Village. Township. County. State. Schools. College. Library. Fire. Water.
40+ elected positions. Most voters know zero of them.
When you pay property taxes in Orland Park, you're funding at least 12 separate taxing bodies. Each has an elected board making decisions about hundreds of millions of dollars — hiring, firing, contracts, borrowing, spending. Most of them run unopposed. Most of them have bios shorter than a fortune cookie. This page ends that. Cradle to grave.
Orland Township government sits below the village and above the school districts in terms of visibility — which means most residents have never heard of it. Yet the Township directly serves the most vulnerable residents: seniors needing rides, families needing food, students needing scholarship money. The Supervisor has controlled this operation for 16+ consecutive years.
The Cook County Board has 17 commissioners governing 5.2 million people. One of those seats — the 17th District — covers Orland Park. The person in that seat has been the only Republican on the entire board. He is not seeking re-election. Orland Park will have a new county representative in 2026.
Born 1986/87, Mokena. Moraine Valley CC, Trinity Christian College (B.S. business/poli sci), MBA from Kellogg School of Management, executive education at Harvard Business School. Co-owner/EVP of Ozinga Bros. Inc. (fourth-generation family building materials business since 1928). Son of congressional candidate Marty Ozinga III. Father of four daughters. Abruptly resigned 2024 before completing term — reason not fully publicly disclosed.
District 230 runs Carl Sandburg High School (Orland Park), Victor J. Andrew High School (Tinley Park), and Amos Alonzo Stagg High School (Palos Hills). Budget: hundreds of millions. These seven people decide curriculum, hiring, salaries, and capital projects for thousands of teenagers. Most Orland Park parents cannot name a single one of them.
District 135 runs Orland Park's elementary and middle schools — the daily environment for every child from kindergarten through 8th grade. Seven elected positions. Decisions: teachers, curriculum, buildings, every child's daily world. Three new members were elected April 1, 2025.
James Bax, Elizabeth Jobb, and Jennifer Tutor all retired from the District 135 board in 2025 — collectively representing decades of continuity in elementary school governance. Their departure opened three seats filled by Chmielewski, Morandi, and Zayyad.
Moraine Valley District 524 is one of the largest community colleges in Illinois. Budget: hundreds of millions. These seven trustees oversee education for tens of thousands of students across the southwest suburbs. One of them simultaneously holds two other major public positions — a fact most voters don't know.
The OFPD has a $49.79 million annual budget (2025) and serves 75,000 people. Its five elected trustees set policy, finances, and oversight. A separate three-member appointed Board of Fire Commissioners handles sworn personnel matters — hiring, discipline, and promotions for firefighters.
The Board of Fire Commissioners is a separate three-member body that handles all sworn personnel matters — hiring, discipline, and promotions for OFPD firefighters. They are appointed, not elected.
Mohammed Jaber — Appointed July 7, 2025 to fill DJ Jeffers' former slot. Palestinian-American community activist and taxpayer advocate. Previously ran for Village Trustee in 2025 elections. Prominent figure in Arab American community. July 2025: Joined with D230 Trustee and Lena Matariyeh to spotlight Township Food Pantry.
Matt Rafferty — Commissioner.
Brian O'Neill — Commissioner.
The library is a separate taxing district — meaning it levies its own property taxes independent of the village. With a 93,000 square foot building and over 229,000 volumes, these seven elected trustees govern one of the most-used public facilities in Orland Park. During the Pekau era, the library board became a flashpoint for harassment and FOIA abuse.
Nine elected commissioners control a $1.7 billion annual budget for wastewater treatment and stormwater management serving 5.19 million Cook County residents. Their decisions directly affect Orland Park's water infrastructure, flood control, and environmental quality. Most Orland Park voters have never heard of this body, let alone voted in its elections.