Villa Park plan to fight crime is a go
Villa Park officials say they would rather take their chances with the courts than let the village deteriorate due to slumlords and criminals.
A majority of the village board unofficially agreed Monday to institute a mandatory Crime Free program for rental units in town despite failing to gain home-rule powers from voters Feb. 5.
Village Attorney David Freeman said courts have upheld the legality of the program in home-rule communities, but it has not been tested by a non-home-rule municipality.
In the home-rule cases, references to the program's legality in communities without home-rule powers were mixed, he said.
"It's not a settled question," Freeman said. "It might be challenged. If challenged, it might be upheld … it might not be upheld. It may be in our best interest to start off slowly."
Freeman and Village Manager Robert Niemann had proposed the village implement only a licensing program, requiring landlords to get a license, furnish information about their properties and pay a $25-per-unit fee.
Then, the village could wage an educational campaign to encourage landlords to cooperate voluntarily with other components of the program, such as requiring tenants to agree in their leases not to commit crimes or allow it in their apartments or risk being evicted.
The other major element of the program is to institute an inspection program to ensure rental units are safe.
Trustees also considered options such as charging landlords fees for excessive police calls to their properties, free advertising online for voluntary Crime Free rental complexes, and getting laws changed to give the village more powers to enact the program. But they ultimately decided on the more aggressive approach.
"We have to weigh the cost of not doing it against the costs of being challenged in court," Trustee Al Bulthius said. "I'm all in favor of instituting the whole program. I don't think we can afford not doing this. We have a problem we have to confront head on. We can't afford to wait."
Village President Joyce Stupegia and trustees Tom Cullerton, Dave Hegland, John Davis and Jeff Blankensop agreed. Trustee Richard Illian was absent.
The village already is incurring costs of police manpower and more in dealing with slumlords and the criminals they allow to live in their buildings, board members said.
"It's time we take our destiny in our own hands," Trustee John Davis said. "It's time this town put its foot down and faces it head on. If it costs us some money, so be it."
"Doing nothing is no longer an option," Hegland said.
Trustees agreed that while they move forward with plans for the Crime Free program, they also plan to lobby state lawmakers for more authority in the matter. The village manager also is researching potential legal costs if the program is challenged before trustees take an official vote on the program.