Opinion THE WOODSTOCK INDEPENDENT
THE WOODSTOCK INDEPENDENT
Jan. 8-14, 2014
5
Woodstock, IL 1987
CHERYL WORMLEY Publisher, Co-Owner
PAUL WORMLEY Co-Owner
JOHN C. TRIONE General Manager
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Cheryl Wormley John C. Trione Katelyn Stanek Jay Schulz Lisa Kucharski Sandy Kucharski
KATELYN STANEK Managing Editor
» OUR VIEW
So what’s next? Woodstock’s motto is a simple one: “True to its past ... Confident of its future.” It’s a motto that recalls the city’s rich history while looking toward its potential. It’s a motto we think fits. But lately, we’ve heard from many of you who are growing less confident in Woodstock’s future. e individual reasons may vary slightly, but the main concern remains the same — concern over Woodstock’s handling of the situation surrounding Woodstock Police Sgt. Charles “Chip” Amati. e Woodstock sergeant was accused of sending an inappropriate text message to a 12-year-old girl and illegally accessing a police database for personal use. Amati was never charged with a crime for either allegation, but the punishment handed down by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners — a 30-day unpaid suspension to be taken in chunks over the course of a year — enraged many area residents and activists. In fact, many of the city’s elected officials have seemed equally uneasy with the punishment. At a City Council meeting in December, as speaker after speaker rose to ask the council to find a way to remove the sergeant from the force, many councilmembers nodded in agreement and even called an executive session for the purposes of discussing Amati’s future. But in the days and weeks that followed, city staff and councilmembers seemed to throw up their hands, citing the fact that the city already had recommended that the police commission institute a 30-day punishment as one of several complicating factors in removing the officer from his post. ey pointed to the concept of “double jeopardy” and said while they’re exploring other options to remove the sergeant, implementing any further action from the city of Woodstock will be very difficult. Exploring further options is good, and the council’s willingness to take to heart the concerns of this city’s residents is admirable. But this ongoing situation has left us — and many of you, too — with more questions than answers, more concerns than reassurances. One question towers over the others, though: If the city cannot, in fact, remove Amati from the force, what are city staff and councilmembers going to do to ensure Woodstock is never thrown into this kind of situation again? What is Woodstock going to do to repair its image and, much more importantly, to restore the trust between the city and its residents? In short, what is going to be done to make sure we can be as confident in our future as we are in our past?
weigh in Email letters to the editor to letters@thewoodstockindependent.com or mail them to 671 E. Calhoun St., Woodstock, IL 60098.
» YOUR VIEW
A letter of thanks to Woodstock Dear Woodstock Community, I am now safe and sound in the United States [after completing my internship in ailand]! I
returned home Dec. 15, so I was able to celebrate the holidays with my family. It was very hard to say goodbye to all of my friends and the children I worked with in ailand, but I know that I had done good work that has eternal value. Now that my internship is finished, I have returned to my college campus
in Minnesota to finish my degree in Intercultural Studies, and I will graduate this May. Thank you so much for letting me share this journey with all of you. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! Rachel Trenkler, Woodstock
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
INDE THOUGHT
Minimum heat requirements for lessees Chapter 5 of Title 4 of the Woodstock City Code requires that temperatures in leased residential dwellings have certain minimum temperatures during the colder months of the year. Between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Sept. 15 to June 1 rental dwellings must be heated to a minimum temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit in all habitable rooms. From 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. rental dwellings must be heated to a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The City Manager’s Newsletter said even if the heating bill is paid for by the tenant, the owner of every dwelling or dwelling unit leased for residential purposes is responsible for making heat available to such premises. Failure to meet these minimum standards is considered a violation of the City Code, except where the lack of heat is due to an act of the tenant or to circumstances beyond the owner’s control, such as fuel shortage or loss of power.
Good Samaritans Thank you neighbors, friends and strangers for checking in on each other during the past few freezing days. It was nice to see people stopping to check on others in cars pulled over on the sides of roads, assisting each other through icy parking lots and helping each other shovel driveways and sidewalks. Though the worst of the cold spell has passed, freezing temperatures are always dangerous to people and animals. Continue helping each other out. That’s what this community does best!
Adopt a fire hydrant The city has more than 1,400 fire hydrants. Help out the Fire Department and Public Works by clearing the snow from around fire hydrants. Clearing a 2- to 3-foot radius around the fire hydrant will help both departments save a lot of time.
QUOTABLE
“It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm if you’re going to have to wade through it anyway.”
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin