THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2007
Brookman Lawsuit Surprises Many
Off the Record
By TODD WESSELL
Thoughts & squawks about people, places and things in and around Des Plaines...
The eyebrows of many were raised last week with our column on the lawsuit filed in September by former Fire Dept. Capt. Jim Brookman against the city.
Brookman is suing over a disagreement involving a back injury he suffered in 2005 while he was responding to what he thought was an emergency. That injury, he contends in the lawsuit, entitles he and his wife to receive payment for health insurance for the rest of their lives. He is also asking for $50,000 and additional costs for past medical insurance expenses. Mr. Brookman's wife is Ald Carla Brookman (5th).
Several readers, some of whom are current city employees, expressed shock that Brookman is insisting that the city pay for he and his wife's health insurance, which could have an annual pricetag of $18,000. If they live for 25 more years, that $18,000 could swell to $450,000. Some of those whom we've talked with have also stated that a key component of the issue is whether Brookman was indeed responding to a legitimate emergency. They say he hurt his back during a training session. He says the law allows health insurance coverage to firefighters hurt while on the job responding to a emergency. That coverage includes family members...
The local political twists and turns are creating interesting pictures of who is supporting whom in upcoming elections and who may gain from certain associations.
As we reported last week, Des Plaines resident Jill Morgenthaler may run for the 6th Congressional Dist. seat now occupied by Republican Peter Roskam. That district, formerly represented by Henry Hyde, includes Des Plaines west of Mt. Prospect Road. Morgenthaler, we're told, may announce tomorrow that she is running.
Also last week, we published a story that Carla Brookman, Park Ridge Mayor Howard Frimark, and Elk Grove Township Republican Committeeman and former state senator Cheryl Axley are running in the Feb. 5 primary as Rudy Giuliani delegates to the GOP National Convention next summer. That brings to mind that about 5 five weeks ago, Giuliani paid a visit to Des Plaines at the invitation of Jim Brookman, president of the Maine Township Regular Republican Organization. In attendance was Frimark, Mrs. Brookman and Axley. There was also a horde of media including TV cameras and daily newspaper reporters, all gathered in the garage of a local sewer company owned by a friend of the Brookmans. The Journal & Topics, which has been based in Des Plaines for the last 77 years, was not invited. In today's Journal & Topics we are carrying an exclusive story that Axley will soon resign as Elk Grove Township GOP committeeman to become a lobbyist for a Chicago firm headed by a well-known Democratic Party bigwig.
There's undoubtedly more to all of these twists and turns. Allow us time to catch our breath and we'll let you know.