Several Des Plaines aldermen recently questioned Mayor Matt Bogusz’ decision not to reappoint some commissioners to city advisory panels.
Bogusz presented the council with a list of appointments and reappointments to the city’s Consumer Protection Commission, Library Board of Trustees, Zoning Board of Appeals and other advisory panels at a meeting shown in a live stream video on the city’s website.
Council members took particular issue with Bogusz’ decision not to reinstate Bob Porada, a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals for eight years, and Mike Lake, who, at present, chairs the Library Board of Trustees and has been a member of that panel for 15 years.
“I wanted to comment that I don’t understand a couple of the non-reappointments, specifically Bob Porada on the Zoning Board (of Appeals),” said Ald. James Brookman, 5th. “To me, a person that is not reappointed would be for cause, and I don’t understand the cause here.”
Additionally, Brookman wondered why Lake, commander of VFW post 2992, was also passed over for reappointment.
“I think he’s done a very good job and I don’t understand the reason not to reappoint (Lake),” he said.
Bogusz said the decision not to reappoint certain individuals was less a reflection on those members of the panels, and more a reflection of the qualifications of the individuals he chose to fill their position instead.
Bogusz selected William Epcke, an account executive at Experian, a global information services company, to fill Lake’s role on the Consumer Protection Commission, and G. Thomas Green, president of Chicago-based PLCS Corp., a land surveyor company, to take over Porada’s spot on the ZBA.
As a former member of the city’s Special Events Commission and Library Board of Trustees, Bogusz said he took his duty to appoint members to city advisory panels “very seriously.”
When pressed further by Brookman, Bogusz said, “that in each of these instances where the individual in question was not reappointed, it was not because of me sleuthing out anything, it was either peers or staff, or peers and staff, who raised concerns that I then looked further into.”
Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th, questioned whether Bogusz’ decision not to reappoint certain individuals was a form of retribution.
Bogusz said he decided to reappoint Rosemary Mulligan to the Library Board of Trustees even though “she has had a word or two to say about me in recent years,” because he believed she was a “very productive” member of the board.
Bogusz invited members of the council with concerns about specific individuals to speak to him one on one.
“I’d just like to say while it is your choice to appoint someone, it is my choice to either say I agree with you or not as a member of this council,” Ald. Mark Walsten, 6th, said to Bogusz. “I also plan to review and try to get some more answers as to why some of these decisions have been made.”
The council will vote on Bogusz’ appointments and reappointments at a future meeting.
