The Scharringhausen land deal got COW approval for full Council consideration this coming Monday night on a vote of 4-3: Allegretti, Bach, DiPietro & Ryan v. Carey, Sweeney & Wsol.  And if the “winning” four get their way, that consideration is likely to come in a closed session meeting, outside the presence of the public or the press.

So why are the “Scharringhausen Four” so hot to trot on buying that property now, after all these years of renting it from the Scharringhausens?  We don’t know, because we don’t recall any of the Scharringhausen Four so much as suggesting its purchase, even as recently as this April when the Council approved renewing that lease.  So what happened in just two months to make this such a front-burner issue?

Are they simply trying to do the Scharringhausens a favor by having the City take property off their hands that they haven’t had a whole lot of luck selling?  Are they just trying to give Realtor Owen Hayes II an easy commission? 

Or might this be an attempted under-the-radar first step in jump-starting the recently moribund redevelopment of TA-4, so that the real estate speculators with property (or options, or contracts on property) down that way can at least salvage their investments now instead of waiting until, if ever, developer interest in that part of town arises of its own accord?

For those not paying attention, the last time we recall the City hiding in closed session to discuss the purchase of private land was in early 2008, when former mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark and the Council tried to finagle the City’s purchase of 720 Garden – ostensibly for the new cop shop that the public didn’t want, and at a price a couple hundred thousand dollars above the City’s own appraisal.  We wrote about that deal in posts like “Adding Insult To Injury” (01.28.08), “Why Are We Bidding Against Ourselves” (03.14.08) and “Why There’s No Need For ‘Secret’ Discussions Of Property Deals” (08.18.08).

That deal fizzled when then-Ald. Dave Schmidt blew the whistle on that behind-the-scenes, closed session wheeling and dealing, thereby distinguishing himself from Frimark and his fellow aldermen by achieving the understanding that “closed sessions” under the Illinois Open Meetings Act (“IOMA”) are voluntary, not mandatory; and that what goes on in them is neither “secret” nor even “confidential.” 

That earned Schmidt a rousing-but-meaningless condemnation by Frimark and alderpuppets Allegretti, Bach, Carey, DiPietro and Ryan – presumably for Schmidt’s having the audacity to provide public information to the public, as permitted by IOMA. Imagine that!

But that was then, and this is now – and at least four aldermen seem interested in going back into hiding this coming Monday night to once again wheel and deal over the City’s acquisition of private land that will do somebody(ies?) a favor with our tax dollars.

Will anybody blow the whistle on that?