Scott Shirley, Arlington Heights board’s most conservative voice, steps down

Arlington Heights Trustee Scott Shirley — the village board’s most conservative voice — has announced his resignation, and Mayor Jim Tinaglia will appoint attorney Colin Gilbert as his replacement, pending a board confirmation vote Monday.

Shirley, the village’s former public works director, was elected in an uncontested race in April 2023. He said he’s stepping down so he can devote more time to care for his mother and mother-in-law, both in their 90s. He also said his full-time job as a consulting engineer at Schaumburg-based Chastain & Associates is “busier than ever.”

Gilbert, who finished fifth in the eight-person village board race last April, faces a village board confirmation vote following a public interview with Tinaglia and trustees at 7 p.m. Monday. If approved, Gilbert would be sworn in and serve the remainder of Shirley’s term until May 2027.

Before he sat on the village board dais, Shirley was on the other side of the table in municipal government, serving as Arlington Heights’ director of public works for 22 years until 2021, Des Plaines’ director for six years, and Wheeling’s assistant director for six years.

Even after decades working in village government, Shirley said it wasn’t until he joined the Arlington Heights board that he realized the amount of time required to be an elected official, which includes reading and preparing for meetings and attending events.

Shirley grabbed headlines — and subsequent flak from critics — for outspoken comments and votes at board meetings.

In January, he was the lone “no” vote against the Grace Terrace housing development, and accused developer Full Circle Communities of leading a “despicable” process.

“It’s lousy the way this whole thing went down,” he said at the time. “And I think Full Circle — you’re going to be a terrible neighbor if you treat these people the way you did during this process.”

But Shirley told the Daily Herald that issue was his proudest accomplishment while on the board, since he and two other trustees pushed back on the design of the original proposal. Now, the 25-unit apartment building for people with disabilities and veterans will be two stories tall instead of three, and its entrance will face South Arlington Heights Road instead of neighboring single-family homes to the east.

“Having worked in the public works field, I come from a background of pretty direct people,” Shirley said. “It’s kind of a blunt world. We don’t mess around. If something’s not right on a job site, you don’t take an easier, softer approach, you call it out. For better or worse, that’s kind of how my professional career went, and I didn’t really know how to undo that. I’m just not a very politically correct person. My style is more direct.”