Pekau slanders man he once relied on for campaign work
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau launched a vicious attack against Mike Henry who he asserts has been helping rival Jim Dodge in the April 1 election. The hypocrisy is that Henry used to work with Pekau
By Ray Hanania
FREE/Politics, Orland Park, Keith Pekau, Mike Henry/Monday, March 3, 2025
Most eNewsletters are filled with important information. But Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau’s eNews”Litter” is always filled vicious personal attacks.
And nothing was more vicious and personal than the attack Pekau launched in his most recent eNews”Litter” against an activist and researcher named Mike Henry.
Most of what he wrote is exaggerated and false, but I reprint it here so you can appreciate the level of mud that Pekau is willing to wallow in as he gets desperately concerned about his eroding chances for re-election on April 1.
Here is what Pekau “slimed” about Henry in his recent eNews”Litter” — and Pekau’s email blasts literally are litter!
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Oh, and who’s behind the FOIA request that Dodge is pretending to be outraged over? None other than his good buddy, convicted felon and serial lawsuit filer Mike Henry.
Mike Henry: The Guy Dodge Doesn’t Want You to Know About
You see, Jim Dodge’s “concerned citizens” always seem to be the same handful of disgruntled political failures and professional complainers. This time, it’s Mike Henry, a man so addicted to filing complaints that he’s literally been barred from bringing federal cases in Illinois.
Some fun facts about Dodge’s pal:
Convicted felon—pled guilty to threatening a federal judge and IRS officials and incarcerated “near a mental health treatment facility” by order of the judge.
Convicted of misdemeanor littering for distributing defamatory flyers in Tinley Park and Evergreen Park (because apparently, slandering people in print wasn’t enough—he had to go full Paul Revere).
Has filed 215 FOIA requests to the Village, and is responsible for over one-third of all PAC review requests.
Filed defamatory lawsuits and complaints against 100+ people, including me, my wife, my children, elected officials, police chiefs, judges, businesses, and even the Attorney General and Chief Justice of the United States of America. These complaints allege over 40 crimes.
And this is the “upstanding citizen” Dodge is basing his entire “corruption” claim on.
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I know Mike Henry. He is a dogged investigator who has exposed more of Pekau’s missteps than any other person I know. He’s to Pekau what Mike Royko was to Mayor Richard J. Daley.
What Henry has uncovered through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the Village of Orland Park has been shocking and politically damaging to Pekau, who claims his government is “transparent” when it is not.
Henry has exposed Pekau’s series of wasteful spending, like the $1.1 million Pekau spends annually on lawyers.
Pekau spent $350,000 on lawyers to bully two former veteran Orland Park Police Officers who were critical of Pekau.
Henry also exposed nearly $300,000 Pekau spent on outside lawyers to fight the Illinois Attorney General’s release of FOIA information, info that’s supposed to be public. It shows Pekau is not “transparent” at all.
Pekau uses taxpayer money to attack people who question or criticize his failed leadership.
He did that recently in his eNews”Litter,” when he attacked Henry and Dodge for associating with Henry, titled, “Mike Henry: The Guy Dodge Doesn’t Want You To Know About.”
In his mudslinging at Henry, Pekau exaggerates all the claims. Henry got in an angry cross-country verbal argument with a judge involved in a 7-year battle with the IRS over a business he had and was charged with a “Felony” for it. Henry paid his IRS debt in full. These are facts Pekau hides.
Pekau says Henry filed 215 FOIA request. Yes, over the course of six years!
For a government that does so much wrong, and is so “untransparent,” I am surprised there isn’t more in Pekau’s failed village management.
Henry is doing the taxpayers a favor, imposing a “forced transparency” on Pekau that Pekau doesn’t want the public to have.
Pekau says Henry was charged with misdemeanor “littering.” Talk about being called “ugly by a pig.” Pekau litters the village with lies and hate.
Pekau calls Henry Dodge’s “Good Buddy.” But the truth is, Henry worked for Pekau first. He was Pekau’s “Good Buddy.” Pekau knew about every single issue he claimed about Henry.
What’s the truth in all this? The attacks against Henry are exaggerated. That’s a Pekau political character, to take facts and distort them to make himself look good.
Yes, all the things Pekau now throws at Henry, occurred long before. In fact, they occurred even before when Henry worked with Pekau. All the things Pekau throws at Henry, existed when Pekau worked with him, but didn’t have a problem with it at all. Now, Pekau does. That’s his weak character. When it benefits him, it’s good. When it doesn’t, it’s bad.
Henry has exposed a lot of Pekau’s failed leadership, his lies, and his financial screw-ups like failing to file the village’s annual financial reports for 2022 and 2023.
Pekau takes campaign donations from contractors and developers who profit from the many Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts Pekau proposes.
TIFs take homeowner property tax collections away from the schools and puts them in a financial trust that Pekau gets to spend as he wants. Taxpayers must pay more to cover the taxes that should go to the schools but that instead go to Pekau’s developers, almost all are donors to Pekau’s campaign.
The fact is I am proud to know Mike Henry. It’s Pekau who is the political slime who needs to slither out of the village’s control room.
Well said. Jim Dodge's campaign must be making Keith Pekau nervous.