The following letters came in after the village board made changes to the meter increases:
The village has stumbled into the truth. [Oak Park backs out of parking hikes, WJ Breaking News, Sept. 12]
We should find ways to make it easy for residents and non-residents to visit and do business in Oak Park. The penurious parking fees and incomprehensible restrictions impair our ability to compete with the west suburban communities.
Gary Northrup
Submitted to WednesdayJournalOnline.com
The last sentence of this article glaringly displays the ultimate folly of fixing something that wasn’t broke in the first place: $10,000 more of taxpayer money to pay for more sign changes and stickers.
Will the current Oak Park village board members and village manager please divide the bill equally amongst yourselves and write reimbursement checks to the village to pay for your poor judgment in the first place? I won’t hold my breath waiting to read of such a noble gesture of accountability. I’d most likely die of asphyxiation before seeing any reimbursements to taxpayers.
David Ristau
Hawaii
Once again, the village made a decision that is at odds with their stated desire to attract shoppers to Oak Park businesses. Let’s see … pay more in Oak Park or shop in a community-easily accessible Forest Park comes to mind-that has kept parking rates reasonable? And once again, a poorly thought-out plan costs us money to undo. It did not require rocket science to predict the extremely negative reaction from residents and business owners. One can only hope that this board will begin to consider all the implications before they put an expensive plan into place. One hopes.
Don Sibley
That’s the right track! Now if Oak Park could only back out of property tax hikes.
Christine Pastor
Bye bye, Oak Park. I used to enjoy strolling the avenues, lounging over a cuppa joe, and leisurely enjoying the eateries. Those days are over. Instead of encouraging this by dispensing with meters altogether, Oak Park has apparently decided that new business is, curiously enough, a bad idea. You win. I’ve discovered the joys of Madison Street in Forest Park, where I can stroll, lounge, eat and dispense my disposable income, all in a place that welcomes my business and seems glad to have me there. Greed loses. See ya.
Michael Dickson
What a bunch of clowns and what a waste of my taxes: $10,000 to put the meter changes in place by these bimbos, and another $10,000 to reverse the changes. Property taxes are due Nov. 3, and I wish the trustee election was Nov. 4 instead of in the spring. I’d get rid of the entire clueless group. Why don’t they give up their salaries for the year to reimburse the taxpayers this latest $20,000 boondoogle? And when is the village manager going to leave town?
Adam Strezniak
The roll back of parking fees is good news. I contacted Trustee Jon Hale (the only one who voted no to the raise in fees) and asked him to please pass on my negative comments to his fellow trustees regarding these fees. I also contacted several neighbors to get them to make some noise about the fee increases. At least two had received tickets near the library and one, a business owner, reported the negative impact on his and nearby businesses. I guess this comes under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished” as I read that this experiment will cost the taxpayer $10,000 for new signage.
Lynda Prischman
The obscenity known as the Oak Park parking mafia must be checked. Thank you, board of trustees, for your latest action of recognition.
Lanny Lutz
My faith has been restored in the village’s intelligence and willingness to rethink a stupid decision!
Mrs. Robert Vandervoort