Mayor Replaces Library Officials Who Bucked City Council

Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk warned he would take action if the Library Board did not heed the City Council's wishes, and he is being true to his words. 

He said last summer he would replace library board members when their terms ended because the board voted to cut library hours in a cost-savings move, over the objections of the City Council. 

Gresk is recommending residents Tony Solis, Jim Kranjc and Chantelle Porter as the new Library Board trustees, replacing Board President Colleen McLaughlin and Carol Honeywell. Gresk told Daily Herald last week he would not reappoint her and Carol Honeywell. According to, TribLocal, Trustee Don Armstrong withdrew his name for reappointment.

Last year, the City Council and Library Board were at loggerheads over cutting the library’s summer hours. The Library Board voted to close the library on Fridays during the summer—a decision the City Council protested. 

Gresk called that decision "extreme" in a June 28, 2010 planning session, where the council and McLaughlin debated the Library Board's decision. He noted that three trustees would be up for reappointment in June 2011, and that if the council was not happy by that time, "We have that vehicle in place now to appoint people to the board."

On Friday, Gresk said, "I'm keen to have new blood on the library board." He called his candidates "highly qualified" and thanked McLaughlin, Honeywell and Armstrong for their service.

McLaughlin, who has been on the Library Board for more than a decade, responded to Gresk’s decision with a letter Wednesday urging him to reconsider his decision regarding Honeywell and to “re-think the impact that losing more experienced board members will have on the library.”

She wrote, “I am confident that anyone who volunteers for a position on the Library Board will be a good, caring person who has a genuine love for the library—because that is just the type of people our library attracts. But unless those applicants have library experience, they cannot possibly bring as much to the table as Carol Honeywell who has been an extremely conscientious, active participant on our board for four years. The inner workings of a public library are simply not something that can be learned overnight.”

Gresk responded that it’s his prerogative as mayor to appoint members to all commissions. He said that although McLaughlin’s comments are accurate, he took offense to her comment that the new members would not bring as much to the table as the former trustees. “These people are highly trained … they’ve reached high levels in their professions. These are highly educated, intelligent people and they will take the Library Board to new heights. I’m sure of it.” 

Tom Mouhelis, Todd Scalzo and Phil Suess are the three current council members who were part of last year's discussions. 

Scalzo said he deferred to the Library Board last summer and assumed their decision to close on Fridays was the right one. However, he said it's "totally fair" for Gresk to pick people he thinks are right for city commissions. "It's his right to do that," Scalzo said. 

Suess said Friday he's concerned about how the reappointment process has been handled and disappointed that the three Library Board members were not reappointed. 

"When we put people on boards, we really want them to give us their best advice," he said. "It's not a good situation to have people put forth their best advice and just because someone disagrees, that precludes them from serving in the future."

Mouhelis said Friday he supports Gresk's decision. "The way it was was very antagonistic in scope," he said of the the council's relationship with the Library Board. "We need to go in a different direction."

McLaughlin will preside over her final Library Board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, June 20. Meanwhile, the City Council will meet at the same time and Gresk will recommend his choices for Library Board members.