T.A.
The conflict that BB was referring to involves a member of the "selection committee" and HL. For that matter with most of the other firms as well.
The consultant that the village asked to help in this selection process has lost projects to HL recently and denied it at first. This person should not have sat in judgement of firms he has worked with or competed against and at minimum should have disclosed this to us up front.

thx for the insight. next steps? does this mean you'll simply toss out this hired consultant's tainted votes? or do you need more to exorcise this person's prejudices from the process, like looking again at past candidates (he asked, hoping the answer is yes.)?

btw, when did the board first learn of this conflict? after the list was trimmed to four. . . two?

i'll read the minutes and see if the answers are there. if not, please feel free to respond.

thx.

quote:

btw, when did the board first learn of this conflict? after the list was trimmed to four. . . two?

I could be wrong here, but I thought HL did not make the cut as part of the final two and it wasn't until then that it had been discovered or thereabouts sometime. I'm fairly certain it hadn't been discovered until he had already begun making recommendations. Candidate will know better than I. If this isn't right, I'll delete my post. If this is true, some heads should roll.

It became apparent to some, when the group was paired down to four firms. I don't believe the minutes are out yet from that workshop but I am not sure you will see this when they do come out. I don't believe there is much sense at this point going back to former candidates as the board has identified the top two choices so I think it is really a decision between these two. From this point you would think that it would be an easy choice considering the two firms. Apparently not, we will see.
Stay tuned for the conclusion.

I posted the article earlier and I did not remove it.

The way I see it, in a town with as many successful and connected individuals as Glen Ellyn, there is always going to be conflicts. For instance, our Village Board is required to vote on both popular and unpopular regulations affecting their neighbors, friends and maybe even their own houses. In a community...this is expected. Some don't have the testicular virility to hit these issues head on and thus, recuse themselves but again, in a small community, it comes with the territory. Here, the issue isn't the potential conflict or potential interest of our neighbors...the issue is the subversive nature of intentionally hiding and/or masking the interest/bias/conflict. If what is written here is true, that is quite disconcerting.

When dealt with openly and honestly and promptly disclosed, conflicts are excused and/or forgotten 99% of the time...when hidden...they corrupt the whole system.

My hope is that the post wasn't removed because some on the board are now claiming that Trustee Thorsell DID NOT list Houseal as her second choice....thus, giving them their 4th and deciding vote.

Was this the story of was it the one in the DH?

quote:

Originally posted by Fish:
Was this the story of was it the one in the DH?

What?

WOOT!

quote:

Originally posted by JRPotts:

quote:

Originally posted by Fish:
Was this the story of was it the one in the DH?

What?

WOOT!

Uhm....I think the word is W00T not WOOT...meathead!

Fish,

It is my understanding that w00t is part of the alphanumeric slang -"l33t" for elite speak. And Merriam-Webster chose w00t as the word of the year last week.
I believe gamers use this slang - and posers.

quote:

Originally posted by GEmom2:
Fish,

It is my understanding that w00t is part of the alphanumeric slang -"l33t" for elite speak. And Merriam-Webster chose w00t as the word of the year last week.
I believe gamers use this slang - and posers.

W00T!

I have a great idea for a store. I want to open up a store that sells these. I wonder if this product has cyclical buying patterns?

Central Business District Store

Gee whiz, Guy, those little dogs are making you cranky!!!

Did you notice S&H costs $18 - There's definitely money to be made in single log sales.

RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL 5 MINUTES AGO

quote:

At the Village Workshop meeting tonight, the Village Board opened the discussion to the Board only for voting on the consulting firm for the Downtown Long Term Strategic Plan. President Hase asked the Trustees if anyone wanted to make any comments and/or change their vote. One Trustee spoke up, Trustee Michelle Thorsell, and changed her vote to Town Studio Builder. Therefore, Town Studio Builder had enough votes to win to enter negotiations for a contract.

I will only add that I do not consider this a closed issue. I am writing this email too close to the time that the meeting took place, so I will not make any other comments at this time. Please watch for further emails about our next steps to ensure that the best firm is hired for our downtown.

Regards,
Diane McGinley
Go Downtown!

FROM LAST WEEK'S MEETING

quote:

Trustees Sara Lee, Tim Armstrong and Pete Ladesic supported the team led by Houseal Lavigne Associates, while Trustees Jim Comerford and Peter Norton and President Vicky Hase backed the team led by Town Builder Studios. Trustee Michelle Thorsell, with the tie-breaking vote, supported the Vandewalle and Associates team, but she said her second choice was Houseal Lavigne. The fourth team, which received no votes, was led by Teska Associates Inc.

Here's to Government at its finest!

Diane, thank you for all you do.

I've been around politics my whole life and have heard some crazy stories. However, this is about as betrayed and as railroaded as I've felt in a long time. This "fix" was in from the get-go...I predicted it in private e-mails last week and certain others in the know predicted it a month ago. The last time this Board had to make a big hire to "Help" the cyclical nature of Glen Ellyn's dying downtown they thought outside of the box, got creative and hired a Village Manager who was here for less than one year....and now we sit more than 8 months later with an interim Village Manager...as our CBD continues to wilt.

It's time to get aggressive with change...if the majority of the Board won't buy-into real change, we'll have to do it ourselves with new people and new methods. Glen Ellyn can't sit back and merely wait for 2009.

I can't say I feel too good about my former CBP affiliation. Dan Gardner must be ready to stage a complete and total revolt...and who can blame him?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JRP,

We're getting a candle and quilt store. And with Town Builders, perhaps even a VHS to DVD transfer business.

What else could we want?

Always look at the positives and not the negatives. My log store now has a huge chance at success. Most I know would have a much greater probability of entering a log store than a VHS to DVD transfer business.

VHS...that's tragically funny....I haven't seen a VHS tape in decades.

Trustee Michelle Thorsell, with the tie-breaking vote, supported the Vandewalle and Associates team, but she said her second choice was Houseal Lavigne.

Could the reporter have been wrong? I'm all for changing one's mind. . . but this is a little odd.

Trustee Michelle, what have you to say? This is the strangest thing I have in all of my years that I have lived in GE since we voted in a Village President with no business experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
Trustee Michelle Thorsell, with the tie-breaking vote, supported the Vandewalle and Associates team, but she said her second choice was Houseal Lavigne.

Could the reporter have been wrong? I'm all for changing one's mind. . . but this is a little odd.

Trustee Michelle, what have you to say? This is the strangest thing I have in all of my years that I have lived in GE since we voted in a Village President with no business experience.

I've already heard the excuse - one that I am not buying as I have heard that she made this statement from 10 different people - that Trustee Thorsell did not really say that her second choice was Houseal. Again, tragically funny.

I see you have already pointed out Thorsell's comments from last week. My apologies.

This is wild stuff. A little like living in Cicero. This is really interesting. Bedford Falls no more.

BTW, how angry do you think I am right now that a Google image search of our village president yielded nothing? Answer: really angry.

[Said in George Bailey voice as Mary Hatch ducks in a bush:] "This is a very interesting situation!"

quote:

Originally posted by JRPotts:
My log store probably now has a chance at success.

log store? i thought that ebay site was selling wood. selling wood in the CBD is much different than selling logs. and probably more lucrative.

I know Michelle. I will call her to seek her viewpoint. I'm disappointed at the moment but I'm willing to hear her out.

I think Town Builders is a mistake.