Letter to the Editor

Updated: June 28, 2011 12:36PM

Poor attendance at
incredible concert

On April 20, I attended Glenbrook North’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble band concert.

Many of you will assume that I went because I have a child in the band, but that wasn’t the case (Actually, my daughter does participate in GBN’s band program, but her band wasn’t performing that night). I went because I was intrigued by the wide variety of music listed in the program. The concert included selections from Led Zeppelin, Mozart and “Harry Potter.” And let me tell you, it was incredible!

My only disappointment that evening was how empty the theater looked. Only one band performed that night and since the audience was primarily the parents of the band members, it was a pretty low turnout. I thought it was such a shame that there weren’t more people to enjoy this outstanding performance.

So, I am writing this because there is a bit of irony. You see, I am slated to be publicity chair for the band next year. Even though I officially don’t have the position yet, I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Northbrook community to the Concert in the Park starting at 12:30 p..m. June 4 at the Village Green. Please come listen to our hard-working, talented students under the direction of our wonderful directors, Rich Chapman and Mark Running and help show support for the GBN band program.

Joan Crowe

Northbrook

Park District should
weed dandelions

Sportsman’s Golf Course is filled with dandelions and all of their immediate neighbors suffer from the residue of these plants.

It’s time for the Park District to spend some of our tax dollars to eliminate these plants. I lost a ball in a crop of dandelions on the back nine this morning and spent an hour and a half digging up dandelions in my very small back yard. My back hurts and so do my neighbors’.

Please be a good neighbor and take action to eradicate these plants at once.

Jay Ledbetter,

Northbrook

Quinn should hear
what we really think

Is Gov. Pat Quinn afraid of us? You decide!

Call his Chicago office. Ask when he’ll “host” a well publicized citizens’ forum in the northern suburbs. No one knows. Granted, Gov. Quinn did “inherit” a financial mess. But in the media he misled us about the size of the 66 percent tax hike. Then, he made “deals” with special-interest groups.

Truths — we, Illinois’ loyal, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, did not cause this financial chaos, but we’re going to pay, pay, pay for the mistakes others made. Shockers — here in Maine Township, state-maintained roads have been a mess for decades. On tollways, there are no State Police to protect us from unsafe drivers.

Truths— want to save over $17 million for Illinois in four years? Experts says “close” the unnecessary lieutenant governor’s office. Consolidate state operations.

Like millions of Illinois citizens, this World War II combat-bomber pilot veteran is sick of being treated “like a second-class citizen” by the politicians. We deserve better.

Gov. Quinn should come “listen” to us and the sooner the better.

Lyle Cazel

Glenview

Confidentiality a code
for secrecy

When it comes to union contract negotiations, transparency should trump confidentiality.

What is happening in our state with public pensions is deplorable and has a huge consequence soon to be felt by all of us. Illinois has the highest unfunded public pension liability in the nation. Some sources estimate it exceeding $140 billion. Municipalities, townships and cities can no longer keep up the promises on these pensions. The onus is on us to educate ourselves so we can help address the problem before it is too late. We are losing Illinois and Park Ridge as we know it.

We can get involved locally one step at a time. We have a situation right now where “ground rules” for local union contract negotiations are being set not by our own “elected” officials, but rather by the firefighters’ union and a few appointed Park Ridge city officials. The mayor and aldermen did not even know about these “ground rules” until recently, even though they are bound by the “ground rules” confidentiality requirements. This is wrong.

Taxpayers deserve to know the details of negotiations of labor contracts that they will be paying for.

Susan Sweeney

Park Ridge

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