With all the talk about the village manager, I would think the powers that be in Lombard would get the citizens together to hear their complaints and concerns; a village forum of some kind so there would be no anonymity like in SPEAK OUT. Likewise, if there are so many people complaining, is there a way to hold a vote of no confidence? Look what happened with the president of the University of Illinois, for instance.

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If someone got their news from a recent SPEAK OUT, this is what they would have learned: Gabby Giffords and Mark Kirk are freeloaders, forcing the taxpayers to pay for their selfish injuries. People should call 9-1-1 not just for emergencies, but whenever they see dog waste on the ground. Only Glen Ellyn and Wheaton commuters get to park in Lombard’s new commuter spot. Any company that hosts Obama for a speech shortly goes out of business. Teachers don’t have to actually work because education in this country is federally funded. And, we’re paying $5 a gallon for gas because DuPage voting ballots are bilingual. I sure hope people who read SPEAK OUT are aware that the opinions expressed here are on the fringe of common sense. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that the same eight people call every week?

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This is in response to the Villa Park caller who, in testing sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from the area, found they couldn't pass their math tables. Your methods don't seem to add up mathematically. You stated that you gave them five multiplication, five addition, five subtraction and five division tables and 20 minutes to answer the “20 questions.” Assuming you’re using the common “12 tables,” that would in fact equate to 60 questions from each of the four types of tables resulting in a total of 240 equations to answer in 20 minutes. Beginning in second and third grade the children in our school district were given two-minute timed tests on their math tables daily and each had to be passed before moving to the next table. The students learned the tables by rote and moved on with amazing speed and accuracy. I wonder why the parents’ role in education is seldom mentioned. It is the parents’ responsibility to supplement what goes on in school by helping with homework and making sure it’s completed, drilling their children on math tables and reading books with them. 

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Lombard calling. It didn’t seem correct, so I looked it up. It’s true.  There are fewer state employees per 1,000 citizens in Illinois than in any other state in the union: not merely fewer state employees than other major industrial states—far fewer—but fewer than even in the poorest states in the nation.

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So last week in SPEAK OUT the editor corrected someone on the salaries of the teachers at Willowbrook and I was kind of shocked; $92,000 a year or over $90,000 a year for a teacher’s salary. And teachers saying they don’t make enough money? Give me a break. And the other comment was that only one win in basketball, or three wins, whatever, that’s probably true but that’s not really the kids’ fault. That’s probably the coaching. I’m not too concerned about that. What I am concerned about is that Willowbrook continues to be toward the bottom of the barrel in the school rankings, at least that’s what I’ve heard. We’re paying teachers over $90,000 a year in salary? This is why teachers get a bad rap.

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Last week I was going south on Main and was about to turn left on a side street, I think it was Wilson. There was no oncoming traffic so I was in the clear to turn, but as I began to go left, a man and a few kids, with his wife trailing behind, started crossing the street going south out of the blue and I had to slam on my brakes. OK, stop for pedestrians—I get it. However, they had the “don’t walk” sign. In other words, the signal told them not to walk across the street. What kind of example is that to set for those children? I’m just glad I was paying attention—not just for oncoming traffic but the pedestrians.

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OK, here’s another one: people complaining about money going into downtown Lombard and how the downtown is never going to be like Glen Ellyn or Elmhurst downtown areas. You know why that is? Because the people who run this town tore down the movie theater that would have served as an arts center anchor for a thriving, vibrant downtown area. They took a beautiful piece of architecture that had a lot of promise, a future community center, and turned it into a parking lot. That’s why Lombard will never be like Elmhurst or Wheaton, or any of the other nice downtown areas.

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Hi. I was just calling about the teacher salaries for Willowbrook High School and the cost of education in DuPage County. I think there is a really important point that if you look at what’s actually spent per pupil, as opposed to just teacher salaries, but the actual cost Willowbrook is paying per student, we’re pretty low on the ladder and same thing for the elementary schools in Villa Park. We do better with less money than they’re getting in Cook County; put it that way.

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To the people complaining about high gas prices, just to let you know, trucking companies are going to help us out, but we need your help, too. On May 1 and June 1 we need the people of Villa Park, Lombard, the state of Illinois and the United States not to buy any gasoline, diesel, ethanol, E85 or anything. If we can get those two days, not to buy gas, they won’t have the demand and they’re going to have to lower the prices. If that doesn’t work, we’re going to have to keep doing it. Tell your friends; tell your neighbors that we do not buy gas on May 1 or June 1, and if you do buy gas on those days, sorry. We don’t want to hear you complaining anymore. Have a good day.

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Lombard. These are tough economic times. School districts need to trim the fat. There’ shouldn’t be an assistant anything; no assistant superintendents for this and that. There should be no director of math and science or reading. During tough times you tighten your belt and let the person in the title like superintendent assume the extra work. There should be no administrative assistants either, or put them on part time. People need to cut back and the dollars will be saved.

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This is the Democrat in response to my remark about Santorum pulling state funding. If he became president he could pull the federal funding that goes to the state that helps educate our children. Yes, I am a proud Democrat for the last 70 years of my life. I have never been a teacher; I have never belonged to any union, so there. And as far as I am concerned, Santorum, Romney, they’re all wrong. Vote Democrat if you want to have a safe life.

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Lombard calling. The president, in his Saturday address to the nation, talked about the deficit and the debt. He doesn’t see our deficit or debt as a major issue, but he told us we have two options to take care of both of these issues. One, tax the rich, in particular, raising capital gains to at least 30 percent for the minimum and then raising it for people who make more. Or, number two, keep taxing the middle class. There are other options. How about option three, Mr. President; how about you spend less than you take in, like my wife and I do, you pay your bills, use extra money to pay down your debt.

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Lombard calling. Why is it you never seem to see any of the village reps shopping down St. Charles Road to support the local downtown businesses? Further, why do you never see them downtown unless there’s a photo op? If Lombard is trying to improve the image of downtown Lombard, one would think it would benefit them to support these businesses with some of their own personal dollars.

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This is in regard to the money being spent to what we get for our money. The statistics came out on April 5 that the United States spends over $10,000 per student while other nations, as rich if not richer than us, only spend $7,400, and they are getting better results in teaching our children. So, the teachers’ argument that they’re not getting paid enough is a lot of bull. I think they are getting paid more than they should be getting and it is the unions that are doing this. The unions have too much power, they are not producing and we’re not getting our money’s worth. So pay attention to what you’re getting for your money. Some changes must be made and they must be made now. Goodbye.

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Lombard calling. To the person who wrote in last week saying the village should stop putting money into downtown Lombard because it will never be downtown Elmhurst, Wheaton or Glen Ellyn, do you realize that all three of those downtowns were also pretty much vacant? The turn-around was because those villages did put money into their downtowns.  Downtown Lombard does not want to be downtown Elmhurst, Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. It just wants to be the best that downtown Lombard can be. The money that is going into downtown Lombard is money from the TIF funds which were set up to help revitalize the area. If you have spent any time recently in downtown Lombard, you would see the vacancy rates coming down, new businesses moving in and current businesses expanding. I think the current plan is working.

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Hi, Lombard. I’m just calling in regard to the Lombard Town Centre event they’re having in July and they’re not using a Lombard business to provide their wine and beer tasting. They’re going to Glen Ellyn. What a disappointment. How do you want to procure business in Lombard by going out of Lombard? Thanks for your support. You won’t have mine.

Karen Stonehouse, executive director of the Lombard Town Centre (LTC), responded that Malloy’s in Glen Ellyn—a member of the LTC—was chosen “because of their enormous generosity in donating their wine and expertise,” and because they have the capacity and access to the products to be used for the tasting.—JAC

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Hello, Lombard here. I’m tired of seeing all these trite posts of teacher salaries, village spending and so on. I just want to say Terrace View Pond looks amazing because it is not over-vegetated and scummy. Now there are some fishing spots where I used to fish as a kid that are open now because it is not over-vegetated.

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I don’t know if it’s sad or scary when we live in a country where the man running it no longer believes in separation of powers, the separation of the three branches of government; no longer believes that the Supreme Court no longer has the right to judicial review. That goes past the normal name-calling of socialist, communist. We head into the realm of dictatorship. I personally think it’s really, really a radical thing for the man in charge of our country to say that. Thank you.

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What I would like to know is if the government—the Congress, the senators and the president—all work for us, meaning the taxpayers, why can’t we have an insurance coverage as good as the senators, congressmen and president have, and where are they getting the money to pay for that? They’re taking it out of our pockets. Either they should bring their coverage down to our level or bring our level up to theirs. The whole system stinks. We need to get rid of the people running our government. They’re not correcting these problems. Goodbye.

SPEAKING OUT FOR 25 YEARS

The following comments are reprinted from the April 11, 2001, SPEAK OUT column in celebration of SPEAK OUT’s 25th year.

I read the SPEAK OUT feature every week. Did I miss something? Has there been a lot of calls about former President Ronald Reagan? Not that I remember. What’s on this caller’s mind, talking about Ronnie boy and his jacket. Reagan’s been out of office 12 years. Was the caller out of town for the 1990s or something?

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Lombard calling. I see where the high strike zone in baseball was supposed to speed up the game. Apparently, they haven’t been watching the Cubs game because the Cubs game was nearly four hours long. A lot of commercials. Apparently they need to pay for Sammy Sosa’s salary some way or another. Thank goodness those games are getting shorter, not longer.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m just calling to urge all my fellow union members to stick together because the next four years is going to be a rough ride. We have to stick together to ride it out.

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I was just calling to say I’m sorry to see that there’s more condos going up downtown and I’d like to really see more businesses operating. I’d like to shop downtown Lombard rather than other places. Bye.

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Tear downs in Lombard. We have nothing left but memories and that’s only if you’ve lived in Lombard for lots of years. If you’ve just moved in, there nothing left. No more Zitt’s Pet Store and soon the village will tear down that DuPage Theater, which is a sin because that’s a historical building. Also, these old homes that are being torn down only to make big bucks for those builders who come in to build in the village of condos. That’s a new name for Lombard. Thank you.

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Hi. This is Lombard calling. I would like to ask who was responsible for cleaning up the trash along the Great Western Path. Now is a great time to do it before all the leaves and flowers come out so that we can get it picked up. The residents help. We need DuPage County or Lombard to do this. Thanks. Bye.