Quillman, Hug Vote Against Interim Joliet City Manager

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet City Council went through three city managers this week. Jim Capparelli resigned from his job and he will be paid about $50,000 under a separation agreement approved at Friday afternoon's special meeting. With Capparelli out of job on Tuesday morning, finance director Kevin Sing served as interim city manager Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

And around 4:30 p.m., in a 7-2 vote, the Council voted to make Rod Tonelli the interim city manager. Tonelli's contract pays him a base salary of $174,000, and he will serve as city manager for at least three months. After that, Tonelli's contract will go month to month, according to Joliet's new mayor Terry D'Arcy.

Corporation Counsel Sabrina Spano clarified that Tonelli isn't being paid $174,000 to work for three months. Rather, his monthly salary comes out to $14,500.

Still, Councilman Larry Hug and Councilwoman Jan Quillman voted against Tonelli.

Tonelli has more than 30 years of experience in economic development, and he recently sold his Shorewood-based civil engineering company, Ruettiger, Tonelli & Associates.

Also, Tonelli said he is resigning as board chairman of the Joliet City Center Partnership organization in light of accepting the position as interim city manager.

D'Arcy told Joliet Patch after Friday's vote that he's expecting good things around City Hall for the summer now with Tonelli in charge.

"I think it's going to be a good move for the city," D'Arcy remarked.

D'Arcy said he did not have a time frame in mind as to when he wants to have a permanent city manager in place. Tonelli's contract will be extended on a month-to-month basis once the initial three-month contract expires on Sept. 10.

In recent days, there were discussions amongst Joliet officials about hiring retired village of Romeoville administrator Steve Gulden, who worked for Romeoville about 38 years, until retiring in late 2020.

Since 2021, the former Romeoville village official has run Gulden and Associates Consulting.

When asked Friday about retaining Gulden to help Tonelli as a paid consultant for the city of Joliet, D'Arcy remarked, "that's not in stone at all. We don't have anything written at this point."

For now, Gulden has not been hired as a consultant for Joliet, D'Arcy said.

As for Tonelli, D'Arcy said one of the top goals is to meet and have conversations with the city's department heads "to find out what projects they are working on."

Quillman said she voted against hiring Tonelli because several Council members did not have a chance to interview him.

"I don't know you that well," Quillman announced. I "never had a chance to properly interview you."

After the meeting, Hug explained the reasoning behind his no vote for Tonelli.

"Look, when you hire somebody ... if the first thing we have to do is even consider hiring somebody as a backstop as a consultant to tell that person how to fulfill that position, why don't you just hire that consultant?" Hug asked. "The person you've hired isn't obviously qualified for that position, while they may be qualified for a lot of other things. That candidate is Mr. Tonelli.

"Now, whether or not they wind up using this consultant, the fact of the matter is, it was brought forward, and seriously discussed as, we can hire him (Tonelli) and he can the job and just in case, we'll be able to go with this Gulden guy to consult …

"What was presented was hiring a consultant, or paying a consultant on an hourly basis, anytime (Tonelli) needs help in doing his duties. If you need help to define and carryout your duty, you probably shouldn't be in that position, no matter where you're at."