Village Board Members Seek To Remove Congressional Candidate's Commission Appointments After Release Of Campaign Video Criticizing Police

Orland Park IL

07 April, 2022

2:07 PM

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By Jon DePaolis, Richard Free Press ORLAND PARK, Ill. — A political campaign video from a U.S. Congress candidate led to a public rebuke by the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees and a call for the candidate — who is an Orland Park resident — to be stripped of his commission appointments in the Village. Orland Park trustees voted 6-0 Monday, April 4, during the Committee of the Whole meeting to forward along an agenda initiative put forth by Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes to remove Scott Kaspar — an Orland Park resident running for the Republican nomination in the District 6 congressional race — from the Village's police pension fund board and the ethics commission. Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau also is running for the Republican nomination in the District 6 primary in June. Katsenes' proposal comes after a March 21 campaign video from Kaspar that alleged that crime was on the rise in Orland Park despite numbers that the Orland Park Police Department has cited. "There were recent statements made on social media that were very damning, factually false and untrue, and it didn't cast the Village in a very good light — and was very disparaging, I feel, to our police department," Katsenes said during the COTW meeting. "When we put people on our boards and commissions, we hope the overriding thing is to look out for the best interest of Orland Park, the people we represent, the people that work here, [and] our businesses. I think this statement was very reckless." Trustee Michael Milani said he felt Kaspar's behavior was "not consistent with supporting our police and definitely not considered ethical." Trustee Brian Riordan added that the decision to seek Kaspar's removal had nothing to do with the board members disliking dissenting opinions. "But when you go out of your way to disparage because of political reasons, and you go put videos that are completely untrue about our police department, you have no place on these types of boards," Riordan said. "I don't think this is done to punish a dissenting opinion at a meeting or someone coming up with a different idea that doesn't pass. This was blatant. This is not the kind of person I think that the citizens of Orland Park want on these types of boards." Trustee Sean Kampas said that "it is an unfortunate reality that political candidates make controversial statements to get attention." "If the attack had been kept to being against another candidate, I'd leave it in the political field — where it belongs," Kampas said. "But this accusation, and what has followed, was leveled at our police command. For a candidate to suggest that [former] Chief Tim McCarthy and [former] Chief Joe Mitchell and the Orland Park Police Department have been lying about statistics that are reported to the FBI is pathetic. I would note that no substantiating information has yet been offered by the candidate to accurately dispute any of Chief McCarthy or Chief Mitchell's facts." The Kaspar for Congress campaign released the video around March 21. In it, a narrator says the following: "Some are saying that crime in Orland Park is at a 27-year low. Arrests might be at a 27-year low in your city, but crime is out of control — right here in Orland Park." The video than cuts to an NBC 5 newsclip showing an anchor discussing a carjacking in Orland Park. "It's time we do something," the video's narrator continues. "That's why Scott Kaspar started a public safety task force chaired by America's crimefighter, Bernard Kerik, the man who cut violent crime in New York City by as much as 85%." Kampas also took issue with the mention of the taskforce — and particularly its inclusion of Kerik. "The candidate's taskforce is led by a felon, convicted of eight federal charges including making false statements," Kampas said. "I wish I was making that up." Kerik was convicted of eight felony charges in 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison. In 2020, then-President Donald J. Trump pardoned Kerik. "While he can speak for himself as a candidate, he did not speak for the Village when he chose to air an attack video against our police leadership," Kampas said of Kaspar. "He also is clearly not representing the interest of the women and men of the police department by suggesting that they were not making enough arrests in later statements." Meanwhile, Pekau said he would be abstaining from voting or commenting on the matter — except to provide for procedural rules regarding next steps. As such, he told the board members they would have to first vote at the COTW meeting and then again at a future board meeting if approved. He added that the power of removing commission members rests with the mayor, with the advice and consent of the board members. While he would not be voting on the matter, he said he would follow whatever guidance the board members gave him. "What I would like to recommend, though, is that when it goes to the next board meeting is that Mr. Kaspar is invited here, so that he can explain himself and answer your questions," Pekau said. "I think it is only fair if we are removing someone to give them that opportunity." The motion to amend the original agenda initiative to invite Kaspar to attend the next meeting passed 5-1, with Trustee William Healy voting against it and Pekau abstaining. The motion to approve the agenda initiative as amended to the next board meeting passed 6-0, with Pekau abstaining. Richard Free Press contacted Kaspar on Tuesday, April 5. He confirmed that he was appointed to the police pension fund board in March 2020 and the ethics commission in May 2020. His terms are set to expire in June 2022. "As I understand it, [on April 4], [Pekau] and the board passed a unanimous resolution to remove me from the police pension fund board," he said. "This board is not political, and I will not stand for the politicization of this board." Kaspar also released a statement about the Village Board's action. "Mayor Pekau is weaponizing and abusing his position as mayor to target political opponents," Kaspar's statement read. "I'm disappointed that Mayor Pekau and the Board voted to forcibly remove me by a unanimous vote from the Police Pension Fund Board, when my term expires in June. This smells of rotten, ugly politics." Later, on April 5, Kaspar sent out a press release further stating his thoughts, alleging that on April 4 — prior to the board meeting — Pekau had removed Kaspar from his police pension fund position. "Mayor Pekau then orchestrated last night a vote by the Orland Park Village Board to give cover to his politically motivated decision earlier in the day," the press release stated. The press release stated that Pekau and the board members "took offense to the [March 21] video highlighting a crime wave within the community." "But just a few weeks earlier, during a March 7, 2022, Village of Orland Park Board meeting, [Riordan] said that every Friday night he gets a crime report for Orland Park," the release stated. "'We are on the precipice; our police officers are stressed in terms of the encounters they have with individuals with unbelievable amount of weapons.' Trustee Riordan concluded his remarks by saying, 'With these kinds of statistics every single Friday we look at this, it's impossible this is not going to end badly for us, for our officers and for who knows who surrounding the area.'" Kaspar's release also stated that "the crime data that the Village of Orland Park trustees and the mayor are receiving every Friday is alarming – and it is why I have created a Public Safety Task Force." Richard Free Press is a one-stop destination for the news that most affects you, the southwest suburban resident. Be an informed citizen of the town you live in and love.