Pekau uses village board meetings to promote his political agendas

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau offered a twisted explanation of the financial costs TIFs are costing taxpayers and slammed the School Districts 230 and 135 for not accepting his proposed compensation

By Ray Hanania

FREE/Orland Park, TIFs, Schools, Politics/Wednesday, Feb 19, 2025

Like a lot of politicians who want to expand their political control over local governments, schools, and fire districts, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau continues to distort facts, lie, and cast aspersions on everyone else except for himself when things don’t go his way.

For those taxpayers who had the displeasure of watching Monday’s Orland Park Village Board meeting, they got a real glimpse of how Mayor Pekau uses village resources to serve his selfish political agenda, which puts “politics over people.”

Pekau decided that he wanted to publicly discuss an issue that has been required to be addressed in a closed session that attacks the boards of High School District 230 and Elementary District 135.

According to Pekau, the village has offered both school districts millions in exchange for their support of TIF adjustments. As you know, a TIF is a Tax Increment Financing District that is created to absorb ALL of the property taxes collected in its boundaries and put it in a fund controlled by the village for a period of 23 years or more.

The problem is when the TIF district includes the building of new homes — more than 500 proposed by Pekau — all of the tens of millions in property taxes that should go to the schools and the Fire District during that 23-year TIF period to cover the costs of students in those homes, go to the village instead.

Aggravated with the school districts, Pekau decided to slate his candidates to try to takeover High School District 230 and Elementary School District 135 to avoid lawsuits that have been threatened against his “property tax grab”

Pekau is also running his slate against the Orland Fire Protection District in order to take control and eventually merge it under his dictatorship.

It’s all about the money, control, and power of Pekau. It’s not about the people, the families, or the students who will lose millions if the Pekau TIFs move forward through his pet developers.

You can watch Pekau’s “spin” of the facts in this video, beginning at the 20:30-minute mark.

Take notice of what is happening in the meeting. Pekau asks the “Interim” Village Manager Jim Culotta to explain the issue, but each time Culotta tries to explain the issue, Pekau interjects himself and spins it with his political edge. He needs to get his political message out and Culotta doesn’t do it effectively enough.

Pekau asserts that during the past several years the Village has tried to reach out to the school districts, making generous offers, but he fails to mention one crucial fact. During the majority of those discussions, the Orland Park Village Clerk was Pat O’Sullivan who also happened to be a trustee at School District 230.

O’Sullivan sat next to Pekau during the board meetings and in the executive sessions when these issues were discussed. And yet Pekau wants us to believe that he had no discussions about any of this with District 230?

Granted, District 230’s Board President Lynn Zeder is an incompetent leader. She doesn’t know how to manage issues and has failed to respond to Pekau’s repeated attacks. It’s possible Zeder and Pekau are in political cahoots. Afterall, Zeder issued an executive order directing all of the District 230 Board trustees to keep their mouths shut and not discuss any issues with the public or the news media. All comments had to come through her, she said., Of course, she hasn’t said anything. I think she is above her head in water and can’t swim.

And that’s perfect for Pekau who has a habit of lying about every issue, twisting facts, and instead of addressing criticism, throwing mud at those who question his failed leadership and lieling them at public meetings like the Orland Chamber formerly;y headed by one of his developer contractors and contributors.

What’s most important is the part when Pekau finally admits what he has refused to admit for the past year, that one of the new TIFs he is planning could have 500 or more new homes.

Pekau asserts that the homes will be mostly for seniors, but I doubt seniors will be able to afford the costs of those homes. He asserts that his developer wants to create 250 “age-restricted” homes but only if the schools agree to work with the village to extend the TIF. If they don’t, they will then build 500-plus homes and Pekau makes a joke saying that maybe the proposed 500-plus homes will be occupied by families with children who will “flood the schools.”

Pekau makes a joke that the school districts should “go back to remedial math class. That;’s a good idea” as he asserts that are suing for far less than what the village offered — which by the way is a complete distortion of the facts, again.

Of course, the schools are suing for far more than what the village is offering in actual cash. The so-called $5 million and $3 million numbers he tosses around are alleged investments in fields and land in and around the schools. That is little compensation for the millions that would be taken from the schools in property taxes by Pekau’s proposed new TIFs during the life of the new TIFs.

The essence of the issue is that Pekau wants the district not to accept millions, as he claims in the video, but to accept $ 150,000 a year for five years. Pekau says he would invest $3.2 million into the District 135 athletic fields south of the John Humphrey Complex. They would also receive revenue from impact fees.

What Pekau is offering is a shell game of promises. If he is allowed to take over the schools through his slated candidates, it’s the taxpayers and the students who will lose.

Pekau also keeps throwing in the claim that the original TIF approved by the administration lost $47 million before he became mayor. That’s another lie. The majority of the losses occurred in the past four years, not before. That was explained during a TIF public meeting hosted by TIF expert Tom Tresser last October. Click here to read that story.

The losses from the TIF have occurred mostly during the six recent years that Pekau has been running the TIF. That’s one reason why Pekau didn’t want to file the Annual Village Financial statements for 2023 and 2024. He tried to delay them indefinitely because many people believe they expose his financial mismanagement of the village’s budget and a growing and impending debt he hopes can be offset by the funds he can grab through three new TIFs.

Pekau runs a government that operates in the shadows concealed by lies. He’ll do the same to the schools, the to Fire District, and to every government he can get his hands on.