Streamwood hopefuls differ on transparency's importance

Streamwood village presidential hopeful Jason Speer says incumbent Billie Roth hasn't made transparency in government a high enough priority.

Roth - who's been in office for 20 years, compared to Speer's two years on the board - challenged him to point to a single instance when a resident didn't get access to public information on request.

While Speer, 33, couldn't name an instance, he counters that Streamwood lags behind surrounding suburbs in how actively it seeks to keep residents informed. He wants the village's budget posted online, its Web site upgraded and audio recordings of board meetings available online through podcasts.

"It would prove we have nothing to hide," Speer said. "It would reaffirm residents' faith in government, and people need that right now."

Roth, 57, supported Speer's 2007 run for trustee, but since then their allegiance has broken, and neither points to a specific reason.

One point of departure came when Speer sought to have village e-mail accounts set up for each board member to give residents another communication tool. The board rejected that, so Speer settled on posting his personal e-mail address.

"I was told flat out, 'No, that's not how it's done,'" Speer said.

He asserts Roth has too much control, relative to the rest of the board, on village operations, including the release of information. The e-mail issue was important to him, he said, because he claims Roth's secretary screens messages, including voicemails left at village hall and e-mails sent through the village Web site, before delivering them to board members.

Roth hasn't addressed those claims. She did not respond to several messages seeking further comment.

But at a recent candidates' forum, Roth did say the village Web site could be improved. She also noted the full board, not she alone, quashed Speer's e-mail proposal.

Roth has also pointed to Streamwood's annual goals and objectives list, which was drafted last September and includes transparency, as proof of her commitment to keep residents informed.

And while Speer has become her political foe, Roth clearly has strong support for, and from her board. She has endorsed the three incumbent trustees up for re-election with her Tuesday: William Harper, Michael Baumer and William Carlson. Harper has questioned the cost of upgrading the village's Web site.

The incumbents face Eric Cameron, Rich Janiec and Michelle Nabor for the three board seats.

Speer said upgrading the Web site would cost less than $7,000 and believes the village can afford it. He points to $415,000 spent on furniture for the new police station in 2007 as proof. The money was from the 2007 budget's general fund, approved before Speer was elected trustee.