Illinois Attorney General reviewing Travelgate Determination due September 8th

L to R: Rosie Williams and mother Village Clerk Debbie

Williams during a meeting at Village Hall with their

32oz McDonalds drinks... Have you had a break today?

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office issued a letter late Friday (July 25, 2014) stating the following:

"This letter is to advise you that pursuant to section 9.5(f) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/9.5(f) (West 2012), the Public Access Counselor in the Office of the Attorney General is extending the time period within which to determine whether to issue a binding opinion by 30 business days, to September 8, 2014.  We are extending the time for the issuance of a binding opinion to allow this office sufficient time to conduct a thorough review of the legal issues in this matter...."

The letter was also sent to Sherry Jasinski the Village's Freedom of Information Act Clerk and one of the Village's Attorney Sarah Gallagher who once worked in the Attorney General's office.

We filed with the Village a Freedom of Information Act requesting all information about Village Clerk Debbie Williams and her daughter Rosie Williams' trip to Washington D.C. to attend a Summit meeting in July, 2013, including the individuals who helped fund this "personal trip".  The Village refused to provide any information and did not provide any reason for the legal basis of their denial. 

Since the Village did not comply with the law, we filed a Request for Review with the Illinois Attorney General's office in September, 2013.  In March, 2014 the Illinois Attorney General's office issued a "non-binding" determination (CLICK HERE TO VIEW IAG's DETERMINATION LETTER).  We afforded the village a two week period in order to send information and none was provided.

Since the Village refused to provide the information, we filed another FIOA request with the Village in April, 2014.  The Village, through the Village Attorney's office, refused the request but did not provide a legal basis for the denial and claimed one part was "burdensome".  We provided the Village with response to limit the scope to make the request less burdensome and the village failed to respond.  As a result we filed with the Illinois Attorney General's office another Request for Review and asked for a determination since the Village did not comply with the previously issued "non-binding" determination and a subsequent request.

The Attorney General's office sent the Village a letter stating they wanted to know the legal basis as to why they refused to comply with their non-binding determination and provide all of the information to us.  The Village refused to make a formal response to the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

TRAVELGATE 1 YEAR LATER... ATTORNEY GENERAL "REVIEW" CONTINUES!

DEBBIE WILLIAMS

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  One year ago today the Travelgate Scandal broke in Sauk Village!  As calls for an Ethical Investigation were made following Village Clerk Debbie Williams meltdown during a Village Board meeting July 23, 2013.  Williams, her daughter, Village Trustee Rosie Williams and a senior citizen resident, also a village vendor, attended a Building One America Summit in Washington D.C. funded at a cost of a reported $3,000 by parties whom are still unknown today.

Williams reportedly raised funds to finance her trip using the Village’s website and resources and claimed that this was a “personal trip”.

The Village denied a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain information about the trip in 2013, which led to the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office issuing a determination that Williams and the Village must turn over all records with respect to the trip and all financial information about the trip.  The Village refused to comply with the Attorney General’s determination. 

A subsequent request was filed with the Village in order to obtain the same information, and the Village again refused to comply responding once again through their law firm.  Another request to the Illinios Attorney General was made to force the enforcement of their office’s previous determination has been made.

 

In a letter sent to Village officials by the Attorney General, they wanted to know under what law the Village has refused to provide the information as requested in light of the previous decision they made.  The Village refused to respond to the Attorney General's letter or provide any documentation in an official response.

The Attorney General’s office is expected to issue their determination in the next few days, or they may request a 30 day extension in order to issue a binding legal opinion. 

Mayor David Hanks attempted to use an old binding opinion of Rolland Burris, then Illinois Attorney General’s office in order to keep Robert Fox out as Chief of Police back in 2011. 

Political friend ally and Housing Commissioner Chairman Gary Holcomb, who had videoed Village meetings during Lewis Towers administration was allegedly asked not to publish the video by Mayor David Hanks because it may cause embarrassment to Williams and the Village.  Holcomb has not published his video but has published countless hours of videos of Village Board meetings under Lewis Towers unedited.  A complete copy of the audio of the July 23, 2013 meeting was requested under the Freedom of Information Act and sent to the Illinois Attorney General along with the request for review. 

 

EDITORIAL NOTE:  The Sauk Village People Looking for Answers Now (P.L.A.N.) now videos all of the meetings and puts out the unedited videos on their Youtube and Facebook pages as a result of Holcomb's actions so that people know what is going on.

BINDING OPINION REQUESTED OF ATTORNEY GENERAL

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office has determined that "further inquiry" was warranted into the Village's denial of one of our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information regarding Village Clerk Debbie Williams and her daughter Village Trustee Rosie Williams' trip to Washington D.C. back in July, 2013.

The FOIA request originally was a four-part request for information requesting among other things documents regarding the Building One America Summit, including attorney fees for the investigation conducted by the Village's attorney, donations and sponsorships.  The Village denied the request in a letter from the Village Attorney Michael McGrath on August 22nd.

The Attorney's General office responded in their letter stating "We have determined that further inquiry into this matter is necessary to confirm the Village has complied with its obligations under FOIA.  Please provide to this office a written explanation of how the Village searched for responsive records".  McGrath tried to downplay the significance of the letter at a village board meeting stating that these are simply "form letters".

In the request filed with the Attorney's General office the contradictions are pointed out including Debbie Williams stating at a public meeting on July 23 that this was "a personal trip" then later stating that she was asked to represent the Village of Sauk Village.   Debbie Williams also stated at the same meeting "until the Village Attorney tells me I have to provide the information I will not" she said.





The Village also responded to the Attorney General with a generic spreadsheet page showing how much they charged the Village for the investigation that they allegedly conducted into the legality of the Travelgate scandal, however, they did not provide any billing invoices or information which was requested as part of the original FOIA request.

The Attorney General has been seeking that very information that Williams refused to provide as the Village did not state that the information was "exempt".  We have requested that the Illinois Attorney General issue a "binding opinion" and find that the Village violated the Freedom of Information Act because it failed to provide information clearly falling under the public domain for which the Village refused to provide.

The Illinois Attorney General continues their investigation into the matter and we await their findings which are likely to occur after the first of the year.  We will keep you posted on these ongoing matters.

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

 

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