James Capparelli waiting for his interview with the Joliet City Council on Tuesday said he hoped to convince people that he was not going to be taking sides in the city’s political issues.
“I hope to get them to see I’m not Bob’s guy,” he said, referring to Mayor Bob O’Dekirk who wants to see Capperelli become city manager on Friday.
“I’m not Pat Mudron’s guy. I’m not Larry Hug’s guy,” he added, naming two of the most outspoken council members in the prolonged controversy over filling the city manager job. “I’m Jim Capperelli’s guy, and I’m concerned about the issues that are facing the city.”
How convincing he was in the interview may be seen Friday when the council meets in a special session to vote on a contract for Capparelli.
The council division in its city manager search has been typified by 5-3 votes that have been generally going against the mayor for nearly two years. That changed in November when Councilman Don Dickinson, one of the five-member majority, resigned and later was replaced by Herb Lande, a large donor to O’Dekirk’s campaign fund.
Putting a contract for Capparelli to vote indicates he has at least the four council votes necessary if the mayor has to cast a tie-breaking vote to award the contract.
Councilman Larry Hug said he believes Capparelli has better than 5-4 support for the job.
“I’m confident that it’s going to be more than five votes,” Hug said.
Capperelli would not be hired as another interim city manager, Hug said.
“It will be on a permanent basis,” Hug said. “How permanent I don’t know if I’m at liberty to talk about until it (the contract) is finalized.”
The last city manager contract for David Hales was at $215,000 a year for three years. But Hales left after 11 months.
Capparelli will be paid a $192,000 salary, Hug said. Hales was hired at a higher rate because of his experience.
Capparelli, a private attorney in Joliet, would come to the job with no municipal management experience.
But he does have management and leadership experience in the Army, where Capparelli says his work in the federal government will serve him as city manager.
“At the Pentagon, I had a very similar position,” Capparelli said, pointing to an oversight and management role he had with Army operations.
“I had a $3.5 billion budget,” he said. “I had 1,054 people working for me at one point.”
While Capparelli may want to convince council members that he would not come to the job as an ally of the mayor on political issues, he does have an association with O’Dekirk.
Capparelli himself pointed out that he was part of a team that joined O’Dekirk when he was first elected in 2015 to develop a transition plan for the city. Capparelli said he wanted to dust off that plan and revisit some past goals, including the development of stronger relationships with schools and community leaders in Joliet, if he gets the job as city manager.
It looks like he’ll have that chance.