Lombard Jaycees disband, form new service organization

After more than half a century of serving the village, the Lombard Jaycees have dissolved and reformed as a new group called Lombard Commonwealth that plans to continue doing good deeds.

Former Lombard Jaycees President Jackie West, who now is president of Lombard Commonwealth, said discussions about a possible disbandment began about a year ago.

"It's due to the Illinois state Jaycees," she said. "The state has just become too political and all they seem concerned with is adding members, for the money. The Jaycees are supposed to be about creating impact in your community and the Illinois state Jaycees have really fallen away from that."

West said, for example, that she feels some awards given by the state to local Jaycees chapters no longer are based on merit.

"We do a lot of things that impact our community and we were not being recognized for it because it's more about who the powers-that-be like better," she said.

Illinois Jaycees President Anthony Colletti did not return phone calls. The state's programming vice president and former Lombard Jaycees member Sean Mullen referred questions to Colletti.

In the past year, the Lombard Jaycees tried to distance themselves from the state organization and just concentrate on Lombard, West said.

Things escalated on Sept. 13, however, when revisions to the organization's bylaws were approved that took away voting rights from members across the state. West says decisions such as increases in membership fees will now be voted upon only by officials at the state level.

West said there were "plenty of chapters" besides the Lombard Jaycees that voted against the revised bylaws, including those in Naperville and Palatine.

To voice her discontent, West logged onto the Lombard chapter's Facebook page the next day and posted a photo of Adolf Hitler and a quote that read, "The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is take a little bit of their freedom at a time to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed."

West said she has no regrets about the post and said several members shared it on their personal Facebook pages.

On Sept. 15, someone reported West to the Jaycees' disciplinary committee. On Sept. 16, West said the state Jaycees' social media "watchdog" group contacted her and told her to remove the post within 24 hours, which she felt was a violation of her freedom of speech.

Regardless, West said she deleted the post the next day and has since taken down the Lombard Jaycees' Facebook page. Still, she received a notice for a November hearing on Sept. 25 from the Jaycees' disciplinary committee.

West said she has seen offensive posts on many other Jaycees members' Facebook pages, but feels Lombard was the only chapter being called out.

"It is personal," she said. "There are two members, part of the state staff, that used to be Lombard members. They're upset that they no longer have any power or authority in Lombard."

Last Thursday, 13 of the chapter's 29 members attended a meeting and unanimously voted to dissolve the Lombard Jaycees, West said.

"It was hard to do it, but we just saw no other alternatives," she said.

All the members in good standing are still Jaycees and welcome to transfer to a new chapter, she said. But the Commonwealth, which is in the process of registering as a nonprofit, has plans to take on all the projects the Lombard Jaycees were doing, including Taste of Lombard, the Haunted House and the Man of the Year award. In addition, the group hopes to start helping with the Lilac Parade.

"I'm just hoping we can get to what we've always wanted to do and help the community with no drama and no politics," West said.

The cost of membership for people 18 and older is $30 a year, which is a reduction from the Jaycees' $60 annual fee, and active members have a chance to get the fee waived or reimbursed if they help with three projects or run one fundraiser that generates profits of $200 or more.

In addition, all members 18 and older can vote at chapter meetings now. The Jaycees only allow people between ages 18 and 40 to vote.

West said the Commonwealth got rid of the upper age limit because, unlike other Jaycees chapters, there are many people older than 40 who helped with Lombard Jaycees projects, but didn't have a voice.

The organization is also creating a junior division for children ages 7 to 17. Their dues are $15 a year.