Will County Judge Derek Ewanic will issue a verdict on Monday whether Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere is guilty of misdemeanor computer tampering for accessing another board member’s email without permission.
Traynere, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, testified for about 90 minutes Thursday.
Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat, told the judge she overheard a conversation March 5, 2024 at the county building in Joliet that all board members were given the same password when they received laptops that January.
She tested the rumor at about 9 a.m. March 6, 2024, shortly after she arrived to the DuPage Township offices where she worked as an administrator.
Traynere testified she never expected to open County Board Chair Judy Ogalla’s email account with the password she was given for her account. She said she was in Ogalla’s email about “10 seconds” and quickly closed the browser.
“It scared me,” Traynere testified Thursday. “I was flabbergasted, scared that this actually worked.”
At 9:02 a.m.,Traynere contacted the county’s information technology department, saying it was a violation of security protocols that everyone had the same password. Passwords are supposed to be unique and complicated, she said. Traynere also left a voicemail with County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, who oversees county departments, letting her know of the password problem.
“If I could see (Ogalla’s) email, she could see mine,” Traynere testified. “I think it’s absurd everyone has the same (password.)”
Traynere’s attorneys, Colin “CJ’ Haney and Jeff Tomczak, said she was “sounding the alarm” that everyone had a generic password, and it was not a criminal act. Since the incident occurred, everyone has a unique password, the attorneys said.
“Commissioner Traynere sounded the alarm, and she was punished for it,” Haney said. “She was the whistleblower.”
Special prosecutor William Elward, however, argued Traynere is intelligent and sophisticated and was trying to gain a political advantage, noting Ogalla is a Republican while Traynere is a Democrat.
“She tripped the alarm,” Elward said.
Tomczak said politics is not relevant to the case.
Elward argued that in the afternoon March 6, 2024, Traynere returned to Ogalla’s email, saw a message from Homer Glen Republican Steve Balich and forwarded it to both the county executive and herself. The message from Balich to Ogalla contained strategy on how the County Board should act on the 143rd Street widening project through Homer Glen, which was a contentious issue.
Elward said the two board members had differing positions on the road widening project and Traynere was trying to get a political advantage to see what the opposition was thinking.
“They are political opponents,” Elward said.
Traynere testified that after she initially opened Ogalla’s email at 9 a.m., she closed the computer and resumed work. Shortly before a 1 p.m. lunch appointment, she reopened her computer to check her email, and saw Balich sent a message.
Traynere testified that she believed she was in her own account and she forwarded Balich’s message to Bertino-Tarrant. She also forwarded it to herself in case Balich would recall it later and to ensure it would stay on top of her inbox.
At the time, Traynere was the County Board’s Democratic leader, Balich was the Republican leader, and Ogalla was the County Board chair.
Traynere then began deleting some emails.
Shortly thereafter, Traynere testified that she saw Ogalla’s initials, JO, at the top of her screen and realized Ogalla’s email account was still open. Traynere said she tried to clean up her mistake by retrieving messages from the trash folder.
“If I make a mistake … I try to clean it up,” Traynere said. “I tried to put everything back the way I found it.”
Traynere estimated she was in Ogalla’s email for just over a minute. She said she then logged out of the email and went to lunch.
After lunch, Traynere said she called Ogalla to let her know about the situation.
When asked if she ever intended to view Ogalla’s emails, Traynere responded no.
Haney said it was a “reasonable mistake” for Traynere to log into the email account later and assume it was her own.
If Traynere were trying to use opponents’ emails as a political advantage, she wouldn’t have alerted county staff and Ogalla, Haney said.
He said there was no intent to harm, and the county is better protected because of Traynere’s actions.
“No secrets. No cover up. Just transparency,” Haney said.
Elward argued Traynere’s story changed from “testing” a theory about the same passwords to being “curious.”
Ogalla never authorized Traynere to enter her email, and Traynere tried to cover up her actions, Elward said.
“She left muddy footprints,” he said.
Traynere was the only person who testified Thursday. Ogalla and Bertino-Tarrant testified Tuesday, as did County Board member Mark Revis, a Plainfield Republican, and Jason Donisch, the director of the county’s Information, Communication and Technology Department.
Ogalla said she was upset Traynere accessed her email account.
Donisch said board members had the same passwords since at least 2012.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
