Glen Ellyn hopes to name manager by May

Glen Ellyn Village President Mark Pfefferman said the village has received 20 resumes from those interested in becoming the next village manager, which is one of three top administration positions that remain unfilled on a permanent basis.

Pfefferman discussed the turnover in village administration posts during a State of the Village address Tuesday to members of the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce.

He expects as many as 50 applications for the job could come in by the March 4 deadline, after an advertisement went out last month announcing the open post.

A decision on a permanent manager is expected by May, Pfefferman said, and it’ll be the responsibility of the new manager to hire permanent finance and public works directors.

In total, Village Manager Steve Jones, Finance Director Jon Batek and Public Works Director Joe Caracci have left the village since last October — moves that are “concerning to us,” Pfefferman said.

Batek and Caracci left to pursue similar positions in Carol Stream and Bensenville, respectively, and Jones did not say where he planned to go.

Village officials conducted exit interviews with the departing administrators and would note if there were similar reasons for leaving, Pfefferman said.

“If there are common themes, we’ll address them,” he said.

He said he is confident the village provides a good work environment.

In the meantime, interim directors have been appointed, and Pfefferman said the quality of response or service was not lost.

Terry Burghard, a longtime village administrator in Homewood, Mount Prospect and Plainfield, was chosen as interim village manager last month.

In his address, Pfefferman also discussed results of Glen Ellyn’s finance commission, a seven-member volunteer group that put together a financial score card and five-year forecast for the village.

“It was always in our head but not on paper,” he said.

Comparing Glen Ellyn to 10 similar villages, the group found the village was in the middle in terms of income but low in the amount of property tax dollars that go to the village and library and in sales tax revenue generated.

Pfefferman said there’s room to grow, and the village would work to partner with groups such as the chamber in economic development efforts.

A study on the possibility of putting in a tax increment financing district is now under way. A TIF has never ben done in Glen Ellyn, he said, and the study will look at the pros and cons to “see if it’s the way to go.”

The village will keep a self-imposed tax cap in place, and there’s a commitment to not raise taxes, Pfefferman said. But he also said the village is as lean as it can get, and officials will have to be creative to cover an expected $6.1 million budget gap in five years.

“We have to put on a thinking cap,” he said.