Harry Porterfield, a newsman with Channel 2 news in Chicago, used to host a feature called “Someone You Should Know.”  Today’s post is about someone in Park Ridge that you should know: Dick Barton.

In our our 02.12.13 post about last year’s Dave Schmidt v. Larry Ryles mayoral campaign, we called Barton the “ubiquitous local public relations and marketing hired gun.”  At that time, Barton was backing Ryles, as he had backed then-mayor Howard Frimark against then-ald. Schmidt in the 2009 campaign.

Following that 2009 election we published a 04.24.09 post critical of Barton for his letter to local newspapers in which he assumed a faux above-the-fray posture in asking citizens and officials alike to “put away our petty disagreements” and “put aside any hurt feelings” arising out of “friction…[created] between neighbors, church members, those in civic organizations of all types and between rival groups of candidate supporters.”

As we noted back then, Barton didn’t “get it”: he didn’t “get” that the differences between Frimark and Schmidt on such significant matters as honest and transparent government, taxes, spending and debt were anything but “petty” – just like he didn’t “get” that the “friction” of competing ideas and policies was a GOOD thing, vastly preferable to those meaningless personality and style beauty contests that historically had defined Park Ridge elections.

Personality and style, however, are the tools of Barton’s trade, along with networking and deal-making.  And a lot of his networking and deal-making have involved the public sector, where slickness is always preferable to friction.

So we read with interest the 02.21.14 article in the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate questioning whether Barton was being paid by Maine Township government for campaign work performed for Maine Twp. Supervisor – and Maine Twp. Republican Committeeman candidate – Carol Teschky. (“Maine Township’s $42K spokesman Dick Barton: Campaign work ‘non-compensated.’”)

Whether the campaign work Barton is doing for Teschky is an outright conflict of interest with his paid duties for Maine Twp. is unclear at this time, as is whether he was actually doing Teschky campaign work while on the clock for Maine Township.

But the situation sure looks and smells strange, especially given that Barton reportedly has been on the Township’s dime for 14 years (since 2000), according to the H-A story.  And although we might have missed it, we don’t recall seeing or hearing anything about the Township bidding out its public relations contract or issuing any RFP for those services during the entire time Barton has been handling its p.r.

Which is not surprising, given the way things operate in Maine Township, which we recently heard referred to as “Provenzano-ville” because of the dominant presence of Highway Commissioner Bob Provenzano – who began working on his second public-sector pension as a Township payroller upon retiring from the Cook County Hwy. Dept. in 1998.  He also was Township Collector from 1993 to 1994, and a Township trustee from 1994 to 1998.

But back to Barton.

Barton’s fingers have been in so many pies locally that it’s hard to keep tabs on what hat he’s wearing at any given time – something we noted in our posts of 07.25.08, 03.13.09 and 07.13.09.  More recently, and relevant to the situation about which the H-A is reporting, on 06.07.12 Barton was promoting a fundraiser for the “Maine Township Incumbents” (including Teschky and Provenzano) while the very next week he was shilling for Teschky and Provenzano while talking up Maine Township’s Community Garage Sale.

Barton reportedly even moonlight’s as a stringer/reporter/photographer for the Park Ridge Journal, resulting in an almost comical situation where he was an honoree at a Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce event covered by the Journal, after which he wrote a letter to the Journal’s editor complimenting him on the Journal’s coverage of the Chamber’s event!

This kind of alter-ego activity isn’t new to him.

In a letter to the editor written in his capacity as Park Board president and published in the 05.01.08 issue of the H-A, Barton singled out from among “a range of businesses” sponsoring the Park District’s Earth Day event a certain “Green Transportation Solutions, a Park Ridge-based consulting firm specializing in environmental issues” – without mentioning that GTS was part of his then-Barton & Barton, Ltd. (now Barton Marketing Group) business that counted the Park District as one of its clients, “past and present.”

On a local scale, Barton appears to have been masterful in creating an economic synergy from his public-sector, private-sector and political contacts, including landing the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce as a client and a warm endorsement from executive director Gail Haller.  We don’t begrudge him one ounce of his success – so long as it doesn’t come at the taxpayers’ expense.

But we have to wonder whether at least some of those relationships and those networking opportunities have come at taxpayer expense.  That sure would explain why Barton has always been an unabashed spender of tax dollars and an equally unabashed advocate of such spending, including when he was on the Park Board from 2005-2009 and ever since.  Frankly, we can’t remember him ever arguing for ways to avoid spending, or actually saving, the taxpayers’ money.

But apparently that doesn’t concern a certain someone you should know, who has spent the past 14 years wasted away again in Provenzano-ville.

SIDEBAR:  The editor and publisher of this blog has been a friend of Teschky’s opponent, Charlene Foss-Eggeman, for several years; and he has contributed to Foss-Eggeman’s campaign.  

To read or post comments, click on title.