A selfless leader for uncertain times

As most of us know, this year has been one of serious economic anxieties, both personal and governmental, and our Village has not been impervious to it.  Foreclosures and short sales are at an all time high, and the number of properties actively for sale in Barrington Hills stands at about ten percent of the total–at values not seen in over a decade.

Not surprisingly, construction activities in the Village have essentially come to a halt, with only four building permits for single-family homes having been issued in the last 22 months.  Concomitantly, revenues from building permits and percolation tests have also dropped significantly in the last five years, from nearly $190,000 in 2007 to about  $79,000 in 2010, and $44,000 for the first nine months of 2011.

It has also been a highly litigious year for the Village, with two major lawsuits that have cost the Village nearly half a million dollars in legal fees.  Legal fees for the firm handling these cases (among others) already exceed $150,000 over the annual budget through the first ten months of this fiscal year.

 This year has also witnessed unprecedented uncertainty regarding the ethics of some of our elected officials.  Three trustees have spent nine months of this year embroiled in multiple complaints against them by the Illinois Board of Elections stemming from campaign contributions and filings.  And, of course, there was the greatly publicized “Schuman” letter issued with our president’s approval, which basically nullified hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees paid with our tax dollars.

The increasing gravity of these circumstances must have weighed heavily on the shoulders of our village leader, Bob Abboud.  Not willing to sit by and ignore this state of affairs, Abboud decided to take preemptive action to calm the situation in the only way he knew how. He had his portrait taken by a professional photographer.  That’s right, our tax dollars were spent on a “glamour shot” of the Village President.

Records obtained by The Observer included two invoices totaling $1,405.60 for a “presidential portrait” ($805.60 in May and $600 in August).  This “portrait” now appears on our Village website, and was used in the most recent Village newsletter, so taxpayers are already benefiting from Abboud’s wise decision to act at just the right time.

Granted, in a village where the annual budget is around $8.5 million dollars, this may not seem like much.  We at The Observer believe this was a highly inappropriate and self-serving use of taxpayer money, emblematic of other bad decisions by Abboud.  If you disagree, just ask one of our police force members whose annual Christmas party was downgraded to a pizza dinner by Abboud this year.  They deserve better.

We can only hope poetic justice will come soon, when Abboud’s “presidential portrait” is hung on the wall of the MacArthur room at Village Hall with the portraits of other former Village presidents.

     – The Observer