Broken Windows Theory, Illustrated

On July 10th we posted photos of three broken windows at the Gail Borden Public Library.
Today I drove by and now there are SEVEN.




They never did replace the first three, proving the Broken Windows Theory has merit.

If you don't fix vandalized property promptly, the lack of respect grows and you have more broken windows.

On another note, none of the four broken windows at The Centre have been replaced either. What a black mark on our city.

UPDATE: The windows at The Centre were replaced sometime on or about September 2nd. Still no replacements at the library.

Update #2: Sometime between 9/13 and 9/18 the windows were finally replaced at the library. What a shame it took so long. Who would build a building with glass that takes two and a half months to replace? Answer: The government.

Safer than Naperville

Take in the idyllic beauty of quiet downtown Elgin.
Look at the public money spent to beautify it and command respect from the residents.
The architectural streetlamps, the patriotic banners, the planter boxes, the real brick pavers, the recreation center, the parking garage...
But just around the corner Elgin's rec center, called The Centre, has four broken windows . Unlike the library, they appear to be shot out.

And they are a pain to replace. They had one lane of Kimball blocked yesterday with a snorkel unit attempting to reach from the street to the broken windows. I guess they had trouble because the windows haven't been replaced and the snorkel is parked in the lot just west of The Centre.
Broken window #1. Near the Northeast corner by the running track. Note the rowhouses across the street.
Broken window #2, between the running track and the pool.

Broken window #3 at the daycare area.

Broken window #4 at the pool.

Security camera guarding the city vehicle parking lot.Once again, this is happening on a busy street a block away from the police station.

But crime is way down according to authorities.

UPDATE: The windows at The Centre were replaced sometime on or about September 2nd.

Smash and Grab...

...at the computer lab.

These photos were taken today at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, Illinois.
When you combine an abundance of ROCKS...

...with the temptation of computers in the window...
...you get broken windows.
There are THREE of them currently as indicated by the arrows.Now, this library has gone all out to serve the community. They just opened a teen center. They have summer programs and a coffee shop and free Internet access and free videos and free music downloads and a medieval exhibit...

I'm thinking Nanny is a bit upset about what they get in return.

Where do we go from here? I don't know. These break-ins are right along Kimball Street, not along the back side of the building. When they are that determined, only a high fence will keep them out.

Update: Sometime between 9/13 and 9/18 the windows were FINALLY replaced. Any way you look at it, the broken windows were neglected for too long.

Bumper cars in Elgin

Courier News

June 7, 2011

Six injured: Six people were sent to Elgin hospitals with minor injuries after a two-car crash at 4:20 p.m. Monday at Harrison and Jay streets, police said. Elgin resident Maria Vera, 35, was cited with failure to yield to a left turn and no valid driver’s license after the car she was driving struck an auto driven by Amanda Delapena, 33 (no hometown listed), police said. Delapena and four children riding in her car were taken to Provena Saint Joseph Hospital, police said. Vera declined hospital transport at the scene, but requested hospital transport after arriving at the Elgin jail and was taken to Sherman Hospital with minor injuries, according to authorities. Police also cited Delapena with driving on a suspended license and no proof of insurance.

Source:

http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/5807999-418/6-hurt-in-two-vehicle-crash-in-elgin-injuries-minor.html

Jobs created, saved...

...or perpetuated.

We blogged here about the Elgin streetscape project, and warned that brick pavers don't weather well under severe weather conditions like ice and snow.

But we didn't realize we'd have problems so soon. Just last year they installed brick crosswalks along Douglas, south of Kimball to Highland.

The other day they had the road closed at the City Hall parking lot while they worked on the brick crosswalk.

Then yesterday they were at the Kimball crosswalk, doing the same thing. I didn't have my camera but I watched them for a few minutes. There were two guys and an Alaniz Landscaping Group forklift blocking the lane. There was a large scoop resting on the sidewalk, filled with sand. And the forklift bore a pallet-load of brick pavers. And they had a wet saw.

The workers were digging bricks out of the crosswalk, staring at them, tapping them, and then putting them in. I assume they were replacing some of them as well.

Keep in mind, these bricks were installed less than a year ago.

I hope this is warranty work, but we are talking about a government project.

Here's a photo of the crosswalk today.
Oh, and don't forget...your property taxes are due today.

Overtaxed by design

It’s no secret that the value of your house has dropped as a result of the recession. A 30-40% drop is not unusual.

So, why doesn't your tax bill reflect a 30-40% drop in "Fair Cash Value?" Is Elgin somehow immune to the forces of economics? Well, we know that’s not true. Elgin has been a hotbed of foreclosures.

Here's what the Kane County Treasurer is saying my house is worth.

Do you see a nosedive in my property values in 2005? Neither do I. In fact, here it is 2011 and they are showing only a modest dip in what my home is worth.

Maybe the tax man can’t get current data from which to calculate the value of your home. Well, that’s not true either. Every real estate transaction and refi is recorded at the county. That’s a core service of county government.

So why does Zillow, a private company that gets all the data from real estate transactions, foreclosures, tax bills, and refi values from the same source (Kane County) come up with far different numbers than the ones that appear on your tax bill?

Here's what Zillow says has been happening in Elgin and to MY home over the last decade:


And here you see the percent of value change from year to year. The green line is how my home value has changed according to my tax bill and the blue line is the REAL market change.

Over a ten year period, the Kane County tax man says my home has gone up by 58%. But the REAL cash value of my home is only 6% higher! Quite a difference.

Now, the tax man says the change in value can lag by three years due to the assessment cycle. Even that isn't true, as the charts above reveal.

But try to get an explanation and you get this:
The city proudly boasts that our tax rate hasn't gone up in 20 years.
The county board tells you they don't assess your property.
The assessor says he doesn't set the rate of your taxes.
The county treasurer says he only sends out the bills, based on the figures he was given.
The county recorder only records transactions.

If you want something done, you must do it yourself. First, you need to see if your "Fair Cash Value" is far higher than your house would sell for these days. You will then need to pay $300-400 to have a real estate appraisal done. (NOTE: You do NOT need a lawyer or a specialist to do this for you.)

Take the paperwork to the township assessors office at the Elgin Township building on South McLean Blvd and show them that they have been charging you too much property tax. They will reduce your bill NEXT year. They will NOT rebate what they've been overcharging you all these years.

Now, it's OK for the state to skip payments. It's OK for federal block grants to dry up. But you have to beg for an honest tax bill...because you're just the lowly old citizen and if you don't pay up, the Sheriff will sell your house for taxes.

Welcome to Illinois...

...a sanctuary state.

They did it. The Illinois House passed the "Smart Enforcement Law," effectively unplugging the ICE screening process from the county jails. The Secure Communities program is sure to be discontinued in Kane and Lake Counties, since Sheriffs Pat Perez and Mark Curran were front men for the charade.

It is really a shame when they turn their backs on the oath of office.

News coverage here:
http://dailyherald.com/article/20110506/news/705069878//

Roll call here:
http://dailyherald.com/article/20110506/news/705069876/

Keith Farnham was true to his word and voted against it.

Now, on to the Senate, which means Mike Noland will get a shot at it.
No doubt he's all for any measure that makes it easier for illegal aliens to live here.

Ironic, isn't it.

In the wake of the death of bin Laden, on May 2nd Homeland Security issues a press release telling us that they are cooperating with state and local law enforcement agencies to maintain "a heightened state of vigilance."
Then, on May 4th Governor Quinn sends them a letter telling them that the Illinois State Police will not cooperate with them on the Secure Communities program.

This just in...

Farnham responds:

Hi Doug,

Rep. Farnham asked me to respond to your email. He is against HB 929, which would allow counties to opt out of the Secure Communities Act. He is hopeful that the federal government will get its act together and develop a comprehensive immigration plan. It is important for the federal government to play a central role in implementing a nationwide system, rather than having a patchwork of plans among states.

If you have any other questions please send me your contact number and I'll have Rep. Farnham call you to discuss further.

Thank you.

--
Marty McCormack
Legislative and Community Outreach Coordinator

I guess the key to getting a response is to tell him you're going to blog about it.

His position isn't very bold, given the fact that Quinn has neutered the ICE program with his recent letter.

Insecure Communities

The politicians in Springfield have always had a soft spot for illegal aliens.

For example,

· Illinois is one of only ten states that give in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens.

· Illinois banned the use of E-Verify. It took a lawsuit by the Feds to rescind that ban.

· Illinois is the ONLY state in the nation that forbids municipalities from using E-Verify with their contractors, although the Feds REQUIRE E-Verify of all businesses doing business with Washington.

· Illinois has spent billions of dollars providing free health care to illegal aliens under the AllKids program.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we are now sending official signals to Washington that they are deporting TOO MANY illegal aliens from Illinois.

Yesterday, May 4^th, Governor Quinn sent a letter to ICE telling them that Illinois will no longer participate in the Secure Communities program. Why? Because it deports too many people who have not been convicted of a violent crime.

Are they illegal aliens? Yes. Have they been correctly identified? Yes. Were they brought to a county jail as a suspect in a crime. Yes. Is there evidence of racial profiling? No.

But since he feels they are law-abiding illegal aliens, he doesn’t want them deported.

Now, a little background on Secure Communities. It was introduced by Homeland Security late in the Bush administration (Spring of 2008) and was to be rolled out in stages. First, they would set up shop in the county jails in areas known to have a high concentration of illegal aliens.

They tap into the fingerprint scanners at these county jails and check the records of known illegal aliens in real-time. They then put an immigration hold on that person.

Once the county is done with the perp, ICE is contacted. Now, was he convicted? Sometimes not. Depending on the States Attorney or the judge or some plea bargain or the capacity of the jail that day, maybe he wasn’t convicted.

And often ICE has no room at the inn, so he is released. At the end of the day, Secure Communities as it is currently funded cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered to be picking up innocent illegal aliens off the streets and deporting them.

But Quinn has nixed the program. Note also that Springfield is working hard to get counties to opt out of Secure Communities in a misnamed bill called “Smart Enforcement Act.”

It should come as no surprise that Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez is a staunch supporter of the bill.

As for our Rep, Keith Farnham, I asked him for information on the bill on March 31, April 1 and April 15. I have not heard back from him. Perhaps YOU should send him an e-mail as well. He's at krfarnham@gmail.com

You’ll also be pleased to know that in honor of Cinco de Mayo Springfield has enhanced the illegal alien in-state tuition program to include participation in scholarships and the college savings program.

Welcome to Illinois, a Sanctuary State. (Also broke, overtaxed and overextended.)

Links to articles:

About Quinn’s letter to ICE

www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-fingerprintingimm,0,6075609.story

About the in-state tuition changes

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110504/news/705049852//

A touch of class

A tip of the hat...

...to Elgin's new mayor.
Congratulations, David Kaptain.

The day has come...

...to cast your vote.

ELECTION DAY.
Polls open at 6:00 am and close at 7:00 pm

Complaints about polling place violations?
Call the Kane County State's Attorney's Office
at (630) 208-5328.

In Cook County call the Vote fraud hotline
at (312) 603-0909.

Through the eyes...

...of the bureaucrats.
Here's a document that is part of the City of Elgin's planning process. It shows the Assessed Value of all Elgin properties.


And here is what Elgin looks like, according to Zillow. Now, Zillow is a website that helps people looking for homes. It tracks the REALISTIC value of property, based on what people were willing to pay for homes in the area.
The green line in the chart above is the median value of homes in Elgin. The yellow line represents home values in zip code 60120. The brown line is the home value of 360 North Spring Street in the NENA area.

It is on the market for $110,000. The Kane County clerk is taxing it at $159,000.

We live in different worlds, don't we?

Schock and Warren improve downtown

Recent back-room activity by Mayor Schock and Councilman Warren (both miraculously on the April ballot) has resulted in new space for the seniors on the east side of Elgin.
The map below shows the location of this new Revenue Drain to our "vibrant" downtown district.
Well, it does take care of two vacant storefronts. The Bandits office is still vacant. Maybe we're already paying for that space. Why not move in there?

By the way Ed, the cardiologists in town are complaining about the location. It's too close to Al's!

On a related note, Stegall has cast in his lot with Schock and Warren on this one. Look for changes in management at Dexter Court if Dave Kaptain wins.

Pardon me...

...your math is showing.
Mayor Schock defended the Artspace project by saying that it would for the first time be paying property taxes.
Let's examine that for a moment. We are going to use $14.5 million tax dollars and maybe collect $100,000 in property taxes once it gets going.
It will take us 145 YEARS to return our investment!

CORRECTION! I made a mistake above. It is a wrong assumption to think the $14.5 million is the total investment. Remember that this will be SUBSIDIZED housing, so even more tax money will be pumped into the project. If the average per unit Section 8 subsidy reaches $151.52 per month, it will be mathematically impossible to begin paying off the debt.

The Downtown Details

The red Vs are vacant storefronts.
The blue RDs are the revenue drains in town, things like government agencies and non-revenue producing organizations.
If not for the banks and the churches, it would be a ghost town!

Index to Forum Rebuttals

We've been busy posting information about the forum responses from Mayor Schock and Councilman Kaptian on Wednesday 16, 2011. Here's an index to those rebuttals:

What we THINK Schock meant when he said property values are UP in the central district:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/pass-dramamine.html

The absurdity of Schock's statement that he has done everything he legally can to fight illegal alien criminals in town:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/toughest-town-around.html

Ed said the white population in Elgin grew by 9%. Here's the census comparison:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/did-i-hear-him-right.html

A contraption to make sure things don't go over the heads of these two:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/making-point-stick.html

Photos taken March 18, 2011 of Schock's downtown success story:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/elgins-successful-downtown.html

Trying to get a handle on the immigration screening numbers thrown about at the forum:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/immigration-screening-numbers.html

My complaint about some vague numbers given out by the candidates, and an invitation for them to give us the source data:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/if-figures-lie.html

Wishing for something more about the rehab program:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/answer-question.html

Begging to differ on the pre-analysis of the four immigration initiatives:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2011/03/analyze-this.html

Analyze This!

Remember this slide from the forum?

Obviously, I was after an answer but got lies. Strong language, I know, but the public record isn't there to support what they told you Wednesday night.

A little background on how the city operates is in order. Council members receive a packet of information a few days before their meetings. And they get BACKGROUND info on each proposal. (You can call up the entire packet for any recent meeting on-line.)
This background memo is provided by the staff. It follows a certain outline.

• Item - Identifies it as a unique proposal
• Objective - What they hope to accomplish
  
• Recommendation - What city staff thinks ought to happen
  
• Background - A paragraph summarizing why it is needed
  
• Operational Analysis - Bid results mostly
  
• Interested Persons Contacted - Lists the people with a vested interest and confirms that someone talked to them.
  
• Financial Analysis - How much the project will cost
  
• Budget Impact - Which fund it will come from, and how much money is available
  
• Legal Impact - Did they follow the law in bidding and selecting
  
• Alternatives - What else COULD be done
  
• Next Step - What the council needs to do
  
• Originators - Who prepared the proposal
  
• Final Review - Who signed off on it
  
• Approved - Where the city manager gives his approval
  

The council members can then look at the memo and have a pretty good idea of how something works and what it will cost us.

Contrary to what they BOTH told you Wednesday, there is no impact memo and there was no vote taken in open meeting on these initiatives.

In fact, they deliberately avoided any kind of proposal or ordinance because they didn't want to talk publicly about it and be forced to cast a vote.

They were afraid that AFLA would fill the council chambers and the Latino activists would do the same.

As a result, no one was assigned to do the random audits, there was no plan to analyze and report back to council and there was no money set aside to carry it out.

They had no intention of auditing city contractors for compliance with these initiatives.

NO VOTE, NO PLANNING, NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

And both Schock and Kaptain answered the question as though they had.

Is it any wonder that the initiatives came to naught in the end?

ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Because of limited time, we were unable to do much following up with the answers given by the candidates on Wednesday. Those present surely realized that they weren't answering the questions, but rather giving the canned answers they had prepared.

A case in point is the question on the Stimulus Rehabs. It was, "How is this supposed to stabilize these neighborhoods?"


Ed talked on and on about the poor condition of these homes, but never explained the concept as it applies to the neighborhoods.

So, we dump a bunch of money into these homes and sell them as though they were just like the surrounding home prices. One lucky family gets a bargain.

So what? The neighbors are not going to be motivated by this subsidized home with laminate floors, new walls and new toilets. They will never see all the money dumped inside.

After a few years the paint on the outside will peel and the place will look just like the rest.

I repeat the question, How is this supposed to stabilize these neighborhoods?

If figures lie...

...what does that say for vague statements?

Ed Schock made a couple of vague statements at our forum.

One was that the $700,000 investment in the failed Bandits softball field paid for itself in tax revenue from local hotels and restaurants.

I would really like to see his figures to back that up.

The second statement was regarding sustainability. Is it REALLY paying its own way? Show me the data. I agree that some portions of the agenda pay for themselves through savings, but there is all sorts of baggage that does not. Show us the numbers, gentlemen. And show us those numbers in the context of the entire bill for the green agenda.

Immigration Screening Numbers

Ed Schock came up with a number of 300 illegal aliens detected in Elgin and 20 deported.
Dave Kaptain came up with yet another number.

I guess we need to know the time frame here. I feel reasonably confident that 340 illegals were detected between March 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009.

Why? Because EPD provided me a list every month during that time period and I compiled it. The list had sufficient detail (Name, DOB, case#, FBI#, ICE response...) to lead me to believe it was legitimate. And Microsoft Excel adds reasonably well.

I can only guess that Ed's 300 was for the year 2010. That would be believable.
But even Schock's number changes. In October, 90% were not illegal. In March the number is now 95%.

Neither candidate had an answer about their response to the data. I can't get any more direct than to ask, "What ACTION did you take upon reviewing this data?"

In my mind, a responsible city council would have called the police chief into an open meeting and explain that the public safety is at stake, then develop a plan...sort of like the flurry of activity surrounding the green agenda.

They did nothing. Womack continued to dig in her heels and the mayor and city council refused to discuss the issue in council meetings.

Elgin's "Successful" Downtown

If you will recall, I asked the question about the wisdom of dumping another $8 million into the River Walk after the lack of success with streetscaping schemes over the years, Festival Park, the condos, Prairie Rock, Walton Islands, the Overlook, the library...
Why throw good money after bad?
Schock's answer shocked me. He said these projects have been successful because property values in the downtown district have gone UP.
So I took a little drive and snapped some photos of downtown TODAY. I've got to admit, it looked worse than I thought it would. I didn't have any trouble parking, that's for sure!

The Tower Building has space for rent. That's no surprise.


I got a chuckle out of this one. It was the old Bandits office.
Mad Maggie's is indeed CLOSED.





This building used to be owned by Rep. Keith Farnham. Don't know now.

Quiznos, now closed.

These photos were all taken on Douglas, Grove, Fulton and Spring Streets.

And the mayor calls this a success? Clearly he's missing the point about downtown, the blight and the failure of throwing government money at it.

Making a point stick

At the AFLA forum on Wednesday I tried (using a photo of my grandchildren) to impress upon Mayor Schock and Councilman Kaptain the notion that grants are NOT free money.

Illinois is broke and so is the nation. We are printing money backed by nothing but debt to the likes of China.

The objective is to leave something to your grandchildren, not leave them with a debt to pay for our reckless spending.

My point was that grabbing some pork for Elgin instead of Rockford is a fool's game when we are paying for it with interest.

But both of them rambled on, spouting the revenue source as this grant or that. There was no acknowledgment that grants are not free money at all.

So I got to thinking that neither candidate has any bangs. Maybe these concepts are sailing over the top. Here's a visor that just might trap a few of these ideas so they fall down right before their eyes.

Did I hear him right?

At the March 16th forum, I thought I heard Ed Schock say that the white population in Elgin GREW by 9%.
And that the growth is due to higher fertility among Latinos.

It appears to me that the census comparison would indicate that the white only population DROPPED in both percentage and actual numbers.

...and that the ADULTS grew faster than the under 18 group.

Just another example of playing fast-and-loose with the data at the forums.

Toughest town around

Mayor Schock told us at the recent forum that Elgin is doing everything legally possible to curb the presence of illegal aliens in town. He challenged us to name any town that is doing MORE.

Well, let’s give you a little chronology on immigration enforcement in Elgin.

May 2006

Here’s where the enforcement strategy comes in. On May 10, 2006 I received an E-mail response from Lt. Cecil Smith of the Elgin Police. My question was regarding the immigration status of people booked at the jail. Lt. Smith replied, “We do not determine the legal or illegal status of any person being processed. Therefore to asnwer (sic) your question”what do you do next?”. The processing/booking of the person would continue. They would be charge (sic) with the appropriate offense and he/she is either allowed to post bail and released or taken to bond call before a judge. We do not handle immigration issues.”

June 2006

On June 14, 2006 I spoke at the Elgin city council meeting and presented each council member with a binder of data and a list of recommendations to improve our cooperation with federal agencies regarding illegal alien enforcement. My recommendations included:

• Fraudulent document training
  
• Enforcement of Fraudulent ID laws
• Instructions about the Mexican Drivers License
• Use of the ICE database to screen people booked
• Notification of ICE when an illegal alien is in the city lock up
• Assisting ICE with transport of illegal aliens to ICE facilities
• Becoming a 287g agency.

My request was ignored, so I came back and spoke again…and again…and again…

July 2006

On July 26, 2006 Elgin Police Chief Lisa Womack presented her recommendation to the city council: Do nothing beyond what is already being done. She said they had a good working relationship with ICE and saw no need to do more.

The council members did not engage her in discussion, but simply accepted the report.

I continued to speak at council meetings for several weeks in a row.

(Note: In June of 2006 Elgin could have applied for a 287g partnership. The waiting list was short and they were processing applications around the country. The waiting list later grew to hundreds of police departments requesting 287g training.)

January 2008 (A YEAR AND A HALF LATER)

The city issues its “Four Initiatives” press release. Item #1 was applying for ICE ACCESS.

ICE ACCESS isn’t really a program per se. It is more like a menu of services. It is a list of the various programs available from the federal government that may be of use to a local law enforcement agency.

ICE ACCESS was nothing more than a request to sit down with ICE, look at the programs together and sign an agreement for one or more of those programs.

We waited. Nothing happened.

January 2009 (Another YEAR gone by)

I made a Freedom of Information request to the city on January 26, 2009 in an attempt to determine what efforts had been made on ICE ACCESS and what results had been achieved. On February 2, 2009 the city attorney’s office responded that they had made a handful of phone calls and requests for an ICE ACCESS meeting. But no meeting was ever held.

February 2010 (Yet another YEAR gone by)

Police Chief Lisa Womack continues to hold to her position that the city and the police department are doing all that they can.

On February 24, 2010 Womack is talking on a conference call with other police chiefs regarding immigration enforcement. Here’s what the Daily Herald reported:

"If there was a local solution to this issue, and this goes back to my Texas roots, the border states would have already figured it out," said Womack, who was police chief in Sugarland, Texas, before coming to Elgin in 2005. "In my opinion, there is not a local solution."

…and "Immigration law and enforcement is a federal law enforcement matter ... We have no one voice on this issue and it has been polarizing at times for this community."

source: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20100226/news/302269953/#ixzz1GxoBEPWi

April 2010

Lisa Womack is released from her duties as Elgin Police Chief

Do you see any leadership or aggressive pursuit of federal help on the part of Mayor Ed Schock? From June 2006 to April of 2010, the only success story on immigration enforcement in Elgin is the 100% screening that AFLA called for.

And the screening is a disappointment because they never DID ANYTHING with the data. Here they had specific detail they could have used to put pressure on Springfield and Washington, and all they did was sit on it.

When Jeff Swoboda takes over as chief of police things begin to happen. Here’s a couple of articles on the subject.

April 29, 2010, on the heels of an ICE sweep:

Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said the sweep was a good example of how his department is working with ICE.

"The Elgin Police Department will work with any federal agency that will help us in ridding the city of gang members and reducing crime," he said.

(Daily Herald)

On October 26, 2010 the Daily Herald ran this story:

Elgin has a new means to root out gang members, but the city's police chief warns it's not a cure-all by any means.

The department has assigned a detective to be a member of the Public Safety/Gang Unit task force the operates under the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office, or ICE.

“We're the first local agency to have an officer in the unit. It's another tool in our toolbox,” said Police Chief Jeff Swoboda. “

Their No. 1 charge is going after gang members.”

Swoboda also said the department also has an officer that works with ICE's Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which investigates stolen social security numbers and fake cards.

Remember when I went to the city council in June of 2006 asking for more involvement in the fraudulent ID problem? Well, we finally get something FOUR YEARS LATER!

And then on January 24, 2011 the Herald reported:

A two-day initiative dubbed “Operation Clean Sweep” allowed Elgin police officers to make 87 warrant arrests in cooperation with almost 20 federal, state, county and local agencies. The effort was one of the largest the city has ever initiated and one the Elgin Police Department is calling a tremendous success.

About 250 law enforcement personnel worked Friday and about 150 worked Saturday in a targeted sweep to reconcile outstanding warrants. Out of the 4,200 total warrants, Elgin chose to go after 225 people, apprehending about 40 percent of them.

In conclusion, it appears to me that after two years of fighting us on immigration enforcement, Ed Schock should not step out in front of Chief Swoboda’s parade and call it his own leadership. That’s just not right.

Pass the Dramamine

At the forum Wednesday night (March 16, 2011), Ed Schock was spinning us around pretty good. I had hoped that Dave Kaptain would seize the moment, but he didn't. I had hoped the newspaper reporters would do a little fact-checking, but they didn't.

So, we're going to try to set the record straight.

When questioned about the lack of success in the downtown area renovation projects, Mayor Schock claimed that the public money spent there WAS productive. "Property values are up," he said.

And I wondered how he could say that. Restaurants have closed, condos are empty, office space is vacant...even the cowboy hat store/Mexican bus depot has closed.

Then I figured out where he's getting his numbers. It dawned on me that he was reading the tax bills.

He should know better than to do that. We showed the Kimball Street row house listed at $120,000, down from $400,000 per unit during the initial offering. Most of those units were never sold. But if you looked at the tax bills, you'd think things were just fine.

Here's an example of what I mean. 692 Summit Street.
Here's a chart of the taxes paid on the home:Everything looks prosperous and successful, right?
And here's what the tax man says the house is worth (Assessed Value x 3):Wow! This home is worth 33% more than it was six years ago, according to the tax rolls.

But the REALITY is that the home is worth far less. And here's a chart showing the estimated market value of the home:

But it gets WORSE. Here's the ACTUAL home value according to the real estate transactions and past offering prices:


The REALITY is that the home won't even sell for $59,900 and yet the property value on the book at Kane County shows the home worth $182,541.

So, here's the charitable view of what he told us about downtown Elgin: Ed Schock is living in a bureaucrat's world of tax assessment, oblivious to the reality of vacancies and distressed properties.

And here's a less charitable view of what he said: He's spinning the truth at the forums.

More to come on other topics he told us about.

Kaptain and Schock face off!

AFLA is sponsoring a forum for the position of Mayor of Elgin.
Date: March 16th, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: American Legion Hall
820 North Liberty
Elgin 60120

Got a question for them?
E-mail it to: dwhite9845@aol.com

Save the date. Bring a friend.

Elgin Elections Coming Up

No doubt you are aware of elections for mayor and city council in April.
We will be posting information here about the candidates and their positions.
We've also got a candidate forum in the works for the mayor.
Stay tuned...