Public Oversight wrote:
Had the Center Township Assessor been eliminated, we came within 600 votes last November 2 of having Carol Ann Seaton assessing Crown Point and Center Township property.
Uran became mayor, January 1, 2008. Uran, Keith Stevens and city attorney Dave Nicholls entered the Plasmatronics building when Plasmatronics left Crown Point in March 2008. They saw first hand that there was virtually no buildout - which was supposed to be the collateral for the loan. They sued Plasmatronics in June 2008. They learned from discovery of the Plasmatronics checks and bank statements that $235,000 was paid to K-2 Contruction Co for the buildout - but there was no buildout.
In December, 2008 they knew the Plasmatronics money was gone. They knew the collateral was gone. Instead of turning the matter over to the criminal authorities, they sued the building owner Ron Morris for $235,000. They stated under oath in the lawsuit (paragraph 55) that $235,000 was spent on the buildout to enrich Morris. They knew this was a lie under oath. They have run up $300,000 in legal fees for Nicholls and his legal team - who contribute to Uran's campaign fund.
The FBI is investigating the matter. They are doing a thorough job and have obtained thousands of documents.
Don't get me wrong here because I hate to defend any politician... but I still don't get all the blame here. Uran had nothing to do with the creation of the Plasmatronics deal, so the full blame needs to fall where it belongs. You say that Uran did not turn the matter over to the criminal authorities, yet you say the FBI is investigating? How do you know Uran did not talk to Lake County Prosecutors? If the FBI has been involved then what are they doing about it, because I don't believe they are doing anything personally.
You also must not understand what I mean about the elimination of the assessor’s office and the trustee offices. We do NOT need these offices and they are not doing their jobs anyway! If the assessors were doing their jobs than the assessments would be accurate and we would not have to outsource it. If you have to do anything with your assessment you still have to go to the county building to get anything done. The trustee position is a waste, all they do is hand out money to drug users and welfare hacks.