Sue Wilsey, communications manager for the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, submitted the following comments: “As a clarification of inaccurate conclusions made by [a caller in the July 21 SPEAK OUT] regarding the work flow at the Helen Plum Library, the 80 staff members perform a wide range of other tasks in addition to processing items and answering reference questions. The staff includes those who handle administrative tasks, like accounting, human resources and payroll. There is a marketing department that designs all of the posters and newsletters and updates social media and the Web site. We have an IT staff who support all of the library’s technology. There are staff who purchase new materials and those who catalog them and prepare them for circulation. We have staff who perform building maintenance and do security monitoring. Many staff members plan and host programs, story times and other activities, while others pull books and items for those who place holds, and then re-shelve materials that are returned. These are just some of the many library staff responsibilities. We are happy to provide a ‘behind the scenes’ tour to any visitor who would like to see their tax dollars hard at work, serving our community.”—JAC

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I don't think that the governor should have to apologize for that e-mail that he sent saying that half of all public school teachers are virtually illiterate. He would not have sent it if he did not think that it was true, and he certainly was in a position to know. I think that we should fire all those teachers who are deemed illiterate and all those Supreme Court justices he says can't make rational decisions.

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Hi All Ya All. That means everybody. As I understand it, Madigan keeps his position as speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives because other representatives are politically coerced, in one way or the other, into voting for him as speaker. As long as Madigan is running stuff, things won't change, they won't get better. This bully has to go.  But, you can bet his district won't vote to replace him. But, by working together, we can cut him off at the knees. All the other representatives need to know that if they continue supporting Madigan, if they keep voting for him as the speaker, if they keep working with him, they won't have to worry about losing their political clout; they'll be replaced by us fed-up voters. They'll be cloutless. Illinois reeks. Remove the reekage. Remove Madigan.  Pass the word.

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Lombard calling. Just a heads up to all the businesses who advertise in that little phone book that's being distributed free of charge to all the postal customers in Lombard. If your businesses were to stop in the post office the day those are hitting the mail, they'll realize that almost every one of them ends up right in the recycling bin. Apparently nobody even bothers to take them home. It's a shame because that's a lot of trees that are being killed and it's also a lot of money that you guys are spending for probably no reason. Just a heads up.

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This is Lombard calling. I want to say thank you to our Lombardian delivery boy, John, here in the Montini area. We just found out this week that John will be attending Indiana University this fall and will no longer be our delivery boy. You've been exceptional the last four or five years; never had a better delivery boy for the Lombardian and want to say thank you again to John and we wish you luck at Indiana University. Thank you.

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Somebody made the statement that the Trump presidency is scary. What is scary is if Hillary Clinton gets in office. There are allegations about payoffs, big money controlling her, selling secrets and lack of loyalty to this country. Trump is loyal to this country, and his family and everyone else close to him prove it. So if you want to believe the nonsense that it's scary if he gets into office, I don't believe that. I say the man is saying he will do a job to protect you and protect this country from all evil doers. Give the man an opportunity to perform the job because if you don't, you will live to regret the mistake you've made. Vote the right way and not the wrong way.

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To the caller who said police are shooting people because they committed a crime, the young man in Minnesota, his crime was driving with a broken tail light. I hardly think that justifies use of lethal force, so get your facts straight, be sympathetic to other people and don't just spew this ridiculousness that a crime was committed so someone was shot. There are faults on both sides. I understand, the police are scared, but I also understand that young black men are scared of the police.

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The referendum to increase the Helen Plum Library tax rate to build a new library should not be approved unless it is modified to eliminate the tax increase after the new library is paid for. If the purpose of the tax increase is to pay for a new library, it doesn't make sense that the referendum makes the tax rate increase permanent.

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I'm confused. I just heard a candidate for one of the highest offices in the country speaking Spanish. Really? English is the official language of America. Perhaps he should be running in another country. Or, can the people who come to America illegally vote for the president now? The taxpayers who are going to be paying his salary don't understand Spanish or understand what he's saying. If you don't want to be an American, live in the country of your choice. Don't change our country to yours.

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Hi, can anyone tell us what happened to the Wendy's on Roosevelt Road? There does not appear to be a Wendy's anywhere in the area, and that one now appears to have been closed. There's no sign, there was no warning. It's in the Village of Lombard so can somebody from the village please respond and tell us what happened with the Wendy's location? Are they going to re-open, is there going to be a new location somewhere? Any information would really be helpful. Thank you.

Officials from the Village of Lombard provided the following response: “The specific reasons why this particular store closed is not information that is known by the village, but the closing was a corporate decision by Wendy’s. When it comes to businesses opening, expanding, relocating or closing, the village’s role is purely as a facilitator and informational resource. For more information on the village’s role when it comes to businesses, please view our new online series titled “From Ground Breaking to Grand Opening: Retail in Lombard,” available at www.villageoflombard.org/retail.  In the meantime, we would encourage hungry residents to enjoy dining at many of our other fine restaurants within the community.” Also, while it is not in Lombard, there is a Wendy’s on North Avenue in Glendale Heights, adjacent to Menards.—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I am very heartened by the recent support I've observed for the referendum to build a new library. A library is not a luxury. It's the cornerstone of our community, the most democratic place in town, the great equalizer. The Helen Plum Library currently has the lowest expenditure per capita of any of the local libraries in similar size communities. For years the library board and staff have done an admirable job providing terrific services on a very modest budget. Efficiency and resourcefulness will not keep a boiler from breaking down and aging. Kicking the can down the road with band-aid solutions is not responsible; it's procrastination that comes with shrinking library resources and services. When you care about something, whether it's your family, your church or your community, you invest in it. That's why I'll be voting yes in November. Thank you.

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This is Lombard adding yet another painful experience to the long list of post office woes. We sent seven Certified, Return Receipt packages in early July. The prescribed process is to have the return receipt delivered back to us by the local post office. We received one. That is a failure rate of 85 percent and demonstrates, once again, how the Lombard Post Office is apparently so poorly managed and operated. I encourage Lombardians to correspond with our congressman and senators as destruction and delay of mail is a federal crime. This post office should be closed down until an entirely new staff of trained and responsible people can be hired.

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I have comments for people who are editorial writers, guest writers, so-called experts. If they can't do anything but criticize what other people are doing, and they can't come up with good suggestions to correct the problem, they shouldn't even write an article in the paper. Anybody can say, "After the ball game was lost, you should have done this, you could have done that and you would have won." Then why aren't they the coach? If you don’t have a good suggestion to remedy the problem, maybe you should keep your words to yourself. Bye.

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Hello, northwest Lombard calling. A Syrian asylum seeker kills a woman with a machete in Germany. It's crazy—and we want to bring this people here? Our fine president is so caring and gentle toward these people. It just amazes me that anyone would think of taking them in. Europe is in absolute chaos due to these people. If you're weak you're going to be taken advantage of and the Democrats don't like to hear that. Reality is not an issue for them. It doesn't seem to matter to them. I'm actually a police officer myself; most of the police officers and most of the military people I know can't stand the people who are in charge in the White House right now. They're fighting being able to carry your gun with you as a law-abiding  citizen to protect yourself from these types of people, yet our big cities, Chicago, Detroit, etc., Democrat run, lots of murders, etc., it's only a miracle that we got concealed carry in Chicago.

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Dear friends and neighbors, if you live on the north side of Villa Park, please be aware that there is a person chopping and hacking evergreens and removing branches from spruce. I had $2,000 worth of evergreens ruined. Thank you.

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I don’t know if I will still be living here if the Plum Library referendum passes and has the 20-year debt, but I can bet that after the debt is paid off, the extra tax amount will not be eliminated. That’s because it will take more money to run a new facility. Where else are they going to get that money, except from us taxpayers?

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Overtaxing us, that's not going to correct anything. In fact, that's what's putting us in the poor house now. If we don't stop this spending, giveaways, foreign spending and all that stuff...How about Hillary Clinton? She's already let you know she can be bought, because there's a lot of money that's been given to her. The only reason why the people give the money to her, if she gets in office, she's going to do their bidding. They're going to get the laws changed in their favor, handouts and all that stuff.

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Page 2 of the Lombardian tells us the village has a $1.6 million budget deficit next to the picture of the seven employees they just hired. These employees make up at least half of the deficit. What's wrong with this picture? Let's raise taxes instead. Here comes the increased food and beverage tax.

According to Lombard Village Manager Scott Niehaus, “All of the employees we’ve hired are simply replacing positions where people have retired. We have not created any new positions and at present, we still have a half dozen positions that we’re keeping vacant due to budgetary concerns. In addition, as part of the long-range budget plan, we have eliminated vacant positions on a permanent basis in the amount of $142,000 per year.”—JAC