Orlando won’t be back on Joliet Plan Commission

Dominick Orlando, a Joliet plan commissioner with an independent streak, was replaced this week with approval from the City Council.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy said Orlando’s removal from the commission was just a matter of his term being up and others being interested in the position.

“There are a few other people who want to get on,” D’Arcy said.

But just last month, D’Arcy reappointed three other members of the Plan Commission whose terms had expired, all of whom have been on the commission longer than Orlando.

Orlando did not argue with D’Arcy’s explanation for his removal when contacted Wednesday.

“My term was up, and I think he wanted to put Eulitz in,” he said.

Mike Eulitz, a former road engineer for the city who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in 2023, replaces Orlando on the commission.

The council, which rarely questions mayoral appointments, unanimously approved the replacement of Orlando on Tuesday without discussion.

Orlando said he was not disappointed with his removal.

“Not really. It’s a lot of work,” he said. “I used to go to all the sites. I’m OK with it.”

His reputation for visiting sites coming to the Plan Commission for review was the main reason D’Arcy cited for appointing Orlando to the commission in 2023.

“He was the kind of guy who would go and look at the site that was to be rezoned, and he would talk to neighbors,” D’Arcy said at the time. “He did his due diligence.”

Orlando had previous experience on the Plan Commission before being removed by D’Arcy’s predecessor, Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, in 2019, when his term expired at that time.

Like D’Arcy, O’Dekirk said he wanted to give someone else an opportunity to serve on the commission.

NorthPoint opposition

Orlando back then showed his independence, at times voting against warehouse projects that faced residential opposition, but he otherwise enjoyed commission support.

He also questioned the controversial NorthPoint Development warehouse project that faced widespread residential opposition while getting approval from the city.

Orlando’s opposition to NorthPoint led him to join others speaking against the project once he was off the commission and the plan went to the City Council for approval.

His opposition led to Orlando’s name appearing on a long list of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city aimed at stopping the NorthPoint plan.

Orlando’s status as a plaintiff in the lawsuit may have posed problems for him as a plan commissioner. But D’Arcy said it was not a factor in the decision to replace him.

“It was never a part of the conversation,” D’Arcy said.

D’Arcy last year replaced two other plan commissioners whose terms expired: John Dillon, who was appointed by O’Dekirk to replace Orlando in 2019, and Marc Rousenelos.

To replace them, he appointed Michael Turk, a former City Council member, and the Rev. Wendell Martin, a Joliet pastor whom D’Arcy also has appointed to a Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee.

Orlando himself was appointed in 2023 to replace Robert Wunderlich, whose term had expired.

But just last month, D’Arcy reappointed three other members of the Plan Commission – Jason Cox, John Kella and Brigette Rohr – whose terms had expired.

On Tuesday, as the City Council approved Orlando’s replacement, it also approved six other mayoral appointments recommended to various city boards and commissions. All were reappointments of current members.