Listen to the Chi-Lites...

Decorum being what it is, a Village Board meeting is no place to sing.

Decorum being what it is, I have seen far worse at Village Board meetings.

But I'll pass on singing. Let's put it this way, I swear every time I sing the national anthem, Homeland Security gets nervous.

However, the Aug. 8 Village Board meeting almost gave me a chance to break decorum.  As I listened to the incessant rant by the rep from Commonwealth Edison, two melodies went through my head.

The first, for those of you in the AARP generation, was "electricity cost less today you know, than it did 25 years ago – tweet, tweet Little Bill." Yes, that was an ad for Com Ed.

That was not, however, the message Com Ed was trying to deliver at the Aug. 8 Board Meeting.  It was more or less, have pity on us...it was a bad storm; we need a newer grid…

And this highly skilled Com Ed spokesman made it very clear that “…power outages are very frustrating…”

I hope this guy doesn’t sign on as Carlos Zambrano’s PR guy.

To no surprise, the Board did not want to hear excuses.

Board President Jeff Braiman made it clear that he understood the magnitude of the problem, but the issue was the response time, or lack of, by Com Ed.  Statistically, they tried to plead their case – 600 poles were damages and it required 1,000 employees, many from outside their jurisdiction, to handle the situation.

Yes, the numbers were staggering, but so were their excuses.  Try as they may, however, there was not going to be any sympathy from the Board, especially Jeff Berman who came armed with a just a few words for Com ed.

Berman made it clear that the “Need for self-serving rhetoric is past…the community wants and needs answers to specific questions.”

Who can argue?

While Com Ed bemoaned what it needed, Berman made it clear that they to focus on what they have.  “Your infrastructure is not well constructed or well maintained…(and you’re) now incapable of (having an effective) delivery system.

Berman said the current system is “Repaired with duct tape” and that “Com Ed responds to crisis in its own way.”

Berman was not going to hear any excuses, either.  “I cannot accept Com Ed’s comment that smart grid is the answer…(it) would not have prevented 90 percent of the interruptions.”

So what’s Com Ed’s answer – lobby the legislators.  State Rep. Sid Mathias and Carol Sente attended the Village Board meeting and voiced the obligatory concern.  Their sentiments were apparently echoed by politicos attending a meeting in Highland Park on Tuesday about the outages and lack of response.  This one, however, grabbed the TV cameras.

The rhetoric appeared to be the same – complaints about long delays and poor communication about when service would be restored.

So where does that put us?  No where really.  Com Ed seems oblivious to the fact that besides homeowner inconveniences, their lackluster response impacted businesses and, as Board Member Beverly Sussman noted, persons with medical issues -- what was their recourse?

Braiman said what’s needed is to “challenge the lawmakers... it’s not a GOP or democrat issue – it’s a citizen issue.. which needs a solution.”

But from where? Com Ed? 

Comcast was there, but the reality is this – if they are able to repair their system, but there’s no power, what good is it?

The Chi-Lites

AT&T also had a rep there – why is beyond me – but they claimed they get their service back in 24 hours.  But again, no power, what good does it do?

Which brought up the second song going through my heard. It was by the Chi-Lites who once sang “For Gods sake, you got to give more power to the people.”

How can you argue with that?

But the bottom line is this -- the ball remains solely in Com Ed’s court.

If nothing else, they should go back to their old slogan… “Tweet, tweet little Bill.”

After all, their service is for the birds.

Nondescript? Hardly

From the looks of things, agenda item No. 9 was just another presentation to the Village Board. All it said was "Presentation of American Flag to Buffalo Grove Fire Department".

Ho-hum, how nondescript can you get.  Presentations to the Village Board are a dime a dozen.  But when Fire Chief Terry Vavra and other officers are in their dress uniforms and there's a U.S. Marine present, you get the sense that it's anything but nondescript.

Moved to the top agenda, Vavra introduced a color guard that brought the flag, carried by Sgt. Adam Chapman, of Hanover Park, to the front of the council chambers.

 
And that's when the story unfolded.  The flag carried by Chapman flew above Base Defense Operation Center, 3^rd Battalion 25^th Marines Forward, Camp Leatherneck, in the Helman Province of Afghanistan and was flown in tribute to Chapman's uncles, Jim and Kevin Hauber both of whom are Buffalo Grove Firefighter Paramedics

The intent was simple; Chapman wanted to honor a fire fighter and thought his uncles would be perfect honorees.

Unfortunately, the presentation was more somber than expected because of the deaths of 30 U.S. troops on Saturday.

The flag will be on display at the village’s main fire station on Deerfield Parkway.  Also, as a tribute to American troops, Buffalo Grove fire fighters will be wearing red shirts this Friday.

It’s the flag, however, that’s important to Vavra.

“To look at and hold this flag will send chills down your spine. I don’t know why…it just does,” he said.

Maybe it’s not the flag, but what it stands for.

A whole ..... of dimes?

I’m beginning to think the Village Board does not always see an opportunity to boost the village’s bank account.

            The proposed reconstruction and enhancement of Wieland Road, which has all the sex appeal of the Mathon Expressway in Waukegan or the Henry Maier Bridge to nowhere in Milwaukee, has potential for the village. 

Governor William J. Lepetomane

            While the road needs enhancements and improvements, with its proposed multilane configuration and proposed extension, the village could come take a page from Governor William J. Lepetomane and have its very own tollway.  Yes, a tollway.

            There are several unique opportunities associated with this potential project.  Take for example:

·        Funding – Just call the Illinois Tollway Authority – it would love to have yet another project on the books.  Just tell ‘em it would provide access to an extended Rt. 53, another useless project, and would generate more revenue, which would help it pay for the Mecca the authority call a headquarters.  With the recent revelation that the tollway authority wants to raise tolls – another source of revenue would just add more change to its accounts.

·        Naming rights – Rather than Weiland Road, let’s jazz it up and name it after a village luminary – look at the past Board members and community personalities who would be thrilled to have a road named after them.  Maybe the village could get a corporate sponsor to generate revenue -- the possibilities are endless.

·        It could generate jobs – the village could have its own toll collectors.

·        It would save energy – Instead of street lighting, the village could give the OK to a boost in power of the recently approved sign at the Twin Rinks ice skating facility.

Of course, a tollway could pose problems for residents and students attending Aptakisic Junior High School.  But no doubt the impact of a multilane road on both groups has already been addressed.

            It has, hasn’t it?