Getting things done

Just remember where you heard it first. 😉

At least one member of the Board has accused this site of “telling lies and hiding behind an alias” all the while providing no further information about what those “lies” are, or what the perceived “truth” is.

In light of that, let me take a moment to just highlight one example of what this blog is about, and directed toward:

On Monday, October 22nd, I posted “Water rate do-over” that spoke of the upcoming vote to modify the implementation of the water rate increase. In that article, I wrote:

It all can be quite confusing. New newspaper reports and notices provided to residents may add to the confusion by some who may think the Village is raising rates again.

I’d like to thank Larissa Chinwah at the Daily Herald for trying to address that concern in her article posted to DailyHerald.com on Saturday, October 27th.

Prior to my Oct 22nd article, I contacted the Village Board, in attempts to get clarification on the implementation of the increase. After the Board failed to respond, I decided to post an article speculating on the Village’s plan in hopes of alerting residents and others of the confusion and seeing if any would obtain a reply.

It seemed that there was — and maybe still is — some confusion about the way the increase will finally be put in place, as there have been some differing answers heard around Village Hall. Even the latest information in the Village newsletter is not very clear.

At least we finally have this, though:

“We are proposing making the rate changes effective for water consumed after Jan. 1,” Finance Director Lisa Happ said. “The new rates won’t hit bills until April.”

I’m happy to see that response, and that this blog has effected such communication.

Water rate do-over

If past history is any indication, the increased water and sewer rates are now in effect for most all Village residents.

The Village posted a notice on the website [English version][Spanish version] stating that a vote will be taken by the Board at a November meeting to re-approve the water and sewer rate increases that were approved at a September meeting. When residents, mostly from the west side, received their bills in early October for usage from June 10th through September 10th, the rate increase approved September 18th was reflected on their bills. In effect, folks were retroactively charged for usage before the increase was approved.

Credits are expected to be approved for those who were already billed — totaling about $43,000 — while the Village amends the implementation of the increase.

The latest notice on the Village website reads, in part:

If approved, beginning in January 2008 water rates will be $2.66 and sewer rates will be $2.95 for 1,000 gallons of water used.

It seems obvious that the rate will be re-approved. However, it begs the question … will the January bills reflect the new rate for September – December usage? Or, will the new rate not be seen until around April, for December – March 2008 usage?

What the Village will do is anyone’s guess at this point. The track record indicates January’s bill will again reflect an increase for water and sewer used before the November approval of the amended rate.

It all can be quite confusing. New newspaper reports and notices provided to residents may add to the confusion by some who may think the Village is raising rates again.

Had this been done properly, the Board would have voted for the increase to take effect beginning with the October usage cycle. The October bills would have contained a notice of the water and sewer rate increase that would be seen on the January bill.

That said, what about the proposal to move the temporary environmental surcharge onto the property tax bill? I believe it needs to be voted down, unless it is determined that the reasons for the surcharge will always exist. In such a case, the surcharge should be removed and property tax rates should be appropriately increased for the 2008 tax year. One of the potential problems with that would be that businesses would then be charged for a residential surcharge, barring some exemption for businesses.

The whole thing really calls for a more extensive study of the way the Village handles its billing for water, sewer and waste management. Additionally, it might make sense to switch to a monthly billing cycle.

Why allow voting in Spanish?

Last week, Kane County came to an agreement with the US Department of Justice, to provide bi-lingual elections judges in 49 precincts in the County. This agreement was triggered due to failure to comply (mainly in Carpentersville/Dundee Township) with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as authorized by the establishment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

The Fifteen Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870:

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

However it is said that “it was not really until the Voting Rights Act in 1965, almost a century later, that the full promise of the fifteenth amendment was actually achieved in all states.” [Source: Wikipedia]

Both the Amendment and the Act (which was most recently reauthorized in 2006) were written particularly to deal with issues emerging from slavery to provide voting rights for African-Americans and other non-white minorities. Today, that debate is being renewed, but this time mainly related to Spanish-speaking immigrants.

In the 60’s it was polling taxes and literacy tests that were being used/proposed in order to keep minorities from voting. Today, it is language.

It is important to consider, however, that such legislation was written to be race or color neutral:

The Act requires bilingual election procedures in various states and counties for voters who speak Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, and more than a dozen Native American and Alaskan Native languages.

There are a number of objections raised about this, and in terms of Kane County, it has to do with Spanish speaking voters. A recent letter to the editor appearing in the Daily Herald raised several questions:

Why don’t the Spanish speakers hire their own interpreters?

The Voting Rights Act was specifically established to remove such impediments that historically had been used to prevent minorities, including language minorities, from fully participating in the electoral process.

Who is voting in Spanish anyway?

Fellow citizens, typically first-generation immigrants.

If only Americans can vote, then we seem to have a lot of U.S. citizens who don’t speak English. How can they become citizens if they don’t speak English?

Many first-generation citizens understand spoken English better than they speak or read it. As such, they feel more comfortable reading or speaking in Spanish in situations where it is important to understand or make oneself understood. There is already a limited amount of English required to pass the citizenship exam, however, that does not necessarily translate into a level of fluency that would make voting impediment-free.

When are we as a society going to come to grips with the fact that our language and culture are being undermined by non-English speaking immigrants who refuse to assimilate?

When one looks honestly at the issue, it is not a matter of “refusing to assimilate”, and a study I posted a link to a few days ago found that the English language and the “American culture” are in no danger.

The study can be found here. The report’s synopsis states:

Although the life expectancy of Spanish is found to be greater among Mexicans in Southern California compared to other groups, its ultimate demise nonetheless seems assured by the third generation. English has never been seriously threatened as the dominant language of the United States, and it is not threatened today—not even in Southern California. What is endangered instead is the survivability of the non-English languages that immigrants bring with them to the United States.

A relevant portion of the study concluded:

…while 100% of new immigrants speak fluent Spanish, only 35% of their children do, and 3rd and 4th generation (grandchildren/great grandchildren) only 17% and 5% respectively.

Allowing participation in our electoral process is very much part of assimilation into American life. (Although voter apathy and indifference has unfortunately also become a part of American life.)

By removing such impediments to the voting process we are maintaining and re-asserting the very principles of non-discrimination that we pride ourselves on as Americans.

Reference links:

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 – US Department of Justice
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Wikipedia
  
• Lingquistic Life Expectancies [Study] – Pop. & Development Review, 9/06
• Fifteen Amendment to the Constitution of the United States –Wikipedia
• GOP Rebellion Stops Voting Rights Act – Washington Post
• House Renews Voting Rights Act Unchanged –CBS News

New Water Rate Retroactive?

[NOTE: I originally posted this early yesterday evening, but I felt it deserved more attention so I’ve moved it up.]

The amended water rate that was recently approved would go into effect with the October 2007 billing. This means that the water rate would be retroactive to cover the last 3 months of usage, even before the Board approved the 7% increase.

I received an email from Paul Lanspa stating that he would be at tonite’s meeting to address the Board about this matter. He has had email correspondence with Village Manager Anderson and President Sarto, in addition to having spoken to Finance Director Happ.

What the Board should do is to suspend the enacting of the ordinance, and amend the wording to state that the increase would be the rate effective for usage beginning in October 2007, rather than billing. By doing it this way, the notice of increase could have been put on the October bills, that the next billing period forward would apply the new rate.

In my opinion, the action to take since bills have gone out would be to recut the bills at the old rate and get the amended billing to residents. Residents who pay the bills before receiving their new statement would receive a credit on their next billing for the difference between what they paid in October and the amended, reduced amount.