Although I commend Lombard on its drive to keep our streets in good order, I have to ask, what powers that be determine which streets would be worked on and when? Recently I took a detour; in that detour, there was a detour to the detour and eventually an additional detour to get to my destination. What are they thinking?

Your concerns were forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response:

“There are many factors that help to determine public works’ construction project schedule. Without a specific location, the village is unable to determine what issues were present and what detours were in place. Should you have a specific concern regarding construction activity, please contact the Public Works Department at 630-620-5740 to discuss. To view an interactive map of 2015 Lombard Public Works Projects visit www.VillageofLombard.org/ConstructionMap.”—blm

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This is Lombard calling. Reading in the Lombardian about the crack filling of the asphalt, the only crack filling they did was on Grace, where they laid the new asphalt last year to fix all the mess, but it was not laid by contractors; it was put down by village employees who apparently did not know how to lay the asphalt. Because of that, they have to do the crack fill-ups now because the whole asphalt will fall apart. If it was done the right way the first time, they wouldn’t have to go out this year and do the crack fill-ups.

Your concerns were forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response:

“The Village of Lombard has maintenance responsibility for over 134 miles of streets. The Department of Public Works has developed an inspection and maintenance program to try and extend the life cycle of roadway surfaces. The goal of the program is to perform preventative maintenance to maximize the useful life of each roadway. Crack sealing of asphalt pavement surfaces extends the life of the pavement and is relatively inexpensive. The village’s Capital Improvement Plan contains $140,000 annually to perform crack sealing and $75,000 annual for surface treatment. As part of the village’s commitment to maintaining asphalt roadways, a maintenance schedule has been developed for maintenance. The plan strives to perform crack sealing and surface treatment one year after a grind and overlay project is completed. The roadway is crack sealed five years later and surface treatment after seven years. Following the preventative maintenance schedule, the village would begin patching and base repair as needed, and would begin to consider a grind and overlay after approximately 15 years. This schedule is greatly impacted by the winter conditions, utility breaks and traffic volume, but is used as a guide for pavement management. The crack sealing performed on Grace Street is being done in accordance with the village’s guidelines. Roadways paved by village staff and contractors in 2014 were included in the 2015 crack sealing program.”—blm

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Hi, Lombard. This is to the person talking about President Obama and the Baltimore riots. I don’t think he ever claimed he had programs that would stop riots like that. He seemingly loves to put divisions between people. He’d love to pull in a bunch more illegal immigrants to vote for him. That’s what these liberal Democrats like to do; hand out everything, put their hand out for the votes. He drives divisions between the races; remember the George Zimmerman case, claiming that’s the type of son he could have had? All these outlandish comments.

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This is to all the Lombard community gardeners. Why don’t you leave your dog at home when you come and garden? It’s pretty rude when you tie them up and let them bark their heads off and ignore them. They’re not getting walked, they’re not getting played with, so just leave them at home, because it’s very rude what you do to the people who live around there.

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This is in response to the Lombard caller who was dismayed that he or she and the family would not be able to sit in the same place to watch the parade that they had been for the last 15 years because the property has been sold. This person should consider him- or herself very fortunate to be allowed to do that for 15 years. And, instead of bellyaching about the new people, realize it is their property and they can do whatever they want with it, and you know what happens when you assume something.

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I just noticed the for sale sign on the Deicke building at Division and Westmore. I know they had some problems awhile back but I thought they had a campaign and were successful. Does anybody have any more information on this? Are they closing or are they moving?

Despite the efforts of many individuals, groups and campaigns designed to raise money to maintain the longtime group home—for adults with developmental disabilities—the Deicke Home closed its doors on Sept. 30, 2014.—JAC

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Everybody’s reading about the big ripoff at the College of DuPage, about the president of the college. Another ripoff is DuPage Airport, that everybody’s paying for but do not use. I’ve been screaming about this for years and nobody’s paying attention. Even the editor of this newspaper refuses to give a reply. Why are all of us being taxed, year after year after year, to pay for the operation of DuPage Airport when none of us ever use it? This is an abuse of power and a select few out there who get what they want, and all of us have to pay for it. This nonsense has to stop. Goodbye.

Your concern was addressed in the May 13 edition of SPEAK OUT, which essentially said that repeated requests for a response from officials were unsuccessful. The airport Web site says that the tax dollars are used for operations and maintenance, and that the airport is, indeed, open to all, and furthermore, generates dollars and jobs for the area through tourism, businesses, travel, etc. The airport hopes to become self-sufficient so as not to rely on taxpayer dollars.—JAC

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I’m a United States Navy veteran. I attended the Memorial Day service at the Lombard Common. I had my golf umbrella with me and I was sitting under the canvas and a guy from the American Legion ran over and grabbed my golf umbrella and I said, “Well, I’ll let you borrow it.” Well, borrow it, he kept it. I’d like to get it back. Thank you, goodbye.

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Hi, SPEAK OUT. I’m not snobby; I don’t like excessive force to do something. This is a free country or did we forget? I’d like to go to church where I like to go to. I am divorced and have been since 2002. No, I haven’t remarried or even dated. As a child, I was judged harshly because I was from the East Coast, I imagine; the children didn’t understand me and didn’t know how to relate to me and I’m forgiving them. I’m not a vindictive person, so please, let’s all try to work together and don’t force people to do things they don’t want to do.

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With regard to Rauner, some people dislike him because of his wealth and anti-big union stance. Wait. Have these people looked at Illinois—the governors who went to jail, the financial hole we are in and the last tax increase that did nothing? And all some can reference is nine homes. He has been in office six months only. Some will say I’m a Republican. I am definitely not.

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Lombard. Do you think your water bill’s high? The cost of electricity is going up because of green energy. Remember the $500 million that went down the drain with Obama’s Solyndra? Well now the government has given $14 billion to invest in solar power, but the catch is, there’s no accountability again. Our president is sending the United States into the poor house by giving money away to everybody but the people in our country who need it. June 1. Fox News.

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For over 20 years I have had my mail delivered not only to me on Maple but also to the people on Broadway. I don’t understand why the postal personnel can’t tell the difference between Maple and Broadway. Sounds simple to me.

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I respect state Rep. Peter Breen.  I voted for him. But he is a better lawyer than an accountant. Mr. Rauner won the election with 50.3 percent of the vote. That is not a “strong” majority; it is a “thank God it did not rain in Peoria on election day” majority. Peter might view things in the Capitol as Cook County versus the rest of the state. I see, among other things, the Republican state rep from Springfield pronouncing that because he believes in unions that he is voting with Madigan and against the governor’s agenda.  Peter, he may send it, but you don’t have to cash it.