Orland Park Village Clerk issues another "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" type notice

Some government officials just don't care, or maybe they don't want to care I guess. It really makes Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher look ridiculous when he cites the Illinois Open Meetings Act right after stating at the top of a public meeting notice:

"NOT FOR PUBLICATION"

or

"NOT FOR NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION."

as he has done, again, at the very top of the most recent notice.

I've tried my best to explain to the clerk that the words he uses impact the spirit and the literal intent of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Here is the latest notice from the village about, by the way, a Special Meeting of the Village Board to be held Thursday July 24 at 6 PM to discuss the 2008 Village Budget.

Some government officials are stubborn and just don't care what the public has to say. It's arrogance and a comfort level in office that no public official paid on the dime of taxpayers should experience. They should always be considerate of public opinions. And, more importantly, a good leader is always ready to admit when they are wrong.

Apparently, Orland Village Clerk David Maher just doesn't want to admit he is wrong. (By the way, he never acknowledged the statement in the letter he received from the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan that her office "advised" that his office stop using that language. So they just came up with a new version.

To me, the issue is one of principle. Maher could meet the basic requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act simply by posting a notice at least 48 hours in advance of a special meeting and that's all he has to care about. And, apparently according to his understanding of the law, he can put whatever words at the top of the notice because the Illinois Open Meetings Act simply does not address the placement of words and phrases that might be interpreted (clearly) as discouraging public notice and publication of a notice.

Oh well. But to the news.

VILLAGE TAXES GOING UP?

Regardless, the real issue is the budget and the tax increases that have taken place over the past few years in Orland Park, and the details of how the village plans to overcome the $4.8 million budget shortfall in the upcoming budget. (See the post below this one on how back door taxes have gone up in Orland Park since at least 2004).

Not that any of the village officials care what you, as a citizen really think anyway -- with the exception of one village trustee and one employee, whom I won't name as that would just make them pariahs at Town Hall.

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com