When is the recycling going to go to the same kind of curb-side pickup system. After 20 years of dealing with the little blue bins I'm sick of the clutter in my garage from all of the bins that I need. I set out 3-4 per week and now my recycling at least equals the garbage.

I thought the garbage hauler went to the new carts to decrease worker compensation injuries and increase pickup speed? Both of which should help lower the overall cost to all of us. Doesn't the recycling company have these same kind of expenses to manage?

OK, you-know-who, since you insist on dragging this out, if you must email someone, you should email Mike Cetera at mcetera@scn1.com who is in charge of the internet side of the company. The people in Chicago don't even know we have a blog. You really need to move on though because you're not getting back on here as long as I'm in charge. I've had my fill of this stuff.

I am assuming recyclables would be picked up regardless. Most communities keep that free to encourage it. Personally I feel if you are generating three or more cans of garbage, you are generating too much waste or not recycling enough. Two cans and a couple recycling bins should be plenty for any residential home. We are a family of four and we don't even put out our garbage cans every week.

Thom—

I think the writing was already on the wall that this was the direction the city was going to move in when they started the city garbage can program. A restriction on the number of items, or requiring all free pick-ups to be in the city cans.

This makes sense and should keep the contract price down because the driver never has to get out of the cab, never has to file a workman’s comp claim for lifting something, and can cover more area every day.

I’m actually sort of surprised the recycling collection hasn’t moved in this direction, too. Many cities have blue recycling cans very similar to our city garbage cans.

T.B.

I too watched the council meeting and feel that since the garbage carts were purchased without these limitations, anyone wishing to trade in a 32 or 65 gallon cart for a larger version should be allowed to do so with the up charge being the difference in initial cost only. If the carts are mandatory, which seems to solve the hauler's time issue, I believe we will start to see a theft issue, despite the fact that they have "serial numbers". So do what you can to mark your cart. Honestly, I would rather have a monthly fee assessed to my utility bill than see the proposed changes.

Also, I did not like Furstenau's direction with the tree trimming issue. He seemed to think that it is ok to have power outages related to tree issues, as long as there are not TOO many. Sorry, but I used to live in an older area of town with overhead electric service (which by the way, Furstenau does not) and if ever there is a time you want power, it is in the middle of a storm when your sump pump needs to be running as sometimes even the battery back ups fail. Electricity is an essential city service that I don't want them messing with. I remember the 1980's when reliability was in the toilet and don't want to go back there.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting there was a fairly lengthy discussion regarding the next trash hauling contract. Nothing was decided but it looks like the city is heading in the direction of switching from a take everything to a one possibly two can maximum, requiring stickers for additional cans with two to four free junk pick up days a year.

All this of course is to shave some money off the budget although the Public Works Director is very proud of the fact that Naperville has the cheapest "take all" garbage service in the Chicagoland area.

One question was the fairness of limiting cans as some people have 32 gal and others have 65 or 95 gallon (the haulers don't care interestingly). They expect any revised program not to start till 2011, and I think, but am not positive, they said they would require the city cans for ease of use.

If they do two cans I believe it was said it will effect 700 homes weekly who put out three or more.

I would like to see what the consulting group's recommendations are as far as areas where the city's budget can be pared down with no or minimal impact to services and functionality.

I also agree that the school district's portion seems to be one area that could be examined. I think there is a fair amount of waste in our school districts - especially in 204 - and I think it is time the board and administration scrutinizes their expenditures to see if there is any way to cut some fat and bring our numbers down without negatively effecting the quality of education. I think the taxpayers of Naperville need someone like Bob Grogan to come in and make the school district budgets transparent down to the last invoice.

Ann E.,
I tend to agree with most of your points on this one. It's pretty apparent that the City is looking into making some adjustments in the areas that need the most help, and in the areas where such things are possible, and pragmatic. Just as it takes time to build up larger departments, it also takes time to figure out how to make them smaller and more efficient. Even though the city budget isn't where I'd like it to be, I'd much rather the council and others take some time to really have a look at what can be done, and to make sure that we have the right mix of services going forward. Those kinds of services are one of the primary reasons that people moved here in the first place, and remain here.
It does seem to me that all the things we've been talking about here are not really the best place to look, however. It's the school funding system that is the biggest slice of the pie, and that simply must have some savings that can be realized without cutting essential services there. Not my area of expertise, but that's the place I'd be examining if I were in charge.

I agree with Ann E.

The Sun has had many stories over the past year about cutbacks the city has made. They have done everything from not filling vacant positions (least painful), to no raises for some city employees, to now apparently laying off 37? employees as recommended by the consulting group. I don't think it is an issue of "protecting" city employees as much as it is an issue of maintaining the service level we expect and have received from the city.

Frankly they can layoff 100's of employees and we will save tons of money but our services will go into the toilet. I too am willing to pay a little more in taxes to get us through.

Thank you Ann E for your NICE and WELL thoughtout post. Your post was easy to read and I do agree with most of what you said...Moving on.

If you look at the agenda for the city council meeting tonight you will notice that under L-3 ..."fill three vacant positions."

It is worth noting, and reading, that the council and staff are now using the study done by the Clerestory Consultant Group for placing staff were needed. If the council continues to use supportive data in its staffing, than I support them 100%. It is good to see and read supporting data being used, and not just "I think we need."

Councilman Bob, I would like to hear your take on the Clerestory Consultant Group report.

OK, let's get back on topic. The city council is set to adopt a levy that includes a rate hike that is 2 cents more than last year. This is the epitome of bad government. The tax rate should not drive the levy or the budget. It is the council's duty to adopt a budget that will reasonably meet the needs of the residents and businesses withing the corporate boundaries and within the means of everyone. Once the council has done so, it the levy falls where it may.

This idea that we will pass a levy to milk every cent we can out of the property owners while maintaining an artifical tax rate is totally irresponsible. It's a shame that this is the mind set of the corporate authorities in our area. Dist. 204 sent out an email that it is doing the same. It is adopting a levy that is more than it can ever hope to collect in order to make sure that it gets every cent it can lawfully raise. Aurora announced that it is doing the same as Naperville.

It's time to elect government that will do it's job and not milk us for every cent it can.

I understand that there are those that are really struggling to pay property taxes in Naperville. We do have a lot going on for ourselves here, great schools, great place to live. I'm afraid that if property taxes are the issue for someone to stay in their home or not, there must be other underlying financial reasons for the possible loss of a home. I'm not saying those other reasons are unfounded or not legit, there are many people suffering this economy. My paying 40 or 50 (or even several hundred) more dollars a month will not be the back-breaker.

It does look as though the city is addressing issues, hopefully they will dig deep enough to get spending under control. However unfortunate some layoffs are, there is large debate as to whether layoffs or paycuts are the best way to go. Paycuts keep what may be a work force on that may be too large for government or industry. Studies have also shown that down-sized manufacturing groups are keeping production up to previously down-sized levels. Efficiency could be key across sectors. The employment shuffle may be devastating to many, but perhaps it's been needed for awhile. As Mr. Murphy would say--work fills time and space allowed for it, no?

Pension issues have become large, no doubt. But perhaps if given time, funds can be regained. I highly doubt that anyone involved intentionally set out to lose millions in pension funding for the town of Naperville.

So, do we need change? Yes, everything should be re-evaluated. Should we take away pensions and benefits already contractually promised? Most likely not. Will the unions see that greed may get some of their members a place in the unemployment line going forward? Probably. Therefore, re-evaluate going forward. I wait for my home and my 401k to bounce back, as many do. Home prices were inflated anyway, in my opinion. The challenge will be to provide Naperville with funds that it needs to operate while home prices fall and land at more sustainable levels, how long until these levels are reflected in the appraisals? Time and markets will tell.

And if Council thinks that their benefits are "modest at best", they deserve a chance to be heard, maybe not agreed with, but heard.

Now that CIJ is chasing Councilmen away from the site is it time to do something about this yet? I doubt I'm alone in thinking Councilman Bob's participation in this blog is much more valuable than CIJ's repetitive accusatory ranting.

CIJ, it looks like your time here is coming to a close. Many are tired of your long-winded, bashing, and redundant tirades. We GET your messages. We have been beaten over the head with your messages. The majority here do not seem to agree with your messages, which obviously leads you to believe we are open game for name-calling and belittling.

Your time has come. Your message is out there. If you hate Naperville and it's city government so badly, there is something you can do about it other than frothing at the keyboard daily for ridiculous amounts of time. You can pack up and MOVE! I think if you asked nicely, you would even be able to round-up some volunteers to help you pack!

Sorry to see you go, Councilman Bob--it's fully understandable.

CIJ used to schmooze and fall all over herself with any post from Councilman Bob or any other Council that stopped by here to comment.

But, as CIJ became personally inflammatory to CMB, the councilman has also decided not to participate with her "debate". This is really quite comical, CIJ...yeah, the city reads you and tells you exactly how they feel.

CIJ--another of your adored "debaters" bites the dust at your own hand and I'm glad CMB was clear as to why he was leaving, congratulations. I guess if you want to communicate with CMB, you will have to go out and risk your anonymity, risk getting put on the list of those that are required to wear tin foil hats to keep the big bad council from putting them on the big bad black list to be harassed by all city departments. I wonder how many additional moving violations per year CIJ could rack up as her vehicle is tracked on the big bad black list? How many property codes would she have to comply with, while a member of the black list?

disclaimer:
I am not a city employee, I do not have a big fat pension, other than my own making. I even buy my own health insurance. I am also happy to pay for even more ambulances in Naperville, if it helps to get every resident in the "6 minute zone".

and though I absolutely promise that CIJ will miss the point completely, Councilman Bob points out exactly what is wrong with this blog site - and truly [sorry moderator] those ills can be laid completely at the feet of one poster, and we all know who that is.
The kindergarten wizard strikes again.
Sorry Councilman, for my part, I hope that you'll find your way here again, and just do your best to ignore our resident... what word can I use? our resident blowhard.

How sad that CIJ has now run off the one Council member who posts here.

I agree with so many posters here about the corrosive effect of CIJ's posts. Something needs to be done as she turning this blog into a joke.

Re CIJ 11/29 @ 5:04p - Really sad to see that my attempt to engage in a dialogue on this blog has earned me the title of hypocrite. I'll be taking a pass on this blog until its quality improves. As I said earlier, I'm available by email, phone or in person to provide info or discuss any & all topics involving city government, including councilmen's compensation & benefits (modest at best). Over & out, Councilman Bob.

By resolutely anonymous on November 30, 2009 8:16 PM
IT said, There may be an orchestrated attempt by the NFD to SMOTHER MY MESSAGE with SMOKE.

So, CIJ, what else have you got? Without referring to these ideas again, as you've been over and over them, and overandoverandover, what else do you have to recommend?

========================================================================================================================================

Please tell me how to overcome our $160.8 million in pension liability deficits, pension fund losses and operating budget deficits.

I am trying to find solutions and not one single person is offering a solution....only attack after attack in order to avoid confronting the real serious problems our once great city now faces.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 30, 2009 7:33 PM
This explins how an idiot can get 40 tickets in 20 years!!!!!!!!!! You and your ridiculous powers of reasoning (lack thereof) do not deserve the privilege of possessing a driver's license. 2 tickets annually is EXCESSIVE! And here you go, CIJ, I've been driving for 35 years and have yet to get a ticket. Why, because I obey the speed limits and am a defensive driver.

========================================================================================================================================

1. Very nice of you to call me a name like an IDIOT. What does that say about you....a lack of debating skills!

2. Very slick of you to say I got 40 tickets in 20 years instead of 20 tickets in 40 years. That quadropled the number of tickets I got...lol.. With a memory like that, how can you possibly remember to turn your signal on when driving?

3. You have never gotten a ticket in 35 years. I do believe you. You also never drive 26 in a 25 which is technically illegal. You never forgot to turn your signal on in 35 years. Yes, I believe you.

Or is there a possibility you are a Fire Fighter who receives Professional Courtesy? Try to be truthful when you answer. Did someone post my blogs in your NFD Station and ask you to join in the orchestrated attacks on CIJ? I would not be surprised with all the free time you folks have each day.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. And I stand by my comment that ambulances go between 30-60 miles an hour and have clocked them at that speed many times while at a safe distance behind them. You guys are so desperate that you will take a true comment and attack it....this is very SICK BEHAVIOR!

IT said, There may be an orchestrated attempt by the NFD to SMOTHER MY MESSAGE with SMOKE.

Please, CIJ, get over your self importance. It has become beyond tiresome and into the realm of utterly ridiculous. The people of Naperville obviously like having well funded and staffed emergency services, and I believe that this is as it should be, and I am more than happy to fund this with MY tax dollars. Maybe you aren't. OK, WE GET IT. Message loud and clear lady. You don't like it, but others DO, and I am absolutely one of them. Quality fire dept. police department and ambulance service is vital to me, and worth a good deal of money for the peace of mind I derive from it.
Obscene as it is to have to say it, neither I nor anyone in my family is now, nor ever has been involved in these important service operations, anywhere, at any time. Ever, CIJ. But I am happy to pay for them.
You're not. Again, we get it, we get it, we get it. WE GET IT.
You've said everything possible to convince people you're right about this one, with very little agreement.
You've covered your ideas about pensions.
You've covered your ideas about double-dipping.
You've covered your ideas about ambulances.
You've covered your ideas about the FD and the PD.
You've covered your ideas about the building inspectors.
So, CIJ, what else have you got? Without referring to these ideas again, as you've been over and over them, and overandoverandover, what else do you have to recommend?

by cij
"Thirdly, by mentioning ambulances can go 3 to 4 times faster, I did not imply they should speed at 160 miles per hour and endanger the residents. In rush hour, an ambulance is lucky to go 10-15 miles an hour between heavy traffic and construction zones. At 3am it can easily go 30-60 miles an hour(which is 3-4 times faster), not be delayed by traffic at stop lights, or one lane roads backed up due to construction."

This explains how an idiot can get 40 tickets in 20 years!!!!!!!!!! You and your ridiculous powers of reasoning (lack thereof) do not deserve the privilege of possessing a driver's license. 2 tickets annually is EXCESSIVE! And here you go, CIJ, I've been driving for 35 years and have yet to get a ticket. Why, because I obey the speed limits and am a defensive driver.

The previous poster told you that one accident with an ambulance and it's resulting lawsuits could wipe out any savings. You know that the city is self insured don't you? How hard is it for you to grasp this simple concept. When do you think drunks are on the road- maybe 3AM??? How are you going to avoid one if you are going 60 mph? Take off the tunnel vision glasses and you might actually learn something from someone else.

thank you!

Why don't you compare our Fire Department to our comparable communities instead of Hinsdale and Oakbrook? A town with 8,000 is no match for a town of 140,000.

To the 5 Anonymouses who responded to my LAST POST,

First, it would be nice if you could choose handles so I know who I am addressing.

Secondly, I did not attack anyone. I simply made proposals of how to cut a little in the NFD so the rest of the departments or taxpayers would not have to take the full burden and brunt.

Thirdly, by mentioning ambulances can go 3 to 4 times faster, I did not imply they should speed at 160 miles per hour and endanger the residents. In rush hour, an ambulance is lucky to go 10-15 miles an hour between heavy traffic and construction zones. At 3am it can easily go 30-60 miles an hour(which is 3-4 times faster), not be delayed by traffic at stop lights, or one lane roads backed up due to construction.

Please read my post again BELOW and try to comment on what my post actually states as opposed to what you speculate or perceive my posts states.

########################################################################################################################################

By Anonymous on November 29, 2009 8:23 PM
For what it’s worth, I was at Edward hospital last Wednesday and didn’t see any ambulances at all. I think that using CIJ’s logic I can proclaim that the ambulances never visit the hospital and are a total waste of money. We should fire all the paramedics and sell the ambulances to a city that hasn’t yet learned from the great CIJ.

========================================================================================================================================

Your remarks are very childish. I simply said we could probably live with 5 ambulances instead of 7 between the hours of 12am and 6am based on my eyewitness observation, data from the NFD itself and what a L-W FF acquaintance told me about activity at those lame hours.

We have since learned right on this blog site that neighboring FDs work very closely together with ours. If a situation ever arose we need 7 ambulances, certain parts of Warrenville, L-W, Wheaton, Aurora, Romeoville and Plainfield are even closer to Naperville than certain parts of Naperville are to each other. We help them and they help us so we don't have to plan for the worse case scenarios which is cost prohibitive in good times and impossible in bad times.

Other FDs including Oak Brook and Hinsdale cut FFs. My L-W FF acquaintence told me they are not allowed to run an ambulance any more if it using OT....so one less is being used during a significant part of the week. I assume probably in the wee hours of the night.

I don't think FFs in other towns are stupid or risking the lives of their residents. I think they realize that smoke alarms, fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, better building materials and sprinkler systems have made fires less frequent and less deadly. When their respective cities asked them to make some cuts, they did not gripe and whine. They made some cuts to be team players.

I am sure our NFD will in due time understand they have to make some cuts and will make the necessary and proper cuts. I do not believe they are selfish and expect all the other city departments to take the full burden and brunt of our $14.1 million operating budget deficit. I also believe they understand the taxpayers are MAXED OUT!

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. The bottom line is our 7 ambulances make on average 2 trips each to Edward's or other hospitals in a 24 hour period according to their own data. Thus ambulances are out about 2 hours each 24 hour shift. They are pretty much idled 22 hours a day and most likely between the hours of 12am and 6am. I am only calling for a minimum cut of 2 out of 7 ambulances during some graveyard lame hours and everyone is up in arms and pretending I want to shut the entire NFD down. Why all these distortions and lies?

If a serious emergency develops between 12am and 6am, we not only can rely on our 5 active ambulances but also our neighbors' ambulances, and if worse comes to worse Superior Ambulance which is a private service with dozens of ambulances could help us out and bill us. Being billed for an extraordinary event once a year is less expensive than being ready for it 24/7/365 days a year.

And everyone wants to conveniently forget that ambulances can travel 3 to 4 times faster between 12am and 6am, thus no ones life is being endangered. Lives are endangered during rush hours and in construction zones when ambulances get stalled in traffic with nowhere to go.

I am sorry if what I say just makes a little too much sense and very few can comprehend the logic and reason behind it.

########################################################################################################################################

It appears to me that NFD does not want to make any sacrifices. My L-W FF acquaintance informed me last night that my posts are posted on the walls of the L-W Fire Department. I assume there is a good chance they are also posted on the walls of the Naperville Fire Department. (BTW he told me he said DALEY DAYS and not KELLY DAYS. He said in Chicago they call them DALEY DAYS and in the suburbs they call them KELLY DAYS. He also reiterated his contract allows him to take the entire summers off and is able to due to his seniority and has done so a few times. He mentioned the L-W FF contract is not the same as the NFD contract, thus I was not lying about anything. That should have been a no-brainer for you folks who work at the NFD to know that your contract is negotiated between your UNION and our City Council Members.) So why all these cries of CIJ is lying when you know he/she/it is not lying.

There may be an orchestrated attempt by the NFD to SMOTHER MY MESSAGE with SMOKE. It will not work. Now step up to the plate and make some SACRIFICES like everyone else is in this economy.

If you don't like my recommended SACRIFICES, recommend some of you own. The bottom line is we have $160.8 million in combined pension liability deficits, pension fund losses and operating budget deficits of which the NFD is partially responsible for creating. If you create a problem, you must take some responsibility in trying to resolve it. The PUCK also stops in the FIRE HOUSE!

It is not proper to expect all the other departments in City Hall to make the sacrifices for you. It is not proper to ask the taxpayers to make all the sacrifices for you.

The FFs and Mayor George Pradel chose 5 individuals to oversee your own FIRE PENSION FUND. Your PENSION FUND lost $10 million in one year. Is that the taxpayers fault? (The NPD Pension Fund lost the other $10.5 million)

Now, why don't you be good citizens and pass your FF helmets around and try to collect this 10 million dollar YOU folks lost. We the residents also lost tons of money in our 401k that are now 101ks? Are we coming to you for help? We are not! We have lowered our standard of living and exist on new family budgets.

Please don't come to us for help when you took the stupid risks of investing in the bubbling stock market instead of FDIC insured bank accounts where you would have had $10.4 million at a 4% interest rate one year later instead of a Big Fat 0 for that 10 million you risked and lost down to the last penny.

Now how logical and reasonable is that? Please stop making so many excuses like CHILDREN. Take your FAIR SHARE OF RESPONSIBILITY like ADULTS! Please!

Thank you,

CIG

PS. Once again I urge you Moderator to ask your bloggers to choose a handle. Otherwise I will address them jointly not knowing who is who and who said what. Pretty soon they will accuse me of lying because I can not identify one anonymous from another. The situation is really ridiculous and it is in YOUR POWER TO CHANGE IT!
THANK YOU!

CIJ wrote: "As far as driving people away, the FACTS disagree with you. This specific thread is the busiest on the Main Page by leaps and bounds.Nearly 10 times as busy as the second busiest thread and 20 times as busy or more than the average thread on the Main Page. How do you explain that, may I ask?"

Out of curiosity, I decided to look into this further:
As of 8 am on November 30, 2009

609 total posts on this thread

posts by CIJ 155+ (25%)

posts by bloggers responding to CIJ with comments about CIJ's blogging style or responding to CIJ's accusations or twisting of words 200+ (33%) (these are posts that are not only about the topic at hand)

posts by the moderator regarding all of the above 25+ (4%)

So if success of the blog means being the most prolific poster and causing such controversy that people respond to your tactics as opposed to the the topic at hand, then I guess this blog is successful. When 60% of the posts are one person and people responding to the tactics of that person, I don't feel that the blog is successful. And if we actually went by word count, CIJ posts way more than 25% of the blog in that case.

Personally I think that the Afghanistan thread has been much more productive and intelligent of a thread. While it is not a topic that I have a ton of interest in, I have definitely learned some things on that. No one is getting in the way of the message there.

CIJ, thanks for proving me right.

Your logic escapes me, and it probably escapes anyone who posesses common sense. Have you ever thought that you're driving others away from this blog site with your crazy behavior? Maybe once the CM saw how you operate, they decided it would be a waste of time to return. And to your comment that people "come out of nowhere to comment", well, that's just not true. Speaking for myself, I think others read the blog site frequently, but do not feel the need to comment on each and every single entry like you apparently do. Maybe they feel the need to comment on your outrageous behavior, NOT because of your message, but maybe they take offense to your ridiculously childish behavior and the fact that you act like a rabid nutcase. Other people filter their thoughts. Doing so makes them appear more intelligent and cuts down on the equivalent of written 'oral diahrrea'. Maybe you should try it.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 29, 2009 11:44 PM

"We have since learned right on this blog site that neighboring FDs work very closely together with ours. If a situation ever arose we need 7 ambulances, certain parts of Warrenville, L-W, Wheaton, Aurora, Romeoville and Plainfield are even closer to Naperville than certain parts of Naperville are to each other. We help them and they help us so we don't have to plan for the worse case scenarios which is cost prohibitive in good times and impossible in bad times."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Hey, lets not worry about paying our own bills because someone else will pay them for us.... Other towns can not afford to pay our bills and cover our services. There will come a point in which we are told "go get your own." We are already overly relying on other towns to cover our services, as I have shown before. You just don't get it....

CIJ, The law is the law, and you should start reading the law. The State of Illinois has the "(625 ILCS 5/) Illinois Vehicle Code" posted on the web at
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=062500050HCh%2E+11+Art%2E+VI&ActID=1815&ChapAct=625%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B5%2F&ChapterID=49&ChapterName=VEHICLES&SectionID=59647&SeqStart=103100&SeqEnd=104400&ActName=Illinois+Vehicle+Code%2E

You should read the law before making your comments "ambulances can travel 3 to 4 times faster."

Please take special note of sections..
Sec. 11‑1421 (a) 4 "Whenever the ambulance or rescue vehicle is
operated at a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour, the ambulance or rescue vehicle shall be operated in complete conformance with every other motor vehicle law and regulation of this State and of the political subdivision in which the ambulance or rescue vehicle is operated, relating to the operation of motor vehicles, as such provision applies to motor vehicles in general, except laws and regulations pertaining to compliance with official traffic‑control devices or to vehicular operation upon the right half of the roadway; "

The City of Naperville does not permit emergency to disregard "traffic‑control devices." They must stop for red lights and stop signs, they may than proceed after other drivers have given them the right of way.

and 5(b) "The foregoing provisions do not relieve the driver of an ambulance or rescue vehicle from the duty of driving with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor do such provisions protect the driver from the consequences resulting from the reckless disregard for the safety of others."

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 29, 2009 11:44 PM

"And eveyone wants to conveniently forget that ambulances can travel 3 to 4 times faster between 12am and 6am, thus no ones life is being endangered."

(625 ILCS 5/11‑1421) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11‑1421)
Sec. 11‑1421. Conditions for operating ambulances and rescue vehicles.
(a) No person shall operate an ambulance or rescue vehicle in a manner not conforming to the motor vehicle laws and regulations of this State or of any political subdivision of this State as such laws and regulations apply to motor vehicles in general, unless in compliance with the following conditions:
1. The person operating the ambulance shall be
either responding to a bona fide emergency call or specifically directed by a licensed physician to disregard traffic laws in operating the ambulance during and for the purpose of the specific trip or journey that is involved;

2. The ambulance or rescue vehicle shall be
equipped with a siren producing an audible signal of an intensity of 100 decibels at a distance of 50 feet from the siren, and with a lamp or lamps emitting an oscillating, rotating or flashing red beam directed in part toward the front of the vehicle, and these lamps shall have sufficient intensity to be visible at 500 feet in normal sunlight, and in addition to other lighting requirements, excluding those vehicles operated in counties with a population in excess of 2,000,000, may also operate with a lamp or lamps emitting an oscillating, rotating, or flashing green light;

3. The aforesaid siren and lamp or lamps shall be in
operation at all times when it is reasonably necessary to warn pedestrians and other drivers of the approach thereof during such trip or journey;

4. Whenever the ambulance or rescue vehicle is
operated at a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour, the ambulance or rescue vehicle shall be operated in complete conformance with every other motor vehicle law and regulation of this State and of the political subdivision in which the ambulance or rescue vehicle is operated, relating to the operation of motor vehicles, as such provision applies to motor vehicles in general, except laws and regulations pertaining to compliance with official traffic‑control devices or to vehicular operation upon the right half of the roadway; and

5. The ambulance shall display registration plates
identifying the vehicle as an ambulance.

(b) The foregoing provisions do not relieve the driver of an ambulance or rescue vehicle from the duty of driving with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor do such provisions protect the driver from the consequences resulting from the reckless disregard for the safety of others.
(Source: P.A. 88‑517.)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you understand the meaning of "due regard for the safety of all persons" or the meaning of "consequences resulting from the reckless disregard for the safety of others."

The laws for Ambulances are simular to the laws for Fire Engine and their drivers. NO FIREFIGHTER OR PARAMEDIC IS GOING TO DRIVE 3 TO 4 TIMES FASTER AT NIGHT. REDUCED VISION AND/OR LINE OF SITE WOULD MAKE THIS DANGEROUS. Just one accident, from an emergency vehicle speeding, would wipeout any savings from reduced manning for YEARS to come. The City of Naperville would be liable for any injury or deaths that may occur from such acts. Do you understand the liability????

By Anonymous on November 25, 2009 10:33 PM
"PS. If they finally listened and most of those being laid off are from the Building Department, maybe it is not the end of the world. No services to the residents will be lost here. Hopefully, they were nice enough to try to get them jobs in Plainfield the next booming town with great potential for growth instead of just handing them their walking papers"
PPS CIJ - You apparently have no idea what the "building department" does if you think no services to the residents will be lost. moron.

Anonymous, you must have missed the part earlier where CIJ said he had apt buildings and was afraid the city would retaliate against him with building code violations if he spoke out openly. Do you think this could be the real reason he wants to gut the Building Department?

By Anonymous on November 29, 2009 8:23 PM
For what it’s worth, I was at Edward hospital last Wednesday and didn’t see any ambulances at all. I think that using CIJ’s logic I can proclaim that the ambulances never visit the hospital and are a total waste of money. We should fire all the paramedics and sell the ambulances to a city that hasn’t yet learned from the great CIJ.

========================================================================================================================================

Your remarks are very childish. I simply said we could probably live with 5 ambulances instead of 7 between the hours of 12am and 6am based on my eyewitness observation, data from the NFD itself and what a L-W FF acquaintance told me about activity at those lame hours.

We have since learned right on this blog site that neighboring FDs work very closely together with ours. If a situation ever arose we need 7 ambulances, certain parts of Warrenville, L-W, Wheaton, Aurora, Romeoville and Plainfield are even closer to Naperville than certain parts of Naperville are to each other. We help them and they help us so we don't have to plan for the worse case scenarios which is cost prohibitive in good times and impossible in bad times.

Other FDs including Oak Brook and Hinsdale cut FFs. My L-W FF acquaintence told me they are not allowed to run an ambulance any more if it using OT....so one less is being used during a significant part of the week. I assume probably in the wee hours of the night.

I don't think FFs in other towns are stupid or risking the lives of their residents. I think they realize that smoke alarms, fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, better building materials and sprinkler systems have made fires less frequent and less deadly. When their respective cities asked them to make some cuts, they did not gripe and whine. They made some cuts to be team players.

I am sure our NFD will in due time understand they have to make some cuts and will make the necessary and proper cuts. I do not believe they are selfish and expect all the other city departments to take the full burden and brunt of our $14.1 million operating budget deficit. I also believe they understand the taxpayers are MAXED OUT!

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. The bottom line is our 7 ambulances make on average 2 trips each to Edward's or other hospitals in a 24 hour period according to their own data. Thus ambulances are out about 2 hours each 24 hour shift. They are pretty much idled 22 hours a day and most likely between the hours of 12am and 6am. I am only calling for a minimum cut of 2 out of 7 ambulances during some graveyard lame hours and everyone is up in arms and pretending I want to shut the entire NFD down. Why all these distortions and lies?

If a serious emergency develops between 12am and 6am, we not only can rely on our neighbors but if worse comes to worse Superior Amubulance which is a private service with dozens of ambulances could help us out and bill us. Being billed for an extraordinary event once a year is less expensive than being ready for it 24/7/365 days a year.

And eveyone wants to conveniently forget that ambulances can travel 3 to 4 times faster between 12am and 6am, thus no ones life is being endangered. Lives are endangered during rush hours and in construction zones when ambulances get stalled in traffic with nowhere to go.

I am sorry that what I say just makes a little too much sense and very few can comprehend the logic and reason behind it.

For what it’s worth, I was at Edward hospital last Wednesday and didn’t see any ambulances at all. I think that using CIJ’s logic I can proclaim that the ambulances never visit the hospital and are a total waste of money. We should fire all the paramedics and sell the ambulances to a city that hasn’t yet learned from the great CIJ.

CIJ wrote; Do you think residents believe I am a moron.

Absolutely!!!

BTW CIJ, Ken is his real name. Until you start using your first name, you really can't say much about anyone else being anonymous.

By Another Anonymous on November 29, 2009 9:06 AM It's juvenile and toxic, and does nothing to enhance The Naperville Sun's blog site. As a matter of fact, it drives people away because it appears to be the redundant rantings of someone with too much time on their hands.

========================================================================================================================================

AA,

You know what is juvenile is that you choose to make your comments about ME instead of the subject of the thread. Now that is a sign of someone who has time to burn....nothing better to do with his life.

My comments are directed to City Hall. I am trying to expose how my $70,000 tax bill should be no more than $56,000 because City Officials are incompetent, inefficient and wasteful. If I can expose the waste, I can save myself 14k a year and prevent further tax increases not only to myself but every resident in Naperville.

I am holding my City Officials accountable and responsible by CHECKMATING them against a wall. Look at how CM Bob is afraid to debate me for fear I will expose that he is most probably receiving these Too Rich Benefits that he is pretending to fight against. He ran away before I could ask him to make the appropriate sacrifices. He wants the Police and Fire Pensions reformed but not the Too Rich Benefits he receives which are just as taxing as the Too Rich Pensions that he and his colleagues coined. He is nothing but a HYPOCRITE just like CM Krause. Both are usually against higher taxes at election time and when elections are over they are looking for ways to increase taxes instead of reducing expenses and waste.

I have a CAUSE and a PURPOSE. You have nothing, AA. That is why I have been able to outlast everyone here who eventually dies off like a bee which just stung. However, there is never a shortage of new bees ready to sting the MESSENGER.

As far as driving people away, the FACTS disagree with you. This specific thread is the busiest on the Main Page by leaps and bounds.Nearly 10 times as busy as the second busiest thread and 20 times as busy or more than the average thread on the Main Page. How do you explain that, may I ask?

========================================================================================================================================

Nobody appears to be driven away by MESSAGE. Everyone here is attempting to smother MY MESSAGE because it is TRUE. Everyone is threatened by MY MESSAGE. Since MY MESSAGE is TRUTHFUL and hard to bear or dispute, everyone has chosen to attack the MESSENGER.

========================================================================================================================================

If this MESSENGER was spewing NONSENSE, he/she/it would never draw 500 posts in an attempt to destroy his/her/its MESSAGE.

Think about that my not-so-wise fellow blogger.

Thank you,

CIJ

Another Anonymous,

I have made the changes you and others have requested. The problems is you folks can't change.

Again, I don't start attacks with anyone. People come out of the woodwork to attack me because I want budget cuts and no tax increases.

I was recently accused of being a police and fire fighter hater even though the cuts I want are for ALL CITY EMPLOYEES. BTW, I never met a Naperville FF and I am accused of HATING THEM. Now how childish is that?

One blogger whose name I can not mention asked for a TRUCE. I was happy to grant him a TRUCE. He neither attacks me and I don't attack him. Why can't everyone agree to a TRUCE if you truly care about this BLOG SITE?

So the problem is really not on my part. The problem is with bloggers like you who come out of nowhere and began attacking the blogger instead of his/her/its MESSAGE.

I am providing solutions and readers are listening and more and more blogging in support. Apparently, it is disturbing to you that the silent majority supports lower taxes and NOT less services.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

Ps. Notice your comments indicate you live in the past and are stuck in the past....they themselves are very childish and repetitive.

"What I am comparing is the annual net pay of retailers to the COST OF ONE BENEFIT of Government Employees."

That doesn't make any sense now does it? The annual net pay of a retail employee doesn't cover the benefits of a city employee. If that retail employee owns property in the city of naperville, a portion of that money goes to cover the portion of the cost of one benefit of a local government employee.

If you are talking about a retail employee covering a portion of federal and state employees, that's a different story. But you are skewing that data to make a case for your argument. But it's full of holes now, isn't it.

To CIJ, it seems to me that you create your own problems. You continually comment about your "supporters" and stated the number of supposed supporters you have. I'm sorry, but with your lack of credibility, I think many here believe a CIJ "supporter" is just another one of CIJ's fictional characters. You've done it before.

Why not just post comments without being derogatory to others and without giving us your life story. The more I hear, the less I think of you and the more your credibility goes down the proverbial toilet.

Please quit the me versus them tirades. It's juvenile and toxic, and does nothing to enhance The Naperville Sun's blog site. As a matter of fact, it drives people away because it appears to be the redundant rantings of someone with too much time on their hands.

(AA answer)

AA and others

If you click "Preview" even without writing anything, you can see the new posts by scrolling to the bottom. You'll also notice that they have a slightly different font.

Chris, while you are at it, maybe get some way to have newer entries in older topics actually appear when you click on the old topic.

-1

The Preview button will always give you the most recent posts. Nothing else seems to work with certainty.

CIJ

CIJ, this is an opinion blog, and I have clearly stated my opinion that you are a reckless based on your own admissions of exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph.

Tell you what, meet me someplace and I will give you my last name so you can try to sue me. That brings me to my second point; the fact that I have stated several times that I use my real name and that some people here know who I am. I will be glad to use my full name...as soon as you do. I don't want to put up with internet crazies of your ilk, so I will only use my first name until there is a level playing field.

If the internet libel laws continue to tumble, as the article I posted indicate they are, I think I will have a better chance in court than you. Also, calling my comments fairy tales instead of lies will not protect you, as your intent is clear.

CIJ wrote:

"Most of you use the words liar and lie interchangeably due to your lack of knowledge of libel laws. The first is almost always libel unless one is a pathological liar which is almost impossible to prove and the second is usually not especially when or if one can prove a lie was told."

All anyone who wanted to prove you a pathological liar, CIJ, is bring a copy of your comments(current and past, especially the ones where you claimed to be the whole naperville cult) here at this blog. So take me to court, I will enjoy it. I was trying to give you a helpful hint so you would tone it down, but I would enjoy taking your money instead.

To Chris,
I've noticed a situation where a topic will show the number of posts to reflect that it's been updated, yet when I click on the topic to read the new entried, they are not there. Only the old posts and old post count comes up. If I hit 'refresh', it doesn't bring up the new posts. If I click 'back', it shows the topic title and the 'new' post count.
Do you know why this is or how to get to the new entries?
Thanks,
AA

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 27, 2009 7:43 AM

Do you folks ever listen to yourselves? Do you think residents believe I am a moron. Every day new residents come on here and say they support me 100% or are with me or understand what I am saying.

You guys don't want them to understand what I am saying. Sorry it is not working. As I said, as I tell the truth, I will have 100% support from the residents. That truly is your BIGGEST NIGHTMARE!
-----------------------------------------------------

Have you guys heard about proxy software? It allows you to cover up your actual IP address and assume another. That way you can appear to be where you are not, and/or appear to be different people.

By Anonymous on November 28, 2009 4:33 PM
"Most retail employees don't even have a net pay of 16k per year."

Government workers are public servants. The least they can get are good benefits. The majority of government workers make well under $50,000 before taxes. I know you like to make B. Marshall your poster boy for your cause, but he is but 1 out of 1000.

========================================================================================================================================

I think what is being lost on many is that I am not comparing the NET PAY of RETAILERS to the NET PAY of a Naperville City Employees.

What I am comparing is the annual net pay of retailers to the COST OF ONE BENEFIT of Government Employees. Yes, the employee health benefit cost more than the entire annual Net Pay of a Retail Employee. And the pension cost benefit costs as much as the entire Net Pay of yet ANOTHER Retail Employee. This is INCREDIBLE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. These retail employees are hopelessly trying to support government employees who want to tax them even further for more enrichment and entitlement. There has to be a LIMIT to GREED on the backs of the Naperville Taxpayers!

Many retailer employees are college educated and many city employees are not....vice versa is also true.

Every Fire Fighter and Police Officer starts at nearly 60k per year at about age 22 or a little higher...sometimes only 21. Average pay for city employees is much higher than 50k. These employees are almost half the City Employees. I bet out of the rest half make more than them and half make less than them. So for you to say City Employees make well under 50k before taxes is not accurate. It is a misstatement at best! I am sure Junior Krieger and DD Marshall make well over 150k and their numerous assistants and heads of departments make well over 100k. And of course average pay for POs and FFs far exceeds starting pay of nearly 60k.

DD Marshall is not 1 in a 1000. The Mayor and the head of the Naperville Park District may be or will be receiving Pensions if they already are not receiving them while currently employed. That is 3 out of a 1000. How many do I not know about? I do not work in the personal department of City Hall or the Park District. I do not know all their hidden secrets. I am not the Napergate Man with spies well positioned in City Hall who seemed to know everything in the 90s.

Yes, DD Robert Marshall is my poster boy. But I bet there are thousands in cities and the state who are doing the same, bankrupting our cities and state....being difficult burdens on the taxpayers in such rough economic times.

As the previous Anonymous stated or hinted we are just putting Band-Aids on a very serious wound. The wound will continue to erupt like Mt. Helen unless the root cause of the illness is dealt with.

Thank you,

CIJ

CIJ...
Do your police/fire hating rants somewhere else. 99% of us support them. They are underpaid for the garbage they put up with. Who do you plan to call in an emergency? A 7-11 clerk?

"Most retail employees don't even have a net pay of 16k per year."

If you chose a job in retail you know what you're getting into - right? Most retail people I know are high school students or retired people or housewives. At least in this area that's how it is.

Government workers are public servants. The least they can get are good benefits. There are no stock options, no bonuses, no million dollar salaries. The majority of goverment workers make well under $50,000 before taxes. I know you like to make B. Marshall your poster boy for your cause, but he is but 1 out of 1000.

Hey you know what, cutting 25-57 people still doesn't cover the $11 hole. It covers a portion, but guess what, the economy is still in the toilet. So next year, when more people lose their jobs and foreclose, we lose that much more revenue and have another huge gap to fill. You can cut half the staff if you want to, but those people are a majority Naperville residents too. So you perpetuate the problem, there is a revenue steaming issue. Cutting people and benefits isn't enough, there have to be long term, sustaining changes.

By Anonymous on November 27, 2009 11:57 PM

========================================================================================================================================

What you are posting proves you can not have the MANPOWER for every extraordinary event that takes place rarely. Other departments help us and we help them.

That is why we could probably close 5 of the 10 FSs between midnight and 6am. The minute we have something we can not handle so many wonderful surrounding FDs are willing to help us as we are willing to help us. We are dependent upon them and they are equally dependent on us.

It not like the Water Treatment Centers of 10 cities will leak at chlorine at the same time. One may leak every 5 years and with several hazardous units in many suburbs we are more than adequately taken care of. Sharing expenses is a nice way of REDUCING EXPENSES.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 28, 2009 12:25 AM

I have NEVER seen "EVERYDAY" support for you. If there are new residents posting "EVERYDAY" I want you to show it to me.... THIS IS JUST ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR MADE UP STORIES. SHOW ME THE PROOF OF THIS STATEMENT, AS I HAVE NOT SEEN OR READ IT.

========================================================================================================================================

Last time I checked 3 in a row supported me or my MESSAGE on the non-profit thread yesterday or the day before. I have re-posted many of my other supporters comments in the past.

My supporters only post once. They don't repeat themselves.

You folks fear you will be losing your Big Fat Pensions and Benefits and thus you repeat and repeat yourselves fearing my MESSAGE will eventually get out. Your goal is to smother my MESSAGE. Ever so obvious!

Well, it is finally getting out. Nothing you can do about stopping it since the current Moderator does not practice CENSORSHIP. Your Big Fat Benefits will not last much longer as residents will not tolerate the streets not being plowed and salted so you can have 90% of your Rolls Rocye Benefits paid for by the taxpayers. Ridiculous and ludicrous what you folks are trying to get away with on the strained backs of the taxpayers as Blogger Supporter Jeff so eloquently stated. I will spare you re-posting his wonderful post a second time unless you request it.

Thank you,

CIJ

Recent court rulings have tended to side with anonymous posters and against those who want their identities revealed, Bellia said. And judges are more likely to set a higher threshold when ruling on identifying anonymous sources in newspaper stories, although in this case the newspaper was merely hosting an online forum, not providing the content, Bellia said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ken,

This is what the article said that you posted a link to. Keep in mind Ken you are Anonymous and you can not libel an Anonymous individual no matter what is said about him since he is not known and no financial damage can accrue to him which is a prerequisite to a libel charge.

I never said you are a liar but you definitely lie. You are the one who calls yourself a liar since I never would call anyone a liar and NEVER have....dah! Calling me a RECKLESS DRIVER is a BLATANT LIE. A person who gets a ticket for going a few miles over or not igniting his signal is not a RECKLESS DRIVER. He is a normal driver who makes mistakes or has lapses which is human.

A person needs to be convicted in a court of law to be labled a RECKLESS DRIVER. That really is a very serious charge. Many DUI drivers plead guilty to the lesser criminal charge of RECKLESS DRIVING.

I don't care how many Kindergarten Children you get to stand up for you, Kenny Boy. They don't know what they are talking about just like you. I have sued for libel before and won, so I am very familiar with libel laws.

Most of you use the words liar and lie interchangeably due to your lack of knowledge of libel laws. The first is almost always libel unless one is a pathological liar which is almost impossible to prove and the second is usually not especially when or if one can prove a lie was told.

When I was accused of being a RECKLESS DRIVER, a lie was told. That is a FACT! Consider yourself lucky, Kenny Boy that I am anonymous or I would have taken you to the cleaners after I was done laundering your mouth with soap and water like your Mom probably once did.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. Part of the problem here is many of the Kindergarten Children do not understand the legal definition of a RECKLESS DRIVER.

Secondly, Ken, if you had the courage to meet anyone face to face as you constantly challenge, you would be using your REAL FULL NAME here and not Barbie's boyfriend's fictional name.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 25, 2009 9:00 PM
Ken,
Aren't you the guy who pretended he was in a wheel chair to get sympathy on this blog site?

Aren't you also the guy who was married to a Barbie Doll? Cut your nonsense out and start acting like an adult.
That is how it works Kenny Boy. Go play with Barbie and stop all your nonsense. It is so childish that it is pre-Kindergarten behavior.

Thank you,

CIJ
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The above comments are the epitome of childish, pre-kindergarten behavior, and the inability to converse with others in a civil and mature manner. Get off this blog site, CIJ, you are nothing but an immature hack with way too much time on his or her hands. You have such an inflated opinion of yourself and demand to be respected, yet you cannot afford others the same courtesy. Apparently you are an angry person who feels the need to belittle anyone who disagrees with you. You start childish fights and your actions toward others are that of an uneducated, inferior, childish schoolyard bully. Don't dish it out if you can't take it. You whine to the moderator when others respond to your babyish behavior, and you want him to scold others for doing exactly what YOU do... what YOU start! Stop trying to hide behind Chris and take it like an adult. Grow up or go away.

Wow. CIJ, I never thought even YOU would stoop so low as to verbally attack a handicapped individual and accuse them of lying in an effort to gain... what? Sympathy? Credibility? Compassion? Status? You have none of those as far as I am concerned.

I think you owe Ken a humble apology, but humility does not seem to be in your vocabulary. Neither does 'credibility' or 'civility' for that matter. Hey Ken, just consider the source and know that CIJ has to live with herself every day. Now THAT'S someone to feel sorry for!

by CIJ- Ps. I think Kevin indicated that he chooses to communicate with me because he feels I am reasonable and will listen. I assume he chooses not to waste his time communicating with you folks because he can see that you are instigators and would be a complete waste of his time. He is very right! RIGHT ON TARGET!!!

Go ahead Kevin, is that what you think? Do you like when CIJ verbalizes your assumptions about what you think? You have been a very diplomatic responder, as neutral as can be under the circumstances. Hang in there and you too will get sick of the constant manipulation of your observations. Just like in the Middle East, there is no negotiating with fanaticism.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 27, 2009 7:43 AM

Do you folks ever listen to yourselves? Do you think residents believe I am a moron. Every day new residents come on here and say they support me 100% or are with me or understand what I am saying.

"Every day new residents come on here and say they support me 100%"....GIVE ME A BREAK...OH PLEASE, GET OVER YOURSELF. One or two people have posted and stated their support of you. Their support only lasts for a short time, until for some odd reason, you get into a name calling fight with them. Others whom post, and support you, sound more like you posting as someone else.

I have NEVER seen "EVERYDAY" support for you. If there are new residents posting "EVERYDAY" I want you to show it to me.... THIS IS JUST ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR MADE UP STORIES. SHOW ME THE PROOF OF THIS STATEMENT, AS I HAVE NOT SEEN OR READ IT.

"By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 27, 2009 7:43 AM
Dear Friend,
I read the newspapers daily, read the city web site, and on-line and have not read what you wrote. Now if you want bloggers to believe you, you MUST POST LINKS."

CIJ,
Your games are shallow and boring. The links you want are easliy found by just looking at the Naperville Sun Website, Just open the news tab and read.....Also the City of Naperville website under the Press room tab....Further, other papers that cover Naperville will also write stories about these incidents. These others often write their stories from other sources, When a news story comes up, it is a good idea to research and read other papers reports (herald, trib).

http://www.naperville.il.us/pressroom.aspx
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/index.html

None hurt in chlorine leak
November 22, 2009
Based on this information, the Hazardous Materials Team Leader determined that an upgraded response would be needed, and additional hazardous materials teams were summoned from Lisle-Woodridge, Downers Grove, Aurora and Sugar Grove.

Media Release
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hazardous Materials Incident at Naperville Water Treatment Facility
Additional Hazardous Materials teams were summoned to the scene from the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, (MABAS Division 16 - Lisle-Woodridge and Downers Grove), MABAS Division 13 (Aurora and Sugar Grove) and MABAS Division 10

Media Release
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Fire Personnel Battle Crystal Rock Residence Blaze
The Naperville Fire Department was assisted on the scene by the Naperville Police Department. Neighboring fire departments provided coverage at Naperville fire stations that were assigned this incident.

Media Release
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Fire Personnel Respond to Call on West Court
The Naperville Fire Department was assisted on the scene by Naperville Police. The Lisle-Woodridge Fire District, the Aurora Fire Department, provided coverage of Naperville fire stations while the incident was in progress.

Media Release
Friday, November 06, 2009
Fire Personnel Attend to Structure Fire on Frontenac Road
The Naperville Fire Department was assisted on the scene by Naperville Police, Naperville Emergency Management Agency personnel, the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District, the Downers Grove Fire Department, the Aurora Fire Department, the Carol Stream Fire District (MABAS Division 12) and Naperville public Works. Neighboring Fire Departments also provided coverage of Naperville fire stations while the incident was in progress.

CIJ, for being a "Journalist" you don't read, nor do you "Investigate" the press releases posted.

CIJ, anyone who has 20 plus tickets in 40 years of driving is a reckless driver. Most people I know my age and older have maybe two or three tickets during their driving years. My Dad drove for 55 years and had 2 tickets during that time. Calling me a liar is not going to change the fact that your own words prove you to be a reckless driver.

Speaking of calling me a liar, you have lied once again when you said I tell many fairy tales. Every time you have accused me of lying, even when using one of your many false aliases, I have offered to provide proof. You may want to cut back on your libelous remarks, as a recent court case has shown that you may not always be able to hide behind a fake name on the internet ( http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/oct/14/magazine/chi-buffalo-grove-web-fightoct14 }.

Anonymous 007 and Anonymous 6:27 am, thanks for sticking up for me. I always consider the source when attacked, and only replied because CIJ was twisting the facts and many people here may not know the true story. I'm sure CIJ counted on that...

By Ken on November 25, 2009 12:25 AM
CIJ, please start paying attention to the road, and not how many ambulances are driving around. I don't want any of my family injured or killed by a reckless driver like you!

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Anonymous and Anonymous 007,

Very interesting. Ken starts up with me and calls me a RECKLESS DRIVER because I got a few tickets for speeding or not turning on my signal, and you are suddenly ganging up on me and bringing culture and background into this thing. Even calling me insane. The only insanity is coming from those who attack the MESSENGER instead of the MESSAGE. The wimps on this blog site who do not have a defense against what I research and detail.

A RECKLESS DRIVER is a serious allegation to level at someone. It is a lie and a false charge.

And both of you punks decided to side with him despite the fact that he started up with me.

If he does not believe me when I tell the truth, than I don't believe him when he says he was in a wheel chair. He is known to tell fairy tales on this blog site.....many fairy tales.

I say you should all go suck on some GOAT MILK!

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

Ps. I think Kevin indicated that he chooses to communicate with me because he feels I am reasonable and will listen. I assume he chooses not to waste his time communicating with you folks because he can see that you are instigators and would be a complete waste of his time. He is very right! RIGHT ON TARGET!!!

By Anonymous on November 25, 2009 11:03 PM

I would like to point out that in the past 30 days, according to newspaper reports, the city web site, and on-line, The fire department has had to ask several area neighboring fire departments for help covering stations and calls.....

And I am sure I have missed one or two. This does not sound like an over staffed department to me. This looks like a fire department that is already understaffed and that they currently need to call for assistance EVERYTIME sometime happens.

========================================================================================================================================

Dear Friend,
I read the newspapers daily, read the city web site, and on-line and have not read what you wrote. Now if you want bloggers to believe you, you MUST POST LINKS.

My impression after reading your self serving propaganda was that it was simply exaggerations.

With 10 Fire Stations, Naperville is only going to need to rely on so many other departments when there is an EXTRAORDINARY EVENT.

Ten Fire Stations should be able to handle a small fire in a garage or at a free standing flower shop where there is minimum risk it will spread.

But what you wrote proves that we do not need to over staff, since suburban departments work closely as they should. No suburban department has the budget to staff for a worse case scenario that occurs once every 1 or 5 or 10 years. Thus they work together.

This really shoots all the IF, IF, and IF arguments presented here out of the nearest window.

The NFD once again produceS 120% when they are called. They may be called a few times a day. I reiterate they have plenty of spare time to play, eat and have fun each day on the job. Why deny the truth and lose all your credibility?

As far as Ambulance both CM Bob and the NFD WEB SITE state 14 ambulances visit Edward's and other hospitals each day with patients. We have 7 ambulances. Thus each ambulance visits Edward's twice a day and usually before midnight. My research bore out those facts. It is difficult to argue FACTS and TRUTH when the City and a CM support you.

I saw an M3 and M9 ambulance in 22 visits. I believe those were NFD ambulances but the doors were open so I could not read the lettering. I am sure some of you FFs should know which dept labels their ambulances M series. If they were not, I saw no NFD ambulances. Superior Private Ambulances seem to be doing the brunt of the work at night.

The NFD is not understaffed ever.....as long as we have reciprocal agreements with other towns. And obviously we do!

We probably help other towns more than they help us since they are smaller and the fires in their towns are just as bad as the fires in our town. We should not feel guilty receiving help since we as a city are generous and give a lot of help to other towns.

Maybe our extreme generosity is what has killed our budget and other deficits. We need to learn to live within our means. That is the bottom line. Maybe it is because we are OVERSTAFFED is why we can help other communities so much. Maybe they need to build a few more Fire Stations and become more self-dependent and less dependent on us.

You folks never see the BIG PICTURE which indicates we have $160.8 million in deficits and losses, not including debt. Not one person including CM Bob wants to present a proposal to eliminate these deficits and losses.

Everyone is being self centered and saying it is not in my department. We are doing great. We are efficient. You are a moron, CIJ. I am a moron, but you folks created this $160.8 million in deficits and losses and don't care if it doubles the next 3 years.

Do you folks ever listen to yourselves? Do you think residents believe I am a moron. Every day new residents come on here and say they support me 100% or are with me or understand what I am saying.

You guys don't want them to understand what I am saying. Sorry it is not working. As I said, as I tell the truth, I will have 100% support from the residents. That truly is your BIGGEST NIGHTMARE!

Thank you,

CIJ

Anonymous 007 posted:

"By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 25, 2009 9:00 PM

Ken,
Aren't you the guy who pretended he was in a wheel chair to get sympathy on this blog site?

That is really low CIJ. You get called out on yet another fabrication and turn to personal attacks to take the attention off of you."

------

Anonymous 007--I almost posted about this very same thing previously, but was really trying to stay out of the fray. But here I am, as you are so right about CIJ being caught in another bit of extremely rude, disrespectful and demeaning behavior. If we had read a post about Ken and the miles he used to drive for work but doesn't anymore, and the wheelchair posts from the past, many could come to the conclusion that for whatever unfortunate reason, Ken's lifestyle has probably changed.

But not CIJ, she simply chooses to spin history once again for her own benefit, regardless of how rude her behavior is. My goodness, Ken has offered to meet her face to face, but coming out from behind her over-used keyboard is too much for the woman who uses keyboard courage to behave in a way that would prompt many to ask for forgiveness.

Once again, CIJ--your message is completely lost within your rude and fanatical ranting and accusatory manner. How long have you been in this country? I would think that by now you would have assimilated in a more productive way, as the argumentative behavior that you most likely grew up with in a different culture does not translate well or produce results with most of the population here. Now I am not saying that customs are good or bad or better or worse here or wherever you rolled out of as a child, I'm just saying that if you want to be taken seriously by your audience, you should have learned long ago how to speak with that audience without causing the type of outrage that you do. Not all attention is good attention, and not all responses to your posts are productive responses. I would say that over 90% of responses to you here are unproductive to your message. Instead you continue to use customary behaviors that you most likely grew up with to no avail here. I though you were smart and had a great memory CIJ? Busted again. Are you insane, CIJ?

You should go back and read some of Kevin's posts in the Non Profit thread, he is doing his best to support you and give you sage advice, but will you even listen to someone that is trying hard to offer advice that will make things better for you? At this point, with your behavior here--I ask once again that you go start your own blog. Think about it, CIJ--if your behavior changed toward others and your writing style became less redundant and based in researched fact and figures rather than your personal conversations and "estimated deductions", the responses to your posts would be more productive, rather than pinning you against the wall for your bad behavior. Go back and read some of the back and forth in the previous school district threads. Many intelligent conversations. Many different personalities and opinions. Educated and serious debate. No fiction. Can you compete, or simply talk louder and longer than anyone else, as a complete blowhard?

CIJ you say that you have saved this Sun blog, people come to read your posts for the macabre, not for real information. I don't consider that a successful or intelligent voice at all.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 25, 2009 9:00 PM

Ken,
Aren't you the guy who pretended he was in a wheel chair to get sympathy on this blog site?

That is really low CIJ. You get called out on yet another fabrication and turn to personal attacks to take the attention off of you.

I think Clerestory Consulting should be retained to investigate all the allegations CIJ is making. If these allegations are true, I think all 9 City Council Trustees or Aldermen should be forced to resign immediately. Why are the City Employees taking the blame when they were directed into this chaos by the City Trustees? Are they not the ones who set policy in this town? Someone in this town must at some point be held responsible for what befell this once prosperous town. More than the economy is responsible for what befell this once thriving town.
While it appears that CIJ is laying the blame on everyone from top to bottom, I think she needs to focus her energy on the City Trustees. She may be right that the Trustees refuse to look at the rich benefits because they may also be receiving them.

The city recently spent $60,000 for Clerestory Consulting to analyze its operations.

City Manager Doug Krieger acknowledged that snow removal would be one of toughest reductions for residents to take, but it is also an area in which the city spends a great deal of money.

"Whenever an entity, particularly a service entity, moves into tough budget times and has to make tough decisions we knew this would be a difficult discussion," he said. "Service cuts, if the economy were fine none of these would be on the table."

========================================================================================================================================

I guess you all know why we call him Junior Krieger. His thinking is as junior as it comes.

Service cuts, service cuts and more service cuts. Ridiculous!

We the taxpayers, pay our taxes basically to get services. Not to enrich you City Officials with Too Rich Pensions and Benefits.

How dare you focus your energy on service cuts to the taxpayers who are paying for these services like snowplowing, salting, leaf collection and tree trimming. This is Basic 101.

No where is it written in any Taxpayer Constitution that we are required to pay for 90% of your health benefits after you obtain the Rolls Royce Plan with a 250 deductible that was recently raised to 300 dollars, to appease taxpayers who have 3000 to 5000 deductibles in order that they can afford a 12k a year insurance policy that the most pay for and many times completely, as is my case.

Who do you think you are Junior Krieger paying 16k in health benefits for each city employee? Most retail employees don't even have a net pay of 16k per year. IF THEY BOUGHT A ROLLS ROYCE POLICY LIKE THAT THEY COULD NOT FEED THEMSELVES LET ALONE THEIR FAMILIES.

Who do you think you are spending nearly $1,000,000 dollars in family dental benefits for employees and only charging them 10% when you have documents in City Hall indicating the national average is 60.4% for FAMILY DENTAL contributions by an employee?

If we can not do much about the PENSIONS because they are controlled by the corrupt State of Illinois, are you also going to blame the Too Rich Benefits that you also receive on the State of Illinois, Junior Krieger? You know that is all your fault along with your predecessors including your buddy Double Dipping Robert Marshall. And of course the wise City Council Members who approved these benefits so they can strain the backs of the taxpayers while pretending to represent them. How shameful of you CM Bob to call for any tax increase? I can not believe you stooped to such a low level along with CM Krause who speaks out of both sides of his mouth. And CM Furstenau who actually voted for the Rolls Royce Health Benefit Plan and took care of himself at taxpayer expense. All you folks are worse than the Establishment Council Members who are at least not pretentious and phony!!! They at least tell us taxpayers we are "ripping" you folks off and eat your hearts out if you don't like it.

When analyzing staff cuts, please analyze DD Marshall and see if we really need him. When we hired him after serving as a Police Officer for 30 years, he certainly was not the most qualified individual in the USA let alone even the State and even maybe the City.

========================================================================================================================================

If you and DD Marshall are so qualified in running a City efficiently why did we have to hire Clerestory Consulting for $60k to tell us how to be more efficient?

========================================================================================================================================

When employees are hired based on a Corrupt System of Cronyism, and I am not implying or suggesting either you or DD Marshall specifically were hired in this manner, a City begins to fall apart at the seams. It is though undisputed we are falling apart at the seams. We are like a water bed ready to flood the whole house as the seams become unglued.

When a MAYOR who is awarded the right to hire 4 of 10 pension trustees to oversee a mess they are not qualified to oversee, we saw what happened :$20.5 million of taxpayer dollars evaporated right in front of their eyes and they could not pull the lever in time to stop the flooding. All they could do was NOTHING!

In the last 2 years up to 100 City of Naperville Employees have been dismissed or will be terminated soon. Many of them probably have been on this blog site defending the City that is about to lay them down on the chopping block. How IRONIC!!!

They did not believe me. Now that they are ready to be executed, it is too late to believe me. I urge the remaining 900 employees to believe what I am telling you about the incompetence and inefficiency of your City Bosses before it is too late and they place you on the chopping block next time we have a crisis which is most probably next year, as the ROOT CAUSE of the PROBLEM has NOT BEEN DEALT WITH....YET!!!

Wake up and save your pensions by telling the bosses you want a FAIR PENSION that you can count on and not a TOO RICH PENSION that you will never see since Chapter 9 Bankruptcy will finish those TOO RICH PENSIONS off sooner than later.

Enough for now!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I am still hoping benefits will be cut to plug the gaping budget hole instead of bodies thrown on the streets to fend for themselves in the worse economy since the 1929-1933 severe depression.

Thank you,

CIJ

CID wrote -

'And keep in mind Fire Fighters get to sleep on the job every shift they work for 8 hours. They rarely are woken up on weeknights. I verified that by doing 22 spot checks at Edward's Hospital where I hardly saw any ambulances.'

This is not verification at all, come on CID, really?? Rarely woken up my nose. Because YOU of all people did 'spot checks'. At the hospital. Do the engines and ambulances go to the hospital for fire calls? How long do you think an ambulance stays at the hospital after taking a patient there?? You and your so called 'fact checking' are absolutely pathetic.

Really, CIJ? You're back to the whole 'clever' Ken/Barbie doll thing, yet you harangue others about their childish behavior? Unlike you, I don't lie to better my story, and if you want to meet up I can prove the wheelchair thing. Never posted it for sympathy, it was mentioned on a thread about handicap inaccessibility. As usual, you were caught in a lie, and now have to lash out at someone.

Ever consider trying to just tell the truth, CIJ? That might end a lot of your problems...

People are more important than money. If is worth an extra $40/yr to provide a safe community. I am not willing to trade somebody's life for $40/yr. Change happens slowly.... Don't rush.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 25, 2009 3:14 PM

"And keep in mind Fire Fighters get to sleep on the job every shift they work for 8 hours. They rarely are woken up on weeknights. I verified that by doing 22 spot checks at Edward's Hospital where I hardly saw any ambulances."

DROP THE AMBULANCE THING...PLEASE. CM Bob already put you in your place on this one.....

By Councilman Bob on November 19, 2009 5:13 PM
"The problem we have is in covering the geographical area of Naperville even with 7 ambulances it’s a challenge to ensure that all of our citizens maintain an equitable service if and when the EMS call is needed. We will respond with the closest unit on any EMS call and all of our engines and trucks are equipped with advanced life support equipment and paramedics. But many of our calls require an immediate transport unit i.e. trauma, cardiac and respiratory calls and by having to wait even an additional 3-5 minutes for a transport unit to arrive could make a substantial difference in patient outcome. In certain cases, depending on where the mutual aid ambulance is coming from there could be a substantial delay in a transport unit arriving on the scene. Possibly 10-15 minutes."

"We do cover nearly 60 square miles and the overall challenge is to provide the same service to all residents regardless of the frequency."

"On average, it’s accurate to say that our ambulances are very seldom depleted. This occurs maybe once in a monthly time period. Just so you are aware, we do request mutual aid when we go down to only one ambulance. You are correct in that we will move an ambulance from a south or north location to Station 5 which is centrally located."

I would like to point out that in the past 30 days, according to newspaper reports, the city web site, and on-line, The fire department has had to ask several area neighboring fire departments for help covering stations and calls.....

--fire 8th street
--fire west court
--explosion, haz mat, and fire on Frontenac Road
--Hazardous Materials Incident at Naperville Water Treatment Facility
--Fire Personnel Battle Crystal Rock Residence Blaze
--Fire Department Extinguishes Fire at Scott Elementary School
--Fire at Phillips Flowers & Gifts
--Structure Fire on N. Washington

Press releases, and newspaper reports show that the following towns fire departments have had to assist our city during the above events....
Lisle-Woodridge
Downers Grove
Wheaton
Warrenville
Bolingbrook
Lockport
Sugar Grove
Plainfield
And I am sure I have missed one or two. This does not sound like an over staffed department to me. This looks like a fire department that is already understaffed and that they currently need to call for assistance EVERYTIME sometime happens. Cut their staffing any further and who are they going to have to call next.... Lombard, Elmhurst, or maybe Yorkville, Joliet???

This has all been in the past month.... OPEN YOUR EYES, THEY NEED HELP.

"PS. If they finally listened and most of those being laid off are from the Building Department, maybe it is not the end of the world. No services to the residents will be lost here. Hopefully, they were nice enough to try to get them jobs in Plainfield the next booming town with great potential for growth instead of just handing them their walking papers"

PPS CIJ - You apparently have no idea what the "building department" does if you think no services to the residents will be lost. moron.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 25, 2009 9:00 PM
"It could be some Naperville FFs are under an old contract that gives them 17 days of vaction besides 17 days of work load reduction or Kelly Days. It could be some only get 13 days of vacation time and 17 days of work reduction load. Either way, they should be able to manage 3 months off from work. Something no civilian could ever phantom in his/her wildest dreams."

ONCE AGAIN.... READ THE UNION CONTACT POSTED ON THE CITY COUNCIL WEB SITE. THERE IS NO GRANDFATHER CLAUSE IN THE NAPERVILLE CONTRACT. THE MAX NUMBER OF VACATION DAYS IS 13, AND KELLY DAYS ARE UNPAID DAYS OFF. KELLY ARE SCHEDULE ONE EVERY 27 DAYS AS A COST REDUCTION AND AGAIN WITHOUT PAY. ALSO IN THE UNION CONTACT THERE IS A MAX OF 10 SHIFTS OFF IN A ROW...PERIOD.

If you are going to make comments (or put your "ideas" out there without anything to support it) you are not doing yourself any help.

Ken,
Aren't you the guy who pretended he was in a wheel chair to get sympathy on this blog site?

Aren't you also the guy who was married to a Barbie Doll? Cut your nonsense out and start acting like an adult.

I do not omit anything. I always tell everything. I can not tell everything in one post.

I have been asked to shorten my posts and that is exactly what I have been doing and I am sure they are still long.

I told what a Fire Fighter told me and was speaking about 1 specific Fire Fighter.

I made it clear he was a L-W Fire Fighter and not a Naperville FF.

I never said Naperville FFs get 13 days or 17 days in vacation time. I don't know.

It could be some Naperville FFs are under an old contract that gives them 17 days of vaction besides 17 days of work load reduction or Kelly Days. It could be some only get 13 days of vacation time and 17 days of work reduction load. Either way, they should be able to manage 3 months off from work. Something no civilian could ever phantom in his/her wildest dreams.

I am in the process of uncovering and I do it live right on this BLOG SITE. I present the pieces I have and usually bloggers help me fill in the puzzle.

That is how it works Kenny Boy. Go play with Barbie and stop all your nonsense. It is so childish that it is pre-Kindergarten behavior.

Thank you,

CIJ

Did it ever occur to anyone that CIJ is still writing his non-fiction novel? That the firefighter from a neighboring district is one of the characters in his novel.

By CIJ:

"Nice, how you folks like to change the subject to take the heat and pressure off the wasteful habits of City of Naperville Officials."

Hey, you brought up your reckless driving habits. Now you admit to the same habits on the tollway, not to mention that you feel it is okay to break the laws you choose. I know I have no problem staying in the right lane and obeying the speed limit; why can't you? I used to put on 50-75,000 miles a year, and still received only two valid tickets in 31 years of driving.

Again, it is lawbreakers like you, CIJ, that force a larger police presence and in turn lead to more people collecting BIG FAT PENSIONS.

CIJ wrote:

"He is an older fire fighter so he is grandfathered under an old contract that gives him 17 days of vactation. He made that clear to me."

This is why people don't trust you, CIJ. You omit part of the story to make your case. A lie of omission is still a lie, and you do it deliberately to make your rants appear sensible (even though that too fails). At this point, most would not believe you if you said it is dark at midnight, much less how many ambulances are at Edwards on a given night.

By Naperguy on November 25, 2009 8:58 AM
There you go again CIJ. Making stuff up as usual.
Do you really think an employer would allow employees to take vacation days whenever they want and then pay time and a half to cover them? C'mon! You are either misunderstanding your Lisle-Woodridge friend or you are making this up.

========================================================================================================================================

I never make things up. Always a possibility I misunderstoond my L-W FF acquaintance but since I see him a lot, I can always obtain clarification.

Since you seem like an AUTHORITY, please explain to me why the NFD has significant OT. While I know the NPD OT is 3 million and understand the root sources of it, I can not recall how many millions the NFD OT is or was!?!

What is causing this OT, if it is not from FFs taking time off for Kelly or Vacation days or whatever? How much OT is generated by the PigFest which is a private event? Why don't the PigFest organizers contract out private Superior Ambulances which appear to be in abundance? Laat time I checked PigFest had over one million dollars stashed away in cash and other securities.

Since my FF acquaintence is older he has seniority. He has no trouble taking his summers off when he wants them off.

I have seen the NPD generate a lot of OT that is absolutely not necessary.

Now, I don't know what generates the OT in the NFD but I sure would like to hear from all the EXPERTS on this blog site who are tripping over each other.

It is easy to give one side of the story and paint a rosy picture. I sure would like to hear the other side of the rosy picture.

And finally when are you folks going to offer solutions to our deficits and losses?

I suppose you all feel the only solution is to screw the taxpayer and raise taxes. And sadly we just got hit with an extra .5% sales tax increase besides the real estate tax increase. And City Officials want more and more taxes on restaurants, liquor and cigarettes.

What will happen is our sales tax will decrease and not increase as consumers are smart and will shop in the surrounding towns that have less taxes.

It just seems to me the City Council is in cohoots with the unions and they are all getting these Big Fat Pensions and Benefits at taxpayer expense.

The City Council is not fighting for the taxpayers. They are fighting to save their own TOO RICH BENEFITS that I suspect are identical to the Police and Fire Unions.

It is unimaginagble that the folks in City Hall would cut our services before increasing their contributions for their own rich benefits. How dare they buy the best health policies money can buy and then only pay 10% towards them! UNCONSCIONABLE!!!

They have 300 dollar deductibles and we civilians have 3000 dollar deductibles. This whole thing makes me sick.

I don't know what to tell the poor blogger whose cul-de-sac never gets plowed. Maybe he and every homeowner on a cul-de-sac should not pay their taxes IN PROTEST and help us take the city of Naperville down the path of Chapter 9 and bankruptcy.

I would like to start all over again and eliminate all pensions to any employee and make employees pay at least half the cost of any benefit they get.

Thank you and have a Nice Thanksgiving.

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 25, 2009 8:20 AM
Firefighters’ schedules work out to 56 hours per week. Kelly Day reduces their hours to 48 hours per week. I suspect their union contracts call for 48 hour weeks.

The Kelly days rotate and are covered by the rest of the shift, I believe, without OT. The extra personnel are built into the shift. However, OT may be necessary if someone calls in sick.

========================================================================================================================================

I guess Fire Fighters and/or their friends have been saying fire fighters only make $22.19 per hour based on 56 hours per week. I guess they really make $25.89 per hour if they only truly work 48 hours.

I guess if these WORK REDUCTION HOURS are reducing their HOURS they can not honestly claim they work 56 hours per week.

I guess 416 hours a year divided by 24 hours is 17.33 additional days off. Therefore, I guess my fire fighter acquaintance was telling the truth when he said he can take June, July and August completely off between vacation days and work reduction hours known as Kelly Days.

And keep in mind Fire Fighters get to sleep on the job every shift they work for 8 hours. They rarely are woken up on weeknights. I verified that by doing 22 spot checks at Edward's Hospital where I hardly saw any ambulances.

Most of the few amubulances I saw were for Superior and Platinum. Apparently these are private ambulance services transferring elderly patients from Nursing Homes and taking a lot of pressure off our public servants.

Truth be told, a Fire Fighter job is not that hardest or most demanding job in the world. They have a lot of spare time to have fun on the job, surf on the job, play video games on the job, play basketball on the job, lift weights on the job(required), shop on the job and cook gourmet meals on the job. No one doubts when a fire fighter goes on a rescue mission he gives 120% to save a life or put out a fire. This is undisputed and should not be part of the ongoing debate.

And since they are trained very well, when they go out on calls it is not like they can not handle the stress or perform their chores. They are professionals. Once they have been on the job for a few years, they have seen it all. An accident is not going to put them in DEEP DEPRESSION. Nurses also see injured patients hourly. They work till age 65 or longer and do not get pensions ever let alone at age 52. Somehow they manage to lift these same patients and they are not required to weight lift on the job! Most of them are female.

The bottom line is we have to retain in services what we can afford as a community.

Right now it is inexcusable why we can not hire new FFs for 45k a year with every 6 Americans fighting for one job. This will help our operating budget deficit. Also this would reduce pensions costs by 25% down the road and bring the pension system one step closer to sustainablility and viability.

When FFs take their 3 months off in the summer or another time, we all know they are seal coating our driveways and doing a great job. Thus they have plenty of opportunity to make extra money.

When on the job, they can trade stocks like I do. It takes a second. If a call comes they can abort their trade if they can not complete it in one second. This is the internet age and things move very quickly.

Many fire fighters own condos and apartment buildings they rent out. They can deal with their renters by making a phone call while on taxapayer time and often do.

At some point we need to keep things in perspective.

Thank you and have a Happpy Thanksgiving.

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 25, 2009 7:09 AM
CIJ, they’re called “Kelly days”, not “Daley days”.

Your Lisle-Woodridge friend really is a firefighter, isn’t he?

========================================================================================================================================

Of course, he is a fire fighter. If I accidentally heard him say Daley Days instead of Kelly Days in a noisy health club with music blaring does that make he or I liars. Common folks! You are acting like Kindergarten Children all over again.

I do recall him yelling Mayor Daley but maybe he was saying former Mayor Kelly. Really, no big deal. You guys want to always sidetrack the issue over petty stuff.

If I was not communicating with a real fire fighter I would not know any of this stuff.

He is an older fire fighter so he is grandfathered under an old contract that gives him 17 days of vactation. He made that clear to me. He also did mention that the new contract in Lisle-Woodridge only gives 13 vacation days.

I am sorry that you folks who claim to be experts are not even familiar with the old contract that grandfathered some old fire fighters possibly in our town or other towns. No one knows everything in this world but you try to learn as you go along.

And since these contracts are negotiated by the respective unions and cities, why would they all be IDENTICAL?

If they are all IDENTICAL why are we constantly negotiating with our fire and police unions and giving up the kitchen sinks to them that has caused our massive deficits and losses that have now reached $160.8 million. None of you folks what to address this number or how we can pay for it. If you think attacking CIJ will make this number disappear you are in for a rude awakening.

Anyway, I am always trying to do resarch and learn. If you guys have anything to offer, try to offer it without making wild accusations that I may have been drunk or whatever. As I said before I drink non-alcoholic beer so you will not find me intoxicated...ever!!!

Have a Nice Thanksgiving,

CIJ

By Ken on November 25, 2009 12:25 AM
Well, now we all know why Naperville needs such a huge police force. It's because of repeat lawbreakers like CIJ. Twenty tickets in forty years?... I don't want any of my family injured or killed by a reckless driver like you!

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Nice, how you folks like to change the subject to take the heat and pressure off the wasteful habits of City of Naperville Officials.

I do drive 25,000 miles a year so getting the amount of tickets I got is not unusual. Most are very petty like forgetting to ignite a turn signal or going 66 in a 55 speed zone at night on a Tollway when no one is awake and no one is at harm. Something everyone does on the Tollway. Like everyone else I just get caught once in a while for these petty offenses. Driving 55 when everyone else is driving 75 is a little risky. So I try to drive 65 and every once in a while I get nailed for 66 or 67 as I am not perfect like all you folks who have such inferiority complexes that you can not admit you are imperfect....lol...

I have never received a reckless charge or DUI violation and never will. So please don't wrongfully accuse me of being a reckless driver.

Thank you and Have a Nice Thanksgiving,

CIJ

They could reduce the snow removal on my cul-de-sac by 50%, and I wouldn't notice; 50% of zero is zero.

CIJ

"His belongings were locked to a post inside the parking garage. By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 24, 2009 6:52 PM". The last time I checked the parking garage is public property and he can't just leave his belongings in there and expect them to stay. Anyway you look at this, he is breaking the law...now you might not agree with the law that he is breaking, but he is breaking it. If we lived in a society where it was ok to break the laws that you don't agree with, what kind of place would this be to live? CIJ, from what I read from you I know you respect the law, so I don't see how you can support him knowing he is breaking the law because he doesn't agree with it. That is my main sticking point with this whole situation.

I do agree with your statement that raising taxes could lead to people losing their homes and maybe becoming homeless, but I don't know for sure how that plays out. From what I have seen lately, it looks like the city is finally looking “in” before looking “out” to solve this problem. It looks like the message has been heard that raising taxes in this difficult time is not the answer.

"Shelters are not the most pleasant places to live. They are not the safest. Much theft takes place in those places due to desperation. They are very smelly places. Rapes sometimes occurs in them. By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 24, 2009 6:52 PM ". If what you are saying here is true, then that is very bad and maybe we should be advocating for safer homeless shelters. It is very tough to direct people to shelters for help if in fact it is more risky for them to go there than to live on the street. I think you have open the door here to something that needs to be looked at very carefully.

Thanks,

Kevin

There you go again CIJ. Making stuff up as usual.

"Of course they are required to work if their shift falls on a Holiday but they will receive DOUBLE TIME." It has already been shown that fire, police, and other city workers DO NOT receive double time when working a holiday. If you have info to dispute that fact let's hear it..... I hear silence because the info does not exist.

Secondly, your Lisle-Woodridge friend is leading you astray. Lisle-Woodridge has a time off calendar and you can only pick your days off where spots are available, once the days are filled noone can take that day off therefore NO OVERTIME is generated from vacation days or the Daley days. Do you really think an employer would allow employees to take vacation days whenever they want and then pay time and a half to cover them? C'mon! You are either misunderstanding your Lisle-Woodridge friend or you are making this up.

Kelly day
n. a day off or vacation day taken at a scheduled interval in addition to normal time off or vacation.

Also Kelly shift.
Etymological Note: It has been claimed as early as 1953 that this term comes from Edward Joseph Kelly, mayor of Chicago from 1933 to 1947. He is said to have put in place a similar plan for firefighters in 1936.

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/kelly_day/

Firefighters’ schedules work out to 56 hours per week. Kelly Day reduces their hours to 48 hours per week. I suspect their union contracts call for 48 hour weeks.

The Kelly days rotate and are covered by the rest of the shift, I believe, without OT. The extra personnel are built into the shift. However, OT may be necessary if someone calls in sick.

CIJ,
I think you need to go back to the bar and get your facts right about "work load reduction" days for firefighters. In Naperville they are called Kelly days. Kelly days are forced days off, given once a month, WITHOUT PAY.

YES, YOU READ THAT ONE CORRECT..... FORCED DAYS OFF WITHOUT PAY.

Kelly days are a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) law. If Kelly days were not taken, a firefighter would exceed the max allowed work hours under the law. If they exceed the max number the city would be force to pay overtime.

Work load reduction or Kelly days are a means for the city to avoid and/or reduce overtime. I thought you were the one calling for cuts in overtime and now that you have it, with Kelly days, you are still complaining.....WHY????

Also, if you read the union agreement that was posted with the council minutes several months ago you would know the correct vacation days....

NAPERVILLE FIREFIGHTER TOP OUT AT 13 VACATIONS DAYS AFTER 20 PLUS YEARS. YOUR FIREFIGHTER FRIEND FROM L-W "CONFUSED" YOU.....THE TOTAL PAID TIME OFF IS A MAX OF 13 DAYS AFTER 20 PLUS YEARS, NOT 17 AS YOU STATED.

Once again, the "facts" you put out after a night of drinking with your "L-W" friend are proven to be incorrect and without any true research behind it.

CIJ, they’re called “Kelly days”, not “Daley days”.

Your Lisle-Woodridge friend really is a firefighter, isn’t he?

I was speaking to my Fire Fighter acquaintance in the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Dept. this evening.He told me after 26 years he gets 17 days of vacation and 13 days of work load reduction. I asked him what he meant by that. He said the same as the Daley Days in the Chicago Fire Department.

I was confused. So I asked him if he was getting 30 eight hour days off per year. He said no, he is getting thirty 24 hour days off.

I was still confused.

So he basically told me he can take June, July and August off each year without losing any pay. 3 full months a year.

When I asked him who fills in for you when you take your long vacations, he said any Fire Fighter who wants OT.

Anyway, while I don't know anything about the internal workings of the NFD, if they are similar, I suspect we understand why we have massive OT in the NFD as well as the NPD.

I think the City Council has really not shown the backbone in negotiating with the Fire Fighter's Union. They have given them everything including the kitchen sink and the marble floor in the restrooms in Peg's Palace.

How many of us can take 3 months off after 26 years on the job? I have never heard of such a thing except for teachers. Fire Fighters work 1 day and take 2 days off. And besides vacation days and work reduction days, they get the normal Holidays off. Of course they are required to work if their shift falls on a Holiday but they will receive DOUBLE TIME.

Our Fire Department with the 10th Fire Station will cost us $35,000,000 or $700 dollars a resident annually. More than just real estate taxes go to support our FD. Sales taxes also end up supporting them. I believe the city collects 1% of the state sales tax besides the 1% for the Seca Tax. This is all part of the 7.25%. And they collect all the extra that makes sales tax downtown 9.75%. Just taxes and taxes and more taxes everywhere.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

And now the city wants to add .5% to our sales tax. Does anyone in his or her wildest imaginations believe that this extra sales tax would be removed if the economy got better? Never! Never! Never!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

A bad economy is just an excuse to increase taxes for Naperville Residents instead of performing true cost cutting measures like reducing benefits.

Can anyone believe these folks in City Hall want to cut back on snowplowing the roads and salting them right before snow season as a pressure tactic against the residents? How shameful!

Don't fall for this baloney. This is just their way to convince you to let them increase taxes. Tell them NO! NO! NO!

Do not accept one penny in increased taxation. Demand they reduce taxes since our properties are worth a lot less this year than 2 years ago. Demand they live within their means as we live within our means. Demand they reduce the budget 25% and cut all the excess fat out? City officials should not be driving city owned cars.

It is time to cut half of the 14 employee benefits out completely and make them pay for half the other 7. It is time to stop the insanity of paying for 25% in matching pension contributions for the NFD and NPD.

Don't listen to this garbage that public servants get paid less than the private sector. The highest paying undergraduate job is engineering. On average it pays $58,000 with no pension. Naperville FFs and POs start at almot 60k with full pensions of 75% after 30 years. Don't let anyone fool you! Most undergraduates are lucky to land 25-40k jobs. The second highest undergraduate job was accounting at 48k per year.

We need to prove we don't have this kind of money for pensions and benefits by bankrupting the City since the town is actually broke with $14.1 million in the hole not counting an impossible $126.2 million in pension liability deficits.

Bankruptcy is the only way to relieve ourselves of these pensions. If the Unions and the City Council were stupid enough to make unrealistic deals that are not sustainable, they have to suffer the consequences.

As far as I am concerned the Police and Fire Unions can charge our City Council with fraud for making promises they can not meet.

But I seriously doubt the taxpayers would ever agree to pay this $126.2 million pension liability deficit which will cost each household $2,524 dollars. Residents just don't have this kind of money for the retirements of others when their 401ks are now 201ks dwindling down to 101ks with the next imminent stock market bubble collapse.

Thank you,

CIJ

Well, now we all know why Naperville needs such a huge police force. It's because of repeat lawbreakers like CIJ. Twenty tickets in forty years? I've been driving thirty-one years and have received four tickets, two of which I had the charges dismissed in court. Just the cost savings to the NPD if CIJ alone started following traffic laws would be huge. That number also does not include tickets from other towns, as our resident 'expert' admits getting ticketed in Downers Grove (and foolishly pleading guilty because he didn't know his rights).

CIJ, please start paying attention to the road, and not how many ambulances are driving around. I don't want any of my family injured or killed by a reckless driver like you!

Fellow Napergatian Kevin,

His belongings were locked to a post inside the parking garage. The NPD cut his lock to confiscate his belongings while he was doing a photo shoot for the Naperville Sun at Burger King on Washington 2 blocks away.

I am not Mr. Hubers's best friend so I am not going to approach him while he was angrily looking inside of dumpsters for his belongings. I know he is intelligent and would figure out what happened and did. The NPD did not even leave him a notice on the post where his belongings were locked with a chain and lock. They were not abandoned on the public sidewalk which he knew was illegal after the new ordinance passed.

He was living in front of a parking garage where no one is allowed to park between 2am -5am. So he is not living in front of a home or a business which would be annoying to anyone. And he does not use the electricity there to charge his laptop but the electricity at the Starbucks on Main and Jefferson where he is permitted to use it. Unfortunately, he is banned from the Starbucks on 22 E. Chicago Ave. not by Starbucks but by the landlord of that property.

There are homeless people throughout America and the world. Homelessness is common. I think we are being an arrogant community by not tolerating ONE HOMELESS PERSON. He was living in front of a parking garage. And he claims he was not living there but using it as a 24 hour PROTEST SITE.

He chose a location that would not interfere with any business or homeowner.

Shelters are not the most pleasant places to live. They are not the safest. Much theft takes place in those places due to desperation. They are very smelly places. Rapes sometimes occurs in them.

You need to get out and talk to Scott Huber before saying all you say. He is a nice guy. I have never seen him threatening to anyone. Just because I did not feel comfortable APPROACHING him does not mean I considered him THREATENING. Maybe I simply felt awkward or it was not my place to be involved in what I may have realized was a police matter before he realized it himself.

He is a man between a rock and a hard place. Maybe the Judicial System screwed him over. And if that is the case, he will unjustifiably have his wages garnished if he gets a job. He told me so. He does not want to work for those who he perceives screwed him over. It makes a lot of sense to me.

He is willing to open a business. Maybe with these increased contributions pouring his way due to the publicity, he will change his mind and choose to open a business instead of suing the City of Naperville. That is my hope but he told me he will be suing Naperville and I have no reason to doubt him.

At the last city council meeting an attorney spoke on his behalf. Who knows this attorney may choose to represent him pro bono...Naperville needs to be very careful in how they handle Mr. Scott Huber or they may have another Napergate on their hands with full fledged legal battles to follow.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. We may have to agree to disagree on Mr. Huber but I hope we can both be against higher taxes which will create more homelessness.

CIJ,

“He just went back to his home and found all his belongings missing. Let me ask you Kevin, if you went back to your home and all your belongings were MISSING would you not be extremely angry. I know I would. By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 23, 2009 11:52 PM”. I live in a house that I own and he chooses live on a public street. So I would be upset only because they would have to be trespassing and break into my home to get my “belongings”, he left his belongings in plain sight for anyone to take. It is equivalent to littering on the street. He doesn’t own the street and he doesn’t get the same rights that you and I do as we own our homes. There are laws against breaking into people’s homes stealing their belongings.

Let me ask you this; would you mind him putting his belongings in front of your home on the street? Would that be ok with you and your neighbors? He can run his extension cord up to your home for power so he doesn’t freeze. He can also go to a shelter during the very cold days and nights as he has that option too...but he refuses to do that. I would feel sorry for him if he had nowhere to go, but he has repeatedly refused help from many people. He is making this choice to live where he does, so I don’t feel sorry for him when the consequences of his choice aren’t friendly to him.

If he doesn’t frighten you then why didn’t you feel comfortable talking with him when he appeared angry? I have friends who appear angry sometimes, but I don’t walk away from them because I feel uncomfortable to be around them. If you like this man and truly want to help him, then you should feel comfortable approaching him anytime regardless of how he appears. There was something there that frighten you enough to not want to approach him. Your actions spoke loud when you decided to walk away from him at that moment.

We are going to agree to disagree on this topic as I think he shouldn’t be allowed to live on a public street. He knows the rules and he is choosing to break them. Breaking the rules have consequences, that is a lesson we all learned in Kindergarten.

Thanks,

Kevin

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 24, 2009 11:15 AM

And just not to upset, Experienced, I am not going to remind everyone that the Napergate Man told them they were INEFFICIENT
-------------------------------------------------------------

Do you mean he guy who was penalized for wilfully failing to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act?

For "Enough" .... I have posted the answers to your statements in the past... I will repost them to answer your statement copied below....

By Enough on November 22, 2009 9:17 PM
To all who comment about fire houses and ambulances

1. My main point is that there should be "objective" standards. Many of these standards were devised in the 50's when houses and buildings were not as fire safe and fires were more rampant. My question, do we need to comply with these standards today? If so, dig deeper.

Answer... NFPA 1710 current edition is dated 2010 (sept 2009) and prior update was in 2006.... NOT THE 1950's. THESE ARE NOT OLD STARDARDS, BUT CURRENT, MODERN AND UP TO DATE BASIS FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMS STAFFING.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international
organization of more than 75,000 individuals and more than 80 national trade and professional organizations. NFPA’s mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by developing and advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, training and education.

By Enough on November 22, 2009 9:17 PM
2. Look at Glen Ellyn. A town with a higher income level then Naperville. Do they suffer with their paid on call (volunteer) fire department and private ambulance service? Are their home values lower?

Answer, Glen Ellyn has a population of less than 30 thousand. The Glen Ellyn Fire Company runs less than 2000 calls for help each year. Naperville Fire covers 60 Square Miles, a population of 150,000 (city and unincorporated areas) and answers over 13000 calls each years. YOU CAN NOT COMPARE THE TWO TOWNS.

By Anonymous on October 22, 2009 12:04 PM
By GJC on October 13, 2009 2:25 PM

“I quite like the idea that a reevaluation of the purported over-staffing of the fire department be undertaken to see if it is actually so, by people who know what they're talking about, that is, professionals.”

I am posting this in hopes that some of you will review the links attached below. These links will help you to understand the basis for fire and ems staffing. Contained in the links are staffing standards as set forth by the National Fire Protection Assoc and viewed by courts across the country as THE national standard.... The current NFPA 1710 standards are dated 2004 and a recent 2010 update. THESE ARE NOT OLD STARDARDS, BUT CURRENT , MODERN AND UP TO DATE BASIS FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMS STAFFING.

To those on this blog site that think cutting firefighter staffing and closing fire stations would save money, I would ask that you review the links cited below. In one of the links the Providence fire department did a study covering firefighter safety, station and manning reductions. The study shows an increase in over all costs. This study has been applied, in court, to several fire department staffing cases (both large and small departments).

The other links contain information covering NFPA 1710 and SAFER grants from the federal government. In NFPA 1710, fire department staffing standards are set. These standards have also been used in many court cases covering firefighter injuries.
A quote from one of those links..

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently issued a new standard regarding the organization, deployment and staffing of career fire departments–NFPA 1710. The International Association of Fire Fighters is providing the following questions and answers document to assist the fire and emergency medical service in understanding this standard.

"The modern trend, however, is for courts to find exceptions to this rule, and over the past several years, this doctrine has rapidly eroded in ways that could expose jurisdictions to liability for the foreseeable consequences of their failure to adequately fund or staff their fire departments. Courts recognizing this modern trend will likely consider the NFPA 1710 Standard in determining whether such liability is properly imposed upon public fire departments and their municipalities.

Many NFPA standards have been enacted into law at the federal, state, provincial and local levels. Some have argued that, because jurisdictions having authority are not required to automatically enact a particular NFPA standard, violation of an NFPA standard does not automatically give rise to a finding of liability against a jurisdiction that has not adopted the standard. Having said that, however, one should be mindful that courts frequently rely upon NFPA standards to determine the “industry standard” for fire protection and safety measures. Judicial reliance on NFPA doctrines is most frequently found in common law negligence claims. To prevail in a common law negligence claim, the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff; that the defendant breached this duty of care; and that this breach
was the cause of the plaintiff’s injury.

The NFPA 1710 Standard could be found to be highly relevant to the question of whether a jurisdiction has negligently failed to provide adequate fire or emergency medical protection to an individual harmed in a fire or medical emergency. To prevail in such a claim, the individual would have to show that the jurisdiction failed to provide the level of service required by the standard, and that this failure was a cause of his or her injury.

Because the NFPA 1710 Standard is the first international standard to establish a benchmark level for fire and emergency medical response capabilities, there is little precedence governing how the standard might be used in such lawsuits. It is safe to assume, however, that the level of fire and emergency medical service provided by a jurisdiction will be compared to the NFPA 1710 Standard in courts considering such lawsuits even where the particular jurisdiction has not specifically adopted the standard. As such, it is fair to say that a jurisdiction assumes some additional legal risk by failing to abide by the NFPA 1710 Standard even where it has failed to explicitly adopt the standard."

Save a few dollars now. When a firefighter or taxpayer is injured, and staffing levels are reviewed against national studies and standards, get ready to loose your shirt in court.

If you look at nothing else on this list….. watch the first two YOUTUBE videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kay3VsEXDY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n35MklU6fis&feature=related

Another NFPA 1710 fire department staffing standard research link.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international
organization of more than 75,000 individuals and more than 80 national trade and professional organizations. NFPA’s mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by developing and advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, training and education.

Who Is Involved
At the time of the final vote on NFPA 1710, the Technical
Committee contained representatives from seven different
classes of NFPA members, including Consumers,
Enforcers, Labor, Manufacturers, Research/Testing, Special
Experts and Users. No more than one-third of the voting
members of the Committee represented one of these
interests, as explicitly required by NFPA rules. The
following is a breakdown of the membership:
• Consumers (City Managers), 2, 6%
• Enforcers (Fire Chiefs, including 3 representatives from
the International Association of Fire Chiefs, or IAFC),
10, 32%
• Labor (Union representatives, including 3 from the
IAFF), 7, 23%
• Manufacturers (Trade Group organizations), 2, 6%
Research/Testing, 1, 3%
• Special Experts, 4, 13%
• Users, 5, 16%

Here is a link to the requirements for NFPA Committee membership.
http://www.hemmingfire.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/598/NFPA_Committees_want_members.html

Link to info on NFPA 1710
http://www.iaff.org/tech/PDF/NFPA1710ImplementationGuide.pdf

NFPA is not just fire service people or groups. NFPA is experts in ALL fields.

By The Investigator on November 23, 2009 10:59 PM
Cij...
You dont get it. People are more important that money..... People are more important than money....... I grew up understanding that life is more important than money.

Perhaps you should relax-and remember that people are more important than money. Maybe if you spent more energy on thinking about people rather then writing long messages on the internet you would come to a better understanding.......

========================================================================================================================================

Speaking of repeating yourself. I heard you. I heard you, man! People are more important than money.

That is what I have been trying to say. By wasting money, up to 57 people...human beings a/k/a homo sapients whom are important.....will lose their jobs in the City of Naperville....and I am not sure the majority of these folks are even EXCESS FAT.

If City Officials would stop wasting money on Police OT in Courtrooms, cops riding bikes to check out the pretty girls downtown ONLY in the summer, NPD and NFD OT at private charity events such as PigFest, building inspectors attending seminars since they have no work to do, paying 90% of benefits for themselves at taxpayer expense, and on and on maybe peoples' jobs could have been saved.

Keep in mind we lost 43 jobs/positions last year so with 57 more we are now at the Big Fat 100. Did we have this much EXCESS FAT in City Hall....10% of the work force? Or were they all very important and we will now lose 10% of our services???

========================================================================================================================================

And if they were important and truly providing services, why did we not require all 1043 employees to pay 50% of ALL their 14 benefits so we could have saved these up to 100 City Employees/Positions?

========================================================================================================================================

People are important but probably not to Double Dipping Robert Marshall who collects a salary and pension while working on a second pension, while he bangs heads with Junior Krieger as to who they need to throw next to Mr. Huber so they can maintain all their exorbitant benefits.

What don't you people get? Our City Officials are screwing their own employees now so they can get rich off their backs since they are having a hard time screwing the taxpayers who are standing up to them such as MYSELF and the silent majority whom will not remain quiet much longer.

I think it is time to lay people off from the top instead of the bottom. It is the upper echelon who got us in the $160.8 million hole we are in not including outstanding debt. Why should the lower echelon pay the price for their mistakes? Why?

I bet those up to 57 who will be receiving their walking papers soon will begin attacking their City Officials instead of CIJ who told them this IMPLOSION was IMMINENT 3 years ago due to the inefficiencies of those in power. They even know they are inefficient as they hired an outside company to detail their inefficiencies for them. Imagine we pay them to know how to be EFFICIENT and they have to hire a company to tell them how to be EFFICIENT. UNSCREWINGBELIEVABLE!!!

And just not to upset, Experienced, I am not going to remind everyone that the Napergate Man told them they were INEFFICIENT and even generated graphs for them and published them in the Naperville Sun before I ever told them. So if I sound a little arrogant, cocky or conceited, it is because you folks won't let me give credit where credit is due and are forcing me to take all the credit. Let us be very clear on that point, please!

Now stop repeating yourself, INVESTIGATOR, and telling me I don't care about people. Some City Officials are reported to be driving city cars at taxpayer expense instead of their own cars. If this is true, they should dump their city cars and try to save some peoples' jobs.

I heard you, man, people are more important than MONEY! I agree!

Thank you ,

CIJ

Citizen Investigating Journalist said the following about Scott Huber:

"Anyway, if anyone visits him and buys him a Chai Tai Tea from Starbucks to help keep him warm, he stated he would be very appreciative.

It is really a shame to see City Hall harassing him in this despicable manner. When they harassed the Napergate Man, at least he had the resources to fight back....to defend himself This is a homeless man trying to survive with little resources to fight back. He is trying to survive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is ridiculous! In this economy, when most taxpaying, hard-working citizens are skimping and saving to stretch their dollars. Or, they are taking on side jobs to supplement their income to pay their bills, Naperville's homeless-by-choice resident charges his laptop battery in the comfort of a downtown Starbucks, and welcomes visitors to buy him chai tea lattes.

Well, I haven't been in a Starbucks for over a year. I can't afford it. When I want to splurge, which is rare, I hit Dunkin Donuts or even the local gas station convenience store for my coffee treat. I shop with coupons, scrutinize the sale flyers, and have pared down my expenditures. I support myself and my family, and I pay my taxes. I work hard and my extra retail job takes me away from my family but in this economy, you do what you have to do. I value my hard-earned dollars too much to throw them at someone who makes zero effort to help himself.

I won't be visiting Starbucks any time in the near future. I can't afford to buy myself their overpriced coffee and there is no way on Earth I would expect other people to buy it for me.

By Kevin on November 23, 2009 10:15 AM
CIJ,
He makes a lot of people nervous including yourself "He appeared to be extremely angry and I did not feel comfortable approaching him. By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 21, 2009 5:25 PM". A lot of people share that opinion of him.

=======================================================================================================================================

Kevin,

He just went back to his home and found all his belongings missing. Let me ask you Kevin, if you went back to your home and all your belongings were MISSING would you not be extremely angry. I know I would.

He does not frighten me. I do go out of my way to chat with him once a week and give him a contribution. He is very appreciative and polite. He has never asked anyone for a contribution that passes by him. He only speaks to people who speak to him.

Like I said the other day, 2 older couples approached him, shook his hand and gave him nice contributions.

A young looking boy bought him McDonalds and stayed with him the whole half hour I was there. He did not look threatened at all by Mr. Huber. He seemed to like Mr. Huber and wanted to give him moral support in addition to the food he bought him.

Chicago has thousands of homeless people. We should be able to handle one. Maybe God wants him there to remind us how good we have it in Naperville. How could anyone survive in 40 below zero weather for 8 winters unless God wanted him to survive? He is not a polar or grizzly bear adapted to handle the outdoor freezing weather.

I honestly could not survive one day in that kind of cold. God has given him unique powers that most of us don't have. There must be a reason for everything.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. BTW, he told me he was meeting a Sun Photograher at Burger King on Washington St. for a half hour when the NPD raided his home and confiscated his belongings like pirates out of the sky. They did not have the courage to look him in the face when they took his property. They did it behind his back in a cowardly manner.

Cij...
You dont get it. People are more important that money. You cannot put a price on somebody's life. So what if it costs a few bucks more. People are more important than money. Perhaps you don't have many friends-i am sorry if you don't. I grew up understanding that life is more important than money.

Perhaps you should relax-and remember that people are more important than money. Maybe if you spent more energy on thinking about people rather then writing long messages on the internet you would come to a better understanding about how precious life is.

See you next tuesday...

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE NAPERVILLE SUN

Naperville considers laying off up to 57
More layoffs could save between $1.9 million and $4.3 million

November 23, 2009

By KATIE FOUTZ kfoutz@scn1.com
The Naperville City Council is considering laying off 25.5 to 57 employees to close an estimated $11.2 million general fund budget deficit in fiscal year 2011.

The city expects layoffs to save between $1.9 million and $4.3 million. No official decision has been made. The council is discussing the budget forecast in a workshop this evening.

========================================================================================================================================

For all of those employees who keep writing about how great our city officials are here is your Christmas Gift on a Silver Platter.

Rather than make all employees including themselves pay for 50% of their HEALTH BENEFITS and save $6.4 million dollars, they chose to get rid of up to 57 of you hard working folks to save up to $4.3 million.

Rather than eliminate unnecessary Police OT in the MORNING TRAFFIC COURT, they chose to get rid of you.

Rather than using the School Resource Officers to eliminate police OT, they chose to get rid of you.

You see, I was not lying to you when I told you your City Officials were greedy and only concerned about their well being and not yours or ours. As the Napergate Man always said, if you can be steadfast, the truth finds a way to roll out.

What we have learned about our City Officials is they not only do not care about the residents but the ordinary city employees either.

Who would want to make a bet with me that Double Dipping Robert Marshall is not among those who are being laid off? Any takers???

In the City of Naperville the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the the taxpayers always get SCREWED.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. If they finally listened and most of those being laid off are from the Building Department, maybe it is not the end of the world. No services to the residents will be lost here. Hopefully, they were nice enough to try to get them jobs in Plainfield the next booming town with great potential for growth instead of just handing them their walking papers.

AND HERE IS A HUNCH I GOT. THE CITY COUNCIL PROBABLY RECEIVES THESE SAME TOO RICH BENEFITS THAT CITY EMPLOYEES RECEIVE AND IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THEM FOR THEMSELVES THEY CHOSE TO PUT CITY EMPLOYEES ON THE SACRIFICIAL CHOPPING BLOCK AS IF THEY WERE LAMBS FOR SLAUGHTER. THINK ABOUT THAT FOLKS. IT MAKES TOO MUCH SENSE!!!

By CIJ - "Sometimes honesty can easily be interpreted as arrogance. If so, let it be"

Apparently so can conceit and stupidity.

CIJ to you specifically I ask this,

If Naperville is so corrupt, why stay here? Other cities, according to you, handle their finances and affairs much better and more efficiently, they sound perfect for you.

========================================================================================================================================

My spouse and kids are native Napervillians. I am a 40 year resident. We love Naperville and are not leaving this town. It is OUR TOWN.

We want all the incompetent and inefficient City Officials to submit their resignations immediately and unconditionally.

Why should we leave town? We contribute 70k in real estate taxes each year that is sorely needed by this native beloved town of ours.

We did not screw up the town and leave it hanging with $160.8 million in deficits and losses. And only God knows how much DEBT is outstanding. Those in power did.

Those who screwed it up need to resign.

Those who did not screw it up should not be asked to leave.

For all those who like this "Business as Usual" wasteful spending, open your wallets instead of your mouths and pay this $160.8 million so the rest of us don't have to worry about it. Pay off all the accumulating debt so our children don't have to worry about it. After all you think there is absolutely nothing wrong with the current situation. Right!

So pay up and shut up!!!!

Thank you,

CIJ

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

PS. And let us not forget that our City Council Members finally woke up and stated the PENSIONS in this town are simply TOO RICH and NOT SUSTAINABLE.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Should we ask them to leave town for calling these Big Fat Pensions Too Rich??? They are really saying the same exact thing I have been saying for 3 years but using fancy and politically correct words.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They may have woken up a little too late to save the disastrous Pension System. But it is not due to my lack of efforts and we now discovered many of them have been reading this blog site or "The Blogs."

Behold the power of the CIJ!
After receiving about 20 tickets in 40 years, the magnificence that is the mind of CIJ knows exactly how to solve all the problems of the traffic court system in DuPage County.
Because, let's face it, there couldn't possibly be anything more complicated at stake here. Those 20 visits told him everything he ever needed to know and he now has a full and complete understand of all the legal and practical requirements necessary to run a traffic court and to make sure that the appropriate police officers are in place and on time.
Just imagine what else our CIJ could figure out with only a few well timed visits. We know that she/he maintains that she/he is friends with a nurse at Edward's Hospital. By all accounts, CIJ must now be more expert than any physician! She/He has been counting ambulances, proving that she/he must now be a fully qualified paramedic as well as a CPA. They count things, right?
In truth, CIJ, did no one ever tell you that a simple answer to a complicated question must be wrong?

The worst part is that some of the ideas of CIJ are not bad ones, but the way she/he uses language and the utter conviction of certainty is all it takes to make a reader gloss over or to make a reader annoyed enough to do what I just did. To take a relatively cheap pot shot. CIJ, you are your own worst enemy. You don't even know it. Please, for all our sakes scroll back up to what Chris wrote last week and read it again.
In fact, do us a favor. Read it again and then post in your own words what you think it says, and why you think it says it. Please.
Name

By Anonymous on November 23, 2009 1:57 PM
Also, CIJ, and here is an interesting thing that you might have missed [how long that list is], you'll find that on many days at traffic court, the very large majority of scheduled appearances is based on geographical location of the ticket, so the reason that you would have seen a number of NPD officers and no others... would simply be because that was a NPD day in court. Amazing, isn't it?

========================================================================================================================================

Nothing amazing here but your weakness of comprehension.

I was comparing Naperville Traffic Courtrooms to different Traffic Courtrooms.

Usually, NPD has their own courtroom and own hearing dates. No other municipalities are there.

When I visited Dupage Traffic Court at 421 N. County Farm Lane it was all Dupage County Sheriff Tickets and no Dupage Sherrifs were present...only a Bailiff.

When I got a ticket and had to appear in the Downers Grove Field Court, no cops were available. On that one I plead innocent, a prosecutor approached me and told me I could not get a trial in the afternoon as the cop was not available. I asked the prosecutor if he would be availabe if I got a continuance, he said he could not be sure. I ended up pleading guilty and obtaining supervision rather than fighting the system. It would not be worth my time showing up a second time if there was no guarantee they could make the cop available.

Some towns won't even make their cops available in AFTERNOON Traffic Court when trials are suppose to take place. I am only asking Naperville not to waste $4200 in Morning Traffic Court when no bench or jury trials normally take place on heavy call days. Naperville knows how heavy the call will be since they issue the traffic tickets and should be able to plan accordingly to save this $4200 in OT for EACH traffic session. A complete and utter waste of TAXPAYER MONEY!

Again, Naperville has it's own traffic court dates and assigned rooms in Dupage County at 505 N. County Farm Road and you will not see cops from other towns for that reason. Other towns may have their own traffic courts, or if small, share traffic courts. You don't see any cops in any MORNING TRAFFIC COURTS except in Naperville with the rare exception of a liaison police officer.

Naperville has lots of money to burn and they are BURNING IT AT a VERY HIGH RATE without the slightest of CONSCIENCE for the TAXPAYERS.

Thank you,

CIJ

Now CIJ says that the NPD will be guilty of the "murder" of Scott Huber. The comments and histrionics just get wilder and wilder.

CIJ also said that Chief Dial is paranoid.

What other insane things will come next?

OK in summary:

City officials – stop spending money and raising taxes (this one is obvious)

Police – You are wasting too much of our money, stop it. No more overtime, no arresting people unless a committee approves the arrest. Forget about overtime and court appearances, it is not worth my money for you to show up. Plus, if everyone pleads not guilty and the police never show up, the cases get dismissed we can rid ourselves of traffic court.

Fire – The potential for fires doen’t justify having fire stations. I am sure we can get away with just one or two and have those open on days that the traffic is light. Also, keep your ambulances at the hospital with at least two (2) infirmed people in them.

That will save the city tons of money – taxes will not have to be raised – and I can go to a coffee shop and get another espresso.

CIJ to you specifically I ask this,

If Naperville is so corrupt, why stay here? Other cities, according to you, handle their finances and affairs much better and more efficiently, they sound perfect for you.

Also, CIJ,
and here is an interesting thing that you might have missed [how long that list is], you'll find that on many days at traffic court, the very large majority of scheduled appearances is based on geographical location of the ticket, so the reason that you would have seen a number of NPD officers and no others... would simply be because that was a NPD day in court. Amazing, isn't it? You look for conspiracy in everything, and based on little information, faulty information or even no information, you decide what YOU have seen is all there is, and that there is no reason for it. Then, you shout on a ill-used, local blog site about how horrible it is.
Really quite sad, little man.

CIJ,

I jump on and off this blog, so there will be many days in-between when I write. The Kevin who posted "By Kevin on November 20, 2009 8:29 AM" was not me. He signed his name "K" and I sign my full name. Just in case you were wondering.

As for all of the personal attacks on this site, it goes both ways and in my opinion both sides are guilty. It really doesn't matter who starts it because if you are guilty of doing it then you are guilty plain and simple. You have many good and valid points like I have said before. The formatting is your style and it makes you unique. If you want to do it, keep doing it. I have no issues with it, but that doesn’t seem to be the norm on this blog.

Regarding your last point with Scott Huber...I don't share the same opinion as you. I think he wastes tax payers money by making the police focus on him. He can't have it both ways...he wants attention for his "protest", but he doesn't want so much attention where the police will focus on him. He makes a lot of people nervous including yourself "He appeared to be extremely angry and I did not feel comfortable approaching him. By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 21, 2009 5:25 PM". A lot of people share that opinion of him. He has repeatedly been offered help and he has refused it...so I really don’t feel sorry for him. He knows exactly what he is doing, he seems to be a smart man from what I see and hear. Anyway, I don’t see this as a distraction the city is manufacturing, I think it is business as usual for them and I would hope the city would be able to multi-task as they have a lot on their plate. If they could only focus on one issue at a time, that would not bold well for all of us!

Thanks,

Kevin

And now this has become the Scott Huber 2 topic?

Big surprise.

OJ,

I visited Mr. Huber today and he was in good spirits. He told me you visited him for 2 hours yesterday and uplifted his spirits.

He threw me off for a second when he told me he did not think OJ killed his wife...lol...the man has got some humor.

Anyway, I saw a young boy who was sitting with him and apparently brought him a McDonald's meal. While I was chatting with him an older couple gave him a $20 dollar contribution and told him to hang in there. Another older couple gave him $10 dollars and told him they are sorry the city is abusing him.

I gave him my weekly contrbution. I am sure knowing how generous you are OJ, you gave him a contribution too.

He told me the parts he would have needed to repair your CD player would cost more than a brand new CD player so he wanted to save you money by not repairing it for you. He said he did the research on it to find out it cost more to repair than replace which is usually the case on inexpensive electronic equipment.

So I think the City harassing him has enabled him to collect more contributions which he indicated he will be using to retain counsel to fight City Hall. He is a very determined individual.

He stated he was using his generator to charge his laptop and not to stay warm. He now has to go to Starbucks to charge his computer battery. Even though there is an electric socket in the garage he does not want to plug his laptop in there for fear the NPD will arrest him for "stealing" electricity. He appears to be a very law abiding citizen who won't even "steal" electricity from the taxpayers.

Anyway, if anyone visits him and buys him a Chai Tai Tea from Starbucks to help keep him warm, he stated he would be very appreciative.

It is really a shame to see City Hall harassing him in this despicable manner. When they harassed the Napergate Man, at least he had the resources to fight back....to defend himself This is a homeless man trying to survive with little resources to fight back. He is trying to survive.

========================================================================================================================================

When I asked him why he does not get a job, he told me the corrupt judges in Dupage County ruled against him illegally and if he got a job most of the wages he earns will be garnished. He stated he is not interested in working for all those who screwed him in the past.

========================================================================================================================================

He really seemed to be on the ball tonight. I saw no paranoia in him. The City of Naperville really has it in for his generator. I asked him how he is going to survive the winter without his generator, he said he has no choice but to try many layers of clothing.

Anyway, if Mr. Huber does not survive this winter because the NPD is depriving him the use of his generator, I suspect the NPD will be guilty of FIRST DEGREE MURDER for killing an innocent homeless human being.

The NPD must understand the consequences of their actions. I suspect there is a good chance they will find a frozen body this winter that they will be held liable for MURDERING if they don't permit Mr. Huber to use his generator once again.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. Chief Dial, I know you read what I write, so why don't you reverse yourself and leave Mr. Huber and his generator alone. They are not bothering you. Why bother them? If you are worried about the real estate taxes the city loses because he occupies 1 square yard of sidewalk, tell me what it is, and I would be happy to send you a cashiers check for that minuscule amount. Leave the HOMELESS PROTESTER alone. This is a shameful way to act as Christmas approaches. Why don't you donate a Santa Claus outfit for him and bring some cheer to the downtown? Many downtown retailers actually like him and bring him food and clothes.

He claims your visit to him was not a sincere attempt to help, but a fishing expedition to collect information on him. I tend to believe him based on your most recent actions against him.

I would put better odds that the Chief of the Naperville Police is reading this blog than Bin Laden is reading the Afghanistan blog.

By The investigator on November 22, 2009 8:04 PM
I like the job our police and firemen do. Perhaps some people on this post should worry less about money and more about people.

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No one is saying that the NPD is not providing good security for the town and maintaining law and order. No one is saying that the NFD is not dispatching its ambulances and Fire Engines in a prompt manner.

What I am saying is that both Departments have lots of OT that can be eliminated or at least reduced substantially. They both have waste. I am trying to document the waste and I am sure our City Council Members are reading, listening and will be acting soon as they did with their PENSION REFORM STATEMENT calling for a grass roots movement to fight these TOO RICH PENSIONS.

The NPD throws school resources officers in the downtown for no good reason except to make sure they get paychecks. Why not use them to reduce OT? They send police officers to sit in morning court for no good reason but to collect OT and pad their paychecks which leads to massive pension checks from PENSION FUNDS that are severely depleted. We are living on borrowed time.....what don't you get???

How could we not worry about money that we are spending and don't even have? Do you not read the newspapers and realize that we have a $14.1 million operating budget deficit?

If you don't want us to worry about money put your money where your mouth is and give us $14.1 million dollars we don't have.

If you continue to give POs and FFs these TOO FAT pensions, the next generation of FFs and POs will have no money left for them. Of course we are worrying about people by making sure the City does not file bankruptcy and employees receive nothing in retirement.

Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered the old adage states.

Trust me this will ring true if we don't make serious changes in this town.

A $160.8 million in deficits and losses must not be registering in your brain and the consequences it will have on PEOPLE.

Thank you,

CIJ

To all who comment about fire houses and ambulances

1. My main point is that there should be "objective" standards. Many of these standards were devised in the 50's when houses and buildings were not as fire safe and fires were more rampant. My question, do we need to comply with these standards today? If so, dig deeper.

2. Look at Glen Ellyn. A town with a higher income level then Naperville. Do they suffer with their paid on call (volunteer) fire department and private ambulance service? Are their home values lower?

3. The big story of the 90's are productivity gains. Why can't government achieve a tenth of such gains? What is bothering Democrats is that 80% of the newly unemployed will NEVER get back their jobs. Unskilled laborers in factories have been replaced with machines and they will never get back their $20 to $30 per hour jobs. They do not have other skills such as electrician or carpentry. The best they can do is work at McDonalds. Even skilled laborers in industries that are over staffed will not get jobs. Think about it, what else can a policeman or a fireman do? Direct traffic at Bears games? Security guards in Afghanistan? Of course they will fight reductions.

I like the job our police and firemen do. Perhaps some people on this post should worry less about money and more about people.

By Experienced on November 22, 2009 10:49 AM
By Anonymous 007 on November 21, 2009 8:51 PM

Actually kicking the trial over to the end of the call or in the afternoon is probably ok in most circumstances where there is a heavy trial call. If it's a light call, then there might be a problem kicking the case to the afternoon.

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I have been ticketed roughly 20 times in 40 years by the NPD. There has always been a heavy call due to the population size of Naperville.

If there is an unusual event of a light call and the morning session ends at 10:45am(something I have never seen) the Judge can kick the bench trials to the afternoon if he knows the pattern Naperville has been using to save $4200 per morning session. He would not be violating any Supreme Court Rules. Why would the Judge not want to help save taxpayers money if he knew we were attempting to save $4200. He gets a TOO RICH PENSION just like everyone else so he needs to keep the system viable and healthy.

Another option if this happens unexpectedly is to let the 2 speeders go unpunished. Is it the end of the world if we had to dismiss a handful of turn signal tickets per year if it meant saving $3 million dollars we don't even have to spend? They were punished enough for having to miss work, go to court, and waste their gas. Is it really that important that we the taxpayers spend $4200 dollars to get a conviction if the judge won't give us a continuance in the RARE event we are caught off guard? At some point reason has to prevail in these unlikely scenarios.

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At some point COMMON SENSE has to be implemented in the NPD. It is easy to argue that every dollar saved in the Fire Department may have a one in a million chance of saving a life, but can we be reasonable and not use this same argument with police officers in morning court who are not saving lives by making sure defendants receive their $75 fine for accidentally failing to turn on their signals.

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Most importantly the City of Naperville knows in ADVANCE exactly how many tickets it issues and what the load will be. If they know they only issued 50 tickets instead of the normal 250-300 tickets, they should by all means have the cops ready to testify at the MORNING SESSION in the event the Judge is not cooperative and unwilling to postpone it to the afternoon.

But really since Naperville almost always has a HEAVY LOAD and knows that it in ADVANCE, why are they sending 14 cops to sit in a jury box and wasting $4200 dollars in hard earned taxpayer money?

The best my bashers can say is the NPD knows what it is doing. I say they don't know what they are doing. I say the other 100 cities in Dupage and the Dupage Sheriff's Office know what they are doing and the NPD is off the mark here. Maybe, Chief David Dial is burned out or maybe he wants a job in Homeland Security. The city council members have a duty to chat with him and see where his mind is at. And why hasn't Junior Krieger chatted with him? Is he not his boss? Why didn't Double Dipping Robert Marshall chat with him when he was his boss? So many questions and so few answers.....

We have wasted 3 million for 40 years that I know of. This is $120 million hard earned taxpayer dollars. Who is going to be held responsible for this great loss of taxpayer money?

Excuses, excuses and excuses don't cut it.

I am asking the City Council who reads this blog site to launch an immediate investigation of Chief David Dial and the NPD to see who may be responsible for this $120 million in taxpayer waste.

We had to lose $126.2 million before the City Council finally decided PENSION REFORM was in order.

Do we have to lose $200 million on police OT for these morning traffic court sessions before our council wakes up. That is almost $4000 per resident before they wake up. We simply can not afford this outrageous and continuing waste of taxpayer money.

Thanks for your helpful contributions, Experienced.

I am just trying to look for areas where we can save money so real estate taxes decrease instead of constantly rising.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Anonymous 007 on November 21, 2009 8:51 PM

Actually kicking the trial over to the end of the call or in the afternoon is probably ok in most circumstances where there is a heavy trial call. If it's a light call, then there might be a problem kicking the case to the afternoon.

By annonymous on November 21, 2009 5:26 PM
No CIJ, we call you arrogant because you make rediculous statements like THIS: "I believe they took action on Pension Reform because of the MASSIVE HEAT I put on them."

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Sometimes honesty can easily be interpreted as arrogance. If so, let it be.

I have been attacking these pensions as Big and Fat for nearly 3 years. In the meantime I was wrongfully attacked for hating police and fire fighters. This is all documented on the archives.

The Naperville Sun was suppose to do an article on Pensions and to this day we are waiting for this article. I guess the reporter changed her mind so let us give her all the credit for Pension Reform.

Most council members are known not to read their voluminous packets. They don't even know what percentage city employees pay for their Dental Benefits even though it was in their packets. Yes, this question was asked at a City Council meeting and none of them knew the answer.

I personally know 3 Council Men who read this blog site. I do not know CM Bob personally but he apparently writes here so I assume he reads this blog site. I was not aware that CW Brodhead read "The Blogs" until she admitted it last week at a public city council meeting. And since Doug Krause was "accused" of breaking his CAMPAIGN PROMISES and has been a council man for over 20 years and practically knows the whole town, I suspect someone told him you better read "The Blogs" assuming he did not.

It became obvious that CM and CW were reading what I was writing about pensions. It became apparent they were reviewing my calculations. I even estimated the P and F pension fund liability deficits would be $100 million and they came out at $96.2 million for this fiscal year. The remaining $29.9 million is the IMRF pension liability deficit for the City of Naperville as a pro rata share of the STATE IMRF PENSION LIABILITY DEFICIT.

You folks don't think the police and fire unions told our City Council that their pensions were Big and Fat....or Too Rich to be politically correct...lol....

City Staff apparently tried to hide the $20.5 million in pension fund losses from the City Council. While I knew they had huge losses and revealed them Experienced was to first to uncover the exact amounts. So he needs to be given credit for what he did. And I gave him credit repeatedly.

Now, I tried to give the Napergate Man some credit because he was the first to bring this PENSION FIASCO to light, but you all screamed you are sick and tired of him. So I will not mention him and take "credit" for what he did since you are all sick about hearing about him and I am not allowed to give him credit anymore. But look now that I give myself a little "credit" by default(LOL) instead of to him, you think I am arrogant.(LOL AGAIN) What does one do to please you folks? It appears you folks have low self esteem and are full of hatred and bitterness.

As I said from Day One: I am writing to my Council Members and not a bunch of DEADBEATS that surf the blogs looking for trouble. And my CM are not only hearing but listening and acting. God Bless Them!

Well, who do we give the credit to for exposing this Pension Mess. The Daily Herald and Naperville Sun who did no articles? The City Council who were asleep for the first $126.2 million of deficit losses? The Police and Fire Unions who believe they are entitled to 100% pension pay-outs during retirement just like California who is on the verge of bankruptcy? Or to Junior Krieger who never once uttered a word of warning in a City Council Meeting?

I did more than anyone else in pounding this Pension Fiasco to my council members on this Blog Site who have began admitting reading it. I believe I finally woke them up or in the minimum contributed to waking them up since they did not initially hear their alarm clocks.

And let us not forget you attacked me day and night while I was trying to wake them up. Apparently, they saw through the thick smoke and fog and woke up. I have now given them a STANDING OVATION. A BIG and FAT STANDING OVATION!!!

And you folks still have a problem. Get over yourselves. You sound like sick puppies.

Thank you,

CIJ

CIJ made the following statements:
"That location at 75 E. Chicago Ave. generated $3000 a year for him (Scott Huber) which allowed him to survive including paying gas for his generator. Without that strategic location, who can find him to help him when he makes the call on his Web Sites that he is on fumes?

"They (City Council) think Santa Claus (Scott Huber) is hurting downtown businesses when the main reason others and I go to downtown is to check on our real Santa Claus."

"PS. Mr. Huber has pointed out to the City Council and to me that he does not want to be a burden on the Naperville Taxpayers. He likes being self-sufficient."
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

CIJ,

I don't think anyone but yourself thinks of Scott Huber as Santa Claus. And if the business owners in downtown Naperville, who pay property and income taxes, feel his presence has a negative impact on their businesses, they have the prerogative to say so. So does City Council. You seem to think you can just negate the opinions of others by discounting them. How ignorant of you.

I doubt that Mr. Huber cares whether or not he is a burden to Naperville taxpayers, as you stated. His actions show otherwise. He is expecting Naperville to support him - either eventually via his supposed lawsuit or through his current panhandling. You stated that he "likes being self-sufficient". Relying on the goodwill of others is not being self-sufficient. Self-sufficient is being gainfully employed and investing the time and effort to do so.

By Anonymous 007 on November 21, 2009 8:51 PM
Amazingly (not) CIJ conveniently missed (or ignored) this important fact in her anti NPD diatribe.............

"A failure to appear on the first appearance date by an arresting officer from a Rule 505 exempted agency shall, in and of itself, not normally be considered good cause for a continuance."

========================================================================================================================================

I think you are not comprehending the debate between Experienced and I. What I am saying is that the cops need to appear on the FIRST APPEARANCE DATE but in the afternoon session when trials take place and not in the morning session when defendants, plead guilty with or without supervision, ask for a continuance, make a deal or ask for a bench or jury trial.

At the point the Judge knows how many defendants want a trial and the respective cops can be called in the afternoon for bench trials and the other respective cops can be summoned if necessary on the assigned jury trial date which is an EXTREME RARITY. A jury trial according to Supreme Court Rules posted by Experienced does not to be held on the APPEARANCE DATE.

What I am trying to say is why pay 14 cops 4 hours for this morning traffic session when none will be called and none will be needed. And then maybe pay the 2 that are needed in afternoon court an additional 4 hours of OT for the afternoon session.

The Morning Traffic Court Cops are wasting $4200 dollars of taxpayer money each time they appear. I have been repeating myself but since you are not understanding, I have to. They do nothing in morning court. A prosecutor can call the 1 or 2 that are needed and ask them to be present in afternoon court when bench trials take place. They don't need to be there to be told in person.

If the prosecutor who is a City Employee feels it is not her duty,(who knows maybe the prosecutors have unions that limit their duties....lol) than one police liaison officer can be there to notify the cops whom are needed in afternoon session.

The bottom line is no town in Dupage and Dupage County itself does not operate like Naperville. None can afford to operate like Naperville. Naperville is acting inefficiently and incompetently.

If other towns were as incompetent and inefficient as Naperville, they could never survive. They do not have the McMansion wealth. We do, so we are fiscally irresponsible and waste it. We should have learned by now, no matter how wealthy you are you can not waste hard earned taxpayer dollars.

How many times do I need to remind you folks that we have $160.8 million in deficits and losses just for the City of Naperville? How many times? How many times do I have to remind you folks that money does not grown on trees?

If it is beginning to appear I am repeating myself, because some of you folks can not comprehend the situation. I am not sure why you can't since it is blatantly obvious.

Please keep up with the ongoing debate and try reading posts twice in order to grasp them properly.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Experienced on November 21, 2009 7:34 PM
By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 21, 2009 11:44 AM

-----------------------------------------------

And, what about stand-by pay (because the officers cannot do anything that would interfere with their ability to testify, like drink and must remain within driving distance of the court--either Wheaton or Joliet)?

========================================================================================================================================

Experienced,

I think you totally understand what I am saying unlike most of the others.

1. Nurses at Edward's are put on stand by all the time. In return for not drinking or going to far out of the areas they are given $4.00 an hour.

2. The schedule could be that the 14 police officers who could be called in afternoon court that day be on duty as usual. Since the odds that any one of them are called is small, pulling one or two to go testify in Wheaton should not be a big burden on the NPD.

3. If it is a BIG DEAL you can have an additional one 1 or 2 cops working as subs or rovers between 1:30pm and 4:30pm to fill in for the cops who are called for AFTERNOON COURT. (Since not all 14 cops will be called, you don't need 14 subs or rovers. You just need 1 or 2 and if more are called, officers can take a larger beat for an hour. These bench trial sometimes last a half an hour or less.) Many times the cop shows up and the defendant immediately pleads guilty.

4. In the summer with so many School Resource Police Officers basically being unemployed, they can be the subs for the cops that are called to afternoon court instead of working downtown in large numbers where they are truly not needed since we already have competent beat cops assigned to the downtown.

5. Keep in mind Experienced I am not an expert but simply observed other towns don't require the cops in Morning Traffic Court as Naperville does. As someone who spends significant time in Dupage, you may have made this same observation. What exactly are they doing? I believe they are calling the cops to afternoon session if a defendant demands a trial.....the same DAY in order not to be in violation. We don't have to violate any Illinois Supreme Court Rules.

6. I have never been to Will County. Do you know if the NPD operates the same way in Will County?

7. If there is a will to save money there usually is a way, Experienced. We are talking about $3,000,000 potential savings in this scenario.

Look at Scott Huber. He found a way to survive in the wealthiest town in America with only $3,000 of "fume money." He has the will to survive with little money and even in freezing temperatures. Just making a point here and not suggesting we all be Scott Hubers by any means.

Thank you,

CIJ

Amazingly (not) CIJ conveniently missed (or ignored) this important fact in her anti NPD diatribe.............

"A failure to appear on the first appearance date by an arresting officer from a Rule 505 exempted agency shall, in and of itself, not normally be considered good cause for a continuance."

In the real world CIJ, a continuance would also include requiring a defendant to come back in the afternoon. That is how it works. If the officer doesn't show up, the case is dropped. Of course the prosecutor always asks for a continuance, and if the defendant isn't aware of his/her rights the judge will grant one. But for those of us who do know the law and object to having made the effort to appear when the prosecutions star witness didn't, the judge dismisses the case. Sorry, but I for one am not going to hang around court all day if the officer doesn't fulfill his duties just to save a few dollars in OT for the city.

Good luck getting the law changed, I hate to tell you this, but the majority of people aren't going to give up their right to a speedy trial, not to mention the chance of getting out of a ticket, to support your vendetta against the NPD, which is nothing more than a grudge you have been holding for the arrest of your hero for driving on a suspended. That and Bob's sore feet.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 21, 2009 11:44 AM

Out of these 300 Defendants, I would not be surprised if 1 to 3 insist on a bench trial in the afternoon. Since Morning Court is usually over before 11am and sometimes earlier and afternoon court does not start till 130pm, the prosecutor can call the 1 or 2 or 3 police officers need for the bench trials. Sometimes all 3 cases could be for 1 police officer who may be a little overly ticket happy. Thus we may only need to call ONE POLICE OFFICER. And we will have to pay him 4 hours of OT for the afternoon session. Something we have to live with.
-----------------------------------------------

And, what about stand-by pay (because the officers cannot do anything that would interfere with their ability to testify, like drink and must remain within driving distance of the court--either Wheaton or Joliet)?

No CIJ, we call you arrogant because you make rediculous statements like THIS: "I believe they took action on Pension Reform because of the MASSIVE HEAT I put on them." If it wasn't so sadly delusional, it would really be funny.

By Original Joe on November 21, 2009 1:51 AM
CIJ,
Notice the Friday article about Mr. Huber all of a sudden 'went missing' from the site? Things that make you go Hmm, eh?

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You can still find it in Saturday's Sun online but not as a headline. Here is the link

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1895372,Police-confiscate-Huber-property-NA112009.article

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Original Joe,

I saw Mr. Huber on Thursday searching all the dumpsters surrounding 75 E. Chicago Ave garage location for his belongings until he must have realized the cops took them when he was eating at a fast food place, according to the Sun Article. I do not think he thought the NPD would actually do this to a HAPLESS, HOPELESS, HOMELESS, HELPLESS, AND HARMLESS MAN . But they did. He appeared to be extremely angry and I did not feel comfortable approaching him.

Anyway, I went to see him Friday to give him my weekly contribution and I could not find him. Do you or anyone know how we can find him so we can continue to support him?

I really think he needs our financial and moral support in this time of his worse nightmare.

That location at 75 E. Chicago Ave. generated $3000 a year for him which allowed him to survive including paying gas for his generator. Without that strategic location, who can find him to help him when he makes the call on his Web Sites that he is on fumes?

I simply can not believe that the City of Naperville is more obsessed with a homeless man than a $14.1 million operating budget deficit, $20.5 million in pension fund losses, and $126.2 million in accrued actuarial pension liability deficit.

They think Santa Claus is hurting downtown businesses when the main reason others and I go to downtown is to check on our real Santa Claus. But look at what are City Officials are doing to the taxpayers with their combined $160.8 million in combined deficits and losses. I'll take Santa Claus and his real white beard over our City Officials any time.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. Mr. Huber has pointed out to the City Council and to me that he does not want to be a burden on the Naperville Taxpayers. He likes being self-sufficient. I wish City Officials could think likewise and not be such a burden on the Naperville Taxpayers with their mounting deficits and losses due to their continuing and relentless FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY.

Personally, I think they decided to attack Scott as a distraction and the media is falling for it making it a front page story instead of the Financial Crisis facing our City that could eventually lead to Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Time to have a fee or raise the fee to $350 for riding in an ambulance. It is worth it.

By Experienced on November 21, 2009 1:22 AM
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 504. Appearance Date

It is the policy of this court that, if the arresting agency has been exempted from the requirements of Rule 505, an accused who appears and pleads "not guilty" to an alleged traffic or conservation offense punishable by fine only should be granted a trial on the merits on the appearance date or, if the accused demands a trial by jury, within a reasonable time thereafter.

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Forensic Accountant/Attorney Experienced,

Thank you kindly for posting this very informative information. It appears most Judges are trying to stick to the rule of law.

If you read this carefully it states that an accused should be granted a trial on the APPEARANCE DATE.....NOT ON THE MORNING OF THE APPEARANCE DATE. Of course with the exception of an accused demanding a trial by jury.

My posts emphasized that by CAPITALIZING and BOLDING MORNING TRAFFIC SESSIONS. Most Judges in Morning Traffic Court sift through the 300 defendants and see who wants to plead guilty, plead guilty with supervision, obtain a continuance to retain counsel, have a bench trial in the afternoon, have a jury trial within a reasonable time thereafter, or make a deal with the prosecutor during a recess or lunch.

Again, there is no need for 14 Naperville Police Officers to attend the MORNING SESSION as no Judge in his right mind is going to have a TRIAL while 300 defendants wait with 20-30 standing in line. In 40 years and maybe 40 courts sessions, since I average one ticket a year, I have never seen this happen.

Thus, I reiterate the City of Naperville is wasting $4200 dollars on POLICE OT during these morning sessions.

Out of these 300 Defendants, I would not be surprised if 1 to 3 insist on a bench trial in the afternoon. Since Morning Court is usually over before 11am and sometimes earlier and afternoon court does not start till 130pm, the prosecutor can call the 1 or 2 or 3 police officers need for the bench trials. Sometimes all 3 cases could be for 1 police officer who may be a little overly ticket happy. Thus we may only need to call ONE POLICE OFFICER. And we will have to pay him 4 hours of OT for the afternoon session. Something we have to live with.

The way we currently operate is all 14 police officers show up in the morning....FOR NOTHING. If 1 or 2 want to fight their case the prosecutor informs the respective police officers and they have to show up in the afternoon and collect a 2nd "4 hours of OT" for the afternoon session.

In this age of CELL PHONES, TEXT MESSAGING, and E-MAILING, if a defendant pleads not guilty and wants to have a bench trial, why can not the prosecutor call the respective PO and have him appear at 130pm. He will have a minimum of 2.5 hours to appear from Naperville or his home which is really plenty of time unless our police officers live DOWNSTATE.

Since so few people want a bench trial even if these 1 or 2 officers were working or on duty, a department as large as the NPD should be able to cover for them for an hour or two. If they are beat officers and the NPD felt other beat officers could not cover for them adequately, a detective could be asked to delay his work and cover for the officer for 1 or 2 hours. What is the big deal here? The other officer on the beat could be told not to try to write so many tickets while his colleague is in court for an hour so he could be available in case of an emergency.

Keep in mind, Experienced, other towns do not have their cops in MORNING TRAFFIC COURT with very rare exception and usually if it happens, it is only one, maybe as a liaison between the prosecutor and the their respective police department in case a question may arise. When visiting Dupage Traffic Court for County Sheriff tickets at 421 N. County Farm Lane two weeks ago, I found not one single Sheriff. Only a Bailiff which is found in every courtroom to maintain law and order.

I really think, Experienced, this is an area where we can save $3,000,000 urgently needed dollars. Health benefits is another area where we can save $6.4 million by making employees only pay for half the cost of their premiums. Make the employees pay for half of the REST of their benefits and investigate the OT in the Fire Department and low and behold we have a budget surplus.

Any of this 3 million in police OT that is not part of Morning Court can be dealt with by using the School Police Officers who need regular pay in the summer to have full time jobs. If they are available for regular pay, they need to be relieving the POs who are making OT. As you know they are riding their bikes, motorcycles and ATVs in downtown in the summer for show. Just like the N. Korean and Iranian Armies do during their parades. It is simply UNBELIEVABLE. As I said it appears our Police Chief has a paranoia that Bin Laden's next target is DOWNTOWN NAPERVILLE even though no international map shows Naperville as a DOT even and it is very likely Bin Laden never heard of Naperville.

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Naperville has been stuck in a rut for way too long. I hope we can work together to get them out of the rut and save the taxpayers some money.

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We all know that the CM read this blog site. They know its readership is increasing. They know they will be held accountable one day if they do not take action.

I believe they took action on Pension Reform because of the MASSIVE HEAT I put on them. Because of my numerous calculations on a 5.99 Walgreen's Calculator that showed the system is simply not sustainable...that it will IMPLODE and is literally on the verge of an IMPLOSION. Do you think they acted on recommendations of the City Actuary who issued no warnings despite a triple digit pension liability deficit? If he knew how to forecast with better accuracy he would have been yelling and screaming like Gary Menconi of the Woodridge Pension System. The CM do not take action on their own. Most do not even read their packets or know what is in them. None, a few weeks ago appeared to know what percent of dental premiums, employees pay even though it was in the 500-700 page packet.

Being a CM is no easy job. They volunteered for it. We elected them. If they don't want to read their important packets, that the City Staff tirelessly puts together for them, they need to SUBMIT their RESIGNATIONS IMMEDIATELY and UNCONDITIONALLY.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Enough on November 20, 2009 6:00 PM

"But even with 75, then Naperville should have 4"

Do you want to see headlines like this in our newspapers. This article was found in a search of the Chicago Tribune website....
"Amid reports that ambulances are taking up to 23 minutes to respond to 911 calls, the state Department of Public Health has launched an investigation into how quickly the Chicago Fire Department's paramedics arrive at medical emergencies.

Although the state probe was prompted by a handful of anonymous complaints, the Tribune has reviewed reports about hundreds of ambulance runs from recent months that show paramedics frequently arriving far in excess of the four-to-six minute response that is a state and national standard.

In one alarming episode, Kevin Wesolowski was critically injured when his Brighton Park house blew up in a natural gas explosion in June. After running out of his house, with burns covering his head and torso, Wesolowski had to wait 13 minutes for an ambulance to arrive."

Enough, Chicago has a long history of ambulance delays do to ambulance shortages. News stories, of ambulance delays in Chicago, can be found all over the web. I don't think the taxpayers of Naperville would be willing to except these kinds of news stories.

CIJ,

Notice the friday article about Mr. Huber all of a sudden 'went missing' from the site?

Things that make you go Hmm, eh?

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 504. Appearance Date

The date set by the arresting officer or the clerk of the circuit court for an accused's first appearance in court shall be not less than 14 days but within 60 days after the date of the arrest, whenever practicable. It is the policy of this court that, if the arresting agency has been exempted from the requirements of Rule 505, an accused who appears and pleads "not guilty" to an alleged traffic or conservation offense punishable by fine only should be granted a trial on the merits on the appearance date or, if the accused demands a trial by jury, within a reasonable time thereafter. A failure to appear on the first appearance date by an arresting officer from a Rule 505 exempted agency shall, in and of itself, not normally be considered good cause for a continuance.

Naperville is a Rule 505 exempted agency as is all of DuPage County.

Again proof that 8 of the 10 Recent Posts are on the only thread that I habitate.

And yet you all say I am chasing bloggers away. And when this evidence is presented you all admit it is because you are all on here to ATTACK ME. Wait, but I thought you guys don't attack....lol..

Little do you see how I am systematically bursting your bubble and exposing your nonsense.

It really doesn't matter if it is 100 to 1. The Napergate Man taught me one can be right and 100,000 can be wrong. It is a very good lesson I learned from him.

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Recent Comments

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Even a Council Man is blogging with us and a Council Woman 3 days ago admitted reading the Blogs.....what more do you folks want.

Oh wait, didn't you folks say no reads these blogs...lol...the joke is really on your HEADS.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. And maybe if you guys would stop your childish attacks, we could one day have all 9 Council Members blogging with us instead of only 1 blogging and 4.5 only reading. Oh wait, I forgot, you guys don't want them because they finally agree with me that the Pension System is in shambles....on the verge of an IMPLOSION!
I am sorry, I forgot! Shame on ME!

By Anonymous on November 20, 2009 4:24 AM
I believe I read somewhere on this site that Fire Department employees are both firefighters and paramedics and that an Engine company is sent on ambulance calls also. So CIJ, you wasted your time and marvelous powers of assumption in your theory of putting ambulances at all ten stations, your lame attempt at being facetious. Those engines must have basic life saving equipment, along with the trained personnel to use it, so they arrive first and get started on saving that life. You obviously do not have the big picture............

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Very well said.

Apparently, it went over your head that I was TAKING the REVERSE ARGUMENT to make my point.

You have made my point for me and very clearly may I say. Thank you very much.

We can easily survive with 5 ambulances instead of 7 ambulances between midnight and 6am since Fire Engines and Fire Fighters have the expertise to help a patient until an AMBULANCE arrives for further help and transport. Plus travel times are 3-4 times better during those hours when streets are deserted.

Why not save a million dollars OR whatever amount by disabling 2 ambulances between midnight and 6am on weekdays? And let us not forget, if we ever have that DISASTER that requires more than 5 ambulances all our neighboring communities of Aurora, Warrenville, Wheaton, Lisle, Woodridge, Bolingbrook, Plainfield and Downers Grove will rush to our assistance as we would rush to their assistance.

If a massive tornado hits us, I suspect a few Naperville Firefighters/Paramedics at home would not mind coming to duty to activate the remaining 2 ambulances. In this once in a century situation/scenario, I don't mind paying the Firefighters that we woke up TRIPLE TIME. It would be much less than having them sleeping in fire houses every night making $180 awaiting that once in a decade or century disaster. Disabling 2 at night and have 5 still means many are sleeping in the fire houses and being paid to be there in 6 minutes or less 90% of the time. This is not a drastic measure I am calling for.

At some point common sense has to prevail.

Many volunteer fire fighters in Glen Ellyn do not sleep nightly in their fire stations. When the call comes out for duty they join their fellow fire fighters on duty. And they join to help for FREE. We are offering TRIPLE OVERTIME in the rare event we need them.

I am being very generous and you folks call me arrogant. I am being fair and reasonable and you folks call me arrogant. WHY???

Thank you for you kind words,

CIJ

Enough,

It's not a fair comparison to use population ratio to determine how many ambulances Naperville should have vis-a-vis Chicago. Chicago has a much higher population density than Naperville, so it stands to reason that the city should be able to get by with fewer ambulances per citizen.

-JQP

I believe Council Person Fieseler found this statement posted above a little disturbing.

"Let me ask you, CM Bob, is it fair to spend $14,400,000 on employee health benefits ONLY while the council leaves 30% of the town without an AMBULANCE at the nearest Fire Station. I thought we built these FSs because they were necessary. Because we want to have better response times. Because we want to get to patients before they have irreversible brain damage."

My, feeling, and I am not certain, is the City Council receives the same exact "too rich" health benefits as well as other benefits, no different than city staff and employees.

Thus a nerve was touched and Council Person Fieseler quickly withdrew from the debate.

To Annonymous

I qualified my number since the Chicago Fire Department web site does not have the number. I used their lising of ambulance houses to come up with 35, but I do not know how many they have.

But even with 75, then Naperville should have 4. And I would assume less since we do not have the hundreds of murders, thousands and shootings and muggings that Chicogo has annually.

As to Councilman Bob, we can send you the info. But there are two major cost center in the City--police and fire. You cannot solve the deficit you have without raising taxes and addressing these departments. And who is supplying you with the information on this coverage? The Fire Department. Very self serving.

I ask you to review the service levels. Compare them to other communities. I think you might find some major savings.

The Honorable CM Bob and CW Judy,

Let us see if we can get through this dense smoke and fog.

Even though Fire Engines have some of the life saving equipment of Ambulances, obviously they only have a small portion as there would be no need to buy them as every FS has Fire Engines.

But here is another way to pay for the $3 million we need to buy and staff 3 more Emergency Ambulances so that the 30% of the residents who do not have 5 minute Ambulance Service can have it. I understand 90% have under 6 minute service but that extra minute is way too long with no blood going to the brain according to my Nurse Friend who works at Edward's. I believe her!

As you may or may not know, the NPD, in my opinion wastes nearly $3,000,000 dollars per year in OT dispatching their police officers to Dupage Traffic Courts.

I have received tickets the last 40 years in several municipalities including of course Naperville. I am an AVERAGE DRIVER. I even visited the Dupage Traffic Court at 421 N. County Farm Lane to see how Dupage itself handles its traffic violations last week. I even interviewed a Dupage Sergeant whose full first, middle and last names I forwarded to Moderator Magee.

What I learned is that no town in Dupage or the county itself brings their POs or Sheriffs to MORNING TRAFFIC COURT. I have never seen an ACTUAL TRIAL take place in morning traffic court that often goes from 8:30am till 11:00 or 11:30am.

Usually a Bailiff calls names and about 20 people stand in line. As soon as the line dwindles down to 10 he calls another 10 names. The average person seems to be up before the bench 30 seconds and sometimes in a worse scenario 5 minutes.

Most people plead guilty outright, plead guilty with supervision, ask for a continuance, or make a quick deal with the prosecutor with the help of counsel or without counsel. Never in my life have I seen a trial take place in MORNING TRAFFIC COURT.

Imagine making 300 traffic violators wait for a BENCH or JURY TRIAL to take place. The system does not work that way.

If you want a trial for a $75 dollar speeding ticket, for not having your insurance card, for not using your turn signal, or for not having a seat belt on, you are actually entitled to either a bench trial or jury trial.

The Judge will set the trial date at the earliest in the afternoon of the same day or some date in the future when there are not 300 alleged traffic violators in the courtroom. The prosecutor will grab you and try to make a deal with you at any opportunity if you ask for a trial. Trials are costly and only asked for by 1 or 2% of the traffic offenders.

Will you get a trial? If you are stubborn, they will give you continuance after continuance until they teach you a lesson about asking for a trial for a $75 speeding ticket. Most people at some point will break down in order not to be fired from their jobs and eventually settle for a plea of guilty or guilty with supervision.

That is how the system works. Most of the municipalities send no cops to MORNING TRAFFIC COURT. A few send one to be representative and maybe communicate with the prosecutors. Or possibly so that every defendant thinks this is the cop that ticketed them to increase the chance of pleading guilty. If you are stopped at night, you really never get a good look at the officer who stopped you as you not only have the flashing lights in your rear view mirror distracting you but a flashlight in your face blinding you. And if you try to read the signature on your ticket it is worse than the signature on a prescription provided by a doctor. Obviously, cops want anonymity, too, for good reason.

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So my question is why do we have 14 NAPERVILLE COPS sitting in JURY BOXES collecting nearly 3 million in OT each year when they are really not needed. Even if these sessions are only 1 hour long each of these 14 cops collects a minimum of 4 hours of OT which is easily over $300 when you throw in only the cost of benefits, workmen's compensation, or pension. One of these MORNING TRAFFIC COURT sessions runs us $4200 dollars excluding PROSECUTORIAL COSTS which are necessary and not an issue here. This in my OPINION is a WASTE of hard earned TAX DOLLARS. No other town in Dupage does it to the best of my knowledge. And more importantly Dupage County which makes the rules does not operate in this dreadfully wasteful fashion.

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Many people ask where did all the McMansion Tax Money go to. Well, here is 1 of 101 ways the City of Naperville found to waste the McMansion money of 40k to 100k per McMansion, instead of using the excess taxes to reduce the ordinary citizens taxes.

While it is hard to argue saving pennies or hundred dollar bills when a person's life is at stake, it should not to be hard to argue that this is a WASTE of hard earned tax dollars.

Let us say a turn signal offender has got an ego and wants a trial. Let him go to court for a few continuances and either send the respective cop or drop it. I think if a signal offender is willing to go to court 4 times, he paid a heavy price. If he still insists on a trial we have to decide is it worth sending a cop and paying him $300 of OT to deal with his $75 dollar ticket. And if it is an old church going man or woman, and it is the cops word against his or her word, the Judge could rule either way since our cop cars are not CAMERA EQUIPPED last time I checked.

Making a long story short, let us save this $3,000,000 and either reduce each taxpayers real estate bill by $60 bucks or add 3 ambulances. I have no preference either way. I am not down to my last 3 cents.....YET....lol...!!! I just don't like wasting money on non-life threatening issues. A man or woman who forgot to turn his signal on, is not a terrorist threatening the well being of the mighty City of Naperville except in Chief David Dial's figment of imagination. In his Sun bi-weekly columns he reveals a DEEP PARANOIA of the next terrorist threat and seems to think Naperville has been chosen by Bin Laden as the next target. Let us start acting reasonable as a City. Let us understand where dollars need to be spent and where they can be saved.

Call me arrogant all you want. I am not arrogant. I am simply speaking the truth and eventually my supporters will come out just like they did with PENSION REFORM.

I never thought my supporters would be the City Council Members themselves in my wildest dreams on Pension Reform so I was pleasantly surprised. It shows you the City Council, if shown the light, will do the right thing. Apparently it is very hard to think out of the box when you are in that place known as Peg's Palace.(City Hall)

I suspect the City Council will make the above recommendation I am suggesting as it makes a little too much sense.

People will jump on this blog site and say this was in the pipeline for 40 years and it was not done because of CIJ......just like the Pension Reform was not because of CIJ. Well, if nothing is because of CIJ, why did they wait until they had $126.2 million in AAPLDeficits to finally act? Why did they blow off the Northwest Coalition of Suburbs who tried to institute PENSION REFORM in the last few years? Why did they ignore that infamous Mom and Pop Liquor Store owner who no one can stand hearing his WAR CRY of NAPERGATE which looms louder than ever 8 years after he retired from politics? Do tell me my fellow bloggers?

Yes, and the Brooklyn Bridge is on sale right now for 3 cents down from 5 cents. Any bidders???

Your thoughts, please, CM Bob?

Thank you,

CIJ

Ps. I apologize to you personally, CM Bob, for the behavior of some of these bloggers who would rather attack than debate. As you can see I am trying to debate and have given you and your colleagues a STANDING OVATION based on your policy statement regarding PENSION REFORM. I can not imagine I would be the reason why you have chosen to suddenly leave us.

I will certainly miss you. And keep in mind we are done talking about AMBULANCES for now. Let us talk about POLICE OT and see if we can save the taxpayers $3,000,000. A debate involving many residents is better than a private meeing in your office as we can obtain many viewpoints. Thank you sincerely for appearing here and I hope you come back soon. Happy Thanksgiving!

CIJ - why not take up CM Bob's offer and call him to discuss your concerns, - then you can post a condensed version of the conversation and then rant and rave when he doesnt do what you think he agreed to

ok CIJ,
You copy "Jeff" someone who supports your perspective. One of the few, as far as I can tell. On the other hand, I am utterly delighted with one of the things "Jeff" says, which you seem to feel is useful, since you copied it again.
Let's look at that, shall we?
"When will those of us in the private sector who fight to try to pay for their own retirements be relieved of the burden of carrying our "public servants" on our straining backs? Who is serving who here?"
Now, I know that CIJ will look at this and not see what is wrong with it, but how do the rest of you see it? I thought so. For CIJ, however, I'll go ahead and spell it out.
The Burden of carrying the "public servants" is placed on the back of taxpayers BECAUSE they are "Public Servants". See? They serve the public, those who pay taxes, thus, servants of the public, thus, public servants, thus, "Public Servants".
The ludicrous idea that they're just raking money in at out expense is just that, ludicrous. That said, the voices of reason here, and on the Council, too, I think (I've been traveling and haven't seen the latest meeting) seem to tend to agree that some belt-tightening might need to take place. I absolutely agree.
The mono-maniacal rants that we're subjected to here don't seem to agree, but then, no one seems to agree with the ranter, with the exception of a few (and history tells us, unfortunately, that those in agreement might well be the beloved ranter).
"Public Servants". Oddly enough, we need them.

I don't think volleying back and forth with some of you on the intricacies of ambulance staffing will be productive for the rest. I'm happy to take your individual questions/concerns via email fieselerr@naperville.il.us or at my office 630.305.5333. My cell # is also available on www.naperville.il.us (click on Mayor and City Council, then click again on Naperville City Council). Peace, Councilman Bob.

CIJ....
You are not smart enough to make decisions on where to place ambulances. Let those with the proper training make those decisions.

CIJ, I find your formatting, bolding, italics, and underlining to be a huge distraction from your message. I do not think it beautifies the blog site or makes reading easier. Please stop. And, please be much more concise. It will help your cause. That is my constructive criticism and I hope you take it to be so.
K

I bet CW Judy Brodhead really appreciates someone with CIJ's credibility and disposition speaking for her on this blog site. For CIJ, CW B is just another new character (real, THIS time)to draw into her little drama. CIJ, you seem to have an unhealthy obsession for attention (good, bad, or indifferent), and you are lacking in the normal social skills most adults possess. Your name calling, condescending attitude, and rage prove that you would be a good candidate for some counseling with a mental health professional. Seriously. Think about it. It would be the best gift you could give yourself and your family.

CIJ said:
"It defies logic that I am ruining this blog site when the thread I am on is getting 90% of the hits."

This is my morning chuckle. I don't understand your logic, CIJ, when YOU are probably responsible for a minimum of 80% of the posts! LOL!

By Enough on November 19, 2009 9:33 PM
Councilman Bob,
"How can Chicago with 40 times more people operate with 35 (per a web site) EMS (and much more violent crime that we do not have)? "

Enough... you have the number of Chicago ambulances wrong. I point to the following Chicago Tribune news store that states... "Chicago Fire Department’s 75 ambulances...." See complete story at...
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/sep/02/health/chi-ambulances-heart-attacks-02-sep02

You looked at VERY old number for your 35 count.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Dangerous delays
Chicago ambulances lack equipment to detect the deadliest heart attacks early

None of the Chicago Fire Department’s 75 ambulances carries equipment that can identify “widowmaker” heart attacks, or STEMIs, which occur when a major artery supplying blood to the heart is largely or completely blocked.

The news story talks about the need for 12-lead ekg units.... Naperville has these units.....

I believe I read somewhere on this site that Fire Department employees are both firefighters and paramedics and that an Engine company is sent on ambulance calls also. So CIJ, you wasted your time and marvelous powers of assumption in your theory of putting ambulances at all ten stations, your lame attempt at being facetious. Those engines must have basic life saving equipment, along with the trained personnel to use it, so they arrive first and get started on saving that life. You obviously do not have the big picture and your ignorance is showing.

Here Councilman Bob comes back to answer a few questions and in your above post of 12:17AM, you are literally telling him what to do. "I want you to tackle this important issue." Could you possibly be more arrogant and rude?

I would like to hear what the average city worker makes annually because I bet it will not be close to what police and fire make and probably closer to the range of $40-60,000 annually. Raising the employee contribution to nearly 40% is a significant pay cut to those individuals. What don't you get about the lower government pay structure many, many employees "enjoy"? Hasn't your buddy DF told you that for 20 years the city of Naperville has endeavored to pay at the 50 percent pay range level of similar communities? So sure, in this economy, you could replace your workforce easily. If the employees did not like the hit, they have the option to leave. The city will clearly pursue an alternative pension plan and they can raise employee contributions to premiums, but in any other market, they also will have to balance that against being a competitive employer. Eventually, what you do not pay in benefits, you will be paying in salary. Even in this economy, Naperville has to compete for employees with Joliet and Aurora which both have better health care benefits, believe it or not. Like paid retiree health care, premium contributions based on percentage of income(rather than a flat rate), or even LOWER employee contributions.

As to your comment that there are only a handful of individuals opposing your position GIVE US A BREAK!!!! You have to repeatedly individually name your handful of supporters, created fictional characters, and do not even have the support of the moderator. I am equally confident that CM Bob can see exactly what is going on here.

CIJ = people dont mind your message - they hate your arrogance and hubris

Cant you - even for one week, try to get your message out with out the arrogance?

By Councilman Bob on November 18, 2009 11:36 PM

On ambulances: We have a current target of responding to 90% of the calls within 6 minutes. If an ambulance is taken out of service for the year, a reduction of 6 personnel would result. That's $600K of potential personnel savings (roughly $100K each including benefits). Now saving $600K over 50,000 taxpaying households means an average savings of about $12 per year = $1 per month = $0.03 per day. My job is to decide whether we should let response times worsen so people can save 3 cents per day.

Thoughts??

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Councilman Bob,

Let me take your side for arguments sake.

1. Is the city not being grossly negligent over a lousy 3 cents not to have ambulances in all 10 fire stations instead of only 7 stations?

2. People can have irreversible brain damage after only 4 minutes and not 6 or 10 minutes according to a Nurse I just spoke to.

3. Why are 30% of the residents in this town who pay taxes not deserving of an ambulance close to their homes like the other 70% of the town?

4.We need 18 more paramedics to man these ambulances at a cost of 100k according to you. I believe the true cost is higher as many paramedics make near 78k per year even without ever receiving a promotion. The health benefit is $14,400 and the pension contribution at 25% is $19,500. This is $111,900 and we have not yet counted the cost of 13 other benefits. I believe the cost is easily $125,000 per paramedic.

5. Thus the true total cost for an additional 18 paramedics is $2,250,000.

6. I will estimate that 3 new state of the art Emergency Ambulances will cost us about $750,000.

7. Now we have $3,000,000 if we want to be fair to all residents and get them 6 minute service which they all deserve. Everyone pays taxes equally in this town? Right?

8. This translates to an extra $60 dollar per household besides the $40 in tax increases you are asking on a $600k home.

9.Suddenly the 3 cents you are talking about is a $100 bill. And as you correctly noted you are only 11% of the total real estate tax bill. If everyone acted as you folks are acting we would be talking about a near $1000.00 increase in our real estate tax bill on a 600k home. That is no pennies.

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Now I am all for these EXTRA AMBULANCES if we can do it without raising taxes.

Let me ask you, CM Bob, is it fair to spend $14,400,000 on employee health benefits ONLY while the council leaves 30% of the town without an AMBULANCE at the nearest Fire Station. I thought we built these FSs because they were necessary. Because we want to have better response times. Because we want to get to patients before they have irreversible brain damage.

Why is it more important for the employees health benefits to be 90% SUBSIDIZED, while 30% of the residents in this town do not have an AMBULANCE at the Fire Station nearest their home? Do tell, please?

I want you to tackle this important issue.

As you know no one gets easy questions from me so I apologize in advance if my question goes right to the core?

CM Bob, did we elect our Council Members to represent us or represent City Employees Benefit Rights?

As you know CM Bob if you read your packets and I believe you are one who reads them, the average municipal employee in this country was paying 38% of his Health Premiums and 60.4% of his Family Dental Premiums.

This compares to only roughly 10% for our city employees. Why???

As another CM stated succinctly on Tuesday night, 75% of our operating budget is going to the Staff and Employees. At some point you have to realize you can not tackle the budget fairly by attacking the 25% of services to the residents while ignoring the 75% of salaries, benefits and pensions of the employees where the real problem may truly lie.

Please try to see through all the smoke and fog on this Blog Site and address my serious concerns. Most of this smoke and fog is caused by a handful of individuals so don't feel like you are going against the majority or be intimidated. I have confidence you won't!

The truth, as you have seen with Pensions, will always come out. We can run for a while but we can not hide. In the end we have to confront, face and solve our problems in a fiscally responsible manner.

Thank you,

CIJ

Cij...
You are not smart. You think you are, however you are not. If everything was run the way you want it...we would have no ambulances or police. I feel safe in naperville. If my children were involved in a car wreck-i would be glad for the extra ambulance one minute closer to home. Get a life and off your high horse you self centered joke.

Councilman Bob,

You allude to "potential facts". A couple of questions.

1. How can Chicago with 40 times more people operate with 35 (per a web site) EMS (and much more violent crime that we do not have)?

2. Why not close the three stations without EMS overnight? The bloggers said all stations need to be open due to EMS, but clearly three do not.

3. Mayor Daley stated that fire payroll costs could be lowered by going to straight 40 hour shifts instead of the 24 hour, one day on, two day off schedule. Naperville uses the same schedule as Chicago. Should we change?

4. Was their ever an independent study that warranted 10 fire houses?

5. Would you support a County wide fire plan that would reduce fire fighters by 30% without any impact on service?

Just some questions.

Thank you CM Bob. I think you answered the main points I was looking for, and more.

"The problem we have is in covering the geographical area of Naperville even with 7 ambulances it’s a challenge to ensure that all of our citizens maintain an equitable service if and when the EMS call is needed."

"We do cover nearly 60 square miles and the overall challenge is to provide the same service to all residents regardless of the frequency."

"On average, it’s accurate to say that our ambulances are very seldom depleted. This occurs maybe once in a monthly time period."

"You are correct in that we will move an ambulance from a south or north location to Station 5 which is centrally located."

I have said on this blog, and others also, that we have seen 5 or more ambulances at Edward ER. We (myself and others) never said it happened every night, nor everyday, but it does happen. Further, when we are down to one available ambulance in town, it is moved to station 5 at Naper/Plainfield and 87th. Others on this blog have spoken of closing fire stations and shutting down ambulances. Even at the best of travel times, getting from station 5 to anywhere north of the railroad tracks would take over 10 mins.

When a City of size of Naperville (with over 60 square miles to protect) covers the city with only 7 manned ambulances, I have to question are we under staffed???

GJC, Conscientious Observer and all those hiding under the Anonymous Handle,

I forgot to mention Jeff as one of my supporters in the earlier blog. I apologize for that. Read and try to comprehend what he was saying.

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By Jeff on October 25, 2009 10:27 PM
Thank you CIJ.

Thanks for increasing awareness about this extremely unfair pension system. It's only natural for those who benefit by confiscating the dollars of struggling private sector workers to attack you when you draw attention to this problem. Don't let them deter you.

I am with you 100% and support your hard work.

When will those of us in the private sector who fight to try to pay for their own retirements be relieved of the burden of carrying our "public servants" on our straining backs? Who is serving who here?

The reaction you see from your opponents are exactly what you would expect when you try to keep a little bit of your own money from their greedy hands.

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My supporters are only saying it once. They only need to say it once. All you folks do is repeat and repeat your attacks. If you were repeating facts to try to get your points across, I would understand.

But all you are doing is REPEATING NONSENSICAL ATTACKS.

I am pushing a CAUSE and making HEADWAY.

You are doing nothing but attacking a sincere MESSENGER.

Like I said it is just a matter of time before the Moderator and I will see eye to eye just like the City Council and I are seeing eye to eye suddenly and unexpectedly.

The Moderator will eventually see through all this thick smoke and fog. You guys did not want anyone to believe that our CM and CW were reading this blog site. How wrong you were....and you still are barking...lol...!!!

And you were obviously all clueless about the pension system fiasco. Are you going to start attacking our council members who finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel 15 years after the Napergate Man warned them......after a $126,200,000 ACCRUED ACTUARIAL PENSION LIABILITY DEFICIT that they now know they can not overcome without burdening the taxpayers to the point of probable FORECLOSURE.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. If you truly felt my MESSAGE was worthless, you would not be wasting so much time here tracking every post I publish. Read again what Jeff wrote. He was right on the money.

It is seriously you guys who need to get a life. Fighting for a CAUSE I believe in is very fulfilling for me. Much more important and gratifying than watching a 3.5 hour boring baseball game.

CIJ says: It defies logic that I am ruining this blog site when the thread I am on is getting 90% of the hits.

Are you really, truly that clueless CIJ? Or are you just having some weird fun at everyone's expense?
9 out of 10 of the posts on the current page are people making fun of you.
MAKING FUN OF CIJ. We all knew, every one of us, that you'd take some sort of credit for this, and the saddest part is, if you had listened to all of the advice or suggestions you might have actually earned some small portion of credit. As it is, you deserve nothing but pity.
Hours after even our moderator explained, once again, why your presence here is not helpful but hurtful to this site, you do exactly the same thing all over again. Exactly the same thing.
CIJ, you're either an Internet troll with way too much time on your hands, or you're truly mentally unstable. Which one is it? I truly can't see any other alternative, try as I might to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Please, CIJ, if you think you're that important to this site, GO AWAY. Blog somewhere else, and all your devoted fans will surely follow you, You'll build some other site and you can pity us for not getting it.
Just. Stop. Or learn to be reasonable.

AMEN Chris! That was like a cool breeze on a hot summer night, very refreshing.

CIJ, you give yourself waaaaaaay too much credit. This pension issue is not something new that council all of a sudden discovered because of your blogging. It's something they've been working on for a while now. You don't attend council meetings, you never visit city hall, you don't do anything except blog on a newspaper website. Time to get a life, wouldn't you say? Join the real world again?

Anonymous 11/19 @ 8:09am - Fire Department's answers to your questions about ambulance service:

(1) & (2) "On average, it’s accurate to say that our ambulances are very seldom depleted. This occurs maybe once in a monthly time period. Just so you are aware, we do request mutual aid when we go down to only one ambulance. You are correct in that we will move an ambulance from a south or north location to Station 5 which is centrally located."

(3) "In most cases the mutual aid ambulance will in fact occupy our stations and if a call comes into that respective district they will respond. The point that needs to be made here is that although these situations are not very frequent, we do make every attempt to keep as many ambulances in service as possible. We respond to over 8000 EMS calls annually which equates to about 22 calls per day. Out of this on average 14 result in transports to the hospital.

The problem we have is in covering the geographical area of Naperville even with 7 ambulances it’s a challenge to ensure that all of our citizens maintain an equitable service if and when the EMS call is needed. We will respond with the closest unit on any EMS call and all of our engines and trucks are equipped with advanced life support equipment and paramedics. But many of our calls require an immediate transport unit i.e. trauma, cardiac and respiratory calls and by having to wait even an additional 3-5 minutes for a transport unit to arrive could make a substantial difference in patient outcome. In certain cases, depending on where the mutual aid ambulance is coming from there could be a substantial delay in a transport unit arriving on the scene. Possibly 10-15 minutes."

(4) "We do cover nearly 60 square miles and the overall challenge is to provide the same service to all residents regardless of the frequency."

BLOGGERS,

I am constantly being accused of attempting to destroy this BLOG SITE despite only blogging on 1 of 10 live threads on the Main Page. The most I could possibly destroy is ONE. The most I could possibly chase bloggers away from is ONLY ONE.

If you look at RECENT COMMENTS that I copied and pasted below from the right side of the MAIN PAGE, 9 of the 10 were on the THREAD that I am currently residing on with even a CM joining the discussion and another CM recently admitting she reads the BLOGS.

All you folks said no one reads these blog sites. Well, I know the number of CM reading this blog site has increased from 0 to 5.5. Facts are facts. Ramble all you want. My MESSAGE may not be getting through to you, but it is certainly getting through to my Council Members who were always my TARGET.

And keep in mind they want this PENSION ISSUE now publicized and a grass roots movement developed to put pressure on Springfield. How many times did we say we need a grass roots movement on this blog site as the Napergate Man established with success??? Well, the CM are really listening and probably understand the valuable lessons of the Napergate Era that apparently have not been lost on them.

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Why should I be quiet when they finally announced that we need to wake the sleepy residents up, "implement a public awareness campaign, and then proceed with a plan to create a groundswell of public support leading into the 2010 legislative session and beyond......"

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I told you folks the Napegate Man's teachings of perseverance, persistence and steadfastness combined with the truth do work.I studied and researched history. You folks babbled and babbled. Now you can babble all you want. But the truth is all who opposed me have EGGS ON THEIR FACE despite having a biased umpire who tried to help them along.

Those are the undisputed facts. Continue with your acrobatics, semantics and antics and you will end up eating CROW just like I told JQP many times.

Not one of you will admit they were wrong. Not even Experienced who said the taxpayers were not liable for the pension losses to the best of my recollection. Not one of you would ever apologize but quick to call others cowards. Not one of you knew what he or she was talking about.

Even those who wanted to support me were afraid to support me because of the gang mentality and ended up pretty much on the wrong side of the PENSION ISSUE also with EGGS ON THEIR FACES with a very few exceptions, like Jim, Kevin, Napervillian and the Anonymous who gave me a STANDING OVATION for my work. I suspect Enough will smell the coffee and see through the thick smoke and fog after he has seen how wrong you folks are and how right he has been. He or she is now being mildly attacked and/or challenged by Experienced and others.

Where was Experienced at the City Council Meeting on Tuesday? He was not there as the speakers said enough about themselves for the viewers to realize who they were or what they did. None was close to being an attorney or forensic accountant. He is possibly a hypocrite who does not walk the walk or talk the talk....just wants others to be the next Napergate Man and Woman when he knows it is almost impossible for anyone to follow in his footsteps. Yes, we also would all like to play basketball like Michael Jordan once did. Yes, UCLA would love to find another Johnny Wooden and win 12 NCAA Championships again, but this is all easier done than said . Most of us have limitations, Experienced! You obviously have some, too.

Oh, and did not Experienced say he had a group of 20 assembled to fight this tax levy. Where were his 20 supporters on Tuesday night? Only a husband and wife spoke who I know but did not send there and one or 2 others. Of course he does not want to hear about the Napergate Man because his calls at most brought one person to the City Council meeting. Great grass roots movement, Experienced. Now you know it is no easy task to step in the shoes of the Napergate Man who could fill that place with his calls in his Napergate ads. Where was your Napergate Style ad to rally the troops that you said you might do if I recall correctly?

Since 5.5 CM were/are reading this blog site and possibly all 9, of course they took what they read seriously. Of course they looked at my calculations and knew they were accurate and made sense. I bet they even reviewed old Napergate ads that I am sure the legal department has stashed in its file cabinets since during a legal battle you accumulate such DOCUMENTS to see if you can nail your opponent in a lie or contradiction in a court of law. They may have even given Gary Menconi a call to see why he saw it so differently than they did at one time. He may have explained to them something they were not seeing clearly. They are human after all and not all DEGREED ACCOUNTANTS and ACTUARIES. So it took them a while to understand this Pension Tsunami. Honestly, it took me a while and once read a Napergate ad at least 4 times in the Nichols Library to try to understand what the NGM was exactly trying to convey.

Below is the proof that I am not destroying this BLOG SITE. I have no doubt that I am making it better.

Keep in mind it is you folks including the Moderator who are attacking me. I am trying not to even counter attack. I did write the Moderator private posts that were off the record and not published so I would not clutter this thread. And a blogger accuses me of being a coward for not responding to the comments of the Moderator even though I did respond after I got a good night's sleep and gave it some thought. That "I can not woman up," was being alleged LOL!

Thanks for being fair and posting my RESPONSE to your COMMENTS, Moderator Magee. While you are the worse referee I have ever seen in my life, you do not CENSOR, even though you could, and I think that speaks volumes about your honesty, integrity and character.

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Recent Comments

Conscientious Observer commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: To Chris:

Citizen Investigative Journalist commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: FOR PUBLIC

Anonymous commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: Councilma

Kevin commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: CIJ, You

T.B. commented on Where to from here in Afghanistan?: I could be

GJC commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: CIJ, Hurr

Anonymous commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: Well Congr

Anonymous commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: Chris... T

Citizen Investigative Journalist commented on Council votes to raise property tax rate: CM Bob, T

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It defies logic that I am ruining this blog site when the thread I am on is getting 90% of the hits.

There are other threads available for tax discussion both live and in the archives. I just chose this one and all the action is here. So let us not pretend I am chasing everyone away.

Watch and see, I bet CW Judy Brodhead will soon join CM Bob and blog with us. You can only read for so long before you want to say a word or two. I read it for 6 months before I was tempted to participate.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Kevin on November 19, 2009 8:09 AM
CIJ,

You mentioned before that you paid a company $30 to come and rake/pick-up your leaves. Can you post who that company is with their phone number?

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Kevin,

While I know you are a Napergatian who has no hateful feelings towards me, I can not post the company's number here. Others would use it to track me down and I value my anonymity. It is a Mom and Pop landscaper out of Lisle.

The landscaper who mows my grass all year in essence continues mowing until all the leaves are mowed. Just like he mows the grass and collects them in his bags attached to his mower, he mows the leaves and collects them in his bags attached to his mower. It is the same concept for both and takes the exact same time for both.
He does it every other week for 6 weeks and the total cost is 90 bucks for coming 3 times. He is on the same schedule as when he mows my lawn.

The leaves are shredded to smithereens and collected automatically by his mower. I watch the employees dump them in the back of their pick-up truck. I can not understand why any landscaper could not perform this kind of simple work for the same price as mowing. My price is 30 bucks for either. Two guys get it done in 10-15 minutes. So basically for a combined 20 to 30 minutes of labor and some gas they are making 30 bucks or 60-90 bucks an hour. They are not lawyers or doctors so they should not be charging you 120 bucks for 20 minutes of mowing leaves which converts to $360 per hour.

I own one third of an acre with the home, driveways, sidewalks and large patio occupying a third of that. If you live on an acre or two, my landscaper would probably charge you $110 to $125 dollars. So it is not one price for all lot sizes.

I did rake my own leaves for decades before realizing these commercial mowers could mow leaves for the same price they mow your lawn. I will never rake my leaves again...lol..

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. Can you believe the heat I take on this blog site, Kevin, even when I heed your advice and focus on the issues instead of the bloggers. As a Napergatian, you probably recall the heat the Napergate Man took during his first year or two. The Naperville Sun even refused to publish Napergate V or VI. His grass roots movement brushed it off and hand delivered. I am simply brushing it off and thankfully don't have to hand deliver since I am not being CENSORED...YET! As you can see many of my positions especially on PENSIONS are turning out just right despite the flack I took here. And for fear of being attacked, I will not take credit for what the Napergate Man and later Woodridge Police Pension Fund Manager Gary Menconi uncovered before I did. I just researched and verified their findings to be accurate. I am hoping and suspect you are seeing through the thick smoke and fog. Please try to blog more frequently Kevin as I appreciate all your thoughts, ideas, bluntness and kindness.

If you get a chance, please let me know if you find my formatting, bolding, italics and underlying offensive to you. I think it beautifies the blog site and makes reading easier. What are your thoughts? I would appreciate them since I know you hold no biases towards me and only give valuable constructive criticism. Thank you kindly, Kevin!

Isn't it funny how CIJ thinks he had something to do with the Councils decision! Please Councilman Bob, or any other City Council member who might be reading .... please explain to him that no City makes any decision simply because of the rantings of one lunatic on any blog sight.

I applaud the City's concerns about spending and maintaining services to the best of their abiities, and their reasons for that I am sure are MANY. I doubt that anyone can get through to CIJ .... the unstable rarely listen to reason, but perhaps if the real reasons for the City acting on the the Pension funds as well as many other issues were given here, maybe, JUST maybe, his ego could be brought down to that of the giantly disillusional.

I know no one likes my pounding but what else can you do if it takes 3 years to get your CM to listen.

3 years of ranting anonymously on the internet to accomplish what could have been done by going to a single City Countil meeting? And you're proud of this? Seriously?

Maybe if you could hear yourself think over the deafening noise of you patting yourself on the back you would realize what a colossal waste of time your little blogging tantrums are compared to any kind of action in the real world.

To Chris: Bravo! You said everything I, and probably many others, feel. Lately, I just skip those posts by our resident ranter and life is just so much happier. Thank you for saying what many of us have been thinking!

To Councilman Bob: Thank you for reading and posting on this blog site. In response to your question, I do not want to see cutback in the budget for basic public health and safety services for our community. In my opinion, three cents a day could not be better spent. As Chris mentioned, delays in response times could be the difference between life and death or full-recovery and brain damage.

In today's economy, I agree that our city's budget should be scrutinized for areas where we can possibly cut-back or eliminate, just like the citizens of Naperville must do with their own personal or business budgets. But, some things cannot be compromised without consequences. I just ask that our City Council approach the budget reviews with a responsible and sober disposition, keeping in mind that many in our community are struggling in this economy.

FOR PUBLICATION,

Moderator Magee,

My Off the Record comments to you were simply a plea that you try to be a better referee.....an unbiased umpire.

Your comments were a complete OVERREACTION.

Your comments prove you are incapable of being a neutral referee. I accept that.

Since you skim my comments, I guess you did not realize the Ambulance issue was about property taxes. Since we have a $14.1 million deficit, I was just trying to show where we could reduce expenses in the FIRE DEPARTMENT to save on real estate taxes.

The Council pointed out that 75% of the operating budget is about employees, their wages, their benefits, and their pensions. In the end, if you don't want to eliminate all services, cuts unfortunately have to be made in this area of employee salaries, benefits and pensions.... There is no 2 ways about it and I suspect the Council Members are catching on slowly but surely....FINALLY!

Sometimes my comments are long but do you think the ONE LINERS from the Anonymouses simply rubber stamping what you say really contribute to the debate in a serious manner? I see them as 2 RUBBER STAMPS. I can buy a rubber stamp for $9.99 without ever leaving my computer...lol..

I know no one likes my pounding but what else can you do if it takes 3 years to get your CM to listen. I thought the day before yesterday that they finally heard me. Especially, since I know most of them don't even read their packets. CW Judy Brodhead admitted yesterday she reads THE BLOGS.

Just because I own apartment buildings does not make me wealthier or poorer than anyone else in the City of Naperville where average family income use to be $149k. I am probably poorer because I am 20 years older than the average Napervillian...much poorer but not POOR by any strecth of the imagination. Speakers last night and council members also admitted owning apartment buildings. One speaker noted that taxes and maintenance eat up half his rents. He pointed out correctly if his mortgage was not paid up he would be in serious financial trouble during his retirement. Obviously, he does not get a pension and this is his retirement fund to survive as I hope mine will one day be.

While my home mortgage is paid up, my apartment buildings that I bought at an older age are not paid up. So I am making no profit from them due to ever increasing real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance. I have to play the market to help subsidize them until the mortgage is paid after 30 years. Let us hope I will still be alive like the older gentleman that spoke eloquently and clearly the night before last.

When I speak, I don't just speak for myself. I also speak for my apartment dwellers. It is the 19th today and I still have not cashed my rent checks because of the large numbers who are late.....like never before. Almost unimaginable. People are just being pinched from all aspects and the City of Naperville raising taxes instead of lowering them 10% is UNCONSCIONABLE.

Thank God I have some strong cash flow to pay my mortgages until my rent finally all comes in. Thank God I can play the stock market daily so I do not have to pass the tax increases on to my tenants. I have waived all late fees due to this recession which is really a depression waiting to happen.

I know Moderator you don't give a hoots about anything related to the tax burden of the Naperville Taxpayer. You have said this repeatedly and made yourself very clear. It is nice to be single with no kids or a pregnant wife who can not work or an unemployed factory worker. But one day you will smell the coffee that my neighbors are smelling.

I feel I am conveying a very IMPORTANT MESSAGE on your blog site and it is getting through to the 5.5 Council Members that I am certain read the Sun Blog Site. I am not certain the other 3.5 members are not on this wonderful blog site that you seemed to have developed a hatred for....that you seem to find a burden. May I suggest that you may be burned out and you should pass the baton to another Sun Official? You should have never been given this huge task and responsibility to handle by yourself. Jim and Ted shared it and they were stressed out in the end.

Enough for now. One thing I realized for certain is that you are very stubborn and I will not be able to influence or change you in the slightest way or manner. I now understand that. You don't listen and simply repeat yourself. I guess more than one of us at times does not realize he or she is repeating themselves.

You criticize me for writing a long letter but than you write a long letter that could have been summarized in one paragraph. Ask CW Judy Brodhead if you don't believe me. She is an English Professor, I believe at NCC.

I guess sometimes it is easy to see what others do wrong but not so easy to see what we ourselves do wrong. I am speaking about the both of us, Moderator Magee! I am not singling you out as you single me out.

Have a nice morning, Moderator!

I still believe one day we will see eye to eye.

Just like the majority of the council members and I are finally seeing eye to eye on pensions, something most people probably thought was impossible 3 years ago.

Thank you,
CIJ

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Ps. I know you hate formating, Moderator Magee, but if I did not format the below post,

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By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 18, 2009 5:03 PM
BREAKING NEWS FROM THE CITY OF NAPERVILLE

Pension Reform

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you could never imagine how UNREADABLE and DISTASTEFUL it looked after copying and pasting from the minutes of the City Council Meeting. If this post was not so long already I would have posted that information on this post to show you what it looks like RAW and UNFOMATTED.

I am sure your RUBBER STAMPS here would agree it looks better RAW with NO HEADLINES or BOLDING or continuing the sentences that get cut off in the middle of a line when you copy and paste, but I suspect Ms. Judy Brodhead, an English Professor and Council Woman, would say well done.

Councilman Bob..... Good Morning and thank you for posting. I have several questions that hopefully you can answer. I am looking for numbers from the city and NOT GUESS WORK FROM THOSE THAT THINK THEY KNOW (from hearsay). There have been several posts and "replies" about ambulance service in Naperville. I would like to hear what numbers you can supply concerning this issue.

1) There are 7 manned ambulances in the city of Naperville. How many times per week, on average, are "MOST" or all committed to calls at the same time?? As part of this number, I am aware that ambulances are sent to fire calls because the paramedics are also firefighters and are needed for help at the fire. (ambulances have been need or used at 4-5 fires that I have read about in the past month).

2) To further the above question.... I have heard that if the north side of the city has all of its ambulances out on calls, than a south side ambulance will be moved north. If this is the case (and vice-verse, north to south) Does this mean that an ambulance from 103rd street could be sent to a call on the north east side of the city (a 15 min drive at best)????

3) I have seen other towns ambulances in our fire stations. This can also be confirmed in several news stories of late (in several press releases on the city web site it has stated that town "X" either "assisted" at the scene or covered our fire stations...

Media Release
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Fire Personnel Battle Crystal Rock Residence Blaze
"Neighboring fire departments provided coverage at Naperville fire stations that were assigned this incident."

With budget cuts also effecting other towns around us (LW has cut one ambulance, Warrenville only has one ambulance staffed and Aurora only has one staffed east of Farnsworth) What plan is in place and how often do we have to wait for an ambulance to come from Plainfield(143rd street) or Wheaton (county farm and Roosevelt) or Bolingbrook to provide us the "coverage" noted in the press releases????

4) What is the number of square miles that the City of Naperville fire Department covers??? I have heard that including the unincorporated areas, in and around the city, they protect nearly 60 square miles. Is this number correct?? 60 Square miles and 7 ambulance sounds like alot of miles for each to cover... 8.6 miles can be a large area in an urban setting like ours.

I look forward to reading YOUR answers Councilman Bob.

CIJ,

You mentioned before that you paid a company $30 to come and rake/pick-up your leaves. Can you post who that company is with their phone number? I missed the last pick-up through the City this week (I will continue to use the leaf pick-up service as long as I am paying for it through my taxes). I have called two companies to do this service for me and one quoted $125 and the second one quoted $110. So as you can see I would much rather pay $30 like you did vs the prices above. Thanks for your help!

Kevin

CIJ,
Hurrah, you got what you've been annoying us about for all this time. For my part i think this has nothing whatever to do with YOU, but that no longer matters. One of your main contentions is now a legislative priority for the City.
So, you may now be silent on the subject, until we see what the city can manage. We will all appreciate that silence while you find another thing to scream about. Please, take your time.

Thanks Chris, I hope that your message was heard.

Well Congratulations CIJ, now will you just give it a rest?!!!! Or are you going to continue to harangue us all because perhaps the legislative process does not move according to your schedule, or you have to pony up the extra $75 for taxes (which by the way you could save if you just quit driving back and forth looking for ambulances), or maybe you want one more leaf collection, or whatever. If you cannot curb your overwhelming desire to dictate the way the city funds are spent, either run for city council or get some help.

Now that the council has done something you do like, please refrain from "applauding" them time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time again. They don't live for your accolades as CM Bob indicated he can barely read the blog, substantially because of you.

No comment on the moderator's last public post to you? tsk, tsk, how very typical of you when someone makes a strong argument against you, you rarely woman up and admit the problem could be yours.

Chris... This is all I have to say to your rebuttal to CIJ's rants-

http://yfrog.com/2morsonclappingg

Bravo, good sir-- And I agree, CIJ's time would be better spent in World of Warcraft. I'm pretty sure neither the Orcs or the Humans get any kind of pension, and thank god Azeroth doesn't have any ambulances. There are no doubt some fat cat establishment executives calling the shots at the Blizzard offices though...

CM Bob,

The ambulance issue came up because it appears to me that the City Council Members are making no attempt to seriously make employees pay for a larger portion of their benefits.

Life Insurance Salesman also pitch to you that policies will only cost you the price of a 4 dollar cup of latte per day. But that is $1460 a year. That is not chump change for anyone after taxes.

I noticed at the meeting you stated, if I recall correctly, 9 cents a day. Now you are saying 3 cents a day.

How many other 3 and 9 cents are we talking about here and there?

Regardless, it all adds up just like my example of the Life Insurance Salesman.

We did not elect you to be a salesman. We elected you to be a FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE CITY OFFICIAL who could find ways to reduce our taxes and not increase them especially after all the McMansions were added to our TAX BASE.

Regardless, I admire you for being the only CM in the City of Naperville for having the courage to post on this blog site instead of just reading it occasionally or daily.

I encourage any debate with you and I assure you it will be civil from my angle....and I have no doubt it will be civil from your angle as I have observed you at all City Council meetings and have nothing but the utmost respect for you.

Thanks for also caring about Mr. Scott Huber. He does not need to be attacked by anyone.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS. And you guys did great regarding a Pension Reform Strategy. But may I ask you why it takes the Council Members so long to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Another interesting observation from last night's Council Meeting is the new feelings that all the CM that spoke, now have about Too Rich Pensions.

While I have been blogging about PENSION REFORM ferociously for 3 years, no one appeared to be listening. Suddenly, these CM were echoing the same feelings and ideas I have expressed here that were discounted.

Not one CM spoke in the defense of the pensions in the TOO RICH FORMAT they exist today. A little surprise for me here.

One CM realized if something is not done soon, all our taxes and more will go to PENSIONS. The system will collapse. Wow! Could not believe that finally a Naperville CM would echo Mr. Menconi's feelings and worse.

They even now are paying lobbyists to lobby against pensions in Springfield. Wow! After rejecting the call to join the NW Coalition of Suburbs just last year.... I guess it took a disastrous year to finally wake them up. Last year, the numbers were really disastrous and you would have to be in a coma not to wake up...seriously folks!

They even made it their MAIN PRIORITY.

They also want it to be the MAIN LEGISLATIVE priority of our City Staff.

They now, 1 year, later want to form their own Coalition of Towns to fight these Too Rich Pensions that I have called Big Fat Pensions for nearly 3 years on this blog site.

They noted the ever increasing deficits and accruing liabilities that I have noted for nearly 3 years.

They not only want to reform pensions but create plans to create a groundswell of public support leading into the 2010 legislative session and beyond......

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Does this not sound like the Napergate Man wanting to create a grass roots movement to lay the foundation for tackling his legislative priorities in the City of Naperville in past years.

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Late is better than never.

But waiting 15 years after the Napergate Man warned them just seems a bit TOO LONG.

But waiting until we hit rock bottom with a $126.2 million AAPLDeficit seems a bit TOO MUCH.

At least the City Council Members finally realized that the FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE CITY and STATE OFFICIALS, plus Police and Fire Unions of course, were leading us down the Grand Canyon with no way up or out.

I can tell from the CM comments that they knew there was no way they can balance this pension deficit by the year 2033 since pay-outs exceed pay-ins in an exponential manner, even if POs and FFs make contributions of 9.46%to 9.91%, while we the taxpayers make matching annual contributions of nearly 25% that would have to rise each year.

I will give the Council Members a STANDING OVATION today. I am so sorry I missed the City Council Meeting yesterday. I would have stood on the podium and APPLAUDED THEM.

The harder they work for you, the less I will have to say.

Thank you,

CIJ

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PS.
Ms. Brodhead,
Please feel free to correct my spelling and English while shortening my letters anytime. I appreciate that much.

I managed to review the City Council meeting on delayed video that I missed last night. One thing I noted is that CW Judy Brodhead, an English Professor, admitted she reads the blogs.

While she did not mention the Naperville Sun specifically, she certainly as a Napervillian is not reading the Aurora Beacon News Blog Site or the Joliet Herald Blog Sites.

This makes it 5.5 CM and CW that we know read this blog site with certainty that most bloggers in the past have alleged no one reads.

Yes, sometimes one person can be RIGHT and hundreds can be WRONG.

Welcome aboard, CW Brodhead.

Hopefully, we can communicate with you directly in the future.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. And thanks Ms. Brodhead for reading this blog site in an attempt to feel the pulse of the community.

I try to skim these posts every couple of days, but I get discouraged by all the angst and negativity. But I'll give it another shot.

On ambulances: We have a current target of responding to 90% of the calls within 6 minutes. If an ambulance is taken out of service for the year, a reduction of 6 personnel would result. That's $600K of potential personnel savings (roughly $100K each including benefits). But response times will suffer, perhaps to a level where only 80-85% of the calls arrive within 6 minutes in some areas of the city. Now saving $600K over 50,000 taxpaying households means an average savings of about $12 per year = $1 per month = $0.03 per day. My job is to decide whether we should let response times worsen so people can save 3 cents per day. That's why I say that we can't let the "cut, cut, cut" ideology get out of proportion, because I do believe there are tipping points where residents will say we shouldn't have cut so deep.

A response to this might be, "Well sure, it's only 3 cents per day more for great ambulance service, but nickels and dimes add up, and it's up to the city to set a good example for the other taxing bodies, like the schools, where we're talking about dollars instead of pennies." And maybe some will say that the threat of diminished ambulance service is phony and that staff is just exaggerating so we don't cut so far. But we just can't let our zeal to trim compromise the basic public health and safety services our residents expect the city to provide.

Thoughts??

Amen, Chris

I'm with Chris, thank you.

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE CITY OF NAPERVILLE

Pension Reform

Per the discussion during the Legislative Roundtable, the attached proposal identifies ‘Municipal
Pension Reform’ as the city’s sole Legislative Priority; the remaining issues identified at the
Roundtable are listed as Position Statements. As such, staff plans to spend the vast majority of
legislative resources on the pension issue, as will our lobbyists. The workplan included with the
attached pension priority outlines staff’s plan to create a groundswell of public support leading
into the 2010 legislative session and beyond......

RECOMMENDATION:

Direct staff to draft a Resolution adopting the 2010 City of Naperville Legislative Action Plan.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Draft 2010 City of Naperville Legislative Action Plan
FINAL - City Council Meeting - 11/17/2009 - 146
Page: 146 - Agenda Item: L.2.

2010 PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

Municipal Pension Reform
Illinois municipalities outside of Chicago (referred to as “downstate”) are serviced by three
defined benefit pension funds – the downstate police, fire, and Illinois Municipal Retirement
Fund (IMRF) pension systems. Downstate police and fire pension funds are experiencing
mounting debt and tremendous fiscal hardship.......... The current recession has seen increases in accrued and unfunded liability in these pension systems while funded ratios have declined. The burden of funding the investment losses
in these downstate pension system lies with taxpayers. Municipal pensions in Illinois are
outdated, not sustainable, and too rich; the City of Naperville supports fiscal reform of downstate
pension systems and policies.

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WORKPLAN:

• Form a municipal pension reform coalition by engaging other local governments (i.e. school
districts, park district, COG’s);
• Engage City of Naperville union groups in pension reform discussion;
• Compile historical and current local pension funding data;
• Compare local pension data with private, regional, and interstate retirement systems;
• Utilizing the city’s actuary, analyze future taxpayer liabilities in terms of current pension
policies and potential pension reforms;
• Produce a City of Naperville pension reform position paper in advance of the DMMC
Springfield Drivedown in March, 2010; and
• Implement a public awareness campaign.

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Very very interesting and you say City Officials don't read Napergate ads and the Naperville Sun Blog Site.

The relentless pounding of our FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE City Officials has finally paid off.

1. The Napergate Man told City Officials a decade and a half ago these very rich pension plans are not sustainable and unfair to taxpayers.

2. I agreed with the Napergate Man and pounded his message and added to it here on this Sun Blog Site. I did call them Big Fat Pensions instead of very rich or too rich as the NGM and City Officials called them respectively. But it really means the same darn thing. I am sorry I did not choose the politically correct words like the Napergate Man and City Officials and upset everyone for nearly 3 years.

3. Gary Menconi, former Pension Fund Manager of the Woodridge Police Department joined our debate half way through and stated that the PENSION SYSTEM WILL IMPLODE.....he stated it is not a matter of IF.....but WHEN! How right he was!!! Those are his words verbatim.....no plagiarizing by ME....lol...

4.Naperville Officials were so short sighted that they were unwilling to join the NW Suburbs in pension reform last year. Now they are trying to form a Pension Reform Coalition after snubbing NW Suburbs who invited them. Do they have any credibility at this point left with other cities?

5. I guess after being $126.2 million dollars in the hole and 15 years after the warnings by the Napergate Man, action may FINALLY be coming. Late is better than never as the saying goes.

6. It shows that all the posters who opposed me on the Big Fat Pensions were CLUELESS. Did not understand the NUMBERS. Did not understand my REPEATED CALCULATIONS. Did not see the coming of DOOMSDAY! Did not comprehend Mr. Menconi's warning of an IMMINENT IMPLOSION!

7. It does puzzle me how a Mom and Pop liquor store owner has foresight of 15 years while highly paid and pensionalized public officials can't even act with 3 years of HINDSIGHT! What are we honestly paying our City Officials for. To get us out of train wrecks they got us in the first place?

8. Why not find train engineers to run the City of Naperville who won't get us in these train wrecks in the first place....who can keep us on the tracks....

======================================== Choo Choo=======================================

yes, keep us on the tracks PLEASE!!!!

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I am very happy today. While the 4.5 City Council Members who read this blog site will say we never read a word that CIJ writes, they finally admit that these Big Fat PENSIONS are TOO RICH indeed as CIJ has been telling them. Can you imagine City Officials are finally calling them TOO RICH.....unimaginable if you ask me.

AS I HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU MY FELLOW BLOGGERS PERSISTENCE, PERSEVERANCE AND STEADFASTNESS PAY....THE TRUTH ALWAYS COMES OUT IN THE END JUST LIKE THE NAPERGATE MAN TOLD US.

The bottom line is I told the taxpayers they were facing 25% in matching pension fund contributions that were increasing each year while accrued actuarial pension liability deficits increased despite all these efforts. MY SIMPLE CALCULATIONS using a $5.99 calculator from Walgreen's stated the numbers just don't add up. How could our highly qualified and educated City Officials using the latest in state of the art computers not be able to figure this out? How could the Napergate Man figure this out in the Stone Age before computers could do what they could do in the Modern Age??? Goodness Gracious!!!! Amazing Grace!!!

The TRAIN WRECK as the Napergate Man called it is fast approaching.

The IMPLOSION as Gary Menconi stated was on the horizon.

It was all documented in black and white folks and City Officials ignored all the WARNINGS! Why?

As a Citizen Investigative Journalist I reviewed the situation to the best of my ability and agreed with the minority view. The minority view has now turned out to be absolutely right. Watch and see! Soon it will be the MAJORITY VIEW.

It appears the City of Naperville has finally conceded it was wrong and that pension system is TOO RICH and NOT SUSTAINABLE. May God have Mercy after all the destruction they brought on us....for not listening to all of us who tried to help them. May God have Mercy on their souls!!!

Yes, it is good I was not there last night. I would have probably thrown the PODIUM at them and hit all 9 like a bunch of falling dominos. Can you guys handle a little humor without being so uptight all the time...lol!!!

Thank you,

CIJ

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

PS. You always want links, folks.

Well here is the LINK:

http://www.naperville.il.us/ccpacket/cc20091117p.pdf

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

Please note BLOGGER EXPERIENCED that the City of Naperville is finally admitting that we the TAXPAYERS are responsible for these pension losses and deficits. If I recall correctly you said we were not. I stand by my ASSERTION that we are RESPONSIBLE until we file Chapter 9 Bankruptcy. No ifs, ors or buts!

One comment. All residential real estate values are going up (unless you did something about it-HA! HA!). So if the rate stays flat and your assesment went up 5%, then your increase will be closer to $75 rather than $25.

Your response, a $75 increase ain't bad. Maybe. But why does the City lie about the increses?

And Experienced, I hope you are getting full value for the waste. Maybe Naperville should contract for their police like Highwood, Ill is planning. IF CIJ is right about the efficiencies of the Sherriff Department, the City would SAVE money.

Residents urge council to trim, not tax
Comments
November 18, 2009

By KATIE FOUTZ kfoutz@scn1.com

Councilman Bob Fieseler suggested taxpayers consider what they're willing to pay for — prompt ambulance service, for example.

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CM Bob,

First I would like to say hello and we miss you.

Secondly and with all due respect, I don't think you get it.

PROMT AMBULANCE SERVICE????

Prompt Ambulance Service is very important. No one can disagree with you here. That is why I am only asking for 2 ambulances to be cut JUST from the hours of 12am to 6am when the town is sleeping and ambulances can get to POINT A from POINT B in 3-4 times the speed of day time service and even more than that for stalled rush hour times.

But, CM Bob, what does this have to do with making all employees pay 50% of the cost of their VERY RICH BENEFITS as is typical in both the public and private sectors these days of worsening economic conditions. The ambulance service times will not be affected due to the fact that we made employees pay 50% of their benefits. That is a very FAIR PROPOSAL that I am making and no one is listening.

While you were once here debating us, when the kitchen got hot, you disappeared. A great public leader will not run away from his duties and responsibilities...he will face them HEAD ON! He will represent his CONSTITUENTS...not HIDE FROM THEM!

I have documented that requiring City Employees to pay half of their Health Benefits alone would save us an additional $6.4 million dollars since they already pay 10% or $1.6 million of their $16 million of Health Premiums.

Now if we forced them to pay 50% of the cost of the rest of their 13 other benefits, we could eliminate the entire operating budget deficit.

We would not have a decline in ambulance times, leaf collecting services, or police services. We would not have to lay anyone off.

If you weed out the PO and FD overtime you could almost use that money to cover most of the cost of the MASSIVE CONSTRUCTION on 75th and Washington.

As I have said often here, CM Bob, the Naperville Police are being sent to morning traffic court and given 4 hours of OT in numbers that I have seen reaching 14 police officers sitting in one jury box. This is $4200 a crack. Is someone in City Hall on CRACK???

I have been to other cities' courtrooms and seen no POs. Only a bailiff. I finally got a chance to visit a Dupage Traffic Courtroom at 421 County Farm Lane last week, where Dupage Sheriff tickets are handled and again no Dupage Cops despite 200 to 250 traffic offenders. There were so many it was hard to count the alleged traffic offenders. Standing room only. Overflowing!

========================================================================================================================================

Now if Dupage County made the rules requiring cops to be in MORNING TRAFFIC COURT during the ONE LINE PARADES as some alleged, they certainly would have their cops in morning traffic courts where cases are not being tried but the volumes of people are paraded up and out with pleads of guilty or supervision or a continuance. No POs are needed for such proceedings unless you want to enrich the POs at TAXPAYER EXPENSE as appears to be the case in Naperville intentionally or unintentionally.

========================================================================================================================================

If you ask for a trial, they will either give you a date or possibly set it in the afternoon. Very very few people ask for trials. The prosecutor will try to beat up on an offender who wants a trial and if the offender insists on a trial he will give him a deal that is hard to refuse.

If all else fails, the prosecutor can ask for a continuance and bring the 1 specific cop to that particular trial. But having 14 sitting in a jury box dozing off sometimes makes absolutely no sense.

Why is this being done CM Bob?

If Police Chief Dial is old and tired and can only think IN THE BOX, are all 9 council members also old and tired and only able to think IN A BOX. I hope not.

I am talking about 3 million in OT per year here just at the NPD. When you forced Chief Dial to reduce his OT last year by 5% in a no nonsense way, you did did not do any research. You picked a number from THIN AIR.

If you had done some research you should have asked him to reduce his OT by 95% and that would have left us with 5% OT.

If you would stop subsidizing the PigFest and Last Flings with 100k of OT or more we may be able to reduce 98% of POLICE OT.

We many never be able to reduce the last 2% of POLICE OT since there are always some people who want to fight a $75 dollar speeding ticket because they don't trust the NPD as far as you can throw a 10 foot pole. That is OK. That is their afforded right according to our constitution and we have to deal with the 2% OT but not the other 98% OT.

Since court costs and fines are very heavy these days and the City of Naperville receives part of them, I assume, maybe they could contribute towards this OT expenses and we could achieve ZERO OVERTIME.

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(The NFD OT is a story for another day since bloggers don't like my long "ranting" informative blogs.)

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And lastly, the school resource officers should be helping reduce detective OT when possible instead of riding their bikes, motorcycles and ATV vehicles AIMLESSLY all for SHOW as if they were the N. Korean or Libyan Armies. Yes, their presence downtown is not needed and all for SHOW. An absolute and ridiculous waste of hard earned TAXPAYER MONEY.

And please don't tell me 14 is better than 2 because I WILL TELL YOU 140 IS ALSO BETTER THAN 2. But maybe not, since I don't think too many people would come downtown if we had a POLICE PARADE every day. Teenagers have told the Sun that the most offensive thing about downtown is the number of COPS. Almost 67% of them. An adult survey needs to be done next.

If you need 10 police school resource police officers in the 3 block DT area in addition to the beat police officers in the SUMMER TIME, than you also need them on these beautiful fall and spring weekends which are overflowing with customers and bar hoppers.

Chief David Dial can not have it both ways. They are either needed or not needed. He has to make up his mind.

You as City Council Members have to take a closer look at my serious substantiated and documented allegations because when the feces hits the fan, in the end you will be held accountable and responsible for the actions or inactions of Chief David Dial.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 18, 2009 12:56 AM
Did anyone throw the podium at the council members?

========================================================================================================================================

Funny!

But that is your rock solid proof I was not there...lol...

Thank you,

CIJ

By Enough on November 17, 2009 3:15 PM
To Experienced

I also happen to be a doer, a doer for myself!!

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

I think there is a word for that.

Actually, I really don't care. You guys ramble on as to how the current system does you wrong and how home rule should be voted out. Although it's not my issue, I take the time to tell you how to do it. [My little contribution to humanity I guess.] Your response is that you'd rather sit on the couch and watch TV.

I visited the Edward's Emergency Area tonight at 12:29pm. I saw a Superior Ambulance parked in the emergency bay parking area actually loading its nursing day care patient to take him/her home. Due to distance I could not identify gender despite seeing the person. There were no other ambulances in the Bay Emergency Area or West Side Parking designated ONLY for AMBULANCES.

I returned at 12:55pm and I could not see any ambulances anyhwere. NONE ! ZERO!

========================================================================================================================================

Those were my 21st annd 22nd visits.

I had a busy day today so I even missed the City Council Meeting on cable TV. Sorry!

I will try to watch it tomorrow as it is usually taped and report back to you all with the details.

Thank you,

CIJ

Did anyone throw the podium at the council members?

From the Naper Sun's article today:

"Owners of the average Naperville home, valued at $400,000, paid about $920 in city property taxes for the current fiscal year. This won't change if the city does as expected and the tax rate stays flat, and the value of your home stays flat. If the city keeps the proposed rate, the owners of that $400,000 home would pay about $945 in city property taxes next fiscal year."

So you're fighting against a $25 increase to maintain the excellent services received in this beautiful town?? I think you need to take up arms against the school districts instead, that's where I see the bulk of my taxes going anyway.

I just heard on the news that Schaumburg is considering a property tax because revenues are down and they will run out of money without a property tax increase. Interesting isn't it. Seems to be a regional/national problem.

I don't believe CIJ went to the meeting, but H/She made sure not to blog during the meeting time. Craziness!

Hey CIJ...how did you get along at the hearing this evening?

No Anonymous 1 is not Anonymous 2. And by saying that you are insinuating again that I am a liar.
You may not have used that exact term but you have used other terms like falsehoods, fabrications etc. It's the same thing.

Honestly, you need to get off your butt and do something about your tax issues, and not just type and type. It's time for you to either put up or shut up.

CIJ...I think you have read one to many John Grisham novels. I think your spouse is a double agent. Be Careful!

Bloggers,

I have to run to a meeting.

But I did discover that the NPD does waste most of its 3 million in OT unnecessarily in TRAFFIC COURT.

I talked to a long time Dupage Sergeant who informed me that Dupage does not require Police Officers in TRAFFIC COURT unless a defendent asks for a trial.

No trials are given in MORNING traffic court when they are trying to rush 300 defendants to plead guilty or obtain supervision or make a deal.

If there is a trial the Judge assigns a date and time that is later.

He said no Dupage Cops are present at Traffic Court at 421 County Farm Road during traffic court for Dupage Police Cases. Only one Bailiff to keep order and maintain security.

So it appears Naperville has been sending 14 cops to Traffic Court in the morning unnecessarily and for no good reason.

I will give the full Sergeant's name to Moderator Chris in case he wants to call him and confirm our conversation.

If we would stop sending cops to Dupage Courtroom to sit as potted plants we could save millions in OT per year. This is where almost all our 3 million in OT is spent UNNECESSARILY.

Thank you,

CIJ

Bloggers,

We beat the Edward's Hospital issue to death. I went there 20 times and observed with my own 2 eyes, documented and reported my findings. The nurse that chatted with the emergency room nurse was in fact the nurse that defaulted on her car. Big deal! She made a mistake. That does not make her not credible because she made a bad financial decision. She got caught in the bubble of wealth like 90% of Amercians with home equity loans and bank give-aways.

An Emergency Room Nurse told her that anyone who believes there are 5 NFD Ambulances and 2 L-W ambulances in the Bay after MIDNGHT each and every time they take their son there is on crack. Those were her EXACT WORDS.

My personal observation indicates that person is on crack too.

I never called Anonymous 2 a liar. I never call anyone a LIAR and the Moderator knows that. He is saying that about himself. The Emergency Room Nurse did say in very rare occassions when there is a multi car serious accident or high rise apartment fire they will get a MINIMUM of 5 ambulances. But she said she does not recall any such incidents in the last 2 months.

Anonymous 2's Big Mistake was sticking up for Anonymous 1. That is really where he lost his credibility.

Anyone can visit Edward's after midnight and make observations as I have, to determine the truth for themselves. The Emergency Room is only 50 yards West of Washington on Olser Dr. also known as Emergency Drive. It will delay your trip 2 lousy minutes.

Find out for yourselves if you don't believe my documented findings.

CIJ

I will say that it is my very strong opinion that Anonymous 1 is Anonymous 2. Has anyone heard form Anonymous 1 lately? He is no longer defending himself and hiding in SHAME.

To Experienced

I also happen to be a doer, a doer for myself!! Brief explanation.

Spend time and money to pass petitions or run for elected office. Any change one obtains gets spread among 70,000 households (or whatever the number is). My take, pennies, if that.

Alternative. Appeal taxes (less than 0.1% of the 70,000 households try). Won't give you the road map or options, but once successful, $850 of tax savings just for me.

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

And more when governments don't steal as much!!!!!!

And I can watch O'Reilly and Hannity while you waste your time at the City Council meeting.

I am in total agreement with Experienced. It's time to put your money where your mouth is and quit being the equivalent of a backseat driver or arm chair quarterback.

If you are sincere in your desire to affect change, then take your statistics and documentation and head to City Hall tonight at 7 pm. If it's as important to you as you claim it is, push yourself away from the computer and Edward Hospital's ER driveway and GO! You most likely won't be the only one there to protest Naperville's taxes, so with all due respect, put up or shut up.

If you don't get up and make a stand against this, then you are in essence saying that you agree with it, right, CIJ?

Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 17, 2009 12:35 AM
I asked the Nurse I know who works the afternoon shift and gets off after MIDNIGHT to drop by the Emergency Room and have a chat with the Graveyard Shift Emergency Room Nurse. She did last night and reported to me tonight.
She asked the Emergency Room Nurse about a MININUM of 5 NFD ambulances and 2 L-W ambulances each and every time someone brings his son there after MIDNIGHT. Her verbatim response was, "Is the guy on crack?" Those were her exact works. Not my words.

Is this the same "responsible" nurse who got herself in a bind by overextending on her automobile purchase? Because of this you had to pick her up each night after work? Sounds like a very reliable source - She can't figure out car payments but can decide someone is on crack just by talking to you!!!!!! What a surprise, yet another anonymous source completely agrees with you CIJ.
I don't recall anyone making the point that 5 ambulances are there every night. I remember someone saying it happened once, where did you get the "every night" part CIJ?

CIJ wrote
"We will know soon if Blogger Anonymous #2 who claims he saw a mininum of 5 Amubulances on ONE OCCASION when he took his son there told the truth or distorted. His verdict is still out for now. But he will also not get away with lying if he lied."

Yes I saw them. Here is what I actually said.
"
By Anonymous on November 6, 2009 10:01 PM
Wow, personally I have a tendency more to believe the person who said they saw 5 or more ambulances on a few occasions. There is no way I would ever believe CIJ's statement that the person is lying and that this never happens. I myself have seen more than 5 ambulances there on one occasion when I took my own child to the emergency room in the middle of the night. So I have personal experience that it does happen. And I am sure it has happened since. CIJ comes across as someone who will say anything to try and prove a point. "

You will notice I did not say that it was in the last week, the last month, or anything. In actuality my experience was last year. But the timing did not matter since I was merely stating that I had the experience of seeing more than 5 ambulances. I also stated in a later post that there were two heart attack victims brought by ambulance that night, but I didn't know what the other cases were.

Anonymous #1 also in their post talked to a nurse at Edward. By Anonymous on November 3, 2009 10:05 AM
"The Nurse I spoke with at the hospital stated to me that nights are constant and busy. Most people go to the ER when they can not sleep and their illness is the most bothersome. She further stated that they receive ambulances all night long. While we waited in the ER, I also viewed several people coming in on that rolling bed (cot?) thing by the paramedics."

This person's nurse contradicts your nurse. Who should we believe? How do we even know you have a nurse friend and aren't making up a fictional character to make a point?

You tend to twist what people say too. Anonymous #1 said they were there several times
"WELL, about two weeks ago I had to visit Edward ER several times do to my child being sick and having trouble breathing. Once I had to use a City of Naperville ambulance do to the level of breathing problems. All of my visits were AFTER midnight. Each night I observed a minimum of 5 Naperville ambulances in the hospital emergency entrance garage and two Lisle-Woodridge Ambulances."

Notice they said a MINIMUM. You eventually twisted this to say that they said exactly that number and combination for each time. (I do not have the time to find every time you twisted that statement.) You also went on to twist their words in such a way to make it sound like the person was saying this happens every night, not just the few times they were there. (Several can be any number over 2.) Again they were talking about breathing problems. It has been pointed out that certain environmental conditions can wreak havoc with people who have asthma.

This twisting of words and creating of fictional characters is why you are not a journalist. You do not have any journalistic integrity. Again I will reiterate as so many people on here do, any truth you have in any of your posts is lost in the garbage you spew and the techniques you use. So even if you do make a possibly valid point, it does not get noticed because of your overly lengthy posts that many people will skip over and your argumentative "only I can be right and every one else lies" attitude.

You have now called me a liar or fabricator or person spreading falsehoods at least 5 times (again I do not have the time to go and count) when I have all along told the truth about the ONE time I used an ambulance after midnight and was at the Emergency room at Edward. You need to stop. I did not lie and had absolutely no reason to lie.

CIJ--once again, I will repeat...

The hearing on the tax levy is at 7PM tonight!

Please, please, please...if you have an issue with your taxes do the right thing and go and be counted and heard. Sitting here blogging during the meeting and watching the meeting on TV will do you or your cause no good, it will only further your frustration here and increase your fanatical posts, subjecting everyone else here to a topic that has lost its way because of your trollish behavior.

GO, and do something for once. If you do not show up at the meeting tonight, you will develop your bad reputation here even further. If you do not show up at the meeting tonight, you show your true colors, your digital bullying behavior is a coverup for someone without courage...someone that needs a larger tin foil hat, someone that has much reason to stay hidden. What is there to hide, CIJ? Are you truly agoraphobic?

And no, I'm not afraid of a blow-hard, disingenuous and immature individual that uses her keyboard as a significant other.

Experienced,

I commend you for your bravery and what you are doing. If you don't own real estate or retail shops the city can not hassle you that easily. Being an attorney, they would be wise not to hassle you.

But it is undisputed they have hassled folks like CM Furstenau, Donna Rogers, the Napergate Man and now Scott Huber because they stood up to to the elitist bureaucratic regime as Huber calls it.

I drove by Mr Huber and he was sleeping outside with a cover and no tent or generator. He appeared cold and shivering. I felt bad for him. He looked like a mummy the way he was wrapped up. City Officials are making life miserable for Mr. Huber. He is simply a homeless man who is not bothering anyone and should be left alone.

As far as ads in the Naperville Sun, one has to identify the buyer of the ad if it is not clear from the contents. Maybe Moderator Chris knows something about the requirements to advertise since I have never done a political ad but read enough of them.

The Napergate Man's ads started as non-Napergate ads against City Hall. His liquor store was always identified as the purchaser in a special statement. I assume the Naperville Sun required this.

Later on when Naperville revoked his licenses, the ads became about these revocations and not him. At that point they were labeled Napergate ads by himself. He knew he needed to rally the support of the residents to take on City Hall and win. What helped him was a petition that 3500 people signed and notarized indicating that his liquor store cards minors heavily and City Officials were lying. This left a great impression on the courts that reviewed his appeals and reversed the revocations. Of course combined with his Kylix Award and the fact he confiscated 5.5 times the IDs of all liquor establishments in Naperville combined. In addition, we later learned he had damaging VIDEO EVIDENCE against City Hall that finally put the nails in the coffin and sealed it tight for the graveyard.

As soon as his liquor license issues were resolved he returned to zoning issue after zoning issue of which SW GATE and Sping Green come to mind. So his ads were never about himself. He never mentioned his name once in all those ads except in a verbatim quote by the Appellate Judges in their 3-0 ruling.

Back on subject. I feel that I am contributing enough with my investigative journalism and the research that goes into it. I am not running ads but if someone wants to run political ads against City Hall, they can count me as a financial contributer. I can mail Cashiers Checks that can not be tracked to me.

I have visited Mr. Huber 3 times with cash contributions in the last month to give him my support. He is insisting to know who I am so I am reluctant to visit him anymore. I may have to send someone.

I am not going to work with anyone or identify myself to anyone. That is how people find out who you are. My spouse found out what I was doing by checking the computer. I was not even going to tell my spouse but with the time I spent here I had little choice.

I am not coming forward in person, Experienced. I have a spouse and 4 kids who I need to protect from City Officials. I have apartment buildings that bored inspectors can write up for anything. So I have to fight as a CIA or FBI operative....as anonymously as possible.

City Officials have proven themselves vicious if you stand up to them. Maybe you want to EXPERIMENT and find out, Experienced. That is your right. I don't want the EXPERIENCE because I know what happened to the folks I mentioned above.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 16, 2009 9:52 PM

No need to repeat yourself. Now you are asking Enough to do it as you had repeatedly asked me to do it in the past. If it is so easy, Experienced, why don't you consider doing it yourself.

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

Because it's not my war or battle, it's yours and Enough's. I am not asking anyone to do it. I am asking for people to stop complaining and start doing. If they have a cause, they need to step up. Let's not get ridiculous. If someone spent the time and a little money to print petitions and begin the circulation process, who's to know if it is you, enough, or anyone else in Naperville who holds your opinion on the subject.

There is an old saying about commodes and defecation that I am sure that you have heard. That's what time it is. If you want to circulate petitions, circulate petitions. If you want to enlist major Naperville organizations in your battle, print petitions and give them out at one of their meetings. If you want to run ads, run ads. Who says you have to identify yourself to run an ad. Pay cash for them. Have your firefighter friend from Lisle-Woodridge do it for you. Or, someone from one of your two health clubs. Or one of the co-authors from your non-fiction novel. Mr. Esmail did so anonymously for a long time before he became associated with his ads. And, that is only after he turned the ads into a commentary on his own life.

I have my own battles that I am waging. The city already knows who I am. I have openly petitioned them for information. I have been to their offices. I have called them on the telephone. No one is knocking on my door. They can associate my requests with the information given on this forum I am sure. When we file our tax protests in May, they will surely know who all of us are. I already have my communications to the major taxpayers in Naperville ready to go once the city passes the levy this year. They are always interested in saving tax dollars. Nalco was in litigation with the city over its taxes for years.

I happen to be a doer and not a talker when it comes to my causes.

So, you need to start worrying about your own causes and remember the saying above about the pot/commode.

And, today is the hearing on the tax levy at 7pm. If you don't go, don't complain.

HERE IS A SIMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION:

The City of Naperville through inefficenies and incompetence has built a combined delinquency from accrued actuarial pension liability deficits, operating budget deficits and pension fund losses of $160.8 million dollars.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Who do you think should be responsible for this DELINQUENCY of $160.8 million dollars?

A. City Officials, City Staff and City Employees who caused it.

B. Or the taxpayers who were not responsible for causing it.

No if or buts, please!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I would like to see you either answer A or B so I can grade you accordingly. Please note there is no C!

Thank you,

CIJ

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:50 AM

Fire Fighters, Fire Fighter Friends and/or Fire Fighter Supporters,

========================================================================================================================================

I visited the Edward's Emergency Area tonight at 10:50pm. I saw a Superior Ambulance #3 5170 parked in the west non-emergency parking area waiting to take its nursing patient back home. There were no other ambulances including in the Bay Emergency Area.

I returned with my dog at 11:10pm. Nothing had changed.

========================================================================================================================================

Those were my 19th and 20th visits.

I asked the Nurse I know who works the afternoon shift and gets off after MIDNIGHT to drop by the Emergency Room and have a chat with the Graveyard Shift Emergency Room Nurse. She did last night and reported to me tonight.

She asked the Emergency Room Nurse about a MININUM of 5 NFD ambulances and 2 L-W ambulances each and every time someone brings his son there after MIDNIGHT. Her verbatim response was, "Is the guy on crack?" Those were her exact works. Not my words.

She said the possibility of over 5 ambulances after MIDNIGHT at one time is a rarity and she can not recall any such occurrence in the last 2 months.

She said for that to happen you would have to have a very serious multi-collison accident involving several vehicles with serious injuries. Or a high rise fire in which people could not get out in time. As we all know no one was seriously injured or died in a fire in Naperville in the last year. The NFD statistics show a BIG ZERO....thankfully!

She is going to check with Emergency Room nurses that work the shifts she does not work to see if they recall any nights in the last 2 months with a MINIMUM of 5 ambulances after MIDNIGHT.

We certainly know that Blogger Anonymous #1 lied without a doubt.

We will know soon if Blogger Anonymous #2 who claims he saw a mininum of 5 Amubulances on ONE OCCASION when he took his son there told the truth or distorted. His verdict is still out for now. But he will also not get away with lying if he lied.

Everything can be checked out pretty easily these days so it does not pay to lie to promote a SELF-INTEREST that leads to SELF-ENRICHMENT or SELF-ENTILTEMENT.

The Sun can send a reporter to talk to the graveyard Emergency Nurses and get the story straight from the horse's mouth. They are really not busy on the graveyard shift so I am sure they can accomodate a reporter until an ambulance arrives which is very INFREQUENTLY after MIDNIGHT.

And keep in mind if a minimum of 5 ambulances are spotted, they could be from any of 20 different municiplaties or agencies. They are not all likely to be from the NFD unless Naperville has a catastrophe of sorts.

Thank you,

CIJ

Ok so Enough = napersouthred. Can people pick one name and stick with it? You and the 3 other people that want to eliminate home rule should get together and start a club.

By Experienced on November 16, 2009 5:32 PM
By Enough on November 16, 2009 3:24 PM

This is why HOME RULE SHOULD BE VOTED OUT!!!!!
***********************************************************

This is a repeat of a previous post on the Open Topic:
It's not that hard. You could do it yourself.

========================================================================================================================================

Experienced,

No need to repeat yourself. Now you are asking Enough to do it as you had repeatedly asked me to do it in the past. If it is so easy, Experienced, why don't you consider doing it yourself. If you would have done it for us, City Officials could not have pulled an 11.3% annual real estate tax increase 2 years ago with a 5% or less State Imposed Cap, despite a massive McMansion Spread at the time.

I have taken on the role of a Citizen Investigate Journalist. I spend plenty of time reading thousands of pages of city documents, watching city council meetings, watching and monitoring FD and PD activity, reporting on my observations, suggesting solutions and really do more than my fair share in this community.

Yes, the Napergate Man was able to do lot more than me but he had 3500 supporters and lieutenants like Donna Rogers and Rick Strawbridge. He had a very well developed and mature grass roots organization.

This is something for the Naperville Federation of Homeowners to do. They have some manpower albeit not as much as the Napergate Organization but could easily recruit the necessary manpower as they are very well networked with all the subdivisions in Naperville.

Their homeowners are losing homes to foreclosure. Other homeowners are pawning in their jewelery, watches, wedding rings and gold coins to pay their real estate tax bills. Why have such an organization if it is not going to stand up for RESIDENTIAL HOMEOWNER'S RIGHTS?

They need to step it up. There has to be a will in the community before it is too late. Right now City Officials and the Naperville Sun are doing all they can to keep the sleepy residents sleeping.

I believe you suggested running some Napergate Style ads. Now that is a great idea. If you run them and speak the truth, you can expect sizable contributions from me personally. The residents have to be awoken before a grass roots organization can be formed that is effective.

I know you hate talking about the Napergate Man. But what he did is pound out Napergate ad after Napergate ad repeating each one 3-4 times until he woke the residents up. I doubt the residents woke up on the first ad. I think it took quite a while and quite a bit of information before they heard their alarms clocks.

Once they woke up he could get 3500 signatures on a petition relatively easy. Now if you woke them up with your Napergate Style ads that I recall you once suggested, I bet the Naperville Federation of Homeowners could get the signatures necessary to put home rule to a vote. I believe we need 5900 signatures from what I recall you said earlier. I will take your word.

I am not trying to put the Napergate Man in your face or anyone elses face. That is not my intention. My intention is to show you how it was done in the past so it could be done in the future.

Why people resent hearing about a strategy that was successful and may be implemented again is beyond me?

What new strategy has anyone come up with since the Napergate Man retired to stop our FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE CITY OFFICIALS. None that I know of. Thus OUR CITY OFFICIALS have been rampaging through our pockets like drunken sailors.

At this point, anyone with common sense knows I need to stay anonymous. I have exposed City Officials for what they have done more than anyone else since the Napergate Man....by far....you included Experienced. Yes, if they find out who I am they will begin citing my apartment buildings for loose nails and rusted screws and drag me into a court battle at taxpayers' expense. The drunken sailors did not hesitate to spend $1.5 million dollars trying to discredit Furstenau. This was not about touching a cop. It was because of his OUTSPOKENNESS against the wasteful habits in City Hall. Otherwise they would have charged him on the spot instead of 2 weeks later if he really hit a cop. No one hits a cop and is not arrested immediately. Is our police department really that INCOMPETENT?

So be assured, Experienced, I plan on staying Anonymous. So why keep repeating yourself and asking me or others now to do things that will reveal OUR identities if we choose to remain Anonymous. You get tired of hearing about the Napergate Strategy I am proposing which is fair, but I also get tired of your repeat nonsense of trying to get others or me to step forward in order to identify us.

I always suspected and still suspect that you may be a City Official masquerading as a disgruntled taxpayer. A truly disgruntled taxpayer would not attack the FATHER OF THE TAX REVOLT against City Hall because he may not be perfect. No one is perfect and no ever said he is perfect. He was simply organized and had a potent and successful strategy that was based on a deeply entrenched grass roots movement.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am very happy with my role as a CITIZEN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST that was given to me by former Host Ted and Moderator Jim. I continue to plow on to the best of my ability.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I believe I have uncovered a lot as you are also uncovering and others have to step forward and do their share. Most will never read hundreds of pages of financial statements as you and I have read. We have summarized them for residents and they need to wake up at some point and respond.

If they would rather pawn their jewelery, file for bankruptcy or foreclose, that is their prerogative. I understand there have been hundreds of foreclosures in Naperville.

I am personally not at risk for foreclosure and bankruptcy. I am simply trying to stand up for the 10.2% unemployed and the 17.5% underemployed who are struggling and trying to make ends meet. They are not here blogging with us as they are too busy trying to stay afloat in the financial tsunami that is attempting to gobble them up alive.

The majority who are blogging here are apparently City Officials and City Employees. Fire Fighters have so much free and down time, they could be blogging in big numbers to protect their Big Fat Pensions and Bigger and Fatter Benefits.

That is the reality of the situation.

Now if you are sincere, Experienced, it is time for you to call on others to step up to the plate.

There is a City Council Meeting and you should remind everyone to attend it tomorrow at 7pm and speak for the "so called 3 minutes of FREE SPEECH" in Stepford Wives Town, USA. The gentleman who spoke against high taxes 2 weeks ago was quite eloquent and impressive. But he was only one and they brushed him off with a "Thank You" but no answer to any of his serious questions and sincere requests. It was like they were telling him, Later Buddy, eat your heart out....we are going to continue with our Big Fat Pensions and Bigger and Fatter Benefits and we will blow on you like a candle in the wind.

It would be nice to see you identify yourself and speak at the podium, Experienced. No one has to worry about me. I have been mad at the Sun for 40 years and never harassed any Sun Official. Never even picked up a phone and yelled at a Sun Official. So all those who claim they are anonymous because they FEAR ME, please get over yourselves and get to work.

Do your share! I am more than doing my FAIR SHARE!

I will never harass you regardless of your position on any topic. But I can not say that the City of Naperville will not harass you if you are AGAINST THEM. This is Stepford Towns, USA after all and they will do what ever it takes to bring you in line including roboting you if they must.

Thank you,

CIJ

I'll say it again, sooooo you think the State of Illinois can run the City of Naperville better than the local people elected by the residents of Naperville? You put A LOT of trust in our crappy State system. Home Rule = not depending on the State.

I think something like this should happen tomorrow at the meeting:

Introduce yourselves as your handle here. Let's put a face with the name, how entertaining is THIS going to be?? I anticipate a room full of "fight the man" ex-hippies that aren't going to do anything. I could be wrong, but it'll be interesting none the less.

Enough -

Maybe our new emergency manager could hep with the number of fire houses? He seems to have high credentials.

T.B.

Wow, CIJ. You are really paranoid.

Residents do show up when things are important to them and they have something to say. Someone showing up does not in any way need to be a city official. You need to get over that whole angle of yours that anyone who disagrees with you has to be a city official or firefighter, etc.

And when it comes to the topic of cowards:
Cowards actually sit at computers and type rants all day. People with courage speak up in person to the people they feel are wronging them.

By Enough on November 16, 2009 3:24 PM

This is why HOME RULE SHOULD BE VOTED OUT!!!!!
***********************************************************

This is a repeat of a previous post on the Open Topic:

It's not that hard. You could do it yourself.

SECTION 6. POWERS OF HOME RULE UNITS

(b) A home rule unit by referendum may elect not to be a
home rule unit.
------------------------

See this article of the election code for requirement. 10% of registered voters is required per section 28-7.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=001000050HArt%2E+28&ActID=170&ChapAct=10%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B5%2F&ChapterID=3&ChapterName=ELECTIONS&SectionID=36738&SeqStart=88100000&SeqEnd=89600000&ActName=Election+Code%2E

----------------------------

wording of the downers grove proposition was:

We, the undersigned, being duly qualified and registered electors of the Village of Downers Grove, Illinois. equaling in number at least 10% of the number of registered voters in Downers Grove, Illinois who have affixed our signatures in our own proper persons to the Petition, hereby PETITION, pursuant to Article 7,
Section 6(b) of the Illinois Constitution and Section 28-7 ofthe Illinois Election Code, that there be submitted to the electors ofthe Village of Downers Grove, for approval by a majority of the electors in the village voting on the question, at the
General Election to be held on April 5, 2005 in the manner provided by law, the following proposition:

SHALL THE VILLAGE OF DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS CEASE TO BE A
HOMERULE UNIT? YES[] NO[]

----------------------

You'd need a petition that complies with Article 28 of the Election Code with the above as the wording of the propostition.

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

Let us know when you start circulating the petition.

By Anonymous on November 16, 2009 1:05 PM

Also, I'll be at the City Council meeting tomorrow and I'm excited to hear you get up and address the council directly about this matter. You do speak at council meetings don't you? Surely someone who hates the city this much wouldn't be such a coward to only post anonymously on the internet about it?

========================================================================================================================================

Since you will be at the City Council Meeting tomorrow and residents don't show up or rarely show up anymore, the reason you will be there is you are a CITY OFFICIAL who is required to be there. Are you Junior Krieger by any chance?

You are the coward for posting anonymously when you have nothing to worry about other than the taxpayers finding out you are blogging on taxpayer time.

I have detailed how brave people like the Napergate Man and Donna Rogers took the podium only to have to take the wrath of city officials. We know what happened to the Napergate Man and his liquor licenses. And let me remind you City Officials began attacking Donna Rogers for running a licensed Day Care Center in her home as hundreds, if not thousands, of Napervillians do.

I have stated I am interested in remaining on the offensive against City Hall. To reveal my identify building inspectors who are wasting taxpayer money because they are not needed, would be writing up violations for my apartment buildings over a loose screw or nail.

No thanks! I learned form the experiences of Donna Rogers and the Napergate Man. I am proud of them for walking the walk and talking the talk. But I will not be walking their walk or talking their talk.

The cowards are City Officials who allow you to speak for 3 minutes in a PRETENCE OF FREE SPEECH and then get your name and address, often times asking you to repeat to make sure they got it right, and then the HARASSMENT STARTS.

How despicably disgusting!!! How OUTRAGEOUS!!!

Thank you,

CIJ

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

PS. And my prior post contained the solution to eliminate the operating budget deficit and no one can refute it. Thus attack the MESSENGER and now you folks are finally admitting this is your strategy...lol... I told Moderator Magee that this is what it was all about....MY MESSAGE!!! Hopefully, he can finally see though the dense smoke and fog assuming he wants to referee fairly and be unbiased. He seems possibly intimidated by the MAJORITY bloggin who are obviously City Officials, the way I read and interpret the situation. Nevertheless, a nice guy who will learn from this experience. At least he is not buying TIME SHARES UNITS in the Florida Everglades next to the alligators as you would have done if he did not save your rear ends.

-1

“On pensions, there are many professions with limited time spans. Having great benefits while working AND great benefits when they are done without risk does not make sense. The pension is not a bridge to retirement age. If you'd like to change it so the retiree gets benefits until age 65, have at it.”

I know that pensions aren’t merely a bridge to retirement age. What I’m saying is that you need to remember that FFs and POs will most likely retire before most of us so they need (at the very least) some bridge to retirement age. I don’t see it as fair to have them retire at 55 and live in poverty waiting for their retirement benefits to kick in. That wouldn’t be a sane plan. I’m just pointing out that their professions are unique and may require unique solutions.

I assume by saying “without risk” you’re talking about financial risk and not running into a fire or chasing down a thug, right? But don’t forget that although our FFs and POs will live comfortably in or near our communities, they’ll never be rich. Maybe they chose the “steady” path over the “risky” path, but they’ve also given up on the big payday, the summer home, the fancy car, or the country club membership. Everyone makes their choices and each choice has its own pitfalls and rewards.

T.B.

In response to Enough on November 12, 2009 11:56 PM –

There is allot of nonsense here, isn’t there?

I don’t completely agree with you, but I also don’t completely disagree.

While you may be skeptical of the professional organizations that promote their cause (I think only one was discusses here somewhere), is there a better way? Should the organization’s board have more non-firefighter representation? Is there an insurance industry recommendation for response time, etc? I’d be curious to know the answer to these questions.

I don’t know, but I suspect, that covering a catastrophic event is done with allot of OT and not the actual closings of entire stations here. Also, local events don’t seem to be too long in duration. I recall reading that Chicago firefighters who went to ground zero in NYC did so on their vacation time so their shifts were covered by other firefighters here, possibly also on OT.

Firefighters here don’t help in wild fires because they’re not trained to do so. Structure fires and wild fires are very different beasts. If you just need extra hands to cut away ground cover, that can be more economically handled by convicts (as is done in CA) and cheaper labor. Actually fighting the fire takes allot more training and skill.

I don’t mind the level of flatfoots in the city. I think an actual officer on the ground does more to deter the gangs from being here more openly than the threat of a surveillance camera. Hell, there’s a camera on the Dan Shanower memorial and they never caught the vandals, did they?

I think Drew Peterson's attorney is…not the brightest. I wouldn’t put too much stock into what he says.

I don’t have an issue with a defined contribution plan to replace pensions if it covers two issues: 1) keeps the promises we made to the current employees. It’s just the right thing to do. Arlington Heights’ plan seems to do this by starting with the new employees. 2) finds a way to bridge the gap between a FF or PO retirement and the age of 57. If a FF or PO retires early for some reason, there has to be a way for him to tap into defined plans and IRAs without penalty (currently I believe this is age 57). If not, you’re going to see everyone who retires early doing so on disability.

Don’t get me started on the schools. We could start with tenure. Does it even make sense outside of a university? Why do grade school and high school teachers need tenure?

T.B.

First, I have no idea what CIJ is saying because I skip all of his/her blogs. If you cannot express a thought in 500 words or less without HTML labels, your opinion is not worth it.

And all of our comments get lost. Another headeline on the Sun internet addition. A new Head of Emergency whatever. HUH?!?!?!

Do we need a Fire Chief and all of these ridiculous positions? Was this position part of the hiring freeze? If not, why not?

Are we worried about terrorist attacks from Lisle?

This is why HOME RULE SHOULD BE VOTED OUT!!!!!

By Anonymous on November 16, 2009 4:51 AM
Although I will admit that I find the tactics used by Citizen Investigative Journalist to be nauseatingly redundant and fanatical, she is not off the mark on the 38% number for health care premiums. Health care analysts quote the average worker pays 20-40 percent of health care premiums, but not the 100% you propose. You seem to want to totally balance the budget on the backs of those employees.......

========================================================================================================================================

I never proposed that employees pay 100% of their benefits. I just wanted to point out that what we pay in premiums for health benefits which is $14.4 million out of a total cost of $16 million, exceeds the entire budget deficit of $14.1 million. And this is ONLY ONE OF 14 BENEFITS.

But yes, I do want to balance the budget on the backs of city employees by making them pay 50% of the cost of each of the 14 benefits they receive.

Let us not forget it is the City Officials, City Staff, Council Members and Employees whom are responsibe for all of our deficits and fund losses....not the taxpayers who have contributed immensely and now are selling their gold, jewelery and valuables at pawn shops so they can stay in their home while City Officials get fatter and fatter due to GREED. Who ever thought Napervillians would be visiting PAWN SHOPS? Who ever thought Naperville's only thriving businesses would be PAWN SHOPS???

And the ones visiting the PAWN SHOPS are the lucky ones? Those who do not have jewelery had no choice but to file bankruptcy or foreclose.(see link in prior post) How sad since none of this would be necessary if City Officals would have decreased real estate taxes during the McMansion Spread that took place the first 7 years of this century.(One year they increased real estate taxes 11.3%....can you folks believe that!?!)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

These McMansions valued from 2 million to 5 million were contributing from 40k to 100k in annual taxes and in no way required services costing this amount of money. They only require the same services of an average half a million dollar home paying 10k in taxes. Instead of using the surplus to reduce taxes, City Officials used the surplus to ENRICH and ENTITLE themselves....and this is why we are in such a FINANCIAL MESS despite being the wealthiest City in America with over 100,000 in population.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Now this is what is really NAUSEATING my fellow citizens of Naperville. I had to take 2 aspirins last night and I may have to take some more today. This information can give anyone a HEADACHE.

The POs are limited to 9.91% contributions to their own pensions. The FFs are limited to 9.45% contributions to their own pensions or vice versa. These are state regulated LIMITATIONS. We can not increase them but the CORRUPT STATE which allows HOME RULE has allowed taxpayers' contributions to be increased without limit. We are now at about 25% in matching taxpayer contributions despite a $126.2 million accrued atuarial pension liability deficit for our the 3 City Pension Funds.

Since we can not hit them for the PENSION MESS that they caused let us hit them for the BENEFIT MESS they created and make them pay for 50% of all their BENEFITS. They are receiving a BIG BREAK on their BIG FAT PENSIONS so let us not feel sorry for them. Let us for a change feel sorry for the 10.2% unemployed and 17.5% underemployed in Naperville who are filing for bankruptcy or foreclosing or both.

Having them pay for 50% of all their BENEFITS will eliminate the entire $14.1 million operating budget deficit. All gone without employees needing to be laid off, services needing to be curtailed, or taxes needing to be increased. It is that simple!

Next year we can make additional changes that will result in a MASSIVE SURPLUS which will force our City Officials to DECREASE our taxes. I have outlined 24 points, many leading to unnecessary OT, in a prior post on another thread a few weeks ago, that would reduce expenses by tens of milllions of dollars, which would in turn, than reduce real estate taxes to Naperville Residents. I am not allowed to repeat them in order not to cause NAUSEATION so please look them up after taking a double or triple strength aspirin.

With each 6 Americans fighting for one job, the staring pay of POs and FFs can easily be decreased to 45k from 60k annually which will not only save 25% in salary but a corresponding 25% in future pension pay-outs. One way or another the city has to come out of denial and understand it has a $126.2 million pension liability defcit that the STATE is ordering it to eliminate by the year 2033. We have been heading in the wrong direction for 2 years since RECEIVING THE STATE UNLTIMATUM. I guess the current CROP of FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE City Officials want to pass the puck to the next CROP of CITY OFFICIALS without doing their fair share.

========================================================================================================================================

These are practical solutions. Attack the MESSENGER all you like and all you want. Sooner or later the TAXPAYERS will wake up and see through all the smoke and fog you folks are creating. All smoke and fog eventually dissipates.

========================================================================================================================================

And don't forget what former Moderator Jim Lynch had to say about the FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE FOLKS running City Hall.

Last time I checked, his blog was still posted on this thread in the first half. Please read it. He was a decent man who could have helped us in our battle with City Hall. Unfortunately, the Naperville Sun laid him off. I have doubts as to the reason why he was truly laid off. I suspect there was more to it than announcced at the time. If it was about EXCESS FAT, he should not have qualified for the lay-off. He worked his rear end off for the Naperville Sun unlike some others who work 5-10 hours a week for 40 hours of pay.

Thank you,

CIJ

My fellow Anonymous at 1:05:

Apparently you don't read CIJ with stellar comprehension ;-)

He CAN'T go to City Council meetings because he risks being taken into custody by one of our underworked police officers after he throws the podium at the council. I would think there may also be a risk of injury which would also call up one of our idle emergency medical crews and ambulance.

CIJ--we are really really tired of worrying about what we can sell to cover our part of the possible charges you may incur on behalf of the city if you were to act upon your statements. Bring your cell phones with cameras, folks...just in case CIJ (wo)mans up and shows up. Walk the walk CIJ...no one is carrying your rants for you!

Maybe if those people had not bought so much gold and other luxuries, and actually saved some money, they would not need to pawn it now.

When people are pawning their gold to pay for their mortgages and real estate taxes, any increase in taxes regardless of how small is unacceptable.

You know who is pawning their gold to pay their bills? People who were beyond financially overextended, living on borrowed time with other people's money. On the other hand, anyone with a functional brain cell in their head is getting along just fine in a reasonable home for their budget with a sensible mortgage they can afford.

So if the reason you're lashing out so hard against the city is because you're waiting for your next payment from Cash4Gold.com melting down the crowns you had pulled off your teeth... I guess that would make a lot more sense why the few extra dollars you'll have to pay a year to live under the protection of Naperville's world class police and fire departments has you so upset.

Also, I'll be at the City Council meeting tomorrow and I'm excited to hear you get up and address the council directly about this matter. You do speak at council meetings don't you? Surely someone who hates the city this much wouldn't be such a coward to only post anonymously on the internet about it?

Right?

When people are pawning their gold to pay for their mortgages and real estate taxes, any increase in taxes regardless of how small is unacceptable. It is unconsionable just like former Moderator Jim Lynch said.(Maybe I will make the former Moderator my next iconic hero for a while to see if it truly was the Napergate Man that was bothering everyone or simply my STRONG MESSAGE indicating we are having a repeat of the Napergate Era.)

Check out this article in the Naperville Sun:

The Rush is On
Rising gold prices are panning out for cash-strapped sellers

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

November 16, 2009

By JOSH LARSEN jplarsen@scn1.com
Naperville is far from being a mining town, yet something of a gold rush has been taking place in recent months.

Facing reduced paychecks and fixed mortgage payments, people have been scrounging for gold -- not in the DuPage River, but in their jewelry drawers, coin jars and even, on occasion, teeth.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Here is the link to the rest of the article.

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http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1885810,6_1_NA16_GOLD_S1-091116.article

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This is what people have to unfortunately do so City Officials can continue to command Big Fat Salaries, Big Fat Pensions, and Bigger and Fatter Benefits while being engaged in some despicable shenanigans known as Double Dipping.

So if you are still wondering where all the people who complain to me about high taxes are when I walk my dog....

Well, the Sun Reporter found out and told us. They are at the nearest pawn or gold shop selling their precious gold for 50 cents on the dollar so they can save their homes.....so they can survive.

How very sad and shameful that City Officials are making their plight even worse by INCREASING TAXES, instead of better, by REDUCING TAXES!!!

The comments made right here on this thread by former Moderator Jim Lynch were right on the money.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. Just for the record I never said the Napergate Man was a national super hero as some nauseating comments have suggested.....I simply called him a local Naperville Hero...nothing more and nothing less.

Another gem from CIJ:

"Not one of you folks who claim to be intelligent knew I was writing a book until Moderator Magee through the use of IP numbers finally figured out I was writing a book.

Followed by:

"The IQ level on this blog site must be extremely high...

I guess Sybil is covering her butt, as many pointed out numerous times that the napergate cult all sounded suspiciously the same, and had the exact same writing style. So s/he/it is also right when s/he/it admits how high the collective IQ is here.

To bad that s/he/it doesn't realize that s/he/it is bringing down the average with the constant lies posted by her/him/it. People will stop bringing up "this old soap opera" when CIJ quits lying about the past and starts posting in a responsible manner. I doubt that h/she/it is capable of that, but one can always hope.

Nonfiction and novel are contradictory terms. A novel, by definition, cannot be nonfiction.

Creating fictitious characters to promote certain points or ideas, whether fact or fiction, automatically takes away any legitimacy from those points. The term soap opera is quite fitting for what has been done here in the past.

We are having a pretty good conversation in the Afghan thread without your support, CIJ. (I should say, "Without your extremely irritating commandeering of the topic.") I hate to bring it up because none of us want you jumping over there. The Death Penalty topic is also moving along nicely.

I hate to burst your bubble, but this is how we like it, topics that allow us to post without the waste product of words that you spew. The percentage of worthwhile info in your posts is extremely low, and no one trusts the validity of your facts and figures. Your message is lost with the nonsense that you are too immature to let go of. You have been totally busted and no one wants you here. You can't accept the fact that your lies stripped you of any validity past, present and future. It will never change for you here, no one cares about your nonsense. You have no one to blame but yourselves. People attack you because of your nonsense and your need to bully and control the conversation and chase anyone else with an opinion into attacking you, as you do it all the time. We don't read your comments to obtain info, we read your comments to find all the areas you slip up with your fiction.

A "non fiction" novel that you wrote? That is more than laughable. History spins for you, no? You don't write well enough for anyone to be interested in reading your non-fiction. People are generally trusting souls, we don't come to read a blog thinking we have to determine that someone is 50+ members of that blog. We weed through the garbage until we realize something is fishy, and the troll is way over half of the those that are posting. Non fiction? You give your self way too much credit in the rear view mirror, my friend. Any topic you participate in here is, without a doubt, going to turn into a place for people to pick you apart, you have arranged for this behavior all by yourselves.

Perhaps you can't see the truth. Are you sharing some of your daughter's stash? By the way...you should go eat something, FACT is getting pretty hungry.

Although I will admit that I find the tactics used by Citizen Idiot Journalist to be nauseatingly redundant and fanatical, she is not off the mark on the 38% number for health care premiums. Health care analysts quote the average worker pays 20-40 percent of health care premiums, but not the 100% you propose. You seem to want to totally balance the budget on the backs of those employees, yet I read that the Obama health care bill was to include an employee contribution cap of 35%, so your little plan will not meet federal guidelines.

I would guess that as soon as the City can negotiate an increase in the contribution with it's many union contracts, they will do just that. Part of the problem will be that the City, historically for the last 20 years, has endeavored to to pay at the 50 percent pay range level of similar communities. Hasn't your bad boy DF told you that fact? With that single factor, the City would have a hard time maintaining a work force in any other economy but the present. And you don't have to look far for better benefits. Go west young man, to the City of Aurora, where they still offer paid health care for retirees.

At any rate, your posts do have that train wreck factor and there are a lot of gawkers here. You just need to understand the cultural differences in play. That middle eastern like fanaticism grates on the nerves of those of us that feel we are entitled to our OWN opinions. Wasn't that part of the founding of this nation and something that we should be thankful for, as that day approaches? So you have the freedom to continue to attempt to ram your viewpoint down everyone's throats AND we have the right to blast the messenger. Isn't America great, aren't you glad you made it here?

Common Cents and Conscientious Objector,

At some point we have to stop discussing this old soap opera that has resulted from a non-fiction novel I wrote and move forward.

Do you guys realize you never discuss anything of substance that is ever posted in the subject matters of the threads?

Yes, I respond to you in your own language but almost all my posts remind the residential taxpayers we have a financial crises caused by our FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE City Officials.

I provide hard numbers that no one wants to touch.

What is really causing all the NAUSEATATION on this blog site is the humongous deficits and fund losses we in the City of Naperville currently are facing.

When I translated them to PER EMPLOYEE as I did in an ealier post tonight, I begain NAUSEATING myself.

I took an aspirin right after my calculations and I may need yet another one tonight. Honestly!

However, I will not be calling any Naperville Ambulances for my headache. I WILL SURVIVE!!!

Thank you,

CIJ

Common Cents- You must have missed the part where CIJ claimed to be some multi-millionaire day trader. He must not be doing so well, since the meager property tax increase seems to be pocket change for everyone else in Naperville.

CIJ...

You need to either get a job or make love to your significant other. Calm down.

By Mssr. Anonyma on November 13, 2009 9:18 PM
FOR PUBLICATION

Dor,
No comment about the posting that isolates your home?
Hmmm... That's interesting in an of itself.

========================================================================================================================================

My characters were simply fictional characters which I created that lived thoughout Naperville in order that they would be representative. No posting isolates my home or any real person's home. Fictional characters do not have REAL HOMES..lol....!!!

For example the Huntington Estates Lady lived in Huntington Estates Subdivision. The Farmstead Man lived in Farmstead Subdivision. My fictional characters lived in nearly every subdivision in Naperville.

Again, I simply wrote a non-fiction novel using fictional characters to tell a true story that I read in the library.

Have you bloggers never read a book before in your lives?

I wrote a book and it was completed.

========================================================================================================================================

Not one of you folks who claim to be intelligent knew I was writing a book until Moderator Magee through the use of IP numbers finally figured out I was writing a book.

========================================================================================================================================

It speaks volumes when hundreds if not thousands of bloggers can not figure out fiction from non-fiction or even know they are reading a book when they are reading a book.

The IQ level on this blog site must be extremely high if someone can take you for a roller coaster ride for as long as I did. I understand why you are all now reporting that you are NAUSEATED!

No one told you to stay on the roller coaster for this long! It is not my fault you did not know when to get off. The Moderator had to hold your hands and get you off one at a time just like Kindergarten Children. Not one of you kids knew how to get off by him or her self.

You guys sound like the kind of folks that would buy Time Sharing Condos for a 100k in the Florida Everglades in the swamps where the alligators live. How gullible can you folks be? Get over it! Thank the Moderator that he saved you each a 100k and move forward and be more careful next time.

The ambulances can continue wasting taxpayer gas chasing fictional characters through out Naperville that do not even exist.

Now that is really funny...lol...!

Thank you,

CIJ

P.S. And keep in mind I did not break one single blog rule so get over yourselves. Everyone on this blog site with the exception of one or two folks is an anonymous fictional character pretending to live a PERFECT LIFE with no problems...lol...!!!

If you continue to be NAUSEATED please do not call a Naperville Amublance to drive you to Linden Oaks and waste taxpayer money. Please ask your spouse or a friend to drive you.

By Anonymous 007 on November 15, 2009 5:48 PM
CIJ wrote.........I grabbed the bull by the horn and within a month I had it averaging over 1000 posts a month and better.

I did not destroy this blog site. I have built it.

Now that's funny!

========================================================================================================================================

Well if it is funny that I did not have the power to almost single-handedly build this blog site, it should also be funny that I would almost have the power to single-handedly destroy a blog site.

Logic indicates you can not have it both ways.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. The evidence in the archives indicates the blog site had been on life-support for 6 months until I began taking over in Nov/Dec 2007. Sometimes it is hard to refute hard core evidence. It was never my intention to take credit for what I did, but since the Moderator ousted me you all now know what really happened.

To Anonymous on Nov. 15 at 12:54PM,

I would almost bet on the fact that FACT is CIJ. First, we have the ridiculous need to count everthing from ambulances to fantasy one-upmanships. Second, the random facts are 'substantiated', but links to "real" sources are not always provided. Third, there's the exaggerated martyr syndrome: hundreds of bloggers attack her. I don't know if she is counting her own cast of characters in that number, so it IS quite possible it's around half that number.

The only things that make me think FACT is NOT CIJ is minimal bolding, no italicization, and it's not the size of a novella.

I still think CIJ should start her own blogging site and/or try to team up with a REAL investigative reporter like CBS's Dave Savini or the like if she is serious about achieving change.

Bloggers,

The real problem here is you are AFRAID to tackle my MESSAGE. You constantly attack and attack but never deal with my MESSAGE.

When I provided a link to my data regarding the 38% national averages that municipal employees pay for health benefits and the 60.4% they pay for family dental, you either ran away or began your typical unabated attacks.

Sure, I think the Moderator could be a little bit better of a referee by OUTLAWING any attacks on any MESSENGER.

But for some unbeknownst reason he won't.

He should force all BLOGGERS to focus on the MESSAGE instead of the MESSENGERS.

The MODERATOR has shown he is biased by admitting he feels he is comfortable with the taxes in this town.

How can you win a FOOTBALL game if the referee calls you for all the penalties and rarely ever calls the opposition for a penalty. Maybe a token here or there.

So this is the situation we are in. If one is upset with higher taxes, you want him/her/it to leave town. If one brings a MESSAGE that upsets you, you want him/her/it to be kicked off the blog site.

All I can say is that you have a blog site with ONE OPINION it will fail.

========================================================================================================================================

You all had a chance to go to MR. WEST'S blog site and pat yourselves on the back until your shoulders came out. None of you went to a forum that would give you exactly what you want....what you are calling for. A conservative view with NO OPPOSITION.

========================================================================================================================================

And this is where we are at. A bunch of cry baby whiners afraid that their Big Fat Pensions and Bigger and Fatter Benefits will be tampered with.

A bunch of cry baby whiners that are afraid someone will tell the residential taxpayers the truth.

A newspaper who is afraid to do an article on pensions and benefits for fear the city will unleash its wrath on the newspaper.

And residential taxpayers who are being screwed royally because they are in the dark.

The city has $160.8 million in deficits and fund losses and city employees don't want to make the sacrifices to plug the deficits. They created the deficits and they want the taxpayers to subsidize these benefits they are responsible for. This translates to $160,800 for each employee in the City of Naperville. Amazing!

Imagine the POs and FFs gambled and lost $20.5 million in the stock market and they want us taxpayers to come up with the money we lost.

Each of our 400 POs and FFs lost $51,250 dollars in one year playing risky stocks and they are requiring us to make the sacrifices for them and replenish the funds they lost. How ridiculous that they do not want to make the necessary SACRIFICES!

This is the problem.

Is anyone surprised that the MESSENGER who is delivering such a MESSAGE would be blasted by almost everyone on this blog site who seems to have some affiliation with City Hall?

Yes, employees who are affected by this massive dilemna we are in, will not take RESPONSIBILIY but try to SHUT anyone up. I will not be shut up until I am CENSORED.

Thank you,

CIJ

It's the strangest thing, I saw 4 Naperville ambulances heading into Pembroke via Johnson drive earlier today.
I followed them for a bit, but they seemed lost in the circles. Perhaps they were looking for their friend, CIJ?
Odd, isn't it. I'll keep hanging around, and will report on what I see!

In other news, no ambulances at all in the Edwards lot. Strange, isn't it?

CIJ wrote.........I grabbed the bull by the horn and within a month I had it averaging over 1000 posts a month and better.

Not too hard a task considering CIJ had 25-30 names she posted under.

I did not destroy this blog site. I have built it.

Now that's funny!

Why do I have this eerie feeling that FACT is CIJ?

CIJ wrote:
"The NFD reads this blog site."

I highly doubt that they read this.

Honestly CIJ, start your won blog. Half of what you do is complain about kindergarten children and gripe about the moderator. The moderator is doing fine within the parameters of what he can do.

If you aren't happy with how he has moderated it, then start your own blog where you yourself can control access, comments, and moderate it the way you see fit. Information has been given already to you for how to select a blog platform. Running your own blog is quite simple. It took me less than an hour to set up my own blogs. And updating it doesn't take that much once it is set up. (Although it probably takes me longer than it will you since I actually double check and reread what I plan on posting quite a few times before I actually post it.)

Here is what I see: A massive attack on the character of the Multi-Handle Blogger.

BLOGGERS 1 MULTI-HANDLE BLOGGER 0

As far as credibility here is what I see

MULTI-HANDLE BLOGGER 1 BLOGGERS 0

Bloggers constantly challenge the Multi-Handle Blogger to put up or shut up. S/he seems to put up.

Bloggers demanded proof that average municipal worker in the USA pays for 38% of his or her health premiums. S/he put up. Bloggers demanded proof that the average municipal worker in the USA pays for 60.4% of his family dental plan. S/he put up.

From what I can see the Multi-Handle Blogger has provided the proof with links leading to a City of Naperville document.

No one has been able to refute his/her claim.

If s/he is wrong, one of the hundreds of bloggers attacking her/his character needs to put or shut up. You can not have 2 set of rules operating at the same time on the same blog site.

By exhausted on November 14, 2009 4:38 PM

What you don't understand CIJ is that no one with a brain has ANY INTEREST AT ALL in any of what you are saying.

The problem is most people on this PARTICULAR THREAD do not have a BRAIN.

No one thinks you are credible except you - and you can write ALL DAY LONG and the only thing you do is dig your hole deeper.

I guess if you demand proof that other municipalities pay 38% for employee health benefits and 60.8% for Family Dental Health, compared to Naperville's roughly 10% for each, all you can do is call the messenger not credible despite the source being the City of Naperville itself and a link was provided.

You're a blowhard, who thinks they know things that simply do not.

I know what I research. I know what I observe. I know what I provide links to. Read your post again and you will get Webster's Dictionary of the perfect BLOWHARD.

You believe you have some deep understanding of City Employee benefits, or the workings of the police and fire departments, and if you say it often enough, and are obnoxious enough about it, people will listen or start to believe you.

Actually I have an excellent understanding and it is your belief that if we keeping saying CIJ is lying, people will write him/her off and not believe him/her. It does not work that way. People believe the person who tells the truth. The person who provides facts and data. The person who can back it up with sources and links.

Truth is though, you don't know a think about what you talk about it ..... it's obvious to anyone with even a tiny bit of knowledge that you are writing to just to see yourself in print.

I am doing the research to expose the improprieties in City Hall so we can eliminate government waste and reduce real estate taxes. My goal is to reduce my taxes 20% from 70k to 56k and save 14k per year. I think we have at least this much waste in governmental bodies that tax us on our real estate tax bills. What is your GOAL? To have temper tantrums like Kindergarten Kids so Mr. Magee will listen to your whining and crying after your rants? Obviously he is not listening, so go back to your desk and and play with your ABC blocks.

You're not well enough emotionally to see that, and that's horribly sad - but this pathetic attempt to make people believe YOU are all knowing is such an insult to anyone who is able to hold a complete thought in their head.

Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, most people that are on this particular thread can not hold a complete thought in their HEADS....their heads are mostly HOLLOW....lacking any kind of brain power beyond a Kindergarten Child.

that I for one, won't even come to this blog site again. It's sad, because SOME people actually have some decent idea's about improvements around this town, but it's all drown out your continuous dribble.

It would be nice to get rid of people like you but you rant and than reincarnate yourself with a new handle. What are your decent ideas about IMPROVEMENT? Do you have any? Why did you not present them so we can read them? Why did you utilize every word in your post to rant and attack instead of presenting these DECENT IDEAS? What you are attempting to do is drown out my ideas and since you are failing, YOU ARE FRUSTRATED DUE TO YOUR MENTAL INCOMPETENCE. I am so very sorry for that!

Since you aren't intelligent enough to produce your own blog site, you have succeeded in ruining this one for everyone else.

When I came to this blog site it was averaging a dozen posts or two per month after 6 months. I grabbed the bull by the horn and within a month I had it averaging over 1000 posts a month and better. It has not lost its momentum since, and I am pretty much only one poster these days. I did not ruin anything for anyone. I contributed immensely to the success of this BLOG SITE. It is all documented in the archives. ALL POINTS WEST was waiting for your ideas and you never showed up. He would not allow me to blog and the BLOG SITE failed. It died. It no longer exists. Bye-Bye! That is your PROOF in the PUDDING. What more do you want?

In the meantime, you have in essence destroyed this blog site that you so sadly believe you built.

I did not destroy this blog site. I have built it. The threads I blog on are by far the most successful. What you folks fail to understand is this Blog Site has 10 live threads on the Main Page and thousands of threads in the archives that can be brought to life by any blogger . I deliberatly try to limit myself to one thread so comments like yours can be seen for what they are....NONSENSE.

No more for me - it's a shame - the Sun needs it's loyal customers and readers - but boycotting this site and the paper may be the only way to finally be rid of the likes of you.

The Naperville Sun is fully aware of what is going on. They do not need your advice. They saw ALL POINTS WEST DIE A SUDDEN DEATH because it practiced CENSORSHIP. They have seen this blog site flourish into the most successful blog site in their massive umbrella of newspaper blogs. Yes, the most successful.

The Naperville Sun, I believe at this point understands with out the numerous characters I created to give this Blog Site momentum when it was dead in the water, it would have failed just like Mr. Wests "All Points West Blog Site" that had a link on the front page of the Naperville Sun. They understand who saved this Sun Blog Site. They understand why we are all here posting on one of the best blog sites in America.

Once Moderator Magee straightens you Kindergarten Children out, we will even have a much better blog. The best in the world.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. Now let us see if you can start your boycott of this Blog Site by not responding and getting off of it. It will not be a shame to lose you. It will be an honor. I am sure when the Moderator sees your same IP number with a new handle, he will chuckle all the way to the bank.

By Unmask CJI on November 14, 2009 9:52 AM
By Citizen Investigative JournalistBy Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:50 AM on November 14, 2009 2:08 AM
____________________________________________________________________

Im sorry but I wonder why a middle aged woman is out at 2am when she has children at home? Oh thats right, they are also out, nevermind. I'm sure all that reporting from the field required you to go into each bar and check out the activities too. You are hallarious,

========================================================================================================================================

You can tell how packed the bars are by the number of people smoking outside each bar. I never seen as many smokers in my life as I did tonight. Of course we have yet another new bar called BlackFinn American Saloon adding to the populance of bar hoppers especially on Jefferson which is becoming another Chicago Ave as far as partiers.

========================================================================================================================================

I did not have to enter any bars to know how busy they were. I told you how I knew they were extremely busy.(see above from my earlier post) The number of people on the sidewalks walking from bar to bar is a 2nd indicator. Looking through the windows of the bars is a 3rd indicator. The lines forming outside to enter the bars is a 4th indicator.

I have a spouse and 2 older children who help with the younger children. They are never left alone. Have no fear.

I simply did some drive-thrus after working out at the health club. If you check my blog times you would have proof I was not out till 2am. I posted at 12:31 am after walking my dog and writing the post. I was home shortly after doing my spot checking. Why fabricate.....don't you think we already have one too many that are fabricating on this blog site???

Funny you guys ask people to get off their butts and do some research and when they do you accuse them of abandoning their children...lol... I always thought we had some demented people on this blog site.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Anonymous on November 14, 2009 10:31 AM
Honestly CIJ, why would any believe any of your claims of what you have seen or not seen at Edwards emergency room?

========================================================================================================================================

I made 18 trips and documented each one with time, date and type of ambulance.

The NFD reads this blog site.

They keep excellent records.

They would have called me out if I lied.

They apparently do not want to contribute any SIGNIFICANT SACRIFICES towards our $14.1 million operating budget deficit.

I sure hope they would sacrifice their lives to save a child as that is what we pay them handsomely for.

Thank you,

CIJ

What you don't understand CIJ is that no one with a brain has ANY INTEREST AT ALL in any of what you are saying. No one thinks you are credible except you - and you can write ALL DAY LONG and the only thing you do is dig your hole deeper. You're a blowhard, who thinks they know things that simply do not. You believe you have some deep understanding of City Employee benefits, or the workings of the police and fire departments, and if you say it often enough, and are obnoxious enough about it, people will listen or start to believe you. Truth is though, you don't know a think about what you talk about it ..... it's obvious to anyone with even a tiny bit of knowledge that you are writing to just to see yourself in print. You're not well enough emotionally to see that, and that's horribly sad - but this pathetic attempt to make people believe YOU are all knowing is such an insult to anyone who is able to hold a complete thought in their head, that I for one, won't even come to this blog site again. It's sad, because SOME people actually have some decent idea's about improvements around this town, but it's all drown out your continuous dribble.

Since you aren't intelligent enough to produce your own blog site, you have succeeded in ruining this one for everyone else. I can only suggest than anyone who is tired of your selfish ranting do that same thing. When you realize you are talking to yourself, maybe THEN you will get a clue and get the mental help you so obviously need. In the meantime, you have in essence destroyed this site that you so sadly believe you built.

No more for me - it's a shame - the Sun needs it's loyal customers and readers - but boycotting this site and the paper may be the only way to finally be rid of the likes of you.

By Anonymous on November 14, 2009 10:08 AM
Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 2:08 AM
Anything can happen once....we all know that.

Yes it can. Just like your claim that 17 police officers were standing around downtown ONE night in the summer?

========================================================================================================================================

Having the same combination of 5 NFD ambulances and 2 L-W ambulances each and every time you take your son to Edward's after MIDNIGHT simply DOES NOT HAPPEN.

Over 20 ambulance services use Edward's. This same combination will not happen each and every night even if you had 7 ambulances there at one time which is an extreme rarity in itself.

The statistical probabiltiy is almost ZERO.

If you think these odds happen, I would suggest you play the lottery more often and roll the dice with larger bills.

At some point REASON HAS TO PREVAIL.....REASON HAS TO RULE.

Thank you,

CIJ

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

PS. And please don't forget it was 17 police officers and ONE CANINE DOG....that dog was barking a storm that night. I counted 3 times to make sure I did not make a mistake.

By Anonymous on November 14, 2009 10:02 AM
Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:18 AM

So much for the photographic memory that CIJ proclaims!

========================================================================================================================================

I do have a very good memory considering the voluminous amounts of material I go through each week. I never said I had a PERFECT MEMORY.

Whenever I am wrong, I am happy to apologize as I did last night.

I could not write as much as I did or respond to all you folks if I had to research every item each time it is brought up AGAIN by another blogger. I have to depend on my memory. We live in a very busy world.

CIJ

Remember, hearing on tax levy is Tuesday at 7pm. If you don't go, don't complain.

By Mssr. Anonyma on November 13, 2009 9:18 PM

CIJ also says I am sure municipalities across the country in this deep recession are now charging their employees more than those obsolete numbers. So the City is fully aware what the averages are across the country and despite, practices BLATANT AND BRUTAL GREED.

Citation? Proof?
You put this sort of garbage out there, and think that people are going to believe it with no backing? Well, we're not going to. Do you have some sort of evidence that you can point that that indicates that in some high percentage of cases this is true, or is it just a fantasy on your part?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

PLEASE FIND THE LINK, COPY AND PASTE, CITATION AND PROOF YOU REQUESTED BELOW.

All your attacks on me can not refute the FACTS from the City of Naperville itself. Are you folks going to accuse the City of Naperville of lying, too? At some point reason has to prevail and you all have to come out of your denials that are as long as the Nile River. Any City that susidizes 90% or more of the benefits of its employees by using the taxpayers to pay for them is SCREWING THE TAXPAYERS ROYALLY. It is called DESPICABLE GREED......OUTRAGEOUS GREED...UNACCEPTABLE GREED!

To think that 47 million Americans can not afford Health Insurance of any kind and the City of Naperville is subsidizing each employee to the tune of $14,400 per year for Health Benefits and this is only 1 of 14 benefits, plus we have those 75% Big Fat Pensions at AGE 52. That is where all the McMansion Money went instead of reducing our taxes in case anyone is wondering. Not one penny of McMansion Money was used to reduce some of our taxes....not one louzy red copper penny.

CIJ

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 6, 2009 9:32 PM
Managed Dental Plan

November 3, 2009
Page 3 of 4
*PEPM – per employee per month
Staff recommends renewing with Delta Dental for the plan year 2010. Staff and employees are satisfied with our
current provider for dental benefits and Delta Dental, a local vendor.
Premium Equivalent Rates
The full premium equivalent rate for the current and renewal period and the 10% employee contribution rates for the renewal are as follows:
Current Premium
Equivalent Rate
Renewal Premium
Equivalent Rate
Employee
Contribution
Delta Dental
Single $24.64 $25.31 $2.53
Single + one $49.26 $50.60 $5.06
Family $87.89 $90.29 $9.03
Annual Premium $864,219 $887,773
% Change From Current 2.7%
$ Change From Current $23,555

========================================================================================================================================

http://www.naperville.il.us/ccpacket/cc20091103p.pdf

This is the link:

========================================================================================================================================

Here is more proof that many of the bloggers on here are spreading lies to protect the benefits of City Employees.

This is from the minutes of the last City Council Meeting.

As I said a little lip service was given to increasing the 10% premium of employees but they continued it for 2010 despite the deep recession and the fact we are $14.1 million in the hole.

All those who stated employee contributions for dental premiums were increased were simply deceiving and lying again.

Do those who lie think they will not be exposed?

Did they so soon forget the lessons the Napergate Man taught them about not lying and the consequences of lying?

The lip service given by 2 Council Men about increasing the 10% employee participation was purely for public consumption to mislead the taxpaying residents. All they had to do was make a proposal, put it to a vote and increase it. They chose not to increase it as they most likely are benefiting themselves by only pay 10%. Your CM are watching out for their self interests and not yours. Don't trust their LIPS or TONGUES!!!

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

HERE IS A REAL SCHOCKER

Local Comparable Communities- Employee Contributions for Dental
Employee Contribution Summary for Dental Family
Comparable Communities Median Employee Contribution 60.4%
Naperville Employee Contribution 10%

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Basically other towns make employees contribute 60.4% for Dental Family Coverage. Naperville seems to be very proud that their employees only contribute 10% for Dental Family Coverage. This information is obtained from the Naperville Web Site. Not only do we insure the employee for ONlY 10% of the PREMIUM, but his ENTIRE family.

Yes, folks you are really subsidizing city employees for coverages you can never PERSONALLY afford. Even compared to other municipalities, Naperville is out of control. As I have been stating we have some FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE DRUNKEN SAILORS running this town.

In a quick review of the Medical Plan it appears deductibles for individuals increased from 250 to 300. For families from 400-600. Employee participation remained roughly 10%.

For the PPO Plan employee participation actually decreased from 10% to 9.7% the way I read it. I could possibly be wrong but I doubt it. (Next time my insurance broker comes over, I will have him explain these employee benefits a little better to me.?

For Family HMO Plans, the public sector nationwide contributes 38%. Naperville, proudly discloses that its employees only contribute 10% for Family HMO Plans. Now these fiscally irresponsible folks in City Hall think it is cool to only let their employees and THEMSELVES contribute 10%. They think it is COOL to give it to the taxpayers up the Waz.......! They think it is COOL that we subdize them until we have to FORECLOSE on our homes.

Yes, a single Naperville Employee had to agree to a 300 deductible instead of a 250 deductible or else the cost may have been $17 million instead of only $16 million for the City Health Plan. Almost everyone experiences these increased deductibles these days so there is no MAJOR SACRIFICE here.

I had to agree to a 3000 deductible instead of a 1750 deductible to keep my family premiums at a little over $10,000. No one helps me pay my premiums as I am self-employed.

Again, as I continue to research we will expose the lies some bloggers, who may be City Officials masquerading as civilians, are perpetuating on this blog site.

It is rare that you will have a true civilian wanting the government to give ROLLS ROYCE BENEFITS to city employees when they can not even afford Chevrolet Benefits if they are not part of the Clunker Group of 47 million civilians who can not afford any health insurance.

Enough of this INJUST SPENDING at taxpayer expense to BENEFIT SELFISHNESS on the behalf of City Officials, City Council Members and the POLICE and FIRE UNIONS.

Thank you,

CIJ

Honestly CIJ, why would any believe any of your claims of what you have seen or not seen at Edwards emergency room? You don;t exactly have an impeccable reputation on here. And don't give us any nonsense about always being truthful. Because that just isn't true. (And yes, posing as someone else, with a different profession, and even posing as a "journalist" when not incorporating journalistic integrity is not being truthful.)

CIJ,
You need to start realizing that when you speak in absolutes like "never", "impossible" etc. you will be wrong. You need to start realizing that the world just does not work that way. Things happen. Sometimes rarely, sometimes a few times, sometimes often. You need to start taking more time to read what people say, not skim through quickly. Then you need to write your post and reread it a few times before submitting it. You need to stop and think about what you are writing.

It is your quickness to judge, and your quickness to react that is causing you much of the trouble you have on here.

I think most people on here agree that taxes can get out of control. They are just not willing to jeopardize their safety like you are. And the way you present your cases and arguments makes you lose any sympathy people might have for your causes.

You also need to quit calling people liars, fabricators, people who spread falsehoods. That sure is not doing you any good either.

Maybe staying home and spending time with your kids instead of trolling the bars at night and driving past Edwards might make your home life a bit easier. Maybe if you reprioritized your time, you might be a happier person. and your kids might also be happier and better behaved.

Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 2:08 AM
Anything can happen once....we all know that.

Yes it can. Just like your claim that 17 police officers were standing around downtown ONE night in the summer? I've never seen this so it must not be true.

Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:18 AM
As you well know I write from memory. I recall it being a unanimous decision with certainity. I could have wrongfully thought there were 9 justices instead of 7 because the US Supreme Court I believe has 9 justices. So that would be my fault.

So much for the photographic memory that CIJ proclaims!

By Citizen Investigative JournalistBy Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:50 AM on November 14, 2009 2:08 AM
____________________________________________________________________

Im sorry but I wonder why a middle aged woman is out at 2am when she has children at home? Oh thats right, they are also out, nevermind. I'm sure all that reporting from the field required you to go into each bar and check out the activities too. You are hallarious, I don't care about how many ambulances you see at a hospital or how many cops you see on the street corner. What I care about is they are there and when I call them, I dont get a delayed response because you think its a good idea to close them down at night.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 14, 2009 1:18 AM

Or is there a possibility the number of justices changed in the last 25 years? You seem to be an authority here.

----------------------------------------------------------

1970 Constitution of the State of Illinois
ARTICLE VI
THE JUDICIARY

********

SECTION 3. SUPREME COURT - ORGANIZATION
The Supreme Court shall consist of seven Judges. Three
shall be selected from the First Judicial District and one
from each of the other Judicial Districts. Four Judges
constitute a quorum and the concurrence of four is necessary
for a decision. Supreme Court Judges shall select a Chief
Justice from their number to serve for a term of three years.

By Anonymous who was at the emergency room once and saw more than 5 ambulances on November 13, 2009 9:25 PM
Gee CIJ
Can you not figure out how these things work. 3:41 is the time I wrote that post. Look at how everyones posts are headed.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry buddy but I read and write very quickly to try not to fall behind.

You threw me off by putting a sentence where a handle should have been. Please don't do that. You should be able to see how you threw me off without criticising me or making attacks on me for waht amounts to an innnocent mistake. But what I wrote still holds besides that one point which I will apologize for.

I gave you the benefit of doubt and believed you since this is more likely to happen at 341pm then afer MIDNIGHT even though I have not seen it either time.

Anything can happen once....we all know that.

But for you and the other Anonymous to see a MINIMUM of 5 to 7 ambulances in the same time frame repeatedly after MIDNIGHT with him going a few times is very unlikely. Remember I live nearby and have never seen so many nights of so many ambulances in such a short time frame after midnight in 21 years.

A study I am doing now with documentation refutes his claims.....it is hard to refute your claims because anything can happen once.

What you say is possible but very unlikely?

What the other guy is saying if he is not you, IS IMPOSSIBLE.

You will not see a minimum of 5 NFDs and 2 L-W each time you go there after MIDNIGHT. That I know is simply NOT TRUE. The statistics of the Fire Dept. refute that claim.

CIJ

Fire Fighters, Fire Fighter Friends and/or Fire Fighter Supporters,

========================================================================================================================================

I visited Edward's Emergency tonight at 11:05pm. I saw a Superior Ambulance #162 parked in the west non-emergency parking area waiting to take its nursing patient back home.
I saw a Yellow Medic 510 Emergency Ambulance pulling into the Bay Area 5 seconds before I arrived. I could not positively identify it as a L-W ambulance since the doors were open.
I returned at 11:35pm and both these 2 same ambulances were still there and no additional amublances had arrived.

========================================================================================================================================

This was my 17th official visit this week. NO NFD ambulances anywhere to be seen.

I have yet to see 5 ambulances of any combination let alone 5 NFD ambulances at one time. Trust me, someone was not telling the truth here on this blog site.

At 11:30 pm the downtown was extremely busy. Only one cop was parked with flashing lights on Chicago Ave. and everything seemed peaceful. No other police cars were seen.

Missing were the 8 school resource bike police officers, the 2 motorcycle policemen and the ATV police officer despite the fact it was busier than a summer weekend day due to temperatures over 52 degrees after the cold spell we had which brings people out in large numbers.

Once again either the police department is being GROSSLY NEGLIGENT with security now or these school resource officers are just put to work in the downtown during summers to make their full annual salaries since the schools are closed. I suspect the latter with great probability since these bars are loaded with bouncers who can and do break up fights.

The question is why are the school resource officers not used to rid us of this $3 million annual police OT instead of making them ride bikes aimlessly and uselessly while chatting with all the good lookin' girls downtown.

Something makes no sense.

Again it has to be A or B but it can not be both.

No one should assume the NPD knows what they are doing.

They can not be right in both of the above scenarios.

You can tell how packed the bars are by the number of people smoking outside each bar. I never seen as many smokers in my life as I did tonight. Of course we have yet another new bar called BlackFinn American Saloon adding to the populance of bar hoppers especially on Jefferson which is becoming another Chicago Ave as far as partiers.

Thank you,
CIJ

By Experienced on November 13, 2009 9:29 PM

I thought someone else laid this falsehood to rest a few days ago. So let me be more emphatic. If our hero is correct, one of Mr. Esmail's ads said this. The problem is that there are only 7 justices on the Illinois Supreme Court. How could he have a 9-0 decision?

========================================================================================================================================

Experienced,

As you well know I write from memory. I recall it being a unanimous decision with certainity. I could have wrongfully thought there were 9 justices instead of 7 because the US Supreme Court I believe has 9 justices. So that would be my fault.

Or is there a possibility the number of justices changed in the last 25 years? You seem to be an authority here.

Clearly his liquor license was revoked and his store on Bailey Rd was closed for a long time. That I have no doubt about. It went to the Supreme Court which either upheld the Appellate Courts decision to reverse or made it own decision to reverse. The details are in the Napergate Ads. But I am 100% sure his license was revoked in a Kangaroo Trial in the mid-eighties that took place in City Hall. Yes, he had 2 Kangaroo Trials that resulted in 2 revocations that were both reversed by higher courts.

As far as the Illinois Appellate decision in the mid to late nineties vebatim quotes from that 3-0 decision were in those Napergate ads that I provided on this blog site. That was also in Naperville Sun articles that I may have given dates to when you were not a blogger and read at Nichols Library.

If I ever review the ads again for a refresher I will get you the case numbers.

JQP is good at tracking old posts in the archives. I don't have time to go backwards. Ask him to do it. He seems like a good friend to you.

No one has laid any falsehood to rest. If you deny these obvious cases you will get lots of egg on your face. Some one with your experience should easily be able to track down the more recent 3-0 case in the Illinois Appellate Court. That I am 100% of. Are you sure you did not track it down and playing DUMB? H@ll you tracked down a simple audit case no one ever heard of?

The (2-1) 7th Circuit Court of Appeals victory that was found by a person whose name I am not allowed to mention was based on the 3-0 Illinois Appellate decision to the best of my knowledge.

Moderator Magee should be able to track the 3-0 decision as the Sun covered his second battle blow by blow literally over some years.

Thank you,

CIJ

FACT wrote:

One would speculate that since Experienced and yourself can dig up an old insignificant audit case regarding a store he once owned in another county in an earlier decade, that no one knew about, you probably also dug up the 3-0 and 9-0 decisions in the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts respectively, that the Multi-Handle Blogger refers to and have chosen not to verify.

You must be new to Potluck to make such a point. I didn't bring those decisions up because there was no need to. (For the record, I also didn't bring up the tax case, which was only settled in 2007---not exactly old.) The appellate and Supreme Court decisions have already been brought up and discussed ad nauseum by CIJ. If you think they require verification, then be my guest. I haven't disputed them. And while, I don't remember the tax case being discussed here before this week, I will go out on a limb and take CIJ's word for it that it has been. If it has been mentioned before, though, it hasn't been discussed NEARLY as much as Mr. Esmail's court victories. And it is a useful bit of information if one is to form a more complete picture of the Napergate Man, because all we ever get otherwise is the comic book superhero that CIJ portrays him as.

-JQP

Another gem from CIJ:

"By Anonymous who was at the emergency room once and saw more than 5 ambulances on November 13, 2009 3:41 PM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Very, very interesting.
You changed your story from after MIDNIGHT to 3:41pm in the afternoon which is a much greater probability and believable."

It is interesting because the person who claims to be so intelligent does not even realize that he is using the blog time stamp as a basis to call someone a liar and follow it with the mandatory nonsensical rant.

Not interesting...but completely hilarious!

By Mssr. Anonyma on November 13, 2009 9:18 PM
FOR PUBLICATION

CIJ also says I am sure municipalities across the country in this deep recession are now charging their employees more than those obsolete numbers. So the City is fully aware what the averages are across the country and despite, practices BLATANT AND BRUTAL GREED.

Citation? Proof?

========================================================================================================================================

I already posted the link.

I also copy and pasted the proof.

I believe it is on this thread.

These documents I read are the size of books. I am not reading them twice. I have my work cut out for me trying to respond to attacks by people like you.

Most city council members who are paid to read these 700 page documents do not even read them despite receiving full benefits subsidized up to 90% and maybe even 100% in some cases by taxpayers.

How do I know?

When I watched the City Council Members in session on Oct 20 none of them had a clue what percentage employees paid on their dental. Most did not have a clue what percentage they paid on medical. If they read their packets they would know. I don't get paid by the taxpayers and read these packets voluntarily from cover to cover and try to report on them.

Or maybe they were playing DUMB since they receive these benefits that are 90% subsidized and really don't want to discuss them.

Your choice.

A or B

Thank you,

CIJ

By Conscientious Observer on November 13, 2009 5:06 PM

I've decided that CIJ is all talk, but no action. S/he would rather rant and whine on a blog site rather than succinctly deliver the facts, rally followers, and then put her money where her mouth is and stand up to City Hall at one of the monthly meetings. Which leads me to believe that it's all a bid for attention or she doesn't have what it takes to stand up for what she supposedly believes in. Because of her inaction, she appears cowardly and is NOTHING like her idol, the Napergate Man. Otherwise, if s/he REALLY AND TRULY wanted to make a difference, s/he'd walk the walk.

========================================================================================================================================
If you are a little nauseated with the Napergate Man, let us lay off of him and talk about Donna Rogers.

You probably don't know Donna Rogers if you never read the Napergate ads or researched the history of Napergate. So I will tell you who she is.

Donna Rogers was probably the second in command in the Napergate Organization right after the Napergate Man.

She was brave. She walked the walk of the Napergate Man. She talked the talk of the Napergate Man. She worked her rear end off for her idol. While the Napergate Man was writing ads she was helping him organize protests.

I assure you she was not cowardly. What happened to her. As soon as City Officials found out how effective she was in the Napergate Circles, they began attacking her for running a legal day care center in her own home. Something hundreds if not thousands of women do in Naperville.

Out of all the women who run day care centers, they picked on Donna Rogers and tried to close her Day Care Center down. Saying it was illegal because it was in a residential center. That it did not have proper commercial licensing despite being licensed by the state for 20 years. That the home was not in a business district....etc. I will spare you all the details of that battle.

The cowards are City Officials who harass residents like Donna Rogers who try to hold City Officials responsible for their actions. Donna Rogers was harassed so badly by City Officials she finally left Naperville. She needs to run a day care center in her home in order to survive. She left town in order to survive and not be hassled.

You can call me a coward all you like. But I am not ready to have these Building Inspectors who are bored out of their minds to start visiting my apartment buildings and writing me tickets for petty stuff that you can not imagine they could do if they want to hassle you.

I have gone beyond exposing them and will continue to expose them in unimaginable ways.

I am not interested in walking the walk of the Napergate Man who had to spend 10 years in court fighting for his liquor licenses. I am not interesting in talking the talk of Donna Rogers who had to fend off City Officials who demanded she close the day care center in her home, only after she joined forces with the Napergate Man, despite having been in operation for over 20 years. This even came up at City Council meetings while she dared to protest and take the podium of supposedly 3 minutes of FREE SPEECH.

########################################################################################################################################

I am not the COWARD. The COWARDS are CITY OFFICIALS who harass residents who speak out. The COWARDS are people like you who challenge residents instead of CITY OFFICIALS who abuse the residents.

########################################################################################################################################

Not everyone is loaded with extra cash like the Napergate Man who is willing to take on government any time any where for any price as we discovered recently. I am losing track how many times he has battled governments to the Supreme Court. Something unusual drives that man and let's face it he is not an ordinary man that just anyone can easily walk his walk or talk his talk. Remember the saying that "No One Can Beat City Hall"....well he does not believe in it obviously.

As I said he is a uniquely brave man. I am not interested in talking his talk or walking his walk or being as brave as him. Donna Rogers tried and she got hammered and left Naperville to restore her life to normality. So did many other Napergatians.

Since you are all tired of the Napergate Man, you will now be hearing about Donna Rogers and all his other lieutenants one by one. Hang on to your harnesses! I promise you the ride is only going to get rougher. If you don't like roller coasters and they nauseate you, stay off of them. This is the only warning you will get. There are other threads(rides) you can go on.

The problem is really not with the NGM or Donna Rogers.

The problem is within your CONSCIENCES.

You can not live with yourselves because of the abusive and arrogant behavior you employ towards people who stand up to you. You want to maintain the STATUS QUO that enriches and entitles you at the expense of the taxpayers.

Look at what you folks are doing to harmless, helpless, homeless, and hopeless Scott Huber. You are forcing him to shiver at night because he dared to accuse you wrongfully or rightfully that you screwed his life over. Yes, you forced him to take his tiny ENCAMPMENT down as winter approaches rapidly. SHAME ON YOU FOR MAKING SANTA CLAUS SHIVER!!!

He occupied ONE SQUARE yard of millions of square yards of sidewalks and bothered no one. He is like a Santa Claus with a beautiful white beard...kind and gentle. You folks in City Hall attacked him just because he stood up to you.....just like you attacked the Napergate Man and Donna Rogers because they stood up to you.

Yes, let us go beyond the Napergate Man and uncover all the truths that you City Officials attempt to cover up. I will begin naming all kinds of names if you like. I will make the arena as big as you will like it to be....just don't tell me you are beginning to nauseate.

Watch for what you ask for as you may just get it.

Thank you,

CIJ

By FACT on November 13, 2009 4:25 PM

One would speculate that since Experienced and yourself can dig up an old insignificant audit case regarding a store he once owned in another county in an earlier decade, that no one knew about, you probably also dug up the 3-0 and 9-0 decisions in the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts respectively, that the Multi-Handle Blogger refers to and have chosen not to verify.

--------------------------------------------

I thought someone else laid this falsehood to rest a few days ago. So let me be more emphatic. If our hero is correct, one of Mr. Esmail's ads said this. The problem is that there are only 7 justices on the Illinois Supreme Court. How could he have a 9-0 decision?

http://www.state.il.us/court/SupremeCourt/meetsupremecourt.asp

Finally, I did a lexus search and can't find any Illinois Supreme Court case for Mr. Esmail and his corporations other than the sales tax case that the Court declined to hear. Does anyone have a citation?

Gee CIJ
Can you not figure out how these things work. 3:41 is the time I wrote that post. Look at how everyones posts are headed.
Or is your name now By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 13, 2009 8:22 PM

Wow you are really desperate to try and find something to argue when you have blatantly been shown to be wrong.

Oh no look now I have been there a whole different time by the way you read things.

You are truly in need of some help or at least reading lessons anyway.

FOR PUBLICATION

Dor,
No comment about the posting that isolates your home?
Hmmm... That's interesting in an of itself.

CIJ also says I am sure municipalities across the country in this deep recession are now charging their employees more than those obsolete numbers. So the City is fully aware what the averages are across the country and despite, practices BLATANT AND BRUTAL GREED.

Citation? Proof?
You put this sort of garbage out there, and think that people are going to believe it with no backing? Well, we're not going to. Do you have some sort of evidence that you can point that that indicates that in some high percentage of cases this is true, or is it just a fantasy on your part? Clearly, you're a failed PUBLIC EMPLOYEE who has lost your BIG FAT PENSION, probably due to the fact that your statistics background is out of kilter on the order of trillions to one.
Also, I would like to give kudos to the other blogger who indicated that one of the reasons many, many people, maybe even trillions of people, live in Naperville IS EXACTLY the kind of services that you rail against. Give that some thought while walking your dog - a dog that probably also lost its Big, Fat pension.
Ha!

Thank You,
Mssr. Anonyma

By Anonymous who was at the emergency room once and saw more than 5 ambulances on November 13, 2009 3:41 PM

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Very, very interesting.

You changed your story from after MIDNIGHT to 3:41pm in the afternoon which is a much greater probability and believable.

If you were at the Emergency Room ONCE you could not have been there TWICE. Make up you mind and try to get your story straight.

When people are less than honest and try to back track they dig a bigger hole for themselves. This is what we are seeing. A man digging a 6ft grave for himself at the cemetery. Every time he back tracks, more dirt falls in the grave to bury him.

The first Anonymous assuming it was not you who said each and every time he took his son to Edwards after MIDNIGHT he saw specifically 5 Naperville Fire Ambulances and 2 L-F ambulances.

I notice the first Anonymous is no longer defending himself. He apparently raised the WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER.

Now if you are not him, why initially stick up for him and shatter YOUR CREDIBILITY. What he said based on my observation for 21 years IS IMPOSSIBLE! To see that same combination of ambulances out of hundreds of combinations possible each time he goes there, especially after MIDNIGHT, puts it in the TRILLION to ONE odds.

Yes, there is a TRILLION to ONE chance he is telling the truth....believe those odds if you would like.....but no one with any common sense will believe you with odds that bad......the same EXACT COMBINATION when over 20 different kinds of ambulances transport to Edward's. Has anyone on this blog site ever taken a STATISTICS class? I did take one in college and I understand possibilities and probabilities.

If the Moderator was a STATISTICS MAJOR instead of a HISTORY MAJOR this discussion would have long been over. He is one of the few who will always tell the TRUTH when he understands the TRUTH assuming people don't release smoke in his eyes to blind him.

What you said is POSSIBLE even though now you say it was 3:41pm which makes it much more probable. Also keep in mind I am not asking for any cuts or closings in the NFD at 3:41pm. I am only asking for cuts between MIDNIGHT and 6am when I have observed the Emergency Area as being almost DEAD over 21 years.

If there was some flu or asthma going on a few weeks ago and ambulances were pulling in and out like subways at Grand Central Station in New York do you think a person who goes to the health club there 4-7 days a week would not observe it even though I was not documenting with pen and paper at the time as I am doing now? Do you think a person who walks his dog in that vicinity would have not noticed? Do you think a person who drives by there many times a day would not notice ambulances flying in and out like taxi cabs after midnight on Chicago Ave when the bars are closing down?

Let us be real.

Is it possible you saw 5 ambulances from a combination of 20 municipalities and private services as far as Brookfield at one time after MIDNIGHT. Yes, it is possible but improbable unless something serious happened that we read about in the newspaper the next day.

Most normal people if they think their kid got H1N1 and are overreacting will not call an ambulance. They will drive their kid to the Emergency Room which is actually quicker. If a kid breaks his back or neck, by all means do not transport him/her and call the NFD. As long as the kid is not moved no further damage will be done even if it takes the ambulance one minute longer.

Now is it possible that someone who goes there frequently after midnight always observes 5 NFD ambulances and 2 L-F ambulances. That really is IMPOSSIBLE. So why stick up for a guy who you don't know by agreeing with him and saying you also say 5 ambulances there after MIDNIGHT when taking your son as he was taking his son, while now you are saying you saw them at 3:41 pm which I don't doubt since you are giving a time and date that can be verified.

Giving a time and a date is important. That is why I do that. That way if I am not credible one of the 200 FFs directly or through a friend can come on here and say I caught CIJ in a lie. It will never happen because I will not lie and I doubt a real Naperville Fire Fighter will lie.

So these are the facts. Don't tell me about visits in the afternoon or early evening. I am not calling for any closures then.

I am calling for closures when it is dead quiet there on weekday graveyard shifts. Not even calling for weekend closures in case a drunk get in a serious accident since there a lot more drunks on weekends than weekdays. I am only calling for disabling 2 ambulances since we only have 7 in Naperville on weeknights after MIDNIGHT TILL 6a.m.

For those who keep saying well what if we have the BIG DISASTER.
Let us hope we don't. But when we do once a century, all the surrounding FDs will more than make up for the 2 ambulances that we are not using after MIDNIGHT.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

As I once said in a post, we can have 30 stations instead of 10 stations at a cost of $105,000,000 annually or $2,100 per household and we will maybe have 5 minute response times instead of 7 minutes. Why not have 100 fire stations at a cost of $350,000,000 annually or $7,000 per household so we can have a 3 minute response times? Common folks, why not, we can make the gentleman I have a truce with happy. Let us make him happy since he keeps painting these frightening IF SCENARIOS!!!!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

There will always be some risk. FFs will never be able to get there fast enough no matter how many you have. No one is suing FDs because response time is 3 or 5 or 7 minutes. That is hogwash. If you want a 3 minute response time than buy a home right next to a FS and you will have a 3 minute response time. Give the FFs some time to climb down, get dressed and drive their engines to your home.

In the end, the FFs can not save you. You have to save yourself with smoke detectors, fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and sprinkler systems. Those items will save you for sure but not necessarily your property. For that you need a good home insurance policy.

FF friends have come on here and said from ignition to flash is 3 minutes. So we either have 100 FSs at a cost of $7,000 per family or stop whining.

And my proposal of closing half the FSs after midnight should be considered without any further whining. It is reasonable, will not increases insurance rates, response times will even be faster than day response times as the streets are literally deserted, and it can be the FFs' contribution to putting a dent in the $14.1 million operating deficit. They could spend 14 hours more per week sleeping with their families and still have 40 hours per week of pay. They will make a little less, but everyone is making a little less. Their pensions will be a little less but this small measure may help save their pension funds from bankruptcy even though I doubt that since they are way beyond saving at this point.

What if a fire took place in a FF's own home? Would it not be nice for him to be home and wake up their children in case they did not hear the smoke detectors or fire alarms? What about if a burglar or intruder came after midnight? Would it not be nice for a strong FF to be there to help his wife fight off the burglar or intruder?

This "what if" stuff being forwarded by a blogger whose name I am not allowed to mention due to truce is ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!

Due to the truce, I am not allowed to mention what his ulterior motives may be. Sorry folks, but I am honoring the truce as it appears to be holding.

Thank you,

CIJ

When I read this blog topic today, I have to admit that I became a little nauseated with CIJ's abnormal infatuation with the Napergate Man. Seriously,in my opinion it's a little obsessive and creepy.

Also, I noticed that Sybil seems to be rearing her sleepy head lately, and her cast of characters is expanding. The names may change, but the tone and verbiage remains the same. And the attempt to disguise is jokingly transparent. It has to be exhausting to keep track of all the personas that have been created. It's sad that the amount of time dedicated toward that wasn't put to better use.

I've decided that CIJ is all talk, but no action. S/he would rather rant and whine on a blog site rather than succinctly (key word) deliver the facts, rally followers, and then put her money where her mouth is and stand up to City Hall at one of the monthly meetings. Which leads me to believe that it's all a bid for attention or she doesn't have what it takes to stand up for what she supposedly believes in. Because of her inaction, she appears cowardly and is NOTHING like her idol, the Napergate Man. Otherwise, if s/he REALLY AND TRULY wanted to make a difference, s/he'd walk the walk.

Some things never change.

-JQP

"P.s. CIJ is also FAR from an impartial source when it comes to information about Mr. Esmail."

------------------------

Yes, I would say it is true that CIJ is far from impartial

But is it not true that possibly Experienced and yourself are also far from impartial.

It seems like you are out there researching the Napergate Man but only disclosing the negatives.

T.B. seems more neutral. When he discovered the Napergate Man had a 2-1 Civil Rights victory in Federal Appellate Court over the City he honestly reported it even though the Multi-Handle Blogger knew nothing about it and was not the source of that specific case.

One would speculate that since Experienced and yourself can dig up an old insignificant audit case regarding a store he once owned in another county in an earlier decade, that no one knew about, you probably also dug up the 3-0 and 9-0 decisions in the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts respectively, that the Multi-Handle Blogger refers to and have chosen not to verify.

If you want to accuse others of lacking impartiality, you must have impartiality yourselves and dislose both the positives and negatives and confirm the truths while refuting the untruths.

Right now, you and Experienced have stooped to a lower level than the Multi-Handle Blogger with your partiality.

According to Edward Hospital's website, their emergency room services over 70,000 patients a year.
http://www.edward.org/body.cfm?id=20&oTopId=20

They were the busiest emergency room in the Dupage/Will area in 2007. (And actually #5 in the state of Illinois that year.)
http://www.edward.org/body.cfm?id=1046

With that capacity, is it possible that there could be more than 5 ambulances in the ambulance bays at one time? Yes it is possible. Is it going to happen every hour and every day? Probably not. But it can (and has in my case) happened. Add in some unusual circumstances and it will happen again.

At this point, it does not matter if CIJ has seen it or not. He/she is not there 24/7 to watch things. I never said it happened every night. I said it happened the ONE time I was there.

So CIJ get over yourself and quit calling me a liar or fabricator who is spreading falsehoods. Why can you not just admit that the night I was there could have been one of those times where things just happened and there were more emergencies needing ambulances. ANd why can you just not admit that the other person who saw the same thing a few times may have been there on evenings when environmental conditions were causing problems for people with asthma (including her child) necessitating some emergency care? Neither of us has made any claims that this is a nightly, weekly or even monthly occurrence, just that it has occurred.

You claim to have a life, but I sure as heck have better things to do with my time than sit on here and blog 24 hours a day, and drive past Edward every moment I can. I have kids to spend time with, a spouse to spend time with, my freelance graphic design work, volunteer work to do, along with working out at times that will not interfere with family and married life.

I spend hours each day walking my dog and talking to my neighbors. None feel like you folks. I have yet to find one who does not complain about taxes these days.

They likely are doing what most people's natural reaction is when raving fanatics approach them to talk about politics and taxes: Politely smile and nod. If you're anything like you are on this site in real life, I bet the last thing any of your neighbors want to do is give you any kind of invitation to start in on a 45 minute rant about Napergate and "The Establishment".

The reason the town isn't beating down the doors of the City Hall is because most people who live in Naperville can afford to live in Naperville, and chose Naperville as a place to live because of the excellent services the city provides. These services cost money. If you don't want to live under the protection of Naperville's world class police and fire department, I suggest you pack up shop and move either west or south.

Maybe if you're lucky you can find a town where there is only one police man, who is also the sheriff and the only firefighter. (With no benefits, retirement, and a hourly salary of minimum wage with no overtime.)

It would be a veritable utopia for you!

By FACT on November 13, 2009 11:01 AM

If our hero uses references Mr. Esmail to support each and every point and position that our hero holds even if they are totally off topic and irrelevant, I reserve the right to remind everyone that Mr. Esmail was not as pure as the driven snow. References to Mr. Esmail by our hero have gotten to the point of absurdity.

DEAR FELLOW CITIZENS,

The massive accomplishment of the Napergate Man and his grass roots movement are an important part of the history of Naperville.

The story of Napergate tells us GREEDINESS is part of the culture of City Hall. It shows us that the Napergate Man was only able to dislodge this sick culture while he was running his full page Napergate ads in the Naperville Sun and shortly thereafter until they were convinced he was retired.

When City Officials were convinced he was retired, I would guess about a year after his last classic Napergate ad, they gradually returned to their EMBEDDED CULTURE OF GREED at taxpayer expense.

And now you see that City Employees only have to pay 10% for their Family Health Benefits and 10% for their Family Dental Benefits.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

City of Naperville documents reveal municipal employees across the country were paying on average 38% of their Health Benefits and 60.8% of their Family Dental Benefits during the time when the economy was in FULL BOOM. The private sector was of course paying even higher percentages than the public sector.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I am sure municipalities across the country in this deep recession are now charging their employees more than those obsolete numbers. So the City is fully aware what the averages are across the country and despite, practices BLATANT AND BRUTAL GREED.

When you talk about Medical Benefits being $16,000,000 alone, half of that is $8,000,0000 This one benefit out of 14 is more than half the operating budget deficit.

Here is another way to think about it. If City Employees just paid for their Health Insurance in full we would save $14.4 million annually and we would have a surplus of $300,000 per year with out having to cut services or raise taxes to anyone. Without having to lay off a single employee. However I believe all Excess Fat should be dealt with by not replacing retired employees so no one will suffer any financial consequences or be thrown next to Mr. Scott Huber to impose an OCCUPATION on our city sidewalks...lol....

You all, including Diane G. wondered where the McMansion Spread money all went. Now you all know. I just told you in PLAIN ENGLISH.

Thank you,

CIJ

========================================================================================================================================

PS. While discussing Big Fat Pensions many City Officials and their Supporters tried to blame it entirely on the state even though the starting salary more than anything else determined the amount of the pension in retirement. Double the starting salary and you will double your pension pay-outs in retirement. This also ASSUMES the City of Naperville is NOT corrupt and does not give end of career raises and promotions like most government bodies. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt until someone provides factual evidence to the contrary.

But with Benefits, there is no state component or requirement that determines them. It is all controlled by the city. Thus the City can tell the UNIONS you guys are screwing us on pensions, the taxpayers are complaining, so we are going to make you pay your FULL HEALTH BENEFITS as is becoming common in the civilian world.

I met an x-ray technician at Edward's Hospital Health and Fitness Center last night who was complaining about her health premiums. I asked her how much she pays per month. She stated $330 dollars per month and she can barely afford it anymore. In addition she stated, she makes less per hour because she opted for subsidized health benefits. At Edwards, you only receive your full hourly pay, if you do not receive health benefits. Why should the private sector suffer in this manner and then suffer again by having to subsidizes City Officials and City Employees to almost incomprehendable and unconsionable levels?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Keep in mind City Council Members also receive these same benefits even though they only work a few hours a month and of course want to maintain the STATUS QUO. Does anyone not understand why it is almost impossible to change the Embedded Culture of Greed that the Napergate Man uncovered? Does anyone not understand why they tried to lynch and frame him in a Kangaroo Trial when he began exposing all this in his Napergate Series of Ads in the 1990s and early 2000s??? Does anyone not understand why City Officials and their Supporters have now launched a campaign to discredit the long retired Napergate Man???

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

While Edwards can partially afford to subsidize their employees, most retail employees you see every day you shop receive no health benefits. Not only do they receive NO HEALTH BENEFITS but their entire NET PAY is less than the VALUE of only the HEALTH BENEFITS City Employees receive. And keep in mind they receive yet 13 more benefits subsidized in a similar manner or worse.

And I am not comparing wages of city employees to wages of retailers for those who lack comprehension. I am comparing HEALTH BENEFITS of city employees to the entire NET PAY of retail employees. Yes, if the City of Naperville was a private entity or retailer, it would have filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy long ago.

The Napergate Man taught us this EMBEDDED SYSTEM of GREED and CORRUPTION is not fair and must be dislodged. We must continue his legacy work until City Hall is DEFEATED...once and for all.

Please spread the message of the Napergate Man to all your friends and neighbors. Please speak at the City Council Meeting and I promise I will cover your speech in a post on this Blog Site.

Thank you,

CIJ

To Anonymous ONE @ 10:27 -
You're right, the history lesson from the linked posting to a "Dor" post from a couple of years ago is interesting. Funny that the person we now know as CIJ was having all these conversations with himself or herself.
The thing that I find most interesting is that in the early days, CIJ writing as Dor indicates that she spoke to the NGM on some of these topics, and even goes so far as to locate her home within a very small geographic area. Now, in much the same way as CIJ is not always as truthful as could be the case, CIJ has also recently located his or herself within that same general area. Food for thought, isn't it?
All out there, in the public record of this website, too.

In other parts of this conversation, I have to say that it is offensive that anyone would assume that people who don't agree with them MUST be city employees. How very ridiculous.

CIJ said:

"I spend hours each day walking my dog and talking to my neighbors. None feel like you folks. I have yet to find one who does not complain about taxes these days.

They are in DISBELIEF when I tell them City Officials, Staff and Employees are only contributing 10% to their 14 or so benefits. And when they hear about these Big Fat 75% Pensions at age 52, their eyes almost come out. People are in comas. It is hard to wake them up but when you do they are OUTRAGED!
Once the rabbit is out of the hat, this City of Naperville will FALL.....it will loose its HOME RULE STATUS.....it will file Chapter 9 bankruptcy."
--------
Where are all these outraged people, CIJ? City Council meetings? Blogging on here? I haven't seen any.

Has anyone else seen them? Who is passing the petitions to revoke Home Rule?

To FACT,

Clinton's detractor's can and do regularly mention his encounters with Monica Lewinsky, just as Bush's detractors regularly bring up what they see as his faults. That's just a fact of life in the public spotlight, and people need to deal with it. But CIJ's statements about the Napergate Man go way beyond stating his positive accomplishments, whatever they may actually be. He practically deifies the Napergate Man. It is akin to someone calling Clinton or Bush the greatest President we've ever had; make a statement like that on Potluck and you are guaranteed to catch get a lot of well-deserved (IMO) flak.

-JQP

P.s. CIJ is also FAR from an impartial source when it comes to information about Mr. Esmail.

Let me see if I understand you Experienced.

Let us say somebody likes former President Clinton.

Let us say you dislike former President Clinton.

What you are saying is that every time someone speaks of the achievements of former Presdient Clinton in a positive way, you will make sure you will mention that he and Monica Lewinsky had some WIND ACTION together. WIND meaning another word that starts with B......

It does sound to me you have an ax of sorts to grind for some reason.

Why would you mind if someone discusses the positive achievements of the Napergate Man regarding government waste and high taxes?

I think by mentioning Napergate(which I assume means cover-up as in Watergate)and Mr. Napergate we realize our City Servants are repeat offenders. It is important to note they are repeat offenders and that the taxpayers be reminded that they are repeat offenders when dealing with them.

I say go suck on a lollipop, Sir!

Fire Fighters, Fire Fighter Friends and/or Fire Fighter Supporters,

========================================================================================================================================

I visited Edward's Emergency while today at 11:07pm. I saw a Superior Ambulance #148 parked in the west non-emergency parking area waiting to take its nursing patient back home.

I saw ZERO Emergency Ambulances from any municipality in the Bay Area

========================================================================================================================================

This was my 16th official visit this week.

Keep in mind I live nearby and work-out in the complex and have always observed that area. All I am doing differently is documenting my observation with time, date and kind of ambulance.

As I said I have been living nearby for about 21 years and never seen 5, 7, and 9 ambulances in the Bay Area ever let alone each time I go there.

If you count the Superior non-emergency ambulances shuttling nursing care patients back and forth and not using the Emergency Bay Area, I have seen 4 or 5 a few times....but on very rare occasion.

But all those ambulances in the EMERGENCY BAY area will only occur if there is an EXTRAORDINARY accident or fire in Naperville or another suburb that uses Edward's such as Plainfield, Warrenville, Wheaton, Aurora, Bolingbrook, Lisle, Woodridge, etc.

Keep in mind not one person was seriously injured or died in a fire in Naperville in 2008. So who would these ambulances be transporting.....GHOSTS?????

Numerous ambulances from all of the above cities let alone just Naperville, will certainly not be seen each and every time you take your son or daughter to Edward's after midnight except in an extremely rare situation which I have yet to see in 21 years of driving past and into that place after MIDNIGHT.

It is really sad when bloggers spread falsehoods and others continue to spread the falsehoods without verifying the facts. I knew the reported sighting 5 NFDs and 2 L-W Ambulances EACH TIME was a FALSEHOOD but wanted to verify and document the facts for you folks.

It seems like none of you besides Ken are even willing to do a spot check of any kind. For some reasons you would rather believe the inaccuracies posted here, by less than credible people.

The only reason I could think of why someone would want to believe a fabrication over truth is because he or she is benefiting from the fabrication.

There are over 200 Naperville Fire Fighters who can call me out since I am given specific times, places and dates. One of them will certainly call me out if I lie. They keep great records as to where their ambulances go, the time they go there and when they arrive. It is all DOCUMENTED.

Thank you,

CIJ

In response to T.B. on November 12, 2009 9:38 AM

First, a really good post, too bad there is all of this nonsense in between.

1. Firefighting staffing. I think you laid this out well. Again, I would note that Naperville has 10 times the fire stations than Chicago does and Chicaog has far more old buildings more susceptable to fire. And I a skeptical on these "professional organizaitons" that self promote their causes. Curious how a County Board President candidate feels there are too many firehouses as well.

And my only comment to you on the catastrophic issues is that they do not occur at all places at once. The existing mutal aid works fine. Look at the Plainfield tornado, the dispatching of local departments to New York and New Orleanes. And we did not suffer with stations closed during their absence. Wonder why they don't help in the California fires?

2. For the low level of crime, we have too many police. I suggest cameras and responses to flagrant actions (speeding, drunken driving). More machines and productivity, less flatfoots.

3. You make a good point about pensions. But if they are going to be accured over 25 rather than 40 years and subsequently are going to be paid over 25 years rather than 10, then those employees need a greater portion of their compensation to fund such pensions. The funding standard and practice cannot be the same as an office employee. Higher pension funding means lower salary. Drew Peterson's attorney was bragging that Peterson made more money by being retired than when he worked on the radio today. That does not seem right.

But the out of control police and fire pension costs are not accidents or a collision of unforseen events. Rather, they were added by the Illinois Democrats to benefit Chicago police and fire during the Washington administration to make up for the tough labor negotiations by the preceding Byrne administration. I was at a meeting when one of Washington's policy advisors was trying to sell this idea to business. Her comment, it will create a significant financial problem in 20 to 30 years, but that is not their problem. It solved a political problem in 1985. Worst yet, the generous and unmanageable costs were extended beyond Chicago.

Arlington Heights put forth a plan to take away these pension plans to all new employees and let them fund a defined contribution plans. Keep a close eye out, a couple of communities are going to shut down their fire departments and contract with the neighboring community. Glen Ellyn does just fine with their volunteer paid on call department.

Lastly, local governments particularly Naperville and its school districts increased spending based on the real estate bubble from 2003 to 2006. Now that house values have dropped to 1998 levels and incomes are being cut by Obamanomics, people cannot afford the 2006 spending levels. Changes are going to have to be made or governments will run out of money. Just like they did in 1932. Workers were paid in script much of which proved worthless. A guess what the state did. NOTHING!!!!!!! They delayed the payment of property taxes one year and made matters worst.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 12, 2009 9:18 PM

You want it to stop? Well then listen to your fellow bloggers. We are tired of your constant and incessant references to Mr. Esmail. Tone it back and you won't hear a peep from us on the subject. Keep on throwing it up in our faces, and I, for one, will continue to quote from Justice Kapala's decision every time you do so that Mr. Esmail was found by an administrative law judge to have "wilfully [failed] to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act". If you move on and talk about the subject at hand, there will be no further references to any other subject from me.

Now on the subject at hand. What you did a few years back was protest your assessment. I am not protesting my assessment. I am protesting the method by which the city council goes about levying taxes. The problem is the lack of transparency in the process they use. If they don't learn this year, we'll do it again next year. Hopefully they'll get with the process of the requirements of open government mandated by state statutes. If we can convince a significant number of people to join us, including the large taxpayers in the city, eventually the council will wake up and be honest and open with the electorate. Even if we aren't successful in getting our money back, we might be able to tie up a significant portion of the city revenue to wake them up.

And, remember, the hearing on the tax levy is next Tuesday at 7pm. If you don't attend, don't complain.

Anonymous on November 12, 2009 8:44 PM

______

Thanks for the history Anonymous. What's also funny about this link is that except for Joe and the moderator, I'm pretty sure that all of the posters (Marshall, Cindy, Jessica, Debbie, Dor, Ameena, Martha) are all CIJ. This was back in the day when CIJ would write under different names all complimenting each other. Some things never change, and if you read closely you will see CIJ's aliases also criticizing moderator Jim and Ted just like he does with Chris today.

Classic

T.B. wrote:

1) The problem with decreasing FF staffing when the likelihood of a severe event is low, is how do you determine when that likelihood really low? While there may be less traffic on the roads overnight, everyone is home and asleep which makes the likelihood of a fire turning tragic even greater. Also, when is a freight train less likely to derail? When is a gas line less likely to burst? Does anyone really know?

I am sure we have very good historical data. We should use it and stop the hand waving. Let the data drive the debate. NFPA standards speak of responding to 90% of certain calls within some predetermined time. not 100%. 90%.

I believe that FF staffing should have two components: what the historical rate of calls/emergencies has been, and also what the worst-case scenario is. The NFD needs to be staffed for both what we believe they’ll be needed to do and also what we could potentially need them for. What would happen if we were understaffed for a large apartment fire and deaths resulted? Besides the tragedy that this would bring, how many millions would we pay out in the resulting lawsuits?

We cannot staff for worst-case scenarios. If we are doing that, we are severely overstaffed. Frankly, I suspect we are already understaffed for a large apartment fire at, say, 7AM. Too much traffic, too few close fire stations wherever the complex is.

2) “There appears to be overstaffing of the downtown district with police officers during the summer.” I’ve never seen any overstaffing by the NPD and I don’t buy the premise that this is true.

If CIJ is correct (IF), then there are extra staffed police downtown in the summer compared to other times. If the staffing can be decreased then and used for RibFest or other special events, OT might be able to be reduced. Again, there must be data out there.

On pensions, there are many professions with limited time spans. Having great benefits while working AND great benefits when they are done without risk does not make sense. The pension is not a bridge to retirement age. If you'd like to change it so the retiree gets benefits until age 65, have at it.

I am not saying I have the answers, but these staffing questions should be addressed by assessing the actual numbers. Thanks for answering.

-1

Bloggers,

Generally I feel if you are for Big Fat Salaries, Bit Fat Pensions and Bigger and Fatter Benefits you are a City Official masquerading as a civilian....or at least a relative or dear friend of a City Official or Employee.

I spend hours each day walking my dog and talking to my neighbors. None feel like you folks. I have yet to find one who does not complain about taxes these days.

They are in DISBELIEF when I tell them City Officials, Staff and Employees are only contributing 10% to their 14 or so benefits. And when they hear about these Big Fat 75% Pensions at age 52, their eyes almost come out. People are in comas. It is hard to wake them up but when you do they are OUTRAGED!

Once the rabbit is out of the hat, this City of Naperville will FALL.....it will loose its HOME RULE STATUS.....it will file Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

It is living on borrowed and borrowed money to the tune of $160.8 million in deficits and fund losses.

Each family is on the hook for about $3200 dollars because of the FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY of our City Officials.

If you support this NONSENSE, you are masquerading as a civilian blogger unless you have some loose screws which would not surprise me.

Many times people with loose screws develop a gang mentality.

Notice how many of you followed the lead of Experienced and began bashing a private citizen's reputation and character over a personal matter that amounts to NOTHING! 2K A YEAR FOR 3 YEARS OR 6K....A VERY IMMATERIAL AMOUNT FROM ANYONE WHO OWNED 6 APPARENTLY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES AT THE TIME.

While you all state my tough language initiated the attacks on me, what in the world initiated the attacks on a MAN who has not said a word or written a Napergate Ad in 8 years. That proves the majority of you folks are INSTIGATORS. It is too bad the Moderator sides with the majority wrongfully. But he is a young man doing his best who can not see through the THICK SMOKESCREEN you put before his eyes.

He will though one day. Trust me on that point. He will wake up like the sleepy residents.

Thank you,

CIJ

By Experienced on November 12, 2009 5:29 PM
By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 12, 2009 3:27 PM

I am not doing what Mr. Esmail did. Mr. Esmail wilfully failed to pay his taxes. I am paying my taxes under protest. Big difference. Mr. Esmail could have done that also. If he had, he wouldn't have been bounced out of court. He took a risk and he lost, big time. $50,000 worth of big time. (Actually, if you check the records, he lost $66,000 of big time by the time the case went through the circuit and appellate courts) If I lose, I lose only my filing fee. No matter what, the city doesn't get to spend my taxes for as long as the case takes.

========================================================================================================================================

Experienced,

Lets us get serious, Experienced. I did check the records 2 years ago but I hate doing anything twice so I am speaking from a 2 year memory. So what you are now saying is they did an audit on one store and found he owed 6k and the remaining 66k is monthly interest and penalties that accrued relentlessly. I believe you may be right but I thought from memory it could have been 20k in taxes since it has been a while since I reviewed the case. And what you are saying and I believe may be correct is that they tacked on additional interest and penalty until it reached 72k of which only 6k was the INITIAL TAX DISPUTE.

So basically the tax audit showed he had a 6k error over at least a 3 year period as most audits cover 3 years. About 2k a year.

Any you can not pay TAXES subject to an audit in PROTEST since you do not know what they are until the audit is completed. In this case the audit was completed long after he sold the store in question.

If you study this case carefully, he had to put up a bond to the IDOR when he sold the store to cover any sales tax owed. The State of Illinois determined the BOND. I think his BOND from memory was 15k. They refunded his bond to him and years later they decided due to an audit they did many years ago apparently the mid-nineties, he owed 6k. I am sure that probably irritated him after he thought he was finished with the store and they had refunded this BOND. I may not be using the right word but you may know what it is you put up when you sell a store against potential sales tax owed. Maybe it is money held by the attorneys in ESCROW until the IDOR gives a green light the seller is clean. The IDOR did give a green light and the ESCROW or BOND money was refunded. They said the seller is clean only to change their minds later. This is all contained in the records which I assume you read as I read.

Thus he did do his duty and put up a BOND and it was REFUNDED.

Do you really think a man who owns 6 business and pays 400k to 800k annually in sales tax is going to willfully not pay 2k in taxes per year? For a guy who once did 5-10 million in sales that has got to be a drop in the bucket....an hour or two of revenue....peanuts.

It appears to me based on our DISCUSSION he was assessed 66k in automatically accruing penalties and interest on this lousy 6k found during an audit because he felt it was unfair if I understood you correctly. It was his personal money and he can burn it any which way he wanted to burn it. I guess he is a man of principles and does not care about money when a principle is involved. Too bad he did not get his day in court so we can see why this 6k bothered him so much. I bet he was 100% sure the auditor was wrong to want to pursue it to this level of intensity. I personally never would. I would just give them the 6k to get them out of my hair whether I owed it or not.

I should qualify that and say he might yet get his day in court if he appealed to the US SUPREME COURT. This seems likely since it appears this 100k CASHIERS CHECK remains UNCASHED.

I don't think he would have pursued this small amount to this point if he was not 100% sure he was innocent. Someone let him down. The Judge, the prosecutor, and/or possibly his own attorneys. For you to be attacking him for challenging a tax that he felt was wrong is hypocritical since you are doing the same exact thing. You know what your tax bill will be. He did not know what his tax bill would be until they notified him. By the time they notified him they already tacked tons of interest and penalties as they do that from the date of the error and not date of notification which in this case appears to be 5-7 years later at least.....probably a deliberate strategy by the IDOR to cream taxpayers for extra money to help with their MASSIVE pension deficits. That is government for you.....how lazy can they be to let things drag on so long. What do they do all day.....review their pension plans and benefits?

It is really the same difference. You need to lay off the Napergate Man and focus on the improprieties that he exposed in City Hall and remain ongoing to this date. He has a lot to do with fighting government waste and high taxes because he initiated the WAR ON CITY HALL. He just did not finish it. We need to finish the war for him and us and do our duties. Not attack him over change....that is ridiculous!

No taxpayer got screwed by him. If his case is before the US Supreme Court and he loses, they will probably take the 6k he owes plus 94k in penalties and interest and finish off his 100k CASHIERS CHECK. He is enriching the taxpayers....not costing them a dime.

The Napergate Man is obviously a unique and complex individual. He is willing to spend large amounts of money to fight for his rights and even our rights against what he perceives as wasteful government...I don't blame him. It is really too bad his case never went before a County or State Judge where it would have been heard in a neutral venue or what should be a neutral venue.

Of course the IDOR who is not a neutral party will use strong language and than qualify it with OR the part of the statute that you and others continue to leave out in an attempt to deceive and make a mountain out of a mole hill in order to tarnish the near IMPECCABLE REPUTATION AND CHARACTER OF A GOOD MAN.

========================================================================================================================================

I think your libelous attacks on the Napergate Man had malicious intent and were intended to hurt his reputation and character and probably cause some financial damage. All the ingredients are there for a LIBEL LAWSUIT against you. Your attacks were completely unprovoked as I doubt from your comments that you ever met the Napergate Man.

========================================================================================================================================

If I were you Experienced I would apologize and maintain a low profile for a while. That is the best course of action. You apparently do not understand he is a PRIVATE CITIZEN. He has rights. Just because I admire a private citizen does not make him a public figure subject to your attacks on a personal matter. One person speaking of another can not make that person a PUBLIC FIGURE.

You need to review libel laws. You are also putting your foot in your mouth just like Mr. Scott Huber likes to say.

Have a good night, Experienced.

Try stop being a smart-a-lic on this blog site like JQP. It got him nowhere and it will get you nowhere.

Respect the work others do if you want the work you do to be respected.

I do plenty of work in this town. I don't need someone like you criticizing me for what I do or don't do. Being a Citizen Investigative Journalist is no easy task. Maybe, I am not able to wear multiple hats like the Napergate wore. Are you able to wear multiple hats? Did you not give up an opportunity to be a lawyer and became a forensic accountant because you did not have the ability to wear multiple hats?

I can not breed a grass roots movement while devoting all this energy to being a Citizen Investigative Journalist. The Napergate Man pullled it off and much more. God Bless Him. I can not be expected to do the same if I was not gifted with his abilities and talents.

I am doing the best I can with the kind of time I have. If you don't like it, TOO BAD.

CIG

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PS. And I did protest my real estate taxes on my home and reduced them from 12k to 11.3k. It lasted about one year before they were right back at 12k again. That is why we have to fight the root of the problem which is GOVERNMENT WASTE. Otherwise the band-aids will simply fall off as quickly as we put them on.

Sounds like Chris is jealous of the famous CJI... Chris, if you try real hard sometime you too can be up at 3am with no job, typing away at change we can believe in. I would like to toast to the next Mrs. Napergate Woman of the year, CSI. Keep me laughing baby...

Senor de la Anonymous asked of CIJ:

you say "like your buddy Mr. Public Official masquerading as John Q. Public."

You keep saying this over and over again. Do you have any proof?
If not, it's a pretty underhanded thing to say, and you should stop.

I can answer this question for you: CIJ has absolutely no proof. You cannot have proof of something that is not true. He also knows that I cannot prove that I'm not a public official without revealing my identity, which I will not do, because I prefer to remain anonymous. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with being a public official, but CIJ will level that "accusation" at just about anyone who pokes holes in his arguments.

-JQP

there is a really interesting article that touches on the napergate man in the archives.
I think that many of you might find it to be really interesting, and you can find it at:

http://blogs.suburbanchicagonews.com/newsblog/2007/12/napergate.html#comment-18257

I believe Experienced was saying that he would actually pay his taxes while at the same time file the necessary paperwork in order to protest them. That is QUITE different from not paying them at all. And let's face it, if he is actually filing a lawsuit to protest them, before the time they are due, that is still quite different than being sued for payment after the fact.

He wrote "What if I take a page from your idol and place an add in the Sun telling people how to pay their taxes under protest and offer to them a website where they can download all the forms and just have to fill in their names, addresses and basic information?"

In the state of Illinois (and other states too), you can pay your property tax under protest. Those who pay their taxes under protest pay the full amount, then file a lawsuit in circuit court. The information from the tax code is available here:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=003502000HTit%2E+8&ActID=596&ChapAct=35%A0ILCS%A0200%2F&ChapterID=8&ChapterName=REVENUE&SectionID=9467&SeqStart=77700000&SeqEnd=78800000&ActName=Property+Tax+Code%2E

Additional information (much clearer) is here
http://www.state.il.us/agency/ptab/

THIS IS WHAT YOU FOLKS FEAR. NAPERVILLIANS WAKING UP AND TAKING THEIR TOWN BACK FROM THE FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE

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By Anonymous on October 20, 2009 7:04 PM
CIJ,

I applaud you taking an interest in the city.

I give you a standing ovation for using your valuable time to read the budget and draw your own conclusions.

Keep punching but make them concise and spot on.

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THOSE WHO ARE ATTACKING ME ARE BUT A HANDFUL WHO KEEP REPEATING THEIR ATTACKS WHILE I TRY TO EXPOSE IMPROPRIETIES IN CITY HALL.

YOU HAVE NOT STOPPED ME IN 3.5 YEARS. WHAT MAKES YOU FOLKS THINK YOU CAN STOP ME NOW? I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO CELEBRATING MY 4TH ANNIVERSAY ON THIS BLOG SITE AND GIVING MR. HUBER AND MR. NAPERGATE RUNS FOR THEIR MONEY.

CIJ,
you say "like your buddy Mr. Public Official masquerading as John Q. Public."

You keep saying this over and over again. Do you have any proof?
If not, it's a pretty underhanded thing to say, and you should stop.

THIS MAN SAYS IT WONDERFULLY. EXPECT MORE OF THIS KIND OF COMMENTARY SOON AS I WAKE UP MORE AND MORE RESIDENTS.

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By Jeff on October 25, 2009 10:27 PM
Thank you CIJ.
Thanks for increasing awareness about this extremely unfair pension system. It's only natural for those who benefit by confiscating the dollars of struggling private sector workers to attack you when you draw attention to this problem. Don't let them deter you.

I am with you 100% and support your hard work.

When will those of us in the private sector who fight to try to pay for their own retirements be relieved of the burden of carrying our "public servants" on our straining backs? Who is serving who here?

The reaction you see from your opponents are exactly what you would expect when you try to keep a little bit of your own money from their greedy hands.

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YES, I AM TRYING TO KEEP A LITTLE BIT OF OUR MONEY AWAY FROM THEIR GREEDY HANDS. THANK YOU, JEFF! VERY ELOQUENTLY EXPLAINED!

By Devil's Advocate on November 12, 2009 4:22 PM

I thought JQP's comments about NM's ability to pay the correct amount of taxes owed were valid. Napergate Man had a liquor store IN THE DUPAGE COUNTY SECTION OF NAPERVILLE, where the tax amount is a set amount. He did not have a chain of national stores or a mobile store, where he would have been selling in multiple counties, and locales where tax rates would vary.

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You obviously have poor reading comprehension. He had an additional store in the COOK COUNTY SECTION OF ROSELLE where the tax amount is extremely complicated as I described earlier. It is also very different from the DUPAGE SECTION OF NAPERVILLE.

Taxes differ from item to item with more taxes being added due to size and proof. There are many gray area items that are between low and high tax. If you make a mistake, you will be LIABLE. An audit took place, allegedly finding a mistake and the rest is history. No crime was committed and no crime was alleged to have been committed in this simple tax audit case. It was simply a tax dispute that was thrown out before REVIEW due to a technicality of a letter not being received by attorneys. Sales tax had been paid on a monthly basis just as is required by law. No months missed and no delinquency. Why make a mountain out a mole hill?

The dispute involved his one store in COOK COUNTY and not any store in DUPAGE COUNTY. Money owed was strictly as a result of a tax audit involving gray area items. Nothing more nothing less.

You sound like another smart-a-lic who puts foot in mouth as Mr. Scott Huber would say before speaking.

Yes, he was selling in multiple counties. It is a FACT. How could you attempt to deceive by implying he was not?

Have a good day and try to do some research next time before you stick your foot in your mouth like your buddy Mr. Public Official masquerading as John Q. Public.

As one blogger warned me on another thread, this is what you get if you try to expose your public officials' GREED.

Yes, making hard working taxpayers pay 90% of your FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE and FAMILY DENTAL BENEFITS is GREED. It is what caused our $14.1 million operating budget deficit along with all the other ridiculous benefits that we almost pay entirely. Yes, it is called GREED of PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

Changing the subject to the Napergate Man will not make YOUR GREED go away.

It was the Napergate Man who first exposed this GREED and to this day it has gone UNABATED.

As the Moderator eloquently stated, the Napergate Man had nothing to do with why the property taxes went up in Naperville which is the subject of this Thread Topic. If you had any reading comprehension you would at least know what thread you are on. Honestly, how DUMB can one really be??? I am utterly bewildered and amazed at some of the stupid and distorted remarks I read on this blog site!

Thank you,

CIJ

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 12, 2009 3:27 PM

You sure don't know anything about protesting real estate taxes, do you? There are no penalties for filing a real estate tax protest because you pay under protest and then you get the amount you were wrongfully charged back with interest. There is no risk to the process other than a small filing fee. The nice thing about it is that the city can't spend the protested amount until the case is over. The county treasurer holds the money pending the outcome of the case. If the case takes 2 years, the city can't spend the money for the 2 years even if I lose. Yes indeed, you will be subsidizing my taxes for that time because you don't listen to those who might be knowledgeable in the subject. It is a no risk proposition for the tax protesters.

And, someone did find Mr. Esmail to have wifully failed to pay his sales taxes. It was heard by an administrative law judge. It was that decision that is appealed to the circuit court. No new evidence is heard. It is decided purely on the record before the administrative law judge. The standard of review is "contrary to the manifest weight of evidence" rather than by a preponderance of the evidence. Therefore, it was going to take a lot to overturn the administrative law judge's decision.

I am not doing what Mr. Esmail did. Mr. Esmail wilfully failed to pay his taxes. I am paying my taxes under protest. Big difference. Mr. Esmail could have done that also. If he had, he wouldn't have been bounced out of court. He took a risk and he lost, big time. $50,000 worth of big time. (Actually, if you check the records, he lost $66,000 of big time by the time the case went through the circuit and appellate courts) If I lose, I lose only my filing fee. No matter what, the city doesn't get to spend my taxes for as long as the case takes.

Finally, don't forget that the hearing on the tax levy is next Tuesday at 7pm. If you don't show, don't complain.

CIJ wrote to Experienced: "This is really all great, Experienced, but how dare you attack someone who did exactly what you are doing."

_________________

My question to Experienced; were you ever found liable for the following:?

"wilfully failing to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (Retailer's Act) (35 ILCS 120/1 et seq. (West 2004))."

If you have never been found liable for this, experienced, then I would submit that you are NOT doing "exactly" the same thing that the NGM did.

As my Dad would say... "This conversation is over!"

a quote from CIJ "But don't attack his reputation and character in such a shamefully disgusting manner."

Amazing that you have the nerve to spout on and on to Experienced when it was you who back in March and April made allegations as to some personal reason the former city manager may have left the city. Now THAT was ugly.

Give it a rest. You are the pot calling the kettle black and it is truly disgusting.

The smart alec comments By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 12, 2009 11:25 AM to John Q. Public are the epitome of nonsense. She accuses JQP of being "a smart-a-lic and "Mr. Public Official" for saying collecting and reporting sales tax should have been a no-brainer for the infamous Napergate Man.

I thought JQP's comments about NM's ability to pay the correct amount of taxes owed were valid. Napergate Man had a liquor store IN THE DUPAGE COUNTY SECTION OF NAPERVILLE, where the tax amount is a set amount. He did not have a chain of national stores or a mobile store, where he would have been selling in multiple states, counties, and locales where tax rates would vary. And, every business is expected to be able to keep track of, collect, and report the proper amount of sales tax. Stupidity or laziness is not a valid excuse for not paying taxes when it comes to the IRS.

CIJ, please refrain from accusing others of making smart-alecy remarks when they are just making a legitimate point. To do so is just being a smart-alec on your part. You rub people the wrong way when you feel it is up to you to validate everyone else's opinions.

DA

By Experienced on November 12, 2009 5:41 AM

I am not holding any protests. Where did you get that idea? My protests will be in the courthouse where I will be suing to have my illegal taxes abated. You are welcome to pay your entire tax bill. I won't mind. The amount you overpay on your home and rentals will make up for our savings.

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Forensic Accountant Experienced,

You have clearly shown you are a HYPOCRITE. You are suing to fight your perceived "illegal taxes." To have them abated.

As you know lawsuits take years. They will add interest and penalties as your lawsuit continues.....yes automatically as occurred in the Napergate Man case. Not imposed by any County or State Judge as you are falsely alleging and stating repeatedly like a parot with his head chopped off.

There is a certainty of 99% or better you will be ruled against in Dupage County. You will then be accused of "WILLFULLY NOT PAYING YOUR TAXES." Now what will that make you Experienced....Mother Theresa...lol....

The Napergate Man also sued because of what he most probably perceived were "illegal taxes" imposed on his store due to gray area interpretations of high and low tax.

He was accused by the DEFENDANT in his law suit for not willfully OR simply not paying a tax liability. Everyone is leaving the words after OR out in an attempt to DEFAME the Napergate Man. Shame on you hypocrites starting with your shameless leader Experienced.

Once again the case was dismissed by a Dupage County Judge based on a procedural error of a letter not being received by the Napergate Man's attorneys....not the Napergate Man who had delegated this case to his attorneys.

No Dupage Judge, Appellate Judge, or Supreme Court Judge accused the Napergate Man of anything. They only stated that the attorneys for the NGM missed a deadline. The attorneys said they never received a letter from the Prosecutor who overslept and did not even show up to a hearing on the case. The prosecutor forgot to set his alarm clock....it is very possible a PROSECUTOR who forgets to set his alarm clock for an important court date forgot to mail a letter deliberatley or unintentionally. The NGM was clearly screwed by the Judicial System in this specific case. The government needs all the tax money it can get its hands on and will not look favorably at anyone protesting any kind of taxes. Remember, these Judges also get very BIG FAT PENSIONS AND BIGGER AND FATTER BENEFITS. Who is trying to kid who here?

The above mentioned tax case was not reviewed by any of the above Judges. They never uttered a negative word about the Napergate Man. Anyone who alleges so is libeling the Napergate Man. They simply stated his attorneys failed him wrongfully or correctly. Only God know the 100% truth.

The DEFENDANT(IDOR) in this CASE who the NAPERGATE MAN sued made these most likely FALSE ALLEGATIONS. It is standard procedure to use such wording. They were simply quoting a statute that had an OR component so they can have their rear ends covered in case they were wrong.

Don't believe distortions and rumors being spread by Experienced who is a wanna be Napergate Man and failing miserably in his efforts. A man who he is apparently jealous of the Naperage Man. A MAN who has accomplished what none of us can even think of accomplishing let alone one day accomplish. I know speaking for myself, it would be impossible. That is why I am limiting myself to being a CITIZEN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST for the most part. I have made 15 spots checks on activity in our FIRE DEPARTMENT and plan to do many more. I see Ken went out and did a spot check too. Kudos to him. My L-W FF acquaintance apparently did not lie to me.

Yes, with no Napergate Man waking up the folks with his hard hitting Napergate investigative ads, only one Naperville Resident appeared before the City Council to protest his real estate tax increase......only one. The Napergate Man had 400 protesting in person and 3500 protesting on petitions.

It is really too bad the Naperville Sun does not pick up from where the Napergate Man left off and wake up the residents. After all the NGM used the Naperville Sun to wake the residents up and it worked. It worked because the Naperville Sun had very deep penetration at the time and he had a fiery style of communicating through his Napergate Series of Ads that caught residents attention. The Sun still has decent penetration but it will dwindle further and exponentially if they don't notch it up and start performing some Watch Dog Duties on City Hall. Obviously people are interested in government waste and taxes as can be seen on this blog site that Sun Officials apparently do not read....lol....

Where are all you folks who claim to be activists? Just keyboarding on your City Jobs. At least you now know I am semi-retired and key boarding the results of my investigative journalism on my own time while watching CNBC to see if I can make a buck here or there. I am certainly not on taxpayer time as some of you folks most probably are. You will be ousted one way or another.

As a Citizen Investigative Journalist I have hit the City of Naperville very hard.

It would be wise for me to remain Anonymous to avoid harassment by City Officials. They could begin to fabricate code violations on my apartment buildings as a way to retaliate and quiet me down. I am not interested in litigation with the City of Naperville. I have better things to do with my time and money. We recently saw $1.5 million wasted in the Furstenau Case besides the $1 million that was sunk in the Library Deck that we never built.

Let us face it the Napergate Man hit them incredibly hard and they retaliated and revoked his liquor licenses. That is a FACT.

I am not ready to subject myself to abuse as the Napergate Man did. Apparently, he is an unusual man who knew how to take them on and defeat them for attempting to frame and lynch him in a special Kangaroo Court set up in City Hall. All this is documented at Nichols Library in the Naperville Sun and Napergate ads. The librarians can direct you if you have several hours you can devote to seeking the truth.

Obviously since the NGM won the Kylix Award for the "Most Responsible Drinking Sales Campaign in the Nation" and confiscated 5.5 times the number of IDs as all other 100 liquor establishments in Naperville COMBINED, they were not going after him for his "management incompetence."

They were stupidly going after him because he exposed IMPROPRIETIES and CORRUPTION in City Hall. They used a legal sting operation that he used to check on an employee as an EXCUSE to charge him and attempt to hang him. They actually did in their Kangaroo Court but fortunately their verdict was so egregious no higher court would support it. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals even ruled in a 2-1 decision they violated his Civil Rights according to a link from a poster whose name I am not allowed to mention due to a truce that is thankfully holding. He wanted the truce and I accepted it. I will accept any truce from any blogger who wants to stop personal attacks and focus on the Subjects of the Threads. ( I had to say what I said because I do not want to take credit for the hard work of others or be accused of PLAGIARISM by not giving credit where credit is due.)

Many of the same officials who attempted to lynch and frame the NGM are still gainfully employed by City Hall and in the Police Department. Very frightening if you ask me! Very frightening! One is even employed by the Park District last time I checked. I will avoid naming names since this is a culture of corruption that employees are sometimes forced to engage in or lose their employment with the City of Naperville. There are many City Employees who are victims as we are victims of those who rule us with an IRON FIST.

The City Council shamelessly never launched an investigation after all the court rulings against them in the NGM Trials to study the matter. They found a way to bury it and bury the 10 million of costs pertaining to the 10 year Napergate Trials.

Why would I back off, Experienced? I would never back off from telling the truth.

I will continue to tell the truth and continue to destroy your credibility and reputation for attacking the near IMPECCABLE REPUTATION and CHARACTER of a Naperville Resident who is a private citizen minding his own business.....not an elected public official who may be subjected to some accountability and responsibility by residents since s/he chose to be a REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PEOPLE.

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Ironically, you are now filing a law suit against "taxes" just like he did.

You want to run Napergate Style ads just like he did.

Are you not going to increase our taxes like Furstenau by filing a suit against us instead of protesting with us before City Hall on April 15 and/or any time else. I hope you don't cost us another 1.5 million, Experienced. Based on your intelligence, I suspect that is where you are taking us. Why don't you take your 20 friends and speak at the podium in City Hall? The Napergate Man proved large numbers of residents will rock and roll the City Council Members to dancing the proper tune.

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This is really all great, Experienced, but how dare you attack someone who did exactly what you are doing. If you do not want to continue his legacy work and admire him, you don't have to. But don't attack his reputation and character in such a shamefully disgusting manner.

And how INSANE to use someone who admires him meaning ME, as an EXCUSE to attack him personally. This is perverted logic coming from a perverted mind. You libeled the Napergate Man, Experienced, and you never apologized. One day I suspect you will face the music since you are putting it in black and white and it is being stored in the Sun Archives.

If I were you I would not sue the City of Naperville and save your money for when the Napergate Man decides to sue you. You took it to another level. At some point even the Napergate Man I suspect has NO TOLERANCE for this kind of shameful behavior.

Do your own thing but don't attack a private citizen for doing what you are doing...that is shamelessly disgusting, Experienced. That is DISINGENUOUS! IT IS BLATANT HYPOCRISY!!!

And now you prove to be a hypocrite. It is OK for you to protest taxes that you deem "unfair or illegal" but it is not fair for the Napergate Man to protest taxes he deems "unfair or illegal." It is fair for you to SUE but not fair for him to SUE. Let us hope your case is not dismissed due to a technicality or procedural error which is a very high probability. Make sure you cross all your t's and dot all your i's, Experienced. They are sticklers in Dupage and will use any tactic to dismiss a case. You should know that as a former lawyer suddenly practicing forensic accounting.

Aren't you screwing the rest of us taxpayers by not paying your fair share because you are showing the city did not file proper procedure? Aren't you trying to get the City on a technicality? Shame on you, Experienced. Yes, a hypocrite to the Nth Degree.

This is not the way to tackle the problem.

We must demand City Employees pay at least 50% of their benefits immediately. Just as one example.......

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Before this recession municipalities across the country made their employees pay 38% of their premiums for Health Benefit Insurance. They made their employees pay 60.8% of their Family Dental Plan Premiums.

In Naperville they have been paying only 9.7% to 10% for both and to this day are still only paying 9.7% to 10%. This is OUTRAGEOUS and is the proper way to reduce our taxes by exposing and demanding REFORM. Procedural and technicality stuff is a WASTE of TIME. They can fix their error and be at it again next year.

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We need to get to the root of the problem.

I only gave one of 25 examples where they can reduce our taxes. I will spare the Moderator an extremely long post by not documenting the other 24 in this post. I will save it for Napergate Book Edition II. Let us face it Napergate has a nice ring to it and the NGM probably put some thought into selecting this title. I can not think of a better title that would describe what is going on in City Hall right now.

I know you are saying, Thank You, CIJ, for not making this post any longer.

Your welcome, Moderator.

But I need some help from you folks in the Sun with such items as Benefits. We repeated PENSIONS too much...I understand. But how about those BENEFITS, folks?

Thank you,
CIJ

Oh no! Another tax increase! Guess I will have to curb my daily cigars and $100 bottle of wine to only 2 times a week!

By John Q. Public on November 11, 2009 9:51 AM
It seems to me that for a man with the extensive experience in retail businesses that the Napergate Man has and had, keeping track of and paying sales taxes should be a no-brainer.

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Mr. Public Official disguised as John Q. Public,

Your smart-a-lic remarks never fail to amaze me.

As a corporate executive for a Fortune 500 company, I once had the responsibility of overseeing multiple retail operations in multiple states.

I can tell you we had a special regional department set up just to deal with sales tax issues.

Sales tax is not a no-brainer unless you have NO BRAIN.

Every city, county and state have different sales tax rules and rates. They must be researched, studied and interpreted to the best of your ability. The rules are constantly changing. The rates are constantly increasing.

For example, sales taxes in Cook County Cities and Dupage County Cities are remarkably different.

Study the difference between sales tax of a Walgreen's Store in Dupage County compared to one in Cook County and your mind will be blown away Mr. NO-BRAINER.

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1. The local city portion sales tax can be different.

2. The county portion sales tax can be different.

3. Items that are to be taxed at high or low sales tax can be different form city to city, county to county and state to state.

4. Some items like magazines or books may not be taxable. I do not know if magazines are still not taxable as I have been out of the business for a while.

5. In Walgreen's cigarettes were a nightmare from city to city and county to county and state to state. Taxes were ever so different.

6. As an example Cook County cartons had a 2 dollar county tax that Dupage County cartons did not have in my time as a corporate executive. Since I don't smoke, I don't know what the situation is today.

7. Presciption and non prescription medication were charged at different sales tax rates or no tax rates....and many times different from city to city, county to county and state to state.

7. In the liquor department at a Walgreens taxes were very different from say Dupage to Cook County....very different.

8. I recall that not only was the sales tax higher at a Walgreen's store in Cook County but after a cashier rung up a beer, wine or liquor item, he would not only have to add sales tax but a special Cook County tax. In my time it was an extra 95 cents per 1.75 liter bottle but I believe since I retired from the corporate world it became double that. Bottles that were 750 ml. had a 40 cent tax. Liter bottles had an extra 58 cent tax. Extra wine county sales tax for Cook County was yet different. Beer tax was also confusing. Beer and wine county taxes were less than liquor county taxes. 190 proof alcohol items had a substantially higher tax than 8 proof alcohol items. These were items that a cashier had to add on that were not built into the price. Other taxes from the FEDS especially are already built into the price from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer. Some state tax besides sales tax is also built in.

In Cook County when you ring up sales tax, you are not allowed to charge sales tax on the $2.00 Cook County External Tax but you are allowed to charge sales tax on the built in Fed and State Taxes. Yes, we had a special dept. that had to figure these no-brainer taxes out, Mr. Public.

9. Yes, we had well paid degreed employees at my Fortune 500 company that specalized in trying to figure out these state sales, county and city taxes and keep it all straight....it was truly a daunting task.

10. I can go on and on about the complexity of sales and county taxes in the State of Illinois. While I am not a tax expert, I had to oversee the regional tax department that was responsible for the retail stores I had ultimate responsibility for. Thankfully, we had a good knowledgable specialized staff in our tax department that taught me what I know.

11. I do not believe the Napergate Man was big enough to have a corporate office and specialized people with only 6 locations. It would be cost prohibitive so he and his employees had to do their best. (Keep in mind he had businesses in 4 different fields. Our retail operations were almost identical and yet the taxes were so different, confusing and complicated as I just explained.)

12. Since 5 of his locations were in Dupage County, I would not be surprised that the store that threw him for a loop was in Cook County. (I googled the store and discovered it was in Cook County.)

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Only a smart-a-lic like you Mr. Public Official would make a statement that tracking and paying sales tax is a no brainer.

I do still receive annual reports from Walgreens since I remain a shareholder in retirement and I am amazed when I read the portion related to sales taxes. One thing I can say for sure is sales taxes continues to increase and in some areas of the country like Cook County they are now 10.25%. This does not include taxes built into the price of a product or a $1.90 tacked on to a 1.75 liter bottle of liquor(if it doubled as I heard since I retired from the Corporate World) after the sales tax is rung up and above and beyond the sales tax.

All these extra taxes and they still can not support the Big Fat Pensions in Chicago, Cook County or the State of Illinois. Nothing can support paying government employees almost their full salaries at age 52 except for 100% taxes to civilians. If we don't reform our pension system, we will one day be paying a dollar in taxes for each dollar we spend.

Imagine even in Naperville we have a $126.2 million pension defict. That means every household is over $2500 in the hole to our Naperville City Pension Funds. This is money we owe and will pay in increasing annual amounts. And we really took it on the chin when they lost $20.5 million dollars in these Pension Funds this year while playing with risky stocks many of which are now bankrupt...no chance money from GM, Meryll Lynch, Lehman, AIG, Washington Mutual, Country Wide Bank, Park National Bank etc. is ever coming back to these Pension Funds. This money is gone forever and we the taxpayers are liable for the risk taken by the P and F Pension Fund Managers.

Even in Naperville my understanding is restaurants and bars have to do a special sales tax for the City of Naperville besides the state sales tax and they are mailed separately.

I understand that downtown retailers have yet a 3rd sales tax for the parking garages. I do not know if this could be mailed with the SECA cultural tax or has to be tracked and paid separately. Government puts retailers though hell trying to figure out sales tax issues.

I am glad I own apartment buidlings and not retail stores. The stress in retail is incredible.

And RETAIL SALES TAX is not the only tax retailers have to deal with.

They have to deal with Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, Corporate Franchise and Fee Taxes, IDES taxes, Fed 940 and 941 taxes, State 940 and 941 taxes, Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Taxes,
Liquor licensing fees for both the city and state, and many other taxes I can not think of off the type of my head. And many times they have to constantly pay these taxes monthly or weekly if a large amount was owed as in the national retail corporation I worked for. No easy task tracking and paying all these taxes, Mr. Public.

Mom and Pop retailers have their work cut out for them. They are subject to the same tax system and same taxes National Retail Chains are subjected to without the Tax Department to help them. That is why many of them work 80 hours per week. Just to keep up with the paperwork to track taxation that Mr. Public insulting calls a NO-BRAINER.

Your comments, Mr. Public Official are an insult to every retailer in this country. It is nice that you think that the money you get for your Big Fat Salary, Big Fat Pension, and Bigger and Fatter Benefits is derived from a NO-BRAINER tax system.

It is derived from a very complicated and sick tax system, Mr Smart-a-Lic. Please stop insulting the RETAIL PROFESSION. Those retailers work very hard.

Thank you,

CIJ

CIJ,

Perhaps if you did not constantly bring up your fascination with the Napergate Man, then other bloggers would not feel compelled to express their opposing opinions of the man, to which you then feel compelled to argue with. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this blog site, not just you. It's tit for tat. Maybe if you dropped the subject in the first place, others would not comment.

I know that common sense is not your forte, but can you see how it goes?? You are kind of in charge of your own destiny on this site, as well as the reputation you earn. I wouldn't think you would have wanted it this way, so why don't you change it?

I think it's time to but this subject into the archive.

-1

You asked for thoughts, so here are mine (knowledgeable or otherwise):

1) The problem with decreasing FF staffing when the likelihood of a severe event is low, is how do you determine when that likelihood really low? While there may be less traffic on the roads overnight, everyone is home and asleep which makes the likelihood of a fire turning tragic even greater. Also, when is a freight train less likely to derail? When is a gas line less likely to burst? Does anyone really know?

I believe that FF staffing should have two components: what the historical rate of calls/emergencies has been, and also what the worst-case scenario is. The NFD needs to be staffed for both what we believe they’ll be needed to do and also what we could potentially need them for. What would happen if we were understaffed for a large apartment fire and deaths resulted? Besides the tragedy that this would bring, how many millions would we pay out in the resulting lawsuits?

2) “There appears to be overstaffing of the downtown district with police officers during the summer.” I’ve never seen any overstaffing by the NPD and I don’t buy the premise that this is true.

3) Pensions: While the pension system as it stands is in need of change, I think that there has to be some form of retirement in place for our FFs and POs besides the traditional workplace retirement. Their careers just don’t fit the traditional retirement model and you can’t shove a square peg into a round hole.

Remember, these are careers which require an earlier-than-normal retirement date. While one person has advocated FF retirement be pushed off to 60 (same as airline pilots) I doubt a 60 year old could handle the physical requirements of being a FF (or PO), except for managerial positions of which there are comparatively few.

For example, though Bob Marshal can run a marathon in his retirement, can he wrestle a thug to the ground, maintain control of his weapon, and arrest the guy? Can a 60 year old FF carry all that heavy gear and still carry you or me out of a burning building? Now add in 95 degree heat and humidity or sub-zero temps during all of this…can they still do it?

There’s a reason they have to retire earlier than you and I. So then the question becomes what do we do for them? Do we put them out on the street in their 50s and tell them they’re on their own, go get a job and stop being a drag on the economy? How hard is it to make a career change in your 50s? Or does the city thank them for their years of service with a retirement system which at a minimum bridges the gap between their retirement age and the age where they can tap into an IRA, 401(k), and/or Social Security without penalty?

T.B.

P.S. Did you know that air traffic controllers reach mandatory retirement at 56? Each profession is different.

Anytime someone is held up as a paragon of virtue, as the Napergate man is held up by you, that person is opened up to all manner of criticisms. It may not always be fair or relevent (depending on the type of criticism), but that is the way it is CIJ. When you become a public figure (or somebody makes you one because of their endless references and repetition) then you are fair game.

In this case, you repeatedly point out what a virtuous man the Napergate man was because he was such a good watchdog for the people of Naperville. You say it is lessons we can learn from him that will help us eliminate the budget deficits. But if he is also the same person who failed to pay his rightful share of taxes, does that not invite obvious questions about whether or not he was talking out of both sides of his mouth? And isnt it obvious that those questions are entirely justified?

CIJ, Did you ever consider that the times that the first anonymous took their child to the emergency room for breathing problems, the environmental conditions could have been such that they were causing problems for asthmatics? It happens. That could easily account for more than 5 ambulances on those nights. Add in a heart attack or stroke victim too, and I believe him/her easily.

In my case, yes there were more than five on the ONE time I was there after midnight. I have been very clear that for me it was one time. I know there were a couple heart attack victims brought in that night. Don't know what the others were. In my child's case he was running an extremely high fever and had thrown up some blood all over his bed. It scared the living daylights out of us so that we called an ambulance. It is the one and only time we have used the services of an ambulance.

It is time for you to quit accusing us of lying and being firefighter friends. Neither of us is. If you are not willing to believe our accounts of what we saw one time in my case and a few times in the other person's case, then why should we believe a thing you are saying about what you have seen on your trips past Edward? It is just as possible that you are making up each and every account. You have made up things in the past, I have not. I don't have a history of that on here.

If you want people to give you the benefit of the doubt, then you need to do the same for others. Quit accusing us of fabricating, twisting and all of the other words you use to indicate lying, and realize that we saw what we saw. It is not out of the realm of possibilities for that to occur on occasion.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 12, 2009 1:58 AM

I for one will not show up at any of your protests.

-------------------------------------

I am not holding any protests. Where did you get that idea? My protests will be in the courthouse where I will be suing to have my illegal taxes abated. You are welcome to pay your entire tax bill. I won't mind. The amount you overpay on your home and rentals will make up for our savings.

Don't forget, the hearing on the tax levy is next Tuesday at 7pm. If you don't show, don't complain. The city is asking for $1.3 million more than they said they would last spring.

That last one was mine.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 11, 2009 9:51 PM

To be personally liabe you do not have to be egregious, wanting or have committed a wilful act. Honestly, Experienced does not know what he is talking about. Forensic Accountants usually have their heads buried in sands of numbers, they usually can not see the overall picture. And remember Experienced is a lawyer who chose not to practice law. That should tell you something about his KNOWLEDGE of the LAW.

-------------------------------------------------

The problem of course in this case is that Mr. Esamil was found to have WILFULLY violated the act after an administrative hearing.

"The Illinois Department of Revenue (the Department) assessed a penalty against plaintiff in the amount of $72,039.34 for wilfully failing to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act"

Bloggers,

HERE IS SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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*Assuming I decided to take on City Officials, City Council Members, Department Heads and whatever you have have in City Hall by googling their names and checking their records in Dupage Country....

*Assuming I decided to publish the names of anyone who ever had an IRS Audit or IDOR Audit......

*Assuming I decided to publish the names of anyone who had a verdict against him or her or a lien imposed on him or her.....

*Assuming I went to Dupage County and studied all the mud you can find about any City Officials who was involved in a divorce and/or child custody case....

*Assuming I went to Dupage and obtained all felonies and misdemeanors on City Officials and decided to publish them on this blog site.....

*Assuming I went to the Federal Court Records and dug more mud on City Officials and decided to publish it also......

*Assuming I went to Bankruptcy Court and found out how many of our City Officials have filed bankruptcy....or forecloases......

*Assuming I went wherever and dug more and more mud.......

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And then I attempted to show they all had some kind of personal issue and must not be FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE for that reason.

And then I attacked their character and reputations in an attempt to dislodge them from their high ranking positions.

And then I tried to embarrass them publicy to force them to resign.

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I would never do any of the above. That is below the belt fighting. That is personal and has nothing to do with their performance at City Hall.

########################################################################################################################################

I have for example complained of the Double Dipping of Robert Marshall. Each and every time, I went out of my way to say what he is doing is LEGAL. Each and every time I called the system that allows this LEGALLY CORRUPT.

I would never think of attacking Mr. Marshall personally. I would never go check on his personal records and disclose them to the public. I would never air out his personal laundry just because I am against Double Dipping in the strongest way imaginable. If he were divorced, I would never reveal what mud his ex-wife said in a divorce proceeding against him.

########################################################################################################################################

Hopefully you get my point. In other words I have some CLASS that you folks who attack me are lacking. You really showed you are CLASSLESS by expanding your attacks against the Napergate Man. Are you all going to come on here and tell the Moderator, the Napergate Man started the attacks like Kindergarten Children....this tme he will not believe you and tell you to hush up......lol.... Again I knew with time I would have you folks CHECKMATED in a CORNER you can not get out of.

But what you folks are trying to do to the Napergate Man is attack his reputation and character using a personal matter that does not reflect on his character and reputation. You want to hold him to a standard of perfection with an implication if he is not PERFECT he must be a CROOK. What a sick and disgusting logic? You are a very sick man, Experienced and you want to be a leader like the Napergate Man. I for one will not show up at any of your protests. I hope no one shows up since you proved you a a person of less than impeccable character and reputation by attacking a MAN of near IMPECCABLE CHARACTER and REPUTATION.

Obviously, you have been googling him in the past and present. You have been checking his court records in person and on-line.

The best you can find on him, is an audit that he disagreed with and decided to fight by SUING the STATE OF ILLINIOS. He was exercising his legal right to protest wrongful taxes which is his TRADEMARK.

Again you folks put him under a microscope and found that in 30 years of running 6 business he had an issue with the IDOR in a Cook County Store.

He may have generated between 12 million and 24 million in sales tax revenue over 30 years and you are in essence trying to paint him as a criminal because he had a few thousand dollar tax dispute in the mid-ninties. Don't you folks think you are taking this matter out of context? A blogger buddy of Experienced clearly libeled him by calling him a TAX EVADER which is like calling him a CRIMINAL. You can not call anyone a CRIMINAL unless he has been convicted in a CRIMINAL COURT ROOM.

Once again I say SHAME ON ALL YOU DISGUSTING FOLKS who would attack a private citizen for a personal matter which has nothing to do with why the City of Naperville is raising our taxes as Moderator Magee very cleverly noted and explained.

Before allowing this line of attacks to continue, Moderator Magee has to ask himself if he would allow every City Officials' personal life to be brought out of closets and used to try to explain away their FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITIES.

I think their FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITIES have nothing to do with their personal lives. I think it is just a sick culture in City Hall that they have adopted and become part of since it benefits them at the expense of the taxpayer. It is a culture of GREED. It must be STOPPED IMMEDIATELY.

Let us focus on the story. Let us stay on track like the Napergate Man taught us. Let us develop a large grass roots movement like the Napergate Man did. Let us be relentless and steadfast as he was for a FULL DECADE.

Thank you,

CIJ

PS. And it is nice to know the Napergate Man is still fighting government and taxes and even suing GOVERNMENTS. I guess the guy just don't not quit and we all thought he RETIRED.....lol...

Fire Fighters, Fire Fighter Friends and/or Fire Fighter Supporters,

========================================================================================================================================

I visited Edward's Emergency while walking my dog. At 10:59pm I saw a Superior Ambulance parked in the west non-emergency parking area waiting to take its nursing patient back home. I also saw an M3 Ambulance in the Bay Area with all its doors open. Since the writing identifying the ambulance is on the doors, I could not identify which municipality it is from. The other day I saw an M9 ambulance. I am guessing these ambulances are from Naperville but I can not be sure since I recall the guy who said he sees 5 NFDs at a time each time he was there mentioning numbers like M200, M222 or something like that. In a few days, hopefully an M Series Ambulance will have its doors closed and I can identify it.

At 11:24pm while driving to get a cup of coffee I saw ONE ambulance in the Bay. I could not identify from Washington if this was the same amublance or a different one. I could not see the West Parking Area while driving on Washington so I do not know if the Superior Ambulance there left or if a new one came in with a nursing care patient. It seems like those 4 spots on the West Side are designated for non-emergency trips by private ambulances.

========================================================================================================================================

Those were my 14th and 15th visits. I will continue making them for a while just to prove that there are people on this blog site who will twist the facts in order to protect their Big Fat Salaries, Big Fat Pensions and Bigger and Fatter Benefits or those of their relatives and friends. It is boring work but it must be done to keep bloggers truthful on this blog site. Blatantly being untruthful on this Blog Site will not be tolerated if I can help it.

I am not surprised not one person has questioned this blogger who stated repeatedly he sees a MINIMUM of 5 NFD ambulances and 2 L-W ambulances when he takes his son there to Edwards Emergency each and every time after MIDNIGHT. And the other blogger who stated he also sees a minimum of 5 Ambulances whenever he also takes his son to the Emergency Room. I can not recall if the second anonymous blogger specified after MIDNIGHT but I think he may have. BTW, I hope both of their sons are OK.

This is what people whom are benefiting from ENTITLEMENTS and ENRICHMENTS off the backs of Naperville Taxpayers will do.

It is very sad. And then they have the audacity to blast you for allegedly lying when you always were telling the truth.

Hopefully, some honest bloggers will make some observations to confirm and corroborate my observations.

Thank you,

CIJ

I think CIJ has hit the nail on the head with monitoring the NFD. With that in mind, I went by station 10 today. It appears to be coming along nicely. I think I even saw some on duty firemen practicing cooking gourmet meals, watching tv, and sleeping. It looked like they may have even been tailgating on one of the unneeded ambulances...

By Anonymous on November 11, 2009 4:50 PM

By the way--not receiving mail never ever ever gets one out of legal obligations. Try telling the IRS that you didn't respond to their request because you didn't receive the notice in the mail. Try keeping your home after not paying property taxes because the bill was lost in the mail. Let me know how it goes!

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1. The IRS will follow regular mail by CERTIFIED MAIL always if you do not respond. That is the proper procedure and should be the procedure that Dupage Judges acknowledge. Not a 200 year old procedure that does not fit this modern age and time.

2. It was attorneys who claimed they never received a notice. Licensed attorneys in the State of Illinos who could be disbarred if they were lying. This is all contained in the case that JQP posted a link to.

3. One knows that your property taxes are due on June 1 and Sept 1 or the Monday after if that date falls on a weekends. Over 40 years and due to owning more than one property in town, it has occurred that the mail failed me but of course common sense would indicate that I need to look into and did. You will not lose your home before getting a certified letter. I also believe a public notice in a newspaper has to be posted if they can not reach you by certified or registered mail. That is how the IDOR should operate.

4. I think in this case there was an audit of a store regarding what items should be low tax and what items should be high tax in which the NGM appears to have cooperated. A discrepancy was found. He did not agree with it. The state does have a right to hold him corporately and personally responsible if he collected low tax instead of high tax on an item accidentally or wrongfully. In a case like this even though you never collected the tax from the consumer, you are liable and MUST pay it even if it was a MISTAKE.
To be personally liabe you do not have to be egregious, wanting or have committed a wilful act. Honestly, Experienced does not know what he is talking about. Forensic Accountants usually have their heads buried in sands of numbers, they usually can not see the overall picture. And remember Experienced is a lawyer who chose not to practice law. That should tell you something about his KNOWLEDGE of the LAW.

5. The IDOR claims to have sent a letter giving him or his attorneys ONLY 20 days to act including posting a significant bond.

6. Now why would they not act if they received notice and FORFIET all their rights. Why would attorneys subject themselves to a possible lawsuit from the Napergate Man for gross negligence. He apparently according to court records was being represented by attorneys who probably would like to act as this is how they make a living. I would have to speculate, if the NGM did not believe that his attorneys did not receive notice, I have to believe he would have acted against his own attorneys and sued them. History, shows he is that kind of person...NO NONSENSE.

7. This was a one time occurence. Your deadlines are based on anothers actions. If another does not act you can not anticipate what he or she is doing. For example if you are playing soccer should you keep kicking air before before your opponent finally kicks the ball.

8. When I went to Dupage 2 years ago to study this case when it first flared up by possibly another blogger, I reviewed all the court records and noticed that the Prosecutor who alleges he sent this letter overslept and never showed up to a hearing in this specific case. The Judge gave him a bye for I believe forgetting to set his alarm clock or something of that nature. It is all in the records in Dupage. The records will show the Judge awarded a continuance that day even though the prosecutor was not even there to ask for one....lol....if that is not IMPROPER. (If you forget to set your alarm clock before an important court date, you could easily forget to MAIL a letter....am I the only one with logic and common sense on this blog site.)

9. If the Judge does not dismiss a case because a proseuctor oversleeps, than she should not dismiss a case if an attorney(s) does not get a letter. It seems like so many bloggers on this site are so full of hate that they lost all rationality. That is what HATE will do.

10. Having been to court many times in my life as I have mentioned before, the courts are simply overwhelmed with cases. The judges are very busy. They are years behind. What I see happening is a Judge not wanting to hear a complicated boring numbers case because she is extremely busy and disposing it on a technicality. Many judges do not understand accounting and would rather not deal with it. She found a way not to deal with her case....a procedural error as Experienced correctly pointed out before beginning to contadict himself under fire and claiming Judges made rulings of wilfull misconduct....lol...no Judge or Appellate Judge made that ruling. That ruling that also contained the words "OR PAY A TAX LIABILITY or something like that," was made by the IDOR, the Defendent in this case. Let us get the facts straight, Experienced. And yes, the NGM beroght suit in this case and not the IDOR.

11. Unless you have been to Dupage County and had court cases you would not know what I am talking about. Keep in mind this is the Judicial system that kept convicting the Nicarico 3 over and over again with different judges. This is the system that had the power to brainwash dozens of jurors in each Nicarico Trial to see it their way. This court system is not PERFECT. It can tarnish innocent peoples characters and reputations and in fact has as noted in the above case.

12. A person should not be denied his rights because he did not get a letter. We are not talking about a car license sticker where if you did not get notice a friendly officer will most likely award you professional courtesy and ask you to get it ASAP. Worse case scnenario if you don't get PC, you get a 75 dollar ticket.

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It just appears to me from reading the case and the back-up records in Dupage County that the state wanted to avoid a trial and pull a fast one. They succeeded. They are broke and will employ any means to collect taxes fairly or unfairly.

No Judge, Appellate Judge or Supreme Court Judge ruled on this case. They all agreed it should be dismissed because the Napergate Man's attorneys did not respond in 20 days and post a significant bond.

If you don't have CASH as the NGM apparently does, you need to obtain a surety bond or self-impose a lien on your home or business. This takes take and can not be done in days.

Anyway for all of you folks who want to tarnish the character and reputation of a good man over a technicality, I say to all of you, you should be ASHAMED of yourselves. It appears you are hotile hateful individuals who will attack even a retired PRIVATE citizen.

The NGM never started up with you folks and you maliciously attacked him with INTENT to destroy his character and reputation.

I have always discussed topics here and instead of you attacking my MESSAGE, you attacked the MESSENGER.

I know you don't like your name mentioned, Moderator, but let me say you have YOUR PROOF finally.

The proof of a pit bull gang mentality on your blog site that will ATTACK UNPROVOKED. Just like pit bulls. How can you finally not see what I have been talking about. It is very CLEAR just like CRYSTAL.

While they blamed me in the past for provoking these attacks because I counter-attacked, what is their defense this time against a RETIRED PRIVATE CITIZEN who has not utttered a word in 8 years???
Who has not been seen at any public event in 8 years? Who some say lives in Arizona?

I hope Napergatian Kevin is watching this. He had doubts as to who starts these attacks. I hope he can now witness these attacks are not even PROVOKED. Hopefully, he is watching and will speak up now that we UNCOVERED the SMOKE.

The PROOF is FINALLY in the pudding.

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Former Moderator Jim and former Moderator Ted stopped this kind of attack last time knowing it was unconsionable and despicable. They realized it involved a PRIVATE CITIZEN. NOt a public official or insignificant blogger as we mostly all are. Moderator Jim raised the possibility of libel issues and felt an obigation to protect his newspaper from any libel. Please review if you don't believe me.

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Moderator Magee has not been as firm. But he stated very clearly that the Napergate Man has nothing to do regarding why property taxes are being raised in Naperville. He said it is OFF TOPIC. No one listened or respected the Moderator as usual.

None of you pit bulls formerly Kindergarten Children will not listen or heed any advice.....all you care is about ENRICHING your selves at TAXPAYER EXPENSE while occassionally giving lip service to pretend you are on the right side of tax issues.

I say keeping doing what you have to do.

The Napergate Man has a proven record in fighting City Hall, fighting government waste, fighting higher taxes, orgainizing protests both on the streets and in City Chambers and developing a very large grass root movement. It appears to me that Experienced is clearly jealous of his success and ICONIC LEGACY and upset with his frustrating failures to get his own grass roots moverment going through out Naperville. He is even thinking of running Napergate Style ads but can not stand the creator of this kind of effective advertising to rally the troops. Amazing you ask me. It appears to me that he is a man with low self esteem who wants to be like the Napergate Man. Only a man with an INFERIOR COMPLEX would attack a MAN with an impeccable character and reputation to attempt to build a LEGACY for himself. That is not a way to build a LEGACY and your REPUTATION, Experienced. That is as sick as it gets on this blog site.

All I have been saying is we have to learn from the NGM's tactics to strenghten our resolve to take on City Hall.

It is like someone saying we can not use Ghandi's peaceful protest tactices because I discovered he once spanked his child....or that he had a dispute with his wife and divorced her. Let us begin bashing Ghandi and all those who use his peaceful protest tactics throughout the world. NONSENSE! Maybe we shold bash Nelson Mandela because he was wrongfully lynched and framed and spent 27 years in jail after a CONVICTION by a JUDGE....lol...

I hope you all see my point and get back on subject.

Yes, I have a hero and have a right to praise my hero especially when the work some of us are trying to do is the same work he tried to do. He obviously did it better and my MESSAGE is simply we need to study him and try to do it better.

We are a very sleepy town since the Napergate Man retired. Let us face it. When I watched the last City Council meeting only one resident walked up to the podium and spoke against higher property taxes. He was very eloquent and composed by the way. I was very impressed. City Officials were not even phased and pretty much ignored him

This method does not work. When the Napergate Man took hundreds to City Hall the atmosphere was very different. It was charged with electricity. City Council Members were listening. They were REVERSING the prior sessions vote. When he and his supporters thought it was resolved and did not show up, the City Council reversed itself for the Brestal Law Firm. This kept happening over and over again until the City Council succumbed since they knew the Napergate Man and his supporters were not going away. They showed STRONG RESISTANCE to IMPROPRIETIES as we need to be doing.

The Napergate Man and his Napergatian followers were persistent, steadfast and determined. The City Council finally surrendered and did not put a gas station in the middle of a subdivision.

Residents from over a dozen subdivision joined the Napergate Man and stopped commercial encroahment north of Hobson Rd. To this day not one commercial development exists on the north side of Hobson...over a dozen years later.

The Brestal Law Firm had no respect for the residents. They wanted to rezone all this land to commercial and enrich the landowners. They did not care about the beauty of Hobson Road as a residential area that was as scenic as one can imagine.

Anyway, we must learn from these Ghandi-Style tactics if you are offended if I call them Napergate-Style tactics.

Finally, praise whomever you want. You are entitled to have your heros. Praise Mayor Pradel.....you will never see me attack his reputation and character in a personal way because I disagree with him. I will ATTACK HIS VOTE THOUGH IF I DISAGREE WITH IT.

Thank you,

CIJ

CSI

Isnt it funny how one person can ruin so much? Get your own website. I know why you operate in the shadows as a tea party organizer... If, and they probably do know; just how unstable you are, they would not want you around. You support Obama as I have read in the past, yet you are a big supporter of the Tea Party? Are you alittle confused yet again?

CIJ--fear a libel lawsuit from Mr. Esmail????? That's laughable, coming from you.

CIJ, he is not here, has never been here, has never come on to support your coveting lust and love for all things Napergate Man all these years and has never even, ever ever ever acknowledged your fascination and attempt to be in his inner circle, or to frankly be him. You become a barnacle on anyone that seems to be a vessel for your message, heaven forbid you would do anything in the physical world to put your message into action, you would rather be a parasite on other's good names (Scott Huber...the dance acadamy that would prefer not to be dragged on here while having your pot smoking daughter outed as a member...BHO!)

You place way, way way too much importance on this blog.

I'm sure if Mr. Esmail did observe what your antics are here, he like Chris would never ever want to be mentioned or have their names used in your rants. Yes, CIJ...Mr. Esmail is a private citizen, and would be extremely anonymous by this time if it wasn't for your adoration and support and your dragging him through the mud here.

By the way--not receiving mail never ever ever gets one out of legal obligations. Try telling the DMV that you have not renewed a license, sticker because you didn't receive the renewal in the mail. Try telling the IRS that you didn't respond to their request because you didn't receive the notice in the mail. Try telling the county that you didn't renew your pet's license because you didn't receive notice in the mail. Try keeping your home after not paying property taxes because the bill was lost in the mail. Let me know how it goes!

Do us all a favor CIJ- study the Napergate Man all you want, but admire him in private.

No one cares anything about him except as you continually bring him up - over and over and over and over again. If you didn't mention him, no one else would either.

If you feel so strongly about him, why not approach him and attempt to recruit him out of his "retirement". My guess is he wouldn't want any part of you or your shenanigans. Or, are you too afraid that he might tell you to get lost.

Reading through this topic, I have seen repeated references toward the 'Napergate Man' will glowing accolades and adulation. Some of the shameful fawning made me wonder if this 'Napergate Man' and CIJ could be one and the same, or if CIJ aspires to reach what she believes to be the cream of the crop's level.

Especially with comments like this:
rong>

Or, maybe it's just that CIJ was talking to herself and absentmindedly typed it out and submitted it to Potluck. It's probably very easy to lose track of your cast of characters when they're running amock like they do.

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 11, 2009 2:49 PM

And, of course, nothing of that long tome changes the fact that he "wilfully [failed] to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act".

And remember everyone, the hearing on the tax levy is next Tuesday at 7pm. If you don't go, don't complain.

Experienced,

Don't worry about what the Judges said or did not say. Everyone can read their rulings or non-rulings.

None of the Judges ruled on the tax matter....none of them even looked at it.

They are just reciting what the IDOR said who happens to be the DEFENDENT in the case.

That is what happens when a case is decided by procedural error due to a technicality of a letter not being received through US MAIL

If I were you, Experienced, I would worry about my points below in which you libeled the Napergate Man. You should be a MAN and RETRACT your FALSE COMMENTS.

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*Exaggeration such as saying stores in the PLURAL instead of ONE SINGLE store.

*Pretending the store was in Naperville when it was clearly not.

*Pretending City Residents taxes would be affected when the store was not even in Dupage County.

*Pretending taxpayers were shorted while the bond money was POSTED IN a $100,000 CASHIERS CHECK waiting for all appeals to be exhausted.

*Pretending there was a special CIVIL PENALTY when the only penalites are those that accrued at the end of each month along with the interest which is typical in all audit tax cases where there is a dispute. Based on 14 years passing, most of what he owes is probably AUTOMATIC COMPUTER GENERATED penalty and interest. He could have only owed a few thousand dollars in actual tax. The formula of 72 is powerful in these tax cases.

*Not noting that this case MAY be before the US Supreme Court since it appears the bank cashiers check MAY have not been cashed yet...not sure on this one but researching it!

*Pretending that the Supreme Court did not hear it because it was so "wanting" when the whole case they reviewed was strictly over a technicality of whether a notice in the US MAIL was received by the NGM's attorneys even though it was only sent in regular mail.

*Pretending he was held personally liable because the case was so "egregious" when it was because the store was sold in 2000 and had a new owner and the old business corporation could no longer be held liable as it no longer existed....lol...

*You should also know that the IDOR holds anyone who obtains a sales tax number personally liable even if you set up a corporation. You are required to sign documents that you are personally liable before they issue you your sales tax number.

Boy, I thought JQP, could dice, slice, mince and spin. Where do you guys exchange notes?

========================================================================================================================================

I don't usually repeat myself or copy and paste but my computer reset and destroyed a detailed post I wrote in response to your earlier post. It would have awoken you out of your coma.

Anyway, Experienced I see you are toning down fearing a libel lawsuit against you from the Napergate Man.

Just remember he is a PRIVATE CITIZEN who in no way did anything to you and you maliciously attacked him with intent to harm his GOOD reputation and character. Since he is a REAL PERSON who owns businesses in town, he should easily be able to prove damages against you which is a requirement for libel. Remember he is not a meaningless Anonymous blogger like you and I, where there is no damage and you can never prove libel.

Keep running you tongue, lips and mouth and let us see in what court room you will end up in.

CIJ

By Citizen Investigative Journalist on November 11, 2009 11:14 AM
Plaintiff was held personally liable for the tax delinquency, pursuant to section 3--7 of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act (UPI Act) (35 ILCS 735/3--7 (West 2004)). Section 3--7 of the UPI Act provides that any corporate officer who is responsible for "filing returns and making payment of the amount of any trust tax" or make the payment to the Department *** shall be personally liable" for the delinquency. 35 ILCS
735/3--7(a) (West 2004).
---------------------------------------

Of course our hero is forgetting that there was a specific finding by the state as to what part of the statute was violated by Mr. Esmail and his corporation. Justice Kapala set forth with particularity that finding:

"The Illinois Department of Revenue (the Department) assessed a penalty against plaintiff in the amount of $72,039.34 for wilfully failing to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (Retailer's Act) (35 ILCS 120/1 et seq. (West 2004))."

So we don't have to guess what part of the statute was wilfully violated by Mr. Esmail. It was the part for wilfully failing to pay the tax.

Put him on a pedestal if you must. He still wilfully failed to pay his taxes to the state. Because he didn't, the state did not have that money to spend on the citizens of the state for over 10 years. That included people in the city of Naperville. He took that money out of our pockets. Again note, that he didn't appeal that the corporate business owed the money. He only appealed his own liability.

Plaintiff was held personally liable for the tax delinquency, pursuant to section 3--7 of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act (UPI Act) (35 ILCS 735/3--7 (West 2004)). Section 3--7 of the UPI Act provides that any corporate officer who is responsible for "filing returns and making payment of the amount of any trust tax" or make the payment to the Department *** shall be personally liable" for the delinquency. 35 ILCS
735/3--7(a) (West 2004).

========================================================================================================================================

It is very easy to distort when you only use part of the OR statute. I used the other part of the OR here and it suddenly sounds very different.

I am sure the OR part that I am using applies to this specific case and not the OR part you folks are using.

Instead of being jealous of the Napergate Man because you are incapable of following in his big footpaths, respect his legacy and try to extend it, Experienced.

You can never destroy the LEGACY of an ICONIC MAN no matter how hard you try.

If you don't want to continue his LEGACY as I would like, start your own LEGACY. But don't shamelessly attack the LEGACY of a TRUE NAPERVILLE HERO who won National Awards like the Kylix Trophy for his efforts regarding responsible drinking.

Also, don't take a CHEAP SHOT against the legacy of a retired man who contributed more than anyone else in the history of Naperville when it comes to holding FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE.

I am really surprised, Experienced, that you would attack a MAN so maliciously with distortions and half truths especially in your first post that came out of nowhere. Read it again.

========================================================================================================================================

*Exaggeration such as saying stores in the PLURAL instead of ONE SINGLE store.

*Pretending the store was in Naperville when it was clearly not.

*Pretending City Residents taxes would be affected when the store was not even in Dupage County.

*Pretending taxpayers were shorted while the bond money was POSTED IN a $100,000 CASHIERS CHECK waiting for all appeals to be exhausted.

*Not noting that this case MAY be before the US Supreme Court since it appears the check MAY have not been cashed yet...not sure on this one but researching it.!

*Pretending that the Supreme Court did not hear it because it was so "wanting" when the whole case they reviewed was strictly over a technicality of whether a notice in the US MAIL was received by the NGM's attorneys even though it was only sent in regular mail.

*Pretending he was held personally liable because the case was so "egregious" when it was because the store was sold in 2000 and had a new owner and the old business corporation could no longer be held liable as it no longer existed....lol...

Boy, I thought JQP, could dice, slice, mince and spin. Where do you guys exchange notes?

========================================================================================================================================

Bringing up a case that was discussed here intensely 2 years ago and claiming you never heard about it, to ignite an old fire that was put out is really SHAMELESS and DISGUSTING. Forget about a BIG REPEAT! I love how bloggers claim I REPEAT when they dig stuff out of moth balls to REPEAT...lol...!

I have no respect for you anymore, FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT EXPERIENCED.

Digging 15 year old mud on a man who did more for this town, as far as holding government accountable and responsible, than anyone else in its history is really despicable.

Somehow, I feel you are trying to play the role of the next Napergate Man. You want to destroy the old Napergate Man and be the new Napergate Man. You appear very jealous of his iconic and heroic accomplishments. You seem to be a WANNA BEE NAPERGATE MAN. Sorry, but your lack of credibility would never allow you to even be the TOWN CLOWN in the next CIRCUS.

You would be much wiser to honor his LEGACY and try to build on it.....instead of attempting to destroy it and build your own LEGACY. You really seem like a man of extreme low self-esteem possessed with an inferior complex to attack a man who is no longer involved in politics and apparently not around to defend himself. Is that how you honor LEGACIES, Experienced? Shame on you!

I did not realize that you could have such a HIDDEN AGENDA with such MALICIOUS INTENT based on a very very sick EGO that you apparently may POSSESS.....sicker than even John Q. Public's who is Mr. PUBLIC OFFICIAL in disguise the way he defends our FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE CITY OFFICIALS.

Thank you,

CIG

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

PS. And don't worry about me. I am already planning our 2nd April 15 Tax Protest at City Hall. We had a few hundred last year and we hope to double our protesters next year. I am one of the organizers but have chosen to remain anonymous by not being the FRONT PERSON for very good reasons. I don't believe you were there Experienced. But Doug Krause was there speaking against higher taxes and voted to raise them. I guarantee you he will not be allowed to speak at our rally next year. I do have some influence at this rally. MARK MY WORDS!

========================================================================================================================================

I am also monitoring the EMERGENCY ROOM at Edward's daily to prove that some cuts can be made in the FD especially between 12am to 6am. (Another visit there yesterday at 4:40 pm showed one municipality ambulance # M9 in the Bay and one Superior coming while another Superior was leaving in the Non-Emergency Parking Area for ambulances at the WEST END....could not identify if M9 was a Naperville Ambulance but if it was it would be my first sighting of a NFD ambulance there in 13 visits this week....OMG...how busy they are that they can not help us with some cuts to eliminate a $14.1 million operating budget deficit.

You would think we were in a war zone the way bloggers falsely described activity at Edward's Emergency. We are not in Afghanistan folks...trust me....or go any time to verify what I am saying if you are CAPABLE OF TELLING THE TRUTH.

========================================================================================================================================

If you don't think this is a good thing you may not only be jealous of the NAPERGATE MAN but jealous of me CITIZEN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST who works his/her/its butt off to expose improprieties at City Hall. I have limited time and I am doing what I can. I don't have any inferior complex syndromes since I know I don't have abilities, talents and organizational skills like the Napergate Man. Very few people do. I just try my best to learn from his EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS by studying his history through lots of time-consuming research.

IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE CAN GET THE NAPERGATE MAN TO BE OUR FEATURED SPEAKER BUT THAT WOULD BE LIKE A DREAM COMING TRUE. LITTLE DOUBT HE WOULD DRAW HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS EVEN THOUGH HE HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 8 YEARS.

It seems to me that for a man with the extensive experience in retail businesses that the Napergate Man has and had, keeping track of and paying sales taxes should be a no-brainer.

Let me see if I can sum up CIJ's last 50,000 words on FF and PO staffing. I am not claiming these to be true statements, but I am trying to see if I can summarize.

1) There may be a role to decrease FF staffing during times when the likelihood of a severe event is low. These same times correspond to when there is little traffic on the streets so ambulances and fire trucks can travel longer distances in a shorter time.

2) There appears to be overstaffing of the downtown district with police officers during the summer. The school police are apparently used downtown during the summer, but are not used during the fall and spring when the weather is nice and similar numbers of people are roaming the downtown district.

I would like to hear some knowledgeable thoughts on these two ideas. It may be that FF staffing is already decreased at night during the week. It may be that police staffing is the same throughout the year downtown. But these two ideas appear on the surface to be reasonable suggestions for cutting dollars from the budget.

handle: The entire concept of pensions seems to be placing a severe drag on many communities and states. I cannot imagine there is a call to stop the pensions of people who have earned them, but there should be a call to alter future pension systems starting as soon as possible.

-1

My My My. How dare we counter the never ending adulation of Mr. Esmail by our hero. Even though an administrative law judge found that he "wilfully [failed] to pay the business's sales tax obligations under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act", our hero wants us to believe that the man walks on water. One does not become personally liable for the tax debts of one's corporation because an employee possibly "made a mistake in pricing". It takes wilful action for that to happen. The state of Illinois so found. Once the finding is made, the state then imposes a civil "penalty" upon the person responsible to pay the tax, penalties and interest.

And, let's not be mistaken, these were not taxes from 2007 when the appellate court case was filed. These were taxes that went unpaid since "the mid nineties" - at least 10 years by the time it reached the court in Elgin. No matter what our hero tries to make us believe, this was money that was meant to operate state government. There is no system in Illinois that sales tax collected within a county is only expended in that county. Once the money is collected it goes into the "big pot" and is expended throughout the state.

Therefore, Extra Value liquors failed to pay to the state money that was expected to be received in the mid nineties. He only tried to pay the money when his back was to the wall and was being kicked out of court. At any time during the collection process, Mr. Esmail and his corporation could have deposited the amount in question with the state and stopped any further penalties and interest from accruing while the matter winded thru hearings and courts, but they chose not to.

Of course, it's a big conspiracy. The whole judicial system of Illinois is in on it. The Illinois judicial system has been operating for almost 200 years on the system of certification of mailing by attorneys. But our hero's idol was being picked on. Our hero conveniently, however, fails to state that the act itself requires that a bond be posted. Mr. Esmail through his attorneys should have done so soon after his complaint for review was filed--even if the state didn't move for dismissal.

What all of this comes down to is this: every time our hero throws Mr. Esmail in our faces, I, for one, will remind everyone what the state of Illinois found concerning this man and his business. I will do so by quoting what Justice Kapala said. It is only relevant if our hero brings up the subject. I have now completed what I have to say unless our hero brings it up again. If our hero doesn't want to be reminded of the state findings, he shouldn't bring up Mr. Esmail again. The choice is his.

Again, I remind everyone as I did yesterday morning that the hearing on the tax levy is next Tuesday, Nov. 17th. Further, I remind everyone that the amount the city is seeking to levy is not only more than the city collected last year but is more than the city said it needed last Spring during a contested municipal election.

By handle with care on November 10, 2009 8:04 PM
The reason it is relevant is because CIJ continues to hold the Napergate man up on a pedestal of all things righteous and just

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Napergate Man deserves to be held on a pedestal. Here, since you folks opened the subject, you find a very busy man running 6 businesses in 4 different fields and managing to pump out Napergate ad after Napergate nand never once mentioning his personal battles against government authorities.

Here is a principled man who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his personal money to help taxpayers in Naperville hold their government responsible while people like you and I spend significant time keyboarding. Here is a guy 10 times as busy as US who makes time for US and helped us fight out-of-control government.

He had one business in Cook County and 5 probably in Dupage. This case if you study its roots was about which items are high tax and which items are low tax. Cook County being so different in sales taxation than Dupage it is possible an employee made a mistake in pricing that he was not even aware of. How could the Napergate Man possibly have a chokehold on 6 business in 4 different fields in 2 counties especially since we all knew of his extracurricular political activities? It is almost impossible. He had to count on his help to some extent.

Anyone who is in business should know when you make a mistake, the government always accuses you of deliberate action. They don't send IRS agents to your home with a dozen roses...lol..While I don't know all the fine details despite reseaching this case extensively 2 years ago, it could simply be he did not feel the accusation was appropriate and put up 100k to fight 20k in taxes. I doubt it would have been about 20k with him since he donated that sum times 10 in Napergate ads.

Once again you distort by saying they assessed a penalty of $72,000 against him. It was a $20,000 case in which interest and penalties accumulated each passing month. These are automatic interest and penalties and not as a result of a Judges decision who did not even look at the tax case. So how could she have ruled willful conduct or imposed a $72,000 civil penalty....lol... She did not. You folks made that up. It really shows how ignorant many of you bloggers are that you can not even read a legal case and comprehend it.

That is how the government operates if they audit you and have a tax dispute with you they will tack AUTOMATIC interest and penalty charges against you until you pay. They don't care if you are appealing or suing. That is why most people settle very quickly even though they may be innocent.

The Napergate Man will always remain iconic. If he had one tax dispute or even 2 in running 6 businesses over a 30 year period that does not take anything away from his good deeds to Napervillians. NO one ever said he was a SAINT or ANGEL. Only that he worked his butt off to help Napervillians fight their government in controlling waste and keeping taxes affordable.

He shows you how much potential a human being has if he applies effort and utilizes his time properly and carefully.

Most of us can't make time to go the bathroom and here is a man fighting the tax man, fighting City Government, raising kids, and running 6 businesses in 4 fields. Of course, he is going to make mistakes if he stretches himself as thin as he had himself stretched.

I think the Judge screwed him not giving him his day in court. It were the attorneys that did not receive notices and claimed not to receive notices and probably did not. If an attorney lies, he loses his license to practice law. Why would they lie? The Napergate Man appeared ready to fight and post a larger amount than required and apparently did with a 100k cashiers check. And Experienced wants you to believe that you are paying higher taxes because of a problem he had in another county that does not affect us NAPERVILLIANS. He was fighting for his legitimate rights...not EVADING TAXES. The money was offered in advance for Heaven's Sake. Why distort, Experienced? How does that help your credibility. You obviously knew he posted the money in advance since you read the case.

This is what you said:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"This was money that he failed to pay the city and state which means that our taxes had to make up the difference for his failure to pay." (Experienced)

This is what you said despite having full knowledge he ended up paying 3.5 times what he owed due to automatic interest and penalty charges...these penalty charges being automatic and not from a JUDGE'S ruling who never even looked at the case. Who are you trying to kid, Experienced? And we all know you are a smart man who should know how to read these cases.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It seems to me the state was afraid of him and fought hard with a techniclatly that they created to keep him from having his day in court. Keep in mind the prosecutor oversleeps and never shows up in court and the Judge lets its slide. His attorneys do not receive a letter in regular mail and the judge brings the gavel down on him.
Why would anyone be surprised they did not send proper notice, since they can win on a technicality if the judge bites on this possible falsification and she in fact did BITE.

That is justice in Dupage for you. This is the same court system that convicted 3 Hispanics in the Nicarico Case over and over again despite their innocence.

If you were a small businessman or woman and owned one business and the government came down on you like this you would be destroyed and out of business. This could be what happened to Mr. Huber.

Thankfully, some peole like the Napergate Man have deep pockets due to long term business success and can fight government and survive. Most of you bloggers here, probably could not.

I think a Court system that allows someoone to lose on a minor technicality should be investigated for corruption. Dupage County has been known to be corrupt for decades. This case confirms to me it is very corrupt.

Anyone who goes to court knows that in 99% of the cases, you do not get your day in court. They find a way to dismiss it on a technicality or force you into an undesirable settlement.

The stuff you guys see on TV with Judges and Juries rarely ever happens in real life. If they want you to settle and you refuse, the judge will unload his or her wrath on you.

The Napergate Man brought his $100,000 bank cashiers check and did not want to settle. The Judge decided the US POST OFFICE has 100% delivery on time and nailed the Napergate Man. I posted the paragraph right from the case that JQP provied the link to. Was not aware the case was on the internet as I went to court 2 years ago to review it. You would think the Judge would have asked the State Prosecutor if he tried to call or send a second notice. Why he did not send it registered or certified to prove he sent the notice?

If you bloggers feel this system of justice is fair, I hope it one day bites you as it bit the Napergate Man.

You would think bloggers like John Q. Public and Experienced who pretend to be advocates for the people would at a minimum demand a certified letter with a return signature required in a case like this or any court case.

I really commend the Napergate Man for fighting for his rights at every avenue of the way. The bottom line is he fights and fights hard. No one ever said, you will win all your cases in a court of law if you fight.

Any attorney will tell you going to court is like playing Russian Roulette. I guess the Napergate Man believed in principal and fought for principals regardless of cost.

To me that is the sign of a truly ICONIC HERO!

It seems to me some of you folks are more jealous of his efforts to help instead of being appreciative for doing what peoople like Experienced are attempting to do.

Experienced is having a hard time getting 20 people together. The Napergate Man had no trouble getting groups of 400 to go to City Hall with him or to a Protest Site. He had no trouble getting 3500 signatures on petitions twice to put pressure on government.

Experienced, if anyone should know how remarkable a feat like this truly is. I commend him for trying. On the other hand what has John Q. Public ever done for the PUBLIC....NOTHING.....ABLOLUTELY NOTHING but run his tongue and lips and attack those who try to change goverment.

Thank you,

CIJ

e^(i*pi),

Sorry I misinterpreted your post about the NGM's alleged 9-0 Supreme Court victories. CIJ indicates his source is the Napergate ads, which are not necessarily...um...authoritative.

-JQP

By John Q. Public on November 10, 2009 9:02 PM
Experienced,

Would you please remind me again what the basis of your tax protest is?
-------------------------------------------

There are basic requirements for the annual budget set forth by statute and the tax levy derived therefrom. The budget is to give at least 3 years of numbers--one actual, one at least estimated and one proposed. The budget is to give those numbers and results for line items as set forth by the state. Failure to do so can result in the levy being invalid. You can't levy for what you haven't budgeted. You can't spend what you haven't properly budgeted.

The final budget adopted by the city and attached to the ordinance filed with the county clerks is woefully inadequate. Any levy based thereon in my opinion will be invalid. Besides the total lack of specificity in the final document, it failed even in it's drafts and workpapers to disclose the known losses in the pension plans. It appeared that the plans increased in assets instead of losing about $10 million in each. They did not comply with state requirements or GASB.

We hope to start with the grass roots of the city. Hopefully our message will be heard by large taxpayers like Nalco and Alcatel which would really cripple the city should they protest.

Of course, I am but a mouth piece for the city. Don't you know that I actually work in the city legal department. My job is to deflect attention away from our hero's arguments. Heaven forbid he might get off of his butt and actually do something besides piss and moan all the time.

From my post in March:

Partial List of Librarian/Media Specialist pay. Names removed so as not to be personally inflammatory.

$76,607 Highlands Elem School
$79,705 Ellsworth Elem School
$85,358 Naperville North High School
$86,493 Jefferson Jr High School
$86,579 Naperville North High School
$87,165 Steeple Run Elem School
$87,426 Maplebrook Elem School
$91,050 Ranch View Elementary School
$95,854 Washington Jr High School
$99,011 Meadow Glens Elementary School
$101,228 Scott Elementary School
$101,240 Kingsley Elementary School
$101,266 Elmwood Elem School
$103,574 Naperville Central High School
$106,055 Prairie Elem School
$106,202 Mill Street Elem School
$107,177 Lincoln Jr High School
$108,671 Kennedy Junior High School

Let's compare to the post from Anonymous. "To find cost reductions at the library, the village hired a consulting firm that found Oak Brook's librarians are among the highest paid in the Chicago area, with department heads making $29 to $39 an hour."

I guess this answers my question back then about what librarians make. At this point, I would not be so concerned about the Naperville Libraries as I would about D203's tax chunk.

e^(i*pi)