Handwriting expert says Homer Glen mayor’s signature matches one on Homer Fest liquor license application
By Michelle Mullins
Daily Southtown
Sep 15, 2022
Attorney Cary Horvath presents results of the handwriting analysis to Homer Glen Village Board members at Wednesday’s meeting. (Michelle Mullins / Daily Southtown)
An independent handwriting analyst hired in July by the Homer Glen Village Board found that it is likely Mayor George Yukich signed the Illinois special event liquor license application before this year’s Homer Fest and that the document was not forged.
Just before the annual Homer Fest carnival in June, Yukich alleged someone signed his initials to a liquor license application without his knowledge and permission, and asked the Will County sheriff’s department to investigate. A new liquor license was obtained and the festival went on as planned
In July the board hired KDX Forensic Consulting to do a handwriting analysis on the liquor license application. Attorney Cary Horvath released the results at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting, saying the review “provides sufficient evidence to determine that it is probable that George Yukich did write the questioned George Yukich signature.”
Kevin Kulbacki, the CEO of KDX Forensic Consulting, compared the original application that was submitted to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission with 50 of Yukich’s signatures randomly selected. Many of the signatures were from village ordinances or resolutions, Horvath said.
The signature on the application “was not the product of another person’s natural handwriting,” Horvath said.
Attorney Cary Horvath shows results of the handwriting analysis at Wednesday’s Homer Glen Village Board meeting. (Michelle Mullins / Daily Southtown)
“He reviewed the signatures and found that the application in question contained no less than 14 significant similarities to the signatures on the 50 documents it was compared to,” Horvath said. “The signature was free of any noted characterizations of simulation or forgery. He eliminated forgery.”
Yukich maintains he did not sign his initials on the document and said he doesn’t trust the report. With enough signatures to compare it to, there are bound to be similarities, he said.
“It’s not my signature,” Yukich said.
Several trustees expressed outrage and disappointment that the village’s reputation was tarnished and village staff and officials put under suspicion for the last few months.
“I’m livid,” Trustee Jennifer Consolino said. “Everybody on this board has every right to be angry. I’m sorry to our residents. I’m sorry for this board. I’m sorry for our staff.”
Consolino said she plans to file formal complaints with the Illinois attorney general’s office and with Will County.
“We gave the mayor the benefit of doubt that it was possibly forged, but we also knew that it could possibly been him that signed it and him that lied,” Consolino said. “You did this to yourself. You ruined your village. You ruined your staff. You disgraced us and this board. There’s no other way to say it.”
Trustee Rose Reynders said she was concerned about the mayor’s health and memory and was concerned about the morale of the staff who were under suspicion.
“We look like fools,” Reynders said. “I don’t know if all along, George, if it was your intention to throw a monkey wrench into the Homer Fest or cancel Homer Fest by this whole fiasco with the signature. I just can’t even imagine what this did to the residents of this community, the people that we are supposed to be representing. Where do we go from here?”
Trustee Ruben Pazmino said he hoped the mayor would come clean and admit he made a mistake.
“We spent a lot of money getting the results of the signature because we wanted to get to the bottom of it,” Pazmino told Yukich.
“I implore you sir, if it was an accident, let it die here and let’s move forward because I will guarantee you that if it’s not solved today, this is going to go on and it’s not going to get better,” Pazmino said. “There’s going to be major repercussions for this.”
Trustee Dan Fialko said he would like to include the handwriting analyst investigation in the Will County sheriff’s investigation. The analyst is renowned in his field, Fialko said.
Fialko said he was one of the individuals who was under suspicion for signing the document and said that it was “very hurtful.”
Trustee Beth Rodgers, an ally of Yukich, said after the meeting she believes the mayor when he claims the signature is not his. Yukich, who is in his second term as mayor, has dedicated years to the village and has the best interests of residents in mind, Rodgers said.
“I trust him,” Rodgers said. “If he said it’s not his signature, it’s not his signature.”
The village paid a retainer of $3,200 for the handwriting analysis.
Kulbacki has more than nine years of forensic document examination on behalf of the federal government, law enforcement and private sector clients. He is certified with the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners, board documents said.
