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Also keep up to date on recent contact blogs by going to your dashboard and scrolling down to the “contacts’ blog entries” section on the right panel.
The meeting began with public comments from a variety of local interests: a Vice Principal from Oak Lawn High School described a Carnival that will be hosted this fall to raise $150,000 in revenue for athletics and other after school programs since the state is having trouble making it's grant payments lately. Another local official hyped the "Fall Fun Fest" at the Oak Lawn Children's Museum, which incidentally had just passed 100,000 visitors this year. Other discussions included swimming pool neglect issues and praise for Oak Lawn's new bicycle riding fire fighters (lol what?). Overall, pretty typical public comment material for a Village like Oak Lawn. Looking at the agenda, I was confident that after the Manager's Report, the village would quickly move on to the Consent Agenda which included the vote I had come to see: the vote on Red Light Cameras.
Then all hell broke loose.
As the next agenda item was reached and the Village Manager gave his report, he made a motion to approve the appointment of the Law Firm Querrey & Harrow to continue to serve as Village Attorney by approving their fixed bid proposal for legal services. At that moment several of the Village's 6 Trustees entered into a lengthy and dramatic debate with each other and President Dave Heilmann over the approval of the firm without getting competing bids. Trustee Robert Streit described how the towns previous firm had recklessly failed to collect over $600,000 in sales taxes from a local Target store... an accusation President Dave Heilmann described as "patently false." The debate then turned to whether the town should approve the new legal team (which the village manager was recommending) without bids from competitors. Trustee Carol Quinlan emotionaly asked what was so wrong with getting competitive bids, given the financial situation of the town and their experience over the past few years? This lead Trustee Thomas Phelan to ask why it was so important for the President to engage in a biding process now that his alleged cronies were not serving as the Village Law Firm. Heilmann again responded "That is Patently False!" The trustees took the meeting farther and farther down the dysfunctional rabbit hole that evidently is Oak Lawn politics into discussions of law suits won and lost, law firm over-billing, rates for legal fees for labor negotiations, the town paying legal bills without checking them, failure to collect sales taxes and on and on and on, much to the displeasure of the citizens assembled in the Auditorium.
After an hour and a half of this soap opera, the board voted 5-1 to retain Querry & Harrow.
As the meeting passed the 2 hour mark, it was clear the residents still present were getting frustrated with the constant bickering by the board and that the torture would soon come to an end with a vote on Red Light Cams. The Oak Lawn Village Trustees would soon have the opportunity to put aside their petty differences and demonstrate ethical leadership to their constituents by defending and advocating for the great American principles of civil liberty, privacy, fiscal responsibility, and a transparent & limited government by voting "NO" on the resolution to extend a 5-year contract for "Red Light Photo Enforcement" and "Violation Processing Services" to Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc.
Finally, President Heilmann read through the items in the Consent Agenda (a list of routine items to be enacted through one motion) and asked the trustees to identify any items to be pulled out for discussion and a separate vote. Trustee Quinlan asked if the last item on the list, a motion to keep meeting minutes from various executive sessions between 2004 and 2010 confidential, needed to be pulled out of the list and voted on separately so that their release would be denied. To this question, Trustee Tom Phelan explained that doing so was not necessary because of the way the motion was written. "Yes means No" Phelan explained and the Consent Agenda was passed with two exceptions to be voted on separately.
The first item discussed was to change a village ordinance to allow Police Officers to issue written warnings instead of tickets for folks who park their car in the own driveway yet across the sidewalk. "These are tough economic times" President Heilmann explained. This measure was unanimously approved.
The second item discussed was the Red Light Camera contract renewal.
Trustee Jerry Hurckes, who prides himself on "making sure the residents of the 1st District voices are heard", lead the discussion remarking that while he did not "have a problem with the red light cameras", he had received several calls about the cameras since the recent Southtown Star article, all of which were opposed to Red Light Cameras. This seemed encouraging for the people of Oak Lawn. They had voiced their disapproval for Red Light Cams to the one man on the Board they knew would listen to them. Tom Phelan then explained that while he understood that the recent study actually showed an increase in accidents at the Red Light Cam intersections, that violations had gone down, so the Red Light Cams must be working. (sigh)
Next the Police Chief was asked his opinion of the cameras to which he replied that he supported the use of the cameras as a way of trying to change driving habits and that it would be too hard for regular police officers to enforce red light running this effectively because it is so difficult for them to testify that they saw the light change. Instead he supports the cameras because they are working to change driving habits which in his view was positive (despite the extra collisions at these intersections).
With the debate over it was time to vote and as I reflected on all the problems the Village of Oak Lawn is facing with their dysfunctional board, their Legal Council problems, Presidential cronyism, funding issues for high school after school programs yet somehow finding the wherewith all to fund the Oak Lawn Children's Museum, I had hope. There was a moment when I thought the board would do the right thing, listen to the Village residents and in the spirit of "Fall Fun Fest" stick up for civil liberty, privacy and fiscal responsibility by voting "NO" on the resolution to extend the Red Light Camera contract for another 5 years.
At around 9:30, Trustee Jerry Hurckes motioned to vote on the resolution. The motion was seconded and the roll was called...
Trustee Duhig - "Yes"
Trustee Hurckes - "Yes"
Trustee Olejniczek - "Yes"
Trustee Phelan - "Yes"
Trustee Quinlan - "Yes"
Trustee Streit - "Yes"
Unfortunately for the resident of Oak Lawn, "YES" really does mean "NO" when it comes to sticking up for Liberty.
Have you ever been frustrated by the actions of your city council? Are you not satisfied in the direction your local schools are going in? Have you ever considered running for local office?
Many of the decisions that affect our daily lives are made by local governmental officials. In many ways, it is just as important to have good local political leaders as it is having good Congressmen.
Right now, all eyes are on the November election and for good reason. However, the next municipal election is schedule for April 2011. Petitions have to be filed for many of these local offices by November 22nd. It's unfortunate that in Illinois politics never sleeps but we have to find good candidates for these local offices now. More importantly, we need to find those good people who would run but are reluctant due to a lack of resources.
The Illinois Local Government project is a resource designed for concerned taxpayers to assist them in running for local office such as city councils, school boards, park boards and township offices. Many times, concerned taxpayers want to run for office and make a difference but find little help in actually making a campaign happen.
The effort will equip interested candidates providing them key guidance in the petitioning process to get on the ballot, guidance in how to campaign, assistance with messaging and connections to other services providers and potentially donors.
If you know someone who you think would make a good local officeholder or wish to run yourself, get in contact so we can help you get in office and bring good government in your home town!
Taking a page out of the Federal and State government playbooks, the DuPage County board has approved a massive borrowing package to address "critical needs." Unlike our foes in Washington, we can actually realistically vote these idiots out of office and make clear that fiscal discipline must start in our own backyard. Start by telling this project's champion, Bob Schillerstrom, what you think of this plan:
Cook County Campaign for Liberty is proud to announce it's fall campaign against area red light cameras: "Chicago Ban The Cams".
Starting this Sunday, September 12th through the end of October, Campaign for Liberty members and other residents of Cook County will be protesting key Commissioners responsible for passing the June 1st Red Light Camera ordinance, a measure to add 30 Red Light Cams around Cook County.
As you and I know, Cook County Politicians take BIG MONEY from powerful Red Light Camera lobbyists to pass ordinances like the one passed by the Cook County Board this past June. Red Light Cameras are NOT about safety, they are about millions of dollars to pad municipal funds, political campaign funds and corporate profits. Red Light Cameras are simply a TAX masquerading as a safety measure, an insidious scheme by corrupt politicians and corporations to take our money AND OUR LIBERTY!!!
Now is the time to take action and inform the Citizens of Cook County about what their elected officials are doing when they are not watching. It's time to Ban The Cams!
Fall Red Light Cam Protest Overview
Our goal for this fall is to conduct several protests around the county throughout September and October to spread the word about Red Light Cam issues and call attention to the Cook County Board for passing the recent RLC Ordinance.
GOALS - Our goals are to conduct street protests to hand out information targeting specific Cook County Commissionersto inform the public of their voting record on the RLC issue, raise awareness of red light camera issues in our community, grow our movement and issue a call to action: Ban Red Light Cams in Cook County!!!
The Campaign will conclude with a Rally at the Cook County Building in downtown Chicago in late October where we will read a statement about the RLC issue, call on the County Clerk for more transparency around roll call votes, and demand that the county board BAN Red Light Cameras in Cook County.
Protest Dates:
1. Sept. 12th - Districts 5,6 - 95th and Cicero
2. Sept. 18th - District 9 - Devon and NW Highway
Sept 25th - Open Weekend.
3. Oct. 2nd - District 10 - Foster & Sheridan
4. Oct. 9th - District 11 - 55th and Naragansett/Archer Avenue
Oct. 16th - Open Weekend.
5. Oct. 23 - District 13 - Touhy & Western
6. Rally downtown at Cook County Building - Tuesday, October 26th
It's time for Cook County and Chicago to BAN THE CAMS!!! Visit www.ChicagoBanTheCams.com and join the e-mail list to stay informed. Together we can bring positive change to Cook County.
As of the time of this writing, 86% of Senator Pankau's constituents either completely oppose RLCs or oppose them everywhere but at high accident intersections. Go here and vote!
As I look around, I can't help but notice that some of the passion of this campaign seems to have dwindled over time. Matt Phillips has written a great article exploring the idea of apathy that we've all encountered, and if you haven't read it yet I suggest you take a look. Not too long ago, people were out en masse gathering petition signatures, meeting with their representatives, and generally raising hell to demand a full audit of the Federal Reserve. It was an unprecedented task, and no one expected us to get as far as we have. Yet here we stand, on the 16 month anniversary of Dr. Paul's introduction of HR 1207, with 320 cosponsors, nearly 80% of the American people behind the idea, and yet settling for good enough instead of pressing ahead to acheive our ultimate goal.
We should certainly take the time to celebrate how far we have come. We have done more to push this issue forward than anyone ever has since the Fed's inception nearly 100 years ago. No one is denying our accomplishments. Having said that, by resigning ourselves to defeat when we were so close to our goal, we are at risk of squandering all of the time, energy, and passion we have put into this cause.
A few months ago, there was a motion to add the HR 1207 language to the financial regulatory reform bill. If you weren't watching closely, you may have missed the that over 100 cosponsors of HR 1207 voted against the motion. Strikingly, there are only 8 comments on a post informing us that an insane number of our representatives were caught in an outright lie about their support of this crucial piece of the legislation.
Where is the outrage? Why aren't we knocking down their doors, demanding an explanation for their actions?
The good news is it not too late. In DuPage County and Region 6, we have decide to launch "Project Pain" in which we intend to inflict as much pain on these turncoats as possible. Here is the full list of HR 1207 "cosponsors" who evidently believe the word consponsor means "to vote against." Six are from Illinois:
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] Contact Info and Address(es): http://www.davis.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=44 http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=233 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_K._Davis
Rep Halvorson, Deborah L. [IL-11] Contact Info and Address(es): http://www.debbiehalvorson.com/free_details.asp?id=4 http://halvorson.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95&Itemid=87 http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=9531 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Halvorson
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] Contact Info and Address(es): http://hare.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=74§iontree=44,50,74 http://www.friendsofphilhare.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=55 http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=66451 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hare
Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2] Contact Info and Address(es): http://jackson.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=59 http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=72 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson_Jr
Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5] Contact Info and Address(es): http://quigley.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=13 http://www.quigleyforcongress.com/contact.htm http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=83310 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Quigley
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] Contact Info and Address(es): http://schakowsky.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2581&Itemid=6 http://www.janschakowsky.org/contact http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=6387 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Schakowsky
Is your representative on the list? Have you called to demand an explanation? Each and every person on this list must be held accountable. If you are able to get documentation of your representative being confronted on their vote, please post the link in the comments. Let's harrass these representatives and their staffs until there is no mistake that we are not going to roll over and die on this issue. We've come too far to let this fizzle. Let's get this thing back on track and actually make it happen.
While trying to drift off into slumberland last night i was watching some political punditry mascarading in the guise of "news". MSNBC is the Liberal version of FOX. The ED Show was on. I watched Mr. Ed, the loud annoying one not the cool one that can actually speak coherently (see Mr. Ed the horse), blast on and on about the Bush tax cuts which are about to expire. He went on and on about how the top 2% of this country needs to show some "Economic Patriotism" and start sacrificing 4% more of their hard earned dollars so the government can make up money that is "lost" because of the tax cuts. While watching him i noticed a number of things. First off that he was arguing a point that the guest he had on was not and wouldnt allow his guest to speak, which is incredibly rude, and second that he really wants to take close to 40% of the income of the most fortunate in our country. This of course lead me to question some things. Like "What is economic patriotism anyway?" and "Why in God's name do they equate cutting taxes for the rich to destroying the middle class?"
Ever since the implementation of the Federal Income tax in 1913 theft has been legal. That is if you so happen to be working for Uncle Sam. Why is it that they call "giving" another 4% of your paycheck to the government "economic patriotism"? Is that like sacrificing one of your three children overseas? What do they call that? Patriotism. Why is it patriotic to sacrifice the things you own, or people you love, so the government can mismanage and waste them? That is the least patriotic thing i can think of. Why do we even have an income tax anyway? The reasons you will usually hear is "The government offers us services like: clean drinking water, transportation, police, fire departments..." All of those services can be handled by local and state government. The money we are taxed for gets funneled through inefficient layers of bureaucracy, wasted on inefficient programs, and wars. The government, even while taxing us to no end, cant seem to keep a budget. What is the point of taxation if they wont even live within "their" means?
This brings me to my next point. The tax brackets. Lets take a quick look at those.
Marginal Rate
Single
10%
$0 - $8,375
15%
$8,376 - $34,000
25%
$34,001 - $82,400
28%
$82,401 - $171,850
33%
$171,851 - $373,650
35%
$373,651+
Notice that the upper level of the 28% bracket is $171,850. That figure is curiously just above the yearly salary of Congressmen and Senators, who make $165,200. The hypocrisy is evident. They call people who favor lower or no taxes heartless for destroying the middle class, yet they place themselves in the middle class so they can greedily hoard more of their money.
We need to end the federal income tax. Once and for all.
•1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. (Dictionary.com)
It has been two short years now since Dr. Paul informed us that he intended to wrap up his presidential campaign. It hasn't been one year yet since the Audit the Fed Bill, H.R. 1207, was gutted and a shell of the original bill was added to some typical big government legislation.
Many of us have had very short lives as activists and have only two major losses under our belts to show for it. With no tangible wins to point to, and plenty of horrible bills to watch being passed through congress, it gets easier and easier to despair.
While apathy can be defined as a lack of passion, emotion, or excitement, which I know is not a problem in our movement, it can also be defined as a suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. The greatest expression of our movement's passion was our willingness to go out and work with nothing but freedom as our incentive. It seems to me that as of late we have been suppressing, rather than expressing, our passion.
I admit that I, Matt Phillips, am no exception. I do less than I should. I get lazy, distracted, frustrated, burnt out, and discouraged.
What I've come to learn as of late is that apathy, like other bad habits, cannot be cured by a few words spoken by a great man. Apathy can only be cured by introspection and an internal battle with that little voice that constantly begs "what's the use?"
The cure for apathy is an exercise, not a man.
I can tell you however, that by joining together and by offering our talents and support to one another we can make the exercise that will cure our apathy far easier for one another. You can make it easier for me to do what I need to do to fight for freedom, and I promise that I will return the favor.
We must regroup and begin the exercise anew. I know that we will see results. I've seen results come from the efforts of just a few inexperienced volunteers.
Don't delude yourself and expect immediate results to come at a national level. It's not terribly realistic in the short term. We still need to sign the petitions and maintain pressure on our U.S. congressmen and senators, but the national battle is one that will most likely not be won in the short term.
What will definitely make a difference is all of us working with our county, district, and state groups and affecting changes at the village, township, county, and state levels. A dozen active people can ruin an election for a terrible local politician or spell out victory for a liberty candidate. This can also work surprisingly easily in state general assembly races.
If you don't have a county or district group to attend, please start one now. If you don't know where to begin please contact Heather Danielowski, Greg Bishop, myself, or any other active coordinator. We would all love to hear from you.
So the presidential campaign didn't end the way that we wanted it to end; H.R. 1207 wasn't signed into law. We'll call those successful issue awareness campaigns for now. After all, it took Dr. Paul three decades and countless "losses" to lead our movement to where it is today.
Dr. Paul made us aware of our ignorant apathy; the only way to return to apathy now would be to suppress our passion. A return to apathy now can be no one's fault but our own.
Please keep the passion alive and contact us or your county and district coordinators now to find out how to get involved.
New Lenox, IL -- Big thanks go out to our landscape managers at The Village of New Lenox for finally allowing private individuals to use their property to generate electricity from nature instead of purchasing it from the government-sanctioned monopoly, ComEd. There has been a legitimate movement dedicated to alternative energy for a very long time, and until June 1st it was illegal to use in New Lenox. Whether this technology will work in this area or not is irrelevant; the question is whether or not anybody has the authority to tell his or her neighbor how to use private property.
The lone dissenter to the legalization of green electricity in New Lenox, Village Trustee Ray Tuminello, doesn't think people with less than 3/4 or 1 acre of land should be able to own and operate a wind turbine on his or her property. He “agree[s] with the concept” of allowing people to generate electricity from wind on their property, but having windmills in back yards is “too close for comfort.”
Lovers of liberty may wonder if Tuminello has a clue about the future of the cost of electricity when price inflation continues to stick its ugly head in that sector. Apparently he does not think people with smaller plots of land should be able to prepare for such predictable, tough times. If he were to respect the rights of property owners, he would not support any regulations on private property. If he were interested in making sure the citizens of New Lenox had all the tools necessary to survive the upcoming tidal wave of economic troubles perpetrated by the Federal Reserve's self destructive monetary policy and the Federal Government's fiscal irresponsibility, he would not support any costly regulations on any private individuals' ability to generate their own electricity.
Instead, Tuminello and his colleagues want to force others to live by their handicapping standards. I am all for keeping New Lenox attractive, and I trust most people would choose to erect their alternative energy sources in an aesthetic way without their guidance.
Here are some of the bureaucratic guidelines residents must follow to use the wind to be self-sufficient in New Lenox:
- A wind energy system must be professionally installed.
- It must be limited to one per lot.
- It must be located in the rear yard.
- Its operation cannot exceed 60 decibels.
- It may be 35 feet tall (or 15 feet above an attached structure).
Here are the regulations for creating electricity from the sun:
- A solar energy system must be on the rear or side of a building or on a roof.
- Its colors should blend in with the structure.
- In a residential area, it cannot exceed one-tenth of the footprint of the building (one-half in a commercial area).
Defenders of property rights may empathize with the decibel limit for wind turbines. Sound pollution is a form of aggression. Nonetheless, if I were to own a much larger lot in New Lenox and in the center of my lot is a wind turbine that emits 65 decibels, who is going to accuse me of noise pollution? One size does not fit all.
The rest of the regulations have no justification and are supported by people who believe that our omnipotent government has an obligation to force us to make our property meet their cosmetic standards.
Sadly, the message of getting the government out of the way in energy production is not a popular one among most people in the green power movement. Many support taxing what they deem inefficient energy sources in order to encourage people to use their desired technology. Who really cares about those people in society just scraping by?
Cap-and-Trade/Tax is a revenue-generating scheme developed by insiders in the federal government to coerce people to adopt technologies they are not currently interested in purchasing, mainly because it is too costly. Those who support a Cap-and-Tax policy typically blame corporations for the current energy situation; it is not easy to look in the mirror and realize if their desired technologies were sustainable, they themselves would be using it! Then again, such technologies may be illegal in their towns, too.
I wonder how many people in New Lenox wanted the federal government to pass Cap-and-Trade while they did not even know their favored alternative energy source was outlawed. Perhaps the anti-capitalist wing of the environmentalist movement should research which international corporation is using the media to lobby public opinion and the government for subsides and profits that are destined to come with cornering the imagined "carbon credit market."
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]
New Lenox, IL -- Big thanks go out to our landscape managers at 
Lovers of liberty may wonder if Tuminello has a clue about the future of the cost of electricity when price inflation continues to stick its ugly head in that sector. Apparently he does not think people with smaller plots of land should be able to prepare for such predictable, tough times. If he were to respect the rights of property owners, he would not support any regulations on private property. If he were interested in making sure the citizens of New Lenox had all the tools necessary to survive the upcoming tidal wave of economic troubles perpetrated by the 
Assistant State Coordinator
Local Coordinator
