Hi, calling from Villa Park, just calling to find out what happened to the electric aggregation referendum that was supposed to be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

According to an article by Chris Fox published in the Oct. 17 edition of the Villa Park Review, a news release issued by the village indicated there was a filing error. “The issue came to light after a review of the draft ballot,” the release states, further explaining that “Early voting had commenced, absentee ballots have been drawn and it is not possible to place the question on the ballot.” The article goes on to quote the village press release as saying that the county and Village of Villa Park are “working together to get the question on the April [2013] ballot” so that there is enough time to get information out to residents.

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I cannot believe the increase in traffic on Finley Road going the wrong way through the road construction. Do you not know your north from your south? All the signs say, “Road closed, southbound only,” with orange cones and arrows. Traveling southbound means all traffic travels toward Roosevelt Road. I’d like to hear your excuse printed in the Lombardian.

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Our family went to Willowbrook High School Thursday, Nov. 15, last night and saw the theater department’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.” What a spectacular show these kids put on. Hard to believe these are 14- to 18-year-olds with all this talent. From the costumes and sets to the choreography, singing and orchestra, it was just an outstanding production. There were over 180 kids involved in the show and hats off to every one of them.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

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In regard to the “Death of America,” it is my opinion that hatemongers like you are responsible for the death of Americans in the Middle East, you’re responsible for uncontrolled Wall Street rip-offs that go unchallenged and unpunished. You are the reason for the outcome of this election. The American people have spoken, and spoken loudly, at that. The American people have chosen not to go in a certain direction that favors corporations and the ultra wealthy. We the people have chosen to move this country forward toward equality for women, and races of all types. Not backwards into the ideological wasteland that governs women’s rights and strives to keep the working man poor. You, sir or madam, are a symptom of what is wrong with the GOP and what will ultimately lead to the party’s downfall. This country is finally coming out of its shell, and standing up for what’s right. I consider this the rebirth of America, and welcome it like a newborn baby, with love and compassion, unbiased and new.

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I see the village board has approved the hiring of an assistant village manager. With the village manager’s contract expiring on May 2 next year, is this new position tied to his contract? Or is this new hire, the potential new village manager if the contract is not renewed? Also can one of the duties of the assistant village manager be to address questions of residents that are asked in the SPEAK OUT column?

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To the person who called about the radio station and heard the phrase, “The greatest nation on God’s green earth,” that is the Michael Medved show on 560 AM.

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The salary for the new assistant village manager is being paid for by “potential” savings in other areas.  One hundred and twenty thousand dollars is a lot of savings; how long until these savings are realized? Is this the same person who said the Westin would be paid for by the  potential income that the village can’t pay now? No raises, cutting services and they add another position?

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This is from Villa Park. I’m calling in response to the people who constantly complain about the barking dogs in neighborhoods. I have two small dogs and put them outside during the day when the weather is nice and they bark because they are constantly being antagonized at the fence. If people would not stop by the fence and tease the dogs I wouldn’t have a barking problem.

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I’m very happy to see that John Novak will be running for village president. Having worked with him at the county in the past, I think this is a very good solution to our leadership in manic Lombard. I endorse John Novak.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m going through the Lombardian, today is Wednesday, and I just want to say it is a great day in Lombard that we have a non-trustee going for village president. John Lotus Novak has been a fantastic person and he’s done DuPage County service for many years. Every trustee should be shaking at their knees now to figure out the best thing to overrun John Lotus Novak. John Lotus Novak, if you need any help I’ll be more than happy to volunteer for you and if you are going to put up yard signs, I’ll be more than happy to have more than one yard sign on my lawn for you running for president of Lombard.

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To the person who called in about Glenbard East robo calls, I bet you’d be the same person complaining if they didn’t inform you of things. If it bothers you, don’t answer. And do you really expect them to call over 2,000 families personally? You need to get a life.

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Just wanted to say thank you to the family who lives on West Loy in northwest Lombard for lighting the cross on the top of their tree. I’ve lived on West Greenfield for 24 years and can see it from my backyard. I love to look at it and look forward to seeing it every year. I’ve lived here for 24 years and can’t remember when they started lighting it but I know they’ve been lighting it for quite a few years and hope they’ll continue to do so for many more.

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The election process was done and Barack Obama won the election by a very, very narrow margin, which means that he is not a king, he is not a dictator. He can’t impose his will on us and he can’t dictate his will on us. He was elected as a president and a president is supposed to serve the people and solve the problems. If he can’t serve the people and solve the problems, I have one suggestion: resign right now. Stop this I’ve got to have my way. It won’t work.

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To the caller who complained about election commercials on TV and now the Christmas commercials, I have a hunch you are probably the same person complaining about other commercials, weather reports on the TV news—rain or snow—and about news items you have decided are not as important as others; I detect a pattern here. What would you rather have the TV stations do? I don’t like those commercials either but let’s face it; they bring in revenue which helps keep at least some channels free. Also, when it comes to the weather, I don’t care if it is the dead of winter or summer, I want to know ahead of time if there’s bad weather on its way. Who wouldn’t? Nobody is making you watch TV.

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Lombard calling. As a resident of the old downtown area, basically Main Street and St. Charles, these new signs are ridiculous. They’re supposedly part of the branding of our old downtown? Is this the village planner or the village manager who came up with this? I have a suggestion; why don’t we change the signs to white and put little ghosts on them, because half the buildings are vacant like a ghost town. Maybe we should brand that. Silly little signs, that’s going to bring business—that’s our brand? How about we get the village manager or village planner from Addison—look what they did on Lake Street. That’s what St. Charles Road should look like in downtown Lombard. Those signs are just ridiculous. That’s going to make someone want to open up a business in downtown Lombard? A silly little lilac sign?

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I have four things to say. There’s a lot of talk about Abraham Lincoln but one thing they will never tell you, why Abraham Lincoln was assassinated—because he was going to stop borrowing money from the British. Jack Kennedy was assassinated because he was going to take the Federal Reserve’s power away to give all that money and charge us high interest rates. Why did all our senators and congressmen give away the Panama Canal, just to satisfy the big banks again so they could get their money back? This is wrong. All this stuff has to stop and you people have to know what’s going on.

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For the quitter who is writing America’s obituary, and for everyone who can’t accept an election cycle that didn’t go the way they hoped. America didn’t die, a free election was held and the American people spoke. The outcry is embarrassing, yet not surprising. Most of us are moving on with our daily lives, working hard, living life, and embracing what we have. Our country is moving forward in demographics and opinions. This is the one great constant in our history. We never stop changing, we never should. There will be more elections, where you should voice your opinion, but in the meantime, life is much too short; go enjoy it.

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To the caller who falsely stated  that President Obama—the people’s choice on Nov. 6—“apologized for America” and said Americans are “not exceptional.” No, that is not what he said. He said, early in his first term, “I am tremendously proud of my country and its role in history and I think we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality that, though imperfect, are exceptional.” Please, caller, try to curb your hatred of a decent man.

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This comment is not only to Lombardians but to our representatives, Roskam and Durbin. How could you allow the following legislations to pass: a $16,000 grant to create a computer game simulating a high school prom night or $505,000 for a pet shampoo? And yet, $700,000 for a new way to make beef jerky. This nonsense must stop. It is not a Democrat-Republican issue, it is an American issue of trust in our representatives to work for us. Are you?

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Lombard calling. It’s Nov. 17, Saturday, 5:30, and the Village of Lombard is out putting up Christmas decorations and wreaths. Are we paying overtime, double time for this on a Saturday night? I don’t understand. Also,do the purple signs cost more than the regular green signs, and we need purple to brand our downtown at another added expense? Just wondering how the Village of Lombard is spending the money.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling to all the union lovers. Again, another union catastrophe. The Hostess company, all the Twinkies, cupcakes and everything are no longer going to be around. Thanks to the unions they have now just put 18,500 out of work because of greed. What are the unions going to do, stick around with their inflated rat, which is their mascot, are they going to help those 18,500 employees because they told Hostess, “We don’t care?”

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I'm calling to congratulate most of the candidates for taking their signs down within two weeks of the election. I see virtually no signs except one woman who didn't seem to win the election has all of her signs up and down Roosevelt Road, St. Charles Road. But the rest of you guys, congratulations. Stop the blight.

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To all the folks who are having problems with the yapping dogs, the main problem is the weak Lombard noise ordinance. Right now it is in committee level. Hopefully it will get to the board so it can be updated. The Lombard noise ordinance is from 1996, 16 years old. I urge all residents who are having problems with noise, whether it be yapping dogs or loud music, to call their trustee. You can go to the Lombardian online and under “Publisher’s Desk,” Bonnie MacKay has kindly listed all of the trustees’ names and ways to contact them. If we work together we can get that Lombard noise ordinance updated and that way we can get some help with the yapping dogs and the loud outdoor music coming from garages.