DuPage County Board member and former Elmhurst mayor Peter DiCianni resigned as chairman of the county’s Health and Human Services Committee after several hours of criticism of his behavior at a pro-police rally in Elmhurst and his vulgar response to an email.
The majority of people who spoke at the July 14 county board meeting or sent in comments expressed from disappointment to disgust at what they saw in a video taken June 27 and posted on social media.
DiCianni, who was not wearing a mask, is shown yelling in the face of counter-protesters, said people who saw the video.
At the July 14 meeting, DiCianni said he made a mistake. He removed his mask so he could be better heard, which was “a lapse in judgment,” he said.
“My own passion and emotions admittedly got the best of me when I was met with hostility for supporting the fine men and women of the Elmhurst Police Department,” DiCianni said.
Elmhurst resident Lauren Sussman emailed DiCianni saying she was disappointed in his actions outside the Elmhurst police station because it showed a lack of empathy and made Black people feel unwelcome. She called for his resignation.
DiCianni soon emailed his reply, “Go stick you vote in your a**. I stood up for my cops today,” per an article in Elmhurst Patch.com.
DiCianni acknowledged that was, “certainly not my finest moment and something I regret.”
But DiCianni said he will not apologize for standing up for Elmhurst police officers.
“Showing support for our police officers does not equate to being against equality for people of color,” DiCianni said.
The majority of people who commented said public officials must show respect for individuals, even those who disagree with them, and the fact that DiCianni ignored health experts’ guidelines to wear a mask and practice social distancing in a large crowd shows he is not fit to lead the Health and Human Services Committee.
“We require our elected officials to act in a professional manner,” said Philip Buchanan of Naperville. “When our officials make poor decisions or exhibit inappropriate or unacceptable behavior, they need to be held accountable. Censure member Pete DiCianni now,” Buchanan, treasurer of the Naperville Township Democrats, said.
Censure is a board’s public disapproval of one of its members or their actions, but does not remove that person from the board.
Two members of the DuPage County Board also asked that DiCianni be censured, said County Board Chairman Dan Cronin. But “a more meaningful and consequential course of action” would be to remove him as chairman of the health and human services committee.
DiCianni, a Republican, abided by that request and stepped down at the meeting, saying it was very difficult for him because the committee is “near and dear to me.” DiCianni said he has helped people get access to medical care and fought for Medicaid relief for the working poor.
Some of his constituents at the county board meeting talked about how he had helped them.
His college roommate, Neal Gallo, too, spoke highly of DiCianni.
“I have seen him act under duress many, many times,” Gallo said. “I don’t think this is a racial issue. . . . Pete has lived a life that is accepting and he had gotten that from his parents who are the most open-minded people I ever met in my life.”
“Pete will go out of his way to help absolutely anybody at any time of the day and night,” Gallo said. “The man’s life shouldn’t be encapsulated in a moment, maybe of heat.”
Cronin acknowledged, “We all understand that everyone makes mistakes, but what I have seen in just the past few days cannot be chalked up to passion for an issue. It is simply willful disregard of the truth and the intentional spread of false information and putting others’ health at risk for the purpose of self-promotion.”
Cronin was referring to an automated phone message that he said was sent from DiCianni to residents the Sunday before the board meeting encouraging them to attend and implying the board was considering reducing law enforcement budgets and manpower.
“This is simply false,” Cronin said. Encouraging people to attend the meeting brought large numbers of people together in the county building during a pandemic when people are advised to practice social distancing whenever possible, he said.
Had DiCianni simply apologized for acting inappropriately immediately after the June 27 protest and email, “That probably would have ended it,” Cronin said. Instead, DiCianni “stoked division,” he said.
DiCianni disagreed that funding police departments had not been discussed at the county level.
There was a very vocal discussion about reprioritizing the law enforcement budget towards community services at the June 9 Finance Committee meeting, DiCianni said.
He also said police officers from local municipalities and the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office had assisted at Black Lives Matter demonstrations a few weeks earlier without any counter protesters.
“Unfortunately that same courtesy given to Black Lives Matter supporters was not given to our police officers and their family,” DiCianni said. “Instead they were met in front of the Elmhurst Police Station by counter protesters armed with megaphones and hatred towards our cops.”
DiCianni represents District 2 in the county, which includes all or portions of Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Hinsdale, Naperville, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace and Westmont, plus other areas.
Clarification: The majority of people who spoke at the July 14 county board meeting voiced support for Peter DiCianni, and the majority of comments read into the record objected to his actions during the Black Lives Matter rally.
