It's Getting Crowded In There!

For most people who find themselves in the position of experiencing something from a different point of view, that experience is often idiomatically referred to as "the shoe being on the other foot."

For 4th ward Alderman Jim Allspaghetti, it appears the other shoe is in his mouth -- as evidenced by a report in today's Journal and Topics.

The report notes, as we recapped for you yesterday, "Ald. Allspaghetti complained about the candidates [for replacement of the 1st ward alderman] appearing before Schmidt's committee instead of the council. "We had no input and as Mayor Schmidt has said, he selected this candidate from input he had from four members of some commission he selected."

The Lord of the Manor, Ald. Rich DiPietro diplomatically corrected Allspaghetti's recall -- or lack thereof -- and urged that the Council minutes for the meeting, at which Allspaghetti was appointed, be furnished to current Council members.

We think you should get to see those minutes too --

Council Min 6605

It looks to us as if Allspaghetti has trouble remembering the things he does and the events he participates in. That must be why Allspaghetti, along with former Mayor Howard, forgot to mention the pre-appointment $300 campaign contribution Allspaghetti made to Frimark's mayoral effort.

The PRU Crew doesn't believe a campaign contribution of $300 would have been a good enough reason to keep Allspaghetti off the Council. But we do feel the failure to disclose the contribution during the appointment process sure does raise some red flags and reveal the characters of those involved.

We sure are glad that particular bit of history isn't repeating itself.

4 The Parks!

We don't want people to forget about the other local campaigns taking place!




Above, courtesy of a Park Board candidate, is campaign material related to the "4 The Parks" slate. The PRU Crew likes slates of candidates about as much as we like Mayor Howard, which is not even a little.

The way candidates choose to conduct their runs for office is their choice to make. And voters get to make their choice by casting votes for or against individual candidates.

When it comes to the "4 The Parks" slate, the Crew will be casting unanimous votes, next Tuesday, April 7th, in favor of Mr. Rick Biagi and Mr. Scott Duerkop. There is mixed opinion on the candidacies of Mr. Nick Milissis and Mr. Pawel Matula.

Mr. Milissis' record of attendance at meetings isn't impressive, and we do not know enough about Mr. Matula to recommend a vote for or against him. The same can be said for Mr. Steven Vile, a candidate who seems to be running independently from any slate or group affiliation.

However, we will say that not a single member of the Crew will be voting for Mr. Richard Brandt, the lone surviving candidate being backed by the SEIU (Service Employees International Union - Local 73).

The PRU Crew thinks unions are a very good thing -- when they do what they are supposed to do for their membership, which is knock heads against the administration of any given governing body, to try and get as much in the way of salary and benefits for their union membership as can be had.

The PRU Crew also thinks governing bodies are a very good thing -- when they do what they are supposed to do for the taxpayers they represent, which is knock heads with the employees and union membership they oversee, to try and keep costs to taxpayers reasonable and spending in check.

Their is a necessary and constructive adversarial tension between the two. When everyone acts like adults, the tension and adversarial points of view can be rough and hard-driving, but nevertheless productive.

The PRU Crew feels that seating Mr. Richard Brandt, who is being heavily backed by a union that is in a necessarily adversarial position against the governing body he is looking to serve on, is a mistake. To use an over-worked phrase, we feel it is akin to putting a fox inside the hen house. We sincerely believe that Mr. Brandt would not be able to set aside his allegiance to his union backers and independently make decisions on behalf of the taxpayers.

For this reason we strongly urge voters to reject Mr. Richard Brandt for a seat on the Park Ridge Park District Board. We also don't like all his damn campaign signs stuck all over the public parkways.

Another PRU Pot Luck!

1. -- Another COW cattle call!


The City Council has another committee of the whole (COW) meeting scheduled for this evening. On the agenda (.pdf) are a few intriguing items such as discussion of May 2008 - January 2009 Financial Results, debt limitation, formation of an O'Hare Commission, granting additional taxi licenses, and an appeals process for denials of text amendments by the Planning and Zoning board.


The PRU Crew would like to have seen some supporting documents in relation to the council's discussion of financial results, but alas, there aren't any listed for public review on the City's website. And we aren't willing to count City Manager Jim Hock's memo (.pdf) to the council as a supporting document.


It will be interesting to see if this cabal of self-professed Republicans actually act like traditional Republicans and grant additional taxi licenses to American Taxi, ensuring business competition and expanded service options for consumers in Park Ridge. Last time the subject came up (see pg. 4 of the .pdf file), Mayor Howard was just a lowly Aldermoron on February 1, 2005 and was in his first mayoral campaign for Mayor. At that time the pro-business candidate didn't seem to think expanding the business base and competition in Park Ridge was a good idea, at least where taxi service was concerned. And then two days later, Mrs. Patricia Carpenter, wife of Lee Carpenter the then-owner of Park Ridge Taxi, made sure to express her...agreement.



Finally, we can hardly wait to hear the genius justifications for why the risk of politicizing the Planning and Zoning process is a good and necessary public policy change.



2. -- Sir Walter fails to rally!


As we discussed last week in our post Rules Are Made To Be Broken, challenges to several Park Board candidate hopefuls had been filed. One of those hopeful candidates was Mr. Walter Mizialko.


Sources tell us that after Mr. Mizialko failed to appear at not one but two hearings on the matter, the Election Board has finally seen fit to remove Mr. Mizialko from the April 2009 ballot.


The challenge against the candidacy of Mr. Brandt will continue with an appeal of the Election Board's decision to the Circuit Court of Cook County.



3. -- Give the Pub-dogs another bone!


A most excellent piece -- Put Up Or Shut Up, Mr. Ryan! The PRU Crew enjoyed it!

Rosemary's Risky Business!

Note -- PRU will be coloring a bit outside the lines today, but when garbage like this lands in the mailboxes of unsuspecting Park Ridge residents, we can't resist.



The PRU Crew was doing some after-election reading and ran across this on a dailyherald.com blog called 'Animal Farm' -- which by the by we think is a pretty great name for a political blog.

Blog author JP wrote the post which contains the following quote from State Representative Rosemary Mulligan: “I had my people ready to vote for McCain. Then they put Palin on (the ticket) and they look and me and say, ‘What do you want me to do now?’” (sic)

We guess Rosemary had a "eureka" moment while searching her soul for an answer, and then she had her campaign and political operatives mail out the following, which some faithful PRU readers and Park Ridge residents were kind enough to send us --












We know who "Citizens for Rosemary Mulligan" are, but we had never heard of the "Independent Campaign Committee." So, we looked them up. And we still aren't too sure about who they are, but if they're sending out political mail with Obama's picture on it, we're willing to take a wildass guess that they're probably on the liberal side of the aisle.

And as long as we were digging around the Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign Disclosure website, we decided to take a look at Rosemary's disclosure filings too -- to see if Rosemary had declared an in-kind contribution from the "Independent Campaign Committee", who were kind enough to inform the voters of Park Ridge of Rosemary's political similitude to Barack Obama.

We found that the $84,058.76 Rosemary reported in in-kind contributions came from three sources:

1 -- the Illinois Republican Party gave Rosemary $30,607.84

2 -- the House Republican Organization gave Rosemary $26,144.88

3 -- Personal PAC gave Rosemary $27,306.04

Personal PAC gave more in-kind moola to Mulligan than the House Republican Organization. And can anybody guess who is largely responsible for funding Personal PAC? We'll give you a hint -- the label starts with a capital "D" and ends in "emocrats."

For those of you not familiar with who Personal PAC is, they bill themselves as "a bi-partisan political action committee dedicated to electing pro-choice candidates to state and local office in Illinois." And from what we can tell, they do conduct themselves in a bi-partisan way. But one of our faithful PRU readers is of the opinion that Personal PAC will bend over backwards to ruthlessly endorse pro-choice Republicans because there aren't all that many currently holding office -- and Personal PAC needs to maintain the appearance of bi-partisanship.

Welcome people to a taste of the more local version of what columnist John Kass calls "the Combine."

What the PRU Crew believes is that politicians have long understood partisan politics only really matters to ignorant voters that can't be bothered to pay attention, and easy labels are a useful tool for confronting the ignorant. So we strongly suggest that the next time somebody like Rosemary's Political Baby tries to play you for a fool, short-hand the discussion, and warn you that he's the only thing holding back the marauding Democrat horde from invading Park Ridge, tell Rosemary's Political Baby they're already here and they helped get Rosemary re-elected.

Avast, mateys!

The PRU Crew missed "Talk Like A Pirate Day" but decided to go marauding anyway. Our discussion today is an idea we pillaged from a comment we read in a post on the Pub-dog's blog.

Our regular readers may recall one of our early posts on the subjects of Journeys from PADS to Hope, HUD funding, and the State of Illinois' plans for affordable housing; we titled our post "The HUDdled Masses and More." In that discussion we told readers that --

"In a 2004 report released by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, Park Ridge was listed as one of the affordable housing community slackers (.pdf), right there on page 4. But what caught the PRU Crew's attention in that report was the section:

Local Control is Maintained

“One of the important provisions of the law is that local decisions remain with the local government and that all developments must meet the standards of the local community,” explained Dibble. “The community can tailor its own plan for its own needs and concerns. And once they have their plan in place, the community is in charge of its own destiny.”

"Communities also have the option of choosing one of three planning goals. They can adopt a plan that requires 15% of all new developments to be affordable; a plan whereby the community will increase its overall percentage of affordable housing by three percentage points; or a plan whereby communities will increase their overall percentage of affordable housing to 10%."

"The type of development – rental or for sale – as well as the type of buildings – detached single family, attached townhomes, condos, etc. – are all completely under the control of the municipality. Also, the population that the community intends to address is completely flexible and under the control of the municipality. Communities with aging populations may consider rental developments for seniors, but others may plan for a homeownership program for teachers, hospital workers, or other municipal employees. Still others may develop a program to retain the young families who grew up in the community, who are otherwise forced to find homes in other communities."

And that right there, our dear fellow Park Ridgians, means developers. Campaign contributing developers, along with whatever else those developers may deign to bestow upon a politician who may then look favorably on a new development.

Because what will happen is that any developer required to set aside some portion of a development for "affordable housing" purposes will then have a substantial reason to ask for......can you guess......that's right......increased density. Density. Density. Density."

What caught the PRU Crew's attention in the comment on the Pub-dog's website was a link to a pioneer press article and a reference to an Arlington Hts. task force, known as "ACT, an acronym for the Appropriate Conduct Task Force." Arlington Heights Village Manager Bill Dixon is quoted in the article as saying the task force has been asked to, "make sure our village resources are being used to the best they can be" and "He expects the task force to report its findings by the end of the year." And we were reminded of our cautions about how we here in the City of Park Ridge could find ourselves dealing with issues surrounding low income housing and a host of tangent issues and fallout from that.

So we went looking to find the promised "ACT" report on the Village of Arlington Hts. website. We couldn't find the full report, but we did find a set of village board meeting minutes.pdf (item #6 on the agenda) that discusses cameras at the Arlington Hts. train station and also some of the findings of the "ACT" report. It appears to us that considerable time, effort, and expense is being spent by the village of Arlington Hts. on the issue surrounding homeless loitering, though we note with general amusement each board members careful avoidance of actually mentioning homeless loitering as a problem. We also note Village President Mulder's references to seeking grant money.

We also found that the Village of Arlington Hts. has a Housing Commission and "Multi-Family Affordable Housing Policy" which demands "Developers of multi-family residential housing must now submit information to the Village concerning how they intend to address the Village Board's goal to promote affordable housing in the Village. The provision of affordable housing will be one of the issues examined when deciding whether to grant new Planned Unit Development of amendments to Planned Unit Development for multi-family residential housing."

The PRU Crew is wondering if the very visible homeless population that likes to hang out in Arlington Hts. has had anything to do with why the Village so eagerly promoted and adopted the "Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ “Housing Endorsement Criteria” that include promoting transit oriented and pedestrian-friendly development projects, encouraging an array of quality housing options throughout the community including housing at various price points, giving preference to mixed-income developments, promoting good design in order to ensure the long-term contribution to the improvement of neighborhoods." We're willing to bet that any inquiry to Village President, Arlene Mulder, would be met with some variation of, "We simply responded to a community need that we saw. The PADS programs run by our churches have never been a problem."

But we all know, this is Park Ridge, our elected officials would never bow to developer demands for zoning variances for height and density just because developers cry poor-mouth. And our elected officials would never bow to those demands because developers may cry poor-mouth about being required in the future to set aside a portion of their developments for low income and subsidized housing. No way. That will never happen here.

We're sure there's no connection or correlation whatsoever between homeless shelters, increased numbers of homeless people, adoption of affordable (read low income and subsidized) housing policies, and developers. And surely there's no connection or correlation whatsoever between politicians and campaign contributions from developers. No way. That only happens in Chicago.

And as Benedict Alderman Robert Ryan (5th Ward) offered in his statement read by Mayor Howard at the last City Council C.O.W., "there is a need in the Park Ridge community" for homeless shelters.

Who?

Tonight's fairly light City Council meeting agenda.pdf includes a Proclamation.pdf designating September 17th-23rd as Constitution Week in the City of Park Ridge.

Oh goody.

We're eagerly looking forward to hearing if Alderman Don Bachtard (3rd ward), Park Ridge's very own Constitutional UNscholar, has any more constitutional law analysis ready for everyone to marvel at.

In other observable ironies, the PRU Crew notes that the final, second reading of an ordinance for a stop sign (Broadway stopping for Cherry) is on tap under the Public Works agenda line item. Stop signs being a matter of safety, one has to wonder why the City Council didn't forgo the usual two readings of this ordinance. After all, at their last meeting the City Council did consider it a matter of great urgency to forgo the usual two readings of an ordinance for a text amendment change to the zoning code; but then, that change was for the client of one of Mayor Howard's special friends and contributors -- Jack "the Zoning Czar" Owens.

Pay attention!

Council Capers Recap!

Again, we thank our PRU readers for being patient while we organize our sources.

At last night's City Council meeting, our illustrious representatives again voted to go into closed session to discuss the acquisition of property for a new police station. Our sources tell us Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg (1st Ward) reminded the Council that they had not yet decided the key issues of size and expense for such a project. Ald. Schmidtzkrieg further stated that they cannot discuss the acquisition of property without deciding those issues, in open session.

The 4th Ward's representative, Alderman Allspaghetti, then asked Schmidtzkrieg if he would "respect" the vote of the Council to go into closed session or if he would disclose what was discussed. Schmidtzkrieg responded that he "didn't know what [he] would do", but he would abide by the rules of the Illinois Open Meetings Act and that he was prepared to be "condemned" again for his actions.

Then Alderman Frank Wsooooolman (7th Ward) offered that his intention in asking for this closed session was in accordance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act which allows public bodies to discuss "strategy for obtaining real estate", and that this was a protection of the taxpayers from those who may try to "manipulate" the market. What Ald. Wsooooolman doesn't seem to realize is that public bodies have the right to condemn property and pay fair market value for it, should anyone attempt to "manipulate" the market. What Ald. Wsooooolman also doesn't seem to realize is that the issues of size and expense for a police station should be determined before the Council engages in their "strategery" on land acquisition.

And the entire PRU Crew is willing to bet their briefs that the property discussed in closed session last night was the now shuttered Napleton Cadillac dealership, a prime piece of private commercial property on two main drags. Mr. Bill Napleton, a very special Friend of Frimark, is no doubt grinning from ear to ear about this real estate flip. Why work selling cars when you can "manipulate" local government into a deal that may provide you with a windfall of as much as $5 million? The PRU Crew has suspected for a while now that Bill Napleton never had any intention of maintaining a Cadillac dealership in Park Ridge, and the more we watch this deal evolve, the more convinced we become.

Also at the City Council meeting last night, Adrienne Timm of St. Paul of the Cross read a statement saying that the Park Ridge Ministerial Association and St. Paul of the Cross "continue to be sensitive" to the concerns of the community and will now seek to open a PADS homeless shelter at St. Paul of the Cross this coming October, instead of at St. Mary's Episcopal church. Ms. Timm was standing in for Father Carl Morello, who was presiding over SPC's eighth grade graduation festivities and waxing pastor-al about taking the "higher road" in life.

Apparently Father Morello's "higher road" doesn't include telling his congregation about things like the proposed PADS shelter coming to St. Paul of the Cross even while waxing pastor-al about the PADS program this past Sunday. While leaving out details from one's discussion of a topic isn't the same thing as telling a lie, and while telling a lie isn't one of the "Seven Deadly Sins", failing to mention key details probably is considered bad behavior.

But maybe Father Morello was so proud of his sermon last Sunday that he simply forgot to mention the new location of the proposed PADS homeless shelter. By the way, Padre, pride is one of the "Seven Deadlies." But you already know that, right?

After the PRMA--St. Paul of the Cross announcement, Cumberland Avenue resident Mr. Chris Harris addressed the Council to ask about the funds requested from Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's office. Mr. Harris also asked "who will benefit" from the "Cumberland Avenue Connector Project". Mr. Harris noted that the request for funds also included that the project "proposes to increase speed" in order to move traffic through Park Ridge faster. He went on to say that Park Ridge is primarily a residential community that already gets more than its fair share of truck and cut-through traffic. Mr. Harris concluded his remarks by asking, "How does this (the proposed Cumberland extension) benefit residents and businesses in Park Ridge?" The PRU Crew feels that is an excellent question, Mr. Harris. We can't wait to hear what the pols' answer is.

Finally, Mayor Howard's rubber stamps on the Council took the opportunity to stick it to former Chief of Police, Jeff Caudill. As we told you yesterday, the Council was supposed to "approve payment to former Police Chief Caudill." Instead, in a vote of 4 to 2 (Bach, Allegretti, Carey and Wsol to Schmidt and DiPietro -- Ryan missed another meeting) the Council chose to hold the payment over the head of the former Chief of Police to ensure his "full cooperation" in the Ekl Williams investigation of the Park Ridge police department; even though the original separation agreement calls for Mr. Caudill to do exactly that. We're not sure about PRU readers, but the Crew feels that this dangling carrot bears the faint aroma of a bribe. More bluntly stated, it now appears as if Caudill's "cooperation" will be measured by the pleasure or displeasure of Council members and the Mayor in reaction to whatever information Caudill gives to Ekl Williams. And the delayed consideration of agreeing to the payment may reflect that pleasure or displeasure.

And we can't get past the Council's double-dealing on the terms of the agreement. If waiting until after the investigation to agree to a complete severance package for Caudill, to ensure his cooperation, is now so important, why wasn't it important before? Before the investigation began? Before "progress" reports had been received?

And finally, how the hell do you screw over a 30+ year employee like this? By nearly all accounts, Caudill served this community well. And we have yet to hear any substantive grounds for why the Mayor and his rubber stamps pushed for Caudill to resign.

We guess this is what passes for "doing business" in Park Ridge.

Buckle up, Park Ridgians! Remember to keep your hands and feet inside the hand basket, and try to enjoy the ride.

Our Own Star Chamber!

"The Star Chamber" (1983)

Yes, PRU readers, once again Park Ridge's own Star Chamber will be meeting again tonight. On the City Council agenda (.pdf) is yet another closed session to discuss the acquisition of property for a new police station. Place your bets folks -- which Friends of Frimark do you think will be in line for another heapin' helpin' of taxpayer money?

Of course, all of the questions that were outstanding the last time the Council discussed acquisition of property for a new police station remain unanswered. But as we all know, Mayor Howard never saw a parcel of property for sale that he didn't want to use taxpayer money to buy, especially if such a purchase can help feather a friend's nest.

Also on the City Council agenda, under the Finance and Budget committee report, is item "b. Approve payment to former Police Chief Caudill", which is rather presumptive considering that the Finance and Budget committee will be meeting a mere half hour before the Council meeting to discuss the issue -- the sole action item on their meeting agenda (.pdf). And the PRU Crew finds it rather curious that there are no supporting documents available for public review under either the Finance and Budget committee posting or the City Council posting on the City web site.

You don't suppose any discussion of the issue has taken place out of the public light, do you? Of course not, our fine elected officials wouldn't do such a thing. And they sure wouldn't be trying to hide the information from public review either, would they?

"Pepper" Burton!

As almost everyone who is paying attention knows by now, Park Ridge Chief of Police, Jeff Caudill, is "retiring". And now the search is on for who will be named the new Chief of Police in Park Ridge.

One of the names we've been hearing floating around is Des Plaines' own highest ranking Police Woman, Angie Burton. And the PRU Crew can't resist nicknaming her "Pepper" Burton, in a nod to one of our favorite old t.v. shows starring Angie Dickinson.

It looks to us as if "Pepper" Burton's former experience in sales is coming in handy when dealing with the press.

In the Letters to our Editor section of the Des Plaines Journal & Topics we read in part:

Editor, Journal:

Could Des Planes Deputy Police Chief Angela Burton possibly be leaving the department in the near future? The current Park Ridge chief of Police is under fire from several directions due to internal departmental problems. According to rumors in Park Ridge political circles, Burton is getting some serious consideration to replace him if he resigns his position. She is the wife of former liquor commissioner Michael Rozovics. Rozovics' Park Ridge CPA firm donated $1,000 to Park Ridge Mayor Howard Frimark's 2005 mayoral campaign. Burton seems to be a nice person and may make a great police chief. It is probably just one of those coincidences that Burton's being considered for the job and her husband was a contributor to Frimark's election campaign.
~~
Wayne M. Serbin, Des Plaines

We get the sense that we've got at least one faithful reader in Des Plaines. But that isn't what the PRU Crew found interesting. What caught our attention was the "Editor's Note" that said:

(Ed. Note: Deputy Police Chief Angela Burton said this week that her husband is not associated with a law firm by a CPA firm. She added that rumors surfaced several months ago about her moving to the Park Ridge department. She says that those rumors are just that, rumors, and she has never been approached about joining the Park Ridge Police.)

We're wondering what the question was? Did the Journal & Topics' chronically clueless editor really ask "Pepper" Burton, "Is your husband's CPA firm associated with a law firm?" We're also wondering, if that was the question asked, why was that the question asked? What does that have to do with the campaign contribution her husband made to Mayor Howard, or her husband's stint as a Park Ridge liquor commissioner, or rumors of her possible selection as the new Park Ridge Chief of Police?

We're also wondering why "Pepper" Burton chose to give an answer that isn't as straight-forward and honest as it could have been. Or did the Journal & Topics editor screw up "Pepper" Burton's answer? If the "Editor's Note" is accurate, is "Pepper" Burton embarrassed by her husband's support of Mayor Howard?

Yo Pepper, your husband's web site profile along with the State's required campaign contribution disclosures, is all anybody has to read to see the connections.

You weren't trying to deny those connections, were you?

Come on Pepper, you can do better than that.

Boxed-In Bob.

At last Monday's City Council meeting, Aldermen voted to move forward with a Request for Proposal (.pdf) for an "audit" of the Park Ridge Police Department. "Audit" is the preferred term being used by city insiders to describe what is, in fact, supposed to be an independently conducted investigation into purported problems with our police department.

There is a ton of back-story to each of the items on the audit list. But because these matters involve personnel below the level of Department head, and because the PRU Crew would like to see this investigation conducted with something resembling integrity (though we aren't holding our breath), we are only going to discuss list item "g" at this time.

Last week an article in the Journal & Topics reported, Council Requests Bids for Police Investigation. In that article it is noted that, "The land purchase item spurred some discussion among council members. Ald Don Bach (3d) said, 'I don't see how this is going to make the police department better.' Ald. Robert Ryan (5th) also questioned the land purchase activity listing. 'I do not see where (the listing) fits in here,' he said. 'I think it should be struck'."

We can't explain Ald. DreadBach's opposition, but we do view him as generally dim-witted and uninformed. But Benedict Alderman Ryan won't be getting a pass from the Crew, because we believe we know exactly why he wanted the item "struck" from the list.

As many regular PRU readers may remember, Park Ridge almost had a new police station back in 2004. We posted a link to PublicWatchdog.org for their article: The Park Ridge Police Station That Almost Was.

In the Pub-dogs piece we are told about a local realtor who tried to make a quick buck off the backs of his friends and neighbors, Park Ridge taxpayers. He got caught and was eventually disciplined for his "dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public" by the State of Illinois' Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

That local realtor is Owen J. Hayes, II who was also the treasurer for Benedict Ald. Ryan’s 5th Ward campaign. Mr. Hayes has also been one of Mayor Howard's campaign contributors.

As we said, we believe we know exactly why Benedict Ald. Ryan wanted the item struck from the investigation list. We believe Benedict Ald. Ryan was trying to cover up for his buddy, or at the least, not allow the subject of his campaign treasurer's unethical conduct to be raised anew. Alderman Wsooooolman boxed Ryan into a corner by responding, "If there is nothing there, what are we afraid of?" Again, Prudos to Ald. Wsooooolman for being unafraid to confront the truth.

Benedict Alderman Ryan also wasn't keen on the idea of citizen input. Is he ever?

Whatever the investigation produces, we hope it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And we hope the powers that be at 505 Butler Place are willing to tell that truth to the Park Ridge public. Really, we can handle it.

Pothole Fishing!

An article in last week's Journal & Topics reports that Alderman Wsooooolman (7th ward) brought up the issue of the terrible condition of Cumberland Ave. in Park Ridge. Wsooooolman noted, "The residents are tired of hearing 'It's a state route, we have to wait for Springfield.' We have to do something; the people are begging for it."

Why would the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee bring up this issue? Because he is doing exactly the job he should be doing; looking out for the safety and welfare of the residents of Park Ridge. Our PRU Crew kudos -- or, as we like to call them, PRUdos -- to the Wsooooolman.

An ABC News/Good Morning America consumer report recently noted that Potholes Cost Drivers Millions in Car Repairs. And that's not all that's at stake in dealing with the issue of potholes. The same report goes on to note that, "New York City settled a case for more than $1 million with a woman who claimed permanent injuries after her car hit a gaping pothole in Brooklyn. And the state of California paid $1 million to the family of a San Francisco motorcyclist who died after hitting a pothole."

The Journal article goes on to report that, "Ald. Robert Ryan (5th) pushed for the city to fix the roadways.

"I think this is something that we're going to have to address long term," he said. "The state does not have the money."

Oddly enough, the State has had money over the past 6 years to award contracts to Benedict Alderman Ryan's architectural and engineering firm, HDR; a whopping $9,770,988 to HDR's architectural division, and $55,432,694 to HDR's engineering division. If you check the State's Open Book website, you can type in the search term "HDR". What you will see is a list of State contracts that have been awarded to Ryan's architectural and engineering firm along with the political campaign contributions HDR has made; a total of $117,790 to a wide variety of Illinois candidates and committees since 2000. All of that adds up to some serious "ROI".

In the Journal article Ald. Don DreadBach is quoted as saying, "I don't know if the citizens of Park Ridge are going to accept a tax hike to fix what they already pay taxes to do" ..."We need to shame our state representatives to do something to help us."

The PRU Crew's got a better idea! Disguise our state representatives as reporters, then maybe Mayor Howard will drive them around town so they'll see for themselves how bad the streets are. Then, because we know how much our city officials love a road trip, and Ald. DreadBach is just oozing persuasive diplomacy, send Ald. DreadBach to Springfield to lobby our state reps for funding for street repairs. Then Benedict Alderman Ryan's firm can lobby for the contract to do the engineering work.

And everybody's happy.

That Explains It!

In both of the local rags this past week, we got to read about Mayor Howard's views on the Napleton deal, which the Mayor's tie-breaking vote assured would give his campaign contributor, Napleton, as much as $2.4 million over the next 15 years.

The Wednesday rag ran Mayor Backs Incentive Vote, while the Thursday rag had a special "Guest Essay" under the Mayor's own name.

Members of the PRU Crew have had the dubious privilege of reading things the Mayor has actually written, and while it cannot be proved at this time, it is universally believed among the Crew that the Mayor's pen never met paper, nor did any of his fingers touch a keyboard during the production of that essay. And if you've ever heard the Mayor speak, then you are already aware that the Mayor's having dictated his thoughts is not even close to a possible reality in this lifetime - nor the next.

However, since the Mayor put his name on the "Guest Essay", we will move forward as if he really did author the thing, and we will explain to you all the things the Mayor didn't tell you in either of those pieces.

We read in the first piece that Mayor Howard said of his vote on the Napleton deal, "I'm not ashamed of my vote at all." Translation = "I'd do it again." Believe it people; he sure will.

The first article also quoted Frimark as saying, "43% of our sales tax comes from automotive: car dealers and gas stations" What the Mayor didn't tell you is that the roughly $5.9 million dollars in total sales tax revenues collected accounts for only 11% of the City's total revenue income of almost $53 million.

Property taxes ($15 million) account for about 30% of all revenue collected. All other revenue is split among 5 other sources of income. The City earns more from the sale of water ($6.5 million), and almost as much from the utility taxes it collects ($5 million) as it does in sales taxes.

Further, that 43% includes ALL automotive categories not just gas stations and car dealerships, but also car rentals and repair shops.

One of the City's greatest revenue streams comes from a category of income called "other"; about $12 million. The revenue sources for "other" include income from various fees, such as ambulance, gasoline, food and beverage taxes, etc.

It seems to us that the $200,000 in sales taxes generated by Napleton may be a 6% contribution to the City's total sales tax revenues, but it is less than .5% of the City's total income. So the PRU Crew isn't exactly sure what would be so tragic about losing the Napleton dealership to some other municipal suckers willing to bribe a car dealership to locate in their town; and that's if you are willing to believe that Napleton would high-tail it out of Park Ridge for "greener" incentive pastures.

Here's what we think: Napleton isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future. They have already invested in their new site at Busse and Greenwood. And more significantly, Napleton has more clout in Park Ridge because of that 6% addition to the City's sales tax bottom line than they would have in any of the larger, more sales tax rich surrounding towns like Niles or Des Plaines. And Napleton is probably well aware that when it comes to generating sales tax revenues, what they are talking about generating in Park Ridge would be nothing more than a pimple on a flea’s sales tax ass in Niles or Des Plaines. Napleton knows this. Des Plaines' Mayor Arredia and Nile's Mayor Blase know this. And so do Mayor Frimark and his council bobble heads, even if they don't want to share that knowledge with you.

The Wednesday rag goes on to report that Mayor Howard said Park Ridge taxpayers, "...hear you're giving (Napleton) $400,000," he said, but he explained the town would eventually get that money back after the town homes are built and property tax starts coming in at a higher rate."

There you have it folks. You'll get the money back, as long as you are willing to tolerate more town houses being built into an already saturated and slumping housing market, not to mention the greater residential density and traffic the project will bring to Uptown and the surrounding neighborhood.

Of course, the taxpayer's of Park Ridge know that they wouldn't have to "get that money back" if it hadn't been given away. And most Park Ridge taxpayer's also seem to have a healthy respect for the idea that government should keep its nose out of private business transactions between two privately held businesses.

In the Mayor's essay, he elaborates on what he said about the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds in the news piece; that, "The agreed-to contribution of up to $400,000 will be generated by the project itself and is consistent with the intended use of TIF revenues. None of this revenue comes from the taxpayers of the city of Park Ridge."

That is such a remarkably stupid statement, we aren't sure where to begin to unravel the idiocy.

TIF funds are, in fact, revenue from the taxpayer's of the City of Park Ridge. Period. Whether the taxes are generated within the TIF district or not, ALL OF IT is taxpayer money. Those residents and businesses located within the TIF district are as much Park Ridge taxpayers as are the folks at Boardwalk, Park Ridge Point, Edison Park Homes and every other property owning and property tax paying person or business in Park Ridge.

Because TIF funds are held separately from the general City fund used to pay for services for Park Ridge residents, that DOES NOT MEAN IT ISN'T MONEY COMING FROM PARK RIDGE TAXPAYERS! And every dollar of TIF revenue given to a private interest is a dollar less that the City has to spend on infrastructure within the TIF district; or to retire the TIF debt sooner so that our local School District and Park District can realize the full benefit of Uptown redevelopment along with the rest of Park Ridge's taxpayers.

Furthermore, the longer the TIF fund takes to break even, the longer taxpayers outside the TIF district will have to cover increasing expenses for City services, including those demands for services within the TIF district. And the City's general fund is forced to advance money to the TIF district for anything not covered by the generation of enough TIF funds.

The Mayor's essay also says, "Napleton will be investing $2 million in improvements into his dealership. This will be used to help remodel the facilities at their new location on Busse and Greenwood."

What the Mayor fails to tell you is that the remodeling of Napleton's new location is required by their franchise agreement. Perhaps Napleton Cadillac would remodel their new facility anyway, without the franchise agreement. But they have to, and now the taxpayers of Park Ridge will be paying for yet another deal between private businesses: Napleton and the manufacturers for whom it serves as a dealer.

Mayor Howard's concluding remark in the Wednesday article is, "The agreement benefits both of us"

Yeah...both Mayor Howard and his campaign contributor, Napleton Cadillac.

"ROI"

In the world of finance, it's called "Return On Investment" (ROI).

In the world of politics, it's called "Pay to Play".

In Park Ridge, we're all about "investments"; remember the Peotone "investment"? In Park Ridge, there isn't any "Pay to Play" going on...is there?

Regular PRU readers are familiar with how much we think of Aldermoron Jim Allspaghetti (4th Ward). Allspaghetti became a member of the city council back in 2005, when he was appointed to fill the 4th ward aldermanic seat vacated by Howard Frimark upon his election to Mayor. During Allspaghetti's lengthy interviews with a hand-picked mayoral panel of 4th ward residents, and during Allspaghetti's interview before the council, neither he nor Mayor Howard disclosed a prior campaign contribution Allspaghetti made to Frimark. As has been noted, it's probably mere coincidence that the most qualified applicant for appointment to the council by Mayor Howard just happened to be a contributor before and after that appointment was made:

Below - Screen captures with cut and paste information;
click on pictures for a clear and larger view.*



Allegretti's law office address is the same as another Frimark contributor:



Park Ridgeans likely remember DiFranco recently being quoted in the press and offering his vigorous defense of one of his clients, Bruce Adreani of Norwood Builders repute, another Frimark contributor:



For those of you who don't recognize Laden Acre Farm LP as a Norwood entity, chances are you aren't supposed to. The entity writing the check is all that has to be reported on a politician's D2 filing with the State Board of Elections. Though we do find it interesting that one of the least recognizable Adreani holdings gave Frimark more than double the contributions than those under his more recognizable names. We also find it interesting that Mayor Howard did not disclose the extent of Adreani's contributions to him, nor correct the mistaken remarks made about the amount of contributions he received from Adreani's holdings on the numerous occasions the issue has come up.

We also do not recall Mayor Howard ever disclosing to the council any contributions he received from the original zoning attorney for Norwood's Executive Office Plaza, that ubiquitous Park Ridge variance czar, Mr. Jack Owens:



For the the next big deal on the council table, Jack Owens' talents aren't required. But the owner of Napleton Cadillac made sure that Mayor Howard knows he has his support. If the city council agrees to give Napleton Cadillac the cumulative $2.4million the deal calls for, Mr. Napleton should probably be recognized as some sort of Community Star, as his may be the most impressive ROI that we've seen:



Looks to us like another zoning code variance (.pdf) will soon be arriving at the council for approval. It also looks to us like Sam Markos, the owner of Crystal Palace Banquets and several other generous Frimark-supporting entities, could have invested a lot less if variances for a CVS pharmacy are all the return he's looking to get:



As many of you know, current Park Ridge Chief of Police, Jeff Caudill, is under fire from several directions. The PRU Crew has heard a lot of talk about who could possibly be named as the new Chief of police if Mayor Howard has his way and manages to oust Caudill. The "open secret" in DesPlaines is that Deputy Police Chief Angela Burton is getting some serious consideration. We aren't surprised to hear that, but as you know we're cynical. And, after all, Burton is the wife of former liquor commission member and Frimark supporter, Michael Rozovics:



We're sure she's really nice and may even make a great Chief of police. It's probably just one of those happy coincidences that Burton's being considered for the job and her husband was a contributor to Mayor Howard's election campaign.

In Park Ridge, we're all about "investments" and ROI. There isn't any "pay to play" going on in Park Ridge. Nah. Just a lot of "happy coincidences".

*To aid in viewing, our Tech took screen captures of the Illinois State Board of Election website, then cut and pasted the relevant information together. We encourage anyone interested in doing so, to check the information for themselves at - Illinois Campaign Disclosure

Worth 1000 Words.

Click on photos for larger view.

Mayor's Office at Park Ridge City Hall.




NorthStarNet was a community information network and hosting service created to help libraries develop relationships with their local community groups by aiding those groups in establishing a Web presence.



White Pages (dot) com Listing



Manta (dot) com Listing.



Yellow Book 2007-2008 page 87 Listing.



Tsk Tsk, Mr. Mayor. Politicizing public resources for political purposes is a no-no.

The Spirit of the 6th Ward!

As we told you before, Thomas Carey the Unfriendly Ghost of the 6th ward usually doesn't communicate with the living. So we were a little spooked to hear that he actually participated in the city council meeting Monday night. We feel that Mayor Frimystic must have called this spirit forth to do his earthly bidding.

As you may recall, Mayor Frimystic was very generous in making "offerings" to the Ghost of the 6th ward. Of the $7,025.00 in campaign contributions taken in by Mr. Carey, Mayor Frimystic contributed $3,127.73, or 45% of the total Mr. Carey received. (See document copies below)

And, as we said before, we expect Alderman Carey knows how to show his appreciation for Mayor Frimystic's generous support.

But we found it very curious that a guy like Thomas Carey, of whom we'd heard rumors of great family wealth, would need or want such a large contribution from Mayor Frimystic.

So we started digging.

Turns out, Thomas Carey does come from a very well-known and prosperous family. A very prosperous family. A very well-known family, if you know anything about the horse racing world.

Mr. Thomas Carey is formally known as Thomas F. Carey, III and hales from none other than the family that owns and controls Hawthorn Race Course. At one time in the not too distant past, Mr. Thomas F. Carey, III was in charge of running Hawthorn Race Course, but now Mr. Thomas F. Carey, III is working for an engineering firm, and we are told a Carey family cousin is now in charge of track operations.

Why would Mr. Thomas F. Carey, III leave the family business? We can't say whether or not he actually left or was asked to leave. But, it seems Mr. Carey got into a bit of legal trouble over his fiscal management during his tenure at the track and then Hawthorne Race Course, Inc. got sued by National Jockey Club, Inc.

The parties went to arbitration, and the arbitrator found in favor of the claimants, National Jockey Club. The arbitrator awarded the claimants what they were seeking, which had the effect of putting Hawthorn Race Course and Thomas F. Carey, III on the hook for $1,200,000.00 That's a lot of hay. (See copy of arbitration doc. pg. 1 below)

A final judgement of the arbitrator's award was entered in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County in September, 2005. The Court decreed the motion to confirm the award be granted in all respects to National Jockey Club; the counterclaim by Hawthorn Race Course was denied in all respects; and, the arbitrator's award was confirmed. (See copy of court cover doc. below)

Of course, an appeal was filed, and the Appellate Court of Illinois First Judicial District affirmed the lower Court's decision in August, 2007. (See copy of court cover doc. below)

Which brings us to today - the deadline for Mr. Carey to have his case heard before the Illinois Supreme Court. We believe the case has come to a sad end for Mr. Thomas F. Carey, III.

The financial troubles Mr. Carey has faced may be why he wasn't more monetarily generous than the $1,375.00 he loaned to his own campaign effort. It may also explain why Mayor Frimystic was so generous.

What we don't understand is why a guy with this kind of legal and financial axe hanging over his head would run for public office.

But we think we may know. We hear Mr. Carey, upon assuming the lofty office of 6th ward Alderman in Park Ridge, got busy smiling and dialing his way up the political food chain. Not on behalf of his 6th ward constituents. No. On behalf of his engineering firm.

If we could get agreement from the horse's mouth that going public, with the specifics of the information, would be confirmed, we'd tell you. But the call-recipient hasn't agreed. So we won't. And at this point the smiling and dialing remains only rumor.

Alderman Carey is certainly a guy down on his luck. But as the old saying goes, you make your own luck. And sometimes you get lucky enough to be elected to the office of Park Ridge Alderman with the generous support of the Mayor.

And sometimes you get lucky enough to have an Alderman "owe" you, isn't that right Mayor Frimystic?

If there's one piece of advice we could offer to Alderman Thomas Carey it is this: Mayor Frimystic is not your way into the light. Find your own path. We actually feel you may have it in you.

MMMMMMM...Pie!

We just love a good slice of disclosure. The only thing better is when that mmm mmm good slice of disclosure comes with a big heapin' helpin' of disclosure of the disclosures.

Help yourself to a slice of disclosure pie at PublicWatchdog.org - Scorecard Part 1.

Our thanks to the Pub-dogs!

Who You Gonna Call?

Allegedly, the residents of Park Ridge's 6th ward are being represented by Alderman Thomas Carey. We haven't seen much evidence of that, but we have no reason to doubt the Cook County Clerk's vote totals. We do believe Alderman Thomas Carey does exist.

However, residents of the 6th ward had ample reason to question Alderman Carey's existence when they tried to get his phone number from directory assistance so they could ask him for help and guidance after the August Act of God. Those residents found that Alderman Carey's phone number was unlisted. And it remains unlisted.

The city's web site does list a phone number for Alderman Carey, but residents without electrical power couldn't access the city's web site to get it, and residents without computer internet access still can't.

Alderman Carey, if you did not intend to make yourself available to your constituents by the usual means, what motivated you to seek public office, besides Mayor Frimark's enthu$ia$tic $upport?

Over $3,000.00 of enthu$ia$tic $upport. That's ten times the amount the mayor gave to the Park Ridge-Niles Citizens for Strong Schools committee, and almost half of your campaign's total reported expenditures.

We expect you have shown the mayor your appreciation for his generous support.

Daddy, I Want A Variance!

Veruca Salt

Developers must reduce condo project to build

"A developer seeking to construct four condominiums in Park Ridge's Executive Plaza will be allowed to do so -- as long as the project follows rules set in the city's new zoning ordinance." (emphasis added)

Full story: http://www.pioneerlocal.com/parkridge/news/522239,pr-execplaza-082307-s1.article

So, no golden goose egg for Norwood or any other partners in Norwood's Park Ridge 2004 LLC.

Several sources report that the developer is really pissed!

We would be pissed too if we'd made campaign contributions to Mayor Frimark, and the Citizens for Strong Schools committee headed by Mayoral friend and supporter, former 5th Ward Alderman Steve Huening, and all we got (so far) was a lousy zoning map amendment! We're willing to bet this will be a topic of discussion between Mr. Huening and his friend, current 5th Ward Alderman Robert Ryan, on one of their walks.

Norwood is purported to have fired their attorney, insider and zoning-guru, Mr. Jack Owens. We can't say for sure, but we suspect the "guru" part has something to do with the "insider" part.

Sources also tell us any revised plan presented to the city council will completely nix senior housing, underground parking, dedication of Touhy Ave. frontage, and the community park.

In other words, "Take that! Hmmph!"

That's known as throwing a temper tantrum...or as we like to call it, being a Veruca.

We won't belabor the issue but,

• The "senior housing" portion of the plan simply wasn't...




• The underground parking was a selling point for buyers, who are likely to be familiar with the delights of midwestern winters, as well as allowing the developer to "bury" one story of each of the buildings underground.




• The dedication of land along Touhy Ave. was moot, as the State can take whatever portion of property it deems necessary if Touhy is widened...




• While the "community park" was likely to be just the community of condo. residents' park.

But rest assured, we're pretty certain the 55-and-over set may make up a significant portion of buyers for units in a redevelopment of this nature; maybe as many as 50 out of the 160+/- units to be built? And the condo. association can always pass out brochures on behalf of Presbyterian Homes; the same brochures that the on-sight Presbyterian Homes sales office would have had if the plan were approved as, well, planned.

There's still one more council reading of the ordinance to go. We hope the council doesn't cave to the pressure that is probably being applied at this very moment. Though we think it's safe to assume nobody is dropping off any boxes of meat at city hall and saying "thank you for your time".

Oompa Loompa doompadee doo
I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompadah dee
If you are wise you will listen to me


Who do you blame when a project is slowed
Too dense and tall for the zoning code?
Blaming the council is a crying shame.
You know exactly who's to blame:
The greedy re-developer!


Oompa Loompa doompadee dah
You thought Jack was the variance czar
But now you know that it is not true
Like the Oompa Loompa doompadee do