Conflict of Interest Policy, Sunshine Ordinance Land on Village Board Agenda

It’s a new fall season for the Oak Lawn Village Board after the summer replacement series that what will now be forever known as the ‘Gone With the Wind’ meeting of Aug. 13 because it lasted 4 ½ hours.

Tonight (Tuesday) starting at 7:30 p.m. in village hall, the mayor and trustees are back on their bi-monthly meeting schedule on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

Here’s what we’ll be watching:

Harker Pumping Staton -- An ordinance and resolution approving $15 million in local waterworks revenue bonds for construction and improvements to the Harker Pumping Station at 105th Street and Lockwood. Since it involves our drinking water its worth paying attention even if revenue bonds are boring.

Surplus Personal Property Sale -- Apparently the village has some for sale. Trustees will vote on an ordinance authorizing the sale.

Garbage and vehicle stickers -- Ordinances amending the village code’s waste collection and vehicle sticker fees. Tr. Bob Streit’s (Dist. 3) “Help A Disabled Neighbor” initiative would provide discounted fees to Oak Lawn residents with disabilities. Such persons would be eligible to receive one vehicle sticker per household for $5 and $3.93 off their waste hauling bill.

Appointment of authorized agent -- After Village Treasurer Pat O’Donnell’s “cheerful” report on Oak Lawn’s pension liability and the need to plug a $4 million hole in order to pass a balanced budget in December, trustees will vote on a measure making Mr. O’Donnell Oak Lawn’s representative to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

Conflicts of interest -- Hopefully, all of the board members received this in their board packets. Trustees will vote on an ordinance to add language to the village code pertaining to disclosing conflicts of interest prior to voting on contracts and other business with the village, such as an outside vendor involving family members. Tonight’s discussion may also include campaign finance reform on a local level, providing such reform is constitutional.

Sunshine Ordinance -- Trustees Bob Streit (Dist. 3) and Carol Quinlan (Dist. 5) want to amend the “Records Open For Inspection, Reports” section in the village code. Currently, only the village president and village manager have access to all village records and reports. We’ll find out why this is a good or not so good thing tonight.

What we wish was on the agenda:

Rodent Control -- Surely the village can do a better job of controlling its rats than the black-rat death-hotels we see in Oak Lawn's alleys.

Everbridge Alerts -- We’ve signed up, numerous times. So have our readers. Why aren’t we getting them?