A new beginning...

The routine has gotten out of hand and has become too predicable.

I am, of course, talking about the way Village Board President Elliott Hartstein begins each Village Board Meeting.

Without fail, trustee, oops, I mean President Hartstein always starts the meeting by saying "I'd like to call this meeting of the Buffalo Grove Village Board to order; will you all please rise for the pledge."

Functional, but boring -- and besides, it does not capture the essence of the meetings.  I know, I've read the minutes.

If Hartstein really wanted to start the meetings with a little flair -- one which would truly reflect the nature of the meetings, he should start the meetings by saying:

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man.

It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And, it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. 

If you are looking for truth in government, transparency, accuracy -- this says it all.

And Monday night was no different.  It was a meeting that included discussions on landfills, OTB hearings, minutes, visitors from other villages and, of course, information about trustee visits to the rest room.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone.

Whether it's the upcoming full moon (Friday night, folks), a hole in the ozone or the upcoming election -- Monday's Village Board meeting was truly strange.

Why? Take a guess.  As Yogi Berra would say, it was Deja vu all over again.

Now I'm sure someone will post a comment saying I'm too repetitive about the Board meetings.

Well, I guess I am -- but with good reason -- the Village Board meetings have gotten that way.  That's not the result of any "old boys" -- or to be politically correct -- "old persons" club -- but because certain people see the first and third Mondays of the month as the day when they want to air out their dirty laundry.

It's an old and tired antic.

Lisa Stone's accusations every thing is wrong with the Board and the village have gotten old -- and way too predictable -- and  annoying.

Let's see item III -- approval of the minutes -- that means Stoney will once again rip into Village Clerk Jan Sirabian because the minutes don't reflect what's happening -- translation -- Sirabian does not put in all of Stone's rants about everybody and everything -- see, it would make campaign literature.

But wait, folks, Monday was a special night -- we had not, one, but two sets of minutes to vote on.  Stone, of course voted no to the minutes from Oct. 4 meeting, but the agenda also called for approval of the minutes from the Sept. 27 Finance Committee meeting, which Stone was upset about.

But rather than go it alone, Rob Sherman, who has suddenly become interested in the meeting minutes, addressed the board challenging the minutes.  In fact, Sherman said he contacted the Attorney General's office and that it was mortified that the minutes were not more specific.

Interesting, Village Attorney William Raysa also contacted the Attorney General's office and was told that the minutes were OK.

So who you going to believe?  No doubt Sherman contacted the Attorney General's office, but his interpretation may be off.  After all, according to his web site,  Sirabian lost village board meetings.   I think he meant minutes and no, she did not, what is missing is a tape of an executive session.  Attention to details.  Sherman also said the Attorney General "condemns" the minutes.  From the nature of his and Raysa's reports, there may be an air of concern, but not condemnation.

The highlight, if you want to call it that, was Stone's charges that during the recess at the Oct. 4 meeting, several trustees had the nerve to stand together and talk and when she came out the rest room they dispersed.

Let's see, a public meeting, a recess in a public place, and members of a board talking -- it seems as though there are allegations of a violation to the Open Meetings  Act.  Right.  Given the information presented by Miz Stone, it seems as though the Board should have realized its grievous behavior and accompanied her to the rest room. On second thought...

And for who knows how many times someone came to address the board from outside the village. Why?  another expert who seemingly has nothing better to do than support Stone.  Let's see, they've come from Lincolnshire, Westchester, Vernon Hills and who knows, maybe ALF will show up from Melmac to discuss the ozone layer.  Seems to me an alien would fit right in.

For the second meeting in a row Stone stepped down from dais to address the board as a resident and not trustee.  Last time I checked, trustees had to be residents, so aside from a stunt to gain more Ch. 6 time, all that Stone accomplishes is delaying the residents who wanted to speak to the board.  But it's not about the residents, is it?

So our trip to the Twilight Zone is becoming a regular routine -- complete with the usual acrimonious remarks directed toward just about everyone in the dais.

As usual, she wants everyone to be quiet when she speaks, but thinks nothing of interrupting anyone else when they speak. When Hartstein tried to keep her in  order, she said "President Hartstein, you're too much."

Hartstein too much?  What's too much is Stone's incessant accusations against anyone who disagrees with her.  What's too much is the use of village time for personal agendas and campaigns.  What's too much is the lack of respect for village staff and volunteers. What's too much is the time being spent in "the Twilight Zone."

In the meantime, Hartstein needs to not only work on his opening, but his closing as well.,  In place of the placid "is there a motion to adjourn.." -- he could easily say..

Obscure metaphysical explanation to cover a phenomenon, reasons dredged out of the shadows to explain away that which cannot be explained. Call it parallel planes or just insanity. Whatever it is, you just found it in the Twilight Zone.