Dear Oak Lawn Neighbor:
I never thought the town I called home would have a government that would put my name on a secret list for retaliation. But I just found out that it has happened.
Four days after the election, a select group of newly elected officials got together and came up with a plan to retaliate against residents who opposed them and reward supports with government positions. They even put it in writing.
75 people who serve as employees or on committees, commissions, and boards in our village, are listed by name, address and lawn sign. Yes, these employees and residents have been categorized by who they supported politically and then identified by a color-RED for those who were against Bury and blue for those who were with her. I serve on the appeals board volunteering my time and energy to the Village of Oak Lawn. I’ve also served School District 122 as a school board member for 18 years as an unpaid volunteer. My name is in red.
The document says in big letters the Sandra Bury/Tom Phelan mandate: “ALWAYS REWARD SUPPORT” and “IMMEDIATELY REPLACE NONSUPPORTS WITH NO APOLOGIES.”
I’ve lived here in Oak Lawn since 1939 and raised 7 children here. I’ve never seen anything like this. Whatever happened to our First Amendment Rights? We should be able to put a sign up for anyone we want and not be retaliated against.
Is that ethical? Is that transparent? How is this even legal?
“Always Reward Support”. Here’s the problem; When the Bury administration “rewards support” They are using taxpayers’ money to pay the reward to people who supported them personally.
On the second page at the top is a note about our village prosecutor. He earns $50,000 a year in this part-time position. He is to be rewarded and gets to stay on as prosecutor. Why? Because he supplied 10campaign workers for Sandra Bury in District 4.
They are planning more retaliation against full time employees. It says “give the village manager 6 months to effectuate changes”. He’s been the Village Manager for 5 years and he already controls hiring and firing. Why would he now have to “effectuate changes”? The only possible reason is to retaliate. This sure doesn’t sound like a group that wants to end the fighting or work together!
Our fire department is referred to as “borderline dysfunctional.” How can the new Bury administration say that about our first responders? How do they come into office with the belief that the paramedics and firefighters we call on to save our lives and our homes are “borderline dysfunctional?” Again, this doesn’t sound like a group that wants to work together and end the fighting.
A couple of days before the election I received a piece of literature from Village Clerk Jane Quinlan. It said to vote for Sandra Bury because we need a mayor who “will work with the entire board.” Looks like this is their first broken promise because these incoming officials have already held a meeting with select individuals of the new board to decide the future of Department Heads and Village Committee assignments. Where is the input from the remainder of the Board? Do they not matter? Weren’t they also elected? These officials are not even sworn into their term and they are blocking out certain Board members. They are identifying board factions and warning to “avoid at all costs” certain board members even though they promised to end the fighting and work together.
Trustee Tom Phelan wrote this summary of his meeting with Sandra Bury, Mike Carberry, Alex Olejniczak and Tim Desmond. Is he now in control? We didn’t elect Tom Phelan and I bet a lot of people would change their votes if they knew these were the true feelings of our newly elected officials.
It scares me that we have elected officials of Oak Lawn driving around to homes and keeping records of who their opponents and supporters are. I know that this isn’t happening in other suburbs and I don’t know why this is now happening here. Do we have to worry now about our services from the village when we call? Are we on a permanent list?
I have a better idea for the Bury administration. How about rewarding taxpayers instead of political supporters? How about driving around town looking for ways to improve our neighborhoods instead of checking out who is supporting you politically and keeping a list.
This document is now posted on a website called Oaklawnleaf.com. There are many people who are very upset about this secret political plan. Call your trustees and these newly elected officials at 499-7738 and tell them to stop the retaliation plan immediately and to not use our money to reward their supporters.
Sincerely,
Jean Werner