the daily

WGN-TV gives a boost to "best downtown" kudos

Having read in Chicago Magazine's August edition that La Grange has the "best downtown," WGN-TV reporter Marcus Leshock last week visited the central business district to check out firsthand "what makes it so special."

Leshock spoke on camera with Village President Elizabeth Asperger, toured the La Grange Theatre with one of its owners, JohnRot, dropped into Horton's hardware department and also spoke with Chris Spagnola and Mary Libsch, proprietors of Knead Marketplace.

Here's his report...

 

La Grange library wants your input, but don't delay

Haven't taken the La Grange Library's community survey yet? You can do it online right now. Click here.

But don't put it off. Surveys must be completed by Wednesday, June 17.

As of last Wednesday, more than 400 library patrons—both residents and visitors from neighboring communities—had completed the survey, which comes in a short or long form. Take your pick. The short survey is about seven minutes long; the in-depth version fifteen.

The survey results will help the library complete its strategic planning process by providing input on staff, materials, the facility and programs, Bridget Bittman, a library spokeswoman, said.

Suburban Life joins Tribune and Doings in demanding release of theater documents denied to LG Today

In an editorial published in its May 20 edition, the Suburban Life newspaper said that La Grange officials should make public documents they refused to release last summer related to the village's decision to extend $1 million in financial assistance to the owners of the La Grange Theatre.

The documents—which include reports prepared by McKenna & Associates, a financial services firm that specializes in municipal and economic development financing and planning, and Holland & Knight, the village's law firm—were among several requested in May 2008 by La Grange Today publisher Thom Rae under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

In taking its stance, Suburban Life becomes the third area newspaper to publicly support Rae's request. The Chicago Tribune May 3 ran a front-page story critical of village officials and also compared an unredacted copy of an executive memorandum written by village manager Bob Pilipiszyn regarding the theater-financing proposal that it obtained with a version provided last year to Rae that had 15 of 19 paragraphs blacked out. The Doings newspaper last August also published an editorial criticizing the village's refusal to release the documents.

As Suburban Life points out, Rae was able to specifically request the documents only because they had been clearly identified by village president Liz Asperger during a public workshop in which she also encouraged trustees to discuss them openly. (The Tribune coverage also referenced the workshop disclosure in a video interview supplement to the online version of its story.)

In a letter from Asperger published in last Sunday's Tribune, she wrote, "[T]here are occasions when the best interests of the community are served by allowing its elected officials to confidentially consider a proposal, review proprietary financial information or discuss preliminary recommendations regarding a sensitive matter."

In a news story that accompanied Monday's editorial, Suburban Life Rae said, "I figured by the time you’re discussing documents in a public setting, they’re no longer preliminary drafts and not necessarily confidential."

Related stories:

• Asperger Responds to Tribune story on FOIA flap
  
• Trib story looks at battle to obtain theater documents

Asperger responds to Tribune story on FOIA denial

Village President Elizabeth Asperger Monday night labeled as "irresponsible" and "a disservice" a front-page story in the May 3 edition of the Chicago Tribune that highlighted an incident last summer in which village officials refused to make public documents related to its decision to give $1 million in tax increment financing (TIF) funds to help renovate the La Grange Theatre.

Asperger's remarks were contained in a letter to the newspaper's editor that she read during Monday's regular session of the village board of trustees.

While Asperger said she applauded the Tribune's effort to "focus a spotlight upon legislative directives regarding the public's right to information and records," she said La Grange officials were unfairly portrayed as poster children for reforms the newspaper said are needed to toughen the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Tribune reporter David Kidwell, Asperger said, "didn't do his homework before suggesting that [village officials] inappropriately thwarted the public's right to information regarding the [village board's] decision to invest in a public-private partnership to renovate the La Grange Theatre.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Asperger said.

Asperger noted that "hundreds of hours" have been spent in public forums discussing facets of the various projects the village has funded with TIF dollars. In addition to the La Grange Theatre, she cited the redevelopment of the "triangle property" along La Grange Rd between Ogden Ave and the BNSF rail line, and the public parking garage behind Village Hall, among other projects.

"However, there are occasions when the best interests of the community are served by allowing its elected officials to confidentially consider a proposal, review proprietary financial information or discuss preliminary recommendations regarding sensitive matter," Asperger said.

Asperger cited support for her position from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who was quoted by Kidwell in his May 3 report as believing it appropriate for officials to keep secret "preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated."

What Asperger did not note, however, is that the documents village officials refused to release last summer in response to a FOIA request from Thom Rae, publisher of LaGrangeToday.com, included several that Asperger herself had specifically mentioned in a May 19, 2008 public workshop and which she had encouraged trustees to openly discuss.

Rae told the Tribune that he only knew to request the documents because they had been so clearly and publicly identified by Asperger.

Among the FOIA reforms being proposed is one that would forbid officials from withholding any documents that have been included on a public agenda, according to Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst.

Trib story looks at battle to obtain theater documents and reveals full text of memo redacted by village

A front-page story in Sunday's Chicago Tribune features La Grange Today publisher Thom Rae and his battle with La Grange officials over their refusal to release key documents related to their decision to give $1 million in financial aid to the La Grange Theatre.

Rae's experience is one of three profiles in the story by Trib reporter Dave Kidwell that illustrates the problems Illinois citizens encounter when requesting public documents. The paper says that weak laws regarding freedom of information and open meetings have resulted in what Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan calls a "culture of secrecy" among elected officials at all levels across the state.

On the Trib's website, one can read the full text of an executive memo from village manager Bob Pilipiszyn to trustees discussing theater financing alternatives and compare it with the heavily redacted version made public last summer. Kidwell said Pilipiszyn gave him the full text copy only after a lengthy period of consideration, but would not release a study of the theater's financial health and projected revenues conducted by a consultant.

In an editorial that accompanies its report, the Trib encourages readers to contact their state representatives and demand that public access laws be strengthened.

Passersby can't help but notice theater facelift

Gutted lobby of La Grange Theatre

Sidewalk supervisors this week can view the renovation underway of the entrance and lobby at the La Grange Theatre, which this morning looked cavernous, literally stripped to its brick walls. But this afternoon, workers were wheeling in a pallet of ceramic wall tiles from DeSitter Flooring, offering a first hint of the new look to come.

Owners John Rot and David Rizner plan to reopen the theater on May 1, just in time to welcome a potential army of new patrons who learned about the theater and its facelift (partially underwritten by $1 million in financial aid from village taxpayers) from reading a huge spread in last Friday's Chicago Tribune.

Special board session to finalize theater TIF grant

UPDATED 03/02: The La Grange village board tonight approved the theater-aid legislation detailed below by a vote of 4 to 2. Trustee Barb Wolf did not attend as she was out of town. Trustees Mike Horvath and Jim Palermo voiced strong dissents before the vote. Steve Wolf, a trustee on the library board, angrily criticized President Elizabeth Asperger for not allowing public comment before the vote. David May, president of the District 102 school board, was in attendance. May said he intended to address the board but changed his mind after learning that comment before the vote would not be allowed.

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The La Grange village board of trustees will meet in special session Monday night to review and likely approve final legislation extending $1 million in financial aid to the La Grange Theatre.

Awaiting board action are two resolutions that would approve:

• An intercreditor and subordination agreement between the village, the theater owners and First National of La Grange, which holds a $1.4 million mortgage on the theater
• The use of tax increment financing (TIF) funds to acquire a façade preservation easement on the theater entrance and to pay project costs related to the renovation of the theater

Trustees also will vote on an ordinance authorizing the purchase of the façade easement.

The  latter resolution is a revision one approved by trustees Nov. 9. Changes became necessary after the theater's owners, John Rot and David Rizner, told village officials they would face unwanted capital gains taxes if they received the $1 million entirely as a payment for the façade easement, as originally agreed.

The revised arrangements would have the village pay only $237,500 for the easement with the remaining $762,500 to be provided as a loan. The loan would be repaid only if the theater ceased operating as a motion-picture venue, at which time repurchase of the easement also would be required.

The intercreditor agreement offers the village some security on its investment in the theater. Under its terms, the bank agrees to subordinate its senior mortgage on the theater property to the façade easement, and also acknowledges a junior lien held by the village in the amount of the loan.

Revision of theater financing is opportunity to rework the deal, Horvath says, but board shows no support

As the La Grange village board Monday night reviewed proposed revisions to an agreement that extends $1 million in financial aid to the La Grange Theatre, Village President Liz Asperger noted that the changes would provide the village with more security in the event the downtown theater failed.

Trustee Michael Horvath, on the other hand, said he was more concerned about the "upside" of the village's investment in the theater's renovation and that he believes the deal denies La Grange taxpayers the opportunity to fully share in any success that might bloom from it.

"The million dollars can bring the theater back to life and it can be wildly successful," Horvath said. "The theater owners can take lots of profits out of it and at the end of the day the taxpayer will get nothing back and will not share in those profits. Why shouldn't the taxpayer as the catalyst investor [...] share in that success in some way, shape or form?"

Horvath said he wanted to reconsider charging an entertainment tax on each theater ticket sold. That idea was seriously discussed  by the board during hearings held last year, but later discarded.

Horvath described the theater deal as a "bailout" similar to those being hammered out on the federal level for the banking and automotive industries. The difference, he said, is that taxpayers will profit if the federal efforts are successful.

Asperger bristled at the "bailout" comparison and chided Horvath for attempting to resurrect a debate that she said was put to rest Nov. 9 when the board in a close vote agreed to allocate $1 million in tax increment financing (TIF) funds to pay for structural renovations to the theater that its owners say are necessary to continue operating as a movie venue.

"Your question is one that you have asked on several occasions before," Asperger said to Horvath. "My short answer is that your desire to participate through some sort of repayment mechanism, as you have suggested, is simply not part of the transaction that the board structured with the owners."

"Well, that deal was a purchase, not a loan," Horvath retorted. "These are new terms, so I am suggesting a new term as part of the loan."

Under the revised terms of the million-dollar agreement reviewed by the board Monday night, the village would purchase an easement on the theater's facade for $237,500 and provide the remaining $762,500 in the form of a loan that would be repaid only if the theater ceases to operate as a movie venue. Originally, the board agreed to pay the entire $1 million in return for the facade easement, but the theater's owners, John Rot and David Rizner, asked for the revisions after realizing that receiving payment in excess of the facade's appraised value likely would result in taxable capital gains.

Asperger argued that the revisions were more about the form of the financing, not its substance. "We still have a million-dollar investment," she said. "We still invest our money into the theater through the same escrow vehicle with the same protections, the same operating covenants and the same repayment obligation should the theater cease to operate, as we did originally. We simply have structured it as a loan actually to provide additional security to the village in the form of a junior mortgage."

Asperger also disputed Horvath's contention that taxpayers would not share the wealth in the theater's success. "I think a majority of the board approved participation in this project because of their stringent belief that in fact it was a very beneficial transaction to the taxpayers, and that there were multiple ways in which members of our community and taxpayers would benefit as a result of our involvement in the project."

Trustee Mark Langan agreed with Asperger and identified specific ways he thought the project would profit both taxpayers and the community at large. "The benefit we're going to get, should it be successful, is increased sales taxes, increased activity in the village and continued success of our downtown," he said. "Those are the pieces we're going to get by this moving forward.

"We talked about [the deal] for six months," Langan said. "We had a very difficult vote. We voted 4-3 to move forward. Let's move on. We've got other business to handle."

When Horvath proposed polling the board to see if other trustees shared his sentiments, no one seconded the notion.

"It sounds like the majority is saying 'no'," Horvath said.

Actually, there will be a vote on the matter, likely at the board's Feb. 23 regular meeting, when trustees will be asked to formally approve the revisions and an intercreditor agreement with First National Bank of La Grange, which holds a mortgage on the theater.

Revisions proposed in theater renovation financing

A revised agreement to extend $1 million in financial aid to help renovate the La Grange Theatre was presented Monday night to the village board of trustees.

Under new terms outlined in a report from the village manager, Bob Pilipiszyn, the village would purchase an easement on the theater's façade for $237,500 and provide the remaining $762,500 as a loan that would be repaid, along with easement monies, only if the theater ceased operating as a movie venue.

If approved by the board, the revised agreement would replace one adopted Nov. 10 in which the entire $1 million was to be used for purchase of the façade easement.

The source of the village monies remains tax increment financing (TIF) funds, which will be placed in an escrow account along with $650,000 to be deposited by the theater's owners, John Rot and David Rizner.

The two partners proposed revising the agreement when they realized that receiving all of the money in exchange for the easement would increase their tax liability. An appraisal they ordered said the fair market value of the easement is $237,500.

The new agreement also "better secures the Village's 'investment' in the theater to a degree" because the loan portion will be secured by a junior mortgage on the theater property, Pilipiszyn wrote in his report.

A letter attached to the report from the village attorney, Mark Burkland, noted that the Rot and Rizner transferred ownership of the theater to 80 South Lagrange Inc. from Seamus Knolls LLC. Both are Illinois corporations that they control.

Village board schedules open meetings training

The La Grange village board of trustees Monday night will participate in a training session to review the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) in an effort to ensure compliance when convening closed sessions to discuss public business.

Village officials agreed to undergo OMA training after the Illinois Attorney General last July determined that the board had violated that law in a meeting with owners of the La Grange Theatre to discuss extending financial aid to the downtown movie house.

The session will be conducted by Richard A. Martens, an attorney with a private practice based in Chicago. Martens was chosen after representatives of the attorney general's office said they could not accommodate the village's requirement that the session be held in the evening.

The training session will take place during the board's Monday night meeting at Village Hall following the conclusion of regular business.