What Jim Dodge can do to return respect to Orland Park
Disgraced former Mayor Keith Pekau did everything to consolidate his power, limit the voices of the public and bully anyone who questioned his actions. His successor Jim Dodge must change all that
By Ray Hanania
FREE/Orland Park, Jim Dodge, New Mayor/Monday, May 5, 2025
Disgraced former Mayor Keith Pekau devastated the integrity of the Village of Orland Park, not just by his boorish bullying of citizens who had the right to question his actions, but by his clear efforts to reward his followers and donors and to eliminate the public’s participation in his decisions.
Pekau consolidated power in his own hands to shut out anyone he disagreed with or who dared to challenge his decisions.
Pekau eliminated the Village’s committee system, creating one committee, the Committee of the Whole, and ended public engagement.
He imposed his authority over the board and the village, making himself the final word on every topic or issue. He, not the rubber stamp board, made all the major decisions, and he voted in every vote, something that prior mayors only did to break a tie.
Pekau eliminated transparency by restricting responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, to help disguise his power grab.
He badgered citizens who attended the village board meetings, making them unwelcome. His bullying of citizens was intended to silence anyone he could not control. At every meeting, he would read a long, threatening introduction during citizens’ comments to put citizens on warning and remind them about limits on their free speech and citizen rights.
When citizens said anything he disliked, he interrupted them and offered long diatribes attacking them and intimidating them to silence their views.
He would speak at the start of meetings, during meetings, and at the end of meetings, claiming he had a special privilege to talk. He didn’t, violating basic Robert’s Rules of Order procedures for government bodies.
Instead of being welcoming, Pekau was discouraging.
The new mayor, Jim Dodge, needs to change all of this.
Mayor-elect Dodge, you should:
Immediately declare that the views of every citizen, whether they agree with you or not, will be respected. They should be encouraged to speak out at meetings.
Re-establish every village committee and open the public engagement process that Pekau shuttered.
Enforce Roberts Rules of Order for everyone, including the board members, not just to silence members of the public or critics, but to display professional decorum.
Create a Citizens’ Committee to allow residents to offer suggestions and ideas, as well as feedback on policies and programs, without them being bullied or threatened.
Cancel the monthly insider contracts, and end the favoritism Pekau has shown to donors like Ramzi Hassan.
Review all existing contracts. Review Pekau’s spending practices over the past six years which he controlled with dictatorial oversight and a lack of transparency.
Strengthen the Village Managerial system that is the foundation of the Village of Orland Park and select someone who is open, honest, and committed to working for the best interest of the village and citizens, not someone who cowers under the bullying of the mayor’s office.
Review and reduce the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on Communications and politically motivated brochures, pamphlets, and booklets that showcased Pekau and dimmed the light on real issues and services. The Village needs professional communications, not political propaganda disguised as taxpayer-paid public information.
Review the significant increases in the Village’s bi-monthly water and waste billings. Why have they increased so significantly under Pekau?
Strengthen the Police Department by providing real support and equipment to the Orland Park Police Department, rather than embracing the self-serving political lip-service that Pekau provided: Pekau often wore jerseys that included the Police Department logo and badge to reinforce his fake concern for the Police and fighting crime.
The more a politician has to tell the public they support the police, the more you know it is not true. They do that to offset their policies of insulting the police through lawsuits, political bullying, and lies.
Make the taxpayers — the citizens of Orland Park — the priority at Village events, not the elected officials. Public events are paid for by the taxpayers, and the events should focus on serving them.
Terminate the relationship that the village has with Crystal Tree, which has provided free benefits to the village officials and the mayor. These perqs have been exploited, and information about them has been discouraged and subdued.
Suspend all of the TIFs proposed by Pekau and do a forensic financial analysis of their necessity and costs. Review them publicly and openly, rather than in the dark as Pekau has done.
Ensure that all of the villages’ Financial Audits are filed on time. Pekau failed to file audits for 2022 and 2023, and was late on 2024, clearly to disguise his poor financial management. They were filed late, and only after citizens and journalists challenged his failure to file those audits. There is no doubt in my mind that Mayor Pekau wanted to prevent the public from seeing the state of the village’s finances before the April 1 elections, fearing they would harm his re-election chances.
Mayor-elect Jim Dodge: restore the public’s voice in the village government and their confidence that the village is being run properly. Show compassion for the needs of people that your predecessor abused and disrespected. Be the leader for the village to help us move away from a dark period in the village that needs to be forgotten.
When a community group addresses the board, show them the respect that Pekau frequently denied to the public. When residents, for example, asked for a ceasefire resolution as they did at the February 2024 board meeting, respect them and don’t lecture them. Don’t berate them.
Agree or disagree in a respectful manner. Don’t violate the Open Meetings Act by clearing the room the way Pekau did after he berated them, and then reconvened after everyone was forced by Pekau to leave the village board meeting room in anger.
And most importantly, ignore Pekau’s continued self-serving diatribes in his eNewsletter, his continued pathological lies, and his obvious post-election defeat effort to be disruptive. Pekau just wants more attention.
Pekau is inconsequential to the village's interests. His opinions are crafted now based on lies, exaggerations, driven by a need to be the center of attention. The best response to Pekau is to ignore him.
The voters spoke and, in a landslide election, threw Pekau out of office. That rejection came from every direction, every community, every religion, every ethnic group, and every corner of the village.
You have the mandate today. Do what’s right for everyone, not like Pekau who did everything just for his friends.