The Stone Age

Is it just me?...or does Mayor Lindberg not get it?

I am starting to think it is some kind of cruel joke.  I think that I must be missing something when it comes to this guy.  He wants to blame everything on Wing Ding.  He will not take any responsibility in his own actions.  You can listen to his words about spending locally...but then he will tell you that the city saves money, so he doesn't have to follow what he says.  He doesn't understand that he didn't follow the process that he was a part of creating.  He doesn't understand that I don't care about Wing Ding.  I have a problem with the way he handles himself, as if he is untouchable.  Let me be clear, this is not about Darryl Lindberg.  This is about the Mayor, there is a difference.  I don't know him personally and would never begin to attack him that way.  I have never met the Mayor, I have only spoken to him once on the phone. 

We have invited him to come on the radio and explain his process, but he chooses not to.  He chooses to bring people into his office to speak with them.  By all means take the opportunity to go speak with the Mayor and hear his side of the story.  I don't know how he can say he followed his procedures. 

Without further ado...another email from a listener.  This one comes from Jason

Last night after listening to you on the way home I checked out your blog and read the email and response from the mayor.  I emailed him telling him that I was "shocked and disappointed" in his attack on your intelligence and could not believe that a person in his position would actually say something like he is sorry that you are not man enough to accept that you wing ding was defeated and this was his response.
 
My email didn't have anything to do with wing ding...

And of course...the response from Mayor Lindberg

> Good Morning Jason,   Thank you for your email regarding the  problems Mr.
> Stone is having with the City of Loves Park.  The only comment  I would make is
> that you are only receiving the story from what you hear on the  radio and
> that is unfortunate.  If this really is disturbing you please  feel free to come
> in and talk to me. I would be happy to give you the entire  story regarding
> Wing Ding and the process of the denial.  I hope Wing Ding  finds a new home
> where the environment is safer for the participants.
> Have a good day and thanks again for your comments.
> Mayor Darryl Lindberg

I am begging the Mayor to come in and tell his side of the story.  I would love to hear his answers to the questions that I have asked.  He will speak with Jason in his office.  I wonder if he would take the time to speak with me in his office? 

As far as Jason only receiving one side of the story from the radio, I am pretty sure I am being fair and posting both sides of the story. 

Once again, the Mayor has banned my email.  I am sure you can email him at LPMayor@aol.com

I look forward to any comments that you may have and will respond to all of them good or bad. If you have any emails that you would like shared from Mayor Lindberg concerning this, pass them along to me.

Get involved people.  Government is there to serve YOU.  It is not about me.  It is not about the Mayor.  If the Mayor wants to make it about me, I think he is underestimating you.

Does Mayor Lindberg Treat Everyone Like This?

So I keep wondering when this is going to stop.  I don't find it any fun to keep speaking about  a Mayor of a small town that seems to have a problem with people not agreeing with him.  but he just keeps giving me things to blog about.

I am flabbergasted that someone has not called him out before if he has behaved like this in the past.  Is it possible for him to address the issue that he is asked about?  Here is the latest example.

Here is an email from a listener Melissa to Loves Park Mayor Darryl Lindberg.

Dear Mayor,

As a Voting Citizen and a Listener of 104.9, I have heard about the recent events in regards to Wing Ding and the e-mail’s between yourself and Jim Stone.  I did care whether or not Wing Ding was going to happen this year and did care whether or not it was going to be at Rockford Speedway.  I did understand how yourself and the city council could agree that it didn’t always bring in the best of crowds and there was a mess after the fact to be cleaned up and that the city didn’t want to have to spend extra money for police for an event that they were not in complete agreement with.  This all made complete sense to me and to be perfectly honest, it still does.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t still want to see Wing Ding happen at another location and let’s be honest, it probably will, so with that said, here’s where I have a problem.  Jim Stone listed out valid points to you in his e-mails (all of them) regarding his concerns about the situation.  Whether you thought they were valid or not doesn’t mean they were less important.  Your job as the Mayor was to address these questions and concerns in a professional leadership manor and let’s face it, you didn’t.  Your e-mails back to Mr. Stone where blatantly childish and inappropriate.  To prove my point, let me quote you “I'm really sorry you aren't man enough to accept  the defeat of the Wing Ding Concert and get on with your life.”

  Are you kidding me?  This is how an elected official responds to his community? 

You where so disrespectful it was ridiculous.  You did everything but call him a “Big Fat Baby”.  You have a venue for speaking to the public because you’re the mayor, he has a venue for speaking to the public because he’s on the radio, the key is how you handle yourself.  As far as I am concerned Mr. Mayor, you handled yourself extremely poorly and I am ashamed to say that you are the Mayor of Loves Park.

And as always...the Mayors response....

Melissa,  Thank you for your email regarding my comments to Mr. Stone.  I certainly appreciate your right to determine whether or not my comments were appropriate in my email to Mr. Stone.  There a lot of facts that have been gone over and over regarding this event.  Mr. Stone has taken it upon himself to continue the controversy through radio dialogue.  The City stands behind it's decision and I think Wing Ding will find a new home in the near future with a safer environment for the public.

Mayor Lindberg

I find it interesting how the Mayor never addresses his behavior or how he responds.  It is always about Wing Ding and "the facts". 

The Facts are, the Mayor didn't follow the procedure that he helped put in place.  The fact is the Mayor did one thing in buying squad cars, then says something different on the radio.

The Mayor likes to question the education level of people who don't agree with him.  The Mayor thinks that anyone who wants to talk to him about his actions must listen to WXRX, therefore has no credibility in his eyes.

If you are a Loves Park citizen, contact the Mayor to ask him about his actions and how he handles things.  LPMayor@aol.com.  I would contact him, but like I said before he has blocked my email.  He won't come on the radio to discuss it.  He just wishes the whole thing would go away. 

Mayor Darryl Lindberg asks you to shop Local..but does he?

After the vote for Wing Ding at the Rockford Speedway went down, I promised to get more involved in our local government.  I have been focusing on the city of Loves Park, just because they seem to act like they can do whatever they feel like doing.

Over vacation I heard an ad on 97ZOK that was Mayor Darryl Lindberg asking us to shop Locally this holiday season.  Here is a copy of the ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNbArrSpow

I noticed as a read the minutes of the Loves Park City Council meeting that they had just bough 3 new squad cars from a dealership in Joliet.  They did this under a State Joint Purchasing bid.  A lot of cities do this because the savings can be tremendous.  I don't blame the City of Loves Park for buying their cars as cheaply as they can.  What I do see as a problem is the Mayor standing up and saying that if a regular person goes out and does the same thing, they are hurting our local economy.

Here is my email to the Mayor

Mayor  Lindberg,

I just wanted to say that I was touched by your eloquence on  on local 
radio ad that I heard over the holiday  season

"Our local tax base is supported by these local  retailers.  Money You 
spend locally supports our entire region  and is very important to 
maintaining our way of life.  Any  perceived convenience of online 
shopping or going to a larger market  is far outweighed by the negative 
effects spending your money out of  market has on our community."

Were these the words you were  thinking about when you and your city 
council approved spending  $57,250 on new squad cars from a Joliet 
dealer.  I would bet  you could have spent a couple of more dollars and 
gotten the cars  locally and not had to go with the sealed bid.

When I mentioned holding  you accountable, this is the type of stuff 
that I will make  known.

You say shop locally, but one week before you spent nearly 60K  that 
could have been done locally.

I wonder how many local  dealers even had a chance.

If shopping locally is so important to  you, maybe you could verbally 
change the way you do business.   Or maybe you should look at changing 
your rules.

I look  forward to your response

Mayor Lindberg and his response

You are really interesting.  Shows your intelligence.  Squad cars  are
purchased through a joint State of Illinois Joint Purchasing  Contract. If you would
bother to check your information perhaps you would  be a little more
knowledgeable about things you know nothing about. Local  dealers do not bid on the
State Contract and the cost savings by purchasing on a  State Contract are
tremendous. Most large items are purchased using the  Joint Purchasing process. 
I'm really sorry you aren't man enough to accept  the defeat of the Wing Ding
Concert and get on with your life.

I find it interesting that the Mayor wants to attack my intelligence.  The Mayor does not seem to understand that the buying of the cars is not the problem  It's that fact that he says one thing and yet does another. 

By the way, the Mayor has now banned my email from getting to him at LPMayor@aol.com

Wing Ding

So everywhere that I have gone around town over my vacation people have asked me about Wing Ding 2009.  I get Email asking about Wing Ding 2009.  Everybody wants to give me suggestions about Wing Ding 2009. 

I don't know where Wing Ding 2009 will be and right now it isn't really a big concern for me.  I know that we will get it done.  I just know that it won't be in Loves Park.  I truly believe that Wing Ding 2009 will be bigger and better than ever!  Yeah, I truly believe that.

This will be the 10th Wing Ding that I have put together.  The show itself has come a long way in that time.  My first Wing Ding was in 2000 and we had 3 bands.  I had $6000.00 to put a show together.  Gates were at noon and the first band started at 1:00.  Wing Ding of the past years at the Speedway have been a bit different.  It has become a full fledged Rock Concert.  Wing Ding has become what we had hoped it would become when we moved it to the Rockford Speedway. 

We don't have any plans to have it be smaller!

Last night at a Christmas Party Wing Ding came up and a girl looked at me and said that it is "too big and too successful.  Why would Loves Park want that?"  I couldn't help but smile.  Why would a community want something Big and Successful?  Why would a community want something that brings in patrons from all over the country?  I guess that has been the thought process around here for years. 

Wing Ding will be back bigger and better than ever in 2009 you can count on. 

To the second part of my blog today.

Mayor Darryl Lindberg just doesn't get it.

When I started my campaign it was encouraging people to get involved in the political process.  It has to do with making sure our public officials follow procedure that they have put into place.  The mayor doesn't like that.  Here is a letter that I drafted to Mayor Lindberg.

Mayor Lindberg,

I am disappointed in the way that your city has handled the WXRX Wing Ding at the Rockford Speedway.  I would also like to say that this is not a personal vendetta against you.  It is merely anger and disappointment in the way a city government has acted.  I hope that you can see that I have not done anything underhanded, but have merely pointed out where I think there is something wrong.  I have the utmost respect for someone who has run for office and puts themselves out there for criticism that is why I have always referred to you as Mayor.

Through the process my goal has not been to have Wing Ding at the Rockford Speedway, I am not even worried about where the concert will be, my goal has been to get people involved in their local government, to follow them and hold them "more accountable".

I would hope that you would agree that is a good thing for all citizens.

I would like you to answer a couple of questions for me.

 

1.) Did the Mayors office and Loves Park City Council follow the guidelines for an “Application for a Special Use Permit”?

2.) If yes, could you please explain how to me?

3.) Could you show me in the City Code where it discusses "Verbal Special Event Permit Request"

  I just don't seen how you have followed the codes and regulations that you were involved in drafting.

 

1.) Maverick Media, nor the Rockford Speedway ever filled out an "Application for a Special Use Permit".  Your Municipal Code Sec 54-278 clearly states that:

      APPLICATION FOR A SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT SHALL BE MADE by the agent or operator of the special event, or by the property owner where the special event will be held, ON A FORM PRESCRIBED BY THE CITY CLERK, no later than 30 days in advance of a special event which the applicant anticipates will have an attendance of 900 or less people, and no later than 60 days in advance of the scheduled date of a special event which the applicant anticipates will have an attendance of more than 900 people."

Any application made under this section shall contain the following information:

(1)   The name and address of the applicant;

(2)   The estimated attendance of the special event;

(3)   The place where the special event is to be held;

(4)   The local business address and telephone number of the applicant;

(5)   The full name of the responsible agent;

(6)   The number of paved parking spaces which the applicant will make available for use by attendees of the special event;

(7)   The number of handicapped parking spaces which the applicant will make available for use by attendees of the special event;

(8)   The number of portable restrooms which the applicant will make available for use by attendees of the special event; and

(9)   Such additional information as may be required by the city clerk or city council including such evidence that the applicant, if an individual, or the person in charge of the business, if a firm or corporation, is a responsible person of good character and reputation and has provided for security, crowd control and the abatement of any potential nuisances arising from the special event.

I don’t believe any of these elements were included in a "Verbal Special Event Permit Request". 

Matter of fact I don't see any provision for a "Verbal Special Event Permit Request" anywhere in the city code.   Could you let me know where I could find that in the City Code and Regulations?

I am on vacation until January 5th, but would gladly come into the radio station to discuss this with you on the air. 

With Respect,

Jim Stone

Operation Manager

Maverick Media

The mayor seems to be blinded by his own hatred of the event and Maverick Media that he can't tell the difference.  The Loves Park City council was in such hurry to get rid of the successful event that they forgot to follow there own procedure.  The mayor does not understand that.  He seems to think that he can do whatever he wants.  Here are a couple of excerpts from an email that I received from The Honorable Mayor Lindberg

The City has made it's  decision and the issue is
over.  I'm sorry you can't accept  the fact  that we do not care to host this
event in our City any more.

You chose to attempt to incite  everyone because Maverick Media did not get it's
way.  I think it would  have been a better tactic to inform your listeners
that every attempt was being  made to find another location but I guess it makes
better radio time to make  everyone mad. As far as the written special event
permit, I did ask Jay Chapman  to submit this months ago and he did not do
this.  The reason a verbal  request was used is because I was told that the bands
needed to be booked by the  end of December so we allowed the question to come
before the Council by a  verbal motion.  We are done discussing this issue
further.

It is rather obvious that the Mayor and the City Council make the rules as they see fit. 

Mayor Darryl Lindberg is up for Re-election this year. 

Just like a politician...he chose not to answer any of my questions, but just decided to point fingers at someone else

 

The Election

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I have been here.  It is only a few days until the election and I can't believe what I see on TV.  I don't know about you but I wonder how guys like Sean Hannity and Keith Olbermann can sleep at night.  Do you think they actually believe they are presenting the news?

I enjoy watching all of the news to see how they are covering all of our politics...Last night for example Barack Obama ran his 30 minute infomercial, then had a rally later in the evening with Bill Clinton.  CNN talked about the event coming up and covered it but cut away long before it was over.  MSNBC covered the ENTIRE thing.  FOX News didn't mention it at all, ran a repeat of Hannity and Colmes that did nothing but talk about how Obama is a terrorist and a liar.   I am sick of "there is only one person who can do this" attitude.  Why would anyone even want the job if this is what it takes.

On the other side of it there is the fun side of the election that doesn't involve
"Joe the Plumber", tax cuts, "more of the same failed George Bush Policies" "her clothes are too expensive"

Thanks Robert

So I was talking to a friend of mine named Robert earlier today.  He mentioned a conversation that we had a couple of years ago concerning a certain website.  He said it was the funniest website he had ever seen.  I felt the need to post this on the blog once again, just so you could enjoy it.

Cats that look like hitler!

Back to School

     

Great ass plus!

         

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