Sorry, you're too good..leave

I teach high school journalism and advise the student newspaper.

I am fortunate to have a great staff with really wonderful student journalists.

Recently, however, I had to pull my Editor-in-Chief aside and told him that despite his outstanding abilities, leadership, dedication and more than three years of service, that now, in his senior year, he has to leave the staff.

Why? Because he's been on the paper too long and has been doing a tremendous job.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

Of course not.

It would, in essence, be a term limit.

Limiting the time someone serves a village, such as Buffalo Grove, does not make not sense given that participation in municipal affairs is fairly minimal.

That's not the fault of the Village Board. True, several members have been on since the 90s, but that does not mean they are doing a bad job.

Politicians -- at any level -- who do a good job keep getting re-elected. Look around the immediate area. John Porter served the 10th Congressional district for years before yielding to Mark Kirk who has done the same. Kirk, in fact, maintained his seat despite his alignment with the recent Bush administration.

The late Robert McClory served more terms than I can recall as a congressman in (I believe) the old 10th congressional district. And who can forget some of our senators -- Paul Simon, Chuck Percy, Everett McKinley Dirksen who all earned (whether you agreed with them or not) the people of Illinois for years.

Do a good job and you'll keep the job.

It's becoming apparent that hidden agendas are the focal point of some village board members. Yes, the proposed recall ordinance is a reaction to the rusty dagger throwing by Lisa Stone.

What is her motive? Aside from the Trustee Reports, Ms. Stone is mum on nearly every single piece of village business. Except when it comes to read her pre-written statements. Does her silence indicate that everything in the village is, in fact going well? Or is she just clueless.

So when one trustee mentions recall, Ms. Stone says, wants to fight back and limit terms.

Kudos to Village President in his call for "civility" -- it's a nice touch. Hopefully all of the Board Members will take heed.

Term limits serve no functional purpose in a municipality the size of Buffalo Grove. To waste the Village Board's and village's money when there are more pressing issues is annoying.

Besides, the village already has a term-limit policy in place.

It's called an election.