West Cook News

When Roger Romanelli discovered that the village of Hillside used $373,000 in tax revenues to acquire Stimac’s Restaurant on Butterfield Road, he was shocked because he had spoken with the Stimac family about renovating the building.

“A real estate broker told me Mayor Tamburino had purchased the property and renovated it for the Stimac family,” Romanelli told West Cook News. “They put it right back on the market two months later. So, I knew right away it was a total waste of our taxes.”

First elected in 1981, Joseph Tamburino has been mayor of the Village of Hillside for nearly 40 years.

Buying Stimac’s Restaurant is one of a handful of deals that the Hillside resident Romanelli alleges is financial corruption by the Village of Hillside.

“What surprises me about this is Hillside has urgent needs for our funding,” Romanelli said. “On some streets, we don't have streetlights at all. At some intersections, we don't have any stop signs. The sidewalk buckling in some areas is 3 or 4 inches tall and children are tripping.”

In July 2020, Hillside neighbors demanded measures to prevent stop sign runners and speeders but village officials said residents greatly exaggerated the issue, according to NBC News.

“New private investment creates jobs, fixes everything, and moves the village forward,” Romanelli said. “That's how you succeed in America. The government doesn't step in, buy a private building, then shut it down, hold it vacant, and play real estate king. That's not the role of government. The government only buys private buildings when there's an urgent public need like a day care, a park, a school or senior housing.” 

Instead of allowing a private investor to make a deal with the Stimac family, Tamburino used $600,000 in Hillside taxes to buy the property, in addition to paying $225,000 on roof repairs, according to a press release.

“He did that because he needed the Stimac family’s votes and he wanted to buy their votes in advance of the April 2021 election,” Romanelli alleges. “Members of the Stimac family are extremely connected. They operated the largest family restaurant in the entire village for 30 to 40 years.”

Tamburino did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

“This village-owned restaurant building sits vacant,” Romanelli said. “The largest family restaurant in Hillside is generating no jobs, no extra tax revenues, and no food.”

Romanelli, an economic development professional, is running for a trustee position, according to the Hillside Neighbors website. His next steps include appealing to the U.S. District Attorney and the FBI.

“We hope they raid Village Hall, take all their records, and conclude that the mayor's actions here were financial corruption to benefit Hillside voters,” Romanelli said. “The mayor should be forced to resign from office immediately and be subject to prosecution for illegal use of village funds.”