For several days this week, calls to Sauk Village Hall went nowhere. Municipal phone lines were disconnected, leaving residents, many of them older, unable to reach staff about water bills, permits or other basic city services. Mayor Marva Campbell-Pruitt says she personally phoned the town’s IT contractor to get replacement phones installed and restore service.
Phones cut off amid payment dispute
The problem came to light after a viewer contacted reporters and said callers were hearing a recorded message that the number was not in service. The outage started on Tuesday when the village tried to switch phone carriers. As reported by CBS News Chicago, Mayor Campbell-Pruitt said four of the seven village trustees refused to approve payment for the outside contractor that would finish the transition, which prompted her to intervene directly. According to the station, phones were working again by Thursday afternoon.
Village posts emergency alert, asks residents to email
On the village’s official website, Sauk Village, an emergency community alert bluntly told residents, "The phones at Village Hall and all outlying buildings are currently non-operational" and instructed them to email officials for help instead. The site lists contact emails for Mayor Campbell-Pruitt and the interim village administrator and directs residents to go to the municipal center in person for business while the phone lines were out.
Police chief fills squad cars out of pocket
CBS News Chicago also reported that the interim administrator said a $200 invoice tied to the phone situation was sitting in accounts payable. In a detail that raised eyebrows, the administrator told the station that the police chief had personally paid to fill squad cars with gas so patrols could continue. The administrator further said a fuel vendor sent a notice in May 2025 demanding roughly $17,000 and warning it would stop supplying the village if it did not get paid.
Board tensions leave residents waiting
Trustees who voted against approving the contractor payment told reporters they wanted to better understand how decisions were being made between the mayor and the financial department before they signed off on the expense. In the meantime, residents and village staff have been left to juggle routine services around outages and unpaid bills while they wait for the board’s internal dispute to get sorted out.
