Ahead of a routine Skokie Village Board vote on cost-of-living raises for top village administrators, , a trustee walked out in protest.
James Johnson, the only Skokie trustee not aligned with the Skokie Caucus Party, walked out of the Aug. 5 board meeting in protest, accusing the rest of the village board of violating the village’s ethics code if it were to retain employees aligned with the caucus party.
Johnson has long claimed that the village’s corporation counsel, Michael Lorge, and assistant corporation counsel, James McCarthy, discouraged him from running as an independent candidate for the Village Board in 2021. Lorge and McCarthy, were chair and treasurer of the Skokie Caucus Party at the time as well as top village employees.
Johnson has also long accused the Village Board of committing ethics violations regarding the employment of Lorge and McCarthy because of the board’s “personal conflicts of interests.”
“Colleagues, I will sadly not be here when you commit ethics violations tonight. As respectfully as possible, I am walking out in protest of the political hiring in our legal department, and I will return at our next meeting, ready to get back to work,” Johnson said before walking out.
Trustee James Johnson walks out of the Jan. 2 Village Board meeting in protest of an ordinance that gives raises tied to inflation to the village’s legal department. In foreground left to right are Mayor George Van Dusen, Village Manager John Lockerby, Assistant Village Manager Nick Wyatt and Trustee Ralph Klein.
Johnson previously walked out when the board approved salaries for top village administrators in January.
The raises to Lorge and McCarthy were routine raises to keep up with the cost of living. Village Manager John Lockerby also received a raise to earn $248,000 annually, Deputy Village Sylvia Luke’s salary is $88,000, Assistant Corporation Counsel Barbara Mangler’s salary is now $149,000 and Assistant Corporation Counsel Abraham Funk will earn $87,000. Lorge and McCarthy’s salaries are $235,000 and $149,000, respectively.
The village board approved the raises in a 5-2 vote, with both Johnson and Mayor George Van Dusen absent. Trustees did not reply to Johnson’s comments at the meeting.
In December 2023 Johnson also accused the board of committing ethics codes violations. Trustees then responded to Johnson’s comments.
“In my position here as a trustee, I have never used this dais to talk about any affiliation I’ve had with the Skokie Caucus Party or used it to pursue any political agenda, and I feel like these attacks that continue to happen is you pursuing your own personal political agenda here,” said Trustee Khem Khoeun.
““It is within our legal democratic right to be supportive of candidates and as far as I understand it, the attorneys for the village are still residents, so they can support, outside of the office, any candidate they want,” said Trustee Alison Pure Slovin.
“Within state government, there is not a nonpartisan legal department,” Pure Slovin said. “Everybody knows if they are Democrats or Republicans… so I don’t understand why we have to be different here.”
