Shorewood Ousts Jim Culotta As Village Administrator

SHOREWOOD, IL — One month after Shorewood's voters elected CC DeBold as the new mayor, DeBold and the rest of the new village board have replaced village administrator Jim Culotta after less than three years on the job.

At Tuesday night's meeting, the board named Shorewood Police Chief Aaron Klima as interim village administrator. Klima previously served as interim village administrator following the 2018 retirement of village administrator Roger Barrowman, DeBold said.

Culotta began with Shorewood in October 2018. In recent weeks, he was notified his contract was not being renewed by the new village board, DeBold told Patch on Wednesday.

DeBold said he had no ill will toward Culotta. Rather, the board decided to make a change in the leadership at Shorewood's Village Hall.

"The board just opted not to renew the contract," DeBold said.

DeBold said Culotta submitted a letter of resignation, and he did not know what Culotta's future job prospects are at this time.

Culotta came to Shorewood from Washington, Illinois. He previously worked in local government for Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

DeBold, who works full-time for the Bolingbrook Fire Department, said he expects Klima will serve for at least two months as interim village administrator, and perhaps longer.

DeBold would not rule out the possibility that Klima could become the permanent village administrator, either. Klima has been the Shorewood police chief for the past 10 years.

"Aaron is the best suited person to fill the role internally," DeBold said. "It's an interim position."

DeBold said securing Shorewood's long-term drinking water source and encouraging more economic development and residential growth are key issues.

"Water for Shorewood is a big forefront issue," DeBold said. "Right now, we've got to get a grasp on that."