Moving forward >>>>>>

March 12 will be the date we all will know those who will be the newly elected board members. Regardless of the election we need to look forward at this time for the betterment of our association. There are hurt feelings, anger, and a lot of mistrust and division in Candlewick and this needs to change. We have lost our general manager in my opinion in no small part to exactly those problems. A management changeover can be an expensive process not only in the management training overlap but also the new manager will have to get a feel for all the intricacies involved in budgeting and cost controls.

The road repair and rebuilding project needs to progress as we all can see from the deterioration of our roads this spring. There is also the new legislation with which we must comply. Add to that the CC&R and By-Laws rewrites and it will be a herculean task for a new manager to wrap his or her mind around. Cooperative help will be needed, not dissention.

I personally intend to back off my aggressive posts in the hope our neighbors with whom we have been in conflict will do the same. We do not want to make the transition any more difficult than necessary. To facilitate this we must not have an internal war. I truly believe both factions are tired of this and want to move forward. Let’s do it and fulfill the potential Candlewick has to offer. It will benefit us all both financially and in our community environment. The time for healing has come.

Ken Dillenburg

A Sunday thought for CWL

Reconciliation
by William S. Cottringer

Living is experiencing
both paths of life—
Peace and turmoil,
right and wrong,
together and alone.

Wisdom is knowing why—
so we can see the difference
and finally find
the hidden path between,
where things rejoin.

We get our share of bruises
searching for this simple truth;
as it is revealed to us
when we don’t understand,
loitering and lost,
deaf and blind.

When we do wake up
to knowing who we are,
we start our real journey—
putting back together
all the things we took apart.

Thoughts through the snowflakes

When I was a child in rural Iowa there would be traveling evangelists that would stop in the small town to spread the gospel. They would use different tactics to draw substantial numbers using things like painting portraits while you watched as they promoted their religion. It worked well, with at times possibly forty to fifty people showing up and that was a good portion of the population.

One of the evangelists brought up something that has stuck with me to this day. He was completely flabbergasted by the fact everyone waved at him as he drove down the roads. He couldn’t believe that people on tractors, in their yards, or passing from the other direction all waved when he knew none of them had any idea who he was. The reason it stuck with me was to me this was nothing new and as a child I couldn’t figure out why he kept mentioning it. It was just the way it was.

I wish so much we could do that here. We could if we all took a step back and said “We are all in this together.” We don’t need to be mad at each other and attacking at every opportunity. I am as guilty as any in this matter and I really want it to stop. Can you imagine if all the effort and funds each side has expended had been used to facilitate youth activities, help those needing assistance with home maintenance, working on commissions, just helping in general.

Maybe a simple act of waving may make someone smile a little or just maybe someone driving through may think “What a nice friendly place to live.” It really can be folks, and we need to work toward that end. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Ken Dillenburg

Changing your vote

We understand some may have voted in the board election then found since that time their votes went to candidates wishing to incorporate Candlewick Lake into a city. It is not too late to correct that vote.

Any property owner can go to the main office and make a request to change their vote. You have the right to a new ballot and to have your old one destroyed. This is a very important election and the future of your community is at stake. It is worth the extra work to have your vote count for the people you want to represent your interests. Every vote is very important!

Ken Dillenburg

By now it should be in your hands

The survey regarding incorporation that cost about $2,500.00 to mail out arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Needless to say, I circled the NO and it is already in the office. Remember you must sign the envelope on the designated signature line to have it be a valid vote. I know, it gets a little specific but they have to keep track of who has voted to assure none of the “vote early and often” that can happen.

We ask that your get your vote in right away (obviously with the NO circled) to avoid additional mailings. We are looking at thousands of dollars more of your dues dollars being spent if they are not returned. That’s right, if you don’t mail them in or drop them off you will get another, then another. Three times these will be mailed hoping to get the needed votes.

This will be just the beginning if there is not a solid NO vote result. Next come the legal fees that I guarantee will be many, many thousands of dollars. I have posted in the following message one small sample of what will need to be waded through by lawyers. Add to the expense the continued division in our community and possible legal restraining orders and lawsuits and this will be a zoo.

Ken Dillenburg

Another cost for the "new city"

Oh, this looks like a real winner!

Just for the heck of it I counted the pages in the 2009 Illinois State Mandates Catalog. 149 pages. Would you want to have our new city start wading through all this? Talk about legal costs! I didn’t even waste my time reading it. Ken Dillenburg

STATE MANDATES CATALOG - 2009 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document satisfies the requirement outlined in the State Mandates Act (30 ILCS 805) that requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to provide a State

Mandates Catalog. The State Mandates Act became effective January 1, 1981 and was created in response to a nationwide effort to slow requirements that increase local government costs without providing the means to pay for them. The Act defines a State Mandate as "any State initiated statutory or executive action that requires a local government to establish, expand, or modify its activities in such a way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue."