He's Not Finished Yet: Bob Streit Runs for Seventh Term as Oak Lawn District 3 Trustee

It may come as no surprise to some residents that after 23 years on the Oak Lawn Village Board, Robert Streit intends to run once again for re-election in District 3.

On paper, Streit’s initiatives appear similar to any other politician’s pushcard. He often advocates for government transparency, public safety and fair service contracts.

“I believe residents want a government that’s more open and honest,” Streit wrote in a media packet about the public display of Freedom of Information Act requests. “A government that makes real transparency the cornerstone of its agenda.”

But in person at the biweekly village board meetings, Streit appears confrontational. He prepares pages of typed speeches that come off to some — including fellow village board members — as contemptuous. His impassioned monologues often instigate fiery and sometimes embarrassingly wild arguments among the board members that make for riveting public access television.

From an outsider’s perspective, being Robert Streit looks exhausting. But even after more than two decades on the board, he isn’t finished yet.

Streit said he’s concerned about the direction the village currently is taking.

“I love this community, but I believe Oak Lawn is on the wrong track,” Streit said. “When it comes to the quality of life issues like crime and public safety, spending and ending politics as usual, this administration is failing Oak Lawn.”

For those who haven’t talked to Streit or seen a board of trustees meeting lately, Streit has been throwing his weight against the village’s decision a year ago to outsource Oak Lawn’s 911 dispatch center. A company called Norcomm Public Safety Communications has overseen emergency services since January.

“That was probably the worst decision I can recall made by our board,” Streit said. “That decision has put our residents’ and first responders’ safety at risk every day.”

Streit has cited 46 documented dispatch errors reported by the fire department.

At the Nov. 11 village board meeting, Village Manager Larry Deetjen said since Jan. 22, 2014, the 911 center has taken more than 120,000 calls, and 46 complaints equals less than one-tenth of 1 percent of those calls.

“Would we like that to be zero? Yes,” Deetjen said. “We have made mistakes. But you coach, you train and you provide guidance, not public criticism, to those men and women, and we will be successful.”

Other trustees argued that mistakes also occurred before the 911 call center was privatized, and the move to use Norcomm was the most responsible decision for the village budget and village taxpayers.

But Streit said his sense of responsibility to the residents drives him to promote public safety, which he believes is the most important part of his role as trustee.

“I never agreed to sit back and go along and vote the way that I’m told — the way that the mayor and the manager would like me to vote,” he said. “I’ve never been a rubber stamp. People want open and honest, someone who stands up for the people. That’s what I’ve always done, what I continue to do.”

Mayor Sandra Bury said public safety in Oak Lawn is important to everyone on the board because they’re all Oak Lawn residents who have family and friends in the village.

Streit recognized the lack of respect among board members, and he blamed the mayor for the board’s acrimony.

“Leadership starts at the top, and the primary responsibility of bringing people together and opening up the government starts with the mayor,” he said. “Unfortunately, this mayor is not the type of leader to involve everyone in the process.”

Bury said she believes most of the board feels comfortable with her leadership, and many respond in a positive way, though she said she knows not everyone on the board does.

“You lead by example,” Bury said. “You lead by caring, you lead by being involved and by making sure all voices are heard.”

She expressed concern about gossip, fabricated information and a lack of respect for decorum that can drive wedges among the board members.

Some trustees have directed frustration toward Streit for the board’s divergence.

Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2) said at the Nov. 11 meeting that he was personally offended when Streit accused trustees of jeopardizing lives with the privatized call center.

“Trustee Streit has never reached out to myself to talk about fire safety,” Olejniczak said. “Now it’s going to get political. I will always do whats right for the Village of Oak Lawn and what’s right for the residents.”

Olejniczak then asked Streit if he needed an olive branch or a hug to help set aside their differences.

At the same meeting, Terry Vorderer (Dist. 4) said he had asked “a trustee,” presumably Streit, for copies of documents alleging risks to public safety. Vorderer said the trustee told him, “You can read it in the paper,” and Vorderer said he was “shocked that a trustee with such evidence would say that to me. Show me the evidence and let’s work for a solution.”

Streit said his campaign will revolve around these passion-inspiring issues — public safety, transparent government and fiscal accountability.

He considers himself a highly-accessible trustee, and he said he’s the only trustee to maintain and staff a constituent service office that addresses individual resident issues on a daily basis. He will communicate his campaign through a district newsletter, telephone town hall meetings and door-to-door canvassing.

Oak Lawn residents may remember in the past when Streit challenged an opponent’s petitions, but he said he has no plans to do so again this race. In his 2011 race, Streit challenger Dan Sodaro got knocked off the ballot for petition irregularities after an objection was filed by former Streit ally Andy Skoundrianos.

The long-time trustee won the 2011 race by just 11 votes when Sodaro ran as a write-in candidate.

The current balance for his “Friends of Bob Streit” campaign committee is $17,382.68, according to Streit’s most recent campaign disclosure statements, available on the Illinois Board of Elections website.

Between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2014, Streit took in $10,870 in campaign contributions, but he spent $8,168.72 for political consultant Shannon Fox — whose condominium address until recently doubled as the office address for the anonymous, pro-Streit blog, the Oak Lawn Leaf — and on rent for his business office at 9711 Southwest Highway.

In all his years as a trustee, Streit said he most enjoys being a public servant to help people in the Oak Lawn community, and he is running in the upcoming election for a chance to continue improving the village.

“It always meant so much to me to make this community a better place and a better place to raise a family,” Streit said. “Oak Lawn is changing, and it’s not for the better.”

Photo courtesy of Robert Streit.
Patch editor Lorraine Swanson contributed to this story.

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