Village official disappoints
I've been a resident of Buffalo Grove for little over 15 years and I'm proud of my neighborhood, my community and its village leaders. But recently I was disheatened by the mindless behavior of one of our long term village board member’s lack of accountability to abide by the rules that apply to everyone.
This weekend I confronted that elected official because they chose to disregard public safety and village ordinances, parked their car in a fire lane to conduct business with a local establishment. They argued that this side of the lane was not a fire lane, which may or may not be an arguable point if it wasn’t for the fact that they were also parked in front of a fire hydrant. (By the way, I showed the photos to the BG Police and they confirmed that both sides of the lane are considered the fire lane) And while this person may claim it was a temporary lapse of judgment, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen them do this at the same place of business - on both sides of the lane.
It’s clear this official doesn’t feel that the law prohibiting parking in a fire lane is that important to worry about. And parking in a fire lane probably isn’t that big of a deal to most people. That brief moment blocking clear access to the lane, and in this case a fire hydrant, didn’t cost anyone their life. But the idea that an elected public official decided that sparing themselves a few extra steps to park in a nearly empty parking lot was more important than the welfare of their community is a letdown to residences of Buffalo Grove and to their fellow Village Board members.
Sandy Klein
2:48 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Well, I would like to know which village board member is doing this. It's great that someone posted about this, but why not reveal who it is?
BG Citizen
6:21 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Sandra - If this individual was the only person doing this, I might have revealed their name. But unfortunately we all see others doing the exact same thing.
This individual knows who they are and they know about this post. Hopefully they will realie that they ARE a role model and the public is watching. Ordinances such as no parking in fire lanes/in front of fire hydrants have a purpose, regardless of how inconvenient or trivial we think they may be.
Thank you for reading and commenting on my post
Lisa Stone
10:54 am on Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sandy:
One of the "B Boys" or Trilling I'd guess. You CAN Trust me, as I was and remain the Real Deal.
Lisa Stone
Former Trustee of Buffalo Grove & 1st Elected Official ever to be Recalled in Illinois history for standing up for the people and truth in the most Corrupt State in our great Country; The United States of America. The Constitution which I swore by Oath does indeed trump Robert's Rules of Order, which sometimes must be challenged, as I did. And, you're welcome for doing my job, which by my term remains until April 2013, though will always remain given my integrity. Many judges told me fight the recall, but I had to research the Landfill Waters and much more, and couldn't be diverted by The B Boys diversion, per home rule authority: Recall which was crafted by long standing Jeffrey Berman, at his kitchen table in 2009. He's the 1st amendment lawyer that makes decent money but perhaps, maybe and could be a fraud? I don't know....you tell me your opinion, Cupcake.
Janet Sirabian
5:37 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Why not also post the name of the author? Newspapers have a policy of not publishing LTE's that are anonymous.
BG Citizen
6:41 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Janet - I realize that you share the dais with this individual, so I'm not sure why you feel my name should be posted. I believe my comments were substantiated with the picture that was posted.
I purposefully did not publish this individual's name or expose their license plate out of respect to their privacy. This is not a political vendetta but gut check for this individual.
Walter White
6:00 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
This isn't a letter to the editor. Local voices is an open forum.
Charlie Barker
6:05 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Jan,
That is a tad defensive. A village official is too frigging lazy to find a parking spot and parks illegally and you're defending that person by insisting an whistle blower (in this case one a real one who isn't looking for publicity) reveal themselves?
How about some righteous indignation from you that a village official tried to pull this baloney?
However small, this is an two examples (the person who did it and you questioning the motives of the person who exposed this self selfing jerk) of how government officials apparently feel some rules don't apply to them.
Sandy Klein
7:26 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
BG Citizen, I'm glad I saw this and posted the link in the comments section of an article with a lot of activity or it may have gone completely unnoticed.
Do you mean other board members do this? Or other people in BG? If it's more than one board member, someone needs to tell them to follow the law just as the rest of us are expected to do.
Or most of us anyway. I did see a police officer approach a car that was parked in a handicapped spot and it didn't have any placard or sticker on it. He walked around it, then got in his squad car and drove off. I wondered where the sticker was that I had missed (and it wasn't me who called the police, but this is pet peeve of mine) so I walked around the car looking for some indication that the driver was handicapped. When I got to the rear of the car I noticed one of those fraternal order of police stickers on it. Oh, now I get it. Someone must have made a donation so they get a pass.
Don't you just love entitlement?
BG Citizen
7:37 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Sandy
That observation deals with the greater population in general. We have all witnessed/experienced someones actions of entitlement/self importance/ignorance. And if we are truly honest with ourselves we all are guilty.
Often we are blind to it until it is pointed out.
Sandy Klein
7:42 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Thanks for the clarification, BG Citizen. It's bad enough to do this but to argue that it's legal when confronted is ridiculous. Thanks for posting this in the Patch.
Janet Sirabian
8:11 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
BG, I guess my initial reaction is that this casts a bad light on everyone, and anyone could post what you posted without any proof. I assume you know who the car belongs to, but I honestly have no idea whose owns that car. I would seriously be surprised to know that any of our elected officials would take advantage of laws.
And Charlie, if I sounded defensive, I apologize. I certainly did not mean to sound defensive. I merely would like to know the other side of the story before drawing conclusions. I am just so tired of our staff and elected officials being accused of wrongdoing where there is none.
Sandy, our officers are very diligent about handicapped parking violations, so I would seriously doubt that an FOP sticker would have any bearing on whether or not a ticket was issued. Perhaps he ran the plate and found that it was legal for that car to be in that spot. Again, I would like to know the other side of the story.
And if the post reminds elected officials and staff that they are not exempt from the laws, then it has served a purpose.
BG Citizen
9:03 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Janet, I appreciate your follow up and agree with your initital arguement except for the fact that I have proof - the picture. I do know the identity of the individual, but as I stated I chose not to divulge that to protect that individuals privacy. I'm sure with little effort anyone on the board could figure that out with an open conversation amongst yourselves or with a little walk through the parking lot.
As I noted in my original post, I am proud to be a resident of Buffalo Grove. We have great people, both elected and non-elected, working for it. But at the same time we all are capable of making bad decisions - even the elected officials. It's a matter of how we respond that makes a difference.
Thank you for your service. Keep up the good work.
BG Citizen
10:19 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Jan - this page on BG's website would be a good topic of conversation for the next board meeting.
http://il-buffalogrove.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=473
Sandy Klein
8:58 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Janet, I wish that were true because I've always had good experiences with our officers, but he drove into the lot, got out and walked around the car, got to the back of it and then got back in his car and drove away. I watched the whole thing. No call was made and he was only there a couple of seconds.
As for him running the plate - that's not the law. IL law states they must display either handicap plates or a sticker/placard. This car had none of those. If the officer had run the plates, which I doubt happened, he gave the driver a break in doing so because there was nothing displayed.
John L
12:46 pm on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Is it possible that he got a call (on his shoulder radio) to go elsewhere more important, while he was checking this car out? It would not necessarily have required a siren, but might have been more important than a handicap sticker.
Sandy Klein
7:22 pm on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
John, anything is possible. I was standing on the sidewalk, inches away from the front left of the car and his squad was perpendicular to it with the door open right across from me. I didn't hear his radio go off at all and I'd think if the radio in the squad went off I would have heard it, but who knows.
BG Citizen
8:03 pm on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sandy / John
Sandy, you bring up a valid concern - it's not unreasonable to ask for a level playing field and having the rules apply to all.
John also makes a valid point - Sometimes there is more going on than what we realize. I have a good friend who used to be an beat cop (in another city) and I would often go on "ride alongs". Based on my experience, there were many things going on that the general public would never pick up on.
But all that aside, I feel this is an entirely different dicussion and would prefer this post stay on task as it relates to the fire lane incident.
Thank you both for viewing and commenting on my post