It's 10:15 -- Do You Know Where Your Village Manager Is?

Quotes, comments and other bits from the Aug. 3 Board Meeting....

I noticed in her Board bio that Board Member Lisa Stone is retired. Her life must be awfully dull. Why else would she call Village Manager Bill Brimm at 10:15 on a Saturday night? Must be in middle of a candle lit dinner --- "Oh, excuse me, I need to ask the village manager a question..." Or maybe it's an excuse, "Not tonight, I have to call the village manager."

Or maybe it's harassment. Nah, do you think? It's one of the revelations that came out during Monday's Board meeting. Whenever Ms. Stone has a question, she calls Mr. Brimm. It was reported by Village Board member Jeff Braiman during his statement about Ms. Stone's personal crusade that she thinks nothing of calling Brimm at 5 p.m. on Friday and keeping him at the office long past usual and customary hours.

Why so late? It seems as though so she can set him up. Ms. Stone is retired -- which means she should have plenty of time to call Brimm during usual and customary business hours. Brimm, being the class act that he is, probably answered Stone's questions.

It's becoming more and more apparent that Stone wants Brimm out. She knows his job well because she's been on the Board three months. And who would she recommend for the job? No idea -- she just wants to make a scene for herself and rip people for what she perceives to be a problem. Let's see, according to her experience in village government includes working on a couple of movements to regulate vicious dogs (there's comedy in that...but let's not go there) and call attention to lethal drugs in our community. I guess DARE fell short.

Aside from that he main community involvement has been with PTOs and other notable and worthwhile causes (Niles West reunion committees withstanding).

But village government is a different animal. The homework needs to be done before class starts. Village officials are professionals -- like them or not -- and are not public punching bags for personal crusades. Respect is a two-way street -- some people however, only see detours.

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Little things add up -- Trustee Steven Trilling suggested that BG residents buy their gas in the village so it can reap the benefits of the Motor Fuel Tax. Not a bad idea. Hey, Mr. Trilling, how about buying more stuff in the village. Skip the big box hardware stores in favor of local hardware stores. Take a look at some the strip malls -- some nifty merchants around here.

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Making it. The fiscal report for the first half of FY09 isn't too bad. The village bean counters report the village has a AA1 rating and if the economy hadn't gone way south the village would be at AAA. There's a reason for that -- BG has traditionally been a well run village -- not perfect -- but light years ahead of many others.

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Is it just me or do people who make big bucks not read maps. According to the village web site (www.vbg.org) both Arlington Heights Road and Buffalo Grove Road are having work done on them at the same time. Wait, that's two major north/south routes that will be torn up -- probably overflowing Rt. 83. Let's blame Lake County and make Dave Stolman earn his salary.

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Board Member Lisa Stone thought it would be a nice gesture to remind people of the BG Arts Commission Little Limelight program. Call (847) 459-2518. Stone also reminded residents of the Domestic Violence counselor available through the BG Police. Call (847) 459-2560. Maybe they need a hotline for village board abuse.

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BG Days are coming. Yeah, Labor Day Weekend. Entertainment includes Rare Earth. Really? That's a blast from the past.

Fireworks are scheduled for Sunday night -- oh wait, real fireworks -- not a Board meeting.

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Village Board President Elliott Hartstein is elated that the village will add video to the village website soon. That means you'll be able to see a Village Board Meeting any time you want. Like, say on a Saturday night if you have nothing else to do and the Village Manager isn't available.

I just wonder if anti virus software will be activated when you click on the link.

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And finally, I couldn't help but notice the moon after the Aug. 3 Board Meeting. Yep, it was in a full moon cycle.

Figures.