Zoning Board of Appeals
Dennis Sadilek, Chairperson
Greg Soldano
Heather Poell
Denny Georgopulos
Terrence Jordan
Ray Rezner
Riverside Info » About Riverside
Zoning Board of Appeals, anyone familiar?
(11 posts)-
Posted Friday Mar 30, 2007 17:48 #
-
Does anyone think the reason that the residential properties on Burlington to Cowley were included in the proposed TIF district to accomodate zoning commissioner Terry Jordan's Olmsted Commons plan?
Are there any conflict of interest requirements that need to be satisified by local public officials? If so, is this by local or state ordinance? Can someone point any text on the conflict of interest standards that need to be satisfied by local public officials?
Posted Sunday Apr 1, 2007 02:30 # -
Mike -
Our local Riverside Code has Ethics provisions - mainly governing Prohibited Political Activity and Gifts - but nothing specific about Conflicts of Interest. See Section 1-19 et seq.
Our Code does state that we have a Ethics Advisor (1-19-6) and an Ethics Commission (1-19-7), but I could not find any reference to who may serve in these capacities on our Official Government Website.
Illinois “conflicts of interest— prohibitions are addressed primarily by statute.
65 ILCS 5/3.1-55-10, titled “Interests in Contracts,— applies to all municipal officers, including persons serving on municipal advisory (or non-governing) commissions whose duties include “evaluating, recommending, approving or voting to recommend or approve the contract, work or business.— The provision is lengthy, so rather than recite it, I'll link it:
50 ILCS 105/3, titled Local Government - Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act “Prohibited Interests in Contracts,— would not apply to persons on advisory panels or commissions, but is linked here anyway:
Finally, if a public officer commits (or fails to commit) certain acts in his or her official capacity, the Criminal Code may come into play. See 720 ILCS 5/33-3, titled “Official Misconduct—:
For those interested in the potential judicial interpretation of these statutory provisions, the Illinois Supreme Court has discussed the previous versions of these statutes in People v. Scharlau, 141 Ill.2d 180 (1990).
Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 09:12 # -
Aberdeen, thanks for the reply.
So I guess there is no one serving on the Ethics Commission in Riverside. Interesting.
I see that Riverside does not have anything in its Code explicitly on Conflicts of Interest. But I see that the state of Illinois does. I did not yet read the Illinois statutes on conflicts of interests, but might that govern the behavior of local public officials absent any specific directions at the Local level?
Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 09:35 # -
Yes
Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 09:45 # -
In another thread, I wondered whether I might have a conflict of interest if I were I Board member ruling on whether my property should or should not be included in a TIF district, or what the amount of money the village should offer on this property were it to be acquired by the Village.
I wonder further: If I were a board member and my wife were a Realtor who, or who's brokerage, could make commissions on other property transactions associated with the operations of the TIF, would that be at least dubious and at most a Conflict of Interest, possibly against state statutes?
Finally, If I were a board member and if I worked as a partner in a law firm that specializes in TIF support, and which law firm might be enlarged either directly through work on the TIF or indirectly through another bullet in its resume, I think this would at least be dubious.
Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 09:56 # -
Mr. Tomecek:
In May 2004, the Village Board adopted an Ethics Ordinance, #2495. If you would care to review the ordinance, please visit the www.riverside.il.us website, click on the municipal code and visit Chapter 19 of Title 1.
If you or anyone feels that there is evidence of a conflict of interest or ethics violations and is interested in making those allegations, please do so in writing to the attention of the Ethics Commission, 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546. Each written complaint must be signed, and notarized. The allegation must be based upon a violation of the Ordinance presently in affect. The Ordinance has the full details.
Serving on the Ethics Commission presently is: Joseph Dvorak, and Linda Wawzenski. A vacancy does exist on the Commission if anyone is interested in submitting their resume to the attention of President Wiaduck.
Kathleen Rush
Village Manager
708 447 9987Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 16:23 # -
I don't see anything in the ordinance about conflicts of interest. What is the law governing conflicts of interest?
Posted Monday Apr 2, 2007 16:50 # -
No answer about the ordinance not containing conflicts of interest, nor therefore could there be any requirement to notarize a statement about a conflict of interest. How could anyone get evidence of a conflict of interest without asking the question first? The question has been asked but not answered: it is no answer to say you cannot ask a question, you must notarize a statement that contains the evidence.
I've worked for corporations that do not allow their employees to accept anything more than a pen from a prospective vendor, and nor would they allow any relative of any degree be a vendor to the corporation. So, I too would like to know what the conflict of interest rules are for the village, if any.
Posted Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 11:12 # -
I work for an insurance company (in the computer systems area) and they make a big deal about the slightest conflict of interest. Each year, All employees have to read and sign an inventory of questions and statments. This is post Enron-SOX (Sarbannes Oxley Law) that we must do this.
If we do not read and sign we can be terminated. At my company at least, they take it pretty seriously.
.
WHen I served on a jury once, I recall the lawyers asking about the backgrounds of each witness. When the jurors were to be weighing the facts to adjudicate the truth of people's statements, it was admissable, and reasonable, to weigh context and backgrounds.
.
Full disclosure:
I am in the proposed TIF district and my property is on a list to be demolished against my will by the Village via this TIF plan. Time is ticking down for a new board and for a TIF vote. The only thing I have for assurances about my property is the beneficence of THIS board. The referendum is not binding. There are only two more weeks that I can rest assured before the new board is elected. So I might appear a little jumpy sometimes. Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play?Posted Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 11:52 #
Reply »
You must log in to post.