Tradition gets trashed....

I thought I was hearing things.

It appeared to be a chicken singing “Tradition”, the timeless classic from the Broadway play and movie, “Fiddler on the Roof”.

My ears did not beseech me.  There was Chicken Little singing, or maybe clucking, the song.  Somewhere Zero Mostel is rolling over in his grave.

 

But why, C.L., why?

For years, he explained, it was a weekly, sometimes biweekly event when the streets of American echoed with the sound of steel drums being placed along the road.

Steel drums?  I asked.  I began to have the feeling that CL had spent too much time in the islands having a few too many Red Stripes.

CL assured me he had not and was just distraught about another tradition.   ‘Tradition, tradition, without our trash cans, we’ll all be rolling down the street..."

Really?  I was a bit confused so I asked him to explain.

“What’s to explain, the village has taken away yet another chore from my children.”

Explain.

“As a young chick I was always told by my parents to take out the garbage.  So once, maybe twice a week, I schlepped the cans and bags out to the curb so the waste haulers could pick them up.  Then, after school, I’d have to find the trash cans, which often rolled down the street.  But now, that’s all gone.”

You mean you don’t generate any more trash?

“Hardly the case,” he said. “Now, instead of traditional trash cans, I have a Toter.”

A what? 

“A Toter,” he said “A massive cart in which I put my garbage so the garbage man can easily collect it.”

You mean garbage men, don’t you?

“Nope,” C.L. said, “another tradition gone…no more men hanging from the back a truck, now it’s a one-man crew with a robotic arm that picks up the Toter, dumps it, and away he goes.”

C.L. looked distraught.  A longtime Sesame Street fan he worried where Oscar would live and what would happen if he too were to be swept away.

I asked C.L. if there was enough room for Oscar in a Toter. 

“Enough room?  You’ve got to be kidding.  The Toters are massive.  We can’t even keep ours in the coop.” 

Surely, I said, there must be smaller ones?  “Yeah,” he said, “but I don’t  know what size to get.”

Really, we’re talking garbage cans.

“Nope, we’re talking Waste Management, municipal contracts. So I have, in Starbucks lingo, a venti.  A  96-gallon garbage can on wheels.  You can also get a grande, which is a 64-gallon Toter or a 35-gallon tall.”

C.L., who is cramped in his coop, expressed concern that it would cost too much to replace his oversized trash can.  However, the village is working with Waste Management to drop the replacement fee for residents who want a smaller Toter.  But hurry, this offer is limited, residents must call Waste Management by June 7.

“Really?” He clucked.  “Then what happens?”  I explained after June 7 there is a $25 replacement fee.  But, rest assured, every May residents will have the chance to get a different size Toter for free.

“So much in the same way that sparrows return to Capistrano and the buzzards to Hinckley, the Toters can come back to Buffalo Grove?” 

Yep.

“Cool, but one more question…what’s a Toter?”

A Toter is actually the company that makes the carts. 

“Really?  So what are they actually?”

They are officially curbside collection carts.  And they don’t come cheap.  You can find them for sale online (now there’s a surprise…) at a cost from $69 for a 48-gallon size to $198 for a 95-gallon cart.

“I guess it’s progress of some sort,” C.L. said, “but I’ll miss the tradition clang of the metal cans and chasing them on a windy day.”

Relax, I told him.  Think of some of the possibilities that await.

“Like what?” he asked.

Well, a program just for kids.

“Really”?

Sure, Toter tots.

Or how about a place to dump old pizza containers – you could call it Toterice’s.

“Sick, very sick.”

But wait, imagine a remake of the Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy forgets to take out the garbage.

“And what would she say?”

Toter, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Village needs to butt in on this idea

News item:  The City of Chicago will be using goats to clear the landscape at O’Hare International Airport.

Brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant.

Hello, village hall?  Where have you been?   In this age of tight budgets and an overwhelming urge to go green (which really means saving the green and not the greening of the environment), it makes perfect sense for the village to look at this plan.

Just imagine the tranquility a herd of goats would be to the parks, the Village Green, the medians along Lake-Cook Road and, of course, the municipal campus.

According to media reports, the O’Hare goats will be housed at the airport and caged up over night.  This would be a summer thing as, well, there’s not too much for goats to do during the winter.  (As an FYI to village officials, the incorporation of Yaks into the village would make sense as Yaks do well in the winter…but that’s another proposal).

The village would need, of course, to look at how this could be incorporated into its corporate flow chart.  I’m sure that at this point in time there is no “Goat Shepherd” on the payrolls.

A new Public Works employee --  or Farmers' Market attraction?

Again, timing is perfect.  With the search under way for a new Public Works Director, it would be ideal to just add that to the job description.  Public Works handles maintenance of the grassy areas (let’s say turf areas) so it’s a natural.  I don’t think this potential was previously discussed because, well, I don’t think former Public Works Director Greg Boysen was a goat kind of guy – not that acting director Mike Skibbe is, but it’s a transitional time, which is perfect for incorporating this new approach to green gardening.

As for Board liaison – it’s a slam dunk.  Since goats are generally farm based, they’d be a natural for the Farmers’ Market.  Congratulations to Trustee Andrew Stein – you are now Goat Coordinator.  Just image the possibilities – in addition to goats chomping the weeds, Stein (who could play the role so well decked out in a pair of lederhosen and shepherd’s hat) can arrange for goat rides or a petting zoo at the Farmers’ market (which begins June 16), or how about fresh goat milk cheese? Heck, that sounds better than a bacon waffle sundae.

Heck, the village can carry the goat theme over to Buffalo Grove Days – The beer tent can feature Horny Goat Brew and maybe foster a sponsorship with the Horny Goat Brewing Company.  We’re talking some serious money here, folks.

And if the village wants to attract more restaurants, why not contact Sam Sianis about opening a Billy Goat in the village?  The possibilities are endless.

In fact, there’s a potential windfall for the Park District.  Encourage the village’s thespians to come up with an original musical just about the village’s goat initiative.  I even have a name for the production.

Nanny Get Your Gun.

It's such a simple thing...

Maybe it’s because the little things just sort of add up.

A few weeks ago I observed retiring police chief Steve Balinski salute the flag during the pledge of allegiance, which opens each Village Board meeting.

No big thing, just a class way to show respect to the flag and what it stands for.

Fast forward to Monday’s Board meeting.  Once again, the pledge and once again attendees, including the state runner up Stevenson High School basketball team, stood and respectfully said the pledge.

Except, so it seems, one.  Sure, he started to say the pledge, but before long he just stopped.  Maybe he was distracted, or maybe it was because of the words “under god” – but for whatever reason he didn’t finish it.

True, it’s a person’s rights to say the pledge or not, or even abridge it.  It’s disturbing, however, to use it to call attention to you and your personal belief.  It’s a simple minute – literally – to show respect for the others in attendance and toward the United States.

And on Monday the pledge seemed to mean a bit more than usual.  There wasn’t a need for a long explanation.  All it took was one word.

Boston.

Who's on first?

The advent of social media has provided candidates at any level a new vehicle by which to deliver their messages.

President Obama used it extensively in both his campaigns as did Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

So I was not too surprised when I started seeing various posts by the candidates in the stimulating and issues loaded race for village trustee.  With three names on the ballot, current Board members Beverly Sussman, Andrew Stein and Lester (call me Les) A. Ottenheimer III,  and one write-in candidate, Jeff Battinus, it’s hardly been as exciting as say, an appearance by Carlos Marmol.

The four candidates have all said the usual stuff.  The three current board members have touted their experience and concern for the village, something incumbents usually due.

Battinus has been doing the same too, but since he has not served on the Board, he does not have the experience to fall back on as the other three.  Instead, he has been trying to forge ahead by riding the coat tails of the proposed instant downtown.  At last month’s candidate forum much of the discussion focused on the 65-acre proposal for a central business district along Lake-Cook Road on land currently being used as one of the village’s two golf course. 

A little residential concern, objection and ::poof:: we have a campaign.  Sort of.

With only one proposal on the table a decision does not seem to be in the near future.

If there are other major issues in the race, there has not been much discussion about them.  Yep, folks are concerned about the Weiland Road project.  Yep, folks are concerned about the budget.

But when it comes to hearing what the Village Board has to say about it, there does not appear to be a lot of interest in these topics.  At the past two meetings, there have been more people in attendance to say good-bye to retiring Police Chief Steve Balinski and retiring Public Works Director Greg Boysen than  have been to discuss village issues. 

Oh yes, let’s not forget the parents who came at last week’s Board meeting to celebrate the state champion Buffalo Grove Cheerleaders.

So cheerleaders and public works directors have taken the focus of the village.  In an election year.

As sitting Board members, Sussman-Stein-Ottenheimer III have had the chance to let the public know of their concerns for issues facing the village, but have not made village board meetings campaign forums.

So where’s Battinus during the Village Board meetings?  My guess he’s in one of two places – he’s out running (remember, part of his candidacy announcement was based on his jogs through the village) -- or he’s in Ela Township.

Say what?

Just check social media.  Battinus has made it a point to let the world know that he “likes” Ela First.

The what?   Ela First?

 Ela First, as noted on its Facebook Page is “…Committed to the people of Ela Township, we will Continue to provide quality services while maintaining a Balanced Budget with Integrity, Accountability, and a Proven track..”

I’m not sure why Battinus is interested or concerned in the fine folks of Ela Township – I mean Lake Zurich is beautiful this time of year -- but it seems to me that a candidate running for Buffalo Grove Village Board should be putting Buffalo Grove first.

He’s made it clear his opposition to the instant-mall and has called for development along Dundee Road and Milwaukee Avenue.  But now what?  One local paper endorsed him because of his “fresh voice”.  What it didn’t say is what they fresh voice was going to say.

Yep, the village needs more commercial and retail development – you can’t argue that.  But how should it achieve that?  The campaigns of all four candidates have been pretty mum on that. 

It’s a $64,000 question that a lot of folks in Buffalo Grove have been trying to answer.  And who knows where the answer will come from.

But odds are it won’t be in Ela Township.

The final salute

It is always the second item on the agenda for every Village Board meeting.

               The Pledge of Allegiance.

               For the most part it’s routine.  Just as it was at the March 18 Village Board meeting.

Retiring Police Chief Steve Balinski
bids a fond farewell
at the March 19 Village Board meeting

               But tonight, it was a subtly different.  While the throngs in attendance stood, placed their hands over the hearts and recited the pledge, one member of the audience, impeccably dressed in his Police Department dress uniform, saluted the flag as he said the pledge.

               It was a class, even poignant thing to do – pay tribute to the country with dignity and honor.

               But that’s what you would expect from Police Chief Steve Balinski.

               Balinski was honored with a reception prior to the meeting and then with the presentation of the obligatory resolution by the Village Board.  In essence, the night belonged to Balinski.  As well it should have.

               His salute, most likely his last as Buffalo Grove’s top cop, could have been seen as more than a salute to the country.  It very well could have a been a salute to the village and the people “Bo” served for nearly four decades.

               If a coach reflects the character of his team, then the Buffalo Grove Police Department reflects Balinski class as a professional and person.

               “I am blessed because of everyone here,” an emotional Balinski said.  “I feel lucky to come to work every day.  All of you have been very important to me. You’ve been my strength. You’ve allowed me to succeed.”

               And while Balinski thanked the expected – the village staff, the elected officials and, of course, his colleagues in the Police Department – he became emotional and tearful for the one person he said has “always been there, my wife, Karen.”

               That’s Balinski.  An honest cop, a good cop, a class cop – and a caring cop.  I’m a staunch admirer of the men and women of the nation’s police and fire departments.  They’re not all perfect – no one is – but they face daily challenges that most of us can’t even imagine.  Buffalo Grove is fortunate to have a class police department.  I have worked with the department on and off for more than 30 years, before Balinski was chief, when the department was located in the basement of Village Hall, so my admiration is not based on any recent events.

               “We were always a team,” Balinski said.  And that team wasn’t limited to police headquarters, but to the entire village.  A lot of police departments boast that they “serve and protect” – but none do it the way the BGPD does it.  Good leaders recruit and groom good professionals.  For 36 years, Balinski has been part of that – even though he initially thought the job offer was a joke.  “I thought it was a fraternity buddy,” he said.

               It wasn’t.  Instead it was the start of an amazing career.  “When you wear star or badge – it’s about opportunity, service,” Balinski said.  And over the past 36 years he provided both – service to a community that seen unprecedented growth, and the opportunity to truly serve and protect.

               For whatever reason, I remember an editorial cartoon that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after former Chicago Police Chief Orlando W. Wilson retired.  In essence, it was a police badge and night stick talking.

               The badge said “I shine a little brighter;” while the nightstick said “I stand a little taller.”

               They’d say the same thing about Balinski.

Butch McGuire's coming to Buffalo Grove?

I was dumbfounded.

There he was, sitting nice and relaxed -- Proverbial candidate and community activist Chicken Little.

Chicken Little

Generally this time of year I find him with his feathers really ruffled – between chicken soup for Passover and eggs for Easter, he’s nervous.

But not this year.  He looked cool, calm and collected.

I had to ask why this year was different from all other years.

“I have a plan,” he said, “for a new business in Buffalo Grove.”

Let me guess, I said, a comedy club.

“Nah,” he said, “I have something more original – and besides – it’s a proven success.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, but good ‘ol C.L. never ceases to amaze me.

So what’s his big idea?

“Well,” he said “after attending the recent candidates’ forum, I’ve decided I need to continue the legacy of the man himself.”

Who? I asked.

Butch McGuire.

Excuse me – the late founder of what many consider the original singles bar?  Here in Buffalo Grove?

“Yep,” C.L. replied.

But wait, how do the candidates for the April 9 Village Board election factor into your decision to open a singles bar in Buffalo Grove?  Seriously, if I saw the slate of four on Division Street I’d probably give up drinking.

“It’s not the people, dummy, it’s the idea.”

I’m lost, I told him.

“OK, the candidates’ forum brought together a bunch of people who were curious what other people had to say – you know, like going into McGuire’s.”

It’s a stretch, I said, but OK, tell me more.

“And just like a singles bar, the folks hear the things they expect to hear.”

I was beginning to catch Little’s idea a bit.  The forum did produce a nice crowd and the candidates presented their stands, which is the stuff you expect and want to hear.

“From my perspective,” Little said, “I was able to walk away without fearing the sky is falling.”

But, I asked him, do you think the sincerity was there.

“Probably more, he said, because three of the four are repeat customers, so to speak.  In fact, I think I heard someone say, “excuse me, but what’s your sign?”

Not quite – I think someone was asking for a sign – a lawn sign.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

So do you still think a singles bar makes sense?

“Absolutely, if the lively art of conversation can bring people out for a candidates' forum, imagine what’s they do for fun and relaxation.”

C.L., I said, this is Buffalo Grove, where folks don’t come out unless...

“Yes, I know...the sky is falling.  Maybe I’ll need to have karaoke.”

Nah, I told him, some performers can be painful to listen to.

“True.  But the allure of conversation and heated debates could make it interesting.  Maybe I could give it a Chicago Cubs theme.”

What, only have a successful year every 105 years or fade every August?

“Well, there could be a lot of singles without much scoring.”

Don’t quit your day job, I told him.

C.L. said he has one concern about his single bars idea.

“I’ll need bouncers.  I mean what if a fight breaks out?”

No sweat, I said, just call 9-1-1.

“That’s my concern,” he said.

Why? I asked.

“What if I can’t get through?”

Looking at the whole student can make a difference...

As an educator, it’s not unusual to meet with a parent who is panic-stricken because his/her child has issues because he/she may have ADHD, be on medication for one reason or another, have a broken finger nail or may have just broken up with a significant other – as significant as others can be to high school kids.

                In addition to going through the litany of paperwork, I often smile and tell the parent or guardian that I know a young man who has gone through some of the same issues.  I tell them that it took a while to identify his ADHD, but working with health care professionals and educators, he managed to get on track.

                A key, I tell them, is to let the student find his or her own way.  Medications, counseling and Individual Education Programs (IEPs) are just part of the overall program.  Letting kids succeed on their own may be one the best treatments a student can have.  I have found that some parents are so obsessed with student success that they become the ones who are in need of help.

                True story: I had a parent tell me once that had she known there were going to be some standardized tests administered, she would have adjusted her student’s medication.  Whoa, Nellie, let’s get Trigger back in the stable.

                Parental obsession with wanting our kids to succeed may be “normal” (as normal as parenting can be) – but we need to look at what’s behind it and how we approach it.

                Many education administrators are obsessed with student success – for their own purposes.  The more AP classes, AP tests and higher ACT scores we can post, then, by golly, the better the front office looks.   And, by gosh, when U.S. News and World Reports puts out it list, and the school is listed – celebrate – the school has done its job.

                But has it?

                The student that I tell parents about never took an AP test and while he did really well on the ACT, it was no big deal to him.  The school didn’t push him too much because he worked with the special education staff and that just isn’t “cool.”

                At least it wasn’t until the student was selected to National Honor Society – as a sophomore.  And, oh yes, he was an Illinois State Scholar.  And, oh yes, not that it’s important to the school, but he also had a double-digit scholarship for each year of college.

                What the school doesn’t know is that the student performed extremely well in a rigid engineering program.

                But see, education has become so quantitative that it has lost focus on the qualitative aspects of education.

                So I tell parents to relax because their student will mature and, with support and letting their student prove to him or herself that they can succeed – they will.

                I let them know because the student I’ve been telling them about graduated on Saturday and I know his parents are proud of him.

                Believe me, we are.