No Members Of HG Village Committees After Failed Appointments

HOMER GLEN, IL — After a failed motion for the appointments of the Village of Homer Glen's committees, there are now no existing members of the village's committees. Committee appointments are made annually, according to board documents.

All the committee appointments were presented as one item, so all the appointments failed to pass in a 2-4 vote. This left the committees with no existing members. Trustees Ruben Pazmino, Dan Fialko, Jennifer Consolino and Rose Reynders voted against the appointments, and Trustees Nicole La Ha and Beth Rodgers voted yes.

Trustee Ruben Pazmino had asked if resident John Walters could be added to the environment committee, and Mayor George Yukich said he would consider that appointment at a later time, but not at the current meeting.

"It's nobody intention to hold up the committees, it's just that we think he would be a very valuable asset to the environmental committee," Trustee Jennifer Consolino said, adding that she was extremely disappointed in the mayor's decision.

After the failed motion, Yukich said there appears to be a discourse in how committees should be structured, regarding chairs and co-chairs.

"While these committees have run perfectly smoothly for the past six years, we now have this discourse," Yukich said.

He said the board will now hold weekly committee of the whole workshops for every trustee to participate.

"This is really unfortunate, in my opinion, it's a slap in the face to all the volunteers who have actively participated and contributed to each of these committees over the last six years," he said.

Interim Village Manager Matt Walsh said the village's committees include the Ability Awareness Committee, Administration and Finance Committee, Environment Committee, Community and Economic Development Committee, Homer Community Festival Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee, Public Services and Safety Committee, and the Emergency Management Agency.

Walsh said there are ongoing discussions to review the committee appointments in the near future and to continue with the same format.