This Illinois Town's Growth Has a Rotten Core

The Village of Gilberts, Illinois, is located in northern Kane County. Gilberts is bordered to the east by the Village of West Dundee and the City of Elgin.  It is bordered to the west by the Village of Pingree Grove and, to the northwest, by the Village of Huntley.

Gilberts proudly boasts the motto, “Growing with Vision.” Yet, if one looks beyond the slogan, it becomes clear that the leadership guiding this growth is veering dangerously off course. In the process, it is abandoning not only ethics and transparency but basic human decency.

A Questionable Appointment and Troubling Tenure

The Village Administrator, Brian Bourdeau, was appointed to his position not through a long record of municipal experience but rather after interviewing for a finance role approximately seven years ago—an opening that was ultimately filled by current Finance Director Taunya Fischer. Bourdeau, despite his lack of qualifications at the time, was awarded the top administrative post. Since then, he has convinced the Village Board to approve multiple salary increases totaling approximately $60,000.

These raises came despite a pandemic, widespread inflation, and contract negotiations with the Gilberts Police union in which the Village offered officers a meager 0.25% raise. While families in Gilberts struggled to make ends meet, the Village Administrator’s salary quietly ballooned.

Toxic Leadership and Ethical Violations

Bourdeau’s questionable leadership goes beyond fiscal self-interest. According to multiple sources within the Village, he routinely violates the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Code of Ethics. In weekly department head meetings, Bourdeau has reportedly encouraged a toxic work culture—allegedly instructing supervisors to “drive wedges” between employees.

One employee, after suffering emotional distress under Bourdeau’s management, resigned and accepted a lower-paying position elsewhere simply to escape the environment. Such stories raise serious concerns about the moral compass of those leading Gilberts.

HR Failures and Mishandled Complaints

Equally troubling is the role of Finance Director Taunya Fischer, who also claims responsibilities as the Village’s Human Resources Director. Fischer regularly sits in on department head meetings where hostile management practices are allegedly discussed, yet takes no action. This raises serious concerns about her commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace.

In one instance, an employee who submitted a formal HR complaint about Chief Block was told by Fischer that she “didn’t know what to do with it” and was escorted to deliver the complaint directly to Bourdeau. The complaint was eventually swept under the rug. The mishandling of this complaint, and others, is reportedly under scrutiny and may be covered in future reporting.

In another case, an employee who had requested an exit interview with a Village Trustee was denied that right after department heads intervened. The employee wrote a detailed six-page report outlining misconduct, which was submitted to the Trustee. During his official exit interview, Fischer failed to take notes and dismissed many of the concerns with excuses.

If HR is complicit—or worse, actively shielding misconduct—what recourse do employees truly have?

Misleading the Public: Police Oversight and False Statements

Village President Guy Zambetti has also come under fire for making misleading public statements. In a comment to the Daily Herald, Zambetti claimed that the Gilberts Police Department’s oldest patrol car was from 2020. In reality, the department operates two older vehicles: a 2012 Ford Expedition assigned to the Police Chief and a 2015 Ford Explorer still in use by patrol officers.

Both are clearly visible outside the police station during normal business hours. Zambetti also claimed the department had received training in over 80 classes. What he failed to disclose was that the vast majority of those were mandatory, computer-based sessions required by the state’s Safe-T Act—not substantive, hands-on instruction.

Actual in-person training opportunities were rare and, in some cases, only made possible through financial assistance from other police agencies after Chief Block denied officers’ requests to attend.

Chief Block: Chain of Custody Concerns and Grant Deception

Police Chief Todd Block’s leadership has also raised red flags. After mold remediation at the police department, evidence exposed to contamination was allegedly disposed of without proper court orders. Some items were transferred to a locked trailer behind the station—an improvement over Chief Block’s original plan to place the evidence on a pallet in the basement for anyone to tamper with, but still a questionable practice in terms of chain-of-custody standards.

More concerning is Chief Block’s alleged misrepresentation on a grant application, where he claimed financial hardship and requested funds to purchase Tasers. Yet public records show he returned more than $60,000 in unspent budget funds that same year. This raises serious ethical questions about the validity of the grant and the potential for misuse of funds.

The Gilberts Police were awarded the grant under false pretenses and have yet to put the Taser 10s into officers’ hands to replace their original Tasers that Chief Block claimed were no longer supported by Axon, the manufacturer of Taser devices. Additionally, despite aging squad cars that are poorly maintained—some serviced at the private business of a part-time officer—Chief Block permitted that officer to work on Village vehicles during his on-duty patrol shifts.

Not only does this raise liability and ethical concerns, but it also leaves the community underserved during those hours. Instead of prioritizing critical upgrades like functional body cameras, current models reportedly holding only a two– to three-hour charge, the department is exploring the purchase of a UTV. That unnecessary expense speaks volumes about misplaced priorities.

A Broader Pattern of Failure

While this piece focuses on key Village departments, the Public Works Department is reportedly under investigation by both state and federal agencies due to numerous complaints. For now, those details will remain confidential so as not to interfere with ongoing probes.

Gilberts Deserves Better

The common thread through all of this is simple: a pattern of unethical leadership, mismanagement, and blatant disregard for public trust. From administrators enriching themselves, to HR failing its most basic duties, to police leadership misleading the public and mishandling evidence—the Village of Gilberts is not “growing with vision.” It is regressing into dysfunction.

The residents of Gilberts—and the employees who serve them—deserve accountability, transparency, and leadership that acts with integrity. Until that happens, it is not vision that’s guiding the Village, but negligence.