What is wrong with Addison?

I suggest that the Village of Addison change the town motto. I don't know to what, but it sure isn't the village of friendship.

The latest headline grabber is of the seemingly normal dad killing his whole family the day before Thanksgiving. But why here? Of all the towns in Chicagoland, we never manage to stay out of the headlines.

This is the latest in a series of violent episodes, so many that I have to list a few of them to remind a seemingly apathetic community of the violence: In the past several years, we have had teenagers shoot dead each other in the shadows of city hall and the police department, summarized as gang violence and dismissed as a circumstance of modern life.

I am not blaming municipal government. It is not the responsibility of government for the behavior of its citizens. We have good fire, police and academic leaders in this town. And yet, Addison never fails to fail as a community. In Addison, after midnight you can get beat to death over a parking space in a burrito joint. A couple of years ago my teenage son witnessed a suicide on Lake Street on a sunny summer day, a distraught man throwing himself under a moving SUV. Angry customers charged out of a fast food franchise and were threatening the driver. (For the record it was my son's statement to police that cleared the driver of any wrongdoing).

Addison has good schools and excellent public services. The high school is being expanded and rebuilt. There are many dedicated people in the school system and city hall. The streets get repaired and plowed, we have plenty of parks and bike trails and an excellent new library. So, can anyone tell me what is wrong with Addison?

James M. Dunne

Addison