SAUK VILLAGE'S HOUSING DILEMMA - 2nd in a Series

THIS IS A SECOND IN A SERIES ABOUT SAUK VILLAGE’S HOUSING CRISIS-
SAUK VILLAGE LACKS SOLUTIONS
by Joseph Wiszowaty

SAUK VILLAGE |  This is the second in a series of stories addressing Sauk Village's Housing situation.  Sauk Village has a very serious housing crisis including the housing conditions and property values.  Since the housing crisis began in late 2007, Sauk Village seems to have been completely unprepared for what was to transpire.

 

To answer the housing problems facing Sauk Village former Mayor Lewis Towers and current Mayor David Hanks have relied on the Housing Commission.  Some suggest that the Housing Commission is not equiped nor does it have the legal authority to address the problems.

 

When the Housing Commission of Sauk Village was formed it was formed to answer complaints of discrimination in housing. It was never intended to perform the duties of a housing authority. The Housing commission, by law, is not intended to act or perform the duties of a housing authority, yet we see that they are doing exactly that.

HAS THE VILLAGE EXCEEDED ITS  AUTHORITY?  (CLICK HERE AND READ LEGAL OPINION)

 

The Commission’s “powers” are as follows (CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE CODE-per Sauk Village Municipal Code "Fair Housing" Sec 38-23):

1- Administer Oaths and take sworn testimony at hearings;

2- Subpoena witnesses and pertinent documents, and its subpoena power may be enforced by proper petition to any court of competent jurisdiction;

3- Issue orders and impose fines and penalties;

4- Require all persons subject to the application of this article to maintain such records as may be necessary to demonstrate compliance with the provisions of this article;

5- Submit to the Village an annual report and such special reports as it may from time to time deem advisable.

Keep in mind these responsibilities are as they apply to housing discrimination

 

Also, homeowners are required, per ordinance to notify the village if they “intend” to sell their home or rent their home.

 

The Housing Commission currently has no legal authority to carry out the mission that they are currently undertaking as it appears to have exceeded the mandate of the Corporate Authorities of Sauk Village. The Housing Commission has no authority to conduct surveys of vacant homes nor assist with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Housing Bank, that clearly exceeds their authority established by ordinance.

 

A Housing Authority is an autonomous entity that are charged with handling many challenges facing communities housing issues including administration of housing grant programs and other housing initiatives. Housing Authorities have much broader power than housing commissions. In the mid-1990s Sauk Village had a Housing Authority which ran into controversy over the mismanagement of the Village’s Community Development Block Grant program. The Cook County States Attorney Investigation found many improprieties and the Village Board dissolved the Housing Authority.

 

So what is the answer to Sauk Village's Housing woes?  There are no housing initiatives to encourage first time home-buyers to buy homes as many other communities have established.  There is no homebuyer education classes or workshops to educate buyers on what they need to do in order to purchase homes in Sauk Village. 

 

Several emails and calls to the Housing Commission Chairman Gary Holcomb went unanswered.  Emails to Mayor David Hanks also went unanswered.

Housing Commission:  Heidi Parker, Gary Holcomb, Sharon Nowak, Ronnie Stark
Wanda Lemmell, Lawrence Stewart and Trustee John Poskin

BGA Holds Watch Dog Training

by Joseph Wiszowaty
ORLAND PARK |  A group of about 90 attended a Better Government Association "Watch Dog" Training event held in Orland Park Monday evening.

Executive Director Andy Shaw told the group that we should expect "accountable and transparent government" and that was the purpose of the BGA which celebrates 90 years.  "When you notice something that doesn't pass the smell test, you need to ask your government the questions" Shaw said.

"We have estimated that we have saved government nearly $15 million because of changes we (the BGA) have effectuated" Shaw said.

Sauk Village is not the only community where residents are seeking answers to questions.  A school board member from the south suburbs has to request information through the Freedom of Information Act in order to get answers from the very board she sits.

Lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, who do work for the BGA, discussed what "watch dogs" need to know to and what to keep an eye on in their local government. 

Members of the BGA Investigative Unit were also on hand to answer questions and discuss their role in the investigative process.

"We should expect our government to be responsive and accountable to the people they serve" Shaw said.

Sauk Village had a delegation of about 7 members in attendance, however, no elected officials from Sauk Village were in attendance.

ANDY SHAW of the BGA

Attorney General getting busy in Sauk Village

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  A third Freedom of Information Act request to Sauk Village is under review by the Illinois Attorney General's office because the Village has denied yet another requests. 

A request was denied as "burdensome" by the Village for criminal statistics.  The denial did not follow State law under 5 ILCS 140 et seq so this reporter filed a request for review to the Illinois Attorney General's office.

Now the "burdensome" work begins for the Village who must now provide a response to the Illinois  Attorney General's office.  In what was clearly not a "form letter" issued by the Attorney General's office as Village Attorney Michael McGrath said last week, the village has 7 days to provide answers and material to their office.

The Attorney General's office responded back to the village's denial requesting many answers to many things, particularly how the Village keeps such information and what software is used and if they have a computer to pull the information together.  Further the Attorney General wanted to know why the village felt that providing such information was "burdensome" and to provide any previoius requests showing that these were duplicate and not new requests. 

The Illinois Attorney General will issue a decision on this third separate denial and determine if the village has violated the Freedom of Information Act for failing to provide information that is not exempt under the law (5 ILCS 140 et seq). 

The Village has denied a request into the "Travelgate" matter where Village Clerk Debbie Williams and her daughter, Village Trustee Rosie Williams solicited money from vendors for what they called a "personal trip" to Washington D.C.   A final 6 page response was sent in to the Attorney's General office this week in response to the Village's letter where the Village Attorney stated that they have information that was requested but failed to provide it.  This reporter is asking in the response to find the village violated the Act based on the Village's response and other facts.

The Village denied requests for information on an account opened at US Bank by the Village's Public Relations Committee.  The account is reportedly for the Committee's activities and Village Trustee Rosie Williams is the signer on the account.  The village failed to provide information about the account and this was also sent to the Illinois Attorney General for review under the Freedom of Information Act.  To date the Village has not responded on this matter and the Illinois Attorney General will be asked to find the village in violation of the Act.

EDITORIAL NOTE:  The Village has been trying to put a "hit list" or report who is requesting information and how much it cost the village to answer such requests.  A little known fact is that people can request information anonymously under 5 ILCS 140 et seq. and that many have begun doing so in Lisle Illinois because of the "hit list" that they put out. 

If the Village would simply not worry about who is getting what and what they need it for and gave the public information then there would be no drama!  People have a right to know what is going on in their community.  When Community leaders hide behind lawyers in an attempt to block information they are not serving the PUBLIC interest but thei SELF INTEREST! 

Now the village is going to complain because they have to spend MORE TIME answering to the Illinios Attorney General when they simply could have answered the "burdensome" requests.  Now they are going to be burdened with requests and timelines by the Illinois Attorney General who is the enforcer of the Freedom of Information Act.

NOTE TO SAUK VILLAGE why do you want to play with the Attorney General's office, they will ALWAYS be for FULL DISCLOSURE as being OPEN, HONEST and TRANSPARENT which is what government should always be! 

Stop playing the STUPID card and start being responsible with the taxpayers' money!

It seems "Dysfunction Junction" is alive and well at Village Hall!

Debbie Williams, Village Clerk
custodian of all village records

U.S. Rep. Kelly Supports MPO's Support for Illiana Expressway

by Joseph Wiszowaty

CHICAGO |  U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL2nd) applauded members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for today’s affirmative vote in support of the Illiana Expressway, a 47-mile expressway connecting I-55 in Illinois to I-65 in Indiana.

 

“I'd like to thank the MPO members for having the foresight to approve the Illiana Expressway project. Today's vote is a validation of what we in the Southland have been saying all along—that our region has tremendous growth potential and that the Illiana is vital to that growth," Kelly said. “I applaud the board for putting facts above politics in supporting this project, which will create tens of thousands of much needed jobs in the Southland and promote the expansion of regional economic development throughout South Cook, Will, and Kankakee counties."

 

The congresswoman told the board before the vote “Chicago’s Southland is America’s ground zero for transportation innovation. The Illiana Expressway is a visionary and necessary project that will alleviate congestion and bring tens of thousands of jobs to the Southland." Kelly said.

 

“There’s been a lot of debate about the Illiana over the past year, some of it enlightening and constructive and some of it, quite frankly, disrespectful and utterly unproductive. At its core, the opposition to the Illiana is based on a longstanding bias against the Southland when it comes to infrastructure investment,” Kelly said. “But the Southland is just as worthy of development, just as deserving of improved infrastructure as any other area of the region. We have the people and the businesses to not only support the Illiana, but who make the roadway a vital conduit to economic development in the area.

 

The Illiana Expressway has long been supported by the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association along with many South Suburban Mayors who feel the project will provide economic development opportunity in conjunction with the Third Chicago Airport.

Lynwood Mayor Eugene Williams, in attendance at the Illinois Municipal League Conference in Chicago this evening, is one of many local the Mayors who supports the project.

 

The Illiana Expressway has been on the drawing board for many years now.

Congresswoman Robin Kelly

TRAVELGATE SCANDAL CONTINUES AS ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEWS

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office continues their review the Village's denial of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) over what has become known as "Travelgate".

In July, 2013, Village Clerk Debbie Williams, Village Trustee Rosie Williams and now Police Pension Board member Patricia Couch attended a Building One America Organization's meeting in Washington D.C. raised money using the Village's taxpayer funded website and posted other material on the Village website as well.  Williams claims that this was a "personal trip", however, some argue that the public does not have access to Village assets, like the village's website, to solicit village vendors and post their personal trip photos and video.

The Village in their response to a 4 part FOIA request stated that they had nothing responsive to the request.  This prompted this reporter to file a 16 page Request for Review to the Attorney General's office which included the original audio of the July 23, 2013 meeting (which of course had to be FOIA requested).

In the response by the Village's attorney to the Request for Review the village admits that it had information which was originally requested but it had not provided but maintains their position that this was a "personal trip"

The repsonse filed with the Attorney General today "I submit that the Village’s response is prima facie evidence that they have violated the Freedom of Information Act 5 ILCS 140 et seq. as they admit that they do have information responsive to the original request, yet failed to provide it." 

The response also contends that the Village's response letter is the clearest indication of their violation of the act in that they admit that they had information and failed to provide it and to date still have not.

The Request for Review seeks finding "that the Village of Sauk Village has violated the Freedom of Information Act 5 ILCS 140 et seq and that an Order be issued by the Illinois Attorney General having the Village of Sauk Village comply with the original request."

 

The Village Attorney provided a spreadsheet showing that they charged the Village $907.50 for an "investigation" of scandal spending 5.5 hours "investigating", however, the information was not provided as part of the original FOIA request.   The Village Attorney said in their letter with respect to the "investigation" they conducted "we briefly discussed this matter with the Village Clerk and she informed us that she received an invitation to attend the Building One America Summit" yet the billing was for 5.5 hours clearly not "brief" and does not explain their investigation (more on that later).

Village Attorney Michael McGrath tried to downplay the matter at last week's meeting saying that these are "form letters" that one of their employees helped the Attorney General's office put together.  People can file a Request for Review to the Attorney General's office as they have a right to do McGrath indicated during the meeting.

Both Debbie Williams and Rosie Williams have remained silent about the matter.

Debbie Williams and Rosie Williams

 

SAUK VILLAGE HOUSING DILEMMA

THIS IS A FIRST IN A SERIES ABOUT SAUK VILLAGE’S HOUSING CRISIS-
SAUK VILLAGE HOUSING HISTORY

By Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE | Sauk Village has faced many housing hurdles in the past 56 year history. In 1975, Sauk Village faced some tough economic times as area mills closed leaving many young homeowners and their families scrambling to make their mortgage payments.   Many homebuyers purchased their first homes in the late 1950s and 1960s using their Veterans Administration loan guarantee with virtually no money down. 

The late former Mayor Roger Theisen walked along Theisen Avenue in 1975, named in his honor in the Bell Air section, where brand new homes sat vacant for more than two years with no buyers. The Village was also battling the Cook County Forest Preserve District at the time which literally landlocked the Village’s eastward expansion.  That began a stall in housing expansion and by the early 1980s 20% interest rates pretty much killed it.

A longtime resident said “When I moved here in 1982, the house we purchased on was 3 years old. We bought from a young professional couple. Back then prevailing interest rate for mortgages were at 15%, but because we had just sold our first home, we were able to "assume" the couple's home at a low interest rate of 8.75%”.  Rising interest rates, unemployment and an economic downturn essentially stopped new housing in Sauk Village until the 1990s

Fast forward to the 2007, easy lending terms where a homebuyer could fog a mirror and get a mortgage led to a national mortgage meltdown. The Village’s housing expansion reached its pinnacle as Deer Creek homes were selling for the upper $200s and homes in Lincoln Meadows were reaching $300,000 and many in the older parts of the Village were well over $100,000. Home values plummeted and longtime owners began to literally walk away from their homes. Many older homeowners are still underwater owing more than $100,000 on homes valued at $50,000 and many still walk away. Sauk Village has not been exempt from the exodus and housing crisis.

Many long-time residents of the Indiana Hills subdivision wonder what is to become of Sauk Village. “We have lived here for 50 years” a longtime resident said. “We are so far under water on this house, we have no choice but to walk away. We will never get what we owe on it” the homeowners said. “We worked our entire life and when our house needed work we refinanced and put the money back into the home. We weren’t irresponsible, we thought we were investing in a home was a safe move. We were wrong” they said.

From 2008 to 2012, one of the only tools offered through the Village were NACA seminars. NACA stands for Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is a private organization which set out to help homeowners under water renegotiate their mortgage terms through loan modifications. Since NACA set out many national lenders, through legislation, have been offering Home Affordable Refinance Programs (HARP) and Home Affordable Modification Programs (HAMP).

Lenders have been incentivized and loans guaranteed by the Federal Government for HARPs and HAMPs. In fact many major lenders have even forgiven mortgage loans and offered cash payments to some who lost their homes through a national settlement.

Sauk Village faces similar housing challenges today. Vacant homes, foreclosures and investors have caused property values to plummet to record lows not seen since 1960. While many areas of the nation have seen modest gains in property values and many areas have recovered to pre-2008 values, Sauk Village lags way behind. Some homes still are selling for $10,000 which have been keeping values low.

Sauk Village's "Rainbow" Welcome Sign 1978

 

CHECK BACK FOR OUR SECOND EDITION ON SAUK VILLAGE’S HOUSING CRISIS…

Village Receives Bids for Air Strippers, but still No Money

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  Bids were open on Tuesday night for the permanent Air Strippers at all three wells.  Well #3 has been shut down since 2009 since the levels of vinyl chloride continued to rise higher than what the IEPA thought was safe.

The air strippers will remove the vinyl chloride from the water by an aeration process of blowing air into the water and the vinyl chloride is released from the water into a gas form and released.  The process thus far has been successful since the Village was forced to install the temporary air strippers on Wells #1 and #2 on Sauk Trail last summer.

Alan Mack and Sons, Inc. of Orland Park, Illinois was the lowest overall bidder at $4.1 million, Boller Construction out of Waukegan, Illinois was the next highest bidder at $4.40 million and Theineman Construction, an environmental contractor out of Westfield, Indiana was the highest of the three at $4.44 million.

The Village will award the bids following review by the Village's Engineer Jim Czarnik of Robinson Engineering and his recommendation.  The bids will be awarded "subject to the village obtaining the funds from the low interest loan from the IEPA" Czarnik said.

The village has not received the funds for the $5.5 million low interst loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency according to Czarnik.  The project was expected to be underway according to the village's plan submitted to the IEPA earlier this year.  Czarnik did not elaborate why the village had not received the funds.

The Village is under a Consent Decree with the Illinois Attorney General to get Well #3 back online as soon as possible and install "permanent air strippers" to provide safe drinking water.  If either Wells #1 or #2 go down the village could be facing a very serious water crisis since there is no emergency water connection planned.

"I would like to know how the village went from nearly 50% water loss in March, 2013 to about 20% water loss today and the village has not spent a dime on infrastructure improvements" former mayoral candidate Bernice Brewer-Houston said following the meeting.  Czarnik informed the Village Board two weeks ago that the Village's water loss is about 20% today.

Brewer-Houston has been a vocal advocate for clean drinking water for a number of years now.  "The water is contaminated and we're going to spend $5.5 million dollars on treating contaminated water from 56 year old wells when we could spend that money on obtaining contaminant free water from another source" Brewer-Houston said.

The Village still does not have a Lake Michigan water allocation nor does it meet the Illinois Department of Natural Resources requirement of less than 8% water loss to qualify for an allocation according to Czarnik.

Typical Air Stripper Tower

ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEWING ANOTHER FOIA DENIAL

by Joseph Wiszowaty

SAUK VILLAGE |  Another Freedom of Information Act request to Sauk Village has been referred to the office of Illinios Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office.

A request for information pertaining to the financial accounts for the village's Public Relations Committee was made in August of this year by this reporter.  Village Trustee Rosie Williams has chaired the Public Relations Committee for a number of years.  In the request there were several specific items that were requested that the village failed to provide.  Because the Village failed to provide the specific parts of the request the failure is considered a "denial" under 5 ILCS 140/ 1 et seq.  As a result of the village's "denial" of the request an appeal was made to the Illinois Attorney General in order to obtain the information originally requested.

The Attorney General can fine the village for failing to compy with the Act and can issue an order to compel the Village to respond to the FOIA request.  The Attorney General can also go to court to enforce its order as provided under the Act.

This is the second such appeal made in less than 30 days to the Illinois Attorney General for denial of information made under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Attorney General's office issued a correspondence to the Village of Sauk Village today (October 7, 2013 in which they state "We have determined that further inquiry into this matter is necesary to confirm that the Village has complied with its obligation under FOIA...."

The Village now has 7 days in order to respond to the Attorney General and to provide all necessary documentation requested.  The Attorney General will make a determination as to the Village's compliance with the Act.

logo by- Joseph Wiszowaty

Attorney General continues Review as Village responds

SAUK VILLAGE - A recent appeal for review was filed to the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office because the village denied a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The Village was asked to respond to the Attorney General as to the reasons why the Village denied the request and what, if anything, the village did to complete the FOIA request.

Village Clerk Debbie Williams, her daughter Village Trustee Rosie Williams and a resident and now member of the Police and Fire Pension Board Patricia Couch took a trip to Washington D.C. to attend a conference July 18-19th hosted by Building One America organization. There are critics of the Building One America organization claiming that they are on an “anti-suburban” crusade and that this organization is trying to abolish the suburbs consolidating them with larger cities.

A website (***click here to view site***) claims the goals of Building One America is “one approach is to force suburban residents into densely packed cities by blocking development on the outskirts of metropolitan areas, and by discouraging driving with a blizzard of taxes, fees, and regulations. Step two is to move the poor out of cities by imposing low-income-housing quotas on development in middle-class suburbs. Step three is to export the controversial “regional tax-base sharing” scheme currently in place in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area to the rest of the country. Under this program, a portion of suburban tax money flows into a common regional pot, which is then effectively redistributed to urban, and a few less well-off“inner-ring” suburban, municipalities.

Hoping to learn more about this“personal trip”, including who the “sponsors” and benefactors were who had helped fund this trip touted by the Williams duo on the Village’s website calling for “donations” and “sponsorship”. Also hoping to learn if the public interest were being served or self interest, this reporter made a request to the Village of Sauk Village citing Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA law guarantees public access to all public documents, with limited exemptions.

The Village Clerk, through the auspices of the Village Attorney, denied the FOIA request claiming that it had nothing “responsive to your request”. Under Illinois law this is considered a “denial” of the request.

Under Illinois law you have two courses of action. One, to have the Illinois Attorney General review the basis for the Village’s denial and compel the Village to comply with the law under an order or two, file a lawsuit. Better Government Agency President and CEO Andy Shaw said “When government withholds potentially important information that the public is entitled to, and refuses to work toward an amicable solution, going to court is the only option”Shaw said in reference to a denial of a FOIA request.

The Illinois Attorney General’s office has sent the information to the Village’s attorney and is awaiting their official response. The Attorney General will make a determination and based upon that determination, either party may appeal to the courts.

“This clearly shows the lack of transparency in this government. When government is not responsive to the public, one needs to be concerned and ask why” Joseph Wiszowaty said.

Debbie Williams, Village Clerk and Rosie Williams, Village Trustee

Village Administration has nothing on Agenda residents speak up

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE | Apparently all is well in good old Sauk Village, after all the Mayor and Board of Trustees had nothing to discuss and nothing to do. There was nothing on Tuesday night's agenda.

Longtime resident and President of People Looking for Answers Now organization Judy Cast asked questions about the village's finances during questions from the audience. "I have been asking for 4 years now. Where are our audits? If there's something wrong then just tell us, why is it taking this long to get these done" Cast said. The Village's audit report was suppose to have been presented to the Village Board of Trustees last night according Finance Director Mohan Roa last week. David Hanks told the board that the audit report will now be done by October 31st, which now will have taken the Village 1 year to complete their audit report. Hanks said that the 2011-12 audit will get started once the 2010-2011 audit is complete.

The village is paying a $100 per day fine for failing to file timely financial reports according to the Illinois Comptroller and has amassed a fine in excess of $13,000 thus far (***CLICK HERE*** TO VIEW FOIA DOCUMENTS). The Village has filed an appeal for the fine but there has been no resolution on that matter according to the Comptroller's office.

Former Mayoral candidate Bernice Houston was also in attendance at Tuesday night's meeting. She asked several questions during audience participation and walked away from the podium saying "see we get no answers and they wonder why we have to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request things" Houston said. Houston said following the meeting "I have been making FOIA requests from the village since before Hanks became mayor. We share our information with our group (The Sauk Village Citizens for Public Awareness) because we get no answers" Houston said. "He (Hanks) sits there after you ask your questions and just says 'next' without so much as giving a response, as if we don't matter" Houston said.

There were about 32 people at the meeting, with many of the same faces sitting on the left side of the Village Hall and a few new faces sitting on the right side of village hall. Many on the right side were residents of Lincoln Meadows subdivision which is on the village's south side of town near Steger Road and Illinois 394. Marva Campbell-Pruitt began the questions from the audience stating she was there representing the residents of Lincoln Meadows and that her and her neighbors were using the Village Community Center for their Homeowners Association group without being charged. Campbell-Pruitt said that the group is now being asked to pay $50.00 per meeting to the village as a user fee, for which her and her group protest since "we pay some of the highest property taxes in the village, we get the same services, but we're being told now that we have to pay for our Association of homeowners to meet" Campbell-Pruitt said following the meeting.

Several other residents of Lincoln Meadows stood up and began asking the same question, "why do we have to pay for something that should not be charged to our group". "We're not political, we're not fund raising or having parties" Campbell-Pruitt said. Following the meeting Village Trustees John Poskin and Derrick Burgess met with the group briefly and resolved that the Village Hall will be available for the group's meeting until the policies and procedures can be ironed out by the Parks and Recreation Committee. Poskin chairs the Parks and Recreation Committee.

The Village Board adjourned to executive session obviously to discuss some break through with the Police negotiations as Felicia Frazier the labor negotiator with the law firm of Odelson and Sterk was in attendance. The Fraternal Order of Police and the Village have been at a stand still in the negotiations. Police officers have been without a contract since May 1, 2011 and any pay increase will be retroactive to that date. Even a modest pay increase such as 2-3% (about $61,000 to $92,600) will cause a ripple in the Village's already stretched General Fund. Hanks has already added $36,000 for a Lobbyist and $11,000 for a firm to find a permanent Chief of Police among other things.

Photo Courtesy People's Voice Party 2011- David A. Hanks