By:  Diane Benjamin

I filed a FOIA request for all Statements of Economic Interests filed by candidates in 2017 with the County Clerk’s office.

This is the file I received:  candidates SEI 2017 filings

I compared the people who filed the SEI with the candidate list on the County Clerk’s website:  http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10946

Only one candidate is missing:  Rebecca McNeil – County Treasurer.  She was not required to file with her petitions because her SEI is already on-line and filed in 2017:  http://seionline.mcleancountyil.gov/public/PublicSEI.aspx

Some of the candidates left the questions blank.  How is the public supposed to know if the candidate refused to answer or they really meant N/A?

Before the March primary, the public deserves to know what’s on these forms.  A Statement of Economic Interest isn’t required just to generate more paperwork.  They are required so voters believe the people running for office have enough ethics to disclose the truth.

Precinct committeemen are not required to file, some did anyway.

Check out what was filed for yourself.  Since I don’t know every person who filed, let me know if you see any problems with the filings.   The interests of a spouse also need to be disclosed:

 (5 ILCS 420/4A-102) (from Ch. 127, par. 604A-102) 
    Sec. 4A-102. The statement of economic interests required by this Article shall include the economic interests of the person making the statement as provided in this Section. The interest (if constructively controlled by the person making the statement) of a spouse or any other party, shall be considered to be the same as the interest of the person making the statement. Campaign receipts shall not be included in this statement.