“I encourage you to continue to communicate directly with me and the Trustees. I invite you to attend our regular Board and committee meetings and get involved.” – Bob Abboud
Just when you thought communications couldn’t get any worse in the Village (see Monkeying around with Village communications), they apparently did earlier this week. Our Village Board has altered its policy on how residents can speak during the “Public Comment” portion of Village board meetings.
Though (suspiciously) not announced in the published agenda before the meeting, one of the first items discussed at this month’s board meeting was a motion to move “Public Comment” from the beginning of board meetings to the end. In some cases, residents might now have to wait until midnight (or later) to be heard. In addition, resident comments are limited to three minutes or less. The motion was passed by a margin of 6-1, and clearly some objections were expected from residents given the multiple armed police officers assigned to this meeting.
We’re not surprised by these draconian measures. At recent meetings, residents have asked pointed questions of our Village leaders, touching on their own actions and motives on matters affecting our Village. Because answers are not forthcoming, and some commitments by the board go unfulfilled, there is a growing frustration among residents. Clearly some board members feel that making residents sit for hours waiting for their turn to speak will dissuade them from public participation. That remains to be seen.
At the same October board meeting, President Abboud mentioned that the Village now is equipped with surveillance equipment capable of peering into residents’ properties. This was disclosed during discussion of a private Village residence in need of maintenance (see Barrington Hills leaders spar with homeowners). As reported, “Abboud (also) suggested a building inspector be on hand and ‘it might be time to test out our whiz-bang optics’ to view into the property to see if there are code violations.”
Whiz-bang optics? Do these optics allow inspectors to peer through windows into homes from the roadside, looking for unapproved alterations or construction under way by residents? Is this a productivity initiative to streamline checklist inspections for residents who have applied for permits, so that inspectors never have to leave their cars?
The contrast here is glaring. Our elected officials do not want to be questioned by concerned taxpayers, yet they apparently can peer into our properties at any time with “whiz-bang” optics. It seems our leaders have lost sight of those who have privacy and free speech rights (citizens) and those who have obligations of transparency (elected officials).
This isn’t the Village governing we expected when we moved here, is it?
– The Observer