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Used-car conflict still dividing Butler officials, Chamber of

Butler In a village with only 1,881 people, six parked, used cars continue to cause political turmoil and hurt feelings.

The latest twists in a feud that began in 2003 over a businessman's request to park a half-dozen cars in front of his store have the village pulling its membership from the local Chamber of Commerce, the chamber firing back in its quarterly newsletter and the former chamber president running for village president on a platform of improving relations between the village government and its businesses.

The conflict began in December 2003 when the Village Board voted 4- 3 to change regulations to allow Butler Auto Werks to park six cars on the street at the corner of N. 125th St. and W. Hampton Ave. Three months later, with one trustee having resigned and another absent, the board reversed itself, voting 3-2 to deny the change.

In June, the board again voted to allow front-yard parking, but by then the Butler Area Chamber of Commerce had voiced its support of the used car lot to the village. The village administrator, Larry Plaster, responded to that move in August by dropping the village's membership in the chamber and resigning his and the police chief's positions on the chamber's 15-member executive board.

Plaster, who had a seat on the board throughout his 11 years as village administrator, said there was always the potential for a conflict of interest between the village and the chamber, and the move became necessary once the chamber took a position in opposition to the village's.

"It was evident to me that it was inappropriate for myself and the police chief to sit on the board of an organization that takes a position against our employer," Plaster said Wednesday. "If we're not going to be on the board of directors, we might as well take our membership with us."

Village President Walter Woloszyk, who initially opposed allowing the used cars to be parked on the village's main thoroughfare, also claimed credit for the village dropping its chamber membership. Woloszyk said Wednesday he didn't need to inform other trustees of the move because, he said, they didn't know the village had a membership in the first place.

The village attorney, Hector de la Mora, said that because the amount of money is so small, Plaster and Woloszyk wouldn't have needed board approval to drop the village's chamber membership.

"I would think that it would be within the budgetary process," he said.

Chamber fires back

With Plaster and the police chief, Mike Olsen, off its board, the chamber fired back in its quarterly newsletter published late last year, accusing the village of turning back the clock to a time when businesses and the local government regularly sparred with each other.

"Village officials have sent a message that communication is not important and may lead us back to the divisiveness of the past," wrote chamber board member Robert Zoulek, who owns Mid City Plumbing and Heating.

Then last month the chamber's president, John Ehrlinger, quit his post and began a campaign to unseat Woloszyk.

Ehrlinger, who owns the Loan Depot, said the village's treatment of the used car outlet sparked his campaign.

"The people who were against Butler Auto Werks, what they put people through, and what money was spent is part of the reason I'm running," he said.

The election will be April 5.

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