Man Refuses to Take Down Vote NO Sign
- on 09.13.05
- Winthrop Harbor
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Winthrop Harbor police visited Christopher Clements, a resident, asking him to take down his Vote No Sign. He refused of course and vows to go to jail instead of taking it down. Why does Big Ed or it’s supporters not want free speech? That’s easy, it doesn’t allow them to continue to gauge the tax payer for their little kingdom. And remember, “it’s all for the kids. You don’t have a right to tell others to vote no” they are saying. Intimidation works, unfortunately, against a lot of people. It doesn’t work against me and it obviously does not work against Christopher Clements.
Read the exceprts below or the full article at the News-Sun.
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Christopher Clements, a former Lake County sheriff’s deputy and decorated Vietnam War veteran, says he’ll go to jail before taking down down an anti-school tax referendum sign in his yard. “If they want to arrest me, they can come and do it,” he said. “I’m not taking it down.” Winthrop Harbor police went to Clements home in the 800 block of Russell Avenue last week. He said he was told his cardboard sign, which says “Vote NO tax referendum,” violates a village ordinance and that a complaint had been received. Under Winthrop Harbor law, political signs require a permit and they cannot be erected prior to 30 days before an election or “event,” according to village officials. “That’s outrageous,” Clements said. “I have a constitutional right to express a political opinion. Clements’ sign is aimed against an Oct. 11 Winthrop Harbor grade school district tax referendum. |
Lennie,
I always enjoy your blog. Keep up the great work. I wish more homeschoolers would speak out like you. Many homeschoolers just want to teach and be left alone by the government. However, they forget that an increased tax burden deprives their children of future education dollars. By also not fighting for a more effiecient education system they leave an incredible tax burden on their children and grandchildren. One final problem is that these homeschoolers will eventually meet up in the world with the public schooled children. It is best for all to fight to get public schooled children properly educated as not to burden society in the future.
Keep up your excellent work,
Cathy
Lennie,
I always enjoy your blog. Keep up the great work. I wish more homeschoolers would speak out like you. Many homeschoolers just want to teach and be left alone by the government. However, they forget that an increased tax burden deprives their children of future education dollars. By also not fighting for a more effiecient education system they leave an incredible tax burden on their children and grandchildren. One final problem is that these homeschoolers will eventually meet up in the world with the public schooled children. It is best for all to fight to get public schooled children properly educated as not to burden society in the future.
Keep up your excellent work,
Cathy
“Why does Big Ed or it’s supporters not want free speech?”
Where in the article does your “Big Ed” come in? And/or how do you equate local government and it’s laws/ordinances as a “supporter”? That’s stretching it.
no kiddin’, tim. give him some time…Katrina is probably BigEd’s fault, too!
Tim, The authorities received a complaint. It is not a stretch to believe that complaint came from someone supporting the referendum.
Cathy, thanks for the encouragement. I belive most homeschoolers are scared that if they speak up, Big Ed will work with the State to try and get them regulated. They need to realize, they will eventually do that anyway. Especially as the number of homeschoolers grow and their test scores continue to outperform the local districts’ scores.
lennie bought a house in a neighborhood (let me rephrase that, he coluded with the government, BIG-HUD, to throw some poor soul out on the street). anyway…in that neighborhood there is a set of covenants, conditions and restrictions. it’s in his deed. he agreed to abide by them when he accepted the deed.
now if he violates those covenants, conditions and restrictions and one of his neighbors files a complaint, that’s BIG-ED and it’s supporters at work again.
RIGHT? no ownership on your part lennie…just BIG-ED and his supporters at work. are you getting just a little paranoid?
Don’t think so. There is also the comment by the Police Chief who said he was not going to get in the middle of it. It’s a fact that you will get intimidated by the supporters of Big Ed if you publicly state you opposition to a referendum.
Well I do live in Winthrop. Carl, if you use your argument… that everyone in Winthrop Harbor’s property has more than doubled, then built into that is the increase in property values in assessed values and consequently, property taxes. So Carl, if your property taxes have not more than doubled, then you need to get in touch with the Assessor right away to make sure that they do! And, please make sure that you contact all of your fortunate neighbors and the rest of those individuals in favor of this tax too, to make sure that they are also paying double what they were paying in 1990.
As a taxpayer and citizen of Winthrop Harbor, I appreciate your input Lennie… keep it up… and thanks.
Here is a concern …..what about those who have fixe incomes in Winthrop Harbor? I am speaking regarding those retired individuals who may have homes that were $150,000 in 1990 and are now assessed at $300,000.
How can they afford to pay over $7000 per year in property taxes alone? Do they need to sell their homes? I cannot tell you the number of retired people I have spoken to who are afraid of losing their homes of the high property taxes in this area. And yet, the same individuals who cry out that we need these extra taxes for the “kids†say “too bad†to the retired people of the village whose property values have gone up, but their income has not….
Mr. Donaldson:
You’re are absolutely correct; reform is of the utmost importance. My point was simply that the increase in educational cost is in PERFECT step with the increase in property value and taxes. Everything goes up; including the cost of education. Like the seniors on a fixed income, Lennie doesn’t use the public education system (he home schools) so he vehemently opposes any referendum for any reason whether it is warranted or not.
Just because we’re tired of paying the tax, can’t afford it, or don’t directly benefit from a particular taxing body doesn’t mean that institution doesn’t need the funding. Lennie likes to accuse districts of wasteful or dishonest spending, but hasn’t yet found more than a few thousand dollars that have been improperly spent in his own district. So now he’s on your case.
Vote no if it’s the right thing for your pocket book. Vote no if you can’t afford it. But don’t let this carpet-bagger convince you that your neighbors are all crooks. Do your own research.
Mr. Donaldson, you asked some questions in your first post that I answered quite honestly…maybe they just weren’t the right questions. I hope things work out for you and your neighbors.
How is Mr. Clements situation so different from Okley & Bruno’s escapade with the Ethics commission that you so heartily supported? I guess that one was OK because it was your side, right? That makes it OK, right? You can complain, but the referendum supporters can’t, right?
Carl,
I will address the home school comment only, Lennie can comment on whatever else he wants to.
Home Schooling is the most unselfish kind of education there is. We have made the CHOICE as you make the choice to publicly educate your children. I gave up EVERYTHING to stop and educate my children, what you chose not to do. We pay for our children’s education and pay for yours too. What choice do I have in that? I do not have a problem with you publicly educating your children, why do you have such a problem with mine being home schooled? I do not think that home schooling is for everyone. Yet you constantly undermine us and attack me and my husband, personally for home schooling! We care about ALL children’s education and we don’t limit our compassion for just our children. Yet all you seem to care about is your kids. In my opinion, you are willing to even spend other people’s money freely to educate your children. I think that is very selfish. So if what your trying to do is draw a negative picture about Lennie and I, I would set our picture aside of yours any day and then let the people decide.
I think that it is amazing that you KNOW whether we would ever vote for a tax increase or not. Do you know us personally? No? Well then how would you know what we would vote for or not?
You know what I also find amazing? That you say no one comes and visits this site, yet here YOU are!!!
Carl, I agree that people in Winthrop Harbor should do their own research. It is incumbent on them to do so and know the truth. I am looking at this from my experience with our district and the fact that WH is trying to sneak this through with a special election.
As for our district and its spending, more and more is found all the time. Remember, the new BOE found over a million dollars to partially restore the programs.
As for the ethics hearings, that is not about stop free speech. It was about the use of tax money to promote a tax increase.
so, there are laws we should feel free to break? which ones are OK with you? Besides the laws in winthrop harbor with regard to political signage? if it’s OK to break those laws, why can’t the PTO send home a flyer? isn’t that free speech, too?
No, the school flyer is not free speech. It is paid for by our tax money. That is considered election interference. If the PTO wants to send home a flyer they need to print it themselves without school resources and then distribute it outside the school. This same process can be followed by those that oppose the referendum. That is free speech.
As far as breaking laws, the law about political signage would go to court to decide if this is a limitation of Mr. Clements free speech rights. That is what the courts are for. I would venture to guess thought that the law would be ruled unconstitutional and Mr. Clements would have been vindicated. It does not appear that the regulation will be enforced though. That is the decision for the Mayor and Police Chief to decide, not me.
so since the ethics committee decided there was no violation then it’s OK, right? or is that still wrong because it suits you and Mr. Clements can break the laws in winthrop harbor because it suits you?
The ethics ruling was that there was evidence of a violation, it just wasn’t enough evidence to convict Dr. Anderson of it. What happened with the flyers was wrong.
Mr. Clements is fighting for freedom of speech. Wouldn’t you agree that people should have freedom of speech? I am pretty sure you would. Wouldn’t you also agree that laws that restrict freedoms like not allowing women the right to vote, or not allowing blacks the right to vote would be bad? Freedom of speech with political signs is the same thing. It is a freedom that we have as Americans and any laws that limit that are wrong and should be fought and abolished.