A DuPage County ethics commission on Wednesday, July 29, dismissed a complaint against a forest preserve commissioner for wearing her government name pin at a political event. The same conduct got Elmhurst Alderman Guido Nardini flagged last fall while he was collecting petition signatures for his County Board campaign.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County's ethics commission cleared District 5 Commissioner Barbara O'Meara after watchdog Edgar Pal filed a complaint alleging she wore her official name pin to the York Township Democratic Organization's St. Patrick's Dinner in Lombard. Pal also cited a similar instance at a campaign event in Lombard last July.

Ethics commission chairman Randon Gardley wrote in a letter to forest preserve officials that Pal's complaint was "legally insufficient" to proceed, according to Patch. The commission offered no detailed reasoning for the dismissal.

Pal told Patch the lack of explanation was troubling, saying administrative agencies in Illinois are typically expected to include detailed reasoning so the public understands how ethics issues should be handled.

The Elmhurst connection

The ruling matters locally because Nardini, who is running for the DuPage County Board as a Democrat, was flagged for the same conduct on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. He posted a Facebook photo of himself wearing his City of Elmhurst alderman pin while gathering petition signatures door-to-door.

Under Elmhurst's city code, which mirrors Illinois state law, officials are barred from misappropriating any public property for the benefit of a campaign or political organization. A government-issued name pin qualifies as public property under that rule.

Nardini acknowledged the mistake. "I wore a name tag because I'm a stranger walking up to people's doors, and it helps me to introduce myself. It was a mistake," he told Patch in October 2025. He removed the photo from Facebook and said he would use a pin without the city seal going forward.

Unlike Nardini, O'Meara has not responded to media inquiries since Patch first reported on her name-pin issue in April 2026.

Pattern across DuPage

Pal has documented the same conduct by multiple officials over the past year. DuPage County Board member Andrew Honig, a Democrat whose district includes much of Elmhurst, faced a similar complaint for wearing his official county pin at a campaign fundraiser in September 2025. Forest Preserve District 2 Commissioner Tina Tyson-Dunne stayed silent when asked in December 2025 about wearing her government-issued name tag to political events. All four officials identified by Pal are Democrats.

What's next

O'Meara faces Republican Michael Farmer in the November 2026 general election for the District 5 Forest Preserve seat. No further ethics commission proceedings have been announced, and the ruling closes the complaint with no penalty and no public explanation of where the line falls between an official's identity and prohibited political use of government property.