The Case for Voting NO’ on the Winfield Road Referendum TAX

This an archived article from February of 2010

This fall our village is putting to a public vote a referendum for $3.3 Million in order to fix the most decrepit roads in our town. After that, we need an additional $705 Thousand Dollars per year just to maintain the remaining roads. The initial tax will show up on your property tax bill as an extra $243 charge if your house is worth $300,000. If your house is worth more, your tax bill will be proportionally more. The tax will continue until the bond is paid off in 20 years. (Daily Herald, 12-18-09)

Note: The $243.00 does not include the additional cost of  the $705 thousand dollars for the next 20 years. In reality you are looking at approximately a 200% tax increase on the Winfield side of your tax bill.

An Epic Failure of Leadership

If you have been a resident for a few years, and if you watch the newspapers, you are probably aware  Winfield has had many opportunities to develop and grow our commercial tax base, which alleviates the financial pressure put on residents in the form of property taxes. Commercial real estate creates higher land values, puts no additional pressure on our schools, and they pay higher taxes per square foot than residential real estate does. Commercial developments also have the distinct advantage, if done right, of creating sales taxes. This town’s politicians for years have actively denied growth opportunities that would create net tax revenues for our town. (Daily Herald 3-25-09) If we had taken even a few of them, we would not find ourselves in such dire straights.

Lost Annual Transaction Tax

It is impossible to truly know how much sales tax revenue Winfield has forgone. I checked with the Illinois Department of Revenue and they tell me specific numbers are confidential. I have general numbers, and they are in the millions of dollars.

Currently, our heaviest traveled corridor is Roosevelt Road. The land along Roosevelt is zoned residential. Roosevelt Road has a traffic count of 30,000 cars each day. Of all the opportunities our village has to generate revenue in order to provide services like road maintenance, there is no better opportunity than Roosevelt Road.

“Winfield has lost every opportunity to raise tax revenue without raising taxes on our people…”

An Epic Failure of Government

During the last election cycle we were assured that Winfield Village President Deborah Birutis was a financial wizard that had spent 5 years on the finance committee and all was well with the budget. Glenn VadeBonCoeur and Jack Bajor also served with her on the finance committee and still do. Jack Bajor and Joel Kunesh are long time Winfield Trustees. One has to wonder, given their financial prowess, how did they NOT see this coming? In that same election cycle we were assured the budget was balanced and there was nothing to worry about. We should all be disappointed that we have arrived at this juncture in our town’s history; out of money and worse, out of ideas that do not revolve around raising taxes on the residents of this great town. The next step for these politicians is apparently to outsource our police department. The way I see it, if you boil the village’s responsibility to the residents down to its core, the local government is responsible for delivering clean water, disposing of sewage and garbage and providing police protection. If Village President Birutis doesn’t think Winfield should provide police protection anymore, then what, really, are we paying a local government for? If disbanding the police department is really an option, then disbanding the Winfield’s Village government should be too.

Why I ask you to join me in voting NO for the Winfield Road Referendum.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, the roads need to be fixed and Winfield is in a very bad spot because of monumentally bad management. But unless we take this opportunity to set the town on a path to fiscal responsibility, you can rest assured your politicians will come back to you in a few years from now to ask for more money for something else that is lurking (or should I say lacking) in our budget. However, we must vote NO for the Winfield Road Referendum UNTIL such time as they adopt reforms such as changing the zoning on Roosevelt Road to create the possibility for future revenues and outline a plan for developing a sustainable revenue stream. If our elected officials can put together a cogent plan with vision that clearly demonstrates a path to sustainable revenue, then we should change our vote to YES. I am not looking at a complete denial of the fact the roads need to be addressed, just a pause in doing what needs to be done. A pause just long enough for our current elected officials to do the right thing, to remember they are the stewards of the entire town and they manage the resources for the benefit of all the residents. I ask you to vote NO until a clearly defined plan has been devised to never have to come back to the residents again for more tax dollars.

Questions to Ask Your Elected Officials

1. President Birutis, Trustee VadeBonCoeur, with your 5 years on the finance committee, how long did you know that Winfield was out of money?
2. Did you know we were going to have to go to referendum for the roads during the last election cycle?
3. All your campaign literature said that you had “Balanced the Budget”. Tell me, is the budget really balanced when you are robbing from the road maintenance fund to cover operating expenses?
4. If getting a “Yes” vote for this referendum required changing the zoning of land in Winfield’s control on Roosevelt Road to commercial zoning would you do it?
5. Would you support leasing the Metra Commuter lots to a private company in order to raise $1 Million dollars?
6. Why did you vote against video gambling in Winfield that would have raised $45,000 per year?
7. Why did you not support the proton treatment center and its estimated $450,000 of tax revenue in the TIF district?
8. If we had the opportunity for a major commercial development to go in on Roosevelt Rd would you support it and the millions of dollars it would make for the Village?

“…the village needs to realize that there is a correlation between having an anti-development mindset and paying increased taxes …”

Video: WU’s Romanelli Exposed!

Editors Note: This recently discovered video showing Steve Romanelli, President of Winfield United addressing  the Winfield Village Board in May 2010 about his organization’s relationship with that same village board.

Romanelli is hard at work as he took time once again to whitewash or ignore the truth in order to protect Winfield United’s control of the Winfield Village Board. Listen at the very end of Romanelli’s “heartfelt” speech when he states:

“as the President of Winfield United we have NEVER controlled the board (Winfield Village Board) have NEVER told anyone on this board, what to do or not to do.” –Steve Romanelli, President Winfield United

Mr. Czech’s village board speech is indisputable evidence despite Romanelli’s denial of illicit coordination between Winfield United and the Winfield Village Board that Winfield United does in fact weld considerable influence and authority over the village board and their decisions.

We have re-posted former Winfield Village President Rudy Czech’s board speech [Go to the highlighted portions for the short version] he gave at his final board meeting in April 2009.

The video of Winfield United’s Steve Romanelli and Mr. Czech’s speech, speak for themselves.

Rudy Czech’s Final Village Board Speech:

First I would like to congratulate Trustee Deborah Birutis,Trustee Jack Bajor, Trustee Joel Kunesh and Jay Olson on their election wins. Also Dan Conley and Clerk Anne Mareachen. I’m sure they will all do a great job in their respective offices. It was an interesting election, of which I would like to briefly comment on.

While I accept the results I do feel I need to address some misinformation that was thrown about. Yes, the residents clearly and overwhelmingly showed they wanted me out, I got the message loud and clear. However I do question how they arrived at that conclusion. I thought most residents were not in favor of vehicle stickers – I guess I was wrong, since winning candidates have stated at board meetings their favoring them, and rec’d. over 1,000 votes each. So I guess many residents support the sticker program. I have never said I supported them, however both the Public Works Committee and the Finance Committee have discussed them and recommended that the Village Board review and discuss the issue. This issue was tabled, not voted on, which means it is still out there.

The issue of 4 village managers….I have had one, Bill Barlow. Jeff Moline was the previous Manager. Gordon Cole, Bruce Bonebrake & Phil Page were Interim Managers. Naperville had an interim for a year, recently hiring a new Village Manager.

I guess I underestimated the power of the force, the Winfield United Political Organization. Although I was supported by this organization 4 years ago, they dropped support for me last August with no explanation. They solicited candidates to be interviewed for their endorsement, yet refused to interview me. I can only assume it was because I nominated John Karwoski and then former mayor John Kirschbaum to the Plan Commission. Both of these appointments failed. After I nominated John Karwoski and the motion died for a lack of a second, I had a visitor come to my office. There I was shown the election tally for 2005 and reminded me who all supported me and what was I thinking of.

I was attempting to unify the town, the different factions that exist in the community. That’s what I was thinking. I was blocked by Winfield United Board members. OR it could have been my remark that Roosevelt Rd. needs to be looked at for development of some kind to bring in revenue, since most of it is unincorporated. If we don’t annex it, West Chicago surely will. I don’t think that went well within the Winfield United Organization, in fact I know it didn’t. I also attempted to appoint Tim Allen to a vacant Trustee position. Besides being told I would not have the votes to appoint him, I was sent an e-mail by a WU member and told that I lost their support when I considered Tim Allen’s nomination to the Board.

I bring this up for a reason. I was elected 4 years ago to represent the entire town, not just the Winfield United Political Party. When I strayed from their beliefs, I was removed. To prove me wrong on this statement, I’m sure, no I’m positive attempts will be made to unify the town and with WU’s blessing, successful appointments will be made to represent all the political factions that are in Winfield, which is great but at the end of the day, the Winfield United Political organization will still maintain control of the Board. And rightfully so, they won. The campaign literature for some of the winning candidates was paid for by the Winfield United Political Organization. That’s no secret. It would be the same as if a political party (Dem or Rep) did it. So I recognize that fact. WU spent a lot of money, but so did the other candidates. This has to have been the most expensive election in Winfield history.

The Winfield United Political Party has succeeded in winning the last 3 consecutive elections 05, 07 & 09. and has made their presence known, I do congratulate the Winfield United Organization on another election win but want to remind everyone that they are the ones who really hold the power. If they don’t like you or you disagree with them, they’ll remove you. I’m a testimonial to that.

But who was the real winner…..the man behind the curtain. The great and powerful Winfield wizard of politics….Stan Zegel. Wait, is he really behind a curtain, am I telling you anything new? Stan has been a powerful force in Winfield politics for years and now has a newspaper at his disposal. Stan has succeeded in electing the last 4 mayors. I commend him for his success rate, it’s awesome. He is a master at this. Stan, let me say, I congratulate you on another successful win, you did it again. The irony of it is his only unsuccessful candidate was himself, when he ran in 2001. I’ve known Stan for almost 20 years. He was instrumental in helping me get on the Board in 1991 and of course I thank him for that. But when he wants you off the board – watch out. His success rate there is just as good.

I’ve had a bulls eye on my back for months now and Stan’s Winfield Register has certainly helped keep it there. Issue after Issue attacked me, making me look totally incompetent. I used to say, If I believed everything that was written about me, I wouldn’t vote for me either. Well obviously people did believe it and that’s what I fear. Information that I didn’t correct was believed. Articles written with no signature or just “Our Fine Staff”. Who wrote these? Sensational headlines such as “Mayor Prays, Public Pays” regarding the Pedestrian Underpass helped to destroy my credibility…”the underpass just won’t die”…..and on and on it went. “Village To Stick It To Residents” regarding the vehicle sticker issue. Even Congressman Peter Roskam’s mailing was associated as being unethical yet Roskam’s staff did the same thing for over 20 other mayors.

I can’t help believe that Dist. 34 is losing a good superintendent because of the continuous attacks on her credibility. Why would she stay here? Why would anyone who reads month after month, year after year constant editorializing and critiquing of their performance as an administrator with a perception of negative performance.

Stan, if your out there watching, which I’m sure you are, I ask you on behalf of countless residents, to please lighten up on your editorializing and to please be more objective in your articles. When you stood at the Metra Train Station and passed out flyers to commuters regarding the proposed underpass you once again presented slanted and misleading information. How many owners of a newspaper do this? When you called me and Angel Oakley and asked us to drop out of the mayoral race to improve your favored candidate Deborah Birutis’ chances of beating Tony Reyes you once again brought attention to your non-objective position. How could you possibly say you are objective and endorse her when you do that? How many owners of a newspaper do that? I don’t recall hearing that the Daily Herald asked my opponents to withdraw after I got their endorsement.

I could go on and on about the attacks on me from Stan’s newsletter but we’d. be here for hours. A number of residents have voiced concerns over the Village giving the Register the rights to publish Public Hearing notices. They have implied that my administration is doing this because Stan and I are such good friends and that I want to help a friend. Nothing could be farther from the truth, believe me. To them I say, where have you been for the last 2 years with his ruthless attacks on me. Stan has said that I’m just too nice of a guy and not a good administrator, well maybe he’s right. I was too nice of guy by letting his attacks on me go on without a challenge. I should of stood up to Stan Zegel in every issue. In the end, if you are planning on running for Village President, you won’t be successful without Stan Zegel’s endorsement and that’s a fact.

So as to not just vent on Stan’s Register, I would also recommend that the Daily Herald consider getting out of the “endorsement” business. I’ve thought about this for awhile and have even told them so. It really is a waste of time. Some candidates never go in for the endorsement interview but win their elections. The candidates really should seek the endorsement of the Winfield United Political Party, that obviously carries more wait in
Winfield elections.

I wanted to make sure some of these election-related issues were adequately addressed and information corrected before we close the door on this election. I’m sure this will be perceived as “whining” because I lost but whatever, I felt I needed to say this.

Rudy Czech
Village Board Meeting
April 16, 2009

That Voodoo That You Do So Well?

The village board approved the $6000 for their contribution to the Good Old Days festival on Thursday at the village board meeting.

Good Old Days has been in trouble for several years now as evidenced by the state of the declining revenues generated by event. I have already opined about how I believe the village board should take some degree of ownership of the event. Festivals are a data-point on a time-line in a community’s collective consciousness. The shared experience creates both a venue and the glue which binds the citizens of a town into a community. Winfield has very little community spirit compared to Naperville, St. Charles or even Wheaton. I lay the blame for this at the feet of the village board that does not recognize that they have a responsibility to encourage these events. If the charities can’t deliver these events then the village should step in and fill the gap in the name of creating community spirit and lifting morale. It is generally preferred charities and civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Knights of Columbus, Lions and Winfield Juniors organize these events themselves but the village should provide technical support, logistical support, labor, equipment, moral support and, if necessary, a shoulder to cry on if the need presents itself. The trustee’s should have a vested interest in these events being successful from the standpoint of how they reflect back on the administration and from the standpoint of how they reflect on the Village of Winfield.

Unfortunately the relationship between our current Village Administration and our community organizers is one of a low level general disdain. When Trustee Chuck Martschinke relates to the Winfield Chamber of Commerce’s executive board on the Tuesday before the Thursday village board vote that the straw poll of trustees is 60% against and 40% for, it shows the village has no personal stake in the event. It suggests the board feels that Good Old Days is an aggravation they tolerate like a parent who is annoyed by his own child. To take the Village-Board-As-Disinterested-Parent analogy further, I am looking at the declining revenues of the Winfield Chamber of Commerce and see a village board that is either so bored with their own child or so self consumed they can’t be bothered to step in and offer assistance, like a parent that is to consumed in watching “American Idol” to help out with their child’s science fair project for school. The message I get from our trustees is, “Let ‘em fail, the TV is not going to watch itself”.

I would be dishonest if I told you that I was not giving this a lot of thought.

… and then it came to me…

It came to me like a flash, like a vision!

If only we had the expertise available that could help restore Good Old Days to it’s formal glory. Expertise that only someone with the appropriate education could deliver. I’m thinking of someone who could act like a consultant and offer suggestion and guidance born from a wealth of business acumen. Maybe someone with an Masters in Business Administration that could show us scrubs down here in the gallery of the Chamber of Commerce how a real business is run. Maybe someone with an MBA from the prestigious Lake Erie College?

Wait, isn’t Village President Birutis an MBA? … and wasn’t her masters from Lake Erie College? Oh, Joy of Joys.

Village President Birutis an MBA from Lake Erie College?

Mrs. Birutis, meet your new baby. Among the many responsibilities of having your new baby you will need to feed it, clothe it, love it, nurture it and educate it. When your baby fails, you fail. When your baby wins, you win. It’s time to take an interest in your baby. This means when homework time comes around, you make sure it gets done and gets done correctly. This might require viewing a lot less “Oprah” but because your baby is a reflection of you and the quality of parenting you are doing, so it will be worth the sacrifice. The bar has been set at $3000 for last years Good Old Days. Clear that bar and show us your business Mojo, your Voodoo, so to speak. Because we have an objective starting point of $3K we will know how effective your input has been. I challenge you to take responsibility for the 2011 Good Old Days which gives you 13 months to plan and prepare.

The way I see it is, you are already asking the village to trust you that you know how to make a thriving town center, all I am asking you to do is make a thriving Good Old Days. I assure you, I will be the first to extrapolate out your success or failure in this venture as a foreshadowing of what will happen with our town center under your leadership.

Video: More Hot Air From Romanelli

Steve Romanelli is the president of the political action committee Winfield United which has a legacy of failure and incompetence, first with the Rudy Czech administration and now with the equally dismal Deborah Birutis administration.

Romanelli’s defense of his hand-picked village board members is laughable especially since the facts reveal a completely different story. For someone who has stated publicly on more than one occasion his organization has no control over Winfield’s village government, it is puzzling as to why Romanelli finds it so necessary to continually defend this pitiful village board.

Winfield United’s politics and their results can be summed up in one word: FAILURE.

It should come as no surprise Romanelli and his organization Winfield United oppose Districting Winfield into 6 separate and equal voting districts. It is all about power and control with Winfield United and Districting would strip Winfield United of the power and control Romanelli’s organization so badly covets.

At this difficult time in Winfield’s history, the community simply cannot afford to turn the page back to another failed Winfield United run government. We can’t let Romanelli and his organization fail Winfield again.

Winfield’s Good Old Days Near an End?

At the June 17 Winfield village board meeting the topic of discussion was the road referendum that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot. The village board is asking the village residents increase our property taxes by 200 percent to fund $18 million in deferred road maintenance.

I understand that Winfield’s roads are in disrepair but I find it foolish to give my authority to the village board to increase my real estate taxes without them first composing a plan to create sustainable revenues for the future. This plan should probably include developing Winfield’s most promising retail corridor which is Roosevelt Road. In what can only be described as a rhetorical “red herring,” Village Manager Curt Barrett informed me that in order to address the needs of the village roads we would need sales taxes of “$100 million,” and it was not as easy as “flipping a switch” to find other funding sources in place of the referendum.

Twenty minutes earlier Rich Bysina from the Winfield Chamber of Commerce asked village board members if they could pick up the tab for police services for the annual Winfield Good Old Days. Based on the responses from the trustees there is about a 50 percent chance there will be no Good Old Days this year.

I find it hilarious that Mr. Barrett can compartmentalize my demand for sustainable revenues into “only” needing them for road maintenance. From time immemorial money has been made for villages through the careful cultivation of commerce. Winfield should have started 20 years ago but there is no time like the present to have a plan. It’s time for Winfield to make money the “old” fashion way, by earning it, or Winfield’s Good Old Days will truly be behind it.

Video: Winfield Village Board ‘No Plan for Generating Needed Revenues’

Click the link below to go to the story.

Winfield’s Good Old Days Near An End?

At the Board Meeting with Mr. Allen

Village Board Meeting News, June 17, – 2010

1) A presentation was given on how Winfield & West Chicago’s jointly owned waste water treatment plant’s life could be extended until 2025 with only $17 Million in investment to retro fit it with the proper equipment and get the proper certification from the EPA.

2) The village board discussed taking a vote to put the two Road Referendum ballot questions on the ballot. (apparently this hasn’t happened yet) We heard a presentation from the bank in charge of floating the bond issue. The final price per home owner would be $233.99 in additional real estate taxes per year per home that has a value of $300K. The bank representatives talked about “Build America Bonds” which are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment. During the public comments part of the meeting I had that exchange with Village Manager Curt Barrett that I wrote about here.

2) The Winfield Chamber of (not so much) Commerce asked the village board to pick up the cost of Police & Public Works for Good Ole Days. The cost is $6000 and there was some skepticism in their voices. It would not surprise me if Good Ole Days was canceled. The newest development is there will be no carnival rides this year because none of the carnival ride operators can make any money at the event. Bob Bersodi (sp?) made the public comment that Winfield should move the festival to a more prominent place to increase attendance and I completely agree. Winfield’s village board has relegated Good Ole Days to an afterthought and it has been dying for a longtime now. It would be nice if one or two of them would get some business sense and move it to a place where everyone can make money.

3) The New Sign Ordinance is closer to passing but still not voted on. The only thing worth reporting is how Joel Kunesh found it so amusing that the sign ordinance has been in the works for 3 years. Note to Joel; 3 years for a sign ordinance should be a clue that you are incompetent.

The only thing left to report is, during my running gun battle with Village Manager Curt Barrett, apparently Trustee Mrugaz took issue with my final public comments on the matter.

There is a bit of a story to report but first you need to understand the procedure. The village board meeting has a “committee of the whole” section. In Committee of the Whole there are bullet points that get discussed and after each bullet point, the public gets to comment on the bullet point that is being discussed. At the end of all of the bullet points, the public gets to comment again on anything (at all) they would like to talk about. After the general public comments, the village board gets to make general village board comments.

So I took the general public comments section to rebut some comments made by Village Manager Barrett. Then, I confess,  I walked out of the room. Some have characterized it as “Stomped” out of the room. Either way, I have not seen the video of what happened when I left but there was some additional discussion.  I guess Trustee Mrugaz felt like I should have waited around to hear him yell at me. The way I see it is, I routinely send the village board emails or stand before them and ask relevant questions about the subjects at hand and most often they ignore me. I see no reason why I should give them a courtesy that they so often deny me.

Are Winfield’s Good Ole Days Behind It?????

At the June 17th Winfield Village Board meeting the topic of discussion once again turned to the road referendum that will be on the November 2nd ballot. The village board is asking the village residents if we would like to have our property taxes increased by 200% to fund 18 Million dollars in road maintenance that should never have been deferred in the first place. As usual I rose to the podium during public comments to reiterate that I was actively working to educate the citizens about the road referendum. I understand Winfield’s roads are in disrepair and need to be fixed but I also understand our current administration is actively working to deny any vision or plan to create sustainable revenues such as developing our most promising retail corridor on Roosevelt Road. As such, I find it foolish to give my authority to the village board to increase my real estate taxes without first hearing some kind of plan that assures me I won’t have to be taxed again the next time some piece of Winfield’s infrastructure wears out.

When I finished speaking Winfield Village Manager Curt Barrett, in a display that would have given his high school rhetoric teacher apoplexy, trotted out not only a straw-man but also a dish of red-herring. He informed me that in order to address the needs of the village roads we would need sales taxes from “$100 Million in retail sales on Roosevelt Rd” and it was not as easy as “flipping a switch” to find other funding sources in place of the referendum.

Now hold that thought for a second.

Twenty minutes earlier Rich Bysina from the Winfield Chamber of Commerce rose to the podium to ask the village board if they could see their way clear to picking up the tab for police services for the annual Winfield end of summer event known as Good Ole Days. The cost is $6000, the same as it was last year. There was plenty of trepidation and from this observer’s point of view, there is about a 50% chance the village board will say “NO” and there will be no Good Ole Days this year.

Now contrast the fact Winfield cannot find a measly $6000 in it’s budget to fund a long standing Winfield institution against the chiding I took from Village Manager Barrett about not being able to “flip-a-switch” or the unlikeliness of finding “$100 Million in sales tax revenue” in developing Roosevelt Road.

Mr. Barrett, our politicians have not even laid the groundwork to have revenues of 6 flipping thousand dollars, to create a table-scrap of a “quality of life” Winfield wide event. How pathetic is that?

Village Manager Curt Barrett

I find it hilarious Mr. Barrett can compartmentalize my demand for sustainable revenues into “only” needing them for road maintenance. At the February 27th road referendum town hall meeting Mr. Barrett suggested to the gathered crowd that Roosevelt Road could create sustainable revenue but the political will was such that it was not an option that was available. So I guess I am to understand that either Mr. Barrett drank Village President Birutis’ Kool-aid or else the water-boarding she gave him for making such statements in public has adjusted his attitude. What is perplexing to me is that President Birutis is on vacation this week. The boss isn’t there to suck up to. Shouldn’t Mr. Barrett leave what was an obvious political defense to the politicians?

From time immemorial money has been made for villages through the careful cultivation of commerce. Both sales tax AND commercial real estate tax help to remove the burden of funding government from the shoulders of the citizens. It will take time, maybe ten years or more. Winfield should have started on this twenty years ago but there is no time like the present to have a plan and a vision for how we will make sure we never find ourselves in this position again. It’s time for Winfield to make money the “Ole” fashion way, by earning it, or Winfield’s Good Ole Days will truly be behind it

Leave Well Enough Alone

Wheaton Christian Grammar School (WCGS) is trying to drive a well and use the water to irrigate their sports fields. They started the permit process on February 5th and as of today, they still don’t have permission from the village to drive the well. If you factor in the time to drill and the time to set up the irrigation system, they are running into a tight schedule if they want to be ready to practice in August when the teams come back to school. Winfield’s Village Trustees have rejected a proposal by Trustee Jay Olson to issue a permit to WCGS and then take the time to write an ordinance for our village code which would allow WCGS’ well to become operational sooner.

In the village board meeting on May 20th we got a first look at the proposed ordinance and in short, it’s atrocious. But I will let you judge for yourself:

The village board, led by Glen VadeBonCoeur further suggested that the ordinance only be for 1. Non-Profit entities, that were irrigating for a 2. Playing surface for sports, 3. using automated equipment.

Clearly they should have further limited this ordinance to Scottish kilt wearing, unicorn possessing, garden gnomes with masters degrees in Elizabethan poetry and I am ashamed that our village board didn’t tighten up this ordinance to only include this subset before opening this Pandora’s box of an issue that has been so complex for so many towns.

In all seriousness, I have a strong aversion to laws that are made without any thought to why we are making them. Our village board seems content to restrict the rights of the land owners to use their own ground water for arbitrary reasons that are completely unarticulated. Compounding the problem is our village board has no idea who they are protecting and what they are protecting them from. I sent an email to each of our trustees asking them to elaborate and got only silence as a response.

To his credit, it was only Trustee Jay Olson that said, “by my recollection, we only have 3 parcels of 20+ acres”, which is a very diplomatic way of saying, “if you make nine separate criteria to meet nobody will be able to be eligible to drive a well”.

In the larger picture of issues facing our village, whether or not WCGS gets the green light to put in an irrigation well is small potatoes but this whole episode serves as a metaphor for how every issue that visits the village board comes to pass. I get the feeling that some of our trustees are overcompensating for a lack of knowledge or experience by doing the easiest thing that they can by denying everything. It’s easy to feel confident about your position when you say NO to all requests and then write the village code to say NO to future requests. Watching the village board work, I don’t feel that I am looking at a group that knows what it is doing, or why.

Note to village board; if you can’t come up with a rational reason to restrict a person from doing something, then let them do it, and leave well enough alone.

Winfield’s Infrastructure Woes

This is an archived article from February 2010

Chances are you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the intricate system of underground pipes that bring us drinking water, carry away sewage and ensure rainstorms don’t leave us waterlogged. That is, of course, unless you’ve found your home flooded or your commute blocked by thousands of gallons of water gushing into the streets.

Winfield officials have been warned for years their system is in need of repairs, many pipes are close to 60 years old and worn down by ground water and acidic soil. Over the last five years Winfield Village President Deborah Birutis has failed to even marginally address a solution to mend Winfield’s crumbling infrastructure and miles of deteriorating roads throughout town. Now she’s in panic mode scrambling to get support from a taxed-out public for a referendum to fix the massive problems caused by her leadership mismanagement.

A few years back the village had a long cold snap with about a month and a half of below-freezing temperatures. Then, abruptly, the mercury rose and over the course of the next several months, 54 water mains broke, causing all sorts of havoc. The pipes were old. Some were ancient. And they were laid shallow without much protection. So with any radical changes in temperature, they were susceptible to breaking. The village is currently operating at about a 20 percent loss in their system of finished water out of the system through leaks and failures. How long could a business stay viable if they have a 20 percent shrinkage walking out the door?

The question that is now on everyone’s mind is: What has Village President Birutis and the village board done to stop the hemorrhaging of Winfield’s infrastructure?

The answer, absolutely nothing.

Trustee Jack Bajor has been the Public Works Committee Chairman for the past five years. Maybe Mr. Bajor can explain why over the last five years under his leadership he turned away from our screaming infrastructure needs and let the deterioration continue. It has been Mr. Bajor’s responsibility as public works chair to ensure the village’s infrastructure needs are met and the community is safeguarded. Public Works Chair Bajor talks a good game but that’s all it is, talk. Sadly, Mr. Bajor needs to be informed that ignoring these problems imperils public safety, diminishes our economic competitiveness, is penny-wise and pound-foolish, and results in tremendous missed opportunities for the village.

Winfield is near the top in DuPage County for the number of structurally deficient and functionally obsolete infrastructure. Why is Winfield in this predicament? The answer lies with Village President Birutis and her board. Ms. Birutis along with her village board blindly follow the anti-growth philosophy of Winfield United. Ms. Birutis espouse Winfield United’s self-serving and highly flawed position that Roosevelt Road should remain residential. This is a thoroughfare which is commercialized from the Lake Michigan to DeKalb and affords Winfield the best opportunity for revenue growth. The past five years of  Ms. Birutis’ economic plan has produced not one single dollar in new revenue. Revenues badly needed to repair and maintain the decaying infrastructure in town.

At the start of every year Ms. Birutis throws around the terms economic development – downtown redevelopment and this years was no different. But these are merely buzz words to try and hide the failed policies of her administration and mislead the voting public. In the last 6 years Winfield has not seen one new development, downtown or anywhere else.

How did Ms. Birutis think she was going to be able to fund the needed infrastructure improvements? Obviously she had no idea. So the village board pushed aside infrastructure initiatives, including basic maintenance and repair. If you think this is an exaggeration consider a little known fact, the village owns the fire hydrants in town, the village is responsible for their maintenance yet the village has not tested the fire hydrants in over 5 years. Hydrants must be tested on a regular basis to ensure they are capable of delivering water at a pressure and a rate of flow for public health and effective firefighting operations. If this isn’t a cause for concern, I don’t know what is?

Now throw in the board’s wasteful spending of $8 million in taxpayer’s monies earmarked for water, sewer and road improvements on projects to make themselves look good. Think $2 million for remote meters, $1.5 million for new water and sewer lines to an empty lot and $1.5 million for a new public works building. Try finding out where the remaining $3 million went, you’ll need a full scale forensic audit. While the village board boast about these projects they mean nothing if the village they are operating in has its vital organs fail on them.

What this board never understood is infrastructure spending is a crucial investment in the village’s future. Delaying infrastructure maintenance, repairs and replacement never pays off in the long run. Who can say what breach of public health and safety it might result in next time? Addressing Winfield’s infrastructure shortcomings should be of the highest priority for the community.

It is clear, maybe not to this board that getting Winfield’s infrastructure act together is critical to the town’s future. If Winfield doesn’t, it would be worse than foolish. It would be tragic.