Overview
- Surveillance video recorded on July 13 shows Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg being kissed by Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek inside the clerk’s office, and Hoffenberg publicly released a clip of the encounter late this month.
- Hoffenberg says she released the tape after opponents threatened to divulge it unless she ended her campaign, a claim she describes as extortion and that she used the release to get ahead of the threat.
- Republican rival Liz Gorman had filed an open-records request for the township footage after receiving a tip, and she has denied Hoffenberg’s allegation that she demanded anything in exchange for withholding the video.
- Hoffenberg has accused Township Supervisor Chris Getty of leaking or trying to delete the footage; Getty’s lawyer has denied those claims and township officials have discussed, but not committed to, an outside review.
- The episode has focused attention on whether public surveillance installed at taxpayer expense was used for private interactions, complicated Hoffenberg’s Cook County Board campaign, and drawn scrutiny to her family ties including her husband’s profile as a Chicago law firm partner.