Good morning, Lombard. I just finished reading SPEAK OUT for Wednesday, July 31, and I have a comment to the caller who is disappointed that President Obama hasn’t walked on water or performed any other miracles. The problem isn’t with the guy in the Oval Office, whoever he or she is, or with any other particular politician in Washington. It is with the portion of the electorate who refuse to open their minds and realize that government is the price of civilization. Anybody who thinks that all of our problems will be solved by shrinking government is sadly mistaken, and the key to successful government is cooperation. Thank you.

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This is Villa Park calling. I just read the July 31 issue of SPEAK OUT, where someone was complaining about the gangs in Villa Park. SPEAK OUT says it’s alleged gangs in Villa Park, the police apparently don’t think it’s a problem, our village trustees apparently don’t think it’s a problem, our village president apparently doesn’t think it’s a problem, so it must be everybody’s imagination about the gangs in Villa Park. If you think our police are going to do anything about it, they had a chance when some members were drinking on the street on Ardmore by the train station, and smoking dope; two cops and a supervisor reportedly drove past and did nothing.

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Just re-read a call from July 24 regarding the Republicans trying to slash social welfare programs. The caller went on to share a beautiful Thanksgiving prayer. Not one word was mentioned in the prayer that it was the government’s responsibility to care for the hungry, homeless, jobless. When did we start thinking the government should do the work stuff? I prefer to lend a hand myself when I can. I also support my church not only locally but nationally and globally through our denomination, and other charitable organizations that I have checked out. Our dollars go a lot farther when they’re not being handled by some bureaucrats who seem to be unaccountable. Wake up, people. Let’s take responsibility and get our government back to where it should be. Thank you.

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The Village of Lombard just turned down another bond payment for the convention center near Yorktown. As the village credit rating keeps going down, its interest payments on its loan go up. Mr. Hulseberg promised the Westin Hotel would never cost the taxpayers anything. Who pays the interest on the village loans? The village manager? Goodbye.

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This is Lombard calling. I just want to congratulate the whole Cruise Nights of Aug. 3 band of American English. It was one of the most attended standing-room-only concerts with a band ever in the 15-year Cruise Nights history. I just want to thank everybody—the Cruise Nights helpers and everybody who coordinated and helped out for the Cruise Nights. I want to commend Lombard.

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Lombard calling. I live on St. Charles Road, and it’s bad enough that during the summer on a nice, pleasant Saturday evening, like it was Aug. 3, that I can’t have my windows and doors open because of the constant revving of the engines from the cars at Cruise Nights. They’re worse than train horns because they do it from 3 in the afternoon when they park themselves out there until 10:30 at night, when they leave. But to make matters worse, 6:30 in the morning on Sunday, you have the village workers out there with their blowers, blowing the garbage and then the street cleaner by 7 in the morning. I don’t know what’s worse; Cruise Nights or the village at 6:30 on a Sunday morning—6:30. Isn’t there an ordinance that says you can’t make that much noise before 7:30 in the morning? Come on. It’s Sunday. Get with it, Lombard.

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I just received the latest issue of the Lombard Pride. The part where the trustees each get to write their own thoughts and statements really is redundant and just takes up space. Most of what each of them said in their little article was elsewhere in the Lombard Pride already. So, that section should be eliminated in the Lombard Pride. The taxpayers would probably save money on a shorter and briefer Lombard Pride. If people want to know what each of the trustees thinks, they can go to their individual Facebook pages.

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This is to the polite person; smile at someone or hold the door open. Don’t mess with the rules of the road and endanger lives. You can’t tell someone to go through a stop sign. The car coming in the other direction might not see the person in the street and has no stop sign and could hit him or her. It’s not your place to direct people to ignore a stop sign. Congratulations to the police officer who told you not to stop, for upholding our laws to save lives. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. Now that our village manager has decided to retire, the big question is, when? The village budget seems to be stressed; so much that public works can’t even afford to trim the branches in front of the stop signs. Why pay a lame duck village manager to stay on? Is he going to solve any of the problems he helped to create? The bonds for the Westin is a moot point. Lombard has already lost its good bond rating. Bye.

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Hello, Villa Park. Isn’t it amazing the craziness that’s going on in the PC world here? I looked at the Villa Park Review and on Page 2, it has “Police arrest two juveniles for taking computers,” a robbery, an armed robbery near the Prairie Path, a Villa Park stabbing, as well as, “TNT unit arrests four for meth sting.” At the same time, our village officials are trying to stop bullying with a new ordinance. Maybe they should get their priorities straight. This village is going downhill very quickly. What’s next? Should we have a village ordinance for kids not doing their homework or people not raking their leaves or cutting their grass in time? Villa Park needs a lot of work, but more importantly, people need to voice their displeasure.

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I got a letter in the mail that was a survey asking if illegal immigrants should get Social Security payments. Doesn’t the word “illegal” answer that question? I had to work and pay into it for 50 years. If our politicians give it to someone who never paid in and broke the law, how will I get what I worked and paid for? Who would even question this? Don’t we vote these guys in to work for us? Someone should tell them.

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Hi. This is an out-of-towner’s experience with the Prairie Path situation. I was walking to one relative’s house from another and got to Main Street, and there was lots of traffic. So, of course I stopped. I wouldn’t imagine that I had any right of way. I was just enjoying the scenery, looking around, when suddenly I see one car out of all of them stopped at the crosswalk, beeping his horn at me loudly, so I soon tried to cross, hoping other cars would stop, too. Then he rolled down his window and was swearing at me. My mom tells me it’s an ongoing situation there in Lombard. Thanks for listening. Bye.

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Hello, I’m calling about the letter written by the Lombard firemen. I think that was a very interesting letter. Thank you. I’m curious. How many Lombard firemen and paramedics actually live in Lombard? Thank you.

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This is Lombard calling. I’m just curious. It is the middle of summer in August, the dog days of August, a Saturday night, Aug. 10, which we have Cruise Nights with a live band, part of the Lombard Town Centre and the Lombard Town Centre is having a wine and craft beer tasting event and they don’t have it in downtown Lombard where they can get people to be able to do it, but they’re having it at the Westin Hotel. Why? I don’t mean to be like that but it’s summer; they could have done it in a joint venture. It’s wrong. Why does the Lombard Town Centre even exist? Thank you.

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Hi, this is Lombard regarding Mr. Z’s. I know they’re having a hard time with their suppliers right now and restructuring the ownership, but I think that when they finally do get their stuff together they should advertise and have a grand re-opening and let Lombard know what Mr. Z’s can really do.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling in regard to the Terrace View Pond $1.2 million project. Help me because I’m confused. If you lower the water and get rain and you get water in, you’re going to have to lower it again. It doesn’t make sense by lowering it one time, thinking that it’s going to not fill up and not have to be lowered again. It’s kind of like my pool-if I take water out of my pool and it rains a lot, my pool fills up so I have to drain it. So, they’re going to have to drain it on a regular basis? Which makes no sense. Why not dredge some of it out and make it bigger and deeper? I’m still confused. This village is killing me. Thank you.

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New election, new trustees, same old baloney. Don’t publish your e-mail address or your phone number if you don’t want to return those messages or phone calls. You are no better than the trustees who preceded you. Goodbye.

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If you want to see what the Taj Mahal must look like, take a ride over to Glendale Heights and see what their new village hall looks like. Marble floors, marble walls, computer screens built into the wall, television on the computer screens. No place to park, however, but really a nice building, with a water park and everything.

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Pedestrians in crosswalks have the right-of-way. A person chastised someone in the Aug. 7 Lombardian who had stopped on Grace Street to let pedestrians and bicyclists cross the street at the Prairie Path, where there is a crosswalk, and further added it was giving them a false sense of security by waving them into the roadway. House Bill 43, passed in 2010, requires drivers to come to a complete stop for all pedestrians in all crosswalks, even those that don’t have a stop sign or traffic light. Please spread the word. Drivers in Illinois must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Thank you. Bye.

When the Lombard Police Department was responding to inquiries, one of the most frequent was with regard to confusion over Prairie Path crosswalks and rights-of-way. Back in 2011, then-Deputy Chief Dane Cuny, among others, explained that in those cases where the pedestrians have a traffic signal—in this case stop signs—they must obey those traffic signals. If you check Sec. 11-1002 (a), it says vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within a crosswalk “when traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation.” If you look on the Prairie Path, there are stop signs in place for users of the Prairie Path, which they must obey. Section (b) also states that pedestrians must not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a moving vehicle which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. At the same time, the law indicates that drivers do have to stop for someone who has already entered the crosswalk.—JAC

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Yes, this is Lombard calling. Today is Wednesday, Aug. 7, reading the Lombardian and very disappointed that there’s not even one word mentioned of the most fantastic, the largest crowd ever in the 15 years of Lombard Cruise Nights with American English. It was standing room only, even before the band started, all the way to St. Charles Road on South Park. These things are very positive about how busy and how great downtown Lombard can be and what we have done in the 15 years of Cruise Nights. Thank you.

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Hey, what’s the status of our village board answering questions to SPEAK OUT? Has there been any change on that? Are we still the open-minded organization?

It’s been more than two years since the village stopped answering SPEAK OUT questions. Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance. Remember, it is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source, as was approved by the board of trustees at the May 19, 2011, meeting. Speaking of the village board, District 3 Trustee Reid Foltyniewicz, who was elected in April, said during his campaign, “The village’s no-response policy to the Lombardian and to the people is ridiculous. If I get elected, I will bring this issue up immediately to get this reversed and remind everyone that the government works for the people and not personal agendas. Let’s stop this authoritarian style of government in our village.” Maybe it’s time to contact the new District 3 trustee and his counterparts if you are dissatisfied with the way the village handles the SPEAK OUT issue.—blm

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Congressman Roskam is no better and no worse than the others who make up the current Congress in Washington. My point is that what he did may well be legal, but the ethics of a representative of Congress to take money from an agency of a foreign government, to visit that country, when he also included a visit to his daughter, brings on an odor that is strangely fishy, and leaves himself in a compromising position. With the salary and perks that are afforded members of Congress, he and the rest of Congress can afford to travel on their own dimes, to give a speech or visit a relative. In my opinion, he made a poor decision and must now pay for it by this investigation by the appropriate committee, and the publicity he receives which no doubt will absolve him, as Congress typically tries to protect each other in such instances, that they all seem to be guilty of. Whether he writes a column for your publication or not, what needs to be addressed is a balanced reporting of readers’ opinions. Congressman Roskam, shame on you. You got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.