Mary Jo Kilcullen, the Indialantic town council member recently accused of being a carpetbagger, can thank Rahm Emanuel for retaining her council post in Indialantic.
Town attorney, Paul R. Gougelman, who investigated the charge, used Emanuel’s run for mayor in 2011 as one of the points favoring Kilcullen’s residency in Indialantic. Emanuel moved to Washington, D.C., from Jan. 2009 to Oct. 2010, and returned to Chicago for the mayoral run. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled he was still a resident despite not living in Chicago for 12 months prior to the election.
Gougelman began his investigation following receipt of a packet from resident Lori Halbert, who contended Kilcullen was living in White Plains, New York. Halbert delivered a scathing accusation at the March council meeting that was forcefully denied by Kilcullen.
The new councilwoman acknowledged she often travelled back to White Plains in 2015 and 2016 after her now former husband, Matt, accepted a position as Director of Athletics at Mercy College, but said she remained an Indialantic resident.
For Gougelman, the issue came down to intent. “If you maintain [Florida] voter registration while spending time in Princeton, New Jersey, for example, you can still declare residency here. Same thing applies if you are with the military. I looked at where Kilcullen is registered to vote. That became important. If she is registered to vote in New York, she can’t register to vote here. She is not registered to vote in New York. Her intent was always to come back here.”
During her stays in New York, Kilcullen was cited by code enforcement for renting out her Indialantic house in an area of town where such action was prohibited. The rental threatened Kilcullen’s homestead exemption, but in the end, Gougelman said that was irrelevant to the residency issue.
But the clincher was Rahm Emanuel.
Emanuel moved to Washington to serve as Chief of Staff for President Obama. During that time, he left belongings back in Chicago, maintained an Illinois driver’s license and Chicago voter registration. He also rented his house out.
“He served his tenure and decided return to Chicago to run for mayor,” Gougelman said.
In the fall of 2010, when Emanuel filed for the mayoral election, two men challenged his residency. The Board of Election Commissioners dismissed the objection and it moved to the courts, which also ruled in favor of Emanuel. According to official documents, the appellate court overturned the lower court ruling but in its conclusion against the appellate decision, the Illinois Supreme Court cited case law that dated back 150 years.
“The Supreme Court determined even though he rented his house out and lived in Washington, he met the residency requirement. Based on that and other information, Kilcullen met qualifications for residency,” Gougelman said.
