Small town feel but out of touch
with the world
Never mind that Illinois lost a combined 73,600 jobs last November and December and more than a half million persons in the state remain unemployed.
Never mind that almost every other person currently working is deeply concerned about their job security in this messy economic environment.
If you are renter in Schiller Park, you are expected to stay home from work and risk losing your job so that a housing inspector can come through your apartment for a mandatory, annual apartment inspection.
It does not appear to matter to Schiller Park officials that many good renters want privacy or they prefer to be present when someone enters their apartment. Village officials want to enter every apartment in Schiller Park every year to be fair to everyone affected. That’s right: Punish the masses and trample all over citizens’ rights to privacy just to get to the few scofflaws.
Last night, during another packed Village board meeting, officials declined to make or consider making policy changes on the administration of the housing inspection program. They cowardly hid behind a legal shield contending they cannot make public policy changes because there is pending litigation.
Mayor Anna Montana and Village Manager Kevin Barr seem to believe that they are doing good deeds for apartment owners and renters by insisting on mandatory annual inspections and hauling people to court, at taxpayers expense, if they deny access.
Nonsense.
The Village of Schiller Park should simply follow the ordinance they previously passed. The ordinance, (Section 98.07 (B) (2)), states that if anyone denies access to the apartment, the village “may” petition a court for a warrant to enter individual apartments. Getting a court order first is different than issuing violations.
The current practice of inspectors bullying their way inside also adds strain in the relationships between apartment owners and renters. Essentially, the village is forcing owners to waive their renters’ rights to privacy in the apartments they lease, and forcing people to defend themselves against access violations. Some renters vowed to move away from Schiller Park to retain their right to privacy.
This is an election year for Mayor Montana, trustees Richard W. Desecki, Lawrence Fritz and Angelo S. Passialis along with Village Clerk Claudia L. Irsuto. If they are unwilling to listen to the voice of their constituents, it is time for change in Schiller Park.
I invite each of them to submit a guess post to outline their respective positions on this issue. Send your post to admin@illegalapartmentinspections.org.
Renters and their supporters can send a strong message to the current administration to stop treating renters as second-rate citizens. The deadline for voter registration is March 10. Citizens can register at the Village Hall, the Cook County Clerks’ Office downtown Chicago or any of the suburban locations, or they can mail an application that is available online. Local elections will be held April 7.
Perhaps new blood in Schiller Park will restore the town’s motto: Small town feel with a world at its touch.
Unfortunately, change will not occur by just ousting officials. I thought we had a bad mayor
with the stupid inspections here. In searching for some info I found this site about Schiller Park.
By the way, I’m in Addison, where again, I thought we were alone in this problem.
I have nothing to hide, but I see these inspections as just another money-making scheme, disquised as HELPING us. I don’t need the help, if I had a problem that couldn’t get resolved with the landlord I’ll go to them for help. There is even a new twist this year, in Addison there is a new ordinance where we can’t have window air conditioners anymore. THIS IS AMERICA right???
Now it’s illegal to use something you bought legally with your hard earned money, because some official decided he didn’t like the way they looked and said people should have central air. Being an apartment renter I don’t have that option, and the one air conditioner we ARE allowed to have isn’t always enough on hotter days.
Anyway, I hope more people see that these inspections should be ILLEGAL and discontinued. They use the guise of “safety inspection” and we’re checking up on the landlord for you. Bull…they say the landlord is charged for “violations”….well if they think the landlord doesn’t turn around and then charge you then they shouldn’t be allowed to hold public office because they are just plain stupid.