Kornowske appointed N. Aurora village administrator

Wes Kornowske’s appointment as North Aurora’s new village administrator was cemented Monday night, as the village board approved a contract with him.

The details of the contract, including pay and benefits, were not announced, but are expected to be available Tuesday.

The board voted in May, 4-2, to make Kornowske the village’s chief executive officer, with trustees Vince Mancini and Laura Curtis voting against it. Both said they had no problems with Kornowske, but that they think the village should have advertised the job opening. Tuesday, they voted in favor of the contract.

The village has been without an administrator since May 2009, when President Dale Berman took office. That night, the board fired administrator Sue McLaughlin at Berman’s request. Berman said he would take over many of the duties of the manager, to get a feel for how the village operated. He also instituted a committee system, to make trustees more familiar with village issues. Kornowske continued to serve as assistant administrator.

He will oversee all department heads except the police chief.

The board also changed the start and end dates for administrator contracts, for Kornowske and anybody who follows him. Previously, contracts started Jan. 1 and ended Dec. 31. But the village president, who appoints the administrator with the consent of the board, takes office in May. “That creates kind of a hardship when you get a new mayor in May,” Kornowske told the board. “If the new mayor doesn’t like the manager (and fires them),” the village then has to pay severance pay.

Now the contract will end when the president’s term ends. Berman’s term ends in April 2013.

“It’s not very beneficial to me, unfortunately,” joked Kornowske.

Also Monday, the board decided to make administrative assistant Cindy Torraco the deputy village clerk. She will be able to fill in for elected Clerk Lori Murray, recording votes and taking minutes at meetings. She will also be able to perform some of the clerk’s tasks during her regular hours at village hall, such as certifying documents or administering oaths.

If she is called on to work overtime, Torraco will be paid either time-and-a-half of her regular hourly pay, or may choose to take compensatory time at the same rate.