I read with interest Wednesday Journal’s recent article (March 1) regarding the River Forest Village Board meeting, held on Feb. 27. I attended that meeting and after I read your paper’s piece headlined, “Adduci delivers State of the Village address,” I questioned whether the reporter and I attended the same board meeting.
The meeting started with impassioned comments delivered by four residents regarding the potential community asbestos contamination by the aborted demolition of the old Lutheran Family Services building on Madison Street, followed by 8-10 residents speaking out about the change in traffic patterns in the northeast section of the village and how these changes are negatively affecting businesses there.
After a good hour of impassioned comments by residents, Village President Cathy Adduci delivered her rosy State of the Village speech. After hearing all the disgruntled people making serious comments all you report is the State of the Village speech?! Did the reporter not hear the other two issues? Do those two issues not matter?
I’m not saying you can’t run the article you ran, but completely ignoring the other two issues gives a distorted view of the true State of the Village. It makes one question the Journal’s journalistic integrity. Is this actual, factual reporting? Or is the Journal simply there to print positive articles about village leaders?
If this is what Dan Haley wants, there is no need for a reporter to go out and sit at a boring village board meeting on a Monday night. Just ask the village president to email a pdf with her statement and you can print that.
Anyone reading the last issue would be under the mistaken impression everyone and everything is just peachy in River Forest. It’s unfair to the residents of River Forest to ignore and fail to report on two fairly important issues affecting the village.
David Erfort
River Forest
