Township leadership is ripe for change

I am a retired city manager with 40 years of local government experience. I moved to Milton Township over four years ago and have had the opportunity to observe the services offered by the township highway department from my front porch.

I attended a township board meeting this year, and I was disappointed. The supervisor did not attempt to inform the audience of matters before the board, and conversations focused on congratulating employees or criticizing other members of the board. Nothing of substance was addressed that evening. Why is that?

The highway superintendent was not at the board meeting, even though his department consumes the largest chunk of the township’s budget. Where was he? It wasn’t snowing that night. The workers do a great job with snow removal. The workers have done a very poor job in street tree maintenance. I do not blame the public works employees who have not been taught the right way to do the job. Why not?

I attended a public meeting to review the proposed Lambert Road project with the residents of the Foxcroft Subdivision. I was not overly impressed. Both the highway superintendent and his engineer were in attendance, but I did not hear a complete answer to several questions posed by my neighbors. Were the officials uninformed on funding sources or had decisions already been made that they failed to communicate? Why is that?

It seems to me that Milton Township is ripe for change. From my retired person’s perch, there are many opportunities for improvement in communication with the rest of us who pay the bill and an obvious need for improvement in our highway department. A change in direction is needed at the top.

Why not?

Jerry Seeber

Glen Ellyn