By Illinois Review
Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg, who also serves as the township’s Freedom of Information Act officer, has not produced security-camera footage requested by her election opponent, Republican Cook County Board candidate Liz Gorman, nearly four weeks after the Aug. 25 deadline associated with the request.
Gorman said at a Sept. 8 township meeting that she still had not received the records.
Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, public bodies generally have five business days to respond to a request by producing the records, denying the request in writing or invoking a permissible extension. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the response period or deny the request within five business days is considered a denial under the law.
Hoffenberg, a Democrat, is running against Gorman for the Cook County Board’s 17th District seat. Hoffenberg also appears in the footage at issue, which captures an after-hours encounter between her and Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek on township security cameras.
Gorman initially requested a broad range of footage from July. Hoffenberg rejected that request as “unduly burdensome” and asked that it be narrowed. Gorman then submitted a more specific request seeking any and all first-floor camera footage during designated evening time periods on July 13 and July 16.
Hoffenberg later released a clip showing her and Landek kissing, but Gorman maintains that the released video does not represent everything covered by her request and says additional footage should be produced.
The footage quickly went viral, becoming the most-watched video in Illinois Review history, with more than 1.6 million views across the publication’s Facebook and X accounts. The story also drew national and international attention, with coverage by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, Daily Mail, Hindustan Times and The Times of India, Inside Edition, among others.
Hoffenberg has described the encounter as a brief, inappropriate “peck” and said Landek apologized. She has also portrayed the release as an act of transparency after what she characterized as an extortion attempt by political opponents. Hoffenberg has said she complied with FOIA and released “the video in full.”
Gorman denies making any threat.
“I never spoke to you. Nobody in my campaign has ever spoken to you,” Gorman told Hoffenberg at the Sept. 8 meeting. “I filed my FOIA statements. That’s not extortion. That’s FOIA.”
Hoffenberg’s use of the term “extortion” amounts to an allegation of potentially criminal conduct involving threats or coercion. Illinois law separately criminalizes intimidation when a person, intending to cause another person to act or refrain from acting, communicates certain unlawful threats.
Hoffenberg, an attorney, has not publicly provided evidence establishing that Gorman or her campaign made such a threat.
Gorman also argues that the clip released by Hoffenberg does not satisfy the scope of her records request.
“Any and all does not mean the clerk gets to choose,” Gorman said.
Gorman separately requested access logs showing who downloaded or deleted security-camera files. That request followed Hoffenberg’s allegation that Township Supervisor Christopher Getty had obtained recordings before they went through the FOIA review process. Gorman said those logs have not been provided.
She also said requests for financial records involving the township’s Mental Health Commission, where Hoffenberg serves as president, remain unanswered.
Gorman said her attorney is preparing legal action over the outstanding requests. She said residents could end up paying for the township’s defense if the dispute is litigated.
