Outgoing Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau's ongoing difficulty with truth
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau understands that if he lies enough he can spin the lies into a public truth, meaning that he can cause enough distortion to confuse the public on key issues
By Ray Hanania
FREE/Orland Park, Mayor Pekau, Political lies continue/Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Orland Park Mayor and rightwing fanatic Keith Pekau just can’t force himself to tell the truth. He constantly lies.
We will continue to be polluted with his “opinions” which try to put a shine to his tarnished eight years in office.
His biggest lie is that he is “transparent.”
That is a joke.
Pekau has been anything but transparent. Simply broadcasting the board meetings on YouTube doesn’t mean he is transparent at all. In fact, it’s only a small part of what needs to be transparent.
Pekau has fought against the release of documents through the state FOIA laws, politicizing the process and restricting and denying access at an unprecedented pace.
Despite Pekau’s lies, Board meeting Agendas were ALWAYS posted in time for the public to see. Information was easier to get from your predecessor than from you.
You eliminated the committee system and consolidated everything under your control to silence outside voices. You personally took over the government process and you are responsible for its failures. You turned public board meetings paid for by the taxpayers into bully pulpits where you personally attacked people from journalists to veterans you disliked.
Pekau constantly makes lies up to distract from the truth. For example, in his most recent eNewsletter, which I will call “Slices and Spin,” Pekau falsely claims the media said he was fined for not filing the village financial audits on time.
Like this one:
First, our 2023 audit was filed with the State, and our funding has been fully restored. You’d think that would be newsworthy—especially after outlets like NBC, WGN, and the Chicago Tribune amplified Susana Mendoza’s false claim that Orland Park had been fined for late audits. We weren’t. Ever. But the media, once again, ran with a political narrative rather than facts.
Orland Park was never fined by Mendoza’s office, although it should have been fined. Instead, Orland Park was censured for failing to file audits for 2022 and 2023. What Mendoza did was actually withhold collection payments because Pekau was delinquent in filing those audits. He was two years behind in the filing for 2022 and 2023, disclosed in 2024, by me.
Here is the story I wrote that explained what happened and that brought Pekau’s untransparent act to the attention of the major news media. (Read the archives at the bottom of this column.)
Pekau creates a “straw dog” distraction by making up a false claim that he was fined so he can knock it down because Orland Park was NOT fined. He hopes that lie will make him look more honest than he has been as a politician and mayor.
The fact is that Pekau FAILED to file the annual audits for 2022 and 2023, for two years, hoping to get through the election without disclosing the financial problems the village has, such as increased debt. What he did file is questionable and incoming Mayor Jim Dodge should have a professional auditor conduct a forensic audit to determine how badly the village finances have been damaged by Pekau.
Pekau also laments the loss of his small fanbase of two reporters who honestly didn’t understand the village’s problems. He complains about “biased” editorials. Well, “outgoing mayor who can’t leave fast enough,” editorials are “Opinions” and opinions are “subjective,” which you can describe as biased if you want.
This column, for example, is subjective and offers my opinion about what you have done, mayor. That is what OPINION IS.
The difference is, YOU are paid by the taxpayers who deserve truth and transparency, two things you just can’t seem to provide, and which resulted in you losing your election.
You can blame it on the “Arabs” all you want but the truth is that in addition to a surge in Arab American voters to reject your re-election, many non-Arab voters in Orland Park saw through your lies and voted against you too. You barely won re-election to office four years ago over former Mayor Dan McLaughlin who ran a pathetic and ineffective election campaign. He lost by only 290 votes.
Thankfully, the voters saw through your lies and threw you out of office in an unprecedented landslide defeat. Your defeat was embarrassing. It was humiliating. And I understand your fragile ego can’t handle that.
You will forever be seen as the politician who nearly destroyed Orland Park financially. You damaged our regional image, making Orland Park the laughingstock of the region. The politics you brought to Orland Park made a mockery of public service.
Journalism schools will teach classes on how you circumvented the FOIA rules to avoid public disclosure, manipulated TIFs to shore up your failed governance, and elevated to an unprecedented level namecalling and mudslinging to avoid accountability.
Keep sending out your eNewsletter. We need something we can laugh at.
Archived Columns on Village Audits:
Pekau fails to file Village Audits. July 15, 2024. Click here.
State takes action on failed village audit filings. Oct. 12, 2024. Click here.
Mendoza takes swift action on Pekau’s failed audits. Oct. 17, 2024. Click here.
Pekau lies about the audits and falsely attacks Mendoza. Nov. 18, 2024. Click here.