Will County executive vetoes hiring Robert Schillerstrom as landfill consultant

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant has vetoed a County Board resolution that hired the former Republican chair of the DuPage County Board as a consultant to study the county’s landfill expansion.

County Board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Republican from Monee, said she will ask the board to vote to override the veto next month. The board needs 14 votes to override a veto.

The County Board voted June 4 to issue a three-month contract for $15,000 to Robert J. Schillerstrom by a 12-6 vote. The six no votes came from board Democrats, who said that staff was already handling information related to landfill expansion. Four members were absent.

Bertino-Tarrant said in her veto message the county already has two consultants and full-time staff working on solid waste planning and landfill expansion to meet the needs of residents and guide the landfill committee.

“The hiring of a third consultant, at this time, would be duplicative,” the veto message said.

Bertino-Tarrant said she acted to prevent a waste of taxpayer funds.

“I have faith in our staff. I have faith in our consultants,” Bertino-Tarrant said.

Ogalla said the board’s Landfill Committee wants to be able to have a consultant when it cannot get information it needs from staff. Members can also learn what questions they need to ask to become more knowledgeable about the landfill project, she said.

The Landfill Committee was formed within the past year, and no one that serves on the committee is an expert, Ogalla said.

Schillerstrom was on the DuPage County Board, which operated two landfills, and can help make the Will County Landfill Committee more robust, Ogalla said.

“I believe they need to have outside information, outside perspective,” she said. “I do think we need this.”

Schillerstrom was on the DuPage County Board from 1998 to 2010. He was chair of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority from 2015 to 2019. In 2009, he announced he was running for governor, but withdrew from the race about six months later and endorsed Jim Ryan.

“No one really knows about this man’s expertise, outside of the fact he was chairperson of a county with a landfill,” Bertino-Tarrant said.

Ogalla said the contract was a nominal fee and expressed frustration that it was vetoed. She said the County Board as the legislative branch is in charge of passing resolutions and policies.

“I shouldn’t have to override something that was voted on 12 to 6,” she said. “I’m tired of being vetoed.”

Recently, Bertino-Tarrant has vetoed several board resolutions, nearly all of them having to do with the board’s rejection of the 143rd Street widening project through Homer Glen. Preliminary engineering on the widening project began in 2009, and the county has spent more than $6.2 million on engineering, design costs and utility relocation.

The board supported the project on at least 10 separate occasions, but voted to halt the widening project earlier this year after residents began to protest. Bertino-Tarrant said the resolutions she vetoed were because the county board was trying various ways to circumvent her original veto.

Bertino-Tarrant said Ogalla has expressed her frustration to her.

Bertino-Tarrant said as the county executive, she has the authority to veto the board’s actions, and the County Board has the authority to override the veto.

The Will County Resource Recovery and Energy Division is anticipating the landfill will be at capacity by 2034, officials said.

The county needs to decide if it continues to operate the Prairie View landfill in Wilmington, whether it should expand upwards or outwards or whether a new location for a landfill needs to be investigated, Bertino-Tarrant said.

The permitting process can take many years.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.