RLC: The Second Front Updated

Gimme more...

Red Light Cameras have greased the skids (made the pay to play payments to pols of both parties) for the second wave of assault on taxpayers in Illinois.

How’s this for spinning reality. Under the proposed Illinois law, speeding tickets issued by automated surveillance would be treated as non-moving offenses, like parking tickets and red-light violations, and convictions or guilty pleas would not go on drivers’ records, officials said.

Read the Trib story here.

So what used to be a moving offense for moving too fast, is now a non-moving offense.  Orwell spins in his grave.  It gets even worse.

The Buses Again, Again

The clock is running.

Tuesday Commissioner Waldack made a presentation to council on how expanding our shuttle use would lower the cost to the village.  It was a creative look, and it actually would work with a couple if’s, the biggest being if the county continues it’s portion of the grants. By expanding the shuttle, it opens up access to grant money for up to 87.5% of the 2010 operating cost of the system (up from the current 10% PACE grant), which would actually lower the cost of the system to below what the smaller, commuter only service costs us now.

The rest of council was grasping for ways to say not so fast.

COD Trustee Forum

Nowak, Fernandez, Giorno, Ledonne, McKinnon, O’Donnell, Wehr all no shows;  Jeffery Handel, Sandy Kim, Matthew Nelson, Kim Savage, Nancy Svoboda, and Tom Wendorf all take the pledge.

Okay right from the start let’s get this out in the open, this non-partisan election is hardly non-partisan, and neither am I.  See my other post on the background here, or just google “COD trustee fight” as a jump off point.

The Buses Again

A vote on the fate of the Commuter Shuttle is two years away.  Is participation in the county public transportation circulator the hot topic now?

The Planners Progress Continues

Simple is better.

Intricate and arcane permit fees?  After meetings held with builders, architects, and the Chamber of Commerce, after extensive analysis by the Community Development, CD Director Tom Dabareiner proposes to junk them and replace them with simple, easy to understand fees.

Preservation Plan Moves to Council

Drew House, the first home accorded historical landmark recognition by council.

At Tuesday’s workshop another step in the long process of crafting a historical preservation component to DG will, hopefully, be taken.  I can’t imagine that any council member would object to efforts leading to preserving and enhancing our history as exemplified by our buildings that have historical significance.

New Police Facility Up For Discussion

Staff recommends design and build in next 3-5 years depending on economy.

On Tuesday staff will ask council to discuss allowing staff to move forward on one part of the proposed civic center needs, that of the Police Department.

Just A Rant On The Massive State Tax Hikes

With our growth rate projected to sink into the negative, our state government is going to throw us a tax anchor.

When the going gets tough, government makes it even tougher.

Everyone has read about this by now.  Gotta love the way Quinn sells the tax cut for a family of four making $57,000/year or less as why it’ll be a good thing to tax us all to oblivion.  And all those courageous spending cuts on state employees.  They will not quite be halfway there to experiencing the costs of living like a non public sector worker.  Welcome to the club; get ready to make do with less because the state wants to make do with more…

College of DuPage Board of Trustees Candidate Forum at Etz Chaim

On Sunday March 22nd at 2:30PM DuPage United will be hosting a College of DuPage board candidate accountability forum at the Congregation Etz Chiam of DuPage County, 1710 South Highland Avenue in Lombard (between Roosevelt and Butterfield Roads).

recovery.illinois.gov

” A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”- attributed to IL Sen. E.M. Dirksen.

Gov. Quinn has this site set up as a clearinghouse of info on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  The clock is running, and if funds are not designated and used in 90 to 180 days the money moves on to other states. 

DeVry to DG: We’re In

DGreport has the scoop. EDC President Greg Bedelov will report in tonight to council. The list of oar pullers on this one is pretty impressive, from county down through township, council and Chamber of Commerce, Bedelov and the Economic Development Corporation was more like a GC on a complex construction project pulling everything together.

The official village press release  is here.

It’s All Starting to Make Sense

With how messed up Illinois politics are, you had to wonder sometimes what they were smoking down in Springfield.

Well…

The topic of using medical marijuana to relieve chemotherapy induced nausea and pain is not funny, and should be a serious discussion for the legislature.  That said, some of the the comments to this article are pretty amusing.

And as usual, here comes Mr. Buzzkill with the 133 page Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, Institute of Medicine report Marijuana and Medicine.

TCD3 Kicks Off

The first meeting for TCD3 was held last night at the South High School cafeteria.  About 90 people (est.) took part the 2+ hour meeting that ran similar to some of the past Citizen Summit meetings.  The purpose here was a bit different in that those meetings fed into the Strategic Plan, and this meeting was the first resident-centric discussion of what was important to Downers Grove as part of how we move forward as a community.

RLC: Mississippi Joining The Backlash?

Being run out of yet another state...

Illinois, fast sinking to the top of the list as most politically corrupt state, continues to expand the opportunity for red light cameras to compromise driver safety in the name of “revenue enhancement”.

Mississippi looks to join the growing list of states that are outright banning red light cameras:

Earth to 2009DD45: Missed Me!

Monday morning an asteroid the size of the one that scientists theorize hit Siberia a century ago just missed earth by a mere 48,000 miles, cutting inside the orbit of the Moon, which is about 245,000 miles away.

That asteroid that hit Siberia in 1908 levelled 800 square miles of forest.

Red Meat on Durkin’s Plate?

Click for readable version

Sean Durkin is the only current council member who has consistently and steadfastly voted against the commuter shuttles.  This week council will review and renew the Village of Downers Grove 2009 Transit Grant Agreement with PACE as a part of the consent agenda.