The following is an update on the board meeting from Monday the 28th which was a continuation of the previous meeting on the 21st.
On the agenda was the discussion on fines for not getting a permit. They are currently $750 for contractors and $150 for residents. I felt this needed to be revisited because a $750 fine for a $75 permit on a first offense seems excessive. I would rather see that fine for a second offense. Our goal is compliance and it is definitely not easy for contractors to keep track of the differences from town to town. Not surprisingly, Trustee Carroll said the rules are the same from town to town and contractors know the rules. I disagree. As someone who has contracted for 15 years in over 50 communities in the suburbs, I can tell you the rules change frequently inside a town and they also vary significantly across towns. That’s a fact. The good news is this led to a discussion about the Village’s permitting, which I think needs review. Others agreed and it will be discussed further at the committee level.
Next, I responded to all of the baseless charges leveled by Trustee Carroll a few weeks ago. I have responded to those in this forum in the past, but wanted it on record. Also, I entered several documents for the record refuting his allegations. I also pointed out to all of the Trustees that they have allowed this behavior and done nothing to stop it — in my opinion their silence is the same as condoning his behavior.
Not surprisingly he responded with new fabrications and allegations. He didn’t have the emails that he claimed to and demanded that I give him access to all of my emails. He is welcome to FOIA them like anyone else. Based on his comments, he has had others FOIA them in the past and didn’t like the fact that they were redacted. As always, when there is a request, our IT Department takes my Village and personalcomputers to pull down all relevant emails. Then the attorneys go through all the emails and redact information that is not part of the request or is not allowed to be released. While I review the redacted documents, to date, I have never made additional redactions. His other fabrications, involved “somebody telling him that….”, or “a person told me this….”. Anytime he wants to bring facts to the table I encourage him to do so. Additionally, he made up a number about the dollar figure of a contract with a vendor. He just can’t help fabricating item after item.
Trustee Carroll then stated that we hadn’t gone out for bid with Horton Insurance for 11 or 12 years and Trustee Ruzich asked the board to do so before I was elected and he is the one he ensured that it happened. The fact is that I told Horton Insurance when I first met with them that we would be going for bid and the first-time we went out for bid for Horton Insurance in 11 or 12 years was after I came on the scene. Coincidence – maybe, but probably not. By the way, Horton won the bid (Trustee Ruzich and I abstained from the vote due to potential conflicts of interest).
He also said that he is filing a complaint to the State’s Attorney that I violated the law committing a Class B misdemeanor. This was supposed to done Tuesday. This is nothing new for Trustee Carroll. He has routinely talked about and filled social media with stories about people filing “complaints”. Notice, there have been no charges. Anyone can file a complaint, it doesn’t make it valid and is just a manufactured political attack – again.
This, I’m sure was in response to the fact that I pointed out that during the last election Trustee Carroll delivered sandwiches with the former Mayor’s name to polling locations where they were laid out for people to see prior to voting. The Cook County Election Board stepped in and called every poll location and had them removed – this was a clear violation of election law.
One Trustee, Trustee Dodge spoke out about against both Trustee Carroll and my comments as wasting his time and the public’s time. I agree it is a waste of time but I have to defend myself. After 20 months of being attacked on the board floor – culminating in the charges of a few weeks ago, I felt it was time to push back and to let the other board members know that it is time for them to speak out. At least one of them did. It’s about time! Frankly, if I have to absorb a little “friendly fire” to get my point across, I am happy to do so.
The we moved onto the “ethics ordinance”. Finally, it was up as a discussion item as it should have been from the beginning, over one month ago. It too is going back to committee and we’ve clearly pushed back from some of the ideas that were over reaching. Let’s see where we end up, but it’s back in the forum that it should be.
Lastly, we were left to board comments. For the most part they were non-eventful. However, Trustee Gira did feel the need to point out that the committeemen always deliver sandwiches on polling day to the election officials and it is no big deal. What she failed to point out is that the former Mayor was not the committeeman and it was his name “Mayor Dan McLaughlin” on the sandwiches placed next to the computers registering voters entering the facilities while he was on the ballot. Personally, I think electioneering is a big deal – so did the Cook County Election Board!
Our next meeting is on Monday February 4th. Additionally, we have a 7PM meeting on February 11th for community input on the developer we have chosen.
Mayor Pekau
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