Goslin's no-show excuse rings hollow

Commissioner Gregg Goslin's excuse for not attending the Palatine village board's town hall meeting regarding Cook County government rings hollow.

Although the commissioner may well have had a prior commitment, his excuse for not even sending a representative is particularly troublesome.

Goslin told the Daily Herald a staff member would have attended but that Goslin nixed the idea when Stroger canceled.

The meeting went on without Mr. Stroger and a group of approximately 100 citizens found the topic of the meeting important enough to warrant their attendance.

Many in the audience had questions or comments about the management of county government that could have been addressed and should have been at least heard by Mr. Goslin or a representative.

Goslin, however, claims he was "there with [his] vote when they really needed me."

Undoubtedly he would like people to ignore that he was there with his vote for Todd Stroger when he voted for Stroger's 2007 "friends and family plan" budget that axed front-line, prosecutors, public defenders, police, medical clinics without addressing the mismanagement, nepotism and patronage hiring practices of the county.

It is particularly interesting that Goslin told the Herald that "the meeting became a political sideshow."

How would he know? He wasn't there.

I was and saw that many in attendance were grateful that the Palatine village board gave them an opportunity to be heard -- and that another member of the county board cared enough about them to attend (even if he was obviously there to campaign for himself, too).

Larry Krulewich

Buffalo Grove