If you watch the Orland Park Committee of the Whole meeting that was held on February 2, 2026 (and I urge you to do that) you would find yourself observing several “palm-face” moments.
Lucas Hawley (who I do not know) wrote an excellent piece in the Patch on the important timelines involving public disclosure of the Amazon development. There’s no need to revisit the underlying facts.
This is about a village trustee’s complete misunderstanding of how local government works.
Find out what's happening in Orland Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Had this trustee first assumed office on New Year’s Day of 2026…you might be inclined see his point or at least you might give him a pass as to why his reckless assertions fell apart as soon as they were uttered.
Maybe.
Find out what's happening in Orland Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
But he was sworn into this role on May 6, 2019. That’s 2,465 days between his swearing in and the most recent COW.
This trustee took “umbrage” at certain things. The word comes from Latin for "shade" or "shadow," hinting at a shadow of displeasure or suspicion.
Starting at about one hour and twenty-three minutes into the meeting, this trustee lobbed an ethics hand grenade in front of the Board and the village attorney about the Plan Commission and Inform Orland Park’s Facebook account. He wanted a committee appointed to investigate a possible ethics breach tied to a “premature” release of information about the Amazon development.
His evidence of this chicanery?
Undated and a dated Facebook printout, and a “D-1” and a “D-2” form for Inform Orland Park.
So…what are D-1 and D-2 forms meant to convey?
D-1 — Statement of Organization
What it’s for: creating/registering a political committee and disclosing its basic identifying information (committee name/type, officers like treasurer, bank/depository, candidate(s) supported, etc.). It’s also the mechanism to report changes to that information (generally within a short window after a change).
D-2 — Report of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
What it’s for: the committee’s periodic campaign disclosure report—reporting money in and money out (contributions received, expenditures made, debts/obligations, etc.). Committees file these on the statutory schedule (including quarterly reports) and typically use D-2 for “regular” reports and any final/amended reporting as required.
That’s it.
Not exactly the Pentagon Papers.
His not-so-veiled assertions were stated as if he wasn’t quite clear on the depth of their meaning. However, they were clear to me and anyone else who works in government.
He was sort of…but not quite…nibbling at the edges of…publicly reporting misconduct, ex parte communication, improper influence, and possibly a prohibited promise on behalf of the Plan Commission…or maybe just one person on the commission…who may…or may not have authored the Inform Orland Park Facebook post…that may have revealed too much too soon about the Amazon development (even though it had been out in the public since before Christmas).
This went on for twelve solid minutes.
The Gettysburg Address only went on for two.
What exactly was the misconduct? The ex parte communication? The influence? The promise?
Who knows? There was no actual evidence presented by this trustee in support of any of that.
The Orland Park Ethics Ordinance was created a year after this trustee was sworn in. He voted for it. He knew exactly what the steps were for addressing a perceived ethical grievance. But I guess that it’s more fun to turn a routine Committee of the Whole meeting into a 3AM Waffle House fight.
This trustee needs to save his “umbrage” for something else.
