West Suburban Bureau

Aurora Official Under Fire Over 'Warning' E-Mail

Manny Maysonet Personally Sent Out 'Health Warning' About Restaurant

AURORA, Ill. (Aurora Beacon News) ― Manny Maysonet calls it "just a bad day all around," and he hopes people can move on from it.

But in the wake of a widely circulated e-mail Maysonet sent warning people away from a well-known downtown business, one alderman in far west suburban Aurora is calling for him to be fired.

Last week, Maysonet, the assistant director of the Aurora Economic Development Commission, ate lunch at Walter Payton's Roundhouse on Broadway. According to Maysonet, he discovered two live flies in his salad, and though he eventually got his meal free, he decided to call the Kane County Health Department to investigate.

He then used his city e-mail address to send a warning to hundreds of city employees.

Under the heading "HEALTH WARNING," Maysonet wrote that the Health Department would be conducting an "on-site investigation" into complaints of flies in the meals. "Please stay away until the Kane County Health Department issues their findings," Maysonet wrote.

"I did it just as an FYI, as a heads-up," Maysonet said. "I didn't want anyone to have a bad experience there."

Maysonet said he did not expect his e-mail to travel as widely as it has. But Scott Ascher, owner of the Roundhouse, said he began to receive calls about the issue later that same day, from regular customers concerned that he had been shut down.

Ascher said he didn't know anything about Maysonet's e-mail until the next morning, when Vic Mead of the Health Department showed up for a surprise inspection. Health Department officials gave the Roundhouse high marks -- 90 out of 100, and "minimal" flies, according to their reports.

Tom Schlueter, spokesman for the Health Department, confirmed the inspection was in response to a complaint from Maysonet, the only such complaint the Roundhouse has received in the five years for which the department has records.

Within hours of Maysonet hitting the send key on his computer, city officials moved to rescind the e-mail and distance themselves from Maysonet's statements. Bill Wiet, chief of staff for Mayor Tom Weisner, sent an e-mail to city employees, saying the city did not approve of or endorse Maysonet's statements.

Maysonet sent another mass e-mail himself the next day, saying that even though he used his city e-mail address, the statements were his and his alone.

But two days after sending his first e-mail, Maysonet replied to Mead regarding the inspection at the Roundhouse, again from his city e-mail address. "Thank you, Vic," he wrote. "Keep us posted."

Though neither Maysonet nor city officials will confirm it, declining to comment on personnel and disciplinary issues, sources said Maysonet has been suspended for misusing the city's e-mail system.

Alderman Rick Lawrence said he was informed of Maysonet's suspension by city attorney Alayne Weingartz. Lawrence believes that's not nearly enough punishment and wants Maysonet gone.

"He's obviously damaged his credibility and his ability to represent the city," Lawrence said. "He should be fired, and the mayor should call Scott [Ascher] and apologize."

For Lawrence, it's not about abusing the city e-mail system. It's about an economic development official doing harm to a flourishing city business, which he called one of the best assets in Aurora's downtown. He said a "slap on the wrist" shows that the city "doesn't understand what economic development means."

Lawrence and Ascher are friends and, in fact, Ascher hosted Lawrence's mayoral campaign kickoff event at the Roundhouse in May. But Lawrence said he would be calling for Maysonet's dismissal even without that friendship.

Ascher said he has turned the matter over to his attorneys, and he echoed Lawrence's sentiments regarding Maysonet.

"This shows this guy has no idea what he's supposed to be doing," Ascher said. "This is not the job for him."

Maysonet countered that this incident has not damaged his ability to bring economic development to the city, and said his professionalism and true value to the city can be seen in every project he's working on at AEDC.

Though he admitted to a lapse in judgment, he challenged Lawrence and Ascher to "keep their eyes on the bigger picture."

"I welcome them to have a dialogue about my work performance and the great qualities I bring to the AEDC," Maysonet said. "I invite them to sit down and have a real dialogue about my overall qualifications and encourage them to bring their solutions to economic development."

(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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