MANAGER McCARTHY GILTS THE PUBLIC ON VALENTINE'S DAY

Village Manager Paul McCarthy recently agreed to meet with a group of citizens concerned about Tax Increment Financing and its effect on our schools.  The issue is complex, and certain Trustees concede THEY have questions.  We put the word out – anyone who was interested should attend, but Mr. McCarthy felt otherwise.  In a letter to the organizer of this discussion, McCarthy wrote:

"There has been a series of events regarding our planned discussion group on Monday night which regrettably led me to send you this letter.

On Monday morning, I received your letter which suggested that a "tutorial" be presented to a small group of interested taxpayers before the next meeting.  After discussing it with Village President Firfer, who is out of town and would not have been able to attend in any event, I called you back and we had a friendly and productive conversation.  You characterized your interest in this matter as one in which you felt that both you and your wife found it difficult to follow some of the issues that were under discussion at the last Board Meeting regarding Village payments to school jurisdictions and felt that there was probably a number of your friends and neighbors who might also be interested in getting a more detailed explanation.  To be candid, my response was positive but cautious.  I agreed that it might be very positive for people to be given an opportunity to have a quiet, reasoned discussion of these matters in an environment of lowered voices.   However, I also expressed my reservations to you regarding such a meeting.  I was not willing to be put into a situation which would become highly charged politically.  I think both of us concurred that the last thing Glenview needed was another debate in which the volume of the voices exceeded the substance of the discussion.  I suggested a morning meeting "over a pot of coffee," but you believed it would be difficult for your people to come in the morning and consequently after checking schedules, Monday night the 14th was chosen.  Because it was a small group, we could meet in my conference room even though the other public meeting rooms were already booked.  Frankly, I looked forward to Monday night and, in fact, closed my letter with a jocular observation that I would bring Valentine cookies as well as coffee to celebrate the holiday. 

I am truly disappointed that things have gone "down hill" from that moment on.  I agree that, as you expressed in your phone message to me yesterday (Wednesday) the meeting has been "blown all out of proportion."  In addition, I also had an opportunity to speak to Biff Thiele yesterday morning.  Parenthetically, I was surprised to learn that you wouldn't be at the meeting Monday night and apparently you asked Mr. Thiele to take over responsibilities of the invitation list.  In his conversation with me, we shared our concern over the galloping size of the attendance.  He also assured me that he had invited people from various points on the political spectrum to avoid the impression that this was a briefing for one particular political group at the expense of another.  I thought that was a good idea and increased my comfort level as to what I would be "walking into" on Monday night.  However, since that time there have been an expanding number of people throughout the community who have called to indicate that they had either been directly or indirectly invited/urged to attend the "big meeting."  Elected officials from other jurisdictions have been contacted and questioned as to if they would be "sending a representative" to the meeting.  This spawned criticism of the Village as to why they weren't notified to begin with!  The press has been called!  I understand it's been published on the internet!  Questions have been raised as to whether elected officials will be in attendance.  If so, that raises the potential of violations of the State Open Meetings Act.  The concept I agreed to, of a small group of your neighbors and friends sitting down with coffee, cookies and the Village Staff to have a free flowing discussion of the issues, has been distorted beyond both imagination and reclamation, and, therefore is cancelled.

Your idea, however, is not without merit.  As a participant who has been "inside the beltway" in regard to this matter for five years or so, it is hard for me to believe that this issue hasn't been talked to death in dozens of meetings, speeches before School Boards, Village newsletters, etc, etc.  Nevertheless, you have convinced me that it may be worth  going at this question once again.  There may now be a more interested audience than there was a year or two ago when the matter may have been considered somewhat more remote.  I will be pursuing your suggestion to develop a cable TV show/video which would be more than just "talking heads" droning on interminably.  Rather, we are giving some thought to trying to create a more interactive presentation which would not only permit but actually plan to have questions raised and also have the matter discussed by a number of people who have expertise in various aspects of this issue.  Obviously the planning necessary for that kind of effort makes it impossible to be done before our next Board Meeting.  However, while the education of the public is always a perfect good in a democracy, it is the Board of Trustees who will decide this Tuesday night unless they defer it, and all of them have received extensive briefings, meetings, and documentation regarding this matter and may continue to request and receive information up to the meeting.

It's too bad.  You convinced me that your invitation was well motivated and well thought out.  I was comfortable with it.  If anything, my comfort level increased as a result of my subsequent conversation with your representative, Biff Thiele.  It would be appreciated if you would forward copies of this explanation to anyone who you know may have been invited so they'll understand why it will not proceed."

THE VIEW FROM GLENVIEW WATCH

It is unfortunate that the Manager of our Village would be unwilling to meet with a public group of any size to discuss an issue as important as school financing.  Mr. McCarthy may feel that the public has heard enough on this subject, but some people are still confused. Why else were folks willing to leave their loved ones on Valentine's Day for a meeting with Paul McCarthy?  We doubt if it was his jocular personality or the cookies that promised to pull them in.

McCarthy excuses this public slight on the grounds that our Trustees are informed, but we must not forget that members of the Village Board are elected REPRESENTATIVES.  If the people are kept clueless, then our elite style of government goes on undisturbed.  That's why timely public information is so important.  That's why the media was called.  That's why, using the Internet, we invited readers who are interested in the topic of TIF and our schools to attend.

What Mr. McCarthy often forgets is that we are not the ENEMY but the EMPLOYER.  As a public servant,  he should anticipate the need to brief voters and as a matter of efficiency,  be glad to meet with larger groups.  There was no hidden agenda here – no reason to expect hostility.  What we hoped for and still need before any decisions can be made is a detailed explanation of what the "make-whole" payments to our schools will include. 

It should be noted that officials from the School and Park Districts planned to attend Monday's meeting – not, we assume,  to raise their voices but to improve their understanding of the dollars and details involved. 

Finally,  it's disturbing to learn that Paul McCarthy wants to do an interactive cable TV show on this subject.  While the Manager is busy planning and producing his program, he apparently expects the Board to vote on school impact fees at the Base, and by the time McCarthy's ready for cable,  the public will know the ending.  We can't wait to see the ratings!

MANAGEMENT'S NEXT ASSAULT ON THE ENVIRONMENT?

Two Board Meetings back, just before 1 a.m.,  the Director of Redevelopment at the Base warned, casually, of a $100 million cost overrun.  That prospect led to quick and unanimous approval of a Home Depot on the Northern Triangle – 41 acres of wild land north of Willow Road.  (After all, what Trustee could refuse $9.5 million with so much debt waiting in the wings.)  Now comes the suggestion that we might not be able to afford a parking garage at the new Metra Station.  The cheaper option?  Acres and acres of asphalt. 

YOUR TURN

What's on your mind? Drop us a line by e-mail at GlenviewWatch@aol.com or the old-fashioned way. We're at 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. Thanks for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors of The Watch.

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