"Special", But Not in a Good Way: Village Meeting with Hultgren re: CN Rail issues

Below are links to video recordings I made (the village recorded as well) of this special meeting with the Plainfield Village Board. It totals about 1h20m of run-time.

Hultgren 23Jan2015 special PVB mtng, part 1 of 3 (about 30 minutes)
Hultgren 23Jan2015 special PVB mtng, part 2 of 3 (about 30 minutes)
Hultgren 23Jan2015 special PVB mtng, part 3 of 3 (about 20 minutes)

My take: It’s swell to have open discussions like this, but the swelling goes down pretty quickly.

Everyone involved was well-spoken in their concerns and their jibes about CN as the Big Bad Wolf (and, they are), but in the end Congressman Hultgren bobbled and then flat out fumbled the ball on this pointed and important question from resident Ed O’Rourke (who’s on the Village Plan Commission and also happens to be running for a village trustee spot this spring): What, if anything, can actually and pragmatically be done about these problems and abuses from CN’s actions in our community?

Rep. Hultgren started his response with some word salad about how there must be short and long term solutions worked on by all, and that the “quicker” solution involved continuing to “talk to” and press CN for solutions. Much of what has gone before makes clear that CN is completely uninterested in that conversation. CN also makes clear they don’t intend to do anything about any of it. The ball hit the ground and died when, for some reason, Mr. Hultgren started tacking on vague sentences about the 143rd Street improvements for freight use. Um . . . that wasn’t the question.

Watch the video (here’s a link to the village’s recording), read news reports on this meeting, talk to the village board members and staff, etc. and decide for yourself what you think.

My gut feeling is that, first, NOTHING is going to be done by Rep. Hultgren or ANY rep at the federal level because the exact reason we are right now living this way is that CN is a corporation, or, as the US Supreme Court has foolishly called them, a person, with a LOT of money that buys them a LOT more access to and effect on about 95% of both sides of the aisle than you or I will ever have the money to buy. Things like the Citizens United case and the revolving door of legislator/lobbyist have helped turn the US Capitol into the “Best Little Whorehouse in Washington”.

Secondly, Mr. Sullivan, a staffer for Rep. Hultgren, while he was just supposed to be introducing himself clumsily made sure to mention that he appreciated Trustee Bonuchi helping to bring this meeting into being. That just shouts out loud to me that this was just another operetta being performed to make one of chorus, in this instance Margie Bonuchi, look good.

Why do I think this? The last time Rep. Hultgren was here about this, a few months ago, nothing came of that meeting, either, but Trustee Bonuchi made sure to get her photo-op with the Rep. This time, while a few other local officials were around the room (newly elected Rep. Batinick turned up, some current village board candidates were there, some township officials showed up, etc., nearly all of them political friends and allies of Trustee Bonuchi), I didn’t see or hear anything about people like Sen. Bertino-Tarrant or Rep. Bill Foster being asked for input or referenced, let alone invited, if for no other reason than to add issues that surrounding communities have with this--as a few from various wider Will County entities did--or to offer their views or support, etc. I understand fully that Plainfield is within Mr. Hultgren’s district, but I also understand that much of what was discussed this morning went beyond his jurisdiction. This came across as a “Republicans Only” event, and even then only “select’ Republicans, which is too bad. And, all too typical, really of both parties these days.

What was the real goal of this meeting? Wasn’t it really more a staged Republican Love-In than it was a show of support for the people—ALL of us, party be damned? After you decide what you think the goal was, what do you think the actual results or out-comes will be?