SMOKE SIGNALS ON THE FISCAL HORIZON

More than two months after it was submitted by outside auditors to the village and five months past a state deadline for completion, officials have finally posted Glenview's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 2003. As we approach the end of fiscal 2004, the report warns, "Over time, increases or decreases in net assets may serve as a useful indicator of whether or not the financial position of the village is improving or deteriorating." Under "financial highlights," the report says, "The village's net assets decreased by $49,798,927 or 24 percent during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2003. The governmental net assets decreased by $56,222,120."

A new accounting rule for local governments required the village for the first time to file consolidated financial statements for 2003.  Were it not for that change, the $56 million decrease in village net assets would have been a needle in a haystack of 40-some funds and countless creative interfund loans and advances.  You don't have to be a CPA to figure out that a $56 million decrease in net assets is not good.  We wonder if Glenview might have made different decisions about its heavy investments at The Glen had the big picture been clearer sooner. 

FREE HELP WITH TAX REASSESSMENT APPEALS

With some residents facing record hikes in the newly-assessed value of their homes, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin will host a property tax seminar for Northfield Township residents at 7 p.m. Monday, November 22 in Northbrook’s Greenbriar Lane Elementary School, 1225 Greenbrier Lane.  Bring your assessment notice and talk with staff from the county and township assessors’ offices. The deadline for appeals is December 14.  For more information, call 847-864-1209.

COUNTY TAXES MAY ALSO BE GOING UP

Faced with a $146 million gap in its 2005 budget, Cook County may be raising taxes.  Board Chairman John Stroger said he’s looking at sales, food and beverage and amusement tax increases – hikes that would hit hard at The Glen Town Center.  The county is also weighing another increase in taxes on a pack of cigarettes – a levy which rose 82 cents last year. 

Stroger pledged cost cuts as well, saying employees might be asked to forego pay raises for a time, to pay more of their health care costs and to take mandatory, unpaid days off.

POLITICAL BATTLES TAKING SHAPE

-- Village President Larry Carlson’s political party is asking any resident who’d like to run for village board in the April 2005 election to send a resume to the Unite Glenview Party, PO Box 747, Glenview, IL  60025.  Applicants will be interviewed by a nominating committee in early December.  Seats now held by Carlson, Mary Beth Denefe, Mike Guinane and Jeff Lerner are up.  No word on whether any of them plan to seek re-election, but Guinane is expected to run for village president.

-- At the park district, Commissioner Chris Warren has announced he will not run for re-election.  Warren, who has proposed shorter terms for park board members, said his youngest child will be graduating from high school in 2008, so he and his wife may wish to leave Glenview before another six-year term would expire. “Public officials should not run for office if they do not intend to fill the term as specified,” Warren explained. The term of Commissioner Judy Beck also expires in 2005.  No word yet on whether she plans to run again. Anyone interested in running for the park board should pick up a packet at park district headquarters, 1930 Prairie Street. For more information, call Executive Director Tom Richardson at 847-657-3224. 

-- Four seats are up for grabs on the library board, and one incumbent, Richard Murphy, says he will not seek re-election.  President Mark Grant, Commissioners Jack Neymark and Richard Clark hope to keep their seats.

-- And the Hangar One Foundation is looking for a few good citizens to serve on its board and committees.  Anyone with museum or military experience, background in aviation or aerospace or fundraising is encouraged to apply.  You don’t have to be an Air Station alum or a Glenview resident.  For more information, call 847-217-5717 or e-mail  fergusbv@earthlink.net . Hangar One also hopes citizens will contact their trustees to express support for a permanent museum honoring the Glenview Naval Air Station and a Challenger Learning Center at The Glen. You can sign a petition at the Glen Town Center’s temporary museum, 1951 Tower Drive, next to Jos. A Bank’s.

GLEN TOWN CENTER IS FRONT PAGE NEWS

The front page of the real estate section of Sunday’s Chicago Tribune featured The Glen Town Center as an example  of “new developments that are creating an urban brand of excitement in the suburbs.”  The story quickly moved to a discussion of communities trying to revitalize their downtown areas, and midway through Glenview’s Development Director is quoted:  “The old downtown – located along Glenview and Waukegan Roads – is still the heart of the community, and we want to keep it that way.”  Mary Bak told the Trib that the village is studying how the old downtown can be revitalized.  A report is due in February.

VILLAGE BOARD OKAYS NATURE CENTER ON PRAIRIE

Glenview trustees have given unanimous approval to a $1 million nature center for the Air Station Prairie.  Named for long-time resident and prairie crusader Ev Tyner, the center will feature a roof-top garden that will conserve heat in the winter, cool the building in summer and help control storm water runoff.  A section will also be set aside for solar panels to help power the building. 

The center will not be staffed full-time, so Prairie Steward Kent Fuller says exhibits will be visible from the outside through large windows.  The 3,000-square-foot facility will contain office space, restrooms and a large area where students can be briefed before touring the prairie.  There will also be a sheltered deck and a heating system powered by geothermal energy. Fuller said the building might receive the highest level of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification – a rating system devised by the U.S. Green Building Council.

On a related note, the village has been honored by the U.S. EPA for its use of native prairie plants around Gallery Park.

DOWN ON THE FARM

-- Despite objections from Wagner Farm neighbors who think a proposed 15,000-square-foot Heritage Center will be too big and may cause new flooding in the area, Glenview’s village board has approved the conditional use needed to begin work on that $3 million building.  Parks’ Superintendent of Leisure Services Bob Quill said the structure will be slightly larger than the new fire station on Lake Avenue, with a footprint of less than 10,000 square feet.  Most of the money needed has been raised through the Farm and Fields referendum and private efforts by the Friends of Wagner Farm. Ground could be broken for the building in June 2005.

-- Bart the Bull and six more former residents of the farm have now taken up residence at a ranch in Texas.  The trucker who first took Bart north to a sanctuary in Trego, Wisconsin, returned to take the bull and friends Bandit, Norman, Moodonna, Milkshake, Pumpkin and Brownie to their new home after the Animal Rescue and Farm Sanctuary ran out of money to feed and provide veterinary care for the cattle. Glenview’s Wagner Farm Rescue Fund paid for their passage.

-- The 2005 Wagner Farm calendar is now on sale at park district facilities and local stores.  It features photos and farm facts and costs $10.  Proceeds will benefit the new visitors’ center.  For details, call 847-657-1506.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY WANTS NEW LANDMARK

The Glenview Historical Society is asking the village to declare its headquarters a landmark, saying the 140-year-old yellow house on Waukegan Road “represents one of the few remaining examples of the original farmhouses” inhabited by early residents.  The Historic Preservation Commission will hold a hearing on the question at 7:30 p.m. Monday, December 13.  If it wins approval from the village board, the society’s home would become Glenview’s second locally-designated landmark.  (The park district’s headquarters on Prairie Street was landmarked in October.)  That would make the property eligible for state tax credits and federal dollars to maintain and rehab the house. 

Originally built by Sarah Linden Hutchings, whose husband died of yellow fever on his way west to search for gold, the house was also occupied by members of the Schur and Homan families.  It has seen few changes since it was built in 1864.  Central heat was installed in 1900, porches were added in 1910, and in 1920 the owner added a bathroom. 

BUSINESS WATCHING

-- Chestnut Liquor on the northwest corner of Chestnut and Waukegan is moving to a new home, next to the House of Rental. No word yet on who might be moving into the current site or whether it might be redeveloped.

-- Wheeling’s restaurant row has a new tenant, replacing Bar Louie on Milwaukee Ave.  Solara Tapas Bar features traditional Spanish cuisine from the kitchen of Chef Eddie Lakin who lived in Barcelona for nearly a year, working with a number of chefs to fine-tune his culinary skills.  Larkin says one key to success is insisting on authentic ingredients.  He’s importing almonds, peppers, artichokes and rice from Spain.

SCHOOL NEWS AND BLUES

-- District 34 teachers are asking officials to explore shortening the school year.  Right now, it’s 190 days – nine of them designated for teacher training and planning.  A leader of the teachers’ association wants the question studied before 2007 when the district will no longer be able to cover budget deficits with reserves.  At that time, enrollment is expected to reach a peak, and talks on a new teacher contract will begin.  Superintendent Gerald Hill may appoint a task force to study the question.

-- Glenview’s largest elementary district has a new website: www.glenview34.org. It will link visitors to all eight schools in the district, to the Northern Suburban Special Education District, the Glenview Education Foundation and will inform readers about school policies and snow closings.

-- The District 225 caucus has made its choices for the April election of school board members, selecting incumbent Donna Torf, William “Jeff” Jeffrey, Warren Berzon and Steven Hammer to run for four-year terms and designating Elias Matsakis as its candidate to fill a two-year unexpired term. 

THE Q.T. ON P.E.

-- Lynn Reimer received an award from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance last week.  She was named Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year after being nominated by former students from Maple Middle School, where she’s taught for 20 years. Reimer helped revise the Glenview/Northbrook school’s curriculum, showing students how to calculate their target heart-rate, measure it and use a pedometer.  Reimer says she’s especially interested in students who are not physically gifted – reaching out to those who’d rather not be in gym.  She has also advised Maple’s student council for the past 15 years.

-- Maine Township High School thinks it might be time to consider physical education grades when calculating students’ grade point averages.  Proponents argue that students take gym every year, and with so many struggling with excess weight, adding physical education scores into the GPA might lead some to try harder.

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR RESTRICTED PARKING AND TRASH PICKUPS

Glenview’s main trash hauler, Groot, says it will make its last yard waste pick-ups the week of November 29-December 3, resuming next April.  There will be no collections on Thanksgiving Day – November 26.  For details, call 847 244-1977. 

On another seasonal note, the overnight parking ban takes effect December 1 between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. to assure easy plowing when needed.  If you don’t have a driveway or garage, it’s possible to get a special permit for street parking from the police department, and non-residents can get a short-term okay by submitting their license plate numbers, registration and the address where they’ll be parked.

HELP WANTED

Glenview is looking for policemen and is handing out applications at the station – 1215 Waukegan Road November 29-December 18 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  To find out if you qualify, visit the village website: www.glenview.il.us and click on the last item -- job opportunities.  You can also learn more about becoming a temporary census taker.  Glenview hopes to get more state and federal assistance by officially counting new residents at The Glen in January.  That job pays $11 per hour and will last 2-4 weeks. For an application, call Al Stonitsch at 847-904-4370 or e-mail astonitsch@glenview.il.us .

WINNETKA STILL WAITING FOR BUSH SECURITY CASH

Twice during the last year AonCorporation CEO and Bush Finance Chairman Patrick Ryan hosted fundraisers for the Republican Party at his home in Winnetka. Once, after visiting the former Naval Air Station in Glenview, President Bush dropped by.  The second time, First Lady Laura Bush put in an appearance, and because the First Couple was in town, Winnetka provided more than $75,000 worth of security – most of that for police overtime. 

In 2000, Winnetka adopted an ordinance that requires homeowners to reimburse the government for private events that require public resources.  That law was passed after former President Bill Clinton paid a visit.  “It doesn’t matter which party it is, we can’t afford these things,” Village President Michael Duhl told the Pioneer Press.

Winnetka sent a bill to Ryan, who had raised about $3 million for the president’s re-election effort.  Ryan passed it to the Republican Party which, in turn, sent it to the Secret Service.  That agency told Winnetka it would not pay.  “We’re not equipped or funded to reimburse communities,” a spokesman said. 

WHEELING OKAYS TIF FOR WESTIN

Predicting the day when a new Westin Hotel complex will bring big bucks to Wheeling,  Glenview’s neighbor to the west has approved an $18 million tax increment financing plan and earmarked $5 million in future sales tax revenue to help Westin build at the corner of Milwaukee and Lake-Cook Road.  Under TIF, all new tax revenue from that site would go to the local government to repay the costs of land improvements made to jump-start development. 

Wheeling is already facing a $2.5 million deficit in its 2005 budget due to slow growth or declines in annual revenue and will dip into reserves for the second year in a row. 

MORE NEWS FROM THE NEIGHBORS

-- Northbrook’s Village President Mark Damisch says he’s running for an unprecedented fourth four-year term.  Damisch could face competition from Gene Marks, a long-time commission chairman and former fireman who thinks change is good.  Trustee Robert Jaeger might also try for the top spot.  A total of 12 people have expressed interest in a seat on the Northbrook village board.  They’re concerned about talk of condemning downtown businesses to make way for new development, a lack of affordable starter homes in the community, the health of Sky Harbor Industrial Park and the lack of effective controls on the size of new homes that replace teardowns.  Some feel Northbrook already has too much regulation:  “We’ve got the tree police, the dog police, the noise police, the party police.  Come on.  The police have got better things to do,” said Craig Lofgren, a financial manager who recently proposed charging fees to developers who don’t build enough parking – then using that money to create lots or garages.

-- Morton Grove’s Mayor Dan Scanlon, who’s had health problems for the past two years, says he will not seek re-election.  At least two people are expected to run for that job, each fielding slates of three candidates for trustee. 

-- The Morton Grove Plan Commission voted 6-1 to allow construction of a mosque and classrooms next to the Muslim Community Center on Menard Avenue if builders can meet more than 30 conditions involving landscaping, lighting, parking and flood controls.  The minaret could rise no higher than 55 feet and the dome could be no more than 42.5 feet.  A final decision from the village board could come Monday evening. 

-- Northbrook’s plan commission and architectural control panel have rejected developer Mitch Gerson’s proposed downtown office building.  They say the three-story building is too tall, too bulky, provides too little parking and would violate downtown design guidelines aimed at retaining the small town feel of that area.  Planners suggested Gerson shrink his lobby, but he told them, “I want the lobby to feel expansive.  I don’t want to have a skinny little lobby for such a glorious building.”  Gerson said he’d take his chances with the village board which has final say over whether he can build.

-- Wilmette is looking at ways to rewrite its local gun ban after downstate legislators and supporters of the National Rifle Association helped pass a state law shielding residents from municipal restrictions if they keep a weapon in their home for self defense.  Among those who opposed the exception, Glenview’s State Representative Beth Coulson and State Senator Jeff Schoenberg.  

REAL ESTATE DEBATE OFFERS INSIGHTS ABOUT MEDICINE

Government hearings can be tedious, but a debate by the Glen Redevelopment Commission offered a surprising view of medical practice.  The case involved an office building going up at the Prairie Glen Corporate Campus.  Titan Development Corporation was asking permission to add two private entrances with sidewalks to the east and west sides, but GRC Chairman Howard Silver was hesitant.  For such a small building, he thought more pavement was unnecessary.  A spokesman for Titan explained that prospective tenants – doctors – insisted on having their own back doors.  “I’ve never been in the waiting room and seen my doctor come walking through,” said a spokesman for the developer.  “Believe me, there’s some egos with the doctors.”

“You know what.  I’m looking at this as a planner,” said Silver.  “I don’t care about doctors’ egos.”

“Well I have to,” said the developer. “We’re negotiating with two plastic surgeons.  Their patients come in the front door.  They have their procedures done, and they won’t leave through the front door.  The nurses escort them out the back, so people in the waiting room don’t see the swollen faces.  Same thing on the endoscopy center.  When people leave after their procedure, they go out the secondary door.”

“Why?” asked Silver.

“Because their physicians don’t want people who are coming out of anesthesia to walk through the waiting area.  If I’m about to have a procedure, and I see someone coming out pale and not feeling all that great, I might get back in my car.”

“So they shove them out the back door?” said Silver.  “Only on the North Shore.”

Silver said he’d had an endoscopy, commonly known as an upper-GI exam, at Glenbrook Hospital and had left through the front entrance.  His doctor didn’t have to worry, Silver said.  “His patients walk out perfectly healthy.”

The public testimonial aside, at least one member of the GRC thought extra doors actually improved the appearance of the building, and the panel voted to give the developer what he had come for.

READERS WRITE

John Brennan sends a lengthy letter to the taxpayers of Glenview: “I was stunned when my letter from the Cook County Assessor arrived and contained a 35 percent increase in the assessed value of my property. The average in Northfield Township is a 27 percent increase. While there are caps that will protect you in the short term, the larger issue is why has the basis by which our property taxes increased so much? With your assessment was a letter from the assessor that basically said that they have nothing to do with the increase; they are simply the messengers and that you should look to your local taxing bodies to see why there is an increase.

“I did some research on how the village board has managed our tax dollars. What I found was a record of frenetic spending, increased debt , special deals and a plan to permanently  increase the size and scope of local government.

“Here are the facts:

-- The Glen has an overall budget of  $ 477.3 million -- way above the initial estimate of $250 million. What this means is that the TIF will last much longer than we were originally led to believe, and  it will be sometime before the village gets significant revenue from this development.

-- The overall debt for Glenview has risen to approximately $140 million, of which $100 million is from The Glen.

-- The village board granted a no interest, non-collateralized loan of $750,000 to the developer of The Glen Town Center.

-- The trustees approved a new .5 cent/dollar sales tax and began collecting it in July.

-- The board has agreed to fund a new post office at a cost of $3.75 million.  It claims this project will cost the taxpayer nothing. That’s because administrators have been holding some land on the side – attaching no value to it as plans were made.  Now, they say it’s very valuable and will be used to fund our gift to the USPS. Why wasn’t this secret source of revenue used in lieu of the sales tax increase? How much more land is on the books at no value that can someday be tapped to fund another project?

-- The village board has or plans to grant $82 million in tax incentives to businesses for moving into The Glen. This begs the question: why did we spend so much to develop The Glen only to have to pay businesses to move there?

“The village board has embarked on a plan to substantially increase the size and scope of local government. This plan starts with an $18.8 million contract (which is already $3.7 million over budget) for the new police station. The new facility will be 84,000 square feet and will house about 100 officers. Assuming that the officers work eight-hour shifts, this equates to more than 2,500 square feet per on-duty officer, whom we are paying to not be at the police station to begin with.

“One of the major justifications for the new station was a need for adequate training facilities. This would make sense if it were not for the fact that there is a 20-acre facility dedicated to public safety training located at The Glen. Why do we need to build such a large training facility when the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy is already in the village?

“Once the police have moved, the village plans to spend $8.2 million to plan for the future use of  its civic center complex. Officials claim that facility is too small.

“If you look at the other taxing bodies – the school districts, park district and library district --  there is a very good chance that they, too, have adopted the ‘spend and tax and spend some more’ habits of the village.

“The debt for Glenview has soared, the TIF at The Glen will last many more years than we were told it would, and your taxes are probably going to go up. The trustees will boast they have not raised taxes since 1999. The truth is they left the dirty work to the Cook County Assessor and raised the sales tax.

“So what can you do? First of all write to your trustees and tell them that this spending frenzy must be stopped. A good place to start is the new police station. Although they have already started to prepare the site, they have not yet dug the foundation. Let's get involved and look at the long range implications of a plan to increase the scope and expense of village government for the future and put it to a vote in 2005. Write to me at saveglenview@hotmail.com . If enough concerned taxpayers respond, we can get ourselves organized and make a difference.”

Link Smith, a Glenview resident and president of Charter Construction Company, has an idea that could save taxpayers money while assuring good postal service downtown: “In lieu of The Glen site for the proposed new post office, I suggest building a carrier annex (a mail processing facility only) at another location outside The Glen, and opening a retail store in old Glenview. The Patriot Boulevard. land could be sold and developed with a more appropriate use than a post office. Old Glenview would retain the convenience and retail traffic generated by a postal store, the cost would be substantially less than the value of the Patriot Blvd. land plus $3.75 million for construction. I have built over 25 postal facilities in the past 10 years. The USPS has recently trended toward lower profile sites in lieu of high visibility, high traffic and high cost retail sites. There is a site currently available for a carrier annex that should be acceptable to the USPS and suitable to the village.”

Mr. R is “really tired of the concerns of Glen residents -- especially of their traffic concerns.  The rest of Glenview's residents have put up with an enormous increase in traffic for a long time while The Glen was being built but I realize these residents don't bring that to mind.  As far as I'm concerned The Glen should become their own village. As far as the sheriff's buses parking illegally, it's just one more oversight by Glenview's finest.  When do you believe we will ever get a police department that enforces the present laws of this village?”

Taxpayer watchdog Mike Luxem reports on the latest hijinx at the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District: “Things are heating up again at the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District. Trustee William Zimmer’s term has expired, but the Morton Grove building inspector is still around.  His daughter is now the lab director and helps organize the $60,000 per month payroll. The latest term of the other trustee, Skokie Courthouse Deputy Otto Cesario, who is 87 and has served five terms at the district, will expire on December 1. Still, he and Zimmer are poised to approve the district’s million dollar budget next month, and they will both elect themselves for another season as president and secretary/treasurer. In my eight years of watching this taxing district, it has never been this bizarre.”

LG objects to the catch and release policy at Lake Glenview: “Bullfights aren’t tolerated.  Neither are dog fights or cock fights.  The English may soon ban fox hunting,  and pheasant hunting of specially raised  birds is going away.  Shooting ducks in a barrel  is passé.  Tell me why sticking a barb in a sunny’s mouth, then yanking the barb out and throwing the fish back is allowed. If you hold the fish out of water, you remove its protective coating of slime, and the fish will die. Catch and release is barbarism.”

LW recently went to the police station to report vacation plans and ask patrols to keep an eye on his/her home: “The woman who waited on me talked on her cell phone the whole time I was there.  I could understand if it was business, however it was personal. Since then I have noticed more and more village workers talking on their cell phones and smoking while on the job.  Is there a village policy on this?”

The Watch replies:  Acting Village Manager Joe Wade says many village employees are issued cell phones for public use, but they are authorized to use them for some personal calls – in the event of required overtime for example.  “We try to be somewhat family friendly as an employer,” he explained. If, however, you feel you were treated rudely, Wade encourages a call to his office: 847-904-4375 and pledges to deal with personnel on a case-by-case basis.  As far as smoking goes, Wade says there is no prohibition during breaks, but smokers must do their thing in designated areas.

YOUR TURN:  Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60026. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.

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