Village shouldn’t charge
for escorting Moving Wall

I was able to visit the Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial at American Legion Post 80 in Downers Grove the weekend of Oct. 2 to 4.

It was a very moving experience for me to see this tribute to the fallen service members from that era, especially since I was born and raised in Downers Grove.

I am involved in the Sons of the American Legion as the 12th District commander, and I believe that the Vietnam Memorial and the Moving Wall replica are helping to heal the wounds that the surviving members of the Armed Forces endured when they came home from an unpopular war. I also have had the honor of attending and be involved in numerous POW/MIA ceremonies in Illinois and other states and help raise funds to bring back the remains of those still missing.

I was shocked to learn that the Village of Downers Grove is charging Post 80 for providing an escort for the Moving Wall in what the newspaper called a parade on its way to the post.

I have been involved with escorts in Aurora and Plainfield being given to the troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and have not heard of this happening before. What a shame that Downers Grove has stooped to this level.

Ronald Tucek, Yorkville, Downers Grove native

Residents paying millions
for Tollway Authority

As a spectator attending a recent board meeting at the toll authority headquarters in Downers Grove, I have to admit that I was impressed with all the seemingly influential, important board members. In addition to the eight or 10 board members, the room was full of toll authority staff at a ratio that seemed to be three or four to one.

There was also a small delegation representing surrounding towns with an agenda to influence the board regarding their road needs. And there were two from the media.

As I was sitting through this three-hour meeting, I was thinking to myself, “What a waste of time of these influential, highly paid businessmen and women.” The agenda was very elementary as they discussed the advantages of hot asphalt vs. cold asphalt to repair potholes and then spending more time talking about the lifespan of a road before its needing to be replaced.

Another item included workmen’s compensation — how and when to pay. And then there was “employee training” to minimize injury on the job.

In recent years, it seems that there have been a number of claims from employees hurting their backs while lifting coins in the counting room. There were other superfluous items on the agenda, but I left at noon, not able to give any more of my time.

It’s hard to believe that the Illinois Department of Transportation didn’t solve pothole and workmen’s comp problems many years ago and that today they are not working on essential road needs. By having a second department of transportation, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, the cost for Illinois residents is in the millions of toll/tax dollars collected each year to pay just for the administration cost. The dollar amount alone in salaries for all these people, board members, toll employees and others attending these meetings must be catastrophic.

These board meetings are open to the public starting at 9 a.m. on the last Thursday of each month. Go see for yourself what I’m talking about.

We need to tell Gov. Quinn and our state legislators that they need to put an end to this shameful waste. Illinois residents can find more information by visiting notolls-il.com.

Russell Johnson, Sugar Grove