Goodbye, Chief Caudill: As we predicted here awhile ago, Police Chief Jeffrey Caudill finally turned in his letter of resignation yesterday, February 20, effective March 14. 

Although Chief Caudill may have his critics, something just doesn’t ring true about his departure.  Not only does there seem to be more than a little intrigue surrounding it, but the reported connection between his exit and the proposed police department audit raises an assortment of red flags – as does the suggestion that the taxpayers will be paying to get rid of him.  And because all of the Council discussions about his departure were hidden in closed session meetings, the public’s right to know takes another beating.

Given these questionable circumstances, Caudill should have held out one more day so he could leave on the Ides of March.

How To Balance A Budget: Yesterday’s Park Ridge Journal reported that the Park Ridge City Council, at last Saturday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, completed the second half of what seems to be an annual budget Kabuki in which City Mgr. Tim Schuenke proposes an unbalanced tentative budget, and then the City Council gets to show its fiscal responsibility by finding various ways to balance it.  

But that doesn’t mean there’ll be any relief for the taxpayer.  To the contrary, the City’s increase in its share of our property taxes is likely to be between 4.8% and 5%, exceeding the increase in the Consumer Price Index even as our property values remain stagnant or drop.  We did, however, enjoy a laugh over Schuenke’s comment that “police revenues” are likely to increase in 2008, not because of  increased enforcement but because of increased manpower. 

Making Quarters From Nickels?  The Journal also reported on the progress of the Park Ridge Organization for Uptown Development, or “PROUD” – a new organization that claims it will help revitalize Uptown through a strategic partnership with the City that will usher in a new era of cooperation.  Well, at least they avoided using the highly overdone “vibrant.” 

We have previously expressed doubts about the need, or even the potential benefit, of this organization. (‘Proud? Of What?’ ) We also wonder why the City’s development department and the Chamber of Commerce can’t – or won’t – do the things PROUD sees as its mission.  PROUD official Dr. Keith Berndtson says that PROUD is “committed to taking three nickels and trying to rub them into a quarter.”  We’ve got no problem with that, so long as the rest of that quarter doesn’t get picked from the taxpayers’ pockets.