By Illinois Review
Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg was a no-show Tuesday night at a Lemont Democratic meet-and-greet where she had been promoted as the event’s “Special Guest” – marking the second public event she has skipped since the Kiss Cam scandal erupted.
Hoffenberg, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board District 17, was prominently featured on a flyer for the September 1 event hosted by Lemont Township Democratic Committeeman Brendon Stark and the Lemont Democrats.
But when voters gathered Tuesday evening, Hoffenberg did not appear.
Her absence follows another no-show just days earlier.
On August 27 – the same day surveillance footage of Hoffenberg and Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek kissing inside her taxpayer-funded township office was released publicly – Hoffenberg and Landek were both scheduled as special guests at a “Family Pizza Night.”
Neither attended.
The repeated absences come as Hoffenberg faces an increasingly difficult political problem: prominent Democrats in her own backyard are now publicly challenging her credibility.
In a Patch report published Tuesday, Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes directly accused Hoffenberg of lying after she claimed Township Supervisor Christopher Getty rarely appears at the township office.
Hynes told Patch that Getty does show up and accused Hoffenberg of lying before declining further questions.
Getty also disputed Hoffenberg’s claims, telling Patch that he is on township duty “around the clock,” frequently works from township hall and spends time throughout the township meeting with residents, business owners and local officials.
The dispute carries particular political weight because Hynes and Getty are two of the area’s most established and successful Democratic political figures – and members of Hoffenberg’s own party.
Hynes defeated two-term incumbent Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi in the March Democratic primary, winning approximately 52 percent of the countywide vote. In suburban Cook County, Hynes defeated Kaegi 154,877 to 119,912 – demonstrating significant political strength well beyond his Lyons Township home base.
Getty, meanwhile, has long been a dominant political figure in the Village of Lyons and serves as Lyons Township supervisor.
For Hoffenberg, the political danger is becoming difficult to ignore.
She is running for the Cook County Board while skipping advertised public appearances at the same time established political figures in her own community are openly disputing her claims – and, in Hynes’ case, accusing her of lying.
Hoffenberg has accused Getty of surveilling her and using government resources for personal and political purposes. She also suggested Getty worked with Republican Cook County Board candidate Liz Gorman regarding the surveillance video.
Getty has denied wrongdoing.
Hoffenberg stopped responding to Patch after saying she had retained an attorney over what she described as “extensive harassment.”
Meanwhile, questions surrounding the Kiss Cam controversy remain unanswered.
Hoffenberg described the encounter with Landek as a “peck” and a “lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment.” The released footage shows Landek placing both hands on her face before kissing her on the lips inside her government office after hours.
Now another question is emerging for voters: Where is Elyse Hoffenberg?
Twice since the controversy erupted, she has been advertised as a guest at public events.
Twice, she has failed to appear.
And with Election Day approaching, repeatedly missing advertised public appearances while influential local Democrats challenge her credibility may become a political problem far larger than the two-second kiss that started it all.
