FORMER CANDIDATE ENDORSES: BURGESS, TATES AND JONES FOR TRUSTEE

Danny Hammond- Photo Provided

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  Danny Hammond, Jr., who was not certified by Village Clerk Debbie Williams for the April 7th ballot said he can't continue a costly legal battle.  Hammond has suspended his campaign for Village Trustee and now endorses 3 of his former opponents for the job. 

Hammond has issued the following statement:

To the Residents of Sauk Village:

A very heartfelt thank you to the voters of Sauk Village who signed my nomination petitions to get my name on the ballot.  Unfortunately, because of dirty politics we were not able to achieve our goal of victory!  We hoped to bring the important issues to the table and make some important changes in the direction of Sauk Village.  Because of a tactical political decision by Village Clerk Debbie Williams and her supporters to not certify my name for the April 7^th ballot, it is not to be this time.  I cannot continue a fight in Cook County Circuit Court, which is financially draining when I have a family which is my priority.  I do not have unlimited resources like many who run our Village feel the Village has.

The way to continue our fight now and to accomplish the goals which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength to the polls and do all we can to re-elect Derrick Burgess as Village Trustee and support him as he fights for the people of Sauk Village in hopes that we can Change Direction.  There is nothing “forward” about the “motions” that the village has experienced. 

Today, I suspend my campaign for Village Trustee, I support Derrick Burgess as a true Independent candidate for Village Trustee and wish him victory in this election.  I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and ask you, the residents and voters of Sauk Village to do likewise.  Derrick Burgess is a good, honest and decent representative for Sauk Village and he is worthy of our votes.

Knowing that Trustee Burgess is just one vote, it’s going to take more than just him to fight for the residents of Sauk Village and therefore I strongly encourage a vote for decorated and Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Cecial Tates and Kelvin Jones for Village Trustees as well.  All three of these men have strong convictions about what is needed to move Sauk Village in the right direction.  They do not believe in the business as usual attitude like the other Trustee candidates who have proven time and again that they will not act on behalf of the residents.  

Tates and Jones, along with Burgess can be counted on to bring fresh ideas and sound decisions to the Trustee Board.  All three will give you the voice in government you have not had in years. 

Village Clerk Debbie Williams may have won the battle, but I will win the war against this administration's sense of arrogance and entitlement.

Sincerely,

Danny Hammond, Jr.

Former Candidate for
Village Trustee

Residents of Sauk Village will go to the polls on April 7th and will pick 3 Trustees.  There are only three other candidates challenging Burgess, Tates and Jones and they are Jeff Morden, John Poskin and Gary Holcomb.

TRAVELGATE: WILLIAMS SAGA CONTINUES

Village Clerk Debbie Williams

By Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  By now hopes where that the people of Sauk Village would know just who paid for a trip that Village Clerk Debbie Williams and her daughter Trustee Rosie Williams had taken to Washington D.C.

The Williams mother and daughter duo took a trip to a Building One America Summit in Washington D.C. in July, 2013 along with a Village vendor.  Williams solicited donations on the Village’s website and from among Village vendors, but called the matter a “personal trip”.  Williams later shared video of her presentation at the summit on the Village’s website, which is taxpayer funded.

A Freedom of Information Act request was filed following a July 23, 2013 meeting in which Village Clerk Debbie Williams had a virtual melt down.  The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office issued a non-binding opinion in the matter in March, 2014 stating that Village should provide all information requested.  The Village ignored the Attorney General’s opinion.  So we made a follow up request to the Village requesting the same information, since the Village had failed to deny or honor the request in the first place.  The Village again refused to provide the information.  We then asked the Attorney General to issue a Binding Opinion in the matter.  The response came finally after months as the Attorney General’s office issued a rare Binding Opinion stating that the Village violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to provide all information about the trip which was requested.

The Village, through the taxpayer funded attorney, in November, 2014 has sued the Illinois Attorney General stating that the Attorney General and I had essentially colluded against the Village in what is known as ex parte communications.  In December, 2014, the Attorney General filed a lengthy multi-page legal motion to dismiss the Village’s frivolous action.  The Attorney General, in their motion to dismiss the Village's action the Attorney General reminded the Village that the State of Illinois has Supremacy over the Village and that its power is derived from the State. 

A hearing was scheduled for Monday, February 9^th; however, the Village was unprepared and requested a continuance.  The Continuance was not objected to by the Village or I and the hearing will go forward in March.

Taxpayers are likely paying for the legal services to protect the actions of Debbie Williams and Rosie Williams as they are not in compliance with the Illinois Attorney General’s Binding Opinion.  The Illinois Attorney General’s office has vehemently defended their Binding Opinions as a matter of law and for the most part has always been upheld and maintained.

AUDIT REVEALS MULTI-MILLION DEFICIT

By Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |The Village Board received a copy of the audit from April, 2014 which was due in October but as they say better late than never.  Susan Jones of Miller Cooper and Company of Deerfield, Illinois presented a 7 page management report to the Village Board.  The 12 month audit report, which has been available on the Illinois Comptroller’s website since mid-January was only presented to the Trustees on Tuesday.  The audit paints a bleak picture of the village’s finances the Village’s net position is showing a multi-million dollar deficit and deficits in various funds. 

Chart provided by SAUK VILLAGER NEWS:  History of the General
Fund  Balance since 1999 (Source: Village Audits)

Despite the fact that Hanks’s 2013-14 Budget called for $5.2 million in revenue the Village actually brought in $5.6 million but still outspent the revenues brought it by some $493,610.  For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2014, the audit reveals that the Hanks Administration spent $6,149,110 well more than was taken in adding to the General Fund deficit.  The General Fund began the fiscal year with a deficit of $1.38 million and ballooned to $2.02 million by April 30, 2014.  The General Fund funds police and general administration functions for the Village.

Trustee Derrick Burgess, who voted no on the most recent budget, projected in his budget analysis that the General Fund will be $962,677 in deficit going into this budget cycle in July, 2014 and the actual amount according to the audit report is $632,706.  Burgess said that this figure would have been even greater had the Village booked the additional $758,080 which was owing at the beginning of the fiscal year.  The actual amount is probably worse than even Burgess projected which would balloon the General Fund Deficit to closer to $2.7 million according to the Audit Report.

Above Chart was created by Trustee Burgess.  Hanks disagreed with Burgess's
Analysis and the circle and arrow indicates where Hanks thought the numbers
were going to be.   Hanks's comments are in the box above
The TRUTH is that BURGESS WAS RIGHT!

Mayor David Hanks called Burgess’s General Fund projections “skewed and incorrect” and Hanks actually was calling for a more modest deficit of $700,000 in July during Hanks’s 2 ½ hour review of Burgess’s Budget analysis.  The actual numbers are about what Burgess had projected at about $2 million in deficit.  Burgess said that if there are no changes in the policy of this administration that the General Fund Deficit will continue to sink near $3 million. 

“This is proof positive that the current budget that this Board passed was anything but balanced” Burgess said.  “I tried to warn the Village Board then that this budget was not right, provided a 23 page analysis pointing out some points we were going to have a difficult time with and asked to work together on solutions and was slapped down in a political game.  I’m not playing a game. I was elected to represent the residents and nobody should run their business or a government the way that this village has been running” Burgess said.

Burgess warned his fellow board members Tuesday night that they are responsible for the finances of the Village and they will be held to account for the votes that they take on the finances of the Village.

Also revealed in the Audit report is a mess that the Hanks Administration appears to be kicking the can to another administration to address the unfunded pension obligations.  The Village’s Police Pension Fund is owed some $2.2 million and other post-employment benefits totaling some $784,000 nearly $3 million.  Hanks has not directed a penny into the Police Pension Fund since taking office.  The Police Pension Fund has not had an independent Audit conducted or filed since 2008.

The Hanks Administration also blew past the amounts appropriated by the Village Board of Trustees to the tune of $1,620,545 without a supplemental appropriations ordinance the Audit Report revealed.

 

To view the entire 2013-14 Audit Report:  CLICK HERE