Trustees require role-commitment signatures and vote to cosign Feb. 10 letter amid calls for President Imes to resign

Governance tensions dominated the latter portion of the Feb. 24 Village Board meeting as public commenters urged resignations and trustees debated standards for interaction between individual trustees and staff.

Trustee Dietmar Bassuner opened an agenda item titled “Trustee Lotfi’s Role on the Village Board,” characterizing it as an HR matter about trustees not directing staff individually. Trustee Carol Barford and others urged a reaffirmation that only the Board as a whole may direct staff; Trustee Lotfi disputed specifics and said some incidents of incivility toward her had not been addressed, noting that residents had suggested she retain counsel and that there was an ongoing criminal investigation involving the Village as a subject. Lotfi also asked that unspecified allegations be placed on the record.

After discussion the Board approved M/S Lederer/Barford requiring all trustees to sign a statement of adherence to trustee role expectations by March 17, 2026; the roll-call result was recorded as 5 in favor with 2 abstentions (Lotfi and Ullsvik). Later, M/S Lederer/Ullsvik to cosign a Feb. 10 letter as presented passed 5–1 (Lotfi absent for that vote). Several public commenters had urged trustees to recommit to governance norms and some called directly for President John Imes to resign; Trustee Imes apologized for a prior written release that named Trustee Lotfi and defended his work to stabilize operations.

The governance votes do not remove or discipline any trustee but formalize a Board expectation and place signatures and cosignation on record; trustees said they intend to follow up on standards of conduct and staff-direction protocols.