Township Politicians Take Sides On Parking Tickets

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part story on the political standoff over how to handle vehicle violations on Northfield Township roads. , which follows the money at stake. 

While 10 of 19 Cook County road districts have signed on to an agreement billed as a way to streamline enforcement of vehicle violations, passage in Northfield Township has been stymied for more than two months due to political stalemate between the board of trustees and Highway Commissioner Peter Amarantos. 

Passed into law in July 2011, an amendment to the Cook County vehicle code would allow the Cook County Sheriff’s Police to send tickets for minor violations straight to an administrative hearing, bypassing the court system. Under the old system, such violations often never got adjudicated because the State’s Attorney’s Office was so busy with other cases—meaning that the money from the fines never got sent on to the Sheriff’s Police or to the townships whose roads the tickets were written on, according to Dave Feller, legislative coordinator for the Sheriff’s Police. 

But in Northfield Township, Highway Commissioner Amarantos has refused to sign the agreement, arguing that it’s simply another tax on drivers. Meanwhile, the board of trustees believes administrative hearings are good government, and voted to approve the amendment.

A history of animosity between Amarantos and the board of trustees also colors the situation. After the board reduced the salary for an emergency management position Amarantos created in his 2010-11 road district budget, he filed suit.

In July, a Cook County circuit court judge ruled that the board of trustees had indeed “exceeded its statutory authority” by making a specific change to Amarantos’ budget.

Nearby Townships Sign On

While there is turmoil in Northfield Township, officials from nearby Wheeling and Maine townships say they signed onto the intergovernmental agreement with little hesitation. 

“I can’t tell you what Peter Amarantos has against it, but we didn’t have anything,” said Josephine Stellato, Wheeling Township’s director of finance and adminstration. “We went ahead and signed it.”

Stellato said the Wheeling Township board of trustees discussed the amendment and the township’s lawyer reviewed the agreement, and there were no serious concerns.

Maine Township’s board of trustees and highway commissioner also signed on to the agreement over the summer, according to Maine Township Supervisor Carol Teschky.

“We actually all relied on the information from our highway commissioner,” she said.

Maine Township Highway Commissioner Robert Provenzano said at first he was wary of the amendment, but has entered into an agreement with the board of trustees whereby money collected from the violations is turned over to the road district.

“It’s not going to generate a whole lot of money—maybe for the sheriff it will, because he’s got a whole lot of townships,” he said.

Northfield Township Supervisor Jill Brickman said the board of trustees saw no reason not to approve the agreement. 

“It was one of those things where it was a matter of intergovernmental cooperation, and nothing stood out as a reason not to do it,” she said.

Revenues Could Support Food Pantry Or Highway Maintenance

Trustee Carol Blustein is anxious to get the new amendment on the books and see the revenue coming in to the township. 

The money collected would benefit the township’s food pantry, which recently has seen an increasing number of people needing its services, she said. 

“When I started my term in May of 2009, there were 503 families certified to use the Northfield Township Pantry,” Blustein said. As of the beginning of October, there were 652 signed up, a rise from 630 at the end of August.

If the money were signed over to the road district, it would go toward such projects as de-icing, plowing and repairing the roughly 20 miles of roads the township maintains.

In the end, Amarantos and the board of trustees agree on at least one thing—the sum of money in question is not very large.

“It’s very little revenue,” said Amarantos.

Eleni DeMertzis contributed reporting to this story.