To the Editor:
My name is Skot Kremen. I’ve lived in Highland Park for the last 11 years, and my family has been here since the 1940s. Basically, I’ve been connected to Highland Park for my entire life. I’m happy to call it home, and I wanted to take a minute to talk about why I’m voting in the primary for Gayle Brill Mittler in the June primary.
The good part of about living in a small town, is that you know what’s going on. You don’t know it from looking on facebook or twitter. You don’t know about it from reading the news. You know about it from living here. You know about it from seeing people at the supermarket, the farmer’s market and late nights at Pino’s (sometimes this is the case, other times we just talk about music.)
What’s great about this is the transparency of it all. Anyone I’ve previously voted for takes the time to answer my questions respectfully. The answers aren’t always what I’d like them to be, but at least I know that I’ve got a say.
Recently, things have gotten so bloody contentious. Everyone’s accusing each other of one thing or another, and I get it. Really, I do, but there’s no need for name calling. There’s no need for anger. It’s not like we all don’t talk to each other all the time.
There are things that I’d like to see happen in Highland Park.
The first one, is to further develop the downtown area. Not just because I believe that it’d lower our tax revenue, but it’d also give my family more fun experiences when we’re spending a weekend mulling about town.
The next one is to see all of the students that my son attends school with be treated the same and with mutual respect. This includes immigrants from other countries, legal or otherwise. I know that this is hard. We live in an economically diverse neighborhood, and the fact that my son can grow up in a place where he doesn’t judge his classmates based on how much money their parents make is something that can’t be quantified and it makes me really happy.
I want the police to treat everyone the same, regardless of what they look like. That being said, when I’m in danger I want to know that they’ll also be there to protect my family. I’m happy to say that in every situation that I’ve had with the HPPD, this has been the case. I know that not everyone has felt this way in the past. But, with our current mayor, she’s making this change as well.
Change and progress is hard. Neither of these things happen overnight. They’re not about grand-sweeping statements, they’re about taking the tons of small steps to reach a goal and seeing it to the end.
Our mayor has done this with everything that she’s worked on. She’s done this with the municipal ID program. She’s done this with Police reform. She’s done this in showing how HP has been protecting immigrants. She’s done this working with our schools to make sure that our schools are safe and when kids aren’t in school, they can still make sure that they’re given lunch if they need it.
The work to make HP more awesome will take some time. What’s important to me, is that I know that there’s someone who’s working on it. She’s been working on it for the last few years, and I hope that everyone will give her the chance to continue working on it.
This is why I’m voting for Gayle Brill Mittler.
Skot Kremen, South 2nd Ave.