Olivieri Plans to Recuse Himself on Lawsuits Against His Firm if Elected to Park Board

MOKENA, IL - John Olivieri, the Mokena Park District board candidate whose local firm the Olivieri Brothers has been sued by the park district, plans to recuse himself from the matter and any others involving his company if he is elected to the board in the April 4 election.

"By law I would recuse myself from any vote regarding our company," Olivieri wrote on Facebook last week in response to a Mokena Patch reader's question regarding the potential situation.

The Olivieri Brothers, based in Frankfort, were named in two lawsuits recently initiated by the park district. One is centered around alleged faulty designs regarding the tennis courts at the Fox Ridge subdivision and the other centered on accusations his company submitted differing construction documents on another project.

Olivieri has called both claims "baseless" and "politically motivated." He pointed out that the tennis courts were completed in 2012 and that the park district has hired his firm for multiple projects since. The lawsuit was only filed after he announced his candidacy for park board.

If elected, Olivieri said he would "take it one step further" and "not even be part of the discussion" regarding the lawsuits against his company.

"I would leave the room," he said. "So I have no influence or gestures over any decision or action the board decides to take."

His vow is in contrast to the current park board's assertion that "Olivieri Brothers’ legal representative has stated that the arbitration filed against it would be dismissed if the slate of candidates of which John Olivieri is part, prevails in the April election."

The park district made that claim in a news release posted on Mokena Patch informing the public of both lawsuits.

Read More: Park District Sues Firm Over Water on Tennis Courts