Frances Loubere's statement for the DeKalb City Council: July 16, 2007

Good Evening. My name is Frances Loubere. I have lived at XXXXX for 22 years. I spoke before this Council on June 11 regarding Victor Wogen’s election.

I am here today for two reasons.

First: To discuss the inadequate and, until today, unavailable minutes of that meeting.

Second: To reiterate my questions from a month ago and ask, again, that these be part of the public record.

Regarding the minutes.

While they were approved on June 25, they were not posted online until today. I checked frequently.

Perhaps I am naïve, but having worked up the nerve to speak before the council, the audience and cable channel viewers, I assumed my comments would be noted. But -- the minutes report only: “Ms Frances Loubere, 826 N. 7th Street, spoke regarding the results of the recent Third Ward election.”

Why did I speak? What did I say? How is anyone to know either now, or in the future?

An accurate summary (and it doesn’t have to be verbatim) of comments is surely necessary:

For our democratic process

For transparency

For accountability

Legally

For the historic record.

Why was my June 11 statement drained of useful information? For that matter, why were the comments of the three citizens who spoke on May 29 also neutralized?

The paltry summary of my statement is tantamount to censorship because I observe that the minutes do summarize particular content from Mr. Wogen’s response – his understandable desire to get past the issue. But what is the issue? It’s not reported.

On June 11, Victor Wogen (and if he was here I’d thank him) did respond to one of my requests. He publicly stated that he is not anti-gay and would have voted the same way as his predecessor did in 1998. In the minutes, the City Clerk chose to ignore this important statement.

I request, for the record, that future minutes of these meetings reflect accurately and fairly what is said and that council members not rubber stamp approval.

Regarding my questions from June 11, intended for the public record:

These are directed to the whole Council:

Who was responsible for the infamous flyer?

Who paid and how much was spent?

What has been done to find out?

Will Mr. Wogen and Council members distance themselves from those responsible for the flyer and repudiate last minute election smear tactics?

If these things won’t be done, why not?

Democracy requires vigilance, trust, transparency and accountability.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Thank you

Kay Shelton's statement before the city council on May 29, 2007

Truth, justice, and the American Way shouldn’t just be a fantasy from an old TV show. I want it in the public record that there were numerous reports in the media regarding nonsense in the recent local election. I do not believe that enough people understand the seriousness of how important voting is. Not everything made it into the media, yet.

I found out after the election that some voters and reporters were told that I dropped out of the race. Other voters were told that I was not a real candidate but that I was a “plant” by Kapitan to split the vote so he would win. That disinformation has as much truth to it as Elvis Presley is alive and well, and living in DeKalb.

When I was a kid, I played softball on a team that lost every game. But, I would rather lose honestly, fairly, and with honor than to win through lying, cheating, and dishonor. I learned when I was a kid that it’s not who wins or loses but how you play the game. Based on the election antics, I suppose soccer Coach Wogen never learned the same valuable lesson.

I heard Coach Wogen’s apology a couple of weeks ago on the radio. Let’s try a sports analogy (although from baseball) to make sure everybody understands how serious lying is. I had the privilege and honor to meet U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, easily one of the most honest, unbiased, and fair individuals I will ever meet. Prosecutor Fitzgerald also has the best and most memorable description of lying, which is like “. . . throwing sand into the umpire’s face.”

Lynn Fazekas' statement before the city council on May 29, 2007

I am also a casualty of the Third Ward dirty politics. My trust in city government is shaken. Of course it starts with last month’s Campaign Adventure in Ward 3. As I wrote in a letter to the Daily Chronicle, published May 5th, “There is no credibility there, no trust.” Unquote.

But it goes beyond that. Other events of the past few weeks have not worked to restore confidence. It would seem, for example, that anyone could stroll into City Hall and leave with personal information about my neighbors and me. That issue should be aggressively addressed. As far I as I can tell, it has not.

And when I sought help with this disturbing perception? I found that my own alderman no longer returns my phone calls.

So now I’m paying close attention, right? And something I might have completely missed before really sticks out. Namely, the May 14th passage of Ordinance 07-49, which amends the Plan Commission Code of Ethics.

Aldermen and city staff struggled to agree on an interpretation of the intent of this amendment—and never did. Yet it passed, unanimously. With language that was deemed merely “adequate.”

Generally speaking, such ambiguity is a potential path to litigation, isn’t it? How is this watching out for our tax dollars? I cannot figure out why it is that this ordinance did not get sent back to the drawing board. It certainly should have. “Adequate” is not good enough. And yes, one word can make a difference.

What’s more, this whole situation makes me wonder who is really running the show here. And whether the buck really stops with the people we get to vote for.