need to see what they think of him taking this money. Is it legal? Yes. Keith is prospering by Mike Madigan’s rules.” D230, D135, and surrounding school districts lose TIF increment from every commercial incentive on this same corridor for 23-year periods.

Finding: Under 10 ILCS 5/9-8.5(j), a ballot initiative committee is explicitly prohibited from contributing to a candidate political committee. The “Coalition to Cut Taxes” — organized as a ballot initiative committee, with no IRS tax-exempt status, no Illinois AG registration, and no Illinois Department of Revenue records — transferred $300,000 to Sean Morrison’s campaign in two installments (Sep 9 and Nov 7, 2022 — the day before the election). Morrison triggered the unlimited contribution loophole by loaning his own campaign $100,001 on Aug 30. He signed BOTH the donation receipts himself. The remaining $150,540 of the $450,540 received by the shell is UNACCOUNTED. Jennifer Schuster — secretary of the shell — was simultaneously treasurer of the original ballot committee and said she “hasn’t really been involved.” Attorney John Fogarty (Republican National Lawyers Association) never responded to press inquiries. The complaint calls for Morrison to return the $300,000 or face fines of 150% ($450,000).

Finding: Roger Claar ran Bolingbrook as a personal empire for 34 years. He was forced to resign from the Illinois Tollway Authority board in 2000 after collecting $105,000 from tollway vendors who received $170M in contracts he voted for. He ran a private political consulting business (American Consulting Services) while simultaneously serving as mayor — advising corporations that needed approvals from the same government he controlled. He was acquitted of a 1997 DUI when a judge found officers’ testimony “inconsistent.” He was forced to resign from the Wilco Career Center after tens of thousands went missing from soda machines. The Valley View SD 365U auditorium bears his name while his TIF districts captured the school district’s tax base for 23-year periods.

Finding: Rick Heidner co-owns Gold Rush Gaming, the 3rd largest video gaming terminal (VGT) operator in Illinois with machines in nearly 800 locations. He ran for Governor of Illinois in the March 2026 Republican primary (lost to Darren Bailey 54%). As governor, Heidner would have: appointed all Illinois Gaming Board members who regulate his own VGT company; signed or vetoed any gaming legislation affecting his revenue; and controlled the enforcement apparatus for gaming violations. He donated $1.5 million bipartisan to politicians controlling gaming policy over 20 years. His name appeared in the federal search warrant executed on convicted state Senator Martin Sandoval. He partnered in real estate deals with a banking family alleged to have mob ties (Chicago Tribune 2019). A $5M IRS lien was placed on him and his wife in 2022. He donated $25,000 to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after the election to pay down campaign debt and sought a gaming meeting with the mayor.

Federal Lawsuit (O’Grady v. Hastings, N.D. Ill., Jan 2026): 10 counts including First Amendment Retaliation, Civil Conspiracy, Conspiracy to Prevent Voting, Defamation. Sen. Hastings led a “mob” to physically disrupt a rival party’s caucus. Mayor Hastings arrived in a marked police cruiser. Sham affidavits were presented to caucusgoers to capture signatures for fraudulent candidates. Government funds — including bus transport and a videographer — allegedly used. Electoral Board later removed fraudulent Hastings-aligned slate from the ballot.

Sealed Divorce: Will County Circuit Court sealed the ENTIRE Hastings divorce proceeding after Kathleen Hastings reported a 2020 physical altercation. Described as “impounded” by court staff. No explanation given. A state senator chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee has his domestic incident records sealed by Will County courts — with no public accounting of the sealing order.

Finding: Richard Simon owns United Service Companies (formerly United Maintenance). Simon’s business associate Ben Stein has documented connections to reputed organized crime figures. Simon donated $2,500 to Mayor Brandon Johnson on August 21, 2023 — the same single date as four other CPS vendor executives. The donation was returned in November 2023, but United Service received a CPS prime janitorial contract. Rivers Casino hired United Service for security/cleaning; the Illinois Gaming Board fined Rivers $1.65M in 2016. Simon also donated $2,000 in-kind to Anne Burke (Illinois Supreme Court Justice, wife of convicted alderman Ed Burke) in 2007 while United Maintenance held the O’Hare janitorial contract and Ed Burke ensured prompt payment.

Finding: Governor Pritzker personally called TV stations to pull a $1 million advertising campaign by DraftKings and FanDuel criticizing Neil Bluhm. Pritzker has a documented history of joint casino investment with the Bluhm family. Pritzker signed the 2019 gambling expansion bill that locked DraftKings and FanDuel out of the Illinois market for 18 months. Pritzker’s Gaming Board has been described as a “rubber stamp” for the administration. In 2025, Pritzker’s Gaming Board issued a stop-work order halting construction of Bally’s Casino — the ONLY Chicago casino that threatens Rivers Casino’s dominance — after D&P Construction (the same mob-tied waste hauler whose presence killed the Rosemont casino in 2001 and gave Rivers its license) was found providing dumpsters on the Bally’s site.

Finding: The FBI’s investigation of Jeff Tobolski (McCook Mayor + Cook County Commissioner — convicted, 4 years federal prison) documented that Speaker Michael Madigan personally called Tobolski to steer McCook’s village insurance to his son Andrew’s firm at Mesirow. This is the same pattern as D230’s no-RFP insurance placement through Horton/Sandner — different broker, identical mechanism. Mesirow also obtained Lyons village insurance through Tom Sheahan (village manager, brother of Cook County Sheriff — a Madigan ally). Madigan was found GUILTY February 2026 of 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy, and wire fraud. Sentenced to 7.5 years federal prison, $2.5M fine.