A strong storm that battered the University Park Village Hall during a special board meeting Thursday night felt like furious winds of change sweeping through the village of 7,000 residents.
The dynamic on the seven-member Village Board will change May 9 when three new trustees are sworn in following the April 4 election. Mayor Joseph Roudez III, who barely clung to his seat with a 10-vote margin of reelection, will lose his 5-2 majority.
Three incoming trustees and one incumbent are vowing to hold Roudez accountable, and the mayor looks to be on the short end of a 4-3 voting bloc.
Roudez called Thursday’s special meeting to fire the village’s law firm and extend contracts for the village manager and police chief before he loses his loyal board majority that has voted in lockstep with him for the past four years.
The three incoming trustees and one incumbent gave Roudez an earful as strong winds howled outside and heavy rain pelted the roof over the space in a former shopping center where the Village Board holds its meetings.
Trustee Theo Brooks, who narrowly lost to Roudez in the mayor’s race but will remain on the board as trustee, shouted at times while criticizing Roudez for having his lame-duck board carry his water.
“Why are we even doing this?” Brooks asked. “This term stops on May 9. There will be three new trustees up here. It should be the right of those trustees to make those decisions.”
Brooks moved to table the three items on the agenda, but the board rejected his request by a 5-2 tally. Trustee Sonia Jenkins-Bell, who also ran for mayor but will lose her seat on the board, voted with Brooks in the minority.
Local politics may be uglier in University Park than in any other community in the Southland, and that’s saying a lot. A Will County sheriff’s deputy slapped handcuffs on Jenkins-Bell and hauled her off to a jail-like substation for alleged electioneering on Election Day.
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Jenkins-Bell was detained but not charged and said she was legally more than 100 feet away from the entrance to a polling place while greeting voters.
Tensions flared Thursday as Roudez flexed his political muscle while he still has it. The agenda called for “Mayor’s Dismissal of Law Firm And Appointment Of Odelson, Sterk, Murphey, Frazier, & McGrath, Ltd., As Village Attorneys, Effective Immediately.”
Brooks argued that Village Manager Elizabeth Scott was authorized to recommend a law firm for board approval, not Roudez.
“This is a managerial form of government,” Brooks said. “This shouldn’t even be happening, based upon dismissal from the mayor. It’s supposed to come from village manager.”
Naperville-based Ottoson DiNolfo Hasenbalg & Castaldo had been village attorney. The board voted 5-2 to fire them and hire Burt Odelson’s law firm.
The agenda also called for “Mayor’s request of extension” of contracts for Scott as village manager and Dale Mitchell as police chief. Brooks confronted Roudez and asked why newly elected trustees were denied a say in the appointments.
Roudez waived the opportunity to respond to Brooks’ questions.
“Thank you for your comments, trustee,” Roudez replied. “Roll call.”
“Why is it the trustees that are coming in can’t make that decision?” Brooks demanded, raising his voice. The board voted 5-2 to extend contracts for village manager and police chief.
During public comment, the three newly elected trustees criticized Roudez and the board majority for denying them the opportunity to decide who would serve in the key personnel positions.
“This is not unity,” Trustee-elect Jewell Thompson said. “You said you wanted to bring unity to the village.”
Terms of the contract extensions were not immediately known. Jenkins-Bell said trustees were provided copies of the contract extensions one hour before the scheduled start of Thursday’s special meeting.
“I would like the opportunity to read over these contracts, to see if there were any other people that came in, for attorneys, the law firm, and also the village manager position,” Trustee-elect Donna Dilworth Fulcher said. “Give us that courtesy, so we can vote as a uniform board and decide and vote together.”
Gina Williams is the third new member of the board who will be seated on May 9.
“I think it’s wrong for these things to be going on,” Williams said. “You’ve got a new board. Get ready cause here I come. If it’s not justifiable and if it’s not good for the community, it will get shot down. I hope we can make some progress.”
Trustees Shirley Bolden and Donzell “Coach TuTu” Franklin will leave the board. Bolden finished fourth in the four-way race for three seats, and Franklin did not seek another term.
Unofficial results from Cook and Will counties showed Roudez winning a second term with 404 votes compared to 394 votes for Brooks and 334 votes for Jenkins-Bell. Most University Park voters reside in Will County, with a small number casting ballots in Cook. The official canvass of votes is Tuesday.
Before the vote on extending the police chief’s contract, Brooks said his vote did not reflect his personal or professional opinion of Chief Dale Mitchell, but rather how he felt the new board should make the decision.
“I respect you,” Brooks told Mitchell.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.