Where’s Stanley?

I am looking for a little help to win an argument. You may not know but I am in frequent contact with Steve Romanelli President of Winfield United and we have long rambling emails that go back and forth for days. He mentioned to me today that he wants me to know that Stanley Zegel is NOT, REPEAT NOT part of Winfield United.

Stanley Zegel is clearly a destructive wing-nut and has been like a toxic sludge coating everything political in this town. We all know that Stanley’s propaganda tool, “The Winfield Register” was carrying the water for Winfield United in this last election. We know it was largely comprised of misleading lies with a veneer of plausibility and unfortunately was an effective tool for the election and re-election of Winfield United preferred candidates. We found out that Winfield United had $32,000 it raised from a two block radius on Washington Street and Marion Street that it spent, in large part, with Stanley and his (intellectually) bankrupt news-rag. I also know from my close association with Erik Spande, that Stanley Zegel was at the annual fundraiser before the 2008 election for Winfield United. Erik Spande also tells me Stan Zegel was at the victory party at Caliendo’s after the election.

However, Steven J. Romanelli wants us to believe that Stanley Zegel is persona non-gratta at Winfield United events. Further, he wants us to believe that Stanley is not now and has never been a member of Winfield United. Remember, this is the same guy who is very concerned with people “Lying” about him and Winfield United.

Because Steve Romanelli is such a huge fan of www.winfield411.com he reads it every day. I was wondering if you could point out any times you have seen the WU-tang Clan (Winfield United) in the presence of Stanley Zegel, in and around town. I am thinking places like Einstein’s Bagel Shop on Saturdays or what you have heard through the grapevine. Any anecdotes you share in the comments below will be much appreciated and remember, keep it anonymous, Steve loves that.

Muwahahaha.

Ghosts in the Machine

Once again Steve Romanelli is having a tantrum in the comments section of the Daily Herald in reference to this story.

I had a conversation with Steve about two years ago and told him I thought he was “Swinging at Ghosts” when he ranted up a storm on the editorial pages and at www.winfield411.com.

This is what I meant when I said he is swinging at ghosts:

Dear Daily Herald,

Why do you continue to be fooled into letting anonymous posters attack good honest people in Winfield? You would think that a credible publication would honor their TOS and not allow such manipulations to occur. It does not take a genius to know who these people are. Look at the ousted candidates in the 2005 Winfield Election and you will find this slew of anonymous posters is actually just one or two people using a variety of alias names. One of our former trustees has 13 email alias names that are known. Why????? They use these tactics to make it seem like they are an army of dissidents when in fact they are a just one or two who were thrown out of office by the voters of Winfield. Now they attack the community through anonymous websites and anonymous posts seeking revenge for their own failures.

It is unfortunate that people cannot just identify themselves and state their opinion. Imagine living your life, using fake identities to try and attack others, knowing full well you are responsible for your own demise. It must be a terrible feeling and one that I am glad I never will experience.

It makes him look like a crazy. Sorry Steve, that is just my honest opinion.

You are basically saying that everybody that posts on the DH is Chris Levan in disguise… except for Patti Weber because she uses her name.

Let’s take a look at the New York Times Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate, Econ Blogger and Econ hack if you ask me. Notice the hundreds of shameless anonymous commenters? Of course, because that’s how it is done when you are living in the “Now” with the “interwebs”.

Seriously, the only friends you are making with this display of apoplexy at the Daily Herald is with the people can’t read it because they are afraid of computers. The internet is made for being anonymous and just about everyone under the age of 40 “gets” it. Come to peace with it Steve. As a matter of fact, having honest feedback is something that a serious person, such as a business exec with an “open door policy” would come to appreciate, even if the feedback was coming to him anonymously. Possibly, the unvarnished truth could be more valuable because it is coming to you without the fear of being discovered. Who knows, it might be your neighbor that signs on as “HomeSweetHomeWinfield”, wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth?

Let it go. We have a referendum coming for the roads and an election coming for trustee. We can see who has the interests of the people at heart after that.

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

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.

WU’s Rockett Owes An Apology

Winfield United Director Rockett owes Tim Allen an apology.

The short backstory [For a longer version, click on: Not an Anonymous Mailing in Winfield - Political Districting Mailer] Last week, Tim Allen sent out an informational mailer explaining the need for ‘Political Districting’ in Winfield. Contained within the flier was a very carefully laid out map showing where Winfield United’s  funding was coming from.  Shockingly, the map showed 98% of Winfield United’s financial support is concentrated in a very small quadrant in the southwest section of town, lending even more credence to Mr. Allen’s argument that Winfield’s residents would greatly benefit from ‘Political Districting.’  Within the mailing, not only was Mr. Allen’s name displayed, the informational flier also included Mr. Allen’s email address and his phone number.  This could hardly be considered an anonymous mailing by any stretch of the imagination.  Also, prior to the flier being mailed Mr. Allen had a series of email exchanges with Winfield United President Steve Romanelli regarding that very same flier.

Yet Winfield United Director Rockett, resorted to gross misrepresentations to try and impugn Mr. Allen’s character.  All the while trying to shield his organization from the problems they have  created in town.  In this case he fails, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Rockett was indulging in “distortions and evasions” and his reaction to Mr. Allen is emblematic of somebody whose organization is not holding up under scrutiny.  Mr. Allen is simply a new player in an arena Winfield United believes belongs exclusively to them and their small group of deep pocketed backers.

Given the nature of Winfield politics a certain amount of pandering is to be expected.  But this time Rockett and Winfield United went too far.  Does Rockett really believe what happens in Winfield stays in Winfield?  Rockett owes Tim Allen an apology for saying “blatantly untrue” things about him.  And, for attempting to undermine an effort that would bring better representation for all of Winfield. Furthermore, Rockett owes each and every resident of Winfield an apology also.

Not an Anonymous Mailing In Winfield

On June 1, 2010 The Daily Herald ran this story:

Why an Anonymous Mailing in Winfield?

On June 5, 2010 The Daily Herald ran the rebuttal:

Winfield mailer was hardly ‘anonymous’

The fact is that it wasn’t anonymous and how anyone could make the mistake is beyond me. I, Tim Allen, sent the mailing. I put my name on it. I put my Email Address on it. I put my phone number on it and then as if that weren’t enough, I invited the whole Village of Winfield to come to a meeting on May 26th at John’s Buffet and talk about the pros and cons of Politically Districting Winfield. To go a step further, I invited Steve Romanelli president of Winfield United and Jed Skillman, founding member of Winfield United to debate me at that May 26th meeting and gave them a full month of notice about the time, date and location. I posted the mailer two weeks before it was printed or mailed to a popular local news website named www.winfield411.com and asked for donations to defray the costs. I even got an email from Winfield United President Steve Romanelli that referenced an excerpt from the mailer  before it went to print.

Before the letter to the editor of the Daily Herald was sent I fielded two emails from Winfield United, one by Steve Romanelli himself as to whether I was the publisher of the direct mail piece. I answered in the affirmative.

I honestly don’t know how I could be more up front and honest about what I am doing and what my goals are for the Village of Winfield. My goal is to find sustainable revenues for Winfield that don’t revolve around picking the pocket of the taxpayers every time something breaks. I believe Winfield’s best chances for sustainable revenues are by developing Roosevelt Road as a commercial district. I feel that Winfield United and their excessive support from a two block area with their backyards all being Roosevelt Road represent a political obstacle to this development. I think that the $18 Million Road Referendum (over 20 years)  is essentially a wealth transfer payment from all the citizens that do not live near Roosevelt to all the citizens that do and I believe that this fact is abundantly obvious if you look at the map of where WU gets their monetary support.

I have learned a lesson though, next time I send a mailer about the problems associated with a high percentage of the Village of Winfield not having a political voice, I will ring Rock Rocket’s door bell and hand him the mailer.

-Tim Allen

Fun With Steve Romanelli

Rudy Czech’s Final Board Speech

Editor’s Note: Many resident did not have the opportunity to hear to Mr. Czech’s final speech as Winfield Village President, so we have reprinted the speech in its’ entirety (unedited) for everyone to read.   In light of Mr. Allen’s most recent flier on Winfield United, it only seemed appropriate to make Mr. Czech’s farewell speech available.  There are many parallels between  Mr. Czech’s speech and Mr. Allen’s flier, along with some very troubling observations made by Mr. Czech regarding his one-time supporters, Winfield United.  He also provides some very valuable in-sight into how Winfield United maintains control.

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

Why is Winfield United So Arrogant?

Every political community includes some members who insist their side has all the answers and their adversaries are idiots. But Steve Romanelli’s Winfield United far surpasses the norm and appear committed to the proposition their views are correct, self-evident, based on fact and reason, while their opponents positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, and unworthy of serious consideration. Indeed, all the appeals for everyone to get along notwithstanding, Winfield United and their leading narrow-minded voices have started a chorus of intellectual condescension.

This condescension is part of Winfield United’s tradition which began six years ago. They have impoverished the village’s economic future, adversely changed the direction of the community, and damaged Winfield’s credibility.

Winfield United has misled Winfield for over a half a decade now, dismissing new thoughts as irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas. Winfield United politics stresses paranoia, intolerance and insecurity, rendering opposing viewpoints more a psychiatric disorder than a rival.

You would think Romanelli’s sense of intellectual superiority would drop off during the economic woes brought on by their policy changes and the difficult challenges Winfield currently faces. But these days, Winfield United confidence and its companion disdain for new ideas are back with a vengeance, finding energetic expression in the Winfield Post.

Winfield United likes to make it seem like they are paying attention to the residents underlying questions but disregards their suggestions as illusory and devoid of reason. This form of condescension implies the residents are in the grip of false consciousness. When residents express their views at village meetings, it might be politically prudent for the Winfield United supported village board members to hear them out, but there is no reason to actually listen.

Winfield United wins elections not because they triumph in the open battle of ideas but because they deploy brilliant and sinister campaign tactics. They use their organization as a dense media network using publications such as The Winfield Register, wine and cheese parties, community functions, and civic involvement to manipulate information and mislead the public.

But, if Winfield United leaders are manipulators, then the rank-and-file residents who support them must be manipulated at best or stupid at worst. You could argue Winfield voters were so distracted by the loud noises coming from the Winfield United camp they were induced into voting against their own economic interests.

Finally, Romanelli’s organization Winfield United is driven purely by emotion and anxiety — including fear of change – instead of appealing to evidence and logic. The Winfield United extremists are opposed to any reasoning process that threatens their self-serving existence. Their political model involves an abandonment of concern for reason or evidence and relies on propaganda to maintain public support.

Romanell Rants Part II

Editors Note: The following is a continuing series of email exchanges between Tim Allen and the President of the political action committee Winfield United, who is now going by the name Steve J Romanelli. The emails were forwarded to us by Mr. Allen with his permission to post them for everyone to read.

Email 5

Tim,

Now now…….there are some nice compliments in what I sent so you can hide some in there as well. Please remember, I have not, nor will I ever run for public office so I am not sure what was self serving for me in Stan’s paper. Say what you want about Stan, but at least he had the balls to print anyone’s comments who were in opposition to him so long as they identified themselves. Simple concept. Unfortunately, so many of those who choose to attack on 411 are cowards and need to hide behind someone else’s skirt. These are YOUR supporters now and you say you need to speak with them on a daily basis. You seriously can’t believe 411 is as good as it gets.

I have no problem offering my opinion and I don’t need to head fake anyone. I do believe there are so many good people in our village who have donated their time and efforts to best serve the village. They need to be supported for doing their best, not blatantly attacked. Winfield411 and its founders have been spewing the same garbage for years. Their sole purpose is to be disruptive and destructive, without consideration for truth or accountability.  Yet, you believe this is your best avenue to talk to the residents of Winfield. Seriously, you believe this.

You really do not know me and you certainly do not know Winfield United. We do not run the village, contrary to some people’s distorted opinion, and while we support a strong Town Center and certainly want the village to be successful, our best support is for keeping good, honest people in office who will do their best to serve the village first and foremost.

You and I will most likely not see eye to eye on many issues, but that does not matter. What matters to me is Winfield. If you honestly share that feeling then maybe there is some common cause that will find us working together. The Riverwalk is where my focus will be for now.

Steve J. Romanelli

Email 6

Steve, you took too long to get back to me before I had already sent this on to 411. I didn’t think you added anything of value with your final reply so I just let it go. I apologize if you feel that I somehow misrepresented our email exchange.

-Tim

Email 7

I do give you credit for standing up for what you believe, even if I don’t always agree with it. I believe that separates you and I from others.

Did you author the mailing? I did not see your signature, though I saw your email promoting the debate club.

Are you interested in any facts or are you set in your ways to distort them?

Steve J. Romanelli

Email 8

Steve,

Thanks for the compliment. I like to think of myself as tenacious. Yes I authored the mailing. I guess I thought that the “author” part was implied by the fact that the email address that was on there to RSVP for the Debate was TimAllen57@Gmail.com. I also put my phone number on there with a message from yours truly for anyone that rang me. You are the second person that thought it was anonymous so I apologize for the confusion. I take credit and blame for everything I do. Including but not limited to my snark of trustee Bajor. I assume that because of your trolling of 411 that you have seen it?

I am very interested in the facts. I would love to do a write up for 411 and god’s honest truth I was going to wait to contact you about it until I had the DVD of the meeting. I was planning to post your public comment to youtube and then send you a link asking you to elaborate. Unfortunately, the DVD has not been forthcoming yet so I have not contacted you yet.

Would you like to wait to see your comments again in video? Then you can fill in any gaps that may have been left unspackled?

I don’t really think I distorted anything. I got your donor list off the State of Illinois website. I plotted the addresses on Google earth. I wrote an editorial which links to a factual Daily Herald article and then issued a call to action. This wasn’t very Zegel-esque. It was factual up to the editorial which is of course my opinion and can only be assailed with another opinion. So to that end, you can send out your own mailer.

Seriously Steve, I like you as a person and I will tell you the same thing that I told Birutis. This isn’t about you. You can lie to me, cheat, steal or be a nice guy, feed the poor and clothe the naked and I will treat you nicely when I meet you and shake your hand at the public meetings. My problem is with your policies and with WU’s policies (and by extension Birutis’ policies). I believe that as a person you are unassailable until you step into the cage match of ideas. At that point, your policies, motivations and actions are all fair game. I am certain I can still work with you, or Birutis for that matter on any one of your charitable or ecological endeavors. I can clearly see the good that WU does for the village through it’s civic arm. But, your policies have coalesced around a zero growth group of people that is starving the town of revenue. Some of the zero growthers are interested in keeping Winfield as Mayberry for nostalgic reasons and some are interested in zero growth because it is in their back yards. As evidenced by your money donors, there is a big contingent of wealthy NIMBY’s. Those people are causing for a wealth transfer payment between the rest of this town and them when they ask for us tax payers to pony up instead of using our resources wisely and developing them into revenue streams for the town. Like you, I can’t stand bullies. How ironic.

I may be totally wrong and you may be totally right. This town might not want to grow or change or develop one stitch of land and if this is the case, I will learn my lesson and keep my mouth shut from that point forward. However, if ever there was a time for change it is right now. I have made my positions open and notorious. I feel badly that anonymous people leave caustic comments on news outlet comment boards but you have to keep in mind that you were the one that stepped into the limelight.

I hope that you can understand that if el zapato en el otro pie that you would be (and will be at some point) doing the same thing to me. My intentions are pure, there is nothing in this for me personally other than good governance, a sound budget and discretionary operating capital.

-Tim

Email 9

You should go check the contributor names for this group. This was the 2005 election. When you list $31,000 or so of WUPC for the last nearly 6 years, this year constituted 60% due to the nature of that election and the amount that was being spent by outside developers and their supporters to fund Winfield candidates. Think this was open and honest government?

They spent nearly $45,000 during the same election year that WUPC spent about $19,000. Of course money cannot “buy” an election when you have bad candidates or a bad message. If you are so concerned about the truth and the facts it would be worth your while. I have all of the names of the contributors but thought you might want to research on your own since you don’t believe things I have to say. (Winfield residents do not appear in the top contributors)

If you care about the truth, there are plenty of other similar reasons why people in the village get involved. If you just care about your own personal ego being satisfied and serving your small group of “advisors”, keep doing the same things you are doing now.

Steve J. Romanelli

Email 10

Steve,

Clearly you are correct. Luckily, I am not them so your point is a little irrelevant.

I trust that because of your attachment I can count on your unwavering support for political districting to stamp out this kind of malignancy upon our democracy. I can see the headline now. Tim Allen and Steve Romanelli work to district Winfield to prevent both Klein Creek on the North and Washington Street / Marion Road on the South from dominating Winfield politics.

If you don’t mind, I will await the changes to your website home page before I take the picture, shaking your hand, for the press.

-Tim

BTW: You hurt my feelings suggesting that I have advisors. What you are seeing here is pure unadulterated political novice going on… I’ll make my own mistakes.

Editors Note:

Contrary to the self-serving rantings of  Steve J Romanelli, President of the political action committee Winfield United, Winfield411/blog is an information blog publication that goes against the grain and tells stories that many in power and especially Romanelli’s organization Winfield United would prefer to be kept secret.

Since our founding, we have generated a truthful counter-narrative to the false narrative that has long dominated Winfield.  We’ve done this by bringing together columnists, editorial writers and residents, who dared tell the unwelcome truths about those in control of our town.