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A comment was made today on the Daily Herald website from “ConcernedCVillian” (part of it is reposted below):
The AF members absences were willful. They were not sick nor did they have another commitment which prevented them from attending the meeting and conducting village business.
The proposed ordinance is not strong enough. Any willful dereliction of the duties the person accepted should be grounds for immediate removal from any appointed position. I would go further, that any official elected or appointed who willfully refuses to attend regularly scheduled meetings or walks out in protest could be subject to expulsion. Then we could be rid ourselves of Sarto and Sliwinski for walking out on a debate last year, which is another YouTube classic.
Gotta be on the list of dumb things I’ve heard recently … and by it, “ConcernedCvillian” has certainly shown herself to be a member of the Sigwalt and Co. crew. As I said before, if you want to know why there are problems in this town you need to look no further than this idiotic mindset and behavior.
God forbid some should “protest” a man sitting as a leader on a committee who was found guilty of attacking his wife with a baseball bat!
Obviously, decent and moral people need not apply for the position of trustee…
Creating an stronger ordinance is asking a lot of these Board members who seem to have a difficult time determining what’s right and wrong.
Maybe we should be giving Humpfer a medal instead, huh? And a parade, too!
I can see the front page headline now:
Carpentersville Hero brings the smackdown!
Trustee given key to city; parade, citywide holiday to be announced
At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Village Board, Trustees introduced a resolution proclaiming Saturday, May 17, 2008, Paul Humpfer Day. The holiday honors the one-year anniversary of the smackdown Humpfer dealt his wife.
“She had it comin'” said one member of the audience. Others nearby nodded in agreement.
Village President Bill Sarto’s efforts to have Humpfer removed from office were rebuffed by Trustee Judith Sigwalt and other allies on the Village Board. Before presenting the resolution proclaiming a holiday in the Village in honor of Paul Humpfer, Trustees passed an ordinance making it a crime to say or do anything against Paul Humpfer, “forever and ever, amen”. Anyone found in violation of the ordinance “will be assimilated”.
Humpfer will be presented with the key to the Village, and there will be a parade held in his honor, through both the East and West sides of the Village — as a symbol of unity that the occasion has brought to the community.
The parade will have a baseball bat theme, and commemorative bats are being sold at all Village stores.
“I think this is a great day for Carpentersville,” said one man.
When asked what she thought, the female with him said, “I don’t think it…” She was unable to finish her sentence, as the man took her arm and, getting into a car, quickly drove off.
The Village’s motto will be changed from “Building a Better Tomorrow … Today” to “Talk softly and carry a big bat”; an obvious play on the words of former US President Theodore Roosevelt.
In another surprise move, Hammond, Indiana was annexed by the Village of Carpentersville, to allow Mr. Humpfer to continue to live there, and still meet the residency requirement to keep his position.
[This story was approved by members of “the Empire”.]
Welcome to the new Carpentersville, Illinois!
Good Morning, Carpentersville!
Nice weather expected today with sun and highs approaching 80. Rain this evening and overnight.
The Village Board meets tonight at 7:30pm at Village Hall. The agenda for tonight’s meeting includes 3 items that could be considered related to the recent conviction of Paul Humpfer on domestic battery charges.
Expect there to be lots of comments from those supporting Paul Humpfer. Word is that last Friday night another meeting of the goon squad was held.
The first item related to Humpfer is another opportunity for the Board to declare Humpfer’s Trustee position vacant. Paul Humpfer was charged in this case in August 2007, and found guilty on March 5, 2008. In November 2005, Humpfer’s estranged wife, Jackie, filed for and received an order of protection after an incident that reports say caused a cracked rib, bruised tailbone and other bruises.
Questions about Humpfer’s residency have been circulating for more than a year. Despite requests to the State’s Attorney and Attorney General’s office that go back over a year to March 2007, neither agency has been able to determine whether or not he actually resides in Carpentersville. Humpfer has admitted to living in Hammond, IN since June 2007 and Ms. Humpfer has also made similar statements. Humpfer has stated his intention to return to Carpentersville.
Similar court cases on residency requirements in the Illinois statutes have found that intention to reside in a town — even if one is paying bills at an address in that town — does not meet the requirements for residency.
For more that 2 months (since the conviction; and approaching 9 months since charges were filed), Trustees have basically ignored the issue.
It is likely that they will do so again tonight, and instead vote Humpfer something of a “get out of jail free” card (although it is likely the State’s Attorney will eventually weigh in, regardless).
Rather than deal with the issues of law surrounding Paul Humpfer’s crimes and elected position, Trustees have created a resolution to block any efforts to remove Humpfer.
They have created a resolution to declare that the Village President cannot utilize any counsel or Village resources to seek Paul Humpfer’s removal from office. The resolution was created to protect their friend, Paul Humpfer from the attempts of the Village President to see the law properly enforced.
Also, last month, members of the Audit and Finance Commission declared their intentions not to attend meetings until the status of Paul Humpfer was resolved by the Board. In response, members of the Board, who are Humpfer allies and friends, want to create an ordinance declaring that if a committee member misses 3 consecutive meetings, his/her position would be considered vacant. The Board will discuss the matter tonight, to provide direction to the Village Manager and Village Attorney.
Such a requirement would be a good thing for the Village. However, in this case, the requirement is motivated by politics. Trustees are again using their position to create rules and laws meant to control those who dissent from their opinions and agenda.
Paul Humpfer, Judy Sigwalt, Kay Teeter, Ed Ritter and Keith Hinz really don’t seem to care much for this Village. If they did, they would have solved this problem more than 7 weeks ago (or earlier). It wouldn’t have required all their wasting of time on the likely unenforceable resolution and the discussions.
It simply would have required Paul Humpfer to do the honest, decent and moral thing: resign. Absent that, it would have required the Board to merely do their job and declare the seat vacant.
There would have been no need for quo warranto requests, meeting with Attorneys, discussions with the State’s Attorney’s office and the Attorney General’s office. No need to create additional agenda items and seek other legal counsel.
Instead, these Trustees have wasted time — a lot of time! — with resolutions and discussions. They have likely cost the Village THOUSANDS (as they have in the past several years), and potentially MILLIONS in the future, in their failure to do what is right for the Village of Carpentersville, according the law and their oath to uphold it.
Carpentersville Action Network 
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