Thoughts and squawks about people, places and things in and around Des Plaines...

Still no return telephone call from Des Plaines resident Joe Apa concerning whether he had filled out and submitted a Complaint to the Illinois State Board of Elections earlier this year about the failure of a Des Plaines organization to register as a campaign committee.

As reported in the last two issues of the Journal, Joe Apa or Joe "Appa" had submitted the complaint accusing Brian Burkross and Ald. Carla Brookman (5th) of failing to follow the law concerning the disclosure of political committee and contribution information.

What makes this subject so confusing and intriguing is that the last name of Joe Apa was apparently misspelled as "Appa". In addition, from conversations we've had with Burkross and an official with the State Board of Elections, it seems that the real Mr. Apa wanted nothing to do with the Complaint. Either he or a friend of his or both informed the State Board and Burkross during phone conversations that they had no intention of following through on the Complaint by attending a formal hearing. No one other than Burkross and his attorney showed up for the hearing in Chicago where the matter was to be heard and a ruling made. If the ruling found Burkross guilty of filing the proper forms he could have been fined or even faced jail time. Such a decision, however, would have been highly unlikely. The State Board of Elections wants compliance, not necessarily punishment. As it turned out, Burkross did file the proper papers. And both he and Ald. Brookman have said that she had nothing to do with the organization even though she, like Burkross, worked hard to have placed on the Mar. 16 local ballot a referendum asking whether voters favor a plan to build a new fire station at Lee Street and Prospect Avenue. Fifty-seven percent of the voters said "No" to that question, a result that Brookman and Burkross glowed about while most of the city's other seven aldermen opposed.

When Off The Record recently contacted Apa at his Des Plaines home, he refused to answer any questions only to say he would call us back. That was nearly two weeks ago. No return call.

In addition, during our digging into the matter, we discovered that in a petition Burkross recently filed with the Cook County Circuit Court, he alleges that Mike Jekot, the husband of Des Plaines Ald. Laura Murphy (3d), had the Complaint notarized by an acquaintance as a favor to him. The notarization was needed in the preparation of the Complaint for submittal to the Board of Elections.

As we asked last week, what's going on? So far, the silence is deafening...

The fate of the downtown Des Plaines Theater property remains quietly in limbo with members of the Des Plaines Theater Preservation Society continuing to say "hold on, we're very close to signing an agreement with the building's owner so the property can be used for entertainment purposes."

I think Des Plaines residents have been extremely patient on this matter. Answers are needed. Things have to get off dead center.

An interesting sidelight to this matter is that the building's owner, Dhitu Bhagwaker, is also the owner of property located on Mannheim Road between Higgins Road and Touhy Avenue which the city is in the process of purchasing. Plans call for that and surrounding property situated on a narrow triangular-shaped parcel to be developed into combination retail, hotel projects. The last we heard from a city official in the know is that an agreement between the city and Bhagwaker is imminent.

In a related matter, Bhagwaker remains the owner of a small building located on Des Plaines' far west side on Elmhurst Road that until recently was one of two city Police Neighborhood Resource Centers. City officials announced recently that it would end its lease of that building citing a lack of public interest in using the facility for police and neighborhood activities. The lease earned Bhagwaker around $900 per month.

Several weeks ago, the Journal reported that City Manager Dave Niemeyer was considering expanding the responsibilities of two young city employees into roles that would enable them to work more directly with him. Jason Bajor, the city's director of Human Resources, and Eric Palm, the city's Media coordinator, were being groomed for bigger roles following the sudden departure of assistant city manager and Economic Development Commission Executive Director Bill Schneider.

In a June 2 memorandum obtained by the Journal, Niemeyer lays out his plan for Palm and Bajor. In it he proposes expanding Bajor's position of Human Resources director into the position of Assistant City Manager/Human Resources director, and Palm from Media coordinator to that of assistant to the city manager. Also, in the memo, Niemeyer adds, "I recommend modifying the former assistant city manager/economic development director position into the more specific position of economic development coordinator and placing that position under the auspices of other community-related issues within the Community

Development Department."

Niemeyer said he plans to make these appointments soon adding, "Both Bajor and Palm are two of the finest employees that have ever worked for me, and both have sought increased responsibilities."

Finally, this reporter received a letter from former Des Plaines Fire Department employee Martha Schenk this week letting us know how much she is enjoying retirement in Florida. She also ordered a new subscription for a friend, Bill Hensch, a recently retired fire department inspector who moved Downstate. Both Martha and Bill were among the nicest city employees I've ever had the pleasure of knowing during my nearly 30 years as editor of the Journal.

Martha reminded me that she retired 13 years ago. A number I find hard to believe and to swallow.