Lombard calling. How much money are we paying the math and science coordinators in District 44, because we’re certainly wasting our money and our tax dollars.

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Why was it necessary to transfer over $300,000 in village-collected tax money to the pension fund of the Helen Plum Library? According to my tax bill the Helen Plum Library is receiving directly from the residents of Lombard. Thank you.

Bob Harris, director of the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, responded: “When the library converted from a village library to a library district in 2010, the library district assumed responsibility for paying the employer’s share of pension funds for library employees, a tax which had previously been collected and paid by the Village of Lombard.  Overall, taxes did not increase for this purpose. More information is on the library’s Web site, www.helenplum.org. From the home page, click on “Board of Trustees,” then click on “Your 2010 Tax Bill.”—JAC

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Villa Park calling. I just got done reading some things on villaparksoapbox.com. I can’t believe we once again have trouble with what seems to be bad trustees. Would you all just quit please? And take the manager with you. I’m tired of being embarrassed by the actions of a few board members. Seems like we are always one member short of a good board.

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To the complainer of the Red and Black Ball and then the Lilac Ball, stay home and pout. It is a great idea for a great cause. The Red and Black Ball is an auction of great gift items.  This will be a fundraiser toward the proposed turf field at Glenbard East. Everyone in the community will benefit from this project. Personally, I am going to the Red and Black Ball and the Lilac Ball. I think most Lombardians will support both events in some way. 

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I found out that the congressional district was redrawn and I am out of District 6. So now I get mailings from the carpetbagging Dem using scare tactics and non-truths to get the votes of the naive, by among other things, blaming the Tea Party for trying to take away her mother’s Medicare.

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It’s 11 a.m. on a beautiful Saturday morning and all I hear is the incessant beat of my neighbor’s music. Radiating through my whole house, with my windows closed, I have to turn on the televisions to try and drown out the music. I have talked to them several times over the years but to no avail. Please, people, not everyone wants to hear your music. Have some consideration for your fellow man. I have lived in Villa Park for 15 years. When I first moved here there was nothing but peace and quiet, a place to enjoy. Now the noise coming from the outside is dogs barking and music pounding. Very sad.

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After numerous requests for a town meeting to discuss concerns of his constituents, congressional Rep. Peter Roskam continues to avoid this type of format. His frequent columns, “In the District,” are inane. His selection by the Republican Party to replace the late Henry Hyde has not been in the best interests of the electorate. Is there something that Peter Roskam has been reluctant to explain to his constituents that might surface during a town meeting? People are asking that question.

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Just saw the Glenbard East production of “Leaving Iowa.” It was a fun time. Glenbard East’s theater department is great. Check out all Glenbard East’s plays.

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Lombard board of education, vote for grandfathering and choice for our children on March 20. Your community is watching you.

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Hi, this is Villa Park calling the day after two attempted sexual assaults on seventh-graders in Villa Park and no police seen anywhere around Jefferson Junior High when we’re picking the kids up at 3:30. Thanks, police department.

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The child is going to learn much more from a science fair than marching in a parade in Chicago. We don’t live in Chicago, we have nothing to do with Chicago. They should concentrate on their science fair and forget about marching in a parade. Are you preparing them to be Occupy protesters, too?

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Hi, I’m calling about Manor Hill School and the kids they’re proposing to move. I’m very much against moving those kids. I think they should vote in favor of the children staying there and it’s very upsetting to children who have been there for years because the school didn’t make plans for this overcrowding. Thank you.

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In reading my Lombardian I came to the pull-out section for the election. What a crock that it is in English and Spanish. My problem is not that it is in English and Spanish, but what about the other languages like Polish, Russian and Greek? Why are we giving one language preferential treatment when our language is English, not Spanish? If we’re going to be a multi-national country, let’s start speaking 57 languages, just like Heinz.

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Enough with the teacher bashing already. They are well educated, they’ve had to come up through the ranks, I’m sure they’ve got a lot of good benefits, but it’s no gravy job. Give them a break. By the way, I’m not a teacher. I haven’t got the patience or the stamina for that job.

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I read about Lombard’s plan to start charging $100 for each 9-1-1 call for help beginning with the sixth call each year. Lombard, you have a cold heart. Lombard has nine: not 900, not even 90, but nine residents who regularly need assistance. Five are in their 80s; the other four have severe health issues such as MS. I find it appalling that our village would even consider such charges. These nine individuals pay taxes, as do I. What are these taxes for if not assistance? Perhaps inflated overtime and pensions? I live near one of the fire stations and I can tell you with certainty that our professional firefighters spend a lot more time sitting at the fire station than providing care to anyone. In answer to the question that may be popping into your mind, I’m not one of the 80-year-olds being accused of taking unfair advantage but one day I may be. And so may every member our village board. Better start saving some of your inflated salary so you can afford to be elderly in Lombard.

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Hi, Lombard calling with a couple of subjects. Old Country Buffet by Ultra Foods and Ray O’Herron’s Police Supply. Where did they go? I just got coupons for a couple of free dinners for my daughter and myself and I find out they’re closed. Two, three dinners? I’ve got nothing now. Issue two. It’s funny, Barack Obama now wants to support pipelines now that it’s close to election time. Support the pipelines? He and Al Gore and the rest of them would like to see $6, $7 gasoline like in Europe, just like the rest of his socialist clan. He hasn’t got much backbone.

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Since when did teachers become the bad guys? All these calls in SPEAK OUT talk about teachers being overpaid. I don’t understand. Where did the hatred come from?

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Villa Park calling. We have a nice group here that might come to fame with the Wrigley tune on WGN. They’re called The Fold. I heard them on the radio. Good for Villa Park.

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I’m calling in regard to the Manor Hill School. I think we should let the children stay at that school and not be transferred to Butterfield School.

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The recent listing of the top 50 high schools in Illinois puts into perspective the quality of teaching as indicated by standard test scores. Only one high school in DuPage County qualified for this prestigious academic achievement. Congratulations to the students, faculty, staff and of course, taxpayers, of the Elmhurst Unit District. Gov. Quinn has indicated his support for saving hundreds of millions of tax dollars and improving the academic achievements of Illinois students by consolidating school systems into unit districts.

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I’ve called about this before. I don’t know how you get the police to respond to it; I know they don’t respond to any questions asked in SPEAK OUT, but it would seem to me they’d take a ride by. I was going west on Madison on Main past Madison School and there’s a big sign, “No standing, stopping or parking,” and there they are, parents picking up kids again, parked on Madison. I slowly went around them; I had to go into the oncoming lane to go around them and then somebody pulled out in front of me right from a driveway. I almost hit the person, who didn’t give me any warning. They’re supposed to stop there and wait. They couldn’t see me and I couldn’t see them. I had to jam on the brakes. If that was a kid, I supposed the police would come by. Anybody have any ideas?

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I was just watching the news and and I hear there are cancer-causing chemicals in pop; pink slime in our hamburgers and most ground meat, which they admit cause people to be sick; prescription drugs on recall for causing illnesses and death; people who are cooking in restaurants who aren’t cooks; police reports of drivers with no license, no insurance, no headlights, driving on the wrong side of the road drunk, charged and released. Why? Sounds more serious than that to me. Smokers are beginning to look good to me, out in the snow and the rain, all alone and not bothering anyone. Where’s our Food and Drug Administration and our government? Aren’t they supposed to save us from these things? After the fact it’s too late.

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2008 campaigned on hope and change. I’ve got to tell you, in 2012, I’m hoping for a change.

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Hi. This is to the teacher who’s bragging about how much time he or she has off and how many three-day weekends they get and everything else about how wonderful it is to be a teacher. You’re the reason people don’t think teachers do a good job and why they’re overpaid; because you’re bragging about how little you have to work and you make lots of money. Thank you.

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Congratulations to the Lombardian newspaper and the SPEAK OUT page’s 25th anniversary. Your staff provides a valuable source of information to us all. I’ve called in several times and have gotten the answers I was looking for and also was given the opportunity to voice my opinion on several subjects. Keep up the good work and keep us informed. We appreciate the research work you’re doing.

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For the anniversary of SPEAK OUT one of my favorite SPEAK OUT items was when the dad called in that his daughter wasn’t invited to a boys-only kids birthday party. No one ever had a response, what if it was Caucasians only or what if it was Asians only. Why was it OK for those kids to have a boys only birthday party? That wasn’t very nice, even if it is OK, to not invite the girl.

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SPEAKING OUT FOR 25 YEARS

The following comments are reprinted from the March 18, 1987, SPEAK OUT column in celebration of SPEAK OUT’s 25th year.

Lombard. I have a question on the number on my vehicle license sticker. For the past five years, I’ve been able to get a special number and this year without even notifying the Lombard residents or appearing in the Lombardian paper, I was told that I could not get a special number. I want to know why.

If you now have a certain number or want a certain number, you may request it on your village sticker application. If this number is not in use, you will receive it this year. Next year this will no longer be possible due to computerization.

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The Village of Lombard is always looking where they can get extra revenues. They’ve just put a tax on all our utility bills to receive extra revenue. Why don’t they enforce the laws that are on the books such as people who park their cars over the sidewalk? I am a person who has to walk for my health conditions. Why should I have to walk around someone’s car that’s parked over the sidewalk? This is a very prevalent thing in Lombard. In their travels around Lombard, I would suggest that the police start ticketing these people who park over a sidewalk where I must walk around in the grass or in the mud, but they have the convenience of walking from their car, down the sidewalk to the house that they’re going to. Thank you.