Steger village trustees have rescinded a motion to hire an outside attorney to investigate whether the village’s residency requirement could withstand a court challenge.
Monday’s action was prompted by a veto by Village President Lou Sherman, who contends that village funds cannot legally be used for such an inquiry.
Trustee Robert Joyce sponsored the motion to rescind the resolution, which was introduced at the June 5 Village Board meeting, after Village Attorney Franklin D. Burkey confirmed that Sherman’s reasoning was legally correct.
The original resolution, introduced by Trustee John Cashman, called for hiring Long Grove attorney Thomas F. McGuire. McGuire’s previous involvement with Steger has been limited to successfully contesting Steger Police Chief Richard Stultz’s recommendation to promote Sgt. Greg Rambo to assistant police chief, Burkey said. McGuire usually represents individual police officers who have been called to appear before police and fire boards, Burkey said.
The residency action supported by four of the six trustees targeted Stultz, a Homewood resident. Stultz was exempted from the village’s residency requirement at an April 1999 board meeting that was held between the time the three newest trustees were elected and when they were seated.
Those trustees–Joyce, John Cashman and Charles Tieri–attempted to rescind the motion exempting Stultz. The three have been joined by Trustee Anthony Santori, who had voted to excuse Stultz from the requirement.
Burkey has told the majority bloc that negating the previous board action would violate Stultz’s constitutional rights.
But the majority bloc has continued to question the Village Board’s right to make exceptions to village ordinances and argued that future boards should be able to revoke such exceptions.
Stultz was hired in 1995 from the Chicago Heights Police Department, where he was a captain. His residency exemption is scheduled to end with his current contract in April, which coincides with the end of Sherman’s term as mayor. Stultz is paid $49,000 annually, Sherman said.
The Stultz battle is part of the majority bloc’s struggle to wrest hire-and-fire powers from Sherman. Burkey has repeatedly told the new board members that their role is limited to confirming appointments and terminations made by Sherman.
Complicating the power struggle is the participation of Tieri, who was replaced by Stultz as Steger’s top cop, and the opposition of Clarence Helsel, the board’s liaison to the Police Department. Trustee Ercil Johnson also continues to join with Helsel in supporting Stultz.
The majority bloc voted to fire Stultz on May 22. Sherman responded by immediately appointing Stultz interim police chief, then vetoing the motion to fire him.
