Mixed signals being sent by the PEP Board
February 25, 2009

If you looked at the Agenda for the Brookfield Committee of the Whole meeting February 23, 2009 you may have noted that there was an item on the agenda titled IV- Line of Credit Extension. This was initially discussed as a need to renew the line of credit that the Village of Brookfield has at the 1st National Bank of Brookfield. The recommendation was to renew it for 1.5 million at an interest rate of 6%. The discussion then expanded to include a $25,000 buy out to induce employees to retire early, a 5 day unpaid furlough for employees, removal of the clean up week pick up and other cost cutting measures. These drastic measures have a huge impact on the Village and its residents; it is unfortunate that they were not included on the agenda as topics of discussion. There are many residents that view the agenda on-line or stop at the village hall to obtain a copy of the agenda. It’s a shame that residents will have to read about this in the paper, if at all. But, maybe that was the intent.

Interestingly, the next item on the agenda was to renew the contract for contract mowing of grass in the village. If the village is in such dire financial condition, why would it spend money for something that can be done in-house? They will tell you that the Public Works employees make too much to have them cut grass, but when necessity calls, the ends justify the means.

The questions that beg answering! Why did the Village Manager get a $10,000 raise in the face of this looming financial crisis? How much did his assistant get? They were both rewarded for the Library Levy boondoggle. Why are we paying for the Village Managers dues to an alumni Association? How much did it it cost the Village for the catered breakfasts for the staff on Tuesday Mornings? How much does it cost for lunches (out of town) on credit cards? Why did the Village re-hire the planner that quit in the midst of a hiring freeze?

Newcomers for trustee on VIP slate Zoning board member, veteran among candidates for office By BOB UPHUES Editor Brookfield's VIP Party announced the remainder of its 2009 slate via e-mail and online video over the weekend. With a pair of political veterans, Wil Brennan and Bill Russ, already on the ticket as the party's candidates for president and clerk respectively, the three trustee candidates are all new. The candidate who may be the best known of the three is Leanne Digan, who has been a member of the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals for several years. Her running mates for trustee will be Richard "Dutch" Kostelnik, an Army veteran who served both in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2006-07, and Timothy W. Heilenbach. Both Digan and Kostelnik appear in a video announcement of the VIP slate, which began running late last week. Digan called for the village to spend its money more wisely and decried the one-party rule of the current PEP-dominated board, saying board members should be "more representative of our residents here in Brookfield." Meanwhile, Kostelnik said in the video that he is a lifelong resident of Brookfield and had served many years in Chicagoland chambers of commerce. He said he wants to leverage the popularity of Brookfield Zoo as a major regional attraction to help improve business in Brookfield. Heilenbach does not appear in the video. However, in the final segment of the video, which appears to introduce the slate as a package, former trustee Linda Stevanovich is present. When asked if there was a late switch in fielding the slate, John Gallagher, VIP's nomination chairman and vice president, said Stevanovich was never part of the slate. "She was just there when they were filming it," Gallagher said. "It was incidental." Brennan laid out two major themes for VIP's campaign in his segment of the video, saying he had "serious apprehensions about the direction that our government is taking us." He characterized Brookfield's spending as "spiraling out of control" and called village staff salaries "excessive." Such a combination, Brennan said could lead to a loss of services and tax increases. The salaries of village management were a key issue during the 2007 election, in which Brennan and Russ both ran as candidates for trustee. Another issue that surfaced in that campaign-that village staff were impersonal and treated residents with a "my way or the highway" approach-is part of the 2009 campaign as well. Russ, in his video segment, called the VIP platform one that will "bring back common sense to village government."

No Bid Contracts? Is PEP buying off the Little League?
Who stands to gain a profit by this? Who’s friend got the job?

Why no official bid for Ehlert fencing?
4-16-2008
There was a special Brookfield village board meeting held March 13, 2008 at 4:30 p.m., a rather inconvenient time for most residents.

The meeting lasted four minutes and the Brookfield village trustees in attendance voted unanimously to approve a resolution to waive competitive bids and enter into a contract for fencing at Ehlert Park Western Conference Field for $39,900.

Is there any sane person, other than on the village board in Brookfield, who would not get competitive bids when spending almost $40,000 for such a mundane item such as fencing?

There are 45 fencing contractors in our local yellow pages and no doubt hundreds in the Chicago Metropolitan area, many of which are qualified to install or repair fencing.

I think every resident would appreciate a conscientious effort to obtain the lowest price when expending their funds.

I'm sure that the excuse will be that it is a highly specialized type of fencing, or that it had to be done immediately (why the procrastination?), or it's been done before by the previous administration. (That one's getting old.)

But clearly this is not a good reflection on the so called "professional management" of our village. The real reason for this poor example of money management lurks beneath the surface and unfortunately the taxpayer is the loser.

UPDATE! Lyons Township paid an additional $20,000.00 toward the fencing. A Grand Total of $59,900.00 with no bids!!! Who is getting greased here?

Wil Brennan - former Brookfield village trustee
Brookfield

VIP Party Setting Sights On 2009 Election In Brookfield
Revamped party website puts out call for candidates
By BOB UPHUES
May 16, 2007
After facing defeat at the polls in 2005, it took some time for Brookfield's VIP Party to regain its balance and its voice. But despite a second loss in 2007, one that handed complete control of the village's Board of Trustees to the PEP Party, VIP has already begun to focus on the 2009 election.

Shortly after the April 17 election, both the VIP Party and its president, Bill Russ, unveiled new and improved websites. The sites are easier to navigate and contain more information about both the party and, especially, Russ, who served as the village president from 2001-05.

The message "Fight one party rule in Brookfield" scrolls across the top of the VIP home page, while a link to "our candidates" puts out the call to anyone interested in running for office in 2009. The link also includes the party's campaign literature from the most recent campaign.

"You can't wait until the last couple of months [of a campaign]," said Russ. "You've got to start early; you've got to get in now."

Asked if he was planning another run for the village presidency, Russ said, "I don't think any of us knows who's going to do what two years from now."

But it's clear from the effort put into the websites so soon after the 2007 election that VIP wants to build interest and membership.

"Suffice to say, we're not folding up our tent," said Wil Brennan, the VIP Party chairman who won election as village trustee in 2001, before losing in both 2005 and 2007.

An analysis of the April 17 election returns shows that VIP still has a solid base of support within the Lyons Township portion of Brookfield. All three VIP trustee candidates in that race-Russ, Brennan and John Gallagher-came out on top in the nine Lyons Township precincts.

But neither Russ nor Gallagher won a single precinct in either Proviso or Riverside townships, while Brennan finished in the top three in just two of the 13 precincts in Proviso and Riverside townships.

Russ said that VIP needs to bolster its efforts getting out the vote in Lyons Township, where its base is strongest and try to chip away at PEP's dominance on the north side of town. Overall in the race for the three trustee seats on April 17, just under 3,100 votes were cast in Lyons Township. In Proviso and Riverside townships, over 6,200 votes were cast. In those north side precincts, PEP also won by a wider margin than in Lyons Township precincts where VIP prevailed.

"We just have to get more people out on the south end," said Russ, "And try to get more of a piece of the pie on the north end."

By comparison, in 2003, when voters were also asked to vote for three trustee candidates, over 4,400 votes were cast in Lyons Township and over 7,500 were cast in Proviso and Riverside townships. VIP won two of three seats in that election.

"The [voter] apathy was phenomenal," said Brennan of the 2007 turnout.

Michael Garvey, Brookfield's current president and member of the PEP Party, said he wasn't surprised by VIP's determination in the face of its April 17 defeat. But, he said, the improved websites don't mean that VIP's message is going to resonate with voters.

"It's nice window dressing, but web pages don't win elections," said Garvey, who lost to Russ in the race for village president in 2001 before prevailing in 2005. "Maybe they'll get some new people, but that's not going to change his record in the past.

"I think they'd have to bring something else to the table."

While PEP hasn't put the same effort into updating its website or soliciting for 2009 candidates, Garvey said his party was "pretty geared up for 2009." The challenge for PEP, he said, was to "create a good record for ourselves and do a good job."

The P.E.P. Party Village Board Voted For This!

A sewer into Salt Creek!!!

President Mike Garvey - YES

Trustee C.P. Hall - YES

Trustee Cathy Edwards - YES

Trustee Kit Ketchmark - YES

Trustee Alan "Judas" Dorobiala - YES

Trustee Linda Stevanovich voted NO

P.E.P does not care about our environment