Providing property tax rebates to Tinley Park taxpayers and improving relations with the village’s Park District are priorities of a slate of candidates facing incumbents in the April 1 election.
Michael Maloney, a former union executive, leads the Tinley Together party as a mayoral candidate trying to unseat Mayor Michael Glotz, who is seeking a second term.
Tinley Together says it would tap into video gambling revenues and money the village realizes from its sole recreational marijuana dispensary to provide property tax rebates. The group said securing a contract for village police officers is also a priority.
Maloney, 66, is the former president of Pipefitters Local 597 and was named by the Tinley Park-Park District last year to oversee remediation of the 280-acre former Tinley Park Mental Health Center, which the Park District plans to redevelop for recreation uses.
That project has also arisen as an issue in the campaign, with village officials accusing the Park District of being sloppy in its oversight of the project, which for now is focused on clearing buildings on the property.
Glotz, 55, elected in April 2021, is a member of Operating Engineers Local 150.
On its website and Facebook page, the One Tinley Park committee that Glotz chairs offers virtually no information about the team’s platform, but the Facebook page is rife with attacks on the opposition slate.
A video on the Facebook page, with no narration but with music overlaid, shows images of the Amazon Fresh store that opened in village, as well as images of a Pete’s Fresh Market that is due to open this year as well as an image of a planned Top Golf facility.
In a text message to the Daily Southtown when asked about what issues and concerns he and other One Tinley Park candidates were hearing, Glotz said voters “are obviously concerned about inflation and their budget.”
He said village officials have kept the village’s property tax levy unchanged for two years, while “hiring dozens of new police officers and firefighters.”
Glotz was asked on several occasions to talk about the election with the Southtown but did not commit to an interview.
Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz, center, is being challenged in his bid for reelection to a second term. (Mike Nolan / Daily Southtown)
Likewise, Maloney was also asked several times over a span of a few weeks to discuss the campaign, but did not agree to talk.
Maloney is running with clerk candidate Cynthia “Cindy” O’Boyle, and trustee candidates Melissa Sanfilippo, Eric Schmidt and Matthew Walsh.
Glotz’s One Tinley Park slate includes Village Clerk Nancy O’Connor and trustees William Brady, Dennis Mahoney and Colleen Sullivan.
Brady first was elected in 2017 and chairs the Village Board’s Administration and Legal Committee and is board liaison to the village’s Senior Services Commission.
Mahoney was elected trustee in April 2021 and has worked in the construction industry since 1998, according to his village profile. He is an active member of Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Sullivan was also elected trustee in April 2021. She has worked in the health care industry for more than 15 years and has a background in finance, according to her village profile.
O’Connor was appointed village clerk in January 2022 and elected in April 2023.
On the Tinley Together ticket, candidate for clerk O’Boyle is clinical nurse manager at Lurie Children’s Hospital and wife of Bernie O’Boyle, vice president of the Tinley Park-Park Board.
Trustee candidate Sanfilippo serves on the Park District’s Remediate 280 committee, which is involved in oversight of the cleanup and redevelopment of the former state hospital, and is a procurement professional. Trustee candidate Eric Schmidt is an accounting professional working for Tesla and trustee candidate Matthew Walsh was previously police chief in Tinley Park.
After a village Electoral Board ruling knocked Tinley Together off the ballot, a Cook County Circuit Court judge, in early January, reversed that ruling.
Judge John Tully Jr. ruled the Electoral Board decision to invalidate nominating petitions was “clearly erroneous.” The objection claimed the nominating petitions were invalid because they included an array of six small U.S. flags on the top of each page.
Redevelopment of the former mental health center property, northwest of 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue, has been an top issue.
The village hoped to acquire the 280-acre site to create a commercial and entertainment district that would complement other nearby uses such as the Credit Union 1 outdoor music theater.
The state, however, sold the property to the Park District for $1, with the Park District gaining ownership in 2024. State lawmakers also set aside $15 million in grant money to help pay for ridding buildings of contaminants such as asbestos and razing dozens of structures.
Earlier this month, the village held a news conference regarding an Occupational Safety and Health Administration fine of nearly $40,000 against the Omega company for safety violations during demolition of a building at the site in October.
At issue for the $36,177 in OSHA fines against Omega was the contractor not collecting personal samples to determine employees’ exposure to lead, and that employees were not provided with proper changing areas, which exposed them to lead hazards.
Through a statement from its public relations company, the Park District said the contractor responded immediately during the OSHA site visit to put in place safety precautions to remedy the issue.
As far as bad blood between the village and Park District, the Tinley Together group said a priority would be repairing relationships and returning the village’s Fourth of July celebration to the district’s McCarthy Park.
In early 2023, the village opted to hold an Independence Day event, with fireworks, at the 80th Avenue Metra station, prompting the Park District to cancel its annual event that was held for some four decades at McCarthy.
Glotz said the village has bolstered the ranks in the Police and Fire departments, although former Chief Walsh said the Police Department is understaffed.
In a video at the Tinley Together Facebook page, Walsh said police officers have gone more than 700 days without a raise and have lacked a new contract for a year.
Tinley Together said it would also conduct an audit of the village’s Water Department and eliminate unnecessary costs.
Glotz’s campaign committee has reported receipts in recent weeks of more than $5,500.
At the end of last year, in the months leading up to the campaign’s final stretch, his committee had just under $181,000 available to spend, according to state campaign finance disclosure reports.
One Tinley Park, since the start of this year, recorded receipts of more than $150,000, including a transfer on March 5 of $72,000 from the Friends of Michael Glotz committee, according to state filings.
One Tinley Park had, at the end of last year, reported more than $243,000 available to spend on the campaign.
Tinley Together has, since the beginning of this year, recorded receipts of more than $120,000.
Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, through his election committee, also sent a contribution of $50,000. State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, through his campaign committee, made at least $50,000 in in-kind contributions — footing the bills for things including polling, printing and postage — to Tinley Together, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
