GLENVIEW WATCHES MCCARTHY

How does the Village's six-figure Manager, Paul McCarthy, spend his day?

He might be huddling with his short-handed staff for hours on end to tackle the mountain of work that keeps rolling in...or directing the production of another confidential report for Trustees' eyes only. . .or returning scores of phone calls ...or plotting the next strategy to strengthen his position as Glenview's Grand Poo-Bah and Defender of the Pro Forma.

Or he might steal away from his hectic Village Hall routine to read magazines at  Glenview's Public Library.  That's where he was spotted last Thursday at 2 p.m.   Story is the "bookish" McCarthy just "loves libraries."  (Did you know his first two jobs were in libraries?  What did he do – hide books which he thought the public should not see?)

McCarthy prides himself as the Village's bon vivant, the great communicator, the schmoozer, the charmer who can bring people around to his way of thinking.  He recently spent more than four hours wooing a resident to his political perspective while work and phone messages continued to pile up at his office.

FOOTNOTE:  Isn't it time to ask: Where's our Village Manager today?  E-mail your own McCarthy sightings.  The Manager is a rare bird whose work habits need to be documented. He's living in an endangered habitat, a place where the political climate is changing and old attitudes about government are dying.

SHORT-EARED OWLS VS. SHORT-SIGHTED BUREAUCRATS

Two years ago, more than 100 bird watchers fanned-out across the shuttered Naval Air Station to look for the state-endangered short-eared owl, and despite a shy streak, the birds flew by on schedule – emerging just before sundown in search of their evening meal.

This spring, other birders reported seeing upland sandpipers – also endangered in Illinois.  The state provides no protection for wildlife, but Glenview has an ordinance that should protect the birds' habitat.  Citizens have been calling on the Board to enforce the Environmentally Significant Areas Ordinance for three years, but President Firfer has failed to place it on the agenda, and His Greenness, Kent Fuller, has done nothing.

Now, the matter may be taking flight.  A private consultant hired by the Village to survey our prairie will present its findings at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Village Hall.  Please come and ask questions.  How could an accurate survey take place in the dead of winter?  Why have we not surveyed the Northern Triangle for wildlife of any kind?  Why did the original environmental impact statement skip reptiles and amphibians?  Shouldn't we look at an area larger than the prairie itself because native birds feed and nest on surrounding grasslands?

A TIF SWEEPSTAKES
   
With the Village Manager and a number of Trustees pledging a quick end to the TIF (tax increment financing of development at the Glen), Glenview Watch proposes a new way to offset our public debt.  The Village should sponsor a sweepstakes, awarding the prize to any citizen who can correctly guess the date of retirement.  In case of a tie, contestants will be asked to give the exact time of day.

Our own guess – no time soon!   The TIF provides Village officials with an ever-growing pot of gold (taxpayers' dollars).  Would the Village Manager want to surrender that stash?

Look for McCarthy and his allies on the Board to mouth the meaningless mantra of ending the TIF as soon as possible. . . AND count on them to conjure up countless inside ways to prolong tax increment financing, then blame others for the delay.

This trick has already been played by Firfer and Trusty Junior John Patton.  Earlier this year, the duo lamely tried to blame Glenview First Trustees for a $100 million run-up in "Pro Forma" expenses at the Glen.

GREENSPAN, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND GLENVIEW

If Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues hike interest rates again, that will have a ripple effect on mortgages.  Higher mortgage rates could put a damper on sale of homes at the Glen.  Sale of those homes and getting them on the Village's tax rolls are critical to McCarthy's house of cards, known as the Pro Forma Budget for redeveloping the Base.  Slower sales delay the day when the TIF (tax increment financing at the Glen) can be retired.

On another front, state lawmakers are hoping to boost their popularity during this election year by passing a tax relief package, belatedly following the trend set by other states during the economic boom. One idea is a reduction in sales tax or a sales-tax-free month, most likely in August or September when parents lay out bucks for school clothes and materials.  Less sales tax revenues would mean fewer dollars for Glenview.

The amount of sales tax lost might not be great, but any reduction could further shake the house that McCarthy has built.

PATTON: STIR CRAZY

GW wonders about John Patton's assertion that the state of Illinois might have built a prison at the base if the Village had not taken control of the land.  As ABC's 20/20 Reporter John Stossel says: "Give me a break!"  Patton's scenario is "pattonly" absurd.

Do you think Village Prexy Firfer, with all of her good GOP connections in Springfield, would have let that happen in her North Shore community?  Do you think Glenview residents would have stood for it?  Do you think any Trustee who had allowed it to happen would have been re-elected?  Do you think the state would force a community to accept a prison it didn't want?   NO TIMES FOUR!  States usually locate prisons in rural communities where residents welcome the jobs they bring.

Patton, you're a funny guy.  Keep up your shtick.  You'll have the voters in stitches by April 2001.  You could become the Pat Paulsen of Glenview.

A VIEW WITH ALARM
BY ROBERT WALKER

Tinkers to Evers to Chance was a baseball triple play,
But Firfer to Patton to Fuller rival them every day..
Firfer loads the cannon, Patton Jr. fires away,
Sanctimonious Fuller gets to moralize what they say.

United Party people are in a paranoid state
Defending dear developers, all opposition they do hate.
Deny a proper impact fee, let taxpayers pay more tax,
We're building, building, building with contracts we're not lax.

We'll pay all chummy contractors who never treat us rough,
Don't speak against us, Mr. Wulf, for we are really tough!
Professional is a word we've heard, but don't know what that is,
At sounding nice as we load the dice, we really are a whiz!

The Glen is our proud legacy despite those Glenview First,
Putting up with ethical people makes us almost burst!
Developers come! We won't be outdone by Pappo, Crawford or Cook!
Fuller's got an eye on a piece of the pie, at the Great Park take a look!

Give me no Park District input,  local talent need not apply.
I've heard the words "Park Management," that's enough for me, myself and I.
Without input from anyone else, I'll out source every task
In reflected glory of spending a lot, indebted I will bask.

Voters awaken, before we're all taken by Firfer, Patton & Fuller.
Accustomed to their privileged way,
they lost us a million bucks just the other day.
Nancy, et al, the developers please,
they didn't raise the impact fees.
Citizens awaken from your slumber
before they do another number!

Two-party politics causes them distress
as the United group makes an awful mess.
Rally 'round the others to signal opposition,
hold the line against over-reaching ambition.
Glenview First will have a new name,
but their mission will be the same,
Represent the people, openness, honesty,
--- fiscal responsibility is the game!

NO CROSS TO BEAR

History buffs are dismayed by news that Village officials have removed the cross from the Base chapel built by German POWs during World War II.   That structure survived demolition at the Base and was moved to the center of a future housing development where it will serve as a community center.

For the record, American servicemen attended Catholic, Protestant and Jewish services in the building with the cross.  Should the Village be politically correct or historically accurate?  It's a question for our Historic Preservation Committee – which has yet to be appointed by President Firfer.


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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