OUR VIEWS
Encouraging civility in public discourse is one thing. We’re all for that. Members of the public who comment during board meetings are, at times, over the top and unnecessarily insulting. It is worth noting, however, that frustrated public comment may also be the result of widespread perception that board members are either dismissive or insensitive.
So civility works both ways. But there are times when local board members need to remind citizens that public comment is not synonymous with target practice.
Governing bodies, however, go too far when they try to mandate civility, and that is precisely what the District 200 high school board is considering.
Annoyed, apparently, by the relentless barrage of criticism directed at the school’s Special Education Division, board members could implement a policy that forces concerned residents to discuss their grievances first with the staff member being criticized, then that staff member’s boss, then the superintendent, and finally, if no satisfaction is achieved, to submit critical comments in writing to the board president for consideration.
If that sounds unnecessarily restrictive and an attempt to suppress public comment, we agree. The OPRF school board is way off base on this one.
A public body has no right to place such onerous restrictions on its constituents. Public comment in a functioning democracy should be encouraged, not discouraged. Such measures would not even achieve the goal of promoting civility. They would only incite further turmoil.
We agree that parents who have issues with staff members should discuss them first face to face, then move up the chain of command. Encouraging that kind of communication is an appropriate thing for board members to do. Enforcing it, on the other hand, is completely inappropriate. It violates the spirit of open governance and tells the public that criticism will not be tolerated unless you first jump through a rigorous set of hoops.
The OPRF board needs to back away from implementing such a policy. It is an insult to taxpayers?#34;on whose largesse the high school depends.
Triton’s low standard of governance
No matter how frustrated we may sometimes get with a governing board in Oak Park or River Forest, it’s doubtful any of them could ever live down to the standard of undemocratic governance set by Triton College. Ruled by Board-Chairman-for-life Mark Stephens, son of Rosemont’s Mayor-for-life Donald Stephens, this top-down, faculty-be-damned board has been a textbook example of bad governance for well over a decade. Even the accrediting agency that has tolerated the situation for far too long recently cited the college for “concerns” about shared governance. The faculty, meanwhile, issued a no-confidence vote on the school’s President, Patricia Granados.
Why should Oak Park and River Forest residents care? Because we supply 20 percent of Triton’s tax revenue?#34;over $4 million per year. More OPRF grads attend Triton College than any other institute of higher learning?#34;by far. So any situation that affects school climate and morale, as this one certainly does, is a cause for concern.
Triton College needs a shakeup. Though we don’t expect it to happen anytime soon, voters should stop mindlessly supporting the same tired, old, overly acquiescent board members.
Corrections
In our story last week headlined, “Harrison Street gets village marketing boost,” one sentence read, “The building owner will sign an exclusive marketing services agreement to market his apartments through the Oak Park Regional Housing Center with a focus on maintaining a racially integrated building.”
Rick Kuner, board chair, said the Housing Center cannot serve as an “exclusive” marketing agent. Instead, they are the “designated” marketing agent and the Marketing Services Agreement between the village and the building owner (in this case at 12 Washington) uses the words “designated agent,” not “exclusive agent.” Prospective renters must have other sources of information besides the Housing Center. Building owners routinely market their vacant units on their own, using the Housing Center as a secondary marketing agent.
In our June 14 article about the pigs on The Avenue [That’s some pig!, we indicated the final auction would be held at Cheney Mansion. Actually it will be held at Pleasant Home.
Ashley McKinley one of our Student Citizen Award winners, has volunteered at the Visitation and St. Margaret church food pantries for the past five years. Her father died eight years ago. St. Edmund is her home parish.
Wednesday Journal regrets the errors.
