Village Trustees

Village Trustee, Melanie Kuban

Committee Chairperson of Finance

 Melanie Kuban has been a resident of the Village of Justice since 1984.  Melanie works closely with Special Events programs in the Village offering her time and "elbow grease" to various programs including the yearly Holiday Basket program, the Centennial festivities and programs, and the Veteran's programs, both in the Village and the surrounding communities.

  Since becoming a Trustee in July of 2011, Melanie has chaired the Public Safety and Human Service Committee seeing first hand the dedication of the men and  women of the Justice Police Department; the Economic Development and Business License Committee becoming involved with the meetings and planning for the Tollway project and welcoming new businesses to the Village, and currently chairs the Finance and Insurance Committee keeping an ever constant eye on the Village's financial outlook and working to strengthen that position.

  Melanie is a dedicated public servant with 30 years of experience.  She has served in, and with various local, county, and statewide agencies and has a diverse background with extensive knowledge of the legal system, unemployment issues, contract negotiation, policy and procedure writing and development, and conducting of State and County training seminars.  Adding to this, Melanie has also been an Executive Board Member of AFSCME Council 31, Local 1006, a developing member of C.A.L.M., a social service organization serving 20,000 people, the conducting of job fairs, recruiting, crisis intervention, and emergency care.

  Melanie believes the future of the Village of Justice has many encouraging policies and programs to benefit all residents noting "...the best is yet to be".

Village Trustee, Gabriel Lopez

Committee Chairperson of Building, Zoning & Ordinances

Gabriel and his wife Olga live in the Village of Justice with their 2 children.  Gabriel is a U.S. Army veteran with a well-rounded background.  He began his work career with Apria at the bottom in shipping/receiving.  Through education he later became a Pharmacy Technician overseeing and being responsible for the medical conditions of numerous patients.  Gabriel retired from that position with over 22 years of service.

In retirement, Gabriel continues with real estate buying, rehabbing, and selling single family and multiple unit home which he started doing in 1995.  he now is most interested in developing properties for the future.  With this Gabriel has made sure the construction projects are built or repaired on time and within budget.  He also has experience with managing contractors and prides himself with obtaining the right material at the best cost.

Gabriel has been the Assistant Coach for youth baseball and football teams, and currently likes to stay busy by working on things that are meaningful.  Gabriel's humanitarian side also includes personally buying such things as food, clothes, lawn mowers and anything you can think of and he generously gives those items to people in need.

Village Trustee, Stanislaw (Stan) Ogorek

Committee Chairperson of Economic Development & Business Licenses

Stan as a Village resident attended all School District 109 schools and Argo High School.  From there he completed his Civil Engineering degree at UIC and specializes in construction inspection, contractor oversight, managing project meetings, approving work orders, and has prior contractor experience having worked for a contractor prior to becoming an engineer.  The Chicago Riverwalk and 130th/Torrence Ave intersections are some of his projects.  Interacting with residents, government entities, alderman, commissioners, and stakeholders on his projects makes him very familiar with government operations.

Stan and his wife Iwona chose to stay in Justice and raise their 3 children given the great potential for Economic Development and making the Village the "Best Place to visit" and prior to being elected Village Trustee served on the village's Economic Planning Board.  Along with his work, Stan enjoys helping his family working hand on with Do-It-Yourself projects and is not afraid to work hard and get his hands dirty.  He loves spending time with his children playing sports.

As a Trustee, Stan's experience will aid in defining practical solutions for infrastructure and projects, and with his devotion to family he hopes to promote more activities for youth.

Village Trustee, Jeffrey Allen

Committee Chairperson of Public Works

Jeff has lived in the Village of Justice for 38 years with his wife Lisa having raised four (4) children, and are now the proud grandparents of eight (8).  Jeff and Lisa and their entire family have attended District 109 schools and Argo High School.  After high school, Jeff learned his trade attending the Pipefitters Apprenticeship Program for 5 years becoming a Journeyman Pipefitter.  Jeff continued his education at Moraine Valley Community College and through continuing education with the Pipefitters union and proudly was a member of Pipefitters Local 597 for 43 years before his retirement.  Jeff has extensive knowledge in supervision, construction safety standards including OSHA and MOISHA, managing multi craft contracts, and procurement; he is also a certified welder and has HazCom/HazMat and CPR training.  Not one to just sit around in retirement, his varied hobbies including helping out his son with snowplowing, tinkering with small engines, and his 2 classic cars and car shows, but most importantly, he babysits several of his grandchildren.  Jeff has volunteered at Village events including working with and for our Veteran's, he has been a T-ball coach and assistant softball coach and also a Field Trip Chaperone and "Room Dad" for Indian Springs School District #109.

Jeff has the work ethic and knowledge to move our Village forward.  With his knowledge in the building trades he has ideas to better our infrastructure and aide in the economic development of the Village along with some cost saving measures.  Jeff wants to promote more activities and education for the youth of our Village as they are our future.

Village Trustee, Frances Mills

Committee Chairperson of Administration

From the minute Fran arrived in Justice she has been a driving force in getting things done.  Fran is currently the Community/Property Manager at Chief Mobile Home Park in the Village.  She has forged sincere and lasting relationships with most of the Departments in the Village as she has made exceptional progress at Chief in personnel, infrastructure and homeowner relationships.  Because of her innovations at Chief, the Village asked her to be a member of the Economic Planning Board.  A great majority of the residents at Chief were elderly when Fran started there, so to be better able to address the needs of and issues with "her" residents she successfully completed a certificate degree with high honors in Gerontology.  Fran has been developing a program to work with the vast amount of knowledge and history our seniors have which is often overlooked and involve them with our school children comparing the principles of everyday life which will be an enriching program not only for our children, but their parents as well.

Her business background also includes office management and she has been a regional trainer for managers with a territory across Northern Illinois.  This background will allow her to assist other Village officials, department heads and employees in facilitating projects, completion of tasks in a streamlined fashion and implement creative ways to help our Village run in a smooth manner getting thing done with a better than expected outcome. 

Fran is always willing to help and has volunteered her time, planning, artistic skills and "elbow grease" at countless Village events and has the desire to continue her volunteerism.  Fran currently chairs the Administration Committee and is a member on the Finance and Public Safety Committees.

Village Trustee, John Obrochta

Committee Chairperson of Public Safety

John and his wife Joanna purchased their home in the Village in 2006, although Joanna has been a resident since 1994, and they have two (2) sons.  They chose Justice as it is a quiet and peaceful place to raise a family, but also a Village with great potential for Economic Development.  John has a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and began his career at Walgreen's rising to manager where he oversees Front and Pharmacy operations.  In his over 16 years with Walgreen's John has worked in many communities where he was actively involved in community events such as Relay for Life and Autism speaks among others which brought him insight as to what various communities do for their residents.  Because of his involvement, John has ideas and plans for community events for all residents from children to seniors and those with special needs.

John is excited about the future of the Village of Justice as there is so much potential for economic development and making the Village a destination of the future and with his management experience and community involvement John was chosen and served on the Village's Economic Planning Board.  John understands that the Village is made up of residents from various backgrounds and as a Trustee wants those residents and businesses to know that this is their Village, that their opinions count and by listening to our residents and business owners new ideas will be created to benefit both current and future residents and businesses.