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MANTENO – Annette LaMore promised change when she was elected mayor of Manteno on April 1.
LaMore wants to make some changes to the department heads, but she’s been stymied at this point. That fact didn’t stop LaMore at Monday’s village board meeting from vetoing the three contracts approved at the April 21 meeting.
The contracts for Chris LaRocque, village administrator; Alan Swinford, chief of police; and Jim Hanley, public works superintendent, were approved by a 4-2 vote of trustees at the most recent board meeting.
Newly elected trustees Peggy Vaughn and Mike Barry along with LaMore wanted more time to look at the contracts before voting to approve.
“We did try to table it, and we didn’t have the votes to make that happen,” LaMore said. “But when it came to signing all those contracts, I couldn’t do it. I just could not do it.”
She added that she was bothered that the contracts weren’t prepared by village attorney Joe Cainkar among a few other issues. Then LaMore read a prepared statement on the matter.
“The contracts that were passed by the board at the meeting on April 21 are void,” she said. “The department heads were not appointed by the mayor. According to the terms of the Manteno ordinances related to these respective positions, the code is very clear.
“These positions should be appointed by the mayor, and they were not. I asked at that meeting that they be tabled, to have time to review, and they were not tabled. I am vetoing the approval that was made by the majority vote on the board.”
LaMore added that it doesn’t mean these people won’t be hired, but they’re not hired at this time. They are currently working without a contract.
Cainkar explained that the board can move for a motion to reconsider the contracts at the next meeting on May 19. If the motion to reconsider is passed, then the board can approve the contracts, overriding the veto.
Trustee Joel Gesky then asked that the motion to reconsider over the mayor’s veto be put on the next meeting’s agenda. Cainkar added that by statute, the motion to reconsider must be addressed at the next meeting.
The salaries for the three positions are: LaRocque $132,974, plus a $30,000-per-year stipend for doing the building and zoning director job, Swinford $124,381; and Hanley, $127,681.
LaMore said after the meeting the village has to decide if the code enforcement (building and zoning director) position is a full-time job now that less houses are being built in Manteno.
She added that there are a lot of things to look at as a new mayor.
“Do I think the village is running smoothly? Yes, from what I can see,” she said. “I’m not aware of everything that’s been going on, but there’s other people that could probably do a good job, too. That’s a nice way of saying that changes are sometimes good.”
The previous year, the contracts for LaRocque and Swinford were approved at the April 15, 2024, meeting, so the timing was the same timeframe. Hanley’s appointment was approved in March of 2024.
Those contracts could still be approved by the board at the next meeting, but LaMore is adamant those appointments should be hers based on village ordinance.
“I definitely should, that’s my job,” she said. “... It’s all about, I’m trying to be transparent. I’m trying to be fair, and I’m trying to do what’s best for Manteno.”