Paul Serwatka Resigns as Lakewood Village President after Little More Than a Year in Office

At the last Lakewood Village Board meeting he attended, in early June, Lakewood Village President said he would resign in July.
He did so July 31st.
Serwatka took office in May of last year along with a slate of Trustee candidates who ran with him.
He won office for Trustee two years before in a stunning write-in campaign.
Below is his emailed resignation:

Subject: It’s about that time…

Hey Guys,

Paul Serwatka making his case for attempting to unseat two appointed Lakewood Village Trustees at the June 12th Board Meeting.

I guess it’s about time to call it and submit my resignation as village president.

I’m at the point where I’m now spending a lot more time out of state than I am in Lakewood and it is becoming more challenging for me to pay due attention to my duties as village president.

It’s been quite a ride these past 15 months.

Together, we have accomplished much! So much more than many may understand. And sadly, as we know, so much more than the obstructionists will ever acknowledge.

Together, we have – on more than one occasion – earned statewide recognition for our accomplishments toward reforming our village government and for setting a BOLD example for other local government bodies in Illinois to follow, should they dare (or should they care).

More importantly than this, however, WE know what we have accomplished! WE know the good we have done!!  As does our Creator!!! And in the end, THAT is what truly matters!

I wouldn’t be being entirely honest, if I didn’t say that it troubles me to know that some real challenges lie ahead for you.

With the ongoing obstructionism from some remaining board members – along with those from the past board/administration that we know have been counseling them to thwart our efforts to not only reform our village government, but to also continue to unearth the unaccounted for expenditures and plunder of the past administration – I sincerely hope that some good folks, with integrity and fortitude, will step up to the plate this coming April and run for village office in the 2019 election to ensure that the accomplishments we have made thus far will not be for naught, or even undone, as trustees Jason McMahon and Carl Davis so adamantly intend.

My resignation shall be effective as of 4:30 pm, today, July 31st, 2018.

I wish you all the best, and I thank each of you for your support and for your outstanding efforts toward the many successes we achieved together.

Sincerely,

Paul D. Serwatka


Comments

Paul Serwatka Resigns as Lakewood Village President after Little More Than a Year in Office — 29 Comments

  1. Nice letter from Paul. Now please don’t let Lakewood fall back into the abysmal excuse of a village it had been by letting some trustees undo what has been accomplished over the last year!

  2. Dear GQ magazine cover model wannabe: Nothing could be more satisfying than seeing a public official keeping his word to the people who elected him. Please promise us that you will always be a committed christian tax fighter and provide us, via this sunshine blog, a detailed newsletter with your accomplishments. Happy red-state golfing! Stay tuned…97 days…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, oinc, oinc, meeeeeoooooowwwwwwwww…

  3. When your the smartest guy in the room, it’s time to find a different room.

  4. … or follow the smart people who are moving to a different state.

  5. Wow, the drama is finally over.

    In typical Paul fashion the intrigue is strung out to the very end and not without parting shots at some still on the Board.

    Now Paul can go to Alabama, rent there, never establishing roots in that community, and wordsmith an unsuspecting public to buy whatever snake oil he is selling.

    Problem is, his checkered past with guns, boats and lies will follow him wherever he goes.

    So good luck, to the folks of Alabama that is.

  6. Wow, the drama is finally over.

    In typical Paul fashion the intrigue is strung out to the very end and not without parting shots at some still on the Board.

    Now Paul can go to Alabama, rent there, never establishing roots in that community, and wordsmith an unsuspecting public to buy whatever snake oil he is selling.

    Problem is, his checkered past with guns, boats and lies will follow him wherever he goes.

    So good luck, to the folks of Alabama that is.

  7. Wow, the drama is finally over.

    In typical Paul fashion the intrigue is strung out to the very end and not without parting shots at some still on the Board.

    Now Paul can go to Alabama, rent there, never establishing roots in that community, and wordsmith an unsuspecting public to buy whatever snake oil he is selling.

    Problem is, his checkered past with guns, boats and lies will follow him wherever he goes.

    So good luck, to the folks of Alabama that is.

  8. Let’s take a look at the success of Cal Skinner endorsed candidates as of late:
    -Serwatka (Gone)
    -Walkup (Gone)
    -Gassser (Soon to be gone)

    GOP officials be warned: Your shelf life as an elected official is short if you are endorsed by Cal Skinner or associate with his ilk.

  9. Serwatka’s tenure may have been short, but he accomplished everything he promised. He abolished the TIF Dist. He rooted out the corrupt/bad element from the village administration and police dept. and brought in real talent to get the village running more efficiently and effectively and passed the savings on to the Lakewood taxpayers with property tax cut. He whipped the winter roads into shape and he even brought back the ice cream man. All as promised.

    He did everything he promised in a single year rather than in 4 years or more. I’d say that is quite remarkable. And,now he has moved on to a better life and a better future for his family.

    God bless and Godspeed to you Paul and family.

  10. A good run but besmirched by his ham handed attempt to illegally pack the Village Board.

  11. What’s wrong with my sunshine blogger’s ilk? They are compassionate conservative, family-values, pro-life, God-fearing, gun-clinging, tax fighter, King James Bible, law abiding, tax overburdened, fiscal conservative, ‘Merica first, ‘Merica only, balanced budget, pro consolidation, small government, second amendment patriots who just can’t stop loving this country, even if it takes hating their fellow citizens and foreigners. If our country is still standing today, it is because their devoted patriotism. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meow, meow, meeeeeoooooowwwwwwwww…

  12. He did not cut taxes!

    He kicked the can on road maintenance by removing it for the levy. Lakewood has almost 36 miles of roads. It costs approx. $475,000 per mile to grind and resurface a road.

    An average road has a 15 year life span if properly maintained. Even if we double the life span to 30 years and only replace one mile of road per year, we still need MORE than $475,000 per year. AND we still haven’t looked at the cost to maintain the road to get it to 30 years! Crack filling – $1-$2 / LF Patching – $7 – $10 / LF. There are 5,280 ft in a mile. Check out that math. Plus major repairs can range anywhere from $125 to $300 per linear foot.

    PAUL SERWATKA levied ZERO dollars for road maintenance two years running. The tax cut was a FAKE unless Lakewood residents don’t mind their roads falling apart!

  13. Kick the Can is the favorite sport of politicians.

    Road maintenance however may be the least of Lakewood’s long term problems.

    What provisions are being made for when (not if) the 100 year old drain tiles that are keeping the area from reverting to the wetland from which it sprang, need to be replaced?

  14. Jason, why did you vote for this tax cut and never mention this during deliberation over it?

  15. Jason “Coco” McMahon – how sad to see you spend your free time following Paul’s whereabouts…

    but when living a life apparently as dismal as yours, I guess why not live vicariously through the better, more successful, lives of others.

    We’re still curious why you voted in support of what you now claim was a sham tax-cut?

  16. Paul, you’re gone.

    It’s over.

    No more Federal Farmer.

    Give it up.

  17. Farmer – For someone with so many aliases, it may be a tough concept, but some of us have no problem posting under our own name.

    I have no concern with regard to Serwatka’s location but can only hope the people of Alabama are able to see right thru him.

    I did bring up the lack of levy funds for road maintenance.

    Several times in fact, only to be labeled as an obstructionist to the proposed 10% levy cut.

    Budget format changes and shuffling of funds between accounts, in addition to staff turn over and last minute, hurry up votes made the entire process less than transparent.

    I protested several other points as well but was assured by staff the proposed budget would feasible.

    My continued lack of confidence in some of the proposed cuts (including road maintenance) lead me to push for a compromise position, cutting 5% and abating the other 5%.

    By abating the other 5%, it would allow the Board to bring back road funding in the next fiscal year when budget proposals would (hopefully) be more transparent and less hurried.

    The concept of Board members compromising and working together for the good of Lakewood is lost on Serwatka.

    Only recently was I able to obtain information from the Village Engineer with regard to the cost of road maintenance and replacement.

    The information painted a stark picture on why we should never have allowed the road funding to be cut.

    It is my intention to use this information during the next budget process.

  18. Getting yourself elected by claiming to be a “tax fighter” is easy.

    Fulfilling your campaign promises once you are in office without resorting to smoke and mirrors shell games is hard.

    The fact of the matter is that it costs money to do things.

    People want things done but they don’t want to pay for them.

  19. “A good man. McHenry Co.’s loss…” Wait a minute! Did my sunshine blogger die? Please tell me this is not true…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock…

  20. Serwatka was indeed a good man.

    When the SHTF and the country goes to Hell bc of the llavanas, many wrongs will be righted by men like Paul. The picnic of the human termites will be over in short order.

  21. All I can say is he got rid of the rotten TIF, like he promised.

    The local police department was also a den of corruption. (they sold seized cars to themselves for .10 on the dollar)

    —Until Serwatka cleaned house. Do a FOIA on that, Cal.

  22. Interesting Jolly.

    Tonight, I asked the current chief if, in his memory, Lakewood had ever seized any vehicles.

    He said not that he knew of.

    I have been in Lakewood 16 years and don’t remember a single incident of a seized vehicle.

    Use your real name and put forth the information so we can investigate.

  23. I concur with Jason. The sale of any Village asset must be approved by the Board. Shame on you for posting lies!

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