August 2009 Archives

There's a workshop this weekend for families who might need help remaining in their homes. I saw the workshop, sponsored by Community Services Council, on the village's website.

I thought this might be a good workshop to learn more about homeownership.
When I called I learned that the event is primarily for people who need immediate assistance with foreclosure prevention and seniors looking for reverse mortgages information.

"It's aimed at people who are in trouble," said Bob Kalnicky, executive director of Community Services Council. "We'll be there with our counselors helping people with pending foreclosures and people who are behind in their mortgages."

Last year about 75 to 100 people attended the workshop. This year the organization expects to see even more, with about 100 to 125 people expected.

A key strategy that attendees can expect to be offered at the workshop is loan modification, such as lowering a home's interest rate or changing the length of a loan. Some loans can be stretched from a 30-year to a 40-year structure, Kalnicky said.

"It's about getting it to a place where people can afford it," he said. "Banks are more negotiable now. They want to keep people in their homes, because they don't want the inventory."

And how are Bolingbrook families doing in the wake of the foreclosure crisis? Kalnicky said the real estate inventory in the village is growing, and that his office has yet to see a peak. Each month about 200 area families contact the council looking for foreclosure relief.

If you plan to attend the event, it's recommended that you bring current loan documentation, income verification and a list of your bills.

The class will be held at the Romeoville Rec Center, located at 900 W. Romeo Road, in Romeoville, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Aug 29. For more information, visit the company's website at thecsc.org.

I hope this helps. See you around the Brook.

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Today is the first day of school.

At the beginning of the day everyone seemed quite happy.
There were parents smiling and taking pictures of their babies.
And there were children all dressed-up in their back to school gear.

It was a win-win for both kids and parents.

But by the end of the day, the parents were quickly reminded of all that goes along with children returning to school - school information to be consumed, forms to be filled out, PTA's to join or not join, play-dates to set and extra-curricula activities to pay.

So whether we're saying "hello" to a new school year and goodbye to summer camp, for parents it really doesn't matter. For us, there's really no break, whether the kids are coming or going.

It's really all the same.
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I organized a block club party on my block this past week. We ordered all of the free activities that the park district offers, the climbing wall, the trackless train, a clown show, a fire department truck and an ambulance. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had her way with us, and it rained like cats and dogs.

But it was an opportunity to meet my neighbors as I knocked on their doors to invite them. I learned a lot about community involvement. People you expect to come - don't, and people you don't expect to come - do. And I really had some faithful neighbors to step in and help. Thanks to all of them.

Unfortunately, because of the rain the kids never got the chance to scale the wall or rattle around the trackless train. But I've got to say thank you to firemen Edgar Hughes and Pat Sperling of the Bolingbrook Fire Department. They may not know it, but they saved the day. During a tornado watch, they demonstrated to a crowd of children what it means to be a fireman, and the kids got a kick out of wearing their fire gear and looking through their engine truck.

And also thanks to Cocoa, the clown, who also braved the wet weather. She stood in my garage, dressed from head to toe in a clown costume and made the most amazing balloon animals that I've ever seen.

We're at the end of the summer and kids are headed back to school, but if you ever get a chance to plan or participate in a block party, do it. It's a chance to connect yourself to the community that is Bolingbrook.

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When I sit down to write I often ask myself what topic took my attention this week.

This week it was Mayor Roger Claar.

I met with him about a story that I'm working on involving Illinois American Water Company. When I arrived at his office he wasn't there. His administrative assistant invited me into his office to wait.

When I walked in, I was taken by the spectacular ceiling-to-floor window view. As I took a seat at a table in his office, I glanced at the clock (as a had another appointment immediately afterward). I asked his assistant when would the Mayor be arriving. She said without looking at me, "The Mayor is a busy man." She seemed to say it in a tone that implied I had just accused her very son.

As I sat there I looked around the room. There I noticed a baseball hat collection strung from the ceiling and memorabilia and plaques nailed to the walls. There were also newspapers and magazines on top of the desk, table and filing cabinets - many with the Mayor's face and name on the cover. His space reflects a lifelong committment to service.

A few minutes later the Mayor came into the room and took a seat at the table next to me. The assistant sat his cup of coffee in front of him as though she were a waitress serving a faithful and longtime customer. I sat next to the Mayor and across from James Boan, the village attorney, a very knowledge man on the subject of village utilities.

And as always the mayor didn't disappoint. He answered my questions very direct and without hesitation, not a man known to mince words. And as I was about to leave he asked if I were now going from writing soft news (this column) to reporting hard news (water rate story).

I didn't mention to him my own dedication to service through community reporting, or that I was not a virgin to hard news. Hard news for me consist of covering the Jeffrey Dahmer serial murders; watching Cardinal Joseph Bernadine being accused of sexual abuse at a news conference; and winning the Illinois Press Association Award for reporting on the alleged misuse of TIF (Tax Increment Funding) in the City of Chicago.

What I like about doing soft news, or something like this column, is that it provides the opportunity to look into the lives of human nature, and I think that's important. See you around the Brook.

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It was interesting to see Mayor Roger Claar accepting responsibility for failing to support the construction of a new Fountaindale Library.

I attended the groundbreaking with all the usual local dignitaries, business leaders and library administrators. We all sat under a tent, sipped juice and ate cookies. And for me, it was nice and cordial, as these things tend to be, until Mayor Claar approached the microphone.

There he admitted that he was initially against the project, a project that bought all of these book-looking individuals to the tent on such a fine day. He used a familiar and quite cleaver quote: "I was against it before I was for it," he said. And everyone got a bit of a chuckle out of that.

I respect that he didn't get up there and make up some excuse as to why he didn't support the project, nor did even say why to the audience of library professional, but in January 2008 library administrators, said he publicly stated that he was against it. I called Claar to find out his initial reasons for begin against the project; however, he was unavailable for comment.

What I also admire about this project is that the people moved forward with their vision and prevailed. Claar himself alluded to this project taking a democratic approach.
"This is how our great country works," he said referring to the fact that although he was against it, the project managed to succeed. Because in February 2008, voters passed a referendum to build the new library.

The project was initially spearheaded in 2004 when library administrators invited a group of local residents to sit down as a focus group. Library officials ask the residents what would they like to see in a new library, said Tony Lucarelli, a spokesperson for the library. That group became the library's Citizens Planning Committee, the group who lobbied for the new library.

As a result, Bolingbrook will soon have a new $43.6 million LEED-certified (Leader in Energy Efficiency Design) library. Construction has begun and the new facility is expected to be completed in 2011. I say let's continue to turn the page on the democratic process. Who knows what's possible.

See you around the library.

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Two weeks ago I received a notice in the mail from Valley View School District listing school the registration fees for my children. The letter was very vague, and I wasn't exactly sure what the fees were for. I thought, my kids are already registered. I haven't moved, and I haven't switched schools. What's this fee?

And by the way, I'm still paying for summer camp.

I called the school and an administrative assistant told me that the fees were for printing cost such photo copies, paper and workbooks. Then I thought, they really shouldn't call it a "registration fee"; they should call it a "supply fee." But they couldn't call it that, because then parents would ask: then why am I running around town buying school supplies.

There are about 500 students at my local elementary school. If $40.00 is collected for each child, that comes to $20,000. Does the school really need $20,000 for photocopies?

Ordinarily, I would not question a school fee. But in this economy and in the spirit of conservation, I think the district should find better ways to conserve and not put unnecessary pressure on families. At the beginning of the school year, there are so many out-of-pocket expenses for parents. There are school clothes, new shoes, a long list of school supplies, book bags, lunch money, and perhaps before and aftercare cost.

If a family has multiple children, perhaps they should pay one fee for a household and not for each child. A family with three children is looking at $120 in fees. I would be interested in know exactly how schools are spending these fees. Are they using recycled ink cartridges and paper? Are they printing on both sides of the paper? I noticed that whenever I receive mail from the administration to my home, letters come in two different envelopes, one for each of my children. This is double the cost of postage and paper. That's wasteful. And I'm sure I'm not the only family that's experiencing duplication.

Registration fees haven't increased in 15 years, according to a press release from the school district. However, this year the board voted to increase fees for this year as well as next year. This is what families are asked to pay:

High School: will increase from $120 to $135 in school year 2009-2010 and $150 in 2010-11

Middle School: will increase from $85 to $90 in year 2010-2011 and $100 the year after. Their last increase was in 2003.

Elementary School: will increase from $30 to $40 in 2009-10 and $50 in 2010-11

Kindergartener: will pay $30 next year and $40 the year after.

I think holding to the same level is a good thing, but what about looking at ways to reduce the fee. In Chicago parents don't pay registration fees at all. And our current economy is worst than it was in 1993. There are more parents out of work. So even though it hasn't increased, that does nothing for a family if parents are out of work. I say not only look for ways to prevent an increase, look at ways to decrease.

The board should really take a hard look at parents and consider what they're expenses are at the beginning of the school year. It's a really tough time for families. This is 1993. It's worst.

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