Breaking Story on Number Crunchers about Du Page township story

http://www.thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com/

May 29, 2011

By James Kadlec

Jkadlec@thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com

 Possible Bolingbrook Cricket League Board Resignations

DuPage Township Supervisor William Mayer and Trustee Faisel Rashid may have resigned in the last few days from the Bolingbrook Cricket League's Board. Although the League's website- http://www.bolingbrookcricket.com  does not report the resignations, it no longer lists Mayer as the League's Treasurer and Rashid as its Secretary. In 2010, the League elected each to two-year terms.

If Mayer and Rashid did resign, they may have done so because of the political heat they've been receiving regarding their dual Township and League positions.

We previously reported on news websites, including The Number Crunchers, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Romeoville Patch, that Mayer and Rashid breached their fiduciary duties to Township residents when they voted at the Township's May 10 meeting to approve a $2,000 donation to the Bolingbrook Cricket League.

Neither informed the meeting attendees of their conflict of interest. Both should have excused themselves from discussing and voting to approve the $2,000.

Other Township Conflicts of Interest

Beside William Mayer and Faisel Rashid, two other Bolingbrook Cricket League Board members have ties to the DuPage Township Board.

The League's website lists Talat Rashid as its Vice President and Kevin Palmer as its Board Member At Large.

Talat Rashid is the father of Township Trustee Rashid and Kevin is the brother of Trustee Leslie Palmer. Because Trustee Palmer's family member is a League officer, she also had a conflict of interest when she voted to approve the $2,000 to the Bolingbrook Cricket League. Palmer also failed to disclose her conflict before voting.

If other Township officials knew of Supervisor Mayer and Trustees Rashid and Palmer's conflicts of interest when voting on the $2,000 donation, they too breached their fiduciary duties to DuPage Township residents. (Note: At the May 10 Township meeting, Trustee Felix George voted to donate the $2,000; Trustee Steve Mikos was absent.)

The Township Board's conflicts of interest regarding the Bolingbrook Cricket League were learned after the May 10 Township meeting. Because the Board members have not publicly acknowledged their Bolingbrook Cricket League conflicts, it's uncertain whether they would disclose additional conflicts with other organizations that have matters that come before the Board.

Who's Minding the Store?

There are no checks and balances over the DuPage Township Board. Township officials who vote on Board matters - the Supervisor and four Trustees are members of the same political party.

The Township's two other elected officials - Collector Shirley Valevicius and Assessor John Randall do not vote. In addition, the news media does not attend and report on Township meetings.

DuPage Township residents have little or no knowledge regarding Board dealings. The Township's annual financial statements are distributed only to those who attend the Township's annual meetings, but are not posted on the Township website. In addition, these statements are not comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) of the Township's total performance that government transparency organizations recommend.

No financial information (for example, vendor payments, employee salaries and benefits, budgets, and contracts) is reported either online or to meeting attendees. Meeting minutes also are not shared with residents. It appears that the Board prefers keeping Township residents in the dark and not providing them the means to monitor how their tax dollars are spent.

If you, as a DuPage Township resident, want oversight over your Township Board, you need to periodically attend Board meetings. Meetings are at 7 PM on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Township Office (241 Canterbury Lane, Bolingbrook). Please join your neighbors at the next meeting on Tuesday, June 14. Meetings are usually short - 30 minutes or less. The Board regularly approves agenda items with little discussion; they seem to like it that way.

Joplin Trip

Thank you for all that helped in Joplin this holiday weekend.  I enjoyed the time spent there helping the people look for loved one's, pets, and even precious memoires like pictures.  It is hard to imagine losing a loved one to a terrible storm and losing the last items you had of them as well.  The town of Joplin was destroyed by a category 5 tornado and left 6 miles of tragedy.

This week the Brook Report, when they return on Wednesday from Joplin, will be focusing on "lessons learned" or "not learned" by the people featured on this site.  We would like all political parties to submit things that they have improved upon, fixed, repaired, or changed for the better since this site has existed for two years.  What have you learned?  What could you do differently?  Coming soon!

Missouri Storms

from Bonnie

Anyone wishing to assist with the brutal storms that hit Missouri this past week can join the BR and myself,  as we leave at noon today.

I am seeking all volunteers to assist in tornado damaged areas to bring supplies, medical workers, and people that have the time and patience to help. 

We have a team of 21 going already, but we need more!  Eleven left last night and are already there, the rest of us have to relieve them and work in shifts.

I want to thank the entire BR volunteers for taking time off of work and this site to come with. 

Although you will not see new articles for a few days, they will still be publishing comments and blogging from their cell phones. 

Du Page Township Conflict of Interest Combined with Pay to Play

By Bonnie Alicea
According to the Bolingbrook Number Crunchers:

May 20, 2011

By Jim Kadlec

At its May 10 meeting, the DuPage Township Board, including Supervisor Bill Mayer and Trustee Faisel Rashid, approved a $2,000 sponsorship requested by the Bolingbrook Cricket League.  The Board also approved two other sponsorship / donation requests at the meeting -- $1,000 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and $500 to the Bolingbrook Rotary Club Fundraiser.  In addition, at its April 26 meeting, the Board approved sponsorships / donations totaling $4,500 to six other community organizations.

Before approving the $2,000 to the Bolingbrook Cricket League, neither Mayer nor Fashid disclosed that each serves on the League's Board.  The Bolingbrook Cricket League's website (http://www.bolingbrookcricket.com/rules-bcl.pdf) lists Mayer as the League's Treasurer and Rashid as its Secretary, both with two-year terms that began in 2010.

Mayer and Rashid should have disclosed their conflict of interest and excused themselves from discussing and voting to approve the $2,000 sponsorship. 

As Board members of both DuPage Township and the Bolingbrook Cricket League, a reasonable person could consider their approving the $2,000 to the Bolingbrook Cricket League as a breach in their duty and loyalty to DuPage Township residents.

If either Mayer or Rashid is unclear regarding the meaning of a conflict of interest, they should refer to Section VII. - Conflict of Interest - of the Bolingbrook Cricket League's By Laws:

Any member of the board who has a financial, official interest in, or conflict (or appearance of conflict) with any matter before the Board, of such nature that it prevents or may prevent that member from acting on the matter in an impartial manner, will offer to the Board to voluntarily excuse him / herself and will vacate his seat and refrain from discussion and voting on said matter.

Mayer and Rashid had a second opportunity to disclose their conflict of interest during the Public Comments / Questions portion of the Board meeting.  After specific questions were asked to Mayer regarding Township donations and sponsorships, including the Bolingbrook Cricket League sponsorship, Mayer mentioned that the Board would consider donating to any Township group that serves either the community's youth or seniors.
Most readers are members of groups that support such causes, but may be unaware that Township funds are available for the good works of their organizations.  According to Mayer, youth and senior organizations need only submit a written request to the Township Board for donations / sponsorships. 

Now I come in to give you the last part of the story...

The Bolingbrook Cricket Club paid a donation to Mr. Claar during the time when they were passing the sponsorship from Du Page Township.  So essentially, they were acting as a middle man to cipher funds from Bill Mayer to Roger Claar.  ie...Receive $2K from Du Page Township, pay a quarter of that to Roger as a thank you.   

Bolingbrook Cricket Club

1805 Brignton Lane Plainfield, IL 60544

$500.00 2/10/2011

Individual Contribution Citizens for Claar

You see, apparently the money switches hands.

Furthermore, Bill Mayer, who is notorious for NOT being able to build a war chest, received two donations lately, even though he is not up for re-election for a few years and has not had many donations lately other than from Roger Claar himself.  These donations came from individuals that we heard are allegedly involved in the cricket league.

http://www.accleague.org/index.php?/component/option,com_omrcricsys/ch,1015/layout,match_scorecard/view,stats/

Saeed, Moazzam	7946 Windsor Court Darien, IL 60561	$1,000.00 5/16/2011	1A Citizens for William Mayer
	Akhtar, Muhammed and Rehana	9202 Falling Water Drive Burr Ridge, IL 60527	$1,000.00 5/16/2011	1A Citizens for William Mayer

So in my opinion, I would call that PAY TO PLAY and ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.

I'm Back and I am calling it Pay to Play!

From Bonnie
I am back and I am focusing on Pay to Play this week.

The first agenda item includes the bills of the week.  At tonight's board meeting, Roger Claar will pass a lucrative contract to Flala for road work. 

Street Resurfacing	$860,000	James D. Flala Paving Company, Inc.	$664,586
Historic Street Resurfacing	$250,000	James D. Flala Paving Company, Inc.	$197,404.60

James D. Flala Paving just gave a donation as well.  (See state board of elections campaign donations)

James D Fiala Paving Company Inc 500 East Frontage Road North
Bolingbrook, IL 60440 $1,000.00 5/7/2011 1A
Citizens for Claar

I wonder if Fiala was notified of the following law first...

Business Registration/Prohibited Contributions

Business entities that have a total of more than $50,000 in contracts and/or bids for contracts
with the State of Illinois must register with the State Board of Elections. Information on this
registration process, required by Public Act 95-0971, is available on our website at
http://www.elections.il.gov/. Other questions can be directed to the chief procurement officer responsible for
awarding the contract(s).

Businesses required to register under this Act may be prohibited from making contributions to
committees formed to promote the candidacy of the officeholder(s) or any other declared candidate
for the office responsible for awarding the contract(s). The prohibition is in effect during the bidding
process for the contract(s) or, if the business is awarded the contract -- during the term of office of the
officeholder or for a period of two years following the expiration of the contract (whichever is longer).
For complete details, please refer to Public Act 95-0971.

Additionally, any business entity required to register under the Act is required to notify any
political committee to which it makes a contribution that it is registered with the State Board of
Elections under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code.

In my opinion, I would call this pay to play and breaking the campaign laws....  What do you think?

Route 126 Interchange

We have worked an agreement for the Route 126 interchange off of I55.  The cost is split 60% Bolingbrook and 40% Romeoville.  The cost to the taxpayers for this project is $600,000.00.

Bottom line with the stories today is that they are spending.  They are not Republican's, even if they claim to be.  They are spending money for things that are not needed in a recession. 

Mayor Claar and his Village "yes" stamped rubber board is just spending your tax money like we are all rich in Bolingbrook.  The outcome is that your taxes will be doubling in a few years to what they are now.
So answer this as a resident...
Is anyone going to buy your home when the taxes are cheaper in Naperville?
Is anyone going to want to keep their home if you are paying double your tax bill?

It is time to wake up and smell the spending Republican's in this town and tell them to STOP!

Americana Estates is doing better?

Last I looked, Americana Estates had been losing money.  Matter of fact, of the 30 or so homes built in this 200+ land home site, some of them were foreclosed and still not selling at half the price.  So why is it budgeted this year to do more land work?  Does the Village officials know something about Bolingbrook housing coming back that we don't know about?  Why would we develop more land until the 200+ we paid to develop was done?

Furthermore, under the GO Bond for this year, we have budgeted for a whopping $100,000 playground to be installed for the what, five to ten kids, that live there?

Just want to say that I disapprove.  I think they should get a playground, but hey, why else would they pay association fees?  So where are those fees going if not to the playground?

No referendum passed for 95th street bridge

When a government body decides to spend millions on a project, there should always be a referendum of votes from the residents it serves.  For example the library board wanted to build a new library, and it was on the ballot for the residents to vote on. It was voted in, hence the large tax increase for the library on your tax bill.

However, the Village Board, run by Mr. Roger Claar, does not give us the same courtesy.
Did they ask the residents to vote on the new police station? 

So how would you feel, if as a tax payer, you found out that the highly controversial 95th street bridge, which constructs right over Bolingbrook's only Native American artifact site and the neighboring residents, nor neighboring town of Naperville want, is costing us millions?

There was not a referendum.  There was not any transparency from our government.  This bridge is not wanted, it desecrates land and devalues homes nearby, and nobody has proven why it is needed when we already have two bridges going to the same place. 

Yet, here are the staggering figures planned in the new budget for this fiscal year...
Project Y082201  95th Street Bridge  $3,973,607.00
Project Y092201 95th Street Bridge $4,300,000.00
Total:  $8,273,607.00

So hold your pants up high, the flood of taxes are coming your way!  This one bridge will cost as much as the New Bolingbrook Police Building.  I wonder who donated to get that project! 

But at least you will have another bridge getting into residential Naperville...

Great job Mr. Mitchem and Steve Quigley, you hired the WRONG person for the Principal job!

Do you know who will be the next principal of BHS?  Well, look no further for the truth…

Mr. Fabby Williams will be proud to take such a position as BHS principle, since he has NO immediate positive reputation or  experience to do so.  Matter of fact, he is probably celebrating right now with a bottle of Krystal, as he laughs at the destruction he leaves behind the old school he just literally help collapse. 

We need a strong person with loads of experience and what we are getting is a man who likes to do things his way, regardless of the students scores, quality teachers, and the tax payer demands.  So here’s the story of the "tornado" that is about to hit BHS….

Mr. Williams is the principle at  Austin Polytechnical Academy, the city’s first and only high school dedicated to occupations in high-skill manufacturing for vocational education. Yes, I said a vocational school.  Austin Polytechnical Academy was founded in 2007 to emphasize career training and give students the skills needed to work in advanced manufacturing positions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.   It has only been open for 4 years.  They are just now graduating their first Senior class.  This short amount of experience does not even start the conversation.  Listen to the rest!

The business academy, whose five-year contract with American Quality Schools runs out in June, focuses on teaching students about business development and exposing them to local opportunities in the field. It has struggled with academic performance and was just placed on probation for the 2010-11 school year.

According to the New York Times, the Teachers blame Mr. Williams for the lack of transparency and communication as the reason for the school’s failure.  Teachers said Mr. Williams almost never attended school assemblies, sporting events and Local School Council meetings. Grievances filed against the administration by teachers went unanswered, teachers said.   The students are picketing and the teachers are picketing, and the Union fights are strongly involved.

To top this off, on his way out he fired a quarter of the teachers… teachers that had great reviews, and then he ensured that 5 of them could no longer teach again.

In addition, they note that Mr. Williams worked most of the year without a permanent administrative credential from C.P.S. Documents show he did not receive the credential until March 14, only two months before he dismissed the teachers. “So here we have someone who is a temporary administrator making a permanent decision on somebody’s career,” said John Kugler, the school’s union representative.

So we ask Mitchem and Quigley the top two questions that come to mind…

1.        Was this guy the only one that applied for the job?

2.      What political clout did he have or how much did he donate?

We also would like to know what the board was planning on telling the public when this truth became known.  Did they do a reference check?  When will Fabby address these concerns?  What will he do differently than he did at his old school?  Remember, school scores were on probation, the school was small, and the teachers must have been bad (right)… So now he goes from failing with 358 students to what, 3400?  The taxpayers want justice for this decision!  We want answers!

To see more, go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/us/20bcaustin.html?pagewanted=2

http://bolingbrook.patch.com/articles/report-future-bhs-principal-unresponsive-to-the-interests-of-teachers-and-students

Undercover Project costing us millions, and no referendum in site!

For the past few years we have found an enormous "project" listed on the budgets that does not have a name attached to it.  Jay Washington FOIAed and was denied (probably due to discrimination) and also because they were trying to hide this.  Candice then FOIAed and was told that Fran had not received the original request.  While she is waiting for the return of this info, we start to wonder what is taking two months to get the answer to "what is Roger spending almost $10 mil on without a referendum?"  The second questions being, why is every other project named, but this one has no name?  The answers will come soon enough, as we know it is not for the Police Department, but costs just as much. 

We will report this week!

Did Clow Airport Manager get a raise?

Why yes, his numbers are sure growing! 
2009-2010   $124,800
2010-2011   $129,792
2011-2012   $134,984

Will he make a profit this year?
Will he take a salary hit if he does not?
We have been waiting...

Surprising good news in this years budget

This year the Trustees and Mayor finally budgeted for Pond Maintenance!  That is right, we are finally getting these green pits cleaned!  Cost for budget item?  $60K.

They also budgeted better for snow removal!  Yippee!
Personnel costs         Cul-de-sac additional
2009 - $49K            $87K
2010 - $74K            $75K
2011 - $80K            $100K

Cost of rock salt from last year to this year?  $325K to $450K.

So those who felt your courts did not get plowed, you were probably right  It was lowered in last years budget cuts! 

Parade in Bolingbrook

While last year the Trustees claimed they were cutting from the parade, the numbers on this years budgets showed they did the opposite.

2009-2010  $5,488
2010-2011 $7,500
2011-2012 $10,400

While the special events fees also rose from $57K to $65K

A beginning look into the 2011-2012 budget items: Expenses part 1

A general synopsis before we break it down... 

Executive Overview from the BR

CSC is still gaining $32K per year as a non-for profit on tax payers dime.  We wonder if Carol Penning, chairman of CSC and Village trustee thinks this is a conflict of interest?

Executive salaries have risen approx. $21K this year from $126K to $147 K.

Public Works administration salaries have risen while the maintenance has been cut from $385K last year to $358 this year. 

Public Works has added a new fee under consulting with a cost of $35K.  We wonder what this is for?

The IT department has taken the biggest increase, from $22K in 2009-2010 to $321,300 budgeted this coming year.  Was there a referendum on this?

Police seem to be holding steady in most departments, with an increase in the emergency commissions from $673K to $798K in one year.  They also log in consulting services amounting to $114K per year.

Some shifts for Police include Investigations administration from $223K last year to $339K this year, which increases all the insurance amounts drastically.  Officers in this are are moving from $1,016,108 to $1,151,888 and support to $101,717 to $160,317

Professional Standards salaries for Administration moved from $102K to $220K, while crime prevention lost from $128K to $87K.  We found this to be an odd place to cut.  It appears we are more reactive with fees then proactive...

The commissions are making good this year with the fine arts moving from $19k per year to $42K.  The Police and fire moved from $1800 to $3450. 

Fireman are making out great this year so far with admin up $29K, fireman from $821K last year to $935K this year.  Lieutenants are the top winners of all with moving from $1.2 Mil to $1.4 Mil and $21K more in overtime.

Overall it would appear we are beefing up staff in public works seasonal, maintenance, fire, police, electrical and reclamation this year.

A beginning look into the 2011-2012 budget items: Income

It is important to note a few items under income.  As the weeks go by we will be addressing some of these items.

VVSD Intergovernmental agreement:  $1,163,170.31.  Yes, this is the intergovernmental swapping of funds.

Franchise Cable TV:  Remember when we wrote an article last year about having a franchise?  look what having Comcast exclusive rights has cot you to pay for Bolingbrook's high debt... $635,000 last year alone.

Ambulance Fees:  Yes, they charged you for these too!  $849,279

Water Reclamation:  $326,400

Telecommunication Tax:  yes, this is the extra tax on your cell bill and phone bills that are higher in Bolingbrook then surrounding villages.  $2.820,000

Transition fees from American Water - remember we covered a story on how Bolingbrook raised the water fees too?  $326,400

Sewer sales:  $2,900,000

Tap on fees:  This is fees we charge to turn on water and utilities.  It is the welcome to Bolingbrook, this is your first look at us screwing you for every dollar you got!  But Welcome!  $655,000
.
Connection Fees:  $34,740

Telephone Surcharge coming?  You bet!  ER 911 fund went from $52,500 last year to $84,000 budgeted for this year.

Golf Club carts are looking to jump from $2,500 annually in sales to $7,500 in just one year!

Golf Club Revenue is expected to generate approx. $180K more this year over last.

Fiscal Mis-Management

The Village budget has been released.  It clearly states that there is a 6.7% increase from last year's budget.  We will be spending time this week reporting the stories on the budget allocations, so stay tuned.

By the way, the increase did not take into consideration that the Board might be cutting even more of the service positions, such as police, fire, and public works.  Although you pay high taxes, it is apparently not for services in this Village.  So what is the point of taxes then?

We will tell you through the week!

Devon Hodges goes to Bradley

From Bonnie

Devon has officially signed with Bradley University.  We are proud of his efforts, no thanks to the Valley View Athletic Departments, District officials, and mainly the school board.  The team coach in Bolingbrook kicked him off the team this year and the school board did nothing about the IHSA investigation or the harassment charges the Hodges family filed against Valley View officials.  This boy was destined to greatness and kept down by local politics.  It is nice to see someone achieve, when political bullies have done their best to destroy his future. 

It is with great enthusiasm that I congratulate Devon for his heroism and ability to overcome so many obsticles.  I wish you the best of luck and I am happy to see you get out of Bolingbrook, where you are now sure to have a wonderful future!  I will come see you play! 

Maybe your mom should start looking into book or movie rights?  Your story is one that needs to be told...

School District 203 raising taxes

School District 203 has raised the taxes 1% to accommodate the future needs without State assistance.  Their budget will be published later this week.  This is lower then the 365U.

Where is Bonnie?

Why is it that we receive approx 10 emails a day asking where Bonnie is?  Are we not enough!  lol

Anyhow, for the last 6 weeks Bonnie has been ramping up and submitting publication of her dissertation work and it will be avail for viewing through publishing in approx. 4 months, or 16 weeks.  She is scheduled to arrive back home tomorrow.

For people that do not know, Bonnie is a very talented lady.  This is not her first publishing, however, this study is what she calls her ultimate piece of work.  For five years she has been conducting a study into motivating low wage, generation Y workers.  this entails how to keep them happy in their jobs, working productively, not taking off of work, offering better customer service, and all the other issues that large employers deal with on a daily basis that harms their ability to uphold their customer promises.  This study has already been sponsored by many Fortune 50 companies, including Walmart, Sears, McDonalds, and more.  We are proud to have gotten a glimpse at the study already, which sits on a whopping 600 page document. 

This study will make a profound impact on job stability in our nation and has the potential to change the way our leading companies do business. 

Bonnie is a Fortune 500 Consultant that specializes in changing organizations to meet or exceed the next generation of the workplace.  She does Organizational development, restructuring, Change Management, Training, and more.  When she ran for Mayor, she was hoping to bring a positive change to Bolingbrook's future.  Some things she would have done differently?  Probably not fire the workers, not take pay to play, not donate to pet charities, and above all, find ways to make Bolingbrook more compliant with technology. 

So there is some insight into Bonnie's world and we look forward to her next articles later this week!

Why the Chamber is Losing Money...

The Chamber of Commerce is suppose to be an organization dedicated to helping businesses in Bolingbrook grow and prosper. 

We conducted a poll this weekend with 20 local businesses that are registered to the Chamber as members for at least 5 years.
This is what we found.

Of the 20 business owners interviewed, a whopping 16 of them claimed "they are only a member of the Chamber because of political pressures". Of those 16, all 16 marked "the Chamber has not been beneficial to me or my company". 

The four other companies all marked "the Chamber has been beneficial is social networking with local Politicians" but did not mark "the Chamber has been beneficial in helping my business grow and prosper". 

So why would these 20 businesses pay the high fees?  We started asking them and some have expresses that local politicians have either confronted them at one point in time about the membership or have sent letters. 

Since the Mayor is also the liquor and tobacco commissioner, those local businesses that have any of these items are automatically  pressured into many Bolingbrook expenses, including Chamber memberships, attending cost events, and even fundraisers and campaign dollars.  Some feel that if not a part of the Chamber, their annual business license can be with held, and that Roger himself asks for them to come in to get their license and talk to them personally, if a Chamberr membership is not paid for

So how does having to pay not-needed fees helping our local businesses stay open in a recession?  That is exactly what they all expressed.  Not only does the Chamber profit on events, charging members more then needed, they donate the proceeds to H20, Roger's daughter and wife's charity.

For example, it was alleged on Friday that the State of the Village, run by the Chamber of Commerce charged $60 a ticket.  The actual price was $20.  The $40 extra paid by businesses and members was then donated to H20. 

If this is true, then this is robbery of local businesses to benefit the Mayor and Evans causes. 

If you are a business and want out, do not joint he Chamber this year.  20 other companies have stated that the Chamber does not help their company and it is a recession.  Keep your money in your own pockets!
Do not let the local politicians rob you blind for their own purposes.  Say no to charity donations, campaign donations, and event costs. 

Any current Chamber member that would like to start a new local Chamber chapter without local politicians, but with the intent on helping the local businesses, please email us at info@bolingbrookreport.com

Cops in Bolingbrook, do laws apply to them?

We have had many emails sent to us about the Cops in Bolingbrook who escaped punishment because of their titles.  The Cops that were arrested for the strip club incident were let off without a conviction.  How does this make you feel as a resident?

4th Amendment could cost Indiana Supreme Court Big...

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that people cannot keep police from entering their homes, even if the entry is "unlawful."  This is in direct violation of the US Constitution 4th amendment. 

In a 3-2 decision, the court held there are valid reasons for police officers to enter homes without a warrant and without knocking , including concerns for an officer's safety or that a suspect may escape or that evidence may be destroyed.

Instead of making a law that gave them permission according to a few reasons, they wiped out the constitution. 

We will be watching as this plays out in the political arenas.

Village pursuing Court or Feds against Tressler LLC

http://oaklawn.patch.com/articles/village-explores-litigation-against-former-village-attorneys

Will the Village of Oak Lawn pursue the charges against Tressler LLC?  Should Bolingbrook?

New Charity that we will support!

A new charity has arisen in Plainfield and we hope it will come to Bolingbrook.  Graduate of BHS class of 1993, Sean Cochran started a not-for-profit that helps families pay for sports for their youth.  It is about time an organization comes about that helps those children participate.

As most Bolingbrook residents know, the YMCA has not come into Bolingbrook for two reasons.  One, the after school programs are politically tied so that the YMCA would not be able to offer their programs.  Two because the park district takes a huge chunk of the sports in Bolingbrook.  However, the YMCA, being privately owned, does not charge as much for the sports.  This leads to many Bolingbrook residents unable to afford programs.  At the Y, if you cannot afford the $35 you can apply for assistance and they can waive the fees.  This does not apply in the Bolingbrook Park District.

Matter of fact, the difference is quite dramatic.  Where the Bolingbrook Park District charges hundreds for a sport like basketball, in Naperville you can register for the same type of league at the YMCA for $35. 

Many kids cannot afford to participate in this economy.  We encourage Mr. Cochran to post the info under comment so that people know where to donate and if this money will also help Bolingbrook kids.

Thanks!

Election Rigging cost taxpayers over $10G in Feb. and March

When school board members Quigley, Gougis, and Venegas were objected to, Tressler LLC went to the circuit court judge and told that judge that Rickard Kavanaugh should sit on the electoral board, even though they had enough people and Kavanaugh had conflicts of interest.  That decision led to an appeal suit filed in Will County that cost the taxpayers $10G over two months this year. 

Asking for Richard Kavanaugh to sit ont he board was a slap in the judges face.  It was unethical and only gave Tessler the reward of making an extra $10G.  They did that knowing it would lead to a lawsuit and they would get rich off those illegal actions.

At least that is what many at the BR believe.  Look at the repeated pattern time and time again where Tressler makes a faulty move, only to get more money into their company.  They did it by breaking Bonnie's constitutional rights.  They did it by Devon Hodges rights.  They did it during this hearing, and they did it to the Village of Oak Park.

It is time to get rid of the attorneys that charge twice or more that twice what a normal attorney would have cost the taxpayers.  In Oak Park they were paying $500K and when they used Tressler it went to $1.5K.  It is happening here.  Don't be blind, these people need to go!

Isn't it funny...

Isn't it funny that all complaints to the school district have to have a written response from Tressler to be read by the baffoons on the board?  Tressler calls them mis-statements and erroneous allegations, instead of reporting the truth. 

So the school board members "twist" in legal writing their responses.  There is no way a resident with an issue can win with these people.  This amounts to approx. $4G for every board meeting to defend the board's actions. 

* Findings on Feb 2011 bill from Tressler.

February 28, school board members use tax dollars to pay for their defense

Tax dollars are not allowed to be used to pay for an attorney to defend your campaign or election.  However, on Feb. 28th, a incumbent used Tressler LLC to defend himself.  He was illegally campaigning on public property.  This was added onto Tressler LLC's bill to the School District. 

This was illegal!

Valley View only school district that pays attorney to respond to FOIA Requests

That's right Bolingbrook!  Valley View pays Tressler LLC .40 hours at $200 an hour to review and format the response to FOIA requests.  To each request!

Most people have nothing to hide and when a FOIA is requested, they send a response.  At 365-U, they have to pay an attorney! 

That has got to stop.  Our taxpayers keep paying to the schools and  they are wasting this money for frivolous expenses just to give out FOIA's.  FOIA"s will always be there, but making an attorney rich off of FOIA's is not required.  If you are the only school district to do this, don't you think there is a problem?

School Board Attorney aware that Lawsuit was Coming...

According to the Feb. 9th invoice, Tressler LLP was aware that Devon Hodges family had threatened to sue the school board.  Matter of fact, Tressler charged the school board a significant amount of money to look into the allegations as well as deal with the IHSA complaints.  However, Tressler LLC failed to act. 

They failed to act when it was harassment issues.

Then they failed to act when it was residency issues.

They failed to act when it was IHSA issues.

Then they failed to act in the last 6 months, leading to a very costly lawsuit that is about to strike the table.

A lawsuit the school district is sure to lose and the attorneys will get rich off of. 

Isn't this what is under investigation currently in Oak park, where the same law firm, Tressler LLC has done this to the Village of Oak Park and are now in a huge lawsuit to re-pay the tax payers!

My Rant and Rave of the Week, by J Washington

Many of you know that others write the articles on here, not me.  It is rare that I get the chance to voice my opinion, as I leave it to the talented writers on this site to do so.  When I do write, it is because there is something important that I must say.  So here goes my rant of the week!

Have you known anyone in Bolingbrook who has struggled to keep their homes?  Have you tried to help if you could?  Do you know how many kids have been impacted by having to change schools?  Do you know that the Village was/ is suppose to help these individuals financially?  Huh? 

Ya, that is right, Bolingbrook receives grant money to the whopping sum of $343K grant this year to benefit low and moderate income persons, preventing slums, and meeting community specific development needs.  .  Yet, instead of doing this, The Patch is reporting that they will be giving $32K to the CSC, their pet not-for-profit organization we all speak about on this site.  The board will vote on whether to donate $32,000 to the Community Service Council of Northern Will County for counseling services to Bolingbrook residents.

The grant program provides cities with funds to assist in achieving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) national objectives — benefiting low- and moderate-income persons, preventing or eliminating slums and meeting community-specific development needs.

Claar said the village typically receives $325,000 to $350,000 each year from HUD. He said the money is used out on a discretionary basis, with most of the money going to help those in need.

However, MOST is not in the grant language which states ALL.  Furthermore, CSC's mission does not state the above objectives, or even comes close to the objectives.

Therefore, it is in my opinion, that the HUD needs to become aware of this transgression of grant funds and in doing so, implement a slap on the wrist of the government officials that donate to the pet projects, of which they sit on the board to, or give the money to a village that will actually help the residents and tax payers.  Either way, this is an abuse to the Grant funds, of which out tax dollars paid into.  It is also an illegal transaction, and if our attorney was knowledgeable, he would have stopped this vote. 

I will be writing a letter to the US Dept of housing to explain the situation.  As a resident, you are free to contribute to this letter.  If you would like your name added, please email me at jwashington@bolingbrookreport.com
Thanks,
J

Meet the CSC Board, time to run a "Game"!

The first one to respond to the following question correctly, will get to write an article on the Brook Report! 
*Some rules apply

Question:  Can you list what, if any, political involvement or positions the following board members of CSC hold?  You must list them all to win!

• Carol S. Penning, President
• Peggy J. Danhof, Vice President
• Karen Anderson, Secretary
• Prudence Pukula, Treasurer
• Lisa Henrickson
• Bill Kohl
• Kirk Openchowski
• Erin M. Slott
• Rosaleen Weber
• Robert Kalnicky, Executive Director

We will send the winner the list of rules and a deadline to have their article to us!

Bolingbrook Village and Chamber EXPOSED!

Do you remember how we told the story about the "State of the Village in Bolingbrook?"

Well, the tip arrived that the price per plate was a whopping $60 per person.  However, the actual cost per person was only $19.99.  Mayor Roger Claar told the media he donated the profits, however, we have three issues with this.

1.  Why would you charge residents an INFLATED price to come and see about their village.

2.  Why would you donate the rest?  This is like what you do with the taxes, you add your donations to the tax bill, we pay it,  your charities get our money even if we did not wish to donate to these politically stacked board charities.

3.  Where did the money go?

I think this is a great tip for the IRS. 

http://www.bolingbrook.com//info/pdf/SOTVillage_01_13_11.pdf

Bolingbrook Chamber of Commerce vs. Romeoville Chamber

Bolingbrook vs Romeoville on most stacked Political board members?  This is a tough call.

While we do stories on many issues with the Bolingbrook Chamber, it does not mean we will ignore the Romeoville Chamber.

Amongst it's elite politically connected members, you will find the following:

Tom Wilhelm
Board Chair
Allegra Print & Imaging
This is who donates all the political materials to Roger's groups for elections.
Robert Kalnicky
Vice-Chair
Community Service Council of Northern Will County
This is a library board member and paid volunteer for CSC, which gets loads of our tax dollars in donations from the Village of Bolingbrook.  This pays his salaries.

Larry RandaDirector
Valley View School District 365U
This man recently stepped down from the chamber, but he is the front man for Valley View Schools.  He handles FOIA's and media questions.

Jimmy Barber
Director
DuCap
Does what H20 (Lindsay Claar's organization) does.  Oh wait, did we fail to tell you they share a building with H2o as well?  It is Bolingbrook Government property, none the less, so tax payers pay!


So when we say that the local chamber is all smoke and mirrors for political partying, we are telling the truth!  Read our article above for more info!

Meat Glue

Always thought the FDA was protecting us! ... think again! 

Have you heard of Meat Glue?  Now we don't recommend posting video's on our site, but we felt the public needs to see this.  This is a common practice with the meats I have been buying in the local grocery stores in Bolingbrook.  It shows you how to spot this when buying foods.

The European Union has already put up strong laws against this, but here in the US including IL, we have a problem that is causing sickness. 

http://d.yimg.com/nl/australia/site/player.swf?vid=24472661&repeat=0&browseCarouselUI=hide%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cpar

$10G hit on FBI wanted turns up and is caught!

A former Bolingbrook man wanted by the FBI was caught today.  Ruben Sanchez, 38, who lived on Pinecrest, was caught in an apartment in Chicago.  He was wanted for possession of child pornography.

He tried to flee and had a pellet gun on him when caught.  HE could face up to 30 years in prison.

Devon Hodges Update

We like to keep the public abreast of the Devon Hodges story.  We get many calls for this story.

"A person is bullied when he is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself. "  "The definition includes three important components:  It is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted and negative attention.  It involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power or strength." (http://www.olweus.org/public/bullying.page)

Devon is the epitome of a bullied victim.  He was bullied by the coaches, players, and administration of the schools in which he attended.  He is being bullied by the School Board, including chair Steve Quigley, which has chosen to ignore his parents pleas for the bullying to stop.  All of them chose to ignore or participate in the bullying of a child. 

Matter of fact, I believe there is an attorney that is representing Devon and we will keep the public informed of the lawsuits being filed.  We hope that the attorney files them as "personal" lawsuits, as failure to act on bullying was not covered under tort laws or the VVSD attorneys, since it was a "personal" choice to participate or not act upon this situation. 

Devon has been working hard behind the scenes to continue with his life.  It is alleged that he was able to sign onto a school for the fall and we will write a follow up to verify this story.  If so, we want to issue a congratulations to Devon for being a tough cookie with against childlike adults! 

For our audience, we wanted to post the IL statues that schools were "suppose" to follow, yet acting on behalf of Tressler LLC, had chosen not to follow....


105 ILCS 5/27-23.7
No student shall be subject to bullying during any school-sponsored education program or activity, while in school, on school property, on school buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus stops waiting for the bus, at schools-sponsored or school-sanctioned events or activities, or through the transmission of information from a school computer, school computer network or other similar electronic school equipment. Bullying make take various forms, including without limitation one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.

105 ILCS 5/27-23.7 (2010) requires each school district and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school to create and maintain a policy on bullying. The policy must be communicated to the students and their parent or guardian annually, updated every 2 years and filed with the State Board of Education. The statute also creates the School Bullying Prevention Task Force and outlines its responsibilities.

Dear Parents, http://www.vvsd.org/district/anti_bullying.php 

The Valley View School District has created an Anti-Bullying Task Force to address issues of bullying and harassment in our schools and community. This Task Force is also the result of recent state legislation mandating school districts to create such a team.

Walsh Landscaping gets $30K per year to water our land

Last year we featured a story on Walsh landscaping (politically connected company) who was getting paid to water areas in Bolingbrook that had working sprinkler systems.  We wanted to know how much this costs us per year. 

Here is what we found...

According to the invoice dated July 9, 2010, Walsh entered into a contract with the Village for watering services to amount to $35K per year.  The village used all but $2,482 of that amount last year.   

Mike Drey, the head of Public Works approves the bill and sends it to financing. 

We want to know from Mike if he thinks this was a good idea?  If he does, I would like to apply for the job.  I will turn the knob of the sprinkler on a few times a year and make $35K! 

Cheers!
Candice

Lists for Not-for-Profit donations and totals do not exist

So... we harp on the Mayor for cutting police while increasing our donations to his pet charities.  We wanted to dig into all the organizations that this might include, as we feel we might be missing some.  I submitted a FOIA for a list of not-for-profit organizations that the Village donates to and a total of costs.  They denied the FOIA claiming the list did not exist.

Why would the list not exist?  Shouldn't there be a record of who gets what donations annually?  This sounds reckless at best.  Unless... are you trying to hide something Mr. Claar?

Cheers!
Candice

Where oh where are the Green Room bills?

I am sorry it has been awhile since I posted my FOIA findings.  I have been busy as of late.  However, here is the first finding...

The Green room is the room located behind the sound stage.  It houses many talented actors, actresses, and other stage performers.  It is most notably used as the "bat cave" by political cronies such as Roger Claar, and Mike Evans for hanging out without public scrutiny. 

I wanted to find out who was supplying the costs for this private bar and the possible food.  I wanted to start small so I FOIAed for the Pepsi or Coke delivery bill and invoice to this location.  My hopes were to see if the budget was coming from Village, golf course, or Township funds.

Imagine my surprise when no invoices were found for this location.

What this means to me is that the expenses of this private hang out/ room of the Mayor's is being shuffled under a different fund.  I am on the hunt to find that fund and see what this private party place has cost the taxpayers!

Cheers!
Candice

Du Page Township might not be charging residents for the activities

Du Page Township stands behind the motto "we charge reasonable fees for our services".  However, upon inspection of the financial reports, we notice that costs are taken out of the profits, but where is the money paid in?

Our first tip that arrived told us that Maureen, in the Du Page Township office, was taking free trips with the seniors for events.  When we started looking into the spending of these trips, we could not locate the money the seniors were paying to take them.  We could only locate the expense. 

So can we get a thank you from Maureen and the seniors for the free trips they took on tax payer dime?  It would be a nice gesture, since this has been going on for quite a while...

Bolingbrook Library Trustees Take Free Vacation on your dollar! Oh, did I hear a thank you?

Can't the Library Trustees at least say "thank you" for the free vacations they get when they decide to attend out of state conferences? 

I mean, is a thank you too much to ask for?  We know that no other local library send trustees to out of state conferences.  Yet they chose to use our money to do this how many times a year? 

Can't you at least say a thank you so the tax payers feel appreciated for giving you that money? 

From a local resident

Bolingbrook Report tops 100,000 Hits!

When other watchdog groups ask what it is that we do right, we tell them we have avid readers that care about the government.  So we want to thank those readers for caring and stay tuned, we got big news coming soon!

Township Reform - We want the locals to weigh in!

Townships are feeling the heat.

Increasingly, these often-obscure units of local government—which were spawned in Illinois during the 19th century—are coming under fire from critics and lawmakers who dispute the need for having 1,435 taxpayer-supported townships in 85 of 102 state counties.

A buzz is building against townships in the current General Assembly, so look for some streamlining legislation to come down the pike this spring session.
The township critics’ objective is to pass a law that will pave a way toward getting rid of unnecessary townships or, at least, vastly reduce their number.

Click below to read the rest of the article, and then put your opinion under comments!

http://bgathinktank.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/township-reform-pops-up-on-illinois-lawmakers%E2%80%99-radar/

Bonnie's Stalker has Warrant in Lisle, but nobody is getting him in Naperville

Does everyone know Bonnie's favorite Topix stalker has warrants in other villages nearby?  His name is Erich B.  He use to live across the street from Bonnie.  Here is the story...

Erich B. is the proud father of 4 children.  He also lives in the basement of his mother and father- in- laws home.  This is what makes it hard for Police to locate him.  Currently our tips say he is living in Naperville and his kids go to school there.

So why is he so important to know?  It is not only because he stalks Bonnie.  He is wanted for fraudulent business practices.  He flips cars on Ebay.  He makes poor business deals and takes people's money and runs.  Although he makes a killing selling one Mercedes at a time, he tells the state that he is unemployed so his kids get welfare and food stamps.  Then he sells the food stamps so they can go to fine dining restaurants twice a day.  Our sources state he makes approx. $5k per car after expenses, and flips a few a month.

He has taken out leases to run body shops and took the property owners for all it is worth.  They cannot find him to sue him.  He has multiple complaints on file with local authorities.

Matter of fact, Bonnie claims she has spoken to the Police Chief McCarthy about this man and his threat that nobody will find her body in the everglades.  However Police Chief McCarthy has not done anything to get this guy off the streets. 

You will see this man on Topix all day long.  He uses people's names, like Bonnie, George, etc.  His address states Naperville and his favorite topix is making fun of Bonnie's weight. 

So when will the Police work with Naperville and Lisle and get this man arrested for cyber stalking, fraud, and state welfare theft?  We will get back to you on it!  This would seem like a nice bust for the detectives and would look great to the people in Illinois.  Can you imagine how much money over so many years they have robbed welfare!

To Erich, which reads this site... I am a tax payer and I want that money back!

Drug Runner and Teen Predator Warning to Parents

Some people do not know how much we do in the community.  We do not just post articles, but we help neighbors work better with neighbors and handle many other local disputes as assistance when there is nowhere else to turn to.

Last year we worked with a local resident whom was attempting to stop a 41 year old man from selling drugs to her son.  He found the 41 year old guy through an online method when the guy was trying to pick up his friend, that was a 15 year old young woman.  That girl, told her friend (the son) and he confronted the 41 year old man about trying to pick up teen girls.  Next thing you know, this 41 year old man is his new drug dealer.. supplying this kid weed, pills, coke, and even heroin. 

Now the Bolingbrook mom finds out and gets her son help.  The mom reaches out to us last year to see what to do.  We tell her to call in the tip to the Crime stoppers, so that her son does not get in trouble.

She calls this in. 
Drug dealers name - S. Fields (First name hidden to prevent misuse)
Address:  Woodridge (and actual address we helped her find.  We even located place of employment and wife's employment.)
Make and model of car:  Orange 4 door (model xxxxxx)
Plates (she had these)
Description:  White male, approx. 180 lbs, 5'9, bald, one slanted eye
Line of work:  Car repair and auto body shops

So she calls this in specifically stating he was picking up teen girls and bragging about how many he had slept with in Bolingbrook (he claimed over 20) and how many dozens of Bolingbrook teens were buying drugs from him.  He claimed he was running approx. 5-10 shipments a day in Bolingbrook!

We followed up with her last night to see if this man was ever picked up or prosecuted.  She said that he never was and was still on the loose.

This letter is written to all parents of Bolingbrook whom might find their child is in drug or predator danger.  If the Crime stoppers are not doing their job, we want to know why.  Does the crime stoppers in Woodridge and Bolingbrook work together?  Just because he lives in a different town, he prays on ours.  We want him off the streets. Let's hope that Bolingbrook will follow up on the Woodridge Crime stopper tip and get this guy behind bars!

Safer with concealed guns?

Would you feel safer with a concealed gun license?  Bolingbrook residents need to weigh in, as this is coming to a debate soon!

Downers Grove starts term limits

Starting this week, all elected officials in Downers Grove will have term limits.  This means that all future Mayors can serve two terms (8 years) or less and can sit out one election cycle, jumping back in for the next.

Wouldn't Bolingbrook be a different place if we also had that law?  Well look for State Senators to start pushing this agenda and getting this law enacted state wide.  We will report as more becomes available.

Bridge to Naperville isn't needed

So Naperville does not want the Kings Road Bridge.  Bolingbrook residents do not want to pay for it.  Native Americans will picket the construction, since it is the ONLY Native American artifact site found in our area.  So why are we doing this?

Money, money, money.

Roger Claar receives much of his campaign money from construction companies.  His million dollar war chest is not enough for him.  He needs more.  Where there is construction, there is payouts.  We don't kid ourselves anymore into make believe, where there is really a "lowest bidder" that is NOT a contributor, that will get this gig.

However, look at the morals this breaks.  First, tax the residents without a referendum for spending over $6 million to build a bridge.  What about building a $6 Million dollar nature museum with the land and the artifacts, so we don't destroy our history of Bolingbrook (pre-Roger) and bring in tourism?  Furthermore, Naperville does not want this bridge built, nor do the residents that live on either side of it.

Then take a look at the only benefit to this project... Roger gets more rich. 
Hmmmm, I think the oath he took for office that stated he would work on behalf of the citizens of Bolingbrook was a lie.  Weigh in on what you think!

School Board Changes

The only two school board members left that are alleged NOT to be in Roger Claar's pocket are shifted to lowly positions on the board when they formed new positions this past week.

Liz Campbell, who was the secretary of the board, was voted out of that position and replaced with Ronnie Bull.  Jim Curran, former Vice Chair, has found his position given to Gougis, a staunch Claar supporter. 

Now with these two the only reasonable voice on the board, what will happen to our children and our taxes?  I think we all know the answer to that one.  When you put incompetent people in charge you get incompetence.  As one resident wrote to us yesterday, "stupid is as stupid does..."

Maybe the residents will think twice about the reasons that they could not come out to vote in April. 

Osama Bin Laden is dead!

Yes, the rumors are true.  Osama Bin Laden is dead and will be buried out to sea.  The reality is that this will probably win Obama a second presidency, since he was able to do what George Bush could not.  While Bush was looking for hidden doors in hills, Obama focused on luxury resorts and sure enough, found the man we have all been waiting to find... the killer and mastermind behind 9-11.

Congratulations to the operation that made this happen.  Thank you for risking your life to take this dangerous man out!