Joliet City Council picks Sabrina Spano for interim city manager in straw poll

A majority of the Joliet City Council in an unofficial vote during a closed session Wednesday night chose interim City Attorney Sabrina Spano to replace interim City Manager Steve Jones, according to sources.

"The majority of the straw vote went to Sabrina Spano," said one source, who asked to remain anonymous.

Spano was asked to accept the position and has until Thursday afternoon to inform the city clerk of her intentions so the matter can be placed on next week's council meeting agenda, sources said.

Jones gave the city a month's notice on July 7, saying in his resignation letter that his decision to leave "is based upon the increasingly problematic ethical environment that exists in the current administration."

"During my tenure I have witnessed the tremendous toll this climate has had upon the professionals who serve the City on a daily basis," Jones said in the letter.

Jones was deputy city manager and economic development director when a divided City Council voted in June 2019 to remove interim City Manager Marty Shanahan, who had been serving in that role for eight months.

Shanahan returned to his position as city attorney but Jones fired him in May.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, along with council members Jan Quillman, Larry Hug and Terry Morris, had been vocal in their failed effort to make Shanahan the permanent city manager.

Spano was hired on to the city's legal department in October 2018. Her $85,000 a year position was not advertised. Shanahan, who was interim city manager at the time, said there was no need to post the job for applicants because Spano's application already was on file and she was considered fit for the job.

"We had a qualified applicant," Shanahan said. "She has what we were looking for in a litigation attorney."

Spano had previously worked for the Illinois Attorney General's Child Support Enforcement Division, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and had been in private practice in the area of family law.

Spano and O’Dekirk failed to return calls for comment.