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"Gateway Page"
"Bits and Pieces"
Why "Bits and Pieces"? Click Here
The most recent commentaries will be presented first and
as you scroll down, you will see later dated entries.
*Note:
The Term "Bankrupt"and the name "Berwyn" are synonymous
and used interchangeably throughout this website.
as you scroll down, you will see later dated entries.
*Note:
The Term "Bankrupt"and the name "Berwyn" are synonymous
and used interchangeably throughout this website.
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The Following Entry Was
Published May 27, 2012
The Following Entry Was
Published May 27, 2012
BRIC Unveils The Balanced Budget Ordinance Proposal
As Part Of The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents
Click Here (Audio)
A BRIC Endorsed Goverment Will Rescind Union Contracts And Call For Federal Investigation
BRIC Unveils More Contract Provisions
The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents: The Update. Click Here
FOIA Copy
FOIA Progress. Click Here
Berwyn Residents As The Servants Of Public Servants
When Employees Run The Business: Click Here
New Hot Links Section
Hot Links. Click Here
The Speech (Audio)
NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin: Click Here
As Part Of The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents
Click Here (Audio)
A BRIC Endorsed Goverment Will Rescind Union Contracts And Call For Federal Investigation
BRIC Unveils More Contract Provisions
The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents: The Update. Click Here
FOIA Copy
FOIA Progress. Click Here
Berwyn Residents As The Servants Of Public Servants
When Employees Run The Business: Click Here
New Hot Links Section
Hot Links. Click Here
The Speech (Audio)
NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin: Click Here
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The Following Entry Was
Published April 19, 2012
BRIC Unveils "The Contract" (audio)
"The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents"
"The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents"
Today BRIC will begin unveiling the first of ten provisions of its Contract With Berwyn Residents And Taxpayers also referred to as "The Contract With Working Berwyn Residents". (audio) Click Here For More
A Message For Potential Independent Candidates (audio)
(audio) Click Here or Here
A Message For Potential Independent Candidates (audio)
(audio) Click Here or Here
The Patronage Army Is Called Into Action
The mayor's office was called. Phone calls were made. Obedient aldermen called their union contacts. Union stewards were given their orders. Loyal police officers were contacted. Loyal firemen were contacted. Other loyal city employees were contacted. The message was: "Our friends need our help". Click Here For More
The Berwyn Life's Continuing Coverage
Scroll down to the bottom of the article titled "The Patronage Army Is Called Into Action" for
this update on the Berwyn Life's continuing coverage of the pension issue. Click Here
The Berwyn Life's Continuing Coverage
Scroll down to the bottom of the article titled "The Patronage Army Is Called Into Action" for
this update on the Berwyn Life's continuing coverage of the pension issue. Click Here
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The Following Entry Was
Published, April 4, 2012
An Unusual Request - And We Have A Few Suggestions
There are a number of people out there in Berwyn's political landscape who are obviously dissatisfied with their city's government. We hear from them periodically and two sources inside city government (we think it is two) have been particularly helpful as they have provided a treasure trove of documentation. The problem is, we don't know who these people are.
Therefore, we have no choice but to use this forum to publicly ask them to provide this information to other responsible residents who are willing to take these issues public, possibly within the arena of the Ethics Commission. We live by our policy of confidentiality and so our hands are often tied. Documents we receive never leave the downtown office.
Time is also a serious factor where our efforts are concerned. We simply don't have the time to do all of the things we would like to do or pursue every lead we get. Therefore we ask that you look around and find other responsible people you can trust to step forward. We would be happy to make a few suggestions, although not publicly. We would be happy to hear from those of you BRIC supporters who would be interested in taking the lead in some of these matters as they may become available.
Therefore, we have no choice but to use this forum to publicly ask them to provide this information to other responsible residents who are willing to take these issues public, possibly within the arena of the Ethics Commission. We live by our policy of confidentiality and so our hands are often tied. Documents we receive never leave the downtown office.
Time is also a serious factor where our efforts are concerned. We simply don't have the time to do all of the things we would like to do or pursue every lead we get. Therefore we ask that you look around and find other responsible people you can trust to step forward. We would be happy to make a few suggestions, although not publicly. We would be happy to hear from those of you BRIC supporters who would be interested in taking the lead in some of these matters as they may become available.
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The Following Entries Were
Published, April 3, 2012
The Following Entries Were
Published, April 3, 2012
Letter To Ethics Commission Members Click Here
To The City Clerk: Official FOIA Request Click Here
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The Following Entries Were
Published, April 2, 2012
Living On Lovero's Fantasy Island:
Paradise On The Taxpayers' Dime
Paradise On The Taxpayers' Dime
The Berwyn Life covers the continuing saga of Lovero's most successful promotions
Click Here For Their Update
Click Here For Their Update
BRIC Pension Reform Proposals
BRIC's agend is certain to motivate Lovero's patronage army into action. Like ants swarming a honey mound, they will come in from all over Cook County to campaign against the reform of a city in which they do not reside. For the first in a series of discussions of BRIC's broad agenda for reform. Click Here For Review
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The Following Entries Were
Published, March 29, 2012
BRIC's Inquiry Leads To Ethics Commission Action
Berwyn Taxpayers Donate Another $250,000 To Lovero's Political Campaign.
|
When the Berwyn Police are not coerced into collecting "campaign contributions" on behalf of the mayor and the DCOB, they are delivering the mayor's holiday greetings to your front door.
Full dress uniformed police officers toting guns and badges obediently made the deliveries throughout November and December of 2011. CLICK HERE for the full story |
The City Clerk
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History Clips
The "Glory Days" of Stillo, Marzullo and Lovero Revisited - CLICK HERE
Krew Kielbasy Receives a "Letter To The Editor"
Johnny Slumber Needs Our Support - CLICK HERE for Krew's commentary
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The Following Entries Were
Published, March 19, 2012
The Following Entries Were
Published, March 19, 2012
Shakedown Berwyn Style? Protection Money?
We Report - You Decide
We Revisit The Campaign Of 2009:
Click here for the full story
Krew Kielbasy Nominated For The Nobel Prize
He Solved The Riddle Of The Political Machine
Click here for the full story
We Report - You Decide
We Revisit The Campaign Of 2009:
Click here for the full story
Krew Kielbasy Nominated For The Nobel Prize
He Solved The Riddle Of The Political Machine
Click here for the full story
Dreams Come True For Few On Lovero's Fantasy Island
Now Playing: Bobby and the Bobbleheads Click Here
Now Playing: Bobby and the Bobbleheads Click Here
Have You And Your Family Finally Had Enough?
Candidate
If you are interested in considering becoming a BRIC endorsed
Independent Political Candidate, Click Here.
Support Staff
If you want to work with us to encourage and support BRIC
endorsed Independent Political Candidates, Click Here.
Email Notice
If you just want to be placed on our mailing list to recieve notice
when new content is added to this website, Click Here.
Candidate
If you are interested in considering becoming a BRIC endorsed
Independent Political Candidate, Click Here.
Support Staff
If you want to work with us to encourage and support BRIC
endorsed Independent Political Candidates, Click Here.
Email Notice
If you just want to be placed on our mailing list to recieve notice
when new content is added to this website, Click Here.
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The Following Entries Were
Published, March 11, 2012
The Following Entries Were
Published, March 11, 2012
The Berwyn Life Confirms The Work Of Klew Kielbasy
Measuring up to the acclaim of his skills as a journalist, Krew Kielbasy's first journal entry has been confirmed by research done by the Berwyn Life.
Click Here for the story that appeared in the Berwyn Life Newspaper.
Click Here to read Klew's first journal entry.
The Continuing Saga of "When Bobby Gets Elected" (Part II)
BRIC received another load of documents from our source inside city hall. For those of you who read the article titled "Battle Cry" that appears in the "Headline News" section of this website, you read the first installment in our expose about the typical work day of a patronage employee.
The new load of documents we received covers an even more absurd true life story about the ridiculous behavior of another patronage employee protected by his political masters. This one promises to be the Poster Child for the argument against patronage hiring. The records, currently at a law firm downtown, relate to yet another fired employee who was rehired "When Bobby Got Elected".
The problem is that much of the file includes public records. Our redaction policy does not include public records that are available to the general public such as the police and accident reports contained in this file. Nevertheless, our preference is to avoid, if at all possible, drawing attention to any particular individual because it detracts from our focus on exposing the inherently corrupt political system. Therefore, we are trying to devise a way of revealing the details of the record without revealing the identity of the employee.
In an updated version of "Bits and Pieces" or, possibly in a separate article, we will provide you with the details about the nature, extent and volume of documents received.
Anthony "Tony" Loretto
Those of you familiar with Berwyn politics know that Tony is a key player in Bankrupt City politics and a very close friend of Bob Lovero.
Tony retired from the Berwyn Fire Department recently having been promoted to Lieutenant a few years earlier. We have now been told that, in addition to drawing a comfortable retirement "package", Bankrupt City's "I Love Berwyn" politicians created a new position for Tony reportedly providing him with a $40,000 annual tax payer paid salary to supplement his income. A source close to this development described it --- and I am quoting -- "just another unneeded make believe Bu**Sh** city job". "They will come up with any excuse to create a job for their cronies". (closed quote)
Tony has been, unquestionably, one of the "organizations" most loyal sycophants
and the question is: "If this is not a political payoff, what is it?"
We are investigating and if you have information on this issue, please feel free to forward it to our attention.
Stupid Is What Stupid Does
The Lovero administration entered the wrong data into the water billing system and ended up over-charging Berwyn residents for their water usage. Never wanting to miss a chance to campaign on the taxpayers' dime, instead of simply adjusting the over-charge and including a note in the next water bill mailing, he reached into the taxpayers' pockets to mail out a "personal" campaign letter to every water bill account in the city to memorialize his excuse. The estimated cost of the mailing was about what the average Berwyn homeowner paid as their first real estate tax installment last month.
The Man Behind The Curtain
After engineering the largest property tax increase in the history of Berwyn and after raising fees and fines to among the highest of all communities in Cook County, do you blame Bob Lovero for wanting to misdirect your attention?
He again spent your tax dollars robo-calling Berwyn home owners to tell them to be sure to attend a meeting about how to file an appeal to have the assessed value of their property lowered. If you didn't realize that the robo-notice and meeting was a campaign gimmick, you must be on vacation.
Designed to leave residents with the impression that he was deeply concerned that "somebody" raised taxes and assured the crowd that....well, he didn't assure the crowd of anything. A resident who attended the meeting said that "he had the look of a stunned starlet who makes her appearance just to be seen and to feign a state of deep concern for the poor". A little comical, granted. However, one thing is for certain. He didn't make a speech condemning the Skryd retirement pension or how it was achieved.
Now we fully understand that Berwyn is one (among the largest) taxing districts listed on your real estate tax bill. The facts, however, remain the same. If you are worried about people paying too much in taxes, don't raise them.
Measuring up to the acclaim of his skills as a journalist, Krew Kielbasy's first journal entry has been confirmed by research done by the Berwyn Life.
Click Here for the story that appeared in the Berwyn Life Newspaper.
Click Here to read Klew's first journal entry.
The Continuing Saga of "When Bobby Gets Elected" (Part II)
BRIC received another load of documents from our source inside city hall. For those of you who read the article titled "Battle Cry" that appears in the "Headline News" section of this website, you read the first installment in our expose about the typical work day of a patronage employee.
The new load of documents we received covers an even more absurd true life story about the ridiculous behavior of another patronage employee protected by his political masters. This one promises to be the Poster Child for the argument against patronage hiring. The records, currently at a law firm downtown, relate to yet another fired employee who was rehired "When Bobby Got Elected".
The problem is that much of the file includes public records. Our redaction policy does not include public records that are available to the general public such as the police and accident reports contained in this file. Nevertheless, our preference is to avoid, if at all possible, drawing attention to any particular individual because it detracts from our focus on exposing the inherently corrupt political system. Therefore, we are trying to devise a way of revealing the details of the record without revealing the identity of the employee.
In an updated version of "Bits and Pieces" or, possibly in a separate article, we will provide you with the details about the nature, extent and volume of documents received.
Anthony "Tony" Loretto
Those of you familiar with Berwyn politics know that Tony is a key player in Bankrupt City politics and a very close friend of Bob Lovero.
Tony retired from the Berwyn Fire Department recently having been promoted to Lieutenant a few years earlier. We have now been told that, in addition to drawing a comfortable retirement "package", Bankrupt City's "I Love Berwyn" politicians created a new position for Tony reportedly providing him with a $40,000 annual tax payer paid salary to supplement his income. A source close to this development described it --- and I am quoting -- "just another unneeded make believe Bu**Sh** city job". "They will come up with any excuse to create a job for their cronies". (closed quote)
Tony has been, unquestionably, one of the "organizations" most loyal sycophants
and the question is: "If this is not a political payoff, what is it?"
We are investigating and if you have information on this issue, please feel free to forward it to our attention.
Stupid Is What Stupid Does
The Lovero administration entered the wrong data into the water billing system and ended up over-charging Berwyn residents for their water usage. Never wanting to miss a chance to campaign on the taxpayers' dime, instead of simply adjusting the over-charge and including a note in the next water bill mailing, he reached into the taxpayers' pockets to mail out a "personal" campaign letter to every water bill account in the city to memorialize his excuse. The estimated cost of the mailing was about what the average Berwyn homeowner paid as their first real estate tax installment last month.
The Man Behind The Curtain
After engineering the largest property tax increase in the history of Berwyn and after raising fees and fines to among the highest of all communities in Cook County, do you blame Bob Lovero for wanting to misdirect your attention?
He again spent your tax dollars robo-calling Berwyn home owners to tell them to be sure to attend a meeting about how to file an appeal to have the assessed value of their property lowered. If you didn't realize that the robo-notice and meeting was a campaign gimmick, you must be on vacation.
Designed to leave residents with the impression that he was deeply concerned that "somebody" raised taxes and assured the crowd that....well, he didn't assure the crowd of anything. A resident who attended the meeting said that "he had the look of a stunned starlet who makes her appearance just to be seen and to feign a state of deep concern for the poor". A little comical, granted. However, one thing is for certain. He didn't make a speech condemning the Skryd retirement pension or how it was achieved.
Now we fully understand that Berwyn is one (among the largest) taxing districts listed on your real estate tax bill. The facts, however, remain the same. If you are worried about people paying too much in taxes, don't raise them.
Thomas Skryd Bob Lovero John O'Halloran Michael Ochsner
Assessed Values Reduced But Taxes Increased
The patronage cronies and errand boy pensions have to be funded and so even when you "win", the game is rigged to make sure you lose.
I have gotten a surprising number of phone calls from people who succeeded in
getting their real estate assessed values reduced, yet when they received their real estate tax bills, their bills still had gone up. Some people showed me the actual bills and, sure enough, the assessed values were lower and the tax bills were higher.
We will devote a future article to explain how this happens and readers are welcome to contribute their thoughts.
The Addams Family
I received a promotional postcard mailing over the holidays that appeared to be sent by the producers of the Addams family promoting a new "Addams Family" movie that will be filmed, apparently, in Berwyn. I set it aside to look at later when I have more time. I'll let you know what it was all about in a future "Bits and Pieces".
Robo Call Campaigning In The City of Bankrupt
Now that the taxpayers have spent untold thousands of dollars on an official City "robo calling" system, "organization candidates" can now campaign year around at the taxpayers' expense. Lovero and his political sycophants spare no tax dollars in "keeping in touch" with their "constituents" to create the appearance that they are actually doing something other than serving themselves and their political bosses.
The Holiday Campaign Postcard
A number of people called me to tell me that they had received a "holiday campaign postcard " over the holidays from Bob Lovero. I asked them to drop off a copy at my home. When I saw what the neighbor had dropped off, I realized that I had already received one. Included among the questions from residents: "Who do you suppose paid for this printing and mailing?". The Unions? The Organization? The Taxpayers? Go ahead and research the bulk mail permit and report back to us.
BRIC Website Policy
While we make great effort in assuring the accuracy of the content on this website, all visitors are invited and welcome to help us achieve the goal of accuracy.
Therefore, in addition to your comments, questions and content contributions, we encourage you to point out information that is in need of correction. As you examine the forms provided on this website, you will see that you have the ability to upload documentation to this website as well as submit any other information via email. We take all reasonable and necessary precautions to protect the privacy of all of those who contribute information for publication on this website.
Upon verification of the information provided, corrections will be made at the earliest possible moment. Please note that, after we receive information from a source and we publish that information based on the assurances by that source that the information is true and accurate, IF THE INFORMATION TURNS OUT TO BE FALSE OR INACCURATE, BRIC retains the right to reveal the identity of the source of such false and inaccurate information . Upon learning that information provided was false and inaccurate information, BRIC shall immediately retract all comments regarding such information and remove the information from the website.
