La Grange Village President Elizabeth Asperger Monday night said she opposes a proposal to create a public safety commission because she does not believe that resident volunteers who would serve on it are qualified to evaluate policies developed by the village board and staff.
"We are, of course, always appreciative of our residents' willingness to assist the village," Asperger said. "But I don't believe that we are in a position to rely upon resident volunteers to assess matters related to police activity, fire activity or traffic and pedestrian safety."
Asperger expressed her views in response to an inquiry at Monday's village board meeting from Trustee Michael Horvath, who wanted to know why trustees had not been given a formal opportunity to publicly discuss and possibly take action on the commission he proposed.
Horvath raised the issue during the portion of the board meeting reserved for comment by any trustee on any topic.
Watch videos below this story to witness the whole conversation.Horvath first suggested the idea of a public safety commission last summer as La Grange officials were considering pedestrian safety improvements along 47th St and other village thoroughfares following the death last May of Cari Cook, a 29-year-old mother from Countryside who was struck and killed by a SUV while crossing 47th St with her two small children.
Asperger, who as president controls what issues and items are put on the village board's meeting agendas, said Monday that her opposition to the creating the commission grew out of discussions she had with Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn and various department heads.
"The village board and our staff are best suited to define the goals and objectives related to public safety," Asperger said. "We are fortunate to have a very professional staff with significant depth of experience and expertise to carry out the village's charge with respect to public safety mandates. Obviously, our staff has a thorough command of the many issues that impact decisions relating to public safety matters, from infrastructure to budget issues."
On those occasions when expertise for a specific issue is not found among the staff, the decision is often made to search out and contract a consultant with the required knowledge and experience to conduct studies and then render opinions and recommendations for the village board and staff to evaluate, Asperger said.
She noted that the village had hired a consultant to conduct studies of traffic flow and origin along 47th St and make recommendations following last year's tragic accident.
Asperger acknowledged that input from residents has value, but also its place and purpose. She recalled a community meeting held in the gymnasium at Seventh Ave School two weeks after Cook's death, which was attended by more than 200 citizens, and where everyone was offered an opportunity to stand at a microphone and share their thoughts and feelings.
"I think we very consistently encourage our residents at any time to communicate with us their thoughts, their desires, their concerns, and their recommendations for improvements," Asperger said. "I certainly have no desire to stifle that. Quite the opposite, I encourage it at every turn.
"But I am concerned with charging a group of volunteers to make what sound more like evaluations of policy decisions and directions in the public safety arena across the board," she said. "Because they are very complex issues that are community wide in nature and really require an understanding of all of the pieces that contribute to a policy making decision, which quite frankly we [the village board] are charged with, and I know we work hard at."
However, Asperger said she could envision an additional role for residents in helping to identify and develop mechanisms and programs to better communicate existing public safety issues and mandates to various audiences throughout the village. She gave as an example the need to communicate school safety policies "with respect to pick up and drop off times and the like."
Asperger also expressed concern that the village staff, already recognized as operating under a heavy workload, would be further stressed by the needs and demands of a newly created commission.
In his rebuttal, Horvath said that resident volunteers should not be viewed as a drain on staff but rather as a resource that both supplements and complements existing resources.
"We've heard many, many times that our staff can't do certain things relative to information gathering," Horvath said. "A perfect example was getting information about crosswalk improvements on 47th St. If properly chartered, [a public safety commission] would be a great idea to gather input and communicate information as you described it.
"I think we are in agreement there," Horvath continued. "I think we are probably a little bit misaligned on the value of the input coming from our residents. I think that input—that sounding board—is very valuable for public safety."
As to the qualifications required of resident volunteers in evaluating policies and directives, Horvath said, "I don't think the expertise is any different. I think people understand intuitively what a safe community is. It's broader than traffic. It's neighborhood watch. It's other types of things that I think would be very valuable for our community to formalize. And I also think it sends a message to the public that public safety is important."
Horvath noted that trustees earlier that night approved the creation of a public arts commission, which will be filled by the existing members of the design review commission.
Public safety, Horvath said, "is just as important as economic development or public art or design review."
Horvath encouraged his fellow trustees to support creation of a public safety commission and to "communicate your thoughts with Liz."
But not one of them used the occasion of Monday's discussion to do so.
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