St. Charles mayor breaks tie in filling appointment to City Council

St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek is defending her decision not to take applications from the community to fill a vacancy on the St. Charles City Council.

Vitek recommended Bill Kalamaris – the brother-in-law of 5th Ward Alderperson Steve Weber – to fill the vacancy. In May, Richard Balla announced he was moving out of the 1st Ward.

The term ends in April 2023. Balla was appointed to the City Council last August to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Dan Stellato, who had been on the City Council since 1995. Balla was one of four candidates vying for the seat.

Vitek broke a 4-4 tie on the City Council on whether to appoint Kalamaris to the vacancy. Voting yes were Weber, 3rd Ward Alderperson Paul Lencioni, 5th Ward Alderperson Ed Bessner and 2nd Ward Alderperson Ryan Bongard. Voting no were 4th Ward Alderperson David Pietryla, 4th Ward Alderperson Bryan Wirball, 1st Ward Alderperson Ron Silkaitis and 2nd Ward Alderperson Rita Payleitner. Third Ward Alderperson Todd Bancroft was absent from the meeting.

After the vote, Kane County Chief Judge Clint Hull administered the oath of office to Kalamaris.

Payleitner voiced concerns about Vitek choosing not to accept applications from the community to fill the vacancy.

“Unlike it has been handled in the past, the mayor chose to unilaterally select a candidate without a broad solicitation of interested 1st Ward residents,” she said in a statement. “I’m not surprised by this move, but I am certainly disappointed.”

Payleitner also said the City Council is not diverse enough. She is the only female member on the City Council.

“Clearly there is a lack of diversity here on council, and yet no attempt, when the opportunity presented itself, to remedy,” she said.

Silkaitis, the other person representing the 1st Ward, also thought the city should have taken applications for the vacancy.

“Nothing against the candidate, it’s just strictly the process,” he said before voting against appointing Kalamaris to fill the vacancy.

During the meeting, Vitek talked about why she picked Kalamaris to fill the seat.

“Bill represents a skill set we do not have on this council and I think that’s important right now,” she said. “I’m all about progress and moving our city forward with good quality candidates and whether people like the process or not, I follow the rules. … The no votes tonight are clearly political.”

After the City Council meeting, Vitek further explained her decision not to take applications for the vacancy. She noted other St. Charles mayors have done the same thing.

In addition, she noted the City Council had taken applications for the vacancy last year and that people running in April’s election can start picking up election packets in the fall.

“I wasn’t going to do it again when we have people pulling for packets in October for the upcoming election,” Vitek said. “Bill has IT experience and we’re going through a lot of IT stuff. And he has great management experience. I didn’t want to lose this opportunity.”

Kalamaris is the senior director of global technology supplier management for McDonald’s.

“I’m confident that I put the city in the best position that I could with this appointment,” Vitek said. “I wouldn’t do it any other way, whether people agree with the process or not.”

Kalamaris has lived in St. Charles for almost 20 years. While he is Weber’s brother-in-law, Kalamaris said he makes his own decisions.

“Steve and I might not agree with everything, but that’s OK because that’s part of the process,” he said.