I'm watching now.
blah blah blah

How did our board mess this up so badly that the majority had to MAKE A CASE for our selection...a selection that was supposed to be a positive thing. What a shame.

Again, what I wrote is true...no need to make me look like I was writing something inappropriate. Do I get an apology?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GE Fan,

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:
What happened that caused those who stood against this project to stand so softly at the public meeting?

All the big shots were there however.

I still don't think that this is over however.

Sadly, its over...but that video is priceless!

Truly was a moot point to reiterate anything said on this BB. That point was made clear in the pre-meeting. The vote was going to be 4-3. Period. Really surprised that Fish and I stuck it out. I think he needed a ride home.

Daily Herald 2/12:

Glen Ellyn president breaks tie over consultant.

Well, I missed the fun I guess. Or not fun.

Never seen 4 people in such a hurry to make a decision that nobody in the village seemed to have wanted. I hope all that are against this decision remember when these 4 individuals are up for election. I know the Vociferous Little Minority will have it's day come election time when these 3 trustees will be voted out on the sole fact that they in fact DID NOT voice the opinions of what WE THE PEOPLE wanted. If I was making a decision with the money of some 27k+/- citizens, whether it be $10, $100,000 or $1,000,000, I would most certainly NOT rush into things and NOT overlook all the FACTS placed on the table. I would definitely NOT make a decision in spite of others sitting at that table. Seems as though 4 individuals sitting at that table last night acted out of spite at the other 3, and that is what I find the most troubling. When ego and spite rule over rationality and the good of the citizens of this town, then we have a SERIOUS problem. A very SERIOUS problem.

What's done is done, so now we need to rally behind TBS and get this sinking ship afloat again. I hope they do prove the enter village (except for the spitefull 4 that voted for them) wrong by coming up with a plan that will help this great downtown area out and make it florish. I will support them during this process and hopefully they will accept our input and create a team atmosphere thoughout the entire process and get it done.

Or I will just move to Wheaton.

I am now stepping down from my soapbox and will put it away for a long, long time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BlueEchoes,

quote:

Originally posted by BlueEchoes:


I hope all that are against this decision remember when these 4 individuals are up for election. I know the Vociferous Little Minority will have it's day come election time when these 3 trustees will be voted out ....

Echo, how soon we all forget. If the board members follow tradition they will be retiring after their 4 year term is up. The only one that ever talked about a re-election is the independent, not the CBP clan. By the time elections come around this will be another memory of something that P.O.’d half of GE. I look at it this issue this way, half of GE supported TBS, half of GE did not and the other half really don’t give a #@*&.

quote:

Seems as though 4 individuals sitting at that table last night acted out of spite at the other 3, and that is what I find the most troubling

I am so not up to date on all of this, but tuned in anyway to see what everyone is talking about.
Your quote is EXACTLY what I thought after listening to 3 outta the 4 talk about their YES vote. It saddened me that it seemed a battle of personalities not what is the best for GE.

quote:

Originally posted by Buggy24:

quote:

Seems as though 4 individuals sitting at that table last night acted out of spite at the other 3, and that is what I find the most troubling

I am so not up to date on all of this, but tuned in anyway to see what everyone is talking about.
Your quote is EXACTLY what I thought after listening to 3 outta the 4 talk about their YES vote. It saddened me that it seemed a battle of personalities not what is the best for GE.

Saddened me, but did not surprise me at all!

Maybe a more accurate breakdown of what the citizens of this village actually think compared to the 50%/%50%/50% breakdown from above:

4% back TBS

6% back another company and/or back fixing the process that our board took in getting the results they did.

90% couldn't give a rats arse.

"Houseal Lavigne reports were cut and pasted and inserted into TBS works ..."


The real shame is holding up or village leaders as role models. The message they are sending to students is that you can get by with plagiarizing your homework (and misrepresenting your self on your resume)if you wait until your teachers are overwhelmed with other matters.

Worse than that, I'm sick of leaders everywhere constantly imploring the public to "band together and move forward" every time they make poor decisions on behalf of the people.

After we made the hugely unpopular decision to invade Iraq...and stay there, the President implored the detractors and the supporters to band together for the good of the Country.

After the 2001 Dist. 41 Referendum, District 41 implored the critics of the referendum and board and the supporters of the referendum and board to band together for the good of the kids.

After this year's disaster of a legislative session, our Governor asked his detractors and supporter ( ) to band together and move on for the good of the State.

After each and every blunder by a body politic, we are implored to "band together" and "move on."

I'm sick of being told to ignore the failure of a board to the public and "move on." It would be one thing if the supporters of TBS did so because they truly felt that it was in the Village's public interest to select TBS and they just made a bad decision. That is entirely excusable. However, no rational person could have determined that TBS was a superior firm. This was a decision based on politics, spite and hardheadedness....and that's not excusable.

One wonders how this would have changed if we had a real, full-time, permanently employed Village Manager.

I'm not moving on...I'm going to remain disgusted. So take that!

It saddens me, as a newer, younger resident in town who had hoped to make GE the family home for many years, because this project will be a complete and utter failure. The handwriting is on the wall. With a career that involves extensive exposure to bidding/contracting, I can see taht the lack of buy-in and diviseness amongst the key stakeholders will doom TBS, or really any firm vying for this work. Especially ridiculous when the Preservation group is quoted as saying they like TBS because they value "historic preservation".

Bye Bye $100K, Hello "Villa Park Status"!

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:

After we made the hugely unpopular decision to invade Iraq...and stay there, the President implored the detractors and the supporters to band together for the good of the Country.

Depends on who the war was unpopular with. With "the world" maybe, but I'm not sure you could make the statement for the American "people".
Wiki Link

Interesting quote on how fickle we can be

quote:

April 2003

A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 72% of Americans supported the Iraq War, despite finding no evidence of chemical or biological weapons.[citation needed]

A poll made by CBS found that 60% of Americans said the Iraq War was worth the blood and cost even if no WMD are ever found.[citation needed]

May 2003

A Gallup poll made on behalf of CNN and the newspaper USA Today concluded that 79% of Americans thought the Iraq War was justified, with or without conclusive evidence of illegal weapons. 19% thought weapons were needed to justify the war.[8]

quote:

Originally posted by glellyn:
I can see taht the lack of buy-in and diviseness amongst the key stakeholders will doom TBS, or really any firm vying for this work.

That was my opinion a few months ago. Although, I don't think it dooms TBS - they'll produce their report and get paid. I think it dooms implementation of the TBS plan.

No. This is not the time to "band together". That is called co-opting. This is the time to be the sand in the oyster.

I am so disappointed in my friends in the Preservation group. Just because this guy is from Riverside does not mean that Olmstead's principles will rule the day. This is a town that needs to be shaken. To its core.

This caucus of the connected must end. Run for as many terms as you like. This is not student council. This community should be guided with accountability. But if you pass the buck to the next group, what is your accountability?

2009 will be an interesting year. Town and school board.

AMEN

Hi,

I think we'd be better off in 2009 if more candidates ran as independent. I am not sure how this works, but what I've heard is that the Civic Betterment Party only allows candidates to run for one term. Is this true? One might think that a term limit such as that would prevent cliques from running the show. Not so it seems. Sounds like they simply pass the baton from one insider to another.

If we want to change things we probably need to elect more independent thinkers who are willing to be held accountable.

I am also disappointed in the Preservation group. They have endorsed someone based on their interaction with a firm, which the overall responsibility is less than 4% of the contract.

Seriously, is preservation worth more weight that all the other parts? I understand the need to keep our town charming and preserve the buildings, but is that desire worth a $100k investment in a firm that otherwise does not have experience in a town like ours? Investment in a man who wore a Mickey Mouse tie to the final meeting and has a voice to put you to sleep during presentations?

I will also state here that I hope we do not end up with major chain stores in our downtown. Restaurants, yes, retail, no. Look at how successful Geneva and Wheaton are without chains- that should be our goal. There is nothing better than going to a town with unique stores. You can find just about any chain store within a two-four town radius. That may not be the popular opinion, but that is also why we need a QUALIFIED firm who knows what will work, or won't work, to do this project. We also need someone who can identify the issues with our EDC. Even if we implement a fantastic plan, if we don't have an effective EDC, we will go right back to where we are today.

Without investing $100k, we can propose to keep our quaint buildings, but with maintenance codes. Each store should be required to replace their carpeting and paint every 5 years. Each building should be required to be cleaned on the outside in some manner x number of years, etc. Watch an old clip of our 4th of July parade which reruns often. Our buildings are disgusting. That doesn't mean we have to tear them down- but it does mean we have to fix them.

As for moving forward, I think the citizens should get involved as much as possible to get our ideas, thoughts and problems included. We need to hold TBS to the fire and make sure they don't attempt to create something unrealistic or unusable. We also need to keep the pressure on the trustees who voted for TBS as two of them will still be on board when the project is done. At this point, we do everything we can to make this succeed, and then if it fails, it cannot be said that we didn't try.

Last thing I will say, in this response, is that it is unbelievable that anyone can turn their head at the information that was presented to them on TBS. Yes, staff made a recommendation, but TEAM work involves providing information for decision before you that is new. TEAM work involves acknowledging that information and reevaluating the decision. TEAM work involves working with ALL members of the decision making team.

The end.

quote:

Originally posted by MaybeNotSoCoveted:
Hi,

I think we'd be better off in 2009 if more candidates ran as independent. I am not sure how this works, but what I've heard is that the Civic Betterment Party only allows candidates to run for one term. Is this true? One might think that a term limit such as that would prevent cliques from running the show. Not so it seems. Sounds like they simply pass the baton from one insider to another.

If we want to change things we probably need to elect more independent thinkers who are willing to be held accountable.

I agree that we have to take another look at how things are done, however we also need to acknowledge that 2 of the Trustees who voted against this contract came from the Civic Betterment Party. I am not arguing for the CBP, just making a comment.