2007 and Older
WHAT THE PEOPLE OF BROOKFIELD ARE SAYING
Letters to the Editor & Viewpoints that appeared in local newspapers
I have been appalled at the incredible machinations at the Brookfield Library. Many taxpayers in Brookfield are astounded at the chain of fiascoes that the library has perpetrated, staring with the buying of a $400,000 home. It was the wrong place and much too expensive.
It appears that the Brookfield Library is operating on the premise that costs were not a factor and they have unlimited power to do anything without input from taxpayers. ...
I am president of Taxpayers Against Taxes. We have been inactive since our campaign against the RB High School referendum. We lost, but we will not lose this battle. ... We will oppose each and every boondoggle that is proposed by the carpetbaggeers. They must be stopped.
I have to ask, "Who is representing the taxpayer?" Nobody.
The worst part is that, in the final analysis, the real culprits are the taxpayers who let us all down by sitting back and moaning but will not even vote. ...
I am a former Brookfield resident and currently live in LaGrange Park. I grew up in Brookfield and lived there for a large portion of my adult life. For many years I drove a concrete truck, delivering concrete to construction and road projects all over the Chicagoland area. I have seen the best and worst of road construction projects.
The road construction recently completed in Brookfield, in my estimation, qualifies as one of the worst.
The contractor took the whole summer plus, and as of Nov. 12, has a huge pile of construction spoils sitting on Grant Avenue just east of Prairie Avenue. This creates a safety hazard as a large portion of the street is impassable. It is a hardship to residents in the area and is unsightly. The interesting part is that it is sitting there for no apparent reason.
Is the most pressing civic issue facing Brookfield today a lack of space within our library? Hardly.
I enjoy the resources provided by the library, and I appreciate the service of its employees and volunteers. Yet my car ride to the library requires the passing of empty storefronts in Brookfield's so-called "business district," dodging endless potholes in our streets and seeing young people with nowhere to go.
Given the millions it will cost Brookfield taxpayers to build a new, unneeded library, couldn't this adminstration find better things to invest in? How about attracting new businesses to Brookfield like the former administration of Bill Russ did with CVS? Or building more youth-driven projects like that the skate park at Elhert Park? How about paving our Third World-like alleyways?
This past summer I was concerned with the overall care and the unkempt appearance of our veterans memorials. The "laissez faire" attitude is an insult to those who sacrificed, as well as the friends and families of those honored. At the Circle, the weeds 3- to 4-feet high, uncut grass and toppled lights were testimony. I would say that this is a "memorial malfunction."
But one wonders why this insolence is also apparent at the newly built memorial at Grand and Sunnyside? Vandalism has been apparent there for many, many months. Where is the outrage? Was the service to our country all done in vain? The sentiment is more than just "knocking over tombstones in a cemetery" as were Mayor Garvey's recent comments.
The Brookfield Library board must take lessons from the Brookfield village board. A large crowd of Brookfield residents, also known as taxpayers, showed up for a library board meeting July 9 at the Brookfield Library ("Library takes heat over land buy," News).
The majority were there to express their opposition to the library board's plan to locate the library across from Kiwanis Park in Hollywood. A number of alternate locations were suggested by the residents, but there was an obvious feeling that the Hollywood plan was a done deal.
Most of the alternative sites would not result in the village losing the property taxes that would be lost at the Hollywood location. Paying over market value for a home on Arden Avenue ($400,000) will start the process. Incredibly, an additional four homes will have to be purchased to make that location a viable site, about a $2 million cost for land alone.
I commend the Brookfield Library board for exploring options for a new library. I have a suggestion that may or may not have been mentioned in the public hearing.
Seeing as how the library would like a new home and the Village of Brookfield would like to improve the appearance along its Ogden Avenue corridor, why not try to kill two birds with one stone and have the library look for a site somewhere on Ogden?
Although I don't know exactly what kind of space the library is looking for, I would imagine that since Ogden runs through the middle of the village that might be a good place to look. Besides, a new, fantastic-looking, brand-new library could begin a much needed beautification of Ogden and serve as a shining example to residents and passersby that Brookfield is undergoing a resurgence. The Ogden Avenue option seems like a win-win for everyone.
When I was president of the Brookfield Public Library around 1978, the board was in the process of determining what could be done to improve our facility. For a number of years, under sound use of tax dollars, then-Treasurer Ridell Kelsey and I opened an account at a local savings institution to place funds earmarked for a new library. When I left office, I do believe that the fund had grown to about $100,000.
During this period, I investigated ways how our board might build a new building using federal funds. I discovered that there were funds available via our national parks system for all sorts of recreation. I proposed that we apply for a grant for "quiet recreation."
Brookfield is under attack by our schools, by our elected party and now by our library.
The new party wants to "improve" everything by hiring two managers at a cost of over $200,000 as against the old one-man manager at $90,000 per year. That, coupled with a total change in personnel-result, more taxes.
The high school superintendent declared the school was worn out, so he rammed through a $60 million building program that will actually cost $93 million because of the interest on the debt.
So here comes the librarian who wants to build a new library ... in a location that is not even bought yet. ...
THE LANDMARK VIEW
Last week's news that the Brookfield Public Library was seeking to purchase land across from Kiwanis Park on Arden Avenue was something of a thunderbolt.
While it was well known that the library had been seeking to acquire property for a possible expansion of the library, the library board had initially only discussed the area around the current library at Grand Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue.
This is a very bold move by the library, one they may or may not be able to pull off. Our guess is that the July public hearing required before the initial land purchase can be finalized will be a lively one. The last attempt at large-scale development in the Hollywood neighborhood was met by a reaction just short of pitchforks and torches.
Reading today's Landmark was a total revelation as to what is going on in our communities. A front-page story about a new library in Brookfield ("Brookfield Library: Hollywood here we come," News, June 6), a boondoggle that was never revealed to the taxpayers. Six members of the library board made that decision without any input from taxpayers. They will buy the land before we have an opportunity to stop it.
Page three ("Another referendum looming for D208 voters," News, June 6). My God, RB is going to ask for more money to support increases in the salaries of every person that works for RB, things like maintaining and paying for air conditioning, heating and lighting and monitoring the additional basketball courts open to the public. The gimme gimme list goes on. Millions here, more millions there, and we all will be taxed into the poor house.