I know our village of Lombard is in hard financial times, but I am sure they pay somebody a lot of money to give them a financial forecast or an analysis. I would think that person or persons who gave our village a financial forecast should be fired. If the village did not listen to the forecast, the trustees should resign. It’s spend, spend, spend, and this is the worst board ever.
Village Manager Dave Hulseberg responded: “The village's finance director, Tim Sexton, provides financial forecasts for the village. These forecasts did anticipate declining revenues, and likewise the village board and staff have cut expenses to maintain a balanced budget. First and foremost, we have had to take the difficult step of layoffs, recently laying off five employees. Over the last several years, we have reduced expenses wherever possible, and have been able to avoid layoffs. However, as most of the village's budget for operations is made up of personnel, there was nowhere left to reduce expenses other than with reductions in personnel. In addition, we have not filled 11 open positions, and those positions will remain frozen for the upcoming fiscal year. Overtime in the fire department has been reduced by over $320,000, and hours have been reduced for a number of part-time positions in the village. Next, we have looked at delaying purchases of vehicles and technology where possible, without impacting the village's ability to respond to emergencies. In addition, we are evaluating the entire fleet of village vehicles for possible efficiencies. We will be reducing the number of village vehicles by eleven, and continue to look at opportunities for further consolidation. Also, we have eliminated all out-of-state training. Finally, we have worked with the library on their conversion to a library district, thereby reducing the future pension costs to the village for library employees. We will continue to monitor the village's revenues, and make the necessary adjustments to expenses as needed to maintain a balanced budget.”—JAC
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I saw in the District 44 newsletter that an extended day program is replacing remedial summer school classes. The article says that the program and bus transportation home are being offered at no cost to parents. It also says the district is saving money because it had to hire teachers for summer school. Did the parents have to pay for summer school and if so, didn’t that help cover the cost of hiring the teachers? Are the teachers after school doing this for free or do they get paid extra? So, what is the cost to taxpayers to have a program after school?
Jay Wojcik, District 44 spokesperson, responded, “District 44’s reply to the inquiry about our Extended Day Program is: Instead of offering summer school, District 44 offered an Extended Day Program. Research has shown that this type of program is more effective than traditional summer school. The District 44 program is taught by staff that is familiar with the curriculum, unlike traditional summer school where non-district personnel are often hired. Another plus is that participants use reading and math programs that mirror the curriculum they currently use in class. Familiarity with the materials lets students follow an instructional format they know, thereby allowing them to move quicker through the remediation process. The 44 Reporter article did not say that the district saved money because it was not hiring teachers for the summer. It did state that the students who were chosen to attend based on classroom and reading teachers’ recommendations, as well as test results, attend three days a week for 12 weeks. The program and bus transportation home is offered at no cost to parents. This was possible because the remedial math and reading classes were covered under Federal Funding at our Title 1 grammar schools (Butterfield, Madison, and Park View). At Manor Hill, Pleasant Lane and William Hammerschmidt schools, the program was funded with monies the district normally set aside to supplement what was usually collected through summer school fees. Anyone who would like to read a copy of the 44 Reporter may do so by going to the District 44 Web site at http://www.sd44.org/44Reporters and downloading the document titled D44 Feb10_final.pdf.”—JAC
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I saw in the news and in the newspaper that Muslims don’t feel they need to have to go through the scanners at airports because it violates their rights. You’re in America. You adapt to our rules, our laws. All they want now is a pat down. You’re in our country. You adapt to our laws.
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The school districts throughout the state of Illinois and country are for the most part experiencing a fiscal wake-up call. Because of poor planning for decades and spending beyond realistic expectations, their red ink is flowing in torrents. The aforementioned circumstances include our local schools and the worse is yet to come. For those of us in the real world who have to account for household expenditures and related financial responsibilities, we saw this crisis coming years ago. Not only in our schools but village and country. Our experiences as children during the Great Depression regarding financial security. The proverbial Plan B was in place when necessary. Lack of leadership in our local schools and village has contributed to the current financial meltdown. Excessive salaries and benefits have eroded the dwindling tax dollars.
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To the caller who is always complaining about the media, TV news, commercials, etc. and who responded to my comment asking him or to stop by saying it is sad that I always want to be in control, first off, I am a lot older than you guessed. I get your point about media, TV news and commercial hype; my point was maybe it’s time to stop calling about it over and over. Apparently you are the one who can’t let it go or you wouldn’t keep calling about it. You said to learn to deal with the snow; live here long enough and you do. I say, learn to deal with the weather reports and their reliability or lack thereof. They are as predictable as the snow, right? So, take it up with the TV stations, not SPEAK OUT.
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I’m calling in response to the two calls in the Feb. 17 SPEAK OUT; one is addressing Waste Management and the garbage cans. I totally agree. Waste Management has total disregard for the use or abuse of our garbage cans. Twice now they’ve cracked our bins, and left them tipped over—completely open for rain and snow to fill—and said it was our responsibility. The second call is in reference to the mail carrier walking across the lawn. I agree that they should use the sidewalk. I was personally a witness to our mailman putting the mail in the mailbox and walking across the lawn so close to the house he actually looked in our windows and had my dog all worked up so the drapes were ripped. I was home sick from work that day and observed what the mailman did.
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This is Lombard calling. Did anyone see the movie “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield, where there’s this stuffy professor lecturing the kids on a business model on how the business world works? He gets done and Rodney Dangerfield raises his hand—he’s a successful waste management man—and proceeds to tell the professor how completely wrong he is and how the real world works. Of course, the professor is upset because no one can be as smart as him. I have a feeling that professor is in the White House right now and we could really use a Rodney Dangerfield to go and tell him how the business world works; perhaps then we’d start creating some jobs in this country again. Villa Park calling. I don’t think we have a budget problem whatsoever. What we have in Villa Park is a spending problem. What we need to be doing is not raising any fees or taxes. We need to cut our budget, we need to reduce and cut everything 10 percent across the board. Spending is our issue. We need to cut the budget. No new taxes or fees. If you vote for them, trustees, you will be elected out of office.
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The following information appears on the Social Security Web site, and I am quoting completely: “$24 million is being taken from the Social Security fund for new electronic medical records being processed for our members of Congress. They are obtaining these funds and because of this, the senior citizens will not be receiving a cost of living increase for 2010 and 2011. And, a $2 increase on all Medicare prescription benefits will be added to the current co-pay.”
After finding no such quoted material on the Social Security Web site, a visit to www.factcheck.org said the information you are quoting has not come from the Social Security Web site. While Social Security announced earlier it would indeed be funding electronic medical records, if you visit the Social Security Web site or www.factcheck.org, the indication is the money is being made available to “improve the efficiency of its disability programs.” Additionally, there is no withholding of cost of living increases for this purpose, nor is there a $2 increase for the Medicare prescription benefit. This information comes directly from Mark Hinkle, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration.—JAC
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Let’s see a tasteless cartoon about the Chrysler recall, the Honda recall and the Volkswagen recall, all of which the media are ignoring.
