Protesters took aim at Weisner for not involving the public or the City Council in the decision to issue the permit, and dissected the legal reports, many calling them flawed and incomplete. "We asked to have an open forum to speak with you, so we could know the results of the investigation," said Auroran Diane Picciulo. "You never gave anyone the chance to sit here and mull it over." City officials have said that according to city code, occupancy permits are an administrative function, and do not require city council approval or public hearings. They have also noted that further delay in issuing an occupancy permit could have opened them up to legal action from Planned Parenthood. It was clear, however, that many speakers Tuesday night had lost faith in Weisner. In a fiery speech, Auroran Eric Scheidler, who as spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League and Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood has been leading the opposition since July, called the legal reports inadequate, noting that only Luetkehans addressed the issue of a special use permit for non-profit medical clinics. Tom Weisner, elected mayor of Aurora, IL in 2005, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Solomon Islands.
Weisner target of two protests over Planned Parenthood opening
Weisner target of two protests
October 10, 2007
BY ANDRE SALLES Staff Writer
AURORA -- If anyone thought the storm of controversy would die down after Planned Parenthood opened its doors last week, Tuesday's City Council meeting provided ample proof that it hasn't.
Anti-abortion and abortion rights activists joined members of the Association of Professional Police Officers on the sidewalk outside City Hall, rallying for their causes, before filing inside to speak before the council. And if there's anything the anti-abortion protesters and the police had in common Tuesday, it was anger at Mayor Tom Weisner.
More than 130 people signed up to speak at Tuesday night's council meeting, the majority of them from Aurora, and most of those turning out to criticize Weisner for issuing an occupancy permit to Planned Parenthood for its new facility on East New York Street.
Weisner did so after commissioning and receiving three independent reviews of Planned Parenthood's approval process. The company received its permits under the name Gemini Office Development, and while the independent reports -- by attorneys Richard Martens and Phillip Luetkehans, and Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti -- did show that Planned Parenthood misrepresented itself, all agreed that the misrepresentation was not enough to deny an occupancy permit.
Protesters took aim at Weisner for not involving the public or the City Council in the decision to issue the permit, and dissected the legal reports, many calling them flawed and incomplete.
"We asked to have an open forum to speak with you, so we could know the results of the investigation," said Auroran Diane Picciulo. "You never gave anyone the chance to sit here and mull it over."
City officials have said that according to city code, occupancy permits are an administrative function, and do not require city council approval or public hearings. They have also noted that further delay in issuing an occupancy permit could have opened them up to legal action from Planned Parenthood.
It was clear, however, that many speakers Tuesday night had lost faith in Weisner. In a fiery speech, Auroran Eric Scheidler, who as spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League and Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood has been leading the opposition since July, called the legal reports inadequate, noting that only Luetkehans addressed the issue of a special use permit for non-profit medical clinics.
"(Weisner) could have chosen to launch a real investigation into Planned Parenthood's deception and the special use issue," he said. "He chose instead to side with Planned Parenthood and allow the abortion fortress of Aurora to open -- and embroil the city of Aurora in a legal battle with its own citizens."
Scheidler questioned why Martens was allowed to complete his report, since allegations of a conflict of interest with the city's outside legal counsel led the city to replace him with Luetkehans. City officials said Tuesday that Martens was "substantially completed" with his investigation by the time those allegations surfaced, and it "didn't make sense" not to use his work.
Martens was paid $195 an hour for his report, and while city officials could not confirm Luetkehans' fee, city spokesman Carie Anne Ergo said it was roughly $200 an hour.
And while some argued that the public was not let in on the results of the investigation, Weisner said that the reports themselves led him in the direction he went.
"If the reports were mixed in any way, and not as clear-cut as they were, we could have had lawyers debating the whole thing," he said. "But that was not a luxury we could have indulged in."
Several Aurorans came out to support the Planned Parenthood facility as well, and thank Weisner for quickly issuing an occupancy permit. Jim Knightwright, head of the South East Villages neighborhood group, said that he believes it is wrong for the government to legislate morality.
"I believe a woman can prayerfully approach a decision about abortion and, with the Holy Spirit's guidance, make that decision," he said. "And sometimes that decision is to have an abortion."
And Bonnie Grabenhofer, president of the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women, thanked the mayor for acting quickly on the reports and granting the occupancy permit. She spoke out against Alderman Rick Lawrence's plan to introduce a law mandating parental notification for abortions, a law she said would do more harm than good.
"These laws can't force good communication where it doesn't already exist," she said, "but they do endanger the health and lives of teens."
But most were there to vent their anger and frustration at what they see as a betrayal. The night's first speaker, Auroran John Thorne, decided to use much of his allotted three minutes to silently pray, convinced words would do no good.
"I'm going to talk in silence, since our words seem not to be heard," he said.
After the meeting, Weisner said he heard some legitimate concerns from the assembled speakers, but also some comments based on misinformation. He stood by his decisions, and said he was prepared to take criticism for them.
"I have to operate as a constitutional officer, and uphold the law of the land and my oath of office, and make the best decision I can based not on any personal feelings," he said. "Sometimes that doesn't make people happy, but that's what I have to do."
Aldermen once again voted to limit public comment on non-agenda items to two hours, with three aldermen (Lawrence, Stephanie Kifowit and Richard Irvin) dissenting. Speakers from Aurora were allowed to go first.
Attorney Peter Breen, who works with the Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center, filed an appeal with the city's zoning board early last Tuesday, before Planned Parenthood opened its doors. That appeal lays out the special use permit case, and demands a hearing before the zoning board.
City spokesman Carie Anne Ergo said Tuesday that the city has 60 days to hold that hearing, but they plan to convene it within 30 days. No date has been set for that hearing, and decisions by the zoning board can be appealed.
Police dissatisfied
It was no kinder outside City Hall for Weisner, as dozens of disgruntled police officers began rallying outside 44 E. Downer Place before the meeting to protest the lack of a contract between the union and the city. Their most recent three-year contract expired in March, and Union President Wayne Biles said they are no closer to a resolution than last time they rallied, in August.
Biles said that the contract would head to arbitration on Nov. 28.
Retired Sgt. Bob Reichardt, carrying a sign that read "Weisner unfair to organized labor," said that the city wants to increase retiree health insurance contributions. He complained that after 32 years on the police force, he feels like the city is trying to gouge him.
Alex Alexandrou, the city's human resources director, has said that rising insurance costs have mandated increased employee and retiree contributions across the board, and that is reflected in the city's contracts with every union.
But Officer Todd Fancsali admitted that many of the union's gripes have nothing to do with the current contract. Morale is low, he said, because of issues between the patrol officers and the command staff, and they feel their concerns aren't being listened to.
Biles echoed those sentiments, saying that the union's meetings with the city have been unproductive. Both the union and the city have accused the other side of dragging the negotiations down.
"Every time I feel we're making progress, at the next meeting we go backwards," he said.
