Hinsdale Trustee Questions $500 Payment To Employee's Relative

HINSDALE, IL — An issue has surfaced with a $500 payment that the Hinsdale village government made to a vendor in December. But the village president did not want to discuss the details at a meeting.

The issue came up last week when the Village Board was about ready to approve its monthly accounts payable, which amounted to $1.6 million in December.

Village President Tom Cauley noted Trustee Matt Posthuma had an issue with the $500 payment.

Posthuma said he had traded emails with Darrell Langlois, the village's finance director, about the payment.

"I'm happy to get into this now, Tom," Posthuma said.

Cauley said he "would rather not go into it now."

While the check is out the door, Cauley said, "I think we should not approve it until we do some due diligence."

So the trustees approved the accounts payable without the $500 payment. They did not identify the vendor.

After the meeting, Patch submitted a public records request for documents about the $500 payment. The documents arrived Thursday.

Earlier the day of the meeting, Posthuma emailed Langlois about the payment to Brad Hanzel for an item listed as "planning/design fee CBD planting," with CBD referring to the Central Business District.

He questioned whether Hanzel was related to Sammy Hanzel, the parks department's recreation and marketing communications manager.

"If so, what is the village's policy for doing business with relatives of staff?" Posthuma asked.

Langlois confirmed that the Hanzels are siblings. He said Brad Hanzel was a village employee for four months in 2018, then left for another full-time job. The village job, Langlois said, was allowed because Sammy Hanzel was not her brother's supervisor. They worked in different departments.

Langlois said he received information that Brad Hanzel did Central Business District planting design while he was with the village.

A member of the village's public services staff, John Finnell, liked Brad Hanzel's plantings, which received many compliments, Langlois said. Brad Hanzel did the work in 2019 and 2020 as a contractor, receiving $500 each time.

Langlois said the village's purchasing manual does not specifically address a vendor who might have a relative working for the village.

He pointed to a provision that states, "Village employees are prohibited from having a financial interest, either directly or indirectly through any other person or entity, in any contract work, or business of the village or in the sale of any village property."

Langlois added, "I won't say this has never happened before in my time here, but off the top of my head, (I) do not remember this happening before, certainly for nothing material."

Patch emailed Posthuma on Thursday about whether he was satisfied with the answer. He did not respond as of Friday morning.

The board approved the accounts payable, except the $500 payment.