LEGAL, is Chicago Joe's Tea Room suing Broadview?

The Westchester Progressive Party sent the following email.

While House Bill 1608 continues to move forward in Springfield, closer to home the applicant - Chicago Joe's Tea Room - has apparently filed suit against the Village of Broadview claiming his constitutional rights have been violated.

The Westchester Progressive Party warned of this scenario back in March after learning of a similar situation that occurred in south suburban Bedford Park (see below.) Even if HB 1608 passes and is signed into law, that is state law. If the applicant files suit in federal court, the state law doesn't apply - federal law does. The case doesn't have to have enough merit to actually win, simply enough to get Broadview's board to negotiate - and remember, those negotiations would be allowed to take place behind closed doors under the "Pending Litigation" exception to the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Was Broadview Village Board vote really the end?
We are happy the Broadview Village Board voted to deny Chicago Joe’s Tea Room permission to locate a strip club on Gardner Road. At the same time, we worry that the board’s vote did not close the book on the subject.

The articles below that outline a very similar scenario in suburban Bedford Park shed some light on what could be happening here. Here is a summary of what occurred in Bedford Park.

BEDFORD PARK SUMMARY
Late 2004 - an applicant requested a special use permit to operate an adult use entertainment facility in Bedford Park. Said applicant originally requested to operate 24-hours with a liquor license The applicant said they would be operating “a high-quality restaurant not currently available in the village.” Applicant said they were attracted to the site because of its size and proximity to Midway Airport. Spring 2005 - Village of Bedford Park denies applicant’s request November 2006 - the Bedford Park Village Board approved an out-of-court agreement with the applicant Under the agreement, the company will pay the village $162,500 for a one-year adult license The owners will pay $150,000 annually to renew that license Mayor says he tried to stop this club from coming into Bedford Park but damages threatened in lawsuit were too risky Strip club expected to open later this year

BROADVIEW SUMMARY
February 28, 2007 - an applicant requested a special use permit to operate an adult use entertainment facility in Broadview. Said applicant originally requested to operate 24-hours with a liquor license The applicant said it would be operating “a high-quality restaurant not currently available in the village.” Applicant said they were attracted to the site because of its size and proximity to the expressway and downtown Chicago March 5, 2007 Village of Broadview denies applicant’s request

Are we heading down the same road? Will a cash-strapped Broadview reach an agreement good for them and bad for Westchester? The Westchester Progressive Party pledges to keep our eye on the ball and oppose this business with every means possible!

I have not confirmed or read the lawsuit.

The Village of Broadview rejected the application of Chicago Joe's Tea Room because village code prohibits combing adult entertainment with serving alcohol.

Discuss the possibility of Chicago Joe's Tea Room bring a lawsuit at All-Proviso Network.

A07, Westchester Progressive Party criticizes Broadview Westchester Water Agency [W]

Westchester Progressive Party is raising the issue of the Broadview Westchester Joint Water Agency.

Critics of the water agency suspect that it's a sweetheart deal for Don Sloan, one of the two employees, and the guy who has billed for a large amount of overtime.

Proviso Herald (David Weese):

[Trustees Rick] Fox and [Bill] Buikema contend no audits have been done on the agency in years. And Buikema said when he examined agency employees' time cards, 38 percent of the overtime paid over the past four years was paid without a supervisor signing off on it. Buikema said records show that in fiscal year 2003-2004, $28,603.88 in overtime was paid. In fiscal year 2004-2005, $34,618.48 in overtime was paid. In fiscal year 2005-2006 30,793.77 in overtime was paid.

The village's budget only allocates $15,000 per year for overtime. Buikema and Fox said that since they began asking questions last year, overtime has decreased -- $14,468.20 as of March for the fiscal year 2006-2007, which ends in May.

Westchester Progressive Party (which includes Fox) sent the following press release:

Changes sought for joint water agency

Nearly two years after the Westchester Board of Trustees voted unanimously to require Trustee Luciano to report back to the board on actions taken by the Broadview Westchester Joint Water Agency, he continues to resist change.

According to an article in the April 11 issue of the Proviso Herald, “ Luciano said former Mayor John Sinde used to make the reports to the board, and that it was now Gattuso's responsibility to make those reports.”

During committee session, Mr. Luciano objected to language requiring him to report back to the board stating, “I’m not anybody’s messenger and I don’t intend to do that.”

This Agency controls Westchester ’s supply of water. Its mismanagement and lack of transparency and oversight is alarming. Mr. Luciano has served on the Joint Agency/Commission for nearly two decades, including his current role as treasurer. Even Mr. Gattuso admits to the Agency’s shoddy performance during Luciano’s term in his conversation with the Proviso Herald saying that when he came on the commission two years ago, he inherited a mess.

Some of that “mess” includes:

* Questionable, possibly illegal payouts
* Board members/officers receiving pay for their roles on the Commission despite the original charter stating that none would receive compensation
* Unchecked, unjustified Over Time for patronage work
* Failure to have a financial audit for the last decade
* $15,000 budgeted for board member junkets funded by water fees
* $30,000 annually to pay for a lobbyist
* A Treasurer saying he doesn’t pay the bills or see the checkbook
* Mr. Luciano’s refusal to provide regular reports to the Village Board – despite a law requiring this action

GOV, zoning application for Westchester strip club [BV, W]

On Wednesday evening the Village of Broadview will hold hearings into a proposal to open a 24/7 adult entertainment venue (aka strip club) south of the Eisenhower and east of Gardener Road. h/t to Westchester Trustee Rick Fox and Westchester Progressive Party for helping to publicize this story.

Under the earlier entry on this story I drew attention to the fact that the owner, Chicago Joe's Tea Room LLC, is represented by James J. Roche & Associates. Roche is the boss of Emanuel "Chris" Welch, the president of the school board of Proviso Township High Schools.

Someone claiming to be James J. Roche denied that his firm represented strip clubs. Technically, I suppose he has a point. The corporation hasn't become an adult entertainment venue yet, it's just an Illinois corporation.

However, the application to the Village of Broadview seems to show James J. Roche as the attorney. The only contact information provided on the application for the owner is Roche's contact information. And Roche is listed as the agent on the Secretary of State's website for the corporation.

A Proviso Probe source informed me that Burt Odelson is the attorney for the Village of Broadview. Odelson is a partner at Odelson & Sterk. Odelson & Sterk and James J. Roche & Associates find ways to enrich each other. So this looks like a situation where the attorneys are smoothing things out behind the scenes. Everybody can make money.

It seems likely that Broadview Village President Henry Vicenik is nervous about losing control of the board in this election. The Broadview TEA Party is running an opposition slate. While granting permission for a strip club will probably lose Vicenik's candidates some votes it will probably score them some major campaign contributions.

Below are the forms filed with the Village of Broadview so you can evaluate Roche's denials.




BTW, Roche denied that he will be at Wednesday's hearings. But his firm has other lawyers: Welch, Leeann Marie Crow, and Kelly Kathleen Kachmarik. Technically, Roche's law firm could represent the corporation without Roche being present.