Orlando 'did his homework' and now he's gone

It may have been a coincidence that Dominic Orlando was removed from the Plan Commission two days before a vote on the PNI-Joliet rezoning.

Orlando was the key figure in tabling a vote in October on the plan for future industrial development of 331 acres on the south end of Joliet. Orlando questioned the plan, made the motion to table the vote, and was part of a narrow 4-3 majority that pushed back consideration of the rezoning until January.

It wasn't much of a victory for the many residents in that area who showed up in October and again on Thursday to oppose the project. It may have only delayed the inevitable. The Plan Commission approved the rezoning Thursday.

The commission approved it 7-1 with one member abstaining. Orlando wasn't there to cast a vote or ask questions of the developer as he was prone to do. Did he ask too many questions?

"I would imagine," Orlando said when asked why he might have been removed. "I would think that had something to do with it – unless he just wanted fresh blood."

Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said Friday that both the terms of Orlando and Joseph Strong, who also was replaced, had expired. Orlando could have been reappointed, but O'Dekirk said he chose to add new members.

"There are other people who want to get on the board," the mayor said. "With any new appointees somebody has to come off."

The "fresh blood" is John Dillon, a former city employee who retired in May and was president of Local 440 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union local represents public works employees and other workers at the city of Joliet.

Asked if the mayor gave him any instructions on how to vote as a commissioner, Dillon said no.

"He knows I'm pretty much independent," Dillon said.

Mark Micetich, another new commissioner appointed Tuesday, also said his appointment came without instructions from the mayor on how he should vote. He also voted for the PNI-Joliet rezoning. Micetich is vice president of Laborers Local 175 in Crest Hill.

As for the whether the mayor tells people how to vote, John Kella, a longtime member of the Plan Commission, also said O'Dekirk doesn't do that. Kella was the lone no vote on the PNI-Joliet rezoning.

But the removal of Orlando and appointment of two union leaders to the commission did get noticed. Unions typically favor warehouse projects because they bring construction jobs. During the NorthPoint controversy in Elwood, unions spoke for the development while hundreds of residents successfully opposed it.

The city council on Tuesday unanimously approved the mayor's appointments of Dillon and Micetich to the plan commission, although Councilman Michael Turk added some comments on behalf of Orlando.

"He was an excellent member," Turk said. "He did his homework. He did a lot of research on topics."