Archive for the ‘Legal and Political’ Category

Tuesday, February 5th is voting day for Illinois primary elections. With these upcoming elections, who will we vote for, and on what basis?

Here at FVFAPP, our "cause" is to rid Aurora and the Fox Valley area of Planned Parenthood and the killing of unborn children. Our "cause" is in defense of life - a.k.a. Pro-Life. [Continue reading . . . »]

Hello FVFAPP readers, Matt Yonke here. Eric and I are in Washington D.C. for the March for life today. I'll be updating wherever I have internet access, beginning with the Blogs for Life Conference, where I am right now. Later we're hitting the march, which I'll probably have to blog in a less "live" fashion. So, without further delay, away we go!

9:40 a.m. I am very excited that, though I arrived at Blogs for life a little late, I made it in time for Senator Sam Brownback, one of our fiercest pro-life politicians. Sen. Brownback is encouraging us to consider a "pro-life/whole life" stance.

He says we need to remember that life is just as important in the womb, in schools, in prison, overseas, wherever life is present, life is precious and sacred. [Continue reading . . . »]

You may have seen this editorial (click the picture to see a larger version) in our local paper, the Beacon News. Seems the editorial staff thinks it's time for us to call it quits with our efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their lies and violations of the law. They say it's fine for us to protest, but we shouldn't waste "the taxpayers'" money on a court battle that we will certainly lose. After all, they argue, two independent attorney reviews, the state's attorney and the ZBA have all said "nothing can be legally done to shut down the clinic." So why don't we just give up? [Continue reading . . . »]

Last night's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing was fast and furious. It was full of back and forth between attorneys and the ZBA. It seemed like it was over before it began! I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what implications last night's events will have on the future of our efforts here in Aurora.

First of all, I hope it's clear to everyone that this was not the end of anything, nor was it a defeat. This case is still just getting started and we were in no way harmed or set back by last night's outcome. But more on that later. [Continue reading . . . »]

A condensed portion of this post has been sent to the Beacon letter to the editor - but I'm posting here to share with all of you as who knows if it will get to print.

I guess I’m naïve but I don’t understand why the city fought so hard to keep the truth from surfacing in the zoning issue with the Planned Parenthood facility. I, for one, would like to see the truth brought out—whatever that may be.

When the zoning appeal was made, I thought it would be a debate with the owner of the Planned Parenthood facility; instead it has been a debate with the city, with the Planned Parenthood lawyer, basically saying ‘yeah, what she said’. When this started, I thought the city would be the neutral party in this, wanting only to ensure the right thing was done for its citizens (i.e. city ordinances were followed).

[Continue reading . . . »]

Tonight: The next Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing begins at 7:00 p.m. at Aurora City Hall (map). Wear your "Planned Parenthood LIES to You"—or pick one up when you get there.

If you can't be at the hearing, tune in here for live blogging starting about 6:45 p.m.

The ZBA will rule on three important motions tonight. First is the city's Motion to Dismiss—they want the ZBA to refuse to hear our appeal on the grounds that it's untimely and out of their jurisdiction. If the ZBA grants this motion, the hearings are over and we'll have to take our case to state.

[Continue reading . . . »]

In an exciting development, our crack team of attorneys filed a motion today that could have very far reaching consequences.

Before I can explain exactly what has happened, a little legal background will be helpful.

First, in the current Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing, our attorneys are arguing that, when the city issued a permit for Planned Parenthood in October despite all the evidence that PP should not occupy that property, they made an inaccurate zoning determination. When a property has been understood as improperly zoned, it is illegal under the City's own code to issue any further occupancy permits. [Continue reading . . . »]

Tonight: Live-blogging from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing in the Council Chambers of City Hall. At the first hearing November 28, the ZBA set a time line and ground rules for the hearings. Tonight's hearing will deal with our Motion to Complete the Record.

Breaking News: This afternoon, our attorneys filed a Motion for Subpoenas [PDF], asking the ZBA to allow us to conduct expedited depositions of Zoning Administrator Ed Sieben, Building Official Herman Beneke and independent investigators Phillip Luetkehans and Richard Martens.

[Continue reading . . . »]

A couple of developments from the Aurora City Hall today:

1. Parental Notice Ordinance

Alderman Rick Lawrence appeared before the Government Operations Committee this afternoon to request that they postpone further discussion of the Parental Notification Ordinance until their February 26 meeting. More time is needed to craft an ordinance that will provide real protection for minor children and be enforceable under state law.

[Continue reading . . . »]

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. at City Hall, our case before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) will advance another important step forward. The ZBA will consider our "Motion to Complete the Record."

By means of this motion, our attorneys are seeking to ensure two things:

1. That city officials disclose all documents relevant to our appeal.
2. That all relevant documents are included in the record.

You see, we've had some difficulty getting city officials to cooperate as we've been putting together our case. [Continue reading . . . »]