Lisle Library Plans Citizen "Hit List"

The Lisle Library's newly-formed "Information Stewardship Committee" wasted no time in taking the first steps toward improving ways to inform the public - starting with a new citizen "Hit List." 

Recently, a former Trustee in Sauk Village accused the Village of Sauk Village of posting a FOIA list, a "Hit List," as he called it, as a method of targeting and intimidating citizens who submit FOIA requests.   Modeled after ... You guessed it... The Village of Lisle. Maybe we should change the tag line from Arboretum Village to  __________??? 

Back to the story...

On September 11, 2013, the Lisle Library Information Stewardship Committee diverted from their stated purpose of "record retention, publication and storage" and moved swiftly into discussion and planning to post a citizen "hit list" online with the of the names of persons who ask for copies of public records under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

A few things to keep in mind as you read through the following excerpt from the Sept 11, 2013 committee meeting: 

• The FOIA Officer for the Lisle Library did not complete any state-mandated annual FOIA training during FY 2012-2013, per records from the IL Attorney General.  The FOIA Officer for the Lisle Library is Shannon Halikias.

• The Illinois Attorney General is currently reviewing numerous alleged Open Meetings violations of the Lisle Library Board dating back to meetings held in May 2013. Here. Here. Here. 

• The Library's "working budget" is adopted and approved without a public hearing. Draft "working budgets" in board packets are not made readily available to inform the public prior to approval. 

• The Lisle library does not post board packets online before board meetings and will not provide a paper copy or electronic copy of the board packet to a citizen before a board meeting.Here.

• The Lisle Library may have destroyed public records related to a staff party at Mullen's Bar & Grill. Here.

• The Lisle Library has the highest property tax rate of all neighboring community libraries. Here.

• The IL Freedom of Information Act allows public bodies to a deny request for copies of public records if the request is burdensome. Here.

• The Lisle Library does not post online a "checkbook" of expenditures.

• The Lisle Library does not post online the full roster of employee salaries, benefits and pension costs. 

• The Lisle Library does not post online contracts, bid notices, RFPs.

• The Lisle Library does not post online a 5 year financial forecast.

Excerpt from Committee Meeting Minutes:  

"Library Director,  Shannon Halikias [FOIA Officer], brought up the issue of requests for copies of public records under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. (FOIA). 

We are getting a new copier with scanning capabilities. This should help us scan documents needed for FOIA’s.  Richard Flint stated that the committee members need to take a look at FOIA’s and possibly retake FOIA training. 

"We need to post our FOIA’s on our website so that our patrons can see these are becoming burdensome." 

"Shannon Halikias stated she is happy to sit down, one on one with patrons to explain things. She believes citizen input is a good thing.  

"Jen Ohzourk stated she has dealt with FOIA requests at her previous job and many people are just looking to find something wrong, Technology would help with this.  

"We need to publish the names of people who request FOIA’s and how much time it took to fulfill the request.  

"Tom Hummel stated a flow chart on the web site would be a good thing.  He would like to see a voucher list on the website before meetings and he thinks it is a good thing we have ordered a new copier/scanner to scan in our monthly bills.  

"Lindsey Dorfman stated putting a list of FOIA‘s and time spent on them would give the public insight as to how their taxpayer dollars are working for them. 

"Shannon Halikias [FOIA Officer] stated we are researching FOIA’s and the way they need to be responded to. 

"With recent FOIA requests, it is important to realize that we respond with existing documents.  We do not create new documents in response to a FOIA.  

"Richard Flint stated that the president of the board needs to know each time a FOIA is requested.  

Katherine Seelig, Shannon Halikias and Richard Flint will create an agenda for FOIA’s for the committee to discuss."  

   

   * * * * * * * 

Next meeting of the Information Stewardship Committee will be held on Nov 20, 2013 at 6:30 pm. 

QUESTIONS: 

Will the Lisle Library be posting the responses to each FOIA request, too?

Will the next meeting of the Information Stewardship Committee address "records retention, publication, and storage" of public records?

It's Vegas, Baby!! Broda in the 1% of Mayors Bilking Taxpayers for Trip to "Sin City"

The most popular Lisle Watchdog blog on Lisle Patch...

July 15,2013 - Lisle Mayor Joe Broda joined 10 mayors from Illinois at the annual U.S. Mayors Conference held at the Mandolay Bay Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas June 21-24, 2013. 

Lisle taxpayers paid $3,140.00 for Broda's recent Las Vegas trip (to date - see below for detail)

Lisle Mayor Joe Broda is NOT a voting member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The USCM membership fee for municipalities with a population under 30,000 is $1,992 per year.

There  are 1299 cities, villages and towns in the State of Illinois - each with a mayor.

Only 11 mayors in Illinois used taxpayer funds to pay airfare, conference fees, transportation and expenses for the 4 day Las Vegas conference. That comes to less than 1% ( 0.85% to be exact ) of Illinois mayors taking taxpayers' money to pay for a trip to Vegas.

Lisle Mayor Joe Broda is the 1%

Only 180 municipalities throughout the entire 50 states chose to send their mayor to this year's conference in Las Vegas according to the USCM registration website. Over 1000 mayors were expected to register. Many municipalities cut the trip due to necessary belt-tightening as employee health care benefits and pensions costs increased at the same time aging infrastructure replacement, maintenance and improvement costs strained budgets. Other municipalities simply did not see the trip as a necessary public expenditure and could not justify the benefit to their town was worth the cost of the trip.

Only 5 non-member municipalities in the entire country chose to use taxpayer  money to fund a trip for their mayor to Las Vegas - a trip where they have no voting rights on any official business. Lisle is one of those 5 municipalities in the entire country that chose to spend taxpayer's money to send a non-voting mayor to Las Vegas. (see USCM registration website)

Mayors from the following Illinois municipalities attended the USCM conference in Las Vegas this year:

Lisle (*), Addison, Bloomington, Hanover Park, Danville, Hoffman Estates, Loves Park (*), Lake Barrington, North Chicago,  Waukegan and O'Fallon (*).

(*) - not an official voting member of USCM. 

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas

So, what happens at the annual US Mayor's Conference?
Here is a link to the agenda: AGENDA.

During the convention, over 240 pages of resolutions were adopted by official voting members.

Lisle Mayor Joe Broda is NOT a voting member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors according to the USCM website.

Chicago Mayor Rahn Emanuel sponsored the resolution for background checks for firearms purchases, but did not attend the USCM Las Vegas conference.

The voting members also urged the federal government to give states leeway in establishing marijuana policies and urged Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform. Broda could not vote on any resolution, since he is not an official voting member.

U.S. Mayors Convention Notice: "Unless otherwise noted, all plenary sessions, committee meetings, task force meetings, workshops and social events are open to all mayors and other officially-registered attendees. However, only member mayors of a standing committee are eligible to vote on resolutions before that standing committee."

Several of the mayors that attended gave speeches and/or lead committee meetings and task force groups, including mayors from:

Columbus, Little Rock, Laredo, Bridgeport, Piscataway, Boston, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Louisville, Indianapolis, Denton, Irving, Auburn, Sumter, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, Des Moines, Atlanta, Hollingdale Beach, Southfield, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Long Beach, Dallas, Waterbury, Beaverton, Lansing, Austin, Newton, Pembroke Pines, Santa Ana, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Jacksonville, Portland, Sacramento, Mesa, Oakland, Belmar, New Orleans, Fresno, Carmel, Avondale, Tacoma, San Francisco, Birmingham, Wichita, Allentown, San Bruna, Kansas City, Burnsville, St. Louis, Tallahassee, Miramar, Phoenix, East Orange, Cincinnati, Elizabeth, Madison, Santa Barbara, Debuque.

Keynote speeches were given by Vice President Joe Biden andRichard M. Daley, former mayor of Chicago.


Social Activities: When not busy with official duties voting on resolutions, all who paid the registration fee, including non-USCM members and those not allowed to vote on official USCM business, were invited to many social events, at no additional fee.

Friday evening: Surfside Party at Mandalay Bay Beach - "tasty treats, speciality drinks ... and entertainment."

Saturday evening: A Taste of Downtown at the Fremont Street Experience. "Viva Las Vegas! Experience vintage Vegas at the place where the glitz and glamour began, Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas." Food, drinks and entertainment included.

Sunday: Cirque Du Soleil And Michael Jackson – “Michael Jackson ONE” followed by a late night party at the "House of Blues" for a celebration honoring the outgoing USCM president and welcoming the incoming USCM president.

No Vegas Trip for You

The following DuPage municipalities did NOT send their mayor to this years convention:

Naperville, Aurora, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Woodridge, Bolingbrook, Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Darien, Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, Oak Brook, Villa Park , Itasca, Glendale Heights, Lombard, Winfield, West Chicago, Warrenvville, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Bensenville, Wayne, Lemont, Bartlett, Roselle, Oak Brook Terrace, Medinah, Wood Dale, and St. Charles.

Mayors from some of the largest cities in Illinois did NOT attend - this includes mayors from:

Chicago, Springfield, Rockford, Peoria, Arlington Heights, Aurora, Joliet, Elgin, Cicero, Naperville, Champaign, Evanston, Decatur, Paletine, Skokie and Des Plaines.

Broda's Detailed Las Vegas Expenditures
(source village board packets)

$   892.52              Mandalay Bay Casino & Hotel US Mayor Conf

$     29.94              Mandalay Bay Casino & Hotel US Mayor Conf

$   141.00              A1 Airport Limo US Mayor Conf

$1,400.00              US Mayor Conf Registration

$   222.88              Hotel Deposit

$   452.80              Airfare US Mayors Conf

About U. S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Mayors contribute to the development of national policy by serving on one or more of the conference’s standing committees which recommend policy positions every year at the Annual Meeting they believe should be adopted by the organization. The policy positions that are adopted are then distributed to the President and Congress.

Related Media Links

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/09/26/mayor-allegedly-used-towns-credit-card-for-36k-in-steak-dinners-vegas-trips/

http://lamesa.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/no-vegas-baby-council-denies-mayor-madrids-trip-to-annual-conference

http://blog.pe.com/2013/04/30/las-vegas-riverside-councilman-to-shop-in-sin-city/

http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2013/06/17/mayor-heads-back-to-las-vegas-this-week/

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/now-with-alex-wagner/52275668#52275668 

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/06/23/nutter-leads-session-on-violence-crisis-in-cities-at-u-s-conference-of-mayors-in-las-vegas/

http://www.holyoke.org/news/mayor-morse-sponsors-us-conference-of-mayors-resolution-for-cleaner-gas-and-vehicle-standards/