Ugly politics rears head in Rutland Twp.

Politics raised its ugly head at a special Rutland Township meeting to consider a matter relating to the April Consolidated Election.

At issue was the legitimacy of Margaret Sanders’ petition for her candidacy as Rutland Township Supervisor. She is completing her second term and is seeking election to a third term. A Rutland Township resident filed the complaint at the request of two Rutland Township officials. They and a new candidate for the Assessor position testified during the meeting.

If you attended township meetings, you would have observed the poor working relationship between a group of trustees and the clerk toward the supervisor. It could be characterized as antagonistic, disrespectful and laced with acrimony.

That background couldn’t help but influence the perception of politics as usual for the purpose of bringing Sanders’ candidacy to an end. A casual observation after the 2-1 vote sustaining the complaint had the appearance of ignoring the appeal by the township and defense attorneys to the panel to base its decision on the preponderance of evidence.

Many residents who attended the meeting were dismayed at the disregard for the absence of incriminating evidence by the two panel members voting to sustain the allegation.

The panel consisted of two township trustees and one resident. The two trustees voted to sustain the complaint and the one resident voted to deny the complaint.

An appeal will be filed seeking to reverse the decision. The reviewing panel will not include any township officials.

The proceedings remind us that politicians sharing the same mind set will sometimes agree that 2+2 = 3.

Jim Darow

Huntley

Expecting Blago pardon

I‘m still convinced that Rod Blagojevich will be pardoned by President Obama at the eleventh hour.

But not only Blago, I think another friend of the president, Tony Rezko will likewise be set free. There will be little fanfare and even less attention by the press, like many actions by this president that have come and gone without so much of a whisper by the media.

The rationale will be something like — what these two did was not violent, after all it’s not like they killed anyone, they’ll say.

No, Blago didn’t kill anyone, he just killed the public trust.

Mike Simon

Glen Ellyn