Beyond that dimension known to man....

The usually calm and unflappable Chicken Little was in a tizzy.

“Darn Internet.  I had insomnia and was hoping to get to my favorite site.  But I couldn’t”.

He’s generally pretty calm about things and doesn’t chicken out, so when I found him technology challenged, I was surprised.  I asked him if he called Comcast.

Are you kidding? This is serious.  Not only can I not get to my favorite channel, but I can’t go to the village web site – You know what I should have done?”

No, what?

“Called the village.  Yep, that’s it.  The web site, when it’s working, says everyone is family – and this is a family crisis.”

I became concerned where this is going.  I asked him who he thinks he should have called.

“Hey, if you’re talking family, you go to the patriarch?”  So you wanted to call the village fathers?

“Nah,” he said, “only one – Village Board President Jeff Braiman.”

Super Chicken

Ah, let’s see – you said it was the middle of the night and you couldn’t watch Super Chicken, so you called an elected official.

“Sure, doesn’t that make sense?  I mean I missed my favorite part.”  (His Favorite Part)

No it doesn’t make sense

I told him that the reason it does not make sense is because the above scenario actually occurred.

But, as widely reported, it was not Chicken Little who made the call.

The call was made by deposed former trustee Lisa Stone who, according police reports obtained by the Freedom of Information Act, called Braiman in the middle of the night to let him know the village’s web site was out.

That’s right.  The web site was not functioning, so she called Braiman.

Why?  Because of his expertise in the Internet?  Because he has access to the village’s servers at home and can magically reset the web site?

Of course not.  Because the ongoing feud Stone has with village hall and anyone who does not agrees with her has reached a new level of surrealism.

The action of contacting a public official in the middle of night for a frivolous reason makes one thing clear.   Lisa Stone’s antics are not funny.  To paraphrase the late Rod Serling, they have gone beyond the fifth dimension known to man" leaving in their wake any semblance of respect, logic and now, decency.

The story, to no surprise, made the local media with a wide range of comments and reaction.

But why?  My guess is this is not the first time someone has received an annoying phone call about a seemingly ridiculous topic.

Because it’s Stone.  Her stint as a village trustee put her in the public spotlight, a role she seems to cherish, and also made her a public figure.  Once ousted by the recall, you would figure she would accept her fate and move on.

Not quite.  Stone continued, make that continues, to dwell away at her pet causes – water safety, pedophiles and whatever else may come her way on any given day.  And while they may seem like good causes, Stone’s approach is to rip, shred, antagonize and harass people to no end.

Her latest harassment of Braiman is what has escalated this to a new level.  Beside the untimely phone call about the village web site being down at 2:30 a.m. (by the way, sources tell me it was due to routine maintenance) Stone had, according to the police report, “showed up at his office in Arlington Heights.  Braiman said Stone wanted to give him her business card for her sex toy business.”  Seriously.

The fact that Stone may have a business dealing with adult novelties (not frozen novelties, although some adults are frozen) is up to her.  She is probably not the only person in the village who has ::ahem:: a unique business.  But she’s in the spotlight and given her outlandish comments and accusation, she inherently put a target on her.

In an age where, as pundits like to say, “sex sells”,  anytime a public official or public figure is somehow remotely connected to sex in any way shape or form – it become news.  Stone's erotic entrepreneurship has done just that.  She’s not the only municipal official who has raised a few eyebrows because of their off-hours endeavors .  Back in the early 1970s, the mere speculation that a Lincolnshire trustee had posed for a Chip and Dale-like calendar, leaving his chip and dales uncovered, led to his leaving the board and slowly fading away.

So in addition to being known for her caustic, sarcastic, rude and otherwise questionable behavior, she now carries the tag of dealing in the adult pleasure business, which is generally not very mainstream.

Don’t be surprised if Stone vehemently defends her business and continues her verbal and media-comment assault on Braiman.  She will have a hard time repudiating the information about the 2:30 a.m. request for tech support because, as noted in the police report, the investigating officer called her “explaining the nature of this report.”  Stone, according to the report understood.

That given, she apparently also understands the curt, blunt and straight forward response she received from Braiman’s wife, who, according to police reports, said “How dare you call, go to hell”, and hung up the phone.  Face it, at  2:30 a.m., anyone in a sound sleep being awakened by an adversary because a web site is down.

Stone apparently doesn’t get it.  She told the Daily Herald that she was so upset with Ms. Braiman’s response that – ready – she “..is considering filing a complaint about Braiman's wife. "I'm going to come in and file a complaint about her," Stone said. "She shouldn't tell me to go to hell."

Let’s see, Stone provokes the response, which is the result of one her nasty comments, and then gets upset when people respond accordingly and wants to file charges.

I can’t imagine that happening.

Oh wait, yes I can.

Chicken fried election?

I’m still mulling over the village’s Electoral Board hearing, which determined that Jeff Battinus was not eligible to be on the ballot for the April election.

The outcome seemed inevitable.  Not because of who is on the Electoral Board – cynics will say the old guard was out to nail Battinus – but that’s not the case.  The Electoral Board consists of the Village President, Village Clerk and most tenured trustee, which means it was Board President Jeff Braiman, Village Clerk Jan Sirabian and Trustee Jeff Berman.  Period.

The challenge to Battinus’ filing was not by any of the old guard, but by relative new comer Andrew Stein who was elected in 2011 to fill the remainder of ousted trustee Lisa Stone.

To help breakthrough the confusion, I met with local political observer Chicken Little.  “I’m not sure what to make of the whole thing,” Little said.  “I’m actually kind of fried, which is not a good state to be in.”

I asked him what exactly bothered him.

“ Several things. For starters, do you need to be named Jeff to be involved in the village process?  I mean, really, look at who was there --  Jeff Braiman, Jeff Berman, Jeff Battinus, and just for good measure, the attorney consulting Jeff Stein – so we had for Jeffs and two steins.”

A frazzled Chicken Little

OK, so your point is?

“Nothing really,” Little said, “but it would be nice if we had some name diversity.”  So, I asked him, what about other candidates?  Do you think they ::ahem:: chickened out?

“Not sure,” he said, “I’m still trying to figure things out.”

Good luck, I told him.

Breaking through the abundance of Jeffs, "JBs" and multiple Steins, the result of the hearing means that the Village Board election will be uncontested.  There are three candidates – incumbents Beverly Sussman, Lester A. Ottenheimer III and Stein (remember, that’s Andrew Stein) -- for three spots.

So out of a community of 43,000 plus, only four people sought to serve – and because of the ruling by the Electoral Board, we’re trimmed to three.  Quite honestly, it’s pretty amazing, especially given how we’ve been led to believe that the village is corrupt, the trustees are dishonest, the village is going to hell and everyone should flee the coup.

“Hey, don’t get personal,” Little said.

The ruling which took the contest out of contested election was pretty cut-and-dry.  Stein (oops, make that Jeff Stein) told the hearing that there were three cases that addressed election filing challenges and in all three cases, the Appellate Court upheld the ruling.

Which didn’t surprise Battinus.  “I made a mistake,” he said.  “My problem was a clerical error.”  Battinus noted, several times, that the ruling takes away the opportunity for Buffalo Grove residents to have a choice.

Depending on your point of view, Stein – make that Andrew Stein – emerges as a goat or a hero.  Jeff Stein, however, made it clear that there is no way to over ride the statute.

Unlike some previous gatherings in the Council Chambers (ponder this for a minute – why are they called the Council Chambers, when it’s one room and the Village does not have a council?  Just asking.) the atmosphere was actually pleasant and respectful.

“You did the tough part,” Braiman said.  “You went door-to-door and got hundreds of signatures from people on the street.”  Braiman noted that the Electoral Board had “no authority to do otherwise.”

Berman concurred, noting that “whatever sympathies or thoughts we may have, the courts have ruled.”

Battinus, who moved to the village in 2010, was gracious in accepting his fate.  “ I have to be accountable.  I screwed up.”  Battinus says his goal is to serve “my community – that’s it.”  He is mulling a run as a write-in candidate, but still needs to file paperwork with both Lake and Cook counties.  Among other things.

Battinus says it depends on fund-raising, estimating it will take nearly $6,000 to run a campaign, which factors in signs, mailers and even attorney fees.  “A grass roots effort won’t be enough…If nothing else, I have name recognition.”

‘Whatever he does, he’s going to be very careful about crossing his Ts and dotting his Is.  “I won’t make the same mistake again,” he said.

He won’t be able to as long as Andrew Stein is around. 

The process for reviewing candidate filing challenges is cut and dry.  The question is why would someone, in this case Andrew Stein, challenge a candidate’s petition and why.

Stein contends he has done elections in 2009 and again in 2011 when he ran for the Village Board.  He said the reviews were a learning experience and in one case he contacted a candidate’s staff member to tell him that there was an error.  Good neighbor Stein?

Maybe.

Concerned public official?

Maybe.

Battinus, however isn’t so sure, and here’s where it gets interesting.

Battinus told the hearing that Andrew Stein told him on three occasions that he should consider not running.  “The third time,” Battinus said later, “he said someone would contest it (his filing).”

Stein told me that he did in fact talk with Battinus and discussed his (Stein’s) consideration to run in 2009.  “I talked with him about my background in 2009 and that people told me I didn’t have the experience,” Stein said.  He added that he suggested to Battinus to gain more experience and build name recognition.

Stein says he told Battinus that if he followed the directions in the candidate’s guide their probably would not be a problem.

Stein says he did “all the research I could” after the filing deadline and was more than a little surprised when he found that Battinus did not file an economic disclosure form.  Stein said he spoke with Battinus on Jan. 1 to discuss his filing, but did not tell him that it was he who was going to file the objection.  Stein said he discussed the options with Battinus which, Stein said “were to withdraw and save yourself and the village money for legal fees, or right it.”

“I hate to say it,” said Little, “but it seems kind of scrambled to me.”

C.L. might be on to something here.

Battinus did little to defend himself and, barely 14 minutes into the hearing, asked the Electoral Board if they could go to closing remarks.

Had Braiman and Berman, along with attorney Jeff Stein not made it clear that there was no way to go against the statutes, there could have been some interesting debate.  Instead, it resorted to an exchange of polite understandings and Battinus admitting that he made the error and he was not “angry with him (Andrew Stein).” 

All that was missing was a group hug.

“So what happens now?” Little asked.  “Can I run as a write-in candidate?”

“And that is?”

As noted, potential write-in candidates must file their intent to run as a write-in candidate in both Lake and Cook counties in order for their votes to count.

“And if I don’t?” he asked. 

Simple – your votes won’t count.

“Hmmm,” he said.  “What if there’s a crowd of write-in candidates?”

Seems to me there won’t be, especially since there was only one nonincumbent who had planned to run.

“Why do you think that is?” he asked.

Not sure – lack of time, lack of money or lack of interest.

“Or maybe the sky isn’t falling,” Little said.

2012 goes out with a usual array of police activity...

Well, 2012 went out with the usual assortment of police activity reported by the Buffalo Grove Police Department.  Here’s a look at some of the calls that may make you wonder what some people are thinking.

Sensitive, isn’t he?

Complainant reported that he told a driver that he was parked in a fire lane, and the driver told the complainant that it was none of his business. The driver also stated that if he is confronted by the complainant again, he will do bodily harm. Officers located the driver in the parking lot, and because the complainant did not want to sign a complaint, the driver was sent on his way.

Better late than never…

Resident reported that he lost his debit card a year ago, and did not report the matter to the bank.  The bank contacted the resident to tell him of on-going activity with the account.  The bank has cancelled the account.

Must have been during a full moon…

Resident reported that he had used drugs with a person he believed to be an FBI agent, and now there are more than forty officers outside of his house.  Officers noted that there were no officers or other persons of any kind outside of the resident’s house, when they arrived.  The resident refused to go to the hospital for an evaluation.

Yet, another scam…

Resident received an offer of employment after he posted his resume on Careerbuilder.com.  The offer required the resident to sign a contract and send his financial information so they could do a direct deposit into his account.  The resident correctly suspected this to be a scam. (This is not necessarily funny…but a good example of why people need to watch for scams…)

And for this they called the police?

Customer was making a disturbance because a store official would not allow him to purchase a large quantity of TWINKIES.  The official stated that only 10 TWINKIES per person is allowed.  The customer was advised the store can set limits and for him to buy his 10 TWINKIES and leave, which he did.

Let’s see, lights, camera, action?

Resident reported that he has a wildlife camera in his back yard, and when he reviewed the photos, he found one of a male subject standing in the yard looking at the resident’s house.  It is unknown who the subject is.

Talk about making the order “to go”….

Owner reported that one of his employees is going through a divorce and the estranged wife came to the business and caused a scene.  Officer spoke with the wife who could not understand why the police are involved, but did understand that she is no longer welcome at the business.

Talk about trash talking…

Officer observed a male subject take a bag of trash out of his car and place it into the Park District dumpster.  When the officer spoke with the subject he stated that he thought the dumpster was for public use. When the officer advised the subject of his misunderstanding the bag of garbage was placed back into the car.  A citation was issued.

Must be the excitement of Christmas morning…

Resident reported that her neighbors are arguing and that a child could be heard yelling and crying.  Officer spoke with the neighbor who stated that he and his daughter had just finished opening presents and the girl was excited.  No one else was in the apartment and the girl was fine.

Well, at least there is neighborhood watch…

Resident reported a male subject entering a neighboring home through a rear window.  Officers found the rear window closed but unlocked.  The home was checked and no one was inside.  Officer contacted the homeowner who stated that she asked her son to go to the house and retrieve some items, and since the son did not have a key, she told him to use the window.  The homeowner was advised to call 911 to let them know in the future if her son will be using the window again.

Did he have to pay waiting time?

Maintenance worker stated that while working inside the building, and unknown male subject began knocking on the doors and windows and requested to be let inside.  When the worker would not allow the subject inside, the subject left in a taxi.

And finally…

Downtown redevelopment, elections, crime?  The following article was covered by some media as  a major news story….

This is my final Buffalo Grove Police Blotter.  Due to financial reasons, my position has been cut from the budget effective January 1, 2013.

Though I have never met many of you, it seems as though we have become friends.  I appreciate your feedback and contributions to this Blotter.  I have enjoyed writing it for the past five and a half years and will miss doing so.  I do sincerely hope that you were well informed and that you have gained some knowledge on crime prevention and safety.  Remember to be a nosy neighbor and call 911 if you see anyone or anything that seems suspicious.  Thank you!

Have a Happy New Year and I wish you health, happiness and prosperity.

See ya!!!!!!!

Pete Lippert

Deputy Chief Ret.

But rest assured…the department responded…

We received a couple questions asking if the Blotter would continue. The answer is....Yes, The Crime Prevention Unit will continue to send out the Police Blotter. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Crime Prevention Unit at 847-459-2560.

Thanks for your effort and hard work Pete.  Good luck ---  and keep the left arm straight.