Embattled Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski is resigning from the county board and from his post as McCook village president, he said in separate letters Friday.
Tobolski did not say why he’s quitting in his resignation letter to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. His resignation as village president in a letter submitted Friday to McCook Village Clerk Charles Sobus also offered no explanation. Both resignations take effect March 31.
The resignations come less than a month after Tobolski’s chief of staff was charged in a three-count federal indictment for conspiring to pay bribes to a help get red-light cameras installed in Oak Lawn. Tobolski had been forced to give up some leadership posts on the County Board because of a prolonged absence.
FBI agents raided the McCook village headquarters on Sept. 26. The raid came on the same day as federal law enforcement authorities descended on the Village Hall in nearby Lyons and two days after raids on the offices and home of state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat whose district includes both towns.
The operations were part of an ongoing public corruption investigation. The FBI agents were looking for evidence including information about a clout-heavy suburban contractor, a local strip club, the town’s police chief, and heating and air conditioning work done on Tobolski’s home, the Tribune has previously reported. The raid also targeted Tobolski’s computer hard drives and items linked to the village exposition center
Sandoval pleaded guilty in January to bribery and tax charges and has agreed to cooperate in the investigation.
After the raid, Tobolski stopped attending county board and Forest Preserve District meetings and even missed committee meetings that he was supposed to lead. After a nearly three-month absence, Preckwinkle asked him to step down from the committees where he served as chair and he obliged.
Tobolski seemed to return to his duties in December, but offered no comments or explanations about what kept him away. He was present at the February county board meeting.
Calls to Tobolski’s office seeking comment were not immediately returned Friday. His attorney declined to comment.
Tobolski represented Cook County’s 16th District, which includes west suburbs such as Berwyn, Riverside, Bedford Park, Summit, Countryside and McCook.
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella contributed.
Twitter @lollybowean
