Over the objections of the majority of the village board, Manteno Mayor Annette LaMore dismissed Village Attorney Joe Cainkar and replaced him with James Vasselli at the beginning of Monday’s board meeting.

The board voted 4-2 against the hiring of Vaselli to replace Cainkar, who was dismissed earlier in the day.

Cainkar, with the Louis S. Cainkar LTD law firm, has been the village attorney since 2003. The Cainkar firm is based in Chicago and also has an office in Burbank.

LaMore then used a state law and village code that states once a new appointment is voted down twice, she can make an emergency appointment for 30 days.

Trustee Joel Gesky, who voted against the hiring, said proper procedures weren’t followed in Cainkar’s termination.

“Under the law, you are required to report the removal to us in a meeting to be held not less than five, not more than 10 days after the removal,” Gesky said. “There was an unsigned letter delivered to Mr. Cankair today. As of right now, the procedures for removal have not been followed, and the process is incomplete.”

After LaMore appointed Vasselli, the board voted 4-2 against the appointment and asked that Cainkar be reinstated immediately. Cainkar was not present at the meeting.

LaMore was unsure how to respond to the motion, but Vasselli said that Illinois operates in a type of government where the executive appoints the officers.

“That’s also in your village code, that’s also in state statute. I think that’s the response,” he said.

“I have the power of emergency appointment because you have turned me down twice,” LaMore said.

CJ Boudreau, who voted against the appointment, said it was an “improper firing” of Cainkar. Todd Crockett and Annette Zimbelman also voted against the appointment.

“Please make sure the record reflects that a motion was made, a second, and the vote took place, and majority of the board reinstated Mr. Cainkar,” Gesky said.

The meeting then continued with Vasselli, of Vasselli Law, as the temporary village attorney for the duration of the regular proceedings. Vasselli Law has offices in Oak Brook and Elgin and represents 18 taxing bodies across Illinois.

During trustee comments at the end of the meeting, Crockett said the board approves appointments regardless of who the mayor appoints.

“I think you’re completely gaslighting this village by your thoughts of transparency, because tonight is the first night that I’ve heard of Mr. Vasselli’s firm,” he said. “How is that transparency again? You’re gaslighting this community over and over and over again. OK, my thoughts are not popular with 15 or 20 people in this room, but I think what you need to be concerned about is the rest of the village.”

LaMore said she’s worked well with people her entire life.

“This is a whole different thing here,” she said. “They don’t want to allow me to be the mayor.”

After the meeting, Gesky said it’s unclear what will happen when the 30 days expire for the temporary appointment.

“The board voted, took action tonight to override the appointment and reinstate our attorney, so I imagine we’ll have some legal battles between the mayor’s appointed attorney and the board’s voted attorney,” he said. “So more taxpayer money.”

LaMore said she made a change of village attorney because she didn’t feel like Cainkar “was doing us justice.”

“I gave him all the guidelines for some of these ordinances that were drawn up, and he didn’t even put them in,” she said. “He didn’t inform me of everything that was going on. He works for other people, not for me. He’s still working for the old regime, not for me. And I never appointed him.”

Vasselli said the village board has the protocol for handling the dismissal and the new appointment.

“It’s in their own code, and it’s permitted,” he said. ”It says if an officer is dismissed, then the temporary successor comes through.”

Vasselli didn’t elaborate further, but the outcome could likely be decided in the courts.

Gesky said he expects Cainkar to be the village attorney moving forward.

“We always have the option as trustees to hire a counsel to represent village trustees as well,” he said. “At the end of the day, the mayor can have her attorney if she thinks that she’s entitled to it, but we don’t necessarily have to pay the bills for him, and we have the ability of hiring our own counsel as well.”