$135K Salary Pushed For Bensenville Mayor

BENSENVILLE, IL – Bensenville's mayor may see his salary jump to $135,000, far higher than it is now.

A week after firing the village manager, the Village Board plans to vote on two measures that could set in motion the higher salary for the mayor as well as health and dental insurance.

At a special meeting Wednesday, the board is expected to vote on whether to let voters in the April 1 election decide on doing away with the current managerial form of government.

Under an ordinance before the board Wednesday, Mayor Frank DeSimone would get the pay raise and benefits if the voters decide to do away with the form of government.

DeSimone's salary would be $150,000 if he did not get benefits, the proposed ordinance states. His pay would increase to $33,000 if the referendum does not pass.

DeSimone, who retired as a Schiller Park detective over the summer, did not immediately return a message for comment Tuesday.

DeSimone now makes $26,000 as mayor, according to a Daily Herald survey of towns earlier this year. The mayor of neighboring Elmhurst, with a population 2½ times larger, gets $8,400 a year.

In Rockford, which is eight times larger, the mayor pulls in $130,000 a year, which is set to rise to $149,000 next year, according to the Rockford Register Star.

Last Tuesday, the Bensenville Village Board voted unanimously to fire Manager Evan Summers after eight years. No reason was given.

The dismissal took place a week after the filing period for candidates in the April 1 election ended. Village candidates are running unopposed.

Just a week before his firing, relations between Summers and the board appeared fine.

"We look forward to another four years with you, so congratulations to the mayor, the clerk and the three trustees (running)," Summers said at a board meeting at the time. "I think it's evidence that the voters think the village is on the right track and in good hands."

Minutes before Summers' firing, resident Chris McCullough predicted during public comments what would happen next.

"Are you about to change our form of government so that you can position yourself as a full-time mayor with a full-time salary and under the guise of saving the taxpayers' money?" he said, addressing DeSimone. "This will enable you to accept a much higher salary to do work that you were not elected to do and you're not qualified to do for the sake of your own self-service at our expense."

DeSimone and the trustees did not respond to McCullough's comments during the meeting.