Hazel Crest trustees don't show up for special meeting they sought to replace village manager
A special board meeting to replace the village manager in south suburban Hazel Crest came to an end before it could even begin on Thursday.
A majority of the board's trustees wanted to swear in a new hand-picked village manager on Thursday, but didn't show up for the meeting, leaving residents wondering what's really going on and why trustees had previously seemed to be in a rush.
Thursday night, people filled every seat available at the Hazel Crest village hall. Some stood, trying to get an understanding to why this special meeting was called just two days ago.
"Something's happening, and we would like to know what's going on," Hazel Crest resident Mary McCray said.
While the residents sat looking for answers, at least three trustee seats were vacant before word came about an unexplained emergency that left the village board without the necessary quorum to hold the meeting.
McCray was left disappointed.
"I came to see what's happening in my community," she said.
Reggie Wiggins also was left wondering where the trustees who had been seeking to remove the village manager were.
"I'm not sure, but maybe the next meeting they'll be here," he said.
Three of the five village trustees want to replace acting village manager Donna Gayden with a candidate they selected, Tanya Tucker-Perry.
"We had to fill this position, because it is a managerial form of government. We cannot go without a village manager," Trustee Merle Kimbrough-Huckabee said.
Mayor Sandra Alexander said the trustees should have consulted with her before seeking to install a new village manager.
"We come together and decide if we want to hire that person. It's not just, it's on the agenda, it's a motion approved, no. We haven't done any of that. The proper way would be to discuss it and then bring it back for discussion," she said.
Alexander questioned if the trustees' choice to replace Gayden has the needed credentials for the $150,000-a-year position.
"I don't have a problem with you hiring your friends, but are they qualified?" she said.
Alexander said before the board sought to remove her, Gayden had found nearly $6.9 million in unused TIF funds from Cook County. She also discovered the village was still paying health insurance and cellphone bills for former employees.
That's what Alexander wants the next manager to continue to uncover.
"If you're paying a thousand, two thousand dollars a month for those people over a year or two, yeah, it can add up," she said.
The absent trustees said the Gayden failed to communicate and did not have a plan after a tornado hit Hazel Crest in July. But Alexander refuted those claims, saying the village was prepared and executed its emergency plan effectively.
