Will Cook County News

By Nuha Abdessalam.

On January 8, the Homer Glen Village Board Meeting was held at Village Hall, located at 14240 W 151st St, Homer Glen. The board focused on two key topics: addressing safety concerns related to social media and enhancing streetlight maintenance.

One of the more heated debates centered around the Village’s social media policy, specifically the recent decision to disable comments on official platforms. Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike explained the rationale, citing threats made against board members and staff.

“There are board members up here who have received life-threatening comments via social media and email,” she said, holding up a printed email as evidence during the meeting.

Trustee Dan Fialko voiced concerns about the lack of communication regarding these threats, emphasizing transparency within the board.

“If that is truly the case, I would like those kinds of comments brought to an executive session so the whole board knows about it,” he stated.

Village Attorney Eric Piekarski addressed legal constraints, reminding attendees that trustees cannot deliberate outside official meetings under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. However, he noted that urgent safety matters can still be communicated individually or through email.

The board also discussed the risks of re-enabling comments, particularly the possibility of unintentionally violating the Open Meetings Act. Trustee Craig McNaughton highlighted the potential for forming a quorum if trustees engaged in discussions on social media. Despite these concerns, the board agreed to keep safety as a priority while remaining open to revisiting the policy if the situation worsens.

“If it ever comes to a point where law enforcement must get involved, we need to address it immediately,” Fialko added.

Later in the meeting, the focus shifted to infrastructure as McNaughton proposed a more proactive approach to streetlight maintenance. He suggested scheduling regular inspections—annually or biannually—to identify outages rather than waiting for residents to report them.

“I want to keep pushing that effort to make us more proactive than reactive,” he said, pointing out that many outages go unreported because residents assume someone else will handle it.

The idea received general support, though no formal decision was made. Trustees expressed interest in exploring the costs and logistics of implementing routine inspections. McNaughton’s proposal ties into the Board’s broader goals of maintaining critical infrastructure and enhancing public safety.

The next village board meeting is scheduled for January 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Homer Glen Village Board Room, 14240 W 151st St, Homer Glen.

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