Taxes going up? Fence Post gives array of views
For your reading pleasure, I have hand-picked several letters to fill our Fence Post column on this page.
You don't need a calendar to know an election is drawing near. The volume of letters to Fence Post spikes dramatically. Regular readers may note that we've dispatched the syndicated columnist at the bottom of the page to create more space for letters. I suspect we'll be doing this with some regularity between now and Nov. 2.
I thought it might be instructive for you to see the divergence of opinion we get in this, our official forum for readers. Hard to say if anyone is swayed by these election-related letters, which come from people with, at a minimum, strong opinions to share, and often a specific ax to grind.
For instance, you'll note there are four letters on the only countywide referendum: College of DuPage's request of taxpayers to borrow $168 million for a host of campus improvements.
Two come from groups you'd logically expect to support the college's effort the friends of COD faculty and the COD annuitants association. The other two with a host of questions and criticism of the referendum come from private citizens, though many will know Stan Zegel, a former local newspaper publisher from Winfield.
At any rate, it's interesting to note how this $168 million loan is being portrayed. The proponents use the college's theme: “College of DuPage No-Tax-Rate-Increase bond referendum.” Zegel refers to it as “cancel(ing) a
tax decrease we were going to get and replace it with this loan.” To those approaches, I'd add this advice I got as a rookie reporter from my gruff first editor at the Daily Herald: “People don't pay tax rates, Davis; they pay tax bills.” The point is, the tax rate is just an arithmetic function of how a tax bill is calculated. If your tax rate does not increase, your individual tax bill still could go up if the assessed value of your home increases. That, historically, has been a certainty, perhaps less so in this economy.
These letters reflect just the tip of our election coverage. You may have noticed a spike in the number of stories we've done lately on races for the state legislature, DuPage County Board and forest preserve district, local referendums. More are sure to follow. We're also in the process of publishing in our Neighbor section the candidates' answers to a series of questions we've asked. An election guide is scheduled to publish Oct. 29. Many of our editorial board endorsements have run, and we should have all our recommendations on local contests and referendums published by early next week.
One more word on letters: To fill out the space, I ran a letter of support for U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and one backing his Democratic opponent, Ben Lowe. Two very different candidates, and two letters taking decidedly different approaches. I could have picked opposing letters from a number of races, but I chose this one because of something interesting that's occurred here. It's the worst-kept secret that Roskam is a heavy, heavy favorite for re-election. He's well-heeled, while his opponent is running on the proverbial shoestring dramatically unlike the high-profile race when Roskam was first elected to Congress four years ago; the national Democratic Party threw massive efforts into trying to get war hero Tammy Duckworth elected.
But there's one thing the Lowe campaign could do on the cheap: Encourage supporters to write letters to the Daily Herald. They did so to the point that the Roskam camp complained. To which I replied, “Well, can't Peter's supporters write letters, too?”
The pro-Roskam letter on this page is one of many waiting to appear in the newspaper.