Fremd sophomore nails swim contest

To the editor: Mary Jane (MJ) Poss finished in third place overall and second in the women’s division of the 2016 Marshall County, Indiana, Blueberry Festival swimming competition.

MJ finished the open water 1-mile race in 25.11 minutes. MJ is a sophomore at Fremd High School and participates on the varsity swim and water polo teams. This was her first open water competition.

Michael Poss

Rolling Meadows

Leave employees’ benefits be, mayor

To the editor: Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz plans to eliminate what he calls the “Cadillac” insurance policies city employees have — which he naively suggests will save Des Plaines up to $1 million a year.

As is so often the case, the mayor is utterly misinformed.

As customarily defined, a “Cadillac” plan is typically offered to CEOs. The employer pays 100 percent of the premium and there is no deductible, no co-payments, no pre-authorization and it often covers purely elective procedures.

Our city employees pay their share of premiums, deductibles and copays, must obtain pre-authorization, and are limited to medically necessary procedures.

No, Mr. Mayor, our employees do not have a “Cadillac” plan. Rather, they are content with the dependable Chevy we provide them.

The mayor has no concept of how health and dental insurance coverage is priced. Premiums are substantially higher for workers with high-risk jobs. Mr. Mayor, under no circumstances will we allow you to endanger their livelihoods and their families’ security to advance your vindictive personal agenda.

The mayor has no respect for organized labor and therefore deserves no support from it. A substantial segment of Des Plaines’ workforce is unionized — police and firefighters, public works, the office staff.

Des Plaines has a contractual obligation to provide negotiated health and dental insurance coverage. We have a legal duty and a moral duty to honor our commitments to our employees.

We cannot expect them to run into burning buildings, defuse a hostage situation or crawl into a manhole knowing you want to take away the insurance they collectively bargained for in good faith. Under no circumstances will we allow you to further your political career on the backs of our dedicated workers.

Mr. Mayor, unlike the city flagpoles, Curb Appeal contest, Restaurant Week and Summer Fling, our employees are not your civic playthings. Please leave them alone.

Bob Porada

Des Plaines

Thanks to all of you, supplies poured in

To the editor: On behalf of the board of trustees, the staff and the residents of Wheeling Township, we would like to express our gratitude for all the donations received for our 2016 School Supplies Program. As always, we are blessed to have such a generous community to assist us on our special programs.

Every donation makes a difference in a child’s life and allows them to start the school year off right. We are only able to continue to provide so many services to our community because of the generosity of our donors.

Thank you for assisting us with fulfilling our mission of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.”

Kathleen M. Penner

Supervisor Wheeling Township