IN THE CTRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CTIANCERY DTVISION \'
VICTOR SANTANA "
Plaintiff, v. crrrzENs FoR crAYPooL, ToM BowEN and FORREST CLAYPOOL
Defendants.
PETITION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND PRELIMINARY INJUNC TIO N
Plaintiff, Victor Santana, by and through his attorneys, R. Tamara de Silva and
Jonathan Lubin, respectfullystates his complaint against the Defendants, Citizens for
Claypool, Tom Bowen and Forrest Claypool (hereinafter collectively termed,
"Defendants")as foilows:
1. Plaintiff Victor Santana, ("Plaintiff') is a resident of Cook
County, Illinois. Plaintiffworked at the Cook Gounty_Board",
of Review for approximately ten years as an analyst.
2. Defendant, Citizens for Claypool is ("Clalpool 527") a tax
exempt political organization organized under section 527 of
the Internal Revenue Code. Its purpose is to support the
candidacy of Forrest Clalpool for Cook County Assessor. Clalpool 527 is organized and based in Cook County,
Illinois.
3. Defendant Tom Bowen is the campaign manager for
Clalpool 527 and Forrest Clalpool and is responsiblefor the
communicationsand campaignmaterials of Clalpool 527.
4. Defendant,Forrest Claypool is a candidatefor Cook County
Assessorand is responsiblefor the communications and
campaignmaterials of Claypool 527.
5. Defendant Clalpool is running againstJosephBerrios, currently a
Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review and
Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, for the position
of Cook County Assessorin one of the most contestedelectoral
racesin 2010.
6. On August 16, 2010, Cla;pool 527 launched a website,
wr,r,"wjoeberrios.corn ("Website") in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
and everywherearound the world in which indiiiduals had access
to the world-wide web. The Website claims to pro.rid. an archive
of atl public information on Forrest Claypoolis opponent,Joseph ,;.!i.. Berrios.
7. The Websiteis a weblog, commonly known as a "blog, " consisting
of a seriesof posts listed in chronological order under at times
incendiary and eye-catchingheadlines. 8. One blog post is titled, "Berrios Focus of Ongoing Investigation
into Tax Cuts Traded {ifr'Political Favors." The bullet points
underneaththis headlineare factuallyinaccurate.
9. On August 16, 2010, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and
everyrryherearound the world in which individuals had accessto
the world-wide web, Defendants maliciously, irresponsibly and
wrongfully composed and published on Defendant's website,
r.r.lnvjoeberrios.corp,a website accessibleto millions of people
around the world, the falsestories that 1) Plaintiffwas "invoived in
a schemeto improperly award tax cuts to supportersand donors of
State Rep Paul Froehlich;" and 2) that "inJuly 2009, a grand jury
subpoenaed the Board of Review for tax appea-lcase records
during its investigationinto whether Froehlich and Berrios' former
Board stafler and political consultant,Victor Santana,collaborated
to improperly award tax reductionsto Froehlich'spolitical allies."
ffribune, 7/23/2009, "New Probe of Ta-xAppeals"]"
10. All of the above claims are factually incorrect. t1. Plaintiffwas never the subject of a grand jury subpoena,was not
named in any grand jury subpoenasand was not involved in any
so-calledscheme to "improperly award tax reductions" to political
allies or supportersof State RepresentativePaul Froehlich. The
Defendantspurposefully and maliciouslymade this up. t2. Moreover the source quoted by Cla1pool527, does not support
Claypool 527's assertions)bout a grandjury subpoena.
ta tJ. Defendants'false and unconscionable attack on the reputation and
character of the Plaintiff has in space of minutes and seconds
destroyed a name and reputation the Plaintiff has built over his
career and lifetime. t4. Defendants knew the statements they published in Chicago, Cook
County, Illinois and everyrvhere around the world in which
individuais had accessto the world-wide web, against the Plaintiff
were false. They went ahead with the publication simply because
they knew they could.
15. Plaintiffs counsel informed Defendant Tom Bowen about the
factual inaccuracies on Clalpool 527's Website and also attempted
unsuccessfully, to meet with Defendant Tom Bowen and
Defendant Forrest Clalpool.
16. Defendants aggressively evaded the truth by- failing to check
records readily available to them that would hK, ,ont udicted the "a, .;,i.;1. Defendants had they checked them. What is worse, in a
breathtaking act of intellectual dishonesty, the Defendants
manufactured facts, re-characterized the truth and made up
sources to serve their immediate political goals of sensationa"Iism
and mud slinging towards one of their opponents. t7. Plaintiffwas not named in any grand jury subpoena nor was he the
subject of any grand jury fubpoena at any time.
18. Contrary to the Defendants' desire to make sensationalized
campaign sound-bites by spurious and false publications, the
Piaintiffs career in Cook County as a government and real estate
consultant, has been unsullied by criminal charges involving
political matters. t9. Defendants willful and ongoing publication of false statements
against the Plaintiff cast the Plaintiffin a false light and gave rise to
the false implication that he is engaged in criminal conduct, and
named in a grand jury subpoena, in direct contravention to the
truth and doing irrevocable harm to Plaintiffs reputation, business
and profession.
20. Plaintiff has no adequate legal remedy against the Defendants
ongoing bad actions. No amount of money damages could be as
clear, complete, practical, efficient, equitable- and just as an
injunction. Unless enjoined, Defendants will:m a matter of law-
cause irreparable harm to the Plaintiff
2I. Equity and a balancingof the hardshipsfavors the Plaintiff and not
the Defendants because the Defendant, Clawool 527 is a
committee organized to elect a political candidate to an office in
Cook County government which demands the highest
commitment to candor. honestv and civilized discourse and Plainti{f, who is not a political candidate, and has not opined
publicly about this partieular political race and has no public
forum or financial means to publicly defend himself against this
very public attack, will suffer financially and otherwise becausehe
is caught in the cross-hairsof a powerful candidate's(Defendant
Forrest Clalpool) self-servingand unconscionabledefamations.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfullyrespects that this Honorable Court enter a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction requiring the Defendants to immediately retract all defamatory statements,cease and desist publishing anything defamatory and untrue about the Plaintiff, Victor Santana, and other relief that this
Court deemsjust and equitable.
Respectfullysubm i tted,
Attorney) R. Tamara de Siiva (Attorney #624++45) 53 W.JacksonBlvd., Suite 618 Chicago,Illinois 60604 (3r2)e13-seee
His Attorney)
A1,o..r"u#6297 065)'/ f-r-> t 39 S. LaSalleSt., Suite 1400 Chicago,Illinois 60604 (312)332-7374