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The
Glenview Watch February 11, 2001 |
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Glenview has taken the first costly step toward building a new fire and emergency medical dispatch center in its downtown fire station. The trustees appropriated $40,000 for an architect to design that facility.
For 20 years, Glenview's fire and emergency medical calls have been handled by the Regional Emergency Dispatch or RED Center, which was jointly operated by nine communities.
By all accounts RED provided fast and professional service, dispatching paramedics and firefighters to homes and businesses in Glenview, Northbrook, Wheeling, Morton Grove, Niles, North Maine, Highwood, Prospect Heights and Winnetka. The model attracted national attention, and members agreed that sharing the costs of equipment and personnel made fiscal sense. A new computer-aided dispatch system could easily run $200,000. Shared by nine, that's not so bad.
Other communities asked if they might join, and the RED Center thought it could accommodate them. Last year, dispatchers took 27,000 calls, but using the latest technology and hiring additional dispatchers, they say they can handle as many as 80,000 emergencies a year. The group began planning its future – talking about a new building. Northbrook offered a $500,000 line of credit for equipment, was willing to donate land beside its fire station on Shermer Road and use its triple-A bond rating to build and lease a new building.
RED members looked at a dozen other sites including some in Glenview. A consultant was hired. He preferred Northbrook's proposal, and so did seven of the nine RED Center fire chiefs, but Glenview didn't like the idea and neither did Wheeling. Last year, the two communities announced they would leave to set up their own dispatch center. They wanted more control over their destiny and thought they deserved more control over RED Center. After all, they were paying about a third of the operating costs but had only two of nine votes.
They also pointed out that cellular 911 calls would soon be coming directly to Glenview and that our crowded police radio room might not be able to handle the additional load. By building a new fire dispatch center, Chief Joe Robberson said he could handle those calls and save the police department money. How much is a matter of speculation.
But the strongest argument Robberson made was about service. If he wants to change dispatch procedures under the new system, he can do it immediately "without a committee meeting of nine chiefs." Robberson admits there are economies in working with others, but he fears a loss of control when dealing with so many departments and argues "the larger the organization, the more detached people can get from their mission."
GLENVIEW WATCH SPEAKS UP
We had received several letters from Glenview residents who questioned the wisdom of withdrawing from RED Center. Some said the divorce was all about ego – that Glenview officials wanted to call the shots and did not want the operation in Northbrook.
We began asking questions and found many civic-minded people were poorly informed on this subject. On Tuesday, Watch Editor Sandy Hausman appeared before the Village Board, explained the nature of this newsletter and gave its e-mail address. She told of letters from unhappy readers and proposed the board wait until its next meeting to take a vote so Chief Robberson and the RED Center could make presentations.
"My preliminary research suggests that we may be spending a great deal more money at the outset and over the long haul, and I just want to be sure the community is prepared for that and that it will give us the best emergency dispatch services. I'm not in any position to disagree with our fire chief, but I do think that some public discussion is in order," Hausman said.
PATTON SHOCKS THE PUBLIC
Trustee John Patton was the first to respond. "I don't mind, Ms. Hausman, you coming up and raising questions about issues on the Village Board. What I do mind, though, is you coming up here and having the audacity to hawk the Glenview Watch, which is more popularly known as the ‘Sandy Hausman Internet Tabloid.' You can imagine the acronym attached to it."
Trustee Larry Carlson chuckled as Patton continued, "It's a piece of trash that contains very disturbed thinking."
When Hausman attempted to respond, President Firfer jumped in. "Trustee Patton, thank you," she said. "I want to get to the issue of our 911, which I think is really important. I will tell you this. This board has spent a lot of time on this issue, and time is of the essence for us because the current RED Center is planning on building a new facility, which we have analyzed, and we have gotten no cost figures on that to this community, which means that's an endless cost out there – what they're planning on building."
Editor's note: Based on documents available at the Northbrook library, the new RED building will cost $700,000 – a cost shared by members over 25 years. Based on what we paid last year, our total annual expense to continue with RED would be about $225,000. That charge would rise as our population grows and the number of calls increases. Glenview's fire chief predicts we'd eventually be paying as much as $375,000. On the other hand after deducting payments we'll get from Wheeling, Chief Robberson estimates annual operating expenses of $763,000 for the new dispatch center, and that facility will cost this community an additional $250,000 - $290,000 to build.
Our expenses would more than double, and we'd be paying at least a quarter of a million dollars for new facilities. For that extra money, we will gain the ability to handle 911 cellular calls, and that will bring $80,000 a year in revenue from service providers like Cellular One or PrimeCo. Chief Robberson says those wireless calls will increase volume so dramatically that the police department would have to add four dispatchers and spend $900,000 to remodel. Some communities that have begun taking wireless 911 calls say their workload has not gone up that much.
THE CHIEF AND MANAGER MAKE THEIR CASE
Village Manager Paul McCarthy was clearly peeved by Hausman's questions. "I think what you're asking," McCarthy said, "is that the wheels of government stop every time you want to take an issue out and re-examine it."
Chief Robberson said, "It would be a terrible mistake, a tragedy if this board were to give veto power to other communities over operational decisions that are as mission critical as the receipt and dispatch of calls for emergency medical services, fire and rescue."
Editor's note: For the last 20 years, that's exactly what we have done. Now, for some reason, it's a tragedy?
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION QUESTIONED
Robberson went on to say that the quality of RED's building was "substandard. . .The construction has been lowered to type 5, and I'm not comfortable with that at all. . .It's a wood frame."
Editor's note: The 4,000-square-foot RED Center is being built to Florida hurricane standards with a concrete safe room inside, a brick exterior and steel shutters. We find it difficult to believe that member communities like Northbrook and Winnetka would accept anything substandard.
REMEMBER THIS LINE
Manager McCarthy, who may soon be making his pitch for a new Village Hall, said he was not comfortable with RED Center's attitude that "new is good, old is no good. They wanted to have a new building that would satisfy an ‘edifice complex.' We don't agree with that. We don't think the guy having the heart attack cares whether or not the technology that responds to his need is housed in the basement or the Palace of Versailles."
POST MORTEM
While no money has been spent and nothing built, the trustees and manager insisted it was much too late to change plans, and the board approved the $40,000 fee for an architect.
Trustee Carlson, who is campaigning on a platform of restoring "civility" to local government, made no comment on Trustee Patton's initial remarks or Manager McCarthy's defensive conduct, but Trustee Cook had something to say: "As a board, we should invite questions and look positively at opportunities to revisit and summarize the decisions for the public. I don't care who was at the podium, but I take great offense when people are treated disrespectfully for asking questions. I think that some of the actions this evening were deplorable."
POLITICIANS FIGHT TO DEFEND WILLOW ROAD
With a local election less than two months away, political traffic is backing up behind an issue that's been idling for years – the possible widening of Willow Road between Waukegan Road and the tollway. This week, Board President Firfer complained that she was not invited to a public meeting on the subject organized by parents at Willowbrook School. Trustees Cook, Pappo and Carlson were there.
Donna Pappo, who's running for village president, proposed that a workshop be scheduled on the subject with state lawmakers and the head of Illinois' Department of Transportation. Firfer said she had already arranged a public meeting at Glenbrook South High School with State Representative Beth Coulson and State Senator Kathy Parker at 7 p.m., March 5.
"That's in conflict with the Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum," said Trustee Cook.
"I'm sorry," said Firfer. "I was not aware of the Chamber of Commerce Forum. I was not informed of that one either."
Pappo, who plans to be part of the candidates' forum, said she wanted to attend the public pow wow on Willow, but Firfer expressed doubts about rescheduling and said she will meet with Northbrook's Village President, Senator Parker and the head of IDOT next week. Larry Carlson, who is also running for Firfer's seat, proposed that she take a resolution repeating the trustees' wish that Willow not be widened. That motion won unanimous approval from the board.
BOARD MAY BAN "POLITICS" FROM GLENVIEW CABLE
Village Board President Nancy Firfer has proposed that the trustees rewrite a mission statement for Glenview TV, the local cable channel that carries governmental meetings, parades, a variety of local documentaries and talk shows. She raised the issue after candidates from the Glenview Good Government Party (G3) asked to use a studio at Springman School for private media training.
Village Attorney Jeff Randall said there was no problem with the G3 request, and the Unite Glenview Party (UG) was offered a chance to use the studio. In the end, neither party used it, but Firfer felt something should be done. "In the history of Glenview's cable tv, we have not used our cable for any political reasons," she said. "Any political activity should not be used for facilities, equipment or programming. Cable tv is a medium, and we've kept that out of the political realm."
Trustee Pappo asked whether the ban would also apply to rooms at Village Hall that are routinely available to public groups. Firfer said she wouldn't mind, but Trustee Kent Fuller thought the prohibition should only apply to the use of village equipment. "Could a group ask to borrow a truck from public works? No."
Trustee Cook suggested a distinction be made between programming and the use of facilities for educational and training purposes, but Firfer disagreed. "I don't know where we draw the line. Are we going to have Republicans and Democrats, the Nazi Party, you name it coming in here to use our facilities for media training?"
When they finished debating, long-time board members Firfer and Fuller seemed strangely unsure what to do. "As far as the wording of a policy, how do we go about getting that before us?" Fuller asked.
"Uh, we can – some of the suggestions I would make is, I would really not like to see any political activity be used for our cable facilities or equipment," Firfer replied. "It just simplifies it."
Fuller suggested members of the board give their ideas on the issue to Manager McCarthy and ask him to craft the wording.
Editor's note: Since all taxpayers support Glenview TV and volunteers run the equipment, we think the studios should be available for any legal purpose relating to communications. In fact, we think all officials and candidates should be encouraged to get media training. The public needs top notch communicators. Politics is not an inherently dirty business. It is our way of choosing the best people for public office, and good communicators make better leaders.
We would add that Glenview TV is not free from politics now. Voices of dissent are rarely heard, but opinions of the establishment are frequently featured.
MAXIMUM BUILDING SIZE MODIFICATIONS
A new ordinance designed to control the bulk and scale of new homes in Glenview was further defined Tuesday when the trustees voted to exempt subdivisions where building permits had already been issued for at least 25 percent of the homes. The board also asked the joint Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals to consider a proposal that would allow whole neighborhoods to exempt themselves if 75 percent of residents agree. That provision could allow some blocks to have bigger homes than would be permitted under the current ordinance, or the neighborhood might vote to impose limits that would lead to smaller houses.
PARK DISTRICT PLEADS FOR PATIENCE
Glenview's Park District says it has received dozens of suggestions from people using the new Park Center. Officials are sorting and responding to those notes and letters as quickly as they can and are asking the public to be patient.
Meanwhile, the gym teachers continue their battle – trying to impose new rules at Park Center. Staffers in the fitness room want people to sign up for exercise machines, even when most of the machines are idle, and at least one employee insists members take a towel, even if they don't want one.
Editor's note: Cool it, guys. You're dealing with grown ups – people who don't like to be bossed around. There might be a lot more cooperation if sign-ups were posted on each machine rather than putting them on a central board, far from some of the equipment. That way, the person using the machine knows someone is waiting, and someone who might be tempted to jump on when the machine opens up will realize that another patron has priority.
BEWARE OF SPEEDING TRAINS
A reader wrote last week to ask why the village had not installed bells and lights to keep pedestrians from colliding with trains at the new Glen METRA stop. Our source at Village Hall says it's a job for METRA, and the village is urging speedy action. In the mean time, the village has posted a warning sign.
BUDGETARY MYSTERIES SOLVED
Last week, we posed questions about bills paid by the Board of Trustees. We asked whose retirement party cost the village nearly $800. We thought maybe it was a celebration for our retiring Police Chief David Kelly. In fact, the guest of honor was a guy from Public Works who had been on the job for 28 years.
The folks who spent $2,900 on travel were The Glen's Don Owen, Mesirow Stein's Karen Butler, the building department's Mike Atkinson and Development Director Mary Bak. They headed to San Diego to spur development of the mixed use retail center to be built around Hangar One.
Village Hall still isn't sure who sponsored the annual Christmas dinner for elected officials at the North Shore Country Club. It cost more than $5,600.
RESTAURANT ROW
Two new eateries won liquor licenses from the Village Board last week. Wasabi's will serve sushi and other Japanese fare at 999 Waukegan Road in the new Optima building. There will be 58 tables and ten seats at the sushi bar. Parking is under the building. The restaurant should open in mid-April.
Hanui, near the corner of Milwaukee and Greenwood, will feature Chinese, Japanese and Korean foods and karaoke – a sing-along machine. The owner hoped to win a type B license that would allow singing and drinking until 2 a.m., but Trustee Donna Pappo wasn't keen on the idea. She asked what kind of license two neighboring restaurants had. Glenview's Liquor Commissioner, Nancy Firfer, had no idea but sent Assistant Village Manager Joe Wade to his office to find out. Wade quickly returned and informed the board that with type-A licenses, neighboring restaurants were only allowed to serve booze until 1 a.m. The board awarded Hanui a type-A license.
One of the areas best-known French eateries has closed. Northfield's Brasserie-T was apparently the victim of divorce when the chefs, a husband and wife team, called it quits. Officials hope another restaurant will eventually take the Happ Road space, but they have no prospects at the moment.
READERS WRITE:
SJ sets the record straight: "It amazes me that you can twist your journalistic talents to sway things the way you would like them to happen. Larry Carlson did not say anything about politicizing the downtown at the previous board meeting. It was Kent Fuller."
The Watch replies: You're right. As we reported in our January 21 issue, it was Trustee Kent Fuller who felt debate on downtown zoning of D-1 now would politicize the issue. Trustee John Patton echoed that sentiment, while Larry Carlson's main objection was that the Comprehensive Plan Commission would be looking at D-1.
The information appeared in a story about how the Announcements handles letters. We repeated what a reader of that newspaper had written, and the error was hers. Glenview Watch and the Announcements should have caught that mistake, but neither publication did.
That said, the point of our story stands. The Announcements refused to check-out another quote that appeared in the letter attacking Mr. Carlson, choosing instead to delete it. In a letter attacking Donna Pappo, no such care was taken. The newspaper can't have it both ways. Either they print what readers write without checking, or they check on everybody.
SJ continues: "Donna Pappo publicly stated at the Willowbrook School meeting regarding widening Willow Rd. that she proposed the Village of Glenview spend $500,000 to hire a lobbyist. You were not there but plenty of people were and heard her."
The Watch replies: No reporter attended the meeting, but we talked with four individuals who were there, and our sources did not hear a proposal that $500,000 be spent to lobby. Trustee Pappo says she was talking about Northfield's lobbying efforts. Perhaps your sources misunderstood.
SHG responds to our assessment of the competition: "Thanks for pointing out the questionable journalism at the Announcements. I find our local newspaper's partisanship appalling. It's true that letters are part of the editorial page, and the editorial page is the place for opinions, but the cumulative actions of the Announcements border on censorship and deception. It's a sad excuse for a newspaper."
PN writes about the attack on Glenview Watch Editor Sandy Hausman at Tuesday's Board meeting: "I was appalled by Trustee Patton's rude, unprofessional attack on a citizen requesting information. His attack was purely personal and had nothing to do with the issue on the table. Shouldn't the president of the board have commented on the inappropriateness of Patton's irrational, emotional attack? Thank goodness Trustee Cook spoke up against Patton's unacceptable behavior."
And SJ checks in on the subject of RED Center: "I was watching the tube last night and heard what you said about the Red Center. I disagree with you. The Red Center got great publicity. Maybe you were out of town. Maybe next time you would listen to people in Glenview on this subject. It seems to be that you are listening to people in Northbrook who might have to foot more of that Red Center bill that Glenview thought was fiscally irresponsible. Our fire chief is far and away better than most. I have unfortunately had to call 911 and gotten the RED Center. My experience was not a good one. I explained the problem of an asthma attack and was put on hold and transferred. Those precious seconds were wasted. Fortunately, the child got our paramedics in time. I jumped for joy when I heard that Glenview was getting out of the RED Center."
The Watch replies: We first heard objections to the departure from RED Center from people in Glenview. As for your experience, it is unfortunate, but we suspect it will happen with Glenview's new dispatch center too. From time to time, emergency services do get more calls than they can handle and must put people on hold for a brief period.
Rhonda Newman responds to WLS and his claim that kids from District 30 don't cross Willow Road to reach Maple Middle School: "During the summer months there is a crossing guard at Willow & Greenwood Road insuring the safety of the children going to Maple. Maybe if there was a crossing guard during the school year more kids would be walking or riding their bikes to school. I sure would like my kids to be able to ride their bikes or walk to school. As of this time I do not allow them to cross Willow Road for any reason. I feel real bad about this because they have school friends north of Willow and I have to drive them. Thus, I feel that this section of Willow should not be wider."
Biff Thiele defends Glenview Watch: "I can't believe that WLS thinks the Watch raises a lot of bogus issues, although he did make some good points.
"He wrote about construction of homes that no one can afford and asked if the police department has kept pace with the build out and annexations of the Village -- both valid issues. And how about that new train station with no pedestrian warning lights or bells?
"Where else can you write to complain about safety issues, get your voice heard by thousands of your neighbors and inspire the editor to investigate and personally report back the following week? Hey, WLS, what are you were complaining about?"
Responding to our editor's note stating that Glenview needs more than civility, Amy Brossard writes: "What Glenview needs from the Village Board and management is motivation for village employees and residents to participate in establishing and meeting annual goals for the Village. The trustees and manager should encourage suggestions from residents and provide written responses to their concerns. Our leaders should demonstrate the ability to resolve conflict and collaborate to solve problems and complete projects. They must reduce wasteful spending and induce fiscal discipline. They should avoid conflicts of interest and never use their position with the Village to benefit themselves or their friends.
"Over the years our leaders have increasingly been perceived to have conflicts of interest and personal loyalties that superceded the interests of our community. As a Village we have much important business to conduct and we must find a way to do it openly, efficiently and in a way that respects the community."
KEA thinks Kathy Schulte's is AOK. Schulte proposed a cozy place to cultivate the mind. KEA writes: "I can second that idea. I don't think we need a significantly larger library, but cozy chairs around a fireplace (like Deerfield's library) would be nice."
John Ranz objects to the latest newsletter from District 34: "I see our tax and spend District 34 School Board is at it again with the new issue of SchooLook, mailed at taxpayer expense, devoted solely to the April re-vote on a tax increase. They say people did not understand the vote on the tax increase so they are back again. If that is true, then maybe people did not understand the vote for a new school, and we should vote again for that too.
"‘No new taxes' was the message in November, and the district has not presented any new information that would prompt anybody to change their vote. The SchooLook is in error as to the effect of the referendum on taxpayers and misrepresents the tax cap legislation. I urge everybody to go to the District public meetings and ask questions."
And a reader who finds us at www.glenviewwatch.com writes: "Wonderful site. Suggestion. Most people do not know that they can do a Ctrl+F (Find in Top Window) and enter search word(s) to scan the article. You could tell them on the home page. ROCK ON.