By Jeff Borgardt
Special to the Tribune
 
The Niles Village Board will survey residents before deciding if the name of imprisoned ex-mayor Nicholas Blase should be removed from a large sign outside Village Hall.

Mayor Bob Callero has said the Nicholas B. Blase Plaza sign should retain the longtime mayor’s name, despite Blasé pleading guilty in kickback scheme involving local businesses.

Callero said that though Blase made mistakes, for which he’s been punished, the former mayor still served the residents for 47 years and had many accomplishments.

Trustee Chris Hanusiak disagrees, saying the Blase Plaza sign outside village hall at 1000 Civic Center Drive should be renamed in honor of fallen police and soldiers.

Hanusiak presented to fellow board members this week a long list of reasons he opposes any survey and said the board should simply take a vote on the matter. He said that conducting an informal survey of residents could be flawed and be open to politicking.

Though the board rejected an earlier idea to put the issue to voters in a referendum, Callero said the village now plans to include a survey on the sign in the upcoming village newsletter mail and will allow up to two people per household to voice their opinion on the subject.

The village board will then vote in September. Blase, mayor from 1961 to 2008, resigned in 2008 before pleading guilty to federal mail and tax fraud charges in a kickback scheme that netted him more than $420,000. He was sentenced last January to one year behind bars.