Wheaton Historic Preservation Council items that were sent to Donley Auctions, but never auctioned off. The items are being held at the auction house until a DuPage County court decides the disposition of the items. (Photos from WHPC receiver report)

The former leader of the Wheaton Historic Preservation Council has been ordered to appear in court.

Alberta Adamson, former board president and treasurer of the organization, will need to appear in DuPage County Circuit Court for the next hearing in the case, which is scheduled for May 2.

Adamson will need to address claims of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office that she at least twice violated court orders that removed her as a trustee and fiduciary of the WHPC.

Assistant Illinois Attorney General Michelle Milstein said that on Oct. 23, 2023, two months after the court removed Adamson from all fiduciary positions with WHPC, an annual report for the organization’s 2023 fiscal year, was filed with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, signed by Treavor Crisp, an employee of an accounting firm in Lenoir City, Tenn., which is near Loudon, Tenn., where Adamson lives.

Adamson’s name and phone number are listed on the form under “organization contact.”

Also, according to the Attorney General’s Office, Nancy Flannery, who has been appointed receiver of the WHPC’s assets, received notification in December that Adamson had attempted to remove Flannery as administrator of the Historic Preservation Council’s retirement plan and reappoint herself in that position.

It is believed that Adamson was the only WHPC individual with a retirement account.

In 2021, the Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against the Preservation Council alleging that WHPC Board members illegally transferred more than $300,000 to Adamson as a loan.

DuPage County Circuit Judge Robert Gibson ordered Adamson to be present for the next hearing during a series of motions in a March 7 court session.

More WHPC items being held at Donley Auctions.

The Attorney General’s Office has also sought to make former WHPC Board member Laurie Warfel also appear in court May 2 to prove why she also should not be held in contempt of court for allegedly also acting on behalf of the WHPC organization without authorization, but Gibson denied that action. In that same hearing, Adamson’s attorney, Joseph Ziccardi, argued that Flannery should be removed as receiver of the organization’s assets.

Flannery initially joined the Wheaton Historic Commission, which served as a liaison between the city of Wheaton and the Wheaton Historic Preservation Council. She said she became concerned about city artifacts when the WHPC sold its Colvin House location to a developer and got evicted from its Front Street location.

Ziccardi argued that Flannery has been “on the Attorney General’s side of the equation” and has a bias in the case.

“For two years, she continued to push the Attorney General’s Office” to probe the Historic Preservation Council, the attorney said.

“She should have never been appointed receiver,” Ziccardi said. “She is not impartial.”

Assistant Illinois Attorney General Matthew Shapiro said Ziccardi’s claims were just a way to “muddy the waters” on the issue.

“Litigation is adversarial in nature,” Shapiro said. “It makes no sense to limit a receiver to people who come into an issue fresh. You want people with knowledge and understanding.”

His colleague Milstein said changing the receiver now would complicate things as Flannery has done the inventory of 1,100 banker’s boxes of artifacts stored in a city annex.

Judge Gibson rejected the proposal to removed Flannery as receiver, noting she “has done a good job in performing her duties for a charitable organization that was, at best, mismanaged.”

Ziccardi also argued that WHPC assets should not include the organization’s retirement plan.

“Ms. Adamson owns the benefits in that plan,” he said. “The receiver should not be in charge of those.”

Assistant AG Shapiro said the benefits plan should not even be being discussed at this point.

“We are getting way ahead of ourselves,” Shapiro said. “Ms. Adamson may say they are her assets, but we don’t know what the genesis of the benefits might be.”

Judge Gibson advised now that $65,000 in checks for auctioned-off WHPC items have been given to Flannery as receiver of WHPC assets from Donley Auctions, Flannery should retain a lawyer to act on her behalf in the legal proceedings. He said the lawyer should be given a $5,000 retainer and not charge more than $335 per hour.

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com