Will County Gazette

DuPage Township Trustee Alyssia Benford felt a certain amount of “vindication and redemption” upon seeing a report by the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) that the investigation into former township Supervisor William Mayer over his alleged misuse of general assistance funds is now in the hands of the FBI. Benford first uncovered the alleged abuses more than two years ago. 

“I’m saddened at how Mayer chose to use the general assistance funds outside of what the law stated,” Benford told the Will County Gazette. “Those funds are considered public aid funds. Public aid funds are meant to help those in need that have lost their jobs, need food, shelter and medication.”

On Sept. 23, ECW reported on its website, Illinois Leaks, that it confirmed the Bolingbrook Police Department turned its investigation into Mayer’s alleged misuse of funds and other infractions, over to the FBI.

Alyssia Benford

“This fact is significant as many of the defenders of Mayer have insisted, he did nothing wrong,” wrote ECW’s Kirk Allen and John Kraft. “Mayer's past practices ranging from illegal personal loans, unauthorized health insurance for himself, self-admitted conflicts of interest, and a clear abuse of general assistance funds have been well documented in numerous articles.”

Benford, a certified public accountant, herself became the target of accusations of criminal activity after pressing Mayer on irregularities she discovered in the township’s books back in April 2018. The Will County State’s Attorney later determined that the criminal complaints against her had no merit.

For an earlier story, Benford told the Will County Gazette that the charges were filed “to keep her quiet,” and dissuade her from looking any deeper into Mayer’s questionable financial transactions.

At least one of the complaints against Benford was filed by Trustee Maripat Oliver, ECW reported.

There were also public allegations of wrongdoing by Benford from Mayer and his wife, but ECW said the two never presented evidence to back up the allegations.

Benford said that Oliver and she were allies in the early stages of the investigation into Mayer’s unauthorized spending but later had a falling out over what Benford believed to be resistance by some on the board to fund a local youth football team, the Bolingbrook Buccaneers, made up predominately of African American coaches and players.

“Trustee Oliver has told me in the past that people will refer to me as a ‘coon’ and an 'Uncle Tom' if I ran for another office as a member of the Republican Party," Benford said at the time. "Trustee Oliver also serves on the Children and Family Services Review Board for the state of Illinois. It concerns me that someone with her limited views of race relations would be serving as an elected official or as a governor appointee to a board that protects minors.”

In a statement released after news of the case being turned over to the FBI,  Benford said that “political shenanigans are not unique to Chicago. They happen everywhere. My record of integrity is something I am very proud of. I would gladly take a lie detector test and share the results publicly. The ‘allegator’ who made the complaint cannot swim with the truth.”

Mayer resigned in January 2019.