Taxes and Tensions Rising, in Justice.

The September 26th board meeting proved to be a raucous one as word spread rapidly through social media of controversial agenda items to be voted upon by the village board.

The Village Voice Party called on residents to attend the meeting through their political Facebook page, sounding the alarm on new taxes and a restructuring of how village finances are handled.
Residents and business owners alike answered the call to action and attended the meeting in droves, prepared with questions to direct at the mayor during public comment. Three controversial agenda items dominated the discussion, including one on Motor Fuel Tax increases, payments to E&S Restoration, and the removal of the municipal clerk from being an official signatory on village checks.

Liz Chicola, a member of the Justice Seniors Club, asked pointedly, "what year are these claims from?" Chicola was referring to payables for $44,846.88 to E&S Restoration, a company owned by the family of Justice building commissioner, Ed Shilka. Controversy surrounds the dated nature of the invoices delivered by the company, with payment being demanded by E&S Restoration for claims going back to 2006.

Business owner Bill Beahan, of B-In Gas (formerly GoLo), made spirited remarks regarding the increase in motor fuel taxes, set for 3 cents per gallon, according to the new ordinance. "These taxes will drive customers out of the village and make it harder for me to compete" Beahan said.

Once hearing voices from the floor, the board meeting moved to agenda items. Village Voice trustees advocated against each of the controversial motions. Trustee Ed Rusch pleaded with the board to vote against the Motor Fuel Tax increase, advocating from a pro-business and low tax position. "All you will do is hurt this gentleman's ability to attract customers into this village and diminish his ability to continue to generate tax revenue for our village," referring to Beahan.

Trustee Hank Oszakiewski also commented before the vote, reminding the room that the village voted against a sales tax increase in April. Despite the protests, the motion passed with the majority vote belonging to Mayor Wasowicz's Resident's First Party.

The meeting proceeded with a vote of passing posted payables to E&S Restoration. Village Voice trustees expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the claims made by the company, especially regarding the dated nature of the bills. Village Mayor Kris Wasowicz stated that the village must pay its vendors.

The last of the controversial items regarded restructuring of signatory powers on municipal checks, removing Clerk Sue Small as a village designated signatory. The motion is one of several actions taken against the clerk's office since the April 2nd elections, the village deputy clerk, Kathleen Svoboda, was fired in August.

Clerk Small asked for time to speak on the motion, claiming the reason for the change is that she refused to sign two checks given their ethical uncertainty. "One of them was a check presented to me by the very person it was made out to; there was no explanation of the work performed, would any of you sign it?" Despite protests from the crowd, the motion passed.

After all agenda items were voted upon, Clerk Small read a letter sent to her from the Office of the Executive Inspector General. The letter regarded claims of ethics violations made against village building commissioner , Ed Shilka. In the letter, the Inspector General noted the Village of Justice should address the complaints and continued with recommendations to file a new claim if retaliatory actions are taken against the filer in the future.

When asked for comment after the meeting if she felt the new board majority was retaliating against her, Clerk Small responded, "Of course, since the election, I have been stripped of my official powers as the village clerk. I'm no longer able to answer FOIA requests, I no longer have a deputy, and now I have no oversight on how village finances are spent. It's been a challenge to just handle day to day operations with all the cuts they've been making. It's absolutely retaliation against me for raising questions regarding E&S; there's no doubt about it."

The night proved to be one more saga in the story that has played out in Justice since a split between Mayor Kris Wasowicz and the Village Voice Party regarding ethical issues raised by the Village Voice towards building commissioner Ed Shilka and his family-owned company, E&S restoration. The Village Voice was narrowly defeated at the polls in April by the newly formed Resident's First Party, which was backed by Wasowicz.

So what do you think? Should we continue covering Justice board meetings? Let us know in the comments below.