Judge: No Reason to Consolidate Lawsuits
Oak Park citizens want to back D. 97's move to dismiss case.
A Cook County Court judge dismissed a request on Monday to merge lawsuits that would throw out referendums approved by voters in Oak Park School District 97 and Wilmette School District 39.
Meanwhile, some Oak Park residents are seeking to support the district's move to get the suit tossed out.
Attorneys representing the Committee to Support Oak Park Schools as well as seven residents will ask Judge Mary L. Mikva on Friday to grant the group's request to file a brief supporting District 97's motions to dismiss. The group was formed to advocate for the passage of referendum on the April 5 ballot. The measure passed by almost 1,000 votes.
The residents are: Laura Crawford, Carollina Song, Lisa Sensat, Graham Brisben, Libbey Paul, David Giardina and Wendy Giardina.
In papers filed Tuesday, while members said they strongly opposed filing these briefs - called amici curiae or friends of the court briefs - they felt that they have constitutional rights at stake that the "school district and the board members are not in a position to represent." They did not elaborate.
Committee members also are prepared to submit relevant factual information regarding their efforts to educate the voters about the referendum, including the "likely impact on property taxes," according to the court documents.
The Committee to Support is also seeking to file the brief before June 14, the deadline for Taxpayers United of America to file documents that would explain why Mikva should allow its suit to move ahead.
The lawsuit to stop the Oak Park's referendum from taking effect was filed by Oak Park resident Noel Kuriakos and Taxpayers United in late April. About a month later, the judge blocked a request for a temporary restraining order, which would have prevented the property tax hike from taking effect. The district is due back in court June 30 to ask for the case to be tossed out.
In his ruling yesterday, Judge Moshe Jacobius said there was no sufficient grounds to consolidate the cases, a request brought by plaintiff Herbert Sorock, a Wilmette resident, and Taxpayers United.
TUA argued that both lawsuits were based on faulty ballot language that each school district used to pass recent referendums increasing property taxes. TUA said that by failing to include the Illinois state equalizer in their calculations, the districts understated the effects of the increases on homeowners.
Inaccurate ballot language was an issue that Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar raised before the April election.
Consolidating the two would have lessened the financial burden on Oak Park and Wilmette residents, according to TUA’s Christina Tobin.
But Rob Swain, District 97's attorney, vehemently disagreed saying it would cost more. He called it a delaying tactic that could force District 97 into making different budgeting, programming and staffing decisions for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
"They are holding both communities hostage," Swain said.
Swain, in addition, said he was confident in the end that Mikva would toss out the complaint. "She has a good understanding of the issues. She has made her thoughts and concerns about the complaint very clear," he said.
Quis Custodiet
10:26 pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
"Consolidating the two would have lessened the financial burden on Oak Park and Wilmette residents, according to TUA’s Christina Tobin". ?
If Tobin cared one iota about saving taxpayer money, she would not have filed two separate cases in the first place (not to mention Riverside-Brookfield), in villages where she has no stake whatsoever; she would not have filed frivolous claims against our neighbor-volunteer board members in their individual capacity; she would not have filed motion after motion that are routinely decided against her, wasting everyone's time, including the Court system; she would not have filed these resource-wasting actions at all. Christina Tobin is interested in only one thing: building up a resume of purported civic activity and press-mentions so that she can one day run for office here in Illinois, as she did in California. Do not fall for this now, or in the future when you see her name on a petition or ballot.
Dave
9:59 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Interesting that Oak Parkers like Quis fight against democracy. What's wrong with running for office? That's what people who want a democracy do. What's wrong for trying to hold the junta VMA and its insider cronies to accurate ballot measures? What's wrong with doing anything you can to represent people in Oak Park who are struggling to stay in the village and can't do much in this lousy real estate market to sell their house even if they wanted to leave? Most villages have idiots. We have toadies.
Quis Custodiet
11:31 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
There's nothing at all wrongwith running for office. The problem is that Christina Tobin wants you to believe that she filed this Motion to Consolidate in order to save you money. That is simply ridiculous. If anything, such a motion would save HER money, because she would have to pay her attorney to battle in only one consolidated proceeding instead of two separate ones. In all likelihood, her decision to file this motion had nothing to do with saving money at all and was instead motivated by a desire to escape the Judge in the Wilmette case. If Christina Tobin says that she is doing something to benefit you, think twice.
Christina Tobin
10:11 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wilmette School Board Objects to Saving Taxpayers’ Money
http://www.taxpayersunitedofamerica.org/news-releases/wilmette-school-board-objects-to-saving-taxpayers%E2%80%99-money
CHICAGO–Yesterday, the Wilmette School District 39 Board successfully objected to a move by Taxpayers United of America (TUA) which would have saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.
TUA had moved to consolidate two of the referendum cases it has filed so they could be heard as one case. The lawsuits involve both Wilmette School District 39 and Oak Park School District 97. Attorneys for both Boards objected to the consolidation.
In a hearing yesterday before Judge Moshe Jacobious at the Richard J. Daley Center, TUA argued that consolidation was in the interest of judicial economy and should be consolidated in order to avoid confusion that could result from two different Judges coming to conflicting decisions in the two cases.
The attorney for Wilmette School District 39 argued the Wilmette case was on an expedited schedule and was set for a dispositive ruling on June 23rd. The attorney for Oak Park School District 97 argued that consolidation would not be efficient and would delay proceedings.
Christina Tobin
10:11 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Wilmette case is set for a hearing on the Petition for Temporary Restraining Order and the Motion to Dismiss on June 23, 2011, at 11:15 a.m. before Judge Novak in Room 2402 of the Daley Center. The Oak Park case is set for a hearing on the Motion to Dismiss before Judge Mikva on June 30, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2508 of the Daley Center.
Dave
2:09 pm on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Quisling -- Who else is doing something for me? You? What are you doing for me? What is the junta VMA doing for me? The high tax rate in Oak Park is unsustainable. We already have the highest taxes and the only junta VMA solution to any problem Oak Park has is to look for higher taxes from property owners. Solves any messy need to do engage in good government, doesn't it? This is happening when living in Illinois itself is becoming less and less attractive to outsiders for its sorry economic state and unfunded budget disaster that is worse than California's. Is that an environment to raise taxes? In places that don't suffocate under one-party rule like some sleazy banana republic, it isn't. Hard to believe but there are communities that actually do take into consideration the difficulties their citizens face. I could care less who Christina Tobin is or why she is such a threat to you. At least she's doing something. Keep toadying.
William J Belmonte Jr
3:30 pm on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Dist. 97 has done something already with money they don't have yet. They have ordered laptop computers for all or most of their teachers and a goodly number of the students, BUT best of all they have fixed the electrical singage at Percy Jr. High School. This after not having it work for how long?
Quis Custodiet
1:25 pm on Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tobin, and her "taxpayers interest group" lose another big one today as the Judge in the Wilmette case dismisses TUA's case with prejudice.
Quis Custodiet
2:38 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
It is one year later and Christina Tobin, and the tea-partiers at "Taxpayers United" just keep on losing. They filed an appeal of the dismissal; asked for expedited treatment; then proceeded to waste taxpayer money by continually delaying the proceedings. Now the appeal has been dismissed, and again they threaten to take this up to the Supreme Court. Clearly they are solely interested in furthering their misguided "no-tax" ideology at the expense of your children's education.
Casey Cora
3:08 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thanks for the comment. We're actually working on an update right now.