Accountability, Common-Sense, Transparency

I believe Downers Grove is a wonderful community. I seek to form a collaborative relationship while serving on the Village Council. However, I believe in an accountable, commen-sense, transparent government. Therefore, I believe it is my responsibility as a candidate to try and provide those principles in my campaign. There is a lack of trust in our government institutions writ large. At a Federal level there is precedent for lack of trust. We should not let that trend become a pattern at the local level where citizens interact with those institutions on a daily basis.

I watched for over a year while 6 members of the library board rebuked calls for transparency of the budget by one member. It culminated with them voting to remove him without his presence. This was a request to Village Council who voted 4-3 for removal citing no violations of library rules or statute violations. Shortly thereafter the Library Director was confirmed to have violated Illinois Statute by divulging library records of every Downers Grove Library cardholder and has yet to be held to account. This is an unequal measure of justice.

Here you will find other information that has not been addressed by the library board or village council. After seeing this concerning documentation you will wonder why these issues have not been addressed and why leadership has not been held accountable.

Library Director Violated Illinois Law

Below are screenshots from FOIA documents showing Library Director Milavec violated the Illinois Library Records Confidentiality Act by releasing the names of all Downers Grove Public Library card holders. This is not conjecture or opinion of a citizen. As you’ll see below, this is the opinion of the Illinois Office of the Attorney General Kwame Raoul. How can we have a library board member be removed for no stated violation and allow a Library Director to go unaccountable for breaking the law? We cannot have a lawless bureaucracy in our town. It is unacceptable. This campaign is about providing information and transparency to the Downers Grove citizen. I promise, as a representative of the people to not ignore this type of egregious violation within our government.

A screenshot of the statute explaining the definition of registration and circulation records. As it relates to a library, they are confidential information.

Director Milavec’s response to the FOIA showing the original request and acknowledging the records are attached. This evidence has been provided to the library board, the state’s attorney, and the Attorney General’s office.

This is the official response from the Illinois Office of the Attorney General noting that the same request made to DGPL and Director Milavec was made to the Hinsdale Library and denied citing the Library Records Confidentiality Act as reason for the denial.

Finally, this is confirmation from the Office of the Attorney General that the denial from the library citing the Library Records Confidentiality Act is accurate interpretation. The Attorney General confirms that the FOIA request cannot be met as it would be in violation of the Act.

5 other libraries including Naperville, Indian Prairie, Orland Park, Westmont, and Oak Brook all denied the same request made to Director Milavec making reference to the Illinois Library Records Confidentiality Act.

All were appealed to the Illinois Attorney General by the FOIA requester. All appeals were denied by the Attorney General on the basis that it would be a violation of the Illinois Library Records Confidentiality Act.

The conclusion is clear. Director Milavec of the Downers Grove Public Library violated Illinois law and has not been held to account.

Library PITS Reports (Incidents)

A FOIA that revealed over 200 incidents at the library. Many of them involve assault, indecent exposure, substance abuse, endangering people’s safety and lewd conduct. Most offenders have multiple reports and the only adverse action has been to temporarily suspend the individuals. Will it take someone getting seriously hurt before the library changes policy and prioritizes safety?

AN 8 YEAR OLD BOY RECORDED IN THE LIBRARY’S RESTROOM. WHY DOESN’T THE COMMUNITY KNOW ABOUT THIS? WHAT WAS DONE TO ADDRESS THIS SAFETY CONCERN FOR OUR CHILDREN?

LEWD CONDUCT AND PUBLIC INDECENCY? HOW IS THIS BEING PREVENTED IN THE FUTURE?

INDECENT EXPOSURE??? THE LIBRARY IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SPOTS FOR CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY. WHAT IS BEING DONE TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN FROM THIS?

THE LIBRARY HAS INCREASINGLY BECOME A SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS AND PEOPLE RECOVERING FROM THE METHADONE CLINIC. COMPASSION FOR THE DISPOSSESSED IS NOT A REASON TO PUT OUR CHILDREN IN DANGER.

RGW Report Labeling Downers Grove as Racist

One of the main points of contention between the lone dissenting member of the library board and the other 6 members was his scrutiny over the budget. Below, you will find excerpts from a report by a consulting firm called RGW. The library paid $157K for the end product which asserted that Downers Grove and the library is and historically has been racist. Nowhere will you find any data or evidence supporting this assertion. This report is merely many pages of uninformed conjecture and offensive accusations. It is no wonder the lone dissenting board member sought to scrutinize the budget. Downers Grove is not racist and has not been historically racist. This $157K spent was a waste of taxpayer money.

Here’s the first assertion that Downers Grove Library has been infected by pervasive racism. This is a completely baseless accusation with zero evidence to support it.

We all speak the same language. People in charge to do not have the ability to change definitions. The suggestion that someone would change definitions in language while in power is a dangerous proposition. If we cannot agree on definitions of words then we will have a major problem constructing a civil society.

I am a white man. My skin color does not define who I am as a man. The statement seeks to redefine terms through a cultural identity based on skin color. While race has played a significant role in the development of our nation it does not define the individual. Furthermore, there is no evidence this rhetoric describes our community or library.

Lastly, it’s relevant to point out that the taxpayer funded a service that called them racist with no evidence and couldn’t even bother to edit out the last customer’s name in the finalized report. It begs the question as to what the final product for “Access Living” looked like.