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City of Joliet turns to outside attorney

Contract on Tuesday agenda, but attorney is already on the job

By Bob Okon
Joliet City Hall, Municipal building, W. Jefferson St. in Joliet, IL. Thursday Oct. 28, 2021.

Joliet City Hall is at 150 W. Jefferson St. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com)

The Joliet City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to hire an outside lawyer, who is already on the job, to serve as interim city attorney until a new one is hired.

The council will vote on an agreement that would pay Todd Greenburg $6,000 a week for 25 hours of service.

Former City Attorney Sabrina Spano left July 24 for another position.

Greenburg was already sitting in the seat occupied by the city attorney when the council met in a workshop session on Monday.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy asked Greenburg to introduce himself.

“I’m here temporarily until you can make a decision on corporation counsel,” Greenburg said.

Greenburg previously served as city attorney for Bloomington for 23 years and before that was deputy city attorney for the city of Normal.

He currently is employed by Ancel Glink, a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in local government and frequently is used by the city of Joliet.

Corperation Counsel Sabrina Spano sits in on a hearing on the validity of nominating petitions of two City Council candidates at the Joliet City Electoral Board meeting on January 4th.

Former Joliet City Attorney Sabrina Spano left on July 24 to become an assistant city attorney in Naperville. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

The agreement with Ancel Glink calls for Greenburg to be paid $6,000 a week for 25 hours of service. If other attorneys at Ancel Glink are needed, the city would pay $240 an hour for their services.

Council member Jan Quillman questioned the arrangement.

“I think in the end $6,000 a week is an awful lot of money when we already have two attorneys on staff,” Quillman said.

The two attorneys on staff include Deputy City Attorney Chris Regis, who was brought in by former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. Spano, too, was brought in during the O’Dekirk administration. She was originally hired as an assistant city attorney, a job the city had not advertised before giving it to Spano.

D’Arcy became mayor in May after defeating O’Dekirk in the April election. Spano left to take a job as an assistant city attorney in Naperville.

Quillman asked Greenburg whether Joliet would need to bring in other attorneys while he was on the job for matters that he could not handle.

“I’ve been practicing municipal law for 30 years now, and I haven’t come across something I can’t handle unless it’s very specialized,” Greenburg said.

No other council members questioned Greenburg.

Council member Larry Hug, however, asked to ensure that the vote on his hiring was subject to a roll call vote, which Hug typically does when he intends to vote against a proposal.

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