Bensenville village manager resigns amid political shake-up

Voters sent Bensenville Village President John Geils' administration packing and now it appears the village manager also will be gone before the new regime takes office.

Village Manager Jim Johnson apparently has resigned his estimated $121,500 post, effective May 4 - one day before the new village president, four trustees and clerk are sworn in to begin their official duties.

Johnson did not return phone messages Thursday.

But President-elect Frank Soto confirmed Thursday the manager told him of the unsolicited resignation in a telephone call earlier this week.

Soto said his administration will hire a professional search firm to replace Johnson and, in the meantime, call upon an association of retired village managers to find someone to come aboard in an acting role.

"We'll get someone in the interim who is a professional, qualified, experienced village manager with a background in community development and finance," Soto said.

DuPage Circuit Judge John "Jack" Elsner is expected to swear in Bensenville's new administration during the 7:30 p.m. meeting May 5 at village hall.

Besides replacing Johnson, Soto said one of his first tasks will be to get a forensic accountant to examine the village's finances.

He said the outgoing administration has approved more than $2 million in new spending - a large portion of which is for legal bills in the O'Hare Airport expansion fight - after calling three special meetings since the April 7 election.

A fourth special meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. tonight at village hall.

In fact, just Tuesday, the village board approved a large payment to the Elk Grove Legal Defense Fund. Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson recently told the Daily Herald the fund has been defunct since mid-April now that state transportation officials agreed to rule out use of a widened Route 83 as a bypass to connect a western access road to the airport.

Soto charged the eleventh-hour spending is either to sabotage his administration by leaving him with a bankrupt village or because officials intentionally didn't pay fourth-quarter bills during the election to show a surplus of cash to combat his criticism of fiscal mismanagement.

"It's hard to determine which is worse," Soto said. "Either way, it is a misuse of their elected position. They should be held accountable."

Soto is so concerned about the spending, as well as reports of village workers carrying boxes out of village hall, that he asked DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett days after the election to investigate.

Afterward, Johnson said the removal of boxes was simply "spring cleaning" and the O'Hare-related spending was for regularly scheduled payments that were due.

Johnson, who grew up in town and is a close ally with Geils, became Bensenville's deputy village manager in 2001. He rose to the top spot in January 2003 after serving 25 years in the private sector leading human service organizations.

He was one of six top village administrators and three other municipal employees in Bensenville to receive a large raise this year.

Johnson saw his annual salary jump 14 percent, from $106,510.97 to $121,510.97, in a raise awarded in December and made retroactive to last May 1, which means he and the other employees received a lump-sum payment for about seven months worth of raises. It also allows him to receive a higher pension.