SAUK VILLAGE | Trustee Derrick Burgess hosted his monthly Town Hall Meeting, this time back at Village Hall Wednesday evening.
Village Clerk Debbie Williams filed an inquiry for a possible Open Meetings Act violation, ironically with the Illinois Attorney General's office who the Village has sued over the Travelgate Binding Opinion they issued in October. The alleged Open Meetings Act violation was "unfounded" Village Attorney Matt Burns said at a board meeting earlier.
About 35 people, including Superintendent of Schools Dr. Donna Leak, School Board Vice President Tammy Jones, Parent Teacher Organization President Jovante Hasty came back to Village Hall as the Town Hall Meetings moved to Rickover over the summer. "We wanted to move the venue to afford more residents the opportunity to attend which was successful as we had about 95 at a couple of them there" Burgess said. "We will probably change up the venue again but hosting them at Village Hall is good too." Burgess said following the meeting.
Longtime resident Judy Cast was critical of the administration for the lack of transparency, but complimented some progress made. "Under the last administration you wouldn't be sitting in a meeting like this" Cast said. Cast also wants to know how much the Village has spent in legal fees for the Travelgate scandal. The Village is suing the Illinois Attorney General over the Binding Opinion issued in October which declared that the Village and Village Clerk must turn over all documentation concerning the trip to Washington DC by the Village Clerk her daughter Trustee Rosie Williams and resident and now former Police Pension Board member Patricia Couch.
Larry Stewart, who was removed as Housing Commissioner earlier this year, blasted the Hanks Administration for the lack of direction and the lack of planning.
Marva Campbell-Pruitt criticized the Hanks Administration for the lack of a solid plan and timeline for the water infrastructure improvements. "We're paying the additional $2.00 per 1000 gallons of water for the repairs but there is no plan in place to justify it" Campbell-Pruitt said.
Dr. Leak addressed Kelvin Jones' questions concerning school children needing text books. "We want our children to have the latest information not a static text book. Old text books from 2007 still have George Bush as President" Leak said. Leak has been working on a multi-year plan with the School Board and hopes one day soon to bring I-Pads to the students of District 168. There are about 1700 students in district 168 and the district is flush with cash with about $16 million in the bank and zero debt.
Community Activist Bernice Brewer-Houston said residents are still paying for contaminated well water but residents are paying Lake Michigan water prices. "The Mayor and Trustees are using this money to balance their budget and not putting the money toward repairs to the water mains that are constantly breaking" Brewer Houston said following the meeting.
"People are tired of paying $300 water bills for this nasty water. You can't drink it, you can't cook with it. You have to spend money to treat it, replace corroded fixtures and even after treating it you turn on the faucet and the water still comes out orange. They got $4.8 million grant for what the Mayor said will free up the village from paying $260,000 per year, but the resident's get no relief" a longtime resident said. "I'm just disgusted with our Village leaders" she said.
"Residents only get to speak for 3 minutes during Village meetings. There are no time limits here, I want to hear the concerns of the residents" Burgess said.
Burgess has hosted Town Hall Meetings for the last 6 months and will be taking the month of December off and resuming them in January after the holidays.
Mayor David Hanks and Village Trustee Lynda Washington sat silent during the meeting. Williams spoke briefly when challenged by a resident. "I'm speaking as a resident" Williams said. Williams was accompanied by her husband, who also sits as a Human Relations Commissioner. Trustee Rosie Williams is the daughter of Debbie Williams but was not present.
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