Who Is Keith Pekau
In 2018, a Village of Orland Park public works employee filed a complaint with Village Manager Joe La Margo: two vendors were repeatedly winning bids by coming in exactly $25 lower than each other. One of those vendors was GroundsKeeper Landscape Care LLC — owned by Mayor Keith Pekau.
The village hired the law firm Jones Day to investigate. After four months, Jones Day concluded it could find no direct evidence of bid manipulation — but the firm's recommendations were damning: the village had "flawed bidding, purchasing and ethics policies" that needed immediate fixing. Jones Day recommended continued investigation. The village also commissioned a follow-up "Mitchell report."
Pekau denied any wrongdoing. No charges were ever filed. But the investigation prompted a public discussion about the mayor running a business that held village contracts — and selling it only after public scrutiny began.
The Orland Park Village Board passed an ethics ordinance requiring elected officials to disclose real estate and business interests, prohibiting gifts, and establishing a complaint process. Pekau cast the only vote against it.
He then moved to repeal the ordinance at a subsequent board meeting, claiming it was too vague and could be used as a political weapon.
The ethics ordinance repeal — while under an active ethics investigation — generated significant press coverage and was cited repeatedly by reform candidates in the 2025 election as emblematic of how Pekau ran village government.
The Orland Park Village Board, under Mayor Pekau, approved $33 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds committed to a single developer — a campaign donor — with no collateral required to secure the loan.
TIF districts redirect property tax revenue into a designated area for redevelopment purposes. Committing $33 million of those funds to a single private party, without requiring collateral, exposed the village to significant financial risk if the development did not proceed as planned.
The Dodge administration inherited this commitment along with the rest of the village's debt picture when it took office in May 2025. Untangling TIF obligations was among the first financial challenges the new administration faced.
When Mayor Dodge took office in May 2025, the village's disclosed debt stood at $90.67 million. But that was only what had been publicly acknowledged. The full picture was far worse — and it had been deliberately kept from the public.
Dodge's administration discovered that Pekau had directed village financial staff to delay bond issuances until after the April 1, 2025 election. When Dodge asked the village's financial advisor why planned bond issues had not been executed in 2024, the advisor responded: "We were directed to wait until after the election."
Making matters worse: the village failed to file required annual financial audits for 2022 and 2023. The Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza took action against the village. The Illinois Attorney General publicly criticized Orland Park for withholding financial information. The state suspended approximately $120,000 in revenue offsets as punishment.
The Comptroller's office does not act against municipalities lightly. The failure to file two consecutive years of audits — required by state law — while also concealing the full scope of planned borrowing is among the most serious financial governance failures documented in Orland Park's 133-year history.
At the February 5, 2024 Village Board meeting, hundreds of Arab American residents came to present a petition signed by 800+ Orland Park residents calling for the village to pass a Gaza ceasefire resolution. Pekau requested 10 police officers be present — more than any normal board meeting — which attendees described as hostile and intimidating.
On video, broadcast live on YouTube and watched by thousands, Pekau told Arab American residents: "If you're an American citizen and you don't feel that way, then in my opinion...you can certainly go...to another country and support that country."
He also said Orland Park shouldn't look like Chicago or San Francisco: "If that's what you want to live, how you want to live, then go live there."
The political consequence was direct: the Arab American community, which had been treated as outsiders by Pekau's administration, mobilized in force behind Jim Dodge. The All United PAC specifically cited Dodge's 2006 vote to approve the Orland Park Prayer Center as a reason to support him. On April 1, 2025, Dodge won 57%–43%.
George Koczwara was hired as Orland Park Village Manager in October 2019 at $170,000 per year. He was widely praised by community members, staff, and observers across the political spectrum for his competent, professional management of day-to-day village operations.
In June 2024 — an election year, with Pekau planning his third mayoral campaign — Pekau declined to renew Koczwara's contract. Koczwara, unwilling to continue without a contract, resigned. Jim Culotta, the Assistant Village Manager, stepped in as interim.
Multiple lawsuits filed by former Orland Park police employees named Koczwara and the village in connection with retaliatory firings and civil rights violations under the Pekau administration — suggesting Koczwara's departure may have been connected to internal disputes over how personnel matters were handled.
During and immediately after the Pekau administration, the Orland Park Police Department faced a wave of lawsuits from former officers alleging misconduct, retaliation, and civil rights violations.
The William Sanchez case ($524,000): Former Sergeant William Sanchez, a 20-year veteran of the OPPD, was fired in March 2024. He filed suit alleging racial discrimination in promotions and a discriminatory workplace culture. His lawsuit alleged that one white officer was promoted despite being photographed in blackface and making racist remarks. Another white officer was hired despite a background check revealing he had made comments about lynching a Black suspect. The village settled in December 2025 for $524,000 ($225,000 compensatory + $299,000 back pay). Sanchez was reinstated to his former position.
The wrongful termination case ($550,000): A separate settlement of $550,000 was paid by the village to an officer who was unjustly fired. That officer was reinstated on December 2, 2024.
The Ken Kovac case: Kovac alleged his First Amendment rights were violated when he was arrested in connection with a Facebook page that parodied the OPPD Deputy Chief. The case is ongoing.
After losing the April 1, 2025 mayoral election, Pekau began publishing internal village documents on a personal blog and social media — including details about ongoing litigation, non-public employee information, and materials he had accessed during his time in office.
The Village of Orland Park sued him. On August 14, 2025, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Caroline Kate Moreland issued a Temporary Restraining Order, requiring Pekau to immediately remove the documents he had published.
Pekau has framed his document releases as transparency advocacy. The courts have so far sided with the village's position that releasing confidential materials obtained during his tenure as a public official crosses a legal line.
The Verdict: April 1, 2025
After eight years, Orland Park voters rendered their judgment. The mall was dying. The debt was hidden. The Arab American community had been told to leave. The police department was paying out settlements. The village manager had been fired. Two years of required financial audits had not been filed.
8,916 votes to 6,701. The largest vote total in village history. Jim Dodge — who had waited 28 years, from his first election as a 26-year-old clerk in 1989 — won. He inherited $90.67 million in disclosed debt and a financial plan that consultants said could reach $251 million.
Pekau's own assessment, offered publicly after the loss: "It's clear I lost because I refused to call for a ceasefire in the Middle East." He did not mention the debt. He did not mention the settlements. He did not mention the audits.
The record is here. Every source is cited. None of this is opinion.