Should Naperville settle Furstenau lawsuit?

Thanks Shawn Collins for your opinion. Like we asked for it.

I guess your self-serving causes will be your downfall (we all hope). Nice of you to suggest that the City settles. What's next the Dist. 204 school board. Pay you money to make you go away.

How about you just go away.

What is wrong with the people of Naperville? This is supposed to be one of the BEST places to live and raise a family in the entire United States.
People are sueing the school district because of a difference of where to build a high school, and where to send the kids. On the City Hall front, one Councilman is sueing the entire city over something that has already gone to court, and was thought to have been dismissed and case closed.
In both cases, the entire tax-paying community is being sucked into it all, wheather we want to be or not. Our taxes are being raised to pay for the city to fight Mr. Furstenau's silly claims. He should be ashamed of himself for causing our taxes to go up just because he wants to fight City Hall. He has every right to sue,if he really feels he must, but might I suggest, that he not only pay his own lawyers, he also needs to pay the City of Naperville Lawyers if in fact, this does go to trial and he is does not win. He is being very selfish and making a complete fool of himself in the process. If he contimues this fight, he should be made to step down from his post as City Councilman right away. Let someone else take his place who will work for the entire City and for the good of the people,and not waste our tax dollars.
Then there are the people who are wanting to sue the school Dist. 204 in the school boundry and new school issue. Come on people. You should be happy that your kids have such great schools already, and a new school on the way...if you would just let the building begin. I have lived all over the country, and Naperville has some of the best schools we have seen. Do you know how many cities and towns across this country would LOVE to have the ability to have a new school? They would not care where it was going to be built as long as their kids were getting to go to school. Again, why should a small group of people make all of us living in Dist. 204 be made to pay expensive legal fees for their cause? If these people want to fight the school board, then let them, but they should have to pay not only their legal counsel, but the lawyers who are on the side of Dist. 204 as well. Just let it go, let the building begin, and let the kids get enrolled and continue their educations in Naperville.
When we lived in Tallahassee, Florida, the ride to the high school where my daughter attended was almost a 45 minute bus ride. It was many MANY from our house, in areas you will never see the likes of here in Naperville. Once she got there, the school was less than great. The quality of education was terrible. In fact, most kids graduated from high school there, and were not able to qualify for college..in Florida or anywhere else. You had to specify in the beginning of high school if you planned on going to college. If so, you were put on a "special" college track..and it was noted you wanted to graduate and go on to college. And let's not even talk about security at those high schools!
In Naperville, I think any student who has graduated from any of the Dist. 203 or 204 schools, and wants to attend college, and will apply themselves, can get into a college.
Stop the law-suits and get on with business. Mr. Frustenau please step down from City Council! Stop making everyone in Naperville pay for your stupidity. And to the people sueing Dist. 204..just let it go. Let the majority rule, and the school be built. Stop making all of us have to pay just because you don't want your kids to attend a school a few miles away.

Dear By Another model citizen,

Self-serving? Not hardly. If this case goes to trial he will likely get 1/3 of whatever settlement the jury awards or nothing if the City can defend their side of the case.

On the other hand, if a settlement is negotiated it will most likely be for a much lower sum. His potential cut will be a lot less than what might be awarded by a jury. Plus the City of Naperville attorneys will not be able to bill for the full amount of the $600,000 reserve either.

True to form DF has offered the city yet another opportunity to settle. At least he chooses to act like a gentleman and isn't afraid to stand up and do what is right. It is a shame no one else on the city council has enough backbone to finally exhibit some leadership and simply say... enough is enough let's settle this and move on.

What amazes me more than anything is that they seem compelled to let this go to trial no matter what it cost for lawyers, no matter what it will cost to settle, and the odds against the city successfully defending themselves are absolutely huge. By the time all the dust has settled on this one I'm now willing to hazard a guess that with the settlement and total legal bills this will cost the City of Naperville somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million dollars.

Let's not forget that this could have all been settled for about $50K early on. And we trust this group with the overall stewardship of our tax dollars? God help us.

Unbelievable! It would appear that Mr. Collins makes a nice living off of filing frivolous ,"unwinnable" lawsuits in the gamble that scare tactics will force the defendants to settle for a nice acceptable fee.I predict a book deal next. Yet another fine example of abusing and manipulating our legal system!

The city should have public officials and/or police professional liability coverage that should defend them from these lawsuits.

Most municipalities purchase this coverage and the insurance carrier should be picking up the tab(less any deductible).

City of Naperville...where is the insurance???

If the city believes the suit is without merit, then they should continue to vigorously defend themselves (i.e., us) even if it means raising $1 million in taxes to do so. Win or lose, it will be clear to the voters of Naperville who Mr. Furstenau truly represents, and I believe we will respond accordingly. Consider it a $1 million un-election campaign. Where can I donate?

Dick "Fist-in-thou" had no guarantee of victory for that Senate seat. He jinxed his own campaign and squandered his contributors’ money through his everyday behavior. Putting money into a campaign is a risk - everyone should know that. Could the police have handled him differently? Sure, they could have, and the City should acknowledge that - but to throw money at him to repair his fragile ego is wrong. The City could issue the apology he is looking for, but more importantly, Fist-in-thou should apologize for the embarrassment and expense he has cost the City. Just kiss and make-up!

I like the "undisclosed amount" for the Collin's settlement. This guy is unbelievable .He is abusing our legal system by filing lawsuit after lawsuit using scare tactics in hopes of making a nice chunk of change in a settlement. This keeps him out of court with all of the associated costs and time involved.I am disappointed in what is happening to our legal system today.

Mike Mitchell's back-to-back reports tells us that the city is certainly not tickled with Furstenau and will continue to fight the matter. My guess is, they will not settle for this frivolous lawsuit.

A settlement will just encourage more frivolous lawsuits. Same reason you don't pay ransom, it just encourages the kidnappers.

I am sorry but to he lost due to his stupidity. This is not the city's fault. A pain to have to defend against people like him but sometimes, it has to be done.

I think that Dick Furstenau should stop playing this "I'm The Victim" game and start acting like the Councilman he was elected to be. The man has been nothing but a bully since he has been in office, generally berating city employees and public officials, not to mention interfering with policemen trying to do their jobs, and now, after all the turmoil he has caused, the man breaks out his legal mouthpiece, Shawn "Sue 'em" Collins, and says that all he wants is just an apology from the city and the original amount he asked for. This guy is absolutely shameless! How in the world did he ever get elected to city council, much less re-elected in the first place, while pulling the antics he has? I can see idiocy like this happening in Chicago, where shenanigans like this are pretty much considered to be the norm, but Naperville? If I were Furstenau, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any apology to come from the city. And I hope he has oodles of money to shell out to Shawn Collins, because this legal fight of his is going to drag on for a long time once it gets into chambers, unless the judge in the case has the common sense to throw it out and tell Furstenau and Collins to go take a collective hike.

This individual should have stepped down the day he brought the suite. He is doing a great deal of damage to our city and it's tax paying citizens. Enough is enough. Get someone else on this council who is more concerned about making our town a better place to live than someone only bent on serving their own interest through legal maneuvers...and don't settle for another dime of our money!

This individual should have stepped down the day he brought the suite. He is doing a great deal of damage to our city and it's tax paying citizens. Enough is enough. Get someone else on this council who is more concerned about making our town a better place to live than someone only bent on serving their own interest through legal maneuvers...and don't settle for another dime of our money!

By Windrider on March 28, 2008 10:19 AM
And I hope he has oodles of money to shell out to Shawn Collins, because this legal fight of his is going to drag on for a long time once it gets into chambers.

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Windrider,
No oodles of money are needed by DF. This kind of case is handled on contingency.

The Collins Law Firm has deep pockets from winning numerous cases. Many past cases put millions and millions of dollars in their coffers. Just do a little research!

This firm is not known to file frivilous lawsuits. It is known for winning its lawsuits. Some of the lawyers in that firm including Mr. Collins are rated by their state colleagues as SUPER LAWYERS!!

to TAX ME
if the city loses, it means that 3 dirty cops purposely tried to frame an innocent man and throw him in prison for 15 years with the assistance, or complacency, of some high ranking city employees. would you still think furstenau was only in it for the money. if they did that to you, wouldn't you want to hold them accountable. if the city loses, that will be the reality of what took place. i don't think even you are close minded enough to say that such action by dirty cops should go unchecked. im shocked if anyone feels that they would let the same treatment toward them go without consequence. he feels he can prove it in court. give him a chance to let the facts come out, lets see what they are and who wins. you may change your mind or be shocked at what you hear our good city officials did.

how can the city's attorneys continue to say it is about money when furstenau originally didn't ask for any money. he only asked for an apology. after that he asked for a modest 129k to recover campaign costs. why doesn't our great reporter mike mitchell ask the city attorney a good follow-up question about that every time sheahan spews it out of his mouth. mike, ask him a hard follow-up question about it and make him give you an answer.

collins is right, the city has the right to spend a million or more to defend a lawsuit that could have been avoided with an apology, but if they choose that route, blame the city.

furstenau's attorney is working for free on retainer. he doesn't get paid unless they win or settle. if they settle he will get far less than if they win, and yet he is the one asking to settle. the city's attorneys, on the other hand, get paid a trillion dollars an hour for as long as the case goes on, whether they win or lose. i wonder what is motivating them to drag this out and continue to say the case is frivolous and has no merit. don't be surprised if 2 years from now, at the last minute, they advise the city to settle because their is a high likely hood they will lose only after they have lined their pockets with taxpayer money.

i guess sheahan was right, this case really is about money. THE MONEY IN HIS OWN POCKET.

FURSTENAU SHOULD STEP DOWN!!! HE HAS DONE NOTHING GOOD FOR THE CITY. WE ARE SUCKERS FOR RE-ELECTING THAT SNAKE.

To: Maryann on March 28, 2008 11:14 AM

Thanks MOM!!!

you furstenau haters who call this lawsuit frivolous and overreaching; none of you have any idea what the facts of this case are. you have no idea how far they go and what documentation or witnesses they may have. there is no way to know at this point. we won't know if it is frivolous or not until after all the facts do come out. i just don't understand why so many people are so dead set against letting him have an opportunity to present his case in court. all of you who say he should take out adds and share all his evidence publicly have no idea about how stupid that would be. give him his chance in court.

if after all the facts and witnesses are presented and it proves to be frivolous then lets nail him to the cross and remove him from office. if the facts come out and we are appalled at what we learn and find out he was right all along, then we should accept the fact he was doing the right thing. we should also support his right to sue the city and hold the guilty accountable just as we would have that right. he isn't suing over something petty like saying something bad about him in the paper. they tried to throw him in prison for 15 years. that is serious and unforgivable if true and worth finding out if it is.

it doesn't matter he is a councilman. he didn't surrender his civil right when he took office. if his civil rights were, in fact, violated, we should have compassion for that and his right to seek justice, and we should all hope we never face prison for something we didn't do.

all you who say his civil right weren't violated because he had his day in court and was found innocent have no idea about the depth breadth of our civil rights.

i know the furstenau fairly well, and i know many of the facts of this case through one of his kids, and i am shocked and appalled at what they have been able to uncover and document. they have witnesses who have brought themselves forward within the city and the states attorney's office. they have tapes and computers. i also know there are about a dozen things he won't tell me because he isn't allowed to because they are too valuable to their case. he says they are worse and more damning to the city than the stuff i have heard. if it is true, the city is screwed because the stuff i have heard is enough to screw the city on its own.

i personally hope the city won't settle because i want it to go to court and have the evidence presented and reviewed by the public. we are going to learn a lot about our mayor, our police chief, the fop president, our former city manager, and a couple of our councilman. i will look forward to your thoughts then.

The city probably should have at least apologized after they allowed this minor issue to snow ball and then seemingly never actively defended their position when the whole thing went to court. I personally believe that city attorny Margo Ely screwed up with her over zealous smear campaign and lack of follow up. I really don't blame any of the others including Dick Furstenau. Should we (the taxpayers) give Dick back the money he spent in his failed election attempt? No, because a bid for office is just that...a bid. There are no guarantees, its a gamble. I say make the city attorny pay him out of her own money.
I was a Furstenau supporter but that has changed. As I pointed out to him some time ago, The suit only hurts himself and taxpayers. The cops are never to blame and city officals are rarely blamed. It is the taxpayers who are always left holding the bag. Should the city defend its employees? No, if they are culpable they deserve the penalty not the residents. If they are innocent then they should be entitled to damages from their accuser.

Of course they should settle!

Anyone who followed the events as they occurred can see that the city mishandled it at every juncture.

First, we all need to remember that the court system found Furstenau innocent of any wrongdoing. Part of the lead up to the trial included an odd series of events where the police first did, then didn't, then did again insist he did something --- that something ranged from a hard slap, to a shove, to a brush, and back to a hard slap that "knocked the officer senselee". When it was all over, the legal system exonerated Furstenau. THIS IS THE MAJOR POINT TO REMEMBER!

Second, we all conveniently forget that Furstenau first asked for a simple apology from the city AND a reprimand to the officer. Gosh, it certainly sounds to me like the tax hike is actually 2/3s caused by Borchard, the city, and the police department, NOT Furstenau! Complying with his simple request would have avoided ALL OF THIS!

Third, why are we all so quick to want to attack an individual on an issue that gets right to the basis of our republic ---- civil and human rights? It is crystal clear that the events described by the city did NOT happen that way. Then, instead of acknowledging that fact and moving on the city insisted on pressing and diminshing the individual to the point of absurdity. It was a prime example of government bullying at it's best. In this case, they picked the wrong guy to pick on.

Fourth, WHY is there so much energy supporting the city in this losing cause? Of course, the answer is twofold: One, Furstenau does have a reputation (right or wrong) as a bully, and Two, the issue hits our pocketbooks as the costs come out of tax revenues.

However, we all need to remind ourselves that the city has overtly made the decision to make this case an expensive tax issue.

This is NOT the first time the city of Naperville has allowed hubris to direct them down an expensive and incorrect path (remember Napergate, folks!). The similarities are acute.

Again, the city refuses to back down when they are wrong; Again the city blindly allows city departments to wag the dog; Again the city is being reckless with OUR tax dollars; Again the city is attacked a citizen with the belief he would back down from city hall; Again, the city will lose in court

Finally, the idea that someone is perceived as a bully (Furstenau) is NOT due cause to take away his rights. The fact that a person is a public figure (Furstenau) does NOT mean that person loses their individual, civil, or human rights OR their right to a day in court to address grievances or wrongdoings against them.

We need to hold the city accountable on this. Next time it could be you in the uncomfortabel position of being wronged by the "establishment". At this point, a settlement is the ONLY civil resolution.

JOMO.

I will add here that if you do your own research of the evidence used against Furstenau, you will find that the reporting of this entire event, continuing through today's paper, has been clearly one-sided and biased by the Sun.

A prime example is today's editorial -- no where does it mention the fact that Furstenau was cleared in a court of law. The editorial continues to task him for going to court, saying the Sun is "disappointed he choose this route". Yet, the editor offers no alternative routes, does not mention it could have been solved upfront with an apology, puts absolutely NO blame on the entire Council for their mishandling of the entire event.

During the censure proceedings, the Sun never said diddly about the odd timing of the censure, never mentioned how it could obviously creat additional problems and issues during the lawsuit, never printed the actual "evidence" (or in this case lack thereof) for the censure. In fact, the Sun's reporting of the censure meeting itself completely FAILED to report an extreme, verbal, bullying, close-to-physical attack by another Councilman on a citizen speaking at the open forum! The irony was lost on no one there EXCEPT the Sun editor!

I think the city itself is responsible for this debacle.If Mayor Pradel had been the officer that cited Mr Furstenau, there never would have been a citation, he would have negotiated an outcome. The previous City Manager's was not a negotiator either. If you had a problem and want some recourse, the only option was the court system. The council members only added fuel to the fire by their actions, including the current published words of Mr. Wehrli. The Sun's front page attempt to paint Mr, Furstenau as money hungry[and make me a cash offer insert] illustrates you are biased. The City should look inside itselffor a solution. I come out on the side of Mr Furstenau on this issue.

>If so, should the city accept it, apologize, pay the money and move on?

Absolutely.

The city should settle (they are at fault) and district 204 should cancel the unneeded 3rd high school.

Why can't we ever find elected officials who treat our money like it has value? I am sick and tired of these idiots like Grant Wehrli and Mark Metzger. They are a plague on our community.

Thank goodness for people like Shawn Collins who stand up to these jerks.

How can the people or the city impeach this disease from office? What a drag on Naperville...I hope our community learned a valuable lesson after re-electing this guy. Wake up people. He's a fraud.

Guess how you become a Super Lawyer? Your buddies in your own firm nominate you and then you nominate them. I just found out my brother is one! He has never mentioned it before...kind of funny actually :)

I wish the Sun would stop letting the parties litigate the case through the newspaper. Of course the Sun should report on what's going on with the suit, but they are getting carried away by basically letting both sides run unabridged press releases in the paper under the guise of "open letters."

Of course the City of Naperville should settle with Furstenau and get this thing over with.

I think the Napergate Case has great relevance here.

The City of Naperville at the time had a big ego and refused to give the Napergate Man his liquor licenses back or settle his litigaion.

The city was stubborn! They did not want to settle all this "FRIVILOUS" litigaion they got themselves in against the Napergate Man.

What happened!

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of the Napergate Man in 1988.

The Illinois Appellant Court runled 3-0 in favor of the Napergate Man in 1995.

And sometime shortly after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the Napergate Man.

City Officials and City Supporters pumped us with the same line of bull that we are getting now.

Well if everything is a frivilous suit why can't the City of Naperville win these cases with such high powered and expensive attorneys.

Let us be smart this time and learn form the Napergate Cases.

Let us pay the $129,000 accompanied by an apology to DF and move on.

Unless of course you want City Manager Bob Marshall to come on after he loses the Furstenau suit and tell us it really only cost us taxpayers $5k-10k in legal costs and those $600,000 dollar estimates we were throwing around were just INACCURATE and MISCALCULATIONS!

Fool me once shame on YOU, fool me twice shame on ME!

hmmm... rising food and energy costs, a real estate slump... thanks, city council, for your wonderful 'stimulus' package. Is this how elected officials work for their constituents?

Is Furstenau a selfish individual who has a slightly-overdeveloped persecution complex? Yes. Does he deserve an apology? Yes. Should it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pad that apology and reimburse a sore loser's campaign? No, but pay it anyway. Make this self-serving 'public' servant go away. He'll never hold office again, not even as dog catcher ( unless the fleas have a vote). Hold to our best interests and settle so that there will not be an historic increase in property taxes.

Hubris. Look it up. Paying Furstenau off will not open the doors for future shakedowns. If you feel your principals are offended, look in the mirror and try to justify fighting to the end with our tax dollars. It's wonderful that you will go to such extraordinary lengths to protect city employees - gee, where does their salary come from?- but who protects us, the property owners, the citizens of Naperville? As elected officials, you should be fighting just as hard for us, the humble folks who elected you. Keep raising taxes for this ridiculous fight and Furstenau won't be the only one booted out of office.

You are all public servants. Start acting like it.

What a small man, is there any way to have him removed from the council?

By Maplebrook Resident on March 28, 2008 11:31 AM
FURSTENAU SHOULD STEP DOWN!!! HE HAS DONE NOTHING GOOD FOR THE CITY. WE ARE SUCKERS FOR RE-ELECTING THAT SNAKE.

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Hey Maplebrook Resident,

Without DF your water bill would be almost twice what it is.

Every time I pay my water bill, I think of DF!

You need to thank him too, or refund him your savings if you don't appreciate what he did for you and your family and neighbors!

No other council member made any time to show up at those Water Commssion meetings. They were too boring! But DF was there and did the job for us fee of charge. Let us show some respect to the man!

The Napergate Man knew what he was doing when he endorsed him for his Council Seat!

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PS. Moderator I think you should delete that post in which DF is called a SNAKE. DF is not a SNAKE and that is libelous in my opinion and at the minimum inappropriate!

Moderator Jim to J.S.: It's not our fault that these matters are being put out to the press. We just report - you decide. I would hardly call that - in fact, I take exception - to that being "biased."

I have limited knowledge about this case, but the few things I do know make me think the city owes Mr Furstenau an apology and a quick settlement.

First, the criminal case against Mr. Furstenau was resolved in about an hour and he was found innocent. The fact that the decision was that quick and easy tells me that his arrest was the thing that was most 'frivolous'.

Second, Furstenau did inititially ask for just $129k, which anyone could see would be the cheapest way out of the issue. The city has in fact already spent more than twice that by their own admission.

Third, city employees and other members of the council are spouting ridiculous untruths about the tax increase. According to yesterday's Sun, the city portion of the tax bill of a $400k home will go up by $100. I don't know the exact numbers, but I suspect $400k is just about the average home value in Naperville and there are about 35k homes in our fair city. My rough math says that the city just raised taxes by $3.5mn, yet we have Furstenau's political enemies saying that 70% of the tax increase will go towards a $1mn lawsuit. That's some pretty creative math to say the least!

The city should tell their people to shut up, give Furstenau $130k and an apology so long as Furstenau will indemnify us taxpayers against any further lawsuits. I don't care if the city employees are indemnified. If they did what Furstenau alleges, they deserve to lose their homes and pensions. But it is patently unfair for the city to have the taxpayer pay the bill for the personal defense of the people named individually in this case if the city can settle and walk away right now for a fraction of the future legal bill.

Other than the City of Naperville, how many people out there would spend $10 dollars in order to save $1. To the City, it’s the principle of Furstenau’s allegations plus they don’t like getting bullied. Since its tax payer’s money being spent the City elected to fight the suit versus fixing the pot holes around the city. We’ll never know if Mr. Furstenau lost the election based on the arrest but wasn’t he found not guilty for what ever reason. Hey Naperville, it is called a settlement and it happens all the time so everyone can move on. It is not a prelude for everyone to try and sue the city after losing an election. When this case costs another $500,000 it could be more than just Mr. Furstenau that might not get reelected.

Two issues.

1. Did the City make the employees sued by Mr. Furstenau sign "Indemnification Agreements" requiring them to reimburse the City for their legal fees if the courts awarded Furstenau damages based on their actions? Conrad Black and David Radner had to sign such agreements for the Sun Times (the owner of the Sun). Radner has repaid $69 million, the Sun Times is seeking recovery of $110 million from Black.

Think about it. If the employees (including the arrogant former City Manager Burchard) knew they would have financial liability, they might apologize instead.

2. The record 10% property tax increase IS NOT CAUSED by Furstenau. The costs of the legal battle were borrowed from a fund to be paid in 2010 or after. These tax increases (13.5% for City operations causing even more problems in other funds in future years) are for the mismanagement of the City by Peter Burchard. He wants total credit, so let's give him the credit he deserves. Better yet, let's sue him for the increased taxes due to incompetancy.

I've read much about "what's happening to our city"... "what's wrong with us"... regarding the lawsuits flying around the prairie these days.

The truth is there is absolutely nothing wrong with the overwhelming majority of us who love Naperville and respect the decisions of our leaders, whether it be a school board or city council. The problem is with an exceedingly small, yet vocal group of people looking out for their own personal, and often selfish interest hiding under a disruptive cloak of public interest.

There is a great deal of difference between fiduciary responsibility and ownership. In the end, Naperville is owned by it's nearly 140,000 taxpayers who elect leaders to take on the fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of our city.

My call would be for the exceedingly small pocket of selfish self-interested to stop being the wrecking ball that is making everyone think Naperville is crumbling. We, the majority, believe in Naperville, care about Naperville and will continue to be what makes Naperville great.

Let's not forget about the role and power of the media to make circumstances appear far more wide-sweeping than, in reality, they are. Many years ago, I was working at a national political nominating convention in a larg American city and attended a rally around a particular issue that involved over 500,000 peaceful participants. Within the crowd was a militant group of about 20 making noise and raising hell for only about 5 minutes. However, guess what the world saw on the news that night... yep, the small group of militants which made the whole scene look like a big riot.

Make no mistake, Naperville remains strong!

As a Maplebrook II resident, I had voted in the past for DF and thought of him as a good watchdog on the council until the last election. By that time, I was not in favor of any of them that voted for the expansion of the intersection of 75th and Washington (I believe they all did). That is another argument in itself.

What set me off with DF was his attitude during a televised council meeting regarding the sound reducing walls that will be built along 75th and Washington for the homes that are along these streets (ours is not). He fussed and voted against it because of the cost and commented during the debate that he was smart enough not to buy along 75th street years ago (something along those lines). Nevermind the residents, long time or not, that live there now. Luckily, the "yes" votes prevailed for these residents and they will get at least that much out of this massive project that is not needed on this scale.

Then, at a later meeting regarding the carillon funding debacle, he votes to essentially save it at a cost in similar range of the noise redcution walls. So the carillon is more important to fund because it is already there than upgraded noise reducing walls for residents? Frankly, the council should have approved the $500,000, give or take, to dismantle this boon-doggle. And yes, I know that DF was not on the council when this project was originally approved and he stated that he would have never voted for it in the first place.

This, plus all the other antics to date with this man, soured me on him. If the city does go all the way with this and prevails, they should counter sue him for every dollar it cost since he is so concerned for the taxpayers. Regardless, he needs to go.

DF is definitely one of the most arrogant, self serving members on the city council. It is going to cost us a pretty penny but why pay him for something he doesn't deserve. He wouldn't have won anyway. Why is he still around here? Does he prefer to leach some money and move somewhere else? Just step down DF.

The city isn't going to settle because that would mean saying they were wrong, and they don't seem to believe that. It would make sense financially, but it's not right. Furstenau being found not guilty in court isn't the same as he didn't do it, it just means they can't prove he did it. So if the city still thinks he did it, they're not going to discipline their officer or pay him off. O.J. Simpson was not guilty of killing his wife too, but how many people think he didn't do it?

Furstenau does not deserve a dime. The bully is too stupid and stubborn to drop the suit so it's time to do what is right for the city of Naperville. Apologize to Furst and give him a gift of $10,000. He will not accept but the negotiations will be started. In the end, Dick will get $75 to $100k and this mess will go away and his political career will be over. Richard, I hope it was worth it. You tainted a decent record as a city councilman.

Hi, I wanted to also clarify a few points for some of the bloggers out there. I've read some comments suggesting the city should "just give the $129,500" to Furstenau and end the squabble.

From my conversation with with Furstenau's lawyer, Shawn Collins, on Thursday he said they would be willing to settle for less than the budgeted amount of $600,000.

No specific numbers were given.

Collins never indicated that the original amount--$129,000 plus--requested by Furstenau was enough to settle the suit.

I'll keep you up to date if anything changes.

By the way, I'm curious to read if any bloggers have solutions for this matter. Who has a well-thought-out suggestion to get the city and Furstenau out of this mess?

Or is it simply dollars and cents?

Mike Mitchell
City Council Reporter
mmitchell@scn1.com

To the person who has their case messed up:

DF was found NOT GUILTY of the charges. He was not found INNOCENT OF ANY WRONGDOING.

There is a huge difference. You should take the time to learn what that difference is.

i'm absolutely disgusted with every politician in this formerly ''quaint'' town. furstenau should never be allowed back within city limits regardless of the outcome. grow-up baby! even if you were found guilty of a minor incident with a cop, big deal! no one remembers anything like that anymore!!!! figure out how to make gas 99 cents/gallon again or cd's paying 7.5 percent so seniors can pay their prescriptions and we'll all send you a great big ''we're sorry you crybaby'' card!

This whole situation is so pathetic in that it really shows what a little bubble Naperville is. Everybody's so up in arms over this while people all over the country are losing their homes, the economy is in the tank and we've just lost the 4,000th U.S. soldier in Iraq. But good old Naperville - as insulated as it is against the real world - can spend time worrying abou this. How absurd!

I just realized who Furstenau reminds me of. He reminds me of the evil sorceror Andre Linogue, who terrorizes the residents of Little Tall Island in Stephen King's teleplay "Storm Of The Century" of a few years back.

I don't mean Furstenau is casting spells or anything like that,(though like Linogue, he is creating his own brand of mayhem in the town) but because of the one line Linogue repeats over and over again: GIVE ME WHAT I WANT AND I WILL GO AWAY!

This is what I hear Furstenau saying over and over again in this lawsuit of his, not to mention his interviews and other public statements: "Give me what I want and I will go away! Give me my public apology from a defeated and groveling City Council, and while you're at it, give me lots and lots of money, and I and my lawsuit will go away!"

Perhaps Furstenau should now start carrying around a silver wolf's head cane, just to complete the analogy.

To: Windrider on March 28, 2008 6:06 PM

Yeah, and perhaps Shawn Collins' lawfirm should adopt - GIVE ME WHAT I WANT AND I WILL GO AWAY - as its new slogan.

Seems to be how he's become such "SUPER LAWYER". (sarcasm)

This lawsuit is nothing more than simple extortion. Basically we are being told “just hand over the cash and no one gets hurt”. Dick knows exactly what he is doing and so does everyone else. Unfortunately I do not think there is anything we can do about it. It is all legal but very far from being right.

I’ll tell you one thing though. If Dick gets his payoff I sure will be looking for someone from the city to violate my civil rights. Then I could get my payoff and go retire. A great scam if you can get away with it. And it looks like Dick is going to.

The easy solutions have passed. We're watching and paying for a political battle among hostile parties. There are no moral principles involved now. It's about who can win. I'm not a supporter for any of the individuals on either side, but it seems that our City managers and administrators aren't exactly white knights. They took the approach of "We're going to crush this guy", but he's not going to cave. I don't like to say this, but settle this NOW. If the City were to "win", and I think that with what has been disclosed so far that could be a very big "IF", will we feel that it was worth it? I doubt it. And if the city were to not be successful, are those responsible in the City and their lawyers be willing to resign?

It's true Naperville is a joke. They think a little $600,000 lawsuit is perilous. Funny enough, this country is tanking in the middle of an election with delegates that don't seem promising.

Meanwhile people worry about the Riverwalk and Dis. 204.

Babies.

This is why Downers Grove is so much better than your small-town Naperville. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we do take the real issues seriously, like Universal Healthcare.

By Mike Mitchell, reporter on March 28, 2008 4:35 PM
Hi, I wanted to also clarify a few points for some of the bloggers out there. I've read some comments suggesting the city should "just give the $129,500" to Furstenau and end the squabble.

From my conversation with with Furstenau's lawyer, Shawn Collins, on Thursday he said they would be willing to settle for less than the budgeted amount of $600,000.

********************************************************************

Mike,
I appreciate we have a Real Journalist helping us Citizen Journalists. Councilman Bob made an offer that if he was visited in his office he would clear the cost of the Napergate Case which the City Claims only cost 5-10k for outside lawyers.

This was published in your newspaper on January 20th, 2008. We have been asking the Naperville Sun for a follow up since none of us who were around at the time and followed the 5 year odeal and fiasco believe it could have been done that CHEAPLY. We feel the city is feeding us CRAP!

Do you mind being kind enough to meet with Councilman Bob and obtaining the hard facts on the cost of that case? He claimed to Marshall that he actually has them. Just wants someone to pop in his office.

It would be interesting to learn why one case cost 5-10k after 5 grueling years in a dozen or so courtrooms and another case costs 600k before it had its second day in court. I assume there was one day in court for the DF case or at least in the courthouse since Mr. Collins had to file it. I could be wrong and he could have filed it electronically on the internet as I believe it is possible these days! Maybe there has not even been one court day and we the taxapayers are already out $275,000. All this to attorneys to research if it was a punch, back hand, shove or touch! Have our city officials lost their minds that they can allow attorneys to scam them in this matter?

I posted on another thread according to a Civil Rights Lawsuit filed by the Napergate Man, that he spent a touch under $75,000 over 5 years using 4 pretty decent attorneys who won all his numerous cases for him. This Civil Rights Lawsuit has been posted numerous times on the Napergate Threads in which this cost between 74k to 75k has been dislclosed. I assume it is an honest number that had to be documented since it was part of a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit. The lawsuit was posted on these threads by City Supporters Joe and/or T.B. so I assume they posted the authentic Civil Rights Lawsuit of the Napergate Man vs. the City of Naperville and the City Police.

So why are we letting these outside attorneys milk us to this extent. Is it DF's fault or is it our City Officials fault that we are being milked? Is it DF's fault that our taxes increased or is it the City Officials fault that our taxes increased?

Many of us have been bugging Moderator Jim and Host Ted for months. This topic continues to be repeated over and over again wasting valuable Gigabyte space, because we never get any answers.

You seem to have been given some very unusual liberties by your superiors to investigate. We have been looking for an unbiased investigative reporter.

I think it is high time you prove yourself unbiased by verifying comments that not only favor the city, but verifying comments that may damage the city's credibility.

That is what makes a reporter, GREAT! A reporter who is willing to swim upstream when all his fellow reporters will only swim downstream.

Why don't you try to be Naperville's, Eric Zorn, make a name for yourself by challenging City Hall instead of constantly looking to verify their occasional "accuracies."

Seeking the truth is a two way street. Right now I feel your street is one way. Try going down the other way for a change! Thank You!

I did not vote for Dick in the last election, but I am supporting him 100% on this. The former city manager put out a great deal of derogatory info on Dick in the paper at the behest of the City Council. The city manager then receives a payment of around 100K after he left the city to take a new job. This case has already been lost by the city council due to that payoff that was made. They need to settle asap. Time for a house cleaning. Haven't seen any thing this dumb since quick take.

The below statement pretty much says it all except never fear after the city council blows a couple million on a case they will surely lose, then district 204 will raise your taxes again and more people will lose their homes....

>Everybody's so up in arms over this while people all over the >country are losing their homes, the economy is in the tank and >we've just lost the 4,000th U.S. soldier in Iraq.

If you are the last house to be abandoned, don't forget to turn out the lights...

No the city should not settle.

Settle with him but make the terms of that settlement immediate resignation and that he cannot ever serve on the council ever again (or any elected position within the city). He

Settle with him but make the terms of that settlement immediate resignation and that he cannot ever serve on the council ever again (or any elected position within the city). He has shown his true colors of being all about the money. Pretty disappointing for someone who was yelling about how he was defending everyone's civil rights.

Wow. there sure are a lot of judges on this blog. So quick to condemn and name call. How fitting in the Easter season no less. Shall we stone Mr. Furstenau too? Do the math people. It's very simple, it always has been. I guess you're all too proud and couldn't possibly be the slightest bit wrong. So many lessons to learn.

Since we're in the middle of "March Madness"....

Dick F. reminds me of Bobby Knight:

- Lou Henson calling him a "classic bully"
- the "incident" with the police officer in Puerto
Rico during the Pan Am games
- the tough guy ex-jock act "I know what's right",
"I won't be intimidated" "If I laid my hands on him
you'd know it"
- has both strong supporters and detractors
- complaints from staff about being "mistreated" by
him
- sued Indiana after they fired him (I think he lost)

The city and DF are playing a game of chicken over an
apology and ever increasing cash payout. The facts need to come out and it seems a trial is the only way.
Someone is lying and will be greatly embarrassed when it's all over. A settlement with nondislosure or confidentiality agreement will not quiet the issue/debate. A potential civil rights violation and government misconduct is to important.

Of course, DF could just drop it and spin it that he's
doing it for the good of the city and to put it behind
him. His supporters will applaud him and detractors will say its because he knew he didn't have a case and could scare the city into settling. The city can't settle/applogize because it shows the did wrong.

Mike Mitchell
City Council Reporter
mmitchell@scn1.com

Mr. Mitchell,
It is not only great having you bloggin with us but also Councilman Bob. We always suspected City Officials have been monitoring every word said on these blogs, and I believe our suspicions have come true.

Anyone who cares to stay in office has to be able to take the pulse of the community. I suspect the latest numbers when released by Sun Blog Officials will show easily over 100,000 views per week.

If these blogs are going to be taken seriously, they can not be one sided. You can not verify city information as a from of rubber stamping the obvious.

As McFarland said, we need to understand these excessive legal fees which are according to City Officials two thirds of the tax increase this year. WE need to understand why City Officials are willing to pay $600,000 to defend against DF and only 1/100 of that amount to defend against the Napergate Man. Nothing makes sense and no one is willing to clarify.

I noticed you were a City Council Reporter. I also noticed City Council Bob has made a statement on this blog sites if you or anyone calls him he will explain this HUGE DISCREPANCY. It is silly for one of us 1000 bloggers to go to his office. Or all thousands of us to go. I would recommend you making an appointment as our representative and getting to the bottom of these massive discrepancies in the cost of these 2 cases, in lieu of the fact that the Napergate Case was much more complicated and went for over 5 years and took many different paths in our judicial system and rose to very high appeal levels.

I guess being blunt, I feel City Manager Bob Marshall, who is the Big Boss in this city did not tell the truth and you people in the Naperville Sun including you, Mike, are taking it easy on him. You all appear afraid of holding a leader accountable for spewing falsehoods.

Before we were told that City Officials would not talk to Sun Officials. Well now we have a City Council Member named Bob, saying I am willing to TALK. Make an appointment, Mike! Your title indicates it is your duty. Fulfill your duty to your readers. Get to the bottom of this mess. Have your questions ready, so Councilman Bob does not change the subject on you. Before you pop up, tell him to prepare the Napergate Case expenses for you. Tell him to prepare the DF Case expenses for you. Review the billings in both cases and see if they make sense.

It seems like the attorneys for the City have spent 917 hours at 300 dollars per hour researching this "punch" that DF allegedly delivered or did not deliver to Officer Hull. I suspect this legal bill is padded and our City Officials are clueless. Instead of blaming, DF, they should blame themselves for not controlling their attorneys. This is why we have a horrific tax increase.

Put these attorneys under the control of Councilman Dick Furstaneu or under the watchful eyes of the Napergate Man and do you believe they would ever dare bill this kind of money before preliminary hearings even takes place.

I hope you look into this Mike. If you are going to be a reporter bloggin with us, we are going to hold you accountable for doing your INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING!

You know, I am now beginning to wonder who this Anonymous is. Every single time someone posts something supporting Furstenau, this guy is silent, but so much as post something even remotely questioning Furstenau's actions, this guy swoops in like a hawk and blathers and bloviates on how Furstenau is a nice guy, why is he being persecuted, give him what he wants, blah-blah-blah.

There was another guy years ago in McHenry County who was doing pretty much the same thing in the suburban newspapers out there, except he called himself The Phoenix. His primary target at that time was the State Republican Party.

After reading some of the posts here from this Anonymous, I'm wondering if maybe The Phoenix has risen from the ashes again and is now residing somewhere in Naperville.

By Anonymous on March 28, 2008 11:59 AM

This is NOT the first time the city of Naperville has allowed hubris to direct them down an expensive and incorrect path (remember Napergate, folks!). The similarities are acute.

Again, the city refuses to back down when they are wrong; Again the city is being reckless with OUR tax dollars; Again the city is attacked a citizen with the belief he would back down from city hall; Again, the city will lose in court

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very well said Anonymous! Yes, the similarties with Napergate are very acute. Of course we remember, Napergate!

Yes, in that case the city refused to back down when they were wrong even after watching a video tape that proved them wrong! Yes, in that case the city was also reckless with OUR tax dollars and do this day we don't know where the money to defend the case came from...rumor and folklore has it they buried any records that could track it with Mayor Samuel Macrane in his coffin.

Yes, again they are attacking a citizen with the belief he would back down from City Hall. If the Napergate Man who was a small time peaceful "non-bully" liquor store owner would not back down, do they expect "bully" Dick Furstneau to back down?

Yes, again the city will lose in court. In the Napergate Case they lost again and again and again and again wasting our taxpayer money thru several levels of appeals. Finally, after the 1995 election and under the leadership and influnece of new Mayor George Pradel, the funds to continue this insane battle were finally cut off! Mayor George Pradel stopped the madness that would have sent the 2 Appellant Level Napergate Cases to 2 respective Supreme Courts and cost us $500,000 to $1,0000,000 more. And of course resulted in 2 more losses for the City of Naperville, resulting in further humiliation and embarrassment to our wonderful city!

Please step in as you did in the Napergate Man's case to stop the madness. You did say that DF was like your child. Well, treat him like your child and stop the daily attacks on him by your fellow council members!

Wow. I agree with the statement that there are a lot of judges on this blog. Let's keep it simple:

1) Does any dispute the fact that the City makes mistakes. They do. All government does. Blago, a joke. Daley in the city, pretty much a syndicate of pay to play.

2) The reason the City is great is people like Dick F. who ask questions, how want accountability - and yes, maybe he is a bit rude and abrasive and tough. Is he a criminal? No. Is he being sued? No? Why? He's been wronged and looking to make it right so that he is made whole.

3) Anyone remember that election. His opposition is in office today easily (or much easier) due to the press and charges that were made against him. The material that went out to voters showed him as a criminal.

4) He was simply asking for an apology and the money he put in given back to him. Simply $130k or something.

5) Morale of the City Employees was the reason the city didn't pay out. The City manager didn't like the way Furstanau spoke; the employees didn't like him, and like being held hostage by a union the City had to scold Dick F or else the City staff would feel like quitting, bad morale and so forth. Catch 22

6) Now the police. Police have a general attitude that they are above the law. We know this. Ever listen to the way they give you a ticket, instruct you to do something. They are good people, but part of their job is being right. Part of their job is that they decide things, not the public or politicians.

7) Now take the whole situation of the fact Dick F. was asking about how 30% of our tax dollars going towards overtime pay for police; why we were paying them overtime for event policing and not the event people. This upsets the police in general.

8) Police then arrest Dick F. for something they most likely would not arrest someone for (ie. argument and demeanor). Chief and officers know that Dick is running for State senate. Thus, they knew the damage.

9) If people do not stand up, stick up for what they believe is wrong, then we should just accept that corruption or good feela deals are part of our government. Instead of complaining about Furst, people should encourage a settlment for the best interest.

10) And let's face it, anyone who knows Furstanue knows he's got money; he's a builder, past executive and never sued for getting rich.

Maybe the bigger problem is that we have a little wrong on both sides, Dick can improve his social skills. But the City and Police have to admit that the police action hurt him.

Mr. Shawn Collins,

I commend you for representing DF on a contingency basis and fighting for his legitimate rights against our City Police.

Our City Police have been out of control since an ATT committee called them out 15 years ago as being the worse governmental authority that practices discrimination in the Western Suburbs or Dupage County. I recall reading that in one of the Napergate ads in the Naperville Sun.

Our City is almost at rock bottom. It is imperative they hit rock bottom before will straighten out. Otherwise, they will have a relapse.

I urge you not to settle. Defeat them! Humiliate them!

I suggest you grab the Napergate Man and have him file another civil rights suit. This is what we need to finally have our city hit rock bottom and straighten out.

In the Napergate Man latest incidents they run his plates illegally while he is parked legally and conspire to put him in jail overnight instead of allowing him to pay 100 bucks and go home with his dog and friend. Over a 6 year old toll violation committed by his daughter he clearly did not know about! How ridiculous? And in the same summer of 2006, the NPD has the audacity to accuse him of vandalizing and rampaging his own subdivision pool without having a shred of evidence. Of course he would never do such a thing and they were wrong. What kind of a police dept. operates that way? Only God knows what other harassment they inflicted on him for daring to beat them in legitimate court battles so many times in the 80s and 90s.

I urge you to file a second civil rights suit on behalf of the Napergate Man and burden the city with another $600,000. This will be the last piece of the puzzle that we need to call for all their resignations once and for all! Only, if they hit rock bottom will we see changes for the better! It is called TOUGH LOVE!!! Our City Police need it in the worse way.

I agree with Southside Joe. The city needs to settle this lawsuit and Dick Furstenau needs to go away. So, make the settlement contingent on his immediate resignation; I don't think we can take away his right to run for elected office in the future, but how much fun would it be to see him run, lose again and then have to look for another scapegoat. Despite a few remaining staunch supporters, Dick Furstenau is finished in Naperville and without Naperville, he is finished in the state of Illinois, as well. Give him and his SUPER LAWYER (LOL) their money, make him resign and then he will have all the time in the world to ponder how all of this happened to him. This is what happens when ego supercedes commonsense.

What I find so puzzling is all this resistance to Mr. Furstenau's right to exercise his Civil Rights under our constitution.

When the Napergate Man exercised his constitutional rights to file a Civil Rights lawsuit, it seems like he encountered no resistance from taxpayers!

My question to anyone who can answer it, is why in the DF case there is some much resistance by residents while in the Napergate Case there was so much support? Why the disparity if the cases are so similar?

I found this on the opinion page of the Print Edition of the Sun!

"Councilman Grant Wehrli is right when he says it is important for Naperville residents to know that about two-thirds of the city property tax increase Naperville homeowners will see in their tax bill comes from the cost of defending Councilman Richard Furstenau's lawsuit against the city."

I respectfully disagree. Councilman Wehrli and the Sun are both wrong. They need to take responsibility for this litigation. They have done nothing to monitor the actions of Police Chief David Dial since the Napergate Days of the Kangaroo Trials.

Due to lack of monitoring by either our local paper or our distinguished establishment Council Members, out NPD has continued to operate in an abusive manner against our citizens including Dick Furstenau.

Reading the Napergate Threads it seems like they continue to abuse the Napergate Man at nearly every turn he takes at any intersection in town! It seems obvious to me that the Establishment Controlled Council has issued orders to Police Chief Dial to quell the voices of dissension in town.

Unless residents like the Napergate Man, DF and others can exercise their First Amendment Right to free speech, we will be seeing numerous more lawsuits in the very near future.