Since the village has a hard time posting meeting information on the website, we will do it here for them.
Virtual board meeting Tonight, Tuesday 5/26/2020 7PM
To join using your computer:
Log onto: https://zoom.us/j/84161742610
To call in and join by telephone call 312-626-6799 and use Meeting ID 841 6174 2610
REMINDER:
You are not required to identify yourself to enter the meeting or once you are in the meeting. If you are removed from the meeting, you may be able to take legal action against the village for your unlawful removal.
You may be asked to identify yourself if you make a public statement during the public statement segment of the meeting.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Political COVID-19 Cuts
It was an eventful Tuesday in our small village of Forest View. Fox 32’s Dane Placko paid the police department barber shop a visit to inquire about the $30 Gary Wiseman haircut special.
When this story first broke, the village trustees were assured that the hair cut services were never rendered. In a phone interview with Fox news, Powell continued to deny that any of this took place.
Through some brilliant investigative reporting, Dane Placko discovered that Gary Wiseman and others did get their hair trimmed by Wiseman’s personal stylist in the police chief’s office.
So who lied? Did Gary lie to Larry, or did Larry lie to his trustees?
During an on-location interview, Powell said the police chief Gary Wiseman apologized to him several times, but no apology was ever sent to the entire department that received his scathing “cowardice” big bully email.
Absent from the news report was the manager of the barber shop Gary Wiseman. Sources say he locked himself in his office, cut the lights and never came out. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Political motives Larry? How about accountability? You rat out your own residents when they block sidewalks with their cars but you are the biggest offender. Your fire chief has proven to be incompetent not only in his current position but also in his past places of employment. Your deputy chief of police commits FELONY theft of government funds and lies to your face, but you let him continue to do what he pleases. COVID or not, any other town would have had him removed immediately. And now your chief, potentially exposes himself and others to COVID-19 by allowing a stylist to be up close and personal. What we want to know is who vacuumed the hair off the chief’s carpet?
You are all ego Mr. Larry “Because I said so” Powell.
We are just calling it like it is, the media always wins but the fat lady hasn't started singing just yet.
When this story first broke, the village trustees were assured that the hair cut services were never rendered. In a phone interview with Fox news, Powell continued to deny that any of this took place.
Through some brilliant investigative reporting, Dane Placko discovered that Gary Wiseman and others did get their hair trimmed by Wiseman’s personal stylist in the police chief’s office.
So who lied? Did Gary lie to Larry, or did Larry lie to his trustees?
During an on-location interview, Powell said the police chief Gary Wiseman apologized to him several times, but no apology was ever sent to the entire department that received his scathing “cowardice” big bully email.
Political motives Larry? How about accountability? You rat out your own residents when they block sidewalks with their cars but you are the biggest offender. Your fire chief has proven to be incompetent not only in his current position but also in his past places of employment. Your deputy chief of police commits FELONY theft of government funds and lies to your face, but you let him continue to do what he pleases. COVID or not, any other town would have had him removed immediately. And now your chief, potentially exposes himself and others to COVID-19 by allowing a stylist to be up close and personal. What we want to know is who vacuumed the hair off the chief’s carpet?
You are all ego Mr. Larry “Because I said so” Powell.
We are just calling it like it is, the media always wins but the fat lady hasn't started singing just yet.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Feel the Burn
New toys often come with instructions for their use or a quick start setup guide. You may want to follow those instructions very carefully when they involve hazardous chemicals. The fire chief Tom Heller who we would imagine is certified in hazardous material awareness, filled a disinfecting fog machine with the wrong ratio of hazardous chemicals. The fire chief fired up the machine and the village public safety building was filled with noxious fumes. Firefighters and police officers who were in the building reported a burning sensation in their eyes and respiratory issues most likely caused by the gallon of ammonia Heller dumped into the machine.
We would bet that the instructions did not call for an entire gallon of ammonia. This method of disinfecting fire apparatus is known to cause serious and preventable health effects. It is recommended that if an illness or injury due to exposure to ammonia is suspected, those involved should be immediately referred to a physician. Instead several fire department members were sent home for the day following the building fumigation.
If you send everyone home, who responds in the event of a fire?
Larry Powell’s picks are the gifts that just keep giving.
We would bet that the instructions did not call for an entire gallon of ammonia. This method of disinfecting fire apparatus is known to cause serious and preventable health effects. It is recommended that if an illness or injury due to exposure to ammonia is suspected, those involved should be immediately referred to a physician. Instead several fire department members were sent home for the day following the building fumigation.
If you send everyone home, who responds in the event of a fire?
Larry Powell’s picks are the gifts that just keep giving.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Chain of Quarantine Hair Cuts
Village of Forest View police officers were given a stern reminder of who’s boss ‘round here. In an email sent to the entire police department, Chief Gary Wiseman referred to the individual officers who went above him to report his department violations as “cowards”. Wiseman reminded officers that a chain of command exists which still includes the Deputy Chief of Police Salvador Rodriguez even though he is currently under investigation.
Wiseman’s email was triggered by recent events which included an officer reporting that the Chief invited his personal hair stylist to use the Forest View police station as a temporary place of business. With the current COVID-19 pandemic and an executive order issued by the Governor of Illinois barring salons and barbers from operating, Wiseman was going to allow his personal hair stylist to operate on village property and provide haircuts for him and other officers. We would assume his stylist wasn’t going to be doing this for free.
If this beauty fair would have taken place, we would bet it would be in violation of some department policies; using the village email system to promote or drive clients to a business in his official capacity as Chief of Police? Allowing unauthorized persons into the police station? Wiseman’s defense will be that he is the boss and can authorize such a person to violate the governor’s stay at home order and come into the station to violate the order some more and turn a profit. So instead of procuring the correct laptops for the patrol vehicles, Wiseman spent his time setting appointments for some quarantine hair cuts.
Wiseman’s Buzz Kutz event was abruptly canceled.
Four Problems
Gary Wiseman’s email tantrum went on to point out that four village trustees have made it difficult to hire additional manpower. Why would anyone trust anything Wiseman and his side kick bring before the board. Gary must have experienced some short-term memory loss. Let us refresh his memory:
The board may be reluctant to allow a new hire under the Larry, Gary & Sal administration since it is very likely that the Deputy Chief Salvador Rodriguez may or may have not conducted a formal background investigation on the candidate. Even if Rodriguez did complete a background check, after being accused of falsifying records and theft, we don’t think his background check reports are very credible at the moment.
One thing we are curious about is how many Village of Forest View police badges and IDs are out there with these part-time officers that can’t or won’t work?
Broken Chains
In a department meeting, Larry Powell informed officers they would be able to contact him if they needed to discuss any department issues. Gary and Salvador did not like that idea, but Larry insisted.
A police chief is expected to make sound decisions pertaining to his daily operations as well as his picks for second in command. When Gary isn’t doing his job, you go to Larry. Gary says if you go to Larry about Gary, you are a COWARD. Second in the “chain of command” is Salvador Rodriguez who under Gary Wiseman’s direct supervision managed to land himself in hot water. When Salvador isn’t doing his Job, you go to Gary. When you go to Gary about Salvador, Gary shows you his collection of police badges on the corner of his desk. Open door policy only works when you are awake to welcome visitors crossing the threshold.
The department is in shambles, but we are not surprised. As reported here on the “coward” blog, the village trustees who approved Gary Wiseman’s initial appointment were not informed of Wisemans checkered employment history as a Stickney police officer. Gary was handed the golden ticket to a free paycheck for sleeping in a manager’s chair watching the park from his window while his deputy chief worked on school district business on the Forest View clock. How much more of this Wiseman and Rodriguez circus will Larry tolerate?
Once again, steer clear and hide those garbage cans.
Wiseman’s email was triggered by recent events which included an officer reporting that the Chief invited his personal hair stylist to use the Forest View police station as a temporary place of business. With the current COVID-19 pandemic and an executive order issued by the Governor of Illinois barring salons and barbers from operating, Wiseman was going to allow his personal hair stylist to operate on village property and provide haircuts for him and other officers. We would assume his stylist wasn’t going to be doing this for free.
If this beauty fair would have taken place, we would bet it would be in violation of some department policies; using the village email system to promote or drive clients to a business in his official capacity as Chief of Police? Allowing unauthorized persons into the police station? Wiseman’s defense will be that he is the boss and can authorize such a person to violate the governor’s stay at home order and come into the station to violate the order some more and turn a profit. So instead of procuring the correct laptops for the patrol vehicles, Wiseman spent his time setting appointments for some quarantine hair cuts.
Wiseman’s Buzz Kutz event was abruptly canceled.
Four Problems
Gary Wiseman’s email tantrum went on to point out that four village trustees have made it difficult to hire additional manpower. Why would anyone trust anything Wiseman and his side kick bring before the board. Gary must have experienced some short-term memory loss. Let us refresh his memory:
- Gary’s Deputy Chief fired or pushed all the reliable part-timers out and brought in his own friends
- No formal background checks were conducted on any of the Deputy Chief’s friends when they were hired
- Gary’s Deputy Chief is currently under investigation for theft of government funds
The board may be reluctant to allow a new hire under the Larry, Gary & Sal administration since it is very likely that the Deputy Chief Salvador Rodriguez may or may have not conducted a formal background investigation on the candidate. Even if Rodriguez did complete a background check, after being accused of falsifying records and theft, we don’t think his background check reports are very credible at the moment.
One thing we are curious about is how many Village of Forest View police badges and IDs are out there with these part-time officers that can’t or won’t work?
Broken Chains
In a department meeting, Larry Powell informed officers they would be able to contact him if they needed to discuss any department issues. Gary and Salvador did not like that idea, but Larry insisted.
A police chief is expected to make sound decisions pertaining to his daily operations as well as his picks for second in command. When Gary isn’t doing his job, you go to Larry. Gary says if you go to Larry about Gary, you are a COWARD. Second in the “chain of command” is Salvador Rodriguez who under Gary Wiseman’s direct supervision managed to land himself in hot water. When Salvador isn’t doing his Job, you go to Gary. When you go to Gary about Salvador, Gary shows you his collection of police badges on the corner of his desk. Open door policy only works when you are awake to welcome visitors crossing the threshold.
The department is in shambles, but we are not surprised. As reported here on the “coward” blog, the village trustees who approved Gary Wiseman’s initial appointment were not informed of Wisemans checkered employment history as a Stickney police officer. Gary was handed the golden ticket to a free paycheck for sleeping in a manager’s chair watching the park from his window while his deputy chief worked on school district business on the Forest View clock. How much more of this Wiseman and Rodriguez circus will Larry tolerate?
Once again, steer clear and hide those garbage cans.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The Village of Larry View
The COVID-19 crisis has led municipalities to use technology more than ever before. Our village is no exception, well to a certain extent. The May 12th, 2020 board meeting was held using video conferencing technology with the information to join being posted at the closed village hall door. That is right, the village hall is closed due to COVID-19. This would lead a resident to reasonably believe that access to the meeting information would not be available.
If you attempted to join the meeting right from the start at 7PM, you would have had to wait until the host approved or allowed you to participate in the meeting:
Once you were allowed into the meeting by the host (Joy Conklin), you were asked to identify yourself via private message by one of the trustees and the meeting host:
If you did not respond, you were kicked out of the meeting and again asked to identify yourself:
The fact that meeting host Joy Conklin can cherry pick who is allowed into a public village board meeting or remove attendees when they refuse to identify themselves is a direct violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Ironically, a meeting participant may have alerted her to her blatant violations by using a screen handle of “OpenMeetingsActViolation” when joining the meeting.
Village Communication
A discussion was started revealing how village residents are not being tended to in a timely manner under Mark Masciola. The trustees heard excuse after excuse from Masciola on how the office is not fully staffed and how Masciola took a day off for the first time ever. Masciola has demonstrated that he has a hard time picking up a phone to communicate with village residents. Why do we pay this clown? Our better half works remotely, answers and makes calls in pajamas without even leaving home.
It was truly refreshing to hear Larry show his true colors and say that passing out notices to resident houses was a “waste of time”. This folks, this is how the village keeps you in the dark. Meeting notices posted on a door of a building presumed to be closed sure gets a lot of views. Newsletters, yeah no more of those. The website? Still not done. Call the village? No one is available to take your call. Need a permit? Here is an ordinance violation fine instead. The village has the money to give Thomas Heller for a hand me down fire truck but they can’t pay someone a couple hundred dollars to update the website with IMPORTANT RESIDENT INFORMATION?
Why a waste of time Larry? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Tommy Heller drove a bus….
…. right over his men. A highly respected trustee informed Fire Chief Tom Heller that he witnessed an ambulance go in the wrong direction when responding to a medical emergency. The trustee requested that Heller makes sure that newly hired firemen are well trained on village streets (geography). Heller goes on record and rats his own men out saying he himself has witnessed his most senior firemen drive the wrong way for calls. So the firemen who have been working for the village the longest don’t know the village streets? We would think that in a medical emergency, seconds, hell, milliseconds count. Looks like someone needs to FOIA those fire call records and analyze the response times (hint hint). Excellent lawsuit material.
Miles of Valor Award
The BP fuel stop on 47th and Central is known as one of the busiest in the state. A robbery, well not just a robbery, an ARMED ROBBERY was reported at the gas station just as a cop left to fulfil the most important duty of the watch…. RECORD 50 MILES driven with your patrol car to keep your job.
A trustee challenged the Chief of Police Gary Wiseman on the new mileage policy. Wiseman confirmed that he uses mileage recorded at the end of each watch to evaluate if an officer effectively patrolled the village. Wiseman first denied he required 50 miles but did say that he was able to drive 24 miles in one hour. Wiseman also said he sent an email to his subordinates telling them they were required to do double that amount. Which is close to 50 as pointed out by a trustee.
If you drive the ENTIRE village, you can easily log just over 14 miles:
The question is how long would it take you during the day versus night when you have to turn a patrol vehicle around at 9 dead ends (Including end of village limits at 47th/Laramie and 51St/Rutherford), stop at 13 traffic lights and over 30 stop signs? We counted. You also must factor in citizen contacts, business checks, traffic stops or responding to calls and traffic. If Gary logged 24 miles in an hour during HIS work hours, he must have been using the same method as that one day shift officer by driving in circles around the Dunkin Donuts for that entire hour.
Oh Gary, thirty years of experience and you are still clueless on how police work is done. You measure effectiveness by looking at your crime statistics and volume of citizen complaints. Armed Robberies in Forest View? At night when you only have three cash handling businesses open? You should just hang it up Gary. You are useless just like your three stooges on the day shift.
Oh yes.... still no cameras in the police cars and the chief issued bazooka light bars to "fix" the unlit keyboard issue. Now police officers have a really bright blinding light on their computers. When Wiseman was asked about the grants he passed on for the cameras, he played dumb. No surprise there.
The Untouchable
Still running around doing as he pleases and playing Deputy Chief, Salvador Rodriguez is currently under investigation for possible Official Misconduct and it did happen Theft of Government funds.
Another one of Gary’s awesome picks is still hanging on to hope that COVID-19 delays makes this all go away. A trustee respectfully requested for the release of notes from an executive session in which Larry Powell has denied. The trustee was looking to review exactly what the internal investigation was to cover since it has dragged on way too long. It was said that the investigating party, the village’s municipal attorney is awaiting a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Larry Powell then offered to review the document himself and inform the rest if everything is being done as indicated. Okay Larry, you cannot be trusted to do anything right. You allowed this village to self-implode and you want the trustees to trust you with reviewing a document?
Give us a break.
If you attempted to join the meeting right from the start at 7PM, you would have had to wait until the host approved or allowed you to participate in the meeting:
If you did not respond, you were kicked out of the meeting and again asked to identify yourself:
The fact that meeting host Joy Conklin can cherry pick who is allowed into a public village board meeting or remove attendees when they refuse to identify themselves is a direct violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Ironically, a meeting participant may have alerted her to her blatant violations by using a screen handle of “OpenMeetingsActViolation” when joining the meeting.
Village Communication
A discussion was started revealing how village residents are not being tended to in a timely manner under Mark Masciola. The trustees heard excuse after excuse from Masciola on how the office is not fully staffed and how Masciola took a day off for the first time ever. Masciola has demonstrated that he has a hard time picking up a phone to communicate with village residents. Why do we pay this clown? Our better half works remotely, answers and makes calls in pajamas without even leaving home.
It was truly refreshing to hear Larry show his true colors and say that passing out notices to resident houses was a “waste of time”. This folks, this is how the village keeps you in the dark. Meeting notices posted on a door of a building presumed to be closed sure gets a lot of views. Newsletters, yeah no more of those. The website? Still not done. Call the village? No one is available to take your call. Need a permit? Here is an ordinance violation fine instead. The village has the money to give Thomas Heller for a hand me down fire truck but they can’t pay someone a couple hundred dollars to update the website with IMPORTANT RESIDENT INFORMATION?
Why a waste of time Larry? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Tommy Heller drove a bus….
…. right over his men. A highly respected trustee informed Fire Chief Tom Heller that he witnessed an ambulance go in the wrong direction when responding to a medical emergency. The trustee requested that Heller makes sure that newly hired firemen are well trained on village streets (geography). Heller goes on record and rats his own men out saying he himself has witnessed his most senior firemen drive the wrong way for calls. So the firemen who have been working for the village the longest don’t know the village streets? We would think that in a medical emergency, seconds, hell, milliseconds count. Looks like someone needs to FOIA those fire call records and analyze the response times (hint hint). Excellent lawsuit material.
Miles of Valor Award
The BP fuel stop on 47th and Central is known as one of the busiest in the state. A robbery, well not just a robbery, an ARMED ROBBERY was reported at the gas station just as a cop left to fulfil the most important duty of the watch…. RECORD 50 MILES driven with your patrol car to keep your job.
A trustee challenged the Chief of Police Gary Wiseman on the new mileage policy. Wiseman confirmed that he uses mileage recorded at the end of each watch to evaluate if an officer effectively patrolled the village. Wiseman first denied he required 50 miles but did say that he was able to drive 24 miles in one hour. Wiseman also said he sent an email to his subordinates telling them they were required to do double that amount. Which is close to 50 as pointed out by a trustee.
If you drive the ENTIRE village, you can easily log just over 14 miles:
The question is how long would it take you during the day versus night when you have to turn a patrol vehicle around at 9 dead ends (Including end of village limits at 47th/Laramie and 51St/Rutherford), stop at 13 traffic lights and over 30 stop signs? We counted. You also must factor in citizen contacts, business checks, traffic stops or responding to calls and traffic. If Gary logged 24 miles in an hour during HIS work hours, he must have been using the same method as that one day shift officer by driving in circles around the Dunkin Donuts for that entire hour.
Oh Gary, thirty years of experience and you are still clueless on how police work is done. You measure effectiveness by looking at your crime statistics and volume of citizen complaints. Armed Robberies in Forest View? At night when you only have three cash handling businesses open? You should just hang it up Gary. You are useless just like your three stooges on the day shift.
Oh yes.... still no cameras in the police cars and the chief issued bazooka light bars to "fix" the unlit keyboard issue. Now police officers have a really bright blinding light on their computers. When Wiseman was asked about the grants he passed on for the cameras, he played dumb. No surprise there.
The Untouchable
Still running around doing as he pleases and playing Deputy Chief, Salvador Rodriguez is currently under investigation for possible Official Misconduct and it did happen Theft of Government funds.
Another one of Gary’s awesome picks is still hanging on to hope that COVID-19 delays makes this all go away. A trustee respectfully requested for the release of notes from an executive session in which Larry Powell has denied. The trustee was looking to review exactly what the internal investigation was to cover since it has dragged on way too long. It was said that the investigating party, the village’s municipal attorney is awaiting a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Larry Powell then offered to review the document himself and inform the rest if everything is being done as indicated. Okay Larry, you cannot be trusted to do anything right. You allowed this village to self-implode and you want the trustees to trust you with reviewing a document?
Give us a break.
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