Former friends Keith Pekau and Jim Dodge have gone to war the last couple of months as both are seeking the Orland Park mayoral chair for the next four years.
Pekau is an eight-year incumbent and Dodge is a former longtime trustee. When both were on the board together from 2017-2021 the two often verbally sparred.
A few things can happen when the ballots are counted on April 1.
First, Pekau and his slate of three trustees and the village clerk will win, giving Pekau a board of like-minded people, which he is currently enjoying. Do they disagree? Yes, but it’s rare.
Second, Pekau could win and some of Dodge’s people will get on the board causing a mix.
Pekau addressed that possibility at an event March 7 at the Orland Park Library.
“I would not treat them as I was treated,” Peakau said. “I was accused of crimes every night. You don’t treat people like that.”
The third scenario is that Dodge wins and no matter if all or none of the people on his slate are voted in, there will be at least three of Pekau’s people on the board – Michael Milani, Cynthia Katsenes Nelson and William Healy.
“I don’t think it will be problematic,” Dodge said earlier this week. “I don’t have a problem coming in and trying to work with them. I would expect them to have different points of view.
“We can either work through it, or we just go on. My goal is to bring them over to the ideas, not necessarily anything else. It’s also about ethos and how we run the board and how we make sure staff gets the job done for our residents.”
During the Pekau era, the board voted for term limits so Pekau will be on his final go-around if he wins.
He said that if elected he will continue to make the decisions that will benefit the village long term.
“The next four years are going to solidify what we’ve done and that’s creating a path for the next 20 years,” Pekau said earlier this week. “We want to finish these development projects and get caught up on our parks and our roads.
“If we do the right things and focus on the right things, it should run pretty well.”
Meanwhile Dodge’s vision is looking at what he sees are the shorter-term problems at hand including what to do with the $13 million revamped Centennial Park West property, hiring a village manager and trying to offset what he sees at a $200 million debt that is coming.
“We’re anticipating six months of hard work just to figure it all out,” he said “I told my team to assume that we will spend the first six months getting to the truth.”
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