Recap: Carpentersville on CNN

CNN’s “Out in the Open” on Monday night featured the topic of immigration, assimilation and language. The information presented seemed to be fair and of good quality. I also found a discussion between between a Republican candidate for President, Congressman Tom Tancredo, and a syndicated columnist, Miguel Perez, to be one of the better exchanges on the program.

Carpentersville was also in one of the featured segment. But, once again, it was presented as an example of the nation’s extreme. The English only resolution passed earlier was offered as a contrast to a Texas border town on the banks of the Rio Grande that has Spanish as its official language (although it is really bi-lingual). That town was shown to have progressed since 1999, while Carpentersville is in a state of decline and having many homes in Hispanic neighborhoods up for sale. The Texas town was one of peace and calm. Carpentersville was one of combativeness and division; as a city being “torn apart”.

The piece ended with “In this cultural battle, language is a mighty sword.”

This is not simply my interpretation of what they intended to show. This is what they actually did show.

Folks, putting aside the arguments for or against the validity of the interpretation presented, this is another perfect example of how the Village of Carpentersville is viewed in this country and in this area. This is not an isolated report, but is another indictment of the atmosphere that exists in the town.

It is not something we can argue against.

It is not something we can defend against.

This is something we must work to change the impression of.

That does not come from attempts at catch-phrases and slogans. It is not something you can legislate out of the way.

Rather it must be an effort to reach out to the whole community — not simply 40% or 60%, but the whole community — to listen to their concerns and find ways to address and solve them.

I’ll also just mention that Trustee Sigwalt and resident Adam Ruiz represented the opposing sides in the piece. Comments from Sigwalt were mostly benign, while Ruiz expressed his disappointment at what was happening in the town.

It highlighted concerns of which we all need to be aware and which the Village government, particularly the Board, needs to be sensitive to.

Residents Jay Radke, Frank “don’t call me a racist or a Nazi” Stoneham and a woman whom I could not identify also made up part of the “low light reel”.

The program ended by speaking about assimilation and learning the English language by Mexican immigrants. The study can be found here [PDF] … but it basically pointed out that 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. This was offered as evidence that the English language is not in any type of danger, and that these people who come to America do understand that it is necessary to learn English to get ahead in this country and in this world.

The reports 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.

Shunning more information, trustee keeps digging

Trustee Sigwalt is at it again, continuing to publicly throw negative jabs at President Sarto. This time it is simply because he would like the Board to have more information from lawyers for the Village’s insurance carrier about ordinances presently being considered for passage in the Village, particularly in the wake of a $30 million lawsuit recently filed against the Village.

“I don’t believe we have to consult with IRMA” over the impounding proposal, Trustee Judith Sigwalt said. “Other communities have done this successfully. President Sarto just likes to make everything difficult. He tries to make more out of them than they are.”

Apparently, she already knows it all.

Or does she? Folks may recall a few months ago when the Village was considering an English-only ordinance. Sigwalt, and political ally Trustee Paul Humpfer, did not take the time to determine what kind of difficulties such an ordinance would place on staff’s ability to do their jobs and comply with state and federal regulations. Only after heads of the major Village departments stepped up to provide information that would have otherwise not been considered did Sigwalt and Humpfer relent to accepting a non-binding resolution.

In this case, some “other communities” have gotten sued when attempting to expand the situations in which vehicles would be towed. In light of that, meeting with IRMA lawyers seems like a very good idea.

“It’s prudent for us to hold off on this until we at least talk to our attorneys on what we should or should not do at this point,” Sarto said. “To stir that pot anymore would be foolish.”

Trustee Sigwalt, along with the rest of the Board, needs to take more time to gather information — like they do in other, more professional, municipalities — and ensure that that information is shared with the Board and residents to enable better, more informed decisions. It is also rushing into things without all the information and available alternatives that has put the Village at risk in the lawsuit.

On a related note, there are those who have taken issue with my criticism of Trustee Sigwalt (and Trustee Humpfer). In response, I asked them to defend the actions of these two trustees in those situations of which I’ve been critical, and provide examples of the positive effects those actions had on the community. To date, no defense or examples have been provided.

In the end, I believe the actions of Trustee Sigwalt over the past 8 years necessitates this information be pointed out to residents in order that the Village can rise above the problems that have resulted. These actions and negativity have actually held the Village back in periods when other, smaller towns have worked successfully to prosper.

Right, not spite

Yep … they’re still at it folks.

In light of the lawsuit, President Sarto directed staff to postpone work on a draft of a controversial ordinance viewed by many across the US as targeting immigrants. And, Sarto also said he would hold off on appointments to the “Improvement Committee”, which has also been seen in the community as focusing on one segment of the population.

Trustee’s Paul Humpfer and Judy Sigwalt didn’t like the action.

He is a village president, not a king. said Humpfer.

However, Sarto is the Chief Executive Officer of the Village. Per the Carpentersville Municipal Code:

The president shall be and shall have the powers and perform the duties of chief executive officer of the village, shall preside at all meetings of the board, and shall devote to the responsibilities of his or her office such time and endeavor as the faithful discharge thereof may require.

As such, he is not simply another member of the Board, or having merely the powers of Trustees.

That said, I believe it is a good idea to postpone the work and enactment of the ordinance and committee, particularly in light of the lawsuit that has been filed. While it would have been better for Sarto to bring this first to the Board if he did not mention to them that they remove it from the agenda, I believe it is the right and prudent to take this action.

However, even in absence of this being brought to the whole Board first, the Board should not vote to proceed with these things as a matter of political spite. No matter what we eventually learn of the facts of the lawsuit, the present situation in Carpentersville is demonstrative of bigotry and bias.

Leaders in this community are those that recognize that fact and stand up to to speak out and do something about it.

But, there are others simply come up with slogans and rhetoric to tell the people that they shouldn’t feel what they are feeling. Those are not leaders.

What have these trustees done to bridge the divide that exists in Carpentersville? People in the community feel targeted. What have they done to reach out to those people and put them at ease?

In September/October 2006, they came up with an ordinance that worried a lot of people.

What did they do to reassure those people? Said, “It’s not about race. It’s about what’s legal”. (Making attempts to change the law.) And, the told them they needed to learn English; which worried them — even those that spoke English — more.

And, what did they do to reassure them, then? Told them they were going to come gunning for “code violators”. Which made them and others — even those who kept their property looking pretty good — feel more worried.

And, what did they do to reassure them, then? They said “watch out! We’re going to modify the laws to come for your vehicles!”

They haven’t done one thing to try to ease people’s minds about what they are doing. Telling someone “It’s not about race” when there are impressions (real or not) of a pattern that it is about race, hasn’t done anything to put the community at ease.

Now, with a lawsuit pending that is zeroing in on that pattern, the Board shouldn’t forge ahead like cowboys trying to tame the wild west. They need to step back, save the town from bankruptcy and heal the wounds that people have in the community.