Former Orland Mayor Denies 'Secret Deals' With Purchased Property

ORLAND PARK, IL — "There's no inside deals," Former Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin said while striking back at allegations of hiding his part ownership of property located on Beacon Avenue. The property was purchased from a resident, and underwent planning as part of a proposal to establish a multi-use building on the site.

Some village trustees brought forth information to the board meeting on Monday they said raised their suspicions. Trustees Michael R. Milani and Cynthia Nelson Katsenes questioned the purchase of homes by the village between 2004 to 2016. An item on the agenda called for investigating single family homes purchased and sold by the Village of Orland Park.

After obtaining a record of homes purchased and sold by the village in the last 30 years, Katsenes said one property was not on the list.

The property on Katsenes' radar was 14332 Beacon Ave. In spring 2017 — when McLaughlin was mayor —the property was brought to the Village's Development Services Department, Plan Commission and Board of Trustees, as part of a proposal to establish a multi-use building on the site.

Village documents indicate the property was petitioned by John Kelly of Ulverton Enterprises. Katsenes later found that McLaughlin is listed as the owner of the property on its property tax bill, and March 2016's demolition permit. This prompted her and other trustees to question whether McLaughlin was trying to hide his ownership when the property was brought to the board for development.

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“We have full transparency and exposure to the open market on hundred dollar items, yet on properties worth thousands of dollars, these documents indicate some secret insider deals," Katsenes said.

At a press conference Thursday, McLaughlin said he is part owner of the property, along with Kelly. He said the property was formally owned by Frank Tuohy, who McLaughlin said worked with the village for "at least a couple of years" on a development for the site. In 2014, McLaughlin said he was informed by Kelly that Tuohy had died, and that the family wanted to sell the property on Beacon.

"I was asked and agreed to be a partner on the purchase. John Kelly and his wife, and my wife and I formed a 50/50 ownership of the property," McLaughlin said. "He started discussions with the village staff about what would be allowed. My primary input was that I directed the partners that we could not ask for anything outside normal procedures, requirements or regulations and everyone agreed."

The former mayor turned mayoral candidate said the allegations of an inside deal are not true and that he simply purchased a property after its owner had died. "Anybody could have bought it," McLaughlin added, saying there "was a lot of people who knew the property was for sale.

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When addressing Katsenes' reference to Kelly being listed as the petitioner, McLaughlin said, "John Kelly as a partner and a potential general contractor had every right to work with the village on the plans for this project." The former mayor also said he is unaware whether the board knew about his stake in the property, adding that anyone who asked "would have gotten an answer."

"I purposely did not want to make an issue with staff or have staff know that I was one of the owners, only because I don't want the staff to feel obligated or feel under some kind of pressure to do something different or favorable to me or to this property," McLaughlin said.

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A reporter asked McLaughlin if he could see why some may assume he is hiding something, asking if not putting his name on the documents was the opposite of being upfront about owning the property. "I don't believe that," McLaughlin said.

"I believe that it was better to not have the staff feel obligated or somehow feel under some kind of pressure to have the mayor’s property different. They certainly didn’t," McLaughlin said. "The process went on for over a year. Drawings had to be submitted and resubmitted and changed and resubmitted again. There were no favors done, and that’s the way that I wanted it."

McLaughlin also addressed why the property was not listed on his economic interest disclosure forms from 2016 and 2020,needed to be filed to declare candidacy. He said his lawyers advised it was not necessary, because he did not gain more than $5,000 from the property, and was not asked for zoning, zoning changes or annexation.

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McLaughlin said his name and P.O. box were listed on the property tax bill "because it has to go somewhere," since an address is needed. He said the property taxes are paid by the MK Beacon Properties Trust.

McLaughlin's Response To The Board Meeting

Trustee Milani initially brought forth an agenda item to the Jan. 4 Committee of the Whole meeting seeking an independent investigation of single family homes purchased and sold by the village. He said some purchases didn't make sense to him, and that he would like the village to gather more documents to clarify things. The homes were purchased for flood relief efforts.

At the Jan. 18 board meeting, trustees said the village paid more than the appraised price of some properties, paid closing costs, sought multiple appraisals and paid back taxes. Two of the homes were demolished because it would cost $100,000 to $200,000 each to flood-proof them, Milani said.

Trustee Daniel Calandriello said one of the properties was his childhood home. He added that these homes — including his family home — flooded multiple times, and there were points when the basement of his family home had filled with eight-feet of water, pouring in through the windows.

Calandriello said the other three homes had similar issues, and that water was coming up from sewers in the neighborhood. The village paid closing costs for the Calandriello home, and he noted the neighborhood was a new development in 1996, when he was 9 years old, with no affiliation with the Board of Trustees. That meant Calandriello had no say in appraisals, offers or moving cost expenses initially brought up by Milani, he said.

“This is a political attack on me,” Calandriello said at the meeting. “This agenda item was a personal attack on me for political retribution, short and simple … This is the worst kind of politics [and] this is affecting four families, not just my family.”

On Thursday, McLaughlin also said the single family homes were purchased by the village due to flooding concerns.

"If a home has a flooding problem and it is within their control, like a bad sump pump or no battery backup, then it's the homeowner's responsibility. However, if it is a problem caused by the village or it is out of the control of an individual homeowner, then the village has a responsibility to step in and solve the problem," McLaughlin said.

Milani also said one person lived in one of the homes for a year rent free. McLaughlin said the person was former Village Manager Paul Grimes. According to McLaughlin, Grimes came to Orland from out of state, and lived in the home after getting hired while searching for a permanent residence. Grimes agreed to use one of the homes and understood that the lower level was not to be used, according to McLaughlin.

At the end of the discussion, Mayor Keith Pekau had three proposals for the next meeting for independent law firms to investigate the issues the following issues:

• Identify if and what rules, village ordinances, practices or procedures were not followed.
• Identify any potential, criminal actions for which a complaint should be filed.
• Identify all village property transactions.

Pekau added:

• A summary of the actions taken between acquisition and sale of these properties.
• Any recommended procedural changes to ensure complete transparency moving forward and recommended procedural changes to ensure best practices are followed for property acquisitions and sales.

"There’s no place for insider transactions. There’s no place for board members to hide ownership on something that’s coming to the board," Pekau said at the board meeting. "Since I have been here I’ve tried to keep us moving forward. However, in this case the public trust was clearly violated … all of our trust was violated, and the people deserve to know the truth behind all this."

The Mayoral Race

McLaughlin said he believes the accusations he hid his part ownership in the Beacon property and calls to launch an investigation is part of opponent Pekau's campaign.

"This is a political game played by Mayor Pekau in the middle of a campaign, to create false stories, to damage me, his political opponent," McLaughlin said. [He is] using an investigation started by him, and paid for by the citizens of Orland Park. It's not right ... And I'm frustrated."

McLaughlin went on to say he is appalled that the home purchase was brought to a village board meeting and said that time should have been used to address issues residents face within the village.

"Using taxpayer time and money to fling false allegations and out of context stories while threatening investigations for political advancement is disgusting and not what Orland Park residents deserve. It makes me sad to see local government used like this," McLaughlin said."This type of lying and attacking started four years ago, and it’s a disservice to the residents of Orland Park. This is not what politics at the local level should look like – we should be united, we should be transparent and open, and leaders should be in constant service to their residents.

McLaughlin said the village needs to move forward and put "these political games behind us and get back to work."

"I am proud of the way my team and I have always put our community first, and I look forward to being in a position to offer that leadership to them again," McLaughlin said. "There are much better things for the village staff to do than spend hours and hours looking through 20-year-old documents to help the Mayor start a phony political charge."

In a Thursday night emailed statement, Pekau's campaign addressed McLaughlin accusing him of using the Beacon home purchase information to benefit his own campaign.

"Dan McLaughlin’s response to a legitimate investigation is a classic example of a career politician using misdirection and false accusations to deflect from their record," the statement reads. "Mayor Pekau has not accused Mr. McLaughlin of anything. In the interest of transparency, which has been a hallmark of his administration, he has asked the village manager to bring forth proposals from outside counsel to investigate potentially troubling matters brought to light by two village trustees."

Pekau's campaign also said if approved by the board, the investigation will dive into village purchases and sales of properties over the past several years, and the results will be shared publicly.

"Four years ago, Orland Park voters ushered out a 24 year incumbent because they wanted to restore honesty, transparency and integrity to the mayor’s office. I have done just that by eliminating patronage, live streaming board meetings, instituting term limits, and passing a strong ethics ordinance to ensure complete accountability," Pekau said in the statement. "It seems my opponent still hasn’t gotten the message from Orland Park voters that they demand and deserve accountability from their public officials."

The board will vote on whether they will move forward with this investigation at the next meeting., scheduled for Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. Any need procedural changes found will be voted on, as brought forth to the board, Pekau said.

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