OTB vote continues to spark controversy in Buffalo Grove

Buffalo Grove Trustee Lisa Stone's crusade against off-track betting in the village continued at Monday night's village board meeting, once again turning village hall into a battleground.

Stone used the trustee comment period to grill Trustee Jeffrey Berman about a remark someone told her he had made at a party. Stone said Berman remarked that the board was legally required to vote in favor of allowing an OTB at Adam's Rib and Ale House, 301 N. Milwaukee Ave.

She asked him, "Trustee Berman could you please tell the citizens of Buffalo Grove exactly the law that states that villages must have gambling?"

Village President Elliott Hartstein stepped in to tell Stone that the purpose of the trustee comment period is not to interrogate other village officials without giving advance notice.

Berman, however, responded, saying he had received e-mail from Stone that day, but she did not indicate she would raise the issue publicly. Still, after telling Stone the issue had already been debated and voted upon, Berman said his vote in favor was based on the rules for approving a special use.

"If the facts support the decision that the request meets the special-use criteria, then we're legally obligated to allow for the special use," he said, adding he had consulted with the village attorney in making his decision.

As for what someone may have said to someone else, he said, "I am not going to respond to that sort of rumor-mongering. It's like an advanced game of telephone. It's like a children's game." He added that by "casting aspersions and running around and making general broad characterizations and claims that are simply unsubstantiated - you're attempting to put words in my mouth."

Stone said she was concerned that the board's actions would be found improper in documents recently released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by citizens and the media.

"What I'm suggesting is that if (it is found) that we've done something inappropriate and now (OTB operator Inter-Track Partners LLC) has just, let's say, invested $1 million or $2 million in this project and we decide that maybe we have to reverse the ordinance - (Inter-Track) might say 'That's great. You owe us a million dollars.'"

More than 1,000 pages of documents containing e-mails to and from village board and staff were released in response to the FOI requests. Some of these have been reviewed both by Buffalo Grove Village Manager William Brimm and Village Attorney William Raysa, both of whom said they did not see any violations of the Open Meetings Act by means of a majority of a quorum of the board participating in e-mail discussions.

Raysa added that even if a violation through e-mailing did occur, that in itself would not invalidate the board's approval of the OTB.

As with all the meetings that have been held since the new board was installed, order was tenuously maintained.

At one point when Stone was talking, she looked over to the other side of the board's table and said, "You tell me about Robert's Rules of Order, and you're sitting there having a chat amongst yourselves."

Hartstein said during another moment, "Quite frankly this is a distraction from the business at hand this evening."

Hartstein also complained that Stone was continuing to cast aspersions on the village, simply on the basis of someone making a legitimate Freedom of Information Act request. "To suggest or to imply by innuendo or otherwise that anything has been done wrong is simply absurd and uncalled for."

Trustee Steven Trilling, saying he was merely speaking for himself, said, "I never violated any requirements set forth by the Open Meetings Act, nor would I ever do anything that was improper, illegal, immoral or anything else. The OTB was passed. It's done. It's over with. If the press or anyone else makes this any more than it is, you are going to be guilty of something. Not any one of us."

Trustee Jeffrey Braiman echoed Trilling's remarks, prompting Stone to say there was enough in the documents she had seen to be concerned. When pressed, she said, "I don't want to talk about it."

Braiman said he trusted the integrity of the board implicitly, to which Stone replied, "In Crestwood, they just had a board of trustees (who) for 20 years were very upstanding people supposedly in the community and they were allowing their citizens to drink carcinogenic water."

When Braiman tried to get Hartstein to end the discussion, she said to Braiman, "Well obviously I'm hitting a nerve, aren't I?"

Braiman said, "The nerve you're hitting is that we can't go on with our business because this won't go away."

"You want to run this village the way you want to run it," Stone countered.

Braiman responded, "I think it's just the opposite. You won't let go."

Hartstein then hit the gavel, telling Stone if she found anything improper, it was her duty to share it with the village.

"I understand and appreciate your passion, your enthusiasm, your relentlessness," Hartstein told Stone. "However, I believe this particular issue has been voted on. To the best of my knowledge, everything was done in a totally proper manner," adding there was no reason to spend any further time in speculation.

Stone protested, saying, "I don't care if all day long you guys roll your eyes and think I'm out of my mind."