Trustees Push Back Against Orland Mayor's Proposed 'Civility Pledge'

ORLAND PARK, IL — Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge and his slate campaigned on the premise of bringing civility back to village governance, and Dodge this week set out to formalize his commitment to it.

With a document proposed to the members of the Village Board, Dodge and Village Manager George Koczwara drafted what they called a "civility pledge," addressing what some considered pain points in the previous administration's approach.

Dodge and his Orland Park For All Slate often criticized former mayor Keith Pekau for his tone in leadership and addressing the public, even going so far as to call his lost bid for re-election "complete and utter repudiation of their approach."

The pledge acknowledges the need for "robust debate and the exchange of diverse ideas are essential to democratic self-governances," and stresses "the importance of engaging in public discourse with civility, honesty, and mutual respect."

The drafted pledge can be read in its entirety below.

But as the resolution hit the table for discussion, it also hit a wall.

"On the surface, promoting civility seems like a worthwhile, worthy goal, but when government begins to define what is civil, and expects elected officials to pledge themselves to it, we should all pause and ask some very important questions," Trustee Cynthia Katsenes objected.

"Who defines 'civility?' What happens when one person’s respectful disagreement is labeled as another person’s incivility? Where does the resolution leave room for strong, passionate dissent? The very kind that has defined American democracy since its founding."

The board appeared split between old and new, with holdover trustees Katsenes, Michael Milani and Bill Healy the most vocal in dissenting.

"This is interesting coming from someone who accused me, Trustee Katsenes and Trustee Healy of a crime after our first board meeting when we were elected, and then was part of a secret investigation of the former mayor," Milani chided. "Those are civil."

Milani went on to address the proverbial elephant in the room.

"I understand that there might be people out there that might not have liked some of the previous mayor’s answers or his actions, but as I glance down up here, his name’s not here anymore," he said. "If you want to be civil, let’s just be civil. We don’t need an ordinance or a pledge. Honestly, up here, I have nothing to lose.

"I could go scorched earth on every topic on this agenda, but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to continue down the path of voting my conscience, standing up for what I think is right, and for what I feel is the best interest of Orland Park. We can sign this, we can display this anywhere you like. If we don’t sign it, does it turn into 'Keith’s people don’t want to be civil?'"

"I’m up here to do a job, I committed to you that I would do a job, and I don’t need a civility pledge to do it."

Trustee Healy—who made headlines in fall 2024 for his comments attacking unions, and the public apology that followed—scoffed at the resolution.

"I am not going to vote for this, I think it’s—to be frank and to speak honestly, I think it’s stupid," Healy said.

"I think this is a Facebook resolution. It’s just stupid. I just can’t stand it. It’s .... why is there a need for this?"

Healy cited robocalls that targeted him and other members of Pekau's People Over Politics slate.

"I’ve been subjected in the last couple of years to these robocalls, which attempted to demean, humiliate and say bad things,” Healy said. “It seems like it benefitted one party and went to undermine another party.

“My emotions are a little raw with people who won’t stand up to some of the evil that is out there. I think, frankly, that over half of this board did not stand up and say ‘these things are bad, get these people out of here.’ I think civility would be better put to improve the village as a whole.”

Newly seated Trustee Joanna Leafblad noted she, too, had been subjected to false and aggressive campaign language.

"Things can get ugly pretty easily, unnecessarily," Leafblad said. "And I don’t think, from my point of view, since I know that I’m not interested in calling people names, telling them their ideas are stupid, challenging their politics—it doesn’t bother me to agree to this, because I’m walking in here ready to be respectful to everybody here."

Katsenes and Milani suggested the board refer to the civility pledge enacted by the Illinois Municipal League as a more digestible example that the Orland leaders could follow.

“It’s very easy, very simple and to the point,” Katsenes said. “It’s not interfering with not just my freedom of speech, but everybody that sits on the board."

Trustee Lawler reminded trustees that the pledge proposed by Dodge is meant to be applicable to not only dealings among the board, but also interactions with the public.

"... there is no penalty to this," Lawler said. "It’s basically a goodwill statement, that we’re going to be making saying we’re going to do our best to be civil, and I don’t see an issue with that. And I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to sign that. Any resident may come in here and call us names, but it’s still our job to be civil to them. You don’t have to sign this, but we’ll still be civil to you.”

Leafblad moved to have the resolution sent to the Committee of the Whole for more discussion. The board voted 6-1 in favor of that; Healy dissented.

Dodge stressed that each trustee should be prepared with feedback and suggestions in writing.