Lost faith in candidate

We are very upset with our village trustee Steve Lentz and have decided not to vote for him as mayor.

Why? The village paid $42,000 for a plan for roads, sewers and water mains in Loch Lomond (where we live). The plan was based on a survey of residents and input from the various village departments. One key element of the plan was that concrete ribbons should replace the gravel shoulders and that the existing swales (shallow grass ditches bordering the streets) should be maintained.

These swales are very important to the ecology of the lake, because the grass in them filters out street runoff pollutants before they get to the lake. At the Jan, 28 village board meeting, Steve Lentz proposed eliminating the swales and putting in curbs and gutters instead. This would be a disaster for the lake, because the pollutants would go directly into the lake without being filtered by the grass in the swales.

This is not, however, the reason we are not voting for him. It’s because he misrepresented the issue. He told the board that the property owner’s association had been briefed on the change, that they supported the change, that “the change will be extremely positive with the residents” and that curbs and gutters would be welcomed. None of this is true.

Neither the property owner’s association nor any of the residents were made aware of the change, and no one supports it. If a member of the association hadn’t been at the meeting, we wouldn’t have known about the change until the concrete was poured and the pollutants were running into the lake.

This is why we’ve lost faith in Mr. Lentz. He will not get our votes for mayor.

Paul Papineau, James Cupec, Steve Kaminsky

Mundelein