Two items that look to be approved this week involve applying for grants for projects through the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.

The application to the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference (DMMC) is for the 2011 Surface Transportation Program (STP) for highway project funding.

In addition, a resolution has been prepared with the Village serving as co-applicant to the DuPage County’s application for STP funds for the construction of a multi-use trail on 31st Street from Highland Avenue to Meyers Road.

Federal funds would pay for 70% of the construction costs, over $619,000 of fiscal help if approved.  Design, engineering, and the remaining 30% would fall on the village.  These projects, if approved, would be designed and built out in 2011 and 2012.  STP funded projects must meet certain criteria.  Upon submission they are reviewed and ranked with other submitted projects throughout the County.  The highest need projects are filled in order of available funds. There is no obligation to proceed with the project if grants are not awarded.

In the past the DMMC STP funds have helped fund and make possible several village projects.  Prairie Avenue’s end-to-end reconstruction is one example where STP funds have helped the village.

On July 6th council took a pass on paying $ $36,776.40 to re-up membership in DMMC.  At that time some on council cited the DMMC as a confrontational entity that served little purpose due to their fighting to keep the DuPage Water Commission from being absorbed into the county via state Senate Bill SB580.  That decision should not affect DMMC’s efforts to advocate for these two projects should they score high enough to be included.

The e-sheets are here.

Upon walking in the front door of Ashton Place on 75^th Street I was greeted by Republican Danny Moustos and Democrat Mark Garrity, each with a handout.

Mark’s was in support of the Illinois Clean Elections Act, which would be a voluntary public funding system available to candidates for state General Assembly and state-wide public offices.  A resolution asking for authorization to include an Advisory Question on the Downers Grove Township election ballots (which also covers all of Downers Grove of course) in November was part of the meeting agenda.  Danny’s handout reminded attendees that ILCS establish that an Annual Town Meeting is to conduct the business of the Township, and that the best way to handle election reform is with a state-wide action, not an action in Downers Grove Township.

I was taken aback by the number of people registering, well over 140+.  I got my red “voting card” from Teresa Cockrell, Township Assessor, who was manning the alphabet group that included T.  She must have cringed when she saw me coming, every time I see her it’s with yet another batch of pestering questions that she has graciously and completely answered -more on that in future posts.  There were handouts for the annual financial report, the vote items for the evening, and last years minutes for approval.

Cub Scout Pack 48 did the color guard honors and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

If all politics are local (they are) and at the village level it’s supposed to be non-partisan (tell that to the D99 BOE), then Township is the most local level where party politics digs the trenches.  The Election of the Moderator for the meeting was the first party line vote event.  Environmental Concerns Commission member Greg Hosa lost the vote to Matt Caruso, who said he was qualified as moderator because he had on a really nice suit, which got some laughs as intended.  A parliamentarian was appointed, as was a Sergeant At Arms, who did the actual vote counting.

There was questioning on the annual budget.  Having combed several years of AFR’s on file with the State Comptroller’s office, I was pretty amazed at the simplicity of the annual report as submitted for approval.  Starting balance, receipts, expenses, ending balance was it for each category.  They should think about simply reprinting the AFR’s the Township files with the state; those reports are much more complete.  On the other hand, given the questions even such a simple summary caused, the Annual Financial Report could have turned into a twelve hour meeting.

The Resolution Authorizing Powers To The Town Board had several criticisms of the lack of language prohibiting the Township from providing any maintenance of religious owned cemeteries.  Even though the Public Graveyards Act prohibit Townships from servicing any private cemeteries outside their area of authority, there was still expressed concern and requested change of language.

Now this all sounds very dry, but there were some sparks as citizens tried to get an answer as to why the Cap/Imp Town Fund being liquidated had different figures in the Resolution and in the Budget.  It seemed that the Resolution dollars didn’t account for any interest accrual.

Big turnout.

The party fireworks were over the Resolution Authorization Of Advisory Question of Public Policy Regarding “Clean Elections”.  When it came to this Illinois Clean Election Act, the trenches were dug in pretty good.  Mike Madigan has run the state for the last six years, and for about 16 years before this last run, and he’s done it with a calculated, ruthless foot on the throat of campaign contributions.  That’s the way Cook County rolls, and Cook County routinely rolls the state.  Do what MM says and you get money; cross him at your own risk.

More than one supporter, Mr. Garrity in particular, spoke up about how wrong that is, and how it chokes off choice, not just within the two parties, but by excluding potential third party candidates.  The Green Party, for example, has fought for years to expand it’s presence with little effect mainly due to lack of funding to get their message out.  Give DuPage Dems credit, they know where their bad eggs are roosting.

At one point, after several Township residents spoke, Bob Grogan “called the question” to end further discussion.  Now, you know how I feel about abuse of Calling the Question, but he did it at the right place and the right time, and Greg Hosa correctly asked for a Division Vote.  According to Robert’s Rules, votes on Calling the Question needs to be a 2/3rds super majority-which 93-41 was a done deal.  Predictably, the motion failed.

Teresa Cockrell said the Town Meeting was about the Township’s business, not the states, and Hilary Denk added that Mayor Sandack had two Public Advisory Questions that reached beyond DG’s borders, so why not DG Township.  Perhaps they should have talked to Mayor Sandack about taking one of the three Public Advisory Questions on the DG ballot.

Three last items: John Sbitek (again. Not sure of the name) asked the T9ownship Board to make audio recordings of the meetings.  Right on, sir.

Another gentleman spoke out against Red Light Cameras for sending over $60,000 dollars from the Westmont camera out of the country.  I have no idea of that dollar amount is true, but it is a fact RedSpeed is owned by Midagi Holding B.V., a Netherlands Holding Company that traces back to Kazakhstan.

Last, Carol Coral (sp) asked for a neutral third party moderator in the future, that would not be voting.

Full disclosure: I’m a GOP precinct committeeman.

• Cards Cast Democratic Party Primary 40,990 7.47%
• Cards Cast Green Party Primary 382 0.07%
• Cards Cast Republican Party Primary 94,559 17.23%

Total primary ballots 135,931  24.77%

County Board District 2 two year term (includes N side of DG)

• D 8.4% of total vote, 19.9% of D Dupage County voters
• R 19% of total vote, 19.5% of R DuPage County voters

County Board District 3 two year term (includes S side of DG)

• D 7.8% of total vote, 17.9% of D Dupage County voters
• R 17.5% of total vote, 17.5% of R DuPage County voters

County Board Race

Carole A. Cheney D winner 33,533 votes

• 81.8% D primary voters
• 6.1% Total DuPage County registered voters

Dan Cronin R winner 42,786 votes

• 45.3% R primary voters
• 7.8% Total DuPage County registered voters

If I see number guru CGrammich post up any analysis I’ll ask if it can be cross posted here.

Data source: DuPage County Election Commission

Social media maven Sarah Evans, who sits on the advisory board of our local Helping Girls Navigate Adolescence organization, recently asked her blog readers and Twitter followers what buzzwords they’d like to whack in 2010.

We all have our personal picks for consignment to the dustbin of overused jargon.  At the end of the day certainly makes my list. So does out of the box, although I’ve repeatedly utilized the term in posts on this blog.

In fact, journalism has a long reputation for overusing hack phrases and my posts are no exception.  It’s  one of my New Year’s resolutions to avoid the temptation to pick the low-hanging fruit of trite and tiresome phrases and inject a little originality into my writing.

But journalists aren’t the only purveyors of jargon. Politicians, with their sound-bites and slogans, also do much to further the proliferation of boring buzzwords. Notice that stakeholder, transparency, organizational, key, community, reaching out and authenticity all make Evans’ list. I’m pretty sure most of them can be found numerous times in the minutes of the village council and other local government bodies.

To those overused words, I might add a few particularly local phrases that some of us would like to hear a lot less often in 2010 — at least until the next round of budget discussions: right-size, core services, tough choices, courageous leadership and the math is the math (alternatively, the math doesn’t lie).

Feel free to offer others — and to slap my hand if I type one of them in the coming year.

“I find this to be my break from things,” said DeProsperis, who is a finance guy by day.  “I enjoy politics, in a smaller municipal fashion, on the side.  It’s my work away from work, and I have the mindset to always be working on something.

“I enjoy entrepreneurial things and taking on projects, which is why I started the site,” he said. “I want Downers to grow and flourish just like the next person, so I’ll continue to reinvent it as well.”

Carole A. Cheney of  Aurora was the sole Democratic Party filer for County Board Chairman.  The Republican field has four primary contenders:

• Dan Cronin of Elmhurst, State Senator from District 21.
• Gary Grasso of Burr Ridge, Mayor of Burr Ridge.
• Debra L. Olson of Wheaton, County Board member District 4.
• Carole Pankau of Itasca, State Senator from District 23.

District 2, which includes Downers Grove roughly north of  Maple Avenue has one 2 yr. term.  Filers include:

• Catherine D. Sewell (D) of Villa Park
• Jeff Redick (R-Incumbent) from Elmhurst
• Mary Wuttke Kranz (R) of Woodridge

District 3 includes the south half of Downers Grove, for one 2 year term:

• Greg Abbott (R) of Woodridge
• Dennis Brennan (R) of Hinsdale
• Brian Krajewski (R) of Downers Grove
• Karol Sole (D) of Westmont

Right of the bat it’s going to be more cost efficient for the Democratic Party candidates who will not have to run what amounts to a year-long campaign.

Have at it. Use this thread to discuss your current local concerns until I can put up a new post later today.

Former D99 Board of Education member and Downers Grove attorney Craig H. Greenwood received a nine-month suspension from practicing law for mismanaging funds held in an escrow account, neglecting client matters, and failing to cooperate during the ensuing investigation conducted by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court. The suspension begins Oct. 13.

Greenwood was a 2005 Downers Grove Community Advocates-backed candidate for D99 along with slate-mates Julia Kennedy Beckman, Terry Pavesich and Allyn Barnett.  Beginning in 2008, Greenwood missed several meetings due to poor health, leading to his decision not to run again in 2009.

Greenwood was accused of  14 violations stated in the Nature of the Case.

On January 16, 2007, the administrator filed a three-count complaint against Greenwood, followed on March 22, 2007, by a five-count amended complaint.  The administrator alleged that respondent Greenwood converted client funds, failed to provide competent representation, neglected client matters, failed to return unearned fees, and failed to respond to a lawful demand for information from the administrator.

Greenwood filed an answer to the amended complaint, admitting some of the factual allegations, denying some of the factual allegations, and denying all allegations of misconduct.

Hearings on the matter were held on June 5, October 14, and 15, 2008, at the Chicago offices of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The ARDC filed its report on April 13, 2009 , recommending he be suspended from the practice of law for nine months.

Six witnesses testified against him about alleged problems relating to integrity, truthfulness, and timeliness beginning in 2003 and continuing through 2006.

Three witnesses testified for Greenwood, including:

Megan Schroeder: “Meghan (sic) Schroeder is a member of the District 99 School Board. Respondent is also a member of the School Board. (Tr. 277-78). She has known Respondent since 2002 and knows others in the community who know him. She opined that Respondent has a very good reputation for honesty, integrity and truthfulness.”

and Julia Kennedy Beckman: “Julia Beckman is also a member of the School Board and has known Respondent since 1993. (Tr. 282-83). Beckman believes that Respondent has a very good reputation in the community for honesty and integrity.”

Greenwood stated during the hearings that “he also provides the School Board with pro bono legal advice and monitors litigation involving the board.”

Greenwood, along with supporting testimony from Schroeder and Beckman, also testified to his own poor health.  Greenwood said he suffered a stroke in 2004.

On May 2, 2009, the final D99 board meeting of his term (a meeting Greenwood missed), Beckman noted prior to adjournment Sine Die that due to Craig Greenwood’s poor health, he had been unable to attend the last few meetings and was unable to run for another term.

M.R.23153 – In re: Craig Homer Greenwood.     (September 22, 2009)

Disciplinary Commission.

The motion by the Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission to approve and confirm the report and recommendation of the Hearing Board is allowed, and respondent Craig Homer Greenwood is suspended from the practice of law for nine (9) months.

Suspension effective October 13, 2009.

Respondent Craig Homer Greenwood shall reimburse the Client Protection Program Trust Fund for any Client Protection payments arising from his conduct prior to the termination of the period of suspension.

Order entered by the Court.

You can read the full ARD Synopsis of Hearing Board Report and Recommendation here.

On average, 236 of the approximately 5,900 investigations docketed each year result in the filing of formal charges because the investigation produced evidence of serious misconduct.

Failure to cooperate in the investigative stages of a case is a separate ethical offense which can and often does lead to additional discipline.

The Client Protection Trust Fund reimburses claimants who have suffered losses caused by the dishonest conduct of a disciplined attorney. Awards may be made in an amount up to $50,000 per claim and up to $500,000 per attorney.  Greenwood must reimburse the Fund prior to the termination of his suspension.

Greenwood was also investigated and censured by the Illinois Supreme Court June 25, 1992, for violations beginning in 1983.

No longer in the house...

Readers have probably noticed 99 Supt. Mark McDonald being kind of a calm polite center as the Board of Education’s various storms swirl around.  The guy is imperturbable as near as I can tell.  Efficient too.

He made a point of letting DGreport know that officials of the Downers Grove Township Democratic Party contacted D99 to acknowledge the error and apologize for inadvertently leaving political materials on school property. The District sent a letter to the DGTD Organization asking them to be vigilant about collecting their materials after meetings.

Administration officials have instructed the custodial staff member assigned to the admin building to collect any materials left behind by groups using the Administrative Services Center rooms and dispose of them—or contact the organization to return and pick them up.

After last night's D99 BOE meeting I noticed something...

Not positive, but pretty sure it is NOT okay to have Downers Grove Township Democratic Party handout flyers at a non-partisan school board meeting. Or even just hanging around on school property. I passed this on to Supt. Mark McDonald. Board President Julia Kennedy Beckman and Board Member Megan Schroeder are active in the DGTD.

The State Officials and Employee Ethics Act, 5 ILCS 430/1 et seq makes clear no board member or employee may intentionally use any district property or resources in connection with any political activity. The Illinois Council of School Attorneys have specifically vetted that point.