Orlando back on Joliet Plan Commission

Dominic Orlando, a former member of the Joliet Plan Commission who at times questioned plans for warehouse projects in the city, has been put back on the commission.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy appointed Orlando to the commission with the approval of the City Council this week.

Orlando replaces Robert Wunderlich, whose term expired.

D’Arcy said the appointment of Orlando fits his plan discussed during the mayoral campaign to have different parts of the city represented on the Plan Commission. He said Orlando is a resident in City Council District 4, and he consulted with Cesar Cardenas, the council member in that district, before making the appointment.

But the mayor also said Orlando had a reputation for doing his homework and listening to residents when previously served on the plan commission.

“He was the kind of a guy who would go and look at the site that was to be rezoned, and he would talk to neighbors,” D’Arcy said. “He did his due diligence.”

Orlando on Thursday said he would knock on doors in the area of a site coming to the commission for a vote to ask people if development plans posed any problems. He would follow up concerns with questions at the Plan Commission meetings.

“That’s what got me off the commission. I asked too many questions,” Orlando said. “That’s the only way you learn anything.”

Orlando was removed from the commission in 2019 by former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk when Orlando’s term expired.

At the time, O’Dekirk said other people wanted to be on the commission and he wanted to give others that opportunity. Orlando was replaced by John Dillon, a retired city employee and union leader who became chairman of the commission.

But Orlando was removed two days before a vote in January 2019 on a warehouse project in the south section of Joliet that faced opposition from area residents. Orlando had previously sided with residents and led a successful effort to table the vote, although the project was approved at the January 2019 meeting.

Orlando later joined residents opposed to the controversial NorthPoint Development plan for the Third Coast Intermodal Hub and spoke against it before it was approved by the City Council.

Wunderlich, whom he replaced, is a retired building contractor who has run unsuccessfully for City Council in the last two elections. Wunderlich also was a long-time trustee and sometimes chairman of the board at Joliet Junior College.

Orlando’s appointment to the commission on Tuesday was approved by the council with the exception of council member Joe Clement, who abstained from the vote.