CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills officials on Monday would not reveal the status of Village Manager Zach Creer, who took the helm more than two years ago.Creer, an Arlington Heights resident, appears to have been away from the office for much of the last month.On Monday night, the Village Board plans to hold a closed-door meeting to discuss personnel issues. It's the first such session since early 2023, when Creer's predecessor, Kevin Barr, was in hot water with the board.No action is planned at Monday's meeti...
CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills officials on Monday would not reveal the status of Village Manager Zach Creer, who took the helm more than two years ago.
Creer, an Arlington Heights resident, appears to have been away from the office for much of the last month.
On Monday night, the Village Board plans to hold a closed-door meeting to discuss personnel issues. It's the first such session since early 2023, when Creer's predecessor, Kevin Barr, was in hot water with the board.
No action is planned at Monday's meeting.
Since Aug. 8, the village's assistant manager, Mera Johnson, has written the weekly online reports for the manager's office. Creer's phone message and email reply both state, "I am currently out of office." His photo and name still appear on the village's website.
At the beginning of last Monday's meeting, Village President Eric Tech started by saying, "Zach isn't here. He wasn't able to make it," adding that Johnson would fill in.
Asked about Creer's status Monday morning, Johnson told Patch that Creer was not in the office and that she did not know when he would return.
Tech and trustees did not respond to messages for comment Monday morning.
In early 2022, Barr, Creer's predecessor, was placed on leave by then-Village President Len Austin for two weeks because of a job issue. Public documents later showed that officials misled residents about what happened.
On June 30, 2023, Barr retired, with the board appointing Creer to take his place. Before that, Creer was the assistant village manager for 2½ years and the assistant to the village manager for a year before that.
Creer's first time as assistant to the village manager in Clarendon Hills was from 2014 to 2017. After that, he held jobs with La Grange and Lake County.
In 2010, Creer graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Illinois. A couple of years later, he received his master's degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University.