Bartlett looking to fill open trustee position

Bartlett’s acting Village President Michael Airdo announced Tuesday that he will be resigning from his post as village trustee on April 17 and that the village is now accepting applications from residents who are interested in filling the spot.

Airdo has held both positions since December, when he was appointed to acting village president a few weeks after former Village President Michael Kelly abruptly resigned.

The application period for the trustee position will run for three weeks, until March 27. Residents can apply online at www.village.bartlett.il.us or hand-deliver their resume and letter of interest to the village. Airdo urged anyone who has questions about the application process to contact the village staff.

The new trustee is scheduled to be appointed at the village board meeting on April 17.

Besides announcing the open trustee position, Airdo also appointed new members to long-vacant spots on four of the village’s commissions.

Residents who were appointed Tuesday included Austin Hopkins to a 4-year term with the planning commission; Robert Carney and Patricia Hanson to 5-year terms with the zoning board of appeals; Robert Perri to a 3-year term with the economic development commission; and Sherry Giesecke and Martin Heneghan to 2-year terms on the police pension commission.

“I can tell you that there have been very few appointments to commissions made in my 10 years serving on this village board,” Airdo said. “We had commissioners who have been pleading with me, once I became the acting village president, to get people on the commissions because they couldn’t meet because they didn’t have enough members.”

After the appointments, Trustee T.L. Arends expressed her concern that the application for commission positions is not easy to find on the village’s website, and that not enough residents knew about the openings filled Tuesday.

“I appreciate the fact that you wanted to get this done, but in the future I think we need to discuss (informing the public) further,” she said to Airdo.

Village administrator Valerie Salmons said she would address Arends’ concern of making the notice of openings more visible.

“It is in four different places on our website and perhaps all four of them are equally difficult to find,” she said. “We’ll certainly make that front and center.”

Airdo noted that the village has received some applications through the website, and said he felt residents are aware that there are other ways to apply.

“It’s known that anybody in this village (who is interested in a position) ... doesn’t have to go to the website. You can call up, you can leave a message, you can tap me on the shoulder, you can tell T.L,” he said. “We don’t have a formal process. We’ve never had a formal process.”

Airdo emphasized that even though some appointments were made Tuesday there are still openings. He said there are three spots open on the economic development commission and at least one vacancy on the police and fire commission.

“Not all the positions have been filled,” he said. “But I filled all the essential spots and certainly if anybody is interested, feel free to apply.”