Kindgo
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Park Forest trustee quits after anti-war vote by board
Thursday, February 27, 2003
By Erika Enigk
The Star
The Park Forest Village Board may now be on record as opposing war, but the relationships between some board members are anything but peaceful.
One village trustee resigned Monday after his fellow village board members supported a resolution denouncing a possible war in Iraq.
Trustee Ron Wilson resigned from the board after trustees voted 4-3 in favor of the resolution.
Wilson, a member of the Army Reserves, had said he "vehemently opposed" the resolution because it is not the village board's place to tell the federal government whether to go to war or not.
Wilson did more than just respond with words. He also voted with his feet, leaving the building after the vote and ignoring the calls of other board members.
Wilson could not be reached for further comment on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
Village President John Ostenburg said Wednesday the verbal resignation is valid, but he would reappoint Wilson if he wanted to rejoin the board.
Trustees and Ostenburg had weighed in on the resolution before voting.
Initially, three of the board members said they had decided to vote for the resolution, while four indicated they had elected to vote against it.
When the vote took place, Trustee Bonita Dillard changed her position and voted to support the measure, resulting in its passage.
Dillard had said most residents who contacted her about the resolution were against it, and she would not support it because she wanted to represent the residents.
She later said she changed her mind after listening to the comments of others and thinking about the people who would be going into battle.
Dillard was not the only board member who changed sides on the issue.
Trustee Kenneth Kramer, who last week spoke in favor of the resolution when it was first brought before the board, on Monday voted against it.
Trustee Harold Brown said last week he would abstain from voting because he did not believe it was his place as a local elected official to comment on national issues that did not "directly affect" the village. He told the board Monday that he would vote against the resolution.
"I was originally going to abstain on the vote, but I decided that it would not accomplish what I was objecting to," he said. "I am voting 'no' to the acceptance of the resolution because I honestly do not believe we should be here discussing war or peace for our nation.
"I did not run for this position and was not elected for that purpose."
Wilson said last week he also would abstain from voting on the matter because he is a major in the Army Reserves.
Ostenburg and Trustees Katherine Armstrong, Steve Campbell and Dillard voted in favor of the resolution. Brown, Kramer and Wilson voted against it.
Earlier in the meeting, resident Nancy Stafford had asked the board to vote against the resolution. She said she was not happy to see the resolution on the agenda.
Village Manager Janet Muchnik said Ostenburg requested the resolution be drafted after resident Fred Gaboury previously brought the matter before the board.
Stafford said she did not feel that the board had the right to say how the village feels about the issue because it had come directly from one resident without a petition.
"The board took the wrong direction," she said. "Not one of you was elected to represent us in national or world affairs."
Two other residents spoke in favor of passing the resolution.
Stafford asked that an additional resolution be attached to the original saying that not everyone in the village wanted to protest the war.
Brown asked Ostenburg to put an addendum on the resolution to indicate the measure had passed by a 4-3 vote. He also asked that the board consider the events of the evening next time an issue comes up that does not directly affect the village.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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