HOMER GLEN, IL — A new Village Attorney was appointed for Homer Glen at the Board’s Wednesday meeting.
Paul O’Grady, and the law firm of Peterson, Johnson & Murray, LLC were appointed to the position of Village Attorney.
Trustee Dan Fialko questioned why the matter hadn’t gone through the administration and finance committee, and commented that the item should be moved down the agenda to allow for discussion and public comment on the matter.
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O’Grady said the matter was placed earlier in the agenda to allow him to sit on the dais and help run the meeting, otherwise he would be sitting on the dais unappointed.
“Being that it’s a contractual item, it should’ve been under legislation and action items from the beginning,” Fialko said.
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“I do not feel comfortable not having an attorney here,” Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said. “However, I do understand your concerns.”
The Board decided to postpone the appointment until after the Board honored the Ice Allstars Blue Dynasty, a competitive special needs cheerleading team, and after public comment. The team represented the United States at the International Cheer Union World Championships in the USA Cheer Special Olympics category.
Before the appointment was approved, Trustee Jennifer Consolino asked several questions of O’Grady, including if he had made financial contributions to Neitzke-Troike’s campaign or to the campaign of the three new trustees.
O’Grady said he had made a donation to Neitzke-Troike’s campaign, and was unsure if he had made a donation to the trustees’ campaign.
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Consolino responded that he did.
“I’m personal family friends with the mayor’s husband,” O’Grady said.
Trustee Rose Reynders asked O’Grady is he felt there was a conflict of interest for donating to the campaigns or because he is a personal friend of the mayor.
“No, I don’t,” O’Grady said.
Neitzke-Troike said she had interviewed several law firms for the position of Village Attorney, and several thought the board would be “rather difficult to work with.”
She added that “if we’re going to talk about campaign contributions or what other people have done for each other,” she could discuss A Touch of Green, which was a contractor set to perform work on the veterans memorial, and had signage supporting the other slate’s campaign, or a donation by the previous legislative attorney to the Homer Township Republican Organization, which supported Reynders for mayor and her slate.
The Board approved the appointment in a 4-3 vote, with trustees Steilen, McNaughton and Mason voting yes, and Fialko, Reynders and Consolino voting no. Neitzke-Troike broke the tie, and voted yes.
“I appreciate the spirited debate tonight,” O’Grady said. “I pledge to work on behalf of all the citizens and the other trustees. I’m up here to serve the Village and the taxpayers.”
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