You are currently browsing the daily archive for Aug 28, 2007.
With about 50 people gathered in the Village Hall Board Room to listen, including the Trustees (with exception of Paul Humpfer), State Senator Michael Noland, Kane County Board Member Hollie Kissane, Kane County Board Member and Dundee Township Republican Chairman, John Noverini, Dundee Township Democratic Chairman, Judge Robert Steffen, and a handful of Village staff members, Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto gave the first State of the Village address in anyone’s memory on Tuesday night.
Illinois statutes allow municipal leaders to give an annual address, but few seem to take advantage of it. With all the negative attention focused on Carpentersville in the past year, it was good that Sarto took the time to highlight the numerous accomplishments in the Village over the past 2 years, since he took office.
When first announced, there was concern by some that only the positive would be addressed in the speech, but in reality there truly was no room for negatives in the 38-minute address. Some might even say that the positive atmosphere in the Village Board room was refreshing. One can hope that it will carry over to next week’s meeting of the Village Board.
At approximately 7:02pm, with Village Trustees Ritter, Hinz and Ramirez-Sliwinski settled in their seats at various places around the Board room, Sarto began. Trustee Sigwalt arrived about 4 minutes into the address, followed by Trustee Teeter about 5 minutes later, each taking a seat in the back row.
As your Village President, I come before you this evening to report that the State of the Village of Carpentersville is strong and moving forward.
Though stumbling on his words a few times, Sarto provided details of the achievements of the various Village departments, including the areas of Public Safety, Economic Development/Planning, Public Works, Engineering, Finance, Information Technology and Volunteer Comittees and Commissions. Rather than attribute these things to any one person or department in the Village, Sarto spread the love. This felt far from a “look what I have done for you” speech.
Our success and future success can only happen with dedicated hard work and with a concerted team effort…
No one person, acting alone, can get this Village where it ought to be.
Sarto showcased the many ways the Village is working to address the concerns of residents; concerns that some feel can only be addressed by establishing illegal immigration ordinances (which he never mentioned at all, even in passing). In each case, Sarto offered a number of examples of the good that Village staff is doing for residents.
Looking to the future with hope, based on what has been accomplished in the past 2 years with the effort and determination of everyone, Sarto concluded his address by saying:
Our future is up to you and me. It’s up to us. We can make a difference.
[It would probably be wishful thinking to say the bolded and underlined “can” was a subtle homage to this blog … 😉 Continuing on…]
My hope for Carpentersville is the same as yours. We must never stop dreaming with the enduring confidence of the ages knowing that through hard work and perseverance that dreams do come true.
Provided that the Board can work together on these items, it seems that Carpentersville is in a good place. Perhaps this Board, with Sarto sitting in the President’s seat, isn’t as bad as the one issue that has been continually gnawing at everyone in the town. Hopefully businesses will see the significant improvements in the Village — although admittedly much work remains — and will see the opportunities there.
[Read the 2007 State of the Village]
I’ll probably have some more analysis of the content tomorrow …
[Wednesday A.M. UPDATE: Links to Newspaper reports ….]
Courier-News: Sarto says state of C’ville is ‘strong’
Daily Herald: Sarto emphasizes positive in Village
Of course, it should come as no surprise, especially to those that have ever attended a Board meeting, that Trustee Sigwalt was the only one to speak in the negative. Sounded like sour grapes to me. It might have been good for Sarto to mention some of those others … but he sent the right message, and had a large number of examples to back it up, so it wasn’t all just a “feel-good”. That was the focus. And, it was to emphasize that much more work needs to get done — these good things need to continue.
I’m sure Sigwalt will have to make some complaint about it in her Trustee Report on Tuesday night, though…
On Friday, the City of Hazleton filed a notice of appeal in Lozano v. City of Hazleton.
The document, identifying several grounds for appeal, was filed in federal court Thursday. But the appeal will have to wait at least six months before it is heard by a panel of three judges at 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
One of the things that is being appealed is the fact that Judge Munley allowed several plaintiffs who were in the country illegally to join the case anonymously. This is apparently a rather common thing, such as in Plyer v. Doe (1982).
Now, the 3rd District Court of Appeals has only overturned about 15%-17% of cases in the past 2 years and “12% in the past 10 years”, so some are saying the odds are stacked against them. But, even if Hazleton lost on appeal, its not over.
Still the expectation is that this will not be decided for at least several more years, with both sides vowing to take it all the way to the Supremes.
So, can we expect several more years of public comments periods of 1-2 hours, sending Board meetings into the midnight hour? Or, expect several more years of leaving this in limbo, to cause folks to move out and businesses from ever coming in? Will discussion of an item really be tabled for several years?
Another reminder … around the river can be a dangerous place … so be careful, or be safer by staying away.
Chicago Tribune – Woman rescued from swollen Fox River
A woman slipped into the swollen Fox River in Carpentersville early today and clung to a branch until firefighters rescued her, authorities said.
Just a reminder about the State of the Village address, tonite, 7:00pm at Village Hall. I believe this to be an important speech for residents to hear about what else — besides illegal immigration — has been going on in the Village in the past few years.
Otherwise, not much posting planned today … look for a wrap-up and analysis of tonite’s address tomorrow, and hopefully folks will be willing to share their impressions, etc in the comments.
If you’ve got the time, take this lull as an opportunity to catch up on some of the past posts and comments.
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