Tr. Tom Phelan Named New Oak Lawn Village Manager

OAK LAWN, IL — The Oak Lawn Village Board named 6th District Trustee Tom Phelan as the new village manager during a special board meeting Tuesday morning. Phelan replaces Randy Palmer, who officially retired from the post following the announcement.

Phelan’s appointment comes after nearly two months of research, interviews and discussion. Phelan will earn an annual salary of $185,000, the same as the last two village managers, Mayor Terry Vorderer told Patch. Phelan will not be participating in the village’s healthcare and benefits program.

Based on 2018 salary figures, Larry Deetjen made a base salary of $165,000 his last full year as village manager, along with $48, 978 in overtime, allowances, insurance and pension benefits before taxes. Salary compensation for the year 2020 was not available for Palmer's reign.

Four people applied for the village manager’s position, answering an ad on the Illinois Municipal League, including a yoga instructor from the northwest suburbs.

“I reviewed the resumes. We have a lot going on in Oak Lawn, a lot of business and contract development,” Vorderer said. “Looking at the rest of our qualified applicants, I thought Tom Phelan is already invested and spent a lot of time on these issues. He knows the system and the village. He’s more than qualified to walk right in on day one and lead.”

Phelan was first elected to the Oak Lawn Village Board in 2005 and served two terms, stepping down in 2013. He ran again in 2017 at the urging of several board members and was re-elected to the 6th district chair.

The village manager serves as the administrative head of the village government and provides overall direction, management and coordination for the administration and operation of each department. The position reports to the village president and trustees, and implements board policies.

Palmer was appointed acting village manager while serving as the Oak Lawn police chief when Deetjen abruptly retired after he was charged in 2019 with leaving the scene of an accident that left a man severely injured. Palmer became the permanent village manager and led Oak Lawn through the pandemic.

“Over the years I was asked on a few occasions about taking the village manager position, including by former Mayor Sandra Bury last year before we named Randy Palmer village manager, but the timing was never right,” Phelan said in a written statement. “[The] current board is composed of people who unanimously support the things I strongly believe in, public safety and fiscal responsibility, which made the idea more appealing.”

The village started looking to find a replacement for Palmer in early May after he indicated a desire to retire by June 1. The board met with a potential candidate in May, and then sought resumes through the Illinois Municipal League, before deciding that Phelan was the best candidate for the job.

“I have worked with Tom on a number of projects over the last two decades and a lot of Oak Lawn’s biggest successes are directly attributable to Tom Phelan,” said Tr. Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2) , who was first elected with Phelan in 2005. “I’ve been pushing him to take the job for years and feel lucky that he finally agreed to do it.”

Four village trustees approved the village manager appointment. Tr. Bud Stalker (Dist. 5) abstained, stating that he didn’t get a chance to review the contract.

“I never read the contract,” Stalker said. “It was sent to my personal email rather than my village email. I was out of town a lot last week. I’m very diligent about checking my village email, not as diligent about checking my personal email.”

Stalker, who at times has clashed with Phelan on the dais, said the village manager’s salary was “never a point of contention for me.”

“I personally feel that Tom Phelan is very well qualified in financial areas, but I see no experience that he’s had running a village,” Stalker continued. “There are a lot of things that run differently in government than do in business. I don’t know his business background, but I know he has no government background. I’m concerned about that.”

Vorderer admitted that he mistakenly sent the village manager contract to Stalker’s personal email instead of his village email. He said Stalker is entitled to his opinion.

“If I were to bring in a well qualified individual from the outside, I’d have six months before he was up to speed,” Vorderer said. “I will not disagree with Bud. Tom can’t put on a resume that’s been a village manager for eight years in Kentucky. If you were to simply look at resumes, you may not include Tom Phelan if you didn’t know him. I think his history and all the trustees agreed, Tom’s involvement in every single project and his experience as a finance guy makes me feel comfortable for him taking the helm as village manager. I think he can do it.”

Former mayor Sandra Bury offered her congratulations to Phelan, stating that he’s made Oak Lawn better.

“There are many really exciting projects pending in Oak Lawn and Tom has been working all of those,” Bury said. “I can’t speak for the village board, but the thought of him bringing someone from the outside without knowledge of those pending projects will set them all back. Tom will hae have a big professional challenge in this role.”

Also, during the special village board meeting, Vorderer recommended, and the trustees approved Ralph Soch to fill the 6th District seat being vacated by Phelan. Soch is a lifelong 6th District resident and president of the St. Catherine’s Men’s Club. He works for Mars, Inc. (formerly Wrigley Company) as their manager of capital and site services. If Soch chooses to remain on the board he will have to run for the 6th District seat again in two years in a special election, along with Trustees Tim Desmond (Dist. 1), Paul Mallo (Dist. 3) and Stalker in 2023.

Stalker also abstained from accepting the mayor’s recommendation to appoint Soch.