Tree City Leader

Caspar, where are you?

2006-06-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Too bad Radar O'Reilly is just a fictional character and the Ghost in the Machine is just a pejorative metaphor for unexplained, questionable phenomena. Too bad that the Trib's Ghost in the Machine couldn't stop the Google Trends story as effectively as he appears to conjure political propaganda. See related post.
http://treecityleader.blogspot.com/2006_05_11_treecityleader_archive.html

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Who needs Jayson Blair?

""We don't have gentlemen's clubs or porn shops, so maybe that's why they go online,'' Elmhurst Mayor Thomas D. Marcucci said with a laugh.

More seriously, he added, "Sex isn't necessarily a bad thing.'' A lifelong Elmhurst resident, Marcucci, 54, said that when he attended the local Immaculate Conception Catholic school, "the nuns taught us that sex was a gift from God." Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006

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Concerned Citizen Does Homework, Takes Action

Contrasting with the obsessive and frequent self-aggrandizing comment-posts of late, a Concerned Citizen offered the following on last month's disastrous Google Trend/Elmhurst/Sex public relations gaffe.

". . . here is a copy of some of the press releases and email responses from the major news outlets. I am also miffed that the mayor or anyone else would even comment on this story without checking it first. Don't we have an IT department? I believe Andrew Herrmann got his information from a Blog and is now officially an idiot in my book.

Andrew Hermann at the Tribune appears to have gotten his tip from a blog written on May 11, then just did a cursory check of info - misreading it, and clearly doesn't have a clue about what he was researching anyway. Every news outlet in Chicago picked up his story and did not check it for themselves. (emphasis added) Here are the original sources that should have been checked:

The current lead story on Channel 5's website says that Elmhurst, IL is the #1 location for "sex" term searches on Google for 2005. Yet, when I checked this,

http://www.google.com/trends?q=sex&ctab=1&geo=US&date=2005 (click on tab that says Cities) it shows Elmhurst United States. (This image of the Goodle screen with Elmhurst, United States was even the lead image for a couple of news stories! )

According to mapquest, there are at least 10 Elmhursts in the US.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country =US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addto history=&cat=&address=&city=elmhurst&state=&zipcode=

I searched and the first reference to this topic is found on a blog (which posted on May 11 and had Elmhurst, IL ? " (Note the question mark). http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1088)
Only on other blogs that referenced the first blog could I find Elmhurst, ILLINOIS.

Considering that Rikers Island Prison Complex is located in Elmhurst, NY and I have been able to confirm that there is internet access and an IP hub that is sophisticated enough at min. "8,000 conferences per year from the prison"

http://www.techworld.com/security/features/index.cfm?featureid=167
9&pagtype=samecatsamechan.
Elmhurst, NY is located in Queens and is also the home of LaGuardia Airport. In addition, Google's website has disclaimers about IP addresses just for the reading.

Also the fact that the Google site is in BETA is written all over it might need to be put into consideration. This research took me about 45 min. to confirm. I wonder where the source documentation for Elmhurst, Illinois is?

Thank you.

A response from someone on the ball at Channel 7:

I am doubling checking with the reps at Google to make sure they referred to the town in Illinois. However the prison you spoke of is in East Elmhurst, NY. I checked their webpage after speaking with you.

Concerned Citizen's response:

I found references to the prison in Elmhurst and East Elmhurst, NY. On the Google trends program, you can put in the search term of Elmhurst and NY shows up in the top results. But the bigger questions are about the data in general - for instance, I have a client in Hillside, IL who's site statistics using the top of the line Webtrends software on YNC.net say that the number one origin of hits comes from Virginia. - They don't do business in VA - BUT that is where the AOL hub is. So when
you dig into this origin data the picture changes.

The other question for Google is if what they are REPORTING on that site is stats from all Elmhurst's, or only one. Also, I didn't go so far as to check the traffic on the (East) Elmhurst NY hub, but if it is anywhere as big as that tech article claims it would effect the statistics.

I appreciate that you are at least checking, which is way more than the
others are doing."

***

Jenco for Elmhurst Public Relations Czar!

A voice of reason shines through.

"Lynne Jenco, a curator at the Elmhurst Historical Museum, said that about the raciest tidbit in the town's past is evidence of bootlegging during Prohibition. Settled by German immigrants, "it still has the reputation of a conservative place,'' said Jenco." Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006

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Privacy assurances from the folks at the "never-delete-an-email" (Gmail) company, Google:

"Rest assured that no one is reviewing your personal data,'' the company says on its site, www.google.com/trends. Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006

Are you "resting assured?" Do voyeurs ever change their stripes?"

Municipal pork recipe lacks taste, substance

2006-05-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate the creativity of your municipal leaders to harness the power of their offices.

*****

The Radar O'Reilly in the Machine or if Gilbert Ryle studied Elmhurst politics

After Elmhurst 1st Ward Alderman Paul Fichtner won a seat on the Dupage County Board, Mayor Thomas Marcucci appointed Mark Tebbe to fill Fichtner's vacated city council seat. Four months later, in early 2005, Alderman Tebbe launched an election campaign to retain his council seat for the two remaining years of the term.

As an uber-successful internet industry mogul most likely accustomed to impossible deadlines and catering to demanding Wall Street types, it is no surprise that Tebbe was able to deliver nearly up-to-the-minute campaign materials in what might seem to mere mortal candidates to be an impossible time frame.

***

Consider the following excerpt from a March 31, 2005 Chicago Tribune article, Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn face mayoral races, written by Matt Baron and Bob Goldsborough, that appeared in a campaign mailer that arrived in many Elmhurst mailboxes on April 1.

"Tebbe conceived the arrangement. Marcucci has given it a ringing endorsement, calling it innovative. The City Council and school board unanimously approved moving ahead with the plan, and it appears headed for final approval."

Talk about impressive turnaround. In spite of all obstacles, the Tebbe campaign was able to get a graphic designer to incorporate the Chicago Tribune article quote into his campaign piece, get it printed, distributed through the US Mail and into first ward mailboxes in one day. Amazing. All that coordination, designing, printing in the course of what could even have been less than 24 hours. Ordinary flesh and blood types would be challenged to get a simple 8.5 by 11 resume out of Kinko's in the same time frame.

Really makes you wonder if the Tebbe campaign didn't get its Chicago Tribune earlier than the rest of us?

***

So you ask, what became of the $1.5 million dollar cash for District 205 land offer? The attention getting, eye-popping, vote-getting stunt? The one that Marcucci had given a "ringing endorsement" and was "headed for final approval?" The great idea that Tebbe "conceived" of?(Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2005).

Well, after the election the new school board didn't think it was a good idea. Even the alderman who had been big supporters of the offer prior to the election didn't think it was a good idea. After digging into the details, the neighbors close to the earmarked District 205 land who feared that their school land would become a parking lot for Roberto's restaurant didn't think it was such a good idea. In fact, in the cold light of day after the election there just wasn't anyone with any sense who though the deal was a good idea and after election the whole idea just went away.

*****

Size matters! especially if you can get your cronies' campaign signs on the front page of the newspaper for FREE! Way to stretch a campaign dollar!

Funny, how after elections, issues that seem like big problems just seem to disappear. Poof, gone! Just like former 1st Ward alderman Mark Tebbe's objection to oversize political campaign signs. It's been over a year, and you just never hear about the campaign sign problem at all anymore. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

"The larger than life campaign signs of Elmhurst Mayor Thomas Marcucci and his challenger, Paula Pezza, dwarf the more standard signs erected in recent weeks at the corner of Prospect and St Charles Rd. by the multitude of challengers in various township, park district, school and city races."
partial Elmhurst Press front page photo caption, April 1, 2005

Do you remember the April 1, 2005 Elmhurst Press cover page photo featuring a large clean shot of incumbent Marcucci's front lawn littered with campaign signs for Marcucci for Mayor, Jordan for School Board, Chris Healy for Park Board, Charity Pigoni for Treasurer and Patty Spencer for City Clerk?

Perhaps you are wondering, why on earth would the Elmhurst Press want to embarass the mayor like that, singling him out for derision over the campaign sign clutter on his lawn. How bold! How bold indeed! The mayor must be a very forgiving and understanding type of person since he never complained about the fact that the candidates he supported had their signs prominently printed on the front page of the newspaper just before the April 5, 2005 election.

The apparently flat-footed Doings Newspaper did not pick up on this blockbuster breaking news item at all. No story, no photo, no caption. Nothing. What did the Elmhurst Press know (or get) that the Doings did not?

*****

"State controlled television, radio, and newpapers glorify the actions of the regime's leader and incite their populations against those it deems to be enemies."

The Case For Democracy: the Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror by Natan Sharansky

The sovereign state of Dupage County

2006-05-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

State assails DuPage over voting data, May 5, 2006, Chicago Tribune

"For decades, the DuPage County Election Commission has failed to seek permission from a state office before destroying key polling machine records detailing how residents voted, said an official from the Illinois secretary of state's office."
***
But the DuPage County Election Commission argues that it can destroy ballots and other election materials without getting permission from anyone."

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How to beat the high cost of political campaigns

Election Interference and how to bankroll your candidate

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FBI Focus on Election Crime

"First, rooting out corruption in our systems of government is the FBI's top criminal investigative priority."

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"We're seeing all types of schemes—double voting, voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing, voting in someone else's name, using false corporate invoices to conceal the actual source of a campaign contribution. We've had great success investigating these crimes in the past, but the majority of those investigations were reactive in nature. Now, we're going to be more proactive."

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"The FBI is ready, willing, and able to investigate these crimes. But we need the public's help. Call your local FBI office if you know about an election crime. If you don't want to give your name, leave an anonymous tip."

FBI Criminal Investigative exec James "Chip" Burrus, April 16, 2006

***

FBI Chicago
Room 905
E.M. Dirksen Federal Office Building
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 60604-1702
chicago.fbi.gov
(312) 431-1333

City of Elmhurst Buying Frenzy Should Raise Eyebrows

2006-04-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

If Warner’s actions were so innocent, Levin asked, why did he bury every building he owned in trusts and straw owners so he couldn’t be tied to them when he leased them to the secretary of state?Daily Herald, March 6, 2006

A Tale of Two Cities

2006-04-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sounds an awful lot like the Life Education scandal right here in Elmhurst. How much do you have to embezzle from a taxpayer funded charity in Dupage County before it is considered a criminal offense?

See today's Sun-Times story about Chicago's Genesis House (a women's shelter)

"Two top executives may have embezzled $100,000 or more from a Chicago charity that serves prostitutes trying to straighten out their lives, sources have told the Sun-Times.

Genesis House funds are suspected of being used to pay for vacations to the Bahamas, trips across the United States and car payments for a 2004 Cadillac, the sources said."

***

"Both executives are suspected of depositing Genesis House funds in their personal bank accounts, one source said."

Sun-Times, April 15, 2006

George Ryan's Elmhurst Connection

Based on news reports Director David Noffs embezzled approximately $700,000. Did Noffs and Yehudah spend all of the money or did they route it back to their friends? Link to related post, March 30, 2006

"Life Education Center leveraged its political ties to obtain more than $4 million in state grants since 1996, even though a 1995 state audit of earlier grants found "serious and significant" violations of state accounting rules. The governor's son, George Jr., once served as an assistant national director for the group and its insurance broker." 2 Accused in scheme at pork-rich charities

"The civil complaint, which will be filed in Cook County Circuit Court, also will name Yesse Ben Yehudah, a donor to Gov. George Ryan and a former charity board member who allegedly participated in a kickback scheme with Noffs." Jim Ryan to file civil suit against ex-charity officials

Charity Director Under Fire

What did they call him again?

2006-04-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Michael Tristano to flip?

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"Create and enhance media awareness campaigns to increase public support of anti-corruption initiatives and maintain confidence in government institutions." FBI Public Corruption Strategic Plan

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FBI Tips

Q: Last question: what should people do if they come across evidence of public corruption activities?
Dan: By all means, call us! If you don't want to give your name, leave an anonymous tip. FBI.com

On the train or on the tracks?

Which Elmhurst aldermanic candidates did state funded staff help and why?

Paying it Forward -- Illinois Style

2006-03-30T03:43:00.000-08:00

Plea Deal: Did Michael Tristano "Pay it Forward?"

Ex-aide pleads guilty to diverting state money SunTimes, March 29, 2006

Former Daniels' Aide Pleads Guilty Of Corruption
Some Believe Daniels Could Face Legal Trouble CBS Chicago, Mike Flannery, March 29, 2006

Top GOP aide admits fraud Chicago Tribune, March 29, 2006

Flippers come in all shapes and sizes. They are not created equal Chicago Sun-Times, Sep 7, 2005 Carol Marin

***

Of course, the Willow Springs development scheme is nothing like Elmhurst's Block 300. For one thing, Elmhurst has an underpass just perfect for stormwater detention.

In or about 2000, in the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere, defendant did knowingly conspire with Roger Stanley and others known and unknown to commit extortion affecting commerce, namely to obtain money from a Real Estate Partnership, with the partnership’s consent, having induced said consent under color of official right. (Tristano Plea Agreement, March 2006)

No word on preconstruction sales or Village of Willow Springs elected officials in on the deal.

***

There's nothing like a state grant to make everyone "whole" again and gain cooperation.

The Real Estate Partnership was involved in a multi-phase development project in the Village of Willow Springs that included the construction of business, residential and government buildings. The Village sought State grants in order to assist the funding of the Real Estate Partnership’s development projects in the Village. (Tristano Plea Agreement, March 2006)

The State awarded to the Village approximately $1.3 million in grants funding the real estate development in or about 2000. (Tristano Plea Agreement, March 2006)

Here again, the Willow Springs development is nothing like Elmhurst's Block 300 development where a $1.3 million incentive was granted not by the State of Illinois but by the City of Elmhurst with Mayor Marcucci casting the deciding city council vote to distribute TIF funds. There's just no comparison.

***

What better way to "pay it forward" and tighten up those puppet strings. Once elected, Candidate A would become part of the "pay it forward" movement in Illinois.

Roger Stanley, a partner of the Real Estate Partnership, agreed to provide, and did provide, consulting job paid by the Partnership to an individual campaigning as a Republican candidate for Illinois House seat in downstate Illinois (Candidate A).

The purpose of the consulting job was to generate necessary income for Candidate A while Candidate A was campaigning for office. In connection with the campaign assistance to Candidate A, defendant TRISTANO agreed to assist the Village’s efforts to obtain the State grants, and did in fact recommend, as Chief of Staff to the Minority Leader, that discretionary grant funds be awarded to the Village.

In Elmhurst no candidate was actually given a job exactly since these things can take time and look bad to outsiders who wouldn't understand. Sending business to your loyal friends/puppets, though, now that's another story and is much easier to do.

Is "pay it forward" alive and well in Elmhurst? Keep watching the news.

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Sounds like a winning system, heh?

Defendant, along with other participants in the scheme, identified candidates for whom campaign work would be supplied by Minority Leader’s Office staff. Defendant supervised the campaign activity, which included preparation of campaign strategy documents, weekly reports summarizing campaign activity, management of campaigns, design of campaign literature, solicitation of voters, and analysis of polling data. (Tristano Plea Agreement, March 2006)

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Tristano Plea Agreement (click on link to view. Thanks to Rich Miller's thecapitolfaxblog.com)

DuPage County Rule#1

2006-03-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Don't worry about getting caught just don't get investigated

Cook County officials said Saturday that two poll watchers at nursing homes in the south suburbs allegedly tried to steer elderly residents into voting for certain candidates and threatened an election judge who tried to stop them.

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One of the poll watchers allegedly threatened an election judge after being told to stop passing out literature urging the residents to punch certain numbers on the ballot, [Cook County Clerk David]Orr said.
Poll watchers accused of steering voters, SunTimes, March 19, 2006

Link to related post:
Landslide at Lexington, March 18, 2006

Landslide at Lexington?

2006-03-18T06:16:00.000-08:00

Where have we heard this story before?

Betty Hancock Perry explained she was "trying to help voters" at the Lydia Healthcare Center in Robbins, election officials said.

But those who observed her say she was helping them cast votes for her boss and discouraging votes for challenger Forrest Claypool.

She gained access, they say, by assuring them she was an election judge hired by Cook County. Pollwatcher accused of coaching voters Sun-Times, March 18, 2006

A'course it 'pears that we take a differ'nt view a such things in DuPage County where you really can never have enough help. Citified folk might view the DuPage brand of help with suspicion but they just wouldn't understand and make trouble. That's why it's probably best that these allegations never journeyed up the law enforcement chain of command, 'cuz, after all, a feller could end up in some serious hurt over all that.

Link to related posts
Got Free Elections, May 5, 2005

Voter Fraud Watch -- Do you have a story too?, April 3, 2005

Character Except When It Counts, April 7, 2005

Do you get what you pay for?

2006-03-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

During the spring 2005 campaign season, Elmhurst Press Word on the Street columnist, Tim Bryers wrote

"On Feb 25 Marcucci transferred $6,000 out of his campaign fund and gave it to People To Elect Chris Healy, who is running for Elmhurst Park Board Commissioner."

"Why would the mayor send money to a Park Board candidate? Because the city has a vested interest in what happens with Wilder Park and the future renovation of Wilder Mansion."

Interesting theory, Mr. Bryers, except that the City of Elmhurst didn't donate anything (that we know of) to the candidate. However, Mayor Marcucci routed a total of $9,000 to Healy's campaign. Could it be that it is Marcucci who has "the vested interest?"

Oak Brook resident and Historic Commission Chairman, Frank Catalano also ponied up for the Healy campaign, though Bryers mentioned no vested interest on his part back in spring of 2005. Yet, now that Catalano is campaigning to move the Elmhurst Historical Museum (EHM) into Wilder Park, his zeal for the Healy campaign stands in stark relief. TCL has received reports alleging that Catalano has stated that the Elmhurst park board will vote to move the EHM to the old library site. Can he count on his young protege to do the right thing? Can you?

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How much do you think a park board seat is worth? Until April, 2005, not a single candidate in the history of Elmhurst park board campaigns was required to file campaign finance reports because their campaign spending was too low to report (under $3,000). Yet last year Chris Healy's election campaign spent a whopping $18,156.19.

Is it worth noting that Elmhurst park commissioners serve without pay?

*****

The following information is based on the People to Elect Chris Healy, D-2 Semi-Annual Report 1-1-2005 to 6/30/2005 (Illinois Election Commission Campaign Disclosure filed October 3, 2005 at 9:05 a.m.)

Where the Money Came From

$9,000.00	Committee to Elect Thomas D Marcucci (includes $3,000 in-kind contribution)
$2,695.47	Friends of Lee Daniels (in-kind Contribution)
$1,500.00	Frank Catalano (includes $1,000 loan - not repaid)
$2,877.29	Chris Healy (includes $2,377 loan - not repaid)
$1,259.00	Mike Perrino,Salesman, Edward Don & Co. (includes $1000 loan - not repaid )
$250.00	Paul Brown
$775.00	not itemized - individual contributions and in-kind
$18,356.76	Total Individual/InKindContributions, Transfers and Loans

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Where the Money Went

$6,019.44	Mailing
$3,000.00	Consulting - Winning Systems (Donated by Comm to Elect Thomas D Marcucci
$2,695.47	Telemarketing (Donated by Friends of Lee Daniels)
$1,680.00	Signs
$1,409.66	Printing
$634.49	Fundraiser Food
$542.20	Postage
$500.00	Spring Rd. St.Pat's Parade
$485.05	Promotional Items
$449.00	Consulting - Winning Systems
$481.88	not itemized (includes $50 in-kind spending)
$259.00	Postage (Donated by Mike Perrino, Salesman-Edward Don & Co.)
$18,156.19	Total Reported Campaign Purchases
182.57	loan payment to Chris Healy
$18.00	unspent - remaining balance
$18,356.76	Total Purchases/LoanPayments and Ending Balance

Who Is Still Owed Money

$1,000.00	Frank Catalano
$1,000.00	Mike Perrino
$2,144.72	Chris Healy
$4,144.72	Debts & Obligations - Grand Total

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And now a few excerpts from the George Ryan Trial Transcripts

Closing Arguments

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Docket No. 02 CR 506

Plaintiff, )
5 )
vs. )
6 )
LAWRENCE E. WARNER and )
7 GEORGE H. RYAN, SR., ) Chicago, Illinois
) March 6, 2006
8 Defendants. ) 9:37 a.m.

9
VOLUME 90
10 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS - Trial
BEFORE THE HONORABLE REBECCA R. PALLMEYER, and a jury

(emphasis added)

During the testimony of many witnesses in the case, like Mr. Fawell, the defense asked them whether they had ever seen Mr. Ryan take any money to influence any decision or action. And again and again people said no. Well, George Ryan may have been greedy, but he was not stupid. He did not make announcements or press releases when Warner, Swanson, or Klein gave him or his family something in order to influence his decision-making. The loans, the vacations, the other benefits did not come in packages with bright red lettering that said, "This is to influence you."

Most importantly, keep in mind that this is not a case in which a public official had a specific price for each official act that he did, like a menu in a restaurant where you pick an item and it has a particular price. The type of corruption here -- that type of corruption where you give me this, I will give you that, is often referred to as a quid pro quo.

The corruption here was more like a meal plan in which you don't pay for each item on the menu. Rather, there is a cost that you pay, an ongoing cost, and you get your meals.

***

Now, just a few words about the concept of conspiracy. A conspiracy is nothing more than an agreement to commit criminal acts. It need not be in writing or any sort of formal agreement. A racketeering conspiracy is, in essence, an agreement to commit certain kinds of crimes that are connected in a pattern. The different kinds of crimes that Defendants Ryan and Warner conspired to commit, according to the indictment, included mail fraud, extortion, bribery, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

The racketeering conspiracy that is the centerpiece of this case had two purposes: performing official governmental acts for the personal and financial benefit of Ryan, Ryan's family members, Citizens for Ryan, and certain of Ryan's associates, including Warner and Swanson; and second, promoting, concealing, and otherwise protecting the purposes of the racketeering enterprise from public exposure and possible criminal prosecution.

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The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections. Later on, this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And then to the army, and finally the Republic was subjected to the rule of emperors.
Plutarch
Historian of the Roman Republic

It helps to have a frank and honest style

2006-03-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
-- Al Gore, March 9, 1999

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According to a March 1, 2006 Elmhurst Press report the first Spring Road Saint Patrick’s Day Parade started with just a “handful of people,” but has grown to “more than 20,000 in attendance.” The report continues:

. . .this year's event will take about $25,000 and 200 people to run.
"It's beyond anybody's idea," said [Jim] O'Connor [parade committee chairman]. "Nobody thought it would ever grow like this."

Nobody except for Mayor Tom Marcucci, who likes to say he came up with the idea for the parade. (emphasis added)

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While the Elmhurst Press has reported that Mayor Tom Marcucci “likes to say that he came up with the idea for the parade,” the individual credited with coming up with the idea for the Spring Road Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is the late Doug Kuester working with fellow members of the Spring Road Business Association.

Excerpt from Doug Kuester’s obituary

Mr. Kuester formed friendships with several other Elmhurst business owners and enjoyed working to improve the city. One day, over drinks at the Spring Inn, he and others decided to begin a St. Patrick's Day parade in Elmhurst. The first parade was in 1997 and has continued every year since.

Though Mr. Kuester was of German, not Irish, ancestry, he thought a St. Patrick's Day parade would be a good way to unite the community. He also helped organize the village's annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

"He was a very community-minded person," said his son. Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2003

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The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.

“If a pickpocket intrude into the society of gentlemen, they exert what moral force they have, and he finds himself uncomfortable, and glad to get away. But if an adventurer go through all the forms, procure himself to be elected to a post of trust, as of senator, or president,--though by the same arts as we detest in the house-thief,--the same gentlemen who agree to discountenance the private rogue, will be forward to show civilities and marks of respect to the public one: and no amount of evidence of his crimes will prevent them giving him ovations, complimentary dinners, opening their own houses to him, and priding themselves on his acquaintance. We were not deceived by the professions of the private adventurer,--the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons; but we appeal to the sanctified preamble of the messages and proclamations of the public sinner, as the proof of sincerity.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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A Frank & Honest Memoir
A Million Little Pieces

Pay it Forward - Part 1 Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime

2006-02-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

If you're short on truth, you wind up with tall tales Chicago Sun-Times, February 24,2006

*****

Everybody loves somebody sometime

Words & Music by Irving Taylor & Ken Lane
Recorded by Dean Martin, 1964 (#1)

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This man is frank and earnest with women.
In Fresno, he's Frank and in Chicago he's Ernest.

Take my wife, please!

Henny Youngman

***

"On Tuesday, January 17, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Community Bank of Elmhurst hosted the State of the City Address given by Elmhurst Mayor Thomas D. Marcucci. In his usual style of frankness and honesty, mixed with humor and analogy . . . "(Elmhurst Independent)"

Marcucci kicked off with a story that he said came to mind just then, just as he was getting ready to do his speech, inspired by Chamber of Commerce President John Quigley's totally spontaneous off-the-dais ad-lib mention of Henny Youngman. How's that for quick thinking and extemporaneous speaking while maintaining a "frank and honest style?"

But the mayor didn't just have a story, he had a theme, too! The story, along a "pay-it-forward" theme went something like this:

Chicago Archdiocese Cardinal Cody was rumoured to plan a vistit to a Marucci family member's Columbus Hospital bedside but never showed up. No reasons were offered for the snub, yet one must wonder if the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Chicago might have gotten bogged down ministering to his own substantial flock. Perhaps a well placed call to the Archdiocese of Joliet, the Marcucci family's home diocese, might have rousted a more dependable spiritual luminary, but then again hindsight is twenty-twenty.

As the father and son Marcucci grappled with their disappointment over the no-show Cardinal, a heretofore anonymous man sharing the hospital's family lounge offered to help turn their frowns upside down.

Dee Longfellow, writing for the Elmhurst Independent tells it this way: "When Marcucci's father repeated the sad tale, the man asked if he could cheer her (the hospitalized family member) up. They accepted the man's offer, not knowing he was none other than the legendary Henny Youngman."

Now perhaps you're wondering, "Why would anyone agree to let a complete stranger "cheer up" hospitalized relative? Just be grateful that you have never been given the cold shoulder by a Catholic Cardinal. Perhaps the moral of this story is that while God sometimes fails to deliver one demi-celebrity visitor to the bedside, He can just as easily produce a legend anytime anywhere -- just like that (fingers snap in the background).

****

No doubt those legendary celebrity types can be so unassuming when they are not in the spotlight. Would you have recognized Dean Martin if you had met him in a Chicago hospital lounge much less some Jewish guy that looks like Henny Youngman with a violin case in tow?

Yet it does seem odd that no one in the family, not even anyone in the hospital, would have recognized the very popular and well known comedian during the era this "story" is purported to have unfolded.

Youngman made numerous appearances on television, including a long-running stint on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968 - 1973). In 1955 he was host of a TV series titled The Henny and Rocky Show, appearing with champion boxer Rocky Graziano. He had a larger role in Herschell Gordon Lewis's The Gore-Gore Girls (1972), a fact he denied vehemently. He made a few recordings, most notably The Primitive Side of Henny Youngman, recorded in St. Louis and released in l959 on the NRC label. Wikipedia

After the family accepted this kind stranger's offer, the legendary Henny Youngman's true identity was revealed as he proceeded to perform 90 minutes of straight comedy right off the top of his head. (Wow! Imagine! A professional stand-up comic performing 90 minutes of comedy right off the top of his head. Johnny Carson, you are off the pedestal - Karnak or no Karnak.)

- To be Continued -

Stay tuned for
Pay it Forward -- Part II The Rat Pack

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The Legendary Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson - "It was so cold outside..."
Audience - "How cold was it?"
Johnny - "It was so cold, the politicians had their hands in their own pockets."

Where were you last Spring . . .

2005-11-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

. . . when this news became news? Why wait to report such a blockbuster? Why?

We all know that some things improve over time, fine wine and violins, for example. In politics, time heals and the bar drops even lower. Memory fades and brutal near-defeats at the ballot box are forgotten. Sometimes, even politicians, or the public's perception of them, improve over just a couple of months. Ask yourself, "Do I remember last April's mayoral election?" In May, your memory was fresher, but now, last April's elections are more like a foggy mist over lake Robert Palmer Drive after a good rain.

Last summer, would you have supported a state house candidate that spent nearly $100,000 to defeat a disgruntled housewife by 700 or so votes, moreover, a political neophyte who spent under $20,000 with nothing to offer her backers but idealism and promises of good government? Doesn't seem like a good bet.

Jimmy the Greek where are you?
Well, taxpayers (and oddsmakers), watch for campaign season to kick off at Elmhurst City Hall, the Elmhurst Independent and a very large big city daily newspaper (Go Cubs!), 'cuz some folks just want it that bad. But first the incumbent must step aside at the right time:

In today's Chicago Tribune

Lee Daniels, formerly longtime Republican leader of the Illinois House and a one-term speaker of the chamber, announced Monday that he would not seek re-election to the suburban legislative seat he has held for three decades. (Chicago Tribune, November 8, 2005

Tree City Leader, June 8, 2005

Lee Daniels (46th District) "will not seek re-election next year, after about three decades in the General Assembly," (CBS 2 News' Mike Flannery, May 19) and contenders are lining up. Daniels is free to use his surplus $448,578.25 campaign war chest to pay off legal bills and fund protege campaigns.

Tangled Web and Bipartisan Nest?

2005-10-31T04:29:00.000-08:00

Win-win politics' finest hour

"At least one official hired by Gov. Blagojevich's administration wore a hidden recording device as part of the federal government's ongoing investigation of the governor's hiring practices, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned."

***************

"Investigations of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and state Teachers' Retirement System have yielded federal charges against six people."

(Sun-Times October 31, 2005)

2005 -- How SWEEP IT IS!

2005-10-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

So why do some still party like it's 1959? Somebody, please, send the DuPage Election Commission a 2005 calendar.

Castro sworn in as Cuban PM
Sox clinch it in '59(Anonymous 5:21 and Good Company weigh in on comments)

Apparently there are some in public service who still think it's 1959 and some like Fidel Castro who don't care. The Freedom of Information Act did not become U.S. law until 1966.

"FOIA Violation #5: DuPage County Election Commission
Description: DuPage County Election Commission as reported by the Bloomingdale Press, Bloomingdale. Scott Kilbort believed that there were suspicious activities reported at precincts during the April 5, 2005, consolidated election and he wanted to check on those claims. He filed a FOI request with the Election Commission on May 6 to inspect documents related to the election, but the Election Commission Executive Director Robert Saar denied Kilbort’s request, claiming items such as specific voter ballot results, absentee ballot requests and other voter registration information are exempt from public information. Note to Mr. Saar, a review of the Election Code would have revealed that the public has the right to review ballots, absentee ballot applications, voter registration records and poll signature cards.

Link to related posts
Got Free Elections
Voter Fraud Watch

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Current Events Cuban Style
You don't have to be Cuban rig an election or to party like one

1. Ten Great Cigars and Why I Smoked Them
2. Time for a Cuban?
3. Why not make it a Cuban Christmas?
4. What to drink after you've stolen the election
5. Can 'O Corn Cuban Style
6. The Cure for the Average Cuban

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Can you say BOOM CHOCKA LOCKA?

Strong Sense of Deja Vu -- Part II

2005-10-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Newark Pays Paper to Print Only Good News, by Associated Press, October 24, 2005

"The Newark City Council has awarded the Newark Weekly News a $100,000 no-bid contract to publish positive news about the city."

"Under the contract, the paper will work with the city's public information office to spread positive aspects of the city."

"The paper can only generate stories based on leads from the council and the mayor's office."

Does the Elmhurst Independent have a Newark Edition? Why couldn't Newark's mayor just get his former campaign manager a job as editor-in-chief and save their city $100,000? Kinda makes you wonder how "FREE" the Elmhurst Independent really is.

Strong sense of deja vu

2005-10-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

[Michael]Tristano was accused of steering $1.3 million in such state money to Willow Springs to help developers building a $40 million downtown project. Prosecutors allege that Tristano forced the developers to put a Downstate GOP House candidate on their payroll even though the candidate was busy campaigning in southern Illinois.

The Willow Springs project, developed by Heritage Renaissance Partners, and its investors included two politically connected businessmen convicted in the ongoing federal Operation Safe Road probe. Both investors, Alan Drazek and Roger Stanley, are on the government's potential witness list in Ryan's corruption trial. Chicago Tribune, October 13, 2005

No word on how their stormwater was handled. Does Willow Springs have an underpass?

Workin' on the Railroad?

2005-10-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

Submitted to Tree City Leader, October 15, 2005

"[Michael] Tristano was indicted last week for illegal campaign activity he engaged in while working as Daniels' Chief of Staff when Daniels was the Republican leader of the Illinois House." Downleft, May 23, 2005

********************

"We were always told that if things got rough, and accusations started to fly, they'd blame it on the staff," said one source. Capitolfax, June 19, 2002

********************

"Daniels has not been accused of any wrongdoing." Sun-Times, October 13, 2005

Don't Get

2005-10-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

. . . railroaded. Advice from a friend

Is that a train whistle?

2005-09-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

In today's Chicago Sun-Times

"Sneed hears rumbles a top, top player in the state health pension scandal may plead guilty today."

Two approaches to a math and science puzzle
Option A -- How fast is the speed of sound? How far away is Elmhurst? How long before the train arrives?
Option B -- Be confident the train will fly over Elmhurst

Overconfident in Elmhurst?

2005-09-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

"We're competing against ignorance."
Donald Knuth

Tree City Leader welcomes rational free thinkers. With the local media catering to the status quo, Tree City Leader is proud to provide a private forum for news and opinions you will not find anywhere else. Tree City will reprint the best of the best as you will see below.

********************************

The following was submitted to Tree City Leader on Monday, September 12, 2005 and is printed without permission

September 9, 2005

Jim Harris
Staff Writer
Elmhurst Press
800 Roosevelt Rd.
Bldg. D Suite 107
Glen Ellen, IL. 60137

RE: September 9th Article – “City Rejects Adopting Teardown Impact Fees”

I never thought I would need my old college statistics book, but after reading Mr. Borchert’s quote, “I am confident the numbers will continue to show that there is not a cause and effect relationship between teardowns and school enrollment,” I climbed up my bookcase and dusted off the old text. Just opening it made my head hurt but I was able to recall a couple of key fundamental principles before blacking out in a haze of complicated formulas.

A good statistical problem starts off with a hypothesis. In this case the hypothesis is, “increases in new home construction (i.e. teardowns) cause increases in District 205 student enrollment.” Before jumping right into the hard core statistics, one might do a little bit of research and look for potential cause and effect relationships.

Here is the result of my informal research (source: May 2005 Citizens Task Force Report to District 205 and walking around town with my eyes open):

From 1995 to 2004 enrollment increased roughly 1,100 students, or 17.5%, from 6,300 to 7,400. During the same time frame there were roughly 1,952 new construction permits.
This looks like a potential positive cause and effect relationship. Every teardown results in .56 new students. Looking around my immediate neighborhood, I see several new homes, all with more bedrooms and children than the prior owners. These new homes seem to help explain why Lincoln School across the street has grown from 466 to 509 kids in just the last year. Based on this informal research, it makes sense to do more rigorous analysis and discover how related these two variables may be.

The experts would probably graph data points and calculate relationships between variables. To assess correlations, a “Coefficient of Correlation” could be calculated and the result would be between -1 and +1, indicating perfect negative and positive correlation. A correlation of zero (as suggested by Mr. Borchert), suggests a complete lack of association between two variables.

Since each new student costs District 205 about $10,000, it is really important for arguments for and against impact fees or any other relief strategy to be based on solid analysis and statistical principles.

I suggest one of our local math teachers convene some students to analyze the data and make some conclusions. This would make a great extra credit problem and would provide the community with some objective, valuable information.

In the meantime, the laymen and politicians will fill the gaps with their own studies proving the old adage, “you can prove anything with numbers.”

Dan Spaeth

The "Big Lie," Teardowns and District 205 Overcrowding

2005-09-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." - Joseph Goebbels

The above is dated January, 12 1941. Goebbels accuses Churchill of using the "big lie" technique. In satirical style, he accuses the British of using the method of which Goebbels himself was master. Source

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Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." Autobiography of Mark Twain

Elected officials, if "figures" beguile you, perhaps you should not weigh in on an analysis that is beyond your intellectual capacity. Mark Twain seemed to understand his limitations.

More on "damned lies"

******************

The following is reprinted without permission from the author but is part of the Public Record of the September 6, 2005 Elmhurst City Council Meeting.

PUBLIC SCHOOL IMPACT FEES – WHY THE NUMBERS ARE WRONG

The City Attorney’s opinion does not find that the proposed impact fee proposal is illegal in itself. It simply finds that there has not been a demonstrated impact that needs to be addressed. In other words, the opinion says: “Whether it’s legal depends upon what the numbers are.”

Unfortunately, there are three big problems with the numbers.

First, the numbers provided only count households with school age children. It should have counted the actual numbers of children. Since the new homes have 4 – 6 bedrooms, they hold more kids. That’s one of the reasons why most folks buy newer houses: a bigger house for a bigger family.

Second, the new homes are actually counted in both categories – new homes and existing homes. Mr. Trosien admitted that new homes were not taken out of the transfer declaration records to determine “existing homes.” In other words, they counted the new homes in both categories. But when you completely separate the new and existing homes, particularly for the year 2000 demo permits, the disparity between school attendance generated by new and existing homes starts to widen. Which makes the next point very important.

The numbers did not include enough years to capture the enrollment of pre-school aged children. They should have gone back to 1998 or 1997 to do so.

The new homes category counted demolition permits issues in 2000 and the years after than. However, as we know, many of the new homes corresponding to these demo permits were not sold until 2001, 2002 or even 2003. All of the one-year-olds, most two-year-olds, and many three-year-olds moving into those homes would not be registering for kindergarten by 2004. In addition, because of the several private kindergartens in Elmhurst, first grade enrollment is a better indicator of public school enrollment. So you need to look at three more years of demo permits to determine the real impact on public school attendance.

Note that the numbers start to diverge in 2000. What would the numbers be if you kept going back to demo permits issued in 1997? And what if you counted numbers of children, not just households? And what if you took out the double counting of the new homes? As Mr. Trosien said “you have to cut it off somewhere.” Unfortunately, the numbers were cut off before they showed the real impact of new home construction on public school attendance.

WHY THE IMPACT FEE IS LESS EXPENSIVE FOR THE CITY THAN THE “LAND SALE”

The “land sale” is really a loan, since the City cannot sell the property to get its money back. So the City is loaning the School Board $1.5 million for several years. What is the cost to the City? Well, first there is the ten years of interest - the School Board will not pay any. But there is also the fact that the City cannot use that money until it is repaid. The City must either tax more or to do without something.

On the other hand, the Impact Fee is far less expensive for the City. THE IMPACT FEES DON’T COME OUT OF THE CITY’S FUNDS. It is a fee the City collects for the School

Damned lie? or Damn right?

*********************

Never forget.
September 11, 2001

Mansiongate -- the Denouement

2005-08-22T03:20:00.000-07:00

People of Elmhurst, kiss your grass goodbye tonight, Monday August 22 2005. Say hello to the cultural campus, formerly Wilder Park.

1. The strings are in plain view. Can you guess the puppetmaster's name? The puppet master rarely takes the stage. The starring puppet is now caught in his strings while the puppetmaster keeps a safe distance.

2. The 4th ward aldermanic replacement was not originally planned but the result is the same. Better in some aspects.

3. Follow the money. The trail is sometimes in plain view and sometimes hidden. Watch for more special money deals and freebies at taxpayer expense. Way to keep the puppets dancing.

4. Some caught in the undertow (or in legal circles, the "conspiracy") will seek a way out if they can find one.

One in a million?

2005-08-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

There are thousands of lawyers in Illinois but Gov. Rod Blagojevich just happened to appoint Lee Daniels' firm, Bell Boyd & Lloyd. Nice bipartisan gesture.

State questions library's costs
Review of Lincoln site to see if up to $15 million can be contested

"The administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich has hired a Chicago law firm and claims analyst to review project expenses to determine if money can be recovered for taxpayers."

"The state examination by the law firm of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd and URS, a claims analyst, is focused on Rogers' firm, BRC Imagination Arts of Burbank, Calif.; Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc., the St. Louis architect; and Siciliano Inc., the Springfield general contractor." excerpts from Chicago Tribune, August 15, 2005

Mr. Clean on a Roll

2005-08-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

“Once again we see it coming -- Rollover Time.

Another politically hand-picked committee, this time the Downtown Planning Commission, will roll over to the developers. Led by notorious ‘blight-finder’ (insert taxpayer paid planning consultant here) and aided and abetted by another TIF, sales tax increase and sale of village property, we lowly resident taxpayers will see our quaint downtown (insert charming suburb here) destroyed against our wishes by those who call demolition of history and charm ‘blight removal.’ In its place we will be treated to cookie-cutter canyons of five-story condo buildings flanking downtown (insert charming suburban stree names here).

The template can be seen in suburban communities all over the country, wherever local trustees were sufficiently gullible and naive to buy into it. And so another sham committee, packed with the usual oblique-interest politicians wraps up its two years of not listening to resident taxpayers and embarks on more friendly deals with the true defining force in the village of (insert charming suburb here) – the developers.” Glenview Watch July 19, 2005

“Until resident apathy ends and citizens say ‘enough is enough’ the developers will continue to rule. We can’t count on commissions to keep developers in check. Tasteful minimalism, a lost concept in Glenview, can only be brought back by citizens speaking up.” Glenview Watch July 27, 2005

Crimson Tide -- National Tsunami

2005-08-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

With Governor’s Signature Today, Alabama Will Become First State To Curb Eminent Domain Abuse After Kelo

Poll after poll shows Americans virtually united against eminent domain for private profit. Eighty-nine percent of Connecticut voters say the legislature should limit eminent domain, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University. Ninety-three percent of New Hampshire citizens oppose takings for private development, according to the University of New Hampshire. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that Americans cite private property rights as the current legal issue they care most about.Institute for Justice Says Blight Laws Must Also Be Fixed

The Little Engine that Could Playbook

2005-07-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

"Now is the time to cooperate. This train is leaving and you are on the train or on the tracks."

Robert Grant, FBI special agent-in-charge

On May 18, 2005 a comment appeared on Tree City Leader asking "where" contributions were given to "me mayor." Since the blog entry pertained to Elmhurst Illinois, one might assume that question refers to the Elmhurst mayor and Elmhurst City Hall. Decide for yourself.

Anonymous said...
Question? Where were these contributions given to me Mayor? City Hall?
10:49 a.m.

Anonymous, have you thought about getting off the tracks?

****************

The Little Engine That Could Playbook

Highlights from Donald Tomczak Plea Agreement

Defendant typically solicited the Department Trucking Companies for political contributions from City premises using City telephones during the normal business day. Defendant often rewarded Department Trucking Companies that provided political contributions with favorable treatment in the HTP (Hired Truck Program).

***

Defendant further acknowledges that the government could prove that, on September 22, 2004, Roger McMahon was arrested by federal agents. During the course of post-arrest statements, McMahon acknowledged that he solicited and obtained cash payments and campaign contributions on behalf of, and at the direction of, defendant.

***

Defendant similarly filed false tax returns for calendar years 2000, 2001 and 2003, in that he failed to report income-related payments from representatives of the Department Trucking Companies, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1).

***

In particular, defendant participated in a scheme in which he and his co-schemers, acting at the direction of officials of the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (“IGA”), including Sorich, routinely manipulated the interview and selection process for certain City employment 15 positions by conducting sham interviews, falsely inflating interview scores, and otherwise guaranteeing that certain pre-selected candidates who were favored by IGA would win the employment positions, often to the exclusion of equally or more qualified candidates. This preselected status was granted by IGA at times because of the prospective employee’s association with particular political organizations, including the defendant’s, among other reasons.

***

From approximately 1999 to present, it has been a violation of Illinois law for “[a]ny officer, agent, or employee of, or anyone who is affiliated in any capacity with any unit of local government . . . [to] make[] a false entry in any book, report, or statement of any unit of local government . . . with the intent to defraud the unit of local government . . . .” 720 ILCS § 5/33E-15. Moreover, under Illinois law it is unlawful for any public officer or employee to knowingly perform an act which he knows he is forbidden by law to perform. 720 ILCS § 5/33-3(b).

***

Upon receiving this notification, defendant convened a meeting of his organization’s coordinators, who were Department employees, to notify them of the particular political campaign they would be supporting and to discuss the intended work plan. These coordination meetings, which typically lasted approximately one hour or less, occurred on city premises during the normal business day and typically involved 5-10 Department employees. Following the meetings, defendant’s coordinators contacted individual Department employees to obtain “volunteers” for the assigned field activities.

Grand Theft Utopia

2005-07-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Outrage over the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision on eminent domain has not quieted. Both chambers of the Illinois legislature are expected to pass a measure prohibiting eminent domain for economic development.

But a more insidious threat to your property rights remains. Local planning commissions rezoning your property and neighboring properties.

Thank you all who contributed sources and ideas. As much as possible, you will find your commentary and material on the recent downtown plan (edited for length).

*****************************

The Castle Coalition

Right now, there is a tremendous momentum against this abuse of power, and we ask each of you to begin organizing to change the law in your city or county or state. The Castle Coalition will help you write the language, but now is the time to start organizing your friends and neighbors. Your local government will tell you there's nothing to worry about, that it would never use eminent domain, or that it's only as a "last resort." Don't believe a word of it.

Thoreau Institute -- Smart Growth and the Ideal City

These (Communist city planning) principles are nearly identical to those of "smart-growth" planners. The only significant differences are that smart growth allows for some variation in the size of homes and prefers mid-rise construction (4 to 6 stories) instead of high rise. But both the communists and the smart-growth planners believe that an elite should decide how other people should live and move around.

and . . .

While I don't seriously equate urban planners with communists, the similarities between the Ideal Communist City and smart growth are far more numerous than their differences. Beyond the superficial difference that the soviets preferred high rises and smart growth prefers mid rises (4-6 stories), the main difference is that the communists tried to put everyone in identical small apartments while smart growth allows people to have as big a house or apartment as they can afford, but just tries to get them to build those houses on small lots.

Similarities between The Ideal Communist City and Smart Growth

Higher density housing
Mixed-use developments
Mixed-income housing
Transit-oriented development
Discourages auto parking
Calls suburbs "monotonous"
Minimizes private yards

Today no one in Germany refers to such suburbs as "monotonous." This term is instead reserved for the grey slabs of concrete that most people are abandoning as fast as they can. Throughout Europe, high-rise apartments are increasingly becoming ghettos for Muslim and other foreign "guest workers." While the houses shown above are admittedly smaller than ones found in modern American suburbs, the Germans are fast catching up. A little further from Halle we found a suburban village that included many large homes with large backyards such as the one below (photo not shown here).

and . . .

Before visiting Europe, I spent a few days in Madison, Wisconsin. After returning, I spent a few days in Hamilton, Ontario . . . Part of their plans, of course, call for packing more of that growth into urban infill than the market would build.

In particular, the plan for Hamilton requires that 40 percent of all new development be high-density infill. Currently the rate is just 18 percent. Now, 40 percent is a lot less than the near-100 percent imposed by Russia and East Germany. But Hamilton's plan means that 22 percent of its new residents will be forced to live in housing that they wouldn't normally choose. Experience in Portland and other cities shows that regulation that attempts to make much smaller changes in the housing market can lead to huge increases in housing costs.

Planners call this giving people more "choices"; what they mean is forcing people to accept lifestyles that they would not choose for themselves. How is this fundamentally any different from the philosophy of the Ideal Communist City?

*****************************

Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto

and City of Elmhurst Zoning

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purpose.

The City of Elmhurst Downtown Plan completely erases current owners private property rights by rezoning and changing the allowed uses of downtown private property. For example, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School appears nowhere on the Downtown Plan. Apparently the City of Elmhurst does not "plan" to have the church around in the future in spite of the church's recent building additions and willingness to permit their lot to be used by the general public. Why would the City of Elmhurst's Planning Commission and elected City Council want a historic church that has been part of the fabric of our downtown for over 100 years zoned out of existence. The Elmhurst Downtown Plan replaces Immanuel Lutheran Church with new medium to high density multi-family residential housing.
Now everyone, bow down to the developer gods because it looks like they own your elected leaders.

The lighted red cross atop an almost 70-year-old bell tower has become a well-known beacon in Elmhurst, Illinois, where Immanuel Lutheran Church has been serving people from northeast DuPage County and western Cook County in the Chicago metropolitan area since 1892. Immanuel's Christian day school has been in existence even longer, dating its start to 1879. Immanuel Lutheran Church, Elmhurst

Apparently zoning a historic church out of existence is how the City of Elmhurst plans to balance "preservation and redevelopment." (Downtown Development Plan, pIII-4)

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

Heck, the church is just taking up valuable space where a developer could be making money on medium to high density multifamily housing. Taxpayers, get out your checkbooks as your city council gets ready to crank up the River TIF.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

Nearly 20 pages of the Downtown Plan are devoted to Urban Design. (pp. III 10 - 29). You moved here to get out of the city or to raise a family. Instead of taxpayer oriented development, you are being treated to transit oriented development. Now everyone, bow down to the taxicab companies and rapid transit gods because it looks like they own your elected leaders. You will take the train and the bus and you will not drive your car. You could of course hail a taxi if you needed to get to the doctor or the grocery store.

Have you noticed all the stories in the local papers on taxi companies lately (Elmhurst Press and Elmhurst Independent)? Since when did Elmhurst become part of Metro Chicago and cease being a Western Suburb (Chicago Tribune). This is no coincidence. It is part of an overall effort to change the way you and others look at Elmhurst. Developers and their politician partners are transforming your hometown in the newspapers first.

Though they publicly claim they want to reduce congestion, most smart-growth plans admit they seek to increase congestion to encourage people to use transit. Though they publicly claim to worry about affordable housing, smart-growth plans drive up land and housing costs with the hidden agenda of encouraging people to live in multifamily housing or at least on tiny lots. The Commons -- Markets Protecting the Environment by Randall O'Toole

Related Links
City of Elmhurst Downtown Plan

It may be your property but the planners own it

Urban Planning or Socialism?

"Under socialism there will be no more private property, except for personal use." Socialist Organizer

Freedom Requires Real Markets

"Overdevelopment changes the character, overdevelopment changes the traditional appearance of neighborhoods," said Mr. Bloomberg, who was joined by Borough President Helen Marshall and several City Council members from Queens.
New York Curbs Overdevelopment

Debunking the Myth: Communism isn't all that bad

Send your articles to treecityleader@yahoo.com or comment below

Which way to the historic district?

2005-07-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

“Villa Park is an oasis in the midst of the burgeoning brick and concrete jungles of Elmhurst, Lombard and Glen Ellyn,” resident Bob Preuss said. “The Mayberry atmosphere is exactly what drew residents to Villa Park in the first place. ... Please protect the beauty and character of our historic district.”

The Daily Herald, Tuesday, July 12, 2005 (emphasis added)

Earth to Elmhurst City Hall
Where's Elmhurst's Historic District?

Link to related post Thursday, May 26, 2005, Keeping up with the Joneses

Post comments below

With Liberty and Justice for All

2005-07-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

History from the highest court in the land

Dred Scott first went to trial to sue for his freedom in 1847. Ten years later, after a decade of appeals and court reversals, his case was finally brought before the United States Supreme Court. In what is perhaps the most infamous case in its history, the court decided that all people of African ancestry -- slaves as well as those who were free -- could never become citizens of the United States and therefore could not sue in federal court. The court also ruled that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories. Scott, needless to say, remained a slave.
excerpt from Africans in America, Judgement Day
SEE Supreme Court opinion, Scott v. Sandford (1856)

In one of the most shameful decisions ever issued by the United States Supreme Court, Homer Plessy lost his bid to be treated equally with whites in America. The fact that Homer was 7/8 white and 1/8 black didn't seem to matter to the majority of the high court. Only one justice, John Marshall Harlan, dissented from this outrageous result. Separate but equal, Plessy v. Ferguson 1896,lawbuzz.com

Contemporary Commentary on the Kelo v. New London Supreme Court Decision

From a Democracy ruled by citizen-politicians, to a Republic ruled by insider politics, America has now slipped into an Oligarchy ruled by corporate City-States, who have no regard for their neighbors and exist not to serve the citizens, but to enslave them. The Tulsan, Friday, June 24, 2005

You and I no longer own homes. We occupy them. We pay the bank every month for the privilege of living there as long as the government wants to let us.

In the ruling handed down today, the court ruled that the town of New London, CT could exercise eminent domain and take homes and business from citizens and turn the land over to private developers to build a river-front hotel, a health club and offices.

The Court has ruled that “economic development” qualifies as a public use. Economic development for who? For the homeowner who has worked and paid the mortgage month after month? Or for the developer who gets property he couldn't get on the open market because the owners didn't want to sell their homes?
excerpt from "I used to own a house," Hold the Mayo, June 23, 2005

"Supreme Court backs municipal land grabs" CNN, Friday, June 24, 2005

Opponents, including property-rights activists and advocates for elderly and low-income urban residents, argued that forcibly shifting land from one private owner to another, even with fair compensation, violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the taking of property by government except for "public use." Washington Post, June 24, 2005

People of Elmhurst, tell your city council to protect your property rights. This could happen to you. Link to post A Study in Arrogance and Power -- Eminent Domain

Within hours of this decision being issued, overreaching bureaucrats and their political allies around the country began declaring victory on behalf of subsidized development schemes that will not only cost citizens the residences and businesses they worked hard to build, but will also cost taxpayers the money they worked hard to earn. From shopping malls to sports stadiums, the Court has unjustly given its blessing to many crony-capitalist projects that depend more heavily on public funding than free-market principles to succeed. National Taxpayers Union Foundation

When Government is told they can act as an arm of private developers to trump your inalienable right to own and make use of your cherished private property you can safely assume that these robed robber barons have lost all familiarity with common sense or the rule of law.(See Kelo v. New London). excerpt from Tipping Point: Supreme Court Sows the Seeds to its Long-Awaited Demise, by By N. Beaujon, June 29, 2005

Related links

Merit brief Kelo et al. v. City of New London et al.
Docket No. 04-108

SCOTUS Decision on Kelo, et al v. City of New London, et al

The US Dept. of State, The Supreme Court of the United States:
Highest Court in the Land

Supreme Court of the United States

The Constitution is the highest law of the land but until our federal legislators pass an amendment protecting your right to your property, you must rely on state and local lawmakers.

If homeowners do not want to become victims of statist corporate greed, they can no longer passively assume that the federal courts will protect them . . .

Homeowners must instead take action themselves. Their motto should be, "Remember Kelo!" And from local boards and town councils, all the way up to U.S. Senate, their #1 issue should be eminent domain. Candidates for office must be grilled constantly on it. Homeowners must come together and respect the Golden Rule - if I want to protect my own home, I must also protect the home on the other side town. The outrage in New London doesn't have to happen again in the United States, if the people won't stand for it. excerpt from Remember Kelo, by James Leroy Wilson

Question of the Week
Do you think that the Elmhurst City Council should bar emiment domain takings for private development? (Please comment below.)

Preening for Dollars

2005-06-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

Many newspapers would not print a defeated aldermanic candidate's letter a full seven weeks after the election but the Elmhurst Press did. Belated and adrift with no news peg, Charles Mueller's letter appeared on May 25. The letter redeems with timeless entertainment value. Following are excerpts (emphasis added).

"I want to acknowledge and thank all the people who voted for me and those who did not" Charles Mueller

Mueller is not the only one thanking the people who didn't vote for him.

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Is the honeymoon ever really over?

"A special thanks to my bride, my chidren, my friends and volunteers for your support." Charles Mueller

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Don't try this at your day job,

"Just like a woman can never have too many diamonds, 'there is always my view of continuous room for improvement.'" (sic) Charles Mueller

Have heard the now politically incorrect "can't be too rich or too thin" and the potentially career-ending "diamonds are a girl's best friend" but never "a woman can never have too many diamonds." Women of Elmhurst count your carats! Do you have enough? Never!

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"Elmhurst City Council is a team sport . . . which brings together a wide-range of independent thinking and public service minded individuals." Charles Mueller

If Mueller's former city council teammates were "independent thinking" individuals, perhaps they would not have been voted out of office. Has anyone ever characterized the Mueller-Tebbe-Noffs brand of teamwork as "independent-thinking?" In government, political team players are sometimes called co-conspirators.

"Working together as team a of committed individuals, we can continue to make Elmhurst a better place, a place we call home." Charles Mueller

Has anyone told former alderman Mueller that the voters kicked him off the City Council team or is Mueller dropping subtle hints and preening for another run for elective office? Such ingenious foreshadowing.

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Finally, a real honest to God thank you to Jim Ryan for your endorsement. You have done more for children and women in this state than anyone. I appreciate your commitment to helping less-fortunate (sic), cancer stricken children and abused women." Charles Mueller

Mueller bestows no run of the mill "atta boy" on Jim Ryan. No sirree. Rather than a phony, disingenuous, and just plain heathen slap on the back, Mueller offers up the very exclusive, personal and spirtually deep expression of gratitude, the "real honest to God thank you." Did Mueller's bride, children, friends and volunteers feel slighted by his vapid "special" thanks?

It should come as no surprise that a guy who says that a woman can never have too many diamonds would care so fervently about "the less fortunate, cancer stricken children and abused women." After cobbling together such dramatic and emotional prose it's just a shame that Mueller missed an opportunity to mention Ryan's work for our seniors.

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Jim Ryan holds Charles Mueller in high regard judging from the effusive overboard endorsement that appeared on charlesmueller.com during last April's campaign season,

"Good government starts at the local level. In the seventh ward we have been well served by Alderman Charles Mueller. He has been responsive and sensitive to our needs. I respect him and hope you agree with me that he deserves re-election."
Jim Ryan, Former Illinois Attorney General as published on Charlesmueller.com

Since Mueller donated over $6,000 to Jim Ryan's political committees over the last four years the admiration must be mutual. Yet, the March 22, 2005 Doings' assessment of Charles Mueller's aldermanic performance doesn't include "well served,"or "responsive and sensitive."

"In the seventh ward we have been well served by Alderman Charles Mueller." Jim Ryan

The Doings:
"Mueller’s “why rock this boat” mentality is just one of many reasons we won’t endorse him. Back in 2002 Mueller voted for the Block 300 development and then wrote a letter to the media the next day saying he voted the wrong way because he didn’t understand the motion."

"I respect him and hope you agree with me that he deserves re-election." Jim Ryan

The Doings:
"The Doings endorses Donna Lomnicki because we think anyone other than Charles Mueller can better represent the 7th Ward."

". . . he’s a liability to constituents."

"He has been responsive and sensitive to our needs." Jim Ryan

The Doings:
"His ideas to start a fourth tax increment finance district on Route 83 not only is half-baked but also is proof that he’s not listening to residents who are concerned about the three TIF districts the city already has."

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Marriage Link
Tips for Making Marriage Last from the experts

Bride-Related Links
Pimp My Bride
Top Ten Gifts for the Bride
Bring Me My Bride Lyrics
Groom's Speech

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That's no lady, that's my bride!

Coming attraction -- 4th Ward Puppet Show

2005-06-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

Fourth Ward Alderman Brad Walsh's house has been for sale for months now and some have reported that he may have already moved out of town leaving one City Council seat vacant.

Today the Chicago Tribune reported that "Walsh still owns his Elmhurst property and will retain his seat in the 4th Ward until Mayor Tom Marcucci appoints a replacement." Whether or not Brad Walsh's primary residence is still within the 4th Ward was not clarified though this is a qualification for office regardless of whether or not he owns Elmhurst real estate. (Note to DuPage Election Commission: Will someone remember to remove Walsh from the list of registered voters? Link to related post).

Two aldermen represent each of seven wards in the Elmhurst City Council. Re-elected last April, Fourth Ward Alderman John Gow continues to serve on the City Council. Gow is genuinely and widely respected in the community and was re-elected to a third term last April without opposition.

Will Mayor Marcucci present his unilateral choice for the full city council's rubber stamp, again? During the June 6 City Council meeting, Marcucci stated that he had received several applications from aldermanic candidates though he may not interview all of them.

Read on from the Wednesday, June 1, Journal & Topics Newspapers for innovative mayoral leadership on how to fill a city council vacancy. Park Ridge has its own 4th Ward vacancy.

4th Ward Finalists Narrowed Down To 3
In a unique, unprecedented process, two attorneys and a recently elected member of the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District board have been selected as finalists for the position of fourth ward aldermen on the city council.

"They were selected from among 10 candidates - eight men and two women - who asked to be considered for nomination and appointment to fill out Mayor Howard Frimark's fourth ward aldermanic seat that was vacated on May 2. The mayor said Tuesday he hopes to complete second interviews with each of the three by the end of this week, so he can recommend one of them for city council approval on June 6." (The Journal & Topics Newspapers,Wednesday, June 1, 2005)

According to the article, finalists were "selected by unanimous vote of a five-member committee of fourth ward residents chaired by the mayor."

"Serving on the five-member screening committee that conducted interviews at a public meeting last week, in addition to Frimark, were sitting fourth ward alderman James Radermacher; Don Petkus, former corporate chief financial officer; Kelly Schaefer, PTO president at Washington School; and Fred Otto, a Park Ridge attorney. All are fourth ward residents.

About 25 persons attended the interview meeting on May 26 in the city council chambers. Among them were Ald. Donald Crampton, Mark Anderson, Jeannie Markech, and Kim Jones, all of whom are part of a group of city council members who have opposed Mayor Frimark on appointment policies and procedures and who recently pushed through changes in the way the council organizes its committees.

Ald. Mark Anderson said Tuesday that he appreciates the mayor holding the open meeting last week to interview all of the candidates. "I hope this continues to our meeting next Monday night," he said. "If he recommends one of the candidates, I hope all three finalists are there to be interviewed by the council members. I don't think we should be asked to vote until we're ready, and I don't think we'll be ready until we get a chance to speak to all three."

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Replay

During the June 6 City Council meeting, Marcucci stated that he had received several applications from aldermanic candidates though he may not interview all of them.

Why bother with an interview process? How hard is it to say "Whatever you say goes, boss?" Why not select someone who already knows his lines? Link to related post

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Past Marcucci appointees, Charles Mueller, David Noffs and Mark Tebbe were voted out of office last April in favor of political newbies Donna Lomnicki, Norm Leader and Ann Tranter. Twelve-year incumbent Marcucci squeeked out a thin victory over political unknown Paula Pezza, exposing serious cracks in his base and signaling the end of an era. Link to related post. But with millions of dollars in deals and political contributions yet to be harvested, Tree City Leader predicts that the status quo will not go down quietly.

Expect Marcucci to advance an appointee who has earned his puppet strings as soon as the public relations machine gives the nod. Timing is everything as Marcucci resuscitates his political might for another campaign, possibly Bob Biggins' Illinois House seat (41st District).

Lee Daniels (46th District) "will not seek re-election next year, after about three decades in the General Assembly," (CBS 2 News' Mike Flannery, May 19) and contenders are lining up. Daniels is free to use his surplus $448,578.25 campaign war chest to pay off legal bills and fund protege campaigns.

Watch the Elmhurst Independent and the Elmhurst Press for gratuitous lifetyle section feature stories on the candidates as Elmhurst's political coterie advances its election line-up for the fall/winter campaign season. Keep an eye on local boards and commissions as even unfledged cabal partisans earn their wings with important votes on Wilder Mansion, Elmhurst Historical Museum, Senior Housing and more. Races to watch include DuPage County Board, DuPage Forest Preserve District, Illinois House District 41 and 46.

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The real trick will be hiding the strings.

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"No splinters on this board --
Little is accomplished when dissenters are silenced"

These days, school boards are admonished to "speak with one voice", a consultant-borne malady that superintendents are eager to spread. There are four main motivations:

* It’s easier to pass levies in a district where dissent is muzzled than in one where debate is open.

* The status quo is always, always, always maintained no matter how bad it gets. No one talks about problems, ergo there are no problems.

* It tames the public. A break in a board’s united front give unhappy and disenfranchised elements of the community a leader behind whom they can rally.

* Power remains in the hands of the administration. Most school board members seem to forget who works for whom, and end up doing the bidding of the "experts."

"For years now, the board has gone off on "retreats." Activities have included putting little puzzles together and spending quality time at a Mohican State Park parking lot while roped together and blindfolded.

My favorite exercise was the one in which they had a little relay race across a mat marked in squares that beeped if they weren’t stepped on in the proper sequence. What a perfect metaphor for today’s school board "teams": Don’t you dare get out of step."

Excerpt from the Cleveland Plain Dealer - Editorial Page, August 18, 1996

Though written about an Ohio school board, similar dynamics seem to prevail on Elmhurst elected boards and appointed commissions including the City Council, Park District and until recently the District 205 School Board. Good people of Elmhurst, expect more from your elected officials.

Heronhound*** -- keep on surfin' buddy.

Woodward and Bernstein Slept Here

2005-06-02T03:28:00.000-07:00

Is the jounalistic legacy of Woodward and Bernstein buried in j-school textbook footnotes?

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Felt didn't go to the Department of Justice to report the crimes he recounted for Woodward and Bernstein because he recognized the deceit and complicity he would find there. Recall that the nation's top cop, Attorney General John Mitchell was indicted for obstruction of justice and perjury in March, 1974.

In the glory days of journalism, Deep Throat was able to unmask corruption with the help of a free press.

But, what happens when the press is on the take? What happens when the Elmhurst Press, the Elmhurst Independent and the Chicago Tribune Suburban section print only one side of the story?

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Late Friday night, conservative web bloggers helped force the resignation of top CNN news executive Eason Jordan over remarks he made at the World Economic Conference in Davos. This, and other recent developments, have experts questioning the impact of Internet bloggers on mainstream journalism. A News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Online Focus, BLOGGERS AND JOURNALISTS, February 14, 2005

Link to Online NewsHour Special Report, Bloggers and Journalists

Keeping up with the Joneses

2005-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

View Villa Park's Historic Preservation Awards.

Villa Park leads the way on promoting their older residences. Instead of seeing a teardown, Villa Park sees something valuable. Homeowners in Villa Park can safely invest their hard earned dollars feathering their nests without worrying that their property values will boil down to the value in the land.

With very little city investment, owners of Villa Park's historic houses earned another equity notch on their investment. In enlightened circles, Villa Park's actions might be described as "creating value" for their constituents. Instead of transferring property value from homeowners of historic houses to connected homebuilders, Villa Park leaders enhanced the value of their community's historic homes. Hard to fathom here in the Wild Wild West town of Elmhurst.

Is your "old" Elmhurst house worth much more than the land anymore because that's what builders see? Why can't the City of Elmhurst's elected leadership keep up with Villa Park neighbors on preserving and creating value for residential homeowners? Why won't they?

Why do builders see your existing home as a teardown?
It would appear that certain new home builders may operate as their own de facto zoning and inspecting department, building essentially whatever they are bold enough to get away with, virtually lot-line-to-lot-line, regardless of city building ordinances. A representave though extreme example of residential building abuse, the house in the example below was built eaveless in order to remain within its property boundaries.

Consider the case of a house (on Hillcrest south of Vallette near the eastern boundary of town) built on a 30 foot-wide lot though Elmhurst City ordinances mandate a minimum 50 foot residential lot width. Built with no zoning hearing and no special approvals, the builder had carte blanche to build just about anything, and did. Are some homebuilders permitted to zone property for themselves as inspectors and building department staff look the other way? Tree City Leader, May 18, 2005, City Drinks -- District 205 gets hangover Link to full post

With such latitude, builders are free to maximize new house square footage, and therefore the profit potential, of any buildable lot. Grassy yards that have not been exploited for building represent lost profits to builders. Builders are subject to no impact fees, no fees to compensate the schools, no penalties for flooding the neighbors yard or adjoining publicly owned property . . . no elected city officials to stop the good times from rolling. No one to stop the building boom from crushing our schools and our neighborhoods.

No one but you.

Link to a sample of Mayor Marcucci's Campaign Disclosure documents

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History of Memorial Day

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Semper fi

The Art of the Done Deal

2005-05-25T03:26:00.000-07:00

Today's Quiz

The best indicator of a successful politician is

a. the number of votes received in the last election
b. total amount of campaign funds raised
c. I.Q.
d. the ability to persuade other politicians and bureaucrats to build overscale projects

Think carefully and choose the best answer. Solution appears later in this post.

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A few Bright Ideas to help you master

The Art of the Done Deal

or

How the Wilder Mansion will become the
new home of the Elmhurst Historical Museum

Bright Idea #1 Whenever possible, refer to your project as though it has already been officially legislated by the necessary public bodies.

Examples

The Elmhurst City Newletter, The Front Porch (p.2) reports that 2005/06 budget includes "improvements to Wilder Mansion for Historical Museum use (in cooperation with the Elmhurst Park District).

The Elmhurst Park District informed consultants that the redevelopment of Wilder Mansion is the joint project of the City of Elmhurst and the Elmhurst Park District and mentioned it along with approved planned projects such as East End Pool redevelopment.

Bright Idea #2 Pile on useless information to hide the lack of any real analysis. Bury participants with an impressive bundle of unrelated, obfuscating, overfed text that will go unread.

Example

Wilder Mansion Public Comment meeting participants were offered several pounds of paper detailing past intergovernmental cooperation between the Elmhurst Park District and the City and regaled with tales of Mayor Marcucci's televised re-election ploys.

Bright Idea #3
Put the fox in charge of the henhouse. Pay the consultants, architects and construction managers who will gain the most from a new construction project to evaluate your old historic building. Do not provide actual estimates for work that will actuallly be required. Meeting moderators should attend Timeshare Weekend Sales Workshops to polish their pitches.

Example

No financial estimates were given for Wilder Mansion renovation. Meeting moderators hinted darkly at the high cost of residential home renovation and then presented overblown financial estimates that included renovation of both the Wilder Mansion and the 1960's addition.

Bright Idea #4 Pepper the audience with shills and the apathetic.

Example

Special public comment meetings were offered to out-of-towners and ambivalent business people many of whom rely on political cooperation for successful business deals.

Bright Idea #5 Trash the mansion in the interest of “fact-finding”

Example

Rugs were pulled up in patches, walls were torn up to the lathe and baseboards were removed to suggest that the walls were pulling away from the floors. Cloth wiring, an unused historic vestige, was featured as a hazard. In a technique best termed as the “sneaky (possibly blind) leading the blind,” moderators appealed to architecture dilettantes who comprehend historic preservation in the style of Colonial Williamsburg and Disney-like period pieces.

Bright Idea #6 Suggest a use incompatible with the Wilder Mansion to render the structure irrelevant.

Example

Wilder Park and a new grandiose fiscally feckless $10 million structure was suggested as a "smart” site for the Elmhurst Historical Museum. The new building's dimension (and profit potential)was inflated 15,000 to 20,0000 square feet for artifact storage that will ultimately and appropriately stay in a warehouse somewhere. A $10 - $12 million budget will easily cover costs for the Wilder Park Parking Garage -- a back burner "done" deal project ("What parking garage" you say?)

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Solution to Today's Quiz

The best indicator of a successful politician is

Let's review the possible answers,

a. Wrong. While answer a.), the number of votes received in the last election may seem correct, experienced politicians know that with the right helpers, vote totals can be "fixed."

b. Wrong. Experienced politicians and political consultants know that b.), total amount of campaign funds can't be underestimated. Any politician facing a formidable candidate will need mountains of cash to get elected (Marcucci v. Pezza Mayoral Race). Politicians need not raise "the dough" themselves since bigger fish may fund you (Marcucci's $6K+ gift to Christopher Healy, Elmhurst Park Board Candidate). Yet campaign funds in unskilled hands may not yield desired results, so b. is not the best answer.

c. Wrong. Come back in 10 years for a retest.

d. Correct. Bling! Bling! Bling! Jackpot!!!!!!!!! Politicians who master the art of the done deal, who control other politicians and bureaucrats to build overscale projects, ultimately tap into an endless stream of resources. Working as a team, you and your confederate foot soldiers may circumvent any rational process, pang of conscience or voter uprising and fool everyone -- almost.

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Top Secret
Tree City Leader invited guests only -- All others Keep Out!

What you are about to view is a trade secret -- a formula discovered by Tree City Leader after an intensive research effort to reconsitute its essential elements. Proceed with caution.

Ready? Here it is

People who will lie, cheat and steal for you = a political Holy Grail

This formula works flawlessly every time, provided no one rats you out or finds God and is especially effective if used in conjunction with an underfunded press claque who depend on you for a living wage.

Do not try this at home.

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Foul or Tip of the Iceberg?

2005-05-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the Moral of the Story:

Using the state payroll to bankroll campaign workers and steering state grants in return for private political benefits is a fraud upon the citizens of Illinois who have a right to expect honest government," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement reported by CBS Chicago's Mike Flannery, May 19, 2005.

Keep in mind, the indicted and the implicated are innocent until proven guilty.

Excerpts from today's Chicago Tribune article, U.S. indicts ex-top aide of Daniels

A onetime chief of staff to former House Republican leader Lee Daniels was indicted on charges he directed state employees to work on numerous contested House campaigns in 1998 and 2000--all while on state time.

The federal indictment, made public Thursday, also charged that Michael Tristano forced a Chicago real estate partnership to put a Downstate GOP House candidate on its payroll even though the candidate was busy campaigning in southern Illinois.

In return, Tristano helped obtain more than $1 million in state funding for a project of the partnership's in suburban Willow Springs, the indictment alleged.

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For his part, Tristano is alleged to have obtained $1.3 million in state funds for a $40 million residential and commercial project being developed in Willow Springs by Heritage Renaissance Partners. Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

It's hard to believe that U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald would be interested in a single measly $1.3 million scheme, though it is clear that he understands his job(see following from above referenced Chicago Tribune article)

Asked by reporters if the allegations didn't amount to business as usual in Illinois politics, Fitzgerald said, "If that's business as usual, anyone who thinks they're going to do that ought to understand they're going to be prosecuted as usual." (emphasis added) Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

Smart, tough, talented and driven, Fitzgerald bears the professional earmarks of a cross between Abraham Lincoln and the Terminator, yet he appears to be fully contemporary and fully flesh and blood. While he may not have the time right now, Fitzgerald has the team to investigate any other suburban $1.3 - $1.5 million dollar residential development scandal.

A few words from a first string player, FBI Special Agent, Robert Grant, as reported by CBS' Mike Flannery

The fundamental question is: Is there something inherently wrong in this state? If it's OK for two politicians to engage in back-scratching and passing money to build projects, and that's OK? That's the same argument drug dealers use every single day, Grant said. CBS Channel 2 News, Chicago, May 19, 2005

Grant didn't say that two politicians engaging in "back-scratching and passing money to build projects" was illegal. Our own supreme moral canon, The Six Pillars of Character Counts, includes nothing on passing money, back-scratching or silent partner deals, though there are specific admonitions to "take turns and share," "get involved in the community," and "cooperate."

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Look at what the Terminator act did for Arnold. Patrick Fitzgerald for governor? Robert Grant for Attorney General?

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For additional details, click on links below to Rich Miller's Capitolfax.blogspot.com

Allegations of Illinois state payroll used to illegally bankroll campaigns

Tristano indictment

City Drinks -- District 205 gets hangover

2005-05-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

In April 2005, three Chicago area communities seeking relief from rapid development passed open space referendums totalling nearly $200 million. Leaders and voters in Will County, Kane County, and Campton Township (in Kane County) understand that residential home growth that outstrips their ability to provide schools and city services is not in the public interest.

Supporters of a $95 million open-space referendum measure in Will County think they have an easy sell with voters, especially the many property owners whose tax bills have skyrocketed in recent years: Approve this measure and save money. Really.

The Will County Forest Preserve District is hoping to buy $82 million worth of land and spend about $13 million to develop the spaces with trails and other amenities.

That would mean an additional 4,000 to 5,000 acres in the fast-growing region would never sprout houses or businesses--which produce more students for the schools and generate more traffic on the roads.

"Open space is the ultimate tax cap," said Brook McDonald, president and chief executive officer of the Conservation Foundation in Naperville, which is spending about $50,000 on a campaign to promote passage of the referendum in Tuesday's election.

"If all you care about are your taxes, support the referendum because it's going to help keep your taxes down in the future," McDonald said.

McDonald said new developments never pay for themselves, as shown by the many school referendum requests for new buildings and teachers to accommodate students who move to the area because of the new houses. (emphasis added)
Chicago Tribune, April 2, 2005, "Will County voters urged to back plan for open space, Supporters call it a way to cap taxes"

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Campton Township, in central Kane, joined the Kane County Forest Preserve District in seeking money to buy more open land as a hedge against development. emphasis added. Chicago Tribune, April 6, 2005

As our top city officials guzzle the wine of overdevelopment, it is the school district and the school children who are suffering the overindulgence. As the city continues to binge on permissive residential zoning for builders, neighboring homeowners are left to address their soggy backyards and flooded basements. Why are the taxpayers and the school children suffering the "hangover" while the builders are permitted to continue unfettered with no impact fees?

The people of Elmhurst love and value children and families, so why didn't our city officials think that they were important enough to educate? Why didn't they comprehend that their lopsided pro-homebuilder policies were ultimately anti-family and anti-children, resulting in an overwhelming load on the Elmhurst Public School System? As Mayor Marcucci was presiding over, even gloating over the biggest Elmhurst residential home building boom since the 1950's, did he ever offer any plan to deal with the impact? At any time during the last twelve years, did elected city officials take responsibility for or attempt to control the rapid population growth in school aged children in our town due to residential expansion?

While you were sleeping
Our children are paying for policies that apparently favored Mayor Marcucci's camarilla of homebuilders, related industry entourage, and politician campaign funds. Without apology, policies of the last twelve years have quietly shifted the financial and political burdens to the Elmhurst School Board. Can we afford to finance politicians' campaign funds with the welfare of our schools? Link to Mayor Marcucci's Campaign Disclosure documents (or scroll down to end of article for a representative sample)

Where's the leadership?
Undoubtedly, the city's undisciplined, sometimes baffling, often questionable development practices and lenient zoning seem now to be like a runaway train, with momentum and consequences that will take strong leadership to reign in and repair. Our refreshing newly reconstituted city council must come up with a reasonable cure -- something between cold turkey and the hair of the dog but it won't be easy

Prior Marcucci administrations' eager encouragement of oversize houses on undersize lots has been popular with builders. In the wild, wild, west town of Elmhurst, builders are striking gold on tiny home lots that would yield commensurate tiny profits in neighboring suburbs like Hinsdale or Oak Brook.

Consider the case of a house (on Hillcrest south of Vallette near the eastern boundary of town) built on a 30 foot-wide lot though Elmhurst City ordinances mandate a minimum 50 foot residential lot width. Built with no zoning hearing and no special approvals, the builder had carte blanche to build just about anything, and did. Are some homebuilders permitted to zone property for themselves as inspectors and building department staff look the other way?

Why do builders’ requests for residential lot subdivision get approved at all? When single residential lots are subdivided into two or more, it is likely that two or more families will live on the same land formerly occuppied by one -- two or more families with children to educate. The unmitigated, uncontrolled growth of single family residential housing not only overwhelms our schools but often swamps existing neighboring homes with water runoff.

Overbuilding is not a victimless crime. Taxpayers pay the price. Children in cramped crowded underfunded schools pay a price. After city politicians burn through District 205's educational acclaim with their school unfriendly policies, seniors and others selling their homes will pay a price.

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The City of Elmhurst's school unfriendly development policies have made matters worse, but such is the legacy of a "whatever you say goes, Boss" city council led by a "development at any cost" mayor and powerful political insiders making deals.

Rather than legislate compensation for District 205’s expanding burden resulting from city sponsored residential overdevelopment, our elected leaders inexplicably exacerbated their financial hardship by extending TIF#1 for an additional twelve years, until 2023. Former City Council members who originally sought TIF#1 in 1986 never intended to use it for the full 23 years, and certainly not for 35,

The city`s costs are to be paid from tax increment financing (TIF), a program authorized by state law in which real estate assessments and state and local sales tax receipts are frozen. This means that the city, its parks, library and schools would forgo receipt of more than $100,000 a year in tax revenue for up to 23 years. A shorter period, perhaps half that, is being considered as the true length of time taxes would be frozen. (emphasis added)
Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1986

If TIF #1 was only intended to last 11.5 years, why did Mayor Marcucci and the former city council agressively pursue the right to TIF us for more than 23 additional years? (Feel free to comment by clicking on the "comment" icon following this post.)

Why worry?
Last spring, the City of Elmhurst and District 205 approved a loosely defined intergovernmental agreement to extend TIF #1 and included "make-whole" payments intended to compensate the schools for related lost tax revenue. The make-whole payments were to be made out of unspent TIF district tax collections or TIF “surplus.” Consider that in the first year of the agreement, only roughly half of the make-whole payment to District 205 came from TIF surplus funds while the other half originated from the city’s general fund and was routed through TIF 2. There simply isn’t enough TIF surplus to cover the make whole payments so, we, the taxpayers of Elmhurst Illinois, regardless of school district boundaries are funding the city’s redevelopment efforts.

Instead of directly capturing the tax revenue related to property value growth in TIF #1, we and District 205, must hope and pray that the City doesn’t overspend the surplus or make poor investments or just give TIF money away unnecessarily as occurred with the $1.5 million dollar giveaway to Block 300 partners whose president stated under oath that he didn’t want the money.

Stop wondering why the City of Elmhurst has increased the costs of just about everything including vehicle stickers, garbage and yard waste stickers, utility taxes, beverage taxes, etc.

View a sample of just one of Mayor Marcucci's Campaign Disclosure Reports

Committee to Elect Thomas D Marcucci Mayor
D-2 Semi-Annual Report 1/1/2003 - 6/30/2003
Itemized Individual Contributions

Davy Builders Inc.
716 Howard
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Doyle Builders Inc.
599 Swain
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Hillview Custom Homes- Jerry Campbell
1232 Ashley Lane
Addison, IL 60101
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Island Masonry Inc.
10621 S. Kostner
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/24/2003

J.J. Doherty Builders Inc.
175 S. Kenilworth
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Julrich Homes Inc.
421 S. West Avenue
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

K. Adams Builders
132 Chandler
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Kurash Builders
711 Fairview
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$250.00 on 4/10/2003

Mac Cormac Partners
533 Division
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

McDaid Construction
941 E. Crest
Addison, IL 60101
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

McGovern Builders Inc.
554 Oaklawn
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

MLR Construction Inc.
1054 S. York #2B
Bensenville, IL 60106
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Morrissey Builders Inc.
620 Willow
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Rob-Lynn Construction Co. Inc.
12 E. Willow
Lombard, IL 60148
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Sun Construction Building Corp.
638 Sunnyside
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Swilly Inc.
386 Highview
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

T.E. McKenna
533 Division
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Tree Top Construction Inc.
380 Oak
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Wise Investment Builders
622 Hillcrest
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Individual Contribution
$500.00 on 3/18/2003

Johnny can't count to 10 - Give him aprons

2005-05-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on May 13, 2005

More than 100,000 students at 544 high schools across the United States were surveyed in a study funded by the Knight Foundation about liberties the First Amendment provides. The $1 million study found that three out of four students have no real opinion on the First Amendment and that 35 percent of teens believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. Copyright© May 12, 2005, The Doings

Link to full story Study shows teens take rights for granted

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, are the foundation of our freedom and our way of life. Why don't our children understand our most basic and exceptional rights?

Why do we pour into exhibits of Jackie O's ballgowns and other pedestrian displays of historic ordinary living? As Elmhurst residents we should ask, how is our own Elmhurst Historical Museum more than an expensive frivolous taxpayer-funded psuedo-intellectual boondoggle.

How does the Elmhurst Historical Museum's recent All about Aprons display figure in the character and educational formation of young minds in a democratic republic? Our schools are in trouble and our elected leaders think that we should consider spending $8-$12 million on a virtual toy and cultural artifact time-capsule.

What teacher, faced with choosing only one field trip a year, would choose this? Particularly when the pressure to perform on state mandated tests looms. And when responsible teachers in Illinois care about delivering the best to their students.

Ponder our immense responsibility to educate Elmhurst children and the scarce resources available to fulfill it. After a visit to the Elmhurst Historical Museum, will our kids understand how omninous the following statement is?

They (La Prensa) accused us of suppressing freedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it. Nelba Blandon, Nicaraguan Interior Ministry Director of Censorship, on freedom of speech as quoted in New York Times, 1984.

Link to Copley First Amendment Center's First Amendment History

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The Wilder Mansion public input meetings sought attendees' blessings to move the Elmhurst Historical Museum to Wilder. Yet attendees who favored moving the EHM to the Wilder Mansion were then informed that it was an inadequate space for the Museum, just as inadequate as its current home, the Glos Mansion. What a shame. The old building just won't suffice. But surely the Wilder Mansion can be preserved anyway, right?

The Wilder Mansion Smear Campaign
In 2003, after much paid study and analysis, contractors, architects and other experts openly proclaimed that the Wilder Mansion was a solid old building and appropriate for adaptive re-use. Apparently the experts missed something in 2003 (and also back in 2000) because they have completely changed their opinions.

Three years ago, life-safety improvements to the Wilder Mansion were estimated at $250,000 but without explanation the current estimate is now $3,500,000. The experts are now disparaging Wilder Mansion's condition. What has gone on to radically change expert opinion?

Consider, the people who care most about the Wilder Mansion are the contractors and architects who will earn generous profits on a cost-plus style new construction contract (with construction risks assumed by City and Park District NOT the contractors)for a new Wilder building and concomitant parking deck in the new Wilder Museum Campus (nee Park). And of course the politicians who will catch those downstream campaign contributions. Do you care more than they?

What about the 10-year moratorium on Wilder Mansion demolition?
Intergovernmental agreements and international treaties are subject to change without notice -- unilaterally. The 10-year moratorium on Wilder Mansion demolition was a useful public relations device to persuade Wilder Mansion loyalists to vote for the new Library Referendum four years ago. Now that the new Library is built, the demolition moratorium for the Wilder Mansion has no political value. Moreover, eliminating the moratorium and paving the way for a new building could have CASH value for the experts involved and the politicians downstream.

Pleasing taxpayers and Wilder Mansion sentimentalists won't fatten a politicians election campaign war chest. Besides, taxpayers and voters are easily manipulated with the latest press release and whisper campaigns and rarely have the time or interest to connect the dots. Taxpayers may grumble about Elmhurst's lost heritage and Wilder Mansion and threaten not to vote for the offending politicians next time. (Yawn, stretch)

Time for a new public relations effort to demolish the Wilder Mansion and vacate the Glos Mansion. In a couple of years the cycle will be repeated for the Glos Mansion.

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It's time to exercise your first amendment rights before the Wilder Mansion is demolished and your pocketbook is routed again --before your tax dollars finance a very expensive and mediocre cultural gamble.

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Why not all day kindergarten at the Elmhurst Historical Museum?

Got Free Elections?

2005-05-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

We, the people of the United States of America, have taught the world about representative government. Do we need to go back and read our own books? Have we lost touch with what makes our country great? The freedoms we enjoy were bought with courage, human lives, and personal sacrifice. Do you love your country enough to stand up for free and open elections or are you just cashing in on the land of opportunity? Does Character really Count?

"Free and fair elections require rules that require party representatives to maintain a distance from polling places on election day — election officials, volunteer poll workers, and international monitors may assist voters with the voting process but not the voting choice." US State Department Link to Principles of Democracy - Free and Fair Elections

On Tuesday, April 5 at 6 a.m. Elmhurst began casting votes for mayor, city council, school board and park board. Most polling places hummed along according the the rules set forth by the DuPage Election Commission.

Every polling place is subject to the authority of Election Judges who are appointed and confirmed by the Circuit Court. Polling places are staffed by at least one judge from the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties. Though Elmhurst municipal elections are non-partisan, the republican and democratic parties both fielded slates of candidates for Township government offices.

Candidates may appoint Election Pollwatchers who are permitted to observe the voting process. Pollwatchers are not to interfere with the election judges or the voters in any way. Electioneering, or campaigning inside a polling place where voting is taking place is strictly prohibited. (See excerpts from the DuPage County Election Commission Pollwatcher Guide at the end of this article.)

But according to some reports, Mr. Q., a pollwatcher at Lexington Square, apparently did far more than simply observe. Information is trickling in from eyewitnesses and Lexington Square residents about a pattern of vote fraud at Lexington Square that may have been going for years.

The Allegations

Mr. Q. provided the voters at Lexington Square with a sample ballot indicating who to vote for in the following contested races and the Salt Creek School District Funding Referendum.

Mayor - Thomas Marcucci
Ward 7 Alderman - Charles Mueller
Park District Commissioner - Christopher Healy
Referendum for Salt Creek School District - YES

Providing a sample ballot promoting certain candidates is perfectly legal -- no problem there, but Mr. Q handed out his sample ballot at the entry door to the polling place room, a textbook example of illegal electioneering.

After voters received their ballots from the York Township Precint 32 (Lexington Square) election judges, Mr. Q. helped the voters. In some cases Mr. Q. marked the voters' ballots so that the voters would know who to vote for. In many cases, Mr. Q. assisted the voters by looking over their shoulders as they were voting. If voters made a move with their pens to vote for the wrong candidate, Mr. Q., would say something like, 'I don't think you want to do that.'

Many Lexington Square voters could not stand while voting and were seated at an open banquet table where Mr. Q. could be of better assistance. The handicapped voting booths provided by the DuPage Election Commission were not used.

Some Lexington Square residents reported that in the past, Mr. Q. customarily helped many residents shade ballot ovals for the candidates he preferred.

Reportedly, though other pollwatchers objected to Mr. Q.'s electioneering and vote tampering, the election judges did nothing to stop him. In fact, according to one report, when Mr. Q. stopped helping voters, an election judge took over helping out, making sure that Lexington Square voters did not make wrong choices on their ballots.

Finally, late morning on Tuesday, April 5 a representative from the State's Attorney's office arrived after repeated phone calls for help were placed to the State's Attorney and the DuPage Election Commission. And, a fifth election judge was added to keep the remaining polling fair and honest.

Guess what happened next? Mr. Q. stopped helping. And the State's Attorney observed no wrongdoing. But of course by that time many at Lexington Square had voted. Voters stopped coming down to the polling place. After Mr. Q. decided to stop helping, the voters stopped coming. Why?

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Many Lexington Square voters are not all that interested in voting in the municipal elections. In 2003, approximately 36% of the registered voters turned out to vote in the local elections. Was there anything that might have rallied voter participation on Tuesday, April 5?

As one elderly woman sat in her wheelchair, she said that she only wanted to vote because she was encouraged to vote "YES" for the Salt Creek School Referendum and she "wanted to help out the school kids." Similar statements were made by other Lexington Square voters. Oddly enough the Salt Creek school referendum was on the back of the ballot which was not shown to the voters by their helpers.

Were voters rallied for a record turnout, one that would assure a landslide victory for Mr. Q's preferred candidates? Were the 973 registered voters in Precinct 32 urged to turn out like never before to vote to do something good to help children? Or were some voters motivated by the prize drawings they could enter with their voting stub?

There are reports that as the polling place was packing up, the defeated Ward 7 alderman appeared very surprised by his Lexington Square vote tallies. According to unverified reports, he exclaimed in a loud voice, "What Happened!" If true, was he was hoping for a better turnout -- a bigger, even more favorable turnout, that would overtake Donna Lomnicki's strong showing in every other Ward 7 precinct?

The candidates that did not get special recognition and help from Mr. Q. actually did receive some votes from able bodied voters who resisted Mr. Q's help. And it is not totally impossible that some infirmed voters may have chosen Mr. Q.'s candidates even absent electioneering interference.

Following is the official vote tally from York Township Precinct 32 which consists primarily of Lexington Square

Mayor (vote for 1)
Votes
262 Thomas Marcucci
102 Paula Pezza
----
162 = Vote Margin gained by Marcucci from Lexington Square

Without Lexington's vote margin, Marcucci's city-wide win over Pezza shrinks to 539 votes.

Ward 7 Alderman (vote for 1)
Votes
217 Charles Mueller
121 Donna Lomnicki
----
96 = Vote Margin gained by Charles Mueller from Lexington Square.

After Ward 7 votes were counted Lomnicki defeated Mueller anyway.

Elmhurst Park Commissioner (vote for 1)
Votes
not Christopher Healy
yet Mark William Daniel
available
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Vote Margin gained by Christopher Healy from Lexington Square

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If the reports of Mr. Q.'s election interference in York Precinct 32 are true, a crime against the people and against our free and open elections was committed.

Perhaps the State's Attorney investigator (a respected former Elmhurst Police Department employee)has more important cases to solve. Perhaps he didn't find any evidence of wrongdoing, especially since the illegal activity stopped once he arrived. Maybe vote fraud and tampering in Elmhurst is just not important to the investigator's superiors. Will this case just wither away as the statute of limitations on prosecution runs out? Will the Illinois' State's Attorney ask, too, "What Happened??!!!!" What do you think?

After the 2000 presidential election, some locals quickly latched onto sensationalistic national news stories of Florida election improprieties. And many have still not moved on. Even after the investigations and the finger pointing stopped, many harboured a simmering outrage. Where is that outrage today, in our own city, not some remote county across the country or on another continent? THIS is where democracy lives or shrivels up and dies -- right here.

Link to other Election and Voting posts below

Voter Fraud Watch

Character except when it Counts

Link to DuPage County Election Commission

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DuPage County Board of Elections Pollwatchers Guide (excerpts from p. 4)

Instruction
Instruction, is explaining to the voter (in full view of everyone in the polling place) how to properly cast a vote or write-in. Where voting machines are used, a voter must request instruction to receive it.

Any instruction that might be required should be given before the voter enters the booth. However, if a voter requests instruction after entering the booth, the judge should instruct the voter in full view of everyone in the polling place. A demonstrator ballot, not the voter's official ballot, should be used during the instruction.

Assistance
Assistance, is the actual casting of a vote for the voter by specified persons in the privacy of the voting booth. Assistance is given only upon the voters request and after the voter completes the appropriate affidavit. In every instance of assistnace, both the voter receiving the assistance and the persons(s) giving the assistance, must sign the appropriate affidavit.

Only two groups of voters may be given assistance: the illiterate voter and the disabled voter. If assistance is given, the voters Application for Ballot must be marked at the bottom on the appropriate square.

Assistance is alway given in the secrecy of the boting booth. Anyone giving assistance, must cast the vote as directed by the voter and shall not provide anyone with information as to how the vote was cast.

Assisting the Physically Disabled Voter
A physically disabled voter is a registered, qualified voter who is physically unable to cast their ballot or is blind.

A physically disabled person may be assisted by any person of their(sic) choice, including a friend or relative, or by two judges, one from each political party.

More to Come - Look for an update on the Lexington Square Park Board Race Vote Tally as it becomes available

Ties that Bind? and International Treaties

2005-05-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

"We know some residents are unhappy with just how much power he (Marcucci) has over the council and we think bringing in new blood will loosen what some see as his chokehold over the city" Thursday, March 17, 2005, The Doings

"What's going on in Elmhurst with city leaders being related to each other...? Dorie Kahler, in a letter to the editor, published in The Doings Newspaper, Thursday, March 24, 2005.

Valid points?

In her letter to the editor, Ms. Kahler specifically mentioned perceived conflicts of interest related to last year's TIF extension votes and the upcoming Wilder Mansion decisions.

Though Elmhurst's population exceeds 45,000, good public officials/appointees must be hard to find. A farfetched and untested theory posits a "public official" gene that practically guarantees an inborn talent for government. Perhaps the government gene works to ensure that gene carriers marry only other carriers.

Once an appointing official finds an individual of abundant talent within a family, why would he take chances and accept less than someome of proven pedigree or relationship? Would it make any sense at all to ask Donald Trump's kids, or either of his ex-wives or current wife, to swing from a trapeze? Or a family of trapeze artists to build casinos? So, certainly you see how wrong-headed it would be to bring outsiders, without the special talent for government, into the Elmhurst government leadership mix. Such a thing would only cause TROUBLE.

You might notice that the biggest troublemakers in Elmhurst government, labeled as "naysayers" by the mayor's faithful, are the politicians that don't have ANY business or family relationship with other government leaders. Perhaps ambitious university social scientists (or law enforcement professionals or serious journalists) could make a nice study of those variables for their professors.

What's a trivial consecrated "til death do us part relationship" among public officials and members of Character Counts?

The Elmhurst Politics Family Ties

The Vanek Family
Frank Vanek, appointed by the mayor to the Elmhurst Library Board (President.) Voted to extend the TIF.
Janice Vanek, Ward 2 Alderman, Chmn. Finance Committee, involved in TIF decisions. Voted to extend the TIF.

The Kubiesa Family
Colette Kubiesa, Elmhurst Park Commissioner. Voted to extend the TIF.
Ken Kubiesa, Elmhurst City Attorney (appointed by the mayor, not an elected official but bills the city for legal fees, drafts TIF, intergovernmental and other agreements).

The Jordan Family
Catherine Jordan, School Board Member, until recently. Voted to extend the TIF.
Phil Jordan, Ward 5 Alderman. Voted to extend the TIF.

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History Lesson
the Value of International Treaties & Intergovernmental Agreements
They're only good until one party wants your assets!

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, also known as the Hitler-Stalin pact or Nazi-Soviet pact, was a non-aggression treaty between Germany and Russia signed in August, 1939. The non-aggression treaty lasted until Operation Barbarossa, June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Similarly, Elmhurst historians might be writing something like:

The June, 2000 intergovernmental agreement between the City of Elmhurst and the Elmhurst Park District, was a land and property exchange between the Park District and the City of Elmhurst whereby the Elmhurst Park District received the City's old library building, surrounding land (Wilder Mansion and 1960's addition) and code improvements in return for open space at the North end of Wilder Park. This intergovernmental agreement lasted until the City wanted the old library land and building to house the Elmhurst Historical Museum.

Early in Operation Barbarossa, Hitler reportedly said

"We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down."

Is the Elmhurst Historical Museum takeover of the Wilder Park property a fait accompli? Will the Elmhurst Park District Board "come crashing down?"

Take heart in Hitler's ambivalence shortly after moving ahead with Operation Barbarossa,

At the beginning of each campaign one pushes a door into a dark, unseen room. One can never know what is hiding inside."

You, the good people of Elmhurst, should not hide. Operation Barbarossa was fought with blood and guts. Operation Wilder Mansion will be quietly won with no opposition in Park District board rooms, City Council chambers and attorney's offices. Make your move before your asset is GONE.

How TIF becomes Law for a Municipality

2005-05-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tax Increment Financing Districts are established when the state legislature passes a law establishing a municipality’s TIF. At the request of the mayor and city council (elected officials), local Illinois legislators (more elected officials) from the town’s district usually sponsor the Bill and guide it through the lawmaking process of committees and readings, etc.

The legislators, who vote on TIF Bills in Springfield, look for Letters of Support from the most likely objectors, other “overlapping” taxing districts. If these letters of support are provided, local legislators will sponsor the town's TIF law. Generally, both chambers of the legislature (elected officials from every district in Illinois) will not pass a TIF without these Letters of Support, however, they will never reject a TIF if the letters of support have been given. TIF extensions, customarily 12 years, are similarly granted.

Elmhurst residents pay property taxes to many taxing districts that overlap in the town. Your property tax bill shows that in addition to paying taxes to the City of Elmhurst, you are charged additional amounts for the School District, Park District, Public Library*, College of DuPage, DuPage County and a few others -- these are the "overlapping" or "overlying" or "underlying" taxing districts or taxing "bodies" as they are sometimes called.

Because none of the taxing bodies (School District, Park District, etc. (run by elected officials) objected to last year’s TIF extension, it sped through the Illinois House and Senate with no hitches. Think about this next time you vote. Think about how much it is costing you to keep the representation that you have both locally and in Springfield. Can you financially afford to to re-elect these people?

* The Library District Board is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council, not elected by you the taxpayers.

Expressions of Loyalty -- Part 2 Cold Cash

2005-04-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

Obligatory expressions of loyalty (see links to blog entries below) can take many forms. Very public displays like ingratiating speeches, letters to the editor and fawning news articles are not for everyone. Some prefer writing a low-key well-timed check.

Link to Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign Disclosure Search

View all of the documents filed for any political committee by clicking on "Filed Documents" available on the page showing "The Last 4 Documents Filed"

View previous blog postings in the series

Link to Expressions of Loyalty - Part 1, April 15, 2005.

Character Counts -- The Courage to do what is Right

2005-04-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Illinois State Trooper Michale Callahan had the courage to do what was right and worked to find the real killers of a Paris, Illinois couple. Choosing the right thing came at a cost. Does Character really Count?

Today, the Chicago Tribune reported that former Illinois State Police Lt. Michale Callahan won his civil rights trial and should receive $680,000 in punitive and compensatory damages from the State of Illinois.

While re-investigating the 1986 double murder of a Paris, Illinois couple, Karen and Dyke Rhoads, Callahan followed a trail of clues leading to a prominent Paris businessman described by one of his superiors as "too politically sensitive" to pursue. This businessman had "donated thousands of dollars to the re-election campaigns of former Gov. George Ryan and former Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan.(Chicago Tribune, April 29, 2005)"

During a high-level State Police case review meeting in January, 2003, Callahan shared details of his murder investigation and was subsequently reassigned to patrol duty.

Two men were serving sentences for the double murder. One of them has been released and the other looks forward to a new trial.

Callahan said that as part of his oath as a state police officer, he vowed to make sure innocent people were not kept in jail. (Chicago Tribune, April 29, 2005)

Clearly Callahan took his oath as a police officer very seriously,

"This is not communist China," Callahan said after Wednesday's verdict. "We don't leave innocent people in prison because of political pressure, and that's what happened in this case." (Chicago Tribune, April 29, 2005)

Link to Illinois State Police Oath

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If you want to know the law and nothing else, you must look at it as a bad man, who cares only for the material consequences which such knowledge enables him to predict, not as a good one, who finds his reasons for conduct, whether inside the law or outside of it, in the vaguer sanctions of conscience. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., The Path of the Law, 10 Harvard Law Review 457 (1897)

Who wouldn't agree that murder is the most serious offense? Nothing should obstruct justice in a murder case. Officer Callahan's case illustrates that if you have the right friends you can obstruct even a murder investigation, possibly get away with murder. And if your "fall guys" do get caught, the people of the State of Illinois, will pay the penalty for your corruption!

Against the backdrop of the Callahan case, is it panglossian to expect something as "trivial" as elected officials' abuse of the public trust to be prosecuted? Have we become a nation of men and not laws?

The only thing separating Elmhurst, Illinois from Paris, Illinois is 210 miles.

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Thank you to all of the public servants and elected officials who serve honorably -- God be with you.

"And, hey, let's be careful out there." Sgt Jablonski, Hill Street Blues (1980's TV Drama)

TIF Suite of Information Links

2005-04-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Elmhurst Unites for a great program last night on Tax Increment Finance. Following are some links from the program handout.

The Neighborhood Capital Budget Group TIF Information

Illinois Tax Increment Association

Citizen Advocacy Center TIF Brochure

Policy Research Action Group

The Heartland Institute (search on TIF)

Metropolitan Planning Council

The Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Economic Developmentby Dye and Merriman

Tax Increment Financing prepared by Prof. Craig Johnson, PhD, Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Robinson and Cole Law Firm, Boston

Call (217)333-6634 and ask for a copy of“Using Tax Increment Financing, April 15,1997 " (Illinois TIF Laws amended 1999, however, videotape is still applicable today.) handling fee may apply

If you have a link to add to the above list, email it to treecityleader@yahoo.com

Click on the envelope icon below to email the above information to friends

Character Counts! -- the signs say so

2005-04-26T03:56:00.000-07:00

City of Elmhurst staff members and elected officials are considering putting Character Counts! signs at some of the town's entry points
Elmhurst Doings Newspaper, Thursday, April 14, 2005

There are people who think that honesty is always the best policy. This is a superstition. There are times when the appearance of it is worth six of it.
Mark Twain, Following the Equator

One sign appeared just east of the Chocolate Moon coffee shop near the front of the Elmhurst Police Station. It looks like something the PTA might make in a garage out of a twin bed headboard. Yet the sign's value trancends its shabby unattractive manifestation, planted haphazardly but conspicuously among the benches and other signs. It is a monument to our personal ethical failings and not really related to any attempts to transfer the best in human nature to the next generation.

Character Counts! may be most influential with the adults and corrupt community leaders who are obsessed with promoting it to children. For many it may be the only road left to redemption. Thank God for Character Counts! since without it we would have a total moral vacuum. It is a concrete and touchable absolution for our moral mistakes especially the ones for which we will never attone or admit or face.

Character Counts! is the alibi, the cover story and the ethical shield for some of its promoters. It is a public relations baptismal font for tarnished political reputations and the occasional pang of conscience. The increasing the size and number of Character Counts signs and news stories seem to signal that the corrupt are looking for a place to hide.

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A very very dear friend once told me that God was more interested in "our character" than "our comfort."

Doing the right thing often comes at a price. Doing the right thing does not mean that you will be popular at cocktail parties, get that promotion or make millions of dollars -- sometimes just the opposite. That's why Character Counts is such a hard sell-- most of the time there is NO temporal payoff.

Mature people know that anything worthwhile comes at a price. Character Counts will start to resonate with children when adults around them walk like they talk -- especially when its costs them.

Character Counts! is both valiant and pathetic. In a secular world stripped of a true ultimate moral authority, it is the best we can do. In a community dotted by churches and youth ministries and Sunday services, and GOD, at this point in time, Character Counts! is the most we can do without offending anyone.

So, as the platitudes of Character Counts bounce and echo all around us on signs and in literature, is anyone bothering to live and lead as though Character really Counts?

Try these for one day, just for starters:

Telling the truth all day long -- no white lies
Expecting your children to tell the truth
Not asking your children/spouse/family member to lie or pretend for you
Making your kid accountable for not following through
Coming clean with where you live and who you are

For these you will need God's help. Ask.

Additional Highlights of Elmhurst's Building Code

2005-04-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that contractors are REQUIRED to hose down demolition sites, pay for damage to public (sidewalks, streets driveway aprons) and private property?

Did you know that builders who don't comply with Elmhurst building laws can be refused the right to do ANY other work in Elmhurst (in addition to other penalties).

Highlights of AMENDMENTS
To the ICC International Residential Code 2003 Edition
GENERAL AMENDMENTS

(Some sections ommitted -- click on link at right above for full ordinance on the City of Elmhurst's website)

2. Conflicts
Whenever two codes are in conflict, the more stringent requirement shall govern.
Exception - The prescriptive requirements of Chapter 11 in the IRC are optional. The energy efficiency requirements for the City of Elmhurst shall be, as amended (see #62 Energy Efficiency).

3. Permit - Required, Duration, Exempt
A permit is required, and must be obtained before any work may commence. A building permit shall expire one year after the date of issuance for single-family residences, townhomes or any other structure covered under the International Residential Code 2003. Fences and sheds must be completed within 30 days of the start of construction.

3a. Permit Drawings – Architect’s Seal
All drawings submitted for permit shall bear the seal of the Architect’s license as well as his signature and the expiration date of his license. Other drawings shall bear the seal and same information of the design professional who prepared them, such as the Structural Engineer, Civil Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Professional Engineer, etc. as applicable. (Every Sheet)(2 sets required)

5. City’s Right to Draw On Bond
($1,000.00 as refundable cash bond with Public Works)
The City of Elmhurst shall have the right at all times, at its option, to draw on the contractors bond for the costs, including but without limitation for legal fees, administrative expenses - for damage to neighbor’s property or damage to city property – for undertaking any work in violation of the code or for refusing to complete work authorized by any permit. Also, if the contractor refuses to correct work that is in violation of any code, the bond shall be collected to correct and remedy the code violation.

6. Replenishment of Bond
If the City of Elmhurst draws on the contractor’s bond, then the contractor shall replenish the bond to the full amount. If the “Amount to Remedy” exceeded the amount of the bond, the contractor shall also “Make Whole” the amount of the difference required to the party affected, either the City of Elmhurst or other persons or entity. Failure to replenish the bond and financially “Make Whole” the affected party, shall result in one or all of the following:
• A Stop Work Order
• Cancellation of the Permit
• Refusal of an Occupancy Permit
• Refusal by the City to Issue Transfer Tax Stamps
• Refusal to Issue the Contractor Any Other New Permit
• Refusal for Said Contractor to do Any Other Work Within the City of Elmhurst

7. Damage to Property
No person engaged in any work pursuant to a permit shall injure damage or destroy any property, public or private, not owned by such person. In the event property is injured, damaged or destroyed, the general contractor shall be responsible for the damage and shall promptly repair and restore the damaged property at his own expense. The general contractor or applicant acting as a general contractor shall be responsible for all of the sub-contractors actions and shall be responsible for all of the work in its entirety including means, methods and techniques of construction.

8. Safeguards
The General Contractor or applicant acting as a general contractor shall be responsible for safety on, in, near and around the job site. All persons undertaking work pursuant to a permit issued by the City of Elmhurst shall exercise proper care for the safety of all persons and property.

10. Demolitions
Whenever a building is demolished, the contractor shall be required to provide dust abatement by hosing down the structure with water, during the demolition. The penalty for failing to hose down the demolition, shall be $500.00. The demolition contractor shall not be issued a subsequent demolition permit until the fine is paid.

In Defense of Responsible Builders

2005-04-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Tree City Leader thanks the builders who approach their business responsibly and profitably by

building homes that enhance our community
abiding by city ordinances thoughout the building process. See code of conduct text below or link to the City of Elmhurst's Builder Code of Conduct (go to page 14, item #26).
cooperating and consulting with neighbors where possible
not building the same house over and over and over
by building homes that won't overload the drainage capacities of the site and neighborhood

Help Tree City Leader champion the best builders by commenting below or emailing your true stories of neighbor/builder cooperation, respect for zoning codes and conduct ordinances. Let's give the "other" builders an example to follow.

Email TreeCityLeader@yahoo.com

City of Elmhurst - R-11 Site Requirements
(emphasis added)

All sites shall have a Code of Conduct Sign clearly posted. All construction sites shall have the following and comply with the following.

a) Approved portable sanitation facility maintained in an approved manner on site.

b) All contractor/service providers and other persons associated with a construction project shall restrict the parking of vehicles to one side of the street. Do not park vehicles on the public parkway or blocking the public sidewalk.

c) Keep public walks clear and passable. Maintain sidewalk area with compacted gravel as necessary throughout the duration of construction, so that it is safe for pedestrians to walk on.

d) Sidewalks shall not be blocked with parked vehicles. Concrete trucks or delivery vehicles may block the sidewalks for a short period of time while they are placing concrete or delivering materials.

e) Do not place or store materials on the public parkway.

f) For new homes, keep tree protection in place and properly constructed at all times. The contractor may be required to install tree protection, when deemed necessary by the Building Official, for home “additions”.

g) Provide a dumpster for all trash and discarded building materials, or keep the trash or scrap building materials contained inside of the building. The maximum length of time that a dumpster may be on site is 6 months. After 6 months, all garbage and debris shall be placed in a 6 yard dumpster which shall be located inside the garage, or the garbage and debris shall be placed in trash receptacles located inside the house.

h) Maintain streets and sidewalks free of mud. The General Contractor shall be responsible to clean up large clumps of mud, immediately, as trucks or other vehicles leave the site. ($100.00 fine for each occurrence.)

i) On all new construction sites, the designed area for the driveway shall be graveled from the back of the curb to the garage entry. Gravel shall be in place immediately after the foundation is backfilled. This gravel is a sacrificial base for use during construction. More gravel shall be added as appropriate during construction to assist in keeping the site and the public streets clean. Additional gravel shall be added to meet appropriate requirements for the pre-pour driveway inspection. The driveway width for a two car garage may be 18’-0” wide and the approach at the curb may be 24’-0” wide.

j) Spot Survey Required
The City requires that the builder of a new single family home submit a certificate of elevation and a spot survey after the pouring of the foundation and that those documents be reviewed and approved by the City prior to any framing work being started on the structure. The certificate of elevation shall be on a form approved by the City and shall contain, as a minimum, all pertinent elevations (and their relative locations for stepped foundations). The spot survey shall indicate the dimension from the foundation to all property lines. In both cases, these documents shall be signed and sealed by either a Professional Engineer or a Registered Land Surveyor and shall contain verbiage indicating that the foundation has been installed in accordance with the site plan submitted and approved by the City.

k) Neighbor property: The General Contractor is responsible for controlling the sub-contractors and the project as a whole. No person shall trespass on a neighbor’s property, without their permission. Do not damage neighbor’s property. The General Contractor shall be responsible to restore any damage to neighbor’s property, or compensate that neighbor for damage to his property, regardless of which subcontractor or service provided actually did the damage.

l) All street closings shall be properly barricaded, have signs and/or a flagman, according to policy set forth by the Department of Public Works.

m) Landscaping: The minimum requirement for landscaping is that the front yard, side yards and parkway shall be sod, and the rear may be seeded. The entire property may be seeded, if the work is performed by a professional landscaper.

n) Keep erosion measures in place.

o) No open fires or burning, except for heating sand for mortar.

p) Obey work hours: Monday through Saturday 7 am – 6 pm Sundays & Holidays 10 am – 6 pm

q) Window Well Drains and Perimeter Drainage
All window wells shall have adequate drainage installed. A drain pipe of not less than 4 inches in diameter, shall be connected to a tee fitting, incorporated with the building foundation footing drain tile system A perimiter drain with leaders from window wells, is always required at basements. A 4 inch diameter perimeter drain tile at footing shall be set on a minimum of 2 inches of stone and covered with a minimum of 6 inches of stone. The total height of the stone used shall be 12 inches minimum. (2”+4”+6”=12”). The top of the tile must be below the top of the footing.

TIF Extension Redux -- one year later

2005-04-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

"Elmhurst Unit District 205 will receive $45,000 less than expected from last year's deal with the city of Elmhurst, but an increase in new growth in the community will balance out the loss." Elmhurst Doings Newspaper, Thursday, April 21, 2005

District 205 is getting what it would have gotten anyway from new growth (property taxes on new construction) but $45,000 less than originally estimated from the intergovermental agreement on TIF in return for sacrificing its right and control over tax revenue from the downtown TIF district. (Perhaps Block 300 Partners could chip in $45,000 for District 205 since they didn't use the City of Elmhurst's $280,000 TIF handout earmarked for stormwater detention.)

"There was no guarantee that the city would make up the difference if the estimate was too high or that the school district would have to pay the city if (the estimate) was too low," said (Marilyn) Gaston. "These were estimates. Everyone understood that." Marilyn Gaston, City of Elmhurst Director of Finance, Elmhurst Doings Newspaper, Thursday, April 21, 2005

"Everyone" may have understood (let's hope) that the TIF surplus distributions related to the school's support for the TIF extension were estimated but nobody cared except for David Carlquist, Marta Davy and Susan DeRonne.

Doesn't Gaston's rhetorical suggestion that District 205 might ever pay the City seem ridiculous? So, when the city's TIF #1 is short, the schools "eat" the shortfall, but when the city's TIF surplus exceeds estimates, the city takes the excess away from the schools. So, District 205's intergovernmental cooperation, in agreeing to extend TIF#1, actually means that the schools must assume the TIF underperformance or mismanagement risks without rights to any upside? Is this the deal? Seems rather one-sided. Where's the "make-whole" spirit of the original deal?

"Palmere and city finance director Marilyn Gaston both said the city has no responsibility to cover the difference." Elmhurst Doings Newspaper, Thursday, April 21, 2005

The City of Elmhurst completely controls TIF disbursements -- a rather omninous reality. If the City invests TIF money unwisely, missteps, hits on hard times or otherwise hiccups, so do the schools. Next time you see Michael LoCicero, Catherine Jordan, Penelope O'Neill and David Lindberg remember to thank them for subordinating the School Board and District 205 school funding to the City of Elmhurst's control.

When evaluating the city administration's fitness to manage tax increment financing districts. Ask yourselves a couple of questions related to the public record,

Exactly, how was Elmhurst's tax base was expanded when the City Council and Mayor authorized giving Block 300 partners $1.3 million dollars (on top of permissive zoning) even though the President of Block 300 partners said he didn't want the money and would build the development with or without the incentive payments?
How was the tax base expanded by a $280,000 payment earmarked for stormwater detention on the Block 300 site since the developer is using the underpass, your city street, for stormwater detention? Seems like maybe Block 300 should have paid us.

What is the efficacy of these payments and how do they make our community stronger? If this were your money, would you invest like this? TIF money is taxpayer money -- your money.

****************************************************************

Remember that the Library District, Park District and other smaller taxing bodies, e.g., College of DuPage, DuPage County, et al, won't be receiving their full estimated TIF surplus distribution, either. You, the taxpayers of Elmhurst, are paying more to support all of these taxing bodies. The property tax levies for every taxing body could have been lower if the TIF weren't siphoning funds.

As a lump sum, the total TIF surplus shortfall amount is a big number. Politicians are good at referring only to the chopped up TIF distributions to individual taxing bodies. Viewed in isolation $45,000 may not seem like much. Yet the cumulative impact of the total TIF surplus shortfall/distribution on a homeowner's total tax bill could be quite significant.

More importantly, once politicians get their hands on YOUR money via increased tax levies, you can count on more of the same forever. These increased levies can masquarade as "lower taxes" as total property values rise (tax base expansion) resulting in a lower tax "rate." A lower tax rate does not mean you are paying a smaller tax bill.

In the case of schools, an expanded tax base can be the underlying reason more funding is needed. As families build new homes and new families fill their previous homes, the schools have more children to educate. This is an IMPACT of residential re-development. The builders who are profiteering from the city's permissive zoning approach are not paying for the impact, YOU are!

While you continue paying for the impact of the City of Elmhurst's permissive zoning, will you have a voice in the type of development you want in your neighborhoods and downtown? As you are footing the bill for the additional strain on government services, are your elected city officials doing anything to protect your assets and quality of life? Are you being overtaxed and underrepresented?

Take a few moments to ponder this and then remember the sacrifices and the blood shed to make the USA a democratic republic. The big issues of government and our way of life are decided are right here in Elmhurst -- right in City Hall.

Parker -- Elmhurst as "poster child" for "dormant" suburb "revived"

2005-04-20T04:28:00.000-07:00

Click on title above to read "Revisionist History or Clever Fable," posted March 30, 2005. Elmhurst was never "dormant."

"We've heard the mayor say this many times." Alderman Jim Parker during his farewell City Council address, commenting on the non-existent Chicago Tribune's reports of Elmhurst as a dying suburb.

The "dead" "dying" "rust-belt" characterizations of 1993 Elmhurst never appeared in the Chicago Tribune's September, 1993 series of articles or anywhere else for that matter. Yet at least one politician continued perpetuating this sub-urban legend even as he breathed his political last at Monday night's City Council meeting.

Parker said the job entailed hard work, but he took pride in helping revive the city from being a "poster child" for dormant suburbs to one of the region's highest-rated communities. "The results have convinced me it was worth the effort," Parker said. (emphasis added)
Chicago Tribune, April 20, 2005

The mayor gave Aldermen Noffs, Mueller, Parker and Tebbe a warm send-off, even declaring his "undying affection, friendship and respect" for them. The City of Elmhurst gifted them with rocking chairs, a symbol of retirement and an apropos place to rest their political ambitions.

Will Mueller, Parker and Tebbe finally stop campaigning for the aldermanic races they lost?

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A Paramedic Remembers -- A True Elmhurst Story
When 84- year old Aunt Millie lost consciousness, Linda, her caregiver summoned the paramedics and began administering CPR. Linda recounted her lifesaving efforts for the family and the paramedics,

"I knew I had to do CPR and keep doing it until help came. Doing the compressions and the breathing got really hard though because Aunt Millie kept swatting at me."

Heroic life-saving Linda was quickly relieved of her caregiving duties when the family and the paramedics realized that Aunt Millie was lucky to be alive. CPR should never be performed on a breathing person with a beating heart!

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Will the current administration's revival efforts kill our city?
Those who love Elmhurst as a home and a place to put down roots should be very worried about political functionaries who continue to promote the "dead" or "dying" Elmhurst. By implanting this myth deep in the public consiousness, politicians are sowing the seeds of continued overdevelopment and feckless promises of increased tax revenue and "revitalization.

During the spring campaign season, unidentified pollsters quizzed Elmhurst voters for their views on overdevelopment and other issues. Poll information helps politicians plot winning strategy and tactics. Consider it no mere coincidence that York Street Block 300 construction slowed to a near stop just prior the the April 5 elections but resumed bright and early on April 6. Doesn't it appear that even Block 300 Partners, the developers of Crescent Court Condominiums recognized the political risks of their very visible overdevelopment?

"It's not what you make, it's what you keep." (90's investment firm slogan)
Taxpayers need to ask their elected officials if overdevelopment isn't just a life-support system for building projects that enrich developers and promote politicians to bigger and better things whatever they may be. Without oversight, building and developer handouts could begin to resemble a pyramid scheme where revenue from a previous overbuilding projects produces funds for the next developer handout, completely sidestepping school funding and taxpayer relief for as long as 35 years! (See Sunday March 6, 2005 Life of A TIF -- A Happy Ending and A Never Ending blog entry http://treecityleader.blogspot.com/2005_03_06_treecityleader_archive.html)

Taxpayers need to know what their homes will be worth once neighborhoods have been overbuilt. Where will the stormwater go? Where will children play? What is the true cost to the homeowners and the community of building homes that cover more than 30% of the lot?

Clearly, builders' profits rise with home size and builders are in business to make money. Are the builders compensating the community for the added strains on the environment and city and school services? There are costs to unfettered development and currently they are being borne by the taxpayers and school children crowded into their District 205 classrooms. Where are the people we elected to look out for the taxpayers?

Why are residential builders permitted variances as a matter of course but homeowners and their architects seeking minor variances are asked to jump through zoning hearing hoops like circus poodles?

- To be Continued -

TIF Seminar -- April 27, 2005

2005-04-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

Submitted to Tree City Leader for publication on Monday, April 18, 2005

Unraveling the Mysteries of Tax Increment Financing

Panel Presentation on TIF and Question and Answer Session

Wednesday, April 27th
7-9 p.m.

Angelo's Ristorante
247 N. York Rd., Elmhurst Illinois

featuring

Legal Expert on TIF
Mr. Joe Williams, Attorney

TIF in Elmhurst
Mr. Tom Borchert, Elmhurst City Manager

How TIF affects your tax bill
Ms. Terry Pastika, Executive Dir., Citizen Advocacy Center

TIF and the Effect on Schools
Ms. Sharon Patchak-Layman, District 97 School Board

Sponsored by Elmhurst Unites, P.O. Box 1018, Elmhurst, IL 60126

Uniting to help Elmhurst residents obtain information and express their views on issues that are important to our community

Please click on the envelope icon below to email this important meeting info to friends!

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield

2005-04-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

Click on the heading above, print out the poem and read under a tree, on the commuter train, at the Chocolate Moon and definitely to nieces, nephews, and children close to you of any age.

Politicians come and go (as we are observing here in Elmhurst, Illinois) but great literature endures forever. Read and be inspired.

You, the exceptional people of Elmhurst, have made this town great through your faith, integrity and hard work. Reflect and indulge in the scented spring air. Recharge for the exciting times ahead. Never lose your will "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Expressions of Loyalty -- Part 1

2005-04-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from The Case for Democracy, The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror, by Natan Sharansky

"In any place where dissent is banned, society fractures into three groups. One group is composed of those who remain committed to the prevailing order because they agree with it -- the true believers. Another group is made up of those who are willing to defy the prevailing order despite the risk of punishment -- the dissidents."

"Members of the third group do not say what they think. This group is comprised of people who no longer believe in the prevailing ideology but are afraid to accept the risks associated with dissent. They are the "doublethinkers."

"Doublethinkers live in constant tension from the gap between their thoughts and words. They always avoid saying what is not permitted but also try to avoid saying what they do not believe. But fear societies generally do not leave their doublethinkers such a luxury. They demand from their "cogs" constant expressions of loyalty."(emphasis added)

In the Thursday, April 14 Elmhurst Doings Newspaper, Darlene Heslop (DH), presumably an Elmhurst resident, had a few words to say about Elmhurst's April 5 elections

"While researching the issues and candidates for office, I went so far as to send correspondences to city hall" for the purposes of "expressing incredulity" at the ignorance of some council members on school district financial concerns and to "congratulate the mayor for maintaining enormous restraint when Paula Pezza gave a campaign speech during open forum." (paraphrased)

Non-sequitars aside, if DH's report is true, it is laudable that the mayor restrained himself even a little during the City Council's public forum since his campaign speeches and manueuvers typically dominate entire public meetings. Glad to hear the challenger got at least three minutes.

"Her (Pezza's) behavior was inexusable"

Sounds suspiciously similar to the false accusation against Marcucci's 1993 mayoral opponent Betsy Aldred in an Elmhurst Press letter to the editor, "I was appalled at the behavior of Alderman Betsy Aldred." Same smear strategy, same ghost writer? Link to Phony Letter Blasts Marcucci Opponent, April 2, 2005 blog entry

"All will suffer the consequences of the First Ward's decision" (referring to the voters' defeat of Mark Tebbe, the appointed incumbent alderman).

Sounds threatening. Attention Ward 1 voters -- restock duct tape supplies and don't under any circumstances open any suspicious packages or letters.

"They (the voters) voted out someone (Mark Tebbe) who proved to have nothing but the interests of Elmhurst in his heart"

Not sure how chastising the voters will help your defeated candidate after he has lost by a painfully decisive margin. Wouldn't it be wiser, politically smarter, more GROWN UP, more Character Counts-like to bow out gracefully?

As regards the losing candidate's "heart," only God knows.

"His (Tebbe's)innovative plan to help the (school) district should be embraced." (emphasis added)

Since the city/municipality cash "loan" in exchange for school district assets, e.g., open developable land has been tried many times before, recently in Oak Park, "innovative" is not an appropriate descriptor for such an arrangement.

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Remember the Japanese soldier who continued fighting WWII even after the Emperor's unconditional surrender to Allied forces? He battled villagers from his post in the Pacific jungle until someone finally convinced him the war had been over for forty years.

Wouldn't it be a shame if the defeated incumbent Ward 1 alderman (and his backers) were to continue fighting a campaign that is over?

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Sometimes it's better to write the letter and NOT send it.

Hot Dogs, Ice Cream & Videotape

2005-04-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Click on title above for story on audio and videotaping in downtown Nashville and around the country.

Next time you sit down for an alfresco treat at City Centre you may want to mind your manners and your company. Your toddler's meltdown could become part of the City of Elmhurst's video memory archive.

A videocamera positioned above York and Schiller Streets can be remotely swiveled to capture every faux pas for viewing at the Elmhurst Police Department.

The Elmhurst Police Department has an excellent reputation for professionalism and keeping our community safe and the people of Elmhurst are stable and law-abiding overall. Some questions to ask your aldermen,

If videotaping in City Centre is necessary to keep the residents of Elmhurst safe, why are we not told of the dangers in our downtown?
Who views the video images captured?
Are they kept confidential and secure? Who else has access?
What else are the videos be used for?
How long are the videos kept?
How effective has videotaping been at catching or stopping criminal activity?
How much did this project cost?
Is there any notice anywhere in City Centre that video surveillance is being conducted by the Police Department?

Is police videotaping the the price we must pay for increasing density and urbanization of our downtown? Are you ready for this?

CHARACTER except when it COUNTS

2005-04-07T04:35:00.001-07:00

Click on heading above to view original Voter Fraud Watch story

Remember Mr. X the out of town voter? Even his own mother openly states that Mr X lives in Oak Brook! He voted in Elmhurst AGAIN in spite of being on several boards and committees in Elmhurst that promote Character Counts.

When the adults in the community lack a moral compass and the courage to follow it, will our children and teens view Character Counts as a meaningful program? Does character only count when it works to our advantage?

Character Counts

Pillar One TRUSTWORTHINESS
Be honest. Don't deceive, cheat or steal. Be reliable -- do what you say you'll do. Have the courage to do the right thing. Build a good reputation. Be loyal -- stand by your family, friends and country.

Pillar Six CITIZENSHIP
Do your share to make your school and community better. Cooperate. Get involved in comunity affairs. Stay informed; vote. Be a good neighbor. Obey laws and rules. Respect authority. Protect the environment.

A Study in Arrogance & Power -- Eminent Domain

2005-04-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Incumbent Mayor Thomas Marcucci on his re-election effort after 12 years in office

" I am up against basically folks who are against change." Elmhurst Press, March 23, 2005

Dear Elmhurst Residents,

Do you know how your tax dollars are being spent? Did you know over 4 years, ago the City Council unanimously voted in Eminent Domain to acquire certain privately owned parking lots on York Rd.? When the city did not get the response they were looking for, they decided to concentrate on 2 properties owned by Angelo's Restaurant and Gentlemen's Quarters. These properties are already parking lots for the customers of these businesses to use. The city claims they need these lots for public use even though there are several lots across the street which the city currently leases from a developer for a handsome sum.

The city of Elmhurst was well aware of the parking shortage long before this developer built his building, yet allowed him to proceed. The city has gone as far as to promise the developer they will acquire the parking lots or the developer can sue the city for$500,000 in damages. Does this not prove the city is doing this for the benefit of a developer and not for YOU the taxpayer?

Anyone who saw the Walter Jacobson perspective on Fox News March 17th, saw some of what the city has done to the hard working family businesses of this town. Eminent Domain is traditionally used for the benefit of schools, parks and government programs, NOT private developers!

The city has two law firms they currently pay (with your tax dollars) to fight our families for this property that was not for sale! But this injustice is being done at YOUR expense. Hundreds of thousands of tax dollars have already been spent. This money should have been spent on our schools, parks and streets.

It's time for a change! If the current administration is retained, Elmhurst will be assured four more years of arrogance and the continued bullying of two hard working families that have served this community for a total of over 70 years. Since the start of this lawsuit over four years ago, the current administration has never once come to either family to negotiate a fair agreement. Instead, it has chosen to spend thousands of wasted tax dollars to hire high powered attorneys to wear us down and drag our families through the judicial system.

If they take our parking lots, they might as well take our businesses, because without them we will surely die. To tell you the truth, at this point we would be more than happy to move to a town that would appreciate and support family owned businesses, and not stay where they protect trees from developers and stomp all over businesses.

We hope that on election day, Tuesday April 5th, you remember our story and think "What would it be like if this was happening to me". Vote to bring back honesty, integrity and fairness to our great city.

Sincerely,

The Lomnicki and Battaglia Families

Owners of Gentlemen's Quarters and Angelos Ristorante, respectively

Voter Fraud Watch -- Do you have a story too?

2005-04-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

Submitted to Tree City Leader for publication on April 2, 2005


Mr. X lives in Oak Brook and has lived there for
approximately the past two years.  He is a very good voter,
though, and has not missed voting in an election in Elmhurst
since he has moved to Oak Brook.

According to the DuPage County Election Commission, the law
states that voters must register to vote in the precinct they
live in, i.e., their primary residence, where they keep their
personal effects, etc.

Public property tax records show that Mr. X's primary residence
is in Oak Brook because this is the home for which he used the
"Homestead Exemption."  The Homestead Exemption only applies
to a taxpayer's principal place of residence.
Other clues to the X's principal place of residence include the fact
that his wife, Mrs.  X is reputed to be registered to vote in Oak Brook
and the X’s also have a listed phone number for their Oak Brook  home.
Mr. X’s mother openly  states that her son "lives in Oak Brook."

Mr. X has  figured prominently in the campaigns of Tom Marcucci and
Elmhurst Park Board candidate, Chris Healy.

It seems very odd that the X’s would want to pretend that they live
in Elmhurst.  Why would this be so important?

Link to York Township Assessor and Homestead Exemption information

UPDATE on Mr. X and the April 2005 Elmhurst Elections

Phony Letter Blasts Marcucci's Opponent

2005-04-02T05:08:00.000-08:00

In 1993 Betsy Aldred and Tom Marcucci were opposing mayoral candidates. On April 16, 1993 a story on the front page of the Elmhurst Press was

"Phony Letter Cast Cloud Over the Election"
"A letter condemning mayoral candidate Betsy Aldred has cast a cloud over the election just days before voters go to the polls. The letter published on page 7 of Wednesday's Elmhurst Press, was allegedly authored by Miriam Newett. She swears, however, that she did not write the letter and did not even attend the March 25 League of Women Voters Candidates' night that is the basis for the letter."

According to the Elmhurst Press Article, the phony letter also stated:

"Marcucci "spoke eloquently, kept his cool and stuck to the issues" at the forum"

The news article then continued,

"If Newett did not write the letter who did?"

More than asking "who" wrote the letter we should all be asking "why"

Do leopards ever change their spots? You decide. Link to Expressions of Loyalty, Part 1, April 15, 2005 blog entry

"Chokehold" Alert - Wilder Mansion & Park

2005-03-31T10:47:00.000-08:00

Elmhurst Press Word on the Street columist, Tim Bryers wrote

"On Feb 25 Marcucci transferred $6,000 out of his campaign fund and gave it to People To Elect Chris Healy, who is running for Elmhurst Park Board Commissioner."

"Why would the mayor send money to a Park Board candidate? Because the city has a vested interest in what happens with Wilder Park and the future renovation of Wilder Mansion."

It would certainly be nice to believe that the city council and park board would support the renovation of the Wilder Mansion since many residents are crying out for its preservation.

Yet, it does seems odd that Mike Williams of Williams Architects seems to push for a NEW building that LOOKS something like the Wilder Mansion at some point in history.

************************************

Ask to see photos of just one of Williams Architect's historical adaptive reuse projects. Ask to see the photos and ask for the location. Don't be satisfied with a list posted on the Elmhurst Park District's website that provides no details on William's Architect's "sympathetic" rebuilding projects.

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So why doesn't the city just trust the Elmhurst Park Board to promote the interests of the people of the Elmhurst Park District and Wilder Park? Why does the mayor have strongarm the Elmhurst Park District to the point where he is willing to buy a Park Board seat to guarantee that the Park Board kow-tows to his ideas for the parks?

We should all be very afraid for our parks. Open space is already scarce in Elmhurst. All those acres of open green space could prove too tempting for a mayor who obtains a chokehold on the Elmhurst Park Board. Already the mayor has demonstrated his deftness in obtaining the last bits of open developable land in Elmhurst. (See also articles on Eminent Domain where the city is pursuing private property).

Just weeks ago, incumbent Mayor Marcucci presented a plan to take School District 205's open developable land (adjacent to Bryan M.S and Madison Early Childhood Center) in exchange for a "loan" of $1.5 million. Once the School District's land is on the city's balance sheet the city could sell the land to developers. Watch for a grand city fiscal crisis soon after the election making the sale of this land a necessity. Watch for the sale of what was once a play area for the neighborhood and soccer fields for hundreds of Elmhurst children and families.

Revisionist History or Clever Fable?

2005-03-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

Re-Submitted to Tree City Leader for publication on March 30

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
George Orwell

Mayor Marcucci proudly refers to a series of articles including September 4, 1994 Chicago Tribune article, "Inner-Ring Losing its Glow." Marcucci claims that the article characterized Elmhurst as a "dying" "rust-belt" "inner-ring" suburb though Elmhurst is mentioned only once for having "lost residents" between 1980 and 1990.

You should know that other communities adjacent to "inner-ring" suburbs also lost residents between 1980 and 1990 including Hinsdale (4.1%), Wiinnetka (4.7%), Wilmette (6.0%) and Park Ridge (6.5%). Population decline alone does not a dying suburb make.

The mayor isn't telling you that between 1980 and 1990, Elmhurst became even more affluent with per capita income rising nearly 19% making a small population loss of 5% more of an anomaly than anything. The total number of households actually increased 2.4%.

In 1993 Elmhurst real estate was HOT. Many friends resorted to printing up "I want to buy your house" flyers which they distributed in neighborhoods where they hoped to find a home. Many houses sold within minutes of being listed by a sales agent.

Can we believe and trust a politician who parrots statements from a news article that are not in the news article? Do you believe Tom Marcucci's lament that he was elected mayor to "turn out the lights?"

Even today the Elmhurst Press prints a quote from Marcucci where he reprises Elmhurst as a dead and dying suburb. Does anyone who lived here in 1993 really believe this?

It's time to give up the ghost and tell the truth about 1993.

Let's stroll down memory lane to 1992 and 1993 before Marcucci was elected mayor, just a sampling:

Walgreens agreed to be the anchor tenant in the development at Robert Palmer Drive and Shiller
Residential style street lamps were approved for use on the North Avenue
Vaccaro Consulting presented a plan to upgrade the City of Elmhurst's computer systems
"In DuPage county where student achievement soars year after year, Bryan [Jr. High School] has the HIGHEST 8th grade scores on statewide science and mathematics tests and is SECOND in reading among the 49 juinior high and middle schools in the area" (Chicago Tribune , November 30,1992)

There are many more interesting success stories from the years before Tom Marcucci became mayor and at least one additional story that should give us all pause. See blog entry "Phony Letter Blasts Marcucci's Opponent."

"Chokehold" or "Full Nelson"?

2005-03-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

Submitted to Tree City Leader for Publication on Saturday, March 26, 2005

"We know some residents are unhappy with just how much power he (Marcucci) has over the council and we think bringing in new blood will loosen what some see as his chokehold over the city" Thursday, March 17, 2005, The Doings

Elmhurst District 205 Superintendent Joel Morris' statement in the March 24 Chicago Tribune article, "Elmhurst City, Schools Edge Toward Land Deal" may conflict with the truth.

"Morris said Tuesday that the elementary foreigh language program and three middle school counselor positions would have been among the cutbacks without the $1.5 million loan [from the city of Elmhurst]."

In fact, school board members are working to balance the budget and solve a cash flow problem. Foreign language and middle school counselor positions would not necessarily be cut, regardless of the city's loan offer.

Was the Chicago Tribune reporter, Matt Baron, in error? Did Joel Morris misspeak? Or are both part of the incumbent Mayor Marcucci's election campaign. Some have in fact described the Mayor's "chokehold" on the city; perhaps it's more like a "Full Nelson."

Dead and Dying Suburb or Messiah Complex?

2005-03-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Click on title above to read "Revisionist History or Clever Fable," posted March 30, 2005. Elmhurst was never dead or dying!

Brainwashing, indoctrination and propaganda are intended for brainwashee NOT the brainwasher. Sadly, it appears that the only ones believing in pre-April, 1993 dead and dying Elmhurst are Mayor Marcucci and those in his bubble. The latest installment follows.

"We took this town from a dead and dying rust belt community to the No. 1 suburb in the Chicago metropolitan area" Elmhurst Press, March 23, 2005

And another thing, who is "WE?" Is it the "ROYAL we?" Is the situation worse than we thought? Consider

"For someone to not vote for me is just not right," he (Marcucci) said. Elmhurst Press, March 23, 2005

It's odd that the incumbent Mayor Marcucci didn't say "us" instead of "me" above, since after all some plural "we" is taking the credit for all of the advances since 1993? Or does he really mean "we" when he says "me." Scary.

Fairy Tale Ending to a Fantasy School Crisis

2005-03-20T05:07:00.000-08:00

We have the knight in shining armour rushing in with bags of cash but our crisis is not shaping up the way it should. (Voice in the background: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. I am the great and powerful . . . (voice trails off))

There just has to be a crisis because why else would hundreds of people pack the school board meeting waxing passionately about the value of foreign language, practical arts and print cartridge recycling? Right? Surely, there is a crisis because we have all invested a great deal of time, energy and confidence in THE CRISIS. I implore everyone to demand the right to behold the CRISIS in all it's splendor and specifically ask:

1. What is the amount of the current actual operating deficit to the nearest $10,000?

2. What is the amount of the budgeted operating deficit for the next fiscal year to the nearest $10,000?

In defense of a cost control culture, there is nothing better than a dramatic cataclysmic fiscal crisis to sharpen an organization (or bolster a flagging political dynasty, or to engineer the SALE of prime developable property that seemed forever out of the city's reach). Organizations for-profit and non-profit alike consistently achieve progressive and significant cost reductions without cutting back on quality or service -- in the for-profit world such successful pusuits are called "business as usual." Organizations that fail to control costs sometimes are forced into something called "bankruptcy," of which there are several kinds which don't need to be explained here.

Crisis or not, voters also should be asking the following questions:

1. Has the school administration been challenged to reduce the cost of "doing business" and is there a culture of continuous financial performance improvement?

What is the administration's budget approach?

There is a word for when two parties exchange cash for assets (prime developable land owned by District 205, for example); it's called a SALE. After the city gives cash and the school district gives land they will have executed a SALE. After that SALE, the city will OWN what was formerly the school district's land. Of course the foregoing description of the intergovernmental cooperation between the city and District 205 is no doubt a naysaying oversimplification of a much more beneficient transaction.

Only those who truly BELIEVE and UNDERSTAND can comprehend the monumental nature of the Mayor & City Council's magnanimous gesture to take and "hold" the school district's land. Of course, those who have not been touched by the magic of the transaction will continue to look at it with suspicion. The naysayers are just not feeling the LOVE and the TRUST in the city $$$$ for school land deal. The naysayers just see the transaction as a clever means for the city to get their hands on the last bits of open developable public land having discovered how expensive eminent domain takings of private real estate can be.

If you are one of the naysayers, you must broaden your thinking and remember what is best for our FAMILES and our CHILDREN and of course our FUTURE. Set aside your suspicions (and your better judgement) and you will see the perfect wisdom of the city's wonderful offer.

Proposed Legislation to End Pay-to-Play Politics

2005-03-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Time to recapture the high moral ground.

#1 Suburb in Category is Blighted? Has 3 TIFs

2005-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Elmhurst has three TIF districts:

TIF #1
Established in 1986 in the downtown central business district

TIF #2
Established in 1993 in the Lake Street area in north Elmhurst

TIF #3
Established in 1996 in the northeast section of Route 83 & St. Charles Avenue

Life of a TIF: a Happy Ending & a Never-Ending

2005-03-06T04:32:00.000-08:00

Legal life of a TIF

"Illinois TIF law allows a TIF district to exist for a maximum of 23 years. Any TIF district may be terminated earlier if all financial obligations are paid-off and the municipal board votes to terminate the district. Since 1977, when Tax Increment Financing was enacted, about 30 TIF districts have been voluntarily terminated by their municipal sponsors. The average duration of these TIFs was about 6.5 years."

Illinois Tax Increment Association

Ask for a Happy Ending to TIF districts in Elmhurst

"Upon termination of the TIF district, the full tax base, including the increment which had been used to pay for improvements, becomes available to all taxing bodies for their use throughout the future."

Illinois Tax Increment Association

The Never-Ending TIF
When a TIF is extended beyond its original maximum permitted legal life for an additional 12 years, that means that taxpayers will not realize the benefits of an expanded tax base for 35 years. That means many taxpayers living in the municipality during the life of the TIF will have raised their families and moved on before the TIF district is disolved and they realize the resulting smaller tax burdens -- if in fact the tax burdens are lowered at all when the TIF ends!

"Because of a lack of oversight in some states, some TIF districts become "perpetual" governments."

A Guide to Tax Increment Financing, National Association of Realtors
http://www.realtor.org/SG3.nsf/files/TIFreport.pdf/$FILE/TIFreport.pdf

Myths about Tax Increment Financing

2005-03-05T05:31:00.000-08:00

If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.

Frank Herbert

MYTH #1 Tax Increment Financing is complicated and impossible for the non-politician to understand.

FALSE.

TRUTH: You have been told that Tax Increment Financing is too complicated for the layperson to understand. Politicians and city staff have given you misinformation and convoluted explanations of the TIF to confuse you.

The newspapers could help explain TIF better but they don't. Did you ever wonder why? Could it be that the mayor's former campaign manager is the Editor-in-chief of the Elmhurst Independent newspaper? What exactly does "Independent" mean? "Independent" when it is politically expedient, when covering grand openings, parades and soccer games?

MYTH #2 Without a TIF your taxes would be higher.

FALSE.

TRUTH: Because some property tax revenue is diverted into a TIF fund YOU have to pay more to support the School District, the City of Elmhurst, Library, Park District, College of DuPage and other public bodies that receive your tax dollars to do what they do.

Property tax revenue collected based on 1986 property values within the TIF #1 district are paid to the School District, the City of Elmhurst, Library, Park District, College of DuPage and other public bodies.

Property tax revenue collected based on the increase in property values within the TIF district since 1986 are paid into the TIF fund. If the TIF were disolved today, this money would go to the School District, the City of Elmhurst, Library, Park District, College of DuPage and other public bodies.

MYTH #3 Without a TIF private developers wouldn't want to invest in Elmhurst.

FALSE.

TRUTH: The president of Block 300 Partners stated under oath that he would build the largest private development in Elmhurst's history "with or without" incentive payments authorized by the mayor and city council from the TIF fund.

The developer told the City Council that he did not need TIF money. Weeks later the City Council voted on to give Block 300 Partners $1.5 million; the initial vote was tied. The mayor cast the deciding vote to give Block 300 Partners incentive money that the developer was not even asking for. Can you imagine how this $1.5 million could have helped District 205?

MYTH #4 "TIF money is not taxpayer money"

FALSE.

TIF money comes from taxpayers. Period.

Once taxpayer money has been diverted into a TIF fund, the mayor and city council control the money and authorize payments.

- TO BE CONTINUED -

How TIF May Help Blighted Communities

2005-03-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

Business 101
Rational business people invest money based on how much profit they can get for their investment, time and efforts. Some investment opportunities may seem very profitable on paper but may not really be good investments.

Luxury condos built on land in a blighted area where land is cheap will only be profitable if people are willing to buy the condos at a price that includes a profit for the developer and his investors.

The "But-for" Test
TIFS are regulated by guidelines established by the state legislature. The TIF guidelines state that a TIF is ONLY appropriate if private investors would only invest in a project if they were given incentive payments. TIF districts are intended to help blighted areas.

SCENARIO 1:

Ming Developers purchases 5 acres in Blighted, Illinois for $100,000 and spends $3 million building Ming Luxury Condos. In order to recoup the costs of building each condo must sell for $300,000. For sale signs go up but because the area is blighted buyers are only willing to pay $50,000 for each condo. In this deal the developer LOSES money and has wasted his time that he could have spent on a profit-making project.

Ming Developers would be more likely to invest in this project if the mayor and city council authorized TIF payments to ensure at least a modest profit for the investors. If Ming did not have other opportunities to build other developments, this project in Blighted, Illinois might be very attractive but only if Ming were given TIF money.

SCENARIO 2:

Treehouse Developers purchases 5 acres in Thriving, Illinois for $700,000 within a couple of blocks of the best homes in town and they spend $3 million building Treehouse Luxury Condos (an exact duplicate of Ming Luxury Condos) In order to recoup the costs of building each condo must sell for at least $360,000. A market analysis done before buying the land reveals that buyers are likely to pay $550,000 for each condo. Sales agents put the condo's up for sale and all of the units sell out within 5 hours.

Clearly, because Thriving, Illinois is not blighted, it is a good investment risk with a very healthy return for the developer and his co-investors. In SCENARIO 2 the developer covers his market risk by selling all of the condos before construction even begins.

School District Says No to TIF Deal

2005-02-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

This is is a true story. A cautionary tale gone right.

The LaGrange school district boards don't deny that a TIF helped revitalize their downtown, but they don't want the want TIF extended. Now that the TIF district has succeeded in its mission, they want the millions of dollars in tax revenue to fund the schools and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.

LaGrange Elementary District 102 and Lyons Township High School District 204 rejected the LaGrange Village Board's proposal to restructure and extend the term of the downtown tax increment financing district up to an additional 12 years.

Without Letters of Support from the three largest underlying taxing bodies, it is presumed that the Illinois State Legislature would not approve the TIF extension.

Under a Tax Increment Financing arrangement, the school districts and other taxing districts within LaGrange receive property tax revenue based on the value of properties in 1986 when the TIF was initially established. Tax revenue collected on increases in property value after 1986 are used to pay for redevelopment and improvement projects within the TIF district.

The Doings Newspaper reported on Thursday, February 17 that, "under the village's plan, several properties would be removed from the TIF program earlier than its 2009 expiration date." According to LaGrange Village officials, roughly $5 million in tax revenue would then be available to the schools and other underlying taxing bodies over the next five years if the schools would give their support for a 12-year extension on three blocks of the downtown TIF district. Property tax revenue from the properties in the proposed 12-year TIF district extension are estimated at $800,000 a year.

Following is an excerpt from the February 17, 2005 Doings Newspaper article (emphasis added):

District 204 Superintendent Dennis Kelly said that it was not a difficult decision for school officials because the formula is simple: More TIF years mean less tax revenue.

"We would receive more revenue in 2009 if we expended the TIF district than if we extended it," Kelly said. "An extension just isn't going to work financially."

District 102 officials did not return phone calls or were unavailable for comment as of Doings' press time Wednesday, but they stood the most to lose from a TIF extension. District 102's levy constitutes 40 percent of local property taxes.

But in the end, the plan was viewed by the area school districts as a no-win proposition, Kelly said.

"(TIF districts) are inherently evil because they exist on tax revenue," Kelly remarked.

TIFs were created to help municipalities revitalize BLIGHTED areas. Do you think that Elmhurst is blighted?

Michael LoCicero and Catherine Jordan want your vote on April 5. Ask them:
-- WHY they voted to approve a TIF extension deal that put our schools in long-term financial peril.
-- TO SHOW you the blight that can only be fixed by handing out taxpayer dollars to contractors, developers and consultants, taxpayer dollars that should be going to our schools.
-- WHY seniors and all other taxpayers should have to shoulder a bigger tax burden so that the TIF can siphon off tax dollars to give to developers.
-- WHEN the taxpayers of Elmhurst will see lower tax bills resulting from the larger tax base the TIF is presumed to have created. Will I benefit before my family gets through the schools and I retire and possibly move on?

Blight Unlimited Orchestra (unabridged)

2005-02-26T04:20:00.000-08:00

Who knew that blight was so lucrative?

Why, with such a booming municipal resurgence, just bubbling over with success and retail excitement, why when our cup runneth over boundlessly, why, why, why would we need a 12-yr TIF extension? Why does Elmhurst, Illinois need a TIF at all?

If the TIF were disolved, the schools would collect the tax money needed to keep teachers and programs. If the TIF were disolved the school district would not be tempted to sell land (prime, developable land) to developers. If I were a homeowner or parent in District 205 I would be very grateful to a politician who disolved the TIF. I would probably want to help that politician out by taking a campaign yard sign and waving at them at parades and if I wasn't too busy on election day, I might even vote for the politician. (yawn)

But when TIFs are disolved mayors and city councils no longer control millions of dollars which they can give to developers, consultants, construction firms and others. If I were a developer and a politician gave me millions of dollars I would be very grateful. I would probably want to help that politician out with favors and contributions to keep the politician in office. I might even invite the politician, now my good friend, to my vacation home and my swank parties. Given the loyalty of my friend the politician in a small job as mayor of a small town, I might consider this fine politician as a GREAT candidate for higher office where the rewards of our friendship might be worth even more.

If the TIF districts were disolved in Elmhurst Illinois the schools would have all the money they need and no one would be talking about selling scant open land to local developers. If I were a local developer I would be so grateful that the schools are strapped for cash. I would be extra grateful if I had first dibs on the prime developable land that the schools MUST sell to make ends meet. I would be so grateful that I would want to show my appreciation to the politicians. I would definitely want to show my appreciation in a TANGIBLE way.

A little "tongue-in-cheek" fun:
Are we worried about returning to the slum blight of our pre-1993 pre-TIF days when drug dealers populated our street corners, kids hung out in abandoned downtown buildings, when the streets and sidewalks were crumbling, homeowners were fleeing to brighter prospects in outer ring suburbs . . . surely , you remember those days? Days of Honey Girl, Leonards, The Feminine Side, Ruby's, the antique store, the retro Paradise Cafe, Anderson's Books, the Art Film Days of York Theatre. Should we praise the TIF for our Deliverance?

Just imagine the good a TIF could do in cleaning up Spring Road!

Samuel Adams: not the beer, the MAN

2005-02-25T04:02:00.000-08:00

Tree City Leader is proud to share this quote from the Father of the American Revolution.
Our fair city certainly has its share of history buffs.

Read and ponder.  Something for the people of Elmhurst (and the world) to think about:

"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote
that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an
individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that
he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society
for which he is accountable to God and his country."

–Samuel Adams

TIF Fever Sweeps Suburbs: Glenview, 2004

2005-02-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

Your "takeaway" from the foregoing :

"Supposed 'make-whole payments' are crumbs back to schools and parks, while the Village takes the whole cake."

In reality, it is not the city or the village that takes the whole cake, it is the administration who controls the TIF funds and may use them like a personal political piggy bank to buy favors (votes, campaign contributions, preferential silent partner arrangements) from developers and those involved in putting together these deals.

In Glenview the proposed development was on federally owned land that did not pay property tax so all of the resulting property taxes would be paid into the TIF. In Elmhurst, the "initial tax amount," is frozen at 1986 levels in TIF #1; property taxes paid on increases in property value since 1986 are paid into the TIF #1. Since the TIF has served its purpose in Elmhurst, why not disolve it and give the millions of dollars to the schools instead of to a developer. Elmhurst is not BLIGHTED. TIFs are for BLIGHTED areas.

One Glenview resident wrote:

The TIF is a shell game. To understand the TIF, you have to understand how your real estate is taxed. Few people do, probably fewer than 5 per cent. Village administrators know that and have counted on that to gull Glenview taxpayers in to the belief that they can spend almost $500 million dollars developing The Glen, and get a 142-acre great park, a nine hole golf course, free land for a school, a park center, and a library/post-office and other amenities, all at no cost to taxpayers. The truth is, there is no free lunch.

"Because by state law, the Glenview Naval Air Station never was on the tax roles (sic), there is no 'initial tax amount' that goes to schools and parks. The 'incremental tax' on the former navy property that goes to the Village is all the taxes, 100 percent of the cake, including all school, park, county and other tax levies. Because all Glen real estate taxes go to the Village, everybody else ends up paying more.

"Supposed 'make-whole payments' are crumbs back to schools and parks, while the Village takes the whole cake." Glenview Watch

Link to the Glenview Watch website

ArchPundit Shares Journalistic "Facts of Life"

2005-02-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

The following was posted on archpundit.com by ArchPundit on Friday February 18, 2005

. . . and is well worth repeating here. Even if we strip away the underlying media bias in the Elmhurst, Illinois local newspapers, readers are still subject to the conflict as described below in terms of the classic Liberal v. Conservative media bias. Read on and be edified. We can't change the conflict or the bias, but we can be smarter about not believing all of the slop written in newspapers:

The media generally looks for the easy story to tell with a he-said-she-said format. Committed conservatives and liberals hate such coverage because it is often post modern--it doesn't deal with the facts of the underlying issue, but with how both sides explain the facts. The problem is the facts are often clear, but the member of the media doesn't have the time or the expertise to sort them out.

In putting out a daily paper the problem is exacerbated because you have deadlines. The Post-Dispatch has yet to run a solid story on the budget situation in the Saint Louis Public Schools despite two years of controversy. Who ran a story that established the facts? A friend who runs a local community politics paper and I wrote the story. I dare you to ask the former education correspondent Jake Wagman what a TRANS bond is and get a coherent answer or even a glimmer of curiousity.

Not only is reporting the controversy easier, it sells more papers. People don't like to read about the minute details of a public budget unless they are weird--and yes, I'm weird. They do like to read about the School Board member who put a Biblical Curse on the Mayor.

While this can be considered a broadside against the media, there are exceptions and in general I'll give some of the papers around Illinois some credit for really delving into issues. The Trib does some of the best fact based reporting on education and No Child Left Behind and, of course, on prosecutorial misconduct. The Sun-Times has done some good work on the City Budget. State budget issues are well covered generally in the Rockford Register Star by Aaron Chambers and Rich Miller's Capitol Fax does a lot of fact based reporting that goes beyond the he said she said.

But the daily stories infuriate partisans because they don't have the depth of reporting and fact reporting that ideologues want and so both sides have a case to make the media is unfair. Making matters worse is the rise of the pundit class that gets on cable and confuses belief with fact.

Don't take my word for it, our way of life depends on it!

2005-02-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Click on the heading above to view the linked page noted below.

United States Department of State
International Information Programs
Principles of Democracy -- A Free Press

Our state department makes publications available to people and governments who want to strengthen or establish democracy around the world. Read about how a free press is central to open government.

Maybe the state department's guidance help Elmhurst Illinois develop a free press.

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/principles/freepress.htm

Where is the independent free press in Elmhurst, Illinois? Can you help?

2005-01-31T16:35:00.000-08:00

This blog was born out of the need for an independent free press in Elmhurst.

As we all know there are at least two sides to every story. When the local papers report only one side or opinion-as-fact the democratic process suffers. Without the surveillance of an effective independent free press elected officials and their friends may freely break the law, raid the public till, and destroy a community.

When elected officials control the press, they are free to bully anyone who challenges them. The press may also be used as a tool to get compliance from decision-makers who might otherwise vote their conscience on appointed commissions and elected councils. The danger is clear and clearly this is NOT the American Way.

Please send your comments on any or all of the following issues/questions

--why local news reporters routinely accept information given to them by government officials and staff as FACT? Often false information on poorly understood municipal matters is reported as fact. What can be done?

-- do you think that local news reporters are compensated sufficiently or do you think that they are vulnerable to under the table payments? Recently a national columnist was fired for receiving government compensation for writing articles advocating the current administration's "No Child Left Behind Act."

--are small town journalists too cozy with the people and organizations that they are supposed to be covering? For example, do you think it's appropriate for a mayor's former campaign manager to cover that mayor's city council meetings?

--do you think small town editors and media owners reign in their reporters and if so why?

Even with answers to these questions, what can be done to bring greater accountability to the newspapers in Elmhurst?

Are letters to the editor effective? Are appeals to advertisers worth the trouble? Do citizens even care that they are being manipulated?

What can YOU do to help our very special town?
Email your ideas and comments to the TreeCityLeader@yahoo.com

April 5, 2005 Elmhurst Elections

2005-01-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, April 5, Elmhurst voters will choose from among the following candidates (incumbents listed first):

MAYOR (4-yr term)
Thomas Marcucci
Paula Pezza

City Council Aldermanic Races: There are seven wards in Elmhurst; every two years, each ward elects an alderman to serve for a four year term.

WARD 1 (full 4-yr term)
Michael Regan - unopposed

WARD 1 (vacancy 2-yr term)
Mark Tebbe - appointed
Ann Tranter

WARD 2
David Noffs
Norman Leader

WARD 3
Michael Bram - unopposed

WARD 4
John Gow - unopposed

WARD 5
James Parker
Moira Moriarty

WARD 6
George Szczepaniak -unopposed

WARD 7
Charles Mueller
Donna Lomnicki

DISTRICT 205 SCHOOL BOARD
Vote for 3
Barry G. Billing
Susan DeRonne - incumbent
Catherine Jordan - incumbent
Michael LoCicero - incumbent
Dan Spaeth
Tom Thrall

ELMHURST PARK DISTRICT COMMISSIONER
Full 6-year Term
Vote for 2
Mary Kies - unopposed
Norman Reinertsen - unopposed

Vacancy 4-yr Term
Vote for 1
Mark William Daniel
Chris Healy

Municipal Elections Ahead

2004-11-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

Submittted to Good Company for posting on November 28, 2004

In April our town will have elections for mayor, seven aldermen, District 205 School Board and the park board. The mayor of Elmhurst has been campaigning for many months now, courting favor with veterans and making the most of any air time on the local cable channel that also broadcasts city council meetings.

So far no other mayoral candidate has come forward in spite of the belief that literally anyone, even the Easter Bunny, could beat him. There is a sense that something is "rotten in Denmark" and lots of people are starting to wonder why anyone would still want to be mayor when there is really NO pay and no payoff. People are starting to wonder if maybe there is a payoff. The truth may never come out and maybe the mayor just wants to keep going to meetings and ribbon cuttings. We may never know.

Yet all around town the buzz is that Elmhurst needs new leadership that cares about the neighborhoods and wants to include the taxpaying citizens in decision-making. I had a more than a couple of people tell me that they call their alderman and he/she never even gets back to them. What happened to all the promises of being available and fighting for the residents of the Ward? What good is an alderman or a mayor who doesn't make positive change for the residents and who makes matters worse by raising taxes?

Would you like to see your views expressed on this blog? Send your original articles to TreeCityLeader@netscape.net

Press Anthology Reports

2004-10-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

The Tree City Leader is your tool for deciphering the bias in Elmhurst local news reporting. Come to the treecityleader.blogspot.com to compare coverage on important local issues in:

The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Press
Elmhurst Doings Newspaper
The Chicago Tribune

Submit your ideas and observations!

Ethics Code Provision or Gag Order?

2004-10-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

On September 30, the Doings Newspaper reported that Alderman Janice Vanek proposed a unique ethics code provision prohibiting Planning and Zoning Commissioners from talking to anyone about commission cases outside of public meetings. Vanek stated that such a provision would "protect" Planning and Zoning Commissioners in their erstwhile roles as impartial judges during public hearings.

Under Vanek's proposed ethics code provision Planning and Zoning Commissioners would be prohibited from speaking to news reporters, constituents or literally anyone outside of a public meeting.

Vanek's provision seems to conflict with the principles of government transparency in a free society; comments include:

Terry Pastika, Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy Center:

"This is a gag order. This is not an ethics code."

"What that basically says is a citizen can't pick yup the telephone and call a commissioner and talk about the case at hand, which defeats the whole purpose of being a public official, which is to be accessible to the community."

Jeff Ernst, Planning and Zoning Commissioner:

"When you pass an ordinance that keeps the community and its leaders separated, that's a problem. The farther separated that local government gets from the citizens, the worse off Elmhurst will be."

"Just because you're a commissioner doesn't mean youdon't have first amendment rights."

While Planning and Zoning Commission meetings are generally held on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. but anyone interested in attending should watch the local newspapers for changes in meeting times and dates.

Those able to attend a Commission meeting and comfortable enough to speak are subject to firm procedures regarding when and how long they may speak, e.g., 3 minutes at the beginning of the meeting only. Currently, the commission accepts written communications from the public during meetings although they are not necessarily read aloud.

Planning and Zoning Commissioners are not elected but are chosen by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council and are not subject to any term limits or recall. Commissioners' terms are subject only to the mayor's continued approval.

What I believe. What I hope our elected officials believe:

2004-09-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

The editor of the Tree City Leader Blog

1. . . . supports the Constitution of the United States of America

2. . . . supports transparency in the conduct of public business and applaud elected officials who seek to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing.

3. . . .supports and models the six pillars of Character Counts and encourage all businesses and organizations operating within Elmhurst to make them their minimum standard of conduct:

Trustworthiness
Respect
Responsibility
Fairness
Caring
Citizenship

4. . . cares about preserving the Elmhurst way of life for all: a way of life we
invested our money and our hearts in when chose to live and do business here.

5. . . .celebrates and promotes citizen participation in municipal government.

6. . . . supports high journalistic standards in the reporting of municipal news.
Without an independent free press, citizens will not be able to participate in
their government.
Link to US State Department's Principles of Democracy - A Free Press webpage