Now that the details of Park Ridge Chief of Police Jeff Caudill’s “Voluntary Separation Agreement And Release Of All Claims” (“The Fix”) are finally being released by the City, we’re left to scratch our heads and wonder even more about the honesty and the judgment of the folks running City Hall.

As best as we can recall, Caudill received annual raises that exceeded the cost of living ever since his promotion to chief in 2000, which we assume were at least in part a reward for his performance.  Those raises were presumably endorsed by then-Alderman now-Mayor Howard Frimark (since 2003), Ald. Rich DiPietro (since 2000), Ald. Jim Allegretti and Ald. Frank Wsol (since 2005), and former City Mgr. Tim Schuenke (since 2000).

So with all those years of performance-based rewards, why was Caudill suddenly shown the door? 

The most common rumor – and we’re stuck with rumor because nobody in a position to know is talking – is that he wouldn’t kow-tow to the mayor and was put in the ejector seat, ready to be launched the moment his boss and protector, Schuenke, left the building.  A variation on that same theme was that he was being booted to make room for a Frimark crony.  And a third version had him voluntarily departing before the Police Dept. was audited and he was sacked for cause.

If Caudill wasn’t getting the job done, why was he getting rewarded year after year with pay raises that not only put more money in his pocket but also drove up the benefits – and the costs – of his pension?  And whether or not Caudill has been getting the job done, the taxpayers still deserve a thorough explanation of why he got pushed out (and by whom), especially with The Fix that will pay him:

• A lump sum of $70,259;
• A salary increase of 4% “in recognition of his performance of Fiscal Year 2007/08;
• An “additional four percent (4%) in exchange for his voluntary separation prior to the commencement of the next fiscal year”; and
• Two (2) years of medical coverage for Caudill and his eligible dependents, under the same terms as when he was employed.

More troubling than the money, however, is the timing of The Fix – just as the City is planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an outside “audit” of the Police Department to investigate, among other things, a variety of allegations about mismanagement and the mistreatment of our residents that has resulted in more than one lawsuit against the City.  Putting The Fix in now, prior to the investigation, seems at best like putting the cart before the horse.

But more troubling still is the prospect that The Fix will result in a whitewash – at least as to “public” knowledge of any misconduct or incompetence by Caudill, which could effectively deprive the public of key audit information about the Police Department as a whole, as well as the auditors’ opinions and conclusions related to Caudill and his operation of the Department.  That’s because Paragraph 7 of The Fix provides that “Mr. Caudill and City management officials agree to refrain from making statements to the general public or news media disparaging one another.” [Emphasis added]

While non-disparagement language in such agreements is not unusual, its use in The Fix could be a huge mistake in view of the upcoming audit – something City Attorney Everette “Buzz” Hill already started tap-dancing around with his comments at Monday night’s Council meeting that the release of audit information would need to be “managed” so that the non-disparagement provision is not breached.  As Hill admitted about the wording of The Fix, “it is the release of the information to the public that is governed by that non-disparagement clause.”  

So what the City may have done, via The Fix, is contractually bind itself to a level of secrecy (at least about those parts of the audit related to Caudill being disclosed to the public) that exceeds anything it could enforce under the Illinois Open Meetings Act! 

Not surprisingly, the City’s negotiator of The Fix was now-former City Mgr. Tim Schuenke, which shows how Schuenke was able to dis-serve us one last time even as he was walking out the door.  But we also have to question why City Attorney Hill, who we assume is not so dumb that he didn’t realize the cover-up potential of that language, gave it his stamp of approval.  If he wasn’t asleep at the wheel, whose order was he marching to?  And instead of quietly tap-dancing around this issue Monday night, why wasn’t he loudly blowing the whistle on it?

Since the City obviously dropped the ball on this matter but isn’t legally entitled to a do-over, we are left to call on Chief Caudill to do the right thing and agree to amend The Fix to expressly exempt from the non-disparagement provision any fact-finding, conclusions, opinions and recommendations of the auditors.  The public deserves to know those things, and we think that’s the least Chief Caudill can do for his fellow taxpayers in return for the generous benefits he’s getting because The Fix is in.

They can’t keep our streets paved or fill the potholes.  They can’t stop the flooding of our basements.  They can’t get us dependable electric power.  They can’t stop hiring consultants to tell them only what they want to hear.  They can’t stop raising our taxes.  They can’t even stop giving away our money and special favors to political contributors. 

But one thing Mayor Howard Frimark and his Alderpuppets Jim Allegretti, Don Bach, Tom Carey, Rich DiPietro and Robert Ryan can do is run a witch hunt…or a snipe hunt, depending on your point of view.

At the City Council meeting this past Monday night (March 3), Frimark used his regular “Mayor’s Report” to read a prepared statement in which he, City Clerk Betty Henneman and the Alderpuppets publicly “condemned” the release of closed session information and materials by 1st Ward Warlock…er, Alderman…Dave Schmidt, apparently for Schmidt’s having the temerity to actually tell Park Ridge taxpayers how the City was going to spend more than a million dollars of their money on a police department “audit” and on the acquisition of yet another parcel of private property for a new police station.

As reported in today’s Park Ridge Journal (“Mayor Condemns Alderman’s Release Of Documents,” March 5), Frimark and Friends once again displayed their terminal ignorance of the Illinois Open Meetings Act (IOMA), with Frimark wrongly insisting that the Illinois legislature recognized that “certain matters…should not be discussed in open session.”  He then blamed Schmidt’s release of the previously-concealed information for having “laid waste to the confidence and trust that are necessary for deliberative bodies to carry out their duties.”

Bunk.

As we’ve said before, and as is clear from the discussion of IOMA on the Illinois Attorney General’s website, IOMA merely permits – but does not require – certain limited subjects to be discussed in closed session.  Moreover, nowhere in IOMA does the state legislature require that any of the information discussed or disseminated in, or in connection with, such closed sessions be treated as “confidential” or entitled to secrecy. 

Of course, given the wheeling and dealing that Frimark and the Alderpuppets have been concealing from their constituents in all those closed sessions, they need to trust each other to keep secrets – not unlike the Mafia with its “omerta” (code of silence). So a guy like Schmidt is their worst nightmare – an informant.  That’s bad for those conspirators, but great for us taxpayers.

Which would explain why Frimark snuck the “Council Decorum” item into the existing agenda over the weekend and then apparently circulated his condemnation statement among the Alderpuppets in classic “hub-and-spoke” conspiracy style, ostensibly to avoid violating IOMA.  And in classic Frimark style, he didn’t even have the decency to offer Schmidt the courtesy of a preview.  

From the account in The Journal and from reports of citizens in attendance Monday night, it almost sounds as if Frimark was flirting with McCarthyism in his attack on Schmidt.  The only question is whether Frimark’s McCarthyism is of the paranoid Sen. Joe McCarthy variety, or of the petulant Charlie McCarthy type. 

And the answer to that question might very well depend on whether Frimark is coming up with this nonsense on his own, or whether he’s just a dummy spouting the views of some behind-the-scenes Edgar Bergen.

Air Bud.  As we’ve said before, we here at PublicWatchdog encourage citizen involvement in local government, including the writing of letters to the editor of the local newspapers – even if the letter writer can usually be counted on to swing and miss on local government issues.  By that standard, Bud Jones’ letter to the editor in this week’s Park Ridge Herald-Advocate (“Cut the cameras and balance the budget,” Feb. 28) does not disappoint.

Jones points to the city’s budget problems in denouncing the Park Ridge City Council for considering spending $130,000 to televise its meetings.  Fair enough, Bud…but if spending $130,000 to televise meetings is a “screamingly lamebrained idea that should be vetted via public referendum,” where were you when Mayor Frimark and his City Council alderpuppets recently gave Napleton Cadillac a whopping $400,000 of taxpayer dollars to clean up environmental problems at its old dealership so that Napleton could sell that property to PRC Partners, presumably at a tidy profit?  Or when they committed to giving Napleton up to $2 Million of the City’s sales tax revenue over 15 years – which coincidentally averages out to $130,000, but per year? 

If you aren’t just blowing smoke and really do want a referendum on a $130,000 television set-up, Bud, can we count on you to lead the petition drive for a referendum on the new $20-30 Million cop shop, or the multi-million library addition/entirely new library for which Richard Van Metre and his merry band of edifice-complex Library trustees are still pushing? 

Bud?  Bud?  Bueller?

Stay Free Mini-PADS.  This week’s H-A also features a story on St. Mary’s Episcopal Church’s plan to become a “Public Action to Deliver Shelter” (PADS) facility beginning in October, 2008. (“Park Ridge to join PADS network of shelters,” Feb. 28). 

Whether a PADS shelter is good or bad for Park Ridge is certainly worthy of public debate, but what we find noteworthy at this time is the secretive way St. Mary’s got to this point in the process. Specifically, we wonder why St. Mary’s didn’t go public with its PADS plan earlier this year when the dust-up arose over Christie’s Carousel of Learning relocating to the Park Ridge Presbyterian Church after 25 years at St. Mary’s.  Rev. Carrubba, why didn’t St. Mary’s advise our community at that time that Christie’s was being cut loose to create room for a PADS operation?  

Sad to say, it looks like the Culture of Secrecy practiced by our local governmental bodies might be spreading to our churches and our clergy.

We’ve Got It And We’re Spending It.  Fresh off its recent multi-million dollar referendum victory, Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 isn’t about to let all that new money burn a hole in its pocket.  So at its March 10 meeting, the D-64 Board expects to approve over $700,000 in new staffing positions, which it attempts to justify in classic bureaucrat doublespeak:

“What will happen if we don’t add (these positions)?” District. 64 Superintendent Sally Pryor asked at Tuesday’s board meeting. “That’s something that’s hard to quantify, but I can tell you in our professional opinion, given the resources that we have outlined, we will be able to make great improvements to student learning.” (“District 64 administration asks for more staffing positions,” Herald-Advocate, Feb. 28)

How convenient that Supt. Pryor’s “professional opinion” can assure us that adding those positions will cause “great improvements” in learning, yet that same “professional opinion” can’t seem to quantify the consequences of not getting these extra positions.  Will the extra staffing help our kids learn to spell words like “devious,” “disingenuous,” “duplicitous” and “deceitful”?    

They’ve Got A Secret. Although the local newspapers have reported the financial elements of Police Chief Jeff Caudill’s “separation agreement” with the City, the entire separation agreement has not been released to the City Council or the public because – according to ex-City Mgr. Tim Schuenke – it contains a confidentiality clause. 

Not surprisingly, 3rd Ward alderpuppet Don Bach is more than happy to keep those details quiet, but at least 1st Ward Alderman David Schmidt has once again stood up for the public’s right to know:

“We should explain to the public why [it was created] and the public should also be provided with details of the agreement because it’s their money,” Schmidt said.

Amen.

Last week the long-anticipated resignation of Park Ridge Police Chief Jeff Caudill became a reality.  But like so many things that happen in local government dominated by the Culture of Secrecy, Caudill’s departure raises a lot of unanswered questions.

Let’s be frank here: Caudill is clearly not everybody’s cup of tea, but that makes him no different from thousands upon thousands of other employees and bosses in both the public and private sectors.  There also have been some troubling allegations of misconduct by officers under his command, the truth of which will likely be played out in the courts and in the results of the upcoming police department audit.

But police work is not always a neat and easy job, even in a relatively low-crime community such as ours.  The line between a measured response and misconduct is sometimes a fine one.  While the buck rightly stops at the desk of the top official in the organization for purposes of accountability, how well the department is managed and how professionally it operates is not easy to objectively measure.

Which is why Caudill’s resignation at this juncture is even more puzzling. 

As we previously reported, it had been rumored for some time that he was being forced out for political reasons unrelated to his job performance.  And with City Mgr. Tim Schuenke departing this Friday, Caudill may not have wanted to take a chance on who his next boss will be – especially considering it will be a Mayor Frimark appointee.  A more recent rumor added the possibility that Caudill had been promised some significant additional compensation to “go quietly” now rather than later.

While we are concerned about the allegations against various members of the PRPD and look forward to their resolution, we have no axe to grind with Chief Caudill.  None of those allegations, to our knowledge, were directed at him personally, and at this time we are aware of no facts that establish his involvement or encouragement of the acts complained about. 

Nevertheless, if there truly is good cause to terminate Chief Caudill for misconduct, incompetence, or the myriad other lawful reasons available to an employer in the State of Illinois, rewarding him with a hearty severance package at the taxpayers’ expense seems irresponsible.  And if there is not good cause to terminate him, then using those same tax dollars to bribe him to resign reeks of politics of the very worst kind.

Unfortunately, the City Council once again has kept the taxpayers – who will end up footing the bill for whatever the outcome – in the dark by conducting all of these discussions about Caudill and his resignation/termination package in closed session, even though there is nothing in the Illinois Open Meetings Act that requires closed sessions or mandates that these machinations be kept secret.  

But then again, when you’re pushing someone off a ledge – or dangling a wad of cash just beyond his reach to get him to jump – you probably don’t want any witnesses.

One of the central purposes of city government is to provide and maintain our infrastructure: the streets, sidewalks, sewers and other structures that are absolutely necessary to the sound functioning of our community.  Those are the “meat and potato” essentials that must be given a priority over the mere amenities which, while “nice” to have, are more like “dessert.” 

The task of maintaining our infrastructure, however, isn’t a sexy one – probably because politicians have not yet figured out how to hold a ribbon-cutting for a newly-repaved street or mark a repaired curb with a bronze plaque, at least without looking more ridiculous than usual. 

So it should come as no surprise to anyone who has been driving around Park Ridge that Public Works Director Wayne Zingsheim is readily admitting that Cumberland Avenue “is really falling apart…Busse’s falling apart too.  Touhy east of Washington is falling apart.  Oakton’s got a bunch of potholes.” (“Aching Over Potholes,” Park Ridge Journal, Feb. 13)  As Ald. Frank Wsol (7th Ward) noted: “If anybody wants a front end alignment, go down Cumberland Avenue.”

We agree with all those assessments about those state-owned roadways, and note that some of our city streets are just as bad.  So what are our city officials going to do about it?

5th Ward Ald. Robert Ryan took this opportunity to insist: “I think this is something that we’re going to have to address long term.  The state does not have the money. What state routes do we want to repave, or resurface at the minimum, in the future?”

Fair enough, alderman, but where’s the money going to come from?  Director Zingsheim noted that just repairing Cumberland could cost $500,000.  

Ironically, Ryan was one of the Mayor Frimark alderpuppets who recently voted to give Napleton Cadillac $400,000 of our tax dollars – 80% of the cost of repairing Cumberland – to clean up the pollution it caused at its former dealership site, so that it can sell that property to PRC for an undisclosed price (and, presumably, a healthy profit).  And another part of that same foolish Napleton deal could, over the next 15 years, give Napleton up to another $2 Million in sales tax revenue to which the City would otherwise be entitled.

That averages out to over $130,000 a year for each of those years, which is more than the City gets annually from the State of Illinois to maintain the state roads running through Park Ridge.  That kind of money sounds like it would go a long way toward the “long term” solution Ald. Ryan claims he wants to address.  Too bad he was one of those who spinelessly kicked that money away to a shameless Bill Napleton.

But Ryan’s not the only alderpuppet who doesn’t get the big picture.  3rd Ward Ald. Don Bach’s contribution to this discussion was to say: “We need to shame our state representatives to do something to help us.”  Ald. Bach, have you been paying attention to anything that’s been going on down in Springfield for the past year?  Do you have any idea that the state is facing between a $600 Million and $750 Million 2008 budget deficit?

But, then again, this is the same guy who was so insulted by Bill Napleton’s affronts to the City Council at the January 28, 2008, council meeting that he vowed not to spend his money on another Napleton vehicle – but then voted to give Napleton up to $2.4 Million of our money. 

Ald. Bach, if you aren’t ashamed of your vote for the Napleton giveaway, how can you expect the strangers down in Springfield to be shamed into giving us anything?

So this librarian walks into Park Ridge City Hall and says to City Mgr. Tim Schuenke, “Have I got a project for you!  It’s a very expensive project that makes no sense at all, which is why I know you’ll love it.” 

Schuenke tugs the brim of his Milwaukee Brewers cap down over his eyes and leans back in his chair.” Tell me about it. “

The librarian says, “Well, first a grandmother walks into the Park Ridge Library and demands every Perry Como CD ever made.  When she’s told we only have four in our collection, grandma loudly complains that the Des Plaines library has at least a dozen but that she shouldn’t have to drive to Des Plaines for Perry Como CDs.” 

“Then, her grandaughter’s entire play group takes over the Children’s section for a birthday party, while the kids’ mothers note how there isn’t enough room to accommodate both a game of musical chairs and the half-dozen clowns who are making life-size balloon animals for the partygoers.”

Schuenke nods.  “Sounds good so far,” he says, while scribbling “On Wisconsin!” in red crayon onto the February 29 page of his dayplanner. “Please continue.”  

“Next, all of the library board members – wearing black unitards and swathed in bubble-wrap – come cartwheeling into the main library meeting room, where they proceed to vote to spend $50,000 on yet another consultant’s feasibility study, this one pre-arranged to recommend such a large addition that the current building can’t structurally support it, thereby providing an excuse to recommend Plan B: An entire new library.”

“Neatly done,” says Schuenke, smiling. 

The librarian smiles back at him. “No more shabby gimmicks like piling books on the floor to make it look like we don’t have enough shelf space.  Besides, consultant studies are far more effective in duping the taxpayers.  Fifty grand isn’t cheap, but we’re really getting a lot of bang for the taxpayers’ bucks.” 

“How do you justify all the extra space,” Schuenke inquires? 

The librarian pulls out a handful of drawings. “We call it ‘flex-space’ and claim that it can serve whatever purposes we want it to, and can be reconfigured to meet ever-changing 21st Century needs.”  

“Good plan,” says Schuenke.  “That way, they can’t pin you down on any definite space usage.  But what about the money?” 

“We tell ‘em $12 million for the addition that can’t be built, but only $20 million for an entire new library.  And we don’t say a thing about the extra $8 million of debt service.  If anybody beefs, we break out the old reliable ‘it’s for the kids.’  Nobody’s got the stones to argue against that.”  

Schuenke leans forward in his chair. “I agree.  But the voters crushed a new $20 million library in that referendum back in ’02.  Won’t you face the same kind of resistance this time around?”   

“With Frimark as mayor and a council majority in his pocket,” snorts the librarian, defiantly, “they’ll push the deal through before anybody can even get a referendum petition filed.”  

“Ain’t that the truth,” Schuenke chuckles, squeezing his stuffed Bucky Badger doll lovingly. “The way Howard’s guys steamrolled those pesky residents on Executive Office Plaza and the Napleton deals was a thing of beauty. So what happens after that?”    

“It gets even better.  The City Council goes into a bunch of closed session meetings and agrees on sweetheart deals with some well-connected insiders for several parcels of private land, arguing that a different site for the new library will allow us to keep the old library open while the new one is being built.  And then we hand out the design and construction contracts to the usual suspects, so long as they’ve kept their campaign contributions up to date.” 

Schuenke pops a cube of genuine Wisconsin cheddar into his mouth. “And the City sells off the old library block for more condos and some token ground-level retail, right?” 

“Exactly,” replies the librarian, trying on Schuenke’s styrofoam cheesehead. 

“How does it end,” asks Schuenke, snatching the cheesehead off the librarian’s noggin? 

“The typical big finish.  The land speculators and developers make out like bandits, the City ends up buried in debt, Frimark moves to Florida, half of all Park Ridge residences regularly flood or lose electric power during the six or seven ‘100 year storms’ we seem to get each year, and the new library is converted into a factory outlet and fast-food court because the City can’t afford the escalating costs of operating it as a library.” 

Schuenke seems perplexed by those final details.  He nervously fingers a couple of Potawatomi Casino five dollar chips that he’s holding in his right hand.  “So what the hell do you call this project?”

The librarian says, with a flourish, “The Library-crats!”

Editor’s Note: Yesterday’s Herald-Advocate contains an article about how the Park Ridge Public Library Board is commissioning a $50,000 feasibility study and conducting a 400-resident survey to help it determine how much space it claims it needs, and whether the current library building can be expanded – or whether a new building may be needed. (“Study to consider library’s needs for expansion,” Feb. 21)  It should be noted that more Park Ridge voters (8,948) cast ballots against a new $20 million library in the 2002 citizen-initiated library referendum than voted for both Mayor Frimark and his opponent (8,114) in the 2005 mayoral election, or voted for the School District 64 tax increase (5,411) in the 2007 referendum. 

Goodbye, Chief Caudill: As we predicted here awhile ago, Police Chief Jeffrey Caudill finally turned in his letter of resignation yesterday, February 20, effective March 14. 

Although Chief Caudill may have his critics, something just doesn’t ring true about his departure.  Not only does there seem to be more than a little intrigue surrounding it, but the reported connection between his exit and the proposed police department audit raises an assortment of red flags – as does the suggestion that the taxpayers will be paying to get rid of him.  And because all of the Council discussions about his departure were hidden in closed session meetings, the public’s right to know takes another beating.

Given these questionable circumstances, Caudill should have held out one more day so he could leave on the Ides of March.

How To Balance A Budget: Yesterday’s Park Ridge Journal reported that the Park Ridge City Council, at last Saturday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, completed the second half of what seems to be an annual budget Kabuki in which City Mgr. Tim Schuenke proposes an unbalanced tentative budget, and then the City Council gets to show its fiscal responsibility by finding various ways to balance it.  

But that doesn’t mean there’ll be any relief for the taxpayer.  To the contrary, the City’s increase in its share of our property taxes is likely to be between 4.8% and 5%, exceeding the increase in the Consumer Price Index even as our property values remain stagnant or drop.  We did, however, enjoy a laugh over Schuenke’s comment that “police revenues” are likely to increase in 2008, not because of  increased enforcement but because of increased manpower. 

Making Quarters From Nickels?  The Journal also reported on the progress of the Park Ridge Organization for Uptown Development, or “PROUD” – a new organization that claims it will help revitalize Uptown through a strategic partnership with the City that will usher in a new era of cooperation.  Well, at least they avoided using the highly overdone “vibrant.” 

We have previously expressed doubts about the need, or even the potential benefit, of this organization. (‘Proud? Of What?’ ) We also wonder why the City’s development department and the Chamber of Commerce can’t – or won’t – do the things PROUD sees as its mission.  PROUD official Dr. Keith Berndtson says that PROUD is “committed to taking three nickels and trying to rub them into a quarter.”  We’ve got no problem with that, so long as the rest of that quarter doesn’t get picked from the taxpayers’ pockets.    

If you checked out the Illinois Open Meetings Act (“IOMA”) section of the Illinois Attorney General’s website via the link we furnished in our last discussion (“Want To Learn About The Illinois Open Meetings Act? Feb. 15), you now probably know more about IOMA than most of our elected city officials. 

That’s less because IOMA is that difficult to understand, and more because those elected officials don’t seem interested in knowing anything more than whether lame-duck City Mgr. Tim Schuenke puts “closed session” on the agenda; and whether city attorney Buzz Hill says it’s okay.

As stated at Page 20 of the Attorney General’s guide to IOMA: “The exceptions authorize but do not require the closing of a meeting falling within their scopes. 5 ILCS 120/2(b), 2a.” [Emphasis added]  Which means our public officials – not only our aldermen, but also the members of the Park Board and our School Boards – go into closed session because the want to, not because they need to.

We realize there are some issues where confidentiality concerns may rival the public’s right to know.  Negotiating strategies for labor contracts and litigation strategy for dealing with pending lawsuits come readily to mind as two matters where premature public disclosure of information discussed by the Council could put the city – and, therefore, its taxpayers – at a significant disadvantage.  But even in those situations, secrecy is such a worrisome slippery slope that the state legislature still does not consider it so essential that closed session is required – it is only permitted. 

It should be noted that many of the situations where the Council runs into closed session are ripe for abuse of that process and, consequently, of the taxpayer.  Things like land acquisition, the hiring of consultants to perform a police department audit, or matters related to real estate development are ideal candidates for insider dealing and profiteering, a fact recently pointed out by Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass in discussing the “buffers” – well-connected friends, flunkies and political allies – who surround Mayor Daley and insulate him from direct contact with the shady dealings that occur in Chicago (“Laski’s book casts Daley as an emperor in the buff,” Feb. 15, 2008):

They roll in money, they’re included in multimillion-dollar zoning deals, they’re paid off as consultants on bus shelter contracts, or through real estate developments.

When you share a border with one of the most corrupt big cities in America and are entirely within the borders of one of the most corrupt counties, you’re kidding yourself if you think nothing corrupt could be going on here in Park Ridge, even if on a much smaller scale.

Which causes us to wonder about things like the City Council running into closed session to discuss the hiring of a law firm to audit the police department [pdf], especially when it appears that the audit is somehow tied to a possible buy-out of Police Chief Jeff Caudill’s contract.  And about making an offer to buy private land for a police station when that offer is hundreds of thousands of dollars above the city’s appraised value of that land, and the offer is made even before the city has firmly decided on how big a station it can afford and what is the best location for it.

That’s why we propose that, from here on out, before any alderman votes to hide from the public in closed session, he should publicly answer the following question: “In what specific ways will the city be harmed if the public gets to hear this particular discussion in open session?”

We don’t expect Mayor Frimark’s alderpuppets – DiPietro (2nd), Bach (3rd), Allegretti (4th), Ryan (5th) and Carey (6th) – to answer this question, or even ask it of Schuenke or Hill.  But maybe the two aldermen who have shown themselves to be accountable to their constituents, 1st Ward Ald. Dave Schmidt and 7th Ward Ald. Frank Wsol, will at least ask it. 

Because we’d love to hear some of the answers.

Grass-roots opposition to the Culture of Secrecy is developing in Park Ridge, at least in connection with the Park Ridge City Council.  This week alone there were articles in both local newspapers addressing the issue and noting the citizens who spoke in favor of open government (and in support of 1st Ward Ald. Dave Schmidt’s efforts to get it for us) at Monday night’s meeting, along with a letter to the editor in yesterday’s Herald-Advocate taking a similar position.

We hope the demand for open and transparent city government continues to gain traction throughout our community, no matter how much Mayor Howard “We’re only going into closed session when we need to and have a legal right to” Frimark and 2nd Ward Ald. Rich “It is my belief that for the protection of our city and our residents the integrity of the closed session should remain intact” DiPietro wish to hide city business from their constituents.  We also hope that demand spreads to our other branches of local government as well.

As local resident Bruce Gilpin succinctly put it Monday night: “Democracy and secrecy are incompatible.”  Except for the narrowest carve-outs for legitimate national security issues and certain other hyper-sensitive matters, we strongly agree.

So if you want to get a better handle on secrecy in local government, take a look at the website our Illinois Attorney General maintains concerning the Illinois Open Meetings Act (“IOMA”).  We think you will find it as enlightening as we did.  And we encourage you to let us know if you find anything on that site, or anywhere else in the Illinois statutes or case law, that REQUIRES closed sessions for ANY public business – because we sure haven’t found it.

So anytime Mayor Frimark says “when we need to” when talking about closed session discussions, feel free to substitute “when we want to.”

As reported in today’s Park Ridge Journal (“Council Requests Bids For Police Investigation,” Feb. 13), at its February 11 meeting the Park Ridge City Council approved a Request for Proposal [pdf] (“RFP”) to be sent to several still-unidentified law firms who are being considered to conduct an “audit” of the Park Ridge Police Department. 

The fact that this discussion was finally held in open session rather than in the closed sessions where previous discussions of this subject had been hidden from the public suggests that Ald. Dave Schmidt’s (1st Ward) campaign for open, transparent government might be succeeding – as evidenced by the six speakers who stepped up during the non-agenda portion of Monday night’s meeting to thank Schmidt for his efforts.

A shout-out to Ald. Frank Wsol (7th Ward) is also in order, as it is Wsol – the chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee – who has provided the impetus for this audit, at least partly in response to citizen complaints about various problems with the PRPD.  And it was Wsol who held firm when Ald. Robert Ryan (5th Ward) not only tried to eliminate one of the RFP subjects but also wanted to limit, if not exclude entirely, citizen input into the audit investigation.

Ryan’s attempt to nix any investigation into insider actions related to land purchases should have come as no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention to the City’s quest for a big new cop shop.  That’s because Ryan’s aldermanic campaign treasurer [pdf] was local realtor Owen Hayes, who almost pocketed a quick $200,000 from the City back in 2004 until a local reporter blew the whistle on the fact that Hayes was not just the broker but also the owner of the property he was trying to sell to the City for a new police station.  One can only assume that the investigators will at least look into that situation, which resulted in Hayes being reprimanded by the State of Illinois. See “The Park Ridge Police Station That Almost Was.”

And questions have been raised about the City’s recent offer to purchase the 720 Garden property for approximately $200,000 above the fair market value fixed by the City’s own appraiser – once that value was adjusted upward by lame-duck City Mgr. Tim Schuenke to reflect the actual square footage of the property.  Of course, we wouldn’t have known anything about that deal, either, if not for Ald. Schmidt releasing Schuenke’s “confidential” memo [pdf].

Joining Ryan in his attempt to limit the audit investigation was Ald. Don Bach (3rd Ward), who claimed he couldn’t see how looking into insider deals related to a new cop shop “is going to make the police department better.”  Such thinking should come as no surprise, either, as it was Bach who just a couple of weeks ago voted to give as much as $2.4 Million to Napleton Cadillac – while sternly warning Mr. Napleton that Bach would not buy another car from him because of the disrespect Napleton was showing the Council in refusing to answer questions posed by Ald. Schmidt.  No wonder Napleton was smiling as he left the Council chambers that night.

We’ll make it simple for you, Ald. Bach: Every dollar that the City doesn’t pay to some “insider” – or even an “outsider” – for the site of the new police station is another dollar that the City can, if it chooses, put toward a better police station, or better police equipment, or better training, or even better salary and benefits. 

Heck, we could even put some of that savings toward street salt, a shortage of which is keeping our streets iced up.  That might not make the Police Department “better,” but it would make the police – and the rest of us – safer.  And isn’t safety what the PRPD is supposed to be about?