Community Forum

I attended the Community Forum that was held this past Saturday at the Westin. Tghis is a bi-annual event in which information is gathered from members of the community used to drive the Village Board's Strategic Plan. Over 50 Lombard residents were in attendance, as well as all of our Village Board of Trustees and departments heads from the Village of Lombard. The residents in attendance had replied to one of the over 1500 surveys that were sent out. They were then asked if they would like to participate in the upcoming forum. There was also a group of members from local govermental agencies that serve Lombard, that were on hand to observe the Forum, and were able to glean important information that residents feel is important in planning for the future of Lombard. The observers were from the Lombard Park District, Lombard Chamber of Commerce, School Districts 44, 45 and 88, Lombard Town Centre and the Helen Plum Library.

All participants were divided into groups that included a trustee and a department head. Each group chose a facilitator, and participated simultaneously in 3 group exercises.

The first exercise, "Success Stories" consisted of the groups coming up with and listing successes that they have recognized in Lombard. These successes could be associated with the Park District, Library , Village, Chamber, County etc. Many of the lists were similar to each other, and included such things as the expansion of Yorktown, the building of the Westin, Paradise Bay, Cruise Nights, and the Taste of Lombard. Each group came up with their top 10, which were then grouped according to "type" with all of the other groups, to see where the largest successes were recognized.

The second exercise was called "If I were King/Queen - this is what I would do". To get into the spirit of the exercise, every person in the room wore a crown. The residents were told to come up individually with things that they would like to see in Lombard, as if they were King. The groups then each compiled their top 10 items, which were then once again grouped together with the top 10 from the other groups to ascertain what types of things the residents would like to see. Some of the wishes were a skateboard park, community mono-rail system, (clever, huh?) a new theatre, and a new library.

The third exercise, "The Budget Game" was quite challenging. The groups were presented with a "village" budget. The budget needed to be reduced by 1.2 million. They were given a list of budget choices, and were asked to either cut spending, increase revenues and/or add spending in order to achieve a balanced budget. There were 15 items/areas identified as having possibilites for spending cuts. Each item was described, and had the pros and cons listed. The groups went through each item one by one to discuss the pros and cons, and whether or not they felt that the item should stay as is, or be cut in some way. None of the choices were easy - some involved cutting money to local social services, police or fire protection. Another would require a number of furlough days for Village employees, or reduce hours at the front desk. Groups were also challenged to decide if there should be an increase in revenues. For example, increasing the rate of vehicles stickers or having a referendum to increase property taxes. This exercise really helped all attendees to understand the tough choices that our Village Board is faced with when trying to keep our budget on track.

Over all, the Community Forum is a very worthwhile event, and every Lombard citizen should be involved at one time or another. As Lombard residents, we are very lucky that we have a Village Board that really listens and cares about the thoughts and feeling of it's residents. We have fabulous parks, library and school districts as well as dedicated police and fire fighters.