Acting Mayor Sodikoff Likely To Step Down As Trustee

Acting Burr Ridge Mayor Bob Sodikoff said Wednesday night he is leaning toward stepping down as a trustee so that the village board will have the maximum number of voting members.

The mayor only votes in the case of a tie among the six trustees or on issues that require a supermajority of votes to be enacted. In the wake of Mayor Gary Grasso’s resignation Monday, there is no way for the board to break a tie.

“I could remain as a trustee and serve as acting mayor, in which event I continue to vote,” Sodikoff noted. “[But] we’re missing the seventh vote if we ever need it.”

He said the alternative was for him to serve only as acting mayor.

“I would resign as a trustee and then a substitute trustee would be appointed by the board,” he explained. “I think it makes sense to have a full board with an acting mayor. If that’s what the other trustees think best, that’s the way I’m probably leaning.”

Sodikoff said he would like to get a consensus from the other trustees on any appointment to fill his seat.

Sodikoff said he still plans to run for mayor in April’s municipal election. He had earlier announced his intention to run against Grasso because Grasso was planning on remaining as mayor while also serving on the DuPage County Board. However, Grasso changed his mind after 90 percent of DuPage County voters cast ‘no’ votes on a non-binding resolution asking if elected officials should serve on more than one governmental body at a time.

“I saw there were some strong feelings on the issue,” Grasso told the Daily Herald.

Sodikoff also noted that the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the DuPage County Attorney’s Office, and the village attorney all had offered opinions that it wasn’t appropriate for Grasso to serve in both capacities.

Grasso, a father of six, read his resignation letter to the board at Monday’s regular meeting.

“Burr Ridge has grown to become my seventh child, and like all my children, Burr Ridge will remain among my closest thoughts till I leave this life,” he said.

Veteran of village service

Following Grasso’s resignation, the board unanimously voted to appoint Sodikoff, who has been a trustee for 14 years, to serve as acting mayor. Prior to being elected to the village board, Sodikoff served as chairman of the Plan Commission for 10 years.

“I know how we got to where we are and I think I know how people want to go forward,” Sodikoff said.

He said he wasn’t planning on trying to steer the village in a different direction than his predecessor.

“I think we have six really good trustees and a good mayor,” he said of Grasso, who was first elected mayor in 2005. “I’m a little bit more conservative when it comes to spending money than the mayor was.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Sodikoff is a partner at the law firm of Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Northwestern University School of Law.