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Former Orland Park Asst Village Manager analyzes misguided referendum to eliminate Managerial form of government
Video of former Orland Park assistant village manager discusses the referendum to eliminate the village managerial form of government proposed by controversial Mayor Keith Pekau. In a political move, Pekau introduced an ordinance to replace the managerial form of government at a meeting on Monday Feb. 20, 43 days before the citizens could vote on the referendum. The ordinance outlines his plans to take control by appointing a village manager he directly controls
By Ray Hanania
Karie Friling, the former Director of Development Services and former Asst. Village Manager for Orland Park, Illinois, discusses with this author the proposed referendum introduced and pushed by Mayor Keith Pekau to eliminate the professional Village Manager and Managerial Form of Government.
If passed, the referendum on April 4, 2023, would open the way for Pekau to become a full-time mayor with a larger salary.
Friling discusses some of the concerns residents have about changing the system, which has been in place since 1983 and helped guide Orland Park through its greatest expansion led by previous mayors.
For more information on the Village Managerial Form of Government Referendum visit www.VoteYesOrland.com
Former government officials have lined up against eliminating the Managerial Form of Government in a referendum that is constructed to mislead voters on April 4, 2023. The referendum question is ““Shall the Village of Orland Park retain the managerial form of government?”
A No Vote eliminates the Village Manager position defined by the State of Illinois and replaces it with a village manager who answers directly to Mayor Pekau, who has consolidated accountability to expand his power and control over every facet of village policies and decision making.
A Yes Vote, which is encouraged by professionals who have dedicated their lives to protect Orland Park, would reject the referendum.
The wording by Pekau was intended to confuse voters.
You can watch the video of the interview I did with Karie Friling on YouTube by clicking this link or by using the widget below to watch it on this award-winning website.
For more information visit the group’s website at www.VoteYesOrland.com.
(Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall reporter. A political analyst and CEO of Urban Strategies Group, Hanania’s opinion columns on mainstream issues are published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. His Middle East columns are published in the Arab News. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at [email protected].)
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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