Facts From A Retiring Village Trustee: Letter

Dear Voters,

My term as Village Trustee ends in May as I am not running for re-election. I supported Dan Staackmann in the primary four years ago, but I am now supporting Dan DiMaria! There are two reasons: Mayor DiMaria has done a great job to improve our Village and I am turned off by the negative, false and misleading information coming from Mr. Staackmann and his party.

Under Mayor DiMaria, residents have seen many new programs and service enhancements. The Village is well-run, taxes have not increased, and the future looks promising. The Action Party is running a positive,fact-based campaign. On the flip-side, instead of running on his record or detailing any plan, Staackmann’s campaign is right out of the playbook from the national election— full of lies, personal attacks, and scare tactics. There is no room for this in Morton Grove. He attacked Mayor DiMaria for not funding employee pensions—knowing that DiMaria contributed 22% more to these funds than he did. He claims our fund balance is down when Village records prove it has increased by $2.5 million. He also states that the debt has increased; the truth is that the amount the Village owes has shrunk by $7 million over the past 4 years.

What’s worse is that he has personally attacked not only the Mayor and Village Board but our Village staff. He says we are unethical and gave ourselves a secret pay raise. Trustees make $4,500/year and the Mayor makes $8,000/year; no one does this job for the money. What he is referring to is that, after 25 years, expense reimbursements were increased from $25 to $100/month for Trustees and from $100 to $200/month for the Mayor to cover car, cell phone, internet and other out of pocket expenses.

The “Independents” also claim the Board approved a redevelopment with Moretti’s because they gave $150 to the Action Party golf outing. Nonsense! Moretti’s received incentives to bring a desired restaurant to the Village that will generate over $4 million dollars in tax revenue. And the Groot check the “Independents” refer to on their mailers was immediately donated to the Morton Grove Days and the Morton Grove Foundation.

They don’t tell you that, Mr. Staackmann, as past Mayor, broke a tie vote to approve an $80,000 no-bid contract for a company which employs his wife as a Director. You’re not told that, the day after he lost the 2013 primary election, Mr. Staackmann packed up and did not return to his Village Hall office—even though he remained the Mayor and collected a salary for three more months! They don’t mention that his running mate, Mark Albers, spent $3 million dollars (including a $50,000 no bid contract) on Library renovations with NO public input. His party claims to be independent, but they are endorsed by the Republican Party, and two of their candidates were delegates to the 2016 Republican Presidential convention. All their attack ads cost money, but they have not disclosed where it is coming from. Morton Grove residents, is this ethical behavior?

I’m not surprised that Dan Staackmann is running again; since 1997, he has run for Mayor in every election except one! Voters made the right decision when they overwhelmingly voted him out of office in 2013. I have confidence that voters will make the right decision again by voting for Dan DiMaria and the Action Party candidates in this election. Early voting is available at the Niles Village Hall, now through April 3rd. Polls are open on Election Day, April 4, from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Sincerely,

Trustee John Pietron