OP_051619

OPPrairie.com sound off
the orland park prairie | May 16, 2019 | 19
Social snapshot
Top Web Stories
From opprairie.com as of Friday, May 10
From the Editor
Politics by any other name
1. Village confirms online report of mouse in
the house at Marcus, but no mice in food
service areas
2. Joe La Margo out as Village manager at
first meeting of new board
3. Orland Park Village Board: Big moves
planned for tonight, as new officials take
office
4. Business Briefs: Palos Health to offer class
on anxiety
5. Woman allegedly tried to take 51 items,
shopping cart from store
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“Newly elected #OrlandPark Village Trustees
William Healy, Cindy Nelson Katsenes and
Michael Milani accepted their oaths of office
at the May 6, 2019 Orland Park Village Board
Meeting. #Welcome”
@VillageOrlandPk — Village of Orland Park,
on May 7
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BILL JONES
bill@opprairie.com
If I had a dollar for every
time someone told
me they hate politics/
didn’t do something for
a political reason/aren’t a
politician and then shared
an overt political belief/
definitely did something
for a political reason/was,
in fact, a politician, I could
easily retire from this job
at any early age. Except,
someone needs to report
on all of those discrepancies
(and I’d have to disclose
all of those dollars).
“History is written by
the victors” is one of those
“truisms” often attributed
to Winston Churchill. And
while I understand the sentiment,
I don’t know the
phrase rings completely
true. What I do know is
that in politics, the rules
are written by the victors.
Recently, the People
Over Politics slate took
office alongside supporter
and Mayor Keith Pekau, in
theory giving their group
a 4-3 advantage in voting,
should its people continue
to vote in lockstep on split
votes against the trustees
elected two years ago. And
they wasted no time in exercising
that split majority
on several occasions during
the May 6 meeting of
the board, the first to seat
its newest members.
Pekau has now publicly
acknowledged he told
Village Manager Joe La
Margo just two days after
the election it was time for
La Margo to find another
job. Pekau’s desire to see
someone else in the role
came as no surprise. He
was the sole vote against
La Margo’s hiring. With
the board majority now in
his favor, the manager’s
days with the Village were
undoubtedly numbered,
despite the money this
change will cost Orland
Park taxpayers. La Margo
resigned, rather than face
termination.
When I asked the mayor
following the 6-1 vote to
accept that resignation
if anything over the past
two years made him think
La Margo’s resignation
might not be necessary
despite the slate’s victory,
he simply said “no.” When
I asked if the mayor’s role
reverting back to parttime
made any difference
regarding the Village
manager decision, considering
the dynamic of that
working relationship is to
change going forward, he
also said “no,” noting he
still has two years as fulltime
mayor in which he’s
still working alongside a
Village manager in that
capacity. Fair enough.
The Village Board also
went 6-1 on a revision
to Seritage’s plans for
redevelopment of the Sears
space. Pekau and Co. also
won a 4-3 vote to repeal
an ethics ordinance passed
just a month prior.
It is, of course, their right
to do all of those things.
The victors write the rules,
and a clean sweep of the
race for the slate undoubtedly
indicates the majority
of voters want to see the
slate follow through on
its promises. So, the new
Village Board stacked the
agenda for its first meeting
together in the interest of
rewriting the way Orland
Park is doing business.
They were changes that
may very well have been
needed. But the optics are
no doubt bad. “New board
repeals ethics ordinance”
isn’t a great look, and
when something looks bad,
it’s fair to wonder if it is.
Arguments that the ethics
ordinance was flawed are
fair. It had vagueness that
opened the door to more
challenges that the board
would leave someone else
to sort out. And the legal
reimbursement for those
challenges was complicated
and subject to the whims of
the Village Board.
But to repeal it without
a better plan in place
seems rash. To worry that
increased disclosure might
cut down on the people
willing to serve, in elected
roles and appointed ones,
makes me question the
types of folks who want to
serve (though I understand
some of the problems certain
disclosures could create
for their livelihoods).
It’s a complicated issue,
but bouncing an ethics
ordinance back and forth
at the whims of whomever
is in power at the moment
can’t be the best solution.
I honestly couldn’t tell
you if Joe La Margo was
a good or bad Village
manager. Much of that
job takes place behind the
scenes, and what the public
sees often is what the
group decides to present at
a meeting.
Maybe his departure was
warranted; maybe not. One
could argue he was hired
under political circumstances,
and he departed
under them, too. In the
middle, he got a contract
extension that made that
severance a little easier on
his family.
But the way that position
was handled — particularly
the quickness of asking
him to leave, following a
contentious race — may
ultimately be politicizing
a staff role that while
always designed to report
to the board is essential to
the day-to-day operations
of the Village. Stability
doesn’t hurt.
Pekau said he doesn’t
think this change will
politicize the job, but it’s
hard not to wonder if good
candidates may be deterred
by the knowledge that the
gig may only be as good as
the next election.
“For any candidate that
can be a concern in the
Village manager business,”
Pekau acknowledged.
“However, I suspect an
apolitical professional
Village manager worries
about it much less.”
It’s not the only top departmental
position in the
Village that has changed
over the last two years, in a
time when Orland Park has
become incredibly polarized
in its politics. And a
lot of things changed in
just one Monday meeting,
based on the results of one
election. If nothing else,
that should be a strong
reminder to vote, whether
you’re for or against what
just happened.
The victors will write
the rules, but they don’t
get to dictate how their
history is recorded. And
how that history will be
remembered is completely
up to you.