Anti-Semitic Phrases Written on Winnetka Village Chalkboard

The village of Winnetka’s recent idea to solicit ideas for downtown with blank chalkboards in a pair of business districts will continue, but under much closer scrutiny following an incident anti-Semitic vandalism Tuesday.

Gary Frank, of H. Gary Frank Architects, has an office on Chestnut Street that overlooks one of two village “interactive idea boards” with room for ideas following the phrase: “ “I would (love) to see _____ in Downtown.”

The board wasn’t getting much of a response on Tuesday, and when two boys appearing to be 12 or so came by around 4:45 p.m. and wrote a few things on it, Frank didn’t think much of it at first.

RELATED: Have an Idea for Winnetka? Write it on the Board.

But after about 15 minutes, he decided to go down to the street and check it out. Shockingly, he saw on one blank space the phrase “less Jews.” Upon closer inspection, Frank also saw one of the boys wrote the phrase “KKK,” before erasing it.

“It’s really sad that we have to deal with this,” said Frank, who said one boy was taller with black hair, wearing a black sweatshirt and had been on the side of the board where “KKK” was written.

The other boy he described as shorter, wearing brighter clothing and had been on the side of the board where the phrase “less Jews” was found.

Megan Pierce, assistant to the village manager for the Village of Winnetka, responded to Frank, who informed village officials of what he saw in an email. Pierce said Winnetka police have been notified and additional monitoring of the signs will begin immediately.

“Since we anticipate, depending on weather, they will be installed until about November 30, they can assist us in keeping an eye on them more around-the-clock,” Pierce wrote. “We will also consider whether we need any additional signage to deter such inappropriate comments and language in the future.”

She said the village to working “to keep these boards as a positive input mechanism for the Master Plan process.”

A list of names were also left on the board when the boys left, one was “Arians,” which Frank says may have just been a coincidence since other names were likely those of the boys’ friends, but its closeness to “Aryan” “makes you wonder.”

Photo courtesy Gary Frank