Chamber Wrong to Give Awake Illinois Affiliate “Legitimacy”; AAUW supports proposal to change city’s nominating process; honor our veterans on Memorial Day by saying their names

I was appalled to read in Friday’s Naperville Sun that Awake Illinois affiliate, Awake Americans, has been accepted as a member of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Awake Illinois is a divisive organization that in no way represents the welcoming and inclusive nature of our community and does not deserve to be legitimized by the NACC.

I hope the chamber withdraws its approval soon.

Barbara Lipkin, Naperville

AAUW Naperville Area and our 100+ voting members strongly support the recommendations made by the League of Women Voters Naperville (LWVN) to ensure consistency and transparency in appointments made to Naperville boards and commissions.

The LWVN commissioned a study to understand the current process used in our city for appointments and to compare our process to those of other cities that Naperville frequently uses as benchmarks. Based on this data and consensus input from all LWVN members, recommendations for improving the process are:

Require an application for all appointees to municipal boards and commissions. The application process should be well understood and accessible to all eligible Naperville residents. City council members should be able to see nominations for city councils and commissions. Stakeholders should have a say in the process of nominating mayors to municipal councils and commissions. The public availability of candidate information should be limited. A standardized and well-defined interview process should be required for candidates for municipal councils and commissions.

Our Section fully supports each recommendation and urges Council and all residents to support these transparency and consistency measures.

Barbara Vernon, President, AAUW Naperville

Naperville Sun

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Lee Eastman, President-elect, AAUW Naperville

Last week, every grave of a man or woman who served our country at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery and Naperville Cemetery were decorated with a flag for Memorial Day. Volunteers walked the rows and stopped at every last resting place as the veteran’s name and service were spoken aloud during an event hosted by Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873 and Naperville American Legion Post 43.

Hearing the names of veterans echoed the names we hear on the news when other tragedies occur. Each specific, and each gone forever. Most of the dead lie next to their loved ones while we, living above, do our best to honor, to remember, to adjust our veils.

Say their names. Say all their names.

Mary Lou Wehrli, Naperville

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