I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has complained to me over the past two-and-a-half years about the “blogs” on Oak Lawn Patch. "Why doesn’t Patch switch to Facebook commenting. That way, people would have to use their real names?” “How come Patch can’t require bloggers to blog under their real names or at least tell them to be civil?” “Patch should ask bloggers to give their phone numbers and/or email addresses so that the editor can verify who is writing the ‘blogs,’ the way newspapers verify letters to the editor?" If I had I dollar for every time someone kvetched about untrue …
Is Mayor Dave Heilmann ducking the voters by avoiding participating in a village board candidates’ forum? Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and follow us on Facebook. That’s how it appears to a group of citizens who are trying to organize a forum before the April 9 election for a time that is compatible with the mayor's busy schedule. After the Oak Lawn Chamber backed out of sponsoring the village board candidates' forum due to a lack of candidate response, some concerned Oak Lawn citizens picked up the chamber's fallen mantle. John Crivellone and some fellow Masons chipped in $300 to…
While Oak Lawn residents were busy voting for president and other offices on Election Day, Mayor Dave Heilmann declared his independence from the old Unity Party. Like many local candidates last week, Heilmann, who is up for re-election next April, stood in the rain outside of village polling places greeting voters and gathering signatures for his nominating petitions. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Those who did sign were gifted with a palm card announcing the Mayor’s Independence Party, along with a new campaign slogan, “Moving Oak Lawn Forward.” Unlike …
I know this will come as a shock to many of you, but the Village of Oak Lawn has denied my freedom of information act request for a copy of the Godfrey and Kahn report. You know which report I’m talking about: the reinvestigation of the investigation of the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP, originally undertaken by attorney Burt Odelson. The report that Oak Lawn taxpayers paid $453,000 for and were promised they’d get to read after the last “i” was dotted and “t” crossed. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Tressler was fired as the village …
Now that AMC’s 1960s advertising drama Mad Men has ended its fifth season, we welcome the return of our village’s own ‘Mad Men’—the Oak Lawn Village Board. And mad they are, what with the calls for forensic audits, full-metal pdf counterattacks, and the usual under-the-bus-throwing. The Oak Lawn Village Board delves into its streamlined summer schedule starting at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Tuesday) with a robust agenda at Village Hall, at 9446 S. Raymond Ave. READ THE robust village board agenda pdf. As the curtain rises on Act II of the newly realigned “Heilmann Gang of 4 and the Quality Control 3…
Not since the ‘theatrics of the fight’—when Oak Lawn trustees and the mayor battled their way through the Feb. 8, 2011 board agenda—have we witnessed such dramatics at a village board meeting as we did on May 22. Be the first on your block to know stuff; subscribe to O-L Patch's newsletter and breaking news alerts. It all started peaceably enough with the mayor handing out awards to some civic-minded Brownies who lobbied the village to repair a sidewalk by their school. The mayor was hotter than a standup comic at Riddles, joking with the girls and feigning shock whenever he called the name …
Dog Beats Village Trustees in Hypothetical Election Poll The results of Oak Lawn Patch’s unscientific mayoral poll have been counted. Last week, we asked our readers, which candidate would they vote for if Oak Lawn mayoral election were being held tomorrow. A total of 362 votes were cast. We suspect some readers voted multiple times but there is no limit to how many times you can vote in a Patch poll. In fact, it’s encouraged. Be the first on your block to know stuff. Sign up for the O-L Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. According to our poll, Mayor Dave Heilmann, who says he’s going…
Larry Deetjen Takes It Like A Man After being publicly spanked by the mayor on Ch. 4 at the Feb. 14 Oak Lawn Village Board meeting, and then having his ethics called into question when a developer joined an annual competitive golf tournament organized by his brother-in-law in Florida—is it any wonder that Village Manager Larry Deetjen might be considering making a job change? Deetjen showed considerable grace during Mayor Dave Heilmann’s soliloquy that the village manager had gone behind his back meeting with the prospective developers of the former Beatty Lumber Co. who came back with a …
'What Condition Oak Lawn's Condition Is In' Mayor Dave Heilmann will tell us “what condition Oak Lawn’s condition is in” at the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday (Feb. 14)—and we can’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day. Registration and networking at the chamber luncheon starts at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch during which the mayor will deliver his ‘State of the Village’ address at the Hilton Oak Lawn. Cost to attend the chamber luncheon is $20. You don’t have to be a chamber member to attend. Mayor Heilmann is expected to address such issues as the village …
From the Archives I wasn’t around in Oak Lawn for much of SKS Properties’ longstanding feud with the village, but I’ve heard the convoluted stories. Last Tuesday, Harold J. Slinkman, 70, of Brookfield, was accused of trespassing on the premises of a building formerly owned by SKS. The elder Slinkman allegedly appeared in the laundry room of the troubled Colonial Apartments prepared to empty the coin collectors on the washers. County records show claims made against the property and list a new owner. Police said Slinkman violated a Jan. 24 court order not to enter the premises and was charged …
Greetings from the Vortex Everyone who was anyone, or some of them, attended the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce’s 66th installation dinner at the Hilton Oak Lawn on Jan. 21. The installation dinner, honoring the 2012 officers and directors, had the usual interesting entertainment. Guests especially enjoyed DJ Bill Sifuentes’ karaoke version of “Freebird.” Breaking bread at the same table were Mayor Dave Heilmann and wife, Erica, Trustee Bob Streit, Village Clerk Jane Quinlan, Village Manager Larry Deetjen, Police Chief Bill Villanova. Patch was sitting at the children’s table with chamber …
