A married Illinois official has released surveillance footage showing her kissing a local mayor — an exchange she maintains was nothing more than a “non-romantic peck.”
Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg, 51, was recorded sharing a brief, two-second kiss with Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek, 70, inside the township clerk’s office on July 13.
The surveillance video, first published by the Chicago Tribune, shows the two smiling and deep in conversation as they move into view of the camera.
Moments later, Landek turns toward Hoffenberg, places his hands on either side of her face and kisses her on the lips.
Hoffenberg, a married mother, appears to tilt her head back during the brief kiss and continues smiling after it ends.
The pair then keep talking as they walk out of the camera’s frame, with Landek appearing to move ahead first.
Hoffenberg, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Cook County Commissioner, has described the moment as a “lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment among colleagues.”
She told Our News Outlet that she chose to make the footage public “in the interest of transparency” after, she said, “my political opponents attempted to extort me regarding this video.”
Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg with her lawyer husband Jeff, both 51. The couple have multiple children together
Hoffenberg was caught on surveillance camera exchanging a quick two-second kiss with Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek, 70, at the township clerk’s office on July 13
Landek placed his hands on both sides of her face and planted a kiss on her lips
Hoffenberg says that immediately after the mayor kissed her, she told him the gesture was ‘inappropriate and unprofessional,’ she told Patch.
Landek then apologized, she added.
She is married to Jeff Hoffenberg, 51. He is a managing partner at Chicago-based law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC and a commissioner on the Village of La Grange Plan Commission, his professional biography states.
The pair are understood to have multiple children together.
Although her political campaign emphasizes a commitment to ‘working families,’ the couple keep their family life private, meaning specific details about their children’s ages and genders were not immediately available.
Hoffenberg has now accused Republican Liz Gorman, who is running against her for a Cook County Board seat, of a dirty tricks campaign.
She also accused her Democrat colleague, Lyons Township supervisor Chris Getty, of leaking information about the video to Gorman after he allegedly improperly accessed the surveillance footage.
Hoffenberg alleges her opponents told her they would ‘drop their threats to release [the video] if I end my campaign.’
Footage of the incident shows the pair smiling and engrossed in conversation before the kiss
After the kiss, the pair continued to smile and talk as they walked out of frame, with Landek seemingly leading the way
‘My political opponents attempted to extort me regarding this video, saying they would drop their threats to release it if I end my campaign,’ she told Our News Outlet. ‘I am certain that our community will find this kind of old school politics of harassment abhorrent, and I won’t be bullied.
‘While the video lacks proper context to make it clear what is happening, what it shows is a lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment among colleagues.’
Hoffenberg did not offer further detail on what ‘additional context’ she claims was missing.
She added: ‘I am staying focused on my campaign to bring strong leadership to this community, and I look forward to continuing this work.’
Gorman has denied the allegations, telling Our News Outlet: ‘I categorically deny that I extorted Elyse Hoffenberg. I have never spoken with Elyse or anyone from her campaign about this matter, and I have never demanded anything from her in exchange for not releasing or doing anything with the video.’
The scandal erupted after Gorman filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request on August 13 to obtain a copy of the video, the newspaper reported.
She requested all footage captured in the township clerk’s office from July 6 through July 20 between 1pm and 8pm, according to Patch.
She included Getty, a Democrat running for Congress as an independent, in her FOIA request.
The scandal erupted after Hoffenberg’s political opponent Liz Gorman, left, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request on August 13 to obtain a copy of the video. She included Lyons Township supervisor Chris Getty, right, in her FOIA request
Gorman told Our News Outlet she copied him on her request because Hoffenberg, who handles FOIA requests for the township, was directly involved in the matter, creating an ‘obvious concern about a conflict of interest.’
Hoffenberg denied the request, alleging it was ‘unduly burdensome’ and involved more than 100 hours of footage from multiple cameras. She asked Gorman to narrow her request.
That’s when Gorman filed a separate request asking for footage from July 13, between 5pm and 7pm, and July 16 from 4.30pm to 7pm.
Hoffenberg, surprised by the specificity of Gorman’s request, suspected that someone had accessed the footage without authorization.
She alleged the township’s camera told her that Getty had downloaded five recordings within the window requested by Gorman.
Hoffenberg filed a complaint with the Illinois attorney general’s office on Sunday requesting an investigation into the alleged leak, the newspaper reported.
Her complaint was filed after three township trustees had called for an emergency meeting in which they planned to vote on an independent investigation into allegations of surveillance, harassment and political harassment.
The meeting was scheduled for Monday night, but canceled late that morning. The reason for the cancellation is unclear.
Hoffenberg, who is running for Cook County Commissioner as a Democrat, claims the kiss was a ‘lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment among colleagues’
She further claimed that immediately after the mayor kissed her, she told him the gesture was ‘inappropriate and unprofessional.’ Landek, above, then apologized, she added
Gorman said she only received a ‘cherry picked’ version of the surveillance footage Friday morning, after Hoffenberg had shared it with the Tribune. She added that she is still waiting for ‘several other FOIAs’ to be fulfilled.
Getty, who denies leaking information to Gorman, told the Tribune that he encouraged Hoffenberg to turn the footage over after he was first copied on the FOIA request.
‘There’s no truth to that at all,’ he said of Hoffenberg’s allegations. ‘I’ve advised her all along: You must comply with producing these public documents, and I view these as public documents.’
Our News Outlet has approached Landek and Getty for comment.
