Monee officials have approved Mayor Therese Bogs appointments to key village positions.

At the mayor’s request during the September 10 meeting, trustees reappointed Ruben Bautista as Village Administrator, Scott Koerner as Police Chief, and Anthony  Lazzaroni as Deputy Chief.

Also reappointed were: Jude Knabe, Human Resource Director; Darryl Bulliner, Finance Director; Michelle Powell-Johnson, Front Office Supervisor; Bill Barnes, Economic Development Director; Dianna Kroll, Parks and Recs Director; Ed Johnson, Public Works Superintendent; and Jill Donati, Interim Assistant Public Works Superintendent.

Other appointments included: Lance Becvar, Interim Building Services Director; Randy Ulaskas, EMA Director; John Jones, IT Manager; Kathy Leipold, Village Treasurer; Steve Schabacker and Brian Glim, Police Pension Board; Ed Brophy, Planning and Zoning Commission; and Charles Dunlap, Police Commission.

Also during the September 10 meeting, Trustee Scott Youdris commented about the village’s annual Fall Fest event.

“As Fall Fest ‘25 goes into the history books, MPD will take time to complete an after action debrief on things that we could do better. Teenage crowds on Saturday nights are always a challenge, and this year was no different. Carnival leadership deals with these issues at many of their venues and was very complementary of MPD. We also discussed some options with the carnival owner for next year and will introduce recommendations to reduce crowd impacts on public safety for 2026. 

“All in all, the event was safe and well attended. We stayed busy, as did the entire village contingent,” he said.   

In other action at previous meetings, the board also:

  • Heard Trustee Heidi Gonzalez report Crete-Monee 201-U Education Foundation ‘s third annual SK Fun Run will take place on October 4, at Crete-Monee High School. The Homecoming Football game in the new stadium is on Friday, October 3, at 7 p.m. It is a celebration with food, Warrior Spirit, and fireworks. To register for the run and see events planned for homecoming, visit the Crete Monee 201-U website.
  • Heard Trustee Chuck Rakis report the applications for the Property Tax Rebate Program have been posted to the village’s website and currently are being accepted at village hall. Deadline is September 26, at 4 p.m. 
  • Heard Trustee John Henson’s reminder that landscape waste is defined as grass, shrubbery, cuttings, leaves, or other material resulting from the care of lawns, weeds, vines, or trees. When set out for Republic Services, it is required that any tree and shrubbery waste be bundled in a one person manageable bundle no longer than three feet long. During Village of Monee branch pick up schedules, branches cannot be put out before noon the day before the scheduled pick up day. All trash and yard waste receptacles need to be returned to their out of public view storage areas prior to 7 p.m. the day of pick up. 
  • Heard Trustee Scott Youdris report the Monee Police Department is proud to welcome 26-year-old Colton Pederson of Frankfort. Colton has been selected for the September 2 start of the Police Academy, Youdris said. He is a Lincoln-Way East graduate and Dubuque College graduate. “We look forward to having him on the team. Also, earlier this summer Sgt. Dan DePaolo graduated from the Northwestern University staff and command course. This course prepares leadership for the current trends in law enforcement and building for the future. Dan is Monee’s fifth supervisor to complete this prestigious training. “Congratulations to Sgt. DePaolo; this is not an easy course to pass.”