It was refreshing to be present at a City Council meeting and witness the careful attention paid to decorum. In the future, I hope to see the same vigilant attention paid to meeting decorum by individual alderpersons when discussing planned housing developments at the community level. There needs to be a clear official city protocol established for community meetings sponsored by alderpersons that ensures meeting decorum is respected.
Many Chicago council members sponsor community meetings to discuss planned housing developments. Unfortunately, disparaging and discriminating comments about Housing Choice Voucher holders, formerly known as “Section 8,” and others who pay rent using various housing subsidies sometimes occur during community meetings — without condemnation or consequences, leaving residents who rely on housing subsidies at risk for stigma, discrimination and traumatization.
Alderpersons should clearly establish meeting rules and decorum expectations at the beginning of each meeting. They should also announce that attendees who use discriminatory language, interrupt people and verbally attack others will need to leave the meeting. All community meetings held by alderpersons should be video recorded to hold them accountable for conducting a respectful community meeting that does not allow open discrimination of any person.
Community meetings sponsored by alderpersons, like Zoning Advisory Committee meetings, are a cornerstone of a functioning democracy. Meeting decorum allows for a respectful exchange of ideas, leading to more informed decisions. It fosters trust in the process and shows all residents, including protected classes of residents like housing subsidy voucher holders, that their concerns are being addressed seriously.
Monica Dillon, Neighbors for Affordable Housing Member, Norwood Park
SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. To be considered for publication, letters must include your full name, your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be a maximum of approximately 375 words.
Mandatory driving tests are necessary for seniors
In the late 1990s, when it was clear my Alzheimer’s-diagnosed father could no longer be trusted to be safe behind the wheel, my brothers, along with my mother, sat him down for a talk.
We explained why (in as simple yet stark terms as we could to the man who gave six kids all he had, including a great sense of personal responsibility) we were not merely asking for him to surrender his driver’s license. Rather, we needed to relieve him of it based on his gradual but relentless cognitive decline. It was very difficult for all involved. But it was done.
Fast forward to spring 2022: My mother, approaching 90, began to notch several incidents of varying severity while operating a car. Again, we did not ask but insisted she allow one of us to drive her to her appointments and errands until she completed a battery of doctor-recommended tests. She was resentful of losing her independence and put up a fight for a bit (unfortunately for her, she passed down an epic stubbornness to her children).
Because most people willingly give up their driving privileges — when it’s time to do so — only in a perfect world, I respectfully disagree with Mary Mitchell’s claim of “unfair and unnecessary” when referring to mandatory driving tests for seniors.
Many children, family and friends are understandably loathe to have emotionally difficult discussions related to aging with the senior citizens they love. It is perhaps a saving grace for some people to be able to rely on a less passionate but justly sanctioned third party to referee when someone’s (anyone’s) driving competence is in doubt. Point taken (and agreed) that younger people are more likely to be bad drivers, and that’s the bigger problem.
To be clear, all this is not meant to be self-congratulatory. Though both my parents are gone now, while they were alive they were the beneficiaries (perhaps not in the way they would have preferred) of their own sense of what’s right. But it is meant to argue for an all-the-tools-in-the-tool-chest approach.
Jim Koppensteiner, Niles
People are too ‘cuckoo’ for cicadas
Just when I start thinking that I’m a little “out of sorts,” I start to feel a lot more sane and in tune with reality. All I had to do was pick up the Sun-Times on Thursday and read about the cuckoos of the world.
That’s right, the people who are obsessed with cicadas. Traveling from other states to see these insects. Whoopie. Then there is the pub adding cicadas to their Malört cocktails.
I just hope that people who are visiting the insect asylum have someone to visit them when they are invited to stay at the human being asylum.
I really thought that the new generation of cuckoos were the “Trumpers.” Need I say more? Canada is looking better to me every day! Hanging in there, just barely.
Bob Meder, Romeoville
A tender cicada moment
On Tuesday, I saved a drowning cicada from my backyard pond. I placed him in a safe place, in a pot of begonias, so that it could recover. A few minutes later, a ferocious sparrow, not too much larger than the cicada, spotted a free lunch and took my poor cicada away. He may not be the only little bug, but for a moment, it was mine. I will miss him.
Cindy Mayer, Norwood Park
About the flag and patriotism ...
Here’s a question voters on the right ought to ask themselves: U.S. flags flown upside down and Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. Confusion or hypocrisy?
Steve McCoy, Lincolnshire
