And a jolly good time was had by all, if you're a fan of clusterf#%&$!
The PRU Crew would like to point out that we strongly believe, on the issue of voting to appeal from the decision of the chair regarding his ruling on the motion to reconsider being out of order, the Council is in violation of the law.
In support of our belief, we offer --
Appeals that cannot be entertained
Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised states that "when the chair rules on a question about which there cannot possibly be two reasonable opinions, an appeal would be dilatory and is not allowed." Demeter's Manual recommends using the mnemonic devices F, T, R, L and J, O, D to remember that no appeals can be taken from the Chair's rulings which arise out of known Facts, evident Truths, established Rules or operative Laws, but can be taken only from rulings which are based on his personal Judgment, Opinion or Discretion.
The City's Zoning law, an established operative law, providing fact, truth and rule is unequivocally clear -
H. Limitations on denials
"No application for a variance which has been denied by the City Council or Zoning Board of Appeals shall be reconsidered for a period of one (1) year from that date of denial."
And we note the City Attorney's opinion on the matter. We also note the City Council's lack of understanding the necessary fine point of the language denying an application versus preventing applicants from coming before the public body more than once in a given year. It is reasonable to deny repetition of specific applications while allowing applicants to submit as many different applications before the public body as he or she can possibly muster.
So gentlemen of the City Council, if you are going to cite and follow the rules provided for by Robert's Rules of Order and the City's laws, then it appears you've once again screwed the legal pooch.
The City managed to get last Monday's COW meeting video posted by this morning -- damn thing's been up all day but has only gotten 20 views. Come on, people! Take the weekend to relax and give your local government some of your time and attention!
There's more fun yet to come at the next City Council meeting on Monday night!
For the viewing displeasure of our faithful PRU readers!
We suggest viewers pay special attention to the discussion of the vote to override the Mayor's veto of the amended and suspended Facade Improvement Program, which begins @ the 0:23:13 mark of the video. It would seem Mayor Schmidtzkrieg may have made a new frenemy!
Residents Mr. Declan Stapleton and Mr. Ed Berry, of O'Reilly's Public House fame, address the Council beginning @ 0:24:00 mark of the video. And the PRU Crew feels it's very sad how little understanding Mr. Stapleton has not only for general municipal accounting practices, but also that Mr. Stapleton has less than zero understanding of TIF district financing in general, or the Uptown Redevelopment TIF district, specifically.
And despite the PRU Crew's strong suspicions that the Council doesn't understand either municipal accounting or TIF district financing much better than Mr. Stapleton, they somehow managed to vote to sustain the Mayor's veto of the amended and suspended Facade Improvement Program -- which they plan to discuss and amend again at the December 20th Council meeting.
Under Citizens Wishing to Address the Council on Non-agenda items, we hope people will give consideration to the remarks offered by resident and local builder, Mr. Rob Lohens, begining @ 1:14:02 mark of the video. Unfortunately, while Mr. Lohens' comments on public employee salaries and pensions have much merit, his grasp of the Crook County property assessments and the property tax system is lacking.
For others who may not quite get how the whole mess currently works -- as simply as we can state the matter -- property value assessments are created for the purpose of apportioning shares of the property tax burden, within any given taxing district. You can have your property tax assessment reduced and you still may end up paying as much or more in actual property tax dollars. Why? Because until the local taxing bodies actually reduce the tax levies --the actual total dollars they ask for from the taxpayer pool -- taxes will generally continue to remain the same or rise. Place your bets, people!
Thus concludes our PRU civics lesson for today.
The discussion of the proposed Hoffman Homes project, as recommended to the City Council by the Planning and Zoning Commission, begins @ 1:20:51 mark of the video. And we found the discussion of affordable...er...no...make that, attainable housing very entertaining.
The Aldermen voted 3-yes (Sweeney, Bach and Allegretti) to 3-no (DiPietro, Ryan and Wsol) on the matter. Mayor Schmidtzkrieg attempted to break the tie by voting "no," but the City Attorney advised him his vote was not necessary as a tie vote means the request for approval of the special use dies for lack of receiving a majority.
The project developer, Mr. Hassinger, then took the opportunity to let the Council know he would not be back with a new application. So there!
For our faithful PRU readers who've got a couple hours to kill.
The PRU Crew believes the Mayor's pre-ramble, before his remarks about his veto of the amended and then suspended facade improvement program, was a disclosure of some kind. We get the impression the Mayor found the matter pesky. However, we were pleased to hear the Mayor treat the veto subject as he did, though we are wondering why the Mayor chose not to issue his traditional email blast to supporters explaining his reasons for exercising his veto authority. We hope the City Council will choose to moooooves forward accordingly -- allow for the completion of the last remaining facade reimbursement agreement and reject any further applications, then fully suspend the program. We also hope that should any future Council choose to reinstate the program, they also demand a financial accounting to support the claims on which the program is predicated.
As for the discussion of the PROAC recommendations to retain the Taber Law Group for consulting on fighting O'Hare expansion, the PRU Crew found Commission Chairman Sue Perschke's offerings very entertaining. Where the former chairman had nearly perfected the damsel in distress approach, we find Ms. Perschke's baffle them with bullshit approach rather refreshing!
Two PRUdos are due!
The first goes out to City Manager Jim Hock for his ~~THUD!!!~~HOLY WOW!!!~~ inducing comments opposing a request, by Uptown developer PRC Partners, to grant a zoning text amendment and special use to again allow the developer to lease space to a non-retail, non-sales tax generating business. Mid-America Real Estate Group, the partner in the PRC Partnership which is responsible for retail leasing, may want to read their own rather up-lifting Retail Review – Fall 2010 Newsletter, then study their own 2010 Retailer Demand Study, and get to work.
Our second PRUdo of the day goes to resident Ms. Pat Livensparger for so clearly pointing out that an appeals process of any kind, in this instance the Tree Preservation on Private Property ordinance, must include criteria on which an appeal may be based. Spot on, Ms. Livensparger!
For the viewing displeasure of our faithful PRU readers! It was one helluva long meeting, but we strongly encourage people to make the time to view the video.
Mr. Mayor, you come off like a jackass on a handful of issues. The 6th ward's Ald. Tom Carey kicked your backside on the topic of the City Manager's contract -- for a figuratively blind, squirrely guy, on rare occasions Carey's flush with nuts! And the PRU Crew thought Procedures and Regulations' Chairman Allegretti acted fairly in his recall of events surrounding severance payments.
The PRU Crew was pretty pleased with the general discussion and vote on the issue of the Facade Improvement Program and we look forward to the Council's future action -- we hope we aren't speaking too soon.
As far as the Taste of Park Ridge discussion is concerned, we were again almost taken in by the warm and fuzzy effervescent spewing. But we've now gotten a look at TOPR's 990 tax return. We've taken a good long look at their expenses, we've listened to their statements about the need to maintain a "rainy day fund," and we are more than certain it's now time for the Taste of Park Ridge, Inc. to reimburse the City for costs, gentlemen! We'll have more to say on this subject in a future posting.
PRUdos go to City Manager Jim Hock for what 7th ward Ald. Wsol described as "thinking out of the box." Despite Ald. Wsol's negative approach, we hope the Council will seriously entertain City Manager Hock's funding idea for Community Groups.
Mayor Schmidt's attempt to appeal to the ids, egos, and superegos of the Aldermen, on the subject of appointment authority for department heads, was laughable in its' transparency. Suuure, Mr. Mayor --the PRU Crew is suuure your intention is to secure the voice of the City Council by suggesting they should consider whether or not they "have a say" in the appointment process of City staff below the level of City Manager. The PRU Crew is also pretty sure it would be pretty convenient for the Mayor if that "voice" were filtered through his involvement in the process of appointing individual department heads -- an authority goal long dreamed of by his predecessor. Given the performance of the Mayor on the contract issue of the already appointed City Manager, we're going with the 2nd ward's Ald. DiPietro in agreeing, "the City Manager should manage," and any conflict in the language of article 3 should be "cleaned up" and clarified to allow the City manager to manage. Or we may be inclined to begin referring to Mayor Schmidtzkrieg as Mayor Schmidtstain -- we briefly considered using "Mayor Small Fri--," but we liked the sound of "Schmidtstain" better. Elected officials with the ability of bestowing employment on department heads is a recipe for patronage disaster -- and that's not just your average Schmidstain mess, that's 7 square miles full of manure!
Finally, PRUdos to the 5th ward's Alderman Ryan -- your suggesting the City review the process by which residential improvements are approved, especially as they pertain to land grades and drainage, is timely. We've heard about a number of problems with the City's inability to address residential engineering and construction issues, and it's about damn time the problems were addressed.
That's right, faithful PRU readers! Tomorrow marks our third year of blogging!
-- 649 posts and counting, and a steady average of 2000 unique visitors per week. We can't even begin to count the hours of reading, research, and writing behind each of those posts. But we hope you, our readers, have found value in the effort we've made, and the time you've spent here worthwhile. We find your continued interest and participation rewarding. And remember, we're always willing to loan you a pair of Doc Martens!
For all those willing to keep fighting the good fight --
For those who've asked about the doings at last night's City Council meeting --
We may or may not get around to indexing the video content so feel free to avail yourselves of the technology without waiting on us!
And for those lazy people faithful PRU readers who waited for us to index the video content, you're welcome!
Meeting begins with the usual opening ceremonies
@ 0:01:19 -- Consent agenda approval begins
@ 0:03:08 -- Mayor's report begins with discussion of draft letter, inviting Federal candidates to Park Ridge to discuss O'Hare expansion
@ 0:07:10 -- Mayor comments on storm damage and asks Public Works Director Wayne Zingsheim for an update
@ 0:10:36 -- City Government Class is recognized as being in attendance and their teacher, Mr. Greg Young, addresses the Council
@ 0:12:43 -- City Manager's contract discussion begins
@ 0:23:12 -- Ald. Allegretti admits being unprepared for the discussion and moves to defer consideration of the City Manager's contract
@ 0:25:30 -- Ald. Bach moves to amend Ald. Allegretti's motion to defer to a Special City Council meeting on July 12th but his amendment fails
@ 0:26:40 -- Council votes unanimously to defer consideration of the City Manager's contract to the July 19th City Council meeting
@ 0:28:07 -- Under City Council reports, Ald. Bach reminds everyone to attend the Taste of Park Ridge on July 8th, 9th and 10th
@ 0:29:05 -- City Clerk's report begins with motions to cancel some upcoming meetings and a motion to adjourn to closed session to approve closed session minutes
@ 0:30:26 -- City Manager's report begins
@ 0:31:29 -- City Manager requests a motion to adjourn to closed session to discuss acquisition of the Scharringhausen parking lot property
@ 0:32:14 -- Mr. Declan Stapleton, of Irish Pub fame, addresses the Council ~~ by the way Mr. Stapleton, how's that parking study for your Irish Pub coming along? Don't fret Mr. Stapleton, this Council hands out variances like priests hand out absolution, but you aren't likely to be required to say even one "Hail Mary" to get that variance
@ 0:33:23 -- Ald. DiPietro notes Ald. Ryan's absence ~~ We're shocked, SHOCKED, that Ald. Ryan is missing another meeting ~~ and DiPietro indicates he intends to vote "no" on the issue of going into closed session
@ 0:35:05 -- Council votes 5 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Bach, Carey and Wsol) to 1 (Allegretti) not to go into closed session to discuss acquisition of Scharringhausen parking lot
@ 0:35:21 -- Ald. Bach asks the Council to discuss the acquisition of the Scharringhausen parking lot in open session at the next Council COW
@ 0:38:00 -- Mr. Dan Knight addresses the Council
@ 0:40:15 -- Council votes unanimously to defer discussion of acquisition of Scharringhausen parking lot to open session at the next Council COW on July 12th
@ 0:40:53 -- Citizens wishing to address the Council on Non-agenda items begins with Ms. Jane Nowak addressing the Council
@ 0:41:56 -- Reports of Boards and Commissions begins
~~ And they're off! ~~
@ 0:42:06 -- Ald. Bach begins report for PROAC with discussion about his phone conversation with the CAL law firm
@ 0:43:27 -- Ald. DiPietro indicates the CAL law firm did not return his call
@ 0:44:06 -- Ald. Wsol shares his notes from his phone conversation and offers information contradicting what Ald. Bach reported he was told in his conversation with the CAL law firm
~~ As we said -- It's the telephone game! ~~
@ 0:46:54 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on his email exchanges with the CAL law firm and confesses that sometimes lawyers are 1) "blow hards," 2) "salesmen," who try to 3) "develop clients," and 4) "market themselves." This may be the greatest truth the Mayor has ever offered for public hearing!
@ 0:49:58 -- Ms. Jane Nowak again addresses the Council and says she's happy to see her Alderman [Robert Ryan] is absent ~~ even odds say she meant it!
@ 0:51:50 -- Mr. Richard Hughes addresses the Council
@ 0:57:37 -- Procedures and Regulations begins with Ald. DiPietro moving to approve a resolution to place a referendum question about O'Hare expansion on the November ballot
@ 0:59:08 -- Ald. Wsol moves to amend the referendum language to read --
"Shall the City of Park Ridge allocate funding to seek expanded and accelerated noise abatement solutions intended to address the negative impacts of O'Hare airport's expansion on residential property values, local schools and the overall quality of life in our community"
@ 1:14:25 -- Mr. Richard Hughes again addresses the Council
@ 1:15:40 -- Mr. Milan Tomaska addresses the Council
@ 1:17:42 -- Ms. Judy Barclay addresses the Council
@ 1:20:57 -- Ald. Wsol calls the question, but discussion continues per the preference of the chairman who then recognizes Ald. Bach who proceeds to declare the full build out of O'Hare will be "horrendous" and "horrible" for Park Ridge ~~ and that muffled moaning sound you may hear are the anguished cries of real estate agents throughout Park Ridge
@ 1:22:21 -- Ms. Judy Barclay continues to address the Council
@ 1:24:24 -- Mr. Robert Trizna addresses the Council
@ 1:28:48 -- Ms. Pat Livensparger addresses the Council
@ 1:31:45 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on the referendum language
@ 1:32:35 -- Ald. Carey comments on the referendum issue and then offers a motion to amend Ald. Wsol's amendment. Ald. Carey moves to include language which reads --
"Shall the City of Park Ridge allocate funding in an amount not to exceed $500,000 to seek expanded and accelerated noise abatement solutions intended to address the negative impacts of O'Hare airport's expansion on residential property values, local schools and the overall quality of life in our community"
@ 1:38:35 -- City Manager Hock momentarily stymies the Council
@ 1:41:40 -- Ald. DiPietro moves the question which is the same parliamentary thing as calling the question
@ 1:42:38 -- Council votes unanimously to call the question which means they all agree to stop debate and take a vote on Ald. Carey's amendment to Ald. Wsol's amendment of the referendum language. Got that?
~~ And we pause now to offer a brief bit on parliamentary procedure. Almost every time a motion is made the newest motion must be acted upon, then the governing body must move backward through the pending motions to the main motion which was originally offered for consideration -- think, Merlin the Magician who aged backwards. ~~
@ 1:42:50 -- Council votes 3 (Sweeney, DiPietro and Carey) to 3 (Bach, Allegretti and Wsol) and the Mayor breaks the tie and votes yes to include the $500,000 Carey amendment language
@ 1:43:30 -- Council votes 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Carey and Wsol) to 2(Bach and Allegretti) to approve the Wsol amendment to the resolution for the O'Hare referendum question
@ 1:44:32 -- Council votes 5 (DiPietro, Bach, Carey, Wsol and Sweeney) to 1(Allegretti) to approve the resolution to place a referendum question about O'Hare expansion on the November ballot
@ 1:45:02 -- Finance and Budget report begins with discussion of City phone service contract
@ 1:49:00 -- City Manager Hock comments on the contract and the potential savings and costs
@ 1:50:40 -- Ald. Bach goes all "Napleton" again, but with much less gusto and oomph
@ 1:52:09 -- Ald. Wsol reveals his complete lack of understanding of what does and does not carry the potential for public relations fiascos
@ 1:53:14 -- Ald. Allegretti ask the City Manager about costs of a bidding process
@ 1:57:16 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on super majority voting requirements to award no-bid contracts
@ 1:57:43 -- Council votes 6 (Bach, Allegretti, Carey, Sweeney, DiPietro and the Mayor) to 1(Wsol) to approve the City phone service contract with Call One, which the supporting City documents indicate the Better Business Bureau rates an A+ company ~~ the PRU Crew is wondering why City staff included the BBB document in the first place, since we know the City does no-bid business with companies who receive a rating of F from the BBB.
@ 0:02:15 -- Mayor Schmidt reports on email exchange with CAL law firm
@ 0:03:11 -- Procedures and Regulations begins with action item to approve PROAC Resolution
@ 0:04:38 -- Ald. Ryan moves to amend PROAC Resolution
@ 0:08:20 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to substitute for the whole a Resolution to place a referendum question about opposition to O'Hare expansion on the Nov. election ballot
~~ And they're off! ~~
If these Aldermorons weren't our Aldermorons the PRU Crew would find this theater of the absurd very very very entertaining!
~~ And an hour later...
@ 1:05:34 -- Council COW votes 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Carey and Wsol) to 3 (Bach, Allegretti and Ryan) to place as an action item on the next City Council agenda a Resolution to approve a referendum question
@ 1:06:12 -- Discussion begins on the inclusion of Boards and Commissions information on the City web site
@ 1:32:00 -- Discussion begins on no-bid contracts policy review
@ 1:35:30 -- Discussion begins on land use alternatives for 1200 Elm St -- And the PRU Crew notes the lack of public access and web site posting of the appraisal analysis provided by MaRous & Co. to the City Council
@ 1:47:01 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer the issue to the next Council COW as an action item to be sent to Planning and Zoning for review -- the Council COW votes unanimously to do so
@ 1:48:02 -- Finance and Budget begins with discussion and action on the City's phone service contract along with discussion of the competitive bidding process
@ 2:05:00 -- Vote to approve the phone service contract be place on the next City Council meeting agenda for action is 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Allegretti and Ryan) to 3 (Bach, Wsol and Carey)
@ 2:06:43 -- Public Works begins with discussion and action on parking ordinance policy
@ 2:15:42 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to defer action on the policy until the September Public Works Committee meeting
@ 2:16:20 -- Council COW votes unanimously to defer action
@ 2:16:31 -- Discussion and action begins on commercial parking restrictions for Busse Hwy. between Oakton and Potter roads
@ 2:17:01 -- Council COW votes unanimously to approve commercial parking restrictions
@ 2:17:07 -- Discussion and action begins on Stewart Ave. parking restrictions
@ 2:23:17 -- Council COW votes unanimously to approve Stewart Ave. parking restrictions
@ 2:23:32 -- Discussion begins on driveway guideline ordinance
@ 2:25:00 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer item to Appearance Commission for review
@ 2:25:12 -- Ald. Bach amends motion to include review by Planning and Zoning
@ 2:27:44 -- Council COW votes unanimously to refer item to Appearance Commission and Planning and Zoning for review
@ 2:28:00 -- Discussion begins on Fairview parking lot
@ 2:40:06 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer the issue of the purchase of the Fairview parking lot to the next Council meeting for discussion in closed session
@ 2:46:04 -- Council COW votes 4 (Bach, Allegretti, Ryan and DiPietro) to 3 (Sweeney, Carey and Wsol) to place the item on the next Council meeting for closed session
~~ And the PRU Crew finds Ald. Ryan's lack of disclosure about his relationship to the real estate agent for this potential property acquisition to be obnoxious, arrogant, and far short of anything which comes even close to honest, open, and transparent ~~
@ 2:47:12 -- Public Safety begins with Red Light Camera update and discussion of expansion of the program. And the PRU Crew is gratified to hear some of our elected officials call this what it is -- barely anything more than a revenue generator for the City
@ 3:08:31 -- Discussion begins on consideration to ban hand-held devices while driving
@ 3:22:10 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to send the issue to the next Public Safety meeting as an action item
@ 3:27:20 -- Council COW votes 5 (DiPietro, Ryan, Carey, Wsol and Bach) to 2 (Allegretti and Sweeney) to move the item to the next Public Safety meeting for action
@ 3:28:44 -- Discussion begins on Touhy and Northwest Hwy. traffic safety concerns
@ 3:36:19 -- Discussion begins on safety grant programs conducted by the Park Ridge Police Dept.
@ 3:53:23 -- Chiefski's report begins
@ 4:05:20 -- Fire Chief's report begins
@ 4:13:35 -- Public Safety ends and Mayor Schmidt resumes the chair
@ 4:13:55 -- Other Business begins with Mayor Schmidt inquiring about former Fire Chief Dubowski's return to the City and the City Manager's authority for creating a position for Dubowski
@ 4:15:38 -- New Business begins with Ald. Wsol requesting information about how property tax assessments are tracked for improved properties
@ 4:16:38 -- Ald. Wsol asks for a status report to be given at next Monday's City Council meeting concerning the search for a new Finance Dept. Director
@ 4:17:01 -- Mayor Schmidt asks for City staff to begin providing monthly budget reports and updates
@ 4:18:21 -- Ald. Sweeney announces a Youth Campus cook out being put on by the Kiwanis
@ 0:22:44 -- "Park Ridge in 1910" presentation begins
@ 0:37:10 -- Appointments to Animal Commission --the PRU Crew is holding out for the formation of the PARTY Animal Commission.
@ 0:38:43 -- Garden Club Proclamation
@ 0:41:55 -- City Clerk's report begins
@ 0:42:59 -- City Manager's report begins
@ 0:54:00 -- Citizens wishing to address the Council on Non-agenda items -- A resident asks the Council to consider adopting a ban on all hand-held devices while driving
@ 0:58:00 -- Reports of Boards and Commissions begins -- Ald. Bach for the PROAC
*** The next hour+ of Council discussion is a painful reminder of why we find most of our Aldermorons to be Aldermorons most of the time *** And we're beginning to think Ms. Jennifer Perry has mastered the art of playing a diplomatically doe-eyed damsel in distress very well.
@ 2:09:46 -- Public Safety report begins -- Ald. Wsol asks Chiefski about the forthcoming red light camera update
@ 2:10:05 -- New Business begins -- Ald. Wsol asks for a review of guidelines for no-bid contracts -- Ald. Sweeney announces a volunteer effort at sprucing up the Youth Campus
