After trustees decided not to reappoint him in May, the longtime administrator is taking a job in a neighboring village.
Niles Village Administrator George Van Geem, who has been under fire from a majority of village trustees for several months, is leaving Niles to take a position in Skokie. Van Geem, who joined Niles about 20 years ago as finance director and was promoted to village manager about seven years ago, will return to his career roots when he starts Dec. 10 as Skokie's finance director. He will remain in Niles through Dec. 7. Get Niles and Morton Grove news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. "Skokie is a great organization and I'm looking forward to working with them," Van Geem said. He has met and worked with their village manager and department heads through municipal projects throughout the years, …
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The last two village managers each got a $100,000 bonus and car when they left, in 2002 and 2005. But no records show the village board approved the spending; that has trustees worried they were illegal.
The Niles village board is looking into whether its finance department issued checks for $100,000 each to Abe Selman, a former village manager, in 2002 and Mary Kay Morrissey, his successor as village manager, in 2005, without village board approval. Both received the bonuses when they retired, and they also both received relatively new vehicles. Trustees are concerned that making these payouts without the approval of the village board at that time may have been unlawful, and an outside law firm is investigating whether the current village board has any legal obligations. "My understanding of the law is that payouts like this have to be approved by resolution of the board, so these may have been illegally and improperly done," said Jim …
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3:16 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
If city officials want to give a bonus let it come out of the pocket that chooses to give it away ! For GODS sake lets stop this criminal activity before more people are taxed out of there homes!!! more ›
In the course of trying to oust the village manager, trustees learn he OK'd a $100,000 check, and a car, for his outgoing predecessor. There's a scramble to find out if the then-board approved it.
In what has become a five-month back-and-forth over whether Niles Village Manager George Van Geem is to stay in his position or not, trustees shed some light recently on one of their concerns. When trustees first approached Van Geem back in January with a buyout proposal that offered him six months of salary, Van Geem asked for a greater amount, saying the previous two village managers got a year's salary and a car, Trustee Jim Hynes said at the May 22 village board meeting. That has flabbergasted many of the trustees, since two of them--Louella Preston and Andrew Przybylo--sat on the board when former village manager Mary Kay Morrissey left in fall 2005 and didn't know about the $100,000 bonus, Trustee Chris Hanusiak said Thursday. "…
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1:46 pm on Saturday, August 4, 2012
"Silence like a cancer grows" - Simon and Garfunkel, Sounds of Silence. In Illinois, our elected officials mistake silence for leadership and indeed for courage itself. more ›
Ryan Horne becomes the new village manager.
At Monday night's Morton Grove village board meeting, Village Clerk Tony Kalogerakos swore in Ryan Horne to his new duties as village administrator. Earlier: Morton Grove appoints Horne Horne had served as village manager pro tem since December, and as finance manager before that. Get Patch local news delivered to your email inbox daily. It's free. Learn more.
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Joe LoVerde
11:04 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012
George We wish you the very best at Skokie and thanks for your 20 years of service to our community. Joe & Maura LoVerde more ›