(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye) (Photo of Carrier, facebook.com)
Many residents and business owners in Salem Lakes have been very vocal about who they claim is a “rogue” code enforcement officer. John Carrier works for the City of Waukegan, IL and makes $128,000 per year. At the village, he makes about $25,000.
Over the last six months, village staff and elected leaders have been inundated with complaints about enforcement notices served on them by the village. The alleged violations include having a storage container, trackers, farm equipment, and other items on residential property, that the village deemed unsightly.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Village president Rita Bucur began last Monday’s meeting with the following remarks:
“Over the last several months, there has been much public debate about the Village’s code enforcement policies, or really, lack thereof. I was made aware of the many discussions throughout our community.
This is a mostly new board, and I am its new president. It is not lost on me how I came to sit in this position. I understand what this community has been put through. I hear your concerns. The days of ignoring the public and not acting are behind us. My goal has always been and always will be to make the Village better.
This is a board of people that listens to the taxpayers, and more importantly, takes that feedback to heart. That is exactly what is happening tonight. Tonight, I am bringing forward a policy that I hope will address these concerns. Myself, and other trustees, have spent many hours engaging with the public, stakeholders, staff, and our hard-working Village attorney, Remzy.
I would like to thank those who have helped me get to what is being presented tonight. Pete Poli and I came up with the first draft to send to our attorney. Remzy cleaned up the language, and then I have worked with staff for the last week and a half to come up with the proposal that I have distributed to this board, and the one that many of you have in your hands now. This was not an easy task in such a short timeframe. There was a lot of work and collaboration that went into that, along with evening and weekend hours.
As many of you are aware, we have had an incredible amount of turnover of employees at all levels, including this board. We are not the same Village Board or staff as previous. Leadership comes from the top and our staff as well as this Village Board understand and have welcomed the new directives, vision and expectations that has come under my leadership.
I understand there will be debate, with strong opinions. If any changes are requested of this policy, I will ask for a motion, a second, and a majority vote of this board. I hope that we can leave tonight with a passed policy and resolution that will alleviate the concerns of our hard-working taxpayers, while keeping the Village safe within the law and our ordinances.
There is a need for a delicate balance of code enforcement. One that helps our community and our citizens. We have to have rules, just as everyone does in their own home and in their workplace. I do think this proposal addresses that balance with a reasonable and common-sense approach.
Thank you to the public for your patience as we worked through this and put in the countless hours of work to get to where we are today. I would like to make clear; I want this board to take action tonight. The taxpayers are not demanding action in the next year, and the next months, or in the next weeks. They want action tonight. I hope we can provide them with that.”
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“The code enforcement officer was working based on the procedures that have been in place since the village became a village in 2017. As soon as the board changed the enforcement policy at their October 7 meeting, I directed staff to use the new policy. Prior to the board taking action, I could not make this change as we work at the direction of the full board,” said Village Administrator Cassandra Hiller in a statement to KCE.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
One elderly couple was recently forced to completely change their property that has been in the same condition for decades. Their attorney, Mike McTernan says the village is violation his clients’ rights. McTernan gave the board all copies of a US Supreme Court Case that is commonly referred to as the “grandfather clause.” It states that new laws cannot be enforced on pre-existing properties that existed prior to zoning districts being created. Unfortunately, the woman reportedly became so upset at the daunting task, that she fell down a flight of stairs, seriously injuring herself.
One man, who lives in Salem Lakes, but operates a landscaping company outside of the village, had some equipment stored on his 5-acre secluded parcel where his home is. Carrier demanded that all of the equipment be relocated, or that the village would foreclose on his home due to almost $600,000 in fines. The man built a small motocross track out of dirt for his young son to enjoy. Carrier ordered the man to demolish the track. The man is now looking to move out of the village.
Another man had a storage container on his property and says it has been there for many decades. Carrier is ordering the man to put siding and a roof on the container, so it resembles a structure.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“I’ve lived in Salem for 23 years. The property we live on is 26 plus acres of woods, wetlands, and pasture. I have actively maintained livestock and agricultural businesses on the property since we have resided here.
In March of 2024, a neighbor who has no site on my house, meaning she lives two doors down filed a complaint. Her complaint is about multiple structures and disrepair debris junk vehicles in the school bus. This has turned my life upside down.
The property maintenance officer does not acknowledge any distinction between agricultural or residential ordinances, and John Carrier has told me to sell my property. This month, finishing paying off the new roof on my house, which was replaced three years ago, and this summer, we replaced our barn roof, which was leaking but not visible from the road. We have worked endlessly since March to satisfy the property maintenance officer and the Village of Salem Lakes to no resolution or acknowledgement to anything we have attempted to remedy. We are being abused and harassed. We are already a struggling family that will never be fully whole,” said Gabriella Szmola.
“After 21 years of taking care of our conservation land and paying $7,000 a year in taxes, this has gone beyond an insult to feeling more like an abuse of good citizens. And this sense of targeted harassment has become clear as I talk to more neighbors and citizens,” said Kevin Cook at the October 7, 2024 meeting.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“We moved out here about just under three years ago for a better life for our family. We’ve spent all our money to buy a nice piece of property. Like I said, we have 24 acres of agricultural property. I get a violation in the mail with a 10-day notice of a container that’s behind my garage and some scrap metal, which all was there when we moved in. We’re trying to better the property. We want to farm it. We want to eventually do everything on our own. I called John Carrier to talk about this violation because it made no sense to me per the zoning area. And I couldn’t get ahold of him. The secretary told me that he wasn’t in and didn’t know when he was going to be in because [of his Illinois job,]” said resident Adam Miller at the same meeting.
Some of the big items in the new policy include:
- All complaints must be in writing and signed containing the complaining person’s name, address, and phone number. (The forms are subject to public records laws.)
- Only village taxpayers can file complaints.
- Complaints must be made by someone within 750 feet of the property.
- Drones can no longer be used.
- Only those items on a completed complaint form can be investigated, nothing else.
- Code Enforcement Officer cannot enforce his own complaints or encourage others to file complaints at his request.
Some issues not yet agreed upon the board include the use of high-powered telephoto zoom lenses and whether or not existing complaints will be treated retroactively.
The board is expected to vote on the policy change this coming Monday, October 21, 2024.
43 Responses
Some people should never ever be given authority.
What a joke! Go to his house and see if it’s “up to code” or maybe shouldn’t run a business out of a residential property. 🤷🏼♀️
What am I missing here? Why don’t they just fire him?
How many hours is that for ? And when ?
What time of day is he doing his job ?
His Illinois job must be 40 hours. And Waukegan is at least 30 minutes away if not more.
Are these hours after 4 pm ? 5 pm ?
Weekends ?
Come winter there’s no daylight after 4:30.
What’s he going to do then ?
Inquiring minds want to know !
They work 24 hours on, 48 hours off. On his off days he would work his other job, very common for full time firefighters across the country
So what’s his pay here ?
Who can’t live off of $128K ?
Must not be a boss there so he acts tough here !
Show him the door.
How you can force someone to license their vehicles just because they are parked on their property ?
A license plate is necessary to Drive on the roads. Not park on a property.
Come to my house and give me a ticket for my project car and I’ll sue your ass enough to finish the damn thing !
You’re incorrect. Your vehicle needs to be registered regardless of you’re driving it or not.
It’s just a possession ?
Please explain the rationale
I can legally drive my unregistered vehicle on my private property all day long. Maybe all of you FIB’s need to go back to Illinois and leave us alone.
Great choice Kevin.
Don’t ever lose that one !
Weirdo
Calling me a weirdo ?
She’s a Beautiful woman !
She Deserves that Compliment !
Many times over !
Again, creepy and weird.
She might be beautiful on the outside, by definately not on the inside!
I’m gonna have to go with Anonymous on this one,…there’s a time and place for everything, even comments that are on the creepier side, you kinda went over in the windowless van era of creepiness. Forgot to pay the cell phone bill huh…this wasn’t the place for you to drool…keep it in the pants snapperhead.
Quit hiring swamp things from Lake County and you’ll fix 80% of the issues. Lake Co is a sh*t show, why bring that here???
Does this clown live in illinois?A standard I.Q test and a mental health evaluation should be required for anyone working for the city or state..we don’t need clowns on power trips running the show.
Perhaps Mr. John Carrier would do well to keep his focus on Waukegan. That is a town that needs a lot of cleaning up.
Perhaps he’s too scared to be snooping around
on some of those people’s property.
Waukegan Fire Lieutenant 24 HR paid almost $128,000 – really? Waukegan is a showplace. ⛑ Salem Lakes paid $25,000? Driving around Salem Lakes harassing property owners. Good job Mayor. Good job Administrator. Good job Board members. Nice.
America! Land of greed and corruption!
Reminds me of the show Green Acres.
Maybe? it would help if you did some fact-finding before making such a broad comment. Village trustee’s like Gandt are part of the problem. I believe? I heard he filed 6-7 in the month of July or August this year by phone. Great another trustee is going to fix a problem he created. I remember Culat saying Gandt is one of the Aholes that started the Bill B nightmare.
But this is the same trustee that allowed a bar to have live music next door to Bill B home until 10-11 at night, Great. Shocking enough the Village property next door is as bad if not worse. These politicians don’t realize or do they care some of these properties have been there like this for 50-60-70-80- years they are Grandfathered, pound sand.
Move to Illinois if you want a Village HOA, keep your F-in eyes off my land.
Finally we have leadership that is on track for making continuous improvement for our Village. I think they have common sense and are committed to making changes that are needed, while keeping the Village protected. We finally have an attorney who looks out for the Village and knows the law, the previous attorney was sub-par and didn’t do us justice. Incremental improvements made in a consistent manner will make huge differences. But, I do know some of the leftover board members still hold strong to the failed leadership of past…I feel misled by them that they were on board with the new direction and vision Rita and the new board members are trying to implement. Hopefully they won’t run when they’re up for reelection – I wish I hadn’t voted for them this past April.
There are two sides to every story. These are not sweeping changes, it is adding clarification to the existing process. He has helped many residents resolve issues impacting their property. In fact I think in many situations his hands are tied and he can’t do as much as he needs to. In these extreme situations I think the board needs to get involved and look at the entire situation and help John out instead of allowing the village residents to throw him under the bus. One of the biggest changes which will help is the board will actually get a report of all the complaints filed. In the past the board was not involved in the complaint process.
This should already exist. He should be giving a month report to the board of types, volume, etc and bring up issues he needs help on as well as those which are continuing or growing. One would think over time that all issues would diminish and only newcomers would have issues to highlite.
The board And the Administrator Are involved… Ord officer cannot proceed without approval … but that piece is missing in the story
There’s lots of pieces missing to this story, unfortunately.
What would help is the creation of a process where a resident can file a formal dispute regarding the complaint. Whether it’s disputing a fine or disputing failure to enforce a code. I have experienced the flip side, codes were not enforced leaving me with property damage. This might be a good next step moving forward.
Hoarder Lakes? Never been there. Salem Lakes. Been there.
$25,000 paid to a Waukegan Fire Lieutenant 24 HR (HR = hours, not hoarder response).
Dumpsters cost about $800 each, twenty dumpster loads is $16,000. Save Salem Lakes $9,000 each fiscal year. 🧯Pissed off many property owners (and voters). Congratulations.
Waukegan liberal that decided to move to Wisconsin for lower property taxes, gas taxes, food taxes, and then he brings his Waukegan values with him. Fucking cuck!
That’s the case with the Village Admin too.
Kevin M. – Why would Salem Lakes elected officials hire a fireman to harass property owners, so soon after those earlier nasty divisive ordinance battles. Is there a property developer waiting in the wings?
Governor Pritzker rides around Lake Geneva in his two ultra rare cigarette boats “Theodora” and “Don Don” while residing in the former Lee Phillips mansion.
Sis Penny (former Commerce Secretary) under Walworth Equity Partners LLC purchased some 400 acres next to Big Foot Beach State Park near Lake Geneva for future property development.
Property developers in Salem Lakes future?
The “fireman” has been working for the Village for many years – prior to the current new board members and administrator. So you should be asking the old administrator and board members.
Cassandra already stated she wants to build, build, build.
I think you are Misrepresenting what Cassandra wants; If the Public wants development, then most likely, the tax revenue will slow the future increase in taxes. However, if the Village wants slow or no growth then taxpayers should expect referendums if they want as good or better services. Fire Departments and EMS are very expensive and will require lots of money in the future. Cassandra and Al are leading the charge in creating shared services for EMS so that ALL our communities can afford and receive services. Hopefully, you never need but if you do, the critical service will be there. We should thank Cassandra and Al for there efforts on this.
This property maintenance BS is such a waste of time, hire people with discretion or not at all. The Village has already experienced what inaction gets you, so let’s focus on real issues that will move this wonderful village forward. Salem Lakes is a rural community that wants Limited government in their lives, if you want Illinois policies please move back ASAP, we don’t want you. I think this New board has brought a lot of needed change, but I don’t feel everything was bad, I like penny-pinching government. A small criticism of the new board is to slow down, your pace will be expensive, even if it makes our lives a little bit better. Hopefully, we will be able to afford these changes. Slow changes aren’t so bad. Your efforts on Property maintenance was spot on. Thank you for acting now and not later President Bucur and Mr. Poli., a very refreshing change.
As far as the Property Maintenance guy, simply cut his hours to 20 hours a month and have him help in the office with the shortfall of help needed for the rest of his time, that way he is not injured financially. If he doesn’t want to do that, then it is time for change.
The Public should be encouraged to show up and speak their minds on the new budget on Nov. 18th.
He actually called our mortgage company regarding work being done with a permit and that it was in disarray. It was back when the merger was new. No one, Silver Lake or Salem, could determine who would issue a permit renewal. He was taunting and urged us to come out in the street and take care of this. Said several times that he can make whatever rules he wants. We wrote a letter regarding this and we received an apology letter and haven’t been bothered by the p.o.s since. Doesn’t enforce same rules to all people, even if they live next door.
*with out a permit*
If true, time to departure from this Village yesterday. Enough of this power hungry Ass if true. Mortgage Company interference is a sign of who trained him. Time for change, not redeemable if true.
Are you sure that wasn’t brad
I cant wait to catch him in a dark alley