Park Ridge Mayor Dave Schmidt and Finance & Budget Chair Ald. Dan Knight (5th Ward) wanted at least one of the operators of Taste of Park Ridge NFP (“Taste Inc.”) to appear at a City Council meeting and answer some questions about Taste Inc.’s management of Taste of Park Ridge (“TOPR”) – starting with what it did with all the money it made running TOPR as a for-profit Subchapter S corporation from 2005 through 2008, even as it was praising itself as a not-for-profit corporation whose “volunteer” operators never made a penny for their efforts.
Every last one of the Tastees – Albert Galus, Dave Iglow, Dean Patras, Sandy Svizzero, Barb Tyksinski, John Warnimont, Jackie Matthews and Mel Thillens – basically told Schmidt and the Council (and, indirectly, the taxpayers) to go pound sand: they were too busy, and they would remain too busy until some unspecified future date which, as Schmidt quipped, seemed like “eternity.”
But while they were laying low (and, perhaps, watching the proceedings live on WOW?) an “unofficial” spokesman showed up at Monday night’s City Council meeting to rant on their behalf, while disingenuosly (as evidenced by all his “we” references) claiming to be speaking only for himself.
Their champion was none other than former mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark, who came out with guns blazing at Schmidt, Knight, and anybody else who might dare even to hint that his Tastee buddies were anything other than Mother Teresas in orange TOPR golf shirts.
Frimark called Schmidt a “liar,” called Knight a Schmidt “lackey,” and accused City Staff of “cooking the books” in calculating the $20,000-plus in direct and indirect costs of all the City services that Taste Inc. received for free again this year. And he provided a history of TOPR that was so incomplete and distorted that it would stretch the meaning of the term to call it merely “revisionist.”
But while almost everything Frimark said was, typically, of questionable veracity, one line stood out, even for him:
“[The City] doesn’t own the Taste. You have to get that through your thick skulls.”
The reason that line stood out is because it may have been the only completely truthful and factually accurate statement Frimark made all evening, because just last Thursday (August 18), Taste Inc. registered the “Taste of Park Ridge” trademark, along with its logo, with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office.
That’s a pretty slick business/legal move for people who only recently admitted (through a press release) to being so unsophisticated that it took them more than four years to discover a “paperwork error” and figure out that they were a for-profit corporation instead of a not-for-profit one.
The practical effect of this move by Taste Inc. is that if the City chooses to bid out next year’s TOPR, neither the City nor the winning bidder will be able to call the event “Taste of Park Ridge” – unless, of course, the winning bidder is Taste Inc., or the winning bidder gets a license from Taste Inc. to use the name.
While the slickness and the timing of the move surprised us, the attitude it reflects is spot-on for a group of people whose stewardship of TOPR has been a continuous display of secretiveness, self-aggrandizement and arrogance for over 7 years. Which is why Frimark is the perfect Taste Inc. spokesman: a shameless opportunist who seems to view “government” as little more than a vehicle for letting private individuals and enterprises feed at the public trough.
In other words, Chicago-style government in Park Ridge – compliments of ol’ “Let’s Make A Deal.”
UPDATE (08.25.11) Just when we thought nothing could be more bizarre than Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark’s emergence Monday night as the unofficial shill for Taste Inc., Howard and the Tastees have produced an unsigned “Memorandum of Understanding” dated 1/1/2006 from head Tastee Dave Iglow (Pine’s Mens Wear) to then-mayor Frimark (naturally), claiming an “understanding” by Taste Inc.’s “directors” that Taste Inc. from that point on had no further financial or reporting obligations to the City.
As Dana Carvey’s “church lady” character used to say on SNL: “Now isn’t that special.”
Not surprisingly, we can find no mention of this Memorandum in any of the admittedly sketchy records on the City’s website for 2006; and we could find no reference to it despite a pretty darn thorough Internet search. And as best as we can tell, no mention of it ever surfaced in any of the achingly self-serving statements Taste Inc. has issued over the past few years. So we have to wonder whether it’s just a total scam, or whether it’s something Iglow cooked up a few years back and Frimark stuffed under his mattress just in case Taste Inc.’s (and Frimark’s?) for-profit TOPR scheme was ever discovered and Taste Inc. faced the kind of Council scrutiny it is now under.
We can’t wait to see what the next treasure from the Taste Inc./Frimark Wonder Cave will be. Could it be a secret 99-year license for Taste Inc.’s exclusive use of Summit Ave. for 4 days each July? An undated general pardon from then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich? A “Dude for Supervisor” campaign button? Jimmy Hoffa?
When dealing with the likes of Frimark and the Tastees, nothing seems too implausible or outrageous.
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20 comments so far
Could the slick business/legal move have been the idea of Mel Thillens? He has both financial and recreation experience from working in the private sector. That’s what the bloggers here said when they endorsed him for the Park Board.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We don’t see what insight Thillens’ “recreation experience” or his check-cashing “financial” experience would contribute toward Taste Inc.’s trademarking initiative. But, then again, we also didn’t endorse him for a position with Taste Inc.
It looks like the bloggers here endorsed a candidate for office who is being accused of taking part in a secret deal to get money from the public trough. Either the bloggers here are poor judges of character or not very good at vetting candidates for office. What is being blogged here is that Thillens and the others are guilty of some kind of fraud like taking profits for themselves. If they are guilty of something then the bloggers here endorsed a candidate they failed to realize was some type of slick opportunist. That shows lack of judgement on the part of the bloggers here. If Thillens and the others aren’t guilty of something like taking profits and only screwed up filings, the bloggers here are showing lack of judgement by making the accusations of wrong doing. Either way, the judgement of the bloggers here seems to be in question.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We have not accused Thillens of “taking profits” for himself because, as we understand it, he didn’t become a Tastee until 2009 – the first year Taste Inc. was legitimately an NFP. Only prior to that time was Taste Inc. a for-profit Sub S corp. which could be expected to have reported the allocation/distribution of profits to its “shareholders” on K-1 statements that Taste Inc. should have produced to the Council, along with its 2005-2008 tax returns, in response to Ald. Knight’s requests.
More importantly, Thillens (like Jackie Matthews) appears to be neither an officer nor a director of Taste Inc., but merely a member of Taste Inc.’s inexplicable TOPR “committee” – so he probably wouldn’t have shared in any profits Taste Inc. may have allocated and/or distributed from 2005-2008 even if he had been involved with Taste Inc. back then.
All that being said, Thillens’ continued association with Taste Inc. now that it has finally admitted its continuing misrepresentations about its NFP status from 2005-08 would seem to call into question his commitment to the kind of transparency and accountability he owes the public as a Park Board member.
The Tastees jumped the shark by sending Frimark to speak on their behalf. How could this possibly benefit them — or him? Weird move. It also doesn’t seem to clarify anything.
Howard was a hoot. I hope he continues to make regular appearances, because he certainly adds some entertainment value to what can be a boring meeting.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you want “entertainment value” watch TMZ. Howard’s rambling fiction adds nothing but time to any public meeting.
Didn’t Thillens, who won the Park District Commissioner seat, claim that the unions backed his opponents?
However, Thillens had posters of support in downtown Park Ridge at ‘All on the Run Catering’ and ‘Pines’ and some other locations. These folks that supported his candidacy, were part of the Taste, Inc. group that may or may have not defrauded the City of Park Ridge?
As a person running for public office, was he required to disclose his business ventures that he has with the City of Park Ridge at the time of the election? Did he?
Are there other public officials, besides Thillens, that are part of Tastee, Inc.?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Time to try linear thinking, Ace.
As a person running for the Park District Board, we understand that he had a duty to disclose any business ventures he had with the Park District, not the City. We are aware of no other Tastees who are City officials of any stripe.
The bloggers here plaster names of people all over the place and paint an ugly picture with a miles wide broad brush. All those people are demanded to account for allegations of possible fraud and scheming. When it’s pointed out that the bloggers here endorsed one of those people for public office, they say some of the same people they smear probably didn’t get anything and didn’t have any part in any possible fraud. If those people probably didn’t get anything and aren’t guilty of anything how could the bloggers here try to demand they account for something done before their time and since they aren’t even directors or officers? The bloggers here are ridiculous.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Any “ugly picture” has been painted by the deceitful Tastees for the past 7 years, whose own admissions rather than “allegations” establish that they weren’t the NFP they have consistently claimed they were in 2005-2008.
But rather than waste everyone’s time with your inane preliminary assertions, why not just limit yourself to “The bloggers here are ridiculous” and leave it at that?
Why does the council allow Frimark so much speaking time? Couldn’t they limit his nonsense?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually, letting Howard speak is probably a public service, because the more he talks the more readily any sentient listener can realize just what an uninformed, disingenuous windbag he is.
Who cares that Thillens is part of Tastee, Inc.? If he didn’t share in the profits he did nothing wrong. Even if he did receive revenue from the Taste of Park Ridge, he didn’t do anything wrong. It is Tastee, Inc. that is under scrutiny.
To the previous comment, just because a person does business with the City, that does not mean that they have to disclose it when running for office of another part of the government.
Whether the unions supported the other candidates or not does not mean anything. It is not illegal for a person to have support from a union, nor is it illegal for a person to have support from a business.
What is important is if the City of Park Ridge is owed money from Tastee, Inc., that the City is paid appropriately.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What we believe is “wrong” although probably not illegal, is Thillens’ fellow Tastees who were shareholders in the original for-profit Taste Inc. publicly proclaiming all these years that Taste Inc. was an NFP from Day One. That seems like a fraud on TOPR customers who believed they were supporting either a City-run or NFP-run event.
The bloggers here care if Thillens is part of Taste Inc. because they demanded he be one of the people called on the carpet. The bloggers here endorsed a candidate for office who closely associates with people the bloggers here claim have acted out a possible fraud. Names of many people have been plastered all over this blog and had aspersions cast on them wether they are officers or directors for the Taste or not. Other bloggers here claim the Taste people sent Howard Frimark to speak for them. The bloggers here are ridiculous and are running amok defaming people.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Did Taste Inc. and the Tastees claim Taste Inc. was an NFP from 2005-2008? Yes. Was Taste Inc. a legitimate NFP from 2005 through 2008? No (per press release admission). Hence, Taste Inc. and the Tastees made misrepresentations of fact to TOPR patrons with the intention that those patrons rely on those misrepresentations. No aspersions (and no asparagus, either), no defamation, just fact.
Is that you, Albert Galus, commenting anonymously?
Could the Taste Inc. tax filings have been done in error? Yes. Do the bloggers know the intent behind the claims made? No. The bloggers are committing a defamation by claiming to know the intent and offering that claim as fact. Did the customers rely on those claims? Not according to Mayor Schmidt. Mayor Schmidt claimed many patrons of the Taste think it is a City-run event. Mayor Schmidt claimed people don’t know it’s being run by a private corporation. I am not Albert Galus, commenting anonymously. The bloggers here have always accepted anonymous comments. The bloggers here are anonymous.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Zippy, you sound no more informed about defamation law than you do about Taste Inc. and TOPR. You might not be Albert Galus, but you could be charged with impersonating him.
This is really priceless. How does Frimark or any of these Tastees think anybody would buy this so called “memorandum of understanding”?
The former Mayor, and God help us all how did that happen, and any past Alderpersons who thought a deal like he/they worked out was in the best interests of Park Ridge were dreaming or lying.
And now, with all of what has recently surfaced out in the open, the current group of Aldermen better get to fixing this…if it is fixable. Only a couple seem to really get it and if any of them go along with Sweeney and leave this be essentially because it is a nice time for 45,000 people (and where did Sweeney get that figure??) God help us again.
What has been allowed to happen is wrong and just because it has been wrong for so long doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be made right.
On a side note, could Frimark be more incomprehensible? Wow. How has the guy made a living selling insurance? He can hardly talk.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hey, bread & circuses have bamboozled the masses since Roman times, so Taste Inc.’s bamboozling our “masses” for only 7 years is merely the blink of an eye.
We have stopped trying to figure out Sweeney and have dumped him in the pot with all those other hard-edged “conservatives” who are oh so principled only so long as it doesn’t inconvenience them.
Subpoena city staff. This memo doesn’t mean anything unless the city received it. Keep a close eye on Hock…he was Frimark’s hire and could try to slip into a file drawer somewhere.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As we understand it, the City lacks subpoena power. And while this kind of deception exacerbated by negligence and apathy is annoying, it probably doesn’t rise to the “criminal” level that would warrant an investigation by the Cook County State’s Attorney or the Feds. Chalk it up to just more bad government and exploitation by private opportunists.
Frimark is the living embodiment of Swiftboating. How he can stand there and accuse Schmidt of being a liar and a bully is astounding. Those qualities are two of Frimark’s main character traits. Dave isn’t perfect but at least he has some motivation beyond the Chicago motto Frimark has made his own: “Where’s mine?” Dave doesn’t run his business out of City Hall. And something else: Dave can not only think coherently and speak English, he can read and write it, too. It’s a revolting thing to see Frimark, that ill-intentioned imp, getting his mojo back. And yes, I say that even though my forebears are from “Norwegia.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: It might be interesting to see if Howard had the insurance concession for Taste Inc., and whether he was paid the “wholesale,” “retail” or the “extra profit” premiums.
Howard is pathetic but running a close second is the fixation that you all have toward him. Good lord it is like pavlov’s dog – the bell goes off and ya’ll begin to salavate.
Newsflash!!! Howard Frimark got his ass handed to him almost 3 years ago. He has zero power, which leads me to………….
Newsflash 2!!!! If the Mayor is really so up and arms about TOPR Inc. (he has be very quiet for being so up in arms until recently) , he has the power to make it an issue. He also has “partners” on the council who can make it an issue. I elected him and them to govern so if they believe that there is a better alternative than TOPR inc I say go for it!!!! In fact I will go one step further. After the Mayors recent comments, I will judge him harshly if TOPR inc has any involvement with next years event. I would hope all of you would do the same. We have 10 months until the next “taste”. If he really believes his “humouous” quote he had better do something to get rid of them. If we are having this same god damn dialogue and assumption fest next August I am going to puke.
Last newsflash. For those of you so disappointed with Sweeney, I would first suggest you look to the person who selected and appointed him to fill the roll of alderman. After that I would look at the people in his Ward who voted for him.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Re your “Newsflash” and “Newsflash 2”: Until this past May, the City Council was dominated by Frimark stooges (Allegretti, Bach, Carey and Ryan) and a Frimark sympathizer/campaign donor (DiPietro), which is why Schmidt’s attempts at raising the TOPR issue went nowhere during Schmidt’s first 2 years in office.
We also will puke if this TOPR matter hasn’t been resolved…in the next couple of months.
Re your “Last newsflash”: Sweeney appears over his skis on too many issues. Whether he was the best of the crop who sought appointment to Schmidt’s vacant aldermanic seat is debatable – but the 1st Ward voters mooted that decision with Sweeney’s April election. So, hopefully, Sweeney will find a way to raise his game over the next four years.
For those misguided souls like Sweeney who think the City should leave well enough alone, check out page 19 in today’s Herald-Advocate. Morton Grove (Sweeney’s former home town) made a $13,000 PROFIT on its annual festival this year. There is no earthly reason why Park Ridge should be losing money on theirs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: According to Sweeney, they were only breaking even when he was involved in MoGro’s event. No wonder Sweeney thinks the current arrangement is working well.
540, Your frustration is appreciated but you have to appreciate what the Editor stated about previous council’s unwillingness to do anything about TOPR, except create and enable the status quo, and the previous Mayor’s efforts to apparently create and shill endlessly for TOPR NFP.
It looks like this new council may finally do something about this fiasco and whether there is a TOPR next year or not at least we will be done with this current group of pretenders. It is about time.
Now let’s hope they can move on to some things that really matter…flood issues and how to pay for them, budget issues,etc.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Exactly. And on the economic front, we’re expecting the audit for 2010-11 to show the smallest deficit in the four year history of the 7-man “Frimark” Council, thanks to Mayor Schmidt’s walking the fiscal responsibility walk.
We have asked the Cook County State’s Atty
to look into these allegations and open statements made during the last city council mtg.
Open up an offical probe and then call them all in one by one to the grand jury.
Let’s see who’s the tough guy –then!
Thank you.
GS
Ret.
You go Gene!
You have written some crazy stuff in the past but this is good…don’t stop til you get ’em all!
Word is that Mayor Dave has a friend who wants to bid on the Taste management project and that’s what is motivating his zeal to get the Tastees. Say it ain’t so?
EDITOR’S NOTE: We haven’t heard any such “word.” You must be thinking about former mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark, who had a bunch of friends (including current Tastees Iglow, Galas, Patras, Svizzero, Tyksinski and Warnimont) who didn’t want to bid on TOPR management but, instead, wanted TOPR handed to them on a no-bid basis. But we understand how people who don’t pay attention might get confused about things like this.
646…It ain’t so. If the Council (it is not my decision) chooses to send the food fest out to bid, then it would be a completely transparent process where anyone could bid, and the winner would be the entity that offered the best deal for the taxpayers. Nothing more, nothing less.
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