Two Mount Prospect trustees vote against reappointments to all-male commission

Two new Mount Prospect village board members voted against Mayor Paul Hoefert's reappointments to a village commission Wednesday, saying it has too many men and lacks diversity.

Trustees Peggy Pissarreck and Terri Gens said no to the reappointments of John Healy, Daniel Novak and James Peterson to the Economic Development Commission. The three were approved by the village board.

Both Pissarreck and Gens voted with the rest of the board for the reappointment of Timothy McDermott to the Audit Committee, with Pissarreck saying McDermott presented Mount Prospect with "a clean audit," even though the committee consists of five men, "three of whom I know are white - Caucasian."

Pissarreck, who called for more diversity in volunteer positions, as well as term limits, said while she is sure the members of the Economic Development Commission have done their duty to the community, the commission consists of seven men. She said Healy and Novak have already served three 4-year terms, while Peterson has served two 4-year terms.

"It's seven men, and we are being asked to reappoint three men who have already served on this commission for eight and 12 years."

"We as a board place diversity, equity and inclusion as a top priority, and one of the things that I would have liked to have seen was a little more diversity," she added.

Gens said she, too, noticed that the members are all men and noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019 showed that women held more than 51% of all management, professional and related occupations.

"I think we need to have parity, and this is a great way to start now," she said.

"Perhaps these gentlemen would graciously step aside, and we could recruit three new women who are very qualified," she said.

Hoefert said gaining greater diversity on our commissions and boards will take time.

"However, asking people who have stepped up when previously asked to serve on our commissions, and then served honorably and well, to vacate their spot on a commission, when they would have liked to continue to serve, I see that as a huge slap in the face for those people, and a total lack of appreciation, recognition, and respect for their volunteer service to the village," he said.

He said replacing members because of their gender and/or color "is discriminatory in and of itself."

Village Manager Michael Cassady said the staff works very closely with these commissions.

"These are community volunteers that have given so much of their time and effort," Cassady said. "I'm deeply concerned, moving forward, after hearing the remarks tonight, that they'll want to continue to do that."