Character lacking at Elk Grove Village Hall

Traveling through Elk Grove Village, one might see the banners "Character Counts" above the doorways of the grade schools. Apparently EG needs the reminder over the village hall.

As reported in the Daily Herald, the mayor's 22-year-old son lost control of his pickup truck and hit three parked vehicles at 2:30 a.m. He admitted he had been drinking at RotaryFest, appeared disoriented, left the scene with his front bumper falling off (without calling police), drove home and parked in the wrong driveway. During the interview with police, he smelled of alcohol but the police determined alcohol must not have been a factor because he didn't appear intoxicated even though he still smelled of alcohol five hours after RotaryFest shut down. The mayor stated there was a problem with the truck's brakes (son said accelerator). He stated his son couldn't call police because he didn't have his cell phone - never mind that we are more likely to see a unicorn than a young adult without a cell phone.

The mayor issued a release that his son was not impaired at the time of the accident. We didn't know the mayor possesses superhuman skills that can detect the BAC just by looking at his son.

Bad brakes? Stuck accelerator? Lost cell phone? Don't we tell our kids that it's so much easier to just tell the truth than it is to lie and then get caught in the lie? Instead, we have police who don't do a Breathalyzer on the mayor's son even though they smelled alcohol (probable cause), and a mayor who is "embarrassed" but doesn't have his son apologize for his reckless behavior that put Elk Grove residents at risk.

We have yet another unethical elected politician who it appears deems himself above the law and is more concerned with his personal stature than he is those his son put at risk. The people deserve better.

Jim Gallo

Elk Grove Village