Lyons Township Kiss Video Target Of Lawsuit; Failure To Release Records Alleged

COUNTRYSIDE, IL – The controversy over Lyons Township's kiss video has made its way to court.

On Sept. 28, conservative group Judicial Watch sued the township. The lawsuit said officials failed to turn over an expanded surveillance video and correspondence about it.

In an Oct. 21 letter, the township's elected clerk, Elyse Hoffenberg, told Judicial Watch's lawyer that she discovered that the group's request had been "inadvertently overlooked." She said she regretted that.

"The delay was unintentional and was not the result of any deliberate attempt to withhold responsive public records, obstruct access to government information or interfere with your client's statutory rights," she said.

She provided Judicial Watch with records; they didn't appear to represent anything noteworthy. It was unclear when the lawsuit was served to the township.

In August, Patch broke the news about the existence of footage of Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek, a longtime Democratic Party boss, kissing Hoffenberg, a Democrat.

According to the lawsuit, Judicial Watch filed a public records request with the township for the published video, but asked for one extra minute on each side of the time frame.

The group also sought correspondence between the township's elected supervisor, Christopher Getty, and township personnel about the video and between Getty and Liz Gorman, Hoffenberg's Republican opponent for the Cook County Board in Tuesday's election.

Additionally, Judicial Watch asked for any records of the video's downloads.

The township did not respond to the records request, violating the law, according to the lawsuit.

Judicial Watch asked Cook County Court to mandate release of the documents.

As the clerk, Hoffenberg handles such requests, a process governed by the state's Freedom of Information Act.

In August, Gorman filed the original request for the video containing the kiss. She picked short time spans on a couple of early evenings in July.

That sparked a township dispute. Hoffenberg accused Getty of surveilling her and informing her political opponent of the video. She also filed a report with La Grange police. Getty denied the allegations.

Gorman has not said who tipped her off.

The video is without sound. Hoffenberg told Patch in August that she immediately informed Landek that the kiss was inappropriate. Landek has not returned messages for comment.