Driving up Austin Boulevard left me feeling sad as I saw campaign signs defaced, changing them from a sign promoting a candidate to one accusing them of wrongdoing. A friend told me yesterday that he had seen signs for La Shawn Ford similarly defaced.
On TV I see attack ads against public servants running for higher office, the very public servants I have personally researched and found to be worthy of admiration for their active roles in improving our lives. In an election full of great candidates, all we see are attack ads written by mysterious Political Action Committees, the mill for attack ads in the general election against whoever becomes the candidate chosen by the voters.
Have we forgotten what we believe — that for the good of the country it’s the principles, not the personalities, of our leaders? To see politicians who share values, ethics, and concerns about us as citizens tearing into each other is very disappointing. Long ago when I was involved in helping run candidates for election, I would be out on the streets of Oak Park knocking on doors and I would run into former Village Trustee Ray Johnson campaigning for the other guy. It was always a pleasant meeting.
We may have had differing ideas about the best ideas for improving Oak Park, but we respected each other’s love for our village and the validity of each other’s ideas. As Ray would always say: “You can disagree without being disagreeable.”
I wish our current politicians shared Ray’s wisdom.
Frank Vozak
Oak Park