Mr Waldack
I remember meeting you at Mayor Sandack's election results gathering almost 4 years ago. I walked about four miles in that election to disseminate Ron's message -- not bad with 2 bad knees and a great message You led me to believe that you were a "change" person at that election night gathering. I did not stop by to have a cheap beer, but I am not so certain why you were there (actually, i actually think i understand more today)

Mr Waldack -- I have no doubt that those that you endorsed are excellent candidates. In the years that my wife and I have been here, we have never seen stronger candidates on the ballot. My hope is that only party that prevails is the Downers Grove party. Let's all vote our conscience.

The Village managed itself better than most during the economy collapse. I am solidly with Neustadt, Durkin and Rheintgen as they have clearly stated their views regarding core services, and those are consistent with what Mayor Sandack led.

Good luck to everyone in this election (especially our village)! Mr. Waldack, I will be privileged to share a beer with you (I'll buy if that is ok) after this election. And if this is about change, I will suggest better beer than at our last "change" party.

Change can be good.

I'm so tired hearing from one of our village leaders that we have "lost our sense of community". If anything, I beleive that our community has become stronger. Citizen volunteers have stepped up and brought back a smaller and more homey GroveFest. Downtown business have support a smaller Ice festival. If Meals on Wheels is so near and dear to everyone's heart, then why hasn't someone (specifically you, Mr. Waldack) stepped up and put together a fundraiser? Both Scalzetti and Hose have raised over a combined total of $18,500 for their campaigns (according to the LOWV's forum). That money sure would have put a dent in the $30,000 proposed for MOW. There is something fundamentally wrong with this. When asked how do we fund "Senior Services"? These candidates said through economic development. That has to be one of the biggest No-duh statements, and is truly not an acceptable answer. The only way to fund these services is by raising taxes on everyone. Including those in our community that simply cannot give anymore. Furthermore, raising taxes only stiffles economic development.

Mr. Jankowski,
Thank you for the comments. Yes, I was there because I wanted positive change for our Village. I was concerned about the ethics and campaign fundraising and abuse of power back then.
I was at a Meet and Greet earlier this week for Mr. Thoman and was not surprised to see how many of the familiar faces from that 2007 event you referenced. We all enjoyed a beverage of choice and talked about how we were so terribly mistaken back then.
I always enjoy intelligent conversation and opposing views, or else how does anyone learn unless their beliefs are tested. What is frustrating is behind the scenes debate, people who, when asked to get beyond their given talking points, respond with, ”We’ll just agree to disagree.” Abuse of power and bullying is still a concern.
I don’t have to agree on everything, but I do respect individuality and intelligence, which is why I support Thoman, Hose, and Scalzetti, but also look forward to meeting with you and having a beverage.
Bill

Mr. Waldack:
I look forward to that meeting too, though our views will no doubt differ regarding the results that the current Council obtained during the recession. Village sales tax revenues are still at late 1990's levels, and they will not recover to pre-recession levels any time soon. The property tax has replaced sales tax as the Village's largest source of funding. I commend the actions of the Mayor and current Council in making hard choices to ensure delivery of basic services as revenues plummmeted. I know that you were often on the other side of many of Council votes. The thing is, I agree with what was done by the majority to keep the Village from turning into a microcosm of the State of Illinois, and your rhetoric is very polarizing to anyone who does not agree with you. Insinuating that someone is guilty of "abuse of power and bullying" is a very personal attack; saying that the way the Council worked was to engage in "behind-the-scenes vote-gathering" and "debate" implies that public meeting laws were violated, and that is a serious charge. I must admit that, when personally attacked, I have a tendency to end the discussion fairly quickly and avoid what would turn into an unconstructive dialogue for everyone. Please think about that in the way you approach others on the Council. You have a lot of good ideas, and I am afraid that they will not ever be heard if the tone of the rhetoric does not change.
Don

"I'm available for phone calls, and respond and reply to emails allowed to us under the Illinois Open Meetings Act, which is difficult because you can only communicate to one person at a time, which...actually extends the amount of time it takes to get one message out to your colleagues. But, following those rules our council tries very hard to communicate."

Sounds like that's exactly what they do, violate public meetings laws.

Mr. Jankowski,
We can certainly debate the issues, which I am willing to do when we meet. I will stick by the facts and that which is true. Please feel free to FOIA emails that start out with, ”I am sending this email to each of you singly so as not to violate the OMA” or words to that effect. That certainly is one way to assemble votes and discuss without violating the laws. The telephone is even easier. Your assessment that that I am leveling “charges” is certainly an unnecessary puffery and rather incendiary in and of itself. Please do not put words in my mouth. You don’t receive these emails or know the workings of your council, so when I see these things happening , I will make these observations. Mark Thoman has been a Council watcher for many years and one of the reasons I support him is because he feels Council deliberations should be public and in the open. There are many residents who feel the same way.

Bill

Mr Waldack:
I apologize if quoting you and then trying to understand your meaning is "unnecessary puffery and rather incendiary in and of itself." I thought that your comments clearly implied wrongdoing on the part of the majority of our Council -- I am glad that is not the case based on your comments. As for your statement that I "do not receive...emails or know the workings of (the) council...," I interpret that to mean that I do not know what you know and, therefore, the debate is over, end of discussion. I know you will tell me I am putting words in your mouth with this last comment. But if I told you that you are ignorant of critical facts in a discussion and that you just need to trust my representation of the truth, you might feel the same. That approach stifles open exchange of differing points of view. Our beverage summit may need to be expanded to a six pack.
Don

Don,
I posted my endorsements here as other residents and Council members have. Not so oddly, your first comments had less to do with the endorsement but was more personal in the guise of “let’s have a beverage”. That’s okay, I’m used to it from the Barnett Rapid Response Team which likes to take various posts and engage in the personal attacks. I at least know that you are intelligent enough to write your own material, which is not always the case. Well-played, sir.

If you are serious, your next missive may be sent to wwaldack@comcast.net and we may continue this personal conversation and arrange a time and place to have intelligent discussion.

Fewer meetings, disposal of the “One week waiting period” indicate a Council trying to do less in the public eye. Watching people vote, especially as a bloc, does little for those who may want to understand their Village Government or their representative’s vote. Current Council has discarded “workshops” in favor of “First Readings”. The terminology alone should be a clue…let’s read it and vote next meeting.

Mark Thoman , Greg Hose, and Dominic Scalzetti believe that residents should understand the issues and see how a Council should operate – in the open. They are prepared and willing to do the homework each week. I strongly believe that these three individuals will not only help lead this Council in the right direction, but can do it in a civil and open manner.
Bill

Bill:

I am unfamiliar with the "Barnett Rapid Response Team," but I would surmise that this is one of those pieces of rhetoric that I thought might create more division.

The reason that I took exception to your endorsement was not because of who you endorsed, but how you did it. Your endorsement began with personal attacks against people that I believe have served this community admirably. Look at the second and third paragraphs of your letter -- calling those who have served in our government "machine-style" and using phrases like "Tuesday night power politics" are simply bashing comments with no constructive purpose. The other endorsements that I have read generally did not start by bashing a group (or bloc as you call them). Endorsing letters generally discussed things that the author considered to be strengths of the candidate(s) that they supported. You eventually got there in your endorsement, but I had trouble getting past the bashing.

I do not want this election to turn into a negative one, especially with all of the excellent candidates on the ballot. I am especially saddened when those being bashed are people that I personally and professionally know and respect. I cannot begin to fathom why they would be targets of negative campaigning. The way forward in this election should be based on the positives, and the negative rhetoric should find its way to the trash (do not recycle).

Don

Don,
Now who is doing the bashing? The bloc voting description comes from someone you support, the Sen/Mayor in his endorsements. Com. Beckman also describes it in his endorsement which includes Mr. Thoman and Mr. Hose. As suggested earlier, if you want to continue your personal attacks, you are welcome to take this to my email at wwaldack@comcast.net. I don’t see where I have personally bashed you.

Power politics and machine style are good descriptions and are accurate. You missed the Governance Meetings where the independent minority vocalized the fact that it was necessary for all members of the Council come prepared to meetings. The independent minority also had concerns about the process and pushing things through. Oh, the words power politics weren’t used, but the descriptors are there.

That’s why I support Thoman. Hose, and Scalzetti. Independent thinkers who will come prepared for meetings and vote based on their assessment of issues. Thoman has been doing research on village issues for years and understands the TIF district financials. You should meet and talk with him, I am sure it would be a learning experience. Greg Hose has been involved and knows the issues. He is quite a listener and has support across many lines. I’m sure he can bring real consensus. Dominic Scalzetti has had a job that required assessing situations and has a great deal of knowledge about the community from his day-to-day experiences.
Bill

Bill
I apologize if you did not understand my objection to the negative nature of your letter (I am pretty sure that it kicked off with unconstructive rhetoric). Let me understand your proposal -- should I contact you through your email to continue this discussion privately to take it out of this public forum? You chose the media, and I am ready to continue the discussion, but I can also speak with you privately if that is more comfortable. I have simply asked that the rest of this campaign remain free of negative comments and focus on the positive attributes of those that we
DG residents support. If that request is bashing, then I am guilty.
Don