Mudron agency also handles Joliet museum insurance

Joliet Council member Pat Mudron’s insurance agency handles coverage for the Joliet Area Historical Museum, a second city-affiliated institution doing business with the councilman’s company.

The city’s inspector general has concluded that a Mudron Kane Insurance deal with the Rialto Square Theatre reached in April violates state law and a city ordinance. The inspector general also is investigating the museum’s insurance coverage.

Mudron said Wednesday that he believes he has done nothing wrong.

He said a partner in his firm is handling the museum business, but the contract actually is owned by the estate of Jeff Thompson, the deceased owner of Northern Illinois Insurance, which handled the museum business before Thompson’s death.

“We don’t own it, so you can say what you want,” Mudron said. “We don’t own the insurance policy. That policy is in the estate of Jeff Thompson.”

Mudron said commissions from the business are paid into the Thompson Estate, although Mudron Kane does collect a service fee.

The museum policy is one of up to maybe 100 policies in the Thompson estate that Mudron Kane Insurance is in the process of trying to acquire, he said. Until that time, he said, they remain the property of the estate.

Inspector General Sean Connolly would not comment on whether he is looking into the museum business.

But museum Executive Director Greg Peerbolte said he was questioned by the inspector general about the insurance.

He confirmed that the museum policy had been with Northern Illinois Insurance, but Mudron Kane Insurance now is listed as the museum’s broker. The policy is with Cincinnati Insurance, the same company that took on building and liability insurance for the Rialto in April when the theater was about to lose coverage.

Peerbolte said Joe Kane handles the museum insurance for Mudron Kane.

“Joe’s been great to work with,” Peerbolte said. “We’re still very satisfied with Joe. He’s very competitive.”

Kane is one of three partners in Mudron Kane Insurance along with Mudron and his son, Shamus Mudron. Mudron said his son handled the Rialto policy after the chairman of the theater board approached Mudron when the theater was about to lose coverage.

Mudron Kane obtained a $248,000 policy for the theater providing full coverage. The Rialto’s other option was a $450,000 policy obtained through its usual broker, Brown & Brown, that did not provide liability insurance and umbrella coverage.

Connolly’s report on the Rialto matter concluded that the policy ran afoul of legal restrictions on elected officials doing business with the units of government they represent. The Rialto is not controlled by the city of Joliet. The mayor, however, appoints board members along with the governor, and the Rialto receives $375,000 in an annual subsidy from Joliet.

Mudron had served as the city’s liaison to the Rialto board until he was removed by the mayor on Tuesday.

The museum ties to the city are more direct.

The city owns the museum building and has a lease with the state for the Old Joliet Prison, which the museum manages as the city’s partner in the effort to make the former Joliet Correctional Center a destination and event site.

Insurance policies handled by Mudron Kane, according to Peerbolte, include general liability for the museum, building coverage for a visitors center at the prison, and liability coverage for prison tours.

Those coverages are specifically required by the city, which also provides coverage through its own insurance for the museum and prison, Peerbolte said.