Hi, SPEAK OUT. First of all I’d like to say that I appreciate the work that the churches and others in downtown Lombard have been doing in giving the homeless an opportunity to stay overnight in this bad weather. The thing I do object to is that those homeless people filter over to the train station and take up space with their bags, backpacks and whatever while they’re outside smoking and talking, or even staying inside. I think that should be reserved for the people who are riding the train and paying the fare going into or out of downtown Chicago. I wonder if the churches could tell those people to please do not congregate inside the station; if they want to be outside, fine, but that station is for the people who pay the fare for riding the train. Again, I think they’re really doing a great job, all the PADS, that are providing homeless people with an opportunity to stay somewhere in this bad weather.

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All of this talk about teachers reminded me of something. One of my children told me, who attends a major college in the state of Illinois. They go to class every day that class is scheduled, and have only met the professor once. The class is taught by an associate yet we pay all this money for a college education because we have to pay these professors a lot of money; because they’re teaching our children. The truth of the matter is, most of the professors no longer teach the classes; the associates or students studying to be a professor teach the classes. There’s a problem with our education system if we’re paying the professor $100,000, $200,000, $300,000, or to teach our children who has a master’s degree or a doctorate but cannot find the time to actually teach our children. There’s something wrong with the teaching system in the United States.

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Two things: Can we have the Blight Committee demand that a business clean up the debris and fallen fence on its property? The fence has been partially knocked down, so it’s currently a pile of rubble. While I was there yesterday, I saw a rat gnawing on a bag—the rubble/debris must make for a handy nesting area. Given our high taxes, none of us should have to look at an area that looks like it was transported here from the West Side of Chicago or a war zone. Speaking of taxes—if my property values have declined 30 percent over the past two years, why hasn’t anyone told the assessor? Apparently they think it’s worth 4 percent more than last year, because that’s how much my taxes went up.

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Groups of DuPage residents are forming a recall committee to demonstrate their lack of support and confidence for county board Chairman Dan Cronin and county board members who have not instituted fiscal policies to save dwindling tax revenues. Their rather passive and carefree attitude clearly indicates how out of touch they are with the reality of the county’s money problems. While companies are laying off workers and businesses are filing for bankruptcy, no furlough days have been talked about or scheduled, or salaries or benefits frozen have been mentioned, let alone considered, for all office-holders and county workers. The same can be said of our state legislators, many of whom are recipients of several pensions. Enough is enough.

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This is Lombard calling. The Village of Lombard claims to take pride in going green. It’s about time the trustees start recycling their managers and staff in charge. They have been in these positions way too long. Our community is dotted with the results, displaying vacant lots and vacant business spaces everywhere. Wake up, Lombard.

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Hi, Lombard. I’m calling to thank the person who was sitting in the garage thinking and gave such suggestions as the Weather Channel people should wear bathing suits and they should plant tomatoes in front of the village hall. That really made my day.

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This is in response to the teacher who thinks he or she deserves to make $100,000 because he or she has an education. Nobody can deny the importance of an education, but let me try to explain something to you. I know this is going to be difficult for any government employee to understand, but in order to make $100,000 you have to do something that’s worth $100,000. I hold a doctorate, but that doesn’t mean that I deserve to earn $100,000 for washing dishes. The rest of us are out here struggling to make ends meet and the teachers are making a ton of money for not much work. And for the record, I have been a teacher, and it was really, really easy. The problem is that you people keep electing Democrats and the unions give 93 percent of their political contributions to the Democrats. So what do you think the Democrats are going to do when they sit across the bargaining table from the unions? They’re going to bend over.

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To the person who complained about the plastic around the flowers on the cover of the Lombardian, with the princesses, did you ever see where, at a concert or other event, a young lady gets a bouquet of flowers after a performance? They come encased in clear plastic like that so the flowers don’t flop all over the place until they can be put in water. The photo looked to me like they were just handed out to the girls. I’d rather see the flowers still in a bouquet than drooping in their lap, for Pete’s sake. I don’t think it was a mistake.

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I drove by the village hall and there is a bronze statue of children swinging on a swing. It’s a nice statue, but why is it there? I thought they were going downtown. I’d like to know how much that really cost the village and why you would not put it where it was designated? Just a curious question.

See response below.

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Hello, what’s the story with the sculpture out in front of the village hall and how much did we pay for that?

See response below.

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I have a question. I was just at the village hall and I noticed a child and a father or grandfather swinging on a swing, being pushed on a swing. Why is it there? I would think it would be better at a park or in our downtown. Can somebody tell if the village paid for it, how much it cost and why it’s there instead of someplace else? It just seems so out of place.

Your question was submitted to Lombard Village Manager Dave Hulseberg, which resulted in a press release being issued. According to the release, the statue, "Your Turn,” was created by the late Earl “Bud” Swanson. The life-size bronze sculpture piece represents a girl pushing her grandfather on a swing. The sculpture was placed at the village hall temporarily as it was initially intended to be placed at the site located at 218-226 W. St. Charles Road. That property is currently undeveloped and once developed, the statue will be moved to that location. As for the cost, the release states that funding for the sculpture, which complements other pieces in the downtown, was received by Inland Real Estate and the downtown TIF fund, each contributing half of the total $38,000 cost. Rather than have the statue continue to sit in storage, it was placed at the village hall campus so that it could be enjoyed by the public. The statue is part of the Downtown Public Art program, which was established in May 2005 per the action of the Economic and Community Development Committee and the Lombard Village Board of Trustees. The release adds that the program allows works of art to be placed throughout the downtown TIF and East St. Charles Road TIF 1 West districts. Seven sculptures have been funded to date by municipal contributions combined with financial donations from 13 private citizens, local businesses, corporations, developers and private foundations.—blm

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Let me get this straight: Property values go down, but it’s because politicians keep spending money that property taxes go up? That’s according to our county assessor, Gwen Henry. I multiply my valuation times the tax rate to get my tax figure. If the valuation goes down and the tax rate has stayed close to the same, how does that add up to higher taxes? Have the governing bodies thrown in tax increases we don’t know about? So A times B equals C. If A gets smaller, then the politicians can automatically raise B to make up the difference? Who’s keeping track of this stuff?

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Lombard calling. Where did the people in the Forestry Division go to school to learn to cut trees, the United Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union? Because they sure butcher them.

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To the chamber of commerce, I want to say I don’t find the 2011 Lombard community guide and business directory very informative. It’s colorful and the photographs are great. I want to thank you for thinking of us in Lombard.

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Who in Villa Park village building department decided to do construction in a school zone? Could it have not waited until mid-June until school was out for summer? Better yet, why not fix the Ardmore bridge before repaving the streets?

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. In response to the District 44 administration concerns, here are two more: These administrators hand down policies that seem to be impossible for teachers and students to follow. When we heard that recess was abolished for K through five students, we were shocked—our son needs gross motor movement so he can sit and concentrate and be successful in his academics. We’re sure that a teacher didn’t suggest this. Another policy that we’re sure was handed down from the administration was a large amount of testing. The administrators are so far removed from the classroom; they don’t realize that this testing is overwhelming our children. These are two of the many District 44 policies that concern us. The administrators need to experience their own policies firsthand before insisting how beneficial they are for our children.

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To the person who thinks we hate P.E. teachers, you misunderstand a lot of the motivation, I think. I don’t hate P.E. teachers or teachers. I do hate the system that perpetuates in a profession the attitude “I deserve this, that or the other; let’s get as much as we can as quick as we can. The heck with everyone else.” That is not an extreme notion. People in our country have changed. I’m sorry to see it.

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This is in response to the person who says it’s unfair for teachers with a master’s or doctorate to make $100,000 when said person has the same level of education and doesn’t make as much. What about athletes or entertainers who often make four or five times as much? That’s life; we all have the right to choose what profession we want to pursue. Also, FYI, a teacher’s salary figure incorporates all their benefits including their pension. I don’t know about yours, but my employer pays into my 401K; I challenge you to spend one week in a classroom with 25 children. I dare say you will have your eyes open to just what it requires. Instead of bashing teachers, you should be saying thank you and no, I am not a teacher, but my children were influenced by many caring and dedicated educators who led them on a path to becoming the successful business people they are today.

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Way to go with the taxes, York Township. This should cause a lot more foreclosures in our area. We couldn’t afford our houses before.

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This is in response to the person who thinks his or her neighbor is taking too long to complete a home improvement project. Did it ever occur to you that your neighbor might not like the way your house looks, either? How would you like it if the neighbor went crying to the government to make you change something about your house? My overweight neighbor walks around in the yard in shorts. I guarantee you that’s more of an eyesore than any half-completed remodeling project, but it’s her yard and she can do what she wants in it. Why is it the inclination of people to go running to the government like a spoiled 6-year-old goes running to his or her mommy? Whatever happened to American individualism? Anyway, here’s my suggestion for you; go knock on the neighbor’s door and offer to buy the house. Then, when you own it, you can do whatever you want with it.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I just got my tax bill and everybody’s complaining about what we’re paying in to the teachers’ pension fund. Check out your tax bill. Mine is paying five times more into the village pension fund, so the teachers are doing a lot for our kids and the village does a lot for us, but five times what I’m paying for the teachers is going into the Village of Lombard pensions. Where does this stop?

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Hi, Lombard calling. I was wondering if we could get the light at St. Charles and Main corrected. If you are traveling on Main Street going north or south, the light is never triggered from the side that has traffic on it. The arrow always goes when there’s nobody in the left turn lane, when there’s nobody on the other side. The green light is lit and the other side, we’re still waiting. So maybe the village could take a look into that. The St. Charles way is fine, but if you’re traveling on Main, the light is never correct.

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Following is a statement and question for the president and members of the District 87 school board. Throughout the United States and the state of Illinois, numerous school districts have frozen the salaries of their administrators and teaching staff. Why haven’t the District 87 board members demonstrated their fiduciary responsibility by following this country-wide trend to conserve decreasing tax dollars?

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Hello, Lombard. I just wanted to thank the Lombard Garden Club for the wonderful job they did in planting 8,000 bulbs around the Lombard Cemetery. It is a really magnificent springtime sight, and it enhances the clean-up ad renovation of the cemetery.

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What’s happening? I’m a senior. I’m on a fixed income. The taxes on my home increased by $500. Where is the money coming from? I can’t move because home prices are down. My neighbor’s increase was $1,400. It’s not only me. Families are detrimentally affected. Are the politicians out of touch with us and reality?