In our May 21st edition we described how the City Council meeting minutes were regularly “sanitized” by City Clerk Betty Henneman’s office to make our officials “look their best.”  Well, this week we are getting “sanitized” agendas – not only of tonight’s City Council meeting but also of tonight’s Finance & Budget Committee meeting that precedes it by one-half hour.

What the City apparently doesn’t want you to know about in advance of these meetings are the details of a new termination payment to former Police Chief Jeff Caudill.  As you may recall, in order to push Caudill out the door quickly and quietly, the City offered him a sweetheart deal that included a bump in his pension.  But the City’s pension board balked at how that was done, so now the City has to come up with something else to keep Caudill gone and Acting Chief Tom Swoboda warming the big chair until he, too, can retire and Mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark can fill it with “his” guy…or gal.

So the details of the new Caudill deal are not to be found on the City’s website.  If you go to the Finance & Budget Committee agenda [pdf], you will find only: “Authorize Payment to Former Police Chief Caudill.”  That’s it, that’s all.  And if you go to the City Council agenda [pdf], you find the equally enlightening: “Approve payment to former Police Chief Caudill.”

Why the secrecy, F&B Chairman Rich DiPietro?  Are you afraid that providing the details of the deal in advance of the meeting might remind us of how Caudill is reaping a mini-windfall at our expense because, depending on what rumor is true, either Mayor Frimark wanted him gone but had no grounds for terminating him, or Caudill wanted out ahead of the Police Department audit because he no longer had former City Mgr. Tim Schuenke to cover his back?  

No matter what the reason, this is just another example of the Culture of Secrecy that permeates local government, especially at 505 Butler Place.  And that kind of secrecy always means bad government.

But we would be remiss if we failed to note that the City Council agenda has one other “secret” item on the first page of tonight’s agenda, under “City Manager”: A closed session “to discuss the acquisition of property for a Police Facility.”  Yes, folks, they’re starting to rev up the temporarily stalled big new $10-20-30(?) Million cop shop project even though they have yet to decide exactly how big a facility they need and can afford, or how they are going to pay for: bury us in a lot more debt, or raise our taxes even higher while they are already having trouble providing the basics like filling its potholes and paving its streets.

We’re guessing the “lucky” (a/k/a “connected”) property owner who will be the topic of conversation tonight is Frimark’s old friend and campaign contributor, Bill Napleton.  That’s because Napleton “needs” another City bailout now that his original sweetheart deal that he negotiated with Frimark – for as much as $2.4 Million, with a tidy $400,000 up front – fell through when his dealerships closed down. 

But then again, that’s just our guess.  There are many friends of Frimark who paid good money to make him the mayor, at least a few of whom own or control property in Park Ridge that they’d be happy to sell to the City at the right price. 

And when you’re a friend of good ol’ “Let’s Make A Deal” Howard, the price is always right.