An Orland Park Village Board member asked the board Monday to investigate a potential ethics breach during the approval process of a planned Amazon retail center.
William Healy raised concerns about a social media post made by Inform Orland Park, a political action committee, before the village Plan Commission voted in favor of the Amazon development, prompting outrage from other board members.
Healy presented a copy of what he said was posted by Inform Orland Park Jan. 2, that the committee was “excited to share that an Amazon facility is coming to the corner 159th Street and LaGrange Road.”
“This posting made it appear that (the project) was a done deal,” potentially discouraging public comment at the Jan. 6 Plan Commission meeting, Healy said. He said the post was later removed from Inform Orland Park’s Facebook page.
A post on the page from Jan. 2 states “an Amazon facility is potentially coming to the corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road! This new development represents a significant investment in our community, bringing new jobs, economic growth, and expanded opportunities to Orland Park.”
Healy said he also was concerned about a Plan Commission member’s relationship to the political action committee. Kathy Fenton, who sits on the Plan Commission and voted in favor of the Amazon development, was chair of Inform Orland Park until Jan. 8, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Lucas Hawly is the current chair.
Healy said he interpreted Fenton’s resignation from the committee as her realizing that it was wrong to publish the Amazon announcement.
“You’d think she’d resign from the Plan Commission, but she resigned from the PAC instead,” Healy said. He said she should have at least abstained from the Amazon vote due to her ties to the committee.
Village attorney Michael Stillman said it is normal for government officials to maintain connections to political parties, and said “they are not called on to not vote just because there may have been some connection.”
Other board members expressed frustrations that Healy did not refer his concerns to the village’s Ethics Committee, as is standard practice.
“Let it go through the commission, and let them investigate it to see if there was any wrongdoing,” board member John Lawler said. “Instead, I feel like we’ve wasted a lot of time on this.”
Board member Joanna Leafblad and Mayor Jim Dodge said Healy failed to provide any evidence Fenton was responsible for the social media post and noted the village notified members of the public about the Amazon development proposal in December via a Daily Southtown posting.
“You’re trying to damage people’s reputations and potentially the reputation of the village of Orland Park,” Dodge said.
Fenton on Tuesday called Healy’s claims “baseless and false” and said he owes her an apology for smearing her reputation. She said she does not post on social media and her position with Inform Orland Park was purely administrative.
“To question my ethics and say it was a conflict of interest is a bunch of garbage,” Fenton said. She said she resigned due to “targeted and repeated attacks.”
Healy’s call for an investigation into a potential ethics breach was voted down 5-2, with Healy and Trustee Cynthia Katsenes voting in favor.
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