Saturday Soapbox: Rec center delay a good idea

Naperville Park District leaders made the right call when they agreed to delay talks about a new indoor recreation center until Executive Director Daniel Betts gets settled in his job. To saddle the director with such a controversial project before he even arrives later this month from Denver would have put him in an impossible position and once again doomed the recreation center plans to failure. Waiting to pursue any such project until Betts gets the lay of the land and builds some relationships is a much better way to go.

Playing hide-and-seek

While Naperville Park District leaders made the right call on the rec center, they stumbled and bumbled again before making Executive Director Daniel Betts' contract available to the public. Instead of releasing a copy of the signed pact on the day it was received -- which coincided with their park board meeting -- district officials and board President Kristen Jungles foolishly decided to keep it under wraps an extra day. Too bad, because it seems like a fair deal for both Betts and the district. But instead of using the occasion to celebrate Betts' arrival and launch a new era of positive feelings and openness, leaders decided to fall back on their old self-destructive ways and play hide-and-seek with his contract.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

State lawmakers voted Tuesday to kick God out of the classroom but put him on special license plates. Within a matter of minutes, the Illinois House first voted to undo a required moment of silence at the start of school days, then voted to create new "In God We Trust" license plates. Other than the obvious irony, the special tags are for a good cause: the money will help families of U.S. soldiers make ends meet while one half is overseas.

Dare to kill a program?

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials have a decision to make when it comes to deciding whether to keep DARE -- Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The drug and alcohol prevention program was cut back this year after Wheaton's city staff cited studies questioning the curriculum's ability to prevent substance abuse. Still, most city council members recently voiced support for keeping a DARE officer in local schools. If school officials keep the program, they should do it because they believe it works -- not because DARE is too well known to ax.

Unusual day to vote

Saturday is usually considered shopping day. Or sleep-in day. Or errand day. But this particular Saturday also is a special election voting day for residents of the 14th U.S. House District. So finish up that shopping or slosh down that cup of coffee and get to the polls. Republican Jim Oberweis and Democrat Bill Foster will appreciate your effort.

Open to the public?

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve has impeccable credentials. The judge who is overseeing the ongoing political corruption trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko was a member of the Whitewater prosecution team in the mid-1990s and, more recently, presided over the criminal trial of former Sun-Times and Hollinger CEO Conrad Black. But it'd sure be nice if her no-nonsense court management style was a little more public-friendly. The judge declined to move the highly spotlighted trial to a bigger courtroom, leading to long lines forming hours before court and others being locked out, forced to watch on a closed-circuit TV in another room. We understand the need to firmly manage these proceedings, but can't this be done without restricting public access to a high-profile trial?