It's such a simple thing...

Maybe it’s because the little things just sort of add up.

A few weeks ago I observed retiring police chief Steve Balinski salute the flag during the pledge of allegiance, which opens each Village Board meeting.

No big thing, just a class way to show respect to the flag and what it stands for.

Fast forward to Monday’s Board meeting.  Once again, the pledge and once again attendees, including the state runner up Stevenson High School basketball team, stood and respectfully said the pledge.

Except, so it seems, one.  Sure, he started to say the pledge, but before long he just stopped.  Maybe he was distracted, or maybe it was because of the words “under god” – but for whatever reason he didn’t finish it.

True, it’s a person’s rights to say the pledge or not, or even abridge it.  It’s disturbing, however, to use it to call attention to you and your personal belief.  It’s a simple minute – literally – to show respect for the others in attendance and toward the United States.

And on Monday the pledge seemed to mean a bit more than usual.  There wasn’t a need for a long explanation.  All it took was one word.

Boston.

Who's on first?

The advent of social media has provided candidates at any level a new vehicle by which to deliver their messages.

President Obama used it extensively in both his campaigns as did Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

So I was not too surprised when I started seeing various posts by the candidates in the stimulating and issues loaded race for village trustee.  With three names on the ballot, current Board members Beverly Sussman, Andrew Stein and Lester (call me Les) A. Ottenheimer III,  and one write-in candidate, Jeff Battinus, it’s hardly been as exciting as say, an appearance by Carlos Marmol.

The four candidates have all said the usual stuff.  The three current board members have touted their experience and concern for the village, something incumbents usually due.

Battinus has been doing the same too, but since he has not served on the Board, he does not have the experience to fall back on as the other three.  Instead, he has been trying to forge ahead by riding the coat tails of the proposed instant downtown.  At last month’s candidate forum much of the discussion focused on the 65-acre proposal for a central business district along Lake-Cook Road on land currently being used as one of the village’s two golf course. 

A little residential concern, objection and ::poof:: we have a campaign.  Sort of.

With only one proposal on the table a decision does not seem to be in the near future.

If there are other major issues in the race, there has not been much discussion about them.  Yep, folks are concerned about the Weiland Road project.  Yep, folks are concerned about the budget.

But when it comes to hearing what the Village Board has to say about it, there does not appear to be a lot of interest in these topics.  At the past two meetings, there have been more people in attendance to say good-bye to retiring Police Chief Steve Balinski and retiring Public Works Director Greg Boysen than  have been to discuss village issues. 

Oh yes, let’s not forget the parents who came at last week’s Board meeting to celebrate the state champion Buffalo Grove Cheerleaders.

So cheerleaders and public works directors have taken the focus of the village.  In an election year.

As sitting Board members, Sussman-Stein-Ottenheimer III have had the chance to let the public know of their concerns for issues facing the village, but have not made village board meetings campaign forums.

So where’s Battinus during the Village Board meetings?  My guess he’s in one of two places – he’s out running (remember, part of his candidacy announcement was based on his jogs through the village) -- or he’s in Ela Township.

Say what?

Just check social media.  Battinus has made it a point to let the world know that he “likes” Ela First.

The what?   Ela First?

 Ela First, as noted on its Facebook Page is “…Committed to the people of Ela Township, we will Continue to provide quality services while maintaining a Balanced Budget with Integrity, Accountability, and a Proven track..”

I’m not sure why Battinus is interested or concerned in the fine folks of Ela Township – I mean Lake Zurich is beautiful this time of year -- but it seems to me that a candidate running for Buffalo Grove Village Board should be putting Buffalo Grove first.

He’s made it clear his opposition to the instant-mall and has called for development along Dundee Road and Milwaukee Avenue.  But now what?  One local paper endorsed him because of his “fresh voice”.  What it didn’t say is what they fresh voice was going to say.

Yep, the village needs more commercial and retail development – you can’t argue that.  But how should it achieve that?  The campaigns of all four candidates have been pretty mum on that. 

It’s a $64,000 question that a lot of folks in Buffalo Grove have been trying to answer.  And who knows where the answer will come from.

But odds are it won’t be in Ela Township.

The final salute

It is always the second item on the agenda for every Village Board meeting.

               The Pledge of Allegiance.

               For the most part it’s routine.  Just as it was at the March 18 Village Board meeting.

Retiring Police Chief Steve Balinski
bids a fond farewell
at the March 19 Village Board meeting

               But tonight, it was a subtly different.  While the throngs in attendance stood, placed their hands over the hearts and recited the pledge, one member of the audience, impeccably dressed in his Police Department dress uniform, saluted the flag as he said the pledge.

               It was a class, even poignant thing to do – pay tribute to the country with dignity and honor.

               But that’s what you would expect from Police Chief Steve Balinski.

               Balinski was honored with a reception prior to the meeting and then with the presentation of the obligatory resolution by the Village Board.  In essence, the night belonged to Balinski.  As well it should have.

               His salute, most likely his last as Buffalo Grove’s top cop, could have been seen as more than a salute to the country.  It very well could have a been a salute to the village and the people “Bo” served for nearly four decades.

               If a coach reflects the character of his team, then the Buffalo Grove Police Department reflects Balinski class as a professional and person.

               “I am blessed because of everyone here,” an emotional Balinski said.  “I feel lucky to come to work every day.  All of you have been very important to me. You’ve been my strength. You’ve allowed me to succeed.”

               And while Balinski thanked the expected – the village staff, the elected officials and, of course, his colleagues in the Police Department – he became emotional and tearful for the one person he said has “always been there, my wife, Karen.”

               That’s Balinski.  An honest cop, a good cop, a class cop – and a caring cop.  I’m a staunch admirer of the men and women of the nation’s police and fire departments.  They’re not all perfect – no one is – but they face daily challenges that most of us can’t even imagine.  Buffalo Grove is fortunate to have a class police department.  I have worked with the department on and off for more than 30 years, before Balinski was chief, when the department was located in the basement of Village Hall, so my admiration is not based on any recent events.

               “We were always a team,” Balinski said.  And that team wasn’t limited to police headquarters, but to the entire village.  A lot of police departments boast that they “serve and protect” – but none do it the way the BGPD does it.  Good leaders recruit and groom good professionals.  For 36 years, Balinski has been part of that – even though he initially thought the job offer was a joke.  “I thought it was a fraternity buddy,” he said.

               It wasn’t.  Instead it was the start of an amazing career.  “When you wear star or badge – it’s about opportunity, service,” Balinski said.  And over the past 36 years he provided both – service to a community that seen unprecedented growth, and the opportunity to truly serve and protect.

               For whatever reason, I remember an editorial cartoon that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after former Chicago Police Chief Orlando W. Wilson retired.  In essence, it was a police badge and night stick talking.

               The badge said “I shine a little brighter;” while the nightstick said “I stand a little taller.”

               They’d say the same thing about Balinski.

Butch McGuire's coming to Buffalo Grove?

I was dumbfounded.

There he was, sitting nice and relaxed -- Proverbial candidate and community activist Chicken Little.

Chicken Little

Generally this time of year I find him with his feathers really ruffled – between chicken soup for Passover and eggs for Easter, he’s nervous.

But not this year.  He looked cool, calm and collected.

I had to ask why this year was different from all other years.

“I have a plan,” he said, “for a new business in Buffalo Grove.”

Let me guess, I said, a comedy club.

“Nah,” he said, “I have something more original – and besides – it’s a proven success.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, but good ‘ol C.L. never ceases to amaze me.

So what’s his big idea?

“Well,” he said “after attending the recent candidates’ forum, I’ve decided I need to continue the legacy of the man himself.”

Who? I asked.

Butch McGuire.

Excuse me – the late founder of what many consider the original singles bar?  Here in Buffalo Grove?

“Yep,” C.L. replied.

But wait, how do the candidates for the April 9 Village Board election factor into your decision to open a singles bar in Buffalo Grove?  Seriously, if I saw the slate of four on Division Street I’d probably give up drinking.

“It’s not the people, dummy, it’s the idea.”

I’m lost, I told him.

“OK, the candidates’ forum brought together a bunch of people who were curious what other people had to say – you know, like going into McGuire’s.”

It’s a stretch, I said, but OK, tell me more.

“And just like a singles bar, the folks hear the things they expect to hear.”

I was beginning to catch Little’s idea a bit.  The forum did produce a nice crowd and the candidates presented their stands, which is the stuff you expect and want to hear.

“From my perspective,” Little said, “I was able to walk away without fearing the sky is falling.”

But, I asked him, do you think the sincerity was there.

“Probably more, he said, because three of the four are repeat customers, so to speak.  In fact, I think I heard someone say, “excuse me, but what’s your sign?”

Not quite – I think someone was asking for a sign – a lawn sign.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

So do you still think a singles bar makes sense?

“Absolutely, if the lively art of conversation can bring people out for a candidates' forum, imagine what’s they do for fun and relaxation.”

C.L., I said, this is Buffalo Grove, where folks don’t come out unless...

“Yes, I know...the sky is falling.  Maybe I’ll need to have karaoke.”

Nah, I told him, some performers can be painful to listen to.

“True.  But the allure of conversation and heated debates could make it interesting.  Maybe I could give it a Chicago Cubs theme.”

What, only have a successful year every 105 years or fade every August?

“Well, there could be a lot of singles without much scoring.”

Don’t quit your day job, I told him.

C.L. said he has one concern about his single bars idea.

“I’ll need bouncers.  I mean what if a fight breaks out?”

No sweat, I said, just call 9-1-1.

“That’s my concern,” he said.

Why? I asked.

“What if I can’t get through?”

Looking at the whole student can make a difference...

As an educator, it’s not unusual to meet with a parent who is panic-stricken because his/her child has issues because he/she may have ADHD, be on medication for one reason or another, have a broken finger nail or may have just broken up with a significant other – as significant as others can be to high school kids.

                In addition to going through the litany of paperwork, I often smile and tell the parent or guardian that I know a young man who has gone through some of the same issues.  I tell them that it took a while to identify his ADHD, but working with health care professionals and educators, he managed to get on track.

                A key, I tell them, is to let the student find his or her own way.  Medications, counseling and Individual Education Programs (IEPs) are just part of the overall program.  Letting kids succeed on their own may be one the best treatments a student can have.  I have found that some parents are so obsessed with student success that they become the ones who are in need of help.

                True story: I had a parent tell me once that had she known there were going to be some standardized tests administered, she would have adjusted her student’s medication.  Whoa, Nellie, let’s get Trigger back in the stable.

                Parental obsession with wanting our kids to succeed may be “normal” (as normal as parenting can be) – but we need to look at what’s behind it and how we approach it.

                Many education administrators are obsessed with student success – for their own purposes.  The more AP classes, AP tests and higher ACT scores we can post, then, by golly, the better the front office looks.   And, by gosh, when U.S. News and World Reports puts out it list, and the school is listed – celebrate – the school has done its job.

                But has it?

                The student that I tell parents about never took an AP test and while he did really well on the ACT, it was no big deal to him.  The school didn’t push him too much because he worked with the special education staff and that just isn’t “cool.”

                At least it wasn’t until the student was selected to National Honor Society – as a sophomore.  And, oh yes, he was an Illinois State Scholar.  And, oh yes, not that it’s important to the school, but he also had a double-digit scholarship for each year of college.

                What the school doesn’t know is that the student performed extremely well in a rigid engineering program.

                But see, education has become so quantitative that it has lost focus on the qualitative aspects of education.

                So I tell parents to relax because their student will mature and, with support and letting their student prove to him or herself that they can succeed – they will.

                I let them know because the student I’ve been telling them about graduated on Saturday and I know his parents are proud of him.

                Believe me, we are.

                

Is all the news that's fit to print worth it?

What a difference a month can make.  Literally.

            It was a month ago when the buzz making the round in the town of big bison focused on a phone call in the wee hours to Village Board President Jeff Braiman from deposed trustee Lisa Stone about the status of the village’s web site.

            Seriously.

            Shortly after that incident, an item appeared in the Pioneer Countryside that Stone had some issues at a local eatery.

            I was asked numerous times if I was going to blog about it.

            And each time the answer was simple.  No.

            Granted, it would have been yet and other opportunity to jab at Buffalo Grove’s easiest target.  But at this point, the question is why?  Stone is (brace yourself) just another pothole down the highway of suburban life – or just about any place for that matter.

            What set her apart originally was her stint on the Village Board the put her in “public figure” and “public official” status.  Since being jettisoned out of the world of public service, she maintained a status as a “public figure” thanks to her diatribes at Village Board meetings.

            But comments on media sites, Facebook postings, tweets and other electronic forums doesn’t make someone a public figure.  When, however, a public official is victimized, odds are it will become “news” -- especially when a report is filed with the police.  So the Braiman-Stone cocktail can become an intoxicating news story, which it did when Stone, police reports say, called Braiman at 2:45 a.m. because the village website was down.  Tom foolery at its best, and given it that it involved the Village Board president, it became news.

So what’s the driving force that makes something “news”?

            Drivers.

Not Donald Driver, not drunken drivers, and not rush-hour drivers.

            News drivers, 10 of them -- importance, timeliness, proximity, magnitude, prominence, conflict, human interest, change relevance, and unusualness.

            You can probably go through the list and say that, well, golly gee, some people (guess who?) fit a lot of those categories so it is news. It may be, but it has become old news.  Yes, there has been conflict and just a tad (do you think) of unusualness has been involved.  Beyond that, it has become pointless.

            Comedians will tell you that when a joke does not work, don’t keep retelling it or force it because, as it has been said, you can put lipstick on something---but it’s still what it is.  Yes, I’ve altered the phrase to avoid anyone thinking I was calling them a pig.  That wouldn’t be kosher.

            Animals aside, the reality is this -- after a while some news, and some news makers, become old news.  And old news, like old garbage, just isn’t worth much.

Beyond that dimension known to man....

The usually calm and unflappable Chicken Little was in a tizzy.

“Darn Internet.  I had insomnia and was hoping to get to my favorite site.  But I couldn’t”.

He’s generally pretty calm about things and doesn’t chicken out, so when I found him technology challenged, I was surprised.  I asked him if he called Comcast.

Are you kidding? This is serious.  Not only can I not get to my favorite channel, but I can’t go to the village web site – You know what I should have done?”

No, what?

“Called the village.  Yep, that’s it.  The web site, when it’s working, says everyone is family – and this is a family crisis.”

I became concerned where this is going.  I asked him who he thinks he should have called.

“Hey, if you’re talking family, you go to the patriarch?”  So you wanted to call the village fathers?

“Nah,” he said, “only one – Village Board President Jeff Braiman.”

Super Chicken

Ah, let’s see – you said it was the middle of the night and you couldn’t watch Super Chicken, so you called an elected official.

“Sure, doesn’t that make sense?  I mean I missed my favorite part.”  (His Favorite Part)

No it doesn’t make sense

I told him that the reason it does not make sense is because the above scenario actually occurred.

But, as widely reported, it was not Chicken Little who made the call.

The call was made by deposed former trustee Lisa Stone who, according police reports obtained by the Freedom of Information Act, called Braiman in the middle of the night to let him know the village’s web site was out.

That’s right.  The web site was not functioning, so she called Braiman.

Why?  Because of his expertise in the Internet?  Because he has access to the village’s servers at home and can magically reset the web site?

Of course not.  Because the ongoing feud Stone has with village hall and anyone who does not agrees with her has reached a new level of surrealism.

The action of contacting a public official in the middle of night for a frivolous reason makes one thing clear.   Lisa Stone’s antics are not funny.  To paraphrase the late Rod Serling, they have gone beyond the fifth dimension known to man" leaving in their wake any semblance of respect, logic and now, decency.

The story, to no surprise, made the local media with a wide range of comments and reaction.

But why?  My guess is this is not the first time someone has received an annoying phone call about a seemingly ridiculous topic.

Because it’s Stone.  Her stint as a village trustee put her in the public spotlight, a role she seems to cherish, and also made her a public figure.  Once ousted by the recall, you would figure she would accept her fate and move on.

Not quite.  Stone continued, make that continues, to dwell away at her pet causes – water safety, pedophiles and whatever else may come her way on any given day.  And while they may seem like good causes, Stone’s approach is to rip, shred, antagonize and harass people to no end.

Her latest harassment of Braiman is what has escalated this to a new level.  Beside the untimely phone call about the village web site being down at 2:30 a.m. (by the way, sources tell me it was due to routine maintenance) Stone had, according to the police report, “showed up at his office in Arlington Heights.  Braiman said Stone wanted to give him her business card for her sex toy business.”  Seriously.

The fact that Stone may have a business dealing with adult novelties (not frozen novelties, although some adults are frozen) is up to her.  She is probably not the only person in the village who has ::ahem:: a unique business.  But she’s in the spotlight and given her outlandish comments and accusation, she inherently put a target on her.

In an age where, as pundits like to say, “sex sells”,  anytime a public official or public figure is somehow remotely connected to sex in any way shape or form – it become news.  Stone's erotic entrepreneurship has done just that.  She’s not the only municipal official who has raised a few eyebrows because of their off-hours endeavors .  Back in the early 1970s, the mere speculation that a Lincolnshire trustee had posed for a Chip and Dale-like calendar, leaving his chip and dales uncovered, led to his leaving the board and slowly fading away.

So in addition to being known for her caustic, sarcastic, rude and otherwise questionable behavior, she now carries the tag of dealing in the adult pleasure business, which is generally not very mainstream.

Don’t be surprised if Stone vehemently defends her business and continues her verbal and media-comment assault on Braiman.  She will have a hard time repudiating the information about the 2:30 a.m. request for tech support because, as noted in the police report, the investigating officer called her “explaining the nature of this report.”  Stone, according to the report understood.

That given, she apparently also understands the curt, blunt and straight forward response she received from Braiman’s wife, who, according to police reports, said “How dare you call, go to hell”, and hung up the phone.  Face it, at  2:30 a.m., anyone in a sound sleep being awakened by an adversary because a web site is down.

Stone apparently doesn’t get it.  She told the Daily Herald that she was so upset with Ms. Braiman’s response that – ready – she “..is considering filing a complaint about Braiman's wife. "I'm going to come in and file a complaint about her," Stone said. "She shouldn't tell me to go to hell."

Let’s see, Stone provokes the response, which is the result of one her nasty comments, and then gets upset when people respond accordingly and wants to file charges.

I can’t imagine that happening.

Oh wait, yes I can.