Hoffman Estates could shuffle deck after Collins resignation

Hoffman Estates Trustee Cary Collins may have resigned from his village board seat Monday, but he could return to the village quickly.

Collins said Tuesday he'd accept the village's assistant corporation counsel and prosecutor position if Mayor William McLeod offered it to him.

Dominick DiMaggio currently holds the job, but village officials said Tuesday he could be leaving to focus on his new duties as village trustee in Hawthorn Woods.

“I just don't want to be trustee anymore,” Collins said Tuesday. “The thing I feel is a sense of relief.”

Collins announced his resignation effective Nov. 22, five months before his term as trustee would expire. Lately, the 63-year-old has attacked board members, questioning their qualifications and intelligence. His favorite target is Trustee Gary Pilafas, the man who Mayor William McLeod last year replaced Collins with as deputy mayor.

“I don't know what happened, I don't know what got him so mad,” Pilafas said recently.

Collins and McLeod are longtime friends, and when questioned both said they remain close. However, board meetings have turned tense, such as last week when Collins seemingly pinned the Sears Centre troubles on McLeod, referring to the arena as “his baby.”

Collins, an attorney, maintains it was his decision alone to resign. McLeod said he believes Collins wanted to spend more time on his legal practice.

“You can't stand in anyone else's shoes,” McLeod said. “It's up to the person.”

Collins eventually hopes to serve as a Cook County judge in Rolling Meadows, and twice has run unsuccessfully for judgeships.

His replacement on the village board would only be guaranteed a seat until April, when voters will fill Collins' vacancy and seats currently held by trustees Anna Newell and Pilafas. Both already have committed to seeking re-election.

For now, Plan Commission Chairman Gary Stanton may be the favorite for the vacancy. Trustee Raymond Kincaid said McLeod called him and asked what he thought about Stanton, as the two served together on the dissolved Sears Centre ad hoc committee.

Stanton, a retired attorney, did not return a phone call for comment.

McLeod said no decision has been made, and the board will accept applications until Nov. 19. The last time Hoffman Estates went through this process was in 2006 when former trustee Fred Crespo resigned after his election to the 44th District state House seat. Trustees publicly interviewed as many as 18 applicants at that time, Kincaid said.

Park District Commissioner Craig Bernacki, who will run for a board seat in April, said he is not interested in the Collins vacancy. Another park district commissioner, Scott Triphahn, said he initially planned on running, but now is dealing with gastric cancer and is going to concentrate on his health.

“As much as I would love being a trustee, I'm taking care of this first,” he said.

Collins said he wants to remain in Hoffman Estates, and the village could give him an opportunity if DiMaggio steps down. DiMaggio did not return a phone call.

The bulk of DiMaggio's duties involve representing the village in adjudication court, which convenes bimonthly to deal with traffic tickets and other minor ordinance violations.

The court's hearing officer, former State Sen. Cheryl Axley, traded barbs with Collins over the summer when several teens were issued loitering tickets.

Axley accused Collins of circumventing the hearing process and using his influence to prevent the tickets from being heard. Collins maintained he did nothing wrong and that the teens were unfairly ticketed.

“I find that strange and humorous,” Kincaid said of the possibility of Collins and Axley working together. “I haven't heard that, but with that incident, my goodness, I wonder how she feels about it.”

Collins feels it could work, despite last summer's rift.

“Cheryl Axley and I have gotten along through the years,” he said. “I've known her for a while, so why not?”

Police investigated the incident and then-Chief Clinton Herdegen released a report to the village board in August. The report, obtained by the Daily Herald, stated Collins pressured police Lt. J.C. Páez into dismissing the tickets. Axley eventually heard and dismissed the citations.

Collins maintains the report has nothing to do with his resignation.