Daily Herald opinion: Addressing a ‘black eye’: After a killing, hotel and village come to terms; the proof will show in how they are met
It is a shame that it took a person’s death to get the owners’ attention at an Elk Grove Village extended-stay hotel with a long history of police calls and safety complaints. But an agreement between them and village leaders following a woman’s killing there appears at last to suggest the message is getting through.
It’s important to clarify that no one has suggested any specific dereliction on InTown Suites’ part in connection with the February killing of a 50-year-old renter there. Based on police reports and the arrest of a suspect, the death seems more a product of domestic issues between the woman and the man with whom she had been living than of direct negligence.
But in evaluating InTown’s history during a March 18 license review board hearing, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson pointed to 14 pages of records from the past two years describing police calls, assaults, drug activity, prostitution and other serious crimes. Such a checkered history ought surely have alerted management to the need for stricter oversight and more assertive safety controls.
With that kind of thinking in mind, Johnson appeared ready to revoke InTown Suites’ business license, but an assurance Tuesday from the company’s CEO that the hotel would implement a long list of specific safety and management measures stayed his hand. Instead, he and the license review commission adopted an agreement with InTown Suites setting a 12-month probation based on terms village officials were calling for.
The provisions included closer coordination with police, installation of round-the-clock private security as well as security cameras, strict conditions on approving and monitoring residents, more rigorous housekeeping standards and more. It’s a comprehensive list, and CEO Hap Phillips told the board the company is committed to implementing it.
“We will do the things that we’re being asked to do in the spirit of partnership with the town,” Phillips told Johnson Tuesday. “And I look forward to making this hotel a better place and something that you hopefully will not be dealing with.”
It’s not exactly the most confidence-inspiring statement, but it does acknowledge the village’s legitimate concerns and the business’s duty to respond to them. The proof will be seen in the prompt installation of the security measures and the degree of sincerity managers show in executing the conditions of the probation.
Ultimately, Elk Grove Village leaders’ firmness in combination with InTown’s acknowledgment of both its management duties and the consequences of failing to act should produce an environment that is safer for residents and more conducive to the overall control and calm of the town.
“We take a lot of pride in Elk Grove,” Johnson told Hap. “When this comes up, it’s not only a black eye to your corporation, it’s a black eye to the community, and we don’t like black eyes.”
The body of a renter found near a trash container at a troubled hotel is a tragically conspicuous embarrassment to any community or business, whatever the circumstances that led to it. Hopefully, the response to this situation will lead to an environment that is safer for residents and more manageable for everyone involved.