Board member not serving interests of District 58
I am ashamed of myself. I voted for Scott O’Connell.

I believed him when he e-mailed me personally before the District 58 School Board elections in 2007 and he assured me of his sincerity for the welfare of all children in Downers Grove. You see, his school-age triplets — unlike mine — do not attend District 58 schools. I had probed his motivations.

I believed him when he told me that he wanted to represent the best interests of taxpayers. Proper oversight and spending of our taxes sounded like the way to go.

When Scott O’Connell refused to take the oath of office May 14, 2007, I believed that it was simply an act to set the tone of his tenure. Of course he wasn’t anti-children, I thought. He just wanted everyone to know that he wasn’t going to be a “business-as-usual” type of member.

I believed that his criticisms and probes of the board and the process and the finances represented what I would do at those lengthy meetings myself. Question authority! Represent the little guy! Protect and defend our dollars!

I am ashamed at myself, because I just learned that I was oh-so-wrong to believe that Scott O’Connell is capable of representing my best interests as a taxpayer or a parent — let alone my children’s.

I watched in disbelief July 13 as I learned more about the state of affairs and the giant messes he is making. He is calling in the lawyers — nitpicking the fine print to no end — and spending our money on unnecessary claims and criticisms, which he fails to detail clearly.

I share Scott O’Connell’s own thoughts that we need transparency and honesty, but we also need it from him.

Why is he serving on the board and continuously challenging it, but offering no fresh ideas? How does he think that suing the board and spending taxpayer money on lawyers will help taxpayers and children in the end? Why does he delay capital improvement projects intended to keep our kids safe? That was the last straw, for me.

Jill S. Browning, Downers Grove

Longtime sheriff came up with village motto
I want to share some information regarding the article titled “What’s in a Name?” by Annie Reed published June 3 in the Westmont Progress.

It was stated that the origin of the village of Westmont’s motto, “The Progressive Village,” was unknown. Fortunately, I have the information on the origin. My cousin, Richard Doria Sr., a Downers Grove resident and former sheriff of DuPage County for 16 years, is the author of the village motto.

Several years ago he told me the story behind the village motto. When he was a Westmont elementary school student in the 1930s, there was a contest to create the village motto.

His entry of “The Progressive Village” was chosen. There was a $5 prize to be awarded to the winner, which for some unknown reason he never received.

Many years later, he jokingly brought up the story to the then-Westmont Mayor Frank Bellerive. Soon after, Mayor Bellerive awarded the cash prize and a plaque to a very surprised and grateful Richard.

John Dispensa III, secretary, Westmont Historical Society

Biggert not credible on health care issue
I listened to Judy Biggert’s teletown conference call recently. First of all I’m very sorry she passed up the (previous) health care forum held at the Downers Grove Public Library. She needs to listen to all of us, not just those she chooses.

She admitted the House was in session working on health care while she was on the phone with us complaining about how she didn’t have enough time to work on it — while she prepares for a month-long vacation. The House Tri-Committee bill has been on the Internet, with very few changes, since June 19. We pay her good money to hire staff to help her read and understand complex legislation we expect her to vote intelligently on. She has no excuse not to learn all she can about this legislation and stay engaged.

I’m appalled at how she thinks immigrants are the crux of all our problems. She ought to understand that her daughter in England and that caller’s friend in Holland are immigrants there as well. Perhaps they resent Americans coming to their countries and taking advantage of their much cheaper and better services.

If Mrs. Biggert wants to fix electronic record-keeping, we ought to adopt the open source VA VistA system. It’s the best in the world. There’s already $2.9 billion passed as part of the stimulus bill in what’s called the Hitech Act for health care electronic record-keeping. She should vote for the open source VistA system.

If she wants to fix medical malpractice insurance, she should ignore her health insurance company lobbyist daughter’s advice and propose a public option for that, too. Medical malpractice insurance in most states is a monopoly scam just like health care insurance.

We’ve had tort reform in dozens of states for years and it hasn’t lowered doctors’ insurance rates? That hasn’t and won’t fix the problem for physicians or keep them from wasting our money on defensive medicine. If we have a national public option plan for doctors, those rates will drop like a rock.

Mark Garrity, Downers Grove