Carrie, great reporting! I am so tired of people pointing fingers at each other and blaming all our village's woes on Abt's departure. Thanks to your excellent factual report, people can finally understand the reasons behind the departure. Now let's move on! I am looking forward to the rest of your series.

I am not convinced that we could not have accomodated ABT in their expansion plans. There was plenty of land
on the East side of Waukegan that was eventually turned into a car dealership and other small businesses. That
land could have been united to give ABT what they wanted. I don't think we tried hard enough.

It is true ABT found lot's of land in Glenview, but it is not the most convenient location for consumers. The
Morton Grove location was much closer to Edens Highway and more directly accessible from the Illinois
Tollroad. They are still attracting customers, but I have been in there when the place was absolutely dead.
Maybe we can convince them to open up a satellite store in Morton Grove?

It is too bad that Georgianna Brunner was surprised by the financial state of the village, but I think any
candidates running for office should be attending the village budget meetings to keep up with our finances.
There should be no surprises if our finances are presented in an open and accurate manner.

Sherwin, like an old fashioned blotter, you soak it up and get it all backwards. In the original story above it states; "The largest available commercial lot in Morton Grove right now is 3.5 acres, accourding to Community Development Director John Said. The new Abt store and its 1,000-space parking lot covers 37 acres." In other words, Abt was looking for 10 times the space that was available . Mike Abt is quoted in the story as saying; “We were landlocked and we were bursting,” Abt said. “We needed more showroom space, more warehouse space, more parking – more everything. And Morton Grove didn't have anywhere to put it." In other words, Abt was looking for 10 times the space that was available .

That was then and this is now. Considering the challenges that have been thrown at the current administration, it amazes me that they have managed to do what they have with what they've got. I do not enjoy paying higher taxes and fees but the explanation has been "open and honest". Just like many of it's residents, Morton Grove is hurting financially. I look forward to the remainder of this series. Hopefully somewhere along the line we'll see come constructive suggestions rather than carping.

What ABT is saying now and what they were looking for then can be two different things. Whether it would have
made a difference, many residents of MG and myself feel there was not a big enough effort made by the Action
Party to retain ABT in MG.

You seemed to miss my point about ABT possibly not choosing the most ideal spot for their new store. True, there was plenty of land to build their facility, but location is important to attract customers. I still think we
should be talking to them about a satellite store in MG.

Just declaring that MG is in dire financial condition is not enough for me. There has to be a plan on how to
revive the village. I don't get the 100,000 plus salary that our economic development manager is getting, so
it is not my job to get things done. So far, we have only seen some land swaps and existing businesses moving
around the village. We need new faces to add to our revenue.

Lastly, for someone who portends to be a non-partison village critic, you seem to always be there to defend the
Action Party. Be careful, you may push Mr. Matz out of a job.

Sherwin, I am a critic of misinformation, that's why I'm calling you out on your stuff. To say that it's not your job to get things done is a cop out, you have made a number of "suggestions", (the latest being suggesting an ABT satellite in MG), without rhyme, reason, fact or sense.

Regarding ABT not choosing the ideal location, it was their business decision to move based upon their needs, (I'm sure they looked at what would work for their business regarding location and possibility of expansion... (perhaps you might want to talk to Mr. Abt about your idea for a satellite location in MG... who knows, you might be able to pull it off and become a hero).

Regarding my defending the Action Party, I see the Action folks right now as having a plan that seems to be working to some degree. The Caucus Party said they had a plan and managed to raise our taxes 28+% so, at this point I'll say that until I catch the Action folks playing loose with the truth, (something we saw on numerous occasions with the party you so faithfully defend), I'll sit back and give credit where credit is due.

As far as pushing Mr. Matz out of a job; first, I wouldn't have his job even if it were available; secondly, babysitting politicians is my idea of absolutely nothing to do; finally, Mr. Matz is a big boy and can speak for himself.

So, Sherwin, do you have anything constructive or do you just get a kick out of being a kvetch?

Pat,
I hear the same old arguement over and over how Caucus raised our taxes 28 percent. Nobody looks further beyond their nose to figure out why. Because Action Party had not kept up with the Police and Fire pension
funds, the village fell way behind in those payments. The auditors in Springfield were breathing down our necks
to rectify this deficit. Maybe you can accuse Caucus of not being a saavy party and finding a way to disguise this
deficit by creating new taxes, etc., but they did what they thought was necessary to fix the problem Action had
created. I sat in on the budget meeting when that decision was made, and Di Maria and Staackmann both voted
to approve this increase, so don't try and hang it on the Caucus Party. I'm sure this will not be the end of this
matter, and you and others will be constantly incorrectly bringing it up again. Oh well, I can't win.

Like you, I want to see the truth coming forward, but I consider the Action Party as masters of deception.
If you keep putting these misleading remarks out there, I feel obligated to set the record straight.

Sherwin, it has been said that a half-truth is equal to a whole lie. I believe that you are sincere when you say you want to see the truth come forward. I also believe that your myopia and anger regarding folks who are long gone from the Morton Grove scene make it impossible for you to accept anything but your version of "truth". I also believe that Patch readers are probably getting tired of what is degrading into two old men bickering. I truly hope that Carrie continues to delve into this story and brings the full picture, "warts and all" into the light.

Pat, as much as the Action Party wants to recreate itself, many of the same players are still on the scene, including
Mayor Staackman and Trustee Di Maria. Just how are they long gone from the scene? It's fine with me that
Carrie is talking about this full picture. I am paraphrasing, but there is something said that by not looking at
history, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. How we lost ABT should be examined, so we do not lose any
more businesses.

The issue about the 28 percent tax increase is still coming up in the campaign literature that the Action Party
was distributing in last month's election. It is obviously not a dead issue. We have to examine the history of
political parties to understand where they really stand. There are many people who would like to bury these
past mistakes, but I am not one of them.

What did the village do with all the money they made with Abt and the housing boom??? How come they didn't save any of it??? Abt is old news..The village drove them out with all the complaints of noise from Sayre Ave. They rather be in the real estate business for head tax.

Pat, You like Mr. Matz always want to have the last word.

I don't see any changes in policy of the Action Party even with the addition of some new trustees. Mayor Staackmann is still running the show, as far as I'm concerned. You never hear the newer trustees diagreeing
with anything he says.

Going back to 2003 is not like talking about the American Civil War. Eight years is not that long ago, and the
village is faced with the same basic problems now as it did then. You seem to be contradicting yourself when
you agree we should be examining past policies and then telling me I should not be bringing up past mistakes.

I don't agree that the 28 percent increase was a mistake. It was a necessity brought on by the years of neglected
payments by the Action Party to our Police and Fire pension funds. I know you don't like the former Mayor
Krier, but at least he went down to Springfield to try and drum up support for reform in the pension legislation.
What has Mayor Staackmann done in that regard?

Sherwin;
I certainly wouldn't be presumptuous enough to try to speak for Mayor Staackmann, he can speak for himself if he so chooses. If you see me as contradicting myself, you sir are blind ,or purposely failing to read what I wrote...and your repeating of something that is false doesn't make it true... just boring.

Economics 101. To balance your budget you either cut expenses or raise income. 80% of governmental cost is labor and benefits to labor. Currently our municipal budget is being decimated by pension obligations, whereby soon we will be paying more to retirees than active employees. The goose that lays the golden eggs is about to expire. The question is; "What can be done?"

Municipalities throughout the nation have cut essential services because they can no longer afford to pay for them, (there is a town in Michigan where the police department is closed after 6:00PM and on weekends). So far, luckily, Morton Grove has maintained essential services.

You consistently say that services should be maintained, senior discounts and special treatment should be maintained and taxes should be lowered. Please share your magic twinkle dust as to just how these things can be done... it has to be magic... stuff j doesn't work that way in the real world.

I am not advocating reduction of essential services. You somehow connect the assistance to seniors as causing
the problem. The village is still spending money on real estate deals and new water meters like it's business
as usual. Giving Pequods a 100,000 dollar bonus to move a few blocks away is one example of a bad deal
for us. Giving big tax breaks to Culvers to come into Morton Grove is again a no starter. Our limited land is to
valuable to give special deals to businesses. Let's stop playing politics and fill some of the gap with an increase
of property taxes. I know you think seniors should tighten their belts and grin and bear it, but they are the least
able to survive without assistance. Social Security is frozen with no cost of living increase. The Illinois governor
is threatening to remove Circuit Breaker and Illinois Cares Rx. That leaves many seniors with decisions about
what food to buy vs. what prescriptions to take. I'm glad you are not in that position, but have some feelings for
those that are.

I know our village government has made certain cuts, but I encourage them to look again at our budget and see
if they can trim it back more. Certainly, stopping big grants to the Essex people would help. I always hear that
some of this is TIF money, so we can freely spend it. I'm sorry, but that money belongs to the citizens of Morton
Grove, and it should not be spent merely because it is available. When a TIF terminates, any left over funds are
to be distributed to the village for improving infrastructure, etc. outside the TIF boundaries. The way we are
spending money on both our TIF's. I doubt there will be anything left over.

If our biggest problem is the pension funding, what is Mayor Staackmann and other mayors in Illinois doing to
fix the problem. The police and fire people have strong lobbyists in Springfield and our legislators have to do
the right thing and do what is best for all citizens.

Sherwin;
As you may or may not know, I too am on a fixed income, specifically social security. My service business died between my wife's illness and subsequent inability to help with clients and the crappy economy. Nevertheless, I don't think that just because I have attained a certain number of years on this planet that my neighbors have an obligation to subsidize my existence... apparently you believe that yours do have that obligation to subsidize you. We have a difference of opinion on that.

I do not know what your profession was when you were working, but from your lack of grasp of basic economics, it is obvious that you have never run a business or made a payroll. Neither, apparently, do you understand the way that TIF's work and have worked for the past 10-15 years or more.

While I am no fan of TIFs, they are a fact of municipal economic development. In another thread you were complaining that Oberweis went to Skokie and that Morton Grove "missed out". Oberweis's Skokie venture is, in part, being underwritten by TIF funds in Skokie. As much as you want to put your head in the sand over TIF assistance to businesses, that's just the way it is in the real world.

You admit that the village has made cuts, you state you do not want to cut services, yet you say that the village should cut more. TIF funds, BY LAW, cannot be used for anything but TIF district projects, to suggest otherwise is uninformed and foolish. your repeating of cockamaimie schemes is rubbish.

What one says & stands for is the only true way you are judged in life. The only thing you really leave behind is your name & reputation. Good or bad, it is up to you how to leave your mark on this world.
I want to clear up some tainted facts.
Mr Dubren states that "Staackmann voted to approve this increase." He is referring to raising taxes 28% earlier in his comments. I would like to clarify this. There was never a singular 28% tax vote. There was a tax increase of 20% in the 2006 budget. I did not cast a vote to pass the increase or the budget. Even with that increase, the village did not pay the full amount required that year to fund the pensions. The village has only fully funded the pension since 2007. There was a 5% tax increase in the 2007 budget. I voted against that increase & the budget. All of this is on the record; it is not a disputed fact. Mr Dubren further stated "like you, I want to see the truth coming forward." So do I Mr Dubren. I wish you would check the facts first before you mislead the public to your liking.
Mr Dubren, you ask what is being done about pensions. I, & all the Mayors, are doing what we can for pension reform & any legislation that affects local municipalities, but we need help from residents who should call their legislators & tell them their concerns.
We can build a better tomorrow if we all start working together instead of just finding fault.

Dan,
My memory was not accurate on your voting, but I do remember Di Maria actually bringing up the subject of the pension funds and recommending that the village increase the property tax as required to satisfy
the budget requirements. Krier raising the tax 28 percent probably cost him the mayorship, but I don't fault
him or his party for getting into that predicament. Since you didn't vote for that tax increase, I am curious what
alternative ideas you had to solve the pension fund deficit.

As far as finding faults, they are the first step to finding solutions. We should not be burying our problems.

Pat,

If you read my post carefully, you would have realized that I was talking about unspent funds left over when
a TIF closes. At that time, these funds can be used for other purposes outside the boundaries of the TIF.
Before you cast dispersions on my knowledge of TIF's, please read more carefully what I am saying.

Sherwin;
I may cast aspersions, doubts or perhaps even a Hawaiian Wiggler if I'm fishing for bass, but I have not once in my life cast one single dispersion.

Pat,

Speaking of wigglers, I guess I left you enough room to wiggle out of your previous posting.

Sherwin you take yourself too seriously... although as time goes by nobody else does. Unfortunately, like a small yappy dog, you keep barking and barking over nothing. It's annoying but unimportant in the scheme of things. Your inability to accept fact and offer meaningful comment and suggestions have become tiresome. You may have the last inane word as responding to you is pointless.

The only people that seem upset with my postings are Action People like Pat Kansoer. They are only annoying to
self proclaimed pundits like Pat. I will admit to mistakes, when they occur, but that doesn't mean I have to
censure myself. His longwinded speeches at the village meetings were long and boring and his postings are an attempt to demean others who do not fit into his view of the world. My goals are not to
change Pat's mind or sway him from his devotion to the Action Party. He would have the village residents go into
a state of suspension, ignoring what is going on around them, and believing all the hype that we get from the
current Action Party. His kind of thinking will not improve the village, if we continue on the same course of
action that we have seen in the past coming from this Action Party. The Action Party would have us forget their past mistakes and policies, the later of which I think have not changed. For Pat, if he doesn't like my postings, I
would ask him not read them, and not to respond. His nasty remarks only point out his lack of respect for other people's opinions.

Mr. Dubren you seem to have alot of comments & answers for what needs to be
done to inprove the business climate in Morton Grove. would you be willing to help your
Village by serving on the Economic Development Commission?

Mr. Lewis,
You and Mr. Kansoer feel that everything that is not in line with your philosophy is monotonous and disturbing.

All my posts have my name attached, so I suggest if they bother you, DONT READ THEM. I am not spewing nor
am I angry, just not happy with the way things have been going with the village. I lost my rosy colored glasses, so
I can't gloss over problems in the village. I think we can learn from past mistakes and sometimes need to be
reminded about them, especially since I see them being repeated now.

You think the Economic Developement people, including it's director is doing a good job. I don't think so, even
taking into account the difficult economic times.

I agree with Mr. Lewis that Mr. Dubren should join a Village Commission and maybe come up with a constructive idea or two, instead of constant berating and negativity. It's way too easy in life to gripe and point fingers. Mayor Staackmann is right -- We can build a better tomorrow if we all start working together instead of just finding fault.

Dan,

I appreciate the offer to serve on the Economic Develpement Commission. However, I'm not ready to jump into
that in light of past experiences and observations about the effectivity of these commissions.

To remind you and others, I did serve on the Natural Resources Commission and was not happy with the
effectivity of that group. Although we worked hard to propose changes to the tree ordinances, the most meaningful ones about trees on private property were sluffed off. The head of that commission quit along
with myself when we felt all our hard work was for naught.

I attended at least one of the Economic Developement Meetings and was not impressed with their proceedings.
It seemed to be mostly a lot of bureacratic paper shuffling going nowhere. Before I accept any commission with
them, I would like to attend one of their meetings to see if things have changed.

One thing for sure, if I join this commission, I am not going to stop my letters and postings of my concerns about
the direction the village is heading. I just hope everyone understands that.

When is the next meeting of the Economic Development Commission and where is it held?

Well,
I see Mr. Matz is back from vacation.

Although I received 500 votes, there was a small turnout that election, so this represented almost 20 percent
of the votes. I think for a start up party on a very small budget, I did quite well.

OK, Pat is just an honorary member of the Action Party.

Mr. Matz wants us to believe the Action Party has re-created itself, but I don't think so. It has the same policies
as has had for the past 20 years.

I want to voice the "little" guy's side... My take on Abt's leaving was the CONSTANT barage of complaints posted in the newspaper about the noise and the exhaust fumes and the traffic and,,,and,,,and from Abt's residential neighbors. Abt had most likely been there when those resident's bought those houses. Those complaints are equivalent of complaining about noise when buying a house near the airport. Abt had options...They could have warehoused across the street, or off site entirely. Now our Village has Culver's looking at our location...what do we hear again? We don't want the traffic,we don't want the noise. Look people- PICK ONE!!!! You can NOT complain about the necessities of thriving business WHILE you complain about paying higher taxes because we have a scrawny business revenue base. How many of you make it a point to shop here in Morton Grove?
The politicians can bicker all they want as you see above...but the bottom line is...the population of Morton Grove is responsible for either helping our businesses to succeed and thrive..or PAY!

Mr. Lewis, I hope your words come to fruition. In the time that we have heard that "Culver's is coming" we could have birthed an elephant. I understand that there have been "hiccups" along the way, but perhaps some type of reassurance from the folks at Culver's that they are, indeed, coming to Morton Grove would soothe my jones for a butterburger.

To answer Mr. Matz, I was looking at all three Reform Candidates when I claimed almost 20 % of the vote.

I personally only had 5.75% of the votes, but considering the small size of our start-up party, I think it was
a respectable amount compared to the forerunner Staackmann who received 20.08 percent of the votes.

Agreed Mr Dubren. There is no control put on any commission or committee member. I aked that no chairman of a commission or committee be on the board of the Action Party this also goes for elected officals. This is in keeping with the new Ethics Ordinance established last year. The commission & committees are just one more check & balance to make governmet more effective & accountable.

I also want any change that will make Morton Grove better but, it takes time & thought. It also takes people willing to stay the course not give up when it doesn't go their way.
If you really want to make things better why not change them from the inside were you have a real forum to particapate.

I don't consider myself or the chairman as giving up too soon. We had worked on a new tree ordinance for some time and were disappointed when most of it was ignored by the village board. It was not a trivial issue that caused us to leave. I am not saying that residents should not serve on these committees, but be aware that not all of their recommendations will be implemented by the village government. Their function is purely advisory.

In my case, I have to decide if participation in the Economic Development Committee would be the most effective
use of my time.

Wow.. nice article Carrie! It's nice that residents of Morton Grove now have an online outlet to voice their opinions and concerns. Losing ABT in 2002 was definitely a financial hit and maybe the Action Party could have done more to entice them to stay. Ultimately it was a business decision for ABT that I'm sure they have no regrets about doing. Our city as well as many other municipalities around the country are having financial difficulties. Tough decisions will have to be made and no one is going to be happy about it. I completely agree with Mr. Staackmann that we need to look ahead for solutions and work together. Re-hashing old arguments and finger pointing will not move us forward. How about talking about the struggling business (think Dempster construction) that are still operating in Morton Grove that could use our support.