There was some controversy May 14 when Catherine M. Adduci-Ronan was named to fill the River Forest village clerk chair vacated by newly elected Trustee Susan Conti.
Adduci was confirmed by a 4-2 vote, with trustees Stephen Hoke and Russ Nummer opposed. Their opposition wasn’t based on any concerns regarding any lack of qualifications on Adduci’s part, but rather a lack of information about Adduci.
“The least I can do is get a resume,” said Hoke, who said he received a copy of an “amended” agenda three hours before the meeting, with no resume attached. Hoke said he wasn’t questioning Adduci’s qualifications, but rather the process by which she was confirmed.
The problem arose when then-Trustee Michael O’Connell raised concerns that the new village board should vote on Adduci’s confirmation. The agenda, already e-mailed to current and incoming trustees, was amended. The incoming trustees, however, had not been informed of the nomination and had seen no resume.
Hoke said he had no idea who she was before he was asked to vote on her appointment.
“I get sworn in, then I sit down and they say, ‘Let’s vote on the clerk,'” he said.
Hoke and Nummer recommended tabling the issue until the next board meeting, but President Frank Paris called for a vote. Hoke insisted it’s all about proper procedure.
“If you don’t follow the law, then I’m going to vote no,” he said.
Highly qualified
Process concerns aside, Adduci is clearly qualified. She has worked for Unisys Systems Corporation since graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1980 with degrees in marketing and economics. She later earned an MBA from Loyola University. She was named regional vice president in April 1995, and is currently vice president and general manager for Unisys North Region.
Adduci has a strong background of board service, having served or now serving on the boards of the Chicago Civic Federation, the Chicago Workforce, Chicago Entrepreneurial Center, Illinois Technology Center. She serves on the board of After School Matters under Chairman Maggie Daley and a who’s who of Chicago civic, business and arts leadership.
Her husband, lobbyist Alfred Ronan, also knows a who’s who of political types. A former state representative, Ronan garnered headlines 1993 when he was famously seen handing out campaign contributions to lawmakers just outside of the House chambers in his role as a lobbyist for riverboat gambling interests.
The Sun-Times reported last year that Ronan’s name was on a “clout list” tied to Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office-a charge Blagojevich has denied.
Ronan also had ties to former Gov. George Ryan’s administration, and is close friends with Ryan’s top aide Scott Fawell. Fawell went to prison for 6½ years for his role in the fraudulent McPier dealings.
Friends in high places
Fawell testified in court that he was close friends with Al Ronan, playing golf as many as 50 times a year with him at Ronan’s expense. Fawell also testified that Ronan’s firm-Ronan-Potts, LLC-won a $11.5 contract that was part of the $800 million expansion of Chicago’s McCormick Place after Fawell passed on proprietary pricing information to Ronan. The firm was eventually convicted of mail fraud in connection with bid rigging scheme and agreed to pay a $350,000 fine. Neither Ronan nor former his partner, John Potts, were charged personally with any crime.
In the 1990s, Adduci, herself a registered lobbyist for Unisys, went against another Ryan loyalist, Larry Warner, who was an undeclared lobbyist for Viisage Technology. Fawell testified that he tried to work out a compromise so that Viisage would take the lead on the deal and Unisys would handle the hardware, but that it couldn’t be worked out. Viisage eventually won the contract outright.
“We were trying to have a marriage,” Fawell tesitified. “That way, everybody was happy. Al would get something; everybody would get something.”
