Trustee Quinlan Fires Back at Petition Fraud Charges
Trustee Carol Quinlan says charges that she and her husband are behind an effort to manipulate petitions are "bizarre."
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Trustee Carol Quinlan (District 5) called accusations that she was somehow involved in an effort to commit fraud on petitions to put a referendum on the April ballot “bizarre."
Some fellow village board members and the village clerk are looking into allegedly fraudulent signatures that appeared on a referendum petition circulated by Oak Lawn Tax Watch. The proposed referendum would ask voters if the village should abandon its current form of government.
Quinlan and her husband, Joe, both signed the petitions and helped gather signatures for Oak Lawn Tax Watch, which spearheaded the petition drive. The citizens group wants residents to decide if the village should return to a form of government where an elected mayor is responsible for the policies and decisions affecting the village.
The village trustee said she was unaware of a letter that was mailed to approximately 640 residents to come to the Stony Creek Golf Club to verify that their signatures were indeed theirs. Quinlan said she didn’t find out about the meeting until Monday night.
“I’ve never seen the letter,” Quinlan said. “None of my friends have called to say they received the letter.”
Letters signed by village Clerk Jane Quinlan and a district trustee were sent to residents in that district whose signatures appeared the most egregious. The only letters not signed by a village trustee were in Carol Quinlan’s district.
The 5th District trustee said she supports the referendum.
“There’s nothing wrong with asking people what they want. I think it’s a valid point that we have a mayor who has no power,” Quinlan said. “There are a lot of people who don’t understand that in the village and that it’s the village manager who makes all these decisions.
“If the mayor is making all the decisions and people don’t like it, they can vote him out in his next term. You can’t do that with the village manager.”
Quinlan said she helped circulate the petitions. Some of the petition sheets that fellow village board members claim contain evidence of “massive fraud” were circulated by Quinlan or her husband.
“That’s bizarre to me. I don’t know how someone could say that,” she said. “This petition was a 10-minute conversation. It wasn’t like ‘here, sign my petition, I’m running for village trustee.’ I don’t believe a hundred people said they didn’t sign it.”
Her husband, Joe Quinlan, said he gathered 95 signatures, most of them from friends or members of their parish.
“They can say all they want. I went to people’s houses that I knew because it was so cold when I was doing it,” he said. “I didn’t want to be walking door to door. I got in my car and went to every person’s house.”
Quinlan said that since she found out about the alleged fraudulent signatures, she is conducting her own investigation.
“The last thing you want is any type of election fraud,” Quinlan said. “I’m trying to check into that right now.”
At a session with residents Monday evening at Stony Creek Golf Club, Trustee Bob Streit (District 3) said he wasn’t opposed to residents voting on a referendum to decide if the village should change its form of government.
“What we’re concerned about is fraud,” Streit said. “We can’t allow public policy to be dictated by fraud. We’re very concerned when people would use forgery and perjury as tactics to change the form of government. That should concern everybody.”
Quinlan said that fellow board members were “grasping at straws” in their attempts to defeat the referendum before it even got on the ballot.
“Let the people make that decision instead of trying to blackball it,” she said.
Jay Brooker
8:57 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I was a victim of this fraud. Thank goodnees it was about a minor issue. I hope they prosecute the liar that perpetrated this fraud. The story is full of falsehoods by Quinlan. I saw the petitions myself. They are all in the same handwriting, they were supposedly submitted by a 96 year old woman. They were all listed in clusters of numerical order. You do the math. By the way, I am not some politician, I am just a regular citizen.
QC
10:29 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Jay Brooker, AKA TRUSTEE, CLERK, MANAGER.
" By the way, I am not some politician, I am just a regular citizen."
Yeah, and I'm Harold Washington.
The only Falsehoods being spread in this are from JANE QUINLAN, VILLAGE CLERK ---who's son is married to Phelan's niece. JANE QUINLAN is a member of this DIRTY GROUP OF POLITICIANS aka THE UNSCRUPULOUS PARTY.
QC
3:28 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
JANE QUINLAN, VILLAGE CLERK is just one of THOSE guys.
Carol Quinlan #5 is a class act. NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE
Tom Fitzgerald
10:09 am on Thursday, January 13, 2011
I will gladly confirm for anyone that Joe Quinlan personally stopped by my house - on one of the coldest nights of the season thus far - and I, my wife and oldest child - all registered voters - gladly signed the petition. Frankly - I was disappointed that I did not receive a letter to appear at Stony Creek to confirm my signature. Perhaps a disc containing digital pictures of the individual actually signing the petition can accompany the petitions when submitted. It would be pretty simply, and inexpensive, to title the picture when taken to the corresponding signature line. That way - if there are accusations of fraud - on either side - you have picture "proof". I have known Joe and Carol for over (12) years and would never believe for a moment that they would have intentionally been involved in any type of voter fraud. TomE /Eagle Ridge Subdivision
OakLawnGuy
10:32 am on Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wish they would have brought that petition to my house in the 3rd district.
Jim White
6:36 pm on Thursday, January 13, 2011
Mine too.
johnny pag
10:54 am on Monday, January 17, 2011
with 800 forgeries it doesn't matter if Fitz and his family signed it. I'm sure there are some valid signatures but you can't surround roses with manure and not smell the manure
QC
7:14 pm on Thursday, January 20, 2011
tommy pag
So you're saying that the roses don"t count. What forensic expert examined that 800 pounds of "manure" and deemed the roses insignificant? Has it been verified just who threw that "manure" around?
Mike Hunt
4:29 pm on Monday, January 17, 2011
Queen Carol the Conceited couldn't even lower herself to knock on people's doors. The raspy chain smoker made her husband do it.
Albert in a can
6:19 pm on Monday, January 17, 2011
Mike You sound jealous. I'll bet you're really "Duke".
Oak Lawn Homegirl
5:37 pm on Monday, January 17, 2011
I'd sign in a NY minute.
lynnnut
8:35 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
OH too bad kids. It is over after the fraudulent petitions were withdrawn at the 11th hour. You tried to sneak them in and you were caught. QC, you really are a dunce. Do you not understand that to place the issue on the ballot you needed over 1400 valid signatures and you could only get about 200. The rest were forgeries or as has been said, "manure".
I guess some people like QC, Jerry the video star and Davey Boy all like to ignore fraud, perjury and forgery. I bet the real voters disagree
QC
10:11 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Here's some "enlightend reading" for the everyone out there! The Oak Lawn residents will be interested in the unsavory relationship between Streit and Brennan going back to, at least, 2001.
http://www.iardc.org/05CH0094HB.html
They have TOOOOO MUCH ON EACH OTHER NOT to be cozy!
"Brennan apparently paid for distribution of the video in a campaign according to news reports. "apparently(?) paid for distribution"? That's all???? LMAO
#1 Brennan hatched the idea of the smear campaign video
#2 Brennan just happened to have the name of a commercial production company he could get, and used.
#3 Brennan paid for the production of a videotape critical of Hurckes' candidates.
#4 Brennan paid for the distribution of the videotape critical of Hurckes' candidates.
One more thing.
A repoter, that was lied to by Brennan and called as a witness, strangely Did Not show up for his hearing before the ARDC.
Guess what???? She's now working for Lisa Madigan!