Making the routine … difficult

Who would have thought appointments to a committee (an ad hoc committee, at that) would be so difficult for a Village Board? Ah, but this is Carpentersville after all, where even the routine will be made difficult.

At their July 17th meeting, the Board voted for the creation of an ad hoc committee to work out details of the Carpentersville Improvement Committee, consisting of 3 residents and 2 trustees.

Sarto introduced his choices for appointments to the CIC by stating that he had put this group together as a team whose skills well complimented each other and would put forward a diverse and well-balanced “face” to the residents of Carpentersville. It was well-stated introduction that reflected how and why teams are built and chosen.

Four trustees were determined to inject political spite into the discussion — a discussion that went on for over an hour. Their comments wreaked of no-confidence in the abilities of the five members to make up the committee, and showed a great disrespect to the residents and trustees that were to make up this committee.

Trustee Ritter began by stating: “You point out that this is a team, but your team is a player short.” Sarto, however, had listed 5 appointees, as the Board had previously approved (in fact, it was Ritter who made the motion and Sigwalt who had seconded). Attorney Rhodes confirmed the minutes, motion and vote taken to the Trustees. Thus, in order for the team to be “a player short” would mean that a member of the team was not right for the job.

Why does this Board continue to attack its members? Why do they think so little of the abilities of Trustees Teeter and Ramirez Sliwinski, not to mention the residents who were also chosen to be appointed?

In fact, based on their statements, why do we need a committee at all? From the way the others made it sound, Trustee Sigwalt has all the experience — and the only experience — that is needed.

Still, why did they chose to throw Teeter under the bus? It should have been obvious to them that Ramirez Sliwinski, being the only Hispanic on the Board, would have been chosen so, at issue was really Sigwalt vs Teeter. Oh, they planned it out ahead of time to make it appear that they supported Teeter, but it was so thinly veiled as to be obvious they supported Sigwalt over Teeter.

I thought they were attacking Sarto (and I think they thought that too), but their antics and argumentation really were a slap in the face to Trustee Teeter. Why do they think she can’t do the job? The lack of respect for her capabilities and experience should really come as a shock to someone who has been there to support their often ill-advised agendas.

And, what about Sigwalt’s statement that she is the only one who is not a member of a committee? Well, earlier this year, though she was going to be made a member of the the Audit & Finance Commission, she declined the appointment. So, she does not sit on a committee by her own choosing.

This was not “Sigwalt’s baby” as it was put in the discussion. Trustee Sigwalt originally touted this as something akin to a “code patrol”. This was the direction of the initial discussions until resident Pat Schultz clarified for the Board that the committee to be formed would be primarily directed toward education. (Schultz was one of the residents appointed to the ad hoc committee last night). Further, as Trustee Humpfer noted, this was a recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan, not specifically of the Board.

In the end, after all the arguments for Sigwalt to be on the committee over Teeter, the Board unanimously approved Sarto’s appointments, leaving one to wonder what all the fuss was about. To be honest, it was an embarrassment to see the Trustees behave this way. It is long past time for them to put aside their spite and get to work.

Improvement Committee members up for vote

As I drive around Carpentersville’s East side, I see it’s slowly but surely being cleaned up. Most homes backing to Rt 25 are noticeably more pleasant to look at. But, there is still more work to be done. For that reason, the Carpentersville Improvement Committee was proposed; to help the four code enforcement officers with their jobs.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Village Board, a vote will be taken on the appointments of Mr. Adam Ruiz, Ms. Patricia Schultz, Ms. Karen Sutter, Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski, and Trustee Kay Teeter to the Committee.

Members appointed to the Committee will first need to work on how the committee will best serve the Village. I believe the Committee should task itself primarily with education and notification of the Village Codes. One thing that the Committee does need to be mindful of is that they help alleviate some of the code enforcement officers’ work, as opposed to creating more. Residents have typically complained that numerous violations go unchecked, therefore the Committee would do well to establish neighborhood groups which could be called upon to distribute pertinent information to neighborhood residents, and even doing the work of translating such documents for those residents who may need it.

Though education is one part of the equation, neighborhood pride is also something that must be sought after. We have seen the ability of residents to come together to protest. Now is the time to come together to brighten the Village.

On a lesser, side note, Sunday’s Courier-News contained an article about the planned committee appointments, “Sarto’s foe not among new faces on committee”. It’s unfortunate that information on the upcoming Committee appointments had to be brought to this level because it does not seem that quotations from Sarto set one side against another.

Trustee Ramirez-Sliwinski certainly does seem to be an appropriate choice, particularly in light of the fact that she has regularly touted education over penalization as a primary governmental tool and would certainly benefit the Committee, the community and the Village’s image well in that respect. Given this, and the earlier expressed desire to appoint 2 Trustees and 3 residents to the Committee, it would then fall to whether the Board would recommend Trustee Sigwalt over Trustee Teeter. If so, why?

That will remain to be seen.

Board meeting recap

Apologies to all for not getting this out sooner, but there was quite a bit to report on, and I also apologize for the length of this. I hope the amount of information provided makes it worth it.

Now, I’m a bit puzzled at why Trustees were so against going into Executive Session to obtain information from IRMA before making any final decisions on other business. From the look of his reaction, Attorney Rhodes was not pleased either, coming just short of shaking his head when the Trustees voted not to immediately move to Executive Session.

I’m sorry if this sounds like another slight against these trustees but they are just too damn willing to charge the hill without even determining if it is covered in land mines.

Anyway …

As was mentioned yesterday afternoon, Paul Lanspa addressed the Board about the water rate increase that the Board previously approved. You can read his own comments on the water rate increase thread, but basically said that he doesn’t mind paying the higher prices for his water and sewer, yet he thinks we should have notified the residents before putting the new rates on the October bill. He questioned the Board on the increase being retroactive. President Sarto suggested that they revisit this and try and do it in a more equitable way. He asked that Manager Anderson, Attorney Rhodes and Trustee Humpfer and Lisa Happ take another look at this to make it right.

A few folks were asked to sit down when they attempted to use public comments to attack a member of the Board or the audience.

Bob Sperlazzo was asked to sit down when he attempted to bring an email exchange between him and Sarto before the Board. He tried to get a member of the Board to appeal the ruling, but that went no where.

Gloria VanCleave was also directed to sit down after she began to attack resident, Paul Calusinski.

On actual matters of business being considered by the Village:

• the Board passed the amendment to the Vehicles and Traffic ordinance, adding a $250 administrative fee by what I thought was a 6-1 vote (Ben Lefebvre‘s report,mentioned 5-2, but it will be corrected. He stated that in addition to Trustee Ramirez-Sliwinski, Trustee Teeter also voted against it, but Teeter voted to approve it). It might have been a bit of a shock to some that Sarto voted for it. Sarto did clarify his position about unlicensed drivers, stating his support for an Illinois law presently under consideration in the General Assembly to provide driving certificate to illegal immigrants. (Folks can read previous statements from me on this issue here and here.)

• President Sarto also stated that he had a few more candidates to interview for consideration of appointment to the Carpentersville Improvement Committee (aka “code patrol”), so that item was basically passed by.

• Also, the Board discussed an overnight parking ban, voting 4-3 to direct Village staff to look into amending the current ban to bring back to the Board at a later date. It was suggested that only residents, with a valid Village vehicle sticker, be allowed to park on streets overnight. I’ll give my $0.02 on that next week, but will probably make it a “what’s your view” this weekend to see what you all think about it.

And, finally … again, I apologize for the length …

Trustee Sigwalt attempted to bring back the issue of changing the censure rules to cover emails, whether sent as a private citizen or as Village President. It basically went nowhere. She wanted the rules to apply whether sent from one’s personal computer to another individual or as Village President. Attorney Rhodes stated that such would be a First Amendment, Free Speech violation.

I’m going to hold off from reporting more on this because I would like to see if the Board will provide clarification of their positions on this issue before I post more.

Oh, and Sarto also read a proclamation of “Domestic Violence Awareness Month”.

Then … came Executive Session … which we are not privy to, of course.