But they gave the neighbors an extra hour of music, for nothing!

Come on already! A great time was had by all on the green. Start acting like men and quit with the mud slinging. I swear at times you guys act like two school girls throwing hissy fits.

psssst hey Tom, good work. How long did those guys play? Sunday only? 2hrs.?
Great gig for them. Next time you're not negotiating, make more noise about Larry, after you have him sign off on your negotiations. Then throw him under the bus.

Oak Lawn politics. The Temptations had a song in the 60's called " Ball of Confusion" and the last line was " and the band played on "....how appropriate.

How about hiring local musicians to headline? Chicago is ripe with talent, and we imported a band from NY?

can't wait for Heillman to get voted out...this is typical Streit BS

Heilmann will remain mayor...Bury would be a diaster.if Phelan and Ollie are still in. Heilmann at least is attempting to reign the "boys" in.

Four more years of Heilmann will destroy Oak Lawn. The man can not conduct a meeting, can't control the board, just keeps working working against the Village.

I heard at last night's meeting that over $2 million in impact fees were negotiated by the village from Advocate and their "Community Leader of the Year" (Heilmann) ditched that plan and went in another direction - and had a secret meeting to do it against the will and direction and vote of the board. And he wouldn't disclose who was at the meeting after being asked over and over and over. What does he need to be so secretive about if he was doing nothing wrong?

$2 million would do a lot to help fight the crime that has been making the news. Shame on Heilmann and shame on Streit for this pettiness in the light of such serious stuff that impacts people's lives. The people of Oak Lawn should come first. Bury will put people first.

Streit: do something meaningful with your time as trustee, otherwise let someone who actually cares about the people in Oak Lawn step up and serve.

Once again there appear to be skewed facts to make something look worse than it is. If they helped bring in an additional $15k in beer sales, the $10k price tag was worth it. Or would Striet be happier if the beer was as last year and paying a local band $3000? You do not have to be a finance major to realize this worked out in a positive way for the village. Plus they were a great band, definitely a step above others that have played here. What happened to the audit? Did it not come out the way Streit hoped so it will be buried? We the taxpayers paid for that audit, and had to listen to the accusations. Let the public know the final result. Also, go ahead and do another one for the festival this year. Did the village lose money? No? then put some real issues on the agenda and move on. Heilman has a huge vendetta against Phelan, we all get it. But what is being lost here, is that Streit is playing a lot of political games behind the scenes too. Put up or shut up Bob.

I could have gotten you The Pat Smillie Band for $500, they would have torn the roof off. next time call me

Saw Tumbling Dice Friday night in the beer tent & they rocked! I can check but I'm quite sure they didn't make $10,000. And the beer was flowing freely.What were the beer sales Friday?
And I must agree, plenty of talent right here in Chicago. No need to import bands from NYC. .
But if that's the deal they made,they must abide by it.

Wow, no wonder our taxes keep getting higher!

I wish they would stop fighting over who gets on the short bus first. Sparring over things like this doesn't get anywhere and is a waste of time. Anyone ever compute the cost for electricity and other resources it costs Oak Lawn to waste village meetings over miniscule costs? Hey also, how about letting us know the status of the space at 111th and Ciecro...I want a Trader Joes.

Just asking, Why was this band still payed if the new head of special events was trying to save the world? He took over the event and had plenty of time to figure out who was playing and what the contracts were for. I ask, Why did he let this band perform? When someone takes over a crime ridden event as he portrayed this event to be, why did he not go over every detail of all contracts to correct this? I'll tell you why. It is because he knew the village would not loose money on this event and he could wait until it was over and right before an election he has nothing to do with he can claim this. All misdirection at the hands of the now King Dave lacky.He should also be removed from the special events due to his inability to run this event fraud free.I did notice when at the FOTG that Trustee Streit was among only a few people in the Very Ignorant People tent. We need to get rid of that tent and let everyone enjoy this event the same way. If you donate to this event and you get your company recognized, that should be the only special treatment you get. You paid for your ad that we all get to see. We don't need to see you segregated like a pompous a_ _. Need to appoint Trustee Duhig to this committee. He doesn't seem to be the partyiing type.( No offense Tom D.)

Fall on the green is not a political event. This is for the people of Oak Lawn and Park Lawn. This bickering over what band played and what was paid is a drop in the bucket. For four years when everyone was happy with each other, no questions were ever asked. Now The Mayor is in control and suddenly the taxpayers have lost tons of money because of the former special events chairman who is not an ally of the mayor. The fest was a success I could care less who takes credit for it. It's not about the trustee who is chairman of the special events committee then or now..Compared to the money lost in legal bills and a poor job done by the law firm Mayor Heilmann hired, I would be more concerned about that. That being said,Let the audit come out and we will see what develops I'm sure Trustee Phelan will not try to block this report like the Mayor did with the Godfrey and Khan report!!!

We have talented Oak Lawn musicians that should have had a chance to play at Fall on the Green, this should be about Oak Lawn, not some out of state band that no one has ever heard of

Whoa! $10,000 for 1 not even full night? This is bizzare to say the least.
The band comes to oak lawn at Phelan's request. He negotiated five free rooms for three nights at the Hilton Oak Lawn, two limos for the band to use while they played Friday and Saturday, at 115 Bourbon Street and Hardrock Café downtown? How in the world can Mr. Phelan justify paying for the bands lodging and equipment for 3 days while they're playing at other events, while in town?? Are you kidding me? This is not Barrington or Inverness where residents could possibly afford such extravagances. I just hope Godfrey and Kahn doesn't step in when the village is sued for not paying for the bands radio ad.

What does the mayor have to do with the hiring of a 10,000.00 band? Why all of the bashing?

I remember a few years back when we had to tell a couple firefighters we had to lay them off because the village could not afford them. I actually remember feeling that the mayor had to make a tough decision and did so with the best interest of the village in mind. Knowing now what was happenning behind the scenes and the amount of money being spent and mis-spent, I honestly believe he deserves a belated best actor award. I will vote for whoever the police and fire departments back next April. They continue to do their job well in spite of the lack of leadership of the mayor and the disfunctional board of trustees.

Well Rich, the fire dept. has already said they will back The mayor so I hope that fact helps

Sorry Rich, but I do not agree with you at all. I would never back a candidate because of the endorsement of local union workers. They are completely out for themselves, and themselves only. And I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. But since I am neither a policeman or fireman, what they deem important is very different than what a homeowner in the village does or should. I am also by no means pledging allegiance to the current regime. But I think residents should vote for whom they believe is best for Oak Lawn, not Oak Lawn workers who might not even live here.

Reading this story again, I now look at this a different way. I do not have a problem with Bob bringing this up. Nor do I have a problem with Tom defending his actions. What is leaving a bad taste here is that this is considered the "top story". It is only the "top story" because it makes for good drama. I would much rather hear what was discussed regarding the 111th demolition, new recycling, water contract, Godfrey report etc... To me, those are issues that will affect the village moving forward. Yes the godfrey report is a political football too. But aside from the mayor's indescretions in it, a new way to handle their legal team moving forward (billings, accounting etc) is important to the well being of the village. Legal representation is a lot more expensive than I bet most residents were aware. Sensationalizing the arguments amongst trustees/mayor has become the norm around our village. There are others issues and matters being taken care of that are getting pushed to the back burner as far as reporting. We need better reporting on the issues here from all media, patch and southtown to name a few. And the jabbing, negative campaigns of those running for mayor are not helping.

As I recall Trustee Phelan repeatedly denied having anything to do with negotiating contracts for bands or anything else. Well he certainly looked ahead on this one by having someone else sign off on the contracts that he did in fact negotiate himself. My guess is that Streit recently realized he had been snookered by Phelan all along.

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