Prospect Heights City Council to consider Dolick for acting mayor
The Prospect Heights City Council Monday will consider a resolution appointing 5th Ward Council Member Matthew Dolick as acting mayor to serve out the remaining 14 months of the late Nick Helmer's term.
But as Dolick himself was quick to point out Friday, the appearance of the resolution on the meeting agenda doesn't presume or predetermine the council's decision.
"I'm the most senior member of the council, but any council member is eligible," Dolick said.
Dolick has served as 5th Ward council member since his June 2016 appointment by Helmer to fill the remainder of the term resigned by David Derwin when he moved to Des Plaines.
Dolick later was elected to a term of his own in 2019.
He said whoever is appointed acting mayor could either choose to continue serving as representative of his or her ward as well, or resign that position and create a council member vacancy to be filled by a later appointment.
Dolick began serving the city as a volunteer in a customer service role with the Prospect Heights Police Department. He met Helmer there and later applied for the appointment to represent the 5th Ward.
At the time, Helmer called Dolick a good representative for the residents of Quincy Park, a 625-unit townhouse development that makes up 95% of the ward's population.
Dolick also is a pilot and worked for ATA Airlines. He graduated from St. Louis University with an economics degree and has worked as a salesman for an extermination company.
"He's a very levelheaded man that wants to serve," Helmer said of Dolick in 2016. "That's the first indication to me of what he can do."
The city council's meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday via Zoom and can be accessed at us02web.zoom.us/j/83922441238#success.
Helmer died Jan. 26 at the age of 79 after a brief hospitalization for complications from a fall he suffered during a recent ice storm. He had been mayor for nearly 11 years.