Furstenau names new defendants in lawsuit

This is only the beginning, folks. I have it on good authority that Dick is also going to sue the statue of the little old lady that sits outside the Barnes & Noble downtown. He doesn't like the way she looks at him, and he feels disrespected.

The guy is clearly lashing out at any and all who would question him. This is an embarrassment to the city. His suit will be laughed out of court, but that doesn't mean that it won't cost the city -- meaning you and me -- a great deal of money. Quite a coup for a councilman who insists that he's on the side of the taxpayer.

How did this get so out of hand? Furstenau is right to stand up for himself. He is a good, solid, law abiding citizen and anybody who knows him knows he looks at issues from all angles and considers all outcomes before acting. Publicly attacked by members of the council and police force, what other choice does he have but to publicly defend himself? We all know that he does his best for us at council meetings and vote him in again and again.

Any thoughts? Hmmm. The word "losers" comes to mind. And I'm referring to all of the parties involved. Have a great day.

well, i hate to say it, but i told you so. seems like d. bone was right again. it is never going to stop. do you all not see the complete and utter arrogance and disrespect this so-called man has ? censure me, and your sued. was that was actually said ! the whole city council is on watch, except for DICK's friends, lets see, doug, feissler fiessler, whatever ? ken miller ? are with DICK ? can't tell ? also darlene, can't really tell about her either. the others MAY have some brains ? or at least some morals that would tell them to do the right thing and send this law-suit slapping, megalomaniac to his rocking chair. please, write to all you favorite councilmen and implore them to censure. this has to stop now.

Way to go Dick.
If it is a jury trail, I am with you all the way.

You are asking for our thoughts??? I have written before on this blog and advised that City Officials, Police, Managers and all concerned to remain silent. All good attorneys advise silence in the face of litigation.

City Attorneys in addition to the 2 outside laws firms recently retained, either have not demanded silence or their clients are out of control and not listening. It reminds me of the Sgt. Drew Peterson case in Bolingbrook where he and his attorneys can not help but run their mouths. However, they are running their mouths at their own expense.

In this situation, City Officials are running their mouths at taxpayer's expense. The more they talk, the more Mr.Furstenau sues. The more he sues, the more it cost me and every taxpayer additional money. It just seems odd that so many lawyers in this case can not muzzle loose cannons in the city.

Mr. Furstenau was wrongly charged by a police officer. He should have received his apology. I do not believe he would have sued anyone, if he had gotten that simple apology. The city had a chance to settle with him for reasonable damages, in lieu of a simple apology which they were reluctant to issue. Rather than settling, they chose to budget $400,000 to escalate the fight. And now they have escalated the fight further by continuing to harass Mr. Furstenau while making continuing false allegations.

Police are humans and sadly they lie everyday. I know of a specific case where they lied in the last month. It will be litigated soon by the victim quietly. I like many others watched the city paint that liquor store owner of the 90's as a man who sells to minors. But when the truth came out with his repeated Napergate ads, he had documented that he had confiscated more fake IDs than every establishment in Naperville combined. When the truth came out he won the National Award for the toughest program agaisnt minors in the nation. When the truth came out he won his case in the courts of Dupage and it was upheld thru the highest Appellant Courts in Illinois.

City officials were bashing him daily! We have a similar scenario ongoing and many citizens are choosing to believe the Naperville Blue Machine instead of lonesome Mr.Furstenau. The public appears to be divided with those who were around during the NAPERGATE days and observed the city corruption first hand, supporting Mr. Furstenau. And those who recently moved to Naperville and believe city officials can do no wrong supporting the BLUE MACHINE.

I think people need to back off of personal attacks and give Dick a chance to uncover the truth in a court of law. Just as Mr. Napergate was eventually found to have been harassed by City Officials and Police for more than a decade, I feel confident that Mr. Furstenau will also be found to have been harassed in a very similar manner, albeit different circumstances.

I see so much similarity and see history repeating himself. Even though I am a supporter of Mr.Furstenau, I want minimum damage done to my Real Estate Tax Bill which is very high due to a 7% increase tacked on by the Assessor's office last month, while the value of my home actually went down this year substantially.

So once again I ask City Officials to please muzzle their mouths, exercise restraint, and not allow this litigation to escalate any further. If none of their numerous lawyers have advised them to muzzle up, I would like to please ask them to retain new and better attorneys. My 2 cents worth!!! You asked my thoughts and I delivered them to you!!!

Blake...

When this entire matter first came to light, I immediately sided with the police and felt that Furstenau was a jerk and should be prosecuted for hitting a cop. Now things are getting very interesting and it seems that the police and city government are all a bunch of thieves and scumbags.

If even half of the allegations on both sides are true, they should all be thrown out or prosecuted. What with cops hassling kids and residents and with city employees threatening businesses for siding with the wrong city councilperson, I think we have a full-scale set of problems and corruption in our town.

Thirty years ago Naperville was a whistle-stop on the Burlington Railroad line, now we are the fourth largest city in the state. We are renowned nationally for being a great place to live, yet are still being governed by a group of people who think like hayseeds and act like corrupt small town hicks who think of the government as their own piggy bank.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, “a pox on both their houses”. Folks, next time the city council elections occur, find a way to get to the poles and vote these bums out of office. A lazy, self-absorbed electorate is the best friend of these incompetent boobs.

I think that most of the folks being sued and/or mentioned in the press probably started out as honest hard-working public servants, and some may very well still be good people. But these recent events with the two school boards and city government show a very unprofessional, small-minded mentality and need to be stopped. Republican, Democrat or Independent, we need some better thinkers in these organizations with the requisite qualifications and experience, to run our ever-growing local government entities.

hey disgusted

you make very good points about how we need a top to bottom change within our city leadership, and that we need free-thinking leadership with experience. i agree, but do you realize you just described dick furstenau to a large degree? thats the very reason this whole mess is happening. can he be abrasive? yes. could he use a little more tact? yes. but, to this point, he is the only one that hasn't been accused of anything illegal. he has only been accused of being overbearing at times. everyone should keep one thing in mind; this obviously orchestrated attempt to remove dick furstenau from office is all due to the fact that he is a free thinker and bucks against the system. instead of "playing" politics, he had the guts to call a spade a spade, and now, all the people he had accused of being dirty are trying to remove him and silence him before he can expose them.

blake, is right. the city should shut up! every time they speak, they give furstenau and his attorney more rope to hang the city with. and i have news for everyone, this lawsuit will not be laughed out of court. this lawsuit is valid enough that the judge will rule that it should go to court and be tried, and the city knows it. thats why they budgeted 400k to defend it. furstenau's attorney specializes in federal civil-rights cases, and he knows what what civil rights violations are and what is, and isn't, worthy of going to trial.

if you ask me, arrest issue aside, an orchestrated attempt by the CITY to target, smear and remove an elected official from office IS a violation of his civil rights. furstenau was elected, 3 times, by the people, not hired by the city.

So Richard Furstenau is threatening to continually amend his lawsuit to include any city employee who comes out and says anything against him. How long will it be before Mr. Furstenau’s personal vendetta extends to the private sector as well? At this point, Mr. Furstenau shouldn’t be worrying about the damage any city official has done to his reputation. He should be worried about the damage HE has done to his reputation. I don’t know what happened on the day that Mr. Furstenau supposedly touched a police officer and the filing of charges 10 days after does seem suspicious. However, from the outside it looks like this fight started long before that day in January and Mr. Furstenau is looking less and less like the victim and more and more like the bully. Arrogance and self-righteousness abound and ALL parties should SHUT UP and think about what is good for all of Naperville and not just themselves. Everyone involved is more concerned with being right than being upstanding citizens who take the high road and attempt to work together. No good will come from any of this.

meg, your absolutely right. this started long before that day in january 2006. that was the first attempt to get furstenau out of office. (by the way, the sun reports claim the charges and arrest didn't come until 18 days after the incident) however, its is rather naive of you to suggest to take the high road when their first, unwarranted, attack against him was an attempt to put him in prison for 15 years.

i have a hard time believing that you, i, or anyone else, would just let it drop if the cops made up or exaggerated a story and tried to throw you in the slam for 15. you may or not believe that, but furstenau's attorney says there is solid evidence of it. we will see how it plays out, but he certainly has the right to let a court decide.

Furstenau's suit is just another example of his attempts to bully his detracters into submission. Don't confuse him with the facts. When we taxpayers foot the bill for this, I will know the blame sits squarely on Furstenau. All of you (lawyers excluded) cheering him on will wake up and see you've been led down the primrose path by a man claiming to be looking out for your best interests. It is apparent his ego is more important to him than looking out for us. STOP THE INSANITY!

t.bone ? please. DICK has a right to sue whomever he wants, and he will do just that. i don't really care about that. he can be a taxpayer advocate, that is great. he can be "abrasive" as all you supporters of DICK like to say. but, he CANNOT threaten peoples jobs, and get away with it ! does this not bother you, the abuse of power that this wrinkled shell of a man tries to wield ? people have a right to dislike him, amd people have a right to an opinion, but i think when you look at the facts, people have a right to censure him, and RECALL him. he has opened pandoras box, he will have to face up to the remarks he has made regarding several city employees, he will have to answer to his debacle of the carilon, let's talk about forgiving that loan, and demanding the structure is sound and does not need inspection. i would like my money back on that thing. he is no friend of the people, he is self rightous and he does not like you either.

Dick, you are acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

Nice 'upstanding example' you show the youth of today.

This reminds me of a Dr. Seuss book: Richard R. Furstenau will you please go now!

I agree with t.bone that Blake is right. Blake seems to have articulated with the most insight as to what is occurring at the moment. He seems to have been around for a while and understands city politics.

Yes, I agree that as Blake said and others who have agreed with him, it is time for the city to shut up. They are exposing us to additional lawsuits with their inability to remain silent in the face of very serious litigation.

I did not live in Naperville during these so called "napergate" days but if what is being said is true, I am just wondering why the city has learned nothing from the past.

Please don't penalize me with the city's inability to remain silent, as I am also a taxpayer trying to make ends meet while raising 4 kids!

With the hollidays coming on ,would anyone be willing to declare at least, that a majority of these police are out in a fractured society tring to do the best,under circumstances and leadership that provides cross-signals. To pretend huge multi-pensions combined with large salaries--145k 157k are not part of the problems,is unreal. Add these paychecks up,almost all top il. cops are pulling down 250kkk ANNUALLY plus great health,etc. Many top cops gross > 275k .What is starting pay for 1st year officer?

Let's start with the beginning:

1) Dick runs for the State Senate
2) NPD knows this, there is a verbal discussion between a NP service officer or some police person about towing cars. Officer goes back to station, tells people about the incident.
3) Officer than says "He touched me" ---
4) Touched how? Did he hit? Put his finger to the officer? Who knows. None of us know. But it was decided that they go and arrest a City Council member and someone running for a high profile Senate seat.
5) Dick disagreed with the incident. Says he did not put his hand on the officer when talking to him (or speaking loudly and probably proudly knowing Dick)
6) Case goes to court. Dick found innocent.
7) Political career ruined.
8) Reputation damaged
9) Look at what's going on today...
10) And who is the cause of all this.....

Message to Anonymous: As a moderator of this forum I don't know what your last two-word post was all about except that it was unacceptable. If you've got something to say...just say it. If you want to play games and waste people's time....do it somewhere else.

Mr Quigley,

If you have some salary data you'd like to share, then come out with it. The starting salary for a NPD cop is $59,216.98 (counting holiday pay) and is listed on the NPD web site.

Before you bash the NPD officers too much, remember how safe they have kept this city. Violence and gang activity is at a minimum and if you think the gangs aren't trying to establish themselves here then you're fooling yourself. Chicago and Aurora gangs would love to operate here unimpeded. I agree, however, that in contact with everyday citizens some officers take an overbearing attitude that does not bode well for public relations.

As to Furstenau, there are two sides to every story and thus two possibilities:

1) Everyone is out to get Dick and he needs to sue them all to keep his "good" name.
Or
2) Dick is a bully, everyone knows it now, and he needs to sue everyeone to get them to shut up.

Both scenarios are equally disturbing. In one, city employees are trying to force a councilman out of office. In the other, a councilman is actively trying to silence his critics and abusing the court system to do so.

At this point, I think most people have an idea of which is most likely, but a trial will be useful in that all the facts will come out. If Dick loses his case, he should leave town with his tail between his legs and his lawyer should be disbarred for such unprofessional behavior. Oh, will I be added to the suit tomorrow?

It is a violation of City Policy (and also illegal at the state and national levels) for any govenment employee to be involved in political activities while on the government clock. A city employee cannot even hand out political brochures while on City time - it's illegal. This rule applies to every City employee, from the City Manager to the City Attorney and down to the guy raking leaves.

How is it, that so many of our local City employees getting away with spending so much time, in what can only be described as political activities:

1) Peter Burchard's letter on City letterhead - not an internal memo, but circulated to the press ( how is that not political activity at the highest level?)

2) As a "not so subtle threat" against Furstenau, staff is spending time to create the ability in Napeville to have a recall election. How is that not political activity?

3) And get this... the staff has drafted the proposed "censure" language. Now wait a minute, all of the complaints are made by staff, staff is providing the only evidence, and staff gets draft the punishment. Judge, jury and executioner???? What is going on (But remember they are forbidden from spending time on political activities while on the City payroll.)

Please remember, there are no criminal charges against Dick Furstenau (he has already won that battle and is suing the city for an appolgy and reimbursement of his legal fees).

In his three terms of office, there has never been an ethical charges against Dick Furstenau.

The only allegations against Furstenau have been made by staff members. In a nutshell, staff says Furstenau is mean to me when he disagrees with me!!! AND CHECK THIS OUT !!!!! THE NAMES OF STAFFERS MAKING THE CHARGES HAVE BEEN ERASED FROM THE DOCUMENTS. DICK IS NOT EVEN GIVEN THE CHANCE TO CONFRONT THOSE MAKING ALLEGATION!!!! This can't be happening. As an American you have the right to face your accuser!!! WHAT IS GOING ON AT CITY HALL!!!

I do not like lawsuits or lawyers. But, I believe that Furstenau has to get all of the facts into Federal court.

This is not a way to run a government. If nothing else, I hope that the money that this costs the City can serve as an investment in better government.

Let's face it, Dick just doesn't belong in Club Naperville. He has strong opinions, the courage of his convictions, he's a principled person, doesn't think money grows on trees, and he doesn't blindly endorse every new tax proposal. Is it any wonder the Club will go to any lengths to take Dick's membership away?

Michele B,

The activity you describe is not 'political activity'.

By your examples, preparing for a city council meeting where there will be a vote is 'political' and is illegal.

Someone filed a lawsuit and everything related to that lawsuit is now 'city business'.

If this 'activity' irks you, then suggest someone stop their childish lawsuit against the city.

michelle b. great points. all factual. well said. end of story. the court will decide this. it knows the law, and all the facts will be presented.

Hopefully the city will solicit for 'character witnesses' coming from former co-workers and former subordinates at a certain Telcom company. Perhaps there's a history of behavior that would support staff's claim of job threats and bullying. It certainly doesn't hurt to get all of the good facts out and into the open for this case. It would be a shame if the 'whole truth and nothing but the truth' was not put forth.

Thanks T.B. for the 59k, sorry if it sounded like bashing. If the citizens of N-ville think that Aurora gangs are not peddling drugs and operating in town,then I'll by a round at my favorite pub. That's a big part of the problem.2000 gang members were ID'd by Chicago Crime Commission living in A-town ,alone. Do you really think some of those people don't work and ply the trade here?quig

Blake and Michele B make the most sense to me.

I second their motions. It seems clear they know what they are dicussing.

I am against an increase in my real estate taxes but I also feel we need to conclude this as we concluded the decades long Napergate battle...in court where the truth can be sought and not in the media with no real substantiation of the facts!

I am hoping this will be a shorter battle and not as taxing as Napergate was!

Does anyone recall if the Napergate man had actually endorsed Councilman Dick Furstenau in the first election he ran?

I do remember the ads but I can not remember the 4 councilmen he endorsed 3 elections ago!

I am just curious........

Would the moderator be kind enough to look it up since he has access to old Naperville Sun editions and probably can track down the date of that election with relative ease!

It may give us a better understanding of the deep feuds in these battles and how far in time they are rooted.

Thanks!

The great thing about this whole situation is when all the dust settles on this matter there will be new leadership running the city when they hire the next City Manager and in the next election, you can vote in or out whomever you want. Councilman Dick Furstenau can sue the city if he wants as he has that right, but he will have to deal with the outcome whether he wins or loses the lawsuit. In a court of the public opinion, he might not fair as well.

You can't call yourself the taxpayers councilman and then be a reason for wasting the taxpayers money on a lawsuit that you filed. There are too many unethical things going on in this city right now to post, but one thing is for sure...two wrongs don't make a right. Shouldn't this issue be settled on a professional manor and not through the media?

Joe is right. What Michelle B. is describing is not political activity. The political activity banned by the Hatch Act is actually closer to active campaigning on behalf of a candidate--raising money, making phone calls, handing out flyers, etc. You know, what they do in Chicago and at the State level every day.

One could argue that Burchard was actually filing the complaint he was alleged to have ignored for far too long. In fact, if you actually read his letter, he describes dates and meetings with Dick in detail. He also details complaints filed by city employees regarding Dick's actions and unfounded allegations. Burchard also detailed a complaint made by a NPD officer to the FOP regarding Dick (hence the FOP letter that got a guy sued).

It would make a nice Sun article (hint hint guys) if they would actually try and find some of these written complaints or the people behind them to see if Burhard is full of BS are telling the truth. I'm sure there's got to be some way faster than a FOIA request. Or is the Sun afraid of being sued, too?

It is sort of ironic if you think about it. Here is the man who allegedly threw around unfounded accusations all over city government when he didn't get his way, and yet he seems to have the thinnest skin of all and is suing everyone who even thinks badly about him. Seems if Burchard's letter is even 1/2 right the city employees should be suing Dick, not the other way around.

Quig, it seems that far too many people are ignorant to the gang activity in and around Naperville. I'll have a Guinness. Thanks for the response.

Dear Kevin,

I know that two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left. Think about it......

All right, I am sorry, but I thought we might need a levity break here on a Friday afternoon.

Now, back to serious stuff.

This is getting ridiculous. There are two sides to every story but this whole thing has been mismanaged and mishandled from the beginning. First, if Burchard's motives were all that altruistic, why did he wait so long to voice his concents and allegations to the council? He does speak of some meetings with our feisty councilman, but I don't know that I see any action taken with the council other than his parting shots. His allegations might have merit, but why should you reward someone with a "job well done" and an Atta Boy, if he continually let city employees get subjected to unprofessional and hostile behaviour? It appears that he let these things drag on for years and by all accounts in the Sun, everyone on the council is shocked and indignant. Have they all had their heads in the sand this long? Where have the long time council members, like Rosanova been? I'd love to hear from Ellingson to see what her experiences were with RF.

And now to RF...a real man of the people. I love the fact that he actually has supporters in this town applauding the fact that he is suing our very town. Like this is some big time courageous civil rights action on behalf of an oppressed class in Naperworld. Every time I read this stuff in the Sun, I wonder why instead of suing, he hasn't written his own letter refuting the allegations or taking some responsibility for his actions. Interesting that this supposed "Man of the People" hasn't deemed it necessary to tell the people what happened in open communication, but rather he has done it through his attorney through more lawsuits and actions. Some could say he doesn't want to stoop to Burchard's level, and I would understand that...But if he really was the watchdog of the people, he should stand up and say something, even if he does have to scrub the letter 15 times through his attorney. Lastly, if there isn't a way to get him recalled or impeached then we should think about getting a petition together on our own as citizens. If this kind of behavior has been sanctioned for this long by our city government, I begin to wonder about them and their ability to manage and lead.

Michele B.,
1) If you read it, his statements were more job related to his role within the City Manager/City Council government here in Naperville. It was his job to run the city, as he did well, without being pressured or unduly influenced by an individual Councilman, like Furstenau, to give contracts or bids to cronies, or change zoning to help friends. How do you know he wrote the letter on city time?
2) City Council requested the City Attorney, along with city staff, investigate how the city might proceed, within the guidelines of current law, to establish a recall election. It is their job to do as instructed by the City Manager, based upon the request by City Council.
3)City staff does the grunt work for the City Manager in their role fulfilling requests made of them by City Council. City Council voted to consider censure of Councilman Furstenau based on a variety of documented misconduct. Again it is staff's job to fulfill the request of the City Council.

I think we all know why Furstenau wants names of his accusers on the documents. Not to confront them, but so he can SUE them. That will shut them up!

I voted for Dick. Sorry I did. Wanted him on City Council working for my interests instead of Springfield where all the "pending indictment" disfunctional politicians in this state are in legislature. Court case had NOTHING to do with vote. He should have walked away from it. It was over. The lesson learned: 1)should not have voted for Dick, should have sent him to Springfield with the rest of them. 2) will vote for no more incumbents. (except Pradel) Shawn-make my day. Sue me too.

Joe & TB:

Political Activity has been well defined and upheld by the Supreme Court. Specifically "A purpose pursued by an organization will be considered political if, for instance, it (a) is concerned with party politics, or (b) involves the dissemination of ‘propaganda’ for some cause or other, or (c) involves seeking changes to the law, or to the administration of the law, or to government policy."

And, I took the time to look up the Naperville Code ..

Naperville Municipal Code:
Section 1-7-8: CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
3.Political Activity: No employee shall engage in any political activity during working hours. Any employee who is elected to any office of the city shall resign upon election. No employee, who is not on a leave of absence pursuant to this section, shall solicit, orally or by letter, or receive or pay, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting, receiving or paying any assessment, subscription or contribution for any party or political purpose whatever. No employee shall solicit, orally or by letter, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting any assessment, contribution or payment for any party or any political purpose whatever, from any employee in any department of the city. Any wilful violation, or violation through culpable negligence, of any of the above prohibitions shall be sufficient grounds for the discharge of any employee guilty of such violation. (Ord. 88-228, 11-21-1988)

Without beating this point to death.. When Peter Burchard, the Naperville Police Spokesman and Margo Ely decided to publish open letters to the press, they jumped into the "political" arena. They are wrong for that and should be fired as per City Code!

City Employees are hired to follow the Code and to follow the decisions of City Council. They simply cannot be allowed to be running any political agenda including the "Get Rid Of Furstenau Campaign". Remember, we elect our government representives in part to protect us from the "beaurocrats". Not the otherway around.

Frankly, I think the city and Mr. Furstenau should resolve this matter as quickly and as quietly as possible, before this whole thing escallates to making all the wire news services and a 15 minute story on CBS' 60 Minutes, and ends up making Naperville and everyone involved in this rapidly growing debacle into a embarrasing national laughingstock. Fame like that, I don't any of the parties involved here wants at this present time. Settle this and move on.

Southwest-

You make some good points - but I think your missing the big picture. Do really feel that it is fair when you consider:

1. All allegations of wrongdoing are made by certain City Staffers who have been "dressed down" by Furstenau over his three terms in office (including Peter Burchard).

2) City Staff prepared the "charges" against Furstenau.

3) Furstenau has not be "tried" or even allowed to sit down and tell his side of the story. Council appears to be ready to find him "guilty" based on "secret" witnesses (all staffers).

4) City Staffers have been told to draft the punishment (the Censure).

5) City Staffers have taken their political campaign public by issuing press releases.

This really seems like some third world kangaroo court. Again, City Staff is accuser, judge, jury and executioner.

Anything Council does in this situation looks like retribution for Furstenau having filed a lawsuit against the NPD.

Michele,

You missed the 'trigger event' that turned any such action from 'political' to 'city business'.

That event was the naming of the city as a defendant in a lawsuit.

If a city is named in a lawsuit, they have to prepare and collect evidence for a proper defense. Otherwise, everyone would sue every city and always win due to an unprepared defense.

Had there not been a lawsuit, these actions would have been 'political'. This is probably why such a list of grievances had not been put forth before this time; because it would have been seen as political. Now it is considered documentation and evidence to support a legal defense.

It was the Plaintiff who caused this to happen. Just like the towing situation; one can not accept personal responsibility for their personal actions that cause other events to be set in motion.

Michele B.
You'll have to talk to the interum City Manager for answers to those questions. I have a question, why was Furstenau dressing down staff??? Is dressing down the City Manager and staff appropriate??? Was that when he was trying to exert pressure to have them do things HIS way, and they didn't see it his way?
The only retribution, and revenge I have seen, in the big picture, has been coming from Furstenau against everybody else. He needs to take responsibility for his own actions, and stop blaming everybody else. I don't buy in to his conspiracy theories, no matter what the NaperGate guy did. It was Furstenau's behaviour, not the law suit, that brought the need to vote for censure against him. Even the need to consider recall was his own doing. I don't see how it has ANYTHING to do with the law suit, other than what Furstenau, and his lawyer keep trying to falsely, in my opinion, interject in to it.

DICK! Furstenau was not found INNOCENT. He was acquitted.
BIG DIFFERENCE. Read the transcript of the court.
I almost voted for DICK! for the state senate if only to rid this town from one of the most disagreeable people I've ever met. My conscience forbade me to side with the devil. It is my goal to get DICK! to name me in the lawsuit next. I haven't figured a way yet, maybe a Purple Nurple or an Atomic Wedgie would do the trick.
I also think there should be well-lit, large signs at camera-enforced intersections that read "Proceeds from traffic violations at this intersection will be used for the City of Naperville defense against Richard (DICK!) Furstenau"

I think we are forgetting who the boss is here. DF was elected to be the boss along with 8 other city council members and to set guidelines and goals to be implemented

I believe his starting pay when he was first elected was only $5000 dollars. It must have been doubled since from I have been reading. He is a public servant trying to serve us. He is not doing it for the money. He is doing it because of his love for Naperville. I hope we are not forgetting that.

The city manager is all about money unless I am missing something. He works for the love of the money we pay him and not for the love of Naperville. I believe he got a better job and he is leaving us for MONEY! He really does not care about us! He only cares about his annual salary and parachutes to boot with it.

DF has a right to question PB's performance. PB does not have a right to question DF and the positions he takes with his votes even though they may be dissenting.

I hope I have this right. I am not 100% sure that PB is leaving us for a better job elsewhere, but if I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me.

If I am right we certainly need to support the public servant who works for almost free over the highly paid city manager who is seeking better opportunities elsewhere that may be better paying and who really can care less about us!

However, I do not believe DF should be suing the city and costing us taxpayers who support him. He is a wealthy person and can afford to take advertisements as Mr. Napergate did and inform us of all the alleged corruption in the town so we can vote in councilmen to support him in the future. This in turn would make his job of setting better policy for the city so much easier!

While I have seen Mr. Napergate compared to Mr. Furstenau, I think the comparisons are erroneous. I believe the city brought all the litigation against Mr. Napergate and he simply defended himself until he won and stopped. Mr. Furstenau also won and he must stop as Mr. Napergatge did, if he and/or others want to make the comparison. I do not think it is appropriate for him to impose a tax on all those who supported him thru out the years of which I am one, due to his unnecessary litigation.

I ask and urge Mr. Furstenau to drop his suit and take the path Mr. Napergate took thru advertising. Run the alleged culprits off the City Council as Mr. Napergate did 3 elections ago...

Regarding JJ's question, I can not recall with certainty who Mr. Napergate endorsed 3 elections ago but I am rather sure his top candidate was Dick Furstenau. I recall him rating him a 10 out of 10. It kind of sticks in my mind as he gave him such a high and unique rating.

It appears he felt Mr. Furtenau was going to be a man who fought against city waste and corruption and he may have been right. Only time will tell us for sure! Let us hope DF drops this litigation and saves us a million or two and maintains his reputation of a councilman who fights against waste of all kinds including frivilous litigation.

Joe,

I think the City Staff is following your logic - precisely. I also think the federal courts will not agree with you or the City Staff.

Furstenau did not give up his rights when he filed a lawsuit against the City. The laws against political activity while on the government payroll are not "waived" for City Staff when their political activities might (in their opinion) be justified. Police Unions cannot send press releases saying that you committed a crime after you are found "not guilty" by the Courts - that's still slander. And, again when anyone files a lawsuit (Councilman or Citizen) they do not automatically become "fair game" for anything that anyone might want to say or do to them.

I think the City is making big mistakes. The City's response thus far looks like retaliation.

I'll go one step further and say that "If" the City Council would arrange for an independent, neutral third party to conduct a fact finding investigation and make a recommendation to the Council, and if a process like this uncovered facts (not flimsy allegations) that justified some type of censure, then I would support the outcome. There are paid "arbitrators" that could handle this type of situation. And, it would be cheaper than the courts.

A "politics-free" investigation is warranted based on the allegations. Fairness, transparency, the chance to respond and neutral fact finders would go a long way to restore confidence in what is clearly a broken system.

A "secret" accusser, kangaroo court is never warranted. City Staff is not acting in the "City's" best interest. They're on a witch hunt. They need to reigned in by our elected officials. The Mayor and every councilmen need to step up and get this one right.

I know events in Burchard's letter are true and Dick knows it too. If you can't react ... overreact. Instead of admitting his behavior he misdirects the attention. He knows which employees wrote those memos in the agenda item and he has "faced his accusers." Burchard met with him many times over the years to discuss his mistreatment of employees, so he knows. There is no reason why the general public needs to know who they are.

What continues to baffle me is why the rest of the council turned a blind eye to all of this for years? While they may not be the ones actually harassing staff, by allowing this behavior to continue they are just as guilty. They need to work very hard to repair the damage. Sure they've paid lip service at council meetings and said how valuable the employees are, but what has council DONE? Actions speak louder than words. There is a chasm of distrust between staff and council. Good luck trying to fix it.

Dick, you're a jerk.

Now sue me.

Mark Eriksen,

We tried to steer you in the right direction - at least now you are seeing the light! The folks that feel Furstenau is being treated unfairly - I guess they're not getting the BIG picture. Take it back one step - from the beginning - where this all started. Furstenau is like a runaway train - he's not controllable in council meetings, even the Mayor has tried and not succeeded. If this keeps snowballing, his lawyer is going to be the only one that makes out on this deal!
Sue Ellen Stewart

Michelle B.--By your interpretation of the code, no city employee could ever make any allegations (criminal or otherwise) against an elected official lest that be considered "political". What you fail to realize is that complaining about abusive, harrasing activity by a politician is not only not political, but should be required by every city employee. Ever heard of the phrase "hostile work environment"?

And if you actually take the time to read Burchard's letter and not just rely on what was printed about it in the paper, he took steps to confront Dick and to also bring this to the city council's attention. He also detailed complaints filed by city employees as well as NPD.

I also agree with what SW Naperville Taxpayer had to say. Why was Dick dressing down the staff? For that matter, why was he questioning the towing policy before a parade? His job on the city council is oversight and he should not try to inject himself into the NPD chain of command. His recourse should have been to question the watch commander and/or the chief of police regarding this situation if he really believed that his questions could not wait until the next council meeting.

Michelle B.

The police union (FOP) is entitled to their opinion just like everyone else. If they want to say that they believe Dick committed a crime, that is their opinion and is protected free speech.

As was pointed out earlier, Dick was acquitted and that is sometimes very far from innocent. In fact, the judge in Dick's case said that an "incident" did occure and that Officer Hull did nothing wrong and showed restraint. This is hardly the words of a judge telling someone they were framed or railroaded by an entire city.

Michele,

With all due respect, the code stipulates doing anything during work hours. Unless you can prove the letters were written during work hours, there is nothing.

Is there such proof? Perhaps they wrote them at 9PM one evening. If so, the code does not apply.

Hey Sue Ellen,
Furstenau's attorney is on contigency...he doesn't get a dime if Furstenau doesn't win the case. It's comical for anyone to think this case is flimsy and has no merit in court. Do you think Furstenau's lawyer, who specializes in Federal Civil Rights Law, would be working this case if he didn't have a bundle of evidence PROVING that NPD, Burchard, etc have been trying to railroad his client?

"michele b". and others, you seem to be way to concerned about this issue to be legitimate. are you checking legal facts all day long about this case ? are you consulting all you old legal books you bought at a garage sale ? it is laughable the amount of know-it-all's on this goofy blog. "if burchard wrote this on naperville stationary then he will go to jail under section 2. paragragh 7 !" people who have real knowledge of this know what has really transpired. DICK touched a cop, burchard heard this, and repeated it. DICK threatened peoples jobs, burchard also heard this. DICK was told in private session that he MUST stop certain actions against employee's he did NOT! DICK has also threatened other people when he does not like a decision made by other councilmen, he also has not looked out for the publics interest, he has turned away potential business from the city by his belligerence , and arrogance. ask around, he has HAS TO GO ! RECALLFURSTENAU.COM we will do this for the good of ALL man.

your "trigger" argument that furstenau's lawsuit was a trigger that allowed all this to happen is off base. when he filed a lawsuit that says he was blasted by npd on january 2006, that gives them the right to defend themselves and search for evidence regarding the arrest and investigation. it didn't give them the right to begin a smear campaign, attacking him personally about events that had nothing to do with the lawsuit, and releasing it to the public and press.

the idea of attacking his character to somehow prove he hit the cop is off limits. he was already completely exonerated of it. the investigation and arrest are whats on trial now. they have to defend that their investigation was legit and proper. that has nothing to do with whether or not furstenau is a nice guy. all this time and effort spent by the city and city staff on city time to personally attack, censure, and attempt to remove an elected official from office is a violation. it doesn't address the accusations in the lawsuit. all the names of city staff who have led this smear campaign have been added to the suit because it helps prove furstenau's case that the whole arrest was merely an attempt to remove him from office and that it continues to take place today. and in no way, can a cop president release a letter to the public on police union letter-head stating that furstenau in fact committed a crime he was already cleared of. that is also a violation.

by the way, burchards letter was written on city letter head, in his city office, on his city computer. that also means it was also done on city time. if it was his personal time, he should have written it at home on his own computer. how do i know, there is a picture of him in the sun standing in his office writing the letter. he called the sun and told them to come to his office and take a picture of him writing it. what a moron.

T. Bone,

There is an old saying that starts with: "But for his actions..."

If that is now Burchard's letter was written, on city time, then perhaps he should no longer be employed by the city. Hey, problem solved. As for anyone else writing about someone's historical actions, are you suggesting that if anyone has ever had a bad encounter with an individual that they should always keep quiet about it and never tell anyone? That sounds like a gag order or censorship. Is this your proposal?

X EE,

If you "know" all these things, you must have been there. So, I'm guessing you work for the city or have a close inside relationship. If, as you say, all of this is fact, then I would think you would welcome an independent investigation. The City Staff is involved in the dispute, so they cannot be "in charge" of the investigation. It would, by definition, not be independent.

If you don't agree, you are missing (or chosing to ignore) key concepts that are at the heart of our entire system in justice in this country. The system is not perfect - but it works better than any other. United States Courts recently extended these same rights to suspected terrorists held as Detainees by the US Governent - DO YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE THAT COUNCILMAN FURSTENAU DOES NOT DESERVE THE SAME RIGHTS!!!!

These concepts include:

1) You have a right to face and question your accuser. The right to present your own evidence and version of the facts. 2) The right to have an impartial "fact finder" decide whose version of the story is true.
3) The right to be considered "innocent" until this impartial fact finder makes a ruling.
4) The right to protect your name from slander, etc.ect.ect.

Furstenau has not been given these rights is the Staff meetings you mentioned. He is seeking to protect these very rights in the Federal Courts. When he wins, changes will happen at City Hall that will improve our local government going forward.

joe

the fact that burchard no longer works for the city doesn't matter. he wrote it while he was a city employee which leaves the city legally liable of any wrong doing. whether it was wrong or not, will be decided in court by people who know.

about your gag order suggestion: no, i doesn't mean people can't bring things forward and make formal complaints. they have been doing so. per burchard's letter, a couple people had complained. and things were handled through proper channels as they should have been. whats is fishy, and possibly legally inappropriate, is that all these accusations of incidents that are years old were taken to the public within weeks after furstenau's lawsuit was filed, and they are now being used as the primary motivation for everything taking place today.

now the council, in response to the letter, wants to publicly censure him over things that happened long ago, and they all knew about when they happened. if they feel they need to "stand up for the staff" by censuring him, why didn't they do it long ago of their own volition. why are they censuring him now within weeks after the lawsuit, why are they continuing to investigate behavior that has nothing to do with the lawsuit. why are they now looking into recall power for things that happened long ago which they all knew about. why is all this happening within weeks of his lawsuit being filed. it doesn't defend the lawsuit, and it doesn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that, at the very least, something appears fishy.

the fact that it is happening now is because the city is retaliating over the federal suit. the problem is, that all of it may be illegal to do. all the stuff they are doing today doesn't defend their suit. if anything, if fuels furstenau's suit by continuing to personally attack him, which is what furstenau claims the arrest was to begin with.

bottom line is that if all this was done on its own, in a timely manner to the allegations, without a suit being filed, it may be legit. the fact that the allegations are old, the council knew about them previously, and then were made public and acted upon within weeks of the lawsuit being filed makes it very fishy, and possibly illegal. the court will decide if it is or not.

Sue Ellen Stuart,

I find it curious that you think someone should be "controlling Furstenau" during council meetings? He is an elected official. Who do you think should be given the power to "control" our elected officials? It seems like your suggesting that he should be controlled by the beaurocrats.

The most legitimate control of elected officials occurs at the voting both. If you don't like Furstenau, vote against him and tell your friends to do the same.

Illegitmate "control" of an elected official includes many of the activities that our paid City Staff seems to be doing.

T.Bone,

If Council wants to finally do something that it should have done long ago, Bravo for them. So, to you, it's fishy if they finally want to take the reports of wrong doing seriously enough to finally take appropriate action? Is there a statute of limitations on Mr. F's previous actions? If so, what is that time period that you feel the Council is overstepping its bounds to investigate and take actions on complaints that have somehow 'expired' in your mind?

In the corporate world, these would be HR violations that have been piling up in an employee's file that are now to the point that something needs to be done (given more recent circumstances; the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back) that all go to show a history and pattern of behavior. Sorry, but I think it is valid to the defense; to show that this is not a one-time "poor good old upstanding pristine never does anything wrong wouldn't hurt a fly Mr. F is getting picked on" incident.

You're right. It would have been better to boot him out of council back when each incident happened in the past. That way, Mr. F would have just been another JoeBlow citizen who tapped a police officer because he was angry he was told to move his car or have it towed. Perhaps then he would have been arrested and booked on the spot the moment it happened. In that case and this whole thing would have never transpired. Shame on Council for not doing anything about it before now. Better late than never.

The facts of Furstenau's misconduct are the only reasons for considering censure, or recall. He is NOT going to be censured for filing a law suit. Censure is being considered for his behavior in his role as a councilman. Even I have witnessed examples of his misconduct! Any of this extraneous circumstancial information you percieve in your chain of events is just more conspiracy theory. Are you going to say his lawsuit is the result of his past misconduct? OOPS, I guess it is! It all leads back to Furstenau's misconduct, in a round about way. I wish you would stop muddying up the facts, and blaming everybody else except the guy responsible for all this.

Soutth Side Joe and Debbie,
I agree with your suggestions that DF should be talking or writing to defend himself and not suing. He would have much more respect if he would be taking ads to blast those who blast him.
It is a much more effective way to get your point across. Also it is a much more effective way to get the support of the citizens in the next elections.

I do recall that the Napergate Man took these Napergate Ads to achieve this goal. He was successful and brought us DP and other liberal and cost conscious council people.

I think he should continue on that path. I am sure the Napergate title is not owned by anyone and since it has been reported he left town, why not use that title and expose all the alleged corruption he is aware of thru facts and evidence.

If he can do this he would have 80% support instead of the 20% support he currently has now according to a Sun poll which I am assuming is accurate and not rigged. I have no way of knowing but it seems like the Sun is reputable and would not rig a poll it conducts. If I recall they allowed those Napergate ads that at times blasted the newspaper itself that was allowing him to advertise.

In the end spreading the word, helped him achieved his goals. Not suing which is a waste of time and costly for all parties involved.

I believe in DF and his allegations. Naperville is known for underhandedness. But DF will lose my support if he does not change his tactics from one of advertising the truth as opposed to litgating the truth. And maybe the Naperville Sun would give him a forum to express his greivances and he may not even need to take ads. He must try a different approach. Litigation sours those taxpayers who have voted for him in the past of who I am one. I am sure his support was much higher than the 20% the Sun poll shows at the time of election or he could not have one. But if this poll is accurate it is amazing how much he has fallen since he began his litigation. I urge him to take a differnt path. If he does, he will have my continued unwavering support of the past.

All this talk about whether or not this was done on city time....
It appears that some of you have some inside knowledge about why Burchard wrote the letter and what he was thinking at the time. If so, you either have a "gift", as they say, or some well-placed sources. The rest is mere speculation.

While some clamor for an independent investigation regarding Furstenau's actions, they also seem to dismiss Burchard's allegaions. You can't dismiss one man's actions and call for an independent review ofthe other.

Also, Michele B, you seem to believe in the system but also think it failed Dick somehow. Could it be that there was enough probable cause to charge him but not enough to convict him (evidence beyond a reasonable doubt)? It happend every day, otherwise nobody would ever be acqiutted. It just may be that the system worked as it should, but Dick is unsatisfied for reasons only a poliyician can understand.

michele "bs" you are obviously DICK or his son. why else would care so much about him ? nice try. anyhoo, the man is a sociopath and from now on i will call DICK, DICK furstinline, do you guys like that ? furstinline with his hand out. how dare everyone try and turn the tables on peter, on margo, it is a pathetic trick. most people in this town don't read this silly blog, so don't think you can stem the tide. can you smell it ? it is a big stink of mendacity.

remember: RECALLFURSTENAU.COM he has to go !

Soutth Side Joe and Debbie,
I agree with your suggestions that DF should be talking or writing to defend himself and not suing. He would have much more respect if he would be taking ads to blast those who blast him.
It is a much more effective way to get your point across. Also it is a much more effective way to get the support of the citizens in the next elections.

I do recall that the Napergate Man took these Napergate Ads to achieve this goal. He was successful and brought us DP and other liberal and cost conscious council people.

I think he should continue on that path. I am sure the Napergate title is not owned by anyone and since it has been reported he left town, why not use that title and expose all the alleged corruption he is aware of thru facts and evidence.

If he can do this he would have 80% support instead of the 20% support he currently has now according to a Sun poll which I am assuming is accurate and not rigged. I have no way of knowing but it seems like the Sun is reputable and would not rig a poll it conducts. If I recall they allowed those Napergate ads that at times blasted the newspaper itself that was allowing him to advertise.

In the end spreading the word, helped him achieved his goals. Not suing which is a waste of time and costly for all parties involved.

I believe in DF and his allegations. Naperville is known for underhandedness. But DF will lose my support if he does not change his tactics from one of advertising the truth as opposed to litgating the truth. And maybe the Naperville Sun would give him a forum to express his greivances and he may not even need to take ads. He must try a different approach. Litigation sours those taxpayers who have voted for him in the past of who I am one. I am sure his support was much higher than the 20% the Sun poll shows at the time of election or he could not have one. But if this poll is accurate it is amazing how much he has fallen since he began his litigation. I urge him to take a differnt path. If he does, he will have my continued unwavering support of the past.

Michele B,

Normally I wouldn't engage your blather but its obvious you've been drinking the kool-aid. I would welcome an "independent investigation" ... at the taxpayers' expense of course. You can even shine a light in Dick's eyes, whatever. He treats the employees like crap and he knows it. It should be clear that he knows it because his only response to the Burchard and FOP letters is to add them to the law suit. And what about Ely? What did she do? Instead of continuing his bully tactics and deflecting the real issue why doesn't he come out and say what he did or did not do? I'll tell you why ... he knows what he's done and he knows its wrong. read the agenda item for Tuesday night. There is a pile of memos written by employees documenting the harassing behavior. In one it even says that Dick apologized and then recanted. If Dick is sorry for anything its that the employees finally have had enough.

If you want to continue to waste your energy on a worthless cause and a professional victim, go support Drew Peterson.

I have been doing some research from old election material I saved.
I have found that Napergate did in fact endorse Council Member Richard Furstenau with a rating of 9 and not 10 as has been previously reported on these blogs. Napergate also endorsed Council Member John Rosanova with a rating of 8 out of 10. I found this in a full page ad titled NAPERGATE XXVI dated Feb. 22, 1995 in the Naperville Sun. I believe the ad ran more than once so it could have other dates besides the one mentioned.

I believe he had supported and endorsed Councilman Doug Krause in previous elections thru his Napergate ads but Doug did not have to run in the 1995 election to keep his seat.

I do not know if the above candidates won in 1995. But I do recall he endorsed them again in 1999 for election or re-election and at some point they were elected. I have not gotten there in my research yet but one day I hope to get there.

I believe Council Member Darlene Senger was not running for office at the above times but was working behind the scenes to help elect some or all of the Napergate candidates. My sources indicate she had been working indirectly or directly with the Napergate man to help him with the NAPERGATE SLATE!

It seems like there are many council members who are rooted in fighting corruption in City Hall from decades ago. DF is not the only one with this agenda. He just seems the most vocal and getting all the credit for what other Council Members also work hard to accomplish!

My conclusion is the City Council is in very good hands and will not collapse anytime soon or allow corruption to prevail!

Basically what this is about is the criminality of NPD. ALL HONEST PEOPLE pls help me bring FEDS into investigation of NPD . some people in NPD HAVE REAL PROBLEMS. They called me in BELVIDERE and asked me , while illegally taping me if I would kill officer ----- if he did not retire. I WAS TERRORIZED BY THESE LEO's and i want to expose top naperville cops who put off. ----- up to such activities. of course i tried remedation and was told to pound sand.. Your top cops need federal investi=gation. pls help expose to national media. ready for a meet-up i'll never give up till these guys are brought to justice. 815 242 0019 thanksun

I'm just throwing numbers out there, if you have the actual numbers feel free to correct me, but 150,000 Naperville residents.

Lets say 70% are kids/spouses and/or renters. That leaves 45,000 tax paying households. $400,000 divided by 45k households = $8.88 more in taxes, if they choose to directly increase taxes to pay for this. So what's the big deal? Innocent or Guilty people sue all the time.

If you do have an issue with $8.88, you're the same ones who will drive an extra mile or two to save 2 cents in gas even though your using more to get the better deal.

Let's say it's $1,000,000 that equates to $22.22. If that bothers you, start saving now. How about give up Starbucks for a week and thank Dick. I don't drink coffee, but I hear Starbucks is expensive.

Hey Joe,
Since you're obviously extremely intelligent and know so many "facts" I'm going to assume you just mispoke in one of your last blogs regarding Furstenau's car being towed. If you think HIS car was being towed, you better go back and learn the real facts. His car was parked in his personal parking spot at City Hall as it always is. He was leaving a downtown establishment on his way back to City Hall to attend a city function prior to the start of the parade. He noticed MULTIPLE Naperville Citizens very upset with their cars being towed since there was NO signage suggesting the cars would be towed at the time they parked their cars. There were multiple people having verbal altercations with the NPD at that time. As stated many times before, Yes the City Council approved the parade route and Yes the City Council approved the NPD to tow cars parked on the parade route before the parade for obvious reasons. The problem that Furstenau had, and everyone has seemed to forget or miss this, is the cars that were being towed were NOT on the parade route, had NOT been approved by the City Council to be towed, and the NPD had not placed proper signage before hand to notify the residents that their cars would be towed if they parked there. If I remember correctly December 31, 2006 (the day of the alleged altercation) was a Sunday...the Bears were playing during the afternoon time slot (3:15 pm...Rex's famous zero passer rating game since it was New Years Eve and he hadn't prepared for the game). Numerous folks were downtown in the Latern, Features, and all the other billion bars in that area to watch the Bears. As they all piled out to drive home they found their cars weren't there with no explanation as to why they were being towed (again since NO signage had informed them of this). Once again Fustenau (who happened to be walking by at the time), the city's council's most outspoken member, the NPD's biggest pain in the ass, was forced to speak up for those Citizens wrongfully being taken advantage of and ask the cops why they were towing cars since those cars were not on the parade route and not approved by the council to be towed.
Furstenau should be commended for his past and continued courage to ask "why" while working with people that tried to put him in PRISON for 15 YEARS.

Posada705,

Do you have a link to the better more explicit information that you posted. If I am wrong about the events of that day because I am reading the wrong sources, I would appreciate better ones. Thank you.

Posada 705,
Joe appears to be a know-it-all type of loser you would meet in a New Orleans dive. They act like they know everything while really knowing nothing!

There was a case of Ameena whose car was illegally towed in a blatant manner. All he had to say to her was he could see the paint on the street with the google satellite.

I could not see any paint using google and besides that poor Ameena did not have a chance to check google before parking.

It just seems to me Joe is a NPD cop defending the boys in blue. He stated cops don't give wrong tickets and than he claims in another blog he got wrongful tickets 3 times and he beat them in court.

Go figure..lol..!!!

It seems like we are entering the era of Copgate as we exit the era of Napergate. Something seems to be afish just like in those Napergate days...nothing is adding up.

Posada705,

From the Dec 6, 2005 city council agenda:

"14. Naperville 175th Anniversary Celebration:
a. Issuance of a Special Event permit, an amplifier
permit with an extension to 8:30 p.m., a fireworks
permit, a parade permit, authority to close roads
and the Riverwalk parking lot.
b. Ordinance No. 05-___, establishing temporary tow
zones to accommodate the parade route and other
necessary road closures."

This means that tow away zones were not only on the parade route, but also along roads that were temporarily closed. Part (A) was the authority to close roads, (B) was authority to tow from said roads (both the route and other closed roads).

Perhaps someone didn't quite understand what section (b) actually meant when they approved it with a Aye vote prior to that eventful day January 1, 2006.

Joe,
I have no "link" to my information...I've read all the same news articles that you have. It has NEVER been reported that Furstenau's car was being towed, only that he was questioning why cars were being towed. I happen to know Furstenau personally, and know from past experience that he utilizes his personal parking space at City Hall when traveling downtown during congested times (Ribfest, Last Fling, parades, etc). Since he is part of the City Council, and in my opinion one of the more informed Council members, he knew exactly what cars were supposed to be towed and which cars were not authorized to be towed.

X EE

Thanks for you kind thoughts. I have read the censure write-up in this weeks council package. It contains three specific allegations. Even if you accept all three allegations as fact, they say nothing more than "Furstenea is hard to deal with" and he makes some people feel bad. Each of the allegations stem from situations where Furstenau is arguing with staff about some staff decision or some failure of staff to do their jobs. There is not a single allegation that Furstenau committed a crime. In fact, there is not a single allegation that any of the staff members have ever been harmed by Furstenau... they just "feel bad" or "feel the workplace is stressful".

Give me a break!!! If we are going to sit by and allow our elected officials to be censured for making the paid City Employees do their job, we've fallen into some type of silly "Politically Correct" trap where the taxpayers have no means to challenge the beaurocrats that are spending our money.

To me, it sounds like you want the "Monkeys to run the Zoo".

Many of the comments being made deal with specific fact issues. It seems that almost every situation goes something like this:

Furstenau is sticking up for some taxpayer (getting their cars towed, having their driveway improvements denied by city staff, having the development project delayed by the planning department, etc, etc, etc). Next, Furstenau challenges some city staffer, city policman, city manager, etc, etc, etc, based on his understanding of the Code. Next, the city employee complains that they feel bad, feel unmotivated, etc, etc, ect. because Furstenau had the nerve to get involved personally in the activities of that city employee.

The real issue has nothing to do with Furstenau getting personally involved - all of our politicians should get more involved. The more important question is, when Furstenau gets involved, is he a) usually right, b) never right or c) sometimes right and sometimes wrong?

Unless there's an independent investigation of all the "allegations" and "situations", I simply do not know the answer. When you ask the question, the answer will depend on who you ask. The honest truth probably lies somewhere in the middle (in otherwords, the answer is probably "C").

My biggest problem with what's going on right now is that if City Council needs a fair, transparent, process in place through which employee complaints receive prompt attention and resolution. I have zero interest in anonymous complaints that are 5 to 10 years old. yprove nothing and, at best, appear to be the City Staff's answer to Furstenau Federal lawsuit. It that's the best answer City Staff can come up with to the facts alleged in Furstenau's lawsuit, Furstenau will win big.

Posada, I agree, I never read that his car was being towed, but as Joe shows, the event took place in January 2006, not December 2006, so you need to check your facts. I have read nothing that supports details of your story.

Michele B., a censure is a reprimand. He is not, at this point, being charged with a crime. He is being considered for censure for misconduct within the framework of appropriate behavior as a councilman. Many of the complaints confirm what we already know. A few points I pick up on in the complaints that are particularly disturbing, are his attempts to pressure staff regarding bids/contracts, a push to change staffs recommendation on zoning for a friend, and encouraging disregard of city code in support of a contractor. One of the documents states, during work to build the staircase in the Carillon, Furstenau said he did not want the City to tell contractors what to do, and saw no value in enforcing building code, and addressing quality issues. He preferred to argue with, and blame staff, rather than the contractor when the contractor did not provide proper drawings up to city requirements for approval. I personally have walked the Carillon stairs, and complained to the guide that it did not seem to be build properly, especially at a point where a platform bounced up and down, and made a loud banging noise. These are serious issues. If the "monkeys" you refer to are staff, I want to remind you that they are trained professionals, working in our best interest, within city guidelines. I trust them to look out for my best interest MUCH more than I trust Furstenau, based upon his actions. Judging from his behaviour, he is neither well-trained, or professional.

Maryann, aka Blake, aka Anonymous,

I'm very sorry that you seem to have a case of schizophrenia on this blog.

I'm also sorry that you seem to have to make things up in order to sound like you are winning an argument. I never said they (the police) don't make mistakes. I've also said I am not a police officer, but please, don't let facts get in the way.

Unfortunately, the fact is you can see the paint on the parking spots in question in the other blog. The fact is I was wrong in assuming Dick's car was also one that was being towed. I stand corrected on that detail. The fact remains that Council approved towing of vehicles on both the parade route and other closed streets for that event.

michele b. aka DICK. you are such a DICK backer. you are so loyal to DICK. what is up with that ? do you really think the city council would censure DICK for making employee's feel bad ? c'mon now nancy drew. you know better. DICK is in trouble, he will reap what he sows. remember all my people, go to the meeting tuesday, demand censure, demand a recall ! RECALLFURSTENAU.COM

It was published on Dec 14th, 2005 that downtown streets will begin closing from 2-4PM in preparation for the parade.

http://www.naperville.il.us/dynamic_content.aspx?id=1591

http://www.naperville.il.us/emplibrary/175Anniversary/175pressreleaseParade121405.pdf

Closing of a street involves keeping all unauthorized vehicles off those streets; by removal if necessary.

Southwest,

To "reprimand" someone you should first take the time to prove that they did something "reprehensible." And, since we are playing with the words, I'm using the following definintion:

Pronunciation: (rep"ri-hen'su-bul)- deserving of reproof, rebuke, or censure; blameworthy.."

My problem with the City's attempt to "reprimand" Furstenau is that all of the specific allegations you listed are just that "allegations". Yes, there are allegations of some blameworthy activities. But, the City Staff has not (and cannot) be in charge of proving or judging the proof against Furstenau. They are involved in the drama and cannot be independent.

By pursuing this blatant retaliation against Furstenau for filing his lawsuit, the City will wind up paying Furstenau more in damages and will solidify his political supporters and bolster his image as a councilman who stands for the citizens against city hall.

Even a monkey should be able to see that.

Joe,

I checked out your links - no street names given. Are you really suggesting that those press releases are sufficient notice not to park anywhere downtown? Wouldn't it have made more sense for the police to put up temporary signs or some of those big yellow cones early that fateful morning? That would have avoided all the ticketing and towing. I have no idea, but I would bet that is exactly what Furstenau was telling the Policeman who "felt bad" after the incedent.

d.bone,

Why is that everytime someone on this blog challenges you or makes an intellegent argument, you call them DICK? Has he ever challeged you or said something intelligent to you?

While I'm at it, why do you insist on screaming out a non-existent web link every time you post? Please purchase the domain, or quit screaming about it. Or I might be tempted to say something that could make you "feel bad".

joe

how many times do you have to be told? and how many times are you going to continue to promote a lie?

councilman furstenau was not disagreeing with the cop over whether or not cars were supposed to be towed in relation to the parade route. he was standing up for several taxpaying citizens who were very upset about being towed, and ticketed, without proper notice from signs. NO PARKING signs were supposed to be put out by the city early that morning. im not aware if the NPD is responsible for putting up temporary NO PARKING sings, or if some other city dept is. either way, the signs were not put up. many people drove downtown and parked to watch the bears game and prepare for the parade in a legal zone. the signs were then posted later in the afternoon while many people were inside watching the game. then 15-20 minutes after the sings were posted, the towing started, and people came outside to find their cars gone or in the process of being towed. furstenau told officer hull that they shouldn't be towing cars without fair notification (and his wasn't one of them). officer hull replied by saying he, "could do whatever he wanted." furstenau was only sticking up for the taxpayers who were being treated unfairly, and asking the NPD to allow people time to move their cars. but of course, the city is using furstenau's "interference" of police business in this incident as a reason to censure him. what a crock of ----!

and don't give me the bs answer that the towing was legit because the temporary no parking zones, or road closings, were published in the sun 3 weeks before. that isn't proper notification and everyone knows it.

stop the nonsense about furstenau not knowing that he had voted to tow cars or didn't care that he voted to tow cars and was just trying to throw his weight around. thats a lie.

You all proclaim that Dick Furstenau is a great friend of the taxpayer, that he is the only one watching out for your hard earned taxpayer dollars. Not once have I read exactly how much he has actually saved all you idiots! Have you ever considered that very few of his wild goose chases have resulted in an affirmative vote by his peers? Do you understand how much money it probably costs you to have all those city employees (he seems to think are on the take)respond to his demands?

Flush your money down the toilet....Dick needs to either drop his suit or resign!

Tom (and Michele too),

If the cars needed to be moved to close the roads and start the parade is your suggestion to have waited indefinitely until the owners returned? The police would have no way of knowing when someone would return or if they would return before the start of the parade. It was decided that having the streets clear of cars was important enough to bring to Council and have a specific ordinance passed 3.5 weeks ahead of time to make sure the streets are cleared.

Publishing notices is done in the paper all the time. They do this for 'safety checkpoints' all the time prior to holiday seasons. Watch for them, I'm sure you'll see some by the ISP, the Sheriff's office or other local municipalities.

I happen to agree with you that 24 hr notice of signs posted would have been 'ideal'. Just because one department of the city breaks down or fails to put out signs well enough in advance does not negate the fact that notice was put forth nor does it mean that the TowZone now all of a sudden is not needed to make room for Parade Patrons. 'Downtown Streets' is inclusive of the Chicago Ave. Do you feel this street is somehow 'not downtown'?

michele b, in order to have an intelligent comment, it is my opinion one should spell the word INTELLIGENT correctly, please refer to your spelling in above post. as for your motivation to write so passionately about DICK, it is my opinion you are DICK. or you really like DICK, or dare i say, you love DICK ! your comments are transparent at best, quoting some municipal law you know nothing of ? DICK will be censured for his bad behavior regarding treatment of city employee's for his questionable dealings with certain individuals, for his belligerence, and for downright bad behavior. he is disruptive, a distraction, and a clown in a circus sideshow. he does not benefit the city of naperville by having him sit on the council. i contend that any comment written on this blog that is pro-DICK is indeed DICK, or his sons, wife, etc... there really is no defence ! why would any side with him ? march on the council tuesday ! do not let this continue ! RECALLFURSTENAU.COM ! RECALLFURSTENAU.COM !

hey mark f

are you aware that you pay the lowest water rate in all of dupage county? are you aware that the water commission of dupage county paid naperville an $8 million earlier this fall to return money it had taken from naperville? are you aware that dick furstenau is single handedly responsible for getting the dupage wc to repay the $8 million lump-sum check to the city? are you aware that when the water commission lowered its rate, dick was the council member who insisted on passing the savings back to the taxpayers? (which is why we now pay the lowest water rate in dupage county) many councilmen were not in favor of doing that. they wanted to keep the surplus in the budget for the city to spend.

you asked for an instance where he has saved us money. there is a huge one right there. im surprised you didn't know that. it was all over the papers while it was going on.

Tom w.,

I am confused on the issue about passing the water savings back to the taxpayers.

Are you claiming Dick's lone AYE vote to return the money somehow overruled a majority NAY vote to not return the money to the tax payers?

That seems to be what you are claiming, but my understanding of Council voting is that Majority wins, not Minority.

If it was a Majority vote that prevailed to return the money, then shouldn't the other Council members who voted to pass it share in that credit equally too?

im not suggesting that the street is no longer in need of being cleared. but the cops had "closed" the street, and many owners of the cars were there wanting to move their cars, but the police wouldn't allow them to. the cops continued to tow them because they said the street was "closed". the cops should have simply allowed the people who were there complaining to move their cars at that time to avoid the tow. it isn't that hard, or far of a reach. proper notice to tow isn't just "ideal" it, it's also just and fair. the cops had an opportunity to exercise their understanding and be helpful, due to their own failure to post timely notice of the tow zone. instead they chose to stick it to everyone there.

Tom,

Were you one of the people there during the incident?

Southwest Taxpayer,
I apologize for having the date wrong...I can't believe this has been carrying on for 2 years now!! Thanks for correcting me...obviously I was in the wrong year.

The reason you've never read any of my facts is because not all the facts have been reported...as multiple bloggers have said earlier. The Sun didn't come out and lay out all the facts, but have rather been explicit in all of Furstenau's shortcomings. Because these things have not been reported does not make them untrue. For example, a major detail of Furstenau's lawsuit is the fact that Officer Hull spent 2 weeks getting his story/timeline straight because the NPD wanted to be sure they knew their story due to Furstenau stature (which is a crock in my opinion). When Hull came out with his timeline, and the basis of charging Furstenau, Furstenau wasn't even Downtown Naperville at that time (and he had 4 witnesses of that fact). The Cops then went back to the drawing-board and changed the timeline to fit the time Furstenau was in the area. If you don't see that as being a problem, then your dislike for Furstenau has impaired your judgement. Another example of not reporting all the facts, and another detail of Furstenau's lawsuit, is that the NPD's investigation failed to mention multiple eyewitness that saw the whole thing and said Furstenau didn't touch Hull. The only witnesses that saw everything, and that the NPD interviewed, said nothing happened. It has always been reported that there were no witnesses (on a busy downtown street just before a parade). The fact is, there were no witnesses that could testify to Hull's allegations. Again, if you don't see that as a problem, then your dislike for Furstenau has impaired your judgement.
The two above examples are 100% FACT. I'd like to see what lengths each of us would go to if something like this happened to us.

And to you D.Bone,
Before you start resorting to knocking other blogger's misspellings, you should learn how to spell "defense." You're arguements have become childish.

what im suggesting is that dick was the one who recovered the money from the water commission. when the rate were also lowered, he suggested to the council that the lower rates be passed to the council. initially, many people on the council didn't agree. after much debate, the council voted and agreed to pass the savings to the taxpayer. furstenau, was the one who suggested it and lobbied the council for it.

yes, there really is no defense for my defence. i am a recovering spelloholic. now as for my argument for censure, i think you are all bringing up the police incident, and arguing the council is somehow getting even at DICK for his lawsuit. that is ridiculous. this censure will have nothing to do with THAT incident, except that DICK cannot possibly sit during discussions regarding any part of this past incident. do you really think he should ? there are plenty MORE incidents coming. let's see what is said, and after tuesday when DICK is censured, you can all keep defending him.

Tom, there is a discrepancy in facts now.

Posada705:

".the Bears were playing during the afternoon time slot (3:15 pm...Rex's famous zero passer rating game since it was New Years Eve and he hadn't prepared for the game). Numerous folks were downtown in the Latern, Features, and all the other billion bars in that area to watch the Bears. As they all piled out to drive home they found their cars weren't there with no explanation as to why they were being towed (again since NO signage had informed them of this)."

Tom: "many owners of the cars were there wanting to move their cars, but the police wouldn't allow them to. the cops continued to tow them because they said the street was "closed"."

So, were they gone when they arrived after the game, or were they towing them at that time?

The closing of streets was supposed to be between 2-4PM. Let's assume the game lasts about 3 hours. That puts them at 6:15 for stumbling out of the bar. Is that when you said the cars were being towed, or did it happen like Posada705 suggests and the cars were in fact GONE ?

My parents always told that you "can't fight city hall" this is proof. I can't quote Mr. Burchard but to paraphrase a comment attributed to him by the SUN, when someone is against the program he has to go. Clearly, that is the attitude of staff and apparently most of council. Mr. Furstenau is a troublemaker and he has to go.

It is shameful.

Clearly, the Sun has taken the city's side in this. It's nice to know I'm paying $8 into the defense fund. How much did I pay for the test track and the carillon? A lot more. The city can end this as easily as Furstenau can, but they will never admit a mistake..and the taxpayer will pay for their arrogance.

Speaking of taking sides, did anyone notice the Sun chose two quotes from the potluck related to the severance issue? A short one opposed to payment and a longer one in favor of payment. Of course, 89% of the posts were opposed to severance a fact the reader of the paper would never see. It's very misleading...

what im suggesting is that dick was the one who recovered the money from the water commission. when the rate were also lowered, he suggested to the council that the lower rates be passed to the council. initially, many people on the council didn't agree. after much debate, the council voted and agreed to pass the savings to the taxpayer. furstenau, was the one who suggested it and lobbied the council for it.

joe,

are you a moron? i said i my previous blog that some people came outside to find their cars were already gone, and some people came out while they were being towed. others came out before there cars were towed, but they were not permitted to move them because the street had been "closed" by the police. they had to sit and watch while their cars were towed because the cops wouldn't let them move them first. you are implying that everyone came outside at the same time at 6pm. i never implied that. i was only mentioning that the downtown area parking was full, with no signs posted. the bears game only serves as a time line for when everything took place.

you are nit-picking and running out of explanations for why the cops chose to be jerks that day instead of allow a little leniency due to the cities own failure to post signs in proper time.

Tom,

Were you there, Yes or No?

Was your car towed? Yes or No?

Tom, I'm sorry of 'nit picking' the details makes you feel uncomfortable. It seems to be OK to nit-pick the details of city staff, the police and everyone else. So, I'll nitpick the details of the event that sparked this whole thing.

You were either there and were a witness (and possibly even had your car towed), or you were not there at all and everything you are claiming to know as a fact in the incident is just hear-say, same as me.

Which is it? Are you a reliable source for 'facts' of the incident (eye witness) or are you just going by second hand (at best) information for your 'claims' about what exactly transpired and when on that street on that evening?

I'm not making 'excuses' for the officers. If the cars were indeed still parked and no tow truck hooked up to them it would have been the 'right thing to do' to allow people to now move their cars. I never disagreed with that point, if it did indeed happen that way. I admitted I wasn't there, this is why I am asking those 'nit picking' details about the incident. Were you there?