Our first meeting

Residents Present at 8/19 Meeting

Adam Oleander

Ann Brown

Bob Furst

Carol White

Halina Gumulka

Halina Kraszewski

Joanna Sakowicz

Jim Vinci

Issues Discussed:

• Pursuit of litigation against the City of Des Plaines. It was unanimously agreed to pursue a Class Action Lawsuit against the City of Des Plaines. Jim Vinci presented evidence of his attendance at several City Council Meetings, at which he pleaded with the City Council to address our problems. Jim has substantial documentation and an actual video tape of a Council meeting from 2001. The Council members are taking no action. The lawsuit is a step toward holding our public officials accountable for their lack of action. Their decisions are affecting our personal property, our personal lives, and our personal health. Joanna Schwartz has been in contact with an attorney who has asked for further information before he will represent us. Jim Vinci will meet with the attorney at the appropriate time to provide the necessary background material.
• Complete and submit the Freedom of Information Act to the City of Des Plaines. Joanna has made edits based on the group's input and will submit this form to the City.
• Contact Tim Oakley to address specific residential concerns. It was suggested that residents call Tim Oakley, the City's Chief Engineer, and have someone from his department come out and listen to specific concerns. Jim Vinci already did that back in 2001, and that is why Marshall Drive and Pennsylvania are included as Problem Area #12 in the City's Stormwater Master Plan. It became apparent during last night's meeting that the work slated for Marshall and Pennsylvania may not help all of us, so it is important to bring our individual issues to the City.
• Use of Social Media. Bob Furst made the excellent point that we have to use technology to our advantage. Setting up a blogging service to post documents and messages that could ultimately be accessible to other residents in our ward. Bob also suggested use of the Chicago Tribune local website to post ongoing flooding concerns to an even broader audience.
• Status of Flood Survey Information. The flood surveys filled out by residents were secured by Rosemary Argus, but someone needs to process and summarize them. We need a count of flooding problems by type of problem as well as a count of flooding problems by street. Specific survey comments, made by residents, should really be addressed by Rosemary to Mayor Moylan and the City Council.
• Attendance at City Council Budget Meetings. The main budget meeting we are interested in is the one where the City Council discusses the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). Bob Furst pointed out that we may have to attend several budget meetings in order to insure that we don't miss it. Last year, Rosemary told Jim Vinci when the CIP was going to be discussed, and he attended only that meeting, which was on October 16th. Jim requested that the City Council accelerate the 8th Ward work, but they declined.
• Status of Chicago Tribune Article. The article is now going through editing and should be available soon.
• Problem Area #12 Project. It was unanimously agreed that the Problem Area #12 project, to address Marshall Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue flooding problems, begin now, rather than 2011.
• Letter to Peter Roskam. Jim Vinci is working on a letter to Congressman Peter Roskam and will submit a draft to the group for review. It might make sense to first show the letter to our attorney so that it sends the right message. It is intended that the Des Plaines Mayor, City Council, City Engineer, City Attorney, and Chicago Tribune reporter, be copied on the letter.
• Spokesman Assignment. It was agreed that Jim Vinci be the spokesman for our group because of his initial correspondene with the Tribune reporter, Elizabeth Schiele.
• Contact with Rosemary. Other than what was mentioned above, we agreed that our contact with Rosemary should be very limited right now because, although she has expressed support, she is a representative of the City.
• Ward Representation by Other Ethnic Groups. We agreed that it would be a good idea if people of other ethnic groups joined our group. This would facilitate communication with individuals who really need help, but are unable to understand what is happening or being done to address flooding.