Council to hear from public on $21M budget
A public hearing on the village’s budget proposal is set for June 23, just before the start of a regularly scheduled council meeting. At 6:45 p.m., residents will be able to comment on the fiscal year 2009 budget that includes $21.5 million in expenditures. That figure represents a 3.9 percent increase over actual spending in the previous fiscal year.
A projected revenue stream of $21.6 million is expected to offset the coming year’s expenses, but could leave Forest Park with very little room for error. Only $28,900 separates the two projections.
Copies of the appropriation document are available for inspection at the clerk’s office at 517 Desplaines Ave. The June 23 hearing will be held at the same address in the lower level of village hall.
Help feed the hungry
A Maywood-based homeless shelter is looking for volunteers to help with a meal program that runs Monday through Friday through August. According to a statement released by West Suburban PADS, volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve lunches between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Groups are also needed to prepare sack dinners that will be distributed to the needy.
Prospective participants should contact Heather Winquist, shelter manager, at (708) 338-1724 ext. 228. West Suburban PADS is located at St. Eulalia Church, 1851 S. 9th Ave. in Maywood.
Officer’s reinstatement faces appeal
Following a U.S. District Court ruling in May that a former police sergeant should not have been terminated for violating department policy, the Fire and Police Commission that voted to terminate the officer appealed the judge’s decision to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court. Briefings in the case are due from both sides in July and August, according to a court schedule set by the federal appeals court.
Dan Harder was fired from his job with the police department in March 2007 following a lengthy and contentious hearing in which he was accused of lying, abusing a department policy on sick time and using foul language. He claimed the case against him was motivated by politics and revenge. Harder appealed to the district court, which ruled the punishment was too severe. The Fire and Police Commission is now appealing the lower court’s ruling that Harder must be reinstated.
