Homer Glen Board Offers Village Manager Position, Interim Resigns

HOMER GLEN, IL — The Homer Glen Village Board has offered the job of Village Manager to current Homer Township Assessor Carmen Maurella after the majority of board members decided Wednesday night he was the best candidate to fill the position that has been vacant for several months.

The board will hold a special meeting on Monday regarding the job, which had been held on an interim basis by Matt Walsh. Walsh resigned as the interim role effective immediately on Thursday, a village spokeswoman confirmed.

Homer Glen Mayor George Yukich told The Daily Southtown that Walsh’s decision to step out of the interim position breaks his heart. He also told the newspaper that several staff members were crying and upset about Walsh’s decision on Thursday.

Walsh had served as the interim Village Manager since April and had worked as the assistant to the Village Manager since Sept. 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. Walsh had worked as an administrative analyst for the village a year prior to being named as the assistant to the Village Manager.

Several candidates were interviewed for the permanent position on Monday night and agreed to offer the position to one of the candidates interviewed, the spokeswoman told Patch. Details of the contract are being worked out but will be presented to Maurella, a decades-long resident of Homer Glen, at Monday's special meeting.

The Daily Southtown reported that Maurella has not decided whether he will accept the position or what he will do about his current role as Homer Township’s Assessor. The newspaper also reported since being incorporated in 2001, the village has gone through 11 different managers, each of which has only held the position for a short time.

Trustee Ruben Pazmino said previous managers have used the village as a “steppingstone” and that they “see Homer Glen as a notch in their belt and move on.”

But according to the Daily Southtown report, many of the village board members agreed that Maurella is the best person to unify the board despite holding no previous village government experience. Yukich and board member Beth Rodgers believe he is not qualified for the position, the report said.