'Attacks On My Integrity': Clarendon Hills Leader Defends Himself, Board

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills' leader said this week that he had no time for those who slander him and village trustees.

At the start of a Village Board meeting, Village President Eric Tech spoke for four minutes.

For the last few months, village meetings have been filled with debates over proposals such as a downtown plaza and a four-story condo complex.

In early August, Tech secretly put Village Manager Zach Creer on leave. At Monday's meeting, the board approved a severance deal for Creer to leave.

Tech did not identify who was slandering him and where they were doing so.

In his speech, Tech said he was inspired by his father's involvement in nonprofit groups. His father died at 95 in 2016.

"I feel he would be shocked at the level of vicious abuse and the level of toxic discourse that has transpired," Tech said.

He said his father came from the Greatest Generation, which won World War II. The generation, he said, created the best country in the world, one where Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Tip O'Neill could be political adversaries and friends at the same time.

Tech said everyone has a right to an opinion.

"I would hope that we could debate these (issues) in a civil and orderly manner. I fear this is not the case," Tech said. "Attacks on my integrity and the others on this board, the other volunteers on this board, are inexcusable."

He continued, "So if you want to discuss parking, dining or three stories vs. four, let's do that. But if the goal is to disparage and slander the volunteers at this table, frankly, I have no time for it."

Tech said former Village President Len Austin and his wife, Suzanne Austin, encouraged him to run for village president in 2023. Tech was unopposed.

"Their concern was that anti-development influences would put forward a candidate who would stop progress in our town," Tech said. "I agreed because I felt that I could serve the community by exploring a vision for a better place for generations to come. I felt our role as leaders is to keep moving forward and thinking and imagining what can be."

He also spoke about his history. He is a mechanical engineer with a long career in the car industry.

He was also a member of the board for the Society of Automotive Engineers, which works with government regulators and the transportation industry. In that role, Tech said his work included studies on how drivers and pedestrians interact.

He has been married for 31 years and has three daughters. He has been an elder at his church, a Sunday school teacher and a soccer coach.

Tech is also an advisory board member for the Salvation Army Chicago.