This is Villa Park calling. I would like to know why some residents can park on their lawn and others cannot. Calling the village, I get no response, that they would look into it. This has been going on for some time and I just would like to get an answer.

According to Villa Park Police Deputy Chief Robert Budig, “There are two ordinances that prevent the parking of vehicles on lawns. One is Chapter 14 section 202, which prevents the parking of vehicles on the parkway, and Appendix C- Basic Zoning Ordinance, Article 17.2(b)(4), which prevents the parking of vehicles on front lawns. Tickets for these violations are written with frequency when the violations are observed by enforcement officers. Enforcement officers make every effort to address all violations but some are not observed. If violations are observed by residents they are encouraged to call 911 so that enforcement officers can be dispatched to take the appropriate enforcement action.”—JAC

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To all the businesses and homes that did not fly the American flag on Memorial Day, shame on you.

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This is to all residents that are rightfully upset about the new village policy on answering anonymous questions.  Apparently our village manager brought home more than just souvenirs from China, he’s also brought their ideology. Rather than calling speak out, call and e-mail your trustees and the village manager. They work for us; if enough people complain to them they will get the hint.

Staying in contact with elected officials, as well as the village manager, certainly is a good way to let them know what their constituents, or residents, are thinking—both good and bad. However, with the village’s new policy, I encourage you to remember to sign your e-mails or letters, and give your name when you call, as according to the new village policy, it is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source.—blm

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This is Lombard. I went to go fishing at Terrace View Pond on the weekend. It is becoming more of a slough with all the green floating on the water. It looks like the level has been lowered. If the village wants it lowered for flood protection, they need to make it deeper. Shallower water heats up faster for algae. You don’t have to be smart to figure that out.

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I’m confused that the village cannot answer questions to the residents. We as the residents are the village—not the people who run the information in the office. SPEAK OUT is a nice page; it gives us information on what’s going on in and around Lombard and lets us know things that are going on in town that we might not otherwise know. I realize our deputy chief, Cuny, retired. He was a great contributor there. I’ve always found that Ms. Kott has been a great contributor there; I don’t know what her status is; as well as fire questions. This is wrong. This is totally wrong. We as residents are the Village of Lombard. We should control this or we should get satisfaction.

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Hi, Lombard calling. I read in one of the Lombard publications that when you’re doing landscaping, you need to be mindful of obstructing the view of people driving on the street. How come one local store is allowed to have the landscaping in front of the store block the view when exiting the parking lot? I’m just wondering why they’re allowed to do it when the rest of us are supposed to keep landscaping 30 feet back from the front of the road. I’d appreciate knowing.

Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source, as was approved by the board of trustees at the May 19 meeting.—blm

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This is Lombard calling. Someone recently called in and said we’re missing the ball with this whole teacher stuff. I agree. That poor P.E. teacher; let’s leave him alone. I agree with that other caller that it’s time to turn our attention to the village. We should all be screaming and shouting. Bill Mueller should do the right thing and gracefully step down. The Westin Hotel, it worked out great, guys. Hey, Mr. Mueller, I remember you telling me one time when I had mentioned what we’re doing with the condos downtown and all that vacant space around those condos, the commercial space. You told me I wouldn’t understand the big picture and if I didn’t like it I should move. Well, I don’t like it and obviously you and Dave Hulseberg were wrong because your plan for the old downtown isn’t working.

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Hi, this is a longtime Lombard resident. I always enjoy summer in Lombard but I noticed you’re going to have the Taste of Lombard and charge $3 a person instead of last year, $2, plus a bunch of no-name bands again.

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Hi, Lombard calling. In the June 1 SPEAK OUT a caller said that Mr. Tom Masterson doesn’t have the best interests in downtown Lombard. I think people need to realize his intent. The village manager and community development department set up parameters for grants. They change from day to day. They say one thing and change as they go. These are the people we should be scrutinizing. If they want to give $10,000 to open up a business, that is one thing, but that is not what they originally said. To open a business and deal with our village, it seems you have to be ready to do battle and hope you still have energy to run your business. Tom was right on with his presentation. As a previous caller said, we should fire the scoundrels. Let’s hope our elected trustees can stand up for us Lombardians and make good changes.

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Hi, this response is to the caller who did his or her research and said that Glenbard East has 176 days of school and of those, only 145 are considered full days of school and that the rest are early dismissals, which means the teachers only work 6.5 hours. I guess this person didn’t do his or her research well enough, because even though the students are dismissed on early dismissal, the teachers are not, and work a full day. And, P.E. teachers who make $125,000 a year are not working 7.5 hours a day. They are coaching, probably three sports, and working way many hours more than the 7.5 hours of the school day. Do a little more research next time before you open your mouth.

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I just read about the library issue and how many people have library cards. I think the question would be best served if how many people per household, or what would be the percentage of taxpayers, not 43.7 of the population, because if somebody has two, three or four children, they’re part of the population, but would the 43.7 percent be the same amount as the amount of households in Lombard? I don’t know if they could even figure that out.

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To the Lombard Memorial Day Committee, thank you and congratulations; well done. As for the chairman of the Memorial Day Committee, police Lt. Scott Watkins, you have served our fallen men and women well. It was much more of significance that day, the ceremony with the veterans memorial and the park setting versus last year’s event on the corner of Main and St. Charles, standing in a parking lot or dodging traffic. An old veteran thanks you.

Actually, the ceremony to which you refer, on St. Charles Road and Main Street, is held on Veterans Day.—JAC

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I agree with the person who questioned why the Taste of Lombard is continuing again this year. I’ve lived here 30 years and when I go up there, I don’t know anybody there. Add to that the fact that every morning I have to clean up garbage, sometime vomit. This is a mess—it does nothing for Lombard except tarnish our image.

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This is to the person who says check out private schools. I have a son who goes to a private school and guess what? The professor’s teacher’s aide teaches the class. Think before you speak. I’m sure there are a lot of private schools in the state of Illinois and public schools that don’t have a teacher’s aide to teach the class, but not all of them do. Check your information. Again, my son goes to a private college and the teacher’s aide, or professor’s aide, whatever you want to call it, teaches the class. I’ll tell you what. I pay double what you’d pay to a state school.

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This is to the teacher who claims he or she works hard every day with 25 students in her classroom. I hate to tell you this, I work hard every day. We all work hard every day. All we’re saying is the teachers who don’t teach, who sit on their bottoms and do nothing, shouldn’t be paid because they have tenure and because they have an education. I have an education and a master’s degree. I love what I’m doing. No, I don’t make $100,000 a year and I work 10-11 hours a day, five days a week, just like you. I also work 12 months out of the year, unlike teachers. I chose the career I have and I enjoy it—love it to death, but teachers are getting away with things they shouldn’t be.

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Hi, this is Villa Park calling to thank the 7-Eleven on the corner of Jackson and Westmore-Meyers. They contributed buy-one-get-one- free coupons for Jackson Middle School for promoting spirit and wellness in the schools and that’s a tribute to our community and I wish more organizations and businesses in Villa Park and Lombard follow suit in supporting the school and the children of Villa Park and Lombard. So, thanks again, 7-Eleven and kudos to you.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I thought I would add a positive note to SPEAK OUT this week. Recently I returned to the employment field and and while I was unemployed my family received an anonymous cash donation every month. No note really except to say, “We hope this helps you out.” We received that for about nine months. To the person or persons who made that available to us, we thank you and God bless you and we hope to pay that forward to another family as we climb out of the hole unemployment brought to us. Count your blessings, folks; they are out there.

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Conservative callers to SPEAK OUT puzzle me. One recent one is mad because the Social Security Administration didn’t give cost-of-living increases this year and, in true conservative fashion, blames the Obama administration. Why not blame the SSA, which by law must base its decision on whether to grant an increase on the rate of inflation in the third quarter of the previous year. The same caller blamed Democrats for not helping an unidentified “them” with Medicare; isn’t the caller aware that it is the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that wants to slash Medicare benefits? While one conservative complains about Obama “wasting millions flying across the country,” another complains that he didn’t immediately fly to Joplin in the wake of the tornado. But then, would that not have been wasting taxpayer money? Clearly, there is no satisfying those who won’t be satisfied—particularly with anything this president does.

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This is response to SPEAK OUT from Wednesday, June 1. Somebody said that the Taste of Lombard is not a family event. I have a 4-year-old who will be going for the third time in a row this year and absolutely loves the Taste of Lombard. We go as a family and plan on going as a family again this year. We find it to be a very appropriate family environment. I would imagine at night mostly high school kids come out so use common sense and don’t go at night. Go with your family during the day and early evening and then leave. It’s called common sense. As far as all the talk about how much teachers make or don’t make, I think the thing is, there’s no other job in the entire world that complains more than teachers. All they do is complain that they don’t make enough. Who told them to become teachers?

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For everyone obsessing about the teacher salaries, go out and find a job that makes you happy and stop obsessing over all the teachers.

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In reference to our economy the way it’s going right now, I think the government should put pressure on the banks to start releasing money. People want to buy homes, they want to do this and that; they can’t do anything. Businesses want to get started, they can’t; they want to hire more people; they can’t because there’s no business. We have to get the banks to release some money. They’re holding it as if they have a stranglehold on us right now. Either the government is going to put pressure on them, or fining them or something, because they have to get the money out to the people so we can get the economy going again. That’s my opinion.

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In response to the person who called about the P.E. teachers, if you are really so concerned with how much money they make, maybe you should have thought about that when you went into your career. Worry about yourself and stop complaining about what others are doing and making of their lives. With the obesity problem in our country, you should be thankful you live in a district where schools are actually making health and fitness a priority.

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To all the teachers and union bashers, the highest paid teachers in the state have no union; High School District 113. If you want to blame somebody for high wages, blame your local school boards.

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Hi. This is in response to the P.E. teacher thing that’s been going on in the newspaper for a while. I’m sorry, but teachers in general deserve the pay they get, especially after having to put up with many children who are disrespectful. Teachers attend seminars, P.E. teachers do coaching and assisting and are there for the kids—their hours may seem short to everybody but they’re not. Teachers put in a lot of extra activities and volunteer their time for a lot of different things. I think it’s unfair and I’m not a teacher. I know I would not want to teach and I do respect them in that matter.