East Dundee Village President Jeff Lynam has renewed his efforts to replace Trustee Scott Andresen, whom he says should not be serving in the position because he did not seek reelection in April when his term was up.
Lynam, who in May and June presented the names of two former trustees to fill the seat, told trustees at this week’s Village Board meeting that he plans to swear in a new trustee at the Nov. 1 meeting and provided a legal opinion to support the action.
The opinion, which Lynam said he sought and paid for on his own, states the village president is duty-bound to declare a vacancy and appoint someone to fill an open seat and “the board’s failure to fulfill this obligation amounts to an illegal change in the form of government.”
“You’re going against your oath here,” Lynam told trustees Monday. “The voice of the people has been diluted because they have not been able to choose Mr. Andresen or anyone else for that matter … what I’m telling you and expecting is that you support and respect that process and it’s going to happen. I’m going to put in someone else for Mr. Andresen’s spot and that’s all there is to it.”
More Top Picks Computer Vision Syndrome Symptoms In Adults
Three trustee seats were open in the April election when trustees Scott Andresen, Dan Selep and Kirsten Wood did not seek re-election. Only two people, however, ran for the three open seats.
In May, newly elected trustees Sarah Brittin and Tricia Saviano were sworn in and trustees agreed to allow Andresen to remain on the board.
At the time, trustees pointed to the village attorney’s opinion that said the move was acceptable and cited state statute and a local ordinance that, in part, states that trustees are “elected at a general election for a term of four years and shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified.”
Trustees Monday asked the village attorney to review Lynam’s legal opinion.
Lynam has consistently challenged the opinion and at village board meetings in May and June suggested he would appoint Dundee Township Park Commissioner Frank Scarpelli or Jim Carlini, a former village trustee, to fill the seat. His efforts, however, fell flat because trustees have refused to declare Andresen’s seat vacant and have declined to support Lynam’s efforts.
In a text sent to a Courier-News reporter Thursday, Lynam said he planned to appoint Carlini to the board.
Andresen, when asked about the mayor’s plan, said “it won’t happen.”
Even if the seat were vacant, which Andresen stresses it is not, Andresen argues Lynam has not followed the proper procedures in appointing someone to the board. Pointing to village agendas and minutes, only one name, Frank Scarpelli, has been presented to the board in the form of a motion as a possible appointee to the board, he said.
Though Carlini’s name has appeared on previous agendas, it was only listed as an item of discussionand not as a proposed appointment on which the board would be asked to vote, Andresen said.
In his efforts to seat someone on the board, Lynam often referred to state law that outlines procedures to appoint someone to the board. In those procedures, he said he has to present a name to the board and if the board fails to act within 30 days, he could present a second name to the board. If after another 30 days the board fails to act, he could then pick one of the two people and appoint them himself.
Andresen argues that Lynam might site those procedures but he didn’t follow them.
Some trustees have suggested the question over Andresen’s seat could lead to a showdown or a “constitutional crisis,” pitting Lynam and village trustees against each other. Earlier this year, trustees approved allocating $30,000 in the village’s budget for legal representation for village trustees, in part out of concern over the potential need to seek a judicial ruling to settle the dispute.
“My hope is the adults in the room can come to a sensible agreement that we can figure out a way to do this because the next step is to take this to court,” Trustee Scott Kunze said this week. “I would like to avoid that very much.”
During this week’s board meeting, Lynam said the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office is “reviewing the situation.” A call to the spokesman for the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office was not returned Friday.
Kunze declined to comment on Lynam’s efforts but said he felt as though Andresen has “been pretty sensible” throughout the controversy and was hopeful that Andresen would work to resolve the issue so the board could focus on other issues.
Carlini said he would be willing to serve on the board and supported Lynam’s efforts.
“He didn’t run, he didn’t campaign, he wasn’t appointed,” Carlini said of Andresen. “It’s not a matter of what I think but a matter of following the law and I think some of the people on the board need to wake up and look at the law rather than just say, ‘Oh, we want to keep him on the board.'”
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.