BOB MUELLER FOR IL STATE REPRESENTATIVE, 47TH DISTRICT
During an economic downturn, one expects to hear rants like the one last night during Open Forum. That's free speech, and, unlike Chief Trout, it was by someone with no village authority, so we accept that.
What was disturbing is that there were two lawyers and a teacher who failed to address the issue. Someone did mention the village had no jurisdiction, which should have been end of discussion, but the board actually seemed to support the speaker, even suggesting he call 911.
Just because a person speaks Spanish or looks Mexican does not mean they are illegal. And there are illegal European immigrants as well. Here in Westmont, Hispanics and many other ethnic groups give Westmont character. Our diversity is our strength. We are the "Clark Street of the Western Suburbs", and we benefit because of that.
The immigration issue continues to be hotly debated, and, with elections coming up, there will be a lot of bashing of immigrants and gays and lesbians. I would hope the village council become more active in these equality/fairness issues. I am worried that they might actually consider letting our police force participate in immigration raids.
I already have a question before the board regarding racial profiling for which I have requested a written response. Let's make sure the situation doesn't get any worse during the economic downturn and election cycle.
The second item of concern was Ms. Emory's statement about the Westmont Progress. She implied that the story on impounding automobiles was misleading or incorrect, but she never said why she had that opinion. Instead, she went into a tirade about the Progress not being a good newspaper. She said that if she wrote a letter to the paper, they probably wouldn't print it. Before making such a statement, one should try writing a letter. It doesn't always happen that the letter will get printed, but sometimes it does. Without first making the effort, her speech was disingenuous and as misleading as what she was accusing the Progress of.
The Progress has been reporting quite a bit about this village council, and much
of it has been negative. There is a reason for that. Many of the actions taken this
year, which even the mayor admits are controversial, are not suitable territory for
a village council even under the guise of home rule -
FREE PRESS!! FREE PRESS!!
So we've had free speech issues, free press issues, and let me bring up one more important issue: separation of church and state. Fortunately, Westmont does not have invocations during the village meetings as some villages do, but there have been times when fundraising activities for religiouos institutions in the area have been mentioned by trustees. These have been minor infractions, but they are still infractions.
We are a study in Constitutional issues. Our recent history has shown how not to do it. That's not the way we should be teaching our kids.
Letter to the Editor, Westmont Progress, published December 9, 2009:
Westmont is a case study in First Amendment Issues
ABOUT:
Bob campaigning in Downers Grove
ENDORSED BY EQUALITY ILLINOIS