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TIF Impact on Schools

(39 posts)
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  1. KimJ
    Member

    Draft TIF Timetable can be viewed here (although out of date because of the pause.)

    Yes, it seems that there needs to be one extra trustee vote (5 total) should the JRB advise (Advisory Only) against the TIF. From what I can gather, there is one definite vote for the TIF already and most likely another 3 or 4 trustees seriously leaning towards it.

    What is telling is that after the JRB meets, the TIF is on a fast track to be passed. Less than 10 weeks from when they first convene, we have a TIF.

    JRB convening is not the way to stop a TIF, but part of the legal process that is needed to happen in order to enact the TIF.

    http://www.riversideinfo.org/draft-tif-timetable/

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 09:10 #

  2. Catherine
    Member

    Spatny, are you saying the EDC is not publishing their minutes within 7 days after they are approved. As an advisory commission to a public body they are required to do so or they are in violation of the Open Meetings Act (compliance with which I know corbi has previously spoken of here with scorn.) If so, this shows the practical impact of noncompliance, if it required proof.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 14:51 #

  3. spatny
    Member

    Well if you go to the Village web site you will see the holes in the lists of minutes for the various commissions. Many times the Board accepts bunches of minutes from several months at a time. It's observed more in breach than compliance.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 16:35 #

  4. spatny
    Member

    EDC has no minutes posted after 11/06. And only four or five for all of last year. And when you read them they don't really tell you much.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 16:38 #

  5. Catherine
    Member

    Spatny, does the EDC fail to approve minutes or to keep them?

    OPEN MEETINGS ACT.

    (5 ILCS 120/1.02) (from Ch. 102, par. 41.02) Sec. 1.02. For the purposes of this Act: "Meeting" means any gathering, whether in person or by video or audio conference, telephone call, electronic means (such as, without limitation, electronic mail, electronic chat, and instant messaging), or other means of contemporaneous interactive communication, of a majority of a quorum of the members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing public business. "Public body" includes all legislative, executive, administrative or advisory bodies of the State, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue, except the General Assembly and committees or commissions thereof.
    ...

    5 ILCS 120/2.06) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06) Sec. 2.06. Minutes. (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) the date, time and place of the meeting; (2) the members of the public body recorded as either present or absent and whether the members were physically present or present by means of video or audio conference; and (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
    deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.

    (b) The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available for public inspection within 7 days of the approval of such minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a public body that has a website that the full time staff of the public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular meeting of its governing body open to the public on the public body's website within 7 days of the approval of the minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes of meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days after their initial posting.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 16:52 #

  6. corbi328
    Member

    To set the record straight, the minutes need to be posted within seven days of BEING APPROVED. They can be posted on the website and/or made available in the Library. We don't cotrol when or where they are posted after they have been approved by us. There are months where there are no minutes because no meetings were held and in other months there are lags in getting the minutes approved because sometimes us working folks don't have time to write up the minutes the second after we have our meeting. Mr. Spatny, since you were at our last meeting you should have noticed that we just approved 3 months worth of minutes.

    I do have an idea, since both of you seem to have a problem with the timeliness and the detail of our minutes, I think you should both volunteer your time to the Village and agree to take minutes for all the commissions. You both seem to have so much time on your hands and its about time you put it to use doing something productive for the village instead of being the resident monday morning quarterbacks.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 18:38 #

  7. Catherine
    Member

    Yes, we note the approval requirement. If you want to keep fobbing off your propaganda [what you call advising] onto the Board and using public money to do it, the law requires you take your own minutes, approve them, and post them as indicated above. If you don't have time to obey the law, keep out of village government. If you don't have time to keep minutes, don't do anything to keep minutes of. Otherwise, submit your lame excuses to the IAG. It is funny that no one complains about the activities of any commission other than your own. Perhaps yours is offensive to many and they do not share your opinion that your activities are constructive.

    We have no more time on our hands than you do. We do not have time, for example, to come up with plans to destroy [what you call improve] the village as you do. We are doing something productive for the village: putting a stop to people like you.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 19:12 #

  8. spatny
    Member

    Catherine: I think the only solution is to go to Lisa Madigan's office again. I asked, almost two weeks ago with a simple FOIA request for how much had been spent by the village on three projects - the B2 Zoning, the TOD study and this TIF mess. They claim thay can't tell me, yet every time they cut a check and make a payment it has to be approved by the Board via the consent agenda or as a special item. Our vaunted finance office claims that there is no record kept of what is spent on a particular project. Hard to believe they don't know what these things have cost them, isn't it?

    I then asked for the amount paid to four different consultants - the main ones for each of those projects. Whatever is paid them in total for the year would show on the IRS form 1099 sent to each firm, so to ascertain this amount for five years would only involve 20 documents. Simple, one would think. But the Village will not divulge that information, claiming it is protected by privacy rules, even though it is public taxpayer dollars publicly approved at the Board meetings and paid to companies, not individuals. I see no solution but to file another FOIA request and then ask the Attorney General to compel them to assemble and provide this information, as the public has the right to know how they spend the public monies entrusted to them. (The Village was reported and reprimanded before for such non compliance.) I guess it has to be done again. We should probably, at the same time, bring up the matter of what constitutes proper posting and availablity of the agendas and minutes.

    I think, in light of the fact that there is this contested issue of the TIF looming and an election, there is a good chance that the AG's office will handle this expeditiously. As far as the EDC goes, it's hardly worth pursuing. They have a budget but they can't make a decision on anything without getting their mother's permission. Today they were going around asking business people in the CBD if they would attend their "leadership breakfast" propaganda seminar because they forgot to invite them previously. Some organizers.

    Posted Friday Mar 16, 2007 21:14 #

  9. spatny
    Member

    FYI - Here are the minutes of the EDC posted on the web:
    EDC Minutes 11-2-06
    EDC Minutes 7-6-06
    EDC Minutes 4-20-06
    EDC Minutes 2-16-06
    EDC Minutes 1-12-06

    Not too up to date.

    Here is what the Board is going to approve at the next meeting:

    IV. Approval of Consent Agenda:
    A. Approval of Bills March 19, 2007
    B. Approval of Board of Trustees Meeting February 26, 2007
    C. Approval of Executive Session Meeting Minutes February 26, 2007
    D. File and Review Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes February 1, 2007
    E. File and Review Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes November 2, 2006
    F. File and Review Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2006
    G. File and Review Plan Commission Meeting Minutes January 22, 2007
    H. File and Review Plan Commission Meeting Minutes November 27, 2006 —“ Revised
    I. File and Review Riverside Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2007
    J. File and Review Cable Commission Meeting Minutes February 12, 2007
    K. File and Review Board of File and Police Commissioners Meeting Minutes November 14,
    2006
    L. File and Review Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes February 8, 2007

    That still doesn't appear to bring them up to date. Why?

    Posted Saturday Mar 17, 2007 15:24 #

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