Maywood Police Department Gets New Police Chief...

According to the Proviso Herald and reporter Jolie Lee, Maywood has a new police chief. According to the Herald, Cmdr. Tim Curry takes over for Police Chief Elvia Williams on Friday.

Williams was hired in June 2006 on a two-year contract.

Curry is a 24-year veteran of the department. Since Jan. 2009, he has been promoted three times.

"I kind of thought that most likely I would get deputy chief and that would be it," Curry said.
"But I had no idea whatsoever I would get the spot (of police chief.)"

Village Manager Jason Ervin made the appointment and said Williams is leaving the department to "pursue some other opportunities."

Williams could not be reached immediately for comment Monday morning.

Ervin said he chose Curry based on the recommendations of others, although he declined to say who made those recommendations.

"The process came through a group of individuals that I was working with on public safety issues," Ervin said.

When asked who the individuals were, Ervin said, "That I'm not disclosing at this time." Asked why he was not disclosing the information, he said, "I'm just not disclosing it."

Ervin said he wanted to appoint someone with leadership qualities and knowledge of "the inner workings of the department." Ervin added, "People respect him."

Curry began his career in 1985 as a patrol officer. He became sergeant of the tactical unit in 1996. In January 2009, he was promoted to commander and then to lieutenant two months later.

Curry will be officially sworn in as chief at the July 7 Village Board meeting.

Resident Allied With Mayor Yarbrough Tries To Throw Opponents Off Maywood Ballot!!!

According to the Proviso Herald, eleven objections to candidacies for village races in Maywood were filed by Feb. 3.

The objections ranged from challenges to signatures and addresses to claims that candidates were ineligible to run for office due to unpaid water bills, taxes or parking violations.

Objections were raised against all candidates except Henderson Yarbrough and candidates of his Maywood United Party.

The opposition slate is the Maywood Alliance Party, led by Grady Rivers Jr., board president of Elementary School District 89. Also running for mayor are two independents, former Mayor Ralph Conner and Demetrius Davis.

Ten of the 11 objections were filed by Ronald Rivers Sr., who is not related to the candidate Grady Rivers Jr, but is allied with current Mayor Henderson Yarbrough. One objection was filed by Rivers Jr. against Conner.

"I'm confident that everything is in order," Rivers Jr. said.

Davis also said he thinks his objection will be overruled.

"I think it's a horrible practice in Maywood that really needs to stop. It keeps good candidates out of the race because they can't all afford attorneys," Davis said.

A hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Maywood Council Chambers, 120 S. 5th Ave.

Maywood Village Board Approves Questionable Contract!!!

According to the Proviso Herald, Maywood's village manager and village attorney have urged board members to rescind a contract awarded to a company owned by a village firefighter and to instead award the contract to another company -- one owned by the firefighter's family.

Under state statute, municipal employees should not have a financial interest in any contract or work for the municipality.

Dave Lundy, public liaison officer for the Better Government Association, said awarding a contract to a family member of a village employee is legal. However, he said, "It's certainly unwise."

"Half of the problem in government ethics is the perception of government impropriety," Lundy said. "When you have a municipality awarding contracts to members of the family where previously they awarded it to the city worker, it looks like (the municipality) is trying to circumvent the rules."

The village is investigating a similar situation with another village vendor, according to a Jan. 9 memo from Village Manager Jason Ervin and Village Attorney Michael Jurusik. Ervin declined to provide details on the investigation.

In December, the village awarded a contract to Fredderick's Custom Upholstery to re-upholster chairs in the council chambers. The company is owned by firefighter Fred Saffold. Saffold said he made clear his position as a village firefighter when making a presentation about his company in December.

Ervin said at the Jan. 13 Village Board meeting the definition the village used for "municipal officer" did not include public safety officers.

When he found out his company could not do work for the village, Saffold said he recommended Gibson's Corner Custom Upholstery and was "definitely clear" with Ervin that Gibson's was owned by his grandparents.

The Jan. 9 memo from Ervin and Jurusik requested that the Village Board rescind the contract with Fredderick's and award a $33,000 contract to Gibson's.

Saffold was not present at the Jan. 13 meeting, and there was no discussion of Saffold's ties to Gibson's during that meeting.

Ervin said the ownership of Gibson's "was not relevant."

"The question is, Does (Gibson's) violate the statute? The answer is no," Ervin said.

Board members voted on Jan. 13 to rescind the contract with Fredderick's but took no action on the Gibson's proposal. Ervin said the project would be completed "in house" but did not have details on the cost or which department would complete the project.

Reverend Demetrius Davis Announces Run For Mayor Of Maywood...

Reverend Demetrius Davis of the Proviso Community Church announced in a post on this site that he is running for Mayor of Maywood. Here is the post:

This is horrible! Another example of poor leadership. Even when we finally get a grocery store, it'll take us 5 or more years to recoup the half million we just lost. The very reason I'm running for Mayor of Maywood is to root out this sort of incompetence, neglegence, and reckless spending. This 490K is perhaps more than the village spent all year on recreation. With this type of money we could've hired 10 more men and women to work within the village. We could've hired more police officers to patrol the streets. We could've even given dozens of summer internships to our college students returning home for summer.

My campaign led a protest and press conference on the old site of the grocery store several weeks ago. It's time for us all to stand up to demand a better community.

Pastor Demetrius L. Davis
"Maywood's Next Mayor"

Maywood Settles Grocery Store Lawsuit For $490,000

The Village of Maywood has settled a lawsuit with the Springbrook Grocery chain for reneging on a contract to develop the old Rite Way Grocery store at 5th Avenue and Washington. The suit cost the village $490,000, and they still don't have a grocery store.

Maywoodian Replaced By Oak Parker!!!

The Village of Maywood has tapped an Oak Parker to be head of economic development. The former assistant village planner in Oak Park is Maywood's new director of community development.

Lori Sommers, who started Dec. 1, has responsibilities that include overseeing the code enforcement, housing, economic development, grant administration, land acquisition and zoning issues. Sommers replaced a born and raised Maywoodian.

Maywood Mayor Has Heart Surgery!!!

According to the West Surburban Journal News, Maywood Mayor Henderson Yarbrough had double bypass heart surgery recently. Specifically, L. Nicole Trottie writes in her weekly paper that Mayor Henderson Yarbrough underwent double-bypass
heart surgery at Loyola Medical Center last Thursday, Village Manager
Jason Ervin confirmed.

Yarbrough, who is in his 60s, is listed in stable condition, according to a brief
press release by village officials. “Resting comfortably and on the mend,
Mayor Yarbrough is expected to be released early this week,” Ervin said.

The procedure was scheduled in advance and was not as a result of a
medical emergency. No further details were provided.

Three Teenagers Shot and Killed In Maywood

Accorinding to the Proviso Herald, three 18-year-old Maywood men were shot and killed early Saturday.

The shooting happened at 1900 W. Harrison St. in Maywood, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

The three were identified as Kent Flowers, Oscar Pritchett and Devin Stokes, according to the medical examiner's office. Their home addresses were unknown, but all three were residents of Maywood, according to a medical examiner's office spokesman.

Flowers was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood at 12:29 a.m., Pritchett was pronounced dead at Loyola at 2:20 a.m. and Stokes was pronounced dead at Loyola at 1:41 a.m.

Maywood Resident Organizes March!!!

According to the Proviso Herald's Chuck Fieldman, a major march against violence took place on Monday. Here's what Fieldman wrote:

Isiah Brandon had quite a bit of help Monday evening when he tried to get his message out in Maywood.

The 20-year-old 2006 Proviso East grad wasn't sure what to expect when he organized Monday's 5:15 p.m. "A Cry to Save Our Youth March" through the streets of Maywood.

But with the Proviso East band leading the way and creating sounds that drew more than 100 people out of their homes to watch along the way, Brandon also had the support of another 100 people who took part in the march. Some of the marchers held up signs denouncing the violence that has plagued Maywood.

"I wanted to have this march to wake up the community and show the criminals out there that we, as a community, will not accept the violence anymore," Brandon said. "I really believe we can get rid of the violence in Maywood. What we're missing is unity. We all need to work together to do this. This (march) is only the beginning."

With four homicides already on the books for the first six months of 2008 and other non-fatal shooting seemingly becoming almost commonplace, it's time for a big change, Brandon said.

"People have gotten to the point where they're used to hearing about shootings in Maywood, and that's very scary," he said.

Cheryl Coleman, 42, has lived in Maywood since she was a young girl. She came out for Monday's march to show support for the youth who live in the village.

"We want to let people know that we're out here for the kids," she said. "The kids need places here they can go for recreational activities, and the parents need to be more involved with their kids."

Right behind the Proviso East band was LaDana Ford, mother of 17-year-old Tawanna Ford, who was shot and killed June 2 at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Ninth Avenue.

The march procession stopped for a few minutes at that corner while some participants stopped for prayer. It was an especially emotional time for LaDana Ford.

"I thought about not coming (to the march), but I came in remembrance of my daughter," Ford said. "I know she'd want me to do this."

The march started at the Maywood Public Library (121 S. Fifth Ave.) and went north on Fifth Avenue to St. Charles Road, west on St. Charles to Ninth Avenue, south on Ninth Avenue to Washington Boulevard, east on Washington Boulevard to Fifth Avenue and then south on Fifth Avenue back to the library.

Maywood Hit Hard By Foreclosures!!!

Chuck Feldman of the Proviso Herald reports on foreclosures in Proviso Township. According to Feldman, a few communities in Proviso Township had some of the highest rates of new foreclosure cases in the Chicago area in 2007, according to the National Training and Information Center.

NTIC, a Chicago non-profit group that has been working to reduce foreclosures since 1998, released a list in March of the foreclosure rates of 263 Chicagoland communities. The rankings are based on the number of new foreclosure cases per square mile in each community for 2007.

Although its increase in new foreclosure cases between 2006 and 2007 was 7.7 percent, compared to 251 percent in 2007 from 233 percent in 2006, Maywood ranked first for 2007 with 93 new foreclosure cases per square mile.

Maywood Mayor Henderson Yarbrough said he is unsure why the village heads the list.

"I don't know -- unless our community has been targeted because we're a majority minority community," he said. "Maywood is not really a really poor community; our median income is around $38,000. We've tried to educate our residents (about foreclosures) where we can with forums, but often that's after the horses have gotten out of the barn."

High rates of new foreclosures are common throughout the region, and Yarbrough said he believes that's often because those seeking a first-time mortgage or refinancing a home are misled by financial lenders.

"A lot of people get into these deals based on whatever the lender tells them," he said. "Once you get to the closing table, it's hard to get up and walk away. People can be very vulnerable in these situations, and they often are taken advantage of."

Few concerns
In Hillside, foreclosure cases have not been a big problem, Village Administrator Russ Wajda said. Hillside had 38 new foreclosure cases in 2006 and 52 new cases in 2007, according to NTIC.

One reason Hillside has not been hit as hard as other communities is its older population, Wajda said.

"Perhaps most of the homes are paid off," he said. "If there's no mortgage, there's no foreclosure."

In Melrose Park, Mayor Ron Serpico isn't overly concerned that foreclosures in the village increased from 75 in 2006 to 136 in 2007.

"It's a trying time, but we haven't found it to be a tremendous problem for us," Serpico said, adding that Melrose Park may be faring better than some communities because of a low number of home sales.

"There is little the village can do to address foreclosures, he said. "It's up to the state and federal government. That's not part of what we do. Can you imagine if we had any funds, how many people could we save? It's a virtual impossibility."

While the federal government has been concerned with foreclosures, its focus has not been on homeowners, Andrea Frye, NTIC spokeswoman, said.

"Up 'til now, it has to do with how we fix the financial markets and help Wall Street," she said. "We've been screaming for a long time that homeowners need relief."

Foreclosure causes
One of the reasons foreclosures have increased is structural. Mortgage brokers work on commission and get paid up front. The mortgages are then sold to investment companies, and the brokers have no more responsibility.

"Because the commitment to that loan was very short term, what we found was that people were placed into loans that were not going to be permanently affordable," Frye said.

An example is adjustable rate loans. A mortgage with a 30-year payback, for example, would start off with a lower or "teaser" interest rate for the first two years. The loan then increases to the full interest rate. For homeowners who are barely making their loan payments at the lower rate, an increase can be deadly.

Jim Shilling, a professor of finance at DePaul University's Center for Real Estate Research, said a number of economic factors have exacerbated the problem.

First, housing prices are down. If housing prices were rising, a homeowner at risk of foreclosure could merely sell their property. In a sinking market, selling would leave the homeowner still owing money.

Second, employment is down, especially higher-paid manufacturing jobs. At the same time, the cost of gasoline is at a record high, leaving homeowners with less money to pay their mortgage.

No one wins when a property is foreclosed upon, Shilling said. The homeowner loses their home and has their credit rating damaged. The neighborhood or community is disrupted.

Also, while foreclosures have been occurring more with lower end homes, the overall real estate market is negatively impacted. It's a bit like climbing a ladder, Shilling said.

"Purchasers of starter homes hope for significant property value gains," he said. "They then trade up to the next rung on the ladder. That increases housing prices. The middle (of the market) trades up, too. If the lower end experiences capital losses, it means less demand for the middle and the high."

Former Maywood Police Officer Wade Cleared!!!

According to Chuck Feldman of the Proviso Herald, a former Maywood police officer was acquitted April 14 by a jury in Cook County Circuit Court on charges of criminal drug conspiracy.

Arian Wade, 36, was charged in January 2005 in connection with a narcotics investigation aimed at individuals who sought to bribe police officers to not interfere with drug trafficking in Maywood. Wade worked for the Maywood police department for eight years.

Operation Pocket Change was initiated in August 2004 and conducted by investigators from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Maywood Police and the Cook County Sheriff's Police. The operation was prompted by a man approaching a Maywood police officer about taking a weekly bribe to protect various street corners on which transactions were taking place, prosecutors said. That exchange led to three officers posing as crooked cops who accepted approximately $1,200 a week to ignore drug operations in the area, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

Wade was charged after phone taps used in the operation allegedly caught him tipping off an individual who was under investigation.

Wade's attorney, James Kogut, said the person allegedly tipped off by his client -- Hosie Thurman, a leader of the Gangster Disciples -- was used by Wade as "a street contact."

"Police officers are trained to use street contacts to get information," Kogut said. "(Wade) used (Thurman) to get information, but they turned that against him."

Kogut said there was no real evidence against Wade.

"(Less than four hours) is a short time for a jury to deliberate on a case like this one," Kogut said. "The fact that the jury was able to (acquit Wade) in that short of a time shows the failure of the state's case to support the allegations." The trial started March 31.

Wade was placed on paid administrative leave after the January 2005 criminal charges were filed against him, but was fired Aug. 1, 2005 for theft, official misconduct and lying to superior officers, among other charges brought forth by then-Police Chief James Collier to the five-member Maywood Fire and Police Commission.

Hugh Muir Turns 99!!!

The Proviso Herald did a feature recently on Hugh Muir, the founder of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce. Click this link to read more:
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/maywood/news/860036,ma-chamber-032608-s1.article

What Has Happened To The Village of Eternal Light???

Maywood was once known as the Village of Eternal Light. What has happened to this once beautiful and magnificent community? What has Henderson Yarbrough done in three years since becoming Mayor in April 2005?

Where is TIF Excess Money Going???

The Insider has learned that Maywood and other surrounding communities are sitting on millions of excess dollars that can be used to support our financially strapped schools. According to sources, Maywood is sitting on $11 million in excess TIF revenues alone. However, the Village refuses to comply with state law and call meetings to discuss the TIF money, and they refuse to return the excess to the Cook County Assessor's office so the money can be redistributed to schools, parks and other taxing bodies within the district.

Why are Maywood village officials ruining our schools?

Opposition Gearing Up In Stone Park, Hillside, Bellwood, Maywood, Melrose Park & Westchester!!!

The Insider has learned that opposition parties are currently forming in Stone Park, Hillside, Bellwood, Maywood, Melrose Park, and Westchester. Each party plans on running full slates against incumbents in April of 2009. Stone Park is reportedly in the midst of heavy financial problems. Hillside residents are fuming over the handling of the Hillside landfill. Bellwood residents are reportedly fed up with insider deals and cronyism. Maywood residents want to toss out the Yarbroughs and Ed Smith's west side influence. Former Stone Park Trustee Jesse Martinez is delusional and thinks he can oust Melrose Park Mayor Ronald Serpico. Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica and Former SD209 Board member Mike Manzo plan on running a slate against Westchester Mayor Paul Gattuso. Proviso Township will be hot in 2009.

What do you think of the possiblities in April 2009?

Reward for Officer Thomas Wood Raised to $100,000

The FBI and the village of Maywood are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information in the 2006 murder of Maywood Police Officer Thomas Wood.

The reward is offered for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the person or persons responsible for the officer's murder in the near west suburb.

A nine-year veteran of the Maywood police, Wood was found shot to death in his marked patrol car near 6th Avenue and Erie Street at the end of his scheduled afternoon shift on Oct. 23, 2006, according to a release Tuesday from the Chicago office of the FBI.

Wood, 37, a canine officer for Maywood, was in the driver's seat and had been shot multiple times. The engine was running when found. Robbery did not appear to be a motive, according to the release, since Wood's weapon and wallet were still on him when he was found.

Wood was active in the Maywood Police Department's effort to investigate and eliminate gang activity in the village, the FBI said, and it is believed his murder was related to these efforts.

In addition to publicizing this reward offer, the FBI's Chicago office will be assisting Maywood police in the murder investigation and will begin investigating gang activity and drug trafficking in the suburb.

Anyone with information about the murder should call the FBI at (312) 421-6700.