Orland Mayor Dan McLaughlin details village Greening Initiative and Open Lands strategies

Interview this morning (Friday August 28, 2009) with Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin on WJJG 1530 AM Radio.

Click here to listen to the Podcast or download it from iTunes.com or RadioChicagoland.com.

McLaughlin details the Village of Orland Park's Greening Initiative and discusses how residents can participate and help not only improve the environment but also save money by reducing costs on energy and more.

The mayor also said that he uses a Push mower to cut his lawn, like I do, most of the time. Sometimes you have to still use a lawnmower if it gets too high and can't be cut with the push lawn mower but it is an energy-saving environment saving option that he says will be included in the village Greening Initiative if it is already not on the list.

Go to the Village's Web site at

www.orland-park.il.us

or the special Greening Initiative web site at

www.SmartLivingOP.com

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Just when I thought ...

Just when I thought the Republican Party in Orland Township was getting their act together and showing leadership, I see that it is asking not telling its members who to vote for.

That may sound good, but the choice isn't between two Republicans for office. It is between Republicans and Democrats, all running on the non-partisan April 7 election ballot in Orland Township.

It's significant because so far the race has not seen much real activity. No mailers inundating our mail boxes. Some fluff pieces with no real substance in the local newspapers, but nothing that even suggests there is an impending election.

Instead of endorsing the Republicans who are running in the Township races, Orland Township Committeeman Elizabeth Doody Gorman is asking her precinct captains and paid GOP members (all of them) if they want to support Democrats who are running, not just Republicans. Ooops!

If you are a Republican, that has to be disappointing. It's another example of Gorman's failed Republican leadership. She did a poor job as county chairman, and has been replaced by the very active and energetic Lee Roupas. And now she is not doing a very good job as Orland Township Republican Committeeman, either. She launches a great web site that touts all of the Republican party achievements, that far outshines the non-existent web site of the Orland Park Township Democratic Organization, headed by Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin.

And then she goes and does this.

The Democrats have to be happy, though.

A GOP precinct captain recently wrote that the GOP and Democratic Party are prohibited by law from slating candidates in the local elections. That's not true, but maybe that's the pitch being made to explain the GOP's double-edged non-action. The GOP could have slated Republicans in the election primary Feb. 24. Running as "Republicans." That's the election for "established" parties. Instead, the Democrats and Republicans are running on "independent" and "new party" slates. But anyone can see who they are and what their party affiliations are.

On the Township Level, that's Township Supervisor and incumbent Robert Maher, who is a Republican. He's done a great job although he is getting challenged by Paul O'Grady, who is a Democrat and is NOT tied in anyway to the 19th Ward Republican commissars insinuating their way into local politics.

Who is the GOP backing? Gorman has a habit of supporting herself over other Republicans. The rumors are strong that she may step down from her county board seat and give it to Paul Vallas, the former Chicago schools CEO who is running against Mr. Taxman Todd Stroger for president of the county board. Having a seat on the board would give Vallas a forum to challenge Stroger and do what many on the county board are failing to do, fight Stroger's tax Tsunami.

That might be the best thing Gorman can do for the Republican Party.

AROUND THE VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP

In the village, incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin is a Democrat for sure. He's the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman. Under his watch, Orland Park has grown tremendously and has much to showcase, although I do have some issues with property taxes, the tax rebate and a few other issues like some of the people around him. He's the favored to win with a long record of wins. He's being challenged by Gerald Maher, who ran against him once before and lost, but that loss was before many of today's taxation and economic issues were around. It is a new ballgame. Gerald Maher happens to be Robert Maher's brother, although they are not working together.

And of course, neither Robert nor Gerald Maher are related to David Maher, the incumbent candidate for clerk who is running for re-election, too, and who is the father of Patrick Maher, the head of the Orland Park Fire District, which faces many confused issues that need to be better sorted out like the change in ambulance service.

Turns out what Patrick Maher is trying to do is NOT sock residents with an ambulance charge, but is trying to get the help of residents who have insurance to make the insurance companies reimburse the district for ambulance service. It's all confusing, but the bottom line is if you don't have insurance, no one is going to make you pay for an ambulance. If you do have insurance, make those insurance company robber barrons pay. The district needs you to give the insurance forms to the insurance companies so the district can get paid. The district lost as much as $1.3 million a year from not getting reimbursed.

Patrick Maher, who is not running for re-election, is working for some of the candidates, too. And maybe it's in the bi-partisan spirit we're talking about here. He is supporting O'Grady in the Township race, but backing Patricia Thompson and Marty McGuire, incumbents on the re-election slate of Robert Maher. He insists it is not for political reasons, but because they asked him and I believe him.

In elections, there is one important rule about voters and support. If you don't ask, you don't get. I remember the stories of elected officials who told me they met voters and shook their hands and the voters said they loved them. But when it came time to vote, the voters voted for the opponents. When the candidate asked the voter why, the voter said, "You never asked me for my vote."

And even though you didn't ask for my opinion -- or maybe you did by visiting this blog in record numbers -- I'll give it to you. Robert Maher is a solid candidate with a good track record. Paul O'Grady is not a front for the 19th Ward, though, and is NOT related to any of the famous O'Grady's. Gerald Maher is an important independent voice in the village and deserves credit for challenging the incumbent. And Mayor McLaughlin, who I have chided in the past for his poor choice of associations, is re-examining those ties and still has the edge.

Of course, the election is about six weeks away. Sounds confusing.

Fire Protection District hammers residents with another property tax increase

The President of the Orland Park Fire Protection District, Patrick Maher, told the reporter for the Orland Park Prairie that the Fire Protection District is raising property taxes.

It's a significant increase.

You HAVE to read this spin. CLICK HERE to read the story.

The increase was quietly passed before Christmas and not a word was released on it until now. They waite duntil they were as close as possible to the filing deadine for public office. Petitions must be filed next week.

Maher is the son of the Village Clerk David P. Maher, who is on the slate for re-election this April with Mayor Dan McLaughlin, who has the dubious distinction of having adopted the largest property tax increases this village has ever experienced in a long time.

Patrick Maher, the "son," explains after having jacked up the fees for ambulance service -- from ZERO to as much as what? $750? -- that the Fire District had to increase the property taxes.

But, he asserts, that doesn't mean it is a property tax increase on homeowners. Our taxes are going to go down. Maher explains int he story that the taxing base has increased slightly, which means the individual property tax share for each homeowner is dropping, and the increase his board passed won't exceed the drop so in the end (stillw ith me?) the property tax overall with also be reduced.

Duh!

I've covered budgets and property tax increases for 32 years. I've seen some slick maneuvering, but nothing comes close to the property tax scam being pulled by McLaughlin and now by the clerk's son, Patrick Maher.

The FACT IS, the increased tax base means we SHOULD receive a tax reduction. The burden is being shared by more people. Instead of being responsible and living within his budget, Patrick Maher is taking almost ALL of that reduction and leaving only just enough so he can get a softball headline from the local paper which reads "Taxes going up," but your property tax bill from the "Fire District" is going down.

The polls show that the public is fed up with the increased property taxes, the misleading statements from the unaccountable elected officials, and the wasteful spending of the village and the Fire "Protection" District.

It's sad that we live in a time when elected officials have to be so sneaky. They want you to think theproperty taxes are going down and even the media fails to challenge them.

The economy is bad enough. But to have unaccountable government officials at the helm who don't have the courage to be forthright with us, is even worse.

Pathetic!

Maybe the mayor should have put THAT in his cheery, uplifting balther about all his achievements 12 weeks before his re-election.

Well in the end, at least his street was plowed first.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

We paid $75,000 to learn what?

The Village of Orland Park paid $75,000, according to published reports, to Vandewalle and Associates of Madison, Wisconsin, to study ways to help the village establish itself as "an anchor in the Southwest suburbs" and to make the village "stronger economically." The contract was awarded in February, just under seven months ago.

Vandewalle spokesman Scott Harrington outlined suggestions at a meeting of the village board last week including to increase employment, improve retail, keep Orland Park residents from leaving to shop in other suburbs, increase transportation and cram more people in smaller parcels of land.

Just what we need.

His suggestions, according to the media, include:

Adding more weekend and night service to the Metra system. Wow. That's been something Orland Park residents have been asking to have for more than 25 years. That's not something many trustees can control, except, maybe, one. How about this? Give transportation discounts to people who live in Orland Park. I don't think the other suburbs would like that, but at least, that's a better suggestion and more achievable than increasing weekend and night service on Metra -- and that is using the term "service" loosely.

He also suggested that the popular holiday trolley become permanent. I like that idea. The trolley system during Christmas is a blast. It's more fun and safer than the rides at Great America.

Another is to create more office space to increase employment opportunities. Ah, creating more offices doesn't mean more jobs. Have you seen how many commercial stores are empty these days? It's not new, though. Several members of the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce have been telling us the same thing for years. And for free.

A survey showed that more than 50 percent of out-of-town shopping by Orland Parker residents is in Oakbrook. I could have told him that for free, too. It's something we have heard over and over again from our village officials -- not so free either. Now, I'd pay $75,000 to find out how many village officials and employees are related or are eighbors or are close friends or church associates, or union pals. And, how many of them get their own vehicles and do they use them for personal use or just business?

The consultant suggested that much of that draw was to Oakbrook anchor stores like Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel and Von Maur. Harrington suggested trying to bring some of these companies into the village "to cut down on the overall number of people who leave the village for their shopping needs." He said we should add more "high end" stores to our existing retail inventory.

We've already tried that. We already know that.

I decided to do my own consulting service study. For free. I asked about 15 people if they travel to Oakbrook to shop. They all said yes. I asked them why? Was it because of Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel or Von Maur?

The truth is most people said they liked Oakbrook's outdoor atmosphere. It's huge and a clear landmark that can be seen from 30,000 feet from a plane outside O'Hare Airport. The truth is they like it. And people sometimes want to see something different than from what they see every day.

The worst suggestion was to change the very substantive housing environment that makes Orland Park so attractive. Instead of building big homes with large lots, build smaller homes on smaller lots. How did the newspapers report his suggestion? Create "a more neo-traditional neighborhood design" that would "include a more robust mix of small lot sizes with a high density for young professionals with no kids or seniors."

What does a "robust mix of small lot sizes with high density" mean?

In Chicago, they call that a ghetto. Or, to be more generous, it's the reason why many of us left Chicago. Vandewalle's suggestion basically is to bring back the era of Chicago "gangways?"

He also said Orland could create more cultural venues like museums, galleries, cafes and nightlife scenes. We have the Plaza Cafe. Oops! The village is going to shut that down. Maybe we can take the Sprint store and put seats on the sidewalk where salesmen and sell cell phones.

None of these ideas are worth the $75,000 the village spent. I would have hoped that a consultant paid that much money in so little time would have come up with some more original ideas, like maybe build a super-speed rail transportation system to take people from one Star Bucks to another. There are three on LaGrange Road between 131st Street and 159th Street.

A museum? Does Orland Park need a museum? Oh, how about a Green Museum to display all the varieties of weeds that can be grown naturally without chemical fertilizers that do not require watering or lawn mowing. The village maintenance people are busy caring for all the homes the village bought to mow the lawns at the Award Winning Police Station. We have to plant weeds there.

Oh. I have another suggestion. Why not award another $75,000 contract to make a list of all the ideas we've already discussed int he past. That would be redundant.

Or better yet, why not dump the consultants and ask the people int he village what they think. There's an original idea for you. How about eliminate some of the worthless rhetoric that fills the village newsletter and replace it with a survey the residents can fill out.

There's an idea worth $75,000 and you can have it for free.

But that would mean the village officials would have to care about what the people in Orland Park think.

I do give Vandewalle credit. They haven't donated any money to many Illinois candidates since the beginning of the decade to Corinne Wood and Paul Vallas. And they still got the contract? Wow!

Ray Hanania
http://www.themediaoasis.com/

Trying to be something Orland Park is not

There are some people who are never happy with what they are or what they have. They're always looking elsewhere for the "big ideas" instead of right in their back yards. Take Orland Park's "leadership," for example -- I use the term liberally, of course.

The Village has been purchasing land bordering LaGrange Road, 143rd Street and Southwest Highway -- the triangle -- to develop a mixed-use, Old Town-like downtown area adjacent to the newly remodeled Metra train stop. The last hurdle is the purchase of Orland Plaza, which has been all over the news.

The idea is this "down town" will be like Frankfort's downtown. A place that has a look and feel from the past when people would sit on the edge of the wood planked sidewalks (after the mud dried), watched the horse and buggies klop-klop by, kicking up mini-dust storms, and eat homemade pie.

I admit the idea has some merit. When I want to lazily walk in a turn-of-the-century like downtown center, I drive to Frankfort, spend a few hours there, and then never go back, except maybe for their annual Labor Day weekend arts, craft and food fest, which is one of the region's best.

If I want to spend more than a few hours at a place like that, I've traveled to Narbonne in France and walked around Carcassone, between Toulous and Narbonne in France, not too far from Perpignon on the Cout d Azure, which was Salvador Dali's favorite place to paint. I'll spend a few days walking around there among its olden days store fronts, shops and streets filled with circus-like minstrels. Or, maybe, you might travel to Palestinian East Jerusalem, and visit the Souq and spend hours walking from one tiny shop to another taking in the aromatic orchestra of incense. (In fact, at the end of this column, you can watch my July 2007 Comcast Cable TV program "TV Chicagoland/30 Minutes" and my video tour of the Souq of East Jerusalem.) Or, maybe, go to the old city in Barcelona and take in breathtaking ancient churches and structures from real Medieval times.

But does Orland Park really need an "Old Town?"

I don't think so. I know they keep telling us it's to broaden the "ambiance" of our little village. Well, Orland Park is no "little village." With better management, it could be the economic engine driving the Southwest Suburbs. Instead, we're slumped by a poor economy like everyone else and that's surprising because we have so many retail shops our sales tax revenues should be shooting through the roof and they are not. We have so many store fronts that are vacant, a trashy look that reminds people of a future ghetto -- it's happened to places. I've seen it.

Mayor Dan McLaughlin fashions himself off to be some mini-me Mayor Daley. We'll call him "da boss," because behind his unpresuming smile is one tough politician who gets angry over any resistance from people around him.

(That's how he was to me when I told him that instead of automatically appointing his nominee for a certain high-paying village position, we should at least open the job up to the village residences to see if anyone else was interested in qualifying for it -- I quit the commission when he told me it was either his way or the highway and now he goes around telling people he doesn't understand why I am so critical of him -- you're no different than the other two-faced politicians, Dan!)

It's that 19th Ward fever that has been sweeping through our community over the past few years. There's no immunity for it, yet.

So, how about we drop this stupid idea of some turn-of-the-century old town atmosphere and instead build something really remarkable, like a community theater (that isn't political like the one we have today), or a museum campus, or some place where people can go to have real enjoyment, arts, entertainment and fun?

Secrets of the Souq of East Jerusalem Video
Click the PLAY button to watch
or THIS LINK IF THAT DOESN'T WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER:

At least one newspaper is talking truth about Orland Park's budget problems

It amazes me how easily local newspaper reporters have allowed Mayor McLaughlin and the Orland Park Village Board to tell residents, "Don't worry, everything is intact." There is a $4.8 million budget shortfall, a word the village doesn't like, and no one seems to really care, and the only real answer so far is to cut the property tax rebate by 35-40 percent.

The biggest mistake is in accepting the false claims by the village that "everything is okay" with the property tax rebate and that increases in fees are okay because there are other places that charge far more. Isn't that why Orland Park is BETTER than other communities?

The truth is, things are not going to be okay, even though Mayor McLaughlin is on record only a few months ago patting himself on the back claiming Orland Park is financially sound and has no problems.

The Regional, at least, has outlined the cuts in services and the increases in costs that the Village is considering. And increases in fees are soft tax increases because "fees" are a form of taxes.

The Regional's mistake was to play the property tax rebate at the bottom of their story. It's the LEDE! It's what people really care about. The real headline that every newspaper missed is this:

Village Proposes Major Cut in Property Tax Rebate

Every paper has been afraid to say that. Too bad. That's the real story out here. That's what everyone is talking about. That's what concerns everyone.

How about some real reaction from real residents of the Orland Park, instead of printing word-for-word the press releases issued from McLaughlin's office? I can read the same press releases on the village web site (which is very good because the village has one of the nation's top IT Departments and staff). Why do I need to read them in a local newspaper. Word-for-word?

The village has a $3 million hole in the pension fund and they need to take it out of the capitol budget so they are going to cut the property tax rebate by as much as 40 percent -- that's huge -- and shift the savings to the pension funds.

That's outrageous! Do the math, people. You're getting screwed. But maybe you don't care. Or more likely, you think there is nothing you can do about it.

There is something you can do about. Make your voices heard. Tell the village that just because some things are great in Orland Park (some dude in New York working at Money Magazine says we're one of the best places to live, not as great as last year but still on their list, way down), it's not acceptable for them to hide behind that to do things that are not so great.

Orland Park is one of the best places to live not because of the government doing their job, but because of the people who live here. We're a great community.

Although nothing has been formally approved by the village yet and all the proposals from our newly hired village manager Paul Grimes are just that, proposals, you, the community, can still stop the changes. Each and every trustee has to vote on the changes. You can make your voices heard.

Recreation Department fees may increase 10 percent. That's huge.

Costs for other services are going to increase, too.

They're not talking about the routine increases that the news media has failed to cover like the increases int he Water Bill -- 60 percent of which are unrelated to the increase in the cost of water. (That's only 40 percent of the bill.) The village is increasing fees for sending you the water bill, and collecting garbage, sewer services and rain water drainage.

I say if the village board can't protect the property tax rebate, then they don't belong in office any more and we should find someone else. And Paul Grimes can go back to where he came from. He's starting to sound more like a Chicago Machine Bean Counter than someone who understands what makes Orland Park what we really are.

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

Orland Park quietly scores another achievement -- Borders Book Store rated among top 10 in the World

This is a breaking news story, of the sorts we're used to reading in Orland Park, but it is surprising considering that clearly Orland Park's elected officials don't know how to count. And if they don't know how to count, then obviously, they probably don't read much, unless they are reading their own press releases.

But it is official, at least from the mouths of the store clerks at the Orland Park Borders Book Store at 15260 S. LaGrange Road is in fact one of the TOP 10 book stores in the World. That's it. THE WORLD.

That's way "huge-er" (that's not a word, but village officials can't read anyway so who cares?) than the village slipping from 45 to 92 in the ranking of the Best Places to Live in America from "Money Magazine," which costs a lot of money to buy, by the way.

One reason is they nearly set a record for the number of copies of the Harry Potter sales. The other reason is that people in Orland Park are far smarter than village officials take them to be. We read. We read a lot. We read through the PR crap thown at us from the village officials.

(I know. You're asking. How did I turn a story about Borders Book Stores into a commentary on the sad state of affairs in Orland Park politics? Well, they're both important!)

So congratulations Borders of Orland Park -- where I hang out a lot when I am not eating that Bestever Steak Skillet breakfast at the soon to be relocated (hopefully) Plaza Cafe ... and which also carries my book "Arabs of Chicagoland."

You deserve it.

Budget shortfall Shell Game -- Everything is "Intact!"

Click comic strip to view larger image
Ray Hanania's World Comic Strips
July 30, 2008
The Village of Orland Park claims that all of the village services and the highly touted property tax rebate is "intact." Not fully intact, but intact!

Give the TribLocal credit for hitting taxes on the head

TribLocal Reporter Heather MacDonald hit the nail on the taxing head in her story Thursday in the Chicago Tribune's popular weekly community newspaper insert (www.TribLocal.com). The lead was right on the mark, "Orland Park grapples with budget shortfall."

But more important than the spin that Village officials have been pushing hard to sell -- arguing it's not a "shortfall" but just a budget adjustment -- is that MacDonald also nailed the real issue in the story, the FACT that the Village Board is considering revoking the annual tax rebate it gives to its citizens.

Among cutbacks and savings the village is examining closely, MacDonald writes, "One issue still on the table for the village board is whether to continue the practice of rebating Orland Park's share of the property tax collected by Cook County, which totals $5.3 million."

Not every caught that point, which village officioals are telling everyone is not an issue. (Afterall, there is a village election coming up and I don't care how many "awards" the village wins, they don't add up to the benefit of rebating property taxes, which average around $250 per homeowner.

Other cuts include not spending the $24,000 for a "new filing system" for the Village Clerk, David P. Maher's office. (I guess that means paying to have Maher attend an Illinois Open Meetings Act workshop is out of the question?)

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

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

Orland "Stepford Wives" Park and soaring tax increases reflected in our "Water Bills"

Have you taken a close look at your Water Bill lately? It isn't fair to call it a "Water Bill" because in truth, the majority of the "bill" isn't about water any more. It doesn't look like it has gone up over the years, but it has. And much of the increases are TAX INCREASES!

They said the water bills increase are due to the increases imposed by the City of Chicago (and Mayor Daley's excessive and oppressive tax increases) and by Oak Lawn, which is our "agent" for Lake Michigan water sold by Chicago.

But most of the increase comes from other services that increased, too, and some of them are TAX INCREASES.

The bill breaks down as follows:

• Water Service
• Sewer Service
• Storm Water Service
• Village Service Charge
• Garbage Service

My last bill was $96.98. Only $42.57 was for water. The remainder is $54.41, which includes the $7.51 Service Charge imposed to manage the bi-monthly billing by the Village of Orland Park.

The billing system is also about two months behind. My last bill covered the period from March 20, 2008 to May 23, 2008. And of course, we are in the "Control Season" where water is used the most to keep the lawns from dying. That means my water bill for June-July and August-Sept. is going to skyrocket even more when those bills hit in October and then December? Yikes!

-- Actually, I was thinking to apply to the Village to see if I can get permission to grow one of those "Green Lawns" that they have around the Award Winning Orland Park Police Building that Congressman Judy Biggert made time to help showcase recently after residents complained to the OrlandParker.com that the lawn was not being mowed and it looked unkempt. It still looks unkempt, but now they have a reason. Anyway, not watering the lawn would keep the water portion of my bill from skyrocketing when that bill arrives after the summer. I love the way that the news reports on the Police Building ignored public concerns about its shabby look -- remember, Orland Park is an Award Winning Town and the Police Station is an Award Winning Station and Mayor Dan McLaughlin is an Award Winning Mayor. I feel like this is an episode of the Stepford Wives here. There's no such thing as bad news and when it does get reported on this blog and on other blogs, the local media ignores that! Can't showcase the dirt.

What's really depressing about this is how significant the increases in the "Water Bill" have been over the past four years.

Water Service and Garbage Service costs are not necessarily tax increases, if we assume they reflect the actual increase in the cost of service. But the increases in the Sewer Service, the Storm Water Service and especially the Village Service Charge ARE TAX INCREASES.

Here's an overview:

COST OF WATER SOARS 40 PERCENT

In calculating the increase, you can't just compare water charges from one period to another. I looked back in 2004, and pulled a bill from May 27-July 29, 2004, which was a higher water usage period than the one I am comparing it with. But, you can calculate the precise cost of a "UNIT of Water." I used 11 Units in this current billing period. Four years ago, I used 13 Units of water at a cost of $33.41.

It doesn't sound like much of an increase, does it? Going from $33.41 back in 2004 to $42.57 today. It is an increase of only $9.16. But, that's misleading.

The cost of a Unit of Water in 2004 was $2.5. The cost of a Unit of Water in 2008 is $3.5. (According to my bill.)

That means the cost of water has increased $1, or 40 percent in the past four years. That is NOT a tax increase, though. It's an increase in the cost of a product Orland Stepford Wives Park must purchase.

GARBAGE SERVICE INCREASE 32 PERCENT

Also not a Tax Increase, though, is the cost of the Garbage Service, which went up, too. It was $26 in 2004 and in my current bill is $34.30. That's an increase of $8.30, which represents an increase in costs of 32 percent, which is the highest damn increase in the whole bill.

Wow!

But, what are tax increases we know for sure?

STORM WATER SERVICE UP 172 PERCENT

Of course, with the money wasted by the village to purchase those selected homes damaged by water in 1996, the cost of the Storm Water Service surcharge increased even more significantly from $2.47 in 2004 when the service stunk, to $6.72 this past bill cycle.

That is a 172 percent increase in the Storm Sewer surcharge imposed by the village. That's a TAX INCREASE, by the way. But who cares in Orland Stepford Wives Park?

That is an ENORMOUS INCREASE to cover the village's mishandled attempts to correct the poor storm water drainage system that was devasting homes, and still does.

Not that the village engineering company gives a crap about that -- they cared about some homes but ignored challenges facing others homes based on political considerations -- which is one reason why I think Mayor McLaughlin is not that great of a mayor. He has that 19th Ward political vindicitiveness running through his political veins and he likes to pretend he's just a nice guy. Right!

VILLAGE SERVICE CHARGE INCREASES 12 PERCENT

What's the TAX INCREASE on the Village Service Charge?

Well, that went up from $6.70 in 2004 to $7.51 in the current cycle. That is an increase of .81 cents, or a TAX INCREASE of 12 percent.

SEWER SERVICE CHARGE INCREASES 16 PERCENT

The Sewer Service also went up by the same suspicious amount, 81 cents, from $5.07 in 2004 to $5.88 in this current bill. An increase of 16 percent. (I'm going to guess they just tacked on the .81 cents to each of the Service Charge and to the Serwer Service charge.) That's a TAX INCREASE, too.

(On my math: I calculated the difference in the bill from today and the past, and then divided that by the past bill to determine what percentage it was of the past bill amount to reflect the percentage increases. For example, the Old Garbage bill was $26 and the new one is $34.30. That's an increase of $8.30. Multiply the $26 by 100 and divide it by $8.30 and you get 32 percent. $8.30 represents 32 percent of the old bill, which is the increase amount.)

SO LET'S RECAP:

Non-Tax Increases

• Water Charges have gone up 40 percent in the past four years.
• Garbage collection has gone up 32 percent

Not a tax increase, but an increase in product costs.

Real Tax Increases

• Storm Water Service has gone up 172 percent
• Sewer Service has gone up 16 percent
• Village Service Surcharge has gone up 12 percent

So, don't let them tell you there hasn't been a tax increase in "Orland Stepford Wives Park."

There have been tax increases!

Oh, and did I mention an election is coming up in the Spring?

Believe me when I tell you that if it wasn't for news and opinion sites like this one, the politicians would lie to you through their noses because they know the local papers, which are under a lot of political pressure from the mayor, would not want to piss him off.

Which means that you, the ignored citizen of Orland Park, and me, the OrlandParker, have to do the heavy lifting here.

Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/

Village Clerk David Maher misleads public on letter from the Illinois Attorney General

As much as I try to give public officials who work on our dime the benefit of the doubt, I have to say I am shocked and dismayed over the conduct of Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher.

As you have read below in earlier postings, Mr. Maher asserts that he received a letter from the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan stating, and quoting his letter,

"The Illinois Attorney General has exonerated the Village of Orland Park and in its letter to Mr. Hanania wrote, 'While general public notice is the underlying purpose of the Act’s notice requirements, there is no evidence that the conduct of the Village in this case violates any of the Act’s provisions.' "

No, Mr. Maher, it turns out you took that sentence out of context. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office didn't "exonerate" you at all. In fact, they never used that word. What they said was there was NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE of a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act by your office.

In fact, the main part of that statement IN CONTEXT relate to another part of the letter and the remainder of that paragraph that you intentionally excluded, which states clearly:

"While the Act does describe certain information that must be contained in a public notice of a special meeting of a public body, it is silent with respect to any additional language or information a public body might include in its posted notices. It is unclear from the information you provided why the Village included such a statement on the posted notice and we would certainly advise that the Village avoid such language in the future, in order to prevent confusion."

The Village is only required to post the notice and THAT WAS NEVER AN ISSUE in my expressed concern regarding this matter. My sole concern is and remains that the village may have intentionally added the language "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" to discourage the media from posting it immediately on their web sites so that the PUBLIC (not the media) would be able to attend. As it turns out, no media published any information prior to this unprecedented special meeting which was of significant importance to the citizens of Orland Park.

The Letter from the Illinois Attorney General, which I received the DAY AFTER the village allegedly received a letter (my letter has no notation that a copy was sent anywhere), emphasizes that ONLY because there is not more information about why the village did what it did, the Illinois Attorney General concluded it was NOT a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

But I will repeat what the letter did say that Mr. Maher conveniently excluded from his letter to me, we reached me the day before the Illinois ATtorney General's Letter:

"we would certainly advise that the Village avoid such language in the future, in order to prevent confusion."

Mr. Maher gave this ridiculousa explatation (see earlier posting below) that the intent of the phrase "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" was:

"This phrase is used to let the media know that paid space is not being purchased for publishing the notice."

Normally, a village will state at the bottom of a letter or posting "Not paid for by public funds." And the purpose of the phrase "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" is clearly to discourage the media from pre-publicizing the event so that members of the public who are not in the media -- and the Illinois Open Meetiings Act is, according to the Illinois Attorney General, designed to inform the media AND the public of public meetings -- could attend the meeting.

No one in the public knew.

Who is playing a game here?

Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/

Here's the link to the letter sent to me by the Illinois Attorney General:

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's Letter to me dated July 9, 2008 and received July 12, 2008, the day after Mr. Maher received his letter: View Letter?

Illinois Open Meetings Inquiry held hostage: Day 1

I did receive mail on Friday, July 11, 2008, and wanted to show that I did not receive a letter or a response from the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on my July 1, 2008 INQUIRY about the special notice by the Village of Orland Park of June 27, 2008.

Madigan did notify the village Clerk David Maher, according to his email and letter attached, that she did contact him to EXONERATE him (even though there was no accusation).

Here's a photo of my mail from Friday:
















I'll do this every day until I get a letter from Ms. Madigan. Hopefully, I might get one BEFORE she leaves office to run for Governor of Illinois.

Maybe I'll get the letter, tomorrow. (See the post below for details about the Illinois Open Meetings Act issue, and the Village of Orland Park's response quoting Il. Attorney General Lisa Madigan's letter to them -- not to me)

Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/

Village of Orland Park may have violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act

So far, no one wants to go on the record officially, but it appears that the Village of Orland Park may have violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The issue is now being reviewed by staffers for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. That doesn't mean they will be willing to hammer an important Democratic municipality whose mayor has strong union ties and is controlled by the powers-that-be in the powerful Chicago 19th Ward.

Still, it is an issue.

The Village of Orland Park issued a notice on Friday, June 27, 2008 to announce that a special village board meeting would be held on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 6 PM. The notice posting met the minimal requirement that notices of public meetings be made available to the public at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting start.

But, the village notice, which announced what turned out to be a major meeting event that disclosed the Village of Orland Park has a budget shortfall of $4.8 million, also had the warning posted on the very top of the notice itself, which read "NOT FOR PUBLICATION."

How can you post a notice under the Illinois Open Meetings Act and then tell the people receiving it that it is "NOT FOR PUBLICATION?"

First, the fact that the meeting was called on a Friday suggested that there was some politics being played. Governments always announce BAD NEWS on Fridays because of the nature of the news cycle. The least viewed and read news media is on Friday. Most of what is published in Sunday's papers (SUnday is ther most read day of the week for print media) is laid-out by Thursday. And, usually, to get into the media on Monday mornings news, you would have to write it over the weekend.

So, announcing news on Friday is one way government's minimize the negative news.

Adding the warning "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" touches on a tradition of professional journalism. When you accept something that says "EMBARGOED" or "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," there is an honor in journalism in which the information will NOT BE PUBLICIZED.

But, the Illinois Open Meetings Act DEMANDS that all notices of upcoming government meetings MUST BE PUBLICIZED.

The Illinois Open Meetings Act is not written so that the media can know about events. The purpose of the LAW is to make sure the PUBLIC knows about the meetings.

How different that meeting would have been on Monday June 30, 2008 at 6 PM if members of the public had actually learned about the special meeting to discuss a major shortfall of $4.8 million in the village's budget, which is only $127 million? How different it would have been if the news media that received the notice jumped on an obviously important story on Friday instead of waiting to cover the meeting -- when so very few attended the meeting to cover it -- and then reported on it on Tuesday, after the fact and after the village had its spin.

Don't expect the village to be cited, although the Illinois Press Association spokesperson told me:

" ... a unit of government can not prohibit the publication of the date/ time/agenda of a public meeting…NO WAY. In fact, the whole idea that they put it on the top of the notice is unbelievable. "

I sent them a link to the notice, which I'll bet any amount of money, will be removed.

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com