Did Hoffman Estates board deny Collins job because he backed rivals?

The Hoffman Estates village board may have denied former Trustee Cary Collins' appointment to village prosecutor in part because trustees thought Collins was backing rival candidates in the April election.

“It's totally petty,” said Craig Bernacki, the park district commissioner who's running for one of three trustee seats up for election.

When Collins resigned from the village board on Nov. 22 five months before his term expired he believed his former colleagues would approve him to replace Village Prosecutor Dominick DiMaggio, who resigned earlier this month. Collins even filled in as prosecutor last week.

Instead, on Monday the board voted 5-2 against Collins' appointment.

Collins declined to comment Wednesday, saying he wasn't talking to the press.

Bernacki believes what may have swayed trustees is that Collins notarized the nomination papers of Alison Hertz and Robert B. Weitzel, both running for trustee.

Bernacki said Collins notarized those petitions before being offered the prosecutor's job; and when Bernacki asked Collins to notarize his own nominating papers, Collins refused, saying the job offer now made notarizing any petitions inappropriate.

Bernacki said Collins told him he also would not back any candidates, as it would be an ethical breach.

Hertz and Weitzel are expected to go up against a group of trustee candidates favored by Mayor Bill McLeod: Trustees Anna Newell and Gary Pilafas; and Gary Stanton, recently appointed to the board to fill Collins' seat.

All three have filed their nomination papers, and Bernacki said they were all notarized by Trustee Karen Mills.

Newell denied that politics influenced her vote.

“It's not a personal issue,” she said Wednesday. “Whatever he does, he does. That's his prerogative. I'm not going to let anyone turn it into something that it isn't.”

McLeod made the motion on Monday, which failed, with only Stanton and himself voting for the appointment. McLeod declined to discuss if trustees thought Collins was supporting their competition.

“He's been my friend for 32 years and I wished he would have been appointed,” McLeod said. He said it was the board's right to deny his appointment.

“They mayor proposed and the board disposed,” McLeod said. “They have the right to turn down my nomination.”

The trustees who denied Collins said it wasn't personal, although Collins has been known for publicly criticizing the credentials and education levels of his former colleagues.

Trustee Raymond Kincaid said Collins' attacks on the other trustees may have been his undoing.

“Cary is really nice guy sometimes most of times, I should say,” Kincaid said. “But sometimes he plays that lawyer role and he can say some hurtful things that have aggravated a lot of people. Cary wants to be well-liked and he tries so hard to be liked. But occasionally he says and does things that are hurtful and he just expects people to forgive and they don't.”

The prosecutor post paid DiMaggio $72,692 last year, and some trustees said they were surprised no other names were brought forward. McLeod said he is getting interest from attorneys now.

Meanwhile, McLeod said his “batting average” has been pretty good when it comes to getting his nominations through the board, “but it's nowhere close to 100 percent.”

Kincaid remained hard pressed to remember times on the current board when McLeod's motions failed.

“On previous boards it was happening more frequently,” he said.