Orland Park Trustee Says Kaspar Unfit For Police Board, Pekau Abstains

ORLAND PARK, IL — Village trustees are scheduled to vote soon on whether to remove Republican candidate hopeful Scott Kaspar from two appointed commissions he currently serves on in response to what some trustees say is reckless, anti-cop behavior.

Kaspar is slated to run against Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in the new 6th Congressional District's Republican primary in June. Due to this, Pekau abstained from the conversation and vote at Monday's meeting that surrounded Kaspar's involvement in the Ethics Commission and Police Pension Fund Board.

According to trustees, Kaspar released a series of advertisements and statements questioning crime statistics in Orland Park that came across as attacks on the village's police officers.

"Some are saying crime in Orland Park is at a 27-year low. Arrests might be at a 27-year low in our city but crime is out of control, right here in Orland Park," Kaspar wrote on his campaign's Facebook page last week.

In response, Pekau posted a video of now-retired Orland Park Police Chief Joe Mitchell, stating a recent advertisement from "a Republican candidate for Congress" was intentionally released just as Mitchell was being honored for his work in Orland Park.

"It is unfortunate that a candidate in the congressional race decided to attack the integrity of our police chief and our officers," Pekau wrote in the social media statement. "This is the type of contempt for police officers that we see from politicians on the left and now it is coming from a Republican candidate for Congress – I am appalled!"

Kaspar said Tuesday the mayor was "weaponizing and abusing his position as Mayor to target political opponents." While Pekau did not partake in Monday's conversation, Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes asked the board to vote April 18 to remove Kaspar.

Katsenes' campaign for Orland Township Republican Commiteeperson was endorsed Tuesday by Pekau. Kaspar's comments, she said, were "unbecoming of an individual appointed to [his] positions."

Kaspar's terms on both boards are set to expire in June.