Burr Ridge, Orland Park Mayors Tangle Over GOP Politics

BURR RIDGE, IL – No love is lost between the mayors of Burr Ridge and Orland Park.

Last year, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau defeated Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso in the Republican primary for the 6th Congressional District. Pekau went on to lose to the Democratic incumbent, Sean Casten.

Earlier this month, when some speculated that Grasso would run for state House, Pekau went public with concerns about his former rival.

In an online message, Pekau noted Grasso tried to increase the mayor's pay to $30,000, from $6,000. The Village Board cut the amount to $12,000 and put it before voters, who rejected the raise.

Pekau also accused Grasso of trying to cut police budgets and failing to address crime. In an interview, Pekau told Patch that he wasn't referring to the Burr Ridge Police Department, but the DuPage County Sheriff's Office, when Grasso was a county board member.

"(Grasso) believes Republicans are the problem, and we should be more like Democrats if we want to win," Pekau wrote. "Perhaps most concerning is Grasso's refusal to support our campaign for Congress against the radical leftist Sean Casten. Instead, Grasso actively lobbied other mayors and managers to endorse Casten."

Asked for a response, Grasso, who is considered a moderate Republican, referred to his statement on the Suburban Chicagoland website.

In the message, Grasso called Pekau a "far-right extremist" who is making up stories and "destructively" attacking another Republican mayor. (The mayor's position is officially nonpartisan.)

As for his salary, Grasso said he accepts the voters' decision. But he said Pekau campaigned in 2017 to abolish the Orland Park mayor's $150,000 salary but reneged on the promise and collected $600,000 over four years. Then the Orland Park board voted to cut the salary to $45,000 over Pekau's protests, Grasso said.

However, Pekau told Patch he stuck to his promise. The salary was already in place when he was elected and an elected official's salary cannot be cut or raised during the official's term of office, he said.

Grasso also took issue with Pekau's allegations about Grasso's role in the congressional campaign.

"As for his failed congressional race in 2022, Pekau lost and then complained I did not endorse him. Pekau omitted that he never asked for my endorsement," Grasso said. "Where I come from, you ask for support. He never asked. Of course, it would not have mattered. Casten crushed Pekau on election night even after a photo-op visit from (then-House Majority Leader) Kevin McCarthy a few days before."

Grasso said he never asked other mayors to support Casten. He said a "deluded" Pekau backer concocted that story.

"When Pekau repeats this nonsense, challenge him to name one mayor who opposed him, or more importantly, did so at my urging — none did and I never asked any, because it never happened," Grasso said.

Grasso said Pekau lost on his own "far-right" agenda.

Pekau said he stands by the allegation that Grasso tried to organize mayors against his candidacy.

"Five or six mayors said he was doing that," Pekau said. "It was widely known that he was trying to."

He also said Grasso wants to compromise conservative values.

"I don't think Gary Grasso is a Republican," Pekau said. "He doesn't believe we should be conservative."

Last year, Grasso told the media that the "far right" is hurting the chances of Republicans to win elections.

In response to a Patch inquiry this week, Grasso said he wasn't running for state representative.