Lawsuit filed, press conference tonight.

We urge all our supporters to please join the GlenEd Citizens for Fair Growth at the Glen Carbon Village Hall this evening, Tuesday August 28th. We will be holding a press conference at 6:30 pm regarding the lawsuit filed today against the Village Trustees and Mayor.

The following is a copy of the press release issued this morning:

Glen Carbon, IL -- Today in the Circuit Court of Madison County, several citizens of Glen Carbon filed suit to stop the proposed expansion of Wal-Mart in Glen Carbon. The lawsuit asks the court to nullify the controversial vote to approve several variances related to the potential Wal-Mart expansion at the Cottonwood Mall on Route 159 in Glen Carbon.

In June, over the objection of more than one hundred residents that packed the Village Board meeting chambers as well as the nearly one thousand residents that signed petitions against the expansion, the Village Board illegally voted to approve the site plan and its attached variance requests. Today, that action has been challenged.

“Residents of Glen Carbon are not going to sit idly by while the laws that govern our community are tossed aside because our elected officials place a higher priority on tax revenue and corporate interests than the well-being of their constituents,” said Karen Bracki O’Koniewski, Spokeswoman for the GlenEd Citizens For Fair Growth, the community group leading the charge against the expansion. “Elected officials in Glen Carbon should first consider the best interests of our residents and balance that against the corporation’s request. The THF/WalMart request was invalid at best and the fact it was granted is illegal, irresponsible and unethical.”

The lawsuit states that the variances granted to THF Realty on behalf of Wal-Mart were done so illegally, as THF failed to state a hardship as to why they should be exempt from following existing requirements. In order to have a variance granted, an applicant must file a variance request that states what hardship it will suffer if the variance is not granted. The claimed hardship must meet six requirements in order for a variance to considered, let alone approved. In addition, hardship cannot be of the applicant’s own making.

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world today, would certainly have a hard time convincing anyone that it suffers any hardship. Perhaps that is the reason that THF Realty left this section of the application blank. As such, there is no hardship facing THF/WalMart. Furthermore, there can be absolutely no subsequent finding by Glen Carbon officials that such hardship has been established. Thus a variance can NOT be granted legally by the Village of Glen Carbon.

“I spoke at the Village Board meeting where this application was improperly considered and illegally granted, and I told them then and there that they could not legally grant it based on several omissions in the application,” said Penni Livingston, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed today. “I enlarged the application to a poster-board sized exhibit, showing the Board and the rest of the Village that THF/Wal-Mart failed to state a hardship,” related Livingston. “They should have played by the rules during this process. Instead they decided that catering to Wal-Mart was more important than honoring the commitment they made to the citizens of Glen Carbon who trusted them to fairly exercise their public duties.”

Glen Carbon citizens cleaned house in the 2005 election because of just such decisions. Many residents are disappointed in the recent actions of their elected officials. Members of the GlenEd Citizens for Fair Growth see this lawsuit as a necessary message to send to the current administration. “Putting the desires of Corporate America above the safety and well-being of the Village of Glen Carbon is unacceptable.”states O’Koniewski

Karen Bracki O’Koniewki, Attorney Penni Livingston, and other concerned citizens will make statements regarding this lawsuit outside of the Glen Carbon Village Hall tonight at 6:30 p.m. Immediately following , all will attend the Glen Carbon Village Board meeting and formally present the Mayor and Trustees with the lawsuit. The press are invited to attend, at which time copies of the lawsuit will be distributed.