On Tuesday, I received an important call from Councilman Mike Brenner who provided me with a brief update on the status of the Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers.
By way of background, Councilman Brenner is the only member of City Council who responded directly and immediately last year to my brother in response to his letters, on behalf of all HP residents, to the Mayor and the full City Council protesting the fairness and soundness of the Master Plan. For those of us who attended the December 4 meeting at the Public Works building, you may recall that the Mayor indicated a level of surprise about the issues raised by the Ravinia residents. Yet most of those complaints and questions were clearly articulated in my brother's letters to the Mayor and City Council more than a year ago. (Those letters will be posted as soon.)
So, no other City Councilman called my brother to discuss the issues with him, or wrote him a response. The Mayor sent a letter to support the Master Plan in every respect. He did not call to further inquire about the facts or to engage in a discussion. He did remind my brother that the City would place a lien on his home for failure to comply. Except for Councilman Brenner, they all remained staunchly confident that the Master Plan should move forward "as is."
So, we send our thanks to Councilman Brenner who got involved in this subject and was responsive when no others were, and who didn’t need to wait until there were 100 angry residents to see some of the flaws in the Master Plan as illuminated by my brother’s letters. This is what we expect from our Councilmen, regardless of agreement or outcome. Responsiveness and accountability.
This week Councilman Brenner informed me that, at last Monday’s City Council Meeting, the Council decided to place the Master Plan on hold and reassess the issues. He indicated that everyone is now on board (at least they seem to be). We’ll look forward to reviewing the minutes of the meeting. Perhaps those of you who watched and/or attended the meeting would like to share what you heard by adding a comment. Councilmen are welcome, as this blog is for everyone interested in good City governance.
Councilman Brenner also indicated that the City will look into whether to reimburse the citizens who already paid with their personal checks under the Master Plan and what the mechanisms for paying them back might be. Let’s hope that the citizens in the Highlands and Sunset Park - the people who were coerced to pay for City Council's ill conceived scheme - will become active and let their voices be heard.
The City Council’s decision is all because of you – our neighbors in Ravinia. You vociferously objected to a wrong and made yourselves heard about your rights. Bravo, Ravinia neighbors, bravo! You have made a huge difference in the future of our community.
Just don’t stop now…and stay involved, active and vigilant because the Master Plan isn’t exactly dead. You heard at the Public Works meeting last week that the City was returning to Earth Tech to seek answers to the simple questions you asked. Tell the City it is unacceptable to pay this same company to review their own work, especially when it seems that their first report was so lacking in the answers to the questions any homeowner would ask - at least we can base this perspective on inability of the City Manager to answer the questions based on the existing Earth Tech report. The City should hire an independent consultant and not one chosen by our City Manager, David Limardi, who was the major proponent and implementer of this poorly designed and mismanaged Master Plan. The new consultant should be chosen among several viable bidders to review the work done to date and help assess the future with your review and input. (We can note here that we've been told that Performance Pipeline was the only bidder to meet the City Manager's specifications for doing the sewer repairs. Certainly one would expect at least 3 bids for any City project, unless the bid has been designed for a single provider.)
Now that we're not in the crisis mode of homeowners having to shell out $3,500-25,000+ from their personal savings or obtain a new loan, the challenge for us is to not sit back and forget about the Master Plan. Our City Manager and City Hall ignored the voices of many individual homeowners and ignored their valid objections. It seems they listen only when there is an organized group of citizens with enough people to vote as a block against them. Tell the City Manager, the Mayor and our Councilmen that you expect nothing less of them than fundamental respect for HP residents and responsiveness when they have a complaint. Respect and Accountability in the City where character counts!
We also should recognize that stepping back from the Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers is a big, if not historic, step for the Mayor and City Council. While it is difficult to understand how they decided to adopt this plan that was so unsupportable in the first place, and how they managed to ignore the various individual citizens who complained about its inherent unfairness and baseless technical justification, we should acknowledge that they were good enough to stop and think now, and we can thank them for being willing to set another, and hopefully, better course. Thank you to our Mayor and City Council - we look forward to working with you in a constructive manner.
It is a learning experience for all of us.
The Mayor and City Council should confine itself to developing budgets that spend tax dollars, and not your savings.
We, the citizens and residents, need to speak up when something is inherently wrong. We can, and do, make a difference.
And one more thing we should all know by now. The City needs new management. The Mayor and the Councilmen need to be supported by an administration that cares about and respects the residents. Time to speak up. Time for change!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Big, Dirty, Open Secret
It's the big, dirty, and open secret in Highland Park that our City Hall has flown under the radar. Yes, the topic has been on agendas. Yes, the City's plan has been published. Yet, you just didn't know to pay attention because it was never presented to you with the most salient information. And, you can’t afford not to know about it, unless, of course, you have a spare $10,000 or more and you're eager to contribute it to the City’s infrastructure.
It's the "Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers" and if you didn't know about it until now, you'd surely find out much later -- and, unfortunately, when it may be too late to right the wrong, when you'll need to write a check, get a loan or have a lien placed against your home by the City of Highland Park. Sadly for some, they may need to sell their homes as a result of being forced out of Highland Park by the Master Plan.
Still, the issue remains under the radar, even though there was a big meeting about it on December 3, 2008, and, again, on December 4, at the Public Works Building, with about 100+ upset residents there. You haven't heard about it in the Highland Park News, dedicated to publishing all news that City Hall provides. Yet, on one day in mid-November, it made a brief appearance in the Chicago Tribune. We send our thanks to Janice McLeran for "raising a stink" about this.
Among those of us who are now in the know, we were introduced to the Master Plan scheme by opening a shocking letter from the City demanding we write a check and make undefined and unnecessary repairs to our lateral sanitary sewers. We're the people in the Highlands, Sunset Park, and Ravinia neighorhoods. Each neighborhood was hit separately at different times. Divide and conquer. You're next...
Yes, the big surprise of the “Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers” is that you get the bill – a direct invoice to your home. That’s right -- we’re not talking about your taxes paying for improvements to the City of Highland Park’s sewer system. We’re talking about you, personally. You get to open your checkbook twice -- your tax dollars will pay for 20% of the expense of repairing the lateral sanitary lines on your home. You then open the checkbook again to pay the remaining 80% from your savings, the proceeds of a loan, or the City places a lien on your home which could cause the sale of your home, along with your future. City Hall doesn't care where the payment comes from, as long as you're responsible for it.
If you’re thinking there isn't anything wrong with your lateral sanitary line, you're probably wrong. If you ever have your line rodded, the mere existence of those tree roots confirms that your sanitary lateral needs to be lined by a City of HP designated contractor. At least that is what our Public Works Department told us. Like most HP residents living in the Tree City, our home's sanitary line is rodded routinely. The result: we were coerced into paying nearly $5000 after being threatened with the placement of a lien on our home, possibly for 100% of the cost (far more than $5000) unless we agreed to sign various City documents which, at the time, included a requirement to indemnify the contractor and the City for any harm to our property arising from the construction (and we were unable at that time to get requested information about interest or possible foreclosure terms on that lien).
It seems that our City Manager, David Limardi, our Mayor and a majority of City Council came to the conclusion that the City isn’t responsible for its own infrastructure. The fact that the City has grown in density while the storm sewers haven’t been appropriately sized and improved seems to be your personal problem as a homeowner. Clearly, these expenses have not been paid by the developers who have reaped a mighty profit by replacing single family homes with extensive multiple family housing in our fair City.
These expenses fall on you even though your lateral sanitary line may be working fine. City Hall would tell you that your lateral is flooding the City's storm sewers and harming your neighbor. Yet, you know that your lateral isn't flooding anyone. It works fine and services your home. In reality, the perpetrator is the City's storm sewers and the City hasn't even made a dent on its own work in upgrading the storm sewers first.
We know there is a problem with storm sewer management. And, it may be possible that if all of our lateral sanitary lines were repaired there would be less flooding or, at least, less flooding impacted by the sanitary lines (although this assertion remains unclear and unproven by the City). The primary assertion of this blog is that the City should be paying for any infrastructure improvements through the taxes we pay, and from grants, bonds and/or other public funds -- not your checkbook. After all, this is a community-wide issue and the community as a whole needs to be responsible for it. That's why we pay taxes.
It seems that our City leadership is so removed from the realities of living on the North Shore that, not only do they mistakenly think you are supposed to pay for these infrastructure improvements, they think you have this money stashed in your checkbook and are ready to deliver it on demand. The Mayor is proud that, if you can't pay for this from your savings, he has arranged for you take another loan on your property. Consider the effect of taking out another loan on your credit ratings in this rocky or any other economy. Consider what you will not be able to buy for your family. And, for those who can't take on another loan, the Mayor offers another untenable solution -- the City can place a lien on your property. He seems to assume that your mortgage holder won’t mind, that the City won’t charge you interest, and that no foreclosure will ever take place, that you can keep that lien on your property for 50 years. Let's ask Corporation Counsel to share a copy of the City's lien and its terms.
We're working on gathering examples of letters shared between HP residents and the City with regard to the Master Plan.
This first blog entry is to provide some notice of the issues. The Master Plan deserves critical examination in a constructive manner. We hope you will share it with your neighbors. We hope the City will take advantage of the blog to present their point of you. The blog can be a place to start the dialogue. Free and open discourse is an important part of our City's values and our sense of community.
We need to remember that City's Organization Chart places the Citizens of Highland Park at the top of the chart, with Mayor and City Council reporting to us, and the City Manager reporting to the Mayor. As we know with all businesses, it is important to set the proper tone at the top.
To be continued...
It's the "Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers" and if you didn't know about it until now, you'd surely find out much later -- and, unfortunately, when it may be too late to right the wrong, when you'll need to write a check, get a loan or have a lien placed against your home by the City of Highland Park. Sadly for some, they may need to sell their homes as a result of being forced out of Highland Park by the Master Plan.
Still, the issue remains under the radar, even though there was a big meeting about it on December 3, 2008, and, again, on December 4, at the Public Works Building, with about 100+ upset residents there. You haven't heard about it in the Highland Park News, dedicated to publishing all news that City Hall provides. Yet, on one day in mid-November, it made a brief appearance in the Chicago Tribune. We send our thanks to Janice McLeran for "raising a stink" about this.
Among those of us who are now in the know, we were introduced to the Master Plan scheme by opening a shocking letter from the City demanding we write a check and make undefined and unnecessary repairs to our lateral sanitary sewers. We're the people in the Highlands, Sunset Park, and Ravinia neighorhoods. Each neighborhood was hit separately at different times. Divide and conquer. You're next...
Yes, the big surprise of the “Master Plan for Storm and Sanitary Sewers” is that you get the bill – a direct invoice to your home. That’s right -- we’re not talking about your taxes paying for improvements to the City of Highland Park’s sewer system. We’re talking about you, personally. You get to open your checkbook twice -- your tax dollars will pay for 20% of the expense of repairing the lateral sanitary lines on your home. You then open the checkbook again to pay the remaining 80% from your savings, the proceeds of a loan, or the City places a lien on your home which could cause the sale of your home, along with your future. City Hall doesn't care where the payment comes from, as long as you're responsible for it.
If you’re thinking there isn't anything wrong with your lateral sanitary line, you're probably wrong. If you ever have your line rodded, the mere existence of those tree roots confirms that your sanitary lateral needs to be lined by a City of HP designated contractor. At least that is what our Public Works Department told us. Like most HP residents living in the Tree City, our home's sanitary line is rodded routinely. The result: we were coerced into paying nearly $5000 after being threatened with the placement of a lien on our home, possibly for 100% of the cost (far more than $5000) unless we agreed to sign various City documents which, at the time, included a requirement to indemnify the contractor and the City for any harm to our property arising from the construction (and we were unable at that time to get requested information about interest or possible foreclosure terms on that lien).
It seems that our City Manager, David Limardi, our Mayor and a majority of City Council came to the conclusion that the City isn’t responsible for its own infrastructure. The fact that the City has grown in density while the storm sewers haven’t been appropriately sized and improved seems to be your personal problem as a homeowner. Clearly, these expenses have not been paid by the developers who have reaped a mighty profit by replacing single family homes with extensive multiple family housing in our fair City.
These expenses fall on you even though your lateral sanitary line may be working fine. City Hall would tell you that your lateral is flooding the City's storm sewers and harming your neighbor. Yet, you know that your lateral isn't flooding anyone. It works fine and services your home. In reality, the perpetrator is the City's storm sewers and the City hasn't even made a dent on its own work in upgrading the storm sewers first.
We know there is a problem with storm sewer management. And, it may be possible that if all of our lateral sanitary lines were repaired there would be less flooding or, at least, less flooding impacted by the sanitary lines (although this assertion remains unclear and unproven by the City). The primary assertion of this blog is that the City should be paying for any infrastructure improvements through the taxes we pay, and from grants, bonds and/or other public funds -- not your checkbook. After all, this is a community-wide issue and the community as a whole needs to be responsible for it. That's why we pay taxes.
It seems that our City leadership is so removed from the realities of living on the North Shore that, not only do they mistakenly think you are supposed to pay for these infrastructure improvements, they think you have this money stashed in your checkbook and are ready to deliver it on demand. The Mayor is proud that, if you can't pay for this from your savings, he has arranged for you take another loan on your property. Consider the effect of taking out another loan on your credit ratings in this rocky or any other economy. Consider what you will not be able to buy for your family. And, for those who can't take on another loan, the Mayor offers another untenable solution -- the City can place a lien on your property. He seems to assume that your mortgage holder won’t mind, that the City won’t charge you interest, and that no foreclosure will ever take place, that you can keep that lien on your property for 50 years. Let's ask Corporation Counsel to share a copy of the City's lien and its terms.
We're working on gathering examples of letters shared between HP residents and the City with regard to the Master Plan.
This first blog entry is to provide some notice of the issues. The Master Plan deserves critical examination in a constructive manner. We hope you will share it with your neighbors. We hope the City will take advantage of the blog to present their point of you. The blog can be a place to start the dialogue. Free and open discourse is an important part of our City's values and our sense of community.
We need to remember that City's Organization Chart places the Citizens of Highland Park at the top of the chart, with Mayor and City Council reporting to us, and the City Manager reporting to the Mayor. As we know with all businesses, it is important to set the proper tone at the top.
To be continued...
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