By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 10/28/05

Downers Grove Mayor Brian Krajewski said Oct. 27 he is removing all members from five advisory commissions after he was angered the Village Council refused to back a former political ally to serve on the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, which handles hirings, firings and promotions for both departments.

Krajewski sent letters to members of the Plan, Human Services, Community Grants and Parking and Traffic commissions, as well as the Stormwater and Floodplain Oversight Committee, informing them of the change. The mayor holds the authority to appoint and remove the resident volunteers who make recommendations to the Village Council.

"I'm not sure how many are going to be removed," Krajewski said, adding some members may be brought back after he has a chance to meet with them individually, review attendance records and discuss the matter with village staff.

Since Krajewski was elected in 1999, he has decided to dole out advisory board appointments to the particular commissioner who served as the liaison to that committee. Most of the time the council member would make a recommendation to Krajewski, who would appoint that person subject to a council vote.

Krajewski said he decided to alter that process to allow himself to make appointments for most of these groups after he determined there were 22 vacancies on various advisory panels.

Village Commissioners Sue McConnell, Marilyn Schnell and Stan Urban said details of how that process would work were not made clear when Krajewski attempted to make four appointments at the Oct. 18 meeting. The mayor was hoping to appoint Becky Rheintgen, Geri Lombard and Richard Szydlo to the Tourism & Events Commission, and name Tom Sisul to the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners.

Since Krajewski is not allowed to make motions at meetings, Village Commissioner Martin Tully made the motion to approve the appointments. The motion failed as the remaining five commissioners sat quietly, causing some minor confusion. A visibly frustrated Krajewski later said he was surprised, as his council had not given any indication they were not going to back the appointments.

The following week the Village Council went to executive session regarding the specific appointments but took no action. Krajewski blamed McConnell, Schnell, Urban and Waldack for not wanting Sisul appointed. Sisul was a village commissioner for 10 years and often backed the mayor's initiatives as mayor pro-tem before he decided not to seek re-election in 2003. Tully has since slid into Sisul's former role as mayor pro-tem.

"I haven't questioned one appointment of theirs in six years," Krajewski said. "For four commissioners to have a selfish attitude and not give credit for someone who shaped Downers Grove to what it is today ... upsets me greatly. It was politically motivated."

The four commissioners Krajewski scolded happen to be the liaisons of the five advisory panels Krajewski has decided to strip clean, then fill with his own choices. Boards run by Village Commissioner Ronald Sandack and Tully were not altered, Krajewski said.

Most of the Village Council said they were not consulted of the changes by Krajewski and took offense to his comments. All of the four criticized officials still question the mayor's new process, saying there hasn't been enough communication on how the appointments will work out.

Schnell, who has been on the council for 18 years, often helped former Mayor Betty Cheever make a majority of the appointments before Krajewski was elected. She said she never recommended a friend because "I didn't want people to think I was making an appointment for the wrong reasons."

While not wanting to discuss the choice of Sisul specifically, she said she thinks having a former political official sitting on the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners is wrong.

"I have a problem with any ex-council member sitting on a board reviewing hiring, firing or promotion of employees." Schnell said. "I don't want to taint that board with that (political) philosophy."

Schnell added Krajewski's comments were inappropriate and cast blame on the commissioners.

"This was a mayoral decision and not a council decision," she said. "It will make it much more difficult to get volunteers in this community if this is the way they are going to get treated."

Krajewski countered that many previously elected village commissioners have come back to serve on advisory groups.

Urban said he preferred voting on the appointments on an individual basis and not as a collective group. Krajewski said he has agreed to that change. Like Schnell, Urban said he didn't want to discuss individuals, but said he would have recused himself from any vote because Sisul was an attorney for his former landlord at Every Day's a Sundae.

The store lease held by Urban and his wife was not renewed and he ended up moving his ice cream shop to the Station Crossing development. He added Krajewski's move to remove members from certain commissions seems politically charged, and the issue was never discussed publicly before a decision was made. The council might want to look at the overall process of how appointments are made, according to Urban.

"Bottom line, we are wasting precious time. This is not the reason I got elected. This will not benefit the community in any way shape or form," Urban said.

Waldack cited similar concerns about the process and said Krajewski never gave a reason when the council meeting ended Oct. 25 that changes were on the way.

"It doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think it makes any sense for the village. I think it is disrespectful for those people serving on those commissions," Waldack said.

Waldack labeled Krajewski's accusations against certain commissioners as "inaccurate" and "inappropriate."

The mayor said he will be bringing five recommendations to fill vacancies for Tourism & Events and the Transportation Advisory Committee next week, and will have six more for appointments the following week. He admitted his decision will likely cause some of the volunteers to be upset but "they can thank the four commissioners for making me revise the process."

"In the long run, it is going to cause some tension for some weeks and months (with the Village Council," Krajewski said. "It is really unfortunate to have this controversy now with the new manager (Cara Pavlicek) coming to town."

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com

By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 11/2/05

A majority of Downers Grove village commissioners believe Mayor Brian Krajewski overreacted last week when he axed 36 resident volunteers from five advisory panels, after the Village Council failed to support his appointment of a political ally to serve on the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

The fallout from Krajewski's decision remains to be seen, after he wiped the slate clean for members of the Plan, Human Services, Community Grants and Parking & Traffic commissions, as well as the Stormwater and Floodplain Oversight Committee. Privately, some of the residents removed from their posts have been upset by the decision. However, two of the more longtime volunteers said they didn't take Krajewski's move personally.

"I understand that it is out of our area and feel it will become resolved. I think it was done to get everybody's attention," said Ross Johnson, who had served on the Parking & Traffic Commission since 1974. "If the mayor wants me to continue, I will. And if not, that is fine, too."

David Humphreys was removed from the Community Grants Commission, a group he helped form to give grants to nonprofit cultural groups. As a longtime volunteer, Humphreys said he has seen the village encounter occasional bumps in the political road. He anticipates the situation will be resolved soon, and won't become a long-term distraction.

Village commissioners acknowledge it is the mayor's prerogative to appoint and remove the resident volunteers who make recommendations to the Village Council, but some believed it wasn't necessary to put those volunteers in the middle of a political argument, according to Commissioner Sue McConnell.

Krajewski admits his actions were targeted specifically at commissioners Marilyn Schnell, Stan Urban and McConnell, who served as former liaisons to the panels in question and made recommendations to Krajewski that were ultimately approved by the Village Council.

The mayor spelled out his motivation in a letter sent to all volunteers about his decision.

"Again, thank you for the time you have spent volunteering for your community, and I apologize that you are now caught up in Village Commissioner politics and personal agendas," Krajewski wrote.

Since Krajewski took over as mayor in 1999, he has allowed council liaisons to each advisory commission to conduct appointment interviews. However, the mayor said he wanted to change that process when he determined there were 22 vacancies as of this summer.

While commissioners said they were unclear what the new process would be, Krajewski refutes that notion. In a July 26 e-mail, Krajewski asked Village Attorney Enza Petrarca to inform the commissioners he was re-evaluating the liaison assignments, and that he would take over appointments in the meantime.

However, commissioners Ronald Sandack and McConnell said no new liaison assignments were ever made. McConnell thought that would have been done by now, but no timetable was ever issued by the mayor, she said.

"The process that we had used was well known and fair. If it wasn't done right, it needs to be articulated to the council members," Sandack said. "There is a gap in communication with council members."

When Krajewski attempted to make four appointments at the Oct. 18 meeting, the issue heated up. Krajewski contends McConnell, Urban, Schnell and Commissioner William Waldack were unhappy with the mayor's appointment of a former village commissioner Thomas Sisul to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, which oversees hirings, promotions and firings for both safety departments.

A motion by Commissioner Martin Tully to appoint Sisul died for lack of a second, and the measure never came to a vote.

Sandack said he wasn't one of the council members who had a question with Sisul's close alignment with the mayor. Village officials still need to sit down and hammer out the interview appointment process, he said.

"I think Brian was upset and that he was surprised no one seconded the motion," Sandack said. "He then was angry that his preferred candidate wasn't going to be accepted or approved by the majority."

Sandack said he felt sorry for members of the Plan Commission, who had been asked to put in extra hours and meetings to discuss important topics such as residential redevelopment and Acadia on the Green, formerly known as the Curtiss Street block downtown development project.

"These guys have really done some important and good stuff," Sandack said.

McConnell agreed the process needed to be fixed and hoped it could be addressed at an upcoming Village Council retreat. Neither she nor other commissioners would comment about Sisul.

Krajewski said Oct. 27 he planned to fill five vacancies, three for Tourism & Events and two for the Transportation Advisory Commission at the Nov. 1 meeting. Results from the Nov. 1 meeting were not available before press time. The mayor did not rule out bringing back former members to the commissions, but said he first wanted to meet with them individually, review attendance records and discuss the matter with village staff.

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com

By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 11/4/05

While Downers Grove officials have set a date to hammer out their differences regarding appointments to village advisory panels, the political bombs thrown at the Nov. 1 meeting hardly suggest the mayor and his commissioners are back on the same page.

The Village Council agreed Nov. 1 to smooth out the political mess associated with Mayor Brian Krajewski's clearing off members of the Plan, Human Services, Community Grants, Parking & Traffic, Stormwater and Flood Plain Oversight committees at the village retreat planned for Wednesday, Nov. 9. The mayor withdrew appointments he had planned to bring forward Nov. 1 and said he would wait until after the retreat.

However, that didn't stop Commissioner William Waldack from seeking to censure -- the equivalent of a verbal hand slap -- Krajewski for allegedly leaking confidential information that Waldack contends was discussed in executive session Oct. 25.

Waldack, who had praised Krajewski and village officials for accepting him on the council after he was elected a commissioner in April, said his push to censure the mayor was not a political decision, but "a moral imperative."

After the meeting, Krajewski said village officials had begun to formulate a healing process but charged that Waldack wanted to play "political games." The mayor then admitted he probably shouldn't have pulled resident volunteers off the commissions after the Village Council declined to back his appointment of political ally and former Commissioner Tom Sisul to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

"I'm playing political games in Downers Grove just like everyone else," Krajewski said.

In the same conversation, the mayor said he likely was going to draft a censure motion against Waldack for promoting special interest groups in his role as a commissioner. The next day, Krajewski threatened to file suit against Waldack for defamation of character if the commissioner didn't apologize to the mayor. Krajewski also was pondering censure motions against all his commissioners, with the exception of Martin Tully, for allegedly violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The censure resolutions would be voted on at the next council meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The entire issue surfaced this summer. During the past six years, Krajewski had assigned the duties of interviewing residents who want to serve in an advisory capacity to the village commissioner who served as a liaison to that particular committee, even though the mayor has the right to make appointments and remove volunteers at his discretion.

This summer, the mayor informed his council he was going to take back sole authority to make appointments after he counted 22 vacancies on the panels.

He said liaison assignments would be

re-evaluated but no decision was ever made, which several commissioners said they found confusing.

On Oct. 18, Krajewski brought forth three appointments for Tourism & Events Commission, as well as Sisul for the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, which handles the hiring, firing and promotion for both departments.

A motion by Tully to approve the appointments died for a lack of a second, and the measure never came to a vote. Commissioners Marilyn Schnell, Sue McConnell, Stan Urban and Ronald Sandack said after that meeting they didn't second the motion because of confusion surrounding the appointment process.

Krajewski debates that point and alleges the five commissioners conspired before the Oct. 18 meeting began to make sure they agreed not to second the motion because of Sisul. Three commissioners, whom Krajewski didn't name, verified that account to the mayor, Krajewski said. That would be the reason he might pursue a censure resolution against the five commissioners, he said.

At the following meeting Oct. 25, Krajewski planned to bring back the following appointments but decided against the idea after the Village Council went to executive session. Krajewski claims he had gotten e-mail and verbal responses before the meeting suggesting the council didn't support Sisul.

Two days later, the mayor wiped the slate clean of the five advisory panels that were filled by former liaisons Urban, McConnell and Schnell. Waldack had never been assigned a liaison position. Sandack later said he had no objections to Sisul's appointment.

Waldack wants to censure Krajewski because he alleges the mayor revealed conversation from the Oct. 25 executive session in a letter sent to the affected advisory panel members, and to the Downers Grove Reporter. In the letter, Krajewski wrote that Waldack informed the mayor the night of Oct. 25 about his decision not to support Sisul.

After the Nov. 1 meeting, Waldack said he indicated to the mayor prior to executive session that he had concerns about the appointments, but didn't provide any more information until the council was behind closed doors.

In the resolution, Waldack stated Krajewski "placed his interests above the exclusive and best interests" of the village, "publicly embarrassed" the council and cast "a bad light" on village government and community.

Krajewski threatened to censure Waldack for promoting the annual CROP Walk and telling residents at Village Council meetings they could send donations to Village Hall. In response, Waldack said, "If I'm guilty of a violation, then I'm guilty. He is just shooting back."

After admitting to possibly making a poor decision on removing residents, Krajewski said he plans on bringing a majority of the 35 affected people back to their posts, subject to a review of attendance records as well as talking with staff and the volunteers.

Mending fences may take time with certain volunteers. The entire former Plan Commission attended the Nov. 1 meeting, and former chairman Alan Jirik asked the council to keep the group together. Others were upset they have been put in the middle of the political bickering.

"We put our time away from our families, and where are we? Limbo is the word," said Philip Matejczyk, who added he isn't sure he would come back if asked.

Daniel McMcCormick, who had served with Matejczyk on the Plan Commission, put it more bluntly that "there was not a snowball's chance in hell" he would return.

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com

By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 11/11/05

Downers Grove village officials this week unanimously voted to reinstate nine resident volunteers abruptly removed from their posts last month to the Plan Commission -- but three members declined the offer and said they were not going to be "pawns" in a political chess match between Mayor Brian Krajewski and the Village Council.

The mayor removed 35 resident volunteers Oct. 27 from five advisory panels, including the Plan Commission, after the Village Council rebuffed his effort to appoint Tom Sisul, a former village commissioner and Krajewski's political ally, to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. That panel oversees hirings, firings and promotions within both public safety departments.

With the exception of Commissioner Martin Tully, the remainder of the Village Council said the motion to appoint Sisul failed because there was confusion on how advisory panel appointments were being made after Krajewski decided he would be solely in charge of making appointments.

During the past six years, Krajewski doled out his appointment authority to council members to interview residents wanting to serve. He changed his mind after tallying up 22 spots that had not been filled. The affected panels had residents interviewed by Commissioners Stan Urban, Marilyn Schnell and Sue McConnell.

Krajewski has since said the mass removal may have been a mistake, and that he and Commissioners William Waldack, Urban, Schnell and McConnell were all playing political games. Incoming Village Manager Cara Pavlicek, whose first official day with the village will be Monday, Nov. 14, suggested that village officials put aside their differences temporarily until she arrived.

While the village officials hoped to iron out their differences at a retreat Nov. 9, and possibly another one after Thanksgiving, before filling all the panels, Pavlicek requested the council restore the Plan Commission because the village is required to hold petition hearings for developments within 90 days after the proper paperwork is filed.

The Plan Commission had been busy with extra meetings dealing with residential construction codes, Acadia on the Green and other developments.

Residents Alan Jirik, who was the former chairman reinstated to that position, Mark Griesbaum, George Nicholaou, Ronald Waechtler, Philip Matejczyk, Brett Webster, Terrence Quandt, Denise Rabatah and Daniel McCormick were reappointed by the Village Council Nov. 8. Before the vote, Krajewski apologized to all members for being caught up in politics.

For Griesbaum, Nicholaou and McCormick, the apology wasn't enough and they decided they no longer wanted to serve on the Plan Commission.

"For the past two weeks, I felt like a pawn in a child's game," McCormick said. "With 10 years on the Plan Commission, I didn't need that feeling."

McCormick said the sudden removal was a slap in the face. While admitting he was not irreplaceable, he told Krajewski he not only lost his service, but lost his vote in the 2007 election.

"At the next election, Mr. Mayor, it will be my time to fire you," McCormick said.

Griesbaum told village officials he enjoyed his time volunteering but said the actions by the entire council were "inappropriate." Returning to the Plan Commission only would condone that behavior, he added.

Village officials again apologized to the Plan Commission members saying their hard work was appreciated.

"Hopefully we learned some lessons out of this, and we will move forward," McConnell said.

That remains to be seen. Waldack had planned to censure -- the equivalent of a political hand slap -- Krajewski for allegedly leaking executive session conversation about Sisul to the public regarding the appointment process. He held off his censure Nov. 8 at the request of Pavlicek.

"I do plan to place this resolution on a future agenda," Waldack said.

Krajewski denied any wrongdoing and threatened to censure Waldack for promoting the annual CROP Walk during Village Council meetings. The mayor also threatened to sue Waldack for defamation of character if the commissioner didn't apologize.

Besides the Plan Commission, residents were removed from the Human Services, Parking & Traffic, Community Grants commissions as well as the Flood Plain Oversight Committee. Krajewski said he'd likely bring the same people back to their positions after the village retreats, pending a check of attendance records as well as talking with village staff and those individuals.

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com

By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 11/18/05

Downers Grove village officials are working toward a resolution on how to appoint resident volunteers to advisory commissions after more than a month of in-fighting.

Mayor Brian Krajewski said the Village Council was able to reach some consensus on how to proceed after elected officials met for a village retreat Nov. 9 at Village Hall. Commissioners Ronald Sandack, Stan Urban, Marilyn Schnell, Martin Tully and Sue McConnell, along with Commissioner William Waldack, will once again serve as liaisons to advisory panels and conduct resident interviews.

The council plans to schedule a second retreat with new Village Manager Cara Pavlicek after Thanksgiving and bring back a full slate of appointments for any remaining vacancies at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13.

"At that meeting, we should have every board in place," Krajewski said.

On Nov. 15, the Village Council unanimously approved residents Becky Rheintgen, Geri Lombard and Richard Szydlo to the Tourism & Events Commission, as well as Audra Hammernik and Greg Beggs to the Plan Commission.

The three Tourism & Events members were originally brought forth by Krajewski Oct. 18 along with former Village Commissioner Tom Sisul to the Board of Fire & Police Commissioners.

Urban, Sandack, McConnell, Waldack and Schnell didn't back the choices made by Krajewski. The mayor said he was angered because he never questioned any other commissioner's recommendations in the six years he served on the council. The residents, some in attendance Oct. 18, were embarrassed by the situation, he added.

Most of the Village Council fired back saying they were confused with the appointment process since Krajewski had taken over full control earlier this summer. Krajewski said it was necessary because there were 22 vacancies on advisory panels that needed to be filled. He also contended some commissioners, with the exception of Tully and Sandack, did not back his choices because they had a problem with Sisul.

Schnell said she would be uncomfortable with any former elected official sitting on a panel that handles hiring, firing and promotions in both Police and Fire departments.

On. Nov. 15, Sisul addressed the Village Council saying the entire situation got out of hand but he did not take their decision personally. Sisul also said he did not appreciate the negative stigma of being characterized as a political ally of Krajewski in the media

"Political allies doesn't mean they are bad," Sisul said. "You are going to have a lot of (Downers Grove) Citizen of the Year (members) serving on boards."

Sisul won the Downers Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry award in 2002.

In late October, Krajewski abruptly removed 35 resident volunteers from the Plan, Human Services, Community Grants and Parking & Traffic commissions, as well as the Flood Plain Oversight Committee. The motive behind the massive clean-out was directed at Urban, Schnell and McConnell, who had previously served as liaisons to those panels and conducted interviews for their membership.

The mayor admitted in November he might have made a mistake by "playing political games" along with the rest of the Village Council. The situation worsened with Waldack and Krajewski accused each other of violating council policy and threatened to bring forward a resolution to censure -- the equivalent of a political hand slap -- up for a vote. The two have backed off that stance for the time being.

Before reassigning liaison assignments to his commissioners, Krajewski has said he planned on bringing most of the resident volunteers affected by his decision back to their respective post.

As part of the new procedure agreed upon at the retreat, council members will interview residents and notify the mayor of their recommendations, according to Krajewski. The choices will then be made known to the entire Village Council before the meeting the appointments are voted upon so any disagreement could be settled beforehand.

Resident Christine Fregeau told the Village Council that she appreciates the diversity of elected officials, but said they needed to work better as a team.

"Until the bullets are stopped being fired, the war won't be over," she said.

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com

By Kevin Stahr,  Staff writer
Published: 1/6/06

The fallout from the appointments fiasco three months ago appears to be over with the Downers Grove Village Council, but not before certain officials took a few more swipes at each other.

At the very end of the Jan. 3 Village Council meeting, Commissioner William Waldack expressed his disappointment for not being able to have his censure resolution against Mayor Brian Krajewski placed on a village agenda. Waldack claimed Krajewski leaked confidential information from an Oct. 25 executive session regarding appointments in a letter sent to residents and the media.

Even though the appointment situation seems to have been resolved, Waldack said he was compelled to censure Krajewski -- the equivalent of a political handslap -- for allegedly violating council rules.

"Since (November), I have patiently cooperated, holding off at the request of the village manager (Cara Pavlicek) and others," Waldack said. "Subsequent retreats have done nothing to resolve this particular issue."

However, Waldack has since learned that under state statute village officials cannot censure each other regarding Illinois Open Meeting Act violations. He attempted to prove his point by trying to get a tape or written transcripts of the Oct. 25 executive session released, without success. His request to add more information to the executive session's meeting minutes also failed.

Pavlicek said Jan. 4 that she pulled Waldack's censure motion off the agenda because she was advised of the Illinois attorney general's ruling in 1991 prohibiting censures involving potential closed session violations.

Waldack ended his comments by suggesting commissioners revise the policy on appointments by transferring that authority from the mayor to the Village Council. No one backed the concept at the meeting, but Waldack's comments drew a few angry responses.

Commissioner Martin Tully chimed in before Krajewski could, saying there was no reason to resurrect the in-fighting Tully said had already been resolved.

"Personally, I'm tired of the self-attached 'martyr' label that is ill-attached," Tully said about Waldack. "The whole thing has been an enormous, dysfunctional distraction that I'm embarrassed has continued this evening."

Krajewski admitted he erred by cleaning the slate of 35 resident volunteers in late October, and the council has since met at two retreats to work out its issues, Tully said. Many volunteers were reinstated. In November, Krajewski said he was playing "political games" when the Village Council failed to back his appointment of Tom Sisul to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

Tully labeled Waldack's behavior as scandalous for wasting so much staff and council time over the issue.

Krajewski took his turn at Waldack saying there was no basis for Waldack's censure effort in the first place. The mayor said he obtained Waldack's views on appointing Sisul when he asked village attorney Enza Petrarca to informally poll Village Council members if they would back Sisul and several other appointees. Only Tully and Village Commissioner Ronald Sandack replied, according to Krajewski.

Waldack said he had not made up his mind on appointments until the Oct. 25 executive session.

Krajewski criticized Waldack for dragging up the issue as "damage control" or a "political agenda." He then confirmed with Petrarca that Waldack had violated council policy by sending him an e-mail while copying the message to Sandack. Three commissioners cannot legally participate in village business through electronic means, he said.

"I don't need a censure resolution to censure Commissioner Waldack for that particular violation," Krajewski said pointedly.

Kevin Stahr's e-mail address is:  kstahr@libertysuburban.com