Daily Southtown (Sunday)

Commission­er Tobolski resigns from posts

Announceme­nt comes months after FBI raid of offices

- By Lolly Bowean Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella contribute­d. lbowean @chicagotri­bune.com

Embattled Cook County Commission­er Jeffrey Tobolski is resigning from the county board and from his post as McCook village president, he said in separate letters Friday.

Tobolski did not say why he’s quitting in his resignatio­n letter to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkl­e.

His resignatio­n as village president in a letter submitted Friday to McCook Village Clerk Charles Sobus also offered no explanatio­n. Both resignatio­ns take effect March 31.

The resignatio­ns come less than a month after Tobolski’s chief of staff was charged in a three-count federal indictment for conspiring to pay bribes to a help get red-light cameras installed in Oak Lawn. Tobolski had been forced to give up some leadership posts on the County Board because of a prolonged absence.

FBI agents raided the McCook village headquarte­rs on Sept. 26. The raid came on the same day

Jeffrey Tobolski is resigning from the Cook County board and as McCook village president. as federal law enforcemen­t evidence including informatio­n authoritie­s descended on about a clout-heavy the Village Hall in nearby suburban contractor, a local Lyons and two days after strip club, the town’s police raids on the offices and chief, and heating and air home of state Sen. Martin conditioni­ng work done on Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat Tobolski’s home, the Tribune whose district includes has previously reported. both towns. The raid also targeted

The operations were part Tobolski’s computer of an ongoing public corruption hard drives and items investigat­ion. The linked to the village exposition FBI agents were looking for center

Sandoval pleaded guilty in January to bribery and tax charges and has agreed to cooperate in the investigat­ion.

After the raid, Tobolski stopped attending county board and Forest Preserve District meetings and even missed committee meetings that he was supposed to lead. After a nearly threemonth absence, Preckwinkl­e asked him to step down from the committees where he served as chair and he obliged.

Tobolski seemed to return to his duties in December, but offered no comments or explanatio­ns about what kept him away. He was present at the February county board meeting.

Calls to Tobolski’s office seeking comment were not immediatel­y returned Friday. His attorney declined to comment.

Tobolski represente­d Cook County’s 16th District, which includes west suburbs such as Berwyn, Riverside, Bedford Park, Summit, Countrysid­e and McCook.

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ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

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