At the July 7th, 2008 City Council meeting several citizens addressed the Council to ask about the proposed Utility Tax and specifically why more public participation was not sought. The Mayor and Council answered these questions with resounding silence. The Mayor is not one to let any comment go without a response even if his only response is to be dismissive to the citizens of Crest Hill. This time he and the other members of the Council sat silent because the only response that could have been given was that they did not want citizens to participate in the consideration of this new tax. Their hope is that the tax is silently implemented and no one notices.
This is simply the wrong attitude for our elected officials to have. The public deserves to be included in the making of all decisions, especially the enactment of a new tax. Regardless of how badly the city needs the revenue or how much better this new tax might be than the alternatives, the public still deserves to be engaged. Tell us why this tax is needed, tell us what other options are out there, listen to our opinions, solicit our ideas for alternatives, and then make an informed decision and do what you believe is best for Crest Hill and its residents. That is all I and many of my fellow citizens ask of our Mayor and City Council.
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Monday, July 7, 2008
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Joliet Herald-News hides the news
Besides offering limited coverage of what is going on in our local governments, the Herald-News refuses to provide honest, unbiased coverage. In addition, they reward reporters for hiding the news, by promoting them.
In January of 2006, I read a series of articles in a different Illinois newspaper about how schools were issuing more in bonds than had been authorized by the voters. I then contacted the Plainfield School District with regards to their $252 million referendum at that time, the structure of the bonds they were issuing, and if they were considering utilizing the loophole to issue more than what they were asking for in the referendum. I then e-mailed Andrea Hein at the Herald-News with copies of the original articles and the information that I was able to get from the Plainfield School District.
Andrea, thanked me, said she was already working on a similar story, and would get back to me shortly. She never wrote the "similar" story she was working on and never got back to me. I guess she and Herald-News did not think the potential of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent beyond what the public had voted on was not a big deal. It is more important to keep the politicians happy. The Herald-News rewarded her lack of concern for her job by promoting her from covering Lockport & Crest Hill to covering Joliet.
In January of 2006, I read a series of articles in a different Illinois newspaper about how schools were issuing more in bonds than had been authorized by the voters. I then contacted the Plainfield School District with regards to their $252 million referendum at that time, the structure of the bonds they were issuing, and if they were considering utilizing the loophole to issue more than what they were asking for in the referendum. I then e-mailed Andrea Hein at the Herald-News with copies of the original articles and the information that I was able to get from the Plainfield School District.
Andrea, thanked me, said she was already working on a similar story, and would get back to me shortly. She never wrote the "similar" story she was working on and never got back to me. I guess she and Herald-News did not think the potential of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent beyond what the public had voted on was not a big deal. It is more important to keep the politicians happy. The Herald-News rewarded her lack of concern for her job by promoting her from covering Lockport & Crest Hill to covering Joliet.
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