Wouldn’t it be nice to have a 4- or 5-acre dog park in one of Lombard’s many parks? Of course, with appropriate fees for residents and non-residents. It seems to work well in Glen Ellyn with their Route 53 dog park. A dog park in Lombard would necessitate the Glen Ellyn dogs to act less snooty around Lombard dogs. A dog park would be a moneymaker, and promote exercise for our wonderful dogs and their people.

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So much talk by President Mueller about the transparency ordinance at the board meeting, yet if you look at the agenda for the amendment for village manager there is nothing there. Practice what you preach.

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I was in line at the village hall waiting to pay my water bill. A gentleman in front of me asked when he’d be able to pay his water bill online. They said in January when they get new software. Did you know the village board approved this software for over $1 million? Come on Lombard—there has to be a service out there that would allow them to pay a bill online without having to get all new software. I, for one, need to pay closer attention to what these trustees are approving. Seems to me there are a lot of other things Lombard could have used that money for, like repairing all the potholed streets.

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Lombard calling. The fact that Villa Park got their new fire chief from our fire department in a short time has to make you wonder about Lombard. It seems that ever since Hulseberg took over, things started changing in Lombard. Two years ago the Lilac Parade had no fire engines to lead it. The next event was our longtime fire chief suddenly retiring. Now we can’t seem to find or keep a qualified replacement. It seemingly indicates something has gone wrong at the village hall. Nobody is allowed to answer this question. Could it be the boss man?

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Lombard, why is it our village manager, Dave Hulseberg, advising the trustees not to pay Lombard’s obligation to the Westin Hotel bonds? He was very assuring when he was the city planner at the start of the project that everything was fine. There were many people who were against Lombard getting into the hotel business. How convenient is it that he has chosen not to have anyone from the village answer questions to the public at large? The finance director, Tim Sexton, said he’s not sure if Lombard’s credit rating would go down lower than the last non-payment drop. Maybe they need to hire more consultants so the high-paid officials don’t have to take the heat. We, the people of Lombard, may be losing our credit rating, but more important, our credibility.

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This is for the taxpayers in Villa Park. I was taken to the hospital last month from Addison Road and St. Charles to Elmhurst Hospital, the new one. I just got a bill from Villa Park Fire Department for $500 for that ride. Next time Villa Park cries poor, ask them where the money’s at because I see ambulances going up and down the street all the time and that’s presumably $500 a crack. Guess what? We’re not poor. See our village trustees and president about that.

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This is in response to the person who doesn’t trust the village’s motives for the electricity aggregation. I will probably be opting out, too because I signed up with another company and my rate is .0669 cents per kilowatt hour. Just thought you might like to know.

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Well, here it is, the day has finally come when deportation of illegal immigrants stops simply, it seems, as a way to garner votes. This is a sad sad day indeed. I’m the one who was lol-ing; now I find myself at an impasse—dare I entertain the idea of joining the dark side? Or simply take this and do nothing, and hope it’s a passing fancy? Then there’s the real estate tax hike proposal for everyone but Chicago—oh the shame. Days like this are awful. The apparent laziness of the Illinois Democrats is making my stomach churn. What happened to all the casino and lottery money that was supposed to ease our tax burdens? In the past 10 years, license plates, licenses, vehicle registrations, cigarettes, alcohol, have all skyrocketed beyond reasonable taxation. Something must be done; I really need to lol again at the seeming ridiculousness of the GOP, but I find myself getting really angry at what the Democrats are doing.  

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Lombard calling. President Mueller has always had the best interests of Lombard for many years. Last week a SPEAK OUT caller suggested one of the trustees should apologize for insinuating President Mueller is the king of Lombard. President Mueller should realize there is a shelf life in politics. Things do change. After holding the same position for so many years, a person can get the idea of being king. The problem with kings is they have a tendency not to listen to the commoners as they have all the answers. Kings can keep their royalty and take on the duties as ambassador to enable a successor. It is better to have been a king than a dictator.

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Would you like to have hundreds of intoxicated people walking past your house late at night, pounding music until 11 o’clock at night on a work night, trash all over your lawn or increased crime in your neighborhood? Of course not, but that’s what those of us who live around Madison Meadow have to endure every year during the Taste of Lombard. No one would want the Taste in their own neighborhood, so why do we have to have it in our neighborhood? It’s a commercial venture and it needs to be somewhere zoned commercial.

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If President Mueller does not like being referred to as the “king of Lombard” then he should not act like it. He is the president of an elected board, not the supreme ruler. He shoved the redistricting agenda through, even though nobody had the information to make a good decision—that’s a power play, nothing else. And then he says something about not making it political. Apparently the only reason to draw district boundaries is for politics and elected office.

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OK, folks, how does a college professor not know that if you spend $9 billion a day and the last guy spent $6 billion a day, you are spending more? Nine billion is more than 6 billion. As a matter of fact, he’s even trying to say he spent even less than Ronald Reagan did, who spent $3 billion a day. Yet this college professor is spending $9 billion a day. It really disturbs me that simple math eludes these people and he’s running our country? I thought it was tough when we had a president who didn’t know what the definition of “is” is.

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I don’t think this is the village’s purview, but turning right onto Route 53 from Meadow, there are clumps of bushes sticking that really impede the line of sight of the northbound vehicles. You have to inch out to see if there is a vehicle coming in the right lane, especially because it is somewhat hilly coming over the bridge. If this is an IDOT issue, maybe someone in the village could let them know, or if possible, go ahead and trim the bushes. It is a safety issue and the sooner the better.

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I was reading SPEAK OUT in the Lombardian June 20 and somebody called and said they didn’t know about green electricity, that we weren’t told about it. Obviously they aren’t voting. We really don’t need more people who don’t vote. How do you expect to get anything accomplished when you don’t vote? Wake up and see the sunshine.

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Just driving around Lombard the last two or three days and wanted to know when the police department stopped enforcing vehicles parking on the front lawns. There’s one house in particular with three and four vehicles parked on each side of the driveway in the grass all the time. When is something going to be done about stuff like that? It makes Lombard look bad.

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This is to the people of my religious community who apparently chased a very good man from their midst. We now have a new administration that is listening to professional staff and people who have been in parish leadership for a long, long time. They’ve made some terrible decisions in the past and they’re making terrible decisions now. Please stop the handicapped entrance on the north side of the building and let’s build one on the south side of the building as was planned previously. The south-side entrance makes the most sense, is the most cost-efficient and is the easiest to access for those who are handicapped and those who are driving the handicapped. The north-side entrance is ridiculous, the access is untenable and the plan is foolish, short-sighted, expensive and frankly, poor. I hope that those people in the community knowing about this call the office and complain about it.

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Hi, this is in response to the response of my SPEAK OUT regarding people realizing respect for the flag that I noticed during the Lilac Parade. I never said it is the teacher’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of the parents. If the parents don’t know it I can’t help it, therefore I just thought maybe for parents who are from other countries and don’t know it and don’t care, maybe just one hour at the beginning of the school year or a short time, it could be called to the attention that they’re supposed to stand up and also take hats off in respect to the flag. If the student doesn’t want to do this and stand up and wants to walk out of the classroom, I don’t know what you can do, because you’re right about the bureaucracy that is curtailing you. I would certainly speak to the principal and to the parents. If they live in this country and want an education, they should abide by our common courtesies and rules.

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I am so fed up with Villa Park. I have lived here since 1965—same house, same street. Our street has not been re-paved in 47 years. It’s an atrocity and they keep saying they have no money. Then where did they get the money to do Vermont and Plymouth on the north side last year? Secondly, I was gone from December to the end of May; I was out of town. They charged me for garbage pick-up. When I questioned it, I was told there’s an ordinance that allows that to happen. We have an ordinance in place that allows them to charge for services not rendered. Isn’t that just wonderful? I wonder how many other ordinances we have.

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This is for Villa Park. My question is, why are permits so expensive, dealing with senior citizens on fixed incomes, who want to maintain their property on small projects? Why do you want to add so many extra bills to private property jobs, or do you like a big turnover in town? Many people who are senior citizens like living here and like to maintain their property, so why do you have to have this big permit expense when they just want to do very small projects on their property, such as a little sidewalk along the driveway, or maybe a new stoop? They should get a little property break.

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Hi, I just read the Lombardian about the person who wanted to change the place for the Taste of Lombard. I’ve lived right near Madison Meadow park for over 40 years, raised my children here and believe me, I love it. I look forward every year to the Taste with the music and fireworks. It’s like party, party. Please don’t change the place.

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Another Fourth of July is here and we proceed with another exercise in futility with illegal fireworks. You can’t buy or use them legally in Illinois so a very small group of people will go out-of-state to purchase the illegal product and set them off in the dark of night to irritate the majority of the people of Lombard. If you think they are OK to use, drive to Wilson and set them off at the police station. For the past 35 years, as criminals set off the noisemakers, my children and animals go wild from the noise. But who cares? Certainly not the village officials because if they did, they would levy fines against usage. But no one cares. The police are called and they go out and give warnings. This goes on year after year and the same thing will happen next year. Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is a definition of insanity. The case is proven with the way the village treats fireworks. Fining and doubling the fines for repeat offenders will end this issue.

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It’s 11 o’clock on July 2, nearly 24 hours after the storm, and I just saw my first Commonwealth Edison truck rolling into Lombard from Glen Ellyn; two guys, better than we’ve seen. Thank you, ComEd, for your prompt service.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m just wondering why the sirens did not go off on Sunday, July 1, during the terrible windstorm and thunderstorm we had in Lombard. I find this slightly irresponsible perhaps by the Village of Lombard and/or the fire department. Typically I would hear the alarm from Pleasant Lane School and the fire department on St. Charles Road go off. It was critical that this must happen and I just want to hear from a Lombard official or a fire official why the alarms didn’t go off.

Sorry, we are unable to obtain an answer to your question from the village due to a village policy, which was approved by Lombard trustees on May 19 of last year. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source. Anyone with questions regarding this should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance.—blm

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Hi, this is Lombard calling regarding dogs going to the car shows. Some dogs I know go camping, some dogs go fishing, some dogs go hunting, some like going to the arts and crafts fair. My dog hates staying at home watching TV. I like him going with me, too.

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Due to the storm on Sunday, if you find any injured, hurt or orphaned birds or squirrels, please call Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, 630-942-6200 on how to take care of the animals and bring them into Willowbrook. Also, Willowbrook has emergency needs: apples, 3M duct tape, large bath towels, bleach and fresh sod. Thanks so much.

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To the person complaining about the dogs at Cruise Nights, this is ridiculous. Why do you think dogs like to go on car rides and walks? They like to get out of the house as much as we do. We’d be better off if crabby people like you weren’t at Cruise Nights.

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Hi, Lombardian, this is my third call on this matter. The Taste of Lombard is next week and we still haven’t seen the float results of the Lilac Parade published in your newspaper. Would you please look into that and get them published? Thank you.

We did not receive the results this year as we normally do. After a number of requests, I contacted Erica Fisette, parade chairman, who provided the parade results, which are on Page 6 of this week’s paper.—blm