Response to an Anonymous Critic, Part II

Here is part two of my response to Anonymous.

Anonymous stated:
P.S. one of the problems with the city is all the residents that have lived here less than 5 years that think the know the city. Maybe you need to go back and see how things were run in this city prior to Churnovic. All of the aldermen/alderwomen under Randich were "yes" people. Nothing got done and if Randich didn't want it it didn't get passed. No matter how good it was for the city.

My response:
In a city in which the majority of its residents have lived here for less than five years this type of comment has no place. I will admit that I do not know how the city was run under Randich. However, the most important thing is not if I know about the Crest Hill of yesteryear, but if I know what good government is. I do know what good government is and I do know what I should expect from a well run local government. That is what I want. If Randich did not deliver good government then, I wish to thank all of you who voted him out of office. However, that does not mean that we should stop demanding better government.

As for my opinions about Mr. Churnovic.... I honestly think that he dominates Crest Hill government in a way that is not healthy for the city and that he is often very dismissive of residents who questions him. However, I think that this comes from the fact that he faced a lot of opposition when first elected and that he feels that he can overcome opposition by using his powers as Mayor. That being said, he is an intelligent man who truly believes that he is doing his best for Crest Hill. I do not think he has ever done anything that he did not fully believe was right and in the public interest. I admire his dedication and determination. I do disagree with some of the things that he has done. However, I have never called for him to be ousted from office, I would prefer to see him focus on making city government more inclusive and open. And I would like to see more moves towards good government in Crest Hill. I do not see any reason why the current Mayor and most of the City Council cannot be the ones to move in that direction. I am neither for or against changing the faces at the head table, I am for changing some of their actions though.

Response to an Anonymous Critic, Part I

I have previously responded to some comments by posting comments myself and I have corresponded with some readers by e-mail. However, there have been some recent comments that I feel should be addressed in their own postings. This first one is being split in half because then last shot that the writer took at me and others deserves to be a subject on its own and in fact is of greater importance than this first item I will respond to. It would be interesting to know who the anonymous commenter was, however he/she did not feel confident enough to leave a name or e-mail address.

Anonymous stated:
You are partially right in regards to the opens meeting act, however, I believe you need a hearning aid because they do say why they are going into a closed session. They may not list each item prior to adjourning to closed session but during the course of the meeting it is mentioned that a executive session is needed. Second - if your truly read the law then you know it is permissable to have an executive session for personnel. Would you like your employer to discuss you in front of everyone, whether it was your evaluation, medical condition for a medical leave or a discpline problem. I think not so get off it. I don't think you mentioned that by "law" you can hold an executive, or closed, session for personnel, litigation, and/or land acquisition. I also belive that by law the minutes from said closed session are available for review after 6 months by filing a freedom of information act. So file away!

My response:
The intent of the law is that the reasons for the closed session are to be part of the motion for the closed session. Off-hand comments during the meeting as to issues on which a closed session is needed are not sufficient.

I never said that it was not permissible to hold a closed session for personnel reasons. I simply stated that not every issue that can be connected to personnel has to be in closed session. I do not think it would be appropriate to discuss an employees medical condition in open session, in fact that may run afoul of medical privacy laws. And I would strongly recommend that discipline and evaluations be done in closed session. However, pay and hours should be in open session. And that does mean that the question of why Employee X is not getting a raise could come up and the answer could be poor performance. And performance issues that are not related to a specific disciplinary action usually should be subject to open discussion.

I certainly do not think that closed sessions are without merit or proper usefulness. I just believe that they should be used sparingly and only when necessary for reasons of protecting key privacy of employees, protecting the city in ongoing legal and financial negotiations and where required by law.

Closed Session = Secret Government

Anyone who watches Crest Hill city council meetings has certainly noticed that there seems to be a closed session at every meeting and that when some council members ask questions the response is that it is a matter for closed session. Well, I am very uncomfortable with closed sessions and feel that government should be as open and transparent as possible. So I decided to read the actual law and to read legal opinions interpreting it. As should be expected the first thing I learned was that Crest Hill does not follow the law.

The motion for a closed session MUST state which of the specific exclusions in the Open Meetings law covers the matter that will be discussed in closed session. If they are meeting to discuss employee contracts, they must say that. If they are meeting to discuss a pending lawsuit, then they must say that. They cannot simply state that a closed session is needed without any further information.

A closed session is never required. The city council can discuss any matter they wish to in open session. If Alderman Vershay wants to know who worked overtime, when they worked, and for how many hours, the City Treasurer can and should answer that question instead of deferring it to closed session. The Open Meetings law states a limited number of topics than MAY be discussed in closed session, but does not limit what can be discussed in open session. In addition, there is no obligation of city council members to keep secret what happens in closed session. The law does not prohibit anyone in a closed session from disclosing any matter discussed and specifically states that there is no penalty or retribution for disclosure.

It is time for our city government to comply with the letter and the spirit of the law. I call upon the Mayor and the City Clerk to ensure that all future closed sessions are properly held and to inform the Council and the public that any subject may be discussed in open session if so desired. I also call upon the City Clerk to release full transcripts of all illegally held closed sessions. And finally, in order to fulfill the spirit of the law, I ask any City Council member who believes in open government to speak publicly about anything that occurs in closed session that should not be secret.

Citizen Action

The situation with water rates has motivated local residents to get active and be heard. Not only are they making their voices heard on the issue of astronomically higher water and sewer rates, but they have also brought the issue of water quality to light. People are posting on the internet, going door-to-door talking to neighbors, compiling surveys, and packing city council work sessions. This is democracy in action and I hope to see it continue until these issues are resolved and beyond that until Crest Hill once again is run for and by the citizens. This city is not going to get better overnight, but it can get much better.

I am curious though as to how Mayor Churnovic next plans to stifle citizen involvement. I am looking forward to seeing quite a crowd at the next City Council meeting. Of course, I am willing to bet that they will not even consider moving it to a location with adequate parking and seating. That would allow the citizens to observe and participate in the meeting and we can be sure that Mayor Churnovic and certain others on the council do not want to allow that to happen.

Disappointing Mayoral Achievement

The City of Crest Hill has passed a budget that shows the sad state of affairs in the city. The mayor decided earlier this year that a finance committee was not necessary since a City Administrator had been hired. So the City Administrator brought a budget to the City that was over $1.5 million in the red. After slashing and raising fees and rates, it was passed still over $1 million short. So this is what is accomplished without a finance committee. How very sad. I hope the mayor is proud of his brilliant idea.

Some of the blame rests at the City Administrator's feet as well though. He is the one that brought a budget so out of line to the Council in the first place. When I served as a City Administrator, I would never have even considered bringing the City Council an unbalanced budget. And that certainly was not easy in a city that had seen its finances destroyed by years of poor spending and embezzlement. In fact, my aim was to have a budget that had 3% surplus and then to be able to work during the year to keep spending below budget and revenue above it. Even the most fiscally irresponsible person can put together a budget that is over a million dollars short of balancing. However, I believe that a City Administrator is a professional who should bring with them a set of skills in matters such as finance.

The third person bearing some responsibility here is the City Treasurer. While, I have seen nothing to indicate that he is not fulfilling his duties as specified, I think at this time Crest Hill needs something more. I feel that the City Treasurer needs to stand up and be the voice of moderation and reform. I call on him to watch every cent of the budget and not to release a cent of it that is not specifically budgeted. This type of discipline is the best we can hope for the coming months. He also should publicly release all the financial data of the City. This would allow citizens to know what is really going on and may help to spur a public demand for reform. Finally, the Treasurer needs to take a stand and be a leader pushing for fiscal responsibility even beyond what is role is. He should use his office to pound at the problem and keep it on the front burner. He should lead the call for change.

The City Council should never have approved a budget that sends Crest Hill closer to financial ruin. However, they had to work with a budget proposal that was badly out of balance, they lacked input through a finance committee, and they were threatened that State funding would be lost if a budget was not passed before the end of July. If I were in their place, I would have insisted on passing a bare bones balanced budget and then amended it after August 1st.

In summary, Mayor Churnovic and the City Administrator should have been the leaders of improving Crest Hill, instead the City is facing unprecedented financial difficulties because of the choices and actions of these two officials. It is sad that the time for change has come so soon.

Utility Rates To Skyrocket

Crest Hill is set to raise water and sewer rates substantially. Overall revenue will increase by over 50%.

I recognize that Crest Hill's rates are currently very low and do not oppose raising rates if necessary. However, the city has not done an actual rate study. They merely projected how much they would take in if rates were raised and called that a rate study.

A real rate study would look at capital structure, operation costs, depreciation, and rate of return on the money that has been invested into the city utilities over the years. Other cities run their utilities as efficient businesses, but Crest Hill refuses to. They prefer to just raise rates arbitrarily. Instead, of creating a multi-year capital plan, they are just going to collect a lot of money and then spend it.

The State of Illinois would not allow an investor owned utility to raise rates without a formal rate study and would not allow it to operate under the logic of spend money and then raise rates randomly when more money is needed. It is time for the city to begin running the water and sewer utilities as businesses and begin to focus on efficiency can controlling costs.

Where Did the City's Money Go?

Crest Hill has once again used the excuse of lack of funds to answer a resident's question and refused further explanation. A gentleman asked the City Council when his street (Root Street) would be reconstructed. He explained that the rest of the streets in the area had been improved in recent years and that last June the City Council approved finds to reconstruct Root Street. The Mayor told him that the money was not there now to improve Root Street. The gentleman asked "where did the money go, since it was there less than a year ago and the project has been approved and funded almost a year ago?" This seemed to be a very reasonable question. However, the Mayor and City Administrator refused to answer it and instead suggested that the gentleman attend upcoming budget meetings.

I thought it was interesting that they would tell him this, but not even mention when these meetings were. Therefore, I stood up and asked for dates and times for these meetings. They answered that they had not set dates or times, but would post them and announce them at a future City Council meeting. If you are going to refer people to attend a meeting instead of answering their questions, it would be good to be able to give them information about that meeting.

I find it very interesting that suddenly the City has financial problem just a few months after the Mayor decided to eliminate the Finance Committee. And that previously approved and scheduled road projects are failing to be done soon after the Mayor decided to eliminate the Streets Committee. Now that these issues are in the hands of the Mayor, City Administrator, and City Treasurer alone, there seems to have been a decrease in City's abilities to deal with these issues. And not only do citizens no longer have a say on these matter via committees, but they also no longer can even get answers related to these issues. Maybe it is time to put some better skilled people in charge, namely our City Council members and fellow citizen volunteers.

Two Items of Note:
1) I was able to get some information about the recent decline in the City's financial health that the Mayor keeps referencing without giving any details. Apparently, the City is facing a $1,500,000 budget deficit. No details of how this occurred have yet come to light however.

2) Some people may question my background in criticizing those who oversee our City's finances or question what makes me think I know better than these professionals how to manage a City's finances. While, I certainly cannot claim to have more experience than any of those professionals except for the City Administrator (I have two years of experience as opposed to his few months), I instead rest upon my past accomplishments as a City Treasurer and a City Administrator for a different city. While, it was smaller than Crest Hill, its financial difficulties at the time I was hired exceeded those faced by Crest Hill. They were in debt to their debt limit, had issued short term revenue bonds in order to keep operating, and were in the process of deciding which city services to cut. Two years later, I left a city that was on firm financial footing, had completed and was in the process of completing a number of large infrastructure improvement projects. I did not shrink the budget and I raised taxes at a slower rate than inflation. What I did do was reduce costs for outside services such as legal fees, audit costs, and engineering fees. I also increased revenue by bidding out the City's back accounts to the various banks in the area in order to receive the best package of interest rates and eliminate all fees. In addition, I pursued state funds aggressively and reached agreements that ensured the the state prison in town would cover every cost associated with it from costs of utility extensions to road paving. City services were maintained and in many cases improved as employee morale increased along with the City's financial stability. Also, our water, sewer, and electric systems were in better shape than ever before and ready for growth. So, I think I have some experience behind me when I criticize others. Sure, it is only two years of experience, but compared to where a Treasurer with 20 years of experience has gotten us, I think I stand up pretty well.

Proposed Sewer Solution

I previously criticized the Mayor and City council of Crest Hill for not better assisting residents with sewer back flow problems and for giving them unhelpful suggestions. Now, I will be fair and propose how I think it can be done better.

First, I need to explain the current overhead sewer program. The City of Crest Hill has a 50/50 cost sharing program for overhead sewer installation. The homeowner hires a contractor to perform the work and pays them for the full cost of the work. The homeowner then submits a copy of the bill to the city. The city reviews the work to ensure it was completed correctly and if so will reimburse the homeowner for 50% of the cost up to a total reimbursement of $4,000.

My proposals will assume a continued 50/50 since I do not expect city officials to be willing to commit to anything more. In addition, there is some sensibility to the idea that homeowners should shoulder some of the cost since this improves the value of their home and is an improvement that has benefits regardless of the condition of the city's sewer system. I would also continue to have it to be a voluntary program.

My suggestion is to have the city coordinate an annual overhead sewer replacement program. The city would contact homeowners to determine who is interested in having an overhead sewer installed. The city would then go out for bids to get all of the work done. This would allow for a lower cost to be obtained. The city would pay half the cost and charge the other half the cost to the homeowners. Each homeowner could either pay the cost at that time or have a special assessment placed against their property allowing the cost to be paid off over a period of up to ten years at a reasonable interest rate. I think this would be more appealing to homeowners, less expensive, and allows for an alternative payment method.

An Horrifying Meeting

I attended a portion of the Monday, May 7th Crest Hill City Council meeting and was simply amazed at how badly citizens are treated by the Mayor and some members of the City Council. I have never seen local leaders be so dismissive of citizens.

The Mayor especially took it to a whole new level. He suggested that residents who have had their homes flooded by human waste because of deficiencies in the city's sewer system should take out home equity loans to pay to install overhead sewers in their homes. As an alternative he also suggested finding a plumber who would arrange a payment plan. The obvious solution is for the city to take responsibility for their deficient sewer system and for the damage caused by its failures. He also suggested to a resident that they park in their neighbor's driveway because the city will not allow them a driveway.

The city seems to have an excuse for everything. They do not have enough money because they do not have riverboats. That was definitely a good one. I hope you do not wish to look at the city's finances to see if that is true because they do their best to hide those facts. After having seen them, I could understand why. Revenues have exceeded the budget and expenses have been below budget. Most governments would publicize such a good financial position, however Crest Hill is afraid that if people knew they would come to expect better city services. Their other excuse is that portions of the city were built before the city was incorporated. Never mind that these existing neighborhoods formed the basis for the creation of Crest Hill or that the city has had over four decades to make improvements. These excuses are outdated, it is time for our city leaders to realize that it is 2007 and not 1967.

The real proof of just how poorly Crest Hill citizens are treated can be seen in the parking lot after any council meeting. There are large groups of people milling about talking about their many problems with the city. Crest Hill would be a nice progressive city with happy residents if not for the council and some of the staff they have hired. It is too bad. Hopefully, the two new faces on council will improve the situation. And maybe the mayor will be reigned in someday.

A Public Housing & Section 8 Alternative

I would like to propose an alternative to public housing and Section 8 vouchers in Will county. It is apparent that public housing projects are failures here and elsewhere. Chicago is tearing theirs down as quickly as they can. Joliet has plans to bulldoze Poole Gardens. And it is hard to see Evergreen Terrace as anything, but a dangerous, blighted failure. The government's solution has been to try to spread public housing out throughout the community by offering Section 8 vouchers. This has allowed the problems of the projects to spread to previously stable residential neighborhoods and to hurt property values of existing homes.

My proposed alternative is to build multi-income new subdivisions. This means not simply redeveloping a small area in an existing neighborhood or renting houses in middle class neighborhoods to those on public assistance. It means building whole new neighborhoods on undeveloped land without neighboring subdivisions. Joliet, Plainfield, and numerous other communities build whole new neighborhoods of high priced homes where just last year farm animals grazed. So new neighborhoods of a different type certainly can be built.

The neighborhoods I envision would include a mix of home styles. Some duplexes, some small ranch homes, some mid-size split levels, some larger homes. Basically a mix of what one would find if they took random homes from every neighborhood in Joliet. These homes would then be sold to whomever desired to buy one. However, there would be assistance for low income families to purchase homes.

The type of assistance I am proposing would be to offer 30 year fixed term mortgages that would have the payments split between the buyers and the government. The government would pay the interest using the funds they now spend on Section 8 vouchers and housing projects. The buyers would be responsible for the principle and for property taxes. They would own their homes and be able to sell them and any rise in property values would accrue to them. There should be a method by which continued eligibility for housing assistance is determined. This would mean that if a family's income rose to there they no longer qualified for assistance the government would stop paying the interest and it would become the responsibility of the family. There could even be a sliding scale.

This arrangement provides several positives. First, it provides low income families with an investment in their homes and communities. They stand to profit or lose based upon their upkeep of their homes. They are rooted in the community instead of moving from apartment to apartment. They pay taxes so they now have a financial interest in what local governments are doing with tax dollars. Second, it protects the property values of surrounding homes. When your neighbors have an incentive to maintain their homes and to keep the neighborhood safe and clean, the value of your property is protected and enhanced. An enhanced tax base would also occur. The families moving into these new neighborhoods already send their kids to our schools. Only now instead of living in a housing project that pays no taxes, they live in a home that is taxable. They share in the costs of the government services they utilize.

These neighborhoods would be open to anyone who wished to buy a home in them regardless of their income status. Those who do not qualify for assistance would purchase a home just like they would anywhere else. Of course a home in a mixed income neighborhood would have a lower property value than a home in a neighborhood of only high end homes. But, this reduced value occurs from the moment it is built so the buyer pays a lower price. This is in contrast to existing homes that have low income families move in next door and see the home they paid full price for fall in value. If these neighborhoods prove to be safer and better maintained that most people would expect a mixed income neighborhood to be, then property values will rise as people change their opinions of such areas. This would provide a profit potential to middle and upper income people willing to take a risk and buy in these new neighborhoods.

The key question is who would build such neighborhoods since there is less profit to be made from smaller homes and the profit on any larger homes would be reduced because of reduced property values due to it being a mixed income neighborhood. We all know housing developers make their money by buying land, building oversized homes for the upper middle class, and tacking on a $100,000 premium over what they cost to build. This results in big profits for the developers and lots of new homes for those who can afford $300,000 and $400,000 homes. My proposal would be to force these same developers to build these mixed income neighborhoods. This would be done by requiring that for every building permit issued in one of their exclusive new subdivisions they build a home in one of these mixed-income subdivisions. There would need to be set quotas on how many of different size and types houses were built so that developers would build what is needed and not just what they think is profitable. This would create two benefits. First, it would mean multiple builders in each of these mixed income neighborhoods which would lead to a greater variety of homes instead of cookie-cutter homes. Second, since building these homes would be tied to getting permits for their own subdivisions, it would become a cost of doing business passed along to homebuyers who desire to live in economically segregated subdivisions.

I am sure there are numerous problems and inadequacies with this proposal. However, I think it would be a considerable improvement over the current system. It focuses on not just providing current housing for low income persons. Instead, it looks to improve their long term housing status, to create economically integrated neighborhoods, to bring people together, to maintain and enhance property values, and to create stable communities where we all have a stake and in which we all can raise our families in safety.

School Referendums Defeated

Lockport Township High School District saw their referendum go down in defeat for a second year in a row. Some supporters have chastised the voters for being cheapskates. I think this is wrong though, the voters were not merely acting out of financial self interest. They were reacting to a school district that has hidden facts, tried to borrow beyond their legal debt limit, paid huge sums of money to teachers and administrators, and wants to build $100+ million school palaces.

The April 2006 referendum was defeated because of concerns over how the boundary between the two high school was drawn, resistance to building a school for Homer Glen, raw emotions over Lockport West, and concern over why Lockport Central was to be abandoned. The district did not address these effectively prior to the 2007 referendum. The boundary issue was put off the table in favor of 2 two-year campuses until some future date. Of course, we all can guess what that division in the future may look like and we know that in the absence of a referendum the concerns of citizens will be ignored. Some explanation of why the loss of Lockport West was not really harmful was given, but a more thorough analysis should be given. Don't assume we are too stupid to understand it. The community movement in Homer Glen to form their own unit district makes the fears of losing another new high school shortly after construction very relevant. The issue of Lockport Central's fate has also been glossed over. Now it supposedly will not be used for classes, but will have some other function. Well, what is that function? And why is this building now no longer good enough for students?

I have previously discussed the issue of "creative" financing being used to borrow beyond the statutory debt limit. The district has continued to defend this practice and refuse to show any fiscal responsibility. They have also not explained why less expensive school designs have not been examined and presented to the public.

To top it all off schools continue to increase the exorbitant pay of administrators and teachers. I recognize that some starting teachers are not well paid, but it only takes a few years before teachers are very well compensated and a few more years and they can be in administration where they can really rake in the money. LTHS paid their driver's education teacher over $170,000 in 2006. Do you think this is a good use of taxpayer dollars? And can you justify giving more money to such a school district?

Vote Today!

Today is election day and it is important that we all get out and cast our votes. There are important issues and races on the ballot for all of our communities. Schools are asking you to allow them to take out multi-million dollar loans using your property as collateral. Politicians are asking that you leave them in office so that they can continue to cozy up to developers and continue business as usual. Many of them do not believe in democracy and have done their best to keep opponents off of the ballot and to silence debate. However, we the people do believe in democracy and should show it by going to the polls today and at every election. If there is no one on the ballot that you can support in a given race, either write someone in or skip voting in that office. Politicians know what it means when 1000 people vote in a precinct, but only 200 vote for them in an uncontested race.

I will offer my opinions on a few items on today's ballot, but hope you will all do your own research and vote in accordance with your beliefs.

In urge you to vote NO on all school referendums. The various school districts turn to the taxpayers to finance grandiose school buildings, but refuse to consider cutting their operating costs. Yes, I know that operating and capital costs are separate, but if a district wants us to support more money for capital projects, then they should also offer to lower the taxes for operating expenses. I would support school district referendums if they were building simple utilitarian buildings and were sharing the pain by cutting back on costs and on perks for their employees.

I urge you to vote for JOHN VERSHAY for 1st Ward Alderman in Crest Hill. John is a very experienced member of the city council. He operates using common sense and fairness. He also demands that city staff do their jobs and is unrelenting in those demands. Betty Lou Semplinski, one of the other candidates in this race, has also served Crest Hill well and I wish she could also be elected. However, the 1st Ward was redistricted and only one of the three candidates in this ward will be elected. I feel that John is the best choice, but hope to see Betty Lou run in two years and hopefully return to the city council.

In the 4th Ward of Lockport, I urge you not to vote for Lisa Lovelace. She is a vindictive person who has harassed her neighbors, city employees, and passersby. She has been involved in numerous police calls and has shown herself to have no self control. Lockport has too much division and confrontation on their city council already and Lisa would only take that to a new level. While I do think Dev Trivedi is a better choice than Lisa Lovelace, I cannot in good faith endorse him either.

In the race for Joliet Mayor, I urge you to vote for DALE VOLLMER. Joliet has long ignored the best interest of its citizens and has forgotten that there is more east of Black Road than just the downtown. Art Schultz brags about how all new subdivisions are gated communities of $300,000+ homes. His idea of development is to have developers build homes that the rest of us cannot afford and to erect gates to keep us out, but to allow us to pay for schools and roads to serve these new residents. New leadership is needed.

Extra Schools

The school districts of Will county have been on a building spree for the past decade or so and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This makes me think of the area I grew up in, Mt. Prospect and Arlington Heights in the northwest suburbs. I went to school there about 15 to 20 years after the school building boom in that area. Instead of new schools opening, we had schools closing.

The schools were closing not because of financial difficulties or because of neighborhoods being abandoned. They were closing because of declining enrollments. The area had many subdivisions built in the 1950's and 60's. Many of the buyers of these new homes were young families who brought children with them or had children soon after moving in. Soon the school districts were building many new schools to accommodate all these new students. By the early 1980's there were far fewer children in these schools. What had happened was that many of the families that had moved in when the homes were built seen their children grow up. Most of these empty nest couples stayed in their homes and the demographics of the neighborhood shifted. Now instead of a neighborhood filled with kids and young families, it was far more mixed and if anything tilted towards older households.

The school districts reacted to this by closing schools as enrollments fell. Half of the schools in my elementary school district were closed when I was a student in the district. And if it were not for a low income apartment complex filled with large families and young children, one more of the two remaining grade schools could have been closed.

The real problem though was that school districts, especially high schools, did not anticipate the changing demographics. They operated under the assumption that development would continue and enrollments would keep rising. This resulted in fiascoes such as Maine Township North High School that had students for less than a decade before being closed. This was a multi-million dollar state of the art high school, that is best remembered for its role in "The Breakfast Club." District 214 in Arlington Heights also went from building new high schools to closing schools in a period of less than 10 years. The bonds to build new schools lasted long beyond the time when the schools were needed.

Think of how many tens of millions of dollars could have been saved if these districts had been willing to endure a few years of either more crowded classrooms, mobile classrooms, or split shifts. New schools were a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Of course, the best solution would have been slower growth of new subdivisions. If the same subdivisions had been built over a longer period of time, the surge in number of students would have been spread out. This would have allowed schools only to need to be built for a sustainable number of students.

I see a future where Lockport decides it needs a third high school, for which it is right now seeking funds to buy the land for, and then realizes a few years later that it no longer has enough students to fill it. Many school districts may face this problem if they simply keep building schools based on future assumptions of enrollment.

Costly Art

The Joliet City Council recently decided to wait on voting on purchasing additional public artwork until after the election. It seems that they do not want to vote on a pork project so close to an election. Heavens forbid their vote be fresh in the minds of voters!

I am not against public art. I am just against the $2.5 million that Joliet has paid to Friends of Community Public Art for public art and sculptures over the years. This group seems less like friends of public art and more like profiteers of public art. They do not donate public art. They do not raise funds to purchase public art. They do not try to attract artists to create free public art. They create pieces of art and then sell it to the City of Joliet. They simply see the City of Joliet as their wealthy patron and keep milking to City for their livelihoods.

There are better ways of beautifying Joliet with artworks. The city could commission local high school and JJC students to create artworks and simply pay for materials. They could hold a large contest for public sculptures and as part of the contest retain the rights to display the entries for a number of years. The city of Lawrence, Kansas took this second approach and their downtown is filled with beautiful sculptures. The cost of the prizes for the contest was far less than what Joliet spends each year on public art. The prizes were generous enough to attract nationwide entries. And of course the third option is for the City to encourage donations of and towards public art and to provide space for it, but not to fund it directly.

School Tricks

In my recent item about the Herald-News' lack of coverage, I referred to schools abusing the power to issue bonds after winning a referendum. This issue finally got some coverage in the Herald-News in the past few days thanks to two guest columns concerning the upcoming Lockport Township High School (LTHS) referendum to build a new high school.

The basis of how schools borrow more than they asked for at referendum is that instead of issuing $100 million of bonds at 5% interest and getting $100 million to spend; they issue $100 million of bonds at 8% interest and get $120 million to spend. The extra $20 million is called a bonus by the company that purchases the bonds. This is not some nice gift or really even a bonus. From the buyers perspective $100 million at 8% is the same at $120 million at 5%. They are just inflating the interest rate and then paying more than the face value of the bonds. To the buyers it is just semantics. But, to the school, the difference is that they have borrowing limits imposed by state law. These bonuses do not count towards their borrowing limits. This seems highly dishonest to me.

Beyond being dishonest though, it is financially irresponsible. The borrowing limit is in place because the State of Illinois does not want local governments to be able to borrow away all the property of their citizens. When a school, city, or county borrows money, it is your property that is the collateral. The bond owner may not be able to come and take your house, but they can force the taxing body to raise taxes to pay the debt; and if you cannot pay those taxes your home can be taken by the government. A school district that issues bonds with bonuses attached is being irresponsible with the finances of its citizens. Any government that would do this is irresponsible, however so far this type of financing scheme has been limited to schools.

LTHS has publicly stated that they will be issuing bonds with bonuses if the referendum passes and they have stated that they are doing so with the purpose of getting around their borrowing limit. They also have stated that the bonds will be back loaded so that most of the cost are postponed and payments get larger in future years. Their reasoning for this is that in the future there will be more taxpayers and property values will have gone up, thereby increasing their tax revenues. This sounds a lot like the logic used by people a couple years ago when they bought homes using interest only loans. They figured that by the time the payments went up in the future, they would be making more money and their homes would be more valuable. Many of those people are now experiencing foreclosure and losing their homes. Now, our schools want to take us all down this same road or financial uncertainty and gambling on the future.

I commend LTHS for being honest about issuing debt that is back loaded and manipulating their way around their borrowing limit. But, telling someone that you are planning to rob them before grabbing their wallet does not make you any less of a thief.

Joliet Herald-News hides the news

Besides offering limited coverage of what is going on in our local governments, the Herald-News refuses to provide honest, unbiased coverage. In addition, they reward reporters for hiding the news, by promoting them.

In January of 2006, I read a series of articles in a different Illinois newspaper about how schools were issuing more in bonds than had been authorized by the voters. I then contacted the Plainfield School District with regards to their $252 million referendum at that time, the structure of the bonds they were issuing, and if they were considering utilizing the loophole to issue more than what they were asking for in the referendum. I then e-mailed Andrea Hein at the Herald-News with copies of the original articles and the information that I was able to get from the Plainfield School District.

Andrea, thanked me, said she was already working on a similar story, and would get back to me shortly. She never wrote the "similar" story she was working on and never got back to me. I guess she and Herald-News did not think the potential of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent beyond what the public had voted on was not a big deal. It is more important to keep the politicians happy. The Herald-News rewarded her lack of concern for her job by promoting her from covering Lockport & Crest Hill to covering Joliet.

City and County Finances

Have you ever seen the budget for your city, school district, or Will county? I am willing to guess that you have not, even if you have tried. I have tried and found local governments want to hide their financial documents and to deter anyone from seeing them. They want to keep collecting more and more in taxes, but never want to tell us how they actually spend OUR money.

I tried to see Crest Hill's budget several months ago and was treated to quite an adventure. I went to City Hall and asked to see a copy of the most recent city budget. I was told that the person who would have that had left early for the weekend and to come back on Monday. I agreed to return on Monday and left written information as to who I was and what I wanted to view. I returned the next week and the information still was not available. The following day I came in once again and this time the information was ready. However, I was handed a set of printouts that appeared to be a report of year to date expenses and revenues compared to the current budget. This document lacked any explanation and was far from being clear. I asked if there were any additional financial documents available and was told that they were not.

At this point, I sent a written request to the City Treasurer asking to view copies of the current budget as passed by the City Council, the most recent audit of the city, and the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). I received no response. Two weeks later, I sent the same written request to the Mayor, City Clerk, and the alderpersons for the ward I live in. A week later, I got a call from the Mayor's office and was able to set up a time to view the CAFR.

This was an acceptable outcome for me because the CAFR was fairly recent and contained everything I wanted to see. However, it is amazing how much effort it took to see this document. I believe that the responsible thing to do would be to have copies of all reports, budgets, and other significant documents available at City Hall and the local library. I have yet to find a library that is not willing to add city documents to their reference collection. In fact, the Crest Hill library has planning documents from 40 years ago for Crest Hill, but very little from recent years.

I wish this was an isolated event that applied only to my request in Crest Hill. However, I have watched Alderman John Vershay ask the Crest Hill City Treasurer for a listing of the bills being paid at each council meeting. The treasurer however is behind by a number of weeks so he expects the council to approve paying the bills and not being told what they were for until a month or more later. And when confronted he has flatly refused to provide this information to an Alderman. No wonder he is so unresponsive to citizens. A year ago I had a similar experience with the Plainfield School District when I wanted information about their bond referendum to build additional schools. They only took 2 weeks and 3 written contacts to provide me the information I asked for.

One must really wonder why our local governments do not want to share financial information with the public. They have no problems taxing us, but they seem to have more difficulty telling us what they do with our money.

Citizen Involvement

The City of Crest Hill has few opportunities for citizen involvement in government and has reduced those opportunities in recent months. There once were Road Improvements and Budget committees, but Mayor Churnovic has eliminated those. This is the wrong direction to be moving.

Mayor Churnovic used the excuse that now that there is a City Administrator in place, there is not a need for the committees. I do not understand why citizen involvement is being replaced by the City Administrator. I did not think that Crest Hill was getting rid of democracy, but that is what appears to be happening.

I certainly do not oppose the hiring of a City Administrator and was previously employed by a different city as their City Administrator. The city I worked for actually used the hiring of a City Administrator to facilitate more citizen involvement. Their logic was that a City Administrator could coordinate more meetings of committees and allow committees to be citizen run with far less involvement by City Council members. This increase in citizen involvement was an absolutely positive situation for the city.

City Council members cannot effectively control every aspect of city government, they simply do not have the time. It also is not a good idea to concentrate too much power in just a few people. Committees are an effective way to get more citizens involved in issues that they care about. An individual may not be very concerned about how the police department is run, but may be very concerned about the conditions of our streets; while another person wants to see improvements made in how the city budgets, but has no interest in zoning issues. Committees dealing with specific areas of city government would allow each of these people to be involved and contributing to improving the city.

The alternative to citizen involvement is to concentrate the power in the hands of a few elected officials and entrust the City Administrator to handle all matters that the Mayor or City Council do not have time for or the ability to handle. This seems to be anti-democratic though and a step in the wrong direction. I would like to see more committees, more discussion, and more citizen involvement.

Electricity

This week the City of Crest Hill began considering purchasing their electricity from a co-op instead of from ComEd. This is a great way to save money now that ComEd's rate freeze has ended and the costs of electricity are on the way up due to the power auction scheme. It should be clarified that this is a proposal for the Crest Hill to buy the electricity for city facilities only. Those of us who live there will still have to keep buying from ComEd. I think the time has come to look to other options for all of us.

I spent two years managing a small municipal electric utility in Wisconsin. Our main role was as a distributor of electricity. We built and owned the power lines within the city. We contracted with a co-op to purchase wholesale power which we then sold to our customers. We did own and maintain generation facilities of our own, although we used them only in emergencies and during time of high demand when prices on the spot market soared. The utility was not in anyway subsidized by the city, had to comply with the same state and federal regulations as a private utility would, and paid a higher portion of its revenue in taxes than private utilities did.

The result was that our customers (residents of the city), paid less for electricity than those in surrounding cities that bought power from traditional power companies and far less than what I now pay to ComEd. In addition, the distribution system was locally controlled, so the decisions to replace lines, upgrade the system, and how to trim trees were local decisions that were publicly made and that anyone could speak to the board about. Due to our maintaining generation equipment, we not only could negotiate lower rates, but we could provide our own power when necessary. There were numerous times that ice storms would take out transmission lines outside the city cutting power to the whole region. The city would switch on our generators and have the lights back on within the hour, while surrounding areas were stuck waiting days for their power to return.

I know that it took a great amount of investment to build the system and know the obstacles that exist to creating a municipal utility where there is already an existing private utility. But, thanks to the legislation that ended the rate freeze here, we have an opportunity to create a different type of municipal utility with less capital cost. A utility no longer needs to own its distribution lines, it can exist solely to sell power over lines owned by others. A city could purchase wholesale power and then resell it. This would create an alternative to ComEd and would provide the competition that we need.

I believe that this would not be the ideal solution and would support a municipal utility acquiring some generation capacity of its own so as to be in a better negotiating position. And there would also be some non-financial benefits to acquiring the distribution system, but I think the cost of this would be too great. In addition, the distribution costs are much better regulated than power costs which are now market driven (by a rigged market).

I am split as to if it would be best for Crest Hill and other cities to each have their own municipal utility or if a combined utility would be better. I certainly think that individual cities are large enough to operate their own utilities and even to negotiate individual wholesale contracts. However, a combined utility could probably negotiate a better contract and be able to explore more options than an individual city could. A combined utility though would allow for less local control. My suggestion would be individual municipal utilities in each community, but a regional organization to combine forces in negotiating wholesale contracts.

While, I am often leery of additional government involvement in our lives and the expansion of government, I have seen how a municipal utility operates and am very impressed. I think that in this area, it could do even better than what I observed elsewhere and would provide actual competition to ComEd. I do believe though that any municipal utility should have to operate on a level position with private companies. This means no tax dollars for municipal utilities, separate finances from the city's finances, payment of all taxes and fees that a private company would pay, and open competition.

Rails to the Future

Transportation is a key issue in Crest Hill and Will County. From an economic and business perspective the expansion of rail transit is of greatest concern. Metra service to Joliet and surrounding communities is inferior to the service that is given to the northern and western suburbs. Having grown up in Arlington Heights, I saw first-hand the power of commuter trains to transform a community's core. Three trains each direction weekdays only on the Heritage Corridor is insufficient. The Rock Island line has a more comprehensive schedule, but Joliet is still under served.

The City of Joliet has not done its part to encourage downtown redevelopment that would compliment commuter rail. There are numerous old buildings that could be redeveloped into commercial uses on the first floor and residential above. This is by far a better use that having vacant old department stores and empty storefronts. Joliet has the building stock to retain its historic downtown flavor while developing a vibrant mixed-use area. The other key is to provide enough parking for additional Metra riders to be possible. This can only be accomplished with conveniently located parking garages. This will not be inexpensive, but will be necessary if we want to create a healthy downtown and see new residents moving into something other than cookie cutter developments on the far west side.

Of specific importance to Crest Hill is the STAR line. This would be a line tying Joliet and Crest Hill to the west of northwest suburbs. Such a connection would allow people to work in those area, but live in Will County. This might bring additional development pressures to this area, but it is the responsibility of cities to continue to grow responsibly. The value of alternative transportation would be great. It would be a boon to the communities along the line and would allow people greater choice in where they live without clogging our highways.

My final item on this topic is to encourage people to continue to push for expansion of Amtrak. I know it is a third world rail system that rarely runs on time and is used mostly by students, foreign travelers, and the Amish. However, rail should be used more frequently for mid-distance trips instead of flying. As more people use rail and more importance is placed on developing it, the level of service will improve. And if high speed technology is put into place any trip under 600 miles will be faster by rail than by air. This is because unlike the airport, when you ride the train you do not wait in long security lines, you do not have to arrive hours ahead of time, you can carry on all the luggage you physically are able to so checking baggage and claiming it at the other end are eliminated, and every train station I has been more easily accessible than even the smallest most laid back of airports. I could go on about the wonderful things I have seen from the windows of trains and the fascinating people I have met on board, but I feel the financial and practical sides of it are more important to this nation. In the mean time though, give Amtrak a shot, you might get to where you are going a couple hours late, but you can eat well, sleep well, and have some fun doing it. And maybe you will come away like me, dreaming of the day when you can zip across America at 200 mph on a conveniently scheduled train instead of flying.

Caton Farm Road Bridge

In the 1960's when the City of Crest Hill was incorporated, a Comprehensive Plan was completed to outline the future of this city. Many items in that plan have come to fruition and in many ways we have achieved far more than that plan had laid out. However, one important item in that plan has been allowed to sit uncompleted for over 40 years now. That item is the construction of a bridge across the Des Plaines River connecting Caton Farm Road in Crest Hill and Bruce Road in Lockport.

The need for this bridge has only grown over the years and is now an item that should be of utmost importance. When the Division Street bridge closed in the 1980's we lost a connection to the east and were forced to either go through Joliet or take the two lane high level bridge at Renwick. As growth came to Will county in the 1990's, the traffic became more than the Renwick bridge could handle and backups became a part of daily life for many people. And now in 2007, we are just months away from the opening of I-355 to our east. A bridge at Caton Farm Road along with the upgrading of Bruce Road and eventual interchange at Bruce and I-355 would do more to improve the City of Crest Hill than anything else that has been done or contemplated in the last 40 years.

The bridge would tie Crest Hill into the Lockport and New Lenox areas and allow more people to easily shop, work and live in our city regardless of which side of the river other aspects of their lives are. Also, the bridge would allow residents of Crest Hill to get to the I-355 extension much quicker and easier than is currently possible. This would increase the demand for homes in Crest Hill as we became a better option for those commuting to jobs in DuPage county and elsewhere to our north. This increased demand would lead to higher home values, thereby enriching our residents.

A bridge is also vital to the redevelopment of Broadway as well as increased business on Theodore. Currently this area is located several miles from either the Renwick or Ruby bridges, thus limiting the number of people passing through the area. However, a bridge at Caton Farm road would draw large numbers of people close to this area of the city. The Crest Hill end of the Renwick bridge offers no opportunities for development because the land has been set aside as open space. However, the south side of Caton Farm Road is currently privately owned and could be developed in any manner that best serves the city. In addition, IL-53 south of Caton Farm would have the potential to be commercially developed once the bridge increased the traffic levels in that area. A healthy business community along IL-53, instead of a decaying industrial area, would be quite an asset for Crest Hill.

Our elected officials are working on getting this bridge built, however I feel that there is need to push harder on the State and Federal governments to get this project moving. 40 years has been far too long to wait for a project that has the potential to transform Crest Hill for the better. Crest Hill has seen development occur along the Weber Road corridor and will continue to see development along that road. A Caton Farm bridge would create two additional healthy and attractive development corridors, Caton Farm Road and Broadway Street (IL-53). This bridge literally is the bridge to the future for Crest Hill.

Equimax

Last night, the City Council had quite a contentious meeting regarding the resubdivision of the Equimax property. This is a very complex issue and unfortunately it extends beyond the specifics of this development.

The first key is that Crest Hill needs commercial development to keep its taxes low. We are in a great position for commercial development and further lowering our already low city property tax. I would urge the city though to realize this and work to attract top quality development as well as creating new opportunities and revitalizing existing areas. This is not to suggest though that Equimax should not be a commercial property, it absolutely should be.

Following ordinances and rules is another important part of the discussion. This means following the plan set forth and working under the conditions created by the City Code. This property was zoned and planned for commercial before the residents of Remington Lakes purchased their homes and that should not change. However, the plan did not include so many small lots that do not comply with the ordinances and certainly did not include a road leading into the rear of someone's home. I do not see why we cannot have commercial development without degrading the safety of our residents and the sanctity of our laws.

Another underlying issue is the resignation of Building Commissioner Ray Semplinski. This is an issue that the Mayor has worked hard to keep quiet. There is something suspicious though when Council members are not given a copy of the resignation and cannot get their questions answered. Mr. Semplinski was a long time employee of Crest Hill and served successfully for many years. There was not a problem until he stated recently that he believed that our ordinances should be enforced and followed. While, I did not support his filling two positions and being paid two salaries for as long as he was, I still feel he did a great job and the City could not have been better served.

I hope that a compromise on Equimax can soon be reached. It will not silence the underlying issues, but we certainly can and should move on the the next development. The underlying issues will continue to haunt us until they are resolved, but we should not hold up progress in the mean time. A successful compromise requires the following factors. The residents of Remington Lakes need to recognize and accept that commercial development is going to occur in their backyards and that they cannot dictate what type of businesses will be located there. Dean Tomich needs to offer a plat of subdivision that does not violate the city's ordinances and does not reduce the safety of residents or their property values. I feel that the residents of Remington Lakes are on the right page and will accept a properly designed subdivision and allow Mr. Tomich to fill it with whatever businesses he feels are best suited the area and are allowed by the Zoning Code. However, Mr. Tomich seems to be reading from an entirely different book and does not recognize that he is not following the ordinances. This needs to change if he is going to be successful with this development. I hope his desire to make money will prevail and he will do his part towards compromise.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I am Nicholas Onyszczak and am a resident of the 3rd Ward of the City of Crest Hill, Illinois. I am aiming this blog at fellow residents of Crest Hill and surrounding communities, so I do not plan to go into basic background information on the community, however if you are not familiar with it please feel free to e-mail me at onyszczak@gmail.com

A little more about me.... I am running for alderman in the 3rd Ward as a write-in candidate. I would be running on the ballot except that one of the incumbents was afraid of democracy and had the citizens of her ward ignored and my name removed from the ballot. I am a former City Administrator of a different community, but now work in the private sector and look to public service as a civic duty instead of a career. However, I still bring with me a strong background in city management.

I plan to use this as a forum for addressing current and upcoming city issues. Regardless of the outcome of the election on April 17th, I will still be here. There are many issues in Crest Hill that need discussion and there is a strong need for PUBLIC discussion, so I hope that I can help to provide that.