Palos Park No Place For 'Bullying:' Resident Endorses Milovich-Walters

PALOS PARK, IL — I have been watching the Village of Palos Park Council and plan commission meetings as of late. I live in unincorporated Palos Park, but I do attend events there and have friends who live in Palos Park. When people dissect videos to post only portions, in order to incite reactions, they are condoning dishonesty and misrepresentation of the facts. People “drink the Kool-Aid” and declare that version to be the truth and it is far from it.

I watched the video of the plan commission meeting regarding Wu’s House parking expansion plan on Feb. 27, 2023. I saw how residents yelled and berated their fellow residents that volunteer their time to sit on that board. At the Village Council meeting, residents were afforded the opportunity to speak at length and share their opinion. Every person was given an opportunity to speak without a time limit. Some did it eloquently and some resorted to “pounding the table” hoping the loudest voice would win. If you watch the meeting in its entirety, you will see that some residents yelled at other residents as well as Village Council members in an effort to get their point across.

The Council members are residents too. They want what is best for the Village or they would not spend the hours that they do for very little pay. They are human also. Some people did not like Commissioner Reed saying that the audience was acting like children and to shut the hell up. I may not agree with the way things were said but I understand the frustration when you see the events in their entirety. But for people to take a snippet and use it to besmirch someone’s character is uncalled for. Commissioner Reed is a father, husband, and served his country as a Marine. He is an accomplished attorney who has argued before the Illinois State Supreme court.

I learned that the property for the additional parking lot was always zoned commercial. I also learned that the property to the east of it is residential and as a condition of the approval by the Village, Mr. Wu will place a conservation easement on the property, so that it can never be built upon, ensuring a football-field-sized, heavily wooded buffer between the additional parking and the next residential neighbor.

As a Marine myself, I find it insulting that some individuals online and the other candidate (in a letter to the Palos Regional) have suggested that the Village Council infringed on residents’ First Amendment right to free speech. That did not occur! Commissioner Reed only asked the audience not to speak when others were speaking. Each person that spoke at that meeting was able to speak as long as they wanted. At no time was anyone asked not to speak or to step down.

The Commissioners who spoke directed their comments to the group at large, not one individual. But there were residents that spoke who directed their comments to other residents in the audience, in an effort to shame or intimidate them. As an outside observer, it appears to be politically driven to make Palos Park divided. Using divisive language, selected snippets of videos, and posts to mislead the public is unacceptable. If you believe like I do, that there is no place for scare tactics, bullying, and outright lies in an election, please join me in supporting Nicole Milovich-Walters and vote for her on April 4 for Mayor of Palos Park.

Yazeed Haleem