A special meeting called to replace Hazel Crest's acting village manager ended before it even began Wednesday night, after the trustees who scheduled it failed to show up. With at least three trustee seats vacant, the village board lacked the quorum needed to conduct any business, leaving residents who showed up at Hazel Crest Village Hall with more questions than answers.
The meeting, called just two days earlier, was meant to settle whether Acting Village Manager Donna Gayden would be replaced by Tanya Tucker-Perry, a candidate selected by three of the village's five trustees, according to CBS Chicago. Resident Mary McCray, who came out for the scheduled session, summed up the frustration shared by others in attendance: “Something's happening, and we would like to know what's going on.”
The push to remove Gayden was not limited to her job. The trustee majority also sought to pass a measure stripping Mayor Sandra Alexander of her executive veto power, according to the same CBS Chicago report — a move that reveals the fight extends well beyond who runs day-to-day village operations and into a broader struggle over who holds authority at Hazel Crest's village hall.
Procedural Objections Surface Before the Vote Could Happen
Trustee Sandra Slayton and Mayor Alexander both opposed installing Tucker-Perry, stating that she had not been vetted and that no resume or professional background details had been provided to the board ahead of the scheduled vote, per the report. Alexander said trustees should have consulted her before seeking to install a new manager, arguing the village should discuss and approve any hire before installation, and she questioned whether the trustees' chosen candidate has the required credentials.
Trustee Merle Kimbrough-Huckabee countered that the village cannot go without a village manager, and alleged that Gayden resides in New York and commutes to Hazel Crest — claiming the board received no emergency guidance or operational plan from her after severe storm damage in July displaced residents. Alexander refuted those claims, saying the village was prepared for the tornado response and executed its emergency plan effectively.
The July Tornado Still Looms Over Village Politics
The storm at the center of the trustees' criticism was a July 27 EF-1 tornado that took an unusual looping path through Hazel Crest, ripping the roof off an industrial building on West 167th Street and damaging an apartment complex on 171st Street, according to the HF Chronicle. Hoodline covered the storm's aftermath in a piece on a cancer-stricken tornado survivor left homeless, and later reported on a second, rain-wrapped EF-2 tornado that tore through the south suburbs less than two weeks after the first.
The July 27 outbreak was part of a larger regional weather event that generated at least seven confirmed tornadoes across the Chicago area and caused widespread power outages throughout southern Cook County, per CBS Chicago's earlier reporting. In response, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a countywide disaster proclamation on July 30 to help unlock state and federal recovery assistance for affected municipalities including Hazel Crest, according to Cook County government records. The county's emergency management department also set an August 5 deadline for storm-impacted residents to complete online damage assessment surveys tied to community relief funding.
Gayden's Financial Findings Complicate the Picture
Beyond the storm dispute, the fight over Gayden's future is tangled up with her record on village finances. She has been credited with finding nearly $6.9 million in unused TIF funds from Cook County and discovering that the village was still paying health insurance and cellphone bills for former employees. Alexander said she wants whoever holds the village manager job next to continue uncovering unused funds and improper payments, an outcome she suggested could be jeopardized if Gayden is pushed out mid-review.
Gayden's résumé includes stints as interim Chief Financial Officer for Oak Park, Illinois in 2023, and as city manager and treasurer for Long Beach, New York starting in 2020, according to the Wednesday Journal. Alexander, meanwhile, made history in April 2025 as Hazel Crest's first female mayor after more than two decades of village service in roles including 911 dispatcher, deputy clerk, executive assistant, and village trustee.
What Illinois Law Says About Removing a Village Manager
Under Article 5 of the Illinois Municipal Code, municipalities operating under a statutory managerial form of government delegate day-to-day administrative authority over village departments to an appointed professional manager, according to state law records. The village manager position itself carries an annual salary of $150,000, underscoring the stakes of the leadership fight now playing out in public view.
For now, the outcome remains unresolved. Whether trustees will gather a quorum at a rescheduled meeting, what legal mechanisms actually govern removing a village manager under Illinois municipal code, and whether the proposal to curb the mayor's veto power is even legally viable are all open questions CBS Chicago's reporting leaves unanswered. Hazel Crest residents who showed up Wednesday night left without a vote — and without the clarity many said they came for.
