The Villa Park City Council agenda was posted for the upcoming January meeting and a curious item caught the attention of many Villa Park residents. The new Mayor, Robbie Pitts, who at the previous meeting divisively took the position of Mayor from councilmember Vince Rossini, removed Rossini as the primary for the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee (LEAC).
In what appeared to be a repeat of the previous meeting, Villa Park residents unanimously spoke and contacted the City in opposition to this change in assignment. Most residents noted Rossini’s significant qualifications while others questioned whether this was another politically motivated move against Rossini.
Rossini, who has spent 18 years in law enforcement and earned many awards and commendations, was replaced by Nicol Jones, who seemingly has little, to no qualifications for the committee assignment. In the City Council meeting, Jones even noted that Rossini had “superior knowledge in the field” as she distanced herself from Mayor Pitts’ decision.
Pitts tried to explain that his intention was that “both of them would serve the committee and both of them would learn from each other.” However, on the Housing Legislative Committee assignment, Pitts made that distinction by equally naming Jones and Crystal Miles as member and member versus primary and alternate. Additionally, what Rossini would learn from Jones on LEAC was not clarified nor why Rossini was removed as the primary for LEAC. Pitts only claimed it wasn’t “politically motivated” while surprisingly unaware that this change would leave some Villa Park residents to think otherwise.
Jones did offer to “happily make a motion for councilman Rossini to be a primary on the law enforcement advisory committee,” but that motion never materialized. Ultimately the city council agreed to make both of them equal members, with no primary or alternate. Rossini graciously agreed to this but it remained unclear as to who would provide updates in City Council meetings.
Updated February 3, 2023