Hazel Crest Officials

I dont know who's nuts within the Village Board anymore.(See the Southtown article, even though the Southtown does not report on Hazel Crest). Vernard is questioning the Mayors mental state but i really wonder about them all. Particularly a Trustee. Why is she pushing for retired Police Badges for her 2 former insiders who went out on a disability??? That is not a retirement! That provides more than a retirement pension. Do they just want to carry a weapon? If that's the case they should still be on the job. A disability pension is a benefit earned on the backs of everybody else that puts in full time. Don't treat it as vacation. I understand each of the new board members got to pick someone for a part time job in Public Works with benefits. Nice. No budget crunch here. Pay for play??? But the picks were a disabled man, and a convicted drug dealer, for labor positions. Way to go. Are the trustees talking furlough days after all of this? How dare you! How much is being spent to move Inspectional services from the Fire Station to Village Hall? And why does the Fire Chief have to go to the Harvey fir e Dept. to find a Deputy Chief? A slap in the face to the Men of HCFD who are qualified, but not in the eyes of the Chief. Nice walking path by the Village Hall. Must be paid by the hour, LOL.

WhyusLord wrote:

I dont know who's nuts within the Village Board anymore.(See the Southtown article, even though the Southtown does not report on Hazel Crest). Vernard is questioning the Mayors mental state but i really wonder about them all. Particularly a Trustee. Why is she pushing for retired Police Badges for her 2 former insiders who went out on a disability??? That is not a retirement! That provides more than a retirement pension. Do they just want to carry a weapon? If that's the case they should still be on the job. A disability pension is a benefit earned on the backs of everybody else that puts in full time. Don't treat it as vacation. I understand each of the new board members got to pick someone for a part time job in Public Works with benefits. Nice. No budget crunch here. Pay for play??? But the picks were a disabled man, and a convicted drug dealer, for labor positions. Way to go. Are the trustees talking furlough days after all of this? How dare you! How much is being spent to move Inspectional services from the Fire Station to Village Hall? And why does the Fire Chief have to go to the Harvey fir e Dept. to find a Deputy Chief? A slap in the face to the Men of HCFD who are qualified, but not in the eyes of the Chief. Nice walking path by the Village Hall. Must be paid by the hour, LOL.

The residents of Hazel Crest and the state of our Village itself, are in serious trouble. The new trustees voted onto the board and Trustee Alsberry - the Concerned Citizens Party - are clearly more concerned with seeking revenge against the mayor for personal and petty grievances, than with responsible governing of our Village. Mr. Alsberry has a lot of nerve questioning anyone's mental capacity. Although he lost his bid for the mayor's position, he believes nonetheless that he's the mayor anyway, and if you watch and listen to him closely, you would wonder about his own mental soundness. This is a man who'se used the Mayor, the residents and the Village overall to advance his political ambitions, and it doesn't matter to him who he has to step on or walk over to get to where he wants to be. Both he and Trustee Pate seek only to have power, yet neither have the intellect or the experience to bring wisdom and a sense of integrity to their governing decisions. Their questionable hiring practices are no better than their questionable firing practices. They've fired people who were assets to the Village, in respect to bringing revenues in and to their skills - and have hired people who not only cannot replace those they've fired (in skills or benefit to the Village), but who are actually a drag on the Village. Moore and Ramsey have admitted on more than one occasion that they don't have a clue about what they're doing, and Mary Grant thinks that here responsibility as the Village Clerk is to make sure the mayor knows his place! If you read her minutes, you will see that they're more of an interpretation on her part than an actual recording of what takes place. Yet, these are the people who're now making vital and long-range decisions about the fate of our Village. Their only goal seems to be to undo everything the mayor has done over the last 4 years and to "erase him" from the Village as much as possible. Meanwhile, the residents and the Village itself are losing out!

has the fd hired a deputy fire chief yet?

this is crazy. it sounds like the village government is weakening. we the people need to take it back. we need change real bad. change back to the classic clean farming values that established the town so long ago.

Now throw in the battling Village Attorneys. When will it stop. The new Attorney is suing! Who defends the Village against the suit????? More importantly, who get's paid? OMG! And the Fire Dept. Union is suing to stop the Fire Chief from hiring an outside Deputy Chief. It's no secret there is no love for the Chief within the F.D. Is this why he's going outside? It's also no secret the Chief wants to bring in his cronie from Harvey. Not a real reputable Department. None of this makes sense, but it's costing a bundle in legal fees. Whoever gets to collect them is unknown.

The new trustees and Trustee Alsberry were not only insisting that the former attorney be present at every board meeting (at $200 an hour), but working with him in complicity outside of the purview of the Mayor to have him (the attorney) do their bidding against the Mayor. This is an attorney who's supposed to be representing the Village and who's being paid by the Village, not by the four trustees! There are suits flying all over the place as a result of the lack of knowledge and governing experience of the new trustees. Their handling of the Village personnel whom they irresponsibly fired purely for political reasons have resulted in lawsuits, as has their handling and interference in the fire and police depts. Also, it's clear that the majority trustees are working in cahoots with the fire dept. against the Fire Chief. Many of the firefighters actually campaigned for the majority trustees, walking door to door, and now it's time for payback! In fact, they made quite a few promises to quite a few people, from fire fighters to liquor store owners to day care center wannabes ... and now everyone's hand is out to collect. And the only ones left empty-handed are the residents themselves!!!

sankofa wrote:

The new trustees and Trustee Alsberry were not only insisting that the former attorney be present at every board meeting (at $200 an hour), but working with him in complicity outside of the purview of the Mayor to have him (the attorney) do their bidding against the Mayor. This is an attorney who's supposed to be representing the Village and who's being paid by the Village, not by the four trustees! There are suits flying all over the place as a result of the lack of knowledge and governing experience of the new trustees. Their handling of the Village personnel whom they irresponsibly fired purely for political reasons have resulted in lawsuits, as has their handling and interference in the fire and police depts. Also, it's clear that the majority trustees are working in cahoots with the fire dept. against the Fire Chief. Many of the firefighters actually campaigned for the majority trustees, walking door to door, and now it's time for payback! In fact, they made quite a few promises to quite a few people, from fire fighters to liquor store owners to day care center wannabes ... and now everyone's hand is out to collect. And the only ones left empty-handed are the residents themselves!!!

Bulls eye!

sankofa wrote:

The new trustees and Trustee Alsberry were not only insisting that the former attorney be present at every board meeting (at $200 an hour), but working with him in complicity outside of the purview of the Mayor to have him (the attorney) do their bidding against the Mayor. This is an attorney who's supposed to be representing the Village and who's being paid by the Village, not by the four trustees! There are suits flying all over the place as a result of the lack of knowledge and governing experience of the new trustees. Their handling of the Village personnel whom they irresponsibly fired purely for political reasons have resulted in lawsuits, as has their handling and interference in the fire and police depts. Also, it's clear that the majority trustees are working in cahoots with the fire dept. against the Fire Chief. Many of the firefighters actually campaigned for the majority trustees, walking door to door, and now it's time for payback! In fact, they made quite a few promises to quite a few people, from fire fighters to liquor store owners to day care center wannabes ... and now everyone's hand is out to collect. And the only ones left empty-handed are the residents themselves!!!

Accually all of this discord and division that we are experiencing goes back further than just this last election. If you remember, when Mayor Donaldson took office there were people who campaigned for the opposition that he let go (rightfully so or not). It was then that everyone who felt that thier job was being threatened or insecure with where they stood politically started jockeying for position and plotting courses of deceit and political revenge. The Shame in all of this is that we as residents recognized it all too late or turned a blind eye to what was happening. We now have elected officials on both sides, in both parties, that because everyone wants to be king of the hill that the hil is being hammered into pebbles. We had better do something about our political environment soon or issues such as these will become a foregone conclusion.

Oh! And did I mention that the Hazel Crest residents who were fired by the 4 trustees - residents who lived in Hazel Crest and took pride in their work because they were serving the community in which they and their families live - were replaced by people who DO NOT live in Hazel Crest. In fact, one gentlemen who lives in Hazel Crest was volunteering his time and talent to teach the seniors computers. He too was "fired!"

The elderly gentleman who was volunteering in teaching computers to the seniors took so much pride in his work. Knowing that he was doing something useful and productive, while at the same time contributing to his community, made him feel so good about himself and about his fellow residents as well. Prior to his involvement with the seniors, he had been a quiet gentleman who kept to himself, but that all changed as he began to feel what we all need to feel, which is that he was needed. And then, along came the new board, and after a few weeks, even he was told that he didn't have to come back! They would use one of "their people" to do what he was doing!!! I have not seen the gentleman since. This is just one example of what this new board is all about! They are all about themselves, and not at all about the integrity of our Village.

Well, the foot dropped. At the Board Meeting last Tuesday night, a Cook County Sheriff's Deputy showed up to serve members of the Citizens Party with the lawsuit filed by Mayor Donaldson. There is no end in sight. The way I figure this is the Village will have to pay all the legal fee's because they are all Board members. Wow is this going to cost. But the real question is which Attorney is going to represent them. Murphy for the Citizens Party and the new guy for the Doctor??? They really should quit. Pate is just in it for spite. The others are just there as a vote. How embarassing.

Actually, my two posts above were addendums to a more in-depth comment that apparently didn't get posted (maybe it was too long).

But in response to Informed Resident: The discord and division that you speak of began when Mayor Donaldson came into office, but it wasn't Mayor Donaldson who instigated it. It was the same people who're now sitting on the Village Board and their friends who rejected Donaldson because he had defeated Bill Browne. It was at that point that they began their campaign against Donaldson, dividing the community and creating discord among the residents for the sole purpose of underming Mayor Donaldson by any means necessary.

When Mayor Donaldson took office, not one employee was FIRED. Robin Bair left because her position was downgraded, and others chose to leave as well, because they were making a political statement. In fact, it was because the police chief and several officers left together that the Mayor was forced to find an interim chief of police at short notice. Not only did Mayor Donaldson not fire anyone, but he also created jobs for residents, something that had not been done by any of the previous board presidents.

Contrary to Mayor Donaldson, Vernard Alsberry and the new trustees who had already created a climate of discord and division among the residents, FIRED five employees, including three residents. Those who were replaced, were replaced by people who don't even live in Hazel Crest!!!! As a consequence of these firings, the village has lost money, we've lost infrastructure development, we've lost quality cable productions, we've lost substantive community events that created a foundation of unity among the residents, and we've even lost the engagement and enthusiasm of the residents themselves. Also, as a direct consequence of the lack of knowledge and understanding of Trustee Alsberry and the new trustees, and the reckless way in which they have mismanaged their responsibilties to the Village (putting personal vendettas and power grabs over performance), for the first time in five years, our property taxes will now be increased.

Maybe now the residents will start paying attention!

When the HCPD got on board with the Crime Free Housing, along with several other Municipalities, it showed they were getting aggressive with resident's that are a nuisance to their neighbors. This program has been shown to work in other towns. The Village Board supported the program. The program uses several methods to try to get rid of these problem residents and ultimately will force the landlords to evict the problem or face fines and a loss of the rental certificate. So why did a Trustee from the Citizens Party get involved and tell a resident to file a complaint on the Officer in charge of the program for harassment and slander? Its called enforcing ordinances. The Citizens Party are burning bridges faster than any other group that has been involved with Hazel Crest. The same Trustee has ordered the spineless Village Manager to turn water service back on to residents who had it turned off for non payment! So the C Party is giving away free services. Are you getting any? They are truly out of control, out of touch with Village needs and are about to burn another bridge with the guys in blue. That shows real support. What a bunch of power tripping bullies.

"The Citizens Party are burning bridges faster than any other group that has been involved with Hazel Crest."
I agree. I think there's a lot of voters' remorse among thoughtful, objective residents who voted for the Citizens Party. They believed their lies, but now that they see how the Citizens Party is actually governing, they regret their vote. They have no governing skills. All they have and all they want to have is power, power to do whatever they want to do, regardless of its impact on the residents or on the Village overall. I now look at those who still support them as being no better.

I don't know about this new lawsuit, but anything to get rid of the corruption I am for. Let's see: the village brought in an unqualified fire chief in 2002 over a highly qualified chief (who had the problem of being the wrong race). Not to mention the lawsuit about the police officers (and incidentally I happen to all of them suing, and they were highly qualified). I didn't even mention how the village got the Census in 2000 and filled all the management position with African Americans. I used to be someone who supported affirmative action, but after all of this went down, I am 100% against it. Racism is wrong no matter the race.

Let's not forget how the town went from a diverse middle class community to a welfare community. As far as I'm concerned the welfare scum should stay in their own ghetto corner. They shouldn't ruin a town. Btw, this means all races who are welfare queens. I got tired of going to the supermarkets and seeing people with food stamps everywhere.

Donaldson and his gang of thugs ruined Hazel Crest and they are doing the same thing to the Alumni Association at Governors State.

"... filled all the management positions with African Americans."

I'm a little confused. The Village Manger (one of the management positions) is NOT an African American. The Public Works managers/supervisors are NOT African American. The ONLY positions that were filled by African Americans under Donaldson were the new positions he created, such as Liaison to the Mayor, Special Events Coordinator, Senior Director, the Community Development Coordinator, the cable studio facilitator. Yes,the Fire Chief is African American, as you've mentioned, and the police chief is not. Before Donaldson took office, there were NO ... let me repeat, NO ... African Americans in any management or high level position in the Village Hall, in spite of the fact that the demographics of the Village had changed dramatically. Essentially, it was an increasingly all black community run by all white people, most of whom did not even live in the Village! Donaldson merely attempted to finally bring people of color into the Village Hall to reflect the growing African American presence in the Village itself, which is a common phenomenon in most villages, cities, townships, municipalities, etc! It's unfortunate that some would resent this and call it "affirmative action" in an attempt to diminish its significance.
Donaldson did not ruin Hazel Crest. To the contrary, Hazel Crest began to once again prosper and grow under Donaldson, not only in terms of infrastructure developments, but also in terms of community. There was more racially diverse participation among the residents under Donaldson than I'd observed in the more than two decades that I've lived here. This was demonstrated in the harmonious interracial working relationships in the Village Hall as well as in various resident activities (Hazelnut Festival, Senior Center activities, etc.).
I don't know what's happening at Governor's State, but I do know that Donaldson is not responsible for what we've lost in Hazel Crest over the last several months.

No, I was talking about the Census doing that, which they did. In fact, one of the officials in Hazel Crest even told me they knew they were discriminating against whites.

As for the second part, no I don't think it's fair that long time employees (this is true of the fire chief position) who happened to be white were replaced by blacks. If anyone wants to get to that level, they need to WORK FOR IT. In the case of the fire chief and the assistant police that's not what happened. The most qualified person should get the job regardless of race.

Btw, I heard the so called "PR person" he hired submitted a press release full of errors. Not acceptable in that position and that job should have gone to other people. And if he appointed only African Americans to those particular positions, that strikes me as possibly being racist if they weren't the most qualified. It's not "diversity" when someone gets a job strictly because of their race.

sankofa wrote:

"... filled all the management positions with African Americans."
I'm a little confused. The Village Manger (one of the management positions) is NOT an African American. The Public Works managers/supervisors are NOT African American. The ONLY positions that were filled by African Americans under Donaldson were the new positions he created, such as Liaison to the Mayor, Special Events Coordinator, Senior Director, the Community Development Coordinator, the cable studio facilitator. Yes,the Fire Chief is African American, as you've mentioned, and the police chief is not. Before Donaldson took office, there were NO ... let me repeat, NO ... African Americans in any management or high level position in the Village Hall, in spite of the fact that the demographics of the Village had changed dramatically. Essentially, it was an increasingly all black community run by all white people, most of whom did not even live in the Village! Donaldson merely attempted to finally bring people of color into the Village Hall to reflect the growing African American presence in the Village itself, which is a common phenomenon in most villages, cities, townships, municipalities, etc! It's unfortunate that some would resent this and call it "affirmative action" in an attempt to diminish its significance.
Donaldson did not ruin Hazel Crest. To the contrary, Hazel Crest began to once again prosper and grow under Donaldson, not only in terms of infrastructure developments, but also in terms of community. There was more racially diverse participation among the residents under Donaldson than I'd observed in the more than two decades that I've lived here. This was demonstrated in the harmonious interracial working relationships in the Village Hall as well as in various resident activities (Hazelnut Festival, Senior Center activities, etc.).
I don't know what's happening at Governor's State, but I do know that Donaldson is not responsible for what we've lost in Hazel Crest over the last several months.

Sankofa: But it doesn't strike you as bad practice to fill positions with black people simply because the village is mostly populated by black people? You didn't say one word about whether those black people were as qualified than the white people who held those positions. You ARE saying that the race makeup of a village should be the most important factor in filling government positions. If 70% of a village is black, 70% of the positions should be black? If you start filling up the government with marginal candidates simply so that they represent the demographics, then you are setting the village up for embarrassment at some point.

SO, a black person should forget about a job in say Tinley Park or Orland Park because the work force should reflect the "demographics"? Your wrong on this one. To remove a white person from a position just to replace them with a person to reflect the demographics is discrimination. It works both ways. Until you get it, it will never get any better. Thats what the Mayor did with the Deputy Chief in the Police Department. And not only was it wrong because of race but because he's incompetent and a racist himself. He's become the most disliked member in the PD. Ask around and ask the core of black and white members who really do get along. They'll tell you the truth. Dont ask the figure heads, they'll tell you what you want to hear. Keep it rolling Sankofa, your post's are excellent reading.