Berwyn Resident Independence Coalition
                                                                                                  Resident Based Council-Manager Government

            

                                                           BRIC

 

Phase Two of the Investigation

The Fighting City Clerk
When The City Clerk Was My "Friend"

 

             Possibly the least interesting but necessary part of this investigation requires me to illustrate the disingenuous nature of Mr. Pavlik's concern about the "pet licensee mailing list".  To do so, I am forced to do something I loathe doing. 

              I do not share emails from other people.  I feel that emails are private communications.  People often write without giving much thought to the words they use.  Words are often misspelled and ideas stated oddly because of the informal nature of the communication.

               Having said this, the fact is that Mr. Pavlik "cherry picked" and arranged emails I had written in his effort to contrive a case against me.  To this extent, I have no choice but to display certain emails written by Mr. Pavlik which are relevant to this investigation.

                Below are emails Mr. Pavlik sent to me relating to a "communication" he wrote based on, what appeared to be, the Mayor's refusal to respond to various requests for information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA requests).

                 I had made a number of FOIA requests for the purpose of examining certain records to determine whether or not certain services being provided by the city were in the taxpayers' best interest.  Those records were not forthcoming from the administration. When they were eventually partially provided, they were turned over in a software format which was unusable.

                  These and other similar experiences annoyed Mr. Pavlik who was anxious to "go to bat" on this issue, primarily because it was another opportunity for him to try to make the mayor look bad. His tactic took the form of a "communication from the clerk" presented to the city council.

                  Below, Mr. Pavlik's emails begin with his response to my request for a certified copy of his "communication".  A reporter had asked me for a copy of the communication certified by the City Clerk.

                   The next emails are Mr. Pavlik's response to my inquiry asking him when I would be able to provide his communication to the reporter. The final communication from Mr. Pavlik  (dated April 5, 2007) is his communication to the city council regarding "Requests For Information".

                    In the coming weeks the investigation will take a close look at Mr. Pavlik's communication requesting an investigation.  We will then look at the Administration Committee and how Alderman Skryd and Alderman Lovero are handling this matter.  Then we will examine Mr. Pavlik's use of emails I had written.  Thereafter, I will present the final evidence.

                     If anyone has any questions, including those people in the State and Federal Agencies to whom I have been providing information, please feel free to email me your questions or comments.

                    Joel Erickson 


These emails have NOT been altered or edited in any way.
Out of respect for Mr. Pavlik's privacy, I have only removed Mr. Pavlik's email address

______________________________________________________________________________________

                       Exhibit 1: Mr. Pavlik's email response to me regarding providing a reporter a
                 certified copy of Mr. Pavlik's FOIA Communication to the City Council
 

Date:

Wed, 4 Apr 2007 21:44:58 -0700 (PDT)


    thomas pavlik <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX> wrote:

    What do you mean by certified, and I assume you are talking about Item #11 from the 3-27
    minutes, of which I supplied to you last night. Who is this guy? I talked to someone from the
    Sun-Times today, is that to whom you are referring? If so, I told him I would supply it to him,
    a draft, same as I had given to you. He said he would send someone over from his office to pick
    them up and I said that they would need to fill out a FOIA, then I would supply. He had no problem
    with that, but as far as I know, as of 4:50 PM., no one had shown. If this is not the same individual
    that I have just mentioned, I would be more than happy to supply the same to this Dan, under the
    same terms and I could fax a FOIA form, he can fill it out, and return it via fax, then I will provide
    him with same. Just have him contact me or Linda after 10 am tomorrow. The only thing that I can
    certify, is that it is a DRAFT, and unofficial document, at this time, yet true and accurate as I will
    present to council on 4-12 for approval. Let me know and you can respond to me at city hall as well.
    Just don't do it by replying to this e-mail, you can just answer and that way, no one will know the
    basis of the question.

    Tom
______________________________________________________________________________________

              Exhibit 2: The following is a follow-up email from Mr. Pavlik    

______________________________________________________________________________________
 

     Huh!! I sure never said anything about certified anything. I don't make people jump though hoops,
     it's called cover thein own ass. I don't just give anybody anything, that calls over the phone, they
     could say to be anyone. I gave you a hard copy, why don't you fax it to him. I don't care what you
     do with it, once I stamped it draft, I covered myself. I give people things all the time, when they
     are face to face, and I don't always make them fill out FOIA's, it all depends on what it is, and what
     the situation is, IE: Alba, Mary Karasek, Tony C., developers, and residents. As far as it being the
     best that I could do, yes, I never do "verbatim" minutes, and if I were do do it in this instance, I
     think it would or could be construed as suspect, don't you?! You can call me in the morning, and I
     don't have them saved on my computer, Louise does, and she would have to e-mail them to me,
     to give to you, and then I would have change them to say DRAFT minutes anyway. It's a short
     week and we have quite enough to accomplish in one day as it is. Don't forget, I have to put out
     two other agendas, T/S and H.D. tomorrow, plus I have the T/S and H.D. Annual Meetings on
     Tuesday, along with CC. I have enough to do, and I have to do several communications myself!
     I have to start out my day with a F-in Dept. Head meeting at 9 AM, you know you can attend those
     as well, wouldn't be cool to see the looks on all their faces, if you did. Talk to you tomorrow. I have
     to get up at 5am and get my son to practice and I only have half of one communication started at
     this point, but keep up the good work and pressure on HIS Hainis! But at some point, you and
     Phelan are going to have to compromise a little more with the other willing Alderman, to be able to
     make strides against him, think one thing at a time, you tend to scare people off when you hard hit
     them with major altering ideas or changes. You need to take a few baby steps together before you
     ask them to leap. They have to trust you before you lead them to the cliffs edge, they are afraid to
     fall too, you know.

     Tom

______________________________________________________________________________________

              Exhibit 3: Mr. Pavlik's email to me which accompanied a copy of his FOIA Communication
 

Date:

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:15:24 -0700 (PDT)

From:

"thomas pavlik" <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXt>  View Contact Details View Contact Details   Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by sbcglobal.net. Learn more

Subject:

CC communication

To:

"Joel Erickson" <joelglobal@sbcglobal.net>

      Joel, Stick this in your pipe and smoke it! Actually, that should be in reference to the MAN!
     What do you think of it? I think the gloves will really come off now! As they have needed to for
     some time now, regarding this issue.

     Tom

     Joel:

     I spelled Scott's last name wrong in the email I sent you last nite. I'll will fix it before I send it in
     the packet today.

      thomas pavlik <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX> wrote:

     As soon as you receive your packet it is your information.  Please wait until then  

_______________________________________________________________________________________

                     Exhibit 4: Mr. Pavlik's FOIA Communication

________________________________________________________________________________________________

To: Mayor and City Council

From: Tom Pavlik, City Clerk

Re: Request for Information

Dear Ladies and Gentleman,

       As you know, as City Clerk and as the Freedom of Information Officer (FOIO) of the City of
       Berwyn, I have access to all documents of the city or at least, I should have. But in light of
       recent and reoccurring instances as the FOIO, I feel compelled to bring this matter to light.
       I recently received a FOIA request ( see attached document ) regarding information on Scott
       Wagespack and was met with the usual distain when trying to retrieve information, as I have
       in many instances in the past, from certain department heads, including the Mayors office.

       Although, in this case, the city’s attorney is well with in the rights to deny the request under
       the stated exemption of FOIA, but in this case, it is the manner in which it was decided to deny,
       that is at issue. I never requested the city’s attorney for an opinion to comply with or deny the
       request. I may have, if the actual information was made available, as requested, but it was not.
       The request was processed by my office, as it should and normally does, and then forwarded to
       the appropriate departments to supply me with the information, in a timely fashion. Then after I
       review the content, I would then confer with a legal source, as to whether all or portions should
       or can be released. In this instance, after delivery to the appropriate departments, with in
       minutes, the city’s attorney was in my office, requesting a copy of the request. After checking on
       the status of the request, with the department to which it was referred, I was told that they may
       not have the information to supply for the request. I immediately conveyed this to Mr. Bonebrake
       and was told we needed to reply to this request ASAP and that he would assist in that process.
       After several more days, and a few more inquiries on my part, I was simply handed the attached
       memo, thus forced to deny the request. I believe some, if not all of the requested information can
       or should have been released. Further more, I believe this information should be made available
       to me and any Alderman, which I believe it has already been discussed and requested, by several
       Aldermen, in past discussion, on the matter of Mr. Wagespacks leave of absence.

In summation, I would like this matter and the process, in which I am forced to deal with, in performance of my duties as City Clerk, the FOIO, an elected, and a duly sworn Official of the City of Berwyn. In addition, the manner of how I am treated and other certain Aldermen are treated (I believe, it is with total lack of respect,) when trying to retrieve information, in the performance of our jobs. I want to create a policy, in which I, and the Aldermen can pursue, an unobstructed means of gathering information from the departments of the city, as it is our right. We can not begin to comply with the Freedom of Information Laws, so as to provide the public with their rights under the law, to an open government, if we ourselves, elected officials are not provide means to accesses information. I would like this issue to be referred to the Ordinance and Resolution committee for further discussion, and the creation of a policy, in Resolution form, to be adhered to by the Mayor and all the departments of the city.

In the interim, I would like the City Council to order a directive to all the departments of the city, informing them that I have the right to be given access, and to obtain any and all documents in the performance of the role of the FOIO, without hesitation or question. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Pavlik
Berwyn City Clerk