Support is there for disconnection

In response to Bill Bauman's letter to the editor (Oct. 23), we would like equal time to be heard.

I have nothing to do with any developers. Neither do the people I am working with on the Free Us From Campton Hills committee.

I am only a resident, but I have been down this road before when living in New Jersey. The area I lived in went through the same process of incorporating. We heard all the same promises and rhetoric. Within 5 years our taxes doubled. And by then there was nothing we could do.

The one year deadline for disconnection has passed long ago. This is why we moved to unincorporated St. Charles. And here we are again.

I have never been involved in politics but this is serious. People on our committee have been threatened -- both verbally and by e-mail, their homes have been "staked out" with cars and trucks parked outside day and night, nasty things have been put in their mailboxes, signs have been removed from our yards … someone is not playing fair. If you doubt these statements, check with the police.

Talk about animosity! I consider this behavior far more disruptive than anything we are doing, which is just spreading the facts and collecting signatures.

We have the signatures to prove that 89 percent of Fox Mill and Campton Crossings support dissolution. Eleven communities have filed petitions or are collecting signatures to disconnect from the village.

Only 23 percent of registered residents voted six months ago. Stupid on our part? Yes. No one really thought the vote would pass. But now we have a chance to rectify the situation. Let's not blow it again. We can't assume our neighbors will do it for us. Everyone needs to get involved so we can get out of this mess.

Put this on the ballot and let the people have their say. Then the debate will be resolved.

No Bill, taxes have not gone up in the past six months, but they will once the one-year deadline for disconnection has passed. Anyone with a calculator can figure this out. This is about economies of scale. As disconnections become official, the rest of us will shoulder the tax burden. The Illinois Municipal Code states that the village can raise our taxes -- see Chapter 24.

We do want change, and this is why we are taking a stand. Anyone with doubts should go to www.StopCamptonHillsPAC.com. All the facts and documents to back up the statements are there.

Tracy Whiteside

Campton Hills