Schiller Park ordinance: crude cover-up
In an era of increasing government transparency, Schiller Park Ordinance 09-2732 may very well be one of the crudest political cover-ups in the village’s history.
By its own action to adopt the new ordinance on Aug. 25, it appears Schiller Park did not previously have legal authority to force citizens to comply with a non-existent law or local ordinance. Multi-family building owners who dutifully complied may have a legitimate legal claim against Schiller Park.
The new ordinance, which until now the public has yet to see, requires installation of costly Reduced Pressure Zone valves on main water lines in multi-family buildings. Generally, RPZ valves are required in new construction or when there are changes to the plumbing configuration in the building.
Not in Schiller Park.
Apparently to generate needed revenue from required permits, Schiller Park officials for almost two years hoodwinked building owners to install unnecessary, costly equipment that also requires annual inspections and re-certifications. What’s more, an RPZ – as the name implies – reduces water pressure and can force replacement of pipes and plumbing in the building.
Cha-ching! More permit revenue for village coffers.
At a village board meeting in February, Mayor Anna Montana told a packed room of owners and renters that a state law requires installation of RPZs. That’s what Schiller Park housing inspectors had been telling owners during annual mandatory inspections of their buildings over the previous year.
About 75 percent of the approximately 1,500 buildings included in the multi-family inspection program installed the RPZ equipment by April 2009, according to Schiller Park village manager Kevin Barr. These people truly believed their elected officials.
Other owners, meanwhile, pressed officials to cite the specific law that provided Schiller Park legal authority to impose this expensive requirement. Costs range upward of $1,200 each depending on the size of the building, plus annual inspections starting at about $80.
Officials began back peddling to cover their tracks.
With about as much transparency as a brick wall, village officials turned to their lawyers to quickly develop an ordinance for the board to approve. They denied citizen requests, on their lawyers’ advice, to release a draft of the ordinance before it was passed.
It does not appear village officials sought public comment or conducted a careful assessment of adverse implications that the new ordinance may have on housing values and rents in Schiller Park especially during a poor economy.
Well, Schiller Park now has its ordinance. It will be interesting to see what surprises are in it; how the new ordinance was conceived and developed; how it will be communicated with affected taxpayers; and, implemented.
A request for some of this information is pending under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Owners may need to wait until their next annual building inspection to find out what new requirements Schiller Park officials cook up. Then, one has to wonder if the inspector is really relaying the truth this time around.
Transparency and cover-up appear to be synonymous in Schiller Park.
What do you think?
I’m not surprised about this. This is how most stuff gets done in SP! This year Montana fired the city’s longtime lawyer (Raysa & Zimmermann) from Park Ridge and hired a new law firm, Odelson and Sterk, in Evergreen Park. Surprise! Surprise! Thats where Montana’s son Joe works.
I think Schiller Park started forcing the installation of these water valves about the same time that EPA inspectors raided the Schiller Park factory and discovered toxic waste that leaked into the ground. Maybe every home in Schiller Park should have one of those RPZ valves for safe water. Anyone else know anything about these things?
The village NAZIS will be arriving this coming thursday to inspect my apt.They better have a warrant or they won’t be getting into my place.
( It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. – Thomas Paine )
I had my Nazi invasion today.The gestapo inspector wasn’t too happy when I told him he needs a warrant to enter my apartment.He said he will return with a warrant…I said fine come back with a warrant & then I’ll let you in.
(The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. – Thomas Jefferson)
A few weeks ago I had my return visit from the Village in which again I requested them to show me a warrant. Again they said they didn’t have one. Well today I finally received my ticket for refusing them entry into my apartment. I can’t wait to go to court and defend my constitutional rights against these Nazi’s.
Entries onto private property by government officials, like searches pursuant to a criminal investigation, are governed by the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Camara v. Municipal Court of San Francisco, 387 U.S. 523, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967); Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 504-508, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 1947-1949, 56 L.Ed.2d 486, 494-498 (1978); Michigan v. Clifford, 464 U.S. 287, 291-92, 104 S.Ct. 641, 646, 78 L.Ed.2d 477, 483 (1984). The Supreme Court in Camara stated that the “basic purpose of this Amendment ․ is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by government officials.” 387 U.S. at 528, 87 S.Ct. at 1730. “The officials may be health, fire, or building inspectors. Their purpose may be to locate and abate a suspected public nuisance, or simply to perform a routine periodic inspection. These deviations from the typical police search are thus clearly within the protection of the Fourth Amendment.” Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. at 504-505, 98 S.Ct. at 1947.