As the discussion of a new 39,000 square foot police station begins to heat up again now that it looks like School District 64’s headquarters at 164 South Prospect is not a viable site, we are reminded of the poem that begins “For want of a nail…” and goes on to describe how a kingdom was lost because one single warhorse lost its shoe due to a missing nail.  With that poem as background, it might be worth a short trip down memory lane to consider the new police station that we almost had back in the Spring of 2004.

The story actually began on January 23, 2004, when local real estate broker and long-time political insider Owen J. Hayes II formed an Illinois limited liability company named “515 Busse LLC,” apparently for the purpose of purchasing the commercial property located at 515 Busse Highway – across the street from the Public Works Building – which was then owned by the American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons.

The timing of Hayes’ efforts to acquire that property were serendipitous: The College was looking to move out of town and its Director, J.C. (Chris) Mahaffey, a former chairman of the Park Ridge Economic Development Corporation (“EDC”), had reached out to the EDC’s executive director, Sharon Curcio, for help in finding a buyer.  According to a letter written by Mr. Mahaffey [PDF], Curcio “mentioned” the City’s interest in acquiring a larger police facility and Mahaffey asked her to suggest the College’s building.

Although Curcio reported back that the City was “not interested,” both City Manager Tim Schuenke and Chief of Police Jeff Caudill are reported to have said that the property was not brought to their attention when it was originally placed on the market in November, 2003.  It remains unclear how the City eventually became interested in the 515 Busse building, but sometime in late December 2003, Hayes – coincidentally, also a former EDC chairman – reportedly contracted to purchase the building.

For those of you who don’t remember the EDC, it was formed in the early 1990s to promote business development and growth within the City.  Although almost 50% of the EDC funding came from the City and the EDC’s office was located in City Hall, for almost its entire existence its meetings were closed to the public.  By 2004, Hayes’ fellow EDCers included current 5th Ward Ald. Robert Ryan and former 4th.Ward Ald. John Kerin; and Mayor Howard Frimark had only recently resigned his charter membership.

So Hayes was getting set to close on the 515 Busse property when the City became aware that property was for sale.  On March 30, 2004, Chief Caudill and City Manager Schuenke were given a tour of the building by Hayes, who ostensibly was acting as the broker for the College.  The property was listed for sale at $1,385,000, and Hayes indicated that another buyer was interested.

On April 5, 2004 city staff made a presentation to the City Council, and the Council instructed the City Attorney to prepare an offer at $1,150,000 to purchase the property. By April 9, however, Chief Caudill was tipped about a possible transfer of ownership of that property.  Upon checking the public record, he determined that ownership of the property had been transferred to Hayes on April 1, 2004, for a purchase price of $950,000.

That led to a closed session meeting of the City Council on April 19, [PDF], at which time the Council was informed about the property transfer to Hayes.  After deciding to instruct the City Attorney to proceed with a formal complaint against Hayes to the Illinois Office of Banks and Real Estate (the governmental body that regulates real estate brokers), the Council deadlocked 7 to 7 on a motion to pursue the purchase of the 515 Busse property, but at a price of $975,000.  At that point, the Council abandoned any further efforts to acquire that site; and the property was subsequently sold and now houses Avenues to Independence and, until very recently, the Howard P. Frimark Insurance Agency.  The Mayor has reportedly moved his business to 422 N. Northwest Highway, which appears to be another Owen Hayes owned building. [PDF].

On April 27, 2004 the City Attorney filed a complaint against Hayes [PDF] with Commissioner D. Lorenzo Padron at the Department of Banks and Real Estate.  Because of understaffing of that Department, however, the investigation of the City’s complaint languished until November, 2006, when an inquiry from an alderman prompted the City Attorney to follow up on the matter.

On October 25, 2007, a consent order [PDF] – the equivalent of a plea bargain – was entered by which the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation issued a formal reprimand against Hayes’ real estate license for violating 225 ILCS 454/20-20(h)(12)[PDF] – engaging in “dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public.”

Nevertheless, Hayes remains active in the community, continuing to serve as the chairman of the Farmer’s Market and recently serving as Treasurer for Ald. Robert Ryan’s 5^th Ward campaign.

But how Hayes handled this particular transaction reveals how deals can be done in ways that look, sound and smell fishy when made public – and how, as the State’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation found, they can violate the law.

But even worse is the fact that the kinky-ness of this deal may have cost the taxpayers a bundle of money.  Because of Hayes’ wrongful non-disclosure of his interest in the 515 Busse property, the City Council abandoned its efforts to buy that property for a new police station at either the original offer of $1,150,000 or the reduced offer of $975,000 – and it is now shopping for a new cop shop of almost double the size of the 515 Busse building…at more than ten times the price.

“For want of a nail….”