Election 2025: Orland Park Mayoral Candidate Jim Dodge

ORLAND PARK, IL — Orland Park residents in the thick of a contentious local election season are likely about ready to see it end. With the consolidated election set for April 1, early voting began March 17, and residents can make their picks for the village's next leaders.

Incumbent Mayor Keith Pekau's People Over Politics slate will face off against mayoral challenger Jim Dodge's Orland Park for All.

Pekau is flanked by trustee candidates Sean Kampas, Carol McGury and Brian Riordan, along with clerk candidate Brian Gaspardo.

Dodge leads his slate of trustee candidates Dina M. Lawrence, John Lawler and Joanna M. Liotine Leafblad, as well as Mary Ryan Norwell for clerk.

Patch sent questionnaires to candidates, and their answers are now published in their candidate profiles. Early voting began March 17. Find out where and when you can vote ahead of April 1.

Candidate:

Jim Dodge

Campaign website:

Orland Park for All

Office sought:

Mayor

Town/city of residence:

Orland Park

Party Affiliation (if a partisan race):

Orland Park for All / non-partisan

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you're running for.

Linda Peckham Dodge - D135 School Board Member

Occupation. Please include years of experience.

Consultant - Advanced Analytics, 41 years

Previous or current elected or appointed office.

Village Clerk and Village Trustee, Orland Park. 1989-2021

The most pressing issues facing Orland Park are _______, and this is what I intend to do about them.

We will change the way we govern Orland Park to create the future Orland Park residents tell us they want.

This is what we hear from Orland Park residents: Focus on us. We want to feel safe at home in Orland Park. Taxes are too high. Stop the political battles with everyone. Treat everyone with respect.

Our overall platform is:

1) Focus on and deliver the needs of Orland Park residents by bringing back non-partisan/bi-partisan leadership to Village Hall and toughen our ethics laws.
2) Manage the finances of Orland Park better, which is really the residents’ money.
3) Improve services to residents across all departments like police, public works, building, recreation, etc.

We will focus all of our attention and future spending on the priorities of the residents, who have been very clear about what they see happening and what they want.

Orland Park’s challenges are directly related to the overall approach of Mr. Pekau and the current Trustees. It is clear from the decisions they’ve made, how they treat residents and their lack of collaboration with other governmental bodies on what needs to change.

Specifically, here are the clear challenges and how I will address them to better serve Orland Park residents.

1) Overall tax burden has increased on residents and businesses. Property taxes have not been flat in the last few years, the sales tax has been increased to the highest level allowed in the state, and a new utility tax is costing all of us nearly $4M per year. We will start by reducing wasteful spending while we also work hard on finding ways to cut back on the increased tax burden.

2) Challenges with police staffing and its impact on safety. As measured by the Gallup organization and available via public records, morale is at record lows, officers are leaving for other towns, and we are having trouble recruiting. It traces back to working conditions for the police force and political interference from the Village Board on promotions. Making statements like “if you don’t like it you can leave” to the police department should never be made from a mayor to a vital department that impacts our family’s safety. We will end that attitude and work with both Police Administration and police officers to address these issues to strengthen a great police department.

3) Lack of progress on economic development. Despite an ordinance requiring full-time focus on economic development in exchange for the $150,000 per year salary which he took for four years, Mr. Pekau has not made any progress on the Mainstreet Triangle (walkable downtown), I-80, the Andrew property, 159th & LaGrange, 159th & 94th Avenue, or the long vacant Sears building. We will be laser focused on improving our economic development efforts by making it easier and faster to get approvals and permits for businesses, we will also work hard to find ways to reduce permitting fees and the tax burden. We will ramp up our efforts at “marketing” Orland Park. We will thoughtfully use targeted financial incentives to encourage commercial developments that benefit all of Orland Park.

4) Service levels are slow, and program offerings have been curtailed. Many parents want more playable time for their kids on our fields, simple things like a free indoor playground, and in general, more recreational classes and opportunities in dance, music, theater, and more cultural events. They are not happy that building space for those offerings has been eliminated by the Village. It’s also clear from talking with residents and businesses that getting basic services like permits takes too long because of staff turnover and loss of expertise. We will focus on creating new recreation opportunities, finding the space for those programs and make it much easier, faster and cheaper for residents to get things done with the Village.

5) Wasteful spending and debt increase. Within five years, the village will be at or near $200M in debt, far exceeding anything in our 132-year history. This is a combination of spending on things like the $13M concert venue that sits empty 350+ days per year, the $10M gun range, $10M on parks that still have playing time issues, $35M for developer incentives, etc. Money that goes for these projects or frivolous, losing lawsuits takes money away from roads, parks and other infrastructure. We will re-balance the spending, work to cap the explosion in debt, and narrow the focus to critical infrastructure residents want and need.

6) Strained relationships with other governmental bodies. During Mr. Pekau’s time in office, the State of Illinois created a $45 Billion infrastructure program. After his disastrous visit to Springfield to “lobby” for Orland Park, we got $0. You read that correctly. Towns like Orland Hills received $12M+ to build new recreation facilities. In fact, some youth sport programs have to leave Orland Park to practice and play. That’s not acceptable. Further, the Village has an Intergovernmental Agreement with the school districts that it is not honoring which may force the school districts to sue the Village to get their promised funds from the TIF district. We will do two things to improve this: 1) we will honor our agreements because while there might be many taxing bodies on your property tax bill, there is one taxpayer, you. 2) We will also work positively with legislators from both sides of the aisle, in both Washington and Springfield, to seek the funding we need for major infrastructure projects.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My focus is on Orland Park, its residents and its businesses. I view being Mayor of Orland Park as an honor and an obligation to serve, not a political steppingstone or bully pulpit.

I will bring together my experience and knowledge from a long professional career, building and leading teams, with my deep knowledge of how local government works best.

Simply stated, my approach is to find ways that “we” can solve problems and build a better Orland Park. I actively seek multiple points of view, I talk to people that I don’t always agree with, I work collaboratively to get things done. As Mayor and with the Village Board, we will provide leadership in deciding “the right things to do” and hold accountable the full-time Village management, whose job will be “to do things the right way.”

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

Here is a summary of my more complete answers in the “challenges” question. All of these issues will be addressed by Orland Park for All.

1. Overall tax burden has increased on residents and businesses. Property taxes have not been flat in the last few years, the sales tax has been increased to the highest level allowed in the state, and a new utility tax is costing all of us nearly $4M per year.
2. Challenges with police staffing and its impact on safety. As measured by the Gallup organization and available via public records, morale is at record lows, officers are leaving for other towns, and we are having trouble recruiting
3. Lack of progress on economic development. Despite an ordinance requiring full-time focus on economic development in exchange for the $150,000 per year salary which he took for four years, Mr. Pekau has not made any progress on the Mainstreet Triangle (walkable downtown), I-80, the Andrew property, 159th & LaGrange, 159th & 94th Avenue, or the long vacant Sears building.
4. Service levels are slow, and program offerings have been curtailed. Many parents want more playable time for their kids on our fields, simple things like a free indoor playground, and in general, more recreational classes and opportunities in dance, music, theater, and more cultural events. It’s also clear from residents and businesses that getting basic services like permits takes too long because of staff turnover and loss of expertise.
5. Wasteful spending and debt increase. Within five years, the village will be at or near $200M in debt, far exceeding anything in our 132-year history. This is a combination of spending on things like the $13M concert venue that sits empty 350+ days per year, the $10M gun range, $10M on parks that still have playing time issues, $35M for developer incentives, etc. Money that goes for these projects or frivolous, losing lawsuits takes money away from roads, parks and other infrastructure.
6. Strained relationships with other governmental bodies. During Mr. Pekau’s time in office, the State of Illinois created a $45 Billion infrastructure program. After his disastrous visit to Springfield to “lobby” for Orland Park, we got $0. You read that correctly. Towns like Orland Hills received $12M+ to build new recreation facilities. In fact, some youth sport programs have to leave Orland Park to practice and play. That’s not acceptable. Further, the Village has an Intergovernmental Agreement with the school districts that it is not honoring which may force the school districts to sue the Village to get their promised funds from the TIF district.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

From a political perspective, we are truly bipartisan and our vision of what we’d like to improve in Orland Park is based on what residents are telling us, financial and other facts that are publicly available about what is actually happening. This is about the team, not just Mayor.

We haven’t and will never do negative robo-calls or anonymous texts that attack other candidates or their families, and we don’t do “hit piece” mailings that are complete fabrications and deliberate distortions.

If you have questions, please email us at info@orlandparkforall.com

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

My accomplishments include being the primary lead on creating the TIF district that redeveloped the “dead mall” into the space that now has Dicks Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack, Barnes & Noble, and Kohls. Further, we worked closely with the school districts to use increment sales tax to pay off the TIF early so the schools could recover their investment. This successful development helped kick off more growth on LaGrange Road south of 153rd Street, including the Lowes and REI center, the movie theater and restaurants south of 159th.

Working closely with Dan McLaughlin, we secured funding for the major rebuilding and expansion of LaGrange Road, which included $34M of Orland Park money to make it a better road from 135th Street down to I-80. This total project was well over $100M.

I was heavily involved in the Open lands Referendum that preserved open space like Boley Farm and Stellwagen. We won our first 100% transparency award when we made more Orland Park official documents available online.

We also increased the size of the police department, built the new police station at 153rd and Ravinia, the Veterans Memorial in front of Village Hall, created Taste of Orland, provided years of property tax rebates, fixed many neighborhood flooding issues, updated parks and roads as needed, while keeping Orland Park’s property tax levy flat for many years.

We brought the University of Chicago medical center to Orland Park which also got Northwestern Medical to expand into Orland Park. The development of University of Chicago Medical and 9750 in the Mainstreet Triangle kicked off the development of Mariano’s and Orland Crossing Mall.

Why should voters trust you?

I am focused on service to the residents of Orland Park with a simple philosophy of government: the greatest good for the greatest number.

I served on the Board for 32 years, while also having a full-time professional career and raising a family. I’m easy to reach and my home number has been listed the entire time I was on the Board. I never once used the Village Board floor to argue with residents, make hyper partisan political statements, or cast dispersions on people, groups or other units of government.

During my time serving the people of Orland Park the village grew with major developments, $900M worth of major infrastructure improvements were completed like LaGrange Road and other major roads, we fixed the “dead mall,” we did tens of millions of dollars of property tax rebates, we held property taxes flat for many years, we expanded the police department and reduced crime, and we never turned in financial audits late.

I want to bring back the spirit of service to and focus on the residents and restore non-partisan leadership to the Village Board.

My home phone number, by the way, is 708 479 7266.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

The big picture accomplishment will be to return Orland Park to its leading position in the southwest suburbs while behaving with civility and decency. The specific actions and accomplishments will be:

• Taxes: We will find a way to lower the overall tax burden on residents and businesses with better financial management, cutting wasteful spending, and bringing new development to Orland Park.
• Police and safety: We will be safer because the police department will be at full strength, we will stop political interference with police promotions and improve morale for our first responders. We will require Orland Fire District Protection services at major outdoor events.

• Services to residents: We will expand the number and type of recreation programs and offerings for our residents, from ages two to 92. We will look closely at providing the space for these increased offerings and work with other governments like the township or schools to find the most cost-efficient way to do this. We will speed up and make the village permitting process easier with increased staffing levels, training and a re-engineered approval process.
• Development and growth: Residents will see development and progress on vacant property that has sat empty for eight years like MainStreet Triangle (finishing the walkable downtown), 159th & LaGrange, Andrew property, etc.
• Code enforcement and zoning: we will increase the number of property inspections and code enforcement so all residential properties in our neighborhoods are well maintained. We will address the zoning issues on south Wolf Road to get rid of long-standing eye sores and vacant property that is proposed to be a repossessed auto storage yard.
• Intergovernmental cooperation: we will improve our relationships with local governments which are critical to quality of life in Orland Park like the schools, the township, and the fire district. We will also rebuild our relationships and collaborate with neighboring towns so both they and Orland Park can the funding for major road projects and more economic development comes to the entire region. We will work to restore Orland Park’s positive reputation with legislators – of both parties – in Springfield and Washington.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

The Village of Orland Park for decades has been financially well resourced. The fundamental question is about priorities and efficient management of those resources. This is a key focus for us, given the last eight years.

Our policy approach asks two questions. One, how do we bring about the greatest good for the greatest number? And two, how much government do you want and what are you willing to pay for it?

The job of the Mayor and Board of Trustees is to answer those two questions and then deliver expected services for our residents by running the Village effectively and doing so cost efficiently with the lowest possible tax burden.

That is how Orland Park for All will approach building the future of our town.

What are your thoughts on the crime rate in your community, and what more can be done to combat crime — especially violent crime — in town?

As a Trustee, I consistently voted for the long-term investments that built up our great police department. Orland Park currently is a safe community from a violent crime perspective.

However, residents have also asked about retail related crime, safety concerns at the mall, and known neighborhood-level challenges like burglary and car theft from driveways or dealerships.

To address these challenges, we will strengthen and expand our police department to bring up staffing levels. We will commit the resources needed for leading edge technology and equipment and most importantly, training, working conditions and quality of life for our police officers. We will continue the cooperation with the schools on school safety that started while I was a Trustee.

We will work proactively with legislators from both parties on public safety issues to make sure our needs and concerns are known about the impact on our community and police department.

What is your view of the Village's approach to commercial and residential development?

We need focused efforts on both, as they both matter to Orland Park.

For residential development we need to focus on permitting and building codes, as well as enforcement of maintenance codes once built. Encouraging a range of prices and types of housing will make for a great hometown. Young families might not be worried about having stairs in their first home, but older couples might want a ranch townhome. We will work to make sure future development reflects the range of needs of all our residents.

For commercial development we need to make sure our businesses get moving quickly with fast and efficient approval processes. We will address the overall tax burden, so we don’t become uncompetitive with areas like Mokena or Frankfort. We will thoughtfully use targeted financial incentives to encourage commercial developments that benefit all of Orland Park.

When it comes to development, what are some key areas for improvement or additions you feel are most wanted by residents? What will need to be done to make this happen?

The top answers from residents are fairly consistent: more dining options that are local restaurants (not chains) and more “things to do in Orland Park” such as a walkable downtown with great new restaurants and an entertainment venue near those restaurants. A number of residents asked about the ability to do sports tournaments.

All of this comes down to working with the development community to bring their attention to Orland Park and our possibilities, making it easier and faster to get things done in Orland Park and being very selective on using financial incentives. We will ask hard questions on how does this development benefit residents in the short, medium and long term.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I’ve lived in Orland Park since 1986, and we’ve raised my daughter and son here. I’m a veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard, a member of American Legion Post #111, a graduate from DePaul University’s Honors Program, and I have an MBA from University of Chicago in Finance and Economics. While at Nielsen, as part of team I secured a US Patent for an advanced analytical method on time series data and completed an Executive Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma.

I’ve been honored by the people of Orland Park to be elected to the Board of Trustees.