Ill. Sneak Attack - Jan. 1

Have you been wondering what Illinois legislators planned for the Jan. 1 sneak attack into your wallet or purse? Well, here it is:

Check out this site for 14 new Illinois laws (out of the hundreds) - what they are and what it will cost you not to know there.

And the winner is ... handheld cell phones (held by drivers). Is the fine really only $75. Isn't it more like $100 or $120 in Chicago? Does this mean that Chicago will have to cut its fine, so that it is not greater than the fine under the State statute? Not likely.

Thanks to Jay Schulz of The Woodstock Independent and Harvard Community Radio, where I saw this mentioned on his Facebook page.

Woodstock City Council - no action? Well, not yet...

At 5:22PM the Northwest Herald published an article about the result of last night's Executive (Closed) Session of the Woodstock City Council. Read it here.

Apparently the consensus at the City Council is that they can't do anything.

They're kidding; right?

If they think the residents were mad last night, wait until they start hearing from them tomorrow.

I posted this comment to the article:

"I guess the City Council really did NOT listen last night, if this is their response today. Mayor Sager, City Manager Stelford and Police Chief Lowen should pay a visit on State's Attorney Lou Bianchi. What the heck is going on around here? What's wrong with the police department and the Illinois State Police that they cannot present a case to Lou Bianchi that he'll buy? Violating the LEADS System is a felony. Period. Did they blow the investigation?

"Did the City Attorney tell the Mayor and City Council why they couldn't move forward? Or how they could?

"Why didn't Chief Lowen demote Amati for the LEADS violation? Why didn't he bust him back to chief window-washer at the P.D.? The public is not going to stand for inaction by the elected officials.

"Home-rule is not a trade-off here. It might feel good, but it'll bite the residents when the City extracts higher fees in order to pay for the "necessities" that we're getting along quite nicely now without.

"Was Lou Bianchi part of the State's Attorney Office decision, or did Mick Combs make it on his own? Violating the LEADS System and getting charged is a no-brainer. Exactly why did Combs blink, when the State Police wanted to charge Amati?

"And why didn't the Sheriff's Department accept the complaint and act like the law-enforcement agency that everybody pays so much to support? Who made the decision for the Sheriff's Dept.?"

You'll remember, of course, that Chief Lowen didn't even remove Amati from his post as LEADS Administrator. Initially, that is.

Remember the movie, Cool Hand Luke? "What we've got here is failure to communicate." Yes, we sure do...

WANTED: Woodstock BOFPC Minutes for 2 years

I was curious this afternoon about who the two remaining members of the Woodstock Board of Fire and Police Commissioners are, and so I went to the City's webpage to view recent Minutes for the names.

Although I was on that webpage earlier today, a few minutes ago all Minutes after September 12, 2011, are gone! It appears they are being added back now.

I notified the City Manager's office, which was unaware that those Minutes are MIA.

Two years ago the members were Ron Giardano, Chairman, Tom Schroeder and Larry Howell, who is a Woodstock resident and Chief of the Lakewood (Ill.) Police Department.

Last night Mayor Sager said there is one vacancy on this Board.

If you are interested in being considered for appointment to his unpaid, volunteer Board, contact the office of Woodstock City Manager Roscoe Stelford right away.

To view the Minutes, go to www.woodstockil.gov
On the left side, hover over Boards & Commissions
Hover over Board & Commission Minutes
Click on Board of Fire and Police Commissioners
Click on the date of interest
Continue to click until the Minutes are viewable

When should a public body support a candidate for office?

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department has issued a Media Release about its undersheriff and his prowess at a local educational institution. The institution advertises itself as a "... four-year, accredited, independent, liberal arts, co-educational college" with a limited number of MBA programs.

Does MCSD do so for each of its employees?

Does it do so only if the graduate is running for elected office and is the "favored son" of the incumbent who is retiring?

Wait until you see that release. Will MCSD have the gall to publish it on its own Sheriff's Department website?

To me this smacks of use of taxpayer-funded property to prop up a candidate for office. That's gotta be illegal.

Amati-issue media coverage

Last night's Woodstock City Council meeting drew wide media attention. Click on links to go directly to articles about the December 17th City Council meeting.

Fox News TV-32, including video

Chicago Tribune

Northwest Herald

The Woodstock Independent - watch for article in next week's paper

Facebook: Go to page "Amati Must Go" (include spaces without quotation marks)

Guardian Liberty Voice - contains several errors, omissions

Several Facebook readers have already indicated they will attend the Monday, January 13, 2014 Coffee with the Chief at police headquarters, 656 Lake Avenue, Woodstock. The meeting begins at 7:00PM. Before the monthly meeting date information will appear in the lower-right corner of the homepage of the City's website, www.woodstockil.gov

The Minutes of last night's City Council meeting will be published on the City's website, probably within 2-3 weeks and before the next Regular Meeting, which will be January 21, 2014. Minutes of this and previous meetings can be viewed at www.woodstockil.gov
Hover over City Council
Click on City Council Minutes
Click on the date of the meeting of interest
Continue clicking until the Minutes are shown

Watch for announcement on the City's website of any special Meeting of the City Council or the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Here's where you'll find the announcement and an agenda for the meeting. Public notice must appear at least 48 hours before the meeting's starting time.

For the City Council, go to www.woodstockil.gov
Hover over City Council (left side)
Click on City Council Agendas
Click on the date for the meeting of interest
Continue clicking until the agenda appears

For the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, go to www.woodstockil.gov
Hover over Boards and Commissions
Hover over Board and Commission Agendas
Click on Board of Fire and Police Commissioners
Continue clicking until the agenda appears

Liest talked in court? How about Contempt?

Today I read Friday's article in FirstElectricNewspaper (FEN) about the last hearing (not the "last" one; just the most recent one) in the case in which Pete Gonigam is trying to beat a report out of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department (MCSD).

Pete wants the report (heck, so do Cal and I and probably the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times and the Daily Herald (some think the Northwest Herald already has it)) which found that Undersheriff Andy Zinke hadn't done anything wrong when he revealed a confidential DEA investigation to political contributor Brian Goode, President of RITA Corporation in Crystal Lake. It seems that at least one truck containing a significant amount of illegal drugs was in Texas and headed for RITA. Supposedly Nygren asked Don Leist to "investigate". You know what that means; right?

FEN filed a FOIA request.
MCSD denied it.
FEN filed a Request for Review with the Public Access Counselor (PAC) of the Illinois Attorney General Office.
The PAC told MCSD to give it to FEN.
MCSD refused.
FEN filed suit in McHenry County Circuit Court to force MCSD to release the report.

The "dance" in court has now been going on since June 18, 2013. That's only six months - seems longer. Maybe because FEN filed its FOIA request months earlier.

A while back, Judge Meyer told the sheriff's in-house lawyer (err, I mean Equal Employment Opportunity Officer and Legal Affairs Officer (since legally, the lawyer for the Sheriff is the State's Attorney)) that he could stand at the bench and observe, but he couldn't talk.

Leist must have short-term memory loss, because last Thursday Leist just couldn't bite his tongue any longer. The lips parted; breath was drawn in; words came out.

Judge Meyer cut him off. FEN's lawyer, Mary Gardner, brought up that Judge Meyer had muzzled Leist and that Leist was supposed to be only a (silent) observer. Should Judge Meyer have told Leist to go and sit in the corner until he could follow directions? Or maybe 24 hours' in the Nygren Hotel for contempt?

The music at the dance has stopped for more than a month, and Judge Meyer won't see them again until January 29.

My opinion? Nygren will do anything and everything to keep that report out of sight until after the March 18th primary. That's only 48 days after the January 29th court date. Surely, Nygren and Leist will figure out how to stall another 1½ months.

After March 18th it really won't matter much. If Zinke loses in the Primary, he'll be unemployed on Dec. 2, 2014. If he wins the Primary, there will be an late snowfall in McHenry County and thwill be buried forever.

City Council aggravated over Amati issue

The Woodstock City Council began an extended session tonight, when a large number of residents were on hand at the beginning of the meeting.

Chicago Tribune reporter Dan Hinkle was present, a Fox News reporter and a TV cameraman showed up, and reporters from The Woodstock Independent and Northwest Herald were present.

An early order of business was to amend the Agenda by adding an Executive Session. Later in the meeting it was clear that the Council intended to use that closed meeting to discuss the Sgt. Chip Amati matter.

A young woman and mother asked why the mental-health assessment recommended by the Illinois State Police had not been included in the discipline doled out to Sgt. Amati.

A Crystal Lake resident came to the meeting, well-prepared with a copy of an email reply to an out-of-state woman who had written to the City. He asked why the State Police had apparently accepted electronic devices from Amati without using a warrant to collect all devices. He commented that law enforcement knows that one habit of a sexual predator is to use some devices only for the purpose of communicating with victims. He expressed deep concern that the Illinois State Police might have missed some electronic devices.

Residents asked specific questions about the Board of Fire & Police Commissioners. Later, in response, Mayor Sager mentioned that BOFPC members must be Woodstock residents. The Board is to have three members by statute; currently, there is one vacancy. [Although no invitation was made for anyone to express interest in being appointed, if you are interested, contact the City Manager's office immediately.]

One resident pointed out that the supervisor of the Woodstock Police Department's LEADS system would have known that it was a felony to use the system for personal reasons. He asked for an investigation to determine whether there had been any other illegal use of the LEADS system.

One speaker was very direct in saying that Amati should no longer be a member of the Woodstock Police Department and that he should be charged with a felony.

Several speakers mentioned members of their own families in the 12-year-old range. One woman said she would re-think the advice she gave to her daughter about finding a cop on Halloween, if they had gotten separated.

One speaker referred to the Six Stages of Grooming and described it as a gradual, calculated process of drawing in a potential victim. I'm sure a search on Google will locate more information about grooming, if you are interested.

Six-to-eight members of the Anonymous group were present to lend support to those who are outraged by this incident.

Mayor Sager referred to Amati as a "previously-trusted" officer and said the Council will do its best to "bring a sense of rightness to a terrible situation." After the public comment period ended, the Mayor and each member of the Council spoke about their own feelings in this matter. They are not happy campers!

Mayor Sager and City Attorney Richard Flood explained that, under Illinois law, the City cannot just fire a police officer. Only the Board of Fire & Police Commissioners can do that. (You can thank your State legislators for that one.)

I remember an early Coffee with the Chief that Chief Lowen had, when many residents from the First & Wheeler neighborhood showed up to complain about speeders, stop-sign violators, loud music from cars, etc. They grabbed the meeting. Later the residents got tired and the meetings turned into "educational" meetings. Maybe the January Coffee with the Chief will be an opportunity for residents again to be heard.

The City Council was scheduled to go into Executive (Closed) Session tonight, and I believe it will be for the purpose of discussing Sgt. Amati. Because this Executive Session was added to the Agenda tonight, the Council cannot take action on anything discussed in the closed meeting.

My recollection is that the City Council typically does not meet on the first Tuesday in January. (Last year they did hold a Special Meeting on January 9, and it was for an Executive Session. That was a meeting for a personnel issue involving the hiring of a new City Manager.

The City Council may not address the Amati issue further until its regular January meeting on January 21 at 7:00PM. My guess is they will call a Special Meeting and avoid a delay.