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Archive for the ‘LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment’ Category

April Flashbacks

Posted in BACOG, Commercial Horse Boarding, Cook, County, Elections 2011, FPDCC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, OP/Ed, Politics, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Save 5 Acres, VBHPD, Village Code, Village Government, Zoning Board on April 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of April in recent years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

$200,000 spent in Barrington Hills on election – 2011

More than $200,000 was spent by candidates for Barrington Hills Village Board in the April 5 election, compared to less than $5,000 for board seats in Barrington, where the population is almost three times greater.

But it’s not the number of potential voters that dictates spending, candidates say, but the issues and how contentious the campaign becomes.

Read the original TribLocal article here.

New Barrington Hills trustees hope to heal rift – 2011

Newly elected Barrington Hills trustees are hoping to put recent political divisions in the village behind them in a new spirit of cooperation.

But first, the winning candidates from the Save 5 Acres slate still have at least one more area of contention to resolve: an April 19 hearing before the State Board of Elections over their admitted violation of a new campaign finance law.

Read the original Daily Herald report here.

Village Police schedule “Home Security Informational Meeting” – 2012

VBHPDThe Barrington Hills Police Department has scheduled a “Home Security Informational Meeting” at 6:00 PM this Thursday, April 19, at Village Hall.  According to a prerecorded message phoned to residents, the topics of the meeting are recent burglaries and “ruse” burglaries in the Village as well as current crime trends including identity theft scams.  The message further advised residents to lock all doors and windows and enable home security systems when leaving their homes.

Editorial note: As we recall, this meeting was well attended and well received by residents three years ago.  Perhaps the Village should consider holding another such meeting in the near future.

Voter turnout varied greatly in Northwest suburbs – 2013

While voter turnout in suburban Cook County on Tuesday averaged 18.9 percent, it ranged from a high of 56.7 percent in McCook to a low of 3.8 percent in Elk Grove Village, Cook County Clerk David Orr said Thursday.

The strongest turnout in the Northwest suburbs was 26.3 percent in the Cook County part of Barrington Hills, where the incumbent village president was turned out of office.

More of the Daily Herald report on local voter turnouts in 2013 can be viewed here.

Offer BACOG a fair lease price – 2014

BACOG Sign 1For nearly two years now, Barrington Hills has provided virtually no-cost office space to the Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG).  The current two-year lease will expire on June 30, and last month, our Village Board began discussing terms of a potential two-year renewal of the lease of 220 square feet of office space in Village Hall.

During their April meeting, the four Village Board members who were present were informed via a memo from Trustee Harrington, who was not present at the meeting, that the going rate for local office space ranged from $12-25 per square foot of office space per year.  Trustee Harrington’s recommendation for approval was at the minimum of the scale at $12 per square foot.

Read the full Observer editorial here.

Appellate court decision sends local commercial horse boarding complaint back to lower court for further proceedings – 2014

In the latest chapter of what is becoming a longstanding saga of a dispute between neighbors regarding commercial horse boarding operations within the Village, last month an Illinois appellate court reversed a decision made by the circuit court and remanded the matter for further proceedings before that court.

Read more of The Observer article here.

Cook forest preserve closer to taking over Horizon Farms – 2014

CCFP Horizon - CopyA Cook County judge’s ruling Wednesday put the Forest Preserve District of Cook County one step closer to taking over the 400-acre Barrington Hills horse farm and estate known as Horizon Farms.

Judge Thomas R. Allen ruled against the four plaintiffs, Horizon Farms owners Richard Kirk Cannon and Meryl Squires Cannons and Todd Baker and Wanda Dziopek, both of Chicago, who claimed the forest preserve district unlawfully inserted itself in a foreclosure action involving one of the largest privately held properties in Cook County. They claimed the district spent $14.5 million in public funds to acquire an interest in Horizon Farms from BMO Harris Bank, which initiated foreclosure proceedings against the Cannons in 2009 after they failed to repay a $14.5 million loan.

Read the full Daily Herald article here.

–     The Observer

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Croll, Maison and Cecola for Barrington Hills Trustees

Posted in 2015 Elections, BACT, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, Ethics, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Pension Funding, Politics, Real Estate, Road construction, SOS Party, Taxes, Village Board, Village Code on April 6, 2015| 1 Comment »

TheObserverEblast1.1

Tomorrow, Barrington Hills residents who have not already voted will head to their polling places to decide which three candidates from a field of six will be elected to serve a four-year term on our Village Board of Trustees.

The three candidates running as the SOS Party have advised, “Don’t be deceived” in their aggressive, well-financed campaign in order to retain a majority of partisan votes on our Board.

Yet we’ve found little truth in their campaign that has been strewn with documented deception, and we believe most residents recognize their desperate politicking as their only way to attempt to win, since they cannot run on their records.

In sharp contrast, three candidates running as One Barrington Hills have taken a more pragmatic approach in their campaign, rising above the fray in addressing relevant issues that residents recognize as important for the future of our Village.  Areas such as correcting a significant road resurfacing backlog, heightened fiscal responsibility and continued protection of the Barrington Hills heritage are at the forefront of their plans for our future.

After contrasting the style and genuineness of these two campaigns and the qualifications of the candidates, The Observer endorses the following candidates:

Bryan Croll:  Croll is a native of Barrington Hills with a degree in Environmental Science, including a concentration in hydrology, and an MBA in finance from Georgetown.  Bryan’s practical business experience in land use and the environment makes him an ideal Trustee candidate to work with our Zoning Board of Appeals.

Michelle Nagy Maison:  Maison also grew up in the Village, and has a business degree as well as a JD from DePaul University.  Her experience from working for Arthur Andersen in their legal tax practice as well as managing two small businesses in her career will serve our Village well as the Trustee managing our finances.

Brian Cecola: Cecola is a lifelong resident of the Barrington area who served our community for 14 years as a firefighter with the BCFPD after studying Criminal Justice at SIU.  He then launched a small road maintenance business that quickly grew, and he has the critical knowledge necessary to fix the issues that plague our Village roads as Trustee overseeing Roads & Bridges from his business experience.

OBH EndorsementWe’re confident these three highly accomplished candidates can move our Village from the political mire we find ourselves in, and return it to the reputation that Barrington Hills was once known for – fair, equal, and uncompromised representation.  We also believe these three will return civility to our Board and to our community, which is what we all want for the wellbeing of our Village.

Polls are open from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM tomorrow.  Please vote!

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Too many signs

Posted in 2015 Elections, Bicyclists, Cell Towers, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, Ethics, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Disconnection, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Legal Expenses, Lighting Ordinance, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Road construction, Sears, SOS Party, Taxes, Village Board, Village Government on April 3, 2015| 12 Comments »

Too Many SignsThere are too many signs in Barrington Hills.  Drive down most roads, and it will be obvious.  Too many election signs.  One next to the other and then another and another.  What’s worse than that?  There are too many “for sale” signs.  They signal a broad sense of dissatisfaction and a desire to get out.  This may or may not be true, but the signs say to the world and to us that we are in trouble.

The truth is that it has become far too noisy in Barrington Hills.  The noise comes not from the sounds of traffic or congestion but from one group of voices trying to drown out the other.  And we are all to blame, including this publication.

There are too many blogs and political parties.  Their names are an allegory for something that has been lost or diminished:  “Save Horse Boarding in Barrington Hills,” “Don’t Change Barrington Hills,” “Save Open Space,” and “Preserve Barrington Hills.”  But what have we really lost?

There have been too many lawsuits:  Iatarola, Duda, Sears, LeCompte 1, LeCompte 2, and now a fresh lawsuit challenging the Village’s handling of its own horse boarding laws.  These lawsuits are also a sign that we have lost control of our problems and now must ask faraway judges, strangers to our Village, to decide what we were unable to resolve ourselves.

We talk too much about lawyers and legal fees and government investigations.  We have had too many controversies:  cell phone towers; exterior lighting (remember the HALO signs?); horse boarding; bike lanes; disconnection; 911.  The list and the signs go on and on.

There have been too many headlines portraying our small Village as the epicenter of wealthy-folks’ petulant controversies:  “Horse feud splitting Barrington Hills”; “Residents, cyclists feud over Barrington Hills roads”; “AG’s office reviews ex-mayor’s Barrington Hills appointments”; “Appellate court sides with Barrington Hills police officers.”

Of course we would be remiss or (worse) hypocritical if we did not recognize that these pages too, within the Barrington Hills Observer, have added to the “noise.”  If only by necessity, we have editorialized and perhaps sometimes heightened the public debate on controversial local political topics and public figures.

We spend too much money on trustee campaigns; we stuff mailboxes with too many mailers; there are too many political coffees (and too few social ones); and too many articles about all of them.  And, while we could never be critical of public participation in government, the reality is that our Village Board meetings are too well attended because they are filled with so much drama.  We’ve become a rival to reality television, including the expletives.

Now back to the question.  What have we lost?  The answer is that we have lost peace and a commitment to the public and private service of our neighbors.  We have taken the noise to a level that cannot be sustained and it is time to back down.  If not, what’s next?  More signs.  More lawsuits.  More lawyers and lawyer fees.  More mailers.  And, regrettably and not coincidentally, more “for sale” signs.  We have written before on the need to restore peace to Barrington Hills, (Read “Why Barrington Hills must change”). It is equally or more true today.

On April 7th, next Tuesday, we will have an opportunity as a Village to restore peace to Barrington Hills at the ballot box and, one can only hope, to usher in a new era of public and private service of our neighbors.  Our roads and budgets and zoning laws need repair.  For those jobs we need trustees who will be devoted to public service and unity.   We need residents who possess the skills needed to fix our broken roads, budgets and zoning laws, not noisemakers.

The Observer will publish its endorsements on Monday.  Suffice it to say we will not be endorsing the candidates whose names have been synonymous with the noise that now covers the Village like a blanket.

It is time to reflect and to reduce the “signs” of trouble in our Village.

–     The Observer

 

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“Don’t be deceived” – Part Three

Posted in 2015 Elections, BACT, BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, Elections 2011, Ethics, Kane, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Resident Surveys, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on March 28, 2015| 5 Comments »

lies4Most residents who have paid even a little attention to our Village government over the last few years recognize we have some ethical issues with certain members of our Village Board.  Two of those current members, and a newcomer, are running as the SOS Party, and so far, their campaign has focused mainly on distorting facts in various media, yet they advise residents to not be deceived.

Part three of our series, “Don’t be deceived,” continues with more distortions spread by the SOS party as follows:

SOS Spin:  “Kalaway Cup Polo Event Killed in Barrington Hills.”

Reality:  This is likely the most cockamamie campaign stunt ever pulled in the history of Barrington Hills politics, and why has SOS consistently called this event by its incorrect name?  It’s been the ”LeCompte Kalaway Cup” for some time now, so why is SOS omitting the name of the host of the event?

SOS political campaign committeeman and Polo Club President John Rosene’s application for a renewed special use permit for the event is on the Village Board’s agenda for a vote at Monday night’s meeting.  Assuming at least four of the five “Save 5 Acres” Trustees use their block voting power, the permit will be granted two weeks after it was declared “dead” by the SOS spin masters, and we can expect another mass campaign announcement the following day.

SOS Spin:  “According to the 2014 Village Survey, 64.1 percent of residents responding believe that ‘Equestrian Boarding’ in Barrington Hills helps to ‘protect open space and maintain large land parcels.’”

“’I think it’s important for all residents to read this survey report,’ states Mary Naumann.”

Reality:  Clearly SOS candidate Mary Naumann didn’t read the complete survey.  If she had, she’d recognize the fact that the numbers were stacked by people taking the survey multiple times, and many non-residents from anywhere in the world could have taken it.

What SOS candidates fail to mention is, according to the survey, 57.8 percent of respondents stated they own horses.  Since this percentage is highly inflated (by a factor of roughly 3 times), unfortunately all the data in the report is suspect, despite Village Hall staff’s best efforts to accurately gather data from residents.  A copy of the 2014 survey report, which the SOS Party neglected to provide to residents, can be viewed here.

SOS Spin:  (One Barrington Hills candidates will) “Use eminent domain to widen roads, install bike lanes and make our village more developer-friendly”

Reality:  SOS candidate Patty Meroni is already using eminent domain for the Cuba Road Bridge project robbing adjacent landowners of property in exchange for funding.  Had her proposal to the McHenry County Council of Governments for funding Haegers Bend roadwork succeeded in 2012, eminent domain would have taken acres of property from homeowners.

One Barrington Hills candidates Bryan Croll, Michelle Nagy Maison and Brian Cecola, have made it abundantly clear they are against bike lanes, and in favor of Heritage Corridors to protect against road widening for any purpose.  In fact, Brian Croll is seated on the Board of Directors of the Barrington Area Conservation Trust, which has made establishment of Heritage Corridors within the Village a top priority, so the SOS allegations are false.

SOS Spin:  “Our opponents have not stated their position on feathering and have received campaign donations from pro-development contributors.”

Reality:  One Barrington Hills candidates solidly support land conservation and will protect five-acre zoning. Period.  Sadly over the last few election cycles, SOS (and Save 5 Acres before them) has made a habit of unfounded fear-mongering and false accusations about any opponent being less committed than they are to preserving the minimum lot sizes that everyone supports.

As for the ridiculous allegation that “pro-development” contributors are funding the One Barrington Hills campaign, a simple study of State Board of Elections filings proves this to be another falsehood. 

Frankly, we don’t understand why they would even raise this as an “issue”, since the largest single contributor to the SOS campaign ($10,800) and members of his family sit on the board of the organization that purchased the “Duda Property” in 2014 (most of which is adjacent to Barrington Hills in unincorporated McHenry County).

SOS Spin:  (SOS candidate Meroni) Longmeadow Parkway Project: Informed residents; coordinated communication between residents and Kane County engineers; held meetings to work for resolution on critical issues impacting residents.

Reality:  SOS candidate Patty Meroni only spoke of the Longmeadow Parkway project once progress was announced in the press, (and on this website), when she had no alternative. 

The Observer has provided press updates on the project dating back to January of 2013.  Yet Meroni fails to mention that, until December 2013, she expressed no knowledge of the timeline or progression of Longmeadow, despite the fact that former President Abboud had signed a resolution of support for the project back in 2006.  If Barrington Hills had taken an active role in the ongoing planning for Longmeadow Bridge, perhaps we could have eliminated any routing through the village completely.

The initial meetings with residents she references were by invitation only, and not posted to the Village Calendar.  It was only after she was pressured did she announce Longmeadow meetings for all interested residents to attend.  This is hardly being proactive, and once again, residents will lose parts or all of their properties as a result of her tenure as Roads & Bridges chairperson.

Part four of this series continues soon in the Barrington Hills Observer.     

    

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Zoning, land issues divide Barrington Hills Village Board candidates

Posted in 2015 Elections, BH Polo Club, Building Department, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, SOS Party, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on March 27, 2015| 2 Comments »

2015 ElectionsRules governing the commercial boarding of horses in recent years have divided Barrington Hills and helped fuel the six-way race for Village Board.

The controversy has pitted neighbor against neighbor and prompted an ongoing private lawsuit. An attempt by the Village Board to change zoning rules to resolve the issue was not only vetoed by Village President Martin McLaughlin, but also prompted him to hire special legal counsel to investigate the five trustees who voted to change the boarding regulations.

Bringing an end to a worsening relationship between village leaders and residents weighs greatly on the candidates. Incumbents Karen Selman and Patty Meroni, and newcomers Mary Naumann, Bryan Croll, Michelle Nagy Maison and Brian Cecola, are running for three open seats.

Read more from the Northwest Herald here, and be sure to click on the candidates highlighted names above and in the article to read their profiles.

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“Don’t Be Deceived” – Part One

Posted in 2015 Elections, BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, Ethics, Financial Reports, Horse Boarding, IAA, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, SOS Party, Taxes on March 26, 2015| 9 Comments »

Half TruthThe direct mail campaign so far by the SOS Party includes a catchphrase intended to lure votes from less informed residents of Barrington Hills in the April 7th election.  Their advice to those voters is, “Don’t be deceived,” as though others in the Village aren’t as genuine as they pretend to be, casting aspersions upon the One Barrington Hills candidates Bryan Croll, Michelle Nagy Maison and Brian Cecola, as well as our current Village President.

The truth is that many informed residents find their use of that catchphrase to be extremely disingenuous since the SOS mailings, website and Facebook page are littered with half-truths and, in some cases, blatant misrepresentations of the facts in this election.

In fact, there are so many distortions of reality in their various campaign communications that we’ll need to publish them in a multi-part series beginning today with part one.  What is even more disturbing, however, is that the SOS candidates may actually believe what they wrote (or approved for publication) is the truth.

Here’s Part One of SOS campaign deceits:

SOS Spin:  “Save Open Space candidates have no hidden agendas.”

Reality:  Patty Meroni and Karen Selman have consistently practiced special interest agenda-based, block voting on the Village Board since they were elected.  The bulk of their massive campaign donations have come from members of the largest quasi-political action committee in the Village, The Riding Club, which appears to set the SOS agenda, hidden or not.

The recently passed and fast-tracked LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse Boarding Amendment favoring one boarding operation in particular is a prime example of their agenda-based voting.  As a result, Barrington Hills now faces a lawsuit that cites actions by Meroni and Selman.  

SOS Spin:  “(Selman) structured and managed $8.4 million annual village budget.”

Reality:  Every year, each member of the Board of Trustees submits the proposed budget for their assigned committee to the Village Treasurer, who then works with the Village President to structure the budget.  The Village Treasurer manages and reports expenses versus revenues and provides reports to the Board, which Selman presents each month for approval.

SOS Spin:  “(Naumann and supporters) collected nearly 600 signatures against (Meroni’s) bike plan”

Reality:  Mary Naumann did present nearly 600 signatures, however many were double or triple counted, as a result of multiple versions of petitions being circulated.  One very telling petition version pertained to keeping the traffic island at Haegers Bend and Spring Creek, which Patty Meroni on her own apparent authority offered to remove at a May 2013 McHenry County Council of Mayors meeting.

SOS Spin:  “(Meroni) actively opposed construction of environmentally hazardous East Dundee auto reclamation site atop aquifer adjacent to Pond Gate subdivision.

Reality: Meroni’s attendance at East Dundee village meetings did little, if anything, to positively sway East Dundee to modify IAA’s construction plans.  Almost immediately after he was elected, President McLaughlin exercised diplomacy to work on mitigation for the neighboring residents, and obtained safeguards to their and others’ water supply.

SOS Spin: “(President McLaughlin) abandoned the residents of Pond Gate after promising to help prevent or mitigate a sure-to-pollute auto-dismantling site planned in East Dundee.”

Reality: President McLaughlin dove head first into what had been a mismanaged situation regarding IAA’s proposed facility.  Working with IAA management, he secured their agreement to line the retention pond to protect the aquifers.  Additionally, IAA agreed to reduce operating hours on weekdays, and weekends, restrict lighting at the facility, equip all machinery with state-of-the art “white noise” backup signals for sound suppression, and restrict car-carrying trucks from using Penny Road.

The Village of East Dundee also offered to install a fire hydrant in close proximity to the Pond Gate subdivision, as well as provide snow plowing and road resurfacing of Pond Gate’s private roadways.  This is hardly what any rational person could consider “abandonment” of these residents.

Look for part two in this “Don’t be deceived” series in tomorrow’s Barrington Hills Observer.

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March Flashbacks Special Edition

Posted in 2015 Elections, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Elections 2011, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, OMA, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Village Code on March 20, 2015| 4 Comments »

Friday FlashbackFor nearly three years we’ve published a monthly feature titled “Flashbacks” that features news articles and editorials for the month dating back to December of 2009 when this site was first launched.  The inaugural issue of Flashbacks published in April of 2012 included a quote from George Santayana who wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

With that in mind, today’s edition of March Flashbacks will focus on the year 2011, when two incumbent Trustees, Patty Meroni and Karen Selman, were running for their first term in office as Save 5 Acres candidates.

Ethics complaint filed against Barrington Hills slate – March 15, 2011

A slate of Barrington Hills village board candidates and a purported financial backer are facing claims they violated recently enacted campaign disclosure laws.

A closed hearing on the complaint against the “Save 5 Acres” candidates — incumbent Joseph Messer, current Village Clerk Karen Selman and Patty Meroni — will be heard before the State Board of Elections in Chicago Friday morning.

Read the Daily Herald story here.

Update: Hearings ordered on campaign complaints – March 18, 2011

The state board of elections agreed this week there was “justifiable grounds” to hold public hearings on two complaints filed against the Save 5 Acres slate of candidates for the Barrington Hills Village Board, a spokesman said.

The latest hearing focused on allegations that the three candidates, Karen Selman, who is village clerk, Trustee Joe Messer, and Patty Meroni each received $5,000 from the same donor and deposited the checks in their own accounts instead of the campaign account. When the money later went into the election account, it appeared to be personal contributions, the complaint said.

The donor was said to be Barry LeCompte, owner of Oakwood Farms of Barrington, L.L.C, 350 Bateman Road, a commercial horse boarding operation and site of polo matches.

The full TribLocal article can be read here.

Save 5 Acres slate defends village governance – March 22, 2011

The trio, Trustee Joe Messer, Village Clerk Karen Selman and Patty Meroni, have the backing of village president Robert Abboud and say their priorities center on maintaining the town’s distinct culture, which stems from the minimum five-acre zoning.

Selman and Meroni declined on Sunday to comment about a complaint that contributions to their campaigns violated a state financial disclosure law that took effect Jan. 1. The state election board is looking at allegations that the three slate members each accepted $5,000 donations from the owner of a horse boarding facility but funneled them through personal checking accounts before depositing them in a campaign account. That gave the appearance that the donations were personal, according to the complaint.

Selman, who’s been village clerk for two years, said the candidates will issue a press release on the matter.  [Editorial note: No press release was ever issued that we’ve witnessed]

Read the complete TribLocal article here.

Candidates claim no deception with donations – March 29, 2011

Members of the Save 5 Acres slate of candidates for Barrington Hills Village Board testified Tuesday at a state election board hearing in Chicago that no deception was intended with donations to their campaigns.

The three-hour hearing was adjourned, with no new date set, because the clerk said to be responsible for filing the campaign paperwork was in Florida. No ruling on the complaint that certain donations sidestepped legal limits is likely before the April 5 municipal election.

Read the full article here.

Additional articles related to the Save 5 Acres campaign committee’s State Board of Elections hearings can be viewed in our March, 2011, archives by clicking here.

A copy of the State Board’s final report on Trustees Patty Meroni and Karen Selman’s campaign finance disclosure reporting, issued well after the April 2011 Village elections, can be downloaded here.

–     The Observer

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Polo politicking – SOS Party style

Posted in 2015 Elections, BH Polo Club, Conflict of interest, Ethics, FRVPC, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on March 18, 2015| 6 Comments »

SOS 2Reports of the demise of the LeCompte Kalaway Cup have been greatly exaggerated, and have been done so without any background and substantiation.  This has become the hallmark practice we’ve come to expect from the SOS candidates and their committee who spin fables for their political benefit.

At Monday night’s Zoning Board meeting, John Rosene, President of the BH Polo Club and SOS Party committeeman, requested an early renewal, with additional terms, of the five-year special use permit allowing his club to conduct the Kalaway Cup (now the LeCompte Kalaway Cup).  One of the additional terms he requested was perpetuity of the new special use permit.  The current permit runs until December.

Following his prepared presentation, Rosene was asked how much insurance his club carries for the event (which can draw up to 2,000 spectators), and if the Village was named as insured under that policy.  Considering that taxpayers are still paying off a loan in incurred by the Village resulting from an unrelated accident years ago involving one of our police officers, this is a legitimate question that needed to be answered.

Rosene either could not, or would not answer the question with any certainty.  Since this is an important piece of information for the Zoning Board to consider before voting, members David Stieper and Dan Wolfgram voted to postpone action on Rosene’s application.

There was also discussion of the length of the permit, with the Polo Club originally requesting it be issued in perpetuity, rather than the current five period – which would essentially negate the Village’s ability to review the event’s impact on the neighborhood.

Not surprisingly, in another block vote we’ve come to expect from the ZBA, members Clark Benkendorf, Kurt Anderson and chair Judy Freeman voted against postponement.  (It should be noted that Karen Rosene, ZBA member and wife of the Polo President, had recused herself from the vote, and member Chambers was absent from the meeting.)

Soon after, Freeman called for a vote, and the three members who voted against postponement voted in favor of special use permit issuance, and two members who wanted clarification on insurance and other matters voted against.  Freeman seemingly believed the motion had passed, but a majority of the total Zoning Board membership (4 of 7 members), not that of the quorum present, is required to approve such measures.

Now the SOS Party spin-doctors are busy spreading a vicious smear campaign against two members of the Zoning Board claiming they are pawns of President McLaughlin “killed” the Kalaway Cup.  They also malign the One Barrington Hills candidates (who all also happen to be Riding Club members or staunch supporters), insinuating that they will act to destroy the equestrian community if they are elected.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  The Village Board meets on March 30th, and a vote of five Board members can override the Zoning Board vote.  It just so happens we have five elected officials who vote in blocks, so in less than two weeks, Mr. Rosene will provide them with the insurance information, and SOS candidates Patty Meroni and Karen Selman will then proclaim they saved the polo event as they ride off on their unicorns.

Our most recent editorial was titled “Loud noises won’t silence the facts” for good reason.   SOS’ attempt to create a crisis out of nothing simply reinforces their low esteem for the intelligence of residents and furthers their mission to obfuscate facts from voters in order to get elected.

–     The Observer

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March 9th Special Village Board meeting recordings available

Posted in 2015 Elections, Audio Recordings, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Ethics, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Public Safety, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Village Attorney, Village Board on March 18, 2015| 1 Comment »

The Village has released recordings from the March 9th special Village Board meeting called by Trustees Harrington and Messer to continue discussions of 911 consolidation and legal matters pertaining to a recent lawsuit filed against the Village.  A link to the menu of edited recording segments can be accessed here.

Trustee Harrington presented what he believed the next steps should be in order for he, and some others on the Board, to be more comfortable with definitively voting on 911 consolidation.  With the exception of Trustee Gohl, a motion was passed to pay additional consulting fees to obtain more information to be discussed at the regular March meeting.

Discussion of special counsel selection for legal and insurance purposes to address the pending lawsuit was moved to executive session at the request of Harrington and Messer.  Before the public meeting broke, however, President McLaughlin point out the fact that he appointed Patrick Bond to be special counsel assigned to all matters related to horse boarding in May of 2014.  He then moved public comment up so the dozens of residents in attendance could have an opportunity to speak before the closed executive session began.

Five residents took advantage of this opportunity.  Three were particularly pointed in their opinions of some of the current Village Board members, and one of them raised some eyebrows with his direct candidness.

Speaker number four questioned why an additional attorney for the lawsuit is being discussed when we don’t pay our current one.  He described some on the Board to be a “cancer on our Village” and opined if they were good people, they would resign.   His brief, but very pointed comments can be heard here.

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Loud noises won’t silence the facts

Posted in 2015 Elections, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Elections 2011, Ethics, FRVPC, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on March 13, 2015| 2 Comments »

noiseOn February 23rd, Trustees and candidates Patty Meroni and Karen Selman voted to override a veto of the LeCompte/Anderson Horse Boarding Text Amendment.  Four days later, a lawsuit was filed against the Village of Barrington Hills.

The suit cites, among other things, the actions of Meroni and Selman, beginning four years ago when they were first running for office.  They (along with outgoing Trustee Joe Messer) accepted campaign donations from Benjamin LeCompte and then falsely named themselves as the contributors of those donations in official State Board of Elections (SBOE) filings.  In other words, they provided false information in official government filings.  Unfortunately, this became fully aired only after they were elected.

In their current campaign for reelection, they refer to their actions at that time as “a minor paperwork error,” yet they fail to mention the recommended $850 civil penalty levied against each of them by the SBOE Hearing Officer for reporting violations (waived since they’d already closed out their political committees according to the SBOE reports), and a two-year dissolution period imposed on their campaign committees.  Not even a master spin-doctor can change these facts.

The suit also alleges the LeCompte/Anderson Amendment was drafted and enacted to benefit one large-scale boarding operation that was deemed in violation of our Village Codes years ago–Oakwood Farms.  Last June, the Riding Club of Barrington Hills issued a written statement that an Appellate Court decision against Oakwood in April was just that, and “… no other horse boarding facilities are at risk other than the one involved in the current legal dispute.” (see Riding Club now acknowledges Village official’s support of horse boarding)

This has always been a “single-issue”—indeed, a single property—matter.

Based on this history, Meroni and Selman (and Trustee Messer) were asked to recuse themselves from voting on anything that might affect LeCompte’s Oakwood Farms boarding operation.  They refused.  And now we’re being sued.

What’s disturbing to many is that Meroni and Selman’s supporters continue to advocate loudly that, if the LeCompte/Anderson Amendment is repealed or modified by a new board, all large boarding operations in Village are at risk of closure.  Nonsense.

Odd that the supporters of Selman and Meroni have now conveniently forgotten their prior position that the horse boarding dispute in Barrington Hills was and is a “single-issue” that is a single property matter.

Nonetheless, we expect their noise to increase as they attempt to spread baseless fear among voters between now and Election Day in social media and mailings.  Before that crescendo begins, we ought to look at something SOS Party committee member Dan Lundmark once wrote that applies to the SOS Party and their supporters’ fear-mongering tactics:

“Single-issue groups create the appearance of force and momentum at public meetings.  They present an organized, loud voice, that creates a disproportionate and misleading sense that they are speaking for the majority.”

We don’t believe SOS Party supporters are speaking for the majority of residents’ interests.  Nor do we believe Meroni and Selman protected the broad interests of village residents when they voted to take away the majority of residents’ rights to peace and privacy in favor of protecting the commercial interests of their prior benefactor.

It is clear that the loud noise of a “single-issue” group has drowned out reason and good governance in our Village for too many years.  As a result, we’ve overspent on legal fees while neglecting our roads.  No doubt the majority of residents have had enough of both.

– The Observer

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