Perhaps it is the danger of being in office too long. Maybe it was just an error in judgment. But Mayor Anthony Calderone has displayed remarkable tone deafness with last week’s installation by the public works department of a 20-foot municipal-grade guard rail designed to protect the 6-foot metal privacy fence at his home on Jackson Boulevard.
It took five guys from public works and a bunch of equipment to install the sort of guard rail you’d normally see along the shoulder of the Eisenhower. And why was this public expense necessary to protect the mayor’s private property? Because, the mayor says, twice drivers have crashed into his fence “causing thousands of dollars in damage.”
We feel bad about that, Mr. Mayor, we really do. But we suspect similar things have happened to other Forest Parkers who bought corner houses where an alley intersects with a busy street. We will be curious to see how receptive the village is to installing similar super-sized rails when those aggrieved residents come forward.
In the annals of “don’t press send” on hastily written e-mails, Calderone’s further whining in his response to the Review’s guard-rail inquiry is pretty classic. He says his house and his fence – again with the fence! – have been egged and “pelted with a water mud mixture.” Plus he has a neighbor shooting vines directly onto his property. The intentional vine protuberance has caused extra work for his landscapers, he also noted.
Tony! Stop typing! Unless you are ready to propose an ordinance against vegetation growing, stop. Unless you want a squad car posted in the alley 24/7 like the old Mayor Daley, stop. Unless you recognize most people in Forest Park don’t have landscapers, stop. Please stop.
This article has been updated to correct the height of the privacy fence.
