Western Springs Mistake Repeated In Clarendon Hills

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Western Springs has some company with a key error it made for years with top officials' appointments.

In 2020, Patch first noticed the mistake made in Western Springs when it filled a Village Board vacancy without a board vote. The next year, a Patch investigation revealed a trend of appointment of top officials at Village Hall without board votes.

The village attorney later examined the matter and determined that the village code required board votes. The Village Board then voted in the officials who were installed incorrectly.

A similar situation played out at Tuesday's Clarendon Hills Village Board meeting. A Patch reporter alerted officials in real time.

At the beginning of the meeting, the village clerk swore in the new police chief, Ed Leinweber.

The problem: The Village Board had not voted to appoint him.

After the swearing-in ceremony took place, a Patch reporter asked a village official about who appointed Leinweber. She said Village President Eric Tech did.

The reporter then checked the village code online. Under an ordinance, the village president gets to nominate the chief and other top officials, subject to the board's approval. Those are the same rules in Western Springs.

The reporter emailed Tech and Village Manager Zach Creer, sending a screenshot of the relevant provision in the code.

A couple of minutes later, Creer told the board that it must vote on the appointment.

The reporter then asked whether it was legal to take such a vote without notifying the public beforehand. The state Open Meetings Act requires a public body to alert the public to all matters that it plans to vote on.

Creer said the "Police Chief Swearing-in" item was listed on the board's meeting agenda, which he said may suffice. But he said he would consult with the village's lawyer on the situation.

The board voted unanimously for Leinweber.

In an email a few minutes later, Creer thanked Patch, saying, "I will check with legal to make sure the concurrence vote is sufficient. If not, we will reconsider at the next meeting."

In 2017, the Village Board voted on former Chief Paul Dalen's appointment before he was sworn in.