Hey, Villa Park, under whose authority do the employees of the bus company on Villa between North and St. Charles get to direct traffic? Several mornings this week there has been an employee standing on Villa in a safety vest with a safety flashlight, stopping northbound traffic to allow their buses to exit the yard. I would not think this was a function of a private firm, but rather one of a municipality. I would appreciate it if you could check on it. This is more undue congestion than we need. This bus company offers ample congestion every morning and evening on the commute.

Villa Park Police Deputy Chief Robert Budig explained: “There are numerous private entities that will direct traffic to ensure the smooth and orderly flow of traffic at peak times of traffic concerning businesses. The municipality does have the authority to provide these services but not the sole authority. When traffic control is performed by a private agency it is important that it is done in such a way that is safe and based on what you described it appears that it is being performed in that manner. With the closure of the Ardmore Bridge, we have seen an increased traffic load on Villa Avenue and Addison Road. If all goes as planned the bridge is scheduled to be completed in June of 2012 and we anticipate to see a more balanced load of traffic among the three north-south routes.”—JAC

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Once you can get the village manager to answer questions again start with these: Westin/LPFC, come out with all the facts; code czars, why are his code enforcement employees referred to as being rigid, not customer friendly; TIF money, he spent several thousand on a statue and then put it at the village hall; “yes” men, all of his department heads; consultants, why can’t he or any department head not make a decision without spending money on a consultant to put “spin”on the problem at hand; ambulance ride, his famous ride from Glen Ellyn to Downers Grove in a Lombard ambulance. Who else can do this? Business red tape, why do so many business people talk of the issues with the village and the unfair requirements placed on them; bridge to nowhere, what is the interest rate going to be if he has to use bonds to pay the village share; money, our ever dropping credit rating; morale; still the lowest its ever been, no accountability at any level. Proud to have him as our village manager—not.

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Lombard calling. President Mueller, we all love and appreciate your dedication to Lombard. Please get focused on your duties and make some decisions. Some of your employees are making our Lilac Village look bad. Please don’t let your image and work in the past taint your image. Your supporters would like to live the legacy you have perceived in the past.

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Villa Park calling. Why is it Lombard seems to have so many high-profile problems? They get a lot more press space than we do. We have problems, too. It looks like they need to change their village manager and get their act together. We may not be perfect but our town works with the business competition and our residents to get the job done. We try to fix problems instead of creating them. God bless America.

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This is Lombard calling. I know there are many residents who call in to complain about Lombard, but I just want to say that I love the Lombardian so much that I have my mother ship it to my friends and me every week to my college in Indiana. My two Lombard friends and I read it together every week at dinner and we love catching up on the news back home. Love from Indiana. We miss Lombard.

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A Lombard resident calling. I just noticed a police officer was awarded a safety unit citation for helping people at train crossing intersections. Well, it just appears to me and funny how about half of Lombard doesn’t know what a stop sign means. They see a stop sign and it means go. Some people just roll right through the intersection; partially slow down and zoom right through. It amazes me how they award somebody a citation for that but neglect the regular traffic laws that should be enforced in the state of Illinois; not just in Lombard. It’s amazing. Great job, police.

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So the Lombard Police Department gets rid of their cars at 80,000 miles. That’s such an outdated figure. The new cars are made to last a lot longer than that. For example the DuPage County Sheriff’s Department keeps its cars for 150,000 miles. So, that’s another example of taxpayers’ money being wasted. There’s no reason you need to trade in a car at 80,000 miles. I know it’s in “police service,” but still, I hear the DuPage County Sheriff keeps theirs at 150,000, so that’s way too early and it’s very expensive to buy cars way before they need to.

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Recently somebody called in defending what teachers make—their exorbitant pay and pension—by stating that you have to go to school for years, it costs a ton of money and how really hard it is to become a teacher. I really hate to break the news to you but in Illinois, it’s about one of the easiest things you can do. You go to college for four years, you get a plain and simple liberal arts degree and take a simple little test and get a teaching certificate. Pretty gosh-darned easy. You can go to junior colleges, a state college. To be honest, it doesn’t cost that much money. What it costs you to get that degree, you’re making in your first year. And heck, you become a teacher, a few years later, you’re one of the top 5 percent earners in the country. It’s not like becoming a doctor, it’s not like become a physicist with a PhD. It’s gosh-darned easy. In Illinois you don’t even need a degree in what you teach, so I can teach grammar school math without having a degree, my major being math. Not beating up on the teachers but they are bankrupting this state.

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I’m guessing that the average teacher, policeman, fireman, you know, all the people who are living high on the hog, bringing this country down with their extravagant salaries, I believe a good teacher, good fireman is probably making about $56,000 a year. I’m sure many are making much less than that. Then I see that Mitt Romney makes over $56,000 a day. And then people wonder what’s wrong with this country. Go ahead, keep voting Republican; keep voting against your interests and when you have no Medicare and no Social Security, don’t come crying to me.

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I would like to commend our village manager, Dave Hulseberg, and trustees Giagnorio and Breen for making a wise decision to reject the energy proposal at the last board meeting. It is important to find sustainable green energy resources, but not if it puts the taxpayers on the hook. Great job, gentlemen. Your decision was very wise.

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This is Lombard calling in regard to the snow plowing. I am a widow with a heart problem. I paid $68 to get my driveway plowed and the village came along and plowed big lumps of snow in my driveway again. I think there should be some way that the village could care for elderly people who have a problem, especially a health problem. I cannot shovel and I cannot pay $68 to have my driveway plowed and then pay more to have somebody clean out where the plow came along and threw it back in my driveway. The village should have some concern for their elderly and know where these people live. They could lift up their plow or do something to help us.

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Look at our Congress. Look at our president. What does it tell you? It tells me they are out of touch with the American people. We continue to complain about local government, state government and the federal government. Soon it will be our turn; will we continue to complain or will we do something? I think it is time to say “You’re fired.”

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I’m responding to the comment about Villa Park getting Addison to clean the streets, that they seem to know how to do it, that we’re under the Obama regime. What country are you calling from? I thought we were all part of the Obama regime. Get on the stick.

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I am reading Jan 25’s SPEAK OUT, and the first person who wrote is upset with the teachers’ salary and asked teachers, why don’t you try being a road worker when it’s 100 degrees out. I’m not sure why teachers should do that. Teachers have earned their job by going through college and graduate school and beyond graduate school getting hours, working really, really hard in the classroom, learning and teaching. I’m not sure why we’re being compared to the average salary. Teachers deserve more than the average salary.

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Lombard calling. Trustee Breen and Mr. Frerichs brought up the purpose of Tax Increment Finance District at the last village board meeting. President Mueller said the tax revenue generated has to be spent in the same area. It makes one wonder how he and Village Manager Dave Hulseberg can justify their spin on putting a $30,000 sculpture in front of the village hall, paid for with TIF money. The TIF money was allocated for downtown Lombard, which is not the area south of Wilson Avenue. I wonder if the Town Centre area has no funding. So much for government transparency.

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In early May 2011, Village Manager David Hulseberg, in a press release, addressed a similar question about the sculpture, saying that the statue, called “Your Turn” and created by the late Earl “Bud” Swanson of Lombard, 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.” He further stated that at the time, the property was undeveloped and once developed, the statue was slated to be moved to that location. The press release notes that as for the cost, “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.” The release adds that the statue, part of the Downtown Public Art program, was placed at the village hall campus so that it wouldn’t have to sit in storage.—JAC

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I can’t believe the comments of our village president that he would vote “no” to providing the $38,500 toward the Lombard Town Centre funding for the coming year, as well as the “no” votes by trustees Ware and Giagnorio. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it takes time to heal the wounds of downtown Lombard, caused in part by the village’s lack of forethought these past years regarding the future. Yet, in an accompanying article, the board quickly approved funding of $131,105 for a new front-end loader replacing one from the year 2000, as well as $127,732 for a new dump truck, replacing one from the year 2002. Do we not have mechanics on the village payroll to maintain these vehicles? Most average citizens are still driving 10- to 12-year-old cars, and making do in these times. And Mueller/Ware/Giagnorio are worried about the other $38,500? Let’s not even bring up the Westin Hotel. Time we get some new blood running this village, who can spend more wisely.

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I have been following with interest how another school district has been proposing boundary changes to ease overcrowding and what seems to the NIMBY attitude—not in my back yard. Now, I see there was something about Manor Hill and Butterfield schools experiencing a similar situation, and sure enough, NIMBY all over again. One parent actually asked why the district didn’t just add on to Manor Hill to make more room. I’m sure the taxpayers would like that solution more than balancing the enrollment, right? My kids lived closer to Park View and a block or so away, those kids went to Park View, but mine went to Pleasant Lane. Sure, I would want to be one of the parents whose children’s class size is cushy, but as Obama put it, there is such a thing as shared sacrifice, and I think that would apply here.