April 18, 2024
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Joliet mayor’s icy fall leads to surgery

By Bob Okon
O'Dekirk's appointment of Wooten to replace Don Dickinson, who resigned Nov. 23, in general followed past practice in Joliet. Mayors have appointed replacements, and councils have voted on them – typically with no opposition. But the current council has been divided into a camp allied with the mayor and a majority that has fought him on key issues, especially the hiring of a permanent city manager. The city is operating on its third interim city manager since October 2018. It was no shock that the division occurred again over the appointment of a council replacement.

Mayor Bob O'Dekirk at a City Council meeting in December.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk had surgery for leg injuries sustained in a fall, a city councilman said.

O’Dekirk slipped on ice outside city hall on Monday morning and was taken by ambulance to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet.

His injuries included a fractured ankle and a tear in his quadriceps, said Councilman Larry Hug.

“I haven’t actually talked with the mayor, but we have communicated with texts,” Hug said.

Hug said he received a text from the mayor shortly after noon Tuesday that he was recovering from surgery. The mayor also described his injuries.

O’Dekirk was to deliver his annual State of the City address to the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Tuesday. That event was postponed to a date yet to be set.

The next City Council meetings, at which the mayor presides, are Monday and Tuesday.

Councilwoman Sherri Reardon, who is currently mayor pro tem and would preside over the meetings in O’Dekirk’s absence, said she had not heard anything about the mayor’s condition and expected he would be at the meetings as usual.

“Hopefully, he’ll be there,” Reardon said. “You want him to be able to get around, and hopefully he will.”

The city has not issued any statements about the incident or the mayor’s condition, although City Manager James Capparelli on Monday did confirm that the mayor slipped on ice outside City Hall and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.