Mike Davenport (L) and Leslie Sadowski (R) are liberal democrats who voted to remove a Republican from the library board. | Downers Grove Village
Mike Davenport (L) and Leslie Sadowski (R) are liberal democrats who voted to remove a Republican from the library board. | Downers Grove Village
A Democrat-majority Downers Grove Village Council voted 4-3 on Tuesday night to remove the only Republican, logistics executive Bill Nienburg, from its six-member, appointed village library board.
After Nienburg publicly opposed their plans to make the library more "progressive," his fellow library board members sought his removal.
In 2022, Nienburg specifically was the only board member who refused to support a "drag queen bingo" event for children at the library, which was to feature a male cross-dressing stripper. The event was cancelled due to public outcry.
Nienburg also criticized the board's plan to spend approximately $160,000 on an "anti-racism" consultant from Oak Park, as well as to ditch the Pledge of Allegiance in favor of a "land statement" declaring that Downers Grove's land was "stolen" by white Christian men from the Indians.
Nienburg also refused to put his "pronouns" on the library board's "about" page.
Board members, Democrats, hospital association executive Leslie Sadowski, marketing sales rep Chris Gilmartin, architect Mike Davenport and lawyer Greg Hose voted in favor of a resolution to remove Nienburg.
Mayor Bob Barnett, who owns a metal product-making firm, and board members, real estate agent Danny Glover and lawyer and former Mayor Martin Tully voted against the resolution.
Sadowski told a crowd of more than 100, mostly attending in support of Nienburg, that she felt he should be removed because his ideas are "unsafe."
"This has nothing to do with political affiliaton, and everything to do with dangerous extremism," Sadowski said.
She said that she offered Nienburg "coaching" on how to get along with his liberal Democrat library board members, but that he refused.
Nienburg, an engineer who has worked for Proctor & Gamble, Sara Lee and Under Armour, has clashed with library board members over budgets and their push for the library to promote political causes.
All five of his library board colleagues were unapologetic "progressives," including ex-attorney Marti Sladek, who describes herself on Linkedin as "an unrelenting, unrepenting feminist and social justice advocate and political activist."
Downers Grove, population 49,354, is the home of U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL). His wife, Kara, is a member of the Downers Grove District 99 High School Board.
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