Streamwood needs its own '4th of July'

Finally, a hint of independent thinking on the Streamwood Village Board. Hooray to Jason Speer for having the courage to ask what's behind the curtain.

And equally impressive is Trustee Cecille's openness to fresh thinking even with his lengthy service on this board.

For years, this village has been ruled in secrecy with all key decisions being made in private with little or no public debate and never any dissension. It comes as no surprise that when Mr. Speer suggests trustees become more involved with the operations of the village, he is summarily told there is no point in upsetting something that works so well.

After all, absolute control over the village is only possible when the power is confined to one person, or an extremely small group.

Our trustees are not allowed to have a unique e-mail address? What is the current administration afraid of?

Trustee Patterson, clearly opposed to any progress, uses a football analogy, that letting trustees assume increased roles is like "a fan coming down from the stands to play quarterback for an undefeated football team." I like the football theme but the analogy is way off. Letting a fan come down and quarterback a team is different than a head coach turning to his assistant coaches and deferring some responsibility to them, these individuals having been capably assigned to their roles.

The trustees deserve the level of responsibility the voters have bestowed upon them.

Oh, and one more thing with the football analogy: Never has a team repeated a Super Bowl victory by doing things exactly the same way, running the same plays, with the same personnel from one year to the next. A progressive organization recognizes the need to be constantly evaluating its current approach with regard to the changing dynamics of its situation.

Such an organization adjusts to these changing conditions and thrives. Streamwood needs to start acting like a progressive organization. The voters deserve it.

William Morris

Streamwood