Thursday, September 20, 2007

Class Action vs. Woodstock

Late Wednesday afternoon, September 19th, a filing was made in the McHenry County Courthouse against the City of Woodstock. The proposed class action is Case No. 2007-CH-1146 and is a demand for trial by jury. A scheduling conference is set for January 30, 2008, 9:00AM, in Room 204.

What’s it all about? Sewer water overflows in the homes of certain named plaintiffs. Paperwork indicates there is a reasonable belief that more than 200 households in Woodstock suffered water invasions between August 6-8.

The filing alleges that the Defendant (City of Woodstock) is responsible for inspection, cleaning, maintenance, operation, upkeep, repair, design, engineering and/or control of the sewage system. That about covers it; right?

Was your home damaged? If you suffered losses of any type, notify the Woodstock Public Works Department at pwdept@woodstockil.gov or (815) 338-6118 or by U.S. Mail c/o City Hall, 121 West Calhoun Street. If you notify by telephone, be sure to confirm in writing.

Often it is hard for the citizen who is not familiar with the legal process to uncover information about Class Actions. To help you save time, here is the contact information:
Contact the law firm of Sneckenberg, Thompson and Brody, L.L.P., 161 North Clark Street, Suite 3575, Chicago, IL 60601. Phone: (312) 782-9320.

Why is all this important to me? I personally believe the City was too hasty in so quickly denying liability and directing homeowners and other residents to their insurance companies. Because the engineering report included only 345 addresses, I believe that many residents initially accepted the City’s denial of liability and did not report losses and damages.

On August 21 I addressed the City Council and asked them to send a questionnaire to all City residents, inquiring about damage. I also asked the City to create a running total of losses by residents. On September 4 I heard Mayor Sager say that a letter would be sent to “everyone.” (Of course, the audiotapes of those City Council meetinsg no longer exist.)

Now, I don’t know that the City is liable. But I do know from years of experience that, if someone says too quickly “I didn’t shoot that guy in the lower back with a steel-blue .38 six-shot revolver at 10:34PM”, a whole lot of questions ought to be asked.

And now they will be asked.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wake up folks, if you sue the city you are suing yourself. where do yo figure the money is going to come from if the city has to pay out a bunch of cash. Gus don't care, he don't pay taxes.

Not My Advocate said...

I wonder, is Gus a owner or renter? Does he pat property tax in the city? Does he have a stake when it comes to the city lawsuit? I am sure he is a renter gleefully supporting the heightened taxes of his neighbors.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sager-suck-ups, instead of ranting on Gus, why not be honest about the moronic, self-serving make-up of our local government? Remember, these are the same insider stooges that both BOUGHT and SOLD the Rec Cntr (nee failing "health club") with your tax dollars, appointed their own stooges to oversee the ethics trial against themselves, illegally promoted the d200 tax hike, keep the Opera House for their own personal gain and tax-wasting self-aggrandizing productions, forced Woodstock to become a sister-city (whatever the hell that is??!) with some narco-city in Mexico (does Sager still have extensive "business" dealings there?...), tried to re-write IL liguor laws from city hall and were literally laughed at by the IL Liq. Comm., and the list goes on and on. So just come clean: You like playing kissy-face with Sager and you're irked that people like Gus keep calling the his silly stooge-following-council to account for their actions and idiocy. C'mon, you'll feel better, come on out.....