I was really torn on where to post this, as many of you know I run the 2015 Midlothian Elections page. However, I dont think I am alone in struggling where to post what content so that the right people end up viewing a message of some type. For me, my taking videos has never been about making sure a specific demographic had access to the content any more specifically than the individuals who have interest in the Village of Midlothian. My agenda has always been focused on ensuring two things happened: 1. The Village Board and other local government officials in Midlothian ceased operating on the assumption that: a. Absence of attendance was a clear and undeniable signal that all is well and good with the day-to-day operations, and; b. Absence of attendance was a clear and undeniable signal that no one had any care or concern about the health and welfare of the Village and subsequently any complaints or concerns were clearly the problem of an individual being stupid or ignorant and worthy of nothing less than a legal designation of nuisance and all that comes with such a legal term. 2. To contribute at least one piece of evidence able to move Midlothian at least one step away from the decades of the literal he said/she said assaults upon both citizens AND government officials. While many apparently have caught hold of my Kaufman clip (last I heard, the view count was somewhere in the tens of thousands), I ask of you to embrace the larger picture that Midlothian is facing as a community, which is the continued legal, moral and ethical transpiring right before our eyes...and being viewed by people far beyond our pen-drawn boundaries. Certainly this special edition video holds evidence of Kaufmans statement, but there is more that happened at Wednesdays meeting that forced all of us into an even darker place than we could have imagined. First, it is my understanding that the only way to move an item on the agenda is to first request a motion to move the item to its new position and that once that motion is passed, then you go ahead and proceed with the moved item. The Executive Session was scheduled for the end of the meeting and while a motion was made to adjourn to the Executive Session, there was no motion to move the item up to the position it was placed in. Part of why this rule is in place is to prevent arbitrary cherry-picking of items on the agenda being based on the flow of the meeting, which is why the movement of an agenda item calls for board approval first. Next, some of you will remember a few months ago when we were demanding explanation and articulation of where the $24 million dollars of bond money went and whether or not the water tower would ever be built. We were assured that despite a slight short-fall, there was sufficient money to pay for such a tower and that this tower was to be included in any development plans of 147th and Cicero. At this past meeting, Tom Walsh brought forth plans to develop 147th and Cicero into a Ricky Rockets Fuel Center and the look of shock and irritation(?) on the Mayors face when I asked about the water tower only hints at what troubles continue to lurk around every corner of our existence. Immediately she said it would have to be relocated, which unto itself is quite disturbing. Apparently she already had made up her mind to not expect...or even ask the developer to include the water tower in his plans? And yet the water tower is not the only trouble that our Village is facing. It is my understanding that Mayor Rybak had no authority to remove an item from the agenda by simply saying she was putting it aside and that instead it should have been put forth with the request for it to be tabled until the next meeting. This is what happened with the Safespeed contract for red-light cameras on the council of an attorney that was approved to act as attorney for the Village for a 30 day temporary period. While it is my understanding every time his bill is paid this represents tacit approval of the board, but it continues to be stunning that the attorney has not brought up the fact that he never had his 30 day trial period formally extended. Considering Schavone deferred his comments during his portion of the meeting regarding this matter until Rybak brought it up, it is an extra worry about what exactly is going on with this particular contract for even more tools for law enforcement to levy fines against people traveling around Midlothian. But here is what concerns me the greatest out of last nights meeting. The last item on the agenda was listed as a re-zoning topic. When you listen to Mayor Rybak talk about, she lackadaisically threw it around, basically saying that the matter was whatever the board members wanted it to be. I combed through the Municipal Code Book and from what I understand, while there may be a mechanism to issue a special use permit, there should have been a public hearing on the matter, which clearly was never held. Schavone went on record as saying the topic was discussed at the most recent zoning meeting and while the petitioner was present at Wednesdays meeting, the board should have never been allowed to approve anything but what was listed on the agenda, which would have been a motion to approve a re-zoning of 14827 Cicero Avenue...not modifying the item to become the passing of a special use permit that may or may not exist in a legal sense. I dont even know if this version of the meeting will be playable as I have never done anything but download the raw footage and then post it to YouTube, but I needed to make it look like footage that I once used to produce for another municipality, complete with subtitles for each and every item on the agenda. As I mentioned, I certainly snuck some sleep into this particular effort, but what frustrates me the most out of all of this is that Comcast was obligated to provide the Village recording equipment years ago...you pay a fee on your bill to cover the costs of a Community Access station...and that had the Village had the equipment in place at the meeting, this final product I managed to produce after 9 hours of work would have been completed during the meeting and ready for broadcast right away...assuming you didnt already watch it on your television while it was being broadcast live. I cannot help but think that there is something far more serious lurking behind the motives of Rybak, Kohlstedt and Gleason for continuing to produce meetings that continue to create legal liabilities for the Village. For what its worth, when Rybak first took office, I asked of her to call in Sheriff Darts office, which she apparently never did. I showed her documents from McGrath and others demonstrating the length and degree her predecessors were willing to go to illegally obstruct my seeing the municipal code book and I assure you, that should have been enough motive. Sadly it was not. Now it is to the point where it wouldnt matter if she called for his help because she is now the source of too many legal matters to list in this one post...as is Kohlstedt and Gleason. I have posted a sliver of them, but each and every meeting there has been at least one legal issue generated during and/or after the meeting, especially her admitting she is the one who was the composer of the meeting minutes up until the December 10, 2014 meeting, let alone the $100,000 grant money that she apparently spent without board approval...as there remains no evidence in the meeting minutes of such approval for the capital improvements to Village property, including the painting of the outside of Village Hall a color that apparently no one is happy with and quite frankly, was a job poorly done. So please understand that I held back the release of this video for no other reason than wanting those interested in the content to see what we all should have been getting out of the Village for years. I knew I could get it done and it just took a little longer than I had hoped. I also knew how important the topic of Biko was, which is why I made sure at least that one statement made it out to everyone so that there would be no he said/she said battles over what Kaufman did...or did not...say. I still owe everyone the Park District board meeting from tonight, but I also need to play catch-up so perhaps you once again will forgive me for the slight delay in the release of that material... May Midlothian become more United than ever as we navigate our way through perhaps the toughest issues we have ever chosen to take on. I remain faith-filled that the bulk of us have the character and courage to build Midlothian into something all those who follow can be proud of being a part of. youtu.be/wxR_qbH9L_o
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 06:52:44 +0000
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