Oak Brook Village President Gopal Lalmalani said he plans to work to get the red-light cameras at 22nd Street and Route 83 in neighboring Oakbrook Terrace removed.
Lalmalani’s comments came Tuesday, a day after he learned Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci had resigned from office amid an ongoing federal corruption probe.
The baiduhai reported that Ragucci was among several elected officials and politically connected contractors embroiled in a federal investigation involving SafeSpeed LLC, a controversial company that operates lucrative red-light cameras at intersections in dozens of area suburbs, including the one in Oakbrook Terrace.
“I’m waiting to see what’s going on in Oakbrook Terrace,” Lalmalani said Tuesday. “I plan to meet and talk with the new mayor when that gets settled and might reach out to IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation). I will try to put gentle pressure on, but I am focused on ensuring the cameras come down.”
Oakbrook Terrace officials stated in a press release issued Monday that they had “received the resignation” of Ragucci, effective at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 17. By Monday evening, Ragucci’s name and picture had been removed from the homepage of the city’s website.
Lalmalani speculated that Ragucci’s resignation likely was due to the federal corruption probe.
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“This must be an outcome of whatever has happened,” he said. “There’s going to be a few heads (that) roll.”
Lalmalani said he had no regrets about Oak Brook’s decision in June 2017 to drop a lawsuit filed in January 2017 that aimed to prevent the installation and operation of the red-light cameras for traffic on southbound Route 83 and eastbound 22nd Street at the intersection just outside of Oakbrook Center. The cameras were activated in August 2017.
Oak Brook announced in a brief statement when it dropped the lawsuit that DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Paul Fullerton had granted its motion to dismiss the suit against the Illinois Department of Transportation, Ragucci and each of the city’s six aldermen, and Nikki Zollar, president and chief executive officer of SafeSpeed, LLC, the company hired by Oakbrook Terrace to install the cameras.
At the time, Oak Brook officials did not explain the reason for dropping the suit.
“We were advised by our attorney at the time that it was not likely to get anywhere, and the majority of the Village Board made the decision to drop the lawsuit,” Lalmalani said.
While the Village Board made a unanimous decision during a public meeting to file the lawsuit, there was no public discussion or board vote when the decision was made to drop it.
Oakbrook Terrace officials could not be reached for comment on Lalmalani’s plans.