McHenry County Blog

The bunny slope is right in front of where one may eat at Galena’s Chestnut Mountain.

Our family went to Galena mid-week and, besides seeing skiers on Spring Break for the first time at Chestnut Ridge, I found a press release from the Public Access Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

It was in The Gazette, a paper filed with ads for local candidates for Galena Alderman and school board candidates.

Of particular interest was a paragraph about a binding opinion which told of a newspaper seeking arrest records of a local public official.

The paper was turned down and appeal the decision of the local police department.

The reason?

It was an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Here’s the paragraph saying that police arrest reports of public officials must be made available under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Public Access Division disagreed and issued a rare binding opinion concluding “most information in the report must be disclosed under FOIA because arrests are a matter of public record, outweighing an individual’s privacy rights,” according to the article.

This is the final installment of Zane Seipler’s attorney Blake Horwitz’ request that sanctions be levied against McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren for actions taken by Nygren, his staff and his attorney James Sotos.

Paragraphing and formatting has been added in the text to make the text easier to read on a computer screen as we move to the sanctions that are requested.

Concluding the court filing is a plea for

“Sanctions

“Defendants’ conduct warrants a Rule 37 sanctions in the form an entry of a default judgment against Defendants and/or a ruling as to their affirmative defenses. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 authorizes the court to sanction a party for failing to obey an order or ruling to provide discovery. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A).

“Such sanctions may include

• ‘prohibiting the disobedient party from supporting . . . designated . . . defenses,’
• ‘striking pleadings in whole or in part’ or
• ‘rendering a default judgment against the disobedient party.’

“Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(ii), (iii) and (vi); see also Newman v. Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Auth., 962 F.2d 589, 591 (7th Cir. 1992)(approving entry of default judgment as sanction for defendant’s failure to comply with orders).

“For purposes of Rule 37(b) sanctions, “order” or ‘ruling’ are broadly construed. See Brandt v. Vulcan, Inc., 30 F.3d 752, 756 (7th Cir. 1994).

“A formal, written order by the court is not required. See Govas v. Chalmers, 965 F.2d 298, 301 (7th Cir. 1992)(Rule 37(b) sanctions imposed on party that engaged in ‘evasive and dilatory discovery tactics’). Also see Godlove v. Bamberger, 903F.2d 1145, 1148 (7th Cir. 1990) (granting the Court broad discretion); Thomas Consol. Indus., Inc. v. Herbst, 456 F.3d 719, 724 (7thCir. 2006) (citing Maynard v. Nygren, 332 F.3d 462, 467-68 (7th Cir. 2003).

Also see Sameron v. Enter. Recovery Sys., Inc., 579 F.3d 787, 795 (7th Cir. 2009) (tendering sensitive documents to a member of the press demonstrates a willful violation).

“Sheriff Nygren misrepresented himself to this Court to induce this Court to believe that he had not tendered the deposition transcript to the Northwest Herald.

“This misrepresentation can result in severe sanctions. Montaño v. City of Chicago, 535 F.3d 558, 564 (7th Cir. 2008).

“Regardless of the Nygren fraud upon the Court, Sheriff Nygren and the other officers, including Defendant Miller, clearly tendered the deposition transcript to third parties (Zinke, Rivera and Ellis).

“The parties, as officers, knew that the deposition was confidential and sensitive but flaunted that knowledge and did what they wanted. The intent and motive is clear – if you speak out against the Sheriff, you will be punished.

“The distribution of the confidential police report preceded the Milliman episode.

“The distribution violated Illinois Statutory law. 20 ILCS 2630/7.

“The Sotos firm received the document and the Defendants distributed it to fellow officers to taint their perspective of Mr. Seipler.

“Terminating sanctions is appropriate for flagrant violation of this Court’s order. Greviskes v. Univ. Research Assoc., Inc., 417 F.3d 752, 754 (7th Cir. 2005).

“The above record demonstrates that terminating sanctions is in order.”

Judge Frederick J. Kapala will be the one to decide on both McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren’s attorney’s request for sanctions against Zane Seipler and Seipler’s attorney’s counter request against Nygren.

Today, we move to the fourth installment on the motion filed by former Deputy Sheriff Zane Seipler’s lawyer Blake Horwitz requesting sanctions against McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren for releasing confidential information.

This is occurring in Seipler’s Federal wrongful termination suit being heard in Rockford.

Paragraphing and formatting has been added in the text to make the text easier to read on a computer screen.

A second alleged violation of the Court’s Protective Order is described next.

“Second Violation of Court Order

“On April 9, 2007, a police report was filed by Rosalinda Saucedo-Seipler with the Woodstock Police Department, Woodstock Police Report #07-4183. The report contains very personal information regarding a domestic incident between Plaintiff Zane Seipler and his wife, Rosalinda Saucedo-Seipler (Exhibit E).

“On or around January 22, 2010, the Woodstock Police report #07-4183 was widely disseminated to the deputy officers at the McHenry County Police Department [Foot Note 2].

= = = = =
Foot Note 2.  “Deputy Tim Matteson, a deputy of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department personally observed a copy of the report in his mailbox and saw several reports placed in the mailboxes of various deputies and on a table in the Patrol Roll Call room in the McHenry County Sheriff’s made available in roll call two weeks prior to the primary.= = = = =

= = = = =

“The report was unlawfully placed in the mailboxes of several Deputy Officers and put on tables in the Patrol Roll Call room in McHenry County Sheriff’s Department without the permission or knowledge of Rosalinda Saucedo-Seipler or Zane Seipler.

“Mr. Seipler was a Republican candidate for Sheriff. The Woodstock police report was placed in the boxes and
made available in roll call two weeks prior to the primary.”

“Department (Exhibit F). Deputy Matteson spoke to Deputy Milliman regarding the report, who stated that he saw several copies of the report in various areas of the Squad room in the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

“At the time, Zane Seipler was running for the position of Sheriff of McHenry County and the illegal distribution of the report negatively influenced his political campaign.

“Newspaper reporters, Chuck Keashan of the Daily Herald and Jillian Duchowski of Northwest Herald, contacted Zane Seipler to inquire about this personal matter.

“Finally, Seipler’s domestic incident was discussed on online blogs (e.g. http://antiwoodstockadvocate.blogspot.com) and in the comment sections of numerous Northwest Herald articles.

“The release of this report affected both Zane Seipler’s career and reputation in McHenry County.

“On February 23, 2010, Robert W. Lowen, the Chief of Police of the Woodstock Police Department wrote a letter to Rosalinda Saucedo-Seipler regarding the results of the investigation (Exhibit G).

“Chief Lowen wrote that there were two different requests to access the report through the City of Woodstock Freedom of Information Act. Chief Lowen and Officer Cindy Smiley recommended denial of these requests and stated that the report was not disseminated to the two entities that requested the report via FOIA.

James Sotos

“Chief Lowen also stated in this letter that the report was released by subpoena.

“The only firm that subpoenaed the materials was James G. Sotos and Associates. This firm admits having secured the documents via subpoena.

“As illustrated above, the law firm of James G. Sotos and Associates and the Defendant Officers were the only entities who were given access to the report through the use of a subpoena. As a result, they were the only persons who could have unlawfully distributed the report to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.”

Addition detail is included, then…

“Defendant’s distribution of the report was in direct violation of the Confidentiality Order entered by both parties: ‘The Parties will not use or disclose the PHI and/or Confidential Matter released in this proceeding for any other purpose or any other proceeding.’

“The dissemination of the report is a clear violation of Illinois law. 20 ILCS 2630/7 Sec. 7.

“No file or record of the Department hereby created shall be made public, except as provided in the ‘Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act’ or other Illinois law or as may be necessary in the identification of persons suspected or accused of crime and in their trial for offenses committed after having been imprisoned for a prior offense …Violation of this Section shall constitute a Class A misdemeanor.

“In this instance, the distribution of the report by Defendants is a clear abuse of their official position.

“By releasing private information with regards to a candidate and citizen who was running for political office, the public good was harmed and the law was violated.”

= = = = =

More tomorrow.

The BGA gave the 911 tape story to Chris Fusco of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Why Sheriff Keith Nygren refused to release the 911 call made by former McHenry County and State Republican Party Chairman Al Jourdan is beyond me.

Now, almost most four months after Metra Exec Phil Pagano committed suicide by stepping in front of a train, the call surfaces in a Sun-Times article written by Chris Fusco.  Within the link is another link where you can hear the call itself.

The reply I received after asking for the 911 call said the investigation was still taking place and that private information was included in the call.

Guess I should have asked later or appealed to the Attorney General.

Turns out the private information was caller Al Jourdan’s home phone number and address. What a flimsy excuse not to provide the contents of the call.

And the contents were:

Jourdan got a call “10-12 minutes ago”

• It was from Pagano.
• He “could hear a train in the background.”
• He knew where the car, house keys and suicide note was.
• “I can be helpful, I think, to the police.”
• Pagano was OK when he talked to him at 2 or 3 that morning.

Nygren is quoted as saying he had “no recollection of ever having met” Pagano.

Strange, since Nygren lived in the same subdivision as Pagano, Covered Bridge Trails, before he moved to Lakewood’s Turnberry before he moved to Hebron.

If someone ever places them together, Nygren could say, “Oh, now I recall.”

You can find the Sheriff’s Department’s report on the suicide here.

The denial I got is below.  Click to enlarge it.

Jourdan’s service on the RTA Board is mentioned in the story, as well as Jack Schaffer’s membership on the Metra Board.

= = = = =
For Keith Nygren’s Democratic Party opponent’s press release, click here.

McHenry County Blog has obtained the statements that Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore and Grafton Township Administrator Pam Fender made to the Huntley Police Department after Village Trustee Fender called the police Tuesday morning about twenty minutes after the incident described below.  (Click to enlarge.)

Meanwhile, Keely Cat is taking the Northwest Herald approach to the adding of about $50,000 worth of administrative cost to the delivery of Grafton Township services.

Keely ignoring what's going on in Grafton Township.

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog printed the text of the police report that Huntley School District 158 Board member Aileen Seedorf filed on November 15th with the Algonquin Police Department.

After reading Daily Herald columnist Amy Mack’s column, it’s pretty obvious that she did not read the police report before writing her column.

Those reading the police report would figure out that Seedorf has not lost her mind. She offers a reasoned explanation of what happened. To the best of her memory, fellow board member Tony (Anthony in the report) Quagliano said,

He was referring to both Seedorf and Larry Snow, the other minority board member, both of whom keep asking really relevant, yet pesky, questions about school district affairs, past and present, even about the inadequate forensic audit that Certified Public Accountant Quagliano oversaw.

Questions you might ask if you were a really diligent board member.

Mack is correct that what is happening in the Huntley School District does deserve the headline,

Who could imagine that a board vice president (CPA Quagliano) would say something like that to two fellow board members?

Who could dream up a charge by a school board president (policeman Shawn Green) that two fellow board members were terrorists?

Mack got that part right.

But what comes to mind when I read this Mack paragraph:

“How often do you hear a school board president call board members ‘terrorists?’ Or have one of those ‘terrorists’ claim she felt so threatened at a board meeting that she asked police to investigate her fellow board members? Without calling it what it was — pure politics — police wisely declined.”

is

You have to know that Mack is a liberal, feminist Democrat.

You would never see something coming from Mack’s keyboard suggesting that a young woman had deserved a sexual assault because she was dressed too provocatively.

If any other woman told the police that she felt threatened, say in a domestic violence situation, Mack would take her side.

Mack could have written this comment from “our sympathy” under the Northwest Herald’s “What’s the big deal?” editorial replying to a comment which said, “I doubt Mrs. Seedorf felt threatened:”

“When women are abused by men this is the typical reaction they receive from others, even women.

“Our society tolerates and even supports abusive behavior resulting in continued abuse.

“I am offended that a trusted 158 board member is being reported as having acted in a manner that seems typical of an abuser.

“‘She provoked me, she needs a spanking, I want to smash her head in.’

“WOW! WE need to stop abuse now, not support leaders who demonstrate it.”

But that’s not the case when an ally of someone on Mack’s political hit list (Aileen Seedorf, in this case) feels worried enough to file a police report.

Then, it’s “pure politics.”

Well, we all have our blind spots.

Oh. And, if Mack would read, actually read the police report, she would see that Seedorf asked that no further action be taken.

Despite what is in Mack’s column, Seedorf never “asked police to investigate her fellow board members.” In fact, Mack makes two reportorial mistakes in that sentence. Not only did

• Seedorf not ask for an investigation (From the police report: “Aileen advised that she did not want any investigation into this matter she only wanted it documented. It should be noted that all parties involved are adults, no further information on witnesses or Anthony Quagliano. No further action taken.”),
• But Seedorf said she was leery of only one board member, Anthony Quagliano. (Where on earth did the plural in Mack’s sentence come from? What does it mean?)

Mack then takes some cheap shots at Snow, even justifying “anyone to want to throw a punch.”

And, I thought this was the season of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men (and Women).

One final thought.

If Mack were ever threatened physically, would she just shrug her shoulders and say, “Oh, well?”

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog printed the text of the police report that Huntley School District 158 Board member Aileen Seedorf filed on November 15th with the Algonquin Police Department.

After reading Daily Herald columnist Amy Mack’s column, it’s pretty obvious that she did not read the police report before writing her column.

Those reading the police report would figure out that Seedorf has not lost her mind. She offers a reasoned explanation of what happened. To the best of her memory, fellow board member Tony (Anthony in the report) Quagliano said,

He was referring to both Seedorf and Larry Snow, the other minority board member, both of whom keep asking really relevant, yet pesky, questions about school district affairs, past and present, even about the inadequate forensic audit that Certified Public Accountant Quagliano oversaw.

Questions you might ask if you were a really diligent board member.

Mack is correct that what is happening in the Huntley School District does deserve the headline,

Who could imagine that a board vice president (CPA Quagliano) would say something like that to two fellow board members?

Who could dream up a charge by a school board president (policeman Shawn Green) that two fellow board members were terrorists?

Mack got that part right.

But what comes to mind when I read this Mack paragraph:

“How often do you hear a school board president call board members ‘terrorists?’ Or have one of those ‘terrorists’ claim she felt so threatened at a board meeting that she asked police to investigate her fellow board members? Without calling it what it was — pure politics — police wisely declined.”

is

You have to know that Mack is a liberal, feminist Democrat.

You would never see something coming from Mack’s keyboard suggesting that a young woman had deserved a sexual assault because she was dressed too provocatively.

If any other woman told the police that she felt threatened, say in a domestic violence situation, Mack would take her side.

Mack could have written this comment from “our sympathy” under the Northwest Herald’s “What’s the big deal?” editorial replying to a comment which said, “I doubt Mrs. Seedorf felt threatened:”

“When women are abused by men this is the typical reaction they receive from others, even women.

“Our society tolerates and even supports abusive behavior resulting in continued abuse.

“I am offended that a trusted 158 board member is being reported as having acted in a manner that seems typical of an abuser.

“‘She provoked me, she needs a spanking, I want to smash her head in.’

“WOW! WE need to stop abuse now, not support leaders who demonstrate it.”

But that’s not the case when an ally of someone on Mack’s political hit list (Aileen Seedorf, in this case) feels worried enough to file a police report.

Then, it’s “pure politics.”

Well, we all have our blind spots.

Oh. And, if Mack would read, actually read the police report, she would see that Seedorf asked that no further action be taken.

Despite what is in Mack’s column, Seedorf never “asked police to investigate her fellow board members.” In fact, Mack makes two reportorial mistakes in that sentence. Not only did

• Seedorf not ask for an investigation (From the police report: “Aileen advised that she did not want any investigation into this matter she only wanted it documented. It should be noted that all parties involved are adults, no further information on witnesses or Anthony Quagliano. No further action taken.”),
• But Seedorf said she was leery of only one board member, Anthony Quagliano. (Where on earth did the plural in Mack’s sentence come from? What does it mean?)

Mack then takes some cheap shots at Snow, even justifying “anyone to want to throw a punch.”

And, I thought this was the season of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men (and Women).

One final thought.

If Mack were ever threatened physically, would she just shrug her shoulders and say, “Oh, well?”