The late French president Charles De Gaulle once observed: “Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.”
That quote came to mind as we read the letter to the editor of Ald. Frank Wsol (7th Ward) in last week’s Herald-Advocate (“Assess budget, police station costs first,” December 25), in which he attempts to explain why he can’t support the advisory referendum on the big new multi-million dollar cop shop initially proposed by Ald. Dave Schmidt (1st Ward) and subsequently taken up by a citizens petition drive.
In true politician style, Wsol begins his alibi by attacking the referendum language for containing “the implied suggestion that land purchases are needed and more than $16.5 million is required” for the new cop shop, which Wsol labels as “not appropriate, nor needed.” Apparently he didn’t expect to be taken at his word on those comments – or else he just assumed that nobody would remember how he has consistently supported a new cop shop costing more than $16.5 million on land acquired by the City specifically for that purpose.
Let’s start with Wsol’s votes – as reflected in both the City Council’s Public Safety Committee March 26, 2007, meeting minutes [pdf] and the City Council’s April 2, 2007, meeting minute excerpts [pdf] – in favor of a new building containing a whopping 37,000 square feet of “people space” and another 12,000 square feet of “secured vehicle parking” that would be paid for by the issuance of up to $19 million of debt/bonds.
And as reported in the Public Safety Committee’s October 2, 2008, meeting minutes [pdf], now-Chairman Wsol himself pegged the cost of the new cop shop building at “16.5 million plus interest” – with that “interest,” according to calculations [pdf] obtained by the City from William Blair & Company at the end of November, totaling just a shade under $12 million over 21 years, driving the cost of the new cop shop all the way up to $28,489,950…without figuring in the price of the land.
So if De Gaulle was right, maybe the fact that Schmidt took Wsol at his word in proposing a referendum question based on Wsol’s $16.5 million figure stunned Frankie into silence at the Council’s December 1 meeting, a silence that continued until last week’s letter to the editor.
And if De Gaulle was right, Wsol’s alibi about the cop shop referendum might not be the outright lie it appears to be. It might simply be the product of Wsol’s not knowing or even caring what the truth of the matter is, so long as whatever he says is politically expedient – a situation that becomes more likely from reading the entirety of Wsol’s politically expedient but questionable-to-misleading statements in his letter, annotated with our comments and questions [pdf].
Wsol’s letter, however, does make a few things clear about the alderman from the 7th ward: He’s a pretty shallow thinker when it comes to a project like the new cop shop; he’s no fiscal conservative; and he has the same disregard for hearing from Park Ridge voters that Mayor Howard “The Coward” Frimark and his Alderpuppets have displayed.
But it does look like he has become a politician. Too bad for Park Ridge.
16 comments so far
Sadly, Wsol does seem to have turned into a disappointment on several issues, but most of all on the police station. Thanks for the comments to his letter, I was thinking many of the same things as I was reading it. It all just seems so dishonest.
Wsol likes to say that ‘figures never lie but liars often figure’. I see Wsol is practicing what he preaches.
Wsol’s a lightweight. If Friel hadn’t walked the ward for him last year, he never would have beaten Frimark’s guy.
I disagree with Fred. Wsol didn’t need Friels support to win reelection, he could beat Kristie straight up becuase he’s done a good job as alderman.
Fred:
I am sure you know more about Wsol the I do, but he won with almost 61% of the vote. Kriste got just over 35%.
Anon 12.29.08 5:28 PM
I live in the 7th and during that entire campaign I don’t think I ever saw Wsol going door to door without Friel. Maybe Wsol could have beat Kriste on his own, but it would have been closer to 51% instead of 61%.
Police Station Petition Update:
We have made great strides in gathering signatures to put the question of whether or not Park Ridge should spend over $16.5 million on a new Police Station. We are asking everyone who has been gathering signatures to let me know how many you have. We need to gather completed sheets this week in order to get an accurate count of where stand. We have several volunteers who will come to your house with a notary to gather your completed sheets. Please emailat the address below and I will arrange for a pick up.
In addition, we could use a few more volunteers to gather signatures. All who have collected signatures have found tremendous acceptance of people signing the petition. I estimate over 95% of those asked, sign the petition. We have over 30 volunteers but could use more. We have 17 days left. If you go out in your neighborhood, you can get 50 signatures in about about 1 to 1.5 hours.
Please contact [email protected]
Joe Egan
What’s going on here? We already have millions of dollars of budget deficits last year and this one, we can’t afford road salt so we’re running up OT for the plow drivers, we are already awash in potholes even though it’s still only December, and this guy Wsol is playing cute about a new police station that we don’t need and can’t afford.
Why no referendum, Mr. Wsol? Don’t you want to know what the voters think about your borrow and spend plans?
Wsol is simply advancing his master’s (Friel’s) agenda and making good on his campaign promise while running against Keystone Kop Kristie that, if elected, he would support a big new police station.
anon 5:50:
I am not in Wsol’s ward, and sometimes sarcasm is lost on me. But if you are telling me that he campaigned on the idea that we needed a new police station then those in his ward has much less to bitch about. At least he was up front about what he wanted to do.
Anon on 12.31.08 @ 7:25 AM:
Wsol may have been “up front” about what he wanted to do while he was campaigning, but he’s been talking out of all sides of his mouth since: 39,000 square feet and $19,000,000, then down to $16.5 million without land or interest, now some new mumbo jumbo because he was called on his $16.5 million figure by Schmidt and the citizens’ referendum.
What the guy wants is a new police station, as big and expensive as he can get away with, so long as it doesn’t go to referendum. That way, he doesn’t have to take any heat for voting for a new cop shop after his constituents give it a big “no” vote.
The only local public official who has turned out to be a bigger disappointment than Wsol is Frimark.
The police department cover up was Wsol’s idea and he went along with hiring that Elk dude to carry it out and bill the city way more than the original contract.
Wsol was the guy who pushed to double deal on Caudill’s severance package after the police department investigation started.
Wsol was the guy asking for closed meetings and helping Frimark to try to do his secret deals to buy property for a new police station just as recent as this past summer!
The final blow for me is that Wsol was the guy who nuked the 500 foot rule that would have kept our school kids apart from homeless shelters.
Wsol has been a total disappointment.
Did you know that according to St. Luke’s bulletin: HOMELESS PEOPLE MAY NOT SLEEP IN PARK RIDGE, BUT WE CAN STILL OFFER TO FEED THEM: The Park Ridge Ministerial Association is sponsoring Sunday Night Suppers. Starting January 18, 2009 all who are hungry or homeless are welcome!! Every Sunday Night doors open at 5:45 p.m. and the meal is served at 6:00 p.m., St. Paul of the Cross Roman Catholic Church, in the Morello Parish Life Center, 320 South Washington in Park Ridge. For more information call 847/692-6767.
Yet, if you look on SPC’s website, there is nothing at all about this. I guess if I want info about what is going on at SPC, I need to check St. Luke’s website.
Editor’s Note: Because this comment was posted to this item, we are leaving it here; but we have also posted it to our most recent PADS-shelter item (“PADS: Moving On Or Just Re-Grouping,” 11/10/08) where it would appear to be more relevant.
Sorry to have posted here – I thought it might be overlooked if it were posted on a stale (?) thread. Feel free to remove it. Thanks.
Anonymous on 12.31.08 1:59 pm:
You are incorrect that Wsol “went along with hiring that Elk [sic] dude” to conduct the Police Department audit. Wsol and Ald. Dave Schmidt were outspoken in their desire for one of the other firms that submitted proposals for the audit.
Mr. Ekl’s firm, however, was the favorite of Mayor Frimark’s very own “Mini Me,” Alderpuppet Jim Allegretti (4th Ward), and of the rest of the Alderpuppets.
I guess this just proves that Lutherans update their web sites faster than Catholics.
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