OnLight Aurora, a city-supported nonprofit, aims to provide high speed internet to the west suburban community’s institutions, businesses and residents.
It’s also in massive debt, with a long history of questionable expenditures.
The nonprofit, according to an analysis by local officials and documents reviewed by WTTW News, is nearly $1 million in the red, operating at a $27,000 monthly deficit with some $20,000 in monthly debt service payments.
Then there’s the debit card receipts.
Those charges include tens of thousands of dollars in ATM cash withdrawals, additional thousands spent at strip clubs across the country and travel to places as far-flung as Madrid and Dublin, to name just a few.
While the questionable financial decisions stretch back to 2018, it was in October 2024 that OnLight was in dire straits and almost out of cash.
The organization had just $55,000 in cash on hand and owed more than $200,000 in unpaid bills accrued over several months.
OnLight’s then-executive director, Charles Baker, wrote to then Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin that the organization was at “a critical juncture and urgently needs an infusion of capital to remain operational.”
At Baker’s request, and with the support of Irvin’s colleague and close lifelong friend Michael Pegues — who served both as chairman and CEO of OnLight and at the same time chief information officer for the city of Aurora — Irvin signed a letter saying that the city would guarantee a $450,000 credit line increase for OnLight.
The credit infusion was approved by OnLight board members, including Irvin and Pegues, in a quickly arranged series of emails, according to documents shared with WTTW News.
But the Aurora City Council never agreed to the move, even though the letter Irvin sent to OnLight’s bankers said the increase was in “anticipation of the finalization and approval of a Revised Master Service Agreement.”
In a statement to WTTW News, Irvin said that the city’s existing agreement with OnLight blessed the loan.
But the October 2024 letter to OnLight’s lender signed by Irvin says the organization wants “to raise the current limit from $500,000 to a maximum of $950,000.” That $500,000 limit was approved by aldermen in 2015.
There is no record of Aurora’s aldermen approving that increase to the credit limit.
“Over my 8 years as Mayor, I made it a practice NOT to commit the City of Aurora to any financial obligations that were not approved by the City Council,” Irvin said in his statement to WTTW News. “I further made it a practice to have my corporation counsel review and give approval for any financial documents before I signed to ensure signing was appropriate.”
After WTTW News asked Irvin to comment on the discrepancy, former OnLight chairman Pegues responded via email, claiming that the letter bearing Irvin’s signature “appears to be inaccurate. The guarantee has not exceeded the $500,000 threshold. Although OnLight Aurora requested additional funds in 2024, previous loan amounts were paid down.”
That contradicts the October 2024 email from former executive director Baker to Irvin — on which Pegues was copied — saying that “(w)e have exhausted our existing line of credit and seek the City’s assistance in extending an additional $450K.”
It also contradicts emails from Pegues to OnLight’s lender saying that he’s working on “the additional $450k extension” and another seeking the OnLight board’s approval “to raise the current limit from $500,000 to a maximum of $950,000.”
Statements from OnLight’s lender provided to WTTW News show outstanding loan balances well in excess of $500,000.
A letter signed by Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin authorizing a line of credit increase. (City of Aurora)
WTTW News asked for further comment on the fact that Baker’s email disputes their claim — and the fact that irrespective of whether OnLight never borrowed more than the agreement with the city stipulates, Irvin still appeared to have improperly represented that the city would guarantee an additional loan.
“(M)y signature was affixed to that letter in the normal course of business while doing business with a franchisee based on a master service agreement that was entered into with On-Light Aurora before I became Mayor,” Irvin wrote in an email. “I was advised by my staff that in allowing my signature to be placed on that letter, there would be no additional financial obligation to the City of Aurora as that letter’s intent was meant to fall within the limits of the master service agreement already approved by the Aurora City Council In fact I believe we stayed within those limitations. I disagree with the current administration’s assertion otherwise.”
That current administration is Aurora Mayor John Laesch, who unseated Irvin in April in a contentious runoff election.
“He basically put the city on the hook for $450,000 without seeking Council approval,” said Laesch. “Our city governance requires any expenditure over 50,000 (dollars) to go through the City Council for approval.”
Laesch said his administration has found drafts of a revised agreement between the city and OnLight, but that they never made it to the City Council.
The apparently unauthorized credit bump is the latest revelation about the finances of OnLight, which critics say has failed to live up to promises of widespread, high-speed connectivity while spending heavily.
A view of Aurora from the Fox River. (City of Aurora)
In September, Laesch outlined OnLight’s precarious financial position in a presentation to City Council members.
In addition to the nearly $1 million in debt and regular monthly losses, officials also said they have uncovered a pattern of highly questionable spending on a card tied to OnLight — expenses, those officials say, that were almost exclusively racked up by Irvin’s ally Pegues.
Among the eyebrow-raising charges between 2018 and 2025:
“It’s just an enormous amount of money … and there’s nothing to show for it,” said current Aurora Mayor John Laesch.
The charges total some $337,000 between 2018 and 2025, despite the fact that OnLight actually lost clients during that time. The majority of charges were described on expense reports in broad terms like marketing expenses or meetings — when expense reports were filed at all, leaders say.
And it’s not just the political contributions that could run afoul of the legal system. Both federal and state law prohibit expenditures that unreasonably benefit a nonprofit’s officers and directors, which included Pegues.
Sam Brunson, a professor at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law who focuses on nonprofits, said expenses like travel, lodging and dinners don’t necessarily raise red flags since they can be legitimate ways to grow and support an organization. But things like ATM withdrawals without detailed expense reports and visits to strip clubs and cigar shops may not pass the smell test.
“The biggest potential concern is that essentially he’s using the nonprofit’s money to buy things for himself,” Brunson said. “It boils down to, was it a reasonable expenditure, and was the amount reasonable for (the nonprofit’s) purposes? … If I’m the IRS or the (Illinois) secretary of state and I’m looking at it, I see cigar shop, I see gentleman’s club, and I’m going to be skeptical.”
There were also four charges at motels in Aurora and Naperville. Two of those charges occurred on the same date as cash withdrawals. A third was recorded on the same date as more than $1,000 in charges at a Stone Park strip club.
When asked about the accusations of improper spending, Pegues sent WTTW News a statement that did not directly address the array of unusual charges. It reads in full:
“OnLight Aurora includes a Low-Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) component that functions independently from the City of Aurora. The City does not oversee, authorize, or assume responsibility for OnLight’s internal financial decisions or operational activities.
“This legal and operational separation is explicitly outlined in the Master Service Agreement between the City and OnLight. Any attempt by the City to direct or influence OnLight’s financial conduct beyond the scope of that agreement would not only breach contractual terms but could also raise legal concerns under applicable federal and state antitrust statutes, including the Sherman Act and the Illinois Antitrust Act, which prohibit improper coordination or interference between public entities and private organizations.”
OnLight Aurora was formed in 2012 to manage the city’s fiber optic network, with the goal of providing high-speed internet service to community anchors like schools and hospitals. When Irvin took over as Aurora mayor in 2017, Pegues became the city’s chief information officer, as well as leader of OnLight.
Pegues told a podcast earlier this year that after two decades in the private sector, “I wanted a little something that, you know, makes me feel good and warm and fuzzy inside, and I just wanted to give back and pay it forward to my community.”
While OnLight earns revenue from its customers, it has also received more than $300,000 in direct city support over the years for a variety of initiatives. And while it’s not run by the city, Pegues, Irvin and former Ald. Sherman Jenkins served on its board, and documents and emails obtained by WTTW News show city staffers regularly working on OnLight-related issues.
OnLight was formed as a nonprofit, with the for-profit arm Pegues referenced that’s known as an L3C, or a low-profit limited liability corporation. That allows OnLight to provide services to businesses in Aurora in addition to other tax-exempt entities.
The arrangement came under scrutiny in 2022 as part of a Chicago Tribune investigative report detailing how two contractors complained to Aurora police that they were terminated after declining to sponsor one of Pegues’ wife’s aforementioned events.
In that same story, Pegues said he didn’t need board approval to sponsor his wife’s events because he solely oversaw the L3C without input from its parent nonprofit.
But despite the fact that an L3C has greater leeway than a 501(c)(3), experts say it’s still subject to all the state and federal rules governing nonprofits — including prohibitions against unreasonable spending that benefits an officer or director.
“The IRS takes these things very seriously, as does the attorney general.” - attorney Marc J. Lane
Marc J. Lane, an attorney who drafted Illinois’ L3C law, said the IRS can hold a nonprofit accountable for misdeeds that happen at an L3C.
“Mission is always the north star of these ventures, which must be charitable or educational significantly,” Lane said. “If somebody is charging personal expenses on a nonprofit credit card, there needs to have been a system in place to spot that and stop it, and there needs to be consequences. The IRS takes these things very seriously, as does the attorney general.”
Asked for comment about inappropriate spending at OnLight, Irvin in an email wrote to WTTW News: “As to the issue of On-Light’s directors misusing funds, that had absolutely nothing at all to do with me or the the City of Aurora. As stated, On-Light Aurora is a separate legal entity and its action cannot be attributed to the City of Aurora.” “If the allegations that are being made against On-Light Aurora personnel are true, it is appalling, and it shouldn’t have happened. But those allegations need to be addressed by the On-light corporate entity which governs On-Light Aurora.”
In a Facebook post about OnLight earlier this fall, Irvin said that he “was not a member of the finance committee and was not involved in the organization’s fiscal management or expenditure approvals.” An email provided to WTTW News by OnLight’s current leader shows Irvin in his capacity as board member voting to approve the credit limit increase.
“If the recent allegations regarding OnLight Aurora’s spending are proven true, those directly responsible should be held fully accountable. Any illegal use of funds would be deeply concerning and completely unacceptable,” Irvin wrote. “At no time did I personally or financially benefit from any alleged illegal expenditures or misuse of funds.”
Former executive director Charles Baker did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about fallout from potentially improper spending, Aurora Mayor Laesch said: “We’ve shared documents with law enforcement entities — I’ll just leave it at that.”
Laesch is now working to get OnLight back on its feet, and has tapped local IT professional Austin FitzCorbett as a volunteer director.
Current Aurora Mayor John Laesch. (City of Aurora)
FitzCorbett told WTTW News that when he saw the charges OnLight had racked up and the state of its financial controls, “it was definitely a ‘what in the world?’ kind of moment.”
FitzCorbett said cost-saving efforts have helped reduce OnLight’s monthly expenses by nearly three-quarters, though the organization is still in a difficult financial position. And with officials saying OnLight faces nearly $1 million in debt, the city’s credit guarantee could leave taxpayers on the hook.
“If we don’t find a way to right the ship, to push it forward … and over time recover revenue and decrease that debt, that debt falls onto the taxpayers,” FitzCorbett said. “That is not something that anybody wants.”
Since leaving office, Irvin has maintained a public profile, sharing pictures of himself at various local events on his Facebook page and occasionally taking shots at his successor in the mayor’s office.
Irvin and Pegues have also launched a consulting firm called Aurora Dynamic Solutions. That firm’s existence was first revealed by the Tribune during Irvin’s failed 2022 run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, which a spokesman said would not become an active entity until after Irvin left office.
“We specialize in critical infrastructure modernization, smart city implementations, and cybersecurity solutions,” the company’s website homepage reads. “From telecommunications networks to public safety systems—we deliver the expertise and innovation needed to build resilient, intelligent infrastructure.”
After leaving his post with the city and OnLight following Irvin’s defeat, Pegues told the Aurora Beacon-News that “we’re going to come back with a bang.”
“I’ll still be contributing to the growth and prosperity of the city of Aurora because this is my hometown,” Pegues said, “and I’m going to be here.”
Contact Nick Blumberg: nblumberg@wttw.com | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
Originally appeared at https://news.wttw.com/2025/11/19/ex-aurora-mayor-backed-450k-line-credit-without-council-approval-nonprofit-leader-racked