Bolingbrook Clout can overlook Sunshine Laws?

Does being a Bolingbrook "clout" candidate help you in breaking village "sunshine laws" directed at transparency?

Sunshine laws are laws that are put in place that allow residents the ability to request a FOIA (Freedom of info act) and trust that the local elected officials will honor the FOIA request as law states they need to.  However, in Bolingbrook where fair elections are not honored, local officials worried about losing their seats, break the Sunshine Laws to avoid publicity.  They also break the trust of the residents who believe in the law and the system.

The sunshine laws for FOIAs are as follows: 

"Pursuant to the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form

of government, it is declared to be the public policy of the State of Illinois that

all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of

government and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as

public officials and public employees consistent with the terms of this Act.

Such access is necessary to enable the people to fulfill their duties of discussing

public issues fully and freely, making informed political judgments and monitoring

government to ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest."

When someone FOIAs the village and asks for the list of candidates that have picked up packets to run for office, they would think this simple request would give them documents to show details of this request.  Week after week that list was supplied, but left off the current elected officials.

Now why would they do that?  What are they trying to hide? 

Isn't it hard for the village to hide this break in sunshine laws when Mr. Morales, who did not appear on the FOIA request list, has possession of the signature sheets and is collecting signatures?  Does the Village not care about breaking the trust of the residents who submit the FOIA requests?

The questions we should be asking are: 
Who is Mr. Morales paying off to get the Village to break the public's trust in the FOIA laws? 
How can the residents believe that their government is honest?
How can they trust that Mr. Morales is honest?
Are Village employees interfering in an election, when this is a felony to do so? 
Who will be the one to "get in trouble" from the State's Attorney's office if this is submitted to them?
Is all this risk worth hiding the fact that Trustee Morales is using clout to cover his candidacy?

We will be following the story as it progresses.

School Board Chair forced to change anger issues

Steve Quigly, the school board chairman is being forced to curb his anger issues at residents if he wants to stand a chance of re-election in four months. 

Recent attacks at residents who have stood up to ask simple questions of this actions have caused Mr. Quigley to lose his grip on Bolingbrook and Romeoville voters.  A few weeks back he caused audience members to cry in empathy after he brutally attacked a mother of two for asking questions during the question and answer session at the board meeting. 

"Since when can we not ask elected officials about their actions without being verbally abused?" stated one mom who witnessed the video on a local web site.  "I think we should be abusing them for their careless cuts to our kids futures!" she declared. 

Since the local school board members have been "outed" for their corruption, bad role modeling, and waste of tax payer money, over a dozen people have picked up packets to run against them in the upcoming election.  It is a time for change, and the school board needs it the most.

As they are about to pass yet another increase in taxes, that puts chair Mr. Quigley into a bad position.  He has voted to raise taxes each year he has sat on the board.  He calls himself a Republican but spends like a liberal, and cannot find a balance to the budget problems. 

"What this board needs are leaders that have children in the system and vote for the best interest of the children, not themselves.  Mr. Quigley sends his kids to private school and raises taxes.  He cannot balance a budget and votes to stay top heavy on administrations pays, while cutting teachers and salary. I am not voting for him this election" a Bolingbrook residents names Tom stated. 

We will begin reporting the candidates running for school board as soon as the ballot situation has passed.  Stay tuned in four weeks for our school board stories!  Thanks to all those running who wish to help in giving Bolingbrook a fair shot at a new and fair system that works!

How many hits do we get a month?

Readers have been asking us how many hits we get a month.  Our statistics are as follows.
We have been on the new blog site less than three months.  In the last six weeks we have gotten

6,265 hits.  Our averages change daily depending on the news we present.  Our weekly averages currently for November are approx. 1,000 hits per week, or over 4,000 hits per month. 

 

When we poll our readers, some visit daily while others visit weekly.  Most of them tell us that they tell at least three people about the stories on our site.  If this is the case, our following could equate to 12,000 people in Bolingbrook hearing our news weekly.  If those people tell 3 people... you get the drift.  The Village is only 68,000 people, and some of them are kids! 

 

We will be expanding our advertising in the new year and growing, so the numbers will be changing. 

 

Thank you readers for participating in your local community and government.  For those people that state, "nobody in this village cares, that is why they do not vote", we can counter that with at least 1,000 people are spreading the word weekly.  If each person told 3 other people a story, then those numbers continue to grow.  It is not just about coming out to vote, it is about contributing when you can.  So please continue to pass the stories to your neighbors and we will continue to post our news and findings. 

 

Have a great holiday!  

Local Elections Items to Watch for

The local elections are as dirty as they come.  Some say that they are equal to Chicago style politics, while others say it is much worse.  Final objections will be arriving soon.  Bonnie has contributed some tips for the residents to watch for...

Hello fellow residents!  These are tips for the upcoming election.  Follow the local papers and the Brook Report for daily updates for issues that can present themselves this year.

1.  Once the petitions are filed, pay close attention to the political affiliations of the objectors. 
2.  Watch to see if the objector is present in the hearing, or if the objector is sponsored by an attorney.
3.  If they are sponsored by an attorney, will it be a rep from Tressler Law Firm (Village attorney office), or Richard Kavinaugh's offices (Du Page Township attorney office).  These attorneys are actually working in junction with Roger Claar, and not a random objecting resident.  They could potentially be billing the tax payers as well. 
4.  During the hearing, see who the board members are.  Are they really impartial, or do they sit on, or sponsor the slate running against the candidate.  For example, last year two of the three electoral board members that booted me off the ballot were on the slate of the Mayor's.  I was running against him.  The third board member had the Mayor as his main campaign contributor, and as the chair of this campaign committee.
5.  Are all the objectors using the same attorney?  This is a red flag for conspiracy.
6.  Do the objectors try to say that your signature, as a tax payer and voter, do not count?  Last year over 200 voter/ residents names were counted as "not allowed" and their votes/ signatures did not matter.
7.  Does the objectors attorney stay after the hearing to explain how the board can effectively remove the candidate?  (This is not only a closed door meeting, illegal by law, but the opposing attorney cannot speak to the board without the candidates attorney present.) This happened last year.
8.  When removed from the ballot, is the candidate given enough time to still appeal the decision in Will County? 

Once the ballot process is complete, I will update the residents of what to look for around town during election time. 

Enjoy the holidays!

Bonnie Alicea

Mike Evans denies drinking at conference

Let the residents decide for themselves!

We have receipts for him attending this conference.  So someone at this very conference, hanging out with Bolingbrook and Romeoville officials, was caught "lushing".

2008 Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting

2010 Boston trip

The question remains, what is the school board doing to discipline the wrong doings of the members?  Are they cut off from tax payers dollars for conferences and personal expenses?

Re-Addressing the Turkey Give-away

We think it was a wonderful thing for a company to donate to the "not so fortunate" residents for Thanksgiving.  They donated turkey and full meals with desert.  We congratulate them for this large donation.

We condone politicians using it to their advantage and scaring off people needing food.  This led to an abundance of food not picked up.  So guess what happened!  (thank gosh for video camera's on phones now!)

Breaking news alert!

 Bolingbrook officials and employees caught on video taking food from the "needy" lines!  Bolingbrook fiscal reports that show their income, show that they are well above qualifying factors for the free and donated food for the needy.  Basically, they ran off the needy residents and put the free food on their own tables!  Shocking and disgusting, all at once! Isn't it bad enough they pad their pockets with pay to play, but now they get caught blatantly stealing from the poor!

We have decided not to air this video, as some local residents are on this video picking up food.  We do not wish to subject them to the same issues that Bill Mayer and the local news did already.  If any of our readers can put black marks over some faces, let us know so we can share this video with the rest of the village!

Bolingbrook Operation Christmas

When Christmas time comes and the needy need help, they turn to local Bolingbrook organizations.  Bolingbrook Operation Christmas has been helping residents for 37 years.  Over 500 families are served annually.

This year we have been contacted by some residents who are slightly discouraged.  Donations which are solicited from businesses and individuals, in a rough economy, will be taking a hard toll on the donations this year.

Residents are being told that donations, which in the past have been new items, food, or gift cards, are not what is being offered this year.  They are being told that donations will come in the form of "slightly used" items, damaged items, or expired food products. 

We are unable to verify this story, but we can make a difference.  We are asking residents to donate items in the next few days, before the Dec. 1 pick up dates.  You can donate to the village by contacting: .

Gwen Bettig (630) 739-7895 or Lee Bush at (630) 739-6188

School Questions Answered VVSD 365-U

What is the teacher vs. student ratio compared to demographics:

Teachers                                   Students

White 85.2%                            31.8%

Black 8.1%                                22.7%

Hispanic 5.2%                          34.3%

Asian 1.4%                                6.5%

Native American 0.2%         0.1%

What is our pay structure like compared to other areas?

Our teacher salaries are competitive with surrounding districts.  Beginning salaries for BS and MS are among the highest in the area.  Mid level salaries are competitive while our lifetime salaries tend to be lower than some surrounding districts.  More specific information can be found in the annual salary study conducted by the Large Unit School District Association.

Greedy School Boards....

This year the school board could not even put together a proper budget.  They were late in finally pushing a budget.  Now these inexperienced board members want to push more taxes?

While many residents struggle to buy a Turkey to put on their table and many more hunt for jobs over the holiday season so they can buy a Xmas gift for their kids, the school board has decided to raise the taxes, yet again.  Let me repeat, YET AGAIN.

With a 4-1 vote this week, they have increased the levy by 6.31 percent.  This does not count the increase they implemented over the last few years.  The final vote is on December 13th.


So why do they keep raising the rates in a tough economy?  Why don't they look to cut the top heavy costs that keep them increasing taxes each year to cover cost of living increases?  The answer lies within the members of the school board that are making the decisions.

 

Last year Steve Quigley and Mike Evans pushed for higher taxes, while cutting services to the most needy of students.  They did not freeze teachers high wages.  They did not cut top heavy salaries, or overcrowding at top executive levels.  They cut from the students.  They did this, despite the fact that there are more deans, principles, assistant principles, security, and other high payrolls than ever before.  It is all about clout and position for these board members.

 

For example, in 2005 they created a position called head of security for schools.  They started the position at $50K and hired Trustee and Deputy Mayor Leroy Brown to the position.  In three years time his salary went from $50K to over $80K.  Are we in more danger now then we were four years after the 9-11 attacks, that would warrant increasing security pay by $10G a year and cutting books to the students?  What about the service contract on phones that cost us $120K per quarter, awarded to Bill Mayer (Du Page Township Supervisor) company Call One?  Do our phones need a quarter of a million dollar expensive service contract instead of offering students special education services?

 

Mis-spending is what is all about.  In April, you will have an opportunity to vote these cronies out of office and cut school taxes.  Don't forget to watch our site when we list who is a cronie and who is a tax cutter, series starting in January...

 

Happy Turkey Day!

The Bolingbrook Report would like to wish the residents of Bolingbrook a Happy Thanksgiving! 

What does the Village Attorney and office make?

Many people have been asking lately what our Village Attorney makes:

First, he was a Village employee with a high salary.  therefore, he now collects a pension.
Second, he entered a law business and has had the exclusive village contract for many years, doing a similar job.

Some call this illegal, to give up your municipal job and then hold the same job as a outside service for higher prices.  In IL, some statures mention this law and new laws are cropping up daily for this. 

Annually his business makes approx. $850K.
Monthly he earns a pension from the Village (taxpayers pay this) of $5,501.53. = $66, 000 annually.

This year his business also had the Valley View School Board for over $100G per year.  Claar's lackeys (e.g. Mike Evans) are a majority of the 365U School Board and they also approve giving Boan our tax dollars.

Total amount that Jim Boan and his company makes from Bolingbrook Taxpayers?  Over $1 Million Dollars Per Year!

Is it any wonder that Boan is a regular contributor to Claar's pay-to-paly political slush fund?  No--that is how Claar works--demanding patronage/pay-to-play from those he and the Trustees gives OUR tax monies to.

Bill Mayer Decides to Dress and Act Like a Turkey for Thanksgiving--Baah Humbug!

Local residents in need of a donated Thanksgiving dinner and meals for the week ran away from the food lines at the pantry donation center today. 

Local politician William (Bill) Mayer turned the "food for needy families" into a three ring circus this morning when the media was notified and appeared to witness and capture his show-boating circus act.  Dressing up in a turkey outfit and shaking residents hands, he asks for them to vote for him in the next set of elections. 

However, needy residents, choosing to go hungry rather than have themselves publicly viewed picking up food donations, were upset.  One resident states, "It is hard enough to be unemployed and poor.  It is hard enough to tell my children why there will not be a Thanksgiving dinner this year, thanks to Mr. Bill Mayer.  What is worse is that the entire world would have known I am poor and cannot feed my kids, had I stayed...  Who will hire me after they see me picking up free food?  All because some local politicians decide to use the poor as a political agenda.  Shameful...(choked up)".  As she spoke to us, she was in tears.

Dressing and acting like a turkey to try to get votes by manipulating what should be a charity event for the poor to instead be a campaign event for Bill Mayer.  Shameful.  We have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Bill Mayer dressing and acting like a turkey is not one of them.

Nuisance to the Village or nuisance IS THE VILLAGE

Are you planning on fixing up the outside of your home this year?  Have you been getting prices from contractors?  Don't forget to figure in the village costs in fines you will get for making your home look nice.  The Village enacted ordinance fines last year called "nuisances" that allow them to charge you heavily for repairs made to the home.  One resident is fighting the costs and asks that more of you do.  Here is why...

Say you want to replace your windows and it will take your contractors 5 days to do all of them.  The outside of your home will suffer in the "poor looks" category during the fixing time.  When cited, the Village will charge you a cost of $2,850.00.  That is more than the cost of windows!  You see, each day it is not completed is another fine that increases with time.  See chart below to determine what you will be cited for with the ordinances in place before you beautify your home. 

Do you have grubs?  It will take a while to plant seeds and grow them.  Do you know this past summer residents were hit hard with these fines for planting new grass?  One guy was hit with fines for building a deck in the back yard, even though he had a privacy fence.  His bill was astronomical!

We want people to fix up their homes.  Apparently with these steep fines, Bolingbrook officials do not want you to.  If they did, the fines would be lower.  Maybe they are just needing the money to pay back those high bonds!

Section 27-306. PENALTY:
A . (Ordinance 09-018, 03.10.09) In addition to the judicial abatement remedy set forth hereinabove, any person who is an owner or occupant of any property determined in a judicial action, or in an administrative proceeding under Article 3 of Chapter 7 of the Municipal Code, to constitute a public nuisance who has intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently permitted or suffered such property to become, be used as or exist as a public nuisance shall be fined as follows. For each violation of any of the provisions of Article 3 of this Chapter during any 12 month period, the fine shall be as follows:
1 st offense One Hundred Dollars ($100.00)
2nd offense Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00)
3rd offense Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)
4th and subsequent offenses One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00)

How well did the Golf Club sports bar do during the Bears Game this week?

Two residents stopped into the Golf Club during the fourth quarter of the Bears Game this week.  They wanted to see how well run the establishment was and how busy our tax payer funded sports bar was during a big game. (Typically there are specials to bring people in and places privately run like Tail Gators was packed.)

Here is what they found...

The place was 100% empty, minus the two residents that walked in to check it out. (See pics below)

There were FOUR Employees, one was a bar tender, one was a bus boy, and the other two we are unsure of, as they sat in the corner chatting it up!

Which is fine if they are doing their job.  But why were they not told to go home?  Why not cut the labor expenses?  Where were the specials?  What marketing had been done to boost the business?  What does the management have to say about this?  Why did we just renew their management team contracts when this happens?  We are outraged!  This place is soaking US, the tax payers, to keep it afloat.  Look at these pictures and tell me you are not upset as a resident!

This is why we need skilled people that can help boost this business and help Bolingbrook reduce our taxes!

Bob "the Bulldog of Bolingrook" was asked for to comment on this story.  "It goes to show that just because Roger is an expert at drinking in bars, that doesn't mean he knows how to run one profitably.  It's amazing that everything Roger runs with OUR tax money loses money, and I mean huge amounts of money--and now he wants to spend even more of our tax money to get a water utility to run.  Can you imagine Roger being in charge of our fire hydrants working correctly or our drinking water being clean--that's a really scary thought for any resident to contemplate."

Exclusive Footage back scene at Golf Club and Money Misspent!

All that talk about the hot tub and sauna's at the golf club has broken through as our private investigators get exclusive pictures!  Never seen before footage of the "secret" and locked private sauna and hot tub, located in the tax payer exclusive 70,000+ sq ft clubhouse.  (Largest public golf club in Illinois!)

 This hot tub appears to be a 15 seater?

 Sauna (next to private hot tub) appears to seat about 15 or so.

Locker Room in woman's locker boasts the #1 name tag (covered by reflection) and the gold plated name bearing Pat Claar's private locker!

When building Golf Club on tax payers dollars, it was a poor business decision to add a "Private" and locked saunas and hot tubs.  What do you think this is, a rich person's workout gym?  Since this is a TAX PAYER funded golf club, why does the Mayor's wife have her own privately labeled locker?

This does not include a men's lounge with another sauna and a woman's locker room with a sauna.

Total = 3 saunas and one large private hot tub!

This is where some of the initial $30+ Million went to!

Evans for School Board? Not...

We have followed Mr. Mike Evans through his last two years path of destruction to the community.  He has finally picked up his packet for school board, which was not a smart move.  Our top reason we feel he should not run again is that he is highly unethical and the school board is suppose to stand up as role models to the students.

He votes on his own business to make money.  He uses tax payer money to take lavish conferences and represents Bolingbrook like a drunken fool, both on conference and around town.  He does not even settle his debts locally for personal reasons.  For example has he paid for all his wedding bills yet?  Local businesses are still waiting for hundreds of dollars of payments months and months later.  Since then, he has started a family and now has a little one.  Yet bills are unpaid. 

Most unethical people would agree with Mike, why pay them off when you can go the high route and use that money for luxury suites with champagne in Vegas, baby!  Which he did just a few months ago.

The other problem with this, is that he heads the Chamber of Commerce.  He is suppose to be helping local businesses succeed and be able to stay open.  Instead, he used local businesses to get a discount for his wedding and failed to pay them!  Most of these are small businesses and cannot afford to have people not pay.  He abused his powers of connections and now businesses all around him are struggling to deal with the consequences of his immature and irresponsible actions.

Can we all say "grow up Mike?"

Signing Petitions

It has been brought to our attention that there are some issues about signing petitions for Trustee candidates or voting for candidates.  We have been called by numerous residents fearing the repercussion of signing for any candidate that the local officials are running against.  These residents have stated that meetings and individual statements have been made locally regarding the upcoming elections, and threats were implied.

The law states that NO ELECTED OFFICIAL or Government worker can threaten, intimidate, or coerce you to NOT sign a petition or not to vote for your candidate of choice.  So if you fear for your job, safety, family members incomes, etc. you need not worry.  Any person of power that is accused of intimidation, threats, or impeding consequence on who you chose to vote for, has broken the law doing so, stomped on your constitutional rights, and should be reported immediately to Mr. Glasgow, Will County States Attorney.

Bottom line, this is America Damn it!  Home of the brave!  So step up and vote for whom you want to, because nobody knows what buttons you hit when the poll curtain closes!

Donating Companies

If you have recently been contacted to donate to a political fund that you have donated to in the past, and "told" to donate a certain amount, you have become a victim if it is done with threat, intimidation, or fear.

Donations are not suppose to be threats or intimidation and should not risk your business.  Many business are hurting right now and cannot offer "free' money to politicians.  Nor should they be expected to. 

Some politicians have over $1 Mil in a war chest and could retire with that money in the system.  It is not needed for local elections which run under $20K.  This is called greed.

A new law has passed this year.  If you report this happening to your company, you could be entitled to a whistle blower fee.

This is the law below.  Please contact the Will County States Attorney to report this problem.

Bill Status of SB2551  96th General Assembly

Synopsis As IntroducedCreates the Public Corruption Profit Forfeiture Act and amends the Election Code. Provides for the forfeiture to the State of Illinois of proceeds and profits derived through violations of the statutes concerning intimidation by public officials, bribery, or providing, attempting, offering to provide or soliciting, accepting, or attempting to accept a kickback, or including, directly or indirectly, the amount of any kickback prohibited in the contract price charged by a subcontractor to a prime contractor or a higher tier subcontractor or in the contract price charged by a prime contractor to any unit of State or local government for a public contract a kickback. Provides for distribution of the proceeds from forfeited property. Includes a continuing appropriation to the Department of State Police. Effective immediately.
Senate Floor Amendment No. 1
Provides that all political contributions held by a political committee and controlled by a person convicted of the federal offenses of extortion, receiving the proceeds of extortion, bribery, and kickbacks shall be paid to the State of Illinois within 30 days from the date of entry of the guilty plea or conviction. Provides that if the prosecution or appeal was conducted by the Attorney General, then the amount provided for distribution of the forfeited assets shall be paid into the State Asset Forfeiture Fund in the State treasury to be used by the Attorney General in accordance with law. Makes changes in the bill to conform to Public Act 96-832. Effective January 1, 2011.
House Floor Amendment No. 1

	Adds reference to:
	30 ILCS 105/5.755 new

Further amends the Public Corruption Forfeiture Act. Provides that if the investigation, arrest or arrests and prosecution leading to the forfeiture or if the appeal were undertaken by the Attorney General, the portion provided hereunder shall be paid into the Attorney General's Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund in the State treasury to be used by the Attorney General in accordance with law. Provides that all moneys deposited pursuant to the Act in the Attorney General's Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be used by the Attorney General for State law enforcement purposes and for the performance of the duties of that office. deletes provision that moneys deposited into the State Asset Forfeiture Fund shall are appropriated on a continuing basis. Provides that all moneys deposited pursuant to the Act in the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor Anti-Corruption Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be used by the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor in the manner set forth in the Act. Amends the State Finance Act. Creates the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor Anti-Corruption Fund in the State treasury.

Bolingbrook Elected Officials Cause Pension Problems

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-padded-pension-0917-20100917,0,4986362.story

As you can see from the article above, high perks can lead to high pensions.  With many elected officials on the brink of retiring soon in Bolingbrook, this leaves Bolingbrook with a HUGE funding problem.

The Mayor alone enjoys health, transportation, and other perks.  Each head of the departments receive the same perks.  Bolingbrook is already on financial collapse, what will happen this year when all these big wigs retire?

Send in your comments!

Naperville protests cuts of Police

Nearly 450 people held signs and chanted "no layoffs" as they marched into the Naperville Council Chambers on Tuesday night when more Police officers were cut.

What does Naperville and Bolingbrook have in common? 
1.  The mistake of cutting too many public service workers
2.  Less Police = more crime
3.  City "out of control" spending has cost safety of the residents.
4.  The victims are the residents
5.  To vote out the people that passed these bills!

Local Elections

Candidates can submit their weekly questions and answers to the Brook Report.  We will be posting as much info as possible pertaining to local elections.  Once we announce the candidates and get their profiles, we will be posting info on all the candidates.  In the meantime, Bonnie has agreed to submit her weekly questions until the end of the year.
Thanks!
The reporters at the BR

Bonnie's take on Cygan's "more ordinance" issue

Note:  the last one was posted late on our account.  This one has already arrived, so we posted early.

From Bonnie:

Question:  Your opponent, Ken Cygan would like to see more ordinances in place to “Implement effective gang ordinances that give police officers the proper tools stand against organized crime and nuisances.”How do you stand on this issue? 

 Although this is not a debate session, I have vowed to answer questions.

Do I believe that Bolingbrook needs more ordinances?  The answer is “no” Bolingbrook does not need new ordinances. 

1.    Many of the ordinances are outdated and need to be re-done to reflect the times. When you put additional ordinances in place, someone has to manage them and enforce them.  This means more money is needed and taxes go up. I am against increase in taxation.

2.    The current ordinances need to be accessible to the residents, like online or at the library. 

3.    We live in a high governmental state to begin with.  We do not need big government watching more of our actions or coming up with laws that could harm the law abiding citizens. 

4.    I have spent years involved in researching, lecturing, and serving on boards concerning law and crimes.  I played a crucial part of the Taylor Business institute Criminal Justice board for many years, which is the largest school in Chicago to train and award degrees to Police Officers.  Since then, I have maintained friendships with many peers who are FBI and Homeland Security Members that sat on this board with me.  I have lectured to thousand’s of police officers, and was paid to do so by now President, Barack Obama’s offices years ago.  I do not consider myself the top expert, but I can say that I have researched enough, been involved enough, and educated enough to say that I have reviewed the local laws and ordinances, and I believe that Bolingbrook has laws and ordinances already in place to maintain a high level of security for the residents without infringing on the public’s right, liberties, and personal freedoms.

5.    When you put something out there that said you want to add a “nuisance” law, you are not making our Village or society “safer”, you are chewing away at residents rights, liberties, and personal freedoms. 

Many people wonder what a law or ordinance for “Nuisances” would look like.  It would reflect the definition of nuisance.  This is the definition according to Wikipedia.  A minor annoyance or inconvenience; a person or thing causing annoyance or inconvenience; anything harmful or offensive to the community or to a member of it. The possibility of infringing on rights is too great with a law like this and will be abused.

·         Who would determine what a nuisance is?

·         How much would a fine cost the residents? 

·         How many children or elderly would get arrested or fined for this?

·         How many law abiding citizens would get fined? 

·         Who would regulate this? 

·         What would that cost the taxpayers?

·         How much control could the government assert itself in this law? 

·         How will this law stomp on the Constitution? 

There are too many questions and too many unknowns.

6.    Bolingbrook needs more patrol officers, and more gang and drug officers to handle the issue of gangs.  These are qualified individuals that research the problem, get to know where the problem exists, and go after the problem without affecting the rights of all the residents.  They are trained to keep the streets safe without additional laws needed. These individuals risk their lives for our safety daily and don’t need to be burdened with little ol’ grandma planting flowers issues.

As a trustee, I will not vote on anything that could use governmental controls to limit your rights, liberties, or personal freedoms.  I will also be very careful about adding anything that could increase taxes, as I believe in lower taxation.  I do not agree with Mr. Cygan’s platform issue and I do not think it is in the best interest of Bolingbrook.

Bonnie's Answer of the Week

from Bonnie:

Many people have asked about Transparency in Bolingbrook.  They ask why I fought for it, what it was like before and what is it like now.  This is my story...

Last year the Village had a low level of transparency.  Matter of fact, the current officers on the board considered themselves transparent because they listed names, numbers, and addresses on the Village Web site.  One day I launched an investigation into the transparency and found that some of their information was posted incorrectly.  Their bio's were riddled with partial truths, and their email addresses led to general mailboxes.

In a day and age where the Internet is used by most people, I found the lack of information disturbing.  I began the fight for disclosure.  When I stepped up to fight for transparency, I became the "bad guy".  How dare I ask our elected officials to show people what they were doing with their money?  I was badgered at the meetings for asking for transparency and ultimately my families safety was put in jeopardy because they felt I was trying to "expose" the truth.  In reality, I only wanted to be able to quickly and efficiently access documents that all taxpayers and residents are entitled to.  Most of the surrounding communities already offered this service.  So why not Bolingbrook?  What was the reason for the lash out?  I am not sure, but one thing I am certain of, I was not liked by them, but I was loved by the residents...

After a year of pushing, I started to see results.  For example, now you can view the annual budgets, bills, meeting minutes, and financials online from the web site.  (When the web site is working properly).

The one issue I had a hard time with was pushing the FOIA laws to be obeyed.  Soon the new Sunshine laws backed me up and Transparency was pushed into Bolingbrook.  From April 2009 to now, Bolingbrook has come a long was into finding transparency. I commend those who have used their efforts and time to help with the fight.  I also commend those at the Village that agreed that transparency was the right thing to do for the residents, and used their hard work to make it happen.  Fran Miller was placed in charge of the new FOIA laws as the FOIA officer of Bolingbrook and she has worked hard at doing this job.  The duties she took on and the struggles she endured, to get things up to being acceptable to the law, took a lot of hard work and dedication.  For that, the residents need to thank her.  She is worth every penny the Village pays for her salary.

Do I think that the transparency fight is finalized in Bolingbrook?  No, I think we still have some issues to work out.  The vendor financials are hiding some line items for payment (Line "Do not use" is an example), and some bills from vendors are not broken down properly.  I also believe there needs to be some oversight on some of these vendors, as there is a lack of accountability to whom reviews and approves some of these expenses.  (Example, paying for watering of grass that has a sprinkler system installed).  With a Village this size, things slip through, but I will not accuse people of being negligent about it.  It just needs an outside look into accountability to find these hidden issues and resolve them, to save money.  Trustees can approve the bill, but I think that looking at the actual bill can help reduce costs and assist in finding better solutions.

One example I will share was late last year I retrieved a bill from a FOIA request for trees.  The price of the trees in question were over $800 a piece.  Using the name of the tree, size specified on the bill, and labor according to the bill, and our local businesses ALL priced lower for the same product at a retail cost.  The retail costs ranged from $300- $400 per tree and the labor was almost half the amount.  This disturbed me and allowed me to see how out of control the bidding process became with inflation and greed.  This costs the taxpayers in many ways.

I also believe that the transparency surrounding the actual bidding process needs to be exposed because of these issues.  We need to expand our vendor database and allow others to bid, including local businesses.  We cannot always accept bids based on donations to our local politicians, or to favoritism or nepotism.  We need to accept the lowest bid after accepting a minimum number of bids.  When I say minimum, I am not saying minimum number of donators.  I am saying five bids should be accepted from all avenues, which means that advertising the bids properly and notifying vendors that the bid exists can go a long way to trimming our taxes.  We also need to make sure the requirements to place a bid are not jeopardising and eliminating the best bids.

As a Trustee, I can assist with these changes and push for more reform.  The transparency has come a long way, but it is time we took it a step farther and pushed for 100% transparency.  That is one reason I am running for trustee and with my research and abilities, I can offer the time it takes to be the extra eye and look for money savings.

Trustee starts with the word "Trust"

How do we know if the candidates running can be trusted?  What length will they go through to run a nasty election, just to get a low paying job?  How much humiliation will they put themselves through to run a dirty campaign, and have to face themselves in the mirror for years to come because of it?

Bonnie is running on the campaign promise of "staying out of the election madness".  The money is not a factor in her running and her issues and popularity are sure to trump other contenders.  She is viewed as the #1 potential candidate over all the others that are running.  Ultimately three of six people will be chosen to the Village Board of Trustees. 

So far, only a few people have picked up packets.  Of the few people that have picked up the packets, one has announced he will not be running, and the three current trustees have not picked up their packets to run this year.  That leaves 6 candidates running for three positions.  One or more of these candidates might not make it to the ballots.  That means this should be a clear cut election, right?

Not necessarily, as not all candidates are on the same page.  Not all candidates are off to running a fair election.  Mr. Cygan, for instance, has chosen to attack our media sites.  According to Bonnie, he has been looking into Bonnie's background and even the background of the companies she works for via Internet search sites.  Although we, or Bonnie have not done anything to him, he has started his campaign on a dirty foot, attacking others instead of the issues. We do not think this is the right approach and we feel that Mr. Cygan should just pick up the phone and call Bonnie to discuss his obvious personal issues against her.

The five other candidates have chosen to stay low and run a fair election.  It is alleged that  although three of them have decided to run independently, they have agreed to run fairly without flinging mud at each other, and to stick to the issues.  Two of them are running as a team, and have decided to join the other three with running a fair election.  Bonnie is one of the people on the "team" of two. 

Five of these candidates have decided that the Bolingbrook residents do not want, nor need to see, an ugly local election.  They are issuing this statement as a symbol of building trust, which our current administration lacks with the residents and the residents are so desperate to get.  We have yet to hear from Mr. Cygan and his current actions have spoken against this thus far. 

Let's see which one's make it through the ballot process.  Stay tuned ...

Bolingbrook Sun collapses, Bolingbrook Report Increases

During the Bolingbrook Sun collapse over the next four weeks, the Bolingbrook Report will be staffing up to handle advertisers, news, and more.  We will not disband the controversial local political watch dog groups, but will work in conjunction with them to bring the latest and greatest news, as we always have.  We understand that the sudden increase in stories and management changes will affect the web site, but we are looking to make minimal changes to the blogger site.  The current staff will move to the local watchdog company called "The Watchdogs of Bolingbrook", while the new staff will run the local news and web site.

Thanks for staying on our faithful readers!

Rahm Announces Candidacy for Mayor of Chicago

http://www.chicagoforrahm.com/

Final Election Counts Arriving This Week

On Tuesday, Will County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots will oversee the final vote count, which includes provisional and grace period votes and absentee votes postmarked by midnight Nov. 1.

Nine teams of election judges of one Democrat and one Republican each will go through the votes to get a final tally that will be canvassed or certified as official on Nov. 27. Tuesday’s vote counting will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the clerk’s election department, which is located in the basement of the Will County Office Building, 302 N. Chicago St.

Voots said countywide there are 914 provisional votes, of which some will count and some won’t if judges determine the voters were not properly registered. Also there are 270 grace period votes, where voters cast ballots on the spot during late voter registration, and a couple thousand absentee votes.

Voots said she heard prior to the election that some voters mistakenly believe that early votes, where voters cast ballots before Election Day, are only counted in close races.

“That’s far from the truth,” she stressed. “Every ballot counts — no matter what.”

For more information on the election results go to www.thewillcountyclerk.com.

Bolingbrook Sun will not be in business in Bolingbrook come December

Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC is shutting down 11 Sun weekly newspapers to reduce costs, eliminating most of the free publications in its chain, CEO Jeremy Halbreich said.

The papers being eliminated are in Geneva, Bolingbrook, Homer Glen, Lisle, Glen Ellyn, Plainfield, Wheaton, Downers Grove, Batavia, Fox Valley and the southwest suburban Lincoln-Way area. They will shut down in late December.

Names coming in for the local elections

This week we will be finding out the names of many of the people running for local office.  We ask that our readers hold off on asking us to recommend a candidate until we can fully investigate each candidates.  In the next four weeks, the possible trustees will be having their attorneys review their nomination petitions, filing in Will County and locally for office.  After that four week time, we will disclose the names of all the candidates, and will closely follow the objections.  We will also be FOIAing the Non-Disclosures and conflict of interest, and reporting on these.  We will follow their progress up until April 5th. 

We will be sending the candidates questionnaires in January with the top questions submitted to our site.  All the questionnaires will be the same for each candidate and we will post the results of the questions by Feb.

We will also be following the sign issues in Bolingbrook, staffing some of our workers on sign watch during this election.  If there are people looking to illegally remove signs this year, we are determined to catch them and report them.  We are hoping for a more fair election process for the candidates.

According to a statement from the Will County Independent Party Chair, "They will be doing what they can to assist local candidates to stay on the ballot for local "Independent" candidates."  Therefore, we will allow this to play out and let the political organizations handle this issue.

Stay tuned as the local election season kicks off!

Village Attorney Costs

Last year we reported the Village Attorney makes over $800K in salary to his organization that he is listed as a Partner in.  His partner handled the School Board, bringing in their combined totals over $1Mil on each residents tax dollars.  This is up almost double his costs just a few years ago. 

This year, the budget was passed for "less" than last year, but he is slated to actually make "more" then last year, cruising up to a million dollars in the Village alone.

So how does this work?  He dictates the course.  His decisions alone bring him the money. 

For example, everyone is talking about Bonnie's lawsuit.  Do you know it was started because Mr. Boan made the executive decision to break her constitutional rights?  She submitted to the board a "Change in Venue due to conflict of interest of the parties on the board."  When it was addressed at the meeting, the Trustees turned to Mr. Boan for advice and he told them that "she does not have a right to ask for that and please continue".  Truth be told, it was that one statement that caused all the problems legally and for the Trustees.  Apparently it was a BAD decision.  But for him, it was brilliant!  Bolingbrook would get sued and his law firm would handle it, bringing his totals higher for the year.

Now the funny thing is that this happens often lately.  Mr. Boan, of all people, being an attorney and a part of past civil rights movements, knew this was Bonnie's right to a fair trial, free of bias.  Especially when the bias was legit, with two of the three electoral board members running on her competitions slate against her.

Call it dictatorship, call it fighting dirty in the political arena, we call it money greed.

We decided to investigate how many lawsuits are currently in courts.  In Will County alone we stumbled upon at least a half dozen that did not involve Bonnie.

One is the new water lawsuit.  Jim Boan instructed Mr. Claar to sue on behalf of the Village.  The water companies stance reflects that an expensive lawsuit could have been avoided if they would have just called to discuss the issue.  Another blunder that will cost taxpayers many thousands of dollars.  One phone call, $.25, one lawsuit = attorney $200K.

Do the residents know that when we FOIA'ed the legal bills last year, we found that the bills are NOT broken down by task?  Most attorneys or people in lawsuits will tell you that your legal bill typically reflects what the attorney has done.  ie. made phone call - $120.00...  Boan's statements are vague, like "work done".  His charges are absurd without basis.

Last year Bonnie Alicea and Bob Bowen fought for bidding of attorneys.  This would have solved the problem.  A new attorney would have charged half the price and not been corrupt.  Mr. Claar and the Trustees ignored their requests and a year later we are more than $500,000 over what we would have paid had attorneys been allowed to bid for services.

What could that money have paid for?  It would probably have paid for many jobs, advertising for the failing businesses, or even worse, cleaner and safer streets. 

Watch closely when you see the Village suing or being sued.  It is your tax dollars.  The most recent Bonnie suit should have cost the taxpayers under $3,000, but wound up costing them $27K for high billing of the attorney.  It would have cost nothing, had Mr. Boan respected her rights to send her case to another board.  It would have cost nothing, had he informed Roger to retract his liable statement made against her.  It would have cost nothing if the parties involved apologized.  However, because he failed to offer "sound" advice, he made out like a bandit.  See the pattern and watch as it unfolds time and time again...  Bolingbrook = debt, Attorney = wealth!

Bolingbrook Government Water Boondoggle...the hidden truth-->CONSPIRACY

Bolingbrook Water Conspiracy Uncovered!

Last year we uncovered the Water controversy.  Why do we want to "own" our own water company when the businesses Bolingbrook "owns" are costing residents BIG money?
1.  The Golf Course has been a failure
2.  The Airport has been a failure
3.  Americana Estates has been a failure
4.  The Police
5.  Public Works, and 
6.  Fire have been cut and services and response times are cut. 

So why would "owning" a water company be a good idea to the Mayor and Trustees who have a bad habit (like an alcoholic who can't stop) of buying losing ventures on the residents dollar?  Can anyone tell us why the Mayor would think he makes better business decisions than the residents, who are screaming "Don't Do This To Us AGAIN!!" He is 0 for 6 right now, and not telling us how this one will be any different.  His 0 for 6 has cost us residents $486 Million in debt and slashed public services with rising property, sales, hotel, motel, liquor, gas and cigarette tax. Now let's add another $100 Million to that debt because the Mayor and Trustees "want" something else to own?  What is the real reason they want this water company?

con·spir·a·cy

1. the act of conspiring.

2. an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.

3. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.

4. Law . an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.

5. any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.

Facts: 

1.  IL American Water raised the rates this summer from: (See your bills)

           Basic Service in April was $3.70960 to September $4.37730.
2.  The Village of Bolingbrook and the Will County Governmental League used our tax dollars to lobby for Villages like Bolingbrook to own their own water source, going from private to public companies. (See WCGL.org   See that they started the lobbying before the increase of water and possible knowledge of the increase)

3.  The last time we did private to public was the Airport in 2004 and it has been a losing venture for the taxpayers. (See Village Financials)

4.  During the lobbying for change, they used our tax dollars to plan for this hostile takeover, in consulting fees, attorney fees, surveyors, and architects.  They did not inform the residents of this use of money for this purpose. (See monthly meeting minute bills passed by Trustees from March to current)

5.  They planned to launch an attack on the water company through lawsuit and we believe they hoped that between this and the lobbying, the takeover would be approved. (See Bolingbrook Sun last week)

6.  Purchasing the water company could cost upwards of $100 MILLION of OUR taxpayer money in bonds, causing yet another increase in local taxes.  When we asked where they are going to get this money, they did not respond to us. (See our FOIA's dated April-August and google cost to buy water companies)

7.  Claar's Rubber Stamp Trustees (from Roger's "Rubber Stamp First" Party) originally voted to GIVE AWAY Bolingbrook's water utility for only pennies on the dollar, only $2 Million, to Illinois American Water in 2003.  Now they want to get it back in 2011 for $100 Million.  A senseless loss of $98 Million in only 8 years.   How much Pay-to-Pay did Roger get from Illinois American water in 2003 to grease the skids for the pennies on the dollar 2003 give away?  Why do Roger and his Trustees want to pay 50 times what they gave away our water utility for only a few years ago?  How much are the kickbacks this time?  It didn't add up then in 2003 and it doesn't add up now in 2011.  The residents are saying--Trustees and Roger STOP already your latest scam boondoggle waste scorched earth burn and destroy war plan on the Bolingbrook taxpaying resident!  Trustees and Roger please depart immediately for Wall Street and take your ponzi schemes with you and leave us, our tax money, and our pocket books alone!

8.  In order to get residents support, they have lied to us: (See us asking at the board meetings, video's located on Village Web Site)
     a.  They failed to disclose the up to date expenses this project has already cost us and the the total it will cost in the end.
     b.  They fail to inform the residents where they will get the money.
     c.  They fail to offer explanation about how the services would be run, as the Trustees and Mayor have already drastically cut all village services to residents this year and the results of this, their latest scam, could be devastating to homeowners if they cannot maintain and run the water services to the public properly.

MAKING IT A CONSPIRACY...

To get the buy in from residents, they added on an additional tax at the same time the water company did, inflating the bill higher and blaming the water company for the increase in the bills.  We feel they did this to pursue their own agenda and conspire against the residents to push something in their own best interest, not the residents best interest.

This is what the trustees and Mayor passed, then blamed the water company by using the local media sources to spread the word...

April Waste water charges $1.91000  - now September $1.97000.

And Storm Water Storage (which nobody can tell us from the Village what this is really for and the esidents have been fighting it for ten years now) has increased to $2 per house over the past ten years.

We all know Roger has a god complex, but taxing residents for rain?!  Roger, get a life pleeeeeeeeease.

Now we all know that the sewer and waste water plant is owned and operated by the Village of Bolingbrook, not IL American Water. (See Village Financials) So how do they explain this?  They don't, they blame the increase totals on your bill to IL American Water so they can fight to own their own water company. 

How secure will you feel when a fire erupts on your street and the hydrants don't work?  How will you feel when your water doesn't work and there is nobody there to take your call or service you?  How will you feel when you can't pay your astronomical water bill and the Trustees put a lien your home? 

Stop this corruption and conspiracy to waste even more of your tax dollars and to siphon your wallet completely clean.  Write to your Trustees and Mayor and demand that this purchase has to stop.  Hostile takeovers and increase in taxes are not what the residents want.  We do not want the increases on our bills, we do not want the extra bonds to pay back, with increases to our homeowners taxes.  If they don't listen to you, vote them out!