Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele phoned it in Monday for her first meeting following her arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, joining the proceedings remotely “due to illness.”
She did not address the incident during the meeting, only congratulating fellow commissioner Larry Rogers on his re-election shortly after he was sworn in. Steele, one of three members of the quasi-judicial body that hears property tax appeals, has not commented on her Nov. 10 arrest. A Democrat who has also worked on assessments in Indiana, Steele was first elected to the board in 2022.
Frank Calabrese, a former employee of Steele’s office who has sued over his firing, did speak up during the meeting’s public comment period. He shared the video of her arrest and said it showed “a pattern of misconduct which undermines the integrity of the board.”
Calabrese is in settlement negotiations over his firing, according to county board records. Steele has previously declined to discuss it, citing pending litigation.
Body camera footage of Steele’s arrest obtained via an open records request to the Chicago Police Department showed officers removing a half-empty bottle of wine from the passenger seat and Steele’s admission that she hit two cars. The videos showed Steele repeatedly declining officers’ requests — including to get out of the car and take a field sobriety test.
“Ma’am, if you don’t exit the vehicle, I’m going to help you to exit and you don’t want that,” one officer said.
“You don’t want that. I’m an elected official,” Steele replied.
She was eventually taken to the hospital after she complained that she hit her head during the crash. Though there was no body camera footage of it, according to the arrest report, Steele repeatedly asked the officer that accompanied her “Is your penis that small.” That arrest report was first obtained by WBEZ and the Sun-Times.
Steele’s board colleagues only made vague allusions to the arrest at Monday’s meeting.
“I’ve always thought it was important to take my role as a commissioner seriously, understanding that I don’t represent myself, I’m elected to represent the district and to represent government and to represent Cook County,” Rogers said during remarks after he was sworn in, never naming Steele but noting he held himself “to high standards.”
“That being said, we’re all human and we are not, as elected officials, perfect. And we need to extend to one another grace… support… and some understanding,” Rogers said.
Rogers was the only member of the three-person board who was on the ballot this year.
Though all three members are Democrats, Steele — a self-described reformer — has frequently clashed with the other two commissioners on the board over staffing, data transparency, and office policy.
Her other colleague, Commissioner George Cardenas, did not address Steele directly either, but said he knew the other board members “are committed to serving all the taxpayers of Cook County with integrity and dedication,” and that the office’s work “will continue without distraction.”
Sean Morrison, the lone republican on the Cook County Board — which is separate from the Board of Review, but oversees its budget — called on Steele to step down, citing her disrespect toward the officers at the scene. The Tribune sought comment from County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the other county commissioners whose districts overlap with Steele’s last week. All either declined to comment or did not respond.