Hello, I’m calling from Villa Park. What in the world is going on with our Comcast Channel 6 station? After spending $50,000 for new equipment, it is frequently off the air. Point number two; how can Channel 6, which is financially supported to some degree with public funds from District 45 and District 88, produce media which proclaims all kinds of messages from God? Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Actually, Channel 6 needs help, and lots of help.

The Villa Park Cable Commission responded collectively that many municipalities have government, educational and community cable channels, and believe the village has an obligation to balance them on one channel. The commission volunteers use several criteria to determine what programs will air, including relevance to the mission; redeeming social value; conformity to prevailing community standards; compliance with local, state and federal laws; and adherence to additional guidelines and policies. “The commission is not restricted from broadcasting material with religious content,” the commission noted, adding that much of the Comcast Channel 6 (or AT&T U-Verse Channel 99) content is free pre-recorded programming offered to public access channels. The commission welcomes volunteers and stated, “The best way for citizens to enjoy a variety of locally produced programs is to volunteer with the commission to create them.” The Villa Park Cable Commission meets at the Villa Park Village Hall on the first Monday of the month.—JAC

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The bond rating for the LPFC, they own the Westin hotel complex, has been lowered to CC-. They are “re-bonding.” Do they have the authority to place the village and its residents further into debt for this? Longer terms higher rates, how much are we on the hook for? This is the same as paying off a credit card with another credit card.

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Hello. I would like to comment on the Prairie Path. I know a lot of people use the Prairie Path and I’m tired of seeing dog droppings all over it. People should pick up after their dogs. You find it in the middle of the Prairie Path where people are running, bicycling or walking. If people have dogs they need to learn to clean up after them. Otherwise, don’t own a dog or leave it in your yard. Also, east of Grace Street, they should put more wastebaskets up there, or garbage cans, because that seems to be dirtier than if you go west.

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This is Lombard calling, after reading about the debacle that’s called the Westin Hotel. I can’t believe that Dave Hulseberg said that when people bought into this, the worst we had seen was 9-11. What we have seen now is three times worse than 9-11? Dave, 3,000 Americans lost their life on 9-11; the Westin Hotel is bad village planning and bad village government. Don’t compare it to 9-11.

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Let me get this straight. You find it perfectly acceptable for the government to take money from one person, no matter whether rich or not, and give it to somebody else. You don’t think that’s socialism? My gosh—what are you thinking?

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I agree that something needs to be done to shift with the times—not like in the day when teachers made a meager salary but knew they had some financial security down the road with a pension. But, why aren’t school districts targeting the even more highly paid administrators where, I bet, services are being duplicated and could be reduced in numbers? Also, I don’t think it’s fair to focus on the P.E. teachers and their salaries. They go to college just like other teachers, earn teaching certificates and have lesson plans. They oversee the physical activity of students all day long, have to be physical themselves on the job and know the rules of the sports they teach, etc. I think what they do is just as valuable as what other teachers do. Should pay be based on the subject?

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This is to the gentleman who needs to learn his facts. Barney Frank was delighted in the Democratic Congress when Clinton was in office that everybody deserves a home and that the requirements for home loans should be relaxed so everybody could afford a home. President Bush called for reform but your Democrat Congress said they didn’t need to reform, that everything was fine, that people deserved a home. Get your facts straight. You don’t understand politics because if you did, you would learn to read and investigate like I have.

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I’d like to ask a simple question. When we went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan, everybody said we were doing if for the oil. Well now we’re at war with Libya. Are we doing it for the oil? We must be, because that’s why we did it in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Hey, Lombard, I have a question. Why is it that we don’t have poop bags for the dogs around Terrace View Pond and along the Prairie Path? I took my dog for a walk the other day and was appalled at all the dog poop around the area, around the pond, down the Prairie Path. It’s terrible, and I don’t understand why, maybe this could clear it up, if Lombard put some of those poop bags out. I go down the Prairie Path in Elmhurst and they have them, so I was just trying to figure out, why not put the poop bags out and why don’t people pick up after themselves? You can go to a pet store and pick up some bags if Lombard is not going to provide them. I was very disgusted when I took my dog for a walk.

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Hi, this is in response to the caller who was disappointed that the Glenbard East basketball team didn’t put their hand over their heart during the national anthem. You don’t need to put your hand over your heart during the national anthem. That’s the Pledge of Allegiance. It has never been a set thing that you need to put your hand over your heart for the national anthem. In fact, when you’re doing that, it’s more like you’re saying the Pledge of Allegiance, so don’t get mad at the Glenbard East basketball team.

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Hi. I think it’s great that we’re able to go from a 65-gallon garbage can to a 35. I wish we could have it with our recycling. We have to wait until we’re senior citizens. Thanks a lot, Lombard.

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According to the so-called Lombard Pride newsletter, contractors working in Lombard now have to register. Oh, and by the way, it costs $75. Is there anybody in Lombard so naive not to see this for what it is? Do you really think that this is going to protect anybody? Do you really think the fly-by-night contractors are going to register? This is just a tax. I don’t need Big Brother to protect me. Money is tight and the People’s Republic of Lombard imposes an additional burden on commerce. Good job, guys. Let them eat cake, right? I’ve always been against term limits because I believe that Americans should have the right to vote for whomever they want as many times as they want. But now I think we need to do whatever it takes to get this bunch out. I also think it’s time we started paying the village president and trustees a moderate salary so we can start attracting some talent. Anyone with any talent isn’t going to take the job. Just look at who we have in there now. This is scary to see how clueless these people are.

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Congratulations to the new board of education members for the Lombard Elementary School District 44. I hope they’re going to look at becoming more fiscally responsible. They can start by trimming the fat at the administration center; I believe there are assistant superintendents and jobs like that. Why do they need assistants, or even if they do, let the people in charge take on the extra responsibility, just like in private industry.

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This message is for the Lombard police. I was hoping you’d be able to do a little extra patrolling around the Madison Elementary playground during the evening. It seems lately it’s been quite a gathering place for teenagers and other people. Over spring break there was graffiti written, discarded beer cans, discarded prophylactics and today there were several obscenities written all over the playground equipment. I think that parents need to put a tighter leash on these kids, and police, you need to start making arrests there.

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On the day after the election, I happened to be driving down Westmore-Meyers Road, and saw Kevin Fitzpatrick taking down his wife’s campaign signs. That’s the way it should be done. Thanks for setting an example. Now, the rest of you, how about it?

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Politicians should lead by example, by paying for their own health insurance and pensions, just like all of the small-business people who create the economy, that provide government positions and jobs. Politicians would soon do something about the health care mess if they had to pay the real rate.

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Fellow Lombardians, where were you on election day? With all the grumbling that graces the pages of SPEAK OUT each week, you would think that people would care enough to actually do something about their concerns. Apparently, it is a lot easier to call in a complaint or send an e-mail to the Lombardian than it is to take 15 minutes out of your day to drive over to your polling place and cast your vote. There were many ways to learn about the candidates as there was plenty of information in the newspapers, online, on Channel 6 and dropped off at your doors. There is simply no valid excuse for you to claim ignorance and justify your lack of action. That especially is true in Districts 4 and 5 where only 1,874 of 9,286 registered voters, or 20 percent of you, decided to make a choice. I find that appalling and pitiful. I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and that was about 30 years ago. In recent weeks, we have watched as people have risked their lives for the right to have a say in their governance in Egypt and Libya. What does that say about us, when we can’t get up off the couch or find a small fraction of one day every couple of years to exercise our right to have the same say?

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It is hard to imagine that U.S. citizens would be willing to abdicate their duty to their community and country and elect to invoke term limits for elected officials. It used to be that adult citizens would read about the candidates, and either participate in or listen to discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of those candidates running for office. So many avenues for information are available to us today, no one has any excuse to claim ignorance about the issues at hand. It is shameful to discover that among a comparison of 39 countries around the world, the United States has the lowest voter turnout of them all. What a shameful reality for our children and grandchildren to witness. Term limits artificially removes the productive, ethical candidates who work on our behalf and willfully discards their extensive knowledge and experience from the pool of available candidates. Are the adults in Lombard so lazy and unpatriotic that they cannot pull themselves away from their self-serving activities for 20 minutes and fulfill their patriotic duty to vote? “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual—or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”—Samuel Adams

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Let’s remember the hue and cry we heard every, day week in and week out, when Bush was blamed for $3 gas, and dutifully reported by the major media. Now, at $4 plus, the unbelievable silence and no blame for Obama. The only conclusion we can make is the media, the constitutional watchdog for the American people, is now the guard dog for Obama.

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Lombard calling. Every day cell phone use in the school zone, Monday through Friday, 2:45 -3:15 p.m. northbound on Lincoln, south of Maple, north of Ash. Every day, cell phone usage by drivers in a school zone. This is against the law. It’s dangerous to my student, it’s dangerous to the other students. It’s against the law.

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I know some people in Lombard and Villa Park are having a tough time with essentials like food. Being concerned, I wanted to help those families. I didn’t know how or where to go to help. A lady came to my door from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for a community food drive. She lives on my block. I found a way to help.

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Lombard, I think you’re making a horrible mistake putting a stoplight at 53 and Madison. What’s wrong with 53 and Wilson? I believe you could probably get the owners of the office park there on the west side of 53 to cooperate with you on the cost of the light. Granted, you’d have to put in a block and a half or two blocks of road that would be pulled out of there, but you wouldn’t have the grade to deal with. Plus, the road goes all the way through to Westmore. Also, you’re dealing with fewer houses and fewer schools. In addition to that, it’s a direct lead to the village hall and the police department. I don’t think the village ever really looked at anything besides Madison. It sure would seem to me to be the smart thing to do.

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Hello, Lombard. If you live in a split-level home, check your tax assessment. For some reason, our county assessor thinks we should pay more taxes for square footage in a two-story, even if it’s new construction. Do a little research and check how much the houses on your block are paying per square foot. You might be surprised. My neighbor, who is not a senior citizen, is paying $18 per square foot and I’m paying $50. Take your complaints over to the assessor on Westmore Road. We should not be punished for the style of home we live in. We should be taxed on the square footage; not on the style of our home.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. To the people who are complaining about the teachers’ salaries, why are you trying to bring them down to your poverty level? They went out and got an education. $100,000 is paper route money. These days, and you don’t make that, you shouldn’t be complaining because you didn’t bother getting an education.