Sandra, confidentiality clause does not preclude prosecution. If something illegal occurred, there would be indictments. Maybe that will still happen. The confidentially clause was agreed to by all parties. It wasn't some sinister move by the mayor. If it was his idea alone, he would've been outvoted. I agree with you that the report should be available to the public since we paid over $400,000 for it, but the insinuation that the mayor alone wanted a confidentiality clause is far fetched. Your letter reads like the launch of a political campaign. Be careful what you wish for.

Once again, Dr. Bury, you miss the point. What is "simply outrageous" is that you persist in your misguided belief that this is 100% on the mayor. It's not.

If you have a problem with the confidentiality provisions of the settlement agreement, why do you question the mayor and the law firms that you characterize as his "friends"? The entire board approved the settlement. Ask those who voted to approve the agreement why they - that's they as in plural - voted to approve it.

Outrageous? If you want to be outraged, have you looked into the hiring of Querrey & Harrow? Have you looked into what was behind hiring Odelson to do his investigation? Have you questioned the hiring of Godfrey & Kahn and over $400,000 in billings in six months? It doesn't appear that you are interested in reviewing ALL of these concerns, just selective ones, for whatever reasons and motives you have.

You keep talking about being fair, honest and open with the voters. Then, instead of being selective, self-centered and biased, be fair, honest and open. Otherwise, put a sock in it.

Agree. Absolutely outrageous! Chicago-style politics. Oak Lawn voters, please do not stand for this.

It is disappointing to have the facts sealed up. I'm sure where there's smoke, there's fire. When it was announced, the first thing I thought of was how conveniently this wrapped up with a Mayoral election in the coming months.

Why Dave??

Truly unfortunate.

John , Dr. Bury has every right to speak about this issue just like you and I frequently do on many issues. We all know who you support,we all know who I don't support.I think your questions will be answered if the public gets a look at the agreement. To tell someone to put a sock in it is rather rude. I know you don't want Dave to have an opponent next April,But I sure hope he does..

Throughout this entire legal investigation I think a few points need to be stated.
1. A few members of the board did not want to vote for the confidentiality provisions,but knew this could ruin the settlement altogether, so they voted for it.
2.This investigation will not cost the taxpayers NOTHING and the Village will get a comprehensive report of findings to ensure that what happened never happens again,which was what the whole purpose was.
3.Tressler paid $ 500k PLUS an estimated $250k-$350k in legal fees - Does a firm pay $850,000 if they didn't do anything wrong? and If you read the settlement agreement,Tressler admits to not providing adequate " standard of care" or whatever that means. Sure sounds to me like the answer is no
4. The Mayor has been in constant contact with the attorney's that the Village was investigating, and even interfered with attempts by the village attorneys to communicate with an important witness- Gail Paul
5. The Mayor has spent the last several months fighting to NOT HAVE A FINAL REPORT given to the board. He has sent numerous e-mail's to the village manager and the investigating attorney's trying to stop the report. Why doesn't he want a report given to the board??
6. Heilmann continues to say the Board " voted " to approve his hand-picked law firm buddies, FALSE The Mayor instructed former village manager Lynn Krauss to hire his buddies at Tressler because if you remember the Manager hires the attorney's not the board.

The mayor DIRECTED KRAUSS TO HIRE THEM. THERE WAS NO BOARD VOTE> ANYONE CAN CHECK THE MEETING MINUTES IN 2005 ( I DID ) Those Heilmann emails between him,chimenti,and Tressler found in the Odelson report ( that was leaked ) shows that.
7. The mayor has refused for 2+ years to turn over several documents and E-Mail's that would have helped the Village's case. Tressler refuses to hand over the same documents,Chimenti refuses to turn over the same documents. Why??
8. The last point must be the fact That the former legal strategy created and managed by Heilmann and Tressler cost the Village more than 10 MILLION in Legal fees,judgements,settlemets, and mistakes.. This can never happen again...

Andy, why then did you support the Mayor in 2009 knowing this was the case?

Because a lot of facts were not out at that time and also anyone was better than Jerry Hurckes!!

Andy? Really? Anyone? Someone like...say...Sandra Bury? I'd vote for Jerry, thank you. So now you appear to be leaning away from Streit and moving toward the Phelan side of the street. Do we take it your dream team is Sandra Bury for mayor who is obviously running based on what she or her ghostwriters have been putting up here, Jane Quinlan for clerk, with Phelan, Duhig and Olejniczak in the districts? Do we take it that's the ticket? 2013 will be interesting if not fun.

And, when you watch the meetings it's clear that the mayor leaned over backwards to give Bury and her Rotary everything they wanted with that 9/11 thing they built, even voting to rename the train station! Oak Lawn politics is a scary thing - no matter who you help or what you do, they turn on you. Watch it, Andy.

dist 2,( unkown Heilmann supporter ) I use my name, my thoughts, I've been going to Village meetings for 20 years. I don't hide the fact that i am not a fan of the Mayor's and yes i did support the mayor in 2009 and I was wrong to do so.The other Mayoral candidate was not a viable alternative. The Ghost writing line is laughable Dave has so many fake blogger name ghostwriters on here,I can't keep track of them anymore.I do not know if Dr. Bury is running or not,I never met with any dream team. I always walk on my side of the street, Bob Streit has been a good friend of mine for over 20 years and he is also my trustee. Tom Phelan is one of the hardest working and most prepared trustees I have ever met. In fact, believe it or not I'm friends with most of the trustees. I don't know anything about sides. I am for any person or trustee that works for the residents and would like to see a different Mayor next April 2013

Andy, a lot of the facts weren't out at that time? Did you not just quote from 2005?

By the way Andy, I agree with what you are saying in 2012. But understand why I would question your faulty logic historically.

Last comment, how much did Jerry Hurckes bring this issue out when he was running for Mayor? Please do not respond with personal jabs. Just curious to what extent.

Duke, Hurckes mostly went after the 111th tif and the Edgar funeral home purchase. I was against those 2 issues as well. I really don't remember if a lot was made up of the legal billing since Tressler was not let go until summer of 2009 after the election

It should be clear to all now that dr Bury's push to renaming the train station was at least partially politically motivated. Very sickening. The mayor didn't object to the renaming. He wanted time to get input rather than rashly pushing it through. Theres not one reference at that monument to those killed in Iraq and afghanistan. The first responders are heros for sure and no doubt patriots, but what about recognizing war vets there? Arent vets patriits? Bury now appears to have led the name change charge to get attention in what is starting to smell like a political campaign. The mayor is human and it looks like he made some bad judgments, but to allege he scammed taxpayers intentionally is unfounded or that he alone wanted the confidentiality pact is just asinine. Andy, stick your neck out and run for mayor. Going to meetings for 20 years means nothing. Get in the game.

Any relation to John wilkes?? just askin... Frank I have been sticking my neck out at board meetings,asking questions,volunteering for campaigns. Writing letters and now blogs. I was at the old village hall when we didn't have cameras. It was a 5-1 majority back then and believe me if you were a supporter of Bob Streit,they were very unpleasant to you. I won't run for Mayor because I don't want to take a pay cut,and not being an Irish Catholic( I am Greek Orthodox ) You won't win village wide. Answer this question Tressler basically admitted they did some bad things and settled with the Village. Tressler was Dave;s hand picked buddies and he knew any confidential evidence or facts from this case could Damage his chances at re-election.To suggest this theory is asinine is a complete denial of the truth Sir Release the items covered in the confidential pact and we will see who is hiding something... To say the Dr. bury wanted to rename the station for politcal reasons a year and a half before the 2013 municipal is nonsense..

Andy,
You need to apologize to the voters but especially those of us who hail from Ireland or call ourselves Catholic. You can't write that you wouldn't get elected because you're not Irish Catholic. This type of statement stereotypes voters as ignorant fools who only vote based on ethnicity and similar religious beliefs. Was Ernie Kolb Irish Catholic? Is Dave Heilmann Irish? Apologize now or remove yourself from the public debate. You and the Patch have deeply wounded many of the readers

Mary no offense to you,but being around the political scene for 20 years I have seen who wins and who does not I was stating facts as I see them. Is it true in every case.. No. I do believe some people still vote based on ethnicity and same religious beliefs. I never said they were ignorant, My statement was a tongue and cheek remark saying i wouldn't win for Mayor. i'm sorry you took offense to this and I apologize. People need to have a sense of humor,we have enough real problems in this world. Thank you for you comment Mary

OLG, The term lackey was never used by me. When an unnamed blogger comes on this site defending Dave and starts talking about village information that only trustees and certain concerned activists like yourself or I would really know about. It raises a red flag with me. I take pride in the fact that I am active in the political scene and research my information before blogging on particular issues. I blame no one for taking some of my statements the wrong way. Next time we should have a sense of humor font!!! But I still stand by my comment that some bloggers are Dave's friends or family I did not say all of them are. I suppose the other side thinks every anti Dave view is a village offical or family member not aligned with Dave anymore. It really goes both ways.

Dr. Bury and Andy,
When you refer to the former attorneys you seem to always stress that they “were recommended by the Mayor”. But for some reason you completely ignore all the connections of Trustee Tom Phelan to the hiring of lawyers and these investigations. As I read it, the same trustee Tom Phelan who pushes in his buddy Stillman, is the same trustee whose family happened to get jobs at 218 where Stillman had been Board President, is the same trustee who controlled the Odelson report, is the same trustee who coincidentally had his fraternity brother lawyer hired to do another investigation. Then Stillman goes to work for Odelson. Dr Bury and Andy, even if you don’t like the confidentiality agreement, and who does, don’t you think it’s a little suspect that one trustee has all these connections to what happened? Then throw on top of this that there is a criminal investigation by the feds into the hiring of Stillman. When you ignore all that it tells me that your complaints are more about your own political goals than really finding out the truth.

The firm Tressler that were fired and started all these investigations were picked by and told to the village manager to hire them by Mayor Heilmann not Tom Phelan. I have no idea about Mr. Stillman, I never knew the man,Godfrey and Khan was picked by the Manager not Phelan. The frat brother angle is circumstantial at best, Tom was at the same school three years behind the certain member at Godfrey and Khan. What this investigation was all about was the mishandling and overall poor performance of Tressler.As has previously been stated the Village probably lost 1.9 million in fees. This WAS THE GROUP HEILMANN recommened and directed the former village manager to hire. Tom Phelan had nothing to do with that. All of these other questions are bait and switch to confuse the real issue of Tressler's performance Dave's personal involvement and did Dave fully cooperate with the investigation..First rule in politics.. when you are in trouble blame everyone else..

Or get Andy to do it.

I do agree with Andy regarding the suspect personal involvement of the Mayor. I also agree with Tired of the Lies about the strong ties of Trustee Phelan and the hiring of the Stillman and the cooruption in District 218.

I do ask about Andy's reference to Gail Paul (in a polite non-personal reply). Also, Andy if you could comment on the legal costs before Heilmann in 2003, 2004 vs cost in 2006 - 2008 (before you/we know of the issues). More #'s, less words the better.

Thank you

Don't know about 03 and 04. other than the old law firm under the coalition party Klein,Thorpe and Jenkins were removed and Tressler was put in 2005. Under the Faber regime it was very hard to get any FOIA requests answered so I really didn't know what the legal costs were.Didn't understand the question about Mrs. Paul?? She was the finance director for many years and was supposed to be a participant during the investigation of Tressler. Thank You Hope that clears up some answers

2004 $300,000
2005 $500,000
2006 $850,000
2007 $1.1 M
2008 $1.2 M

Andy, you didn't have knowledge of this until 2009. You must have been sleeping at all the meetings!!

Andy, look at the #'s above!! You see a pattern here? The problem is you can't admit that you agree with Jerry Hurckes more than you disagree. I know its hard "anybody is better than Jerry" (your quote above) -- but you have to look at what you stood for and compare to Hurckes (like him or not, he was right on most of his issues as you are right today):

Edgar Funeral Home (Andy = Hurckes)
K-Mart TIF (Andy = Hurckes)
Legal bills (Andy = Hurckes)

Just think out of Streits personal box for a minute if you could? You may be surprised at what you agree on (and your usually right) ---

In 1 1/2 years, you'll be talking/typing about Phelan the same way you now talk about the Mayor... Wait and see?

Hey Matt didn't you play for the Maple Leafs??? As far as Mr.Hurckes goes, if you can't say anything good about someone.............

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-met-oak-lawn-mjm-20100626,0,6319109.story
"""Notice the Dates."""
By David Kidwell, Tribune
Madigan's allies get slice of village business. Oak Lawn asked House speaker for help; law firms linked to him may rack up hundreds of thousands in legal fees. House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, and Oak Lawn Trustee Tom Phelan tour the village's emergency center. (Terrence Antonio James/Tribune) -Picture
Michael Madigan calmly sliced his daily apple as he listened to the 40-minute pitch from several leaders of Oak Lawn, long frustrated in their efforts to secure money for a dilapidated water system that supplies much of the south suburbs.
>>>>At the time of their meeting with the powerful House speaker >>>>more than a year ago,<<<< the project was all but dead, way down a wish list of community projects. We left that meeting thinking wow, this is great," said village Trustee Bob Streit. "We thought it meant we might finally get some help."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-01-21/news/1001200799_1_public-records-private-clients-ethics
TRIBUNE
Madigan clients -- Stonegate Properties Inc. and/// Hamilton Partners.///
The two firms, which had executives on the task force that pushed for the interchange project, have been Madigan & Getzendanner clients for nearly a decade. The firm represents them on other properties.
Although the local state senator and representative worked to get the project funded, both acknowledged Madigan played a part in securing the money.
State Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, said the $18 million state share was "way beyond what I can look for" as an individual lawmaker and that he worked with Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. Crespo has received nearly $285,000 in campaign contributions from the state Democratic Party Madigan controls.

Sounds like the Trustees had more to hide than the Mayor or anyone else. How's that Federal subpeona going li'l andy

Investigating the mayor's firm? Are you so obsessed with criticizing this guy that you'll just make up facts? Go read Lorraine's story (last August) on the criminal investigation. "The federal subpoena asks for all records related to hiring of current village legal counsel, Querrey and Harrow, from 2009." Sorry Andy, as much as you would like, the subpoena doesn't say the mayor's firm or the former lawyers. Querrey is Mike Stillman, Phelan's buddy who he pushed in. The criminal investigation is into "the hiring" of Querry. Who did the hiring? Those trustees led by Phelan. I'm a hell of a lot more concerned that we have trustees under criminal investigation than I am about whether some former firm overbilled or not.

With Chicago creeping into Oak Lawn and the health of the community at stake, who has time for these shenanigans! How disappointing and I won't be surprised that with more garbage brought forth by questionable acts among the trustees -whether it be Heilmann or Phelan or whoever else -that Oak Lawn will eventually be like Chicago Lawn, which once was a healthy community. Now, not so much. We need trustees who care about the community more so than they care about their "network" of friends. Inquisitive and vigilant Oak Lawn constituents, rock solid journalism from Patch, and time will tell who needs to step down. I am hoping!!

OLG why is it surprising to think that if you want anything done in Illinois ,you have to go through Madigan??? The guy runs the state not the gov or anyone else He been in the legislature for 40 years!!! I agree about constituents not having the ability to call their own shots. The present state of Illinois politics needs to be changed... but when??

Things will improve, just stay in the loop. The pendalum always swings.

People on both 'sides' have good points. In many cases, they are arguing the SAME point, with the only difference being who any one person is 'rooting for'. Regardless of who I may vote for, I don't believe that ANY of these people are squeaky clean, not for a moment. Do I KNOW anything about them? Nope. Is there so much smoke ther forest is on fire? Sure seems like it.
We need more transparency, all the way around, from every person on the public payroll, responsible for the public trust. The whole town needs to be as engaged, though, as the same twenty people who respond to these boards. We can all yell and belittle each other all we want on here...it won't mean very much at all if we re-elect bad people for office. (With the definition of 'bad people' varying as widely as possible between every possible voter's own opinion.)

QC, next time you want to bring up another news story in the comments section, which you are welcome to do, just include the link to that story. You don't need to copy and past the whole story into the comment stream because it becomes cumbersome for other readers.

Andy and QC, I want you both to cool off. Some of your banter sounds vaguely like you're calling each other out. Please do not use Patch to arrange a fight. That may not be your intention, but to the casual outsider it could certainly be construed that way. Be nice.

Andy, I DID (somewhat unbelievably) read the whole report. I seriously believe there is something seriously wrong in Oak Lawn politics. I have followed the boards for a long time now, and took up commenting in recent months. I haven't gone to EVERY meeting, but I have been to quite a number.
I think that almost NOTHING gets done at this point, that isn't an angle for SOME sort of revenge, payback, payoff, etc. It is sad I need be so cynical, but the more I read, the more I get disgusted...with ALL of them. Everybody seems to want to pick a side, pick a winner...we the citizens of Oak Lawn are the real losers in all of this. We should vote everyone of them out. Not one of these people has even TRIED to take the high road. I don't care who posts on here as who. I don't really understand why so much subterfuge helps anybody in the big picture anyway...
What I have called for again and again (and OLG rightly pointed out I am daft and dreaming) is for 100% transparency. No 'executive sessions' behind closed doors. Nothing should be buried. No more settlements that lock away facts from the voters. If companies don't want to comply with those rules, they can turn down business with our town. Times are tough, somebody will step forward and take up the standard. Aside from political backdealiing, there is no reason. WHY do we stand for it? No reason to 'leak' anything if everything is public to begin with. So much skullduggery, surprised the streetlights stay on.

DAVe W I'm sure many of them would like to discuss certain topics in the open but they are forced to listen to the advice of the municipal attorney to not do it in public. There are some valid reasons for certain items to be talked about behind closed doors beleive it or not. You can leave yourself quite vulernable and open to being sued if you openly discuss certain topics openly. Lets leave legal advice to people with law degrees not real estate licenses.

I would like to make my position perfectly clear.
1. I am not now, nor have I ever been employed by the Village of Oak Lawn.
2. I Don't know Heilmann, never met him and I am actually Not a Big Fan.
3. I am also Not A Big Fan of Con-Artists and Shell Games and Backroom Deals.
4. I am also Not A Fan of the Bullying Tactics, that some Board Members use continually on Residents And employees.
5. I am a fan of Openess and Fairness in Government, which is sorely lacking in this Village Board.
6. I am not a Fan of People Using Others to Fight their battles, OR Letting Others Use their screen names.
And Finally.....I Nominate Dave W. OR OakLawnGuy for office.
Reply

QC... I agree with you on 3 through 6 I am a member of the appeals board since 2009. You have NEVER been critical of the Mayor in any of your many blogs!!! I admit I worked and voted for the Mayor but I'm " not a big fan " anymore either. Dave W. or OLG would be better than Heilmann!!

get a job,
Not sure if your name is a slight at real estate people, so I will leave that alone unless you clarify.
As for the legal part: I don't recall GIVING legal ADVICE. (When clients ask for legal advice, I have a stock line: "I'm not a lawyer, but I've watched them on Tv...and you don't want that as your legal advice.") I merely asked for more transparency, and now that you mention it, the REASONS for WHY there isn't. Every so often somebody will mention what you did, in some fashon; I won't even dispute it; if only somebody would give the REASONS. Not just saying so. You seem to imply I should just 'trust' the elected officals. THAT is exactly WHY this message board is so amped up: People don't feel that they CAN trust those we have elected.
So, please, if you, or anyone else, knows of valid reasons for WHY the attorney would recommend that, I'm ALL ears (they are actually kind of big). Considering how many lawsuits have stemmed from business done BEHIND closed doors, I would LOVE to know how much worse it could be if that stuff was out in the open. Seriously, how much more money of ours could be out the door if every moment was public knowledge? This is all village business; the people are the village, not six to fifteen select people who seem determined to undermine each other at all cost...with us paying the cost! What village business is SO secret that we can't know? That is OUR business. We shouldn't have to file FOIAs after the fact. So please, enlighten us!