Because Ms. Lynn chose to do incomplete research, the picture she painted is also incomplete and will lead readers to wrong conclusions because opinions and inaccurate information are presented as fact.
What actually occurred at the June 7, City Council meeting was that Council moved to review the Fawell Dam Report from Engineer Bill Lindley and then directed staff to develop and present a recommendation at the June 21, 2010, City Council meeting. At that meeting, Council accepted the staff follow-up recommendation regarding the Fawell Dam report prepared by Engineer Bill Lindley on behalf of citizen Mike Hoffman.
What was not recognized in the article was that at the November 3, 2008 City Council meeting, the Council accepted and approved a proposal for consulting services from a well qualified engineering firm to conduct an independent study of the September 2008 flood event at a cost of $57,800. Their findings and conclusions are not consistent with many of the conclusions that Mr. Hoffman’s engineer has offered on this issue. Their report was publicly presented and is available for review on the City’s website, under the Flood plain page at www.warrenville.il.us/b_storm_floodplain.aspx.
Additional information about the City’s work on this issue can be accessed on the City’s website, by doing an online search of the City’s minutes, ordinances, and resolutions. A word search by City staff of “Fawell Dam” yielded 100 documents discussing the Dam, 42 of which are from just the last three years and are directly related to Mr. Hoffman’s issues.
In addition, based in part on City Council directed letters sent to the County on flooding along the West Branch of the
What I find particularity disconcerting is that none of this information was presented in the article, despite it being available on the City’s website through a simple word search. In addition, all recent City action related to flooding of the West Branch was discussed and recommended to the Council at public (and televised) Committee of the Whole meetings and ultimately approved by public vote of the City Council. Ms. Lynn attended most if not all of these meetings and received the agenda packets including staff recommendations and backup materials in advance.
Finally, although Ms. Lynn implies that she contacted the City for their view of the issue, she in fact did not. She did not contact any staff member or elected official for the City’s position. Her quotes of Community Development Director Ron Mentzer as well as of Alderman Wiesbrock are merely something she heard them say during a recent public meeting.
This type of incomplete journalism reflects very poorly on an important community newspaper. But more significantly, it misleads residents into believing that their concerns have gone unheard and their fears ignored. This simply is not true. While City staff and the Council do not agree one hundred percent with Mr. Hoffman’s assertions, it is simply false to write, as Ms. Lynn’s article proffers, the idea that his concerns have been ignored. A simple reading of meeting minutes and staff action reports demonstrates how that is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. It is irresponsible and unethical for the Village Chronicles to engage in such practices. It is my hope that future articles on any topic will be written based on thorough research, fact finding, and solid journalism.
Sincerely,
—David L. Brummel, Mayor
