Palos Hills Mayoral Race: Election 2025

PALOS HILLS, IL — It’s another alderman v. mayor matchup in the City of Palos Hills, where AJ Pasek is challenging Gerald Bennett, one of the longest serving mayors in Cook County.

Pasek is a retired hydraulic and pneumatic salesman, with 27 years experience, paid by straight commission. He then became a substitute teacher in Districts 117, 230, 231, and 127 for ten-plus years. Pasek has served as one of Palos Hills’ two aldermen, representing the 3rd Ward.

What differentiates him from the current mayor is that he is conservative, while Bennett is a liberal. Pasek said Bennett has not been a good steward of taxpayers’ money by kicking the can down the road when it comes to paying pension liabilities.

“He has greatly let the city down by inadequately funding the police pension over his 44 years in office,” Pasek said in his Patch candidate survey. “This is a huge issue for the future of each real estate taxpayer in Palos Hills because this funding is required by law. Currently, there are more police officers receiving pensions than putting into the pension. This and the years of insufficient funding is creating a larger and larger deficit that the taxpayers will have to pay.”

As a fiscal conservative, the proper handling of taxpayer dollars is his main concern.

“The current mayor has $600 garbage cans at the park named after him,” Pasek claimed. “He also gave his secretary a $35,000 raise last September. Both of these examples are an outrageous use of taxpayer money.”

If elected, he plans to dedicate all of his time to the people by holding one job — mayor — and not divide his time between other business interests.

Improvements he believes Palos Hills residents would favor include allowing larger drivers to help keep vehicles off the street, particularly at night.

“Many of our homeowners have multiple vehicles & need more space than the standard driveway allow,” Pasek said. “We should also address allowing work vans on the driveway overnight. Many of our homeowners use work vans to make their living.”

He favors term limits for elected officials and reducing the number of aldermen from ten to five, which he claims would save the city approximately $60,000 per year.

“Term limits brings in more people and fresh eyes,” Pasek said. “I brought up term limits years ago, but it fell flat. The time may be right now.”

Why should voters trust him?

“One thing residents say about me is that I always tell them the truth. They may not like the answer, but they know I am honest and straightforward with them,” Pasek said. “I always do what I can do and what the city can do for the residents.”

Bennett did not turn in a Patch candidate survey. He is running for his fourth term as mayor of Palos Hills. Over his four past decades, he lists his tenure of the Southwest Conference of Mayors for 42 years, chair of the Southwest Central 9-1-1 Dispatch Center for 39 years, and chair of the Chicago Metro Agency for Planning (CMAP) for 20 years.

He is also a member of the executive committee and legislative chair and past chair of the Metro Mayors Conference, according to his bio.

Bennet claims Palos Hills is among the lowest of all Chicago suburbs, in that the city only takes 5 percent of residents property tax bills, which is managed with a “conservatively crafted budget.”

“Over the past five years, Palos Hills has benefited from $6.4 million on new commercial developments and $139.6 million in residential developments,” Bennett said on a campaign flier.
It is not known how Bennett feels about term limits.

Voters will need to go to their regular assigned precincts on election day, Tuesday, April 1. Voters can find their voter information here. Check back with Palos Patch after the polls close at 7 p.m. for the results.