A Cook County commissioner representing several southwest suburbs says long-established precedent in the appointments of Pace board members was disregarded when his recommendation of Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz wasn’t approved.

Commissioner Sean Morrison, who represents the 17th District, described Glotz, elected to a second term as mayor April 1, as a “reform candidate,” and said the mayor’s appointment “would have brought a fresh and accountable perspective to the Pace Board.”

Morrison, of Palos Park, said Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings was reappointed to another four-year term, although Cook County Board records show commissioners voted in June to recommend both Glotz and Hastings as the southwest suburban representative on Pace.

Pace is the suburban bus division of the Regional Transportation Authority. Directors serve four-year terms, and six of the 13 directors are appointed by Cook County commissioners representing the RTA’s six suburban regions, according to Pace.

Board members must be current or former mayors or village presidents in the districts they serve, according to Pace.

Morrison said it was the July 1 meeting of the County Board’s Suburban Transportation Committee where the votes on Pace representatives was taken.

“For decades, this (committee) has respected the tradition that the commissioner whose district comprises a majority of the region has the deference to select the nominee from their district’s community,” Morrison said in a news release after the vote.

Morrison said a bit more than 80% of the Pace district Hastings represents is in the commissioner’s district. Morrison alleged “political pressure and backroom interests carried more weight than merit and community representation” in making the Pace appointments.

He said seven county commissioners, including himself, sit on the committee, but that not all were present for the meeting.

Morrison said Glotz’s appointment was brought up for a vote, but the vote ended in a tie and the motion failed, which cleared the way for the reappointment of Hastings, who has been on the Pace board since 2007.

Neither Glotz nor Hastings were immediately available to comment on the selection process.

In an email seeking comment, Pace Board Chairman Rick Kwasneski said the board “does not have an opinion on the appointment process and remains focused on delivering quality transit service to the region.”

Cook County Board meeting records show that, at the June 12 meeting, both Glotz and Hastings were recommended to be appointed to the Pace board as the southwest suburban representative.

Morrison, in his news release, said Kyle Hastings cited the support of his son, state Sen. Michael Hastings, “as a credential during the appointment process.”

The commissioner cited allegations of domestic violence that have been lodged in the past against the senator.

Those came up during his divorce proceedings, and Hastings had resigned from leadership positions in the Senate and was urged by Gov. JB Pritzker to resign his seat. Hastings was reelected last fall.

Morrison said that while Kyla Hastings “is not legally responsible for his son’s conduct, he deliberately tied his own credibility to Senator Hastings by using him as an endorsement.”

“That decision invites a fair examination of the kind of political machinery at work” behing the Pace vote, the commissioner said.

Hastings has never been charged criminally with domestic abuse or violence.