Daily Herald opinion: Joint decisions: Elected leaders in cities, villages must work together to implement change

Administrative changes in a village or city are not a big surprise after an election where voters oust incumbents in favor of new leadership. New mayors and village presidents often want to ensure they have the staff willing to implement their vision for the community, not the priorities of the former administration.

Still, there are right ways and wrong ways to pursue those staffing changes. Last week, we saw examples of both from two newly seated leaders in DuPage County.

Lisle Mayor Mary Jo Mullen did it correctly when she had the support of trustees to appoint a new village manager and assign the previous village manager to a newly created position focused on economic development efforts.

The Lisle Village Board also agreed to retain the law firm of Ancel Glink, with Keri-Lyn Krafthefer designated as the lead village attorney. The move comes nearly seven years after former Mayor Chris Pecak demoted Ancel Glink and appointed a different firm as village attorney.

In addition, the board confirmed a decision by Mullen to appoint Michael Rodriguez to the long-vacant police chief post.

Mullen emphasized the importance that she and the village board candidates who successfully ran with her in the April election “hit the ground running.”

They are off to a good start based on how smoothly their first meeting went.

Meanwhile, West Chicago Mayor Daniel Bovey spent much of his first meeting on May 5 arguing with City Council members over whether he had the authority to appoint an interim city administrator and an interim city attorney.

Bovey scored an impressive victory during the April election when he beat 13-year incumbent Ruben Pineda to become mayor. Four aldermen supported by Bovey also got elected. But Bovey’s allies are in the minority on the 14-member city council. So when he sought to replace City Administrator Michael Guttman and the city attorney, he did not have Mullen’s good fortune of a like-minded board majority.

That advantage, however, didn’t diminish the responsibility to get board agreement on key village leadership decisions, and, though it would have been a heavier lift for him, it’s unfortunate Bovey didn’t understand he had the same duty. Instead, he chose to make unilateral decisions without the advice and consent of the council.

Aldermen had planned to vote that night on a new contract for Guttman. However, Bovey removed the item from the agenda during the meeting despite objections from the council members.

Bovey then declared that the offices of city administrator, city attorney and police chief were vacant because he claimed the contracts for all three positions expired when he took office. He named people to fill those positions, but council members didn’t vote to affirm the appointments, so for the time being, the officials remain in their current positions.

Bovey said he initiated the changes “because the voters clearly wanted to go a different direction,” and that’s not an unreasonable conclusion. However, it’s just as reasonable to realize that all the council members, those who don’t agree with him on appointments as well as those who do, also were chosen by voters, and their influence deserves attention.

Elected mayors and village presidents should realize that, to be effective and truly representative of the community's wishes, decisions as important as hiring and firing the heads of top administrative offices need the support of the city council or village board, not just the imprimatur of a single government leader.

We hope Bovey has a successful tenure as the mayor of West Chicago. But he must work with the City Council to make significant changes, and this challenge offers a first and prominent opportunity to show he can do that.