CRC Complaint Followup RE: VON May 2023 Board Meeting Incident
| Tracking # |
23-896 |
| Submitted | Nov. 20, 2023 |
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Communications
From: Niles Coalition
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
At the May 23rd, 2023 Village of Niles board meeting, the following quote was part of a public comment:
"... But now the area I live in is changing. Investors are coming in, buying the buildings they're renting to anybody they can rent to. The rents have gone up five, six, $700. Next door to me, there's a Ukraine, Ukraine owner. Well, first thing he wanted to do was make the building into a four flat. And I told him, You'll never do it while I'm living here. And he says to me, he says, This is America. He says, this is freedom. He says, I can do anything I want. I told them if I was a younger man, I said I would beat the hell out of you because of freedom. Freedom says I can beat you up. And I says, I would have whipped your ass so fast. But he doesn't talk to me no more. ..."
At which point the board president laughed heartily.
Video of this event can be found on the village's board meetings archive here:
<https://play.champds.com/nilesil/event/236/s/4240>
A complaint was lodged regarding the behavior of the board president with the Village of Niles Community Relations Commission at their August 2nd, 2023 meeting in public comment.
Audio of this meeting can be found via this FOIA:
<https://www.muckrock.com/foi/niles-8224/crc-meeeting-audio-8-2023-150153/#files>
Commissioner Tony Dati made this statement regarding this complaint:
"So definitely can bring it up to him, I can bring it up to him, and talk to him about it.
[Another speaker: By him are you referring to the mayor?]
The whole board, mayor and board.
…all right we’ll definitely address all this and look into all this and try to have something prepared for our next meeting. "
In the next meeting on October 11, 2023, this complaint was not addressed as promised.
To this effect, we are requesting all communications between Commissioner Tony Dati and any member of the Village of Niles board between the date of this meeting on August 2nd, 2023 and the following meeting on October 11, 2023. This should include emails, text, voicemails and forms of communication typical between village officials and Community Relations Commissioners.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Niles Coalition
From: Village Of Niles Illinois
Village of Niles
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Your record request #23-896 has been submitted successfully.
Thank you for filing a Freedom of Information Act Request with Village of Niles. This request will be processed accordingly.
Village of Niles FOIA Officer
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From: Village Of Niles Illinois
Village of Niles
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-896:
Good morning,
For me to fulfill this request, please clarify who you are referring to as Community Relations Commissioners. Also, when you mention village officials, you are referring to the elected officials/board of trustees, correct?
Thank you,
Andrew Aviles
FOIA Officer
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Village of Niles.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>
From: Niles Coalition
Hello,
We are requesting communications between:
• Community Relations Commissioner Tony Dati
and the entirety of the Village of Niles Board as a whole or individually, which includes:
• George D. Alpogianis
• Morgan Dubiel
• John C. Jekot
• Danette O'Donovan Matyas
• Craig Niedermaier
• Dean Strzelecki
• Marryann Warda
Thank you.
From: Village Of Niles Illinois
Village of Niles
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Documents have been released for record request #23-896 along with the following message:
Dear Niles Coalition:
Thank you for writing to Village of Niles with your request for information pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.
On 11/23/2023, you requested the following documents:
We are requesting communications between:
• Community Relations Commissioner Tony Dati
and the entirety of the Village of Niles Board as a whole or individually, which includes:
• George D. Alpogianis
• Morgan Dubiel
• John C. Jekot
• Danette O'Donovan Matyas
• Craig Niedermaier
• Dean Strzelecki
• Marryann Warda
Your request is granted.
We have enclosed copies of the documents that you requested.
Sincerely,
Andrew Aviles
FOIA Officer
* 2023-09-05T19_48_32.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com_4.eml
* 2023-09-05T20_43_18.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com_11.eml
* 2023-09-20T18_54_53.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com, dom@vniles.com_9.eml
* 2023-09-05T20_16_14.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com_2.eml
* 2023-09-05T20_01_06.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com_8.eml
* 2023-09-05T19_26_10.000Z,aad@vniles.com,rlg@vniles.com, lct@vniles.com, mcf@vniles.com, tjp@vniles.com, jpr@vniles.com, dhs@vniles.com_5.eml
* 2023-10-11T18_08_50.000Z,aad@vniles.com,mcf@vniles.com, jpr@vniles.com, lct@vniles.com, tjp@vniles.com, appollo123@aol.com, balzano56@yahoo.com, dom@vniles.com, rlg@vniles.com_3.eml-redacted.pdf
* 2023-10-11T13_39_31.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com_1.eml-redacted.pdf
* 2023-09-06T20_53_53.000Z,aad@vniles.com,dhs@vniles.com, kds@vniles.com_6.eml-redacted.pdf
Document links are valid for one month.
After January 1, you will need to sign in to view the document(s).
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Village of Niles.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>
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23-896_2023-12-04_00_56_48_-0600
From: Village Of Niles Illinois
Village of Niles
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Record request #23-896 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:
All document have been released pursuant to your request.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Village of Niles.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>