Category Archives: Politics

And Mayor Gitz Said Let There Be Sound – and There Was Still No Sound!

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As reported on Good Day Illinois, there was no sound at the Freeport City Council meeting on September 16 for those who were attempting to watch it on Comcast Channel 17. These meetings are rebroadcast on the following Monday at 6:00 pm for those who miss them. If you watched the rebroadcast on September 23, there was sound! At the beginning of the meeting, Alderman Koester’s wife called him advising him there was no sound for those watching the meeting on Channel 17. This was brought to the attention of Mayor Gitz who ignored the remark doing nothing. If you watched the meeting, it was obvious why he does not want sound!
Will this be a repeat of the last eight years when people complained and nothing was done?

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Freeport City Council Members Want iPads – Not Solution to the Basic Problems with this Council

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iPads in principal are a good idea, but they will not help solve the basic issues before this Council. The majority of council members are either incapable or do not care about taking the time to address the issues facing the City of Freeport. Whether proposed ordinances and other issues to be addressed are on paper or on an iPad, it makes no difference if they cannot or do not read them. On balance it should save money since paper is expensive. Of course, the City will probably hire consultants to teach them how to use the iPads and that will cost the City a few thousand dollars! Then some members will still not be able to use them, and the City can send them to remedial courses at iPad University.

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Attention Freeport Residents – If Your Real Estate Taxes Are Too High Because Your Property Is Valued Higher Than Its Market Value – You Must Act Now – If your Property Assessment Is Too Low, You Do Not Live in Freeport!

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If you live in Freeport, you must file your appeal with the Board of Review by October 11, 2013. For many in Freeport, property values have fallen and assessments have not been lowered. You will not receive a notice unless your assessment has been changed. Watch out! Most assessments have not been lowered over the last few years while property values have plummeted.

Residential Complaint forms available at http://co.stephenson.il.us/assessor/forms/BOR-R-1.pdf

The bureaucrats in Illinois do not make it easy to complain about your taxes. It is a time consuming process and the Freeport Assessor will fight you every step of the way.
The picture is the new Freeport Township Offices which now is the subject of litigation at taxpayer expense. Wow that takes a lot of nerve. Buy a building and then litigate whether they had the authority to purchase it!

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Hope You Read Lips If You Want to Watch Freeport City Council Meeting on Comcast Channel 17!

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No sound for council meeting on September 16! Read Good Day Illinois for August 27 for a review of Gitz and his first 90 days.

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Freeport City Council Meeting Tonight, September 16

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6:00 pm at City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live. See complete agenda at http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20130916.pdf

Somethings of interest on the agenda:

Appointment of Jon Staben (remember he ran against Gitz for Mayor) to Planning Commission – that’s one one way to get rid of the opposition!

Shelly Griswold, Community Development Director, will present a an interesting report on the status of Tutty’s Crossing and Jane Addams Trail.

Business Owners – Watch Out – Someone Wants You Out of Business or Just Another Reason Not to Do Business in Freeport

There will be 1st Reading of an Ordiance on Landscaping and Screenings. Every business owner should read this one carefully. It certainly could be construed as anti-small business. For example, the following provision on lighting:

“A lighting plan shall be required any time exterior lighting is proposed or modified and shall be submitted along with the site plan information to the City Engineer for approval. The lighting plan shall include a site plan indicating: the location, height, type, design, orientation, anchorage, and wattage of all proposed light fixtures; a photometric plan prepared by a lighting professional showing spot illumination levels at regularly spaced intervals on the lot and at all lot lines and average proposed illumination levels on the site; a summary table containing average foot-candles, minimum foot-candles, maximum foot-candles, uniformity ratio (average/minimum), and catalog cuts of the proposed fixtures.”

Don’t build or modify a building in Freeport with a few parking spaces since you will have to spend thousands of dollars on a photometric plan prepared by a lighting professional. This is just a small part of this proposed ordinance. The Gitz administration says it is for economic development, but actions speak louder that words.

Read complete proposed ordinance at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/1272%20LANDSCAPING%20AND%20SCREENING%209.11.13.pdf

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September 11, 2001 – We Must Not Forget!

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Rescue Co. 1 of the New York Fire Department lost 11 firemen on September 11, 2001. This photo shows a memorial in the window of the firehouse in Manhattan which was placed there by the widow of one of the firemen. We must ever be vigilant and never forget that there are many people in the world who want to destroy this country. For a listing and pictures of all of the 343 firemen who died on September 11, go to http://nyfd.com/9_11_wtc.html

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New Freeport Water Tower Looks Like Hell Says Prominent Freeporter!

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A long time, prominent resident of Freeport and graduate of Freeport High School when asked to comment on the new Burchard Street Water Tower said:

“Where is the Pretzel? Even the script on the tower for “City of Freeport” looks horrible. Who was the decision maker on this one? The script for “City of Freeport” conveys weakness instead of the boldness of a progressive and forward looking city.”

This is the opinion of one person – you look at it and decide! No matter what the damage is done!

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Have Comcast You Will Travel!

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Comcast, the cable, giant used to have an office in Freeport. In fact the requirement to maintain a local office was part of its franchise agreement with the City of Freeport. When your equipment such as your remote or cable box failed, you would take it to the local office in Freeport for replacement. Comcast decided that it did not want to have an office in Freeport, and closed it. The former mayor of Freeport, George Gaulrapp, went to court to try to make them stay and honor the franchise agreement. Of course, he hired outside counsel to handle the matter. You know the result. There is still no office in Freeport. Gaulrapp was no match for Comcast. So sad that the citizens of this community who pay high fees to Comcast each month have no local office. Enjoy your trip to Rockford!

Freeport City Council Meeting on Today

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Freeport City Council Meeting Tuesday, September 3, 6:00 pm
City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Before you watch the Council Meeting, be sure to read the comments on Mayor Gitz in Good Day Illinois on August 2.

At this meeting some of the items to be discussed are

Communications to Council:

Accountant Duane Price has financial results for last 3 months of the fiscal quarter ending July 31. All taxpayers should look at this. Freeport like most cities taxes everything from electricity to your cable bill. One member of the City Council states that the City’s portion of your real estate tax bill is small. That may be true, but you couple that with all of the other taxes we pay to the city and it is NOT SMALL.
Community Development Director Shelly Griswold has a memo on the $100,000 being given to NIDA with one-half from the general fund and one-half from 3 TIF funds. Does anyone ask NIDA for a detailed accounting on how these funds will be spent? When public funds are expended, doesn’t the public have a right to know?

Second readings of 4 ordinances. One of interest deals with sprinkler systems.

First Reading of Ordinance to add Breweries as a special use to M1 Limited Manufacturing District. Sounds good – we could use a good brewery in Freeport!

On other items, reference is made to the appointment of a special committee to recommend technology and procedure for Council lap tops and tablets. Also, they want to spend $4,000 for the purchase of lap tops or tablets. Before they do this, some members of this council should learn to read first.

Watch the Reports of Department Heads – Especially the City Engineer. Remember the Council approved paying Fehr-Graham $10,000 to inspect crack sealing. I guess we will save that money since they received no bids to seal the cracks or will they pay $10,000 to tell us the cracks are not sealed! Please see the posting on July 16 in Good Day Illinois when the City Engineer discussed crack filing. Most streets in Freeport are in such bad shape that sealing cracks will do no good.

For the complete agenda go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20130903amended.pdf

Hope You Are Having a Wonderful Labor Day Weekend, But Don’t Forget the Second Installment of 2012 Real Estate Taxes Are Due Soon – Forget and It Will be Costly!

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Second installments due as follows:

Carroll County – September 5

Jo Daviess County – September 9

Ogle County – September 6

Stephenson County – September 6

Winnebago County – September 6

If you are late, there will be an interest charge of 1.5 % per month which is an interest rate of 18% per annum. Sounds like usury to me! Of course, government is not subject to the rules the rest of us must follow.