Oak Brook Village Atty. Ken Kubiesa is threatening to sue two trustees unless they retract statements about his work that his attorney characterized as “false and malicious.”
Kubiesa’s attorney, former DuPage County Board Chairman Aldo Botti, said Trustees Stelios Aktipis and Susan Chase Korin must “refrain from making future defamatory statements.”
Botti sent the letter to Village President Kevin Quinlan and all six of the board’s trustees. Referring to comments about Kubiesa’s work attributed in published reports to Aktipis and Korin, Botti said those remarks “falsely portray Mr. Kubiesa and his law firm as committing illegal and unethical acts.”
Botti said the comments were contained in stories that appeared in three newspapers, including the Tribune. He did not specify the remarks and declined to elaborate on them in an interview.
Botti said the trustees have attacked Kubiesa’s “integrity, honesty and legal abilities.”
He said that the recent formation of a committee to review Kubiesa’s bills, along with the disputed remarks, “appears to be an attempt to attack [Village] President Kevin Quinlan by attacking Mr. Kubiesa.”
Aktipis and Kubiesa declined to comment on the letter, and Korin did not return a call seeking comment.
In an interview, Botti did not give a specific deadline but said the trustees have “a reasonable time” to reply. He said Kubiesa has become “a whipping boy” and Aktipis and Korin are “using their power to defame him.”
“It’s unfair to the attorney to be ridiculed publicly,” Botti added. “He does a fine job with other clients and municipalities.”
Since Kubiesa backed Quinlan over his July 1 appointment of John M. Carpino as acting police chief, trustees have increasingly challenged the attorney’s opinions, criticized what they perceive to be Kubiesa’s lack of responsiveness and questioned his billings.
Quinlan said he does not know whether the trustees defamed Kubiesa, but “what I find disappointing is they want to bring this all up in public. … This is about trying to find political gain and throw mud.”
Quinlan reiterated that he believes the board ought to hire a professional auditor to review Kubiesa’s bills.
“If they want legitimate answers to serious allegations, I think it should be answered by professionals,” he said.
At the board’s meeting Tuesday, Kubiesa told trustees that they were acting illegally in forming the ad hoc committee. He has since said he is mulling whether to cooperate with the panel.
