CVS Withdraws Request to Sell Alcohol in Flossmoor

When the 5 representatives of CVS were presented to the meeting, they were all smiles. Roger Molski, outgoing mayor, gave them bad advice. "Address your remarks to the Trustees," he told them, "because they are the ones who have a vote."

This was only the most recent indicator of Molski's detachment from Flossmoor. Because it wasn't the Trustees that CVS needed to win over, it was the community. The meeting started with 3 Trustees publicly committed to voting against allowing the drug chain to selling packaged liquor across the street from H-F High School. But given the smiles that the CVS people walked in with, it was hard not to think that the deal was in. The other 3 Trustees (Mitros, Minga and Hoag) seemed inclined to vote for the granting of the liquor license, and Molski would break the tie (obviously, in favor of CVS).

What was obvious from the start was that CVS didn't really appreciate Flossmoor. Nor did they exhibit any understanding of the unique character and charm of our community. And they certainly had absolutely no appreciation for the importance of Homewood-Flossmoor High School to the community or our property values. Given that their primary contact had been with the mayor (for 6 and a half years, he told us last night), this cannot be much of a surprise.

The district manager for CVS tried to make two main arguments in support of granting them a liquor license. His first argument was that packaged liquor was already available from Jewel, which was less than a mile away from H-F. And that is true, although no one seems to think that kids are walking up to the Jewel from H-F. They won't even walk to the McDonald's that is across the street from Jewel, so it's really hard to imagine that Jewel is an alternative to what CVS was asking to do.

His second point centered around the specious claim that, well, CVS had a store across the street from Crystal Lake South High, and they didn't have any of these problems. Of course, as you can see, CVS is not located "across the street" from Crystal Lake South High School. It appears that a water treatment plant is located across the street from the High School.

Rather, CVS appears to be down the street from the high school and you'd have to walk past at least one neighborhood to get there. IOW, they lied to us. This can't be that much of a surprise, given the fact that Roger Molski -- the person they've apparently been dealing with -- has always been a little loose with the truth, as well. We have to accept the fact that CVS probably took their measure of our community through him and decided that they didn't have to really tell us the truth if they wanted to get what they wanted. We've been poorly served, and last night's meeting was the direct result of that.

We can only hope -- and expect -- change with the new administration.

In the end, the CVS representatives saw that this proposal had severely alienated them from our community, and perhaps has caused them irreparable harm. Many, many residents of Flossmoor reacted to their interest in selling packaged liquor in a retail store with horror. We don't allow that in Flossmoor, and we certainly didn't want our first store to sell hard liquor at retail to be across the street from the high school. More than one resident said to me, "I don't want the CVS store across the street from the high school, but I certainly don't want them selling alcohol."

It is clear that CVS has a lot to learn about Flossmoor. It doesn't appear that they are really interested in dealing with the village any differently than how they treat Harvey or Chicago Heights. They keep talking about their Neighborhood Drug Store model, but we already have four drug stores within a mile of where they want to locate. There isn't a real community interest in adding a fifth drug store to serve the village. So acting like they are doing us a great service is, well, stupid.

CVS isn't likely to be integrated into our community fabric with that attitude, and it certainly didn't help that they were willing to lie to us to squeeze an extra one percent of profits out of the store. They were willing to risk our children, our property values, and our community values for an extra one percent of profits. That's not a good neighbor. They've got a lot of bad will to overcome with these kinds of tactics.

The CVS representatives left the meeting looking pretty sullen. It certainly didn't help that they had to walk past a gauntlet of village residents who had more to say, and not all of it pleasant. But the fact is CVS withdrew their proposal to sell hard liquor in Flossmoor -- for now. Village residents will have to remain eternally vigilant as long as CVS is here to keep them from trying this again. Village politics has probably been changed forever, as we can expect the chain to try to dominate them in the future, in order to build support for allowing them to sell packaged liquor. I suppose Flossmoor got a little less charming last night. What a legacy to begin a business with...

Flossmoor Candidates on the Record about Liquor Sales across from HF

The League of Women Voter's debate at the Library last month included this exchange about the controversial proposal to sell alcohol across the street from Homewood-Flossmoor High School:

Q: How does a convenience store with a liquor license across the street from 3,000 students fit in with the character of Flossmoor.

BRAUN: It doesn't, in my opinion. State law normally requires that there be no liquor within I believe it's about 100 feet of a school itself and this is just outside of that. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb. I was not in favor of liquor for this going forward. I inquired at the time that the developer came before the village board in terms of what percentage of the retail sales are going to be liquor-related and its less than 8%. And my follow-up question to the developer was, if Flossmoor does not grant a liquor license, will this project go forward, and the answer was yes. This is not a deal killer based on what I've heard so far. So again, I expect to be contacting lots of residents and get community input in terms of what the village thinks about liquor across from the high school but going forward, I don't think it's a proper location.

You'll hear others say that well, they can go down to the Jewel or they can elsewhere, well let them go elsewhere! I don't think we need that across the street from the high school, at this point, I don't think it sets a proper example. Not that I'm against alcohol, for heaven's sake, but again, the high school district doesn't want it. 233, I've talked to the school board, they do not want liquor at that location, so that tells you something right off the bat. If they don't want it, I don't see why the village needs to press this if in fact we can confirm that this is not a deal killer, so to speak, for this establishment.

WILLIAMS: I'm not supportive at this point of hard liquor being sold, of packaged liquor, being sold in our community at all...

As we speak about this today, though, we don't sell packaged liquor, hard liquor in Flossmoor. They sell it in communities around us that are relatively close, it's available to people who would like to buy it. My biggest concern, even beyond the high school, is that it may attract people to our community to buy that liquor that we don't necessarily need to have attracted to our community...

But as I see it today, not only because of where it's located, across the street from the school, but because of the people it might attract, I can't support hard liquor being sold in town.

MINGA: At this point, I still have an open mind on this.

CRUM: As far as the liquor license is concerned, I'm a wine con, but I don't think that a wine store, a beer store, or a liquor store across the street from the high school is a proper place for it. And if it's proposed I would vote no.

What this means is that three trustees (Braun, Williams and Crum) have public committed to vote against Molski's proposal to sell liquor across the street from HF High School. There are six trustees on the village board.

Roger Molski's Final -- Vindictive -- Act

If you aren't a parent of a teen at HF High School, you probably don't know about Roger Molski's plan for selling liquor across the street from the high school. Having damaged Flossmoor by bringing in his friend to "develop" the property half a block from the train station in Flossmoor (the huge empty lot on Flossmoor Road), Molski seems intent on further hurting the village by degrading the reputation of HF, our community's greatest asset and the main pillar to sustaining our property values.

Roger Molski seems intent on making HF High School like the southside high schools in Chicago where fights often break out at athletic events. Imagine the consequences of alcohol being available right across the street from the high school when people come to visit for athletic events. Fights are much more likely to break out, kids are much more likely to drive drunk, and the school's reputation is much more likely to be negatively effected.

It is Molski's final, and most vindictive, act on the village. I guess he's showing us.

The school board for District 233 is so horrified by Molski's plan that they sent this letter to parents of high school students:

April 29, 2009
Dear H-F Parents/Guardians,

As you may know, a new CVS Pharmacy will be constructed on the comer of Flossmoor Road and Kedzie Avenue. Without your help and support, alcohol will be sold at this location which is directly across the street from the high school. Our concern for student safety is paramount.

Over the past six months we have worked hard to articulate our student safety concerns by attending several meetings of the Flossmoor Village Board and the Flossmoor Planning Commission. We have also met with the Mayor, Village Manager and the Village Trustees to voice our concerns that arise from having the pharmacy directly across the street from the high school. Our discussions have been productive to ensure the safety of students; however, it has come to our attention that the Village Board is now planning to grant a liquor license to the new CVS pharmacy to sell carry-out alcohol.

High school, middle school and elementary school children will be walking past this location on a daily basis. The potential issues that would put these children and our schools in jeopardy quickly become real when alcohol is factored into the mix. We are adamantly opposed to the CVS Pharmacy proposal to sell alcohol now or at any point in the future.

We request that you show your support by attending the next Flossmoor Village Board meeting on Monday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m. at the Flossmoor Village Hall to convey to the Mayor and Board of Trustees that granting a liquor license is not an acceptable option at this location. Additional parking is available at Parker Junior High across the street from the Flossmoor Village Hall. If you are unable to attend, please call the Village Hall at (708) 798-2300 to to express your disapproval of having liquor sold across the street from the students in our community. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting and having your support.

While we may never know why, Molski is pushing hard to have this license granted to CVS before he leaves office. As I've mentioned before, a CVS selling alcohol across the street from the high school will create tremendous downward pressure on our property values. It's not simply a safety issue, it is an assault on our greatest asset in Flossmoor.

Looks like Molski wants his revenge before he leaves the village.

You can sign an epetition to have this question placed on the ballot in the next village election: "Shall the sale at retail of alcoholic liquor be prohibited on any property within 1000 feet of a public school in the village of Flossmoor?" This will give Flossmoor voters a chance to vote on whether they agree that our property values should be degraded by Roger Molski's last act as mayor...

Xavier Fulton, OT (Illinois), is Drafted by Tampa Bay

The 155th pick, the 14th Offensive Tackle taken in the 2009 draft.

The Bucs Beat blog from the St. Petersburg Times had this about Xavier:

Bucs select Illinois T Xavier Fulton in 5th round

The Bucs made a surprising move to bolster their offensive line by selecting Illinois left tackle Xavier Fulton.

The 6-foot-4, 302-pound Fulton could be an eventual replacement for Donald Penn, who will become an unrestricted free agent next season. Behind Fulton, Illinois led the Big Ten in offense and pass offense.

Fulton began his career as a right defensive end before tearing a knee ligament. He was granted a medical hardship in 2006 and returned the next season after making the transition to left tackle.

"It was a little difficult at first getting to adjust," Fulton said. "Especially, the biggest thing I had trouble with and so does everybody else learning pass blocking. It's totally different from the way you're taught to play defense. Defense is easy by comparison -- chase the ballcarrier. You can't be wrong if you chase the ballcarrier. Go tackle someone. Whereas on offense, you make one mistake and the entire play is busted and it's lost yardage.

"It was difficult at first but I think I got the hang of it over the past two seasons and I feel pretty comfortable at it now."

UPDATE #1: The Pewter Report, a website devoted to the Bucs, also talked to Xavier:

“This is a dream come true – to be able to play professional football,” Fulton said. “I actually didn’t talk a whole lot with the Bucs before hand. I had a few interviews with them at the Senior Bowl and a few talks with them at the Combine. But other than that, not a lot of communication.”

Fulton is a former defensive lineman who started 10 games before switching in his sophomore year to offensive tackle, where he went on to start all 25 games he played in. Fulton also registered 149 knockdowns/blocks and 15 touchdown-resulting blocks.

“I made the switch in spring ball in 2007,” Fulton said. “It was a little difficult at first getting to adjust. The biggest thing I had trouble with was pass blocking. It’s totally different from the way I was taught defense. Defense compared to playing offensive line is pretty easy. It’s chase the ballcarrier, chase the ballcarrier – you can’t be wrong going to tackle someone. On offense, if you make one mistake the entire play is busted and it’s lost yardage. It was pretty difficult at first, but once I got the hang of it over the past two seasons, I’ve felt pretty comfortable with it."

The 6-foot-4, 301-pound Fulton is considered an incredible athlete. He posted a 5.09 time in the 40-yard dash, 29-inch vertical jump and bench-pressed 225 pounds 22 times. In fact, Fulton ranked in the top 10 at his position in five out of the six workouts he participated in at the NFL Combine.

“The only extra hard part of the training was dealing with the shoulder,” Fulton said of his right shoulder injury. “I couldn’t fully bench press what I used to, and it was difficult trying to get the strength back during the training process. After working at it for a couple of months I got the strength back in my shoulders, and I got a pretty good bench press number. A lot of my good numbers I put up was from training with Kurt Hester at D-One in Nashville. He taught me a lot of good techniques, a lot of tips that helped with the numbers.”

Despite being hindered the right shoulder ailment as a senior that required surgery in February, Fulton started 12 games for Illinois and earned the Bruce Capel Award for displaying the most courage, dedication and accomplishment.

Although he played left tackle at Illinois, Fulton, who was a member of the North team at Senior Bowl, has the size, power and athletic ability to be a swing tackle for the Buccaneers.

“I’m a pretty athletic guy," said Fulton. "I’m very fast. I like to get up to the next level very quickly. If you get your linemen on the second or third level, obviously you have done something pretty well and usually it’s a big yardage gain.”

Fulton joins Donald Penn, Jeremy Trueblood, James Lee and Julius Wilson in Tampa Bay’s stable of offensive tackles. He said he hopes to one day become a starting tackle for the Buccaneers.

“I think that is the attitude that you have to have if you are going to last long or at all at this level,” said Fulton. “I know I’m going to have to compete. There are men who look at this as a way to feed their family. Obviously, I’m a 23-year-old kid coming in just trying to learn everything. I’m going in with the aspect that I’m going to learn and be a much better offensive lineman, and hopefully compete for a position.”

Xavier Fulton's Combine Workouts

can be seen here. Don't know why I can't embed the video here.

Thornton standout Tim Jamison's (Michigan) Combine Workouts can be seen here. Good luck to both southsiders this weekend!

UPDATE #1: Three Offensive Tackles go in the first 8 picks. Wow.

UPDATE #2: Michael Oher makes it four in the first.

UPDATE #3: The sequence of events necessary to see Xavier drafted in the second round did not unfold. There was no run on Offensive Tackles in the first two rounds, and only Oakland seemed to value prospects dramatically different from the mock draft boards. Both Xavier and Tim should go sometime on Sunday.

Opening Day

Spring must be here!



Hope it's not a washout:

Flossmoor's X-Man wants a Saturday call

2009 has seen plenty of buzz around Flossmoor's Xavier Fulton, affectionately known as the X-man around here, who has made a solid commitment to moving to the next level and playing on Sundays in the NFL. His pure athleticism and raw talent even have some projecting Fulton to go as high as the second round.

Fulton came out of Homewood-Flossmoor High -- where he played both ways -- to go to the Fighting Illini. He was recruited as a defensive end, but switched to offensive tackle in 2007. An All Big Ten Offensive Linemen in both 2007 and 2008, Fulton was invited to the Senior Bowl. After a rough week of practice where he played both tackle positions, Xavier was named one of the Top 10 2009 Senior Bowl Performances for his play in the game:

Got called for a questionable holding call, but I thought he moved better than any OT in the game. He can really get downfield and make some things happen. I think this kid is a serious sleeper because of his athleticism. Could be a better pro than college player.

Graduating in December (Xavier was a fifth year senior), he spent 2009 preparing for the draft at D1 Sports Training. Fulton was "impressive" at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, finishing "among the top performers from the offensive linemen group who worked out for the over 600 NFL coaches, general managers and scouts. His 40-yard dash time, broad jump and three-cone drill performance ranked in the top-3 on the offensive line." Randall Weida observed:

Xavier Fulton had a productive NFL Combine. He ran a 5.04 second 40 yard dash which was one of the best times for a lineman. He also showed good technique during position drills and coaches are encouraged by the fact he's only been playing tackle for two seasons. Fulton is a perfect fit in a zone blocking scheme and should be taken by the mid third round of this years draft.

Sports Illustrated named Fulton as one of the top "players who stood out and improved their draft stock."

Fulton was impressive from the start of the combine as he completed 27 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press Friday, then ran his 40 in a time of 4.91 seconds on both tries. He later looked terrific in position drills. Fulton has been dealing with a shoulder injury since tearing a labrum in the middle of the season. He could have very easily bowed out of performing at the combine but decided to give it a go. Fulton will have surgery to repair the injury next week.

One analyst said, "No one player improved his draft stock more at the combine than this man."

Predictions for where Xavier will go in the draft are all over the map. Some hope that his injury and surgery will push him down to the later rounds (making him a "steal" for some team), but the consensus seems to be that his tremendous upside will find Fulton drafter sooner rather than later. With four offensive tackles thought to go off the board in the first round, the prospect of Xavier getting a Saturday afternoon call isn't that absurd. The NFL site summarizes:

Positives: Naturally large man with the frame to add at least an additional 10-15 pounds without a significant loss of quickness. ... Raw, but possesses rare tools. ... Lacks consistency with his initial quickness off the snap, but gets excellent depth in his kick slide to protect the edge as a pass rusher. ... Natural knee bender who plays with balance. ... Still learning to use his hands, but flashes explosiveness in his hand punch and the ability to turn and sustain. ... Athletic enough to block on the move. ... Hustles to the second and even third level. ... Only beginning to scratch the surface of his talent after spending the first three years of his career at defensive tackle.

Negatives: Raw. ... Made the transition to the offensive line in 2007 and was surrounded by experienced line mates and ultra-athletic skill position players, aiding in his development. ... Too often late off the snap for a player of his athleticism. ... Relies on athleticism, rather than technique, to control his man and can be walked back to the quarterback when he plays too high, exposing his chest. ... Flashes a good initial pop in run blocking, but is not a masher. ... Good athleticism, but can get out of control blocking on the move, allowing his assignment to evade him. Legitimate durability concern: Torn ACL ended his 2005 season prematurely and forced Fulton to take a medical redshirt for the '06 season. ... Struggled with a shoulder sprain throughout the second half of the 2008 season.

It adds: "Scouts want to see him improve his technique and show strength as a run blocker."

Fulton is being called the seventh or eighth best offensive tackle, although some teams might convert him to guard. Those who think he might go as high as the second round would agree:

He is similar to 2008 first round pick Duane Brown in that he is a small zone blocking tackle, who is new to the position. Both were relatively inexperienced, but Fulton could be an even better prospect. He has tremendous speed and athleticism for an offensive lineman and loves to get out into the open field and lay hits on opposing linebackers in the run game. Fulton is still raw, so he occasionally doesn't pick up more complex blitzes and stunts. He does however, have the athleticism to recover on many of those plays. He is strong enough to withstand the bull rush of defensive ends, and quick enough to stay in front of speed rushers. His speed and size make him an ideal fit in a zone-blocking scheme. Fulton will need to show teams he has the strength to block elite ends in the NFL. Because he isn't a good fit for every team's system, he may not get drafted until the late third or early fourth round.

As such, Xavier's been named one of the 40 Players To Look Out For in the 2009 NFL Draft, in part because "he can play multiple positions on the line." Xavier has been brought in by several NFL teams, including the New York Jets.

Encouraging Community Involvement -- but not really meaning it

As long as I have lived in Flossmoor -- going on a decade now -- Roger Molski has been trying to silence me. Not that I cared. To be honest, Molski wasn't much of a concern. In 2002, I was involved in the campaigns of four challengers running for the U.S. Senate (all of whom are now in the Senate), in 2004 I was involved in the presidential campaign and in 2006, I began to be involved in Barack Obama's long-shot run for the presidency. So in the scheme of things, Roger Molski wasn't that big a deal. But that's not the point.

As long as I've lived in Flossmoor, I've listened to Roger Molski (and others) preach about people getting involved in their community, in coming to village council meetings and "making Flossmoor better." The irony shouldn't be lost on anybody.

I believe that the Molskis of the world do want their neighbors to get involved in their local communities, but we can't be surprised that what they really mean is for us to get involved as their allies.

There are very few reasons why I've spoken up against Roger Molski since I moved here in 2000. The most common reason would have been when he was wrong. And, in my experience, Molski is wrong a lot. The great big empty lot right behind our condos (the Molskis and mine) proves the point. In May 2005, I took my concerns to the village meeting, starting with how it would negatively impact our condo units and ending with the fact that the banks I talked to considered Bruti a risky (or risk-taking?) developer, which Roger dismissed with a wave of his hand. "He's my friend," Roger said to me.

In other words, trust me.

If it isn't obvious, asking people to trust their representatives in government is antithetical to both good government and getting people involved in their community. That's one of the lessons we should take away from Molski's years of service to Flossmoor: if you want people involved, then you have to be able to withstand their criticism when they don't agree with you. It's nothing personal. It's just government (or, without the Godfather reference, it's the process).

I started this particular blog because a friend of mine had been doing a spectacular job covering his local community. Like Flossmoor, where he lived was basically ignored by the major media. His blog is a lot more successful and a lot more thorough than this one. I don't spend nearly as much time on this as he does. It is merely a coincidence that so much focus has been paid to Roger Molski.

About six months ago, Molski changed his routine (or pattern). He no longer walked his dog everyday. He started driving into the parking lot very early in the morning (when his car was conveniently missing at 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning). I asked him, when we talked about my mother-in-law, if his dog had died. I was told it hadn't.

So I started to write about our missing mayor. He wasn't really missing, it seemed to me, he was just commuting. But understanding political messaging as I do, I knew that calling Molski "our missing mayor" would be easier to understand that calling him a commuting mayor. People get that.

I didn't realize that candidates had used his home in the city against him before, but I also didn't care. I wanted to highlight the really bad decisions that Roger Molski has made for Flossmoor -- and the fact that we wasn't a full-time resident of Flossmoor went a long way in explaining his bad decisions. His daughter claims that Molski really loves Flossmoor, and I wouldn't dispute that. I also know that no parent tells their kids everything. But the problem wasn't that he cared about the village, it was what he was doing to the village.

I also didn't believe that Molski would run again. Given his new pattern, I expected him to retire. To be honest, I was shocked when he filed to run for re-election.

I write about what goes on in our community because people should know more about that. As a private citizen, which Roger Molski converts to in May, recording his commutes to the village would be gossip. But as a public official, as mayor, it is something that people had a right to know.

If the village government was more transparent, more open, more inviting, there would be no need to write these kinds of things. It hasn't been, and I've witnessed Roger Molski using his insider knowledge of village government as a bludgeon against people. If our new mayor -- or the trustees -- try to do that, I'll stand up against them, as well.

There's a lot to be done here in Flossmoor. We need to protect the unique charm that defines this village -- which means we have to do something about the blight that Molski brought to Flossmoor (by way of recruiting "his friend" to come here). We have to make sure that the new CVS, across the street from H-F, doesn't sell alcohol. Instead of reacting -- as Molski was inclined to do -- we need to be proactive. Anticipate problems. Prepare for them. Encourage the rest of the village to be involved in their solution.

I am very hopeful for Paul Braun's term as mayor. He, too, loves Flossmoor. He loves it so much that it is his only residence. He would never tell anyone, especially a son, "there is no future in Flossmoor." He will work hard to protect Flossmoor's charm and value because it's the only place he has to think about. That's important. He's fully invested in our future.

Paul Braun promised that change was coming to Flossmoor. It was a big, ambitious promise. Now we wait, and watch. And hope for better things to come. Electing Braun was the first step. But it was only the first step...

Flossmoor Finally Gets a Real Mayor

Imagine that! Flossmoor's mayor will once again live in the Village of Flossmoor. Happy Days are Here!

Paul Braun promised that Change was coming to Flossmoor, and -- tonight -- he made good on his promise:

Paul S. Braun 1,080 55.36%
Roger G. Molski 871 44.64%

Braun won doing it his way, taking the high road, laying out a solid vision for Flossmoor's future and knocking on the door of every house in the village. When I mentioned to Braun that not all those households would have voters in them, he waved off my concern. They were stakeholders in the village living there, he told me, and they deserved the same attention.

What a profoundly refreshing attitude. I've been told by numerous residents that Molski has tried to bully residents for years, so Braun's inclusive and inviting attitude may take a little getting used to.

Congratulations, Mayor Braun! The village eagerly awaits the fresh start that you represent in Flossmoor government.

Note to the Trustees: I don't know what happens now that Paul Braun has been elected mayor, but if you get to appoint his replacement as Village Trustee, I'd urge you to appoint Pam Lessner. Those of us who attended the League of Women Voters forum know that we had four good candidates running for Trustee. She deserves to be appointed -- and I suspect she won't go away if she's not. We'll be paying attention...

While Molski is Pessimistic about Flossmoor's Future, Braun Looks Forward

The local League of Women Voters held their Flossmoor Candidates Forum on Thursday, March 19 at the Flossmoor Library. More than 50 people showed up, including members of several candidate's families. There were several pieces of news out of the Forum, but perhaps the most interesting news was the sharp contrasts between the two mayoral candidates. Roger Molski was stuck on his "we can't do that" meme, while challenger Paul Braun was thinking creatively, offering fresh ideas and basically reminding us, Yes We Can.

Roger Molski was first with his opening statement. He mentioned that he came to Flossmoor because it resembled Grosse Point, MI. Then he told us why he was running for re-election:

I am terribly proud to say that I am the Mayor of Flossmoor and my mother who passed away last year was *really* proud to tell everyone in the world that Roger is the Mayor of Flossmoor.

He ended:

It's a team effort, and I am very, very proud to be Mayor and head of this team.

Then Paul Braun got up and introduced himself:

I am running because I believe that village government can do more for our residents than what's been going on. I am running because I believe that we can continue to maintain high quality public services -- police and fire -- and public works while at the same time doing more to increase economic development for our town.

Then Braun noted the biggest difference between his candidacy and that of Molski.

Washington has decided to pump 787 billion dollars into our economy and my question is, will Flossmoor be there to take advantage of that.

Braun laid out a strategy for getting more federal (and state) dollars into Flossmoor. Molski would later say, "They can't help us."

Braun ended by saying:

I am running because I'm passionate and I care about our town.

The first question asked by an audience member of the mayoral candidates was, "What changes will you try to make that is different than what's going on at the present time?"

Braun took the first crack at it:

My focus primarily is on economic development for our town in terms of making changes for the future. As I said in my opening statement, we're in the middle of a perfect storm, and while we're going to do everything we can to attract business to our community, new business to our community that's compatible with our community, I believe that for the next two year period we really need to be chasing dollars that are going to come from Washington and from the state of Illinois.

Braun said that he wants to be on the board of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, and that Flossmoor should join the Illinois Municipal League. Finally, he said:

we also need to be federally involved, as well. I'm committed to go to Washington, if necessary, to go knock on doors to get the funds that are necessary for our town. Because with those funds, that takes the pressure off of us, our taxpayers, the resident's tax burden. Some of you may have seen that a number of our recent mayors went to Washington and that we did not.

He ended by saying that if we don't get more active, "We could lose out on the dollars that are available to us."

Roger Molski then said,

The changes that you're going to see in the next four years in the village will revolve around economic development. I have been working ver, veryy hard for a long period of time, I've become a semi-expert on commercial development.

As a so-called "expert on commercial development," Roger Molski is the first and only mayor in Flossmoor -- probably in the South Suburbs -- to bring *blight* to our village. Then he pooh-poohed the idea of getting stimulus dollars for Flossmoor:

Washington will not reduce your tax dollars but good solid commercial developments in our TIF area will.

This is one of the reasons that people who know Roger Molski question his judgment, whether he is capable of leading in the 21st century. Molski's record of development in the past four years was to bring in a (now) bankrupt developer who happens to be a personal friend of his. He rammed the project through the board -- despite the questions that were raised about the troubled developer. Molski took $88,000 a year in property tax revenues off our tax rolls and left a black hole in the heart of our downtown commercial district.

Why should Flossmoor not be a contender for federal stimulus dollars? Molski's reasoning is unclear. Probably it's too much work for him. He seems to prefer to continue what he knows -- that is, bringing more blight to Flossmoor!

Then they were asked about whether Flossmoor should have business licenses for local businesses. Paul Braun noted that the question was first posed to him by the downtown Flossmoor business association who were actually in favor of commercial business licenses. "I'm not exactly opposed to it," he concluded. Roger Molski flatly stated, "We're not going to do it."

Another audience member asked, What is Flossmoor doing to obtain its share of stimulus money?

Roger Molski was a little perturbed:

If it's to be gotten, we're going to get our share for the projects that the trustees cited.

Paul Braun noted that Flossmoor was really depending upon our village manager and staff for requests for federal stimulus dollars. Where other cities have their mayors being aggressive about getting federal money, Molski was on vacation during the height of the process. Braun promised to be more proactive. He has "a totally different take on things:"

I think we were a bit late in terms of getting that information, not through any fault of anybody at this point, other than the fact that we're not focused on looking a bit outside our village in terms of regional, state and federal matters. So, in terms of getting economic stimulus dollars, yes, we're going to get trickle down at this point. But what I'm talking about is actually going after it, instead of waiting for it to come to us by sending letters and applying for projects, we need to be out there.

He then quoted a Southtown Star article that quoted Blue Island Mayor Don Peloquin:

Communities with more clout, more village officials on political boards and mayors with more time to lobby on behalf of their towns usually have more access to money, Peloquin said.

Braun concluded:

I plan on doing a lot more than just waiting for the money to trickle down to us, we need to apply for it. We need to be out there actively seeking it and that means outside of our village.

The next question asked was, What plans does Flossmoor have for foreclosed or empty housing?

Molski claimed that the number wasn't that high and there wasn't a lot that we can do about it.

But as far as what we can do as a village, it's very limited.

Paul Braun was thinking about how to make Flossmoor more attractive to new people coming into the village:

If we can maintain the current tax level, which will be difficult, that makes Flossmoor more attractive to new people coming into town to turn these houses over.

He said that's why he's so interested in pursuing federal and state dollars, to ease the tax burdens of Flossmoor residents.

Why aren't the streets better maintained?

Roger Molski noted Flossmoor Road is a county road and the village isn't responsible for it:

It's their road. And we're willing to a transfer of that road if they completely rebuild it.

This speaks to one of the other complaints that people have about the current mayor. He doesn't seem to have influence with other local officials, to get them to keep their word to him or to Flossmoor.

Paul Braun noted that the federal stimulus package had some infrastructure money with it. He wants to apply for federal money to resurface all the roads in Flossmoor.

We need to be out there. SSMA is responsible for dishing out those funds, so let's get there and let's get an application in.

How does a store with a liquor license across the street from 3,000 students fit in with the character of Flossmoor?

Paul Braun answered bluntly:

It doesn't.

Braun wants to get community input about what residents think about Molski's latest idea.

Going forward, I don't think it's the proper location. You'll hear others say, 'well, they can go to the Jewel or they can go elsewhere,' well let them go elsewhere. I don't think we need that across the street from the high school at this point. I don't think it sets the proper example.

Then Braun noted that the high school is against this:

But, again, the high school district does not want it. 233, I've talked to school board, they do not want liquor at that location. So that tells you something right off the bat. If they don't want it, I don't see why the village needs to press it.

Molski re-acted defensively. "That is a done deal, it's been approved," Molski said. "It's been approved, it's going to be there."

The CVS is approved, everything about it is done, it's going there.

What kind of relationship does Flossmoor have with Metra and CN to maintain the Via Duct?

Paul Braun noted that he's heard complaints about the Flossmoor station, and that "Over all, we have as good a relationship as any other local town does have with Metra." He also said: "We've had our challenges from time to time in terms of maintenance issues regarding Via Duct."

Molski responded by basically pointing to his lack of influence:

The Canadian National people are difficult people to deal with. Their philosophy sometimes is that "we were there first."

"We're constantly on them," Molski ended. In other words, Roger Molski is doing everything he can. And it isn't good enough. His record -- which is what he wants people to use as their guide in voting in this race -- is one of failure.

What can be done about Flossmoor Square?

Paul Braun observed that "Flossmoor Square has caused us much community pain." I suppose we ought to say that Molski counts this vacant lot continually in his list of accomplishments, but I suspect Braun is right. For everyone except the mayor, this blight does cause us pain. Isn't it nice that the mayor has some place besides Flossmoor to go home to, so he doesn't wake up to this black hole in our commercial district every day?

Must be nice.

Braun suggested that we should "clean it up now" -- and, more importantly, that the village should be more proactive in staving off the "rumor mill." Most of us know that Chuck Bruti went through bankruptcy, but the mayor prevented the village from keeping up on that process -- probably because Bruti was the mayor's friend and Flossmoor Square was the mayor's project. Braun concluded:

We have to do something, this wait and see is not working. Its a top priority for me if I'm elected mayor.

Molski was basically in denial. He suggested that the economic downturn started four years ago, and that's the reason why Flossmoor Square has failed. "We can't do anything about it," Molski claimed.

He is wrong. Roger Molski may not be able to do something about it, but that's largely because he doesn't have the ability to lead Flossmoor or the vision to take it into the future.

Molski concluded the night by asking people to vote on his record. Are you happy with the empty lot in the heart of our downtown that Molski brought to Flossmoor in the last four years? Are you happy with the fact that Molski is bringing in a store that sells liquor across the street from H-F High School (against their wishes)? Are you happy with Molski being in vacation in Florida while other local mayors were in Washington, DC asking for stimulus money for their communities?

This is Roger Molski's record for the past four years. He may be proud of it. But I don't think too many of us who actually live here can afford it any more. Roger Molski is far too focused on what we can't do. Paul Braun reminds us, Yes We Can. The choice is stark, and the implications are clear.