Four controversial mayoral appointments to Des Plaines advisory panels were approved by city leaders on Monday night.
The approved appointments by the Des Plaines City Council replace a total of four members on the city’s Consumer Protection Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and Library Board of Trustees. The votes came after several hours of debate over the course of three council meetings, with some council members arguing in favor of keeping the incumbents.
Ald. James Brookman, 5th, voted against all four appointees chosen by Mayor Matt Bogusz and was joined in voting no by Ald. Mark Walsten, 6th, and Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th on two of them.
The council was scheduled to vote on the appointments in December, but postponed their approvals after Sayad said that he had been given some concerning information regarding one of the mayor’s chosen appointees. However, it was not revealed what the information was at the time, and the issue did not resurface during discussion of the appointments this week.
As a result, the council voted 5-2 on Monday to approve William Epcke in place of longtime Consumer Protection Commission member Mike Lake, with Brookman and Sayad voting against.
Brookman said he voted no on Epcke’s appointment because it was “clear (Lake) works very hard to protect people who bring issues before the board.” Brookman added that his decision to vote against the appointment had nothing to do with Epcke or his qualifications.
Sayad said several residents in his ward told him they were “somewhat shocked” that Lake was not reappointed to his position on the panel.
“I will be voting against this appointment — nothing against the new guy, but I’m going by what my residents tell me,” Sayad told the council.
On the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals, G. Thomas Green replaced incumbent Bob Porada on a 5-2 vote, with Brookman and Walsten voting against.
Again, Brookman spoke out against replacing a longtime member of the board.
Brookman cited Porada’s perfect attendance record at ZBA meetings as reason for why he would be voting against the appointment. Brookman also noted that Green had contributed a total of $450 to Bogusz’ mayoral campaign.
Green’s appointment may “send the message that you need to make a contribution or that that will make a difference” as to whether or not someone is appointed to a city panel, Brookman said.
In response, Bogusz said his litmus test for a city volunteer was only that they desired to give back to the community and were qualified to hold the post.
Porada was at the meeting and expressed his frustration with Des Plaines leadership. He criticized the mayor for allowing an unnamed member of the city’s Plan Commission to continue to serve without filing a statement of economic interest. Porada also blasted Ald. Don Smith, 7th, for not abstaining from the vote because he sits on the Frisbie Senior Center board with Green’s spouse.
Smith called Porada’s comment as “laughable” and “absolutely ridiculous.”
“This entire process (for) these nominations for these various appointments has been, at least in my view, very disappointing, at least in terms of some of the things that have been said both tonight and previous nights,” Smith added. “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
The council also voted 6-1 to appoint Earl Wilson and Obaidur Rahman to the city’s Library Board of Trustees, effectively replacing Dion Kendrick and Gene Fregetto, who were both outspoken critics of library spending.
Both Kendrick and Fregetto’s perspectives on the library’s financial decisions were valuable ones, Brookman said. He added that their departure from the board may silence opposition to any future policies.
Brookman also took the time to advocate for elected oversight of the library board.
“The problem here is that you have no elected official accountable for the spending of over $6 million,” he said.
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Brookman suggested that the library become a separate district with it’s own elected officials, or, alternatively, be absorbed as a city department.
Epcke term on the Consumer Protection Commission and Green’s term on the Zoning Board of Appeals run until 2018. Wilson and Rahman’s tenures on the library board run until 2016 and 2017, respectively.