The last election was fraught with peril as Claar battled Bonnie for his seat. Many residents remember that a young lady in the community stepped up to fight Roger for his position, and as a write in candidate with two last names, still took 27% of the vote. There was a great deal at stake in this election, as Roger was not fully vested for his retirement until next year. If he lost, he stood to lose big money in retirement.
Because of this, the election was bitter and nasty. People yanked down Bonnie's signs, banners, and did whatever they could to target her personally. Bitter feelings persisted after the election, with Roger and Trustee Lawler publicly accusing Bonnie of contributing to a school board members death. Bonnie took action, accusing the organization of unfair election processes, and filing lawsuits for that and for defamation. Her first lawsuits stated that she was illegally kicked off the ballot. She claimed conflict of interest and demanded a move of venue when she found out her electoral board whom decides if she remained on the ballot, were in fact, her opponents on the ballot. It was the same team running against her on Roger's slate. Then she filed a motion for defamation for calling her a murderer, with no just cause.
Roger is fighting the lawsuits, hiding behind tort law, stating anything that happens during meetings are immune to prosecution. He can call anyone names (even murderer), bash them (defamation), boot them off the ballot (illegally), and bully anyone that chooses to run against his people or himself. As he does this, he wins and the residents lose. He keeps his stronghold and his pay, plus his contributions. Nobody can run for a fair election in Bolingbrook ensuring the residents will not be able to get him out of office, and the residents have to fork over the sum of $27K in legal defense fees, thus far.
What could Roger have done differently? Maybe not use board meeting time to bash political opponents. Maybe issue a public apology or retraction, as initially demanded by Bonnie. Bonnie stated, "All I asked for was an immediate retraction". Now Roger's bad business decision is costing the Village money. He could have accepted the fact that his position was not guaranteed in life, and elections are a typical course of action. As a politician, you realize you need to do right by the people to get re-elected and if you do not, someone will step up to run against you. Many people think that if Bonnie was on the ballot, she would have won.
How many lawsuits does the Village currently have against them for this same type of thing? What has this cost the taxpayers for the duration of the past 20 years of bullying tactics to maintain his job? How will this election cycle be different? As the residents watch this election, some questions come to mind.
1. Will Roger use the same bully tactics to illegally boot people off the ballot? Residents are watching to see if he will risk another costly lawsuit or just let democracy play out.
2. Are more people running this time in order to sue the Village for his consistent misdeeds?
3. Will the people finally vote Roger's people out for bullying tactics and to dismantle the stronghold?
4. Will Bonnie actually run and get on the ballot? If booted off the ballot, will she have legal representation to sue the Village again, in order to slap the village with a consequence for their actions again?
5. Who will be willing to step out and challenge someones petition locally this year, when Bonnie slapped a lawsuit on the last pawn who did this?
6. Did Bonnie's actions pave the way to reform in Bolingbrook? Will it make a difference?
The residents are hoping so. They are "sick" about what Roger did to Bonnie last year and are pushing to see her succeed this time around. If she had 27% of the voted last year, her numbers have probably gone up by now with the support about what he did to her. She is truly a fighter and is paving the way for others to be able to step up and run an election.
Bonnie has been knocking on doors and telling her story. She is getting ready to launch a new campaign this year. The tactics they used last year were not acceptable to the residents, and her numbers in the last election showed that. By using bully tactics in an election process, residents were upset enough to vote against Roger. The more signs they destroyed, the more they defamed her, and the way they kicked her off the ballot, enraged people to come out to vote. We are hoping to see this flourish in her favor this year.
What has happened to Bonnie in the last year since she ran against Roger? Since she challenged the Mayor for his position, he publicly announced to Bolingbrook that she was a contributing factor to someones death. Someone she never met and did not know. She filed suit. If you surf her name on the Internet, they have continued to hold grudges against her, talking about her appearance to continue the battle against her in the public. Is this suppose to happen to someone just because they decide to run for an office in order to make a positive change in the community? Should this have continued for a year and a half AFTER an election? Roger has not put a stop to it, so his people continue. Most people would have stuck their head in the sand and cried. Bonnie stood up taller and kept her fight going. What they do not realize is that the more bad things that they do to her, the stronger she fights back. We cannot wait to see what they will do to her in this election. She is not a rookie anymore, she knows where to go to for help and has teams of people working behind her. She is determined and ready for the fight.
Last week she showed up at one of our doors for signatures. When asked about the upcoming election, she smiled and stated, "I am ready for the fight! Bring it on! There is nothing they can do to me that they have not already done. I don't care what Roger's people say about me. Their votes do not matter to me. They will always be Roger's lackeys. I care about the people of Bolingbrook, the people who are being taxed high, the people who are being taken advantage of through pay to play rewards fattening the administrations pockets. I care about the crime rates, the losing ventures, and holding the Trustees accountable for their votes, including the 100% YES votes they have had in their tenure as a Bolingbrook trustee. I care that that has put Bolingbrook in over $300Mil in debt to our future generations. I fight for the people, for a government of the people, by the people and for the people."
When asked what she plans on doing differently this year, she smiled and said that "only time will tell, but that she has a great game plan!"
What are the results of all of the lawsuits that have been filed?
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