Saturday Soapbox: Fox Valley

We're not Surprised

Given the success assistant village Manager Jeff Mihelich has had with growth and development in Algonquin, it shouldn't surprise anyone that another town has snatched him up. In early July, Mihelich will become community development director for, wait for it, Surprise, Ariz., a town of roughly 100,000 people. Mihelich's handiwork can be seen all over Algonquin, as he's primarily credited with bringing upscale development to Randall Road and downtown revitalization. Besides knowing the job inside out, Mihelich, a village employee for 12 years, is a class act with a professional, polished demeanor that made him pleasant to work with. We wish him well on his new adventure and can't wait to see what he does with Surprise, another rapidly growing community.

Amen to that?

Bill Johnston of Wayne sent in a note last week on which he cut out and pasted the Daily Herald Opinion page header (which adorns the page you're reading) along with the motto from H.C. Paddock: "Our aim: To fear God, tell the truth and make money." Johnston wrote: "It is my opinion that if you tell the truth you don't have to fear God!" Yep, that's another way to look at it, Bill. But we have no plans on changing the motto at this time.

He still doesn't get it

Elgin Area School District U-46 President Ken Kaczynski is in complete denial if he thinks "our community was reeling from the change that seemed to happen suddenly upon us" when former Superintendent Connie Neale took indefinite sick leave and later retired. No, Ken, the taxpayers are reeling because your school board gave Neale a $60,000 raise and a compensation package, including lifetime health benefits, that this year will cost them more than $535,000, months before she bolted from the district and moved to Missouri. Moreover, they've been paying $1,100 a day for Interim Superintendent Mary Jayne Broncato until the board chose Jose Torres to take over. So if the community is reeling from anything, it's all the money being spent on leadership these days.

Stalling does no good

Two recent Burlington Central High School graduates Wednesday turned themselves in at the Kane County Jail in Geneva to face felony charges alleging they defaced $25,000 worth of school property in March. Elgin residents Christopher S. Strong and Tyler Maddox, both 18, were booked and charged with criminal damage to state-supported property and four counts of criminal damage to property. With felony warrants out for their arrests, the pair was at large for more than a week. Stalling didn't help their case, or the case of Maddox's older brother, Robert. He was arrested by officers in the course of searching for Tyler Maddox. Robert Maddox has been charged with possession of marijuana.

Read the fine print

With everyone feeling the pain of gas prices, a few "deals" of less than $4 a gallon caught our attention this week. But if something sounds too good to be true … well, you know the rest. Some stations are advertising lower rates "with car wash" or other add-ons. That can't be good for repeat business if motorists didn't see the fine print and realized too late that the gas being pumped isn't at the low add-on rate.

Friends you don't need

President Warren Harding, in reacting to scandals in his administration in which associates enriched themselves at public expense, said: "My friends, they're the ones that keep me walking the floors nights!" Might Gov. Rod Blagojevich be thinking the same thing?