Four Coynes Tavern

Many people have been asking what happened with the liquor commission hearing that was scheduled for monday evening. I granted a continuance to the owner for the inevitable liquor hearing which was a result of the raid of the Four Coynes Tavern last Wednesday. (These pictures are of the slot machines that were confiscated during the raid.) The new hearing is for Feburary 7th at 6pm.

RESCHEDULE--- Mayors Run from Saturday to Sunday

Most of the trustees and myself will be attending the Lake County Municipal Leagues Legislative Breakfast at 8am this Saturday. So there is no way I can walk/run/talk and still be showered, shaved and in a suit and tie with the scheduled run starting at 7am and the breakfast at 8am.

To much of importance is to be discussed at the legislative breakfast to avoid it, and it is crucial face time with our legislators from the county!

So I would propose we do it on Super Sunday at the same time and the same place Valley Lakes North Park. So Feburary 4th at 7am!

Genealogy of Influence

I was a history major in college and have always been fascinated by all sorts of historical things. This gentlemen has mapped out visually a relationship map called "Genealogy of Influence" which documents a visualization of the connections between the most influential writers, artists, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians of Western culture.
If you go to the page its a relatively large flash or Java file, but once you get there you can click on each individual and how they are interrelated. It is extremely neat to see how the screen moves let alone how some people influenced others and how they continue to 100's of years after there deaths!

Walking into the Future

Had two walks this weekend, one scheduled the other unscheduled, the first on Saturday morning was in South Valley Lakes with Mike Vanata, who led the charge up numerous hills, I would guess we did at least 3 miles.

Then this morning I was up walking with Michael Blum, and Neil Flamm who wanted to talk about minor league baseball and the possibility of locating a team here in Round Lake.

So here is a poll, if there is a certain amount of interest, I will create a Citizens Commission to investigate the details and the see what the who, what, when, where and what's of process.

Would you like a minor league team in Round Lake?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I am not sold on the idea by a long shot, but I think it might bear merit in the context of our downtown development plan to generate foot traffic and if located near restaurants and our train station it might bear scrutiny.

COMMENTARY-- Gambling, Liquor Licences and Change

As many of you recall we had a underage drinking operation about a month ago, which netted us a variety of first time liquor license offenders. I had quite a bit of feedback from residents wanting me to be more draconian in my punishment to first time violators. One of the reasons I leaned towards lienency with the first time offenders was the fact that one of the first timers was the Four Coynes Tavern and we wanted them open rather then shut.

If you read yesterday's post you will know that we had been running a long-term undercover operation in the Four Coynes Tavern, that I and the police did not want to jeopardize. We gave serious consideration to not allowing the underage drinking operation to take place, however we were not going to stop the village's proactive policing business for one undercover operation.

I think that this particular situation illustrates many of the problems in the village that I have been trying to do away with. I had been asking for enforcement on our local liquor license holders for the entirety of my first term. The rumblings about slot machines and underage and after hours service were ones I heard, and others heard, quite a bit about. Despite my repeated questioning of our then existing police command structure I was told that we aggressively patrolled our bars for these exact violations, yet in fours years we had not one violation.

How come in the last 18-20 months we have uncovered and prosecuted violations ranging from illegal gambling to sex abusers with pit-stops at gang enforcement, drug busts and much much more? I find it hard to believe as some defenders of the old policing strategies would say that it just started, because of my changes in the policing structure.

Well to answer that lets put ourselves inside the mind of our gambling den owner. He hears that the old policing command structure is being replaced with a new command structure, so his first thought is hummmm we have a new Police Chief, lets start running poker games and have some slot machines brought in! Because clearly a new Chief is only going to do "nothing", because of course what other way is there for the new Police structure to go? Do we believe this is credible?

Clearly not! This problem with our liquor licenses, and old time ways of doing things has been rooted deeply in this village, its roots have gone deep, and over the last 5 years I have been yanking and picking at the root ball.

Under the new policing structure, we have a proactive policing strategy rather then a reactive strategy. Accountability and results are demanded, encouraged and rewarded on the staff level and we can already see the results.

In nearly six years of being Mayor I have learned one thing, that rooting out the underlying issues that made the old Round Lake, inefficient, takes time and persistence. It also is probably the most important thing I can and will do to make this a better place as your Mayor. If you want to review the promise I made to the village and have kept, read this post from almost 2 years ago.

Lets face facts, Round Lake was a small town, and is now a fast growing community with over 80% of the residents having moved here since 1990. The old model of village government was there to serve some very narrow self interests, those interests now are discovering that openness, transparency and accountability are very uncomfortable things for the old school business model. While 95% of the nonsense that was going on was and is not illegal, it was not ethically correct or appropriate in my opinion. Nepotism, cronyism and the "Mayberryish" management style of some of my former department heads and staff are gone for good, and will never return.

Newcomers have no idea what went on here before, and quite frankly probably don't care. What they do want is accountable, capable government that spends it's tax dollars wisely and with a purpose! Slowly but surely we are moving in that direction.

Gambling Bust in the Village

Last night the Round Lake Police Department acting on a tip from a resident from six months ago, concluded a joint investigation with the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group (LMEG) and arrested 24 people at the Four Coynes Tavern, including the owner Scott Coyne. The long term undercover operation uncovered the following:

• Weekly Wednesday night Texas Hold’em Tournaments.
• A Weekly NFL confidence pool.
• The sale of Football game strip cards.
• Super Bowl squares being sold ($75 per square, 100 squares).
• Two slot machines within the establishment are being used for gambling with payoffs.
  

There has been extensive documentation of all the above . This appears to have been an ongoing location of alleged gambling for many years. Newspaper coverage here.

Hospital Foresight from Crains Chicago Business

NOTE: This article appeared in Crain's Chicago Business in late September of 2006, and as I reread it last night and thought it might be an excellent post with some good background. Again, recall this was before the Round Lake/Advocate announcement.

Hospitals racing for edge in Lake

Rival systems map plans for growing western area

Lake County has emerged as the latest battleground for health systems vying to build a hospital in the suburbs.

Advocate Health Care executives have met with officials from Round Lake to discuss constructing a hospital in the western Lake County community, about 14 miles west of Waukegan, according to a person close to the talks. The village expects to buy a 57-acre tract on its southwest border for nearly $6 million, which it would then annex and lease to Advocate, the source says.

About eight miles to the northeast, in Lindenhurst, Vista Health of Waukegan wants to build a 150-bed hospital with an infusion of new cash from Tennessee-based Community Health Systems Inc., a for-profit hospital operator that acquired Vista Health in July for $103 million. Vista, which runs two Waukegan hospitals, already owns land in Lindenhurst. Officials expect to submit plans to the state this year for a new hospital.

A spokeswoman for Oak Brook-based Advocate won't confirm the Round Lake discussions, but says, "We're always evaluating opportunities (in Lake County) because it is an area of high-growth potential and there is a need there."

EXPANDING, AFFLUENT AREAS

Meanwhile, Condell Health Network in Libertyville got state approval in July for a $104-million expansion that will add 90 beds to its medical center, giving it a total of 214. It's also expanding its emergency department to become Lake County's only Level One trauma center, which will enable it to accept the most severely injured patients.

The health systems are competing to accommodate the region's growth. Lake County's population surged 36% from 1990 through last year, to more than 700,000 residents. And the target communities are more affluent than other parts of the county: The median household incomes for Round Lake and Lindenhurst in 2000 were $58,051 and $74,841 respectively, vs. $42,335 for Waukegan.

But it's uncertain whether the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board would okay two new hospitals in such close proximity. Major investments in medical facilities must get approval from the board, which is charged with controlling health care costs by preventing overlapping services.

In the last 30 years, the board has approved just one new hospital in a location where one did not already exist: a 138-bed facility in southwest suburban Bolingbrook, now being built by Hinsdale's Adventist Midwest Health. In June, the board denied a proposal by Edward Hospital for a new facility eight miles from the Bolingbrook location, citing the proximity.

WATCHING FOR OVERLAP

"If one project is approved, the board would have to assess the need for a second project and determine if there would be any unnecessary duplication of services," says Mark Silberman, a Chicago health care attorney and former Planning Board general counsel.

Representatives for both Vista and Condell decline to comment on Advocate's interest, saying the Planning Board ultimately would determine the need for more hospital services in the area.

Lindenhurst Mayor Jim Betustak knows a nearby Advocate project would represent direct competition for Vista's plans, which he has backed for years. But he believes Vista has the inside track.

"They own the land and they're sitting there ready to go," he says. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, if you ask me."

Animals in the Wetlands

Recently I have been noticing and getting complaints about people walking pets in and around in the wetlands at Valley Lakes and in other developments as well. The village inserted as standard verbiage into most of the relevant HOA declarations the following.

Section 8.17 of the Valley Lakes declaration lists prohibited acts: "No Unit Owner, Occupant, or Person shall be permitted:" and if you read down you discover that section item J reads:
(j) to bring or allow to enter into a dedicated wetland any dog, cat or other animal or pet.

The above was placed in the declarations for Valley Lakes specifically because the Army Corps of Engineers required it because of the wetlands studies that Pritzker (the original owners) had to go through.

While the declaration does not specifically prohibit a member from entering the wetlands, it does prohibit dogs (and minors). I would like to discourage residents from wandering at will through the wetlands and prefer to encourage them to think of them as "off limits". In Valley Lakes there is a walkway through a portion of the wetlands with plans to add more in the future, but members are encouraged to stick to those areas and not wander at will through the wetlands. The area up near Valley Lakes 2 (Behind the CVS) tends to be high ground and as such is dryer and already criss-crossed with trails which I think encourages them you think they are open to member access. In Madrona Prairie Walk and Lakewood we have a path system set up that hopefully encourages you to walk your dogs on it

It's ultimately up to your HOA board to create a policy to determine how to manage access to this area, however in no circumstances would it be okay for a member to bring a dog with them. I would encourage the HOA to post "No Trespassing signs" (as required by the declaration and wetland maintenance agreement on file with the Village in most cases) and make sure all of the residents knew that if they were going to go out in this area that they should ensue they do not cross these areas.

I would also ensure that a sign was installed facing into the property along the perimeter anywhere there is a path that indicated that was the limit of the property. This puts the burden on the Association to mark it's own property line (again, as required in the agreement) and put the burden on anyone choosing to go back there to stay on HOA property. I would also make sure it was clear to residents that dogs are not allowed in these areas. I would also discourage members from entering these areas until sufficient restoration and preservation efforts have been put forth to sufficiently protect them. The ones between Valley Lakes and Valley Lakes 2 for example are after all some of the highest quality wetlands in the area.

I know that the Valley Lakes HOA who own the Mud Lake wet lands is in the process of developing a wetland maintenance plan for the Mud Lake wetlands that will protect this area for the long term.

I would encourage all HOA's to carefully review their declarations and implement polices to protect these wetlands.

New Calendar Feature on the Blog

I found a wonderful site that allows me to enter my public schedule, and have it generate a html schedule that I can place in a visible place (as you can see at the left) on the blog. I like it, I have emailed the people who run the site to see if they will add Round Lake as a metro area which will give me greater flexibility.

Right now I can't schedule a walk with an address since there is no address and it just lists the village hall, so the map function does not work correctly at the moment I will try to create a regular schedule, it will be especially good for the wellness and runs and walks on Saturdays!

Big Day in a New Orleans Saints Fan's Life

I wore my 10 year old Saints cap all week, and got lots of comments. Quite a few positive ones as well! From Packer fans! Should be a good game. If the Saints offense can move the ball on the Bears defense, I have some good vibes. My prediction is Saints 27- Bears 17, you heard it here first.

I have waited 39 years for playoff victory 2, lets hope playoff victory 3 is much shorter, then we can talk about victory 4!

First Look at the Proposed Advocate Healthcare Project

I got some fact sheets from Advocate Health Care and there are some interesting facts in the flyer which I am listing below.

As the largest provider of high quality health care in the Chicago area, Advocate Health Care seeks approval to build a comprehensive, state-of-the-art hospital designed to meet the needs of rapidly growing northwest Lake County. The new hospital will complement the wide range of health care services Advocate already provides to the region.
Some of the Services

• Advocate Hospital-Lake County is designed to meet community expectations for access to vital, high quality health care. The hospital will include 144 single rooms to enhance patient safety, privacy and comfort.
• The hospital will have 108 medical-surgical beds, a 16-bed intensive care unit and 20 obstetrical beds. The obstetrical service also will include six labor/delivery-recovery rooms and a Level II newborn nursery.
• The hospital is designed to include a Level II trauma center, providing immediate access to emergency services for seriously injured patients, 24 hours a day, every day.
• All medical-surgical and obstetric patient rooms will be large enough to allow overnight accommodation of a family member or loved one. A separate family room for overnight stay will be included on the intensive care unit.
• Other hospital services will include eight surgery and procedure suites, cardiology, pediatrics and a full array of diagnostic imaging services.
• Designed as an environmentally sensitive “green” building, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification will be sought for the hospital from the U.S. Green Building Council.

My Speech at the Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Yesterday

The Round Lake Area Chamber Speech was yesterday, a wonderful crowd filled with new faces. Which I was excited to see and with lots of exciting things going on as well.

Here is a link to the slide show part of my presentation. Plus some press coverage here.

Saturdays Walk

We start at the CVS parking lot on Fairfield and 134 at 7am on Saturday, we will walk about 2-3 miles.

Mayors Speech Today at the Chamber of Commerce

Today is the Annual Mayors Speech at the Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. I have used this forum in the past to talk about the big picture needs of this area. Some of my topics that I spoke about have been the need for jobs in the area, the pressing need for transportation improvement, Downtown development, the 120 Bypass and of course lasts years call for a hospital in Northwest Lake County.

The themes of my speeches has basically outlined my big goals for my administration, and this year will be no different. I am going to talk about how our demographics have changed, give a status report on the 120 bypass, talk about Advocate Health Care, my wellness and community programs, and lastly our 100th Anniversary celebrations. The biggest part of the talk will be about how Advocate Health Care will bring positives to the area.

Tomorrow I will make a copy of my speech available in power point, and I also think that radio station WRLR will be broadcasting the Mayors speeches on tape delay, and I will find out the time.

New Trucks for Public Works

The Public Works department took delivery of some new trucks recently. The new 5 ton will allow us lots of flexibility with big time snow plowing and salting abilities. The smaller truck is a welcome addition to the fleet as well.

Save The Date-- Wine Tasting Fundraiser

A few weeks ago I talked about attending the SEDOL wine tasting fund-raiser. I also asked if people in this community would attend a wine and cheese tasting fund raiser for the Round Lake Area Park District Foundation. The response was quite favorable, and in fact the foundation has set a date for the fund raiser on March 10, 2007 at 6:30pm in the evening. So mark the date down in your calendars and get your taste buds ready for a wine tasting! It will benefit a new playground in Hart Woods, and will be held at the Rolek Center on Hart Road. So the benefit goes to us for something inside the village of Round Lake, which is even better!

Hospital Poll

Please answer responsibly, I set it so there is one to a customer or should I say patient!

What Hospital Do You Use?
	Condell
	Good Shepard
	Highland Park
	Lake Forest
	Northern Illinois Medical Center
	Northwest Community
	Vista
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Save the Date-- Frosty 5K is February 25

The Special Joy of Being a Saint

A New Orleans Saint that is! I have been a fan since the early 70's when I would get there games dubbed into Spanish from the New Orleans CBS Affiliate. They actually removed my childhood obsession with the Jets. So I was weaned on George Roberts, Archie Manning, Kenny "the Snake" Stabler, Hokie Gagan, Hobie Brenner, Bobby Hebert, Morten Andersen etc etc. 39 year, 6 trips to the playoffs and 1 win!

Today they host a playoff game, since they have 1 playoff win in 39 years, I am not sure of number 2 tonight, but I am sure am hopeful.

2007 Promises to be a Special Planning Year for Round Lake as our Village Approaches its Milestone 100-year Centennial Anniversary!

Note: Mary Barry is an up and coming star in the village, she is recently appointed to the Planning Commission and she has volunteered to help with Streets of Summer, and to top it off she has volunteered to lead our centennial Committee, since we will be 100 in 2008! She also is guest blogger number 3!

Do you want to part of the planning for events taking place throughout 2008? Join the centennial planning committee and be part of the special historical events. The search is on for committee members who want to be involved!

• Are you Round Lake’s oldest resident?
• Live in the oldest house in the village?
• Have a great story about the history of our growing village?
• Do you have great ideas on how to celebrate?
• Have ideas on how to commemorate 100 years?

Village officials are hoping this celebration will inspire creative thinking and planning by the residents and businesses of our community. Get your business and neighborhood involved, bring up the celebration at your next civic group meeting. Take part in the action and enjoy the fun this great year promises to be.

If you’d like to be part of he Centennial Committee, please contact Committee Chairperson, Mary Barry at 100th@eroundlake.com. Watch this space, the local newspapers and the village newsletter for upcoming meetings and further announcement information.

Walk with the Mayor

Every Saturday during the spring and summer I ran intervals at the RL High School track at 630am. There is something epic about watching the sun rise while gasping for breath doubled over 6 inches past the start/finish line I have discovered. Usually I did it myself, until I convinced Al Villasenor to join me a few times, giving up cigarettes and generally improving his character, through constant counseling (joking Al). To his credit he stayed and was running 25 minute 5K's within 2 months plus kicking the death sticks as well.

Michael Blum joined us to walk at the same time, so we would run and then walk with Michael. Al's life got busy and he forgot his friends, so Michael and I marched on until one day when the track was locked up. So Michael and I walked the downtown, we enjoyed that so much we meet in different places in the village at 7am on Saturday and walk for about 3-4 miles pretty much randomly. We have walked Valley Lakes, Madrona, Downtown, Valley Lakes 2, Lakewood Grove & Orchard, and Dawn Marie.

I was so pleased with the turnout last Saturday with the Run/Walk thing, that I would like to invite anyone who wants to join us, I will announce where they are on the blog the day before. Be prepared for sarcasm and snide comments however. Because our mouths will be moving unlike our legs!

So Saturday the 13th at 7am we will walk from the Police and Public Works Department, and wander the area sort of briskly. Specifically I want to look at the Cedar Lake Road Extension.

SWALCO-- Electronics Collection

This month’s household electronics collection was a huge success! We had a total of 178 people drop off their electronic equipment for recycling. The result is a pile of computers, monitors, TV’s and stereos that is 60 feet long, 18 feet wide, and averages 4 feet high. I have written about collections in the past and have a great picture here.

Our next collection will be Tuesday March 13th from 8am to 5pm. Great job by our Public Works department!

Hospitals Benefits for the Community

One of the most exciting things about the future Hospital here in Round Lake is the big bang it will give us economically. While the hospital itself will not generate significant sales tax or property value what it will do is energize the surrounding area in a variety of ways.

• Jobs-- High quality, white and blue collar jobs, inside the hospital, along with jobs outside the hospital. For every one job in the hospital, there are two jobs generated outside the hospital. Estimates put the amount of hospital employees at between 1,000 and 1,500, which means the project will add between to 3,000 to 4,500 jobs to the Round Lake Area economy.
  
• High Quality Accessible Health Care-- No more 30-35 minute drives to a hospital award winning health care is 3-5 minutes away.
  

The American Hospital Association has an excellent 8 page brochure where I got most of these facts, here is the link to the PDF. (econ_contr_of_hospitals.pdf)

We Won a Governors Home Town Award!

The three Round Lake Communities that make up the Round Lake Management Commission recently won a 2006 Governors Home Town Award.

The award is given by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity who are particularly proud of the citizens of Illinois who give unselfishly of their time, money and efforts to make their communities better places to live and work.

We are excited about the award the work that my three appointees do on this board are exceptional special thanks to John Gutknecht, Doug Vehlow and Niel Flamm who give time and energy to make this happen.

Look for the sign(s) to appear somewhere in the village at a street corner near you!

Quick Look at Advocate Health Care-- Our New Best Friend!

Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the largest fully integrated health care delivery system in metropolitan Chicago and the state of Illinois, and is recognized as one of the top health care systems in the country.

Related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate is a not-for-profit provider whose faith-based mission is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a wholistic approach to health care that provides quality care and service, and treats each patient with respect, integrity and dignity. To guide its relationships and actions, Advocate embraces the five values of compassion, equality, excellence, partnership and stewardship.

Overview

• Eight acute care and two children's hospitals with more than 3,500 licensed beds (*Level I Trauma Centers)
  • Advocate Bethany Hospital, Chicago
  • Advocate Christ Medical Center*, Oak Lawn
  • Advocate Hope Children's Hospital, Oak Lawn
  • Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital*, Downers Grove
  • Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington
  • Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center*, Chicago
  • Advocate Lutheran General Hospital*, Park Ridge
  • Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital, Park Ridge
  • Advocate South Suburban Hospital, Hazel Crest
  • Advocate Trinity Hospital, Chicago
• More than 200 sites offering acute care, outpatient services, home health services, counseling, day care, physician services, skilled nursing care and health care education programs
• 4,600 affiliated physicians and four premier medical groups with more than 400 physicians
• Advocate Health Centers – 16 centers throughout Chicagoland
• Advocate Illinois Masonic Physician Group – 11 centers in northside Chicago
• Advocate Medical Group – 18 centers throughout the north suburbs
• Dreyer Medical Clinic – 11 centers throughout the Fox Valley Area
• 8 Physician-hospital Organizations — Advocate Health Partners — comprised of 2,700 multi-specialty physicians from across the system

Key System Accomplishments

• Top-ranked Illinois health system (2005 Verispan Top 100 Health Networks)
• Inpatient market share leader in Chicagoland
• Second largest private sector employer in metropolitan Chicago with more than 25,000 associates (employees)
• Affiliated with University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center, Advocate trains more primary care physicians than any non-university teaching hospital in the state of Illinois
• Operates a large, full-service home health care division
• Largest trauma network in the state

Clinical Excellence

• Recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2004 Quest for Quality citation for Advocate’s systemwide approach to patient safety
• Holds the most disease-specific care certifications from the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Chicagoland for program work in asthma, stroke and congestive heart failure

Community Commitment and Philanthropy

• More than 1 million people served through community benefit programs
• Provided nearly one-quarter billion dollars in community benefits in 2004 and more than $1 billion in community benefits and uncompensated services since 1995
• Community outreach programs include school-based health centers, parish nursing, children’s wellness programs, health fairs, clinics and special programs for low-income populations
• $22.26 million raised by the Advocate Charitable Foundation in 2004 from nearly 16,000 donors, which allows investments in advanced care, community programs and expanded clinical capabilities

Advanced Technology

• Eight acute care and two children's hospitals with more than 3,500 licensed beds
• Advocate makes significant investments in clinical excellence through advanced technology in diagnostic imaging and testing, surgery, pharmacy, medical records and patient monitoring to improve health outcomes and patient safety
• Advocate is one of only five hospital systems around the country using eICU® (electronic intensive care unit) technology, and has more electronically monitored beds than any other system in the nation
• Advocate’s CareConnection is an advanced information system that uses technology to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes through applications such as a data repository, electronic medication record and computerized provider order entry
• Advocate was named one of the nation’s “Most Wired” health care systems for the fourth consecutive year by the 2004 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Network’s survey and benchmarking study.
  

About Advocate Health Care-- Our New Best Friend!

Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the largest fully integrated not-for-profit health care delivery system in metropolitan Chicago and is recognized as one of the top 10 systems in the country.

Tracing its beginnings back 100 years, Advocate has eight hospitals with 3,500 beds and the state's largest privately held full-service home health care company among its more than 200 sites of care. More than 24,500 people work at Advocate, making it one of Chicagoland's 10 largest employers and the fourth largest in the private sector.

With more than 4,600 affiliated physicians, including almost 2,000 in physician hospital organizations (PHOs) and about 475 in three large medical groups, Advocate has Chicago's largest economically aligned physician network. Advocate's primary academic and teaching affiliation is with the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center.

Related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate's mission is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a wholistic philosophy rooted in our fundamental understanding of human beings as created in the image of God. To guide its relationships and actions, Advocate embraces the five values of compassion, equality, excellence, partnership and stewardship.

History
In January 1995, Evangelical Health Systems Corporation ("EHS") and Lutheran General HealthSystem ("LGHS"), two faith-based, values-driven organizations, joined forces to create Advocate Health Care. A common Mission, Values and Philosophy for Advocate was developed from the similar mission-oriented histories of both organizations.

Evangelical Health Systems Corporation ("EHS")
Founded in 1906, EHS originally was formed by the Evangelical Synod of North America to operate the German Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Chicago. In 1934, the Evangelical Synod and the Reformed Church in the United States merged to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. This union nurtured the further development of the organization. Then a merger on June 25, 1957, between the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches formed the United Church of Christ (UCC), and the health care organization became a UCC affiliate. The formation of the organization was a direct response of the church to the Christian imperative to include healing as part of its ministry.

The greatest period of growth for EHS came after 1961. Since that date, EHS became one of the largest health care providers in metropolitan Chicago. Its operations included hospitals, day surgery and outpatient diagnostic services, home health care, extended care centers, physicians office buildings, retirement centers and a mental health counseling network for individuals and families.

Lutheran General HealthSystem ("LGHS")
Founded in 1897 by Norwegians who had settled on the Northwest Side of Chicago, LGHS originally was known as the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital. It carried on a broad community program of social work and care for court-adjudicated youths, as well as operating a hospital and a training school for nurses and deaconesses. In 1904, the organization came under the control of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, which later evolved into the Evangelical Lutheran Church, The American Lutheran Church, and now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The greatest period of growth for LGHS began in 1959 when Lutheran General Hospital was opened in Park Ridge, Illinois. At the same time, the Lutheran Institute of Human Ecology was formed to establish ministries in alcoholism and substance abuse, senior services, parish nursing, bio-ethics and medical education. LGHS grew into a vertically integrated service organization committed to providing a continuum of health care for its communities.

First Walk Run a Nice Success!

The first walk/run was this morning, we had between 25-30 people, 10 runners and 15-20 walkers. Many thanks to all who came. One runner Bryan Burns who was by far the fastest, he jogged backwards for awhile to let us catch up, we also messed the route up and probably ran only a mile and a quarter. The walk was done on the correct route however! Thanks everyone for making it all a success. The next one is in Valley Lakes on February 3rd!

BREAKING NEWS-- Hospital News!

For those of you who follow this Blog and my speeches in the area, last year at the Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce meeting I made a call for a hospital in western Lake County. I assembled a Hospital Task Force chaired by Al Villasenor with Trustee Brian Brubaker, then planning commisioner Michael Blum, former trustee Dale Multerer and myself. We met and spent time with numerous hospital chains and heard all sorts of things ranging from vague to concrete. The most persistent was Advocate Lutheran General, we were able to trigger interest and a way forward.

The village board had been working towards the purchase of the land on the SW corner of Wilson and 120 for some time, with the aim of blocking off Volo's expansion down 120, and to gain control over the end of the 120 bypass. We had agreed to purchase it and had 4 options available to us the first was attract a hospital to the spot, the second was create a light industrial park, third was a mixed use commercial/industrial park and fourth was holding it.

Advocate was always the preferred user of the piece, and I am pleased to say that they are buying it from us, as soon as we complete our formalities with the land.

Needless to say this is huge for the village, rough estimates mean this will provide an addtional 1,000 primary and 2,000 secondary jobs for the area. I will blog more about this in a later post.

I can't tell you how happy I am for this project to be coming to Round Lake! This is some of the strategy and vision I have been slowly implementing in the area and its a pleasure to see it happening!

What follows is the Advocate Press Release from today

January 5, 2007 (Oak Brook, Ill)— Advocate Health Care today announced plans for the development of a new 144-bed acute care hospital in the Round Lake area of Lake County. Advocate is partnering with the Village of Round Lake and the surrounding community to expand access to vital, high-quality health care services.

“We are thrilled by Advocate’s commitment to increase access to quality health care for the Village of Round Lake and our neighboring communities,” said Mayor of Round Lake Bill Gentes. “This region critically needs a full-service hospital and Advocate will be a welcome partner in serving our needs.”

Advocate’s application to construct a hospital in Lake County is in direct response to the community’s call for increased access to care in a region with diverse health care needs and increasing population growth, projected to increase more than 20 percent in the next 10 years. It would fulfill the Lake County Board’s 2004 resolution to bring a new hospital to northwest Lake County.

“Health care access has not kept up with the rapid population growth in our community, and this has been a growing concern for me and the residents I proudly serve,” said Lake County Board Member Bonnie Thomson Carter. “Advocate is best positioned to respond to the health care needs of the region because of their expertise in cardiac and pediatric care, among other outstanding services.”

Advocate’s proposal builds on the nationally recognized, high-quality care the hospital system already provides in Lake County. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, situated in Lake County, was recently ranked first in Illinois for cardiac surgery and nationally ranked in the top five percent for overall cardiac care by HealthGrades in 2007. Advocate Lutheran General, a Level I Trauma Center consistently rated among the best hospitals in the country, has been providing critical services to Lake County residents for nearly 50 years, including comprehensive pediatric services though its children’s hospital.

“As a faith-based, non-profit health care organization, Advocate can continue fulfilling our mission to provide quality, compassionate care by helping close a regional gap in health care service.” said Jim Skogsbergh, President and CEO of Advocate Health Care. “If the state approves our proposal, the new full-service hospital will represent an investment of more than $200 million in Lake County.”

Advocate began the state regulatory process for approval of the proposed hospital by filing a letter of intent with the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board today. Advocate anticipates filing a Certificate of Need application to build the new state-of-the-art hospital in March.

Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care, the largest health care provider in Illinois, is ranked among the nation’s top health care systems. A faith-based, non-profit system, Advocate is related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ. Advocate’s 200-plus sites of care in metropolitan Chicago include eight acute care hospitals and two children’s hospitals, a home health care company and four of Chicago’s largest medical groups. Through its academic and teaching affiliations, Advocate trains more resident physicians than does any non-university teaching hospital in Illinois. For more information about Advocate Health Care, please visit www.advocatehealth.com .

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In addition there are numerous news articles about this out there. Here are three that I found immediately.

Crains Chicago Business
Daily Herald
Lakeland Media
News Sun

Obviously I will write a bit more about this as it evolves.

NOTE: Here are are some Saturday stories from the Daily Herald.
Here is another one from the Northwest Herald.

Mayors Wellness Program Starts Tommorrow

Don't forget about 7:00am tomorrow at the Madrona park just south of 120 the first Run/Walk will take place. It is not elaborate there is no sign-up, no fees, its a slow jog from roughly 7:00am to 7:25am and then a walk over the same route to roughly 8:00am. If you do both you will cover a bit more then 3.5 miles. Here is a map of the route for you. Many thanks to Ali from Valley Lakes the queen of design who came up with the marvelous logo for me! So see you there!

American Lung Association Fundraiser

Dear Blog Reader
I have volunteered to help the American Lung Association reach out to the people right here in the Round Lake area who are struggling with asthma, emphysema, lung cancer and other lung disease.

You see, lung disease and breathing problems are the leading cause of infant deaths in the United States.

Thats why I'm hoping that you and our other neighbors will join me in supporting the American Lung Association's Neighborhood Campaign with a gift.

The grim truth is that asthma, the leading serious chronic childhood illness, can kill. And smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death.

But with your support of the Neighborhood Campaign we will fight back, and help our community through research, education and programs that can improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Won't you make your check payable to the American Lung Association and return it to me at:

Mayor Bill Gentes
Village of Round Lake
442 Cedar Lake Road
Round Lake, IL 60073

Or I can stop by over a weekend to pick up the check if you email me when and where. The bonus to you if I pick them up is I will answer any and all questions you have, not that I need a donation to talk!

I will collect the checks and send it to the American Lung Association.

Sincerely
Bill

PS: This is part of my community wellness program and I think it makes good solid sense to support a cause like this. So please help! This is also a great kickoff with the weekend being the first Mayors Run/Walk!

COMMENTARY-- Liquour Licences

Many of you have heard that the Round Lake Police Department participated in an Alcohol Countermeasure Enforcement (ACE) operation on December 28, 2006. The ACE operation was organized by the Lake County Chiefs of Police – Underage Drinking Committee, of which Chief Cliff Metaxa is a member. The ACE operation was a county-wide one in eight jurisdictions.

NOTE: I have posted twice before about underage drinking, here and here. I also talked about this and the hearings below in Mayors comments last night at the village board meeting.

Early last year we held a compliance check at 5 establishments and 4 flunked by selling to the minor. I held liquor hearings for all 4 of the violators three days later, one individual did not show up, so I directed the Police Chief to chain his coolers shut until the owner could grace me with his presence and then we could find a mutually agreeable time to have a hearing. It took 7 days if I am not mistaken!

When Chief Metaxa approached me about doing this again in the middle of December I was receptive with two caveat's, the first was that we specifically go after the violators and second to make sure we got some that we missed the first time around.

As an aside I am also the Liquor Commissioner as well, which is quite the interesting position. I can appoint someone to be it for me, but I have elected to keep it as me for now, I think at some point in the future I will appoint some fool hardy soul to be the commissioner for the village.

The ACE program was designed with a media component and we had Jason King of the Daily Herald ride with the Chief and observe but not participate. Here is his article that ran the next day.

Round Lake businesses ticketed in liquor sting
By Jason King Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Friday, December 29, 2006

Six Round Lake businesses were cited Thursday for serving or selling alcohol to minors. Round Lake police conducted a sweep Thursday evening of 13 of the 16 businesses which have liquor licenses as part an alcohol countermeasure operation.

Eight police departments across Lake County participated in the operation, including Round Lake Park, Waukegan and North Chicago. Round Lake Police Chief Cliff Metaxa said the sweep was conducted with the help of the Illinois State Police.

Bars and liquor merchants who violate the law, Metaxa said, could face significant sanctions, particularly places that have been in violation before. “If we have some repeat offenders we might have some liquor licenses revoked,” Metaxa said at the start of the operation.

Businesses cited on Thursday included :

• The Tool Shed, 417 W. Railroad Ave.
• Miz Liquors, 1841 S. Cedar Lake Road.
• BP Amoco, 320 W. Nippersink Road.
• Four Coynes Inn, 302 W. Nippersink Road.
• Janetta’s, 259 N. Cedar Lake Road.
• Copa’s, 304 N. Cedar Lake Road.

The operation consisted of a 19-year-old male, specially trained by the Illinois State Police, who attempted to purchase either package liquor at stores or to get served at a bar. Two police officers were in each establishment at the time the minor attempted to make the purchase to observe the transaction. The minor was instructed to attempt to make the purchase without any sort of falsified identification or scheme. If asked for ID, he presented his true identification. If the minor was not served, all three exited the building without further action.

If he was served, however, a Round Lake detective walked into the store and wrote a citation on the spot. The operation’s first store, The Tool Shed, was the first offender, and no stranger to Round Lake police. The minor walked in, purchased alcohol and walked back to the car an undercover team of officers was driving. “That was too easy,” Metaxa said. “They didn’t pass last time. They might lose their license.”

Some stores carded the minor and sold him alcohol anyway; others didn’t card him at all and sold to him. For the offending businesses, Mayor Bill Gentes will render the ultimate decision as the village’s liquor commissioner.

At least two of the businesses which were cited in the past, passed this round, including one which had its license suspended and its coolers chained shut by the village over a long holiday weekend last year. “They learned their lesson,” Metaxa said.

The overall number of liquor establishments in the operation that sold alcohol to a minor was 32 of 85 or .37 percent in Lake County. In Round Lake, the following liquor establishments sold or served alcohol to the minor: Four Coynes Bar, Janetta’s Place Bar, Copa’s Bar, MIZ Liquors, BP Amoco (prior violator) and The Tool Shed (prior violator).

Yesterday morning since I was off from work I decided to have a Liquor hearing for each one of the violators every 20 minutes. Aside from some issues with tardiness, all six hearings went well. The first four listed above were given severe warnings, and told in no uncertain terms that the next time was the last time.

Oddly I was hearing from two sides, I had some people advocating zero tolerance and to take the licenses away from them. On the other hand I had a few feelers from people in the community to go easy on them as well!

My thinking was that since I had set a precedent early last year with severe warnings of the first time offenders that I could not very well treat this set differently. In researching what other municipalities do I discovered they were all over the place as far as penalties. So no guidance there!

Ultimately I decided that what I intended to do was fair. Which were warnings to the first time offenders and for the second time offenders a 10 day suspension of license. In addition I told the, two strikes group, that any trip in front of me for a violation in the future was automatic revocation of license. I also reserved the right to take the license away at any time from the first group if the second offense was over board.

What Does That Plaque Mean?

Many years ago, 11 to be exact, I read about two vacancies on the Round Lake Area Library Board in the paper. Since I am a big believer of getting involved in the community, I went and applied, the process required writing a letter of intent, and then being interviewed by the current board of trustees. Somehow the library board saw fit to choose me and a gentlemen named John Noe as the new trustees.

It was quite the thrill to be sworn into office and then of course to vote on all sorts of stuff! The then director of the library Barb Pfannkuche talked about how the board decided 10 years earlier to build the existing library building, with an eye towards expansion during my orientation. They had passed a referendum in 1989 that added nine cents to the tax rate to pay for the original building construction which was expiring and we decided on two things.

First we needed to advocate another referendum to fold the expiring nine cent rate into the general fund, and second if we could use those new funds to renovate and modernize the lower level of the library to better address the growing library needs of the Round Lake Area.
When the board decided to move forward with the referendum, I was volunteered or was volunteered (can't recall, but probably volunteered) to go to all the village halls and make a presentation to them about the needs for the referendum. In fact it was actually the first time I spoke to the Round Lake Village Board (although by that time I was on the Village Planning Commission). Well come election night the yes's got 53% and the no's 47% and we had completed the first step!

Step two was much more complex, we had to hire and retain an architect, construction manager, and then plan out how to maintain services while doubling the physical size of our library. All of this took place over 18 months and finally was complete in 2000. Barb announced her retirement in the middle of the process so we as a board decided to dedicate the renovation to Barb.

You can see that on the picture above! Every single time I go to the library I see the plaque and I always smile because I know what we did as a library board, bettered the community, was done without raising taxes, and gave us the added space that we needed!

Happy New Year with a Reminder!

Welcome to 2007! Lets hope everyone has a successful and healthy one!
Today being the first of January lots of laws go into effect. Once of the major ones is the CO detector requirement for all houses. Here is a link to the Daily Herald article that is more relevant then anything I could write. Last year Trustee Brian Brubaker had a incident where a CO detector alerted his family to high levels. So it can happen to you. Brian wrote about it on his blog here.