Small villages are not noted for effective government. We in River Forest are a happy exception, with an obviously energetic Village President Cathy Adduci. The village has a green alley program, mostly funded by the Metropolitan Water District that uses permeable pavers to help stop storm water runoff. The pavers are bricks that sink over the years particularly in alleys like ours that service many apartment buildings. When the sinking bricks produced a 3-inch gap, I dropped a note to Cathy, who I got to know (only by email) during the COVID crisis. I was pleased but not surprised to get a response in an hour or two, as I had years ago in a more serious context. What did surprise me was a response from Jack Bielak, director Public Works giving a many-page engineering discussion of the issue! What was beyond surprising was the arrival of a work crew a few days later to actually do the work! We in River Forest are blessed with the best.
Bob Eisenberg
River Forest