C'ville board meeting turns ugly

[Shadow]

C'ville board meeting turns ugly

February 20, 2007
BY BEN LEFEBVRE Staff Writer


CARPENTERSVILLE -- What was meant as a mundane, bureaucratic review of complaints filed against the petitions of four village board candidates turned into a political melee Monday night.

More than 50 people, many of them wearing blue and red "Illegal means illegal" buttons, gathered at village hall to see the village electoral board review the charges made against the candidacies of incumbent trustee Paul Humpfer and Judith Sigwalt and challengers Frank Stoneham and Keith Hinz.

If the board finds objections filed by two Carpentersville residents valid, it would bar the four candidates -- all supporters of the village's proposed Illegal Immigration Relief Act -- from running in April's village board election.

Insults and catcalls from the crowd at times made the proceedings nearly inaudible. Village President Bill Sarto ordered one man to leave the auditorium. Police removed a second man who shouted expletives at the village attorney.

"Can we get a little decorum here?" asked Sarto, who sat on the board with village trustee Kay Teeter and village clerk Terri Wilde.

Decorum may have been lacking, but debate wasn't. The board needed 15 minutes to argue whether Sarto should even be there, after Humpfer questioned his impartiality as a judge.

"First off, you have taken a negative view of myself and Sigwalt," he told the village president. "Secondly, you circulated petitions for our opposition and neither of those petitions have been challenged."

Sarto said that although he had circulated petitions for two other village board candidates, he believed he could be impartial. Teeter disagreed, however, forcing Sarto to undergo an embarrassing 2-1 vote to keep himself on the board.

The board then got to business, reviewing the objections made by two Carpentersville residents, neither of whom attended the hearing.

Janet Brown, a parent who supported widening the dual-language program implemented in District 300 schools, filed objections against Humpfer and Sigwalt, the two co-sponsors of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which would specify English as the village's official language, and allow for fines against landlords or business owners who aid or abet illegal immigrants. The village board tabled the proposal two weeks after its introduction.

Real estate agent and former chair of the village's now-defunct Hispanic committee Jesus "Jesse" Berreles filed objections to the candidacies of Stoneham and Hinz. Stoneham stood with the Illinois Minuteman group during an October immigration debate in the village, while Hinz is the construction supervisor for District 300.

The two contested about 30 signatures in Hinz's petition and more than 50 signatures in each of the other three candidates', saying the alleged signature and notarization discrepancies should disqualify the candidates from running.

Neither Brown nor Berreles responded to phone calls seeking comment. A total of eight candidates are vying for three open trustee seats in April.

The candidates in question charged that the objectors merely went down their petition lists and checked off random names in order to keep them from campaigning.

"There are so many objections, this is ridiculous," Stoneham said. "They're making a mockery out of this."

After all the noise, the board decided it needed more time to reach a decision. Village attorney Mike Duggan said he plans to meet Thursday with the four candidates or their representatives at the Kane County Clerk's office to compare the contested signatures with those on file with county records. The electoral board is then scheduled to reconvene Saturday to hear from those whose names appeared on the petitions.

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[Beckyal]

It sounds like the complaints were meant to stop anti-illegal politicans from taken their position on the board. If only two people oppose the board members that should not be enough to disrupt the board. It should take more than just two.

[Jean]

Still at it!

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Mud flies in C'ville

March 17, 2007

BY BEN LEFEBVRE Staff Writer

CARPENTERSVILLE -- The weather may have been mild and sunny during much of the past week, but behind the scenes in the village it was raining mud.

With just less than a month to go before the April 17 election, the political discourse in the village isn't getting pretty, with local officials, residents and the village's top employer dragging each other through the dirt.

"It's down there all right," Village President Bill Sarto said. "It certainly isn't helping Carpentersville."

On Thursday afternoon, media members and government officials representing East Dundee, Carpentersville and Community Unit School District 300 received an e-mail from David Reece of Algonquin. The e-mail referred to allegations of abuse contained in a divorce petition filed against Carpentersville Village Trustee Paul Humpfer by his wife in January 2006 and argued Humpfer was not fit for office.

"A message must be sent that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and no one is above the law," Reece wrote.

No criminal charges ever were filed during the proceedings. The petition was withdrawn a month after it was filed with a judge's note stating "the couple is attempting reconciliation." Humpfer and his wife remain together.

"It's a thing of the past," Humpfer said in an interview. "It's unfortunate we have to deal with attacks like this. It's really disappointing to see someone stoop to such low levels on things that don't impact how the village is run."

Reece's e-mail follows on the heels of a letter sent to 9,000 registered voters in Carpentersville by Tom Roeser, president of Otto Engineering and son of Family Taxpayer Network president Jack Roeser.

While stopping short of recommending any specific candidates, Roeser -- in his letter written on Otto letterhead -- suggested that Trustees Humpfer and Judith Sigwalt should not be re-elected.

Humpfer and Sigwalt co-sponsored the controversial Illegal Immigration Relief Act proposed in October. The act, which would penalize landlords and business owners for renting property or hiring undocumented workers, was tabled pending the outcome of a legal battle being waged over similar legislation passed in Hazleton, Pa., in July.

War of words
In his letter, Roeser argued that the village was too focused on illegal immigration and should pay more attention to code enforcement and drawing businesses to the area.
The missive sparked a war of words on the Internet between Carpentersville residents and Sarto -- with The Courier News and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney included on the recipients list. Roughly a dozen e-mail messages flew back and forth within 36 hours, with residents questioning Roeser's motives and Sarto's effectiveness as village president. In turn, Sarto defended Roeser as a major employer in the village and questioned whether certain residents critical of the board had even voted in past elections.

"They rile me all up and then I get angry and send a response," Sarto said. "I probably shouldn't do that."

More than one resident implied Otto "may have hired some illegal aliens" and therefore didn't want to see the illegal immigration act passed, a charge Roeser vehemently denied.

"I'm a major employer," he said. "I don't want to hire illegals. I want a stable work force."

A spokeswoman for the Illinois Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the state agency in charge of investigating businesses suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, said it has never conducted operations against Otto Engineering. When asked whether the company was ever investigated regarding its employees' legal status, she gave the standard "can neither confirm nor deny" response.

Election day is April 17. Kent Baldwin, Sherry Dobson, Jim Frost, Keith Hinz and Laura Zambrano also are running for trustee seats.

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