Mayor and board want big change. Do voters?
Advocates of yes vote on Orland Park referendum bring in researcher
Yes? No? Maybe?
Since the Orland Park Village Board voted to place a referendum on the April 4 ballot regarding a change in structure of the village government, it has become hot topic in some circles.
Mayor Keith Pekau said at a February board meeting there are robocalls ripping him and his family by “sick people” because of this issue.
The referendum reads “Shall the Village of Orland Park retain the managerial form of government?”
Pekau and the board want residents to vote no, which would allow a change from the existing village manager form of government, also known as council/ manager, to a mayor/council form in which the mayor has the final say on important issues.
Those in the yes camp, including former Orland Park assistant village manager and Orland Park resident Karie Friling, think the change is a bad idea. Its literature says the existing form of government combats “corruption and unethical activity,” and points out that communities such as Naperville, Wilmette and La Grange Park have a council-manager setup.
Friling and the Vote Yes Orland Park group brought in Jason Grant, the director of advocacy for the International City/County Management Association in Washington, to speak Thursday at the Orland Park Library.
While Grant said he favored the existing system over a possible mayor/council scenario, he kept his opinions to a minimum.
“All I can tell you is here is the research we have done,” Grant said. “You all have to make the decision on which is the best opportunity to have the village’s future that you want and the best quality of life you want for your life and your family.”
His research showed that in 2018-2019, 4,398 municipalities of 2,500 people or more were council/manager while 4,171 were mayor/council.
“This is not great and evil, this is not good and bad — that’s not what this is,” Grant said.
Grant said with the mayor/ council scenario, the mayor will have separate powers for the daily administration of government including final decisions on programs, services and permitting services. The board no longer will.
In the council/manager dynamic, there are “inherent benefits that’s baked into the form of government that gives accountability on a daily basis for the CEO, which is
your village manager, to do the job they are hired to do,” Grant said.
Some in the crowd asked about checks and balances, and Grant said that in theory there were none in the mayor/council form.
Village Trustee William Healy attended and wanted to share the board’s side, but Yes Orland representatives shut him down because he wasn’t asking questions.
“This has been an excellent presentation,” Healy said. “I was afraid that it wouldn’t be fair and balanced. You did a great job and more people should pay attention to it.”
Before he was cut off, Healy talked about the “night and day” improvements of the village’s information technology department over the years.
Grant responded by saying good government should be what everyone wants.
“The manager has to do things better,” Grant said. “From what you said, the manager stepped up and did it better, that’s what’s great about the council/manager form, we would argue.”
Grant said a board can identify a problem needing to be addressed, and if the manager doesn’t make it better, the board can step in and fire the manager, finding somebody who can address the problem.
The Orland Park Village Board and Pekau are in agreement on many issues, and have gone out of their way during recent meetings to praise their working relationship and the performance of Village Manager George Koczwara, who was hired in 2019.
Coincidentally, while the Yes Orland meeting was going in, Koczwara and three other candidates were at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin, as a part of interviews for the job of city manager.
Pekau said after a Feb. 20 board meeting that he and the board were not aware of Koczwara seeking another job when they planned for this referendum, but opponents have speculated on social media the board would eliminate the village manager position if the referendum passes.
Trustee Michael Milani said Feb. 20 the board has no plans to get rid of the village manager or to give the mayor a full-time position.
He said that the “onus of control” would be put back to the hands of the voters, who vote the board and mayor in or out of office.
Orland Park adopted the managerial form of government in 1983, via a favorable referendum vote.