Why does a road facility need a rooftop garden?
All they need is a new door. So we can show these overpaid, underworked bureaucrats the door.

the trustees that are apposed to this plan live in Northbrook and have their own agenda. The road dist. only receive 1% of the total taxes to Northfield Township. What govt body can build anything with $400,000. It is not a million like we usually see spent on rediculous buildings around town. The road dist works hard for their 1%. I know where many of these road dist emplyees live and they are not overpaid. They are modest homeowners who live in the area and send their kids to area schools and take pride in the job they do. It is their community in many ways. This is all about POLITICS. This has nothing to do with what they are claiming the issues are. Smoke and mirrors to hopefully scare people so the Northbrook ladies can get their friend into office. Don't fall for their tricks. It's all B.S.! P.S. the garden isn't for roses and tulips. It's for rainwater control. Duh!

I buy everything Janet said. But sure would like more information about the rainwater
rooftop. What are the options what are the costs?

Did Ms. Bluestein mention she sponsored a referendum to eliminate the highway commission position altogether? If she wants to get rid of this division, why is she also sponsoring a Democratic candidate for the position? Seems to me she wants it both ways, so that either way she can get her hands on the money (by the way, this money was saved over several years so that the project could eventually be done, which is the way most logical individuals plan for large expenditures instead of waiting until the last second and then borrowing/taxing). It seems that Ms. Bluestein cannot wait to access this pot of cash for some other project she deems more worthy.

Thanks Glenn and Janet. Logic has a way of coming to the surface eventually.

No oversight on budgets? That's the core issue? Everyone thinks it's OK that one person in gov - the township - can do what he/she wants w/o approvals / inputs from other township members. That's the story. How can Township members learn about a significant project from the news. That's not right. Even if not a Democrat - not a democratic way to run a business. Any business. Bet you would like your own budget - do what you want with it and no oversight. Not real world. In townships nor biz.

400k here who knows how much more elsewhere? Meanwhile the roads look like the Ho Chi Minh trail especially after a modest snow. The green nuts need some special rooftop garden to collect rainwater? Why not call it a rain water roof then? Or better still, buy some plastic buckets for two dollars at Home Depot. Saying they only receive1% of the total taxes to Northfield like it is not an insignificant amount is naive. All I can say for both our sakes is thank god I am getting out of Illinois. I don't want to be here when the mighty Quinn has to tell all these AFSCME mopes that their pensions are no more. If there were ever a poster child for long term democrat rule, this is it; high taxes, high utilities, high crime and terrible services and governance. Illinois is the post graduate school for nepotism and graft. I don't know who will clean up after the trust fund babies when all the people who actually do something leave? Maybe you can get an IT consultant or Architectual Photographer or whatever title they use to explain grandpas stipend check recipients to fix your toilets?

How can Ms Blustein lie ,again, and state she had to read about this project in the newspaper? When in fact she has approvd the budget with a line item for the new building. (In fact, she discussed this at the last board meeting).I have attended township board meetings where the new building has been discussed. First, she complains the money has not been spent and now she is complaining about the money being spent. I have read the board meetings from the last four years of Ms. Bluestein and her "cronies" tenure.It is sad to see the Chicago/Illinois POLITICS right here at our local level of government. Ms Blustein wants control of the budget so she and her cronies can spend,spend, spend. (Like she has done while sitting on the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District board, where she has taken reserves and gave two bonus and a pay increase in one year to her employees). One more way for "Madigan/Chicago/Illinois" and company to get their hands in the kitty. Ms Blustein and her cronies came to the board with an agenda and that agenda is to serve themselves.The Northfield Township Road district is "second to none" proving superior servicestothe community..The people of this township are fortune to have the Road District and Commissioner Amarantos serving the community.Wake up voters bring back TRUTH & SERVICE to the people of Northfield Township and chase the corruptness out of town.

People in the Northfield Township office make way too much money for a supporting township role: Look at this. Amazing. http://bit.ly/WPMKu9 Note Carol Blustein who you are talking about makes almost nothing. You guys got it wrong.

That's true. They voted on this. Note what the others make: $60K, $40K. Voted to almost zero-out salary because they believe they work for the community - 3 of the 4 trustees are Democrats: Richard Mullen, Carol Blustein and Mary Reynolds. They are working for almost nothing compared to the rest of the group. Think that says a lot about who they are.

In old minutes - Blustein and Mullen state they are looking to collapse the size of government. Well, if the Highway job was eliminated - that would save you $60K or so.

This isn't really about politics Republican or Democrat. It's about saving money, looking at people with vision to reduce spending and get the biggest bang for the buck. What I think. Blustein - if you read previous minutes - not on their website but via Google search - asks lots of questions. She wants to know how money is spent. Would assume the township would want someone to know. The Highway Commission budget has no oversight - whoever has that job has complete control of budget. In any business, that's not right. Not even Obama has budget control.

Just found this. Maybe this guy isn't a relative? Maybe. But I don't believe in patronage. Who is Bill Amarantos? He's was plowing for Northfield Township. http://www.northfieldtownship.com/Raise%2011%20B%20for%20website.pdf I could be wrong about this. Truly don't know. Maybe 'Amarantos' is a common name and no relationship to the highway commissioner. Maybe you can tell me?

Ms. Blustein's selective memory continues to amaze me. She claims learning of the plans for the new road building from reading the newspaper. Apparently approving 4 years of Road District budgets & line items did not drive that point home. Under Mr. Amarantos' skillful direction, in addition to the road crew's regular duties of clearing streets of ice & snow, routine maintenance of the sanitary system, tree trimming, brush pickup and patching and resurfacing, Mr. Amarantos has managed to initiate a FREE recycling program open to all Township residents eight months of the year AND save the monies necessary to rebuild the garage! The trustees have no such reserve and will have to borrow money and increase taxes to pay for their recently purchased Township building. Perhaps Gov. Quinn, President Obama and some township trustees should take a few lessons on budgeting & money management from Mr. Amarantos.

Dana - you might be right. But the problem is that nobody can ask the questions because 1 person has oversight re the budget. If you Google the minutes and read through them - you'll see that information is given secondhand -- one person has the budget and it's no questions asked mentality. Maybe yes, Maybe no. But, it doesn't look good. Why wouldn't issues be shared? It's all for the township. Should not be territorial.

Then again. Don't think any relative of any officer should hold down a paid, contracted position w/o a full review. It's not right. In every comment above the use of 'cronies' is used. I think you need to look in the mirror before backing off of this.

Dana - Mr Amarantos might be a nice guy. Personally don't know him. But I have worked in business for 30+ years and I know that nobody should have 'ownership' of a budget w/o oversight. You know certain things. It's what we don't know that's the problem and I do trust the Democratic Slate for bringing up issues that have gone unanswered. Still researching some of your above comments as I also want to know the answers. To be continued. But you could bet - if a Democrat commissioner had a brother / cousin/ aunt / uncle plowing streets - there would 'be h_ll to pay'. It's not right. I do question that judgement and leads me to question other decisions. But since his budget / his decisions are guarded - don't know any details of what's going on. That is concerning to me. Assume that would be concerning to you.

Go to www.northfieldtownship.com. Click on the road district icon and head to the budget page. You can get 3 years worth of a budget, bills, certificates etc. How much more do you need to know?

As I stated above, there is oversight on the road district's budget. Each year the township board reviews it and votes up or down - the problem is, the state statute does not permit us (according to the recent court ruling on the subject) to change the budget. And as Dana points out, it is online for everyone to see.

Dana, To your comment Recycling is FREE, that's not exactly right and the budget proves it. 2011-2012 Recycling Budget was $60,000 and $13,296.47 was spent. That's NOT free. Typically, when actuals come in against budget the following year budget gets reduced to reflect actual. Obviously they thought high on Recycling thinking would cost $60K. It was substantially less. So, I don't understand why the 2012-2013 Recycling Budget would be raised to $75,000 as a line item. That makes no logical sense. Well, it does because when that happens the extra funds typically represent a type of 'slush fund' - money is there to spend and can be allocated to another resource. That's not the way to budget funds. When there is oversight, things like that don't occur. But this budget doesn't have oversight. Only 1 person - the Commissioner has 'rule' over his/her budget. I believe that's what this referendum is all about. Creating oversight. That's a good thing for the township. If you go to the Township Website, click on Road District Budgets you can see specifics. (It downloads to an Excel spreadsheet). Or the Audited 2011-2012 Financial Statement has the line item for Recycling on page 50, I believe. The bottomline is that the recycling program is NOT FREE - there are associated costs - and projected 2012-2013 costs are now $75,000.

Janet. Don't understand what you are saying. $400,000 budget? The Northfield Road budget is big. In 2011/2012 Actual Spending Road District was $1.7 million. The 2012/2013 estimated Road Budget proposal per Northfield website is $2.3 million. I've been working for a very long time. Nobody - not 1 man or woman should have full control over a budget that large w/o oversight. Carol Blustein's desire to understand how the money is spent is not micro-managing. Would not be micro-managing in any real for profit business. These kinds of budgets need oversight. Boy o boy - would I like to work at a company, have a $2.3 million budget and do whatever I wanted with it - not have to give details of spending to anyone. You think that's realistic? No, it's not. I don't care if the guy running the show is the nicest guy in the world. Every detail of his budget should be reviewed. The township should be run as a business. Even if his budget was $300K. Expenses need details. That's good business.

The fact that a lawsuit was brought up. I don't know the details. But if 1 person was controlling a $1 million + budget and would not provide details, I would be concerned. $25,000 against such a large budget to get better controls is what most businesses would do. These people were trying to do the township a favor - manage funds more effectively. Your guy won - but did the Township win? I think you need to think about that.

Lisa, "Dana" didn't say anything was "free". Someone else might have but I did not.

It is so nice that you think that budgets should reflect "actual" but that isn't reality and you know it. In our state government they have yet to figure out that costs go up, people retire, and expenses increase, they don't decrease. Cash Reserves are a healthy thing to have and legally in many situations are required.

The reality is this, the proof is in the pudding. Carol Bluestein is running for Township President, not to be in charge of the road district. I think if people look on the Mosquito Abatement Website (which I reviewed prior to the website no longer being useable) of which she is charged...people can draw their own conclusions about her leadership. Which at best is wasteful.

By noting your "experience" listed above maybe you should be aware of other peoples...before you use it to attempt to talk down to them. I imagine that you would be surprised to see that many people commenting are now or have been professionals.

I have 20 years of experience on NFP Boards myself and currently handle the budgets for 2.

Carol Blustein is running for Township supervisor. WHY is she so concerned with the Road District ( a separate "corporation" if you will)? The Democrtic party left a flyer at my door which indicated a candidate for Road District commissioner...my concern is WHY the candidate is a "former" lawyer.

Lisa the new building that is being built is $420,000 ish. That is what I am talking about. Not the entire budget. I'm happy they are building within their budgeted amount- not doing what Glenview is/has been doing like tearing down a fire station to build a CVS and taking the village into debt. But that can be a discussion on a different day. To make it clear.... I was speaking inly of the new building- not the entire budget.

Lisa: My comments follow your quote below:

"The fact that a lawsuit was brought up. I don't know the details. But if 1 person was controlling a $1 million + budget and would not provide details, I would be concerned. $25,000 against such a large budget to get better controls is what most businesses would do. These people were trying to do the township a favor - manage funds more effectively. Your guy won - but did the Township win? I think you need to think about that."

You keep saying Mr Amarantos wouldn't provide details. What are you talking about? The budget is there. It has been there. They could easily have voted to NOT APPROVE his budget.

Additionally, I find it disturbing that you would suggest that it is acceptable to start a law suit when the long standing attorney for the township had said that the law suit would not be found as LEGAL! The trustees didn't like that answer and didn't heed their earlier advice and found someone who would pursue the case on their behalf. The road district won...based on the rule of law. They were advised of such prior to the lawsuit, they kept pursuing it...just as they are now and it was found to be ILLEGAL. It was a huge waste of tax dollars. You may not like the facts. But that is the truth. I think instead of creating a referendum. Change the law...call the State or the County to change it.

Carll your comments regarding "Bluestein is on the Board of the North Shore Mosquieto Abatement District" interested me so I looked into that. Sadly, all the links to budget and meeting minutes have been disabled! -only those links- looks like someone didn't like you calling attention to her past record.

Rich Mullen,
"Wasting tens of thousands for SAFETY"?
You don't say is who is providing EM to N,N&GV nor what they are being paid. I would appreciate knowing.What I do know, is with approx. 80,000 people in Northfld Twsp, the cost to each person is LESS THAN $1.00 PER YEAR for Safety & Welfare of the community & to have the expertise & knowledge of EMD, Dunne. (Mr Dunne was one of the first called to assit with the "Sandy" )Mr. Dunne has performed well in planning virtual training exercises in emergency Mgtmt, participating in regional emergency committees & working towards ending flooding on Central Avenue in GV.Central Ave flooding effects the whole community. Streets are closed, kids can't get to school,E/Med equip has difficulty responding, people can't get to work. Interaction of the neighboring jurisdictions relating to EM exercises has received positive comments from police,fire,pubicworks & village adminstrations.Exercises of this nature are a critical componet in enhancing the preparedness to face larger scale incidents in individual jurisdictions & as a region.Exercises of this nature will have a positive outcome for the residents,businesses &responders when the real disasters occur.
While Safety & Welfare is usually in the forefront of people's minds and should be in the forefront of elected officials, I am concerned with the vision of theDemocratic trustees on the board. When POLITICS is more important then SAFETY&WELFARE of the people we are in trouble.

What do you say about all the people who pay for schools they don't use, a food pantry they don't use, and a housing subsidy they don't use? I think quibbling over the hiring of Mr Dunne is outrageous.

I empathize with your need to mortgage your home to cover your business. However, that doesn't make you the authority on good business decisions. We have all careers, some longer than others. It doesn't make your argument hold water. Nor does it sway people to your way of thinking.

Micromanaging a staff (which has reportedly been done at the Township office) is of concern to me. We as taxpayers elected Jill Brickman to manage that office and the staff. Your colleagues were elected to over see THAT budget, and attend meetings. Which quite frankly you aren't doing. Aren't you concerned at all about your debt to purchase a building?

Ms. Blustein's claim is totally incredulous. The Township board absolutely knew well the Highway Commissioner's plans to replace the building for at least four years. She either wasn't paying attention or is fabricating this story for political advantage.Which is it? What is clear is that she has grand plans for the Road District's reserves which have been built up over time. This lack of credibility on top of the recent controversy over the pension, salaries and perks of the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, of which she is president, doesn't add up for a good resume to be Township Supervisor. Who wants a Town Supervisor who can't get her basic facts straight? Blustein needs to come clean.

What I find interesting is in their latest piece of literature they say that Mr. Amarantos has built up a "war chest". Of course they have misused the term:

war chest
n.
1. An accumulation of funds to finance a war effort.
2. A fund reserved for a particular purpose such as a political campaign.

The building isn't part of a political campaign or a war. I think truth escapes them somehow...

Blustein and her handlers appear to be very desperate to get their control over that supposed "war chest" of Road District reserves with their obvious inability to separate fact from fiction., I, too, just read a release from her spin doctors which makes me convinced she has absolutely no business representing Northfield Township in any capacity. She should be ashamed for approving such a piece of garbage as a supposed release. Of course, they are desperate to take the voter's eyes off her term, as president of the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District (see www.Glenviewpatch.com 3/13/13) where 75% ( close to $975k) of last yrs' budget allocation was used for salaries, perks and pensions... and will use a fabrication of Mr. Amaronto's fiscal stewardship as their diversionary tactic. As previously posted, Blustein is not credible with her claims regarding the Road District, obviously isn't paying attention and will try to confuse the Northfield Township voters. Pathetic. Vote for someone with integrity; vote for Jill Brinkman. I am tired of feeling the bite of local politician's funding their pensions, and perks, at the local taxpayer expense; and, expanding their own retirement pensions and political agenda through deficit spending and raids on reserves. Send Blustein packing.

I find this whole episode regarding the road district maintenance garage to be ridiculous. Whether budgeted for or not, there is no justification for spending any dollars on the expansion Mr. Amarantos wishes. I certainly wouldn't want my children traipsing about on the roof of a maintenance garage on Lehigh. There is a beautiful facility at the Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie about a quarter mile north that is intended as an educational site where children's programs are conducted.

Further, building a tower/weather station above the garage to address possible weather threats is another useless expense. The Glen Club and the park locations directly west of the garage, including the Park Center, have weather forecast access and lightning detection systems that are used during sporting competition. This is unnecessary duplication of facilities that already exist.

My annual real estate taxes of approx $9,600 include about $40 for Northfield Twnsp and $58 for the Township Road District. Mosquito abatement gets $14 of my $9,600. I believe I get a lot more bang for my buck from the $14 than I get from the $58 that goes for roads I rarely travel.

Even though I have no children in school, the $6,650 I pay in school taxes at least hold the value of my home. And, this is an investment in the future generation. No such investment value comes with my road district levy.

Carol Bluestein had 4 years to challenge this...it was planned for 6 years. She did NOT find out in a news paper article...she had 4 years as an elected trustee to vote against his budget...and had a majority who could vote with her.

Based on the sheer number of "executive sessions" she calls, I don't think we would get that under her leadership. Jill Brickman and Peter Amarantos are proven leaders regardless to the desire one has to disagree.

I trust the assertion by Andy Shaw who is neither a supporter of Blustein or Brickman, Frey or Amarantos. He says the NSMAD is full of waste and mismanagement (and she is the president there, not an employee...THE PRESIDENT). I trust his judgement. He was a damn fine reporter and is now in a great position to tell the truth to all tax payers. I think you may very well be cheering for the wrong team.

Blueman, I believe you are very misinformed about Ms. Blustein's alleged "claim" she found out about the Road District expansion through reading the paper-- that is just plain and simple absurd and laughable. The "green roof" is designed for water conservation, not kids "traipssing about"; again, absurd; where you you getting your information? And, BTW, "where there is smoke, there is fire" ... you don't have to look too far to the management of the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, with its commensurate indictment of government waste, to make a value judgement that its management needs to be no where near the helm of our Northfied Township government. There is a smokescreen here, though, in in trying to defame and criticize the Road District's Commissioner's stewardship and integrity for blatant political advantage; and, that is EXACTLY what is going on. It is shameful and shameless. Do better and vote for Jill Brinkman, not for someone who can't even remember Township board decisions.

Local property taxes are on the precipice of significantly increasing with Downstate proposals for pension-cost shifting to school districts, School Boards wrestling with deficit spending issues and quasi-govt agencies LIKE the NSMAD, which Ms..Blustein is president, continued spending a very large portion of their tax-payer funded budget on employee perks and pensions! There appears to be a belief by some local politicians who think that taxpayer funded deficit spending can go on ad infinitum with their "spending habits"* (*Glenview Patch 3/13/13); and, a disregard for the facts of the aging population in NFLD TWNSHP. I am "doctrinaire" in my concern for all residents of NFL TWNSHIP that need local candidates who promote fiscal responsibility and stewardship. It is also dismaying that the candidate (above) appears disingenuous in her comments, where she was very obviously involved over many yrs. Her handler's attack campaign against the HWY Commissioner's character and integrity, instead of addressing the issues, is clearly condescending to ALL voters in the TWNSHP & a smokescreen for a power play on the Road District's reserves. As an independent thinker, then come to the TWNSHP board meetings and see for yourself what goes on. Get involved. Jill Brinkman is a proven better choice for Northfield Township. We need bridge building and coalition--not polarization and smear campaigns. I am "doctrinaire" for Property Tax relief and I would guess we have that in common.