Berwyn Resident Independence Coalition
                                                                                          Resident Based Council-Manager Government

                  BRIC

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Case Study Number 4
                               ABUSE OF POLITICAL POWER AND OFFICE

The Political "Investigation" Of
Alderman Joel Erickson
For Use Of A Pet Owner's Mailing List
(The Anatomy Of A Witch Hunt)

City Clerk Tom Pavlik, Aldermen Robert Lovero, Nona Chapman
& Michele Skryd Demand An Investigation

First Installment
What Happened?
 

                        One of the issues on my "to do" list when I decided to run for
          Alderman was to revamp this city's animal ordinance and the city's policies
          where the management of animals was concerned.  A full presentation of the
          facts leading up to the creation of the proposal as well as the proposed animal
          ordinance itself can be found by clicking here.  I also alluded to this goal in the
          very first edition of The Grass Roots Journal which can be viewed by clicking
          here:  The Grass Roots Journal. (click on Endorsement).

                          The proposed ordinance was the product of literally hundreds of
          hours of research and development over a period of several months.  It
          included the participation of local and national animal care specialists including
          local and national humane societies. 

                           Having completed the ordinance, the next important step was to
          share the ideas embedded in the ordinance with Berwyn residents.  I was
          interested in getting their thoughts and ideas about how the proposed ordinance
          might be improved.

                            In the interest of reaching as many Berwyn residents about issues
          relevant to the entire city, I frequently distribute my 8th Ward Newsletter titled
          The Grass Roots Journal throughout the city.  In this issue I included a brief
          summary of the proposed animal ordinance and encouraged readers to visit my
          website, www.BerwynFirst.com to read the full ordinance.  A hard copy of the
          ordinance is also available at the reference desk of the Berwyn Public Library.
 

                           The issue of The Grass Roots Journal which has caused so much
          "controversy" can be viewed on-line. A copy of that edition of The Grass Roots
           Journal is available by clicking The Grass Roots Journal.
          (It may take about 20 seconds to download - longer if you have dial-up).

                           The mailing also included a separate insert which provided
          information about the Berwyn Resident Independence Coalition (BRIC) which is
          an organization I formed for the purpose of taking politics out of city
          government and creating an independent professionally managed structure of
          government pursuant to State Statute.

                            What must be understood here is that there are no laws which
         prevent people from mailing newsletters to other people, whether the content is
         political or not.  Such activity is clearly protected under our Constitutional right
         of free speech.  Throughout history, however, there have been examples like
         this, where certain people don't like what someone else is saying and attempts
         are made to prevent that person from being heard.  This is a special case
         because it involves the abuse of political power to silence opinion.

                           Any one who has any understanding of marketing also
          understands the concept of target audiences.  Where matters relating to
          animals are concerned, you don't need to be clairvoyant to know that a primary
          audience consists of those who actually own pets.

                           Therefore, among those to whom my newsletter, "The Grass Roots
          Journal" was delivered, I included a special mailing to all Berwyn residents
          who were on record as owning licensed pets.  I requested a copy of the list of
          these owners which is available to anyone under the freedom of information
          act.  The request was made on January 28 and Clerk Pavlik approved the
          request the same day.  Note that Tom Pavlik's approval was not needed and
          was not requested, yet he gave it.

                            Over a month after receiving this list, I mailed out The Grass Roots
          Journal to thousands of Berwyn residents at my expense including the pet
          owners as described above.  In an effort to draw attention to the content of the
          newsletter, I addressed the mailing to the name of the family pet.  For
          instance, if you had a dog named "Lucky" and your last name was "Smith", the
          mailing would have been mailed to "The Lucky Smith Family".

                             Upon learning of the mailing to pet owners, Clerk Tom Pavlik
           claimed that I did not have the right to use the pet owner's list to mail a
           "political" newsletter to licensed pets.  Aldermen Robert Lovero, Nona
           Chapman and Michele Skryd joined the clerk in calling the newsletter political.

                             Oddly enough they did not complain that it was mailed to
           thousands of Berwyn residents who DID NOT OWN pets.  Apparently it was
           only "political" if you were a Berwyn pet owner.

                             I never imagined that this light-hearted gesture would create a
           tidal wave of political bickering.  Even the Chicago Tribune covered the story
           with humor on their front page and came to my home to interview me about
           the controversy.  You can read the Chicago Tribune Article and see the video
           clip of the interview by clicking here.

 

Chicago Tribune Article & Video

 

                             This is the FIRST INSTALLMENT of a multi-part series which
            exposes the behind the scenes political posturing involving this political
            "Investigation".  The goal seemed obvious:  To manipulated the facts, select
            some records while ignoring others and rearranged them for the purpose of
            engineering political criticism and controversy.

Coming Next Week
The Plaintiff
 

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The Investigation