BILL SARTO TELLS ALL!

Exposes Village of Carpentersville on his way out of office

 

The former Village of Carpentersville President Bill Sarto, disgraced office holder, spoke with former Carpentersville resident Grant Crowell about the true dealings in Village Government, painting a very different picture of what he has said publicly and during his failed election campaign. Read on below and hear Sarto tell the whole, sordid story on what he says really goes on in Carpentersville government.

 

The following is a partial transcript of a phone conversation between Bill Sarto and Grant Crowell recorded on April 11, 2009. 

 

Sarto – Village IT Director was hired without any professional background, accuses sexual affair for job promotion 

 

Grant : Let's be real honest here. The election is over. You don't need to do any campaigning here. You can be really open about this. What is the issue then because I can't work with the Village if I'm dealing with somebody who is the Village Manager who wants to protect the IT Director. I've been doing this for many years before you came in office, since 2001. That was before Manager Anderson. Manager Anderson wants to keep that. Like I told you, I tried to work with the police department and fire department, just even offering to send out email blasts. That was shot down by Manager Anderson.   

  

Bill Sarto: Let me just explain something real quickly that I have come to know since I've been in this position as Village President. That is, Anderson is not necessarily the problem. [Village Fire Chief] John Schudlt still has a lot of influence with staff. He still has lots of influence with Anderson because of his influence with the staff that Anderson basically inherited when he was hired on. John Schudlt was, you know, a key player in, well... I think he was the one who promoted Kathy Stoves to the IT Position. Obviously, without any background to warrant that promotion. But he wanted to take her because, frankly, it was another one of his bimbo girlfriends that he was banging, you know. 

 

Sarto – "This Village is in a real mess!" 

  

Bill Sarto: So, that's the issue here. Anderson... he's in a bad situation himself, because he's caught between the Sigwalt faction that's tied real close to John Schudlt; and you know, he's afraid to make any moves without being given direction by certain board members – Sigwalt in particular. Because he knows her influence with the fire chief.  Its a mess! I mean, to be honest with you, this Village is in a real mess! I mean, on the surface, it looks like ducks going along, but they're paddling like hell underneath, believe me. And, you don't see all the action beneath the surface, but there is a lot of, you know, back-biting going on with staff, a lot of discord among the staff...

 

Sarto – Fire Chieft Jim Schudlt controls the Village Manager, and staff

 

Anderson has his own allies, like Cindy McCammack and some of those people who are also tied to Sigwalt, because he hired Cindy McCammack, so the ones that Craig has hired are more loyal to him. The ones that John Schuldt hired are more loyal to him. So we basically have the tug-of-war going on with the staff over who they're loyal to. So, and Anderson is afraid to make any major moves, because it would probably cost him his job. So that is the real nuts-and-bolts of this. It is more complicated than it appears; and it isn't that Craig Anderson necessarily supports Kathy Stoves. I don't even think he even likes her. But the point is that his hands are tied because he would have to directly confront Schudlt to get rid of her, and he's not going to do it. 

 

Grant: Why would [Anderson] have to confront Schudlt?  

 

Bill Sarto: Because of Schudlt's influence with some of the board members. That's the problem. We have John Schudlt who is supported by the majority on the board. Because of that, he has power.

 

Grant: So... he has influence with several board members, and if he says jump, they'll do something like that? The board members themselves?

  

Bill Sarto: They would. 

  

Grant: That wasn't something you were able to make inroads with in Schuldt with? Was it just the majority of the board?

  

Sarto: I really couldn't because of the fact that, you know, his allegiance is to the old guard, you know. That's who put him in his as acting manager and gave him his power that he had for a while. Therefore, his allegiance is to them.

 

Sarto – I lied to get things accomplished   

 

Grant:  Why be saying on your blog and other places that [IT Director Kathy Stoves] is qualified, or that she's doing a decent job, when you know she isn't? If these board members or supporting that, wouldn't it make more sense to not be supporting that, and come out and say, "hey look, this isn't right?"

 

Sarto: Well, the reason I did what I did is I was trying my best to get along with as many of the staff as I could. Because that was my only avenue to get things accomplished. I mean, the things I was able to get accomplished was basically because I would go around the board and actually do things on my own as the Village President...

 

So I'm just saying that the reason I've done some of the things I've done isn't because I've supported these people; its because if I wanted to get some things accomplished that I wanted to do, that I felt like was important to the Village, I needed their help to do it. And so, if I alienated them in any way, it was... and I was critical of staff openly on my blog from time to time. I mean, and I would say things at open board meetings against code enforcement and things like that. I mean, some things are just so obviously bad that you couldn't just not say anything, to the point that it was horrible.

Grant: I remember, when we talked in past years, you would complain about how bad the email system was  

...how you needed to be hiring people on the outside,

 

Sarto: Yeah!  True!

 

Grant: and just like there were other people at the Village that didn't have certain skills or education, what was it that was "hands off" that after I bring all this up, nobody including yourself wants to admit any of it publicly, or says the opposite... what is it about her? Is it really just because of her direct connection to John Schuldt... that made it too much of a political risk?

 

Sarto: Yup. Absolutely.

 

Grant: So now, OK, you're out. [Former Trustee] Linda's out. So what? Is it just something that's not worth bringing up?

 

Sarto: I  think that if we say anything at this point that it just seems like sour grapes, you know. It just makes it look like you're a disgruntled old former village president that's made because you lost. I mean, it loses its punch, you know? That's exactly how people will would view it. It would just look like I was just growsing about something that I should have said while I was in office. And to be honest with you, if I was going to make a statement, I should have said it while I was in office. But like I said, it was a situation that was a no-winner for me. I've never had an opportunity to work with a board that was a majority on my side; and therefore, I was always in a position of having to be careful with what I said... You saw how I would react to some of the things that this board has been doing.

 

Sarto – Illegal Immigration campaign was a scheme to get me fired 

 

 

Sarto: I mean, when they brought up the illegal immigration stuff, I was furious at these two [Sigwalt and Humpher] for doing this. I mean, they didn't talk about this at all with anyone before they did it; they just threw it out there. I mean, it was like a hand grenade they tossed out and everybody had to take cover, because they wanted to get re-elected. And that's the only reason they did it. They never had one iota of intention of ever doing anything with illegal aliens. All they wanted to do was stir up the community, get some voters all riled up, so they could get them out to vote, and they did it!

  

That was phase 1. Phase 2 was to get me out! Because the day I was elected was the day they were working to remove me. I mean it started before I was even sworn into office, with Humpher being reappointed after [former Trustee] Bob Whitehouse abruptly resigned his position. It all started when I was elected because I was not supposed to win. I mean, I shocked all of them by winning. They did not expect it. And when I did win, they went to work to get me out. That was their goal...

  

Grant: Looking back now at both the 2007 election and this election, is there anything you think you could have done differently?

   

Sarto: No. I don't think there's anything I could have done to change it. Unless, I would have went along with their stupid proposal to crack down on the illegal aliens. If I would have said, "OK, you guys are right, we should do this." You know if I had done that, yeah, it probably would have diffused their campaign, and also would have ruined their chances to go after me. But they knew that I would never do that. That was the risk they took, or the calculation they took. And to be honest with you, Grant, I think that this was orchestrated by the two Baileys – both Chris Bailey and Mike Bailey of the Courier News.

 

Grant: How do you think it was organized? What would their agenda be? 

 

Sarto: Their agenda was to get me out of office, because I was a Democrat, and they didn't want a Democrat holding a position of authority in Carpentersville.

 

Grant: Isn't it kind of unusual for reporters to be doing that?

 

Sarto: It wasn't necessarily the reporters themselves. The reporters obviously answered to the editors. When [former Courier News reporter] Alexia had been working for the newspaper, when I ran in 2005, I had very favorable press. She wrote some very good stories and I don't believe Chris Bailey was at the paper at that time. And then, Chris Bailey was hired on. She actually moved from the Courier to the Daily Herald, and when she made the move over there, that's around the time Alexia went to work for the [Chicago Sun Times] Red Eye. She called me before she left and told me she was leaving. I asked her if this was a promotion, and she said it was a lateral move, but I can't tell you all the details right now, but she says that she just couldn't stay here; I couldn't stay here under the conditions I was told I had to work under.

 

Sarto – How I could have won the election and stayed Village President

 

 

Grant: Do you think there was something you could have done differently if that's what you needed to do to win the election this year?

 

 

Sarto: Like I said, yeah, if I said yeah lets see if we can take this ordinance from Hazelton and apply it to Carpentersville. The caucasians would have loved me! They would have said, alright, we got a mayor who's fighting for us! He's going after those Mexicans! But that's not who I am. I am not going to turn my back on 40% of my population on some foolish political stunt... and I kept saying it was a political stunt, but the newspapers kept printing it like I was against the white people and for the Mexicans.

 

Sarto – I used my blog and online video for political reasons

 

 

That probably would have been all the more reason, when you had the opportunity, to do your own video, to do your own stuff. I know you tried that with the blog. Can I ask you, why publicly say in your blog that people aren't ready for [online] video, and that its not important to put up meetings online... then why do you take a video clip and put it on your site, and use it to expose somebody? It just seems like it was a campaign thing. I'm wondering if your blog was really all about your campaign if you're not updating it anymore.

 

 

Sarto: No I am going to continue with it, but its going to be a different venue obviously, because i will no longer be the Village President. But I will keep updating different things going on in the Village, different things I'm doing personally. I think my hits are going to go drastically lower than what they've been. I was getting aroudn 500-700 hits a day on that thing. So you know, it was pretty widely read. I know it was widely read by the FBI, it was read by the Kane County State's Attorney. The reason I know that is because there are some investigations currently going on right now that aren't for public consumption. The Attorney General's office just started an investigation into some of the shennanigans that have been going on in this Village. So what comes of all this, who knows? But I do know that it was being read by law enforcement... and getting information.

 

Sarto – New Village President Ed Ritter will be an extension of the [former Village President] Mark Boettger regime

  

  

Grant: I know you're passionate about it. [Trustee Judy] Sigwalt, in her own way, is passionate about it in a very very different way than you are. Let's be honest, that's who it attracts. I can do two things. I can just not care. I can just have those YouTube videos run in perpetuity, forever. Since, lets face it, the Village isn't going to do anything on their own, and that's going to be its image. I believe because of those videos, people aren't going to want to do business in Carpentersville. People aren't going to want to move to Carpentersville. Maybe I'm wrong?

 

Sarto: I don't think you're wrong at all. I think that we have irreparibly harmed our image with all of this immigration talk to the extent that it will take years for us to be actually viewed and... that depends on if we would start turning the corner on doing the right things for the right reasons. I don't see this incoming board doing any of that. I think its just going to be an extension of the Boettger years. Its going to go backwards rather than forward.

  

Grant: Did you get my email I sent you on Ed Ritter's response about him being on the Boettger ticket? What did you think of that?

  

Sarto: I thought it was very self-serving on his part, because he was appointed to the Planning and Zoning comission by Boettger, when he tried to make it look like he was just an afterthought to get on the ticket. I mean, Ritter was right with Boettger and these guys every step of the way... believe me... he has been friends  with Mark Boettger. That's how he got on the ticket.

 

Sarto – Village of Carpentersville is being investigated for criminal activity by outside authorities

 

 

Grant: So you think there's real criminal stuff going on at the Village. Do you think that's going to keep going on with this board?

 

 

Sarto: Yes. I think they've stollen money to be honest with you. The books were being cooked by Paul Humpher and that's why they wanted to keep Humpher on after the election. They weren't only going to give Humpher a Village Trustee position; they were trying to make him Village President; Boettger was willing to step aside and let him run to make him Village President, and support him. And Humpher was furious when he lost to me. He couldn't believe it... That's exactly why they did what they did after that election and re-appointed him. [Former Trustee] Bob Whitehouse, giving up 2 years of his term that he didn't have to give up.

 

 

Grant: So does this all come down to a treasure chest.. and they just want in on the action, and they find out people who to talk to? So who's in charge here and who's leading this?

 

Sarto: I think Don Rage is directly involved in it. He's one of the key players. From a standpoint of who actually is the ringleader, I think some of those who were directly involved in benefitting from it, Sigwalt would be one of them, Boettger would be one of them. They hold some control over what's going on. I think even with Boettger out of office, he still has influence over some of the board members, and still meets with them on a regular basis. Humpher was obviously their go-to guy who cooked the books for them. He did the same thing for Don Rage when Rage was under investigation by the IRS for some of his underhanded dealings when he was managing a property over in West Dundee. That's where Humpher came over from, that's where they found him. Don Rage had found him, and he passed him on to the Village.

 

 

Grant: So you think it comes down to people saying, hey look we have this inside access to the Village, and we can do these things, and everybody gets their cut?

 

 

Sarto: Exactly. I think they just look into it as their own little pie that they can dig into every once in a while, you know?

 

 

Grant: Do you know if there's any way to show evidence?

 

 

Sarto: Well that's why there's investigations going on right now. The only way you can get this evidence is by doing a forensic audit, and to also have supoena power to bring people in and get records, and check their own accounts, and things like that. At some point, I hope something will come of these investigations that are currently underway.

 

Sarto – New Village Board will be worse

  

 

Grant: So what do you think will go on with the new board? Will it be more of the same?

 

 

Sarto: I do. I think it will be possibly worse.

 

Sarto – Current Village of Carpentesville IT Director Kathy Stoves should be fired

    

 

Sarto: I went along with Kathy Stoves and people like that because I had no other choice. I couldn't fire Kathy Stoves. I didn't have the authority to do that.

 

 

Grant: Do you think she should be [fired]?

 

 

Sarto: Yeah! I do. 

  

Sarto – Outside authorities are investigating Carpentersville

 

 

 Sarto: See, I have cooperated with the authorities. Its not like I am hiding anything. I mean, I have told all of this stuff to them. They know what's going on. Its up to them to decide what they're going to do with it. They've held illegal meetings for over 3 years. They get together every Friday before the board meeting with their handful of nutjob supporters... and they go through the board packets, they look through all of the information. For a while there they were intentionally disrupting the meetings, causing our meetings to drag out for 3 hours or longer... And if I tried to stiffle the public comments, I would be criticized by the media for stiffling people's opportunity to talk!

 

Grant: So you're saying you believe the whole thing was staged 

 

Sarto: All the caucasians turned on me in this town. I was just trying to keep the Village from being sued.