Posted in Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, FOIA, FUBAR, Insurance Committee, Mad Cow, Minutes, Mówimy po polsku, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Roads & Bridges Committee, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on January 23, 2023| 1 Comment »
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of the agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.
This month’s agenda now has two options for residents to attempt to listen in to tonight’s meeting:
Would those with the time and inclination try listening to both options and report back which one sucks less in terms of sound clarity? It would be ever so much appreciated!
Posted in Clown Car, One Barrington Hills, Pension Funding, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Board on January 12, 2023| 1 Comment »
Barrington has reached agreement on a new, three-year contract with its police officers. The deal gives officers annual 3% raises and allows the department to make lateral hires. (Daily Herald File Photo)
Barrington officials signed off this week on a new contract with the village’s police officers.
The agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #177 began Jan. 1 and includes 3% salary hikes for each of the three years of the contract. It was approved by the village board Monday.
Under the new contract, the new officers will start with a $76,620 salary. After six years, an officer could achieve the top pay of $109,977.
Police Chief Dave Dorn said Barrington’s recently acquired home-rule status enabled the contract to allow the hiring of “lateral” transfers — officers currently employed by another agency. Bringing in lateral transfers has advantages, he said.
“You can look at a broader applicant pool. You can speed up your testing process as well,” Dorn said.
Dorn said the agreement would have been negotiated quicker if wages had been the only focus. But contract talks also involved incorporating 12-hour shifts for patrol officers from a separate memorandum of understanding into the main contract.
More here.
Editorial note: Makes one wonder where we stand with our own Village Police agreement(s)?
Posted in Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Taxes, Village Government on January 1, 2023| 1 Comment »
With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still fresh in their minds, Arlington Heights Finance Director Tom Kuehne and the rest of the village’s budget team are used to playing it safe with revenue estimates.
“We always try to be really conservative with our revenue projections, especially right now, because we really can’t be sure what’s going to happen in the future,” Kuehne said. “And we saw that uncertainty with sales taxes.”
Illinois Department of Revenue records show Arlington Heights saw sales tax revenues climb 30% in one fiscal year. From July 2021 to June 2022, Arlington Heights received $5.7 million more in sales taxes than it did during those same 12 months a year prior.
Kuehne and crew had accounted for a modest increase, but they got about $4.5 million more than what was forecast. And they weren’t alone.
A Daily Herald analysis of 95 suburban sales tax receipts during the state’s 2021 and 2022 fiscal years shows the towns combined to average a 28.6% increase in sales tax revenues, resulting in nearly $230 million more.
In Barrington Hills, sales tax revenue grew from $66,587 in the state’s 2021 fiscal year to $214,071 in 2022, a 222% increase.
Inverness and Wayne, also small bedroom communities, more than doubled sales tax revenues last year.
Read the full Daily Herald story here.
Posted in Elections, Politics, Village Board on December 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“The filing period for those seeking office in 2023 has closed!
Offices up for Election at the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election:
Village Trustee (3), each with a four (4) year term.
Candidates who filed their nomination papers to appear on the ballot for the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election are as follows:
The full posting can be found here.
Posted in BACOG, Board of Elections, Building Department, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Mac's Property Management, Minutes, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Property Taxes, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on December 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of the agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.
Posted in Elections, Illinois State Board of Elections, Politics, Village Board, Village Government on December 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“The Village of Barrington Hills elects its official in at-large elections, therefore, no primaries are held for Village offices.
Consolidated Elections are held for such offices in April of odd-numbered years. In 2023, the Consolidated Elections will be held on April 4, 2023. Primaries and General Elections for national or state offices are held separately.
Offices up for Election at the April 4, 2023, Consolidated Election
3 – Village Trustees
Each for a four (4) year term
Nominating Petitions for the Tuesday, April 4, 2023 election will be accepted at the Village Clerk’s Office during regular business hours at the Village of Barrington Hills Village Hall, 112 Algonquin Road, Barrington Hills, Illinois, starting at 9:00 AM on December 12, 2022, through 5:00 PM on December 19, 2022.
The 2023 Candidate’s Guide for this election can be found on the Illinois State Board of Elections website, www.elections.il.gov. Questions regarding required documents to file as a candidate for election should be directed to the Illinois State Board of Elections Department at 312-814-6440 or seek advice from an election attorney. Candidates are strongly advised to seek legal advice from their own attorney regarding the circulation and filing of nomination papers. The Village Clerk’s office cannot give legal advice. The Illinois State Board of Elections website will have the most current information for filing documents with an accurate timeline.”
Posted in Barrington Hills Park District, Bicyclists, Big Red, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Ethics, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Mac's Property Management, Mad Cow, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Roads & Bridges Committee, Transparency, Village Board, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on November 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“TV families are a lot like real families. They always come together for Thanksgiving. For the ultimate TV Thanksgiving, look no further than the 1968 episode of The (Barrington) Hillbillies, “The Thanksgiving Spirit.”
The crossover episode not only features the Clampetts, it features the cast members of Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. The episode culminates with a shared dinner that includes characters from the three shows.” (Source)
Editorial note: Many preferred to use the phrase, “Barrington Hillbillies,” when referring to the political antics of some in our “oasis of another time” Village, but that subsided until recently when the Cecola Administration took office. Now the popularity of that phrase is experiencing a resurgence.
Posted in Agendas, Audio Recordings, Big Red, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, Elections, ePacket Agendas, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, FOIA, FUBAR, Legal Expenses, Mac's Property Management, Minutes, Pension Funding, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, Taxes, The New Normal, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer on November 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of their agenda can be viewed and downloaded here, however residents should take special note of their draft 2023 Budget, particularly as it relates to Roads & Bridges where at least one expense is up over 100%.
By far one of the largest increases is in, “Road Maintenance Contracts.” This year’s budget is $661,000. But the proposed amount next year is $1,059,200. That’s an increase of $398,200.
“Mowing/Cleanup Contracts,” is going from $70,00 this year to more than double that in 2023 at $150,000.
In an effort to understand the underlying reasons for these and other increases, we listened to the recordings of the nearly two (2) hour November 8th Special Meeting of the Roads & Bridges Committee yesterday. What we found revealed largely incoherent rambling (as usual) by the chair. As of this posting, the audio now states, “Unsupported audio,” as seen in this link, unfortunately, but some who heard the recording might consider this a blessing.
Hopefully this evening we’ll learn why such exorbitant roads increases are being proposed, but beforehand we’d like to share some advice with the Roads & Bridges Chair in the form quote from a famous Thanksgiving movie that goes, “…when you’re telling these little stories, here’s a good idea. Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!”
Posted in Agendas, BACOG, Big Red, BOHICA, Building Department, Conflict of interest, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Financial Reports, FUBAR, Mac's Property Management, Minutes, OMA, Organizations, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Well Water Quality on October 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. Some topics on the agenda include:
Also, for those who’ve endured the deplorable sound quality when phoning in to attempt to participate in board meetings conversations, a new phone number appears on tonight’s agenda. What’s just swell about this new number is an eleven (11) digit meeting ID is required to participate on the call.
One can only assume this added aggravation will result in significantly improved sound quality. We’re looking forward to being pleasantly surprised.
A copy of the agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.
Posted in Appointments, Better Government Association, Big Red, Board of Health, BOHICA, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Contests, Crain's Chicago Business, Cuba Township Road District, Deception, Elections, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Illinois State Board of Elections, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Mac's Property Management, OMA, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, The New Normal, The Other Half, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village President, Village Treasurer on September 30, 2022| 1 Comment »
Last Winter, the Village of Lake Barrington published the following in their seasonal newsletter:
“Lake Barrington’s Ethics Commission
Did you know that the Village has an Ethics Commission? The independent commission adds to the overall transparency of our government and serves to investigate complaints alleging violations of the Ethics Chapter of the Village Code. We are proud to report that this 3-member Commission has never once had to meet regarding a violation!”
Their Municipal Code actually devotes a chapter to ethics, and the main page of their website contains a link to, “Report a Concern.”
As previously chronicled in this publication, if one searches our Village Code, keying in the word “ethics,” the result reads, “No Matches Found.”
Our Village needs an Ethics Commission. How else could parties involved in complaints present their respective cases to determine if ethics violations did, or did not, occur? Listed below are typical practices that might arise in our Village, and in our opinion, may warrant investigation, understanding that there are no implications as to guilt or innocence of any on the list:
For these and other reasons, our Village needs to appoint an Ethics Commission to act as ombudsmen, when any question of potential maladministration or ethics violations is considered or occurs.
Candidates for this proposed commission could come from existing appointed Village bodies, ones whose objectivity would be unquestioned.
The perfect candidates for this roll are the incumbent members of the Board of Heath. They are highly qualified, underutilized, and would prove to be an effective force in maintaining ethical governance of the Village of Barrington Hills.
Related: “Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 1),” “Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 2),” “Better Government Association Commends Passage of Chicago Ethics Ordinance–Sees More to Do,” “What happened to ethics reform in Illinois government? Why watchdogs have some hope,” “Meanwhile, One Barrington Hills makes amends, extinguishes website and turns the volume down,” “Learn from your (big) mistake, Laura, Bryan, Dave and Tom,” “Agreed”
 | Thoughts and Prayers on 4 years in prison for man conv… |
 | John Bowman on What 220 voters need to know |
 | M Crowe on What 220 voters need to know |
 | Taxpayers - John Bow… on What 220 voters need to know |
 | Frank C on 4 years in prison for man conv… |
 | John Bowman on What 220 voters need to know |
 | Ethics on What 220 voters need to know |