Paul Serwatka and Erin Smith Agree – Stop the Presses!

Erin Smith
Paul Serwatka

Earlier this spring, Erin Smith sent a letter to residents endorsing David Stavropoulos over incumbent Phil Stephan.

She obviously opposed Stephan’s re-election.

Now, her predecessor, Paul Serwatka, has joined in her effort to make sure Serwatka’s successor, Phil Stephan, whom he strongly supported to replace himself as Village President, is defeated in his effort to gain a second elective term.

It is common knowledge that Serwatka disagreed strongly with Smith’s creation of a Tax Increment Financing District to bring a SportsPlex to Lakewood.

Indeed that was what his write-in campaign for Village Trustee was all about.

Paul Serwatka’s 2014 sign hits property taxes, the Tax Increment Financing District and the SportsPlex.

Here is Serwatka’s letter:

An Open Letter To Lakewood Residents – An Apology, Some Concerns, and My Hopes For The Future

Friends and Former Neighbors,

As your former elected Village President, Village Trustee, and “Lakewood Tax-Fighter,”

I wanted to take a minute to offer an apology as well as to “clear the air” and express some serious concerns I have regarding current Lakewood government, and what I believe to be a number of gross improprieties.  

The sign for the Lakewood Tax-Fighter Party.

For those who resided in Lakewood in 2016, you probably remember the “Lakewood Tax-Fighter and Better Government Team” that I helped to assemble and worked to get elected to the Lakewood village board.

Each team member signed a written “Pledge to Residents” pledging

  • to abolish the $66 million TIF and SPORTSPLEX,
  • to do away with what we believed to be reckless spending and pet-projects including a new village hall, and
  • to promote truth, transparency and accountability in Lakewood government.

I also promised to put an end to the maximum property tax-hikes and to work to cut 10% from Lakewood’s property tax levy.

Ultimately, I was very happy to have fulfilled every promise made, but it wasn’t without its share of trials and tribulations along the way.

I mention these campaign promises not to brag or stroll down Memory Lane, but to offer some background and explanation as I apologize for what I feel, to at least a certain degree, responsible for.

In 2015, while recruiting residents to join the “Lakewood Tax-Fighter team”, Phil Stephan made himself known to me as a believer in what I set out to accomplish for Lakewood.

He then volunteered to run to serve as village trustee.

Phil Stephan

He signed the written pledge to residents and we continued on recruiting.

Truth be told, during the period that I served as village president, Phil was the only Lakewood Tax-Fighter trustee who I can say solidly stuck to our plan and our written pledge.

Although we did have occasion to disagree, we stuck to the written “Pledge to Residents” and we got the job done.

Despite the trials and tribulations along the way, it was ultimately a true success story.

I have no reason to say that Phil Stephan was anything other than a great village trustee.

An integral part of the plan was to find a new village administrator.

We created a new position “Chief Administrative Officer” which was admittedly a somewhat unorthodox approach to municipal government, and I set out to find a reform-minded administrator who I believed could handle managing our village and village finances, create & implement budgets, levy property taxes, etc.

Jeannine Smith interviewed multiple times and really seemed to have the reform-mindset and enthusiasm I was looking for.

I very intentionally emphasized an “at-will employment” contract with Jeannine Smith that could be terminated at any time if we felt the need, so we really didn’t have anything to lose by hiring her for a trial run.

Jeannine Smith

In the time I served as village president, Jeannine Smith carried out her duties diligently and enthusiastically.

Although I was admittedly very hands-on and involved, and I did have a reputation for being somewhat no-nonsense and unwavering, I did not micro-manage and was careful not to overstep or confuse my role as president. 

I set a very high and very firm standard and then I let her do her job.

And, in my time as village president, she did her job well.

In May 2017 my family jumped at a very unique opportunity and bought a home out of state and I subsequently stepped down as village president in July of 2017.

At the time, I enthusiastically supported Phil Stephan to replace me as village President, as he was loyal to our “Pledge to Residents” and promised to stay the course.

I had no reason to doubt him.

The next election saw Phil Stephan run unopposed to become Lakewood’s new village president.

In the time that Phil Stephan has served as Lakewood village president, I have attended numerous village board meetings via Zoom, listened to many audio recordings of meetings, read village board meeting minutes, and combed through hundreds of pages of board packets and village financials.

I have also conferred with a number of current and former trustees as well as recently terminated Lakewood staff members who have helped me to “fill in the blanks”.

Suffice it to say –

Over the course of the last 24 months, I have found Phil Stephan to be the living embodiment of the adage “Power Corrupts”. 

I have also found numerous, and quite concerning inconsistencies in village finances, as well as what appears to me, to be a substantial appearance of improprieties and concerted efforts of cover-up.

As one resident who was previously a strong supporter of the Lakewood Tax-Fighter team put it: 

“Phil may have been a good and loyal soldier, but he is a terrible and tyrannical General and he needs to go!”

In everything I have learned, Phil Stephan has clearly demonstrated that he does not have the character nor the integrity to be entrusted in any position of power.

CAO Jeannine Smith, whom I once entrusted and held in high regard, has clearly demonstrated that she is ready, willing, and able to commit what she knows to be dishonest, wrongful, unethical, and quite possibly even criminal acts, in exchange for monetary compensation.

I believe there is a word for such a person.

I am told by some Lakewood residents that Phil Stephan would have them believe that he is “continuing what I started” and that he touts his abhorrent actions as a furthering of my previous efforts (as I ended every one of my newsletters) “For a Better Lakewood”…

Well, I want to make clear – in no uncertain terms – NOTHING could be further from the truth!     

The actions that Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith have taken, as well as the continued behavior they have demonstrated since my stepping down as village president and moving out of state is beyond reprehensible.

I find their total disregard toward village employees (some of whom were quite literally the lifeblood of Lakewood, the very reason Lakewood persevered through the 2017 flood, as well as the driving force behind what was once a celebrated “transformation” of our village) to be repugnant.

Lakewood Chief of Police, Mike Roth, who was essentially beloved by all Lakewood residents and staff, resigned shortly after my departure, citing the unprofessional behavior and hostile work environment, as well as the unethical attempts of coercion by both Jeannine Smith and Phil Stephan.

Lakewood Police Chief Mike Roth strides to shake a village residents hand.

Chief Roth’s resignation was followed by one of Lakewood’s finest Police Sgt’s, Todd Richardson, being appointed as Chief of Police.

Chief Richardson was subsequently fired by Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith, while Chief Richardson cited essentially the same complaints toward Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith as did Chief Roth.

“Vote to remove our Chief and we will do the same to you!”

As many are aware, these were great losses for Lakewood.

And as many are also aware, they were followed by an entire slew of some of Lakewood’s brightest stars and most integral employees being fired in a relatively short time period.

Jan Hansen

Of particular concern is the firing of Lakewood’s longest serving clerk, Jan Hansen, along with one of Lakewood’s longest serving administrative employees, Sue Villie.

Both of whom worked tirelessly, and selflessly, for no extra pay, to get us through the interim period with no CAO, as well as getting us through the 2017 floods. Jan and Sue were like gold.

We would not have survived without them!

Phil Stephan and I used to joke about how there was no “getting anything by” Jan Hansen or Sue Villie, and how the two of them had a more deep/intimate knowledge of Lakewood village finances & issues and wielded more “power” than either of us did.

At the time of hiring Jeannine Smith as Lakewood CAO, and even up until my resignation as Lakewood Village President, it was well acknowledged by all in the village administration that Jeannine Smith relied heavily upon both Jan Hansen and Sue Villie.

As CAO, Jeannine Smith depended heavily on their intimate knowledge of the inner-workings of the village as well as village finances.

This being the case, it is entirely understandable how employees as deeply integrated in the inner-workings of the village as both Jan Hansen and Sue Villie, could be perceived, by any self-respecting village president and CAO, as an absolute asset to the administration.

It is also entirely understandable that such dedication and intimate knowledge of village finances by such key employees could be perceived as an absolute THREAT to a village president and CAO whose intentions may be perhaps a bit more nefarious…

I find these two employee terminations, alone, to be very concerning and begging the question:

  • Why?
  • What is being covered up?   
Signs for the slate opposed to Phil Stephan’s re-election.

As bothered as I am to see such an unprecedented number of firings, and resignations, from just about EVERY KEY EMPLOYEE IN LAKEWOOD, I find it even more troublesome that these terminations come in the wake of:

  • Numerous and repeated inconsistencies in village financials
  • A myriad of unexplained financial “errors”
  • Several months of altered/amended financial statements
  • An unfathomable amount of money spent on Redtail Golf Club
  • An unprecedented $120,000 (to-date) in legal fees this year alone!

As concerned as I was in 2015 when I first ran to become a village trustee, and as much as I spoke of the need to look deeper into village finances with forensic audits and such, when I was elected as village president in 2017, I honestly find what I see currently to be far more alarming and far more indicative of the need of an independent, forensic audit.

I truly believe that Lakewood residents MUST now focus their efforts on finding new leadership for Lakewood as well as replacing Jeannine Smith as Chief Administrative Officer.

I also believe that Lakewood would be well served in seeking an independent, forensic auditor to investigate village financials for at least the last 24 months.

I can only say that I truly regret vouching for Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith.

I am beyond saddened, and even more so angered, by all they have ruined, at all the lives, reputations  and careers they have damaged, and at all the mismanagement and malfeasance they have demonstrated since I stepped down as village president.

All said, there is an election coming up this April and I have learned that there is a “United Lakewood” team that has organized and promises to restore transparency and accountability to the Lakewood village board and administration. 

While I believe this is clearly one of those instances where a “broken beer bottle” may well be more worthy of your vote than those currently running for re-election, I have read quite a bit of this “United Lakewood” group and I really believe they are Lakewood’s best hope for restoring some

  • semblance of truth,
  • transparency, accountability, and
  • plain ol’ sanity.

    So, at this point the ball is in your hands, Lakewood… I sincerely hope you’ll take and run with it!

Wishing you all, all the best for a truly better Lakewood,

Paul D. Serwatka



Comments

Paul Serwatka and Erin Smith Agree – Stop the Presses! — 25 Comments

  1. Politics shouldn’t be about being right, it should be about doing what’s right.

    Time and time again this Board simply doesn’t do what IS right.

    Paul and I often clashed on how the Village should be run.

    It was not an easy time to be trustee.

    I am impressed Paul accepted some responsibility and stepped up to do what is right.

  2. I also clashed with Paul.

    This is probably the first time we’ve agreed on anything.

    Phil and Jeanine, and their cronies, hurt some really good people.

    They must go!

  3. For a guy that left town for a better opportunity, seems like he now has sour grapes.

    you reap what you sow

  4. And while you’re digressing into the past, you may want to revisit the parallel paths of Jeanine Smith and former Police Chief Jim Wales. add this to her resume.

  5. Ah, the good old days of Paul Serwatka.

    Serwatka was always a straight-shooter and hard-hitter.

    He never pulled any punches or sugar coated things. Sure he was a little rough around the edges at times and always wore his heart on his sleeve but you always knew he meant what he said and where you stood with him.

    We could use more like him.

  6. What shame Stephen and Smith have brought to Lakewood after they had come such a long way jumping leaps and bounds in a good direction.

    All it took was one little man with a Napoleon Complex to turn it all to sh-t.

    Reminiscent of what Biden is doing to our country today.

    Let’s get out the vote Lakewood!

  7. Trisha B. has to explain exactly what happened on 4 July 2004. The State Police file: Grimolsa.

    What happened Trish?

  8. I can’t wait for this Code Blue.

    What State Police would this be?

    Any other details or just more false accusations?

  9. “Code Blue” – is that code for “Nervous Incumbents”?

    You can always tell when someone has no business holding office.

    They resort to any distractions, any red herrings, any smoke and mirrors tactics to distract from the issues that actually affect the voters.

    Rather than worry about an alleged 17 year old incident that has nothing to do with Lakewood and nothing to do with mismanagement and malfeasance with taxpayer dollars as certainly appears to be taking place under the current Village “leadership”, why not talk about actual issues that actually affect Lakewood residents?

    Or, if you really do want to talk about alleged police incidents.. perhaps we could start by talking about police incidents regarding Phil Stephan and threatening of school bus drivers right there in Lakewood!

    Now, I normally wouldn’t have even brought that up, but since those are the kind of conversations your crew wants to have, Let’s pull up that police report and start there!

  10. Fair game, Mr Serwatka.

    However, Trish is a smug little tyrant, and I don’t particularly like her brand.

    Besides – no matter how much you may dislike Mr Stephan, I’m surprised you would endorse progressive leftists?

    You don’t live here anymore, but if you did, you’d see what I mean.

    Their philosophy is obvious regardless of their lack of party affiliation.

    This new ‘slate’ has their signs parked in the same yards as there were formerly Bernie/Hillary/Biden signs.

    The same yards as the most smug, condescending, liberals in Lakewood.

    The ones who want to defund our police, redistribute our income, and strip our constitutional rights. I know you don’t support that.

    These people wear masks as virtue signaling theater while taking them off at private house parties (we see them on social media).

    The same ones that would shame you for not getting a “vaccine” shot.

    The same ones who endorse social equity schemes.

    The very same that shame their neighbors for having the wrong political sign in their yards.

    Yeah, THEM. I know you, Paul.

    That’s not your life philosophy whatsoever. If you’re endorsing this type of candidate(s) then something is OFF with Phil and his team or something is off with you.

    That’s a fair assessment given our lack of information. Which is it?

    If Phil is guilty of something – then we need somebody to prove it.

    I would love to know if there is a real issue but so far nothing is proven other than that he has a temper, and he runs his mouth.

    I wish he wouldn’t sometimes, but I also wished that you would have picked a few less battles too – no disrespect – I’m just tired of the accusations without proof of actual wrong-doing.

    I’ll take a temper over a tyrant all day.

    All I know is that Lakewood saw positive results under your leadership and subsequently under Phil, regardless of how many public servants needed to be fired – you cleaned house yourself when you were here.

    Also, Erin Smith was a borderline criminal and YOU know that better than anyone.

    That’s why you ran against her.

    So it’s time to show your hand.

    What is going ON?

    Is there really a problem, or is the northern endorsement hurting the southern campaign? Not trying to be cute – I’m confused.

    This is not like you.

    If you want to claim that the incumbent is so bad that it compelled a staunch conservative like yourself to join the likes of JB Pritzger and Dick Durbin, then things must be really bad.

    Seriously:

    Show us the proof!

  11. Further, for Code Blue.

    If there is something we need to know about Trish B, OUT WITH IT!!

  12. Jack you literally couldn’t be more wrong on out the people in question.

    Further ignoring what “little” Phil and “big” Jeannine have done to numerous long time employees is typical.

    They literally have fired all who made the accusation of wrong doing.

    I doubt your intellectual skills would allow you to see past the he end of your nose.

  13. Nancy – my name is Jack. Nice try though.

    Truth – I’m a pretty smart guy. Smart enough to see that there is no proof of wrong doing so far – and I’m open to seeing it!

    If they are guilty, let’s see evidence.

    In other words, put up or shut up.

  14. Jack Marine, I have many thoughts I’d like to touch on in response to your comment above…

    I’ll start by saying, you are correct to presume that I would NEVER knowingly and intentionally endorse “progressive” far-leftists.

    I do not, and would never, support or endorse candidates who, as you say, “support defunding our police”, “redistributing our income”, or “stripping our constitutional rights” (with this one, however, I have sadly found even most “Republicans” and purported “conservatives” to be guilty).

    My letter was not written as an endorsement of any particular Lakewood candidates (though I understand how it could be interpreted as such) as much as it was a CONDEMNATION of what I have seen from Phil Stephan, Jeannine Smith and the current Lakewood village board over the last 24 months.

    You mention those who “wear masks as virtue signaling theater while taking them off at private house parties” – “The same ones that would shame you for not getting a “vaccine” shot”.

    And, yes, I absolutely do find those described to be repugnant as well as a very clear and real danger to liberty. And once again, I find entirely too many purported “Republicans” or “conservatives” to be guilty of, and complicit in this as well.

    On that note, I will say, had I remained village president, I would have continued on with actual, public village board meetings, allowing those who wished to attend online to do so, but I would not have cancelled actual public meetings, nor would I have worn a mask. I realize this would have been controversial and not fared well with some, but I would have done so with a clear conscience knowing I was not complicit in perpetuating falsehoods and what I believe to be false narratives.

    I will also add that, in my opinion, cancelling public village meetings for the last year, and even today, and conducting village meetings only via zoom, particularly amidst such controversy in Lakewood, reeks of someone hiding from the public and public scrutiny.

    Add to this the new public comment restrictions implemented by Phil Stephan not too long after my departure, placing strict limitations on public comments and more so even disabling the ability to make public comments during many online Zoom meetings, only adds to the appearance of hiding and avoiding public scrutiny.

    As village president, one thing I prided myself on was providing an open forum for ALL residents to be heard and allowing ample time for them to be heard during public comment, even when I knew I would be scrutinized. Anything short of this, as exists in Lakewood today, is simply shameful.

    I will begin to sum up my reply by addressing your first sentence, where you assert: “no matter how much you may dislike Mr Stephan”…

    To be clear, I never disliked Phil Stephan. He and I actually came to be friends while we worked to “transform Lakewood”, or at least so I thought. But a very strange “metamorphosis” took place in the wake of my stepping down as village president. There was a very noticeable change in the way both Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith acted toward, and interacted with, me as well as the public.

    It was very odd, and it was very palpable – but, I could sense that something was amiss.

    Then the firings and character assassinations began.

    Within a week of my stepping down, I watched as both Phil Stephan and Jeannine Smith completely threw Redtail Golf Manager, Terry Remke, (who was Jeannine’s first pick, as well as Golf Pro, Curt Peterson’s first pick) under the bus, absolutely assassinating his character for no other reason than Phil Stephan never liked him. And the number one reason Phil didn’t like him had nothing to do with Terry’s ability to run a golf club and everything to do with the fact that Terry was a personal friend of Phil’s nemesis neighbor.

    Sadly, Terry Remke was never given a chance to even prove himself. And, of course, this was just the beginning of an entire slew of firings and resignations that were soon to follow…

    You mentioned that I “cleaned house myself, when I was here” and indeed I did!

    We knew going in that a good “house-cleaning’ was long over-due in Lakewood and was very much a part of what our election was all about.

    There were a few at the top of the administration who were hell-bent on steering Lakewood down a path that residents made clear they did not want to traverse. The administration had also become top-heavy and had accumulated it’s fair-share of dead-weight.

    Our mission, as we were elected to fulfill, was to cast out the tyrants, to trim the fat, and to empower the cream to rise to the top – and I am confident (as was Phil Stephan at the time) that we accomplished exactly that! (Although, I admittedly did get a bit lax and keep the Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McCardle law firm on board when I probably shouldn’t have.)

    While I am open to considering any evidence to the contrary, I am quite doubtful that I will ever come to believe that so many whom I came to know to be Lakewood’s brightest stars and most integral employees, i.e., Chief Mike Roth, Chief Todd Richardson, Sgt. & Acting Police Chief, Paul Olszak, Jan Hansen, Sue Villie, Jeannette Lobosco, Jean Heckman, Barry Wickerscheim, and others that I may be forgetting at this particular moment, had somehow all gone rogue and become a detriment to the village.

    Add to this the very concerning financials, the unfathomable spending, and unprecedented legal fees, and the sky becomes even more consumed by smoke…

    Lastly, you say: “Seriously, Show us the proof”.

    As I addressed in my letter, THIS is exactly why I find it so concerning that employees Jan Hansen and Sue Villie were fired when they were – amidst all the concerns of substantial financial inconsistencies, followed by reports of documents and records being shredded and emails deleted – if anyone would have been able to show proof it would have been them.

    This “PROOF” is exactly the reason I implore residents to seek an independent, forensic auditor. If it isn’t already too late.

  15. Jack _ If you talk to LITTLE phil tell him if this president gig

    doesn’t work out for him Willy Wonka called me and is looking

    for another OOmpa Loompa. Tell him to give me a call.

  16. Jack

    If you see LITTLE phil let him know I’ve been trying to get in touch with him.

    Tell him if the President gig doesn’t work for him Willy Wonka called a is looking for a new oompa loompa.

    Tell him to get back to me. Cheers
    The Producer

  17. Jack,

    Annoyed, You are in the dark. Turn on the light and see what is really going on.

    Time and time again this whole subject has been discussed and evidence has been shown about the board and employees of what’s been going on.

    Bryan Younge is one person from the beginning that brought this to light. Brian Augustine knew what was going on since Brian and Bryan where asked to investigate it from the beginning.

    Unfortunately BrianA knew all of this and just turned his back on the employees.

    Where Bryan Y didn’t.

    How Bryan A can live with hisself knowing he just threw the employees to the wolves is beyond me.

    As it was given in confidence to the board and Smoron.

    To help these employees have a place to complain to in this toxic work environment.

    Smoron decided to shared the complaint letters with Phil and Jeanie.

    Phil , Jeannie, and board members started to target the employees that sent in the complaints.

    (No safe haven for employees. They had no one to turn to for how they are getting treated. )

    So you have no clue Annoyed what really happened.

    This isn’t made up shit.

    They are pure evil people.

    Like i said before,

    how do they sleep at night and like themselves when they look in the mirror is beyond me. Knowing what they did to these employees.

    Shame on them for not doing the right thing.

    This Village needs a new President and board members.

    April 6,2021 can’t come quick enough.

    Time for this toxic group to go..

    And welcome a new president , board members and lawyer that has integrity, morals, respect and will be transparent with everything

    Thanks Paul for explaining to Jack again.

    He seams to be a little S L O W …….

    Or Jack is drinking the cool aid from Lil Phil ,big Jeanie, Doug, Pam, Ryan, and Brian A.

    Cause anyone that’s been at the zoom meetings, and following this would see the truth..
    unfortunately you can’t fix stupid..

  18. Mr. Serwatka – not looking to be argumentative and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect.

    I actually supported you as village president and was very pleased with all you accomplished for residents.

    Being that you no longer reside in lakewood or even in this state I’m trying to understand why you would involve yourself in current Lakewood politics and our upcoming election?

    Again no disrespect intended.

    Just a question.

  19. Apolitical Lakewood Resident –

    Reading your screen name, I can’t help but be reminded of a very old quote by, I think it was, Plato:

    “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

    As far as why I have chosen to “offer my two cents” regarding what has been taking place in Lakewood and the upcoming election – I guess my reasons are threefold:

    1. I still do care. Not only did I spend a great deal of time, energy, and personal finances, sacrificing many evenings and weekends away from my family to affect better government in Lakewood, but I left behind a number of friends who still live in Lakewood today.

    2. I don’t like bullies. I never have and never will. It’s just always been part of my makeup. This is particularly true when it comes to government or those in positions of power and authority over people. Even if it doesn’t affect me directly, knowing that it exists anywhere, I believe, is cause for Good men to stand and do something.

    Some may refer to this as the “doctrine of interposition”. I have personally always taken to heart some very old teachings, such as: “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is good men do nothing” or “silence in the face of evil is, itself, evil.”

    3. I can’t pretend that I’m not responsible for the rise to power of Phil Stephan and Jeanine Smith.

    I think it’s pretty common knowledge that Phil Stefan is where he is because of me. This is also true of Jeanine Smith.

    Of course, when I brought them in and made them part of the team, they pledged (and in Phil’s case he even signed an actual written pledge), to uphold certain values, certain principles and to work to fulfill very specific objectives.

    What I have seen from both of them in the time that I have left appears to be a nearly 180° flip flop!

    This not only saddens me, but it absolutely angers me! If I can do nothing else but offer an explanation and an apology, I will at least do that.

    I would NEVER have brought Phil Stephan on to the Lakewood Tax-Fighter team, and would I NEVER have hired the likes of Jeanine Smith had I known that either of them had it in them to become What they have demonstrated themselves to be over the last 24 months.

    I don’t know if they both just played me and pretended to be something they weren’t, or if they were corrupted and changed once they became in positions of power and authority, but I am very bothered by what I have seen from them and, as I stated in my letter above, I am very bothered knowing the lives, the reputations, and the careers that they have damaged.

    So, again, the reason for my reaching out and offering my two cents is simply, as I stated, to give an explanation, to clear the air, and to offer an apology.

  20. You people seriously need to get a life!! I’m so glad my sister left your horribly toxic and immature environment for a decent job with real adults.

    Thank goodness she doesn’t have to put up with this 💩💩 and nonsense anymore.

    Grow up and act like adults!!🙄

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