Hillside trustee candidate demands immediate public auction of Butterfield Road restaurant

A group of Hillside residents demanded an immediate public auction for Stimac’s Restaurant on Butterfield Road last week.

“Get this massive property off our books immediately to lower today's costs and avoid future costs,” said Roger Romanelli, a founding member of the neighborhood group Hillside Forward. “If the auction price is lower than $600,000, Mayor Tamburino can personally repay the village coffers.”

Residents alleged at a press conference in front of Stimac's on Saturday, March 13 that Hillside Mayor Joseph Tamburino used $600,000 in Hillside taxes to buy the building without any public benefit for residents and spent $225,000 on roof repairs.

“The Village's sales contract for 4843 Butterfield is with Nick and Bonnie Stimac,” Romanelli said in an interview. “Hillside taxpayers aren't paying taxes to enrich the Stimac family. The Stimacs have already received millions in restaurant sales from Hillside residents over 30 years."

As previously reported in the West Cook News, Romanelli believes that buying Stimac’s Restaurant is evidence of financial corruption by the Village of Hillside government.

“It is an abomination that our village taxes were used to fix the roof for the Stimac family,” he said. “If the building needed $250,000 in repairs, a private investor would have negotiated a lower building purchase price, repaired the roof, and had money left to remodel inside which needs thousands of dollars of work.”

First elected in 1981, Joseph Tamburino has been mayor of the Village of Hillside for nearly 40 years while Romanelli, an economic development professional and Chicago Restaurants Coalition coordinator, is running for a trustee position, according to the Hillside Neighbors website.

“Hillside residents need our Village funds for urgent safety, infrastructure, education, and economic development priorities,” Romanelli told Union Square Times. “Hillside residents need jobs immediately at this building, the largest restaurant building in Hillside because many people are out of work. Ultimately, the Stimacs should have received about $150,000 for the building considering the massive roof repairs, not $375,000.”

Mayor Tamburino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.