www.bolingbrookmayor.com/villageofbb.html
THE BROOK REPORTHome
Serving Bolingbrook and Romeoville, IL
VILLAGE
Village Web Site:
www.bolingbrook.com/Board:
Roger C. Claar- Mayor
Carol Penning- Clerk
Leroy Brown- Deputy Mayor
Ricardo Morelles- Trustee
Joeseph Morelli- Trustee
Patricia Schanks- Trustee
Sandra Swinkunas- Trustee
Michael Lawler- Trustee
Board Meetings:
www.bolingbrook.com/cgi-bin/calendar/Calcium310.pl?Op=ShowIt&CalendarName=MainFor Village, Fire and Police Boards, Civic and Cultural Affairs, Zoping, Beautification, and all other commissions.
Voice of the Trustees:
Currently the Trustees are not responding to emails, do not have current contact information posted for the residents, are not allowed to answer questions at board meetings, and do not walk their neighborhoods for large $ amount projects.Voice of the Mayor:
All questions must go to the Mayor, then the Village Attorney. He has a right to only respond or answer when he wants, and he has NEVER responded to questions we have asked. Our only comment received is to submit a FOIA, wait the ten days, and hope it is not denied, again...
Now don't forget, these elected officials ran off a "We are a Transparent Government" for the campaign in April. Does this look to be the truth, or another lie told by them?What Happens with Your FOIA's in Bolingbrook?
When you submit your FOIA, one of three things will happen:
1. You never get an answer.
2. You get part of what you asked for, or all of it.
3. You get a statement saying "no documents exist" and you have no right to an appeal.
We call this Government in Secrecy or Smoke Screens.
Roger C. Claar:
"More Coming soon!"
Failed to list his wife's incomes on the Economic Statement of Interest forms. She worked for the school, hospital board, and now heads H20. H20 gets free rent at the Community Center. Roger heavily leans on contributors to donate to this organization.
The residents have asked repeaditly for bids on attorneys, to stop us paying $850,000 a year for Jim Boan's company, and the Mayor refuses. He also limited the time to speak at public meetings from the audience, but uses as much time as he likes bashing residents instead of listening to them. He cut off the ability for the trustees to be contacted and all questions go through him. He supports all "yes men/women" to run in the elections, thus creating a rubber stamp board of trustees. He is alleged to drink heavily and spend heavily, thus needing the large campaign donations to support his habits. He was caught on video in March by the Weekly Reporter drinking and speed driving home from the Golf Course after a children's fundraiser. He has had a dropped DUI charge in Naperville years ago and blames that on "being set up". He changed the Golf Course "Bridal Suite" to an entertainment location for himself, costing the taxpayers over a million dollars! He drives a custom golf cart and spares no issue about lavish spending to the Tribune and radio. He is too good to park in his designated spot at the Village and parks illegally. He must personally see, along with Jim Boan, every FOIA submitted to the Village. Gordon Biersch
639 Boughton Road
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
$30.00
5/26/2009
Expenditure
Citizens for Claar
Entertainment - Palumbo
Citizens for Claar
Gordon Biersch
639 Boughton Road
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
$56.01
5/26/2009
Expenditure
Citizens for Claar
Candidate Meeting - Evans Mayer Claar
Citizens for Claar
The Supervisor of Dupage Township Bill Mayer, the Head of the Chamber that sits on the school board and hospital board, Mike Evans, and the Mayor had a nice drink with Orange Crush (Palumbo known Mafia ties that do Major business with the Village).
Carol Penning:
Village Clerk in charge of handing out election packets. Placed herself on the electoral board to determine if Bonnie should run against Roger, then formed a party to run against her two days after kicking her off the ballot. One of the reasons? Wrong forms from the packet she gave out! Did not find a conflict of interest in sitting on the electoral board. She is also the one responsible for the FOIA letters that arrive with "you do not have a right to an appeal" and on numerous occassions stated that they are in compliance with the FOIA law, which they are not. When we wanted to view the annual budget this year, she hid it and made herself unavailable, even though the Mayor stated any resident can view it by law before it is passed.Leroy Brown:
In charge of both the school safety and of being a Trustee/ Deputy Mayor. Sat on the election board to book Bonnie off the ballot illegally. DId list his affiliations on the Economic Statement of Interest form. HIs contact email address is listed wrong, making it hard to get a hold of him.Ricardo Morelles:
Asked Bonnie at a Village meeting if she was going to continue to come meeting after meeting to fight for our rights. He was upset because Bonnie asked if he read the $2 Mil in expenses that were passed. Was very upset that the CFBB questioned his ability to do his trustee job effectively after this. The CFBB questioned it because he belongs to/ works for 10 different organizations according to his Village web site information.Joseph Morelli:
Mr. Morelli does not like the CFBB for questioning their beliefs. One story we posted was about his son working for Dupage Township and about the trustees trophy company that sold to the Village. He disliked us so much, he attempted to run three members over in the parking lot after a Village Board Meeting.Patricia Schanks: No direct email access for the public.
Sandra Swinkunas:
The head of the electoral board to boot Bonine off illegally, she has shown her hot temper on Public TV Ch. 6 at the Board meeting last month. She works as a sub at the schools and is on the educational enrichment foundation. No direct email access to the public.Michael Lawler:
Falsly accused a CFBB member of being responsible for someone's death on public TV. She asked the Village and Mike for a retraction before legal got involved and did not get one. Her family was witch hunted and her 2 year old daughter was threatened. The CFBB member was forced to move from her home. Her attorney was hit by a car soon after and was thrown over the car. He is still in critical condition but will be filing once back on his feet!
How Deep is Trustee Michael Lawler? The questions have been arising for the last few weeks so we are on the reporting. This is what we know so far and will update the web site as more information pours in...
1. We know that he used the Village Board Meeting to blame Bonnie Alicea of being the contributing factor of Debbie's demise. This will be handled by the courts.
2. We also know that he had motive behind the elections. For example, did you know that he is the President of the Educational Foundation Center which was started by Richard Kavinaugh? The same attorney that represented the ghost who challenged Bonnie's petitions?
3. We also feel it is the residents' right to know that when running an election, campaigners only have a few options. One is to develop a web site, anouther putting up signs, putting up banners, or to go door to door. Bonnie's web site was continuously hacked and on the blogs administration supporters spewed forth their typical nasty vulgar comments. Bonnie's signs were stolen. Bonnie's banners were stolen. When Bonnie's supporters went door to door, Mike Lawler called the Post Office and reported them. According to the Post Office information gathered, he stated he was a Trustee and tried to have them stopped! Great ethics Lawler--way to campaign on the issues!
4. We know his education listed on the Village Web site does not state if he has a degree, only attended a college in Washington DC.
5. He was the former Bolingbrook Planning Commissioner.
So the CFBB poses the real question to the residents. The real question is, how deep is he in the corruption and what does he have to lose to go so far out of the way to get rid of Bonnie and bash the CFBB?
Our solution to the problem?
The Village residents paused after the Public Works scandal. They cringed after the stabbing at the high school. They balked at the selection of the Assistant Fire Battalion Chief who stacks up on connections not qualifications. The residents look for higher leadership with the remaining corrupt police officers. They complain about the Public Works lead on all these boards in the Village and how high his and the attorneys pay is, even after the water was sold and the job description was reduced. The Code enforcement team is out of control. The bonds are out of control. We have losing businesses and we do business with the mafia. To sum it up, if the Trustees are looking for leadership with the Mayor, the Mayor has failed them and failed the residents. So what now?
Lucky for you and the residents, you have options to save this Village. There is an IL statue that you can hire an outside qualified person to do this job. Here is your statue for review.
(65 ILCS 5/5?3?7) (from Ch. 24, par. 5?3?7)
The council or board of trustees, as the case may be, shall appoint a municipal manager, who shall be the administrative head of the municipal government and who shall be responsible for the efficient administration of all departments. He shall be appointed without regard to his political beliefs and need not be a resident of the city or village when appointed. The manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term, and the conditions of the manager's employment may be set forth in an agreement.
Now we can have someone in charge of holding people accountable. You can post the position available and start looking for people outside of Will County that can do this position. Someone with experience and education, and not leave it up to people who are tired of doing their jobs. We want someone that can HOLD ACCOUNTABILITY and straighten up Bolingbrook. The residents want to be included in the hiring decision and demand that it not be Cronyism. Do what is right and not what is right for just yourself. Make Bolingbrook a better place to live.
Did we enter the internet age or is our Village still in the 1980's?:
Internet is the most used form of communication today.
"Today many companies in the business world are using Email as there number one form of communication. No long are faxes, phones, and Snail mail being used as a number one form of communication. It can be received almost everywhere, with the use of communication devices such as the Blackberry and where internet access is found. On Outlook such things as keeping documentary confirmation, scheduling and reminder are some of the features that can be utilized. There are functions that allow you to know if your client has opened your sent email."
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Computer_Revolution/Communication/EmailYet in Bolingbrook, it is increasingly hard to get a hold of your elected officials, in a day where text messaging and emails are so common. These Trustees work minimal hours and have no office phones available for access. In Bolingbrook, many list their email addresses wrong or do not list them at all. It is near impossible to keep a transparent goverment in this day and age without internet.
As an elected official, you are a SERVANT of the people who reside in the community you serve in. In Bolingbrook we wait on them to serve us, and wait, and wait, and wait. Interesting huh?
For example, in Dupage Townships web site it lists Bill Mayers email address, but leaves out contact emails for 6 other elected officials. In Bolingbrook, one email is wrong, and two do not even have their own email box! Even the Mayor's emails rarely get returned to the residents. We have submitted numerous ones with no answer.
So we would like to ask the residents, how would you like to get a hold of your elected officials? Would you feel comfortable going to their homes? Leaving messages that get unreturned on general mailboxes by phone, or is it easier to send an email?
We would tell you to let your elected officials know, but we have no advice on HOW you can let them know!
Trustee Morales has now missed the second meeting since the election. Shanks missed last night as well. Morales has missed 2 of 5 or 60% attendance (Failing grade for our children). Why did we elect an official that does not attend meetings? We are going to devote a section under each tab next month keeping tabs on meeting attendance. Until then, we remind the residence of the questions we posed about Morales just a few months ago... We felt Trustee Morales was not capable of doing this job to the best of his ability because he was overextended. He works full time, has a family, and belongs to over 9 organizations! It is great to donate one's time, but not to be a trustee if you cannot attend the meetings or read the items before you pass them (or in his case rubber stamp them). His ilk is where the term "rubber stamp" came from.
Doing their job as elected or taking time off to rest?
Half the people we ask feel that missing a meeting, that you were elected to represent the people, is a bad idea. As your day job would tell you, if you worked two days a month you can schedule around it. Half say it is okay, that people need time off occasionally. We are posing the question online to see how you feel! Do we judge these elected officials with the percentages like we do the kids in school? If that is the case then these grades don't look so good!
Do you vote for all the elected officials so that there is a balance of powers? Do you feel there is no balance anyways? Do you feel that your vote matters?
Here is the list of elected officials whom have taken time out since the April 7th election.
Library: 6 meetings total
Donna Sample (1 time) April 16th 83% Attendance
Gayle Graske (1 time) July 16th 83% Attendance
Peggy Danhoff (1 time) July 16th 83% Attendance
Merideth Bromfield (2 TIMES) Aug. 20, June 23, 2009 67% Attendance
Vi
llage: From 7/14 to 9/8 4 meetings
Rick Morales (1 time) 7/28 75% attendance
Sandra Swinkunas (1 time) 7/28 75% attendance
Joe Morelli (1 time) 9/28 75% attendance School Board: 9 meetings
Liz Campbell- (1 time) June 9 91% Attendance
Dave Carlson- (2 TIMES) June 9 and Oct. 5 82% Attendance
Mike Evans- (1 Time) Oct. 5 91% Attendance
We look forward to hearing from our readers!
email: info@bolingbrookmayor.com
Since the Citizens for a Better Bolingbrook has been reporting the news, we are happy to say that they numbers posted above are a great deal less absences than the years before.
Community Center Referrendum?
Did the community center expenses show up on the ballots? Did the taxpayers know how much this would cost? As you see above, another $2.7 Mil in the budgets this year. Oh wait, what about another line item of another $2.5 Million? How much has this cost us already to buy the property, refurbish it, and other costs? Now this new set of costs? What about getting this money back from stopping the free rent to the cronies and family members?
Updated info on Jim Boan, Tressler LLP
The highly overpaid Village Attorney for Bolingbrook's firm collects an astounding $850,000 a year from the taxpayers. They also collect shy of $200 K from the school board. (Upon recommendation of the Board motion was made by Member Evans to appoint Tressler, Soderstrom,Maloney & Priess Law Firm as Legal Counsel at the May 2009 board meeting).
They donate business and personally to both Mayor Claar's campaign funds and Mayor Noak of Romeoville. They never forget donations to Bill Mayer of Dupage Township either. We would just like people to know the NEW news...
On July 1, 2005, Tressler merged with the Chicago area based firm Moss & Bloomberg. The heart of the firm's Condominium and Common Interest Association and Local Governmental Law practices is in our Bolingbrook, Illinois office. In September of 2009 they changed names to Tressler LLP. Now when you look at the financials and donations, you need to look at the name changes! What is Economic Statement of Interest and Disclosure?
(5 ILCS 420/3A‑30)
Sec. 3A‑30. Disclosure.
(a) Upon appointment to a board, commission, authority, or task force authorized or created by State law, a person must file with the Secretary of State a disclosure of all contracts the person or his or her spouse or immediate family members living with the person have with the State and all contracts between the State and any entity in which the person or his or her spouse or immediate family members living with the person have a majority financial interest.
(b) Violation of this Section is a business offense punishable by a fine of $1,001.
(c) The Secretary of State must adopt rules for the implementation and administration of this Section. Disclosures filed under this Section are public records.
(Source: P.A. 93‑615, eff. 11‑19‑03.)
Why Was This Freedom Of Information Act Denied?
We submitted a FOIA two months ago for invoices for Public Works Uniforms. I never received my FOIA's. Why? The deadline is 7 business days. What are they hiding? This was a simple request, was it not?
What price do we pay to have a Mayor in Bolingbrook:
Staff Writers
Many Villages have a Village Manager, or even a part time Mayor, or both so that there are checks and balances. Our Mayor has one of the largest salaries around, grossing $140,000 per year with no checks or balances and nobody to stop his spending. Many people believe that is a high price, but wait until you find out what it really cost us!Most Mayor's have an office at Village Hall. Our Mayor needed two offices, or shall we say one office and an entertainment room. This entertainment room, located at the Bolingbrook Golf Course had strict requirements. One requirement was that his desk was hand made, costing the taxpayers $40,000. When it was done, he did not like it and asked for another one, costing us a total of $80,000! The CFBB is proud to use a top notch desk from Office Depot costing us $400.00. We cannot imagine why an expensive desk like that was needed. That put his salary up to $210,000 for that year. But wait, there is more!Roger needed a fireplace and mantel put in. Oh, and a bar made out of mahogany. He required a garage for his car and "special" golf cart. He decided to halt construction of the golf club to revamp bridal suite 301 to become his entertainment office. The halt alone we estimated at $750,000 to stop construction and re-do the plans to expand that room. So what does that place his salary at for that year now? Almost a Million Dollars that year to make our Mayor happy. One story we have heard from two different contractors is that allegedly Roger did not like the hot tub/ Jacuzzi either and had them replace that too. The Hot tub was rumored to have appeared at Jim Boan's house. Now the only proof we have of this is from two contractors that never met each other, but they did both say that when the FEDS swooped in the hot tub was gone from Boan's place. So why do we have to pay a Mayor a Million Dollars to be happy in Bolingbrook? The CFBB feels he should pay that money back to the taxpayers. When he sees how hard it is to come up with that money and work for it, not get donations, he will realize how hard WE WORKED to supply it on our taxes.
Is this a car?Imperial Motors Inc
150 Skokie Highway
Lake Bluff, IL 60044
$16,847.00
2/16/2009
Expenditure
Citizens for Claar
2006 Campaign Car
Citizens for Claar
Our Village Attorney donates to hold job, after allegations of corruption and a $850,000 annual bill to the residents!By Matthew Michaels
How does an attorney that the residents wants out for over billing react? Send Mr. Roger Claar personal campaign donations again to ensure he stays where he is at and that their law firm makes over $800 thousand a year! (The city of Chicago is 40x our size and has the same bill!) Mr. Claar, we want fair bidding in Bolingbrook, not favoratism! If Boan wants to stay, let him submit the smallest bid!Boan, James
1337 Brentwood Tri
Bolingbrook, IL 60490
$500.00
6/25/2009
Individual Contribution
Citizens for Claar
Tressler Soderstrom Maloney & Priess
233 S. Wacker Dr. 22nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
$10,000.00
6/5/2009
Individual Contribution
Citizens for Claar
School Board pays
Tressler, Sodomstrom
$127,000-$167,000 per year
The Village pays
Tresslor and Sodomstrom
$800-$850,000 per year
What are Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism?
As favoritism is the broadest of these related terms, we'll start with its definition. Basically favoritism is just what it sounds like; it's favoring a person not because he or she is doing the best job but rather because of some extraneous feature--membership in a favored group, personal likes and dislikes, etc. Favoritism can be demonstrated in hiring, honoring, or awarding contracts. A related idea is patronage, giving public service jobs to those who may have helped elect the person who has the power of appointment.
Favoritism has always been a complaint in government service. In 2002, a survey from the federal government's Office of Personnel Management found that only 36.1 percent of federal workers thought promotions in their work units were based on merit. (Government Executive Magazine, "Playing Favorites," by Brian Friel, October 2004). They believed that connections, partisanship, and other factors played a role.
Cronyism is a more specific form of favoritism, referring to partiality towards friends and associates. As the old saying goes, "It's not what you know but who you know," or, as blogger Danny Ferguson put it, "It's not what you don't know; it's who your college roommate knows." Cronyism occurs within a network of insiders--the "good ol' boys," who confer favors on one another.
Nepotism is an even narrower form of favoritism. Coming from the Italian word for nephew, it covers favoritism to members of the family. Both nepotism and cronyism are often at work when political parties recruit candidates for public office.
So What is the Truth? Farm or No Farm?
We have asked for info on the "Farm". The Village has denied it. Yet the Preservation Committee does state we "bought the farm". Hmmmmm, who is lying to the residents?Here is what we took from the Village Budgets...
Prior Actual Budget $3,457.52
Current Budget $27,850.00
Pretty big increase this year?
(October 2009 articles showed the denied FOIA from the Village and the budgets for it)
***This section contains individual opinions and/or research into the political individuals contained within. The information provided has been run in past investigations and/or questions we have posed to these elected officials. We have always extended an option for them to defend these allegations, and this information will be posted here as well.
why killer murdered of Kathleen and Stacey An Cales Peterson