Zimel no longer an Algonquin Township trustee, assistant State’s Attorney said

As the Illinois Second Appellate Court did not grant a stay of a McHenry County judge’s order removing him from office, it appears Ed Zimel no longer is an Algonquin Township Trustee.

However, in the appeal filed by Zimel’s attorney, John Nelson of Rockford, it does not appear he asked the appellate court to stay the original order pending that appeal.

Neither did Nelson appear at a scheduled hearing Thursday at the McHenry County Courthouse to argue that judge reconsider the case or allow a longer stay to make his appeal.

On June 12, Judge Joel Berg ruled that due to Zimel’s 33-year-old felony intimidation conviction in Cook County, state law does not allow him to serve as a township trustee. Berg stayed the order removing him from office for seven days, pending an appeal to the higher court.

Nelson filed that appeal on June 13, according to McHenry County Court records. The filing did not ask the court to stay that order, or ask for an emergency hearing to delay Zimel’s removal. It only asked the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s judgment and send the case back to the trial court.

“There was no motion to request a stay by the appellate court,” said Norman Vinton, the McHenry County State’s Attorney civil division chief. “The court order stands. Seven days have passed” and the stay is over.

Nelson did file a motion asking Berg to reconsider his ruling on June 16.

In that motion, Nelson pointed out that June 20 – seven days after Berg’s ruling was filed with the clerk – was not enough time to request a stay from the appellate court, due to Monday, June 20, being a court holiday. The holiday was in fact Sunday, June 19, for Juneteenth.

Seven days, Nelson wrote, was too short to accomplish getting a stay from the appellate court, even with an emergency motion. In that motion, he asked Berg to extend the stay until July 13.

Nelson also asked for a hearing on a motion for summary judgement (not a motion to reconsider) on Thursday, July 6 – the court hearing that he did not attend.

Because of the seven-day stay, Zimel did attend and vote at a June 14 township board meeting. The next Algonquin Township board meeting is July 12.

Nelson did not immediately return a phone call asking for comment about Zimel’s appeal.

In a similar case in Joliet Township, the Third District upheld the removal of township trustee who also had felony convictions.