Lisle selects new village attorney

In a move Lisle Mayor Christopher Pecak says he wanted to make months ago, the village has demoted its longtime attorneys in favor of a new firm.

Trustees on Monday approved the appointment of the Robbins Schwartz firm as village attorney. Kathleen Elliott will be the village's lead attorney.

Robbins Schwartz replaces the firm of Ancel Glink, which had served as the village's legal representative for nearly 16 years. Ancel Glink will continue doing labor counsel work for the village.

Trustees also approved the appointment of the firm Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins as special counsel.

The changes aren't a surprise.

Earlier this year, one of Pecak's allies on the board suggested the village seek requests for proposals for legal services. Trustee Marie Hasse said she wanted the village to get a comparison of how other firms are billing.

At the time, Pecak reminded the board that he has the power to appoint a new law firm. "Find who you like," he said, "because I will find someone that I'm going to recommend."

Still, some trustees said they believe Monday's decision was rushed because it happened one week after the board interviewed law firms.

"I don't think that gives sufficient time for us to have a meaningful dialogue," Trustee Robert Mandel said before the vote. "I think we should defer this until we've had further discussion on it."

Trustee Mark Boyle also wanted the vote postponed because Mandel and Trustee Anthony Carballo couldn't attend Monday's meeting.

Mandel had to participate over the phone because he was at work.

Carballo wasn't allowed to cast votes remotely because he's on vacation. He only was allowed to listen over the phone and provide a comment when the issue was discussed.

"I think it's preordained where the vote is going," Boyle said. "The point is, I think both of these gentlemen clearly want to talk and discuss and have the transparent conversation that's needed with a major change like this."

But Pecak said he had given the board enough notice and was prepared to act.

"I've been ready to get this done," he said. "I was hoping the interview process would have come quicker. So I'm ready with the appointments today. If others are not, we've go to keep up with the pace of business."

Ancel Glink had served as the village attorney since 2002. Carballo said the firm represented the village "faithfully and with integrity" during that time.

"This is not an issue of changing attorneys due to experience and expertise," he said.

Despite the outcome, Ancel Glink attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer urged trustees to "unite" after the vote.

"The voters elected you to come together to implement an agenda," she said. "You need to be able to work together to reconcile your differences."

Pecak defeated longtime incumbent Joe Broda to become mayor in April 2017.

Krafthefer said Pecak simply wants a different team. She said Ancel Glink will fully cooperate with the transition.