Opinion ID: 2998217
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Del Re’s Campaign for Sheriff

Text: In 1996, Sheriff Grinnell retired, and the county board appointed Undersheriff Gary Del Re as Grinnell’s replacement for the remainder of the term. When Del Re assumed the helm as Grinnell’s replacement, he delegated responsibility for all towing matters to Gary Stryker, his replacement as undersheriff. In 1997, Del Re kicked off a campaign to be elected sheriff in his own right. Del Re duly formed a 4 Nos. 04-1978 & 05-1033 campaign committee that included Stryker and several others. The committee was officially in charge of obtaining campaign contributions for Del Re and for filing all required disclosure forms. Del Re also enlisted the services of Tom Crichton, a real estate broker, who had extensive experience (including fund raising) in various political campaigns in Lake County and statewide. During the campaign, Crichton introduced Del Re, who was relatively new to Lake County, to various business owners in the county. The parties dispute whether Del Re’s meet-and-greets were for the purpose of soliciting campaign funds.2 Of the businesses Del Re visited, only three of them 2 Of course, we construe all facts and draw all reasonable inferences in Roger’s favor. McDonald v. Vill. of Winnetka, 371 F.3d 992, 1001 (7th Cir. 2004). We take this opportunity, however, to note that Roger repeatedly violated Local Rule 56.1 of the Northern District of Illinois in the manner in which he contested summary judgment in the court below. As we have often pointed out, L.R. 56.1 and similar rules assist the district court by “organizing the evidence, identifying undisputed facts, and demonstrating precisely how each side proposed to prove a disputed fact with admissible evidence.” Bordelon v. Chi. Sch. Reform Bd. of Trs., 233 F.3d 524, 527 (7th Cir. 2000) (citation omitted). It is not the duty of the district court to scour the record in search of material factual disputes, nor is it ours. See Carter v. Am. Oil Co., 139 F.3d 1158, 1163 (7th Cir. 1998); United States v. Dunkel, 927 F.2d 955, 956 (7th Cir. 1991) (“Judges are not like pigs, hunting for truffles buried in” the record.). Roger took the wrong approach—in several egregious examples, Roger denies certain of the defendants’ factual assertions by citation to all 244 paragraphs of his own statement of facts. Roger also repeatedly responds to factual assertions with conclusory allegations that the statements are “fabrications.” Needless to say, this does not cut it. It is true, as Roger blithely reminds us, that this court’s duty is to review the entire record. (continued...) Nos. 04-1978 & 05-1033 5 were towing operators—Ray’s Shell, A-Tire, and Max Johnson’s Auto Center. Johnson’s was a used car dealership that provided the sheriff’s department with a number of vehicles for use in undercover investigations. Johnson’s was also a backup tower for the sheriff’s department and not on the approved list. Roger initially supported Del Re’s campaign for sheriff. In February 1998, however, Roger decided to switch his support to Willie Smith, Del Re’s challenger in the primary election. Roger’s change of heart came about following a conversation with another towing operator, Ernie Vole. Vole passed on a rumor that Wildwood Towing Service “had the ear of Sheriff Del Re” and was working to exclude Roger’s from a new towing area coming open due to an operator being dropped from the list. According to the rumor, Del Re had planned to split the new territory between Roger’s and Wildwood, but Wally Herman, Wildwood’s owner, convinced Del Re to “screw” Roger’s and give Wildwood the entire territory. Shortly after his conversation with Vole, Roger contacted Undersheriff Stryker and asked about the rumors. Stryker denied them as “nonsense,” but Roger was not convinced. He also believed that Willie Smith had a decent shot of winning the election and would be more accessible than Del Re, who, Roger believed, didn’t “like to return his phone 2 (...continued) But de novo review does not mean that we must make and support the parties’ arguments for them, even if the district court did not take Roger to task for failure to follow L.R. 56.1. It is the parties’ duty to package, present, and support their arguments, and we shall not waste our time searching in vain for a dispute of material fact if we come across a factual contention or denial not adequately supported in the record by citation to admissible evidence. Cf. Albrechtsen v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Wis. Sys., 309 F.3d 433, 436 (7th Cir. 2002). 6 Nos. 04-1978 & 05-1033 calls and stuff like that.” Thereafter, Roger attended several fund raisers for Smith. Smith promised Roger that he would be “fair” in towing area distributions, which Roger interpreted to mean that Smith would “divvy” the new towing area between Roger’s and Wildwood. Roger donated $500 to Smith for his primary challenge. Roger also lent Smith a van from his shop at no charge for use in campaigning. A- Tire and Ernie’s Wrecker Service (owned by Vole), both on the approved list, also supported Smith and donated money to his primary campaign ($1000 and $500, respectively). Later, Roger informed Undersheriff Stryker that he and his brother Randy (who owned Whitmore’s Service, another approved tow operator) had decided to support Smith. Stryker expressed disappointment with the brothers’ decision. Unfortunately for Smith and his backers, however, Del Re won the primary election in April 1998. Shortly thereafter, in June 1998, Roger donated $250 to Del Re’s general election campaign. Other Smith backers, including A-Tire, Ernie’s Wrecker Service, and Roger’s brother, did likewise, contributing various sums. Del Re went on to win the general election in November of 1998, and towing matters proceeded as normal for the remainder of 1998. Roger’s continued to tow for the sheriff’s department as it had before, and for a while, Roger did not notice any difference in the way his company was being treated by the department.