First of all, I'd like to note your meeting agenda for tonight was not posted on your website as of this morning.  So, despite previous complaints, you continue to not give the community adequate information on your Board meetings in a timely manner as required by law.

Based on agenda materials I did finally obtain, I believe you will be considering procedural changes for introducing new business items.  The proposed changes are significantly more restrictive than your current new business procedures.  In short, I believe the administration is suggesting that the important ability to introduce and discuss new business, as Board members deem appropriate, be restricted so that in the future, new business items must first be pre-approved by a majority of Board members.  This administrative suggestion is undemocratic and is certainly not something the community at large has requested.  I believe what it represents is an inappropriate effort to restrict unwanted discussion of any issues District leadership prefers not be raised.  I learned in introductory civics that democracy, at its best, is often not clean, quick and efficient --- rather, it is often messy --- like making a stew.  It's disappointing that those responsible for our children's education do not better appreciate this democratic process.  Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing problem with several governmental entities in our community.  In conclusion, I trust members of the District 99 School Board have the good sense to not vote to politically castrate themselves.

William Vollrath, Downers Grove

William Vollrath's post script to the meeting:
I understand a Board member once again took a swipe at me for not wishing to sit through 2 to 3 hours of B.S. in the hope that someone might be willing to engage in a minute of discussion at the end of the meeting.  I have spent more time waiting to communicate with the District 99 Board over the last five years than probably anyone in the community, and if any of them want to discuss something, all they have to do is speak up when I stand in front of them or call me or e-mail me.  I am not going to waste any more of my time waiting for these people to engage in meaningful discussion at a Board meeting, when they have avoided it for years!

Nov. 30 Letter:

It has existed for as long as there has been a social structure, but at certain times it seems to become particularly visible and particularly destructive to the good government that characterizes good communities.  It is the Arrogance of Power, and I have seen way too much of it recently in Downers Grove.  Allow me to offer several examples:

1. District 58 recently had the unfortunate experience of a past employee being identified as a sex offender.  Any good P.R. person knows you must deal with such problems openly, or the rumors will run wild.  District 58 leadership, however, refused to promptly and properly address legitimate parental concerns about when and where the involved teacher had been in contact with students.  A different version of a similar P.R. problem concerning the previous North High School principal was handled equally poorly by District 99 leadership.

2. Some new D.G.  Park District commissioners are in the process of promoting a 13% tax increase, in large part because they will soon lose revenues from a soon-to-be-retired bond offering, and although taxpayers only approved that debt for a specific use and a specific time frame, these commissioners do not want to see the scheduled end to this stream of revenue.  It is a fairly common, but totally inappropriate approach to revenue management by local taxing bodies.  Furthermore, these same park commissioners want to apply reduced term lengths to political foes coming up for re-election.  Yet, in a classic double standard, they don't wish the same limits to be applied to themselves.

3. District 99 leadership recently requested and received a change in their new business procedures, requiring approval of a Board majority before most new business can be discussed and acted on.  Has there been a significant problem with new business at Board meetings?  No, not at all.  This is simply a rule change to help insure that issues the administration prefers not be discussed or approved have less opportunity to see the light of public debate.  Seems to me that District leadership clearly needs more, not less, public discussion on issues such as sale of the Woodridge property, building facility needs and District finances.  Their track record in recent years on these crucial issues has been one misstep after another.

4. Of course, the prime local example of Arrogance of Power, as anyone who has publicly disagreed with D.G. Village policy knows, is the behavior of our mayor.  After treating dissenting citizens rudely at Council meetings for as long as he has been in office, he finally had the mother of all political temper tantrums, and alienated dozens of fine citizens whose sole interest was to serve our village.  (As opposed to pushing millions of dollars of tax dollar expenditures on the overpriced and inappropriate destruction/reconstruction of our downtown.)

William Vollrath,  Downers Grove   IL

For more information on High School District 99 Board issues see the  Citizens for Responsible Solutions  web site at  http://www.schooldistrict99.org/ .

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