Editor's note: The follow article was sent to both The Daily Journal and the Bourbonnais Herald as a "Letter To The Editor". The Bourbonnais Herald printed it without any problem. Phil Angelo, at The Daily Journal, was ordered not to print it by The Daily Journal General Manager Ken Munjoy. kmunjoy@daily-journal.com. It seems that Mr. Munjoy feels his readers should be kept in the dark about this aspect of the proposed dump, thereby not allowing his readers the opportunity to make up there own mind about this information. He has done that for them. Thank God for the Bourbonnais Herald, Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. For more information on what else Phil Novak has done go to http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x244770279/Bernard-Schoenburg-Ex-state-rep-fined-in-ethics-panel-s-1st-completed-case. The Daily Journal has failed to report this too.
December 14, 2008
Did former State Rep. Phil Novak sell out the area’s clean water source to boost his salary and pension by participating in Governor Blagojevich’s “Pay for Play”?
In the summer of 2002, Fred Barbara and Tom Volini submitted their first application for a 236 acre Chicago regional garbage dump to the City of Kankakee through their company Town & Country Utilities. The site they chose is a very flood prone area next to Minnie Creek which drains directly into the river two miles away, up stream from the Aqua Illinois water intake pipe. The city council held a hearing and gave their OK to the proposal after being promised millions in garbage host fees.
From there the application went to the Illinois Pollution Control Board. The IPCB had a different opinion; they turned it down on the grounds the proposal failed to prove protection of the health and safety of the community. Barbara and Volini responded by appealing the decision all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court where they lost. While the appeal was going on, they filed a second dump application with the city of Kankakee in the summer of 2003 for the same 236 acre location. This was during the first year of the first term of the newly elected governor, Rod Blagojevich. The city council once again approved the dump proposal.
Coincidentally local State Representative Phil Novak resigned his state rep seat and the newly elected governor appointed him to the IPCB as chairman, effective December 1 of that year. According to an April 27, 2008 Chicago Tribune front page story, titled "The governor's $25,000 club", Phil Novak threw a fund raiser for Blagojevich in July, 2002 which raised $19,000. It also stated that on July 9, 2002, he personally donated $25,000 to Blagojevich campaign fund bringing his total donations to $26,000 and was appointed to the Illinois Pollution Control Board as chairman on December 1, 2003 at a salary of $102,800. The Tribune article says this was a substantial boost in salary for Mr. Novak and a substantial boost to his state pension, when he retired in 2005 to become a lobbyist. It is very unusual for a new person on the IPCB to be appointed chairman.
When the second Barbara and Volini dump application was sent to the IPCB under Phil Novak, it was approved even though the previous IPCB had ruled the opposite and was backed up by the Illinois Supreme Court.
It appears Phil Novak got a significant boost to his salary and his pension for a short term appointment to the IPCB in exchange for campaign donations and the promise to approve a dump for friends of the governor and Mayor Daley. If so, our water supply i.e. the river and deep aquifer, have been sold out through one of the governor’s “Pay to Play" schemes. The Kankakee County board voted 23 to 2 to appeal the Phil Novak Pollution Control Board decision in favor of the dump to the Illinois Supreme Court. This vote took place at the January 13 county board meeting.