To the contributor to SPEAK OUT regarding Gov. Rauner, why are people condemning the governor, who has not been in office more than six months? Why don’t people give him the benefit of the doubt? He has to be better, I hope, than the governors who have been sent to jail. Illinois is not doing well. Spending, spending, spending; too many giveaways. Gov. Rauner may be one of our better governors—for our sake, I hope.

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The first comment in the April 8 SPEAK OUT contains false information. The misinformed commenter stated that Gov. Rauner entered office as a lame duck and is not running for office again. That's not true. “I would be willing to serve for eight years if people want me,” said Rauner shortly before taking office in January. Rauner was just elected to a 4-year term. He could run for re-election in 2018. Get your facts straight.

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It’s a nice, beautiful day, Monday, April 6, but the storms are coming. Just to remind people what you need to have in Villa Park during the storm season. Make sure you have a generator, because the power’s going to go out like always. Make sure you have a small canoe so you can get down the village streets because you know how they flood, even though the village says they don’t. And three, make sure you have at least two sump pumps for your basement and/or crawl space. And help your neighbors out. These are a few things you might need for the storms coming up. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. What’s that quote about those not studying history being condemned to repeat it? Can someone ask Downers Grove state representative and ex-mayor Ron Sandack where he got the language for his bill that would allow Illinois municipalities to declare bankruptcy, and what happened to those municipalities in other states whose statutes use identical language once they declared bankruptcy?

Several attempts to get a response from Rep. Sandack were unsuccessful.—JAC

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This call is for Bonnie MacKay. Recently a caller spouted off a false quote attributed to Barack Obama’s book, “Audacity of Hope.” It really bothers me that anybody can make up whatever they want and it gets printed with zero fact-checking. Where is the journalistic integrity? I understand this is a small-town newspaper, but come on. I Googled the quote and the first thing that pops up is that it’s a lie or at least a misquote. Thank you, bye.

According to Snopes.com, it is a misquote, and the sentence reads, “I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” Upon reading the passage, it appears the president is referring to Arab and Pakistani Americans. Remember, opinions are those of the callers and may not be factual.—JAC

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What is going on with the Village of Lombard? This town is slipping down a very dangerous slope. They are allowing a ton of new apartments to be built in the city of Lombard. Property values are down and taxes are at an all time high. The other issue is that the village has allowed five high-interest loan stores between Main Street and Westmore on Roosevelt Road. These are what destroys communities. What is the incentive to move to Lombard with a higher crime rate, high taxes, poor test scores in schools and a ghetto atmosphere? I thought I elected new people who had a clue. I guess I was wrong. Sincerely, Your average Joe Taxpayer.

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I live near on the north side of Lombard by Windsor and West Road. Over the last two days a tree service was here cutting down trees from parkways and from private lots. They cut down: a sugar maple, bur oak, several hackberries and a walnut. They left the invasive buckthorn. What is going on? Is the vacant land finally sold? Why leave scrubby invasive brush and cut down native hard wood trees? Is the parkway sugar maple going to be replaced? Shouldn’t the property owners adjacent to the parkway where the sugar maple was taken down been notified? How can Lombard call itself a “tree city”when good trees are being killed? None of these trees were sickly or dying in the least. None of these were ashes. Disgusted again.

Your concerns were forwarded to the Village of Lombard which provided the following: “The parkway trees were removed from this location because they were growing into power lines and would need repeated trimming to maintain the power line clearance required by state law. The removal was done by a contractor working for ComEd, at no cost to the village. New trees will be planted in this location, and we will focus on finding trees with a more appropriate mature size for planting under power lines. Letters were sent to the affected residents advising them of the pending removals and that the village will be replanting at those addresses, most likely as part of our fall 2015 planting program. This proactive step on the part of the village and ComEd will help to ensure quality electrical service, while maintaining Lombard’s healthy tree population. Regarding the removal of trees on private property, the village does not have a tree preservation ordinance that would mandate that the trees be preserved on the subject property.  In most cases, property owners have the discretion of determining which trees they want to keep and which ones they would like to remove.  The property is currently for sale.”—blm

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This is regarding Lombard saying we’re going to allow more apartments to be built. I want to know why, first of all. Secondly, having more apartments built means more crowded streets, more police protection and fire protection needed, which will end up costing the homeowners. I don’t think the owners of the apartment buildings pay as high taxes as the owners of residences do. I don’t think we need any more. Do we want to be known as the town of apartments? Thank you.

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I agree with the person who called last week and spoke about the union rat that was in front of the construction site at Grace and North Avenue. That's just a union’s way to “bully” non-union workers. We’re having a concerted effort in the grammar school and the high school to stop bullying and we let the unions get away with this. Personally, whenever I see a rat, I make a mental note not to patronize that business when it's open. That’s my way of fighting back. I don’t know how else we can do it, but I think it’s definitely bullying.

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To the person who said there should be no College of DuPage, I totally disagree. You said, “If you want to go to college, pay for it yourself.” The most recent figure on the COD Web site is that tuition is $140 per hour. Nobody I know got a free ride, even with financial aid and scholarships. I looked at my last tax bill. Just under $200 went to COD, while $2,800 went to the grade school district and $1,700 to the high school district. The forest preserve district got $111 and the library, $184. Despite the ongoing controversy, COD is a good bang for the buck and offers those a place to start who might not otherwise get into a four-year college, not to mention the certificate and degree programs for those who don’t want to or can’t go on for a higher degree. I say it is an asset to DuPage County.