Homer Glen Trustees Hire Legislative Counsel In 5-1 Vote

HOMER GLEN, IL — The Homer Glen Village Board approved the creation of a legislative counsel position and appointed Odelson, Sterk, Murphey, Frazier and McGrath, Ltd., to the position, at its July 28 meeting.

According to board documents, the legislative counsel does not replace the existing village attorney, but is an additional position. The legislative counsel will be paid at an hourly rate of $185 per hour, board documents state.

The firm, Odelson, Sterk, Murphey, Frazier and McGrath, Ltd., is also the firm which currently represents Homer Township and the Homer Township Road District.

During public comment, former trustees Sharon Sweas and Keith Gray spoke against the board appointing legislative counsel.

"There is no justification for wanting to hire an additional law firm...to be what looks like your personal attorneys, who will be at your beck and call at a rate of $185 per hour, and at the expense of the taxpayers," Sweas said.

Gray said he believes appointing a duplicate legal firm to only consult the trustees will lead to division and acrimony between the elected officials.

"This action is not in the best interest of the village or the residents,"Gray said. "It will cost the residents and taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, and all to what purpose? This is fiscally irresponsible, and goes against conservative norms."

The ordinance was approved in a 5-1 vote, with Trustees Nicole La Ha, Jennifer Consolino, Ruben Pazmino, Rose Reynders and Dan Fialko voting for the ordinance, and Trustee Beth Rodgers voting against. Mayor George Yukich also said he would vote no to the proposal.

Consolino said she felt it necessary to retain a secondary legislative counsel. Consolino, as well as trustees Reynders, Fialko and La Ha took their seats in May after winning the April 6 election.

"The election should have ended on April 7, but I don't believe it has," Consolino said. "I promised transparency and accountability when I ran for trustee. Our residents deserve to know what is transpiring with our village, and I have the right to publicly state why I do not trust or have faith in the current state of this board."

"It is our right to have a secondary legal counsel represent us on this board," she said, adding that numerous municipalities already do this. "We are not the only village with a board conflicted, and filled with mistrust. There is no shame in admitting there is a problem, and attempting to resolve it."

Trustee Nicole La Ha said she had been giving the ordinance a lot of thought, and believed she had done her due diligence on the matter.

"I did promise fiscal responsibility [when campaigning]. Fiscal responsibility doesn't just mean we're smart, and we respect our community members' hard-earned money. It also means that we, as elected officials, have the discernment to put proper precautionary measures in place, so big, expensive mistakes are not made."

Trustee Ruben Pazmino said this was a very contentious campaign and there's a lot of bad feelings.

"Imagine going into a courtroom, and the person representing you, you don't really trust," Pazmino said. "That's kind of where we're coming from."

Trustee Rose Reynders said adopting the ordinance is about moving the village in the right direction.

"I think having a second opinion and the separation between the legislative counsel and the [village] attorney is only going to benefit everybody in this room," Trustee Dan Fialko said.

Trustee Beth Rodgers said the ordinance is "completely inappropriate and lacks merit."

Mayor George Yukich said the ordinance is another cost to the taxpayer.

"If you think that you guys, that this is what you need, I can't stop you," he said. "But for me, if I was outside of politics looking in right now at this, I'd wonder what the heck is going on."

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