Orland Park Mayoral Candidates Talk Business At Town Hall

ORLAND PARK, IL — The Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Advocacy Council partnered and hosted a town hall event with both Orland mayoral candidates — current Mayor Keith Pekau and former Mayor Dan McLaughlin — on Wednesday. The virtual program included both candidates speaking with business owners, and talking about some of their plans for the future of businesses in Orland Park.

Both McLaughlin and Pekau had a half hour of time to pitch their ideas and answer questions. McLaughlin went first, referencing good and bad economies that the village faced during his decades long time as mayor.

“I love Orland Park and spent a good part of my life working to make Orland Park a premier community. My wife jokingly says the village is our fifth child — so it is important for me to see Orland Park get back on track and help the village prepare for the future to reach its full potential,” McLaughlin said. “Everyone understands that a vibrant and growing business community is good for everyone, and as mayor I saw and worked through the good times and the bad times to get things done for our business community. While we are facing challenging times right now, I am excited by the possibilities and look forward to getting back to work on these ideas to move Orland Park forward.”

Some ideas McLaughlin would look to establish if elected include filling vacancies with new businesses, working to attract new, young entrepreneurs, developing a walkable mixed-use city center, continue working on the developmental I-80 corridor project and looking into removing the roof of Orland Mall, making it an open-air center and instilling a satellite police station within it.

Pekau spoke next, starting with what the village board has done during his last four years in office. Some of what Pekau mentioned included lowering his pay to $40,000 a year and making the mayors position part-time. He also noted pensions were eliminated for both mayor and board members. In November, residents voted to pass a term limits referendum, which Pekau noted as one of his campaign promises in 2017.

Pekau also said that rather than "waiting for things to get bad," he and the board reduced operating expenditures by 14 percent, along with reducing the size of government. He said this resulted in the village not having to "react" when COVID-19 came around.

"We didn't have to just cut everything like some people do, [saying] 'Oh it's a recession, we have to cut everything,' but we didn't have to do that," Pekau said. "Instead, I sat down with the village manager and said 'Hey, let's use this opportunity to press our stronger fiscal position than anyone else. Let's continue to recruit businesses ... Sure we'll cut things that makes sense. But overall, let's keep doing business, trying to keep life as normal as possible for people."

When asked if he believes Orland Square Mall has safety concerns that need to be addressed, he replied that Orland Mall is "probably the safest place to be in Orland Park," adding that if an incident occurs officials are able to respond in "30 seconds to a minute." Pekau said the village has 24/7 access to the mall's security room and cameras, adding that new surveillance systems have been installed, saying the village is working diligently all the time on changing their policies and working together.

"We have the safest mall in the Chicagoland region. It's safer than Oak Brook. It's safer than Woodfield [and] stats bear that out," Pekau said. "Perception is really hard to change ... people need to go there [to experience it]. What you can't do is allow your perception to make your judgement."

The entire town hall meeting can be viewed on YouTube, here.

The Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce is the largest member business organization in the Southland. It is the primary resource to help businesses and the community grow and prosper, the chamber states. The Small Business Advocacy Council is a non-partisan, member driven organization that promotes the success of small business through political advocacy, support services and educational programs, the council states.

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