Chicken Little living in fear...

It’s always a difficult time of year for Chicken Little.

                “You know,” he says, “in the fall, there’s just one holiday dinner; but this time of year, there are two seders.”

                Not realizing he was so observant, I asked why that concerned him.

                “You fool, that means twice as much chicken soup!  And this year there’s an added stress besides the holiday.”

                Which is?

                “I keep hearing voices and seeing images in my head.  Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Piersall Dale Carnegie – even Napoleon!”

                Whoa, I said, where did this come from?

                “They all talk about fear and how we need to overcome it,” he said.

                So you’re living in fear of chicken soup?

                “Hey, that’s normal,” he said.  “But what has me more concerned is the fear being generated during this campaign.”

                You fear signs, I asked?

                “No, it’s the fear being disseminated by some candidates and their supporters. You know the inference -- if we don’t elect them, the village will turn into a concrete slab.”

                Ah, campaign rhetoric, I said. 

                “That may be, but it scares me to death.  I need space for my coop and what if they build a mega mall and I have to flee the coop, so to speak.”

                I told him told him to take a deep breath and relax.  Unfortunately, campaigns do that to people and the result is an onslaught of, for lack of a better term, inaccuracies.

                Much of the discussion in this campaign has been brought on by the now defunct proposal for “downtown Buffalo Grove.”  It was, to say the least, an albatross that was going to fit into Buffalo Grove as, a professor of Middle East studies would say, an Arab in a Kibbutz.

                It was, however, an idea.  But it’s gone.

                And despite what at least one resident said in a letter to the editor to The Daily Herald, the Village Board did not pull the plug on the project when Beverly Sussman announced her candidacy.  It was withdrawn when village officials decided that a plan calling for the village to provide between $100 and $120 million in finances in one way shape or form was not going to fly.  Period.

                “So you mean fear of the evil empire from Deerfield return is unfounded?” Chicken Little asked.

                Big time.  CRM officials have made it quite clear that they are not going to submit another proposal and that, as the spokesperson said “I will not develop in Buffalo Grove.”

                “So what’s the big yehuda?” C.L. asked.

                As the old journalism adage goes, sex sells.  Or in this case, fear sells.

                That could be why some folks are waving the panic flag.

                “Ah, I see.  It’s like if you don’t vote for them the ensuing impact will infect you mind, curve your spine and cause the allies to lose the war.”

                At this point it became clear to me that Chicken Little was finally getting it, or listening to vintage George Carlin – or both.

                “What do the newspapers say?” he asked.  I told him that those newspapers that did endorsements raised the same question – what’s the problem?

                When there is no real problem there seems to be a need to drudge up an issue.

                That’s not to say things are perfect, because they never are.  And that’s not to say that all incumbents are perfect, because they are not.

                What is important to note, however, is that despite who you are supporting, you need to look at the global situation.  In a nutshell, the village is doing fine.  Could things have been done differently?  Absolutely.  But don’t preach fear.

                “So maybe that’s why I’m hearing voices,” Chicken Little said.  Possibly, I told him.

                “You know, for a while there, I thought Rahm Emanuel and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia were running for were running in Buffalo Grove.”  Hardly, but I can see your connection.

                In general terms, Garcia has one issue, brought on by a single group.  Rahmbo, the incumbent, is getting beat up for the things he’s done and is trying to do.  Welcome to elections.

                “But what other issues are there?” C.L. asked.

                We’ve heard about transparency in government.  A good one.  It’s always amazing to me that people who have problems with this show up once every two years to complain.  Again, there is probably room for improvement, but information from the village is available online, from staff and through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The FOIA has tight regulations as to when and how an organization needs to respond, difficulties getting information are most likely due to ‘user error’, which is not an uncommon occurrence.

                In terms of citizen input, I do not know of another village, school board, or any other public body that gives residents as much time to present their views as Buffalo Grove does.  Ten minutes at the end of each meeting and five minutes on specific topics.

                “Darn, the meetings must go forever,” C.L. said.  That depends on what is being discussed, but in general they don’t because not many residents attend.

                “Ah, but I bet all of the candidates show up,” Outside of the incumbents (for obvious reasons), they don’t.  Merely stating a fact without serving as an endorsement, candidate Adam Moodhe is one of the few regulars at Village Board meetings.

                “Other issues?” he asked? 

                Economic development, which is incessantly referred to as ED.  When I saw that I thought I had to see Alice in Village Hall.  Seriously, however, it is a pressing issue and the village is taking steps to address it. As a matter of clarity, it should be retail economic development.  The village is doing extremely well with office and industrial square footage – in fact, there is nearly 8 million square feet of occupied industrial and office space in the village.

                The village continues to work with companies to locate in Buffalo Grove.

                “Do you think companies will leave,” C.L. asked? Some have, I noted, even though they maintain facilities outside the village.  “So why didn’t they stay in the village?”  Good question, I told him; maybe someone on the Board can investigate that.

                “Geez, I guess I need to read the campaign signs a bit more,” he said.

                Let’s not even go there.  The sign issue has become an annoyance at the very least.  So much so, I told him, that at least one candidate’s spouse filed a police report claiming vandalism because of damage to her campaign signs even though they weren’t on their property.

                “Wow,” C.L. said, “I’m not sure what to do.”

                The best advice, I told him, comes from the late Fidel Ghini, who was mayor Highwood for 24 years.

                “And that is?” he asked.

                Do your homework.