The Villa Park Village Board held a regular meeting on Aug. 10. All seven board members were present at the start of the meeting.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Villa Park Village President Kevin Patrick and the village’s attorney, Ryan Morton, passed out papers to village trustees, staff members, and others in attendance. Patrick then spoke and referred to an issue that was not on the meeting’s agenda.
“Tonight I’m releasing a document that I believe every resident of Villa Park deserves the opportunity to review for themselves,” stated Patrick. He said that about three weeks earlier, Trustee Tina Konstatos provided him with a copy of transcripts that she had previously received directly from Trustee Khalid Sabri.
“The documents are transcripts of a conversation that took place on Dec. 5, 2025, between Trustee Khalid Sabri and Village Finance Director Suzy Mika,” said Patrick.
That conversation reportedly took place in Sabri’s office on St. Charles Road in Villa Park. According to Patrick, an investigation indicated that Mika was not aware she was being recorded, and had not consented to being recorded.
“When I first reviewed these transcripts, I found portions of the conversation deeply concerning,” said Patrick during the meeting. “The transcripts contain extensive discussions involving village employees, department heads, elected officials, the village manager, personnel decisions, village finances, the sharing and withholding of information, and conversations about conducting discussions away from Village Hall, or keeping information confidential.”
Patrick said he intended to release the transcripts at the board’s last meeting, but he didn’t because the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office asked him to allow investigators additional time to interview Sabri and Mika. Patrick stated that those interviews have taken place, and the state’s attorney’s office has produced its report.
“I believe residents have every right to consider whether secretly recording a village department head without her knowledge, producing transcripts of that conversation, and the conversations reflected within those transcripts, meet the standards of judgment, professionalism, transparency, and trust that we should expect from someone entrusted with public office,” said Patrick after stating that he believed the transcripts and the state’s attorney’s office report should be released to allow residents to review the findings for themselves.
Patrick went on to refer to the board’s special meeting of June 29. Patrick did not attend that meeting because his father had recently passed away. For more than one month, Patrick has been trying to obtain a recording of the executive session of that meeting from Village Clerk Rolf Laukant, who has not attended a board meeting since the June 29 special meeting. According to Patrick, that executive session included discussions about the employment status of Village Manager Michael Rivas.”
“Despite multiple requests and despite a resolution adopting this by the village board that I be provided access to review that recording, I have still not been permitted to do so,” said Patrick.
“I’m not here tonight telling you that these events are connected,” added Patrick. “I’m telling you that they’ve caused me to ask questions.”
After finishing his comments, Patrick called brief recess so the board and the public could review the documents. He said the meeting would reconvene in 20 minutes.
When the meeting did reconvene, Trustee Sabri and Trustee Cari Alfano were absent from the dais.
As board members continued to look over the documents that Patrick handed out at the start of the meeting, Trustee Jorge Cordova asked Morton if the documents indicated that anyone had broken any laws. Morton said that there was nothing illegal in the transcript. He said the fact that a recording was made without someone’s consent violates the state’s eavesdropping law. Morton added that the state’s attorney’s office investigated the matter and decided not to pursue charges. Therefore, the transcript and the report of the investigation are now public documents.
Morton went on to state that the state’s eavesdropping law is difficult to enforce, and that there’s an exception in the law that allows recording someone without their consent if the person conducting the recording believes they will reveal criminal wrongdoing. He said that investigators found one comment in the 15-page transcript, in which Sabri reportedly asked Mika to look into something, that they thought might justify the recording.
“In their minds,” it wasn’t worth filing charges,” said Morton.
A short time later, Morton stated that the FBI made contact with Sabri and reportedly determined that Sabri was not able to substantiate any evidence to his claims of potential wrongdoing.
Konstatos said that Sabri printed the transcript at his office on St. Charles Road and handed it to her. Konstatos said she did not read the document because of its length. She said she put it in an envelope at her home that also contained documents that Laukant had given her. A few weeks ago, when there were issues involving Laukant, she gave the envelope to Patrick. Konstatos said that when Patrick asked her about the transcripts, she said she was not aware of the transcripts, and hadn’t read them.
Patrick stated that the transcript indicated that Sabri gave Mika orders, and that Sabri conspired with other trustees. Patrick also said that the transcript included comments from both Sabri and Mika that defamed village employees.
Patrick included his own statement in his document release. In that statement, he noted that the state’s attorney’s office “further told me that Director Mika stated she had no evidence whatsoever to substantiate Trustee Sabri’s allegations of criminal activity involving village employees or individuals and businesses he had identified.”
Cordova made a “call for the orders of the day” to end discussion of the issue and return to the meeting’s scheduled agenda. That order required a two-thirds majority to take effect. Konstatos and Trustee Deepa Kumar joined Cordova in voting in favor of the motion. Patrick and Trustee Jack Kozar voted against the motion, which did not carry because it had only a 60-percent majority, less than the required two-thirds majority.
As discussion continued, Kozar said he wanted to talk to Sabri. Kozar stated that Sabri made an allegation, with no evidence to back it up.
“It’s just conjecture and rumor,” added Kozar. “I would love to ask him [Sabri] these questions, but he got up and left just like he’s got up and left out of executive session. I don’t know what his angle is here.”
A short time later, Mika, who joined the village staff as Villa Park’s finance director in the spring of 2025, interjected from her desk. Patrick said she would be recognized, but a little more than one minute later, board members ended discussion of the issue and proceeded to discuss items on the agenda.
Sabri, who did not respond to a request for comments or a statement on the matter, was appointed to the village board last year. After Patrick was elected and sworn in as village president, there was a vacancy in his four-year term as a trustee. That term expires in 2027. Patrick appointed Sabri to serve the remaining two years of that term.
The board will hold its next regular meeting on Aug. 24.
