But don't expect things to change. The village will continue to flourish thanks to the staff that is in place.
And what about the Village Board? Don't expect any changes. The village is a microcosm of Board actions -- it gets recommendations, it discussed them when needed and it makes decisions. Not all of them are popular, but nothing in municipal, county, state or national government is popular all the time.
Something that appears to remain the same will be the continued acrid attacks by trustee Lisa Stone. That was evident at the last meeting when she took exception to the minutes because, in her mind, the fact that trustee Jeff Berman's wife works for Chapman & Cutler, which, I am told, is one of, if not the preeminent municipal bond counsel firms in the City, if not the country.
Chapman and Cutler have been handling the village's bonds since 1981. If you're keeping tabs on such things, Berman was in his first year at college and my guess is that like most college freshmen, was thinking of other things besides one day being a village trustee in Buffalo Grove. In fact, my sources tell me that Chapman and Cutler (oh, please, don't let it be Jay Cutler) have been around long before 1981.
The point? Miss Quixote is trying to show that Berman has some sort of conflict of interest because his wife works for the firm.
By the way, she worked part time for the firm. According to Berman, his wife was hired by the firm in 2001. She is not a partner and has no ownership interest in the firm. Jane Berman has nothing whatsoever to do with services provided by the firm for the Village. She is a patent and intellectual property lawyer, and she receives no financial benefit from it (the association with the village).
Jeff Berman was elected to the Village Board in 1999 and has refrained from votes that involved Chapman and Cutler. And, for the record, he was doing this long before Miss Quixote arrived on the scene.
The mere fact that Stoney is trying to make this a big deal is little more than a way of her continuing to try and discredit people in public. And, golly gee, Jeff Berman's term ends next May. She showed disrespect to Village Clerk Jan Sirabian but ridiculing her performance by choosing not to indicate that Jeff Berman refrained from a vote involving Chapman and Cutler at the previous Board meeting.
Stoney needs to address the facts and the business at hand. Remember -- under Chapman and Cutler's tutelage, the village has AAA bond ratings from both Moody's and Standard and Poor's. My guess is that when you mention bonds to Liza, she thinks of Barry, Bobby or James.
It's another example of Stoney grand standing and trying to tell everyone she's right and they're wrong.
Just as she did toward the end of the meeting during new business. Stone raised the question about how the Board approves warrants (pays its bills). As near as I can tell, Stone was raising a question as to why some bills were paid without board approval.
Hello..can someone call Com Ed and hook up the porch light. All trustees approve bills which are itemized -- and this includes Miz Stone. It appears as though she does not understand what she is approving.
In typical Stone fashion, she brought up how Vernon Hills pays its bills. Huh? Her comments clearly indicated that she is not a financial expert. I checked the village web site and it did not indicate a degree in finances. In fact, she does not list a college degree in any are of concentration.
So where's the expertise come from? From her comments it appears she was flaunting her role in the village to get information from Vernon Hills. Is she concerned about how they pay their bills or how they bid jobs out. In Buffalo Grove, expenditures over $15,000 require a competitive bid, which trustees see. This includes Miz Stone.
It's a procedure followed by most, if not all, governing agencies.
Stone alleged that "we have rules we're not following." Such as? She did not know. She tried to invoke the Chapman and Cutler issue again, and when she did, Jeff Berman left because, as he has said repeatedly, when they are discussed, he will refrain from the discussion and any ensuing vote -- which is what he did.
He's following the rules. But wait, she wanted to introduce a motion in new business which can't be done by the rules. But she kept trying and ignored Village President Elliott Hartstein's time limits and requests to follow order.
That does not matter to Stone -- she thinks she is entitled to do what she accuses others of doing.
As noted, it's just another case of her trying to position herself as always being right while everyone else is always wrong.
Actually, it's another case of arrogance, ignorance and disrespect.
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