Orland Township’s New Board Members Axe Orland’s Secretary of State Services

By Kathy Fenton

The evening of July 21, the Orland Township’s newest board members made their first rookie mistake and voted 3–2 to end in-town Secretary of State driver services, a move that caught many residents off guard.

“What do they think they’re doing?” said an angry resident outside of Township offices today, “I’ve been coming to this location for years, what a great benefit to have these services here in town.”
The decision to cancel the lease was forced through by Trustees Ken Duffy, Frank Williams and Ken Soltis, who were financially supported in their election by disgraced former Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau. Pekau famously ousted the Secretary of State’s office from Village Hall in 2020 after making remarks about not liking “out-of-towners” utilizing the facilities.

Orland Township supervisor Paul O’Grady was quick to find a solution with the assistance of Senator Bill Cunningham and offered up space in the Orland Township building by giving up his offices and conference room to make way for the Secretary of State’s Drivers Services Facility. This angered Pekau and it looks like he’s finally getting his revenge by utilizing his new lackeys to do his dirty work, years in the making and at the expense of taxpayers who count on the local services. People over Politics? More like Politics before people.

In an interview with local media, Supervisor O’Grady said Trustee Duffy insisted in an email that he have a permanent office in the township building, which has never been the case for Township trustees. He speculated that this may be the reason for the initiative, to rid the Secretary of State from the township building to make way for Trustee Duffy‘s own office and use.

Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge gave an interview to WGN today and stated that he reached out to the Secretary of State’s office with the intent to assist in their efforts to find another space within Orland Park so that residents would be able to retain the services locally.

“Where am I supposed to go for a simple vision test and drivers license?” said a commenter on Facebook. “You were voted into office to improve services and make smart decisions, not remove services we enjoy and make stupid decisions.”

The nearest locations are Midlothian, Bridgeview and Joliet.

Inform Orland Park is deeply concerned about this decision’s impact on seniors, people with disabilities, working families and anyone without easy transportation to alternative sites.

Why This Matters

• Longer travel times and extra costs for residents who relied on the township building for quick transactions.
• Increased congestion and wait times at nearby facilities already stretched thin.
• Loss of local visitors that support nearby businesses and generate sales tax revenue.

What You Can Do
1. Email the three trustees who voted in favor of the change (Ken Soltis ksoltis@orlandtownship.org, Ken Duffy kduffy@orlandtownship.org and Frank Williams fwilliams@orlandtownship.org) and ask them to reverse their decision.

2. Attend the next township board meeting on to voice your concerns during public comment.

3. Remember this during the next election before supporting candidates financed or endorsed by disgraced former mayor Keith Pekau.