Preventing Foreclosure Workshop Held In Carpentersville

Carpentersville – Wednesday, February 25, 2009, Kane County and Neighborhood Housing Services presented a workshop on preventing foreclosures. The workshop was attended by about 35 people. 

Mr. John Groene of Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago who is the Associate Director for Neighborhood Strategy and Planning was the presenter of the valuable information. Mr. Groene was well versed in foreclosure and offered some good advice to all who attended this workshop. Scott Berger from Kane County was also there to offer what assistance and information that Kane County could give to homeowners who were facing difficult times in today’s economy.

Myself and Kane County Board member Hollie Kissane were responsible for bringing this workshop to Carpentersville. Also in attendance were Village Trustee, Linda Ramirez Sliwinski, Carpentersville Economic Development Coordinator, Janice Murphy and Joseph R.  Haimann who is a member of the Village’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

There were two classes being presented at the same time at the Dundee Township Senior Center. One was in English while the other was in Spanish. Both had nearly the same amount of residents. So to those who want to paint foreclosure issues as being somehow related to someones ethnicity the attendees did not support that thinking.  

What was evident is the fact that many people across the board are facing difficult times and they need help.

I was informed by Scott Berger that there will be another workshop held in Geneva on March 25th. I will be posting further information when I get it. So, if you were unable to attend this workshop there will be at least one other. I recommend to anyone who is having difficulty in making their mortgage payments to attend these workshops.

What I found disturbing was that the local media did not cover this workshop. The message needs to get out to the public. The media must help in that effort.

It’s my goal to keep people and families in their homes. We must do all that we can to assist those in need. I will be working to keep people employed and help them meet their obligations. The last thing we need is for people to be losing their jobs and the roof over their heads.

President Obama Gives Nation Hope

Washington DC – President Barack Obama delivered his first address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night and from the early feedback it was a tremendous success. It wasn’t billed as a State of the Union address, but for all practical purposes it was a State of the Union.

Even those who had supported Senator John McCain in the November election seemed to overwhelmingly support our new president’s plan for reviving our slumping economy.

President Obama laid out for the entire nation a plan to save our economy and create jobs for those Americans who have been hit the hardest by this economic downturn. He projected both confidence and hope for the future of our nation. He combined a real plan with a feeling that we can get through this difficult time if we all pull together.

Money will go toward the creation of jobs and the development of alternative fuels and using solar, wind and clean coal technology to break our dependency on foreign oil. The President spoke of bringing jobs back home and to stop subsidizing corporations who leave our shores.

He told us that we must save our auto industry. That the nation that invented the auto must not let that industry disappear. In fact, the President talked about making our auto industry the world leader it once was with a new direction of alternative fuel powered cars. He also spoke of making our country the leading nation in education once again. He said that when a student quits on them-self they are quiting on the country as well. He wants to raise the number of those who finish college to a level higher than any other nation on earth.

The President told us that those who make less than $250,000.00 will not pay a “dime” more in taxes. In fact, those workers will realize a tax break.

President Obama told the country that the stimulus package will work. He plans to go to work immediately to create a health care system that will lift our economy.

The President also told us that his plan is to reduce the national debt by half in his first term. He said that he does not plan on passing this debt on to other generations to pay.

President Obama said that he does not believe in torture and he will close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. He will aggressively go after terrorist organizations in other countries that plot to kill Americans. He specifically mentioned Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The President also talked of  increasing the benefits for our service men and women. He said we should honor their commitment to our nation.

I must say that in all the years I’ve been watching United State’s President’s I’ve never been so inspired as I was listening to our new 44th President. We are fortunate to have such a man leading our country at this time. I’ve heard good speeches before, but none so on the mark as this one was tonight.

I have great hope that this plan will help us here in our own Village of Carpentersville. That our best days are truly ahead of us.

Carpentersville Will Have A Balanced Budget!

Carpentersville – On Saturday, February 21, 2009, the Audit & Finance Commission gave their approval to a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This budget is lean but it does not include any tax increases nor any lay-offs.

The members of the Commission disagreed over how to spend a very small amount of money that was left over. The “Ride in Kane” program that the Village pays $13, 400 to support was one of those items that were discussed. I support this program. It offers affordable transportation to many of our senior residents and others with some level of disability. This is a vital service that must continue. For those not familiar with this program it used to be called “Dial-A-Ride.” It provides people with door to door transportation to get to and from the doctor, to and from work and many of our seniors depend on this service to get to and from the senior center. This program must continue in Carpentersville.

Members of the Commission also disagreed over continuing to provide our Village Board meetings on Comcast Cable TV. I’ve personally heard many very positive comments about our Village Board meetings being aired on the local access channel on Comcast. I believe this has been a very good program for our community. Many residents cannot make it to our Village Board meetings, so they depend on these broadcasts to stay up to date on what is going on in the Village. I support the continuation of the broadcasting of these meetings. It has been my position to provide an Open and Honest government. The public has a right to know how that government operates.

The budget also allows for a very modest 2% cost of living raise for non-union employees. This is a major decrease from past years. These non-union employees are mostly top management, or Department Heads.

Each and every department made cuts for this coming year to ensure that we would have a balanced budget. I commend them for their efforts to hold the line during these difficult economic times.

Budget Time

Carpentersville – It’s budget time once again. The Audit & Finance Commission met for 6 hours on Saturday to discuss a handful of items that were being considered to be funded for the upcoming budget.

Those things that were up for discussion were the following:

1. Whether or not the Village should continue to video tape the Village Board meetings and air them Friday evenings on Comcast.

2. Whether or not Carpentersville should contribute to the Ride-In-Kane program. Some may remember this as Dial-A-Ride.

3. Whether or not we should hire two new police positions.

4. Whether or not we should hire part-time employees for Public Works.

5. Whether or not we should pay the dues to belong to the Illinois Municipal League, The Northwest Municipal Conference and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. The commission supported paying the dues for the Illinois Municipal League and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; but not the NWMC.

The reason that the commission voted down the hiring of new employees is that this was something that many departments were in need of and it was a “staff determination” that no new employees were to be requested during this very tight budget year. We are trying to avoid lay-offs at this point. Many local governments have had to lay people off.

It was Ed Ritter’s suggestion to add the personnel in the Police Department and Public Works. It’s not that we couldn’t use more police and more people in public works, it’s about priorities and fairness to ALL departments. Our Fire Department needs more firefighters. In fact, the situation with the Fire Department is critical. Before firefighters are allowed to attack a fire they must have a certain number of  firefighters on the scene. In 25 % of the fires our Fire Department has responded to they have had to wait for back up to arrive. This may have caused additional damage to the property while the firefighters that arrived first on the scene had to stand by and wait for more firefighters to arrive. Each Fire Station is currently short of the required number of firefighters on duty on all shifts. We currently are staffing  the stations with an insufficient number of firefighters. If the ambulance has been sent out on a call this leaves that fire station short on available manpower. But, we can’t afford to hire the necessary number of firefighters at this time to be fully compliant with the regulations. I believe it was irresponsible of Edward Ritter to have suggested adding these new employees in the Police Department and Public Works during this tight budget time.

The staff made across the board cuts in every department. They should be commended for doing what they could to make sure no one would be laid-off this year. It still may be necessary to do lay-offs, but we are doing all we can to guard against having to take that extreme measure of last resort.

These issues will go back to the Village Board for a final decision.

Linda Ramirez Sliwinski Is On The Ballot!

Friday, February 20, 2009, the Electoral Board ruled that Linda Ramirez Sliwinski did in fact have a suficient number of valid signatures to have her name placed on the ballot for the April 7, 2009, Consolidated Election.

Trustee Ramirez Sliwinski provided the Electoral Board with signed affidavits and other evidence from the Kane County Clerk’s Office that proved the signatures were indeed genuine and that the signors of her petition were registered voters at the time they signed.

The Electoral Board comprised of Village President, Bill Sarto and members Terri Wilde, Village Clerk and Trustee,  Judith A. Sigwalt, reviewed the new information and ruled to reverse their previous decision.

Attorney, Matthew Flamm, represented Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski. Mr. Flamm began the hearing by presenting a motion to the Electoral Board to “include” 4 names on the petition based on the law that no signature can be successfully objected to for merely being “printed and not signed.” The Electoral Board voted 2-1 to grant Mr. Flamm’s motion. Trustee Judith A. Sigwalt was the lone “NO” vote.

Member Sigwalt throughout the hearing was questioning the law. At one point, Mr. Flamm suggested if Member Sigwalt did not wish to follow the law, she should recuse herself from the Electoral Board. Sigwalt continued with her statement about the laws being flawed. She at one point actually said, that if I don’t agree with a law I don’t believe that we need to follow it. She went on to say that laws are made by people going before a judge and presenting an argument that is upheld. She said, “We could make new law with this case.”

In most cases, Village Clerk, Terri Wilde was the deciding vote on whether or not a signature was going to be counted or not counted. She seemed in my judgement to rule fairly and most often consistently. The Village Clerk and I did not agree on all matters, but she did a good job overall.

The  ballot is now set for the upcoming election.  In the end none of Frank Stoneham’s objections stood up. He lost all six objections. It turns out that Stoneham cost the taxpayers of the Village a lot of money for nothing.

We all know that Frank Stoneham was working on behalf of the Ritter slate of candidates. This is the same group of candidates backed by Sigwalt. These objections by Stoneham were all frivolous. This fiasco was brought to you taxpayers by the candidates who claim they “Care” about Carpentersville. I’d like to see some proof of that.

Ritter Is Not Ready For Prime Time

Sorry, Ed Ritter, but you just don’t cut it. Your acting as your own “lawyer” the other night was truly laughable. You see Mr. Ritter lawyers go to school to learn what not to ask. Your questions of the witnesses only proved to me that you were way out of your league. You were actually “leading your witnesses” to perjure themselves.

Here is a classic case of when an attorney has asked one too many questions. Attorney: Did you see Mr. Jones bite Mr. Smith’s ear? Witness: No. Attorney: Then how do you know that Mr. Jones bit the ear of Mr. Smith? Witness: I saw him spit it out.  You see the attorney should not have asked that last question.

I couldn’t believe it when you said to the Village Clerk after her being questioned, “Good Testimony!” Did she say it just like you’d told her to before hand? The Clerk testified that she did not give anyone any advice. But, when Kent Baldwin was testifying he said that Terri Wilde, the Village Clerk had told him that he could use a ”paper clip” on his petition papers. That was enough to get Kent Baldwin tossed off the ballot.

Mr. Ritter who told you that those black “binder clips” were okay? Or, did you just guess that they would be fine? Did you consult an attorney or anyone else to get legal advice?

How did you know that the objector Ms. Judy Gallagher did not file “two copies” of her objections? Did you ask the Village Clerk? She would have been the only one to know other than Judy Gallagher. Judy Gallagher was asked that question under oath at the hearing. When did you learn that only one copy was filed and how did you learn it? Why did you ask the attorney for the Electoral Board to check into this for you. Mr. Michael Duggan the Electoral Board Attorney wasn’t paid to represent you.

When I asked Brad McFeggan how did he get out to the Evertsen’s house to have his petition paperwork notarized, he said he rode with Ed Ritter and Pat Schultz. That’s odd because when Pat Schultz was giving her testimony she never mentioned Brad McFeggan being in the car with you and her. In fact, she wasn’t sure if he had actually been to the Evertsen house at all. Pat Schultz “originally testified” that it was ONLY Ed Ritter and herself that was at the Evertsen’s house near Harvard, IL. How could you ride in the same car with someone for at least a half hour each way and not remember they were with you?  That’s not possible ? Why didn’t you correct Ms. Schultz if you and her were indeed in the same car with Brad McFeggan? I can’t believe that neither of you could remember Brad McFeggan. Your stories leave a lot of parts missing.

Why did Diane Evertsen the notorious NOTARY in question feel she needed an attorney to represent her when she was questioned on her notary seal? Do you wonder why many people who were there walked away shaking their heads? I’ve heard many people who were there ask about the truthfulness of you Mr. Ritter and others who testified.

You see Mr. Ritter you really are not ready for PRIME TIME.

Ritter Cannot Tell The Truth

At last night’s Village Board meeting, Edward Ritter claimed during his trustee report that he did not use Village supplies to file his petition and those of Patricia Schultz and Kay Teeter.

Here is his story: He claims that he had his own petition ready to be filed, but then was given two other candidate’s petitions on his way to Village Hall. They were not ready to be filed, so he went into the outer office of the Village Manager merely to find a “flat surface” to put his papers together.

Here is what I personally witnessed: I saw Edward Ritter walk into Village Hall carrying papers in his hand. He walked immediately into the outer office of the Village Manager and went directly to the area where the bins are kept that hold office supplies. I was standing about 8 feet from Ritter at the time talking with Manager Anderson. While I was talking to the Village Manager I was watching what Ritter was doing. I clearly saw him, open the plastic bin and remove several black “binder clips” from that storage bin. I personally witnessed him placing those same clips on to the pages he had in front of him. That’s the truth.

Question: If Edward Ritter was merely looking for a “flat surface” as he said last night, then why did he pick the area right in front of the office supply bins?

Observation: He was working off of the top of some filing cabinets.  The area he chose to work from was the most cramped spot he could have found. It was right in front of the copy machine. There was far more space further down the row of cabinets, away from the copier. There is a very large conference room table in the conference room, just one door down. The fact is that Ed Ritter should have had all of his paperwork complete and ready to be filed before coming to Village Hall to file the petitions. He was not ready.

This is very typical of Edward Ritter. When it was brought to light by a resident that he had code violations at his home, well, Ritter claimed that he didn’t know that they were violations. Even though he had been written up by a now “fired” former code officer for those same violations.

Ethics is not Ed Ritter’s long suit.  He had no problem at all when it was discovered that two of our trustees were meeting with their political supporters at Fire Station # 3 in direct violation of our rules and codes. These two trustees by the way are supporters of Ed Ritter and his slate of candidates. Telling the truth has never been easy for Ed Ritter. During the recent hearing on objections to his and others petitions, Ed Ritter was acting as some sort of “make believe lawyer” for himself and other candidates tied to him and Sigwalt. Those candidates gave some absolutely incredible testimony during examination under oath. They in fact, admitted to an Open Meetings Act violation during the questioning of where they were when they had their signatures notarized by a notary who lives near Harvard, Illinois.

Ed Ritter, in the future, just tell the truth, don’t waste our time with your lame self-serving excuses. Better yet, follow the rules and the law. Let me remind you that you’ve sworn an oath to do just that.

Bill Sarto Will Be On the April 7th Ballot

Geneva– It was determined today that Village President, Bill Sarto’s name will be on the ballot for the April 7th election.

After two and a half hours of checking petition signatures on President Sarto’s petition, Frank Stoneham, the objector withdrew his “objection” when it was clear that Bill Sarto had far more than enough signatures that were deemed good by the Electoral Board.

President Sarto said following the grueling process that he was happy to have gotten over this hurdle and he was looking forward to a very spirited campaign. 

The Electoral Board was comprised of the Chairman, Tim O’Neil, an attorney who was filling in for Paul Humpfer who had recused himself from the board at the first meeting. The other two members were Village Clerk, Terri Wilde and Village Trustee, Judith Sigwalt.

The “binder check” is a very unreliable system of proving the validity of a voter’s registration status or if their signature is genuine. None of the members who sat in judgement of the signatures had any training  to make such judgement; nor were they experts in hand writing analysis. Their rulings were purely subjective. This is a flawed system.

President Sarto made two motions at the beginning of today’s proceedings. The first motion was to “strike” all objections that were [solely] based on the signor’s name being “printed and not written”. The courts have held that for a signature to be valid it does not need to be written to be considered genuine. This motion was denied by the Electoral Board on a 3-0 vote. The attorney for the Electoral Board had given his opinion that the motion presented by President Sarto was valid.  The second motion made by President Sarto was to the HEADING at the top of the cover page of the OBJECTION itself. The basis of this motion was that the “objector”  had addressed the objection to the Electoral Board that was to hear and rule on objections to the office of TRUSTEE not PRESIDENT. This motion also was denied on a 3-0 vote. The attorney for the Electoral Board did not give his opinion on this motion. Both motions were entered into the record.

Frank Stoneham, the objector, made a motion trying to “limit debate” at the beginning of the proceedings. He did this before any debate had even begun. It seems that Mr. Stoneham was trying to impede due process.

What this has proven, without a shadow of a doubt is that Frank Stoneham did indeed file frivolous objections that did not stand up to the light of day.  The election law needs to address these types of frivolous objections that only cost the taxpayers and candidates money and serve no purpose to maintain the integrity of the election process. Those who file “frivolous objections” should be made to pay all legal fees involved. That would put an end to this foolishness.

Ritter Files For Office Using Village Supplies

This is about an attitude of “entitlement” by the majority that now sit on our Village board. This is also about not caring about the taxpayers of the Village of Carpentersville.

I personally witnessed Edward Ritter using Village supplies for his own personal use to file his petition and the petitions of Patricia Schultz and Kay Teeter. The “black clips” that he attached to the petitions came from the supply bin in the outer office of the Village Manager. I know, because I was there to file my own petition on the first day of filing and I was talking to the Village Manager while watching  Mr. Ritter put his paperwork together in plain view of both myself and the Village Manager.

This proves a couple of things. 1. Mr. Ritter, Patricia Schultz  and Kay Teeter were not ready to file on time. They hastily threw their petitions together at the very last minute. That may explain how Patricia Schultz ended up with Ed Ritter’s address on her Statement of Candidacy form. 2. This also points out the little regard these people have for ethics and the rule of law.

Sure, the clips didn’t cost much money, but it’s the attitude of “entitlement” that is so obvious with this group. You may recall that it was discovered that Trustees Paul Humpfer and Judith Sigwalt were caught using one of our Village Fire Station’s to hold their unauthorized political meetings prior to each of our Village board meetings. These illegal meetings were also a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. It’s no surprise that this abuse of power didn’t bother Trustee Ed Rittter. The reason it didn’t bother Ed Ritter is he has the very same “attitude” when it comes to using public funds for his own personal use. It also didn’t bother Kay Teeter. Neither Trustee Ritter or Teeter spoke out against this misuse of our Village owned Fire Station, or the fact that these Trustees were meeting with their supporters the Friday night before our Tuesday, Village board meetings. One of the person’s who was participating in these illegal meetings was Patricia Schultz. So, there is a definite pattern of a blatant disregard for the law and the rules and a true abuse of power being shown by all of these people.

We need to elect some people who do understand right from wrong. Fortunately, we do have some very good people running this year. It’s time to move past the political gamesmanship that has been the cornerstone of Carpentersville politics for decades. It’s time to end this reign of power that only uses that power to protect their own self-interests.

Questions Surround The “Removal” Of Trustee From Ballot

Geneva — Today, something that rarely happens, happened. A sitting Trustee from Carpentersville was “removed” from the April 7, 2009, Consolidated Election ballot due to “insufficient” signatures on her petition.

Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski came up 6 signatures short after the conclusion of a very lengthy “binder check” at the Kane County Clerk’s office. Trustee Ramirez Sliwinski filed 187 signatures on her petition. This was 39 more signatures than required to have her name placed on the ballot. Generally, that would be considered to be a “safe” cushion by most political experts. Unfortunately, 45 of her signatures were successfully challenged. Most were removed because the person signing the petition could not be found in the Kane County Clerk’s voter registration system.

As part of the Electoral Board that participated in the voter registration “binder check” I must say that I find this very unusual. Especially, right on the heels of one of the largest election turnouts in recent history, also just following the massive voter registration of many first time voters it seems inconceivable that this could be possible. 

Seeking public office should never be this difficult. Isn’t it the right of the voters to decide who they want to govern? When that privilege and right is taken away by the system there is something terribly wrong with that system. I realize that there must be rules. But those rules should be there for a good reason. We need qualified candidates to run for office who are capable of doing things correctly. I do support that system. But, I don’t support any system that manipulates the rules to punish political foes.

I’ve been told that this is not over yet. It seems that Trustee Ramirez Sliwinski is fighting back. With the aid of her friends and supporters she plans to file signed affidavit’s supporting the voter registrations of many that were not able to be found during the “binder check” on the Kane County Clerk’s voter registration system in Geneva.

It seems that some who were not able to be “found” during the binder check are indeed registered voters and are willing to sign an affidavit confirming their voter registration. They hold a valid voter’s card. All she needs is 6 to qualify to be reinstated as a candidate. The question is why were these legal voters not in the County Clerk’s voter system? The often embattled Kane County Clerk, John Cunningham is well known as a very partisan “political” Clerk. Candidates and those who are currently elected officials must depend on the honesty and integrity of the electoral system. The Kane County Clerk’s office under the direction of Cunningham has been unreliable when it comes to providing accurate information on voter registration. The County Clerk also is moving several polling places for this upcoming election. The Clerk’s Office is moving some polling places that have been at the same good location for decades. Were voter’s records tampered with? What’s behind the politics in the Clerk’s office? Stay tuned.