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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
September 15, 2002
Something lost in
the translation |
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Remember those school
listening skills sessions when a teacher would tell one student a
story in front of the class, and that student would leave the room
to repeat the same story to another student who would then tell the
story to the class? Five to ten different student versions
later, the original story was nowhere to be heard.
A story could begin, "Once upon a time a big brown
rabbit drove a car to a police station. A lucky policeman
witnessed this and started shaking his head." The final
student's version would end up entirely different.
A likely ending rendition, "One time a brown policeman
shook the lucky head of a rabbit witness. The rabbit drove a
station wagon, too." Not bad for a group of teens who may have
had many other things to occupy their minds.
It seems that perfecting such non-listening/non-seeing
skills has benefited one resident of the Kankakee County Housing
Authority. Talk about a contradiction of terms,
resident-benefit and KCHA does appear to be an oxymoron.
A KCHA resident was recently cleared of disorderly
conduct that occurred almost two years ago because adult witnesses
gave conflicting testimonies. The testimonies were eyewitness
accounts and were not stories that had been made up and passed on.
During a November 2000 KCHA board meeting, housing
resident Leon Dabney, allegedly rushed and threatened board member
Bill Sawyer. A third party, Hank Williams, allegedly
intervened. Confusing? It gets more ridiculous.
Several people, including distinguished KCHA board members, saw it
happen. Whatever "it" was that they saw makes the story very
interesting.
During the recent trial, three witnesses said Mr.
Williams moved to block Mr. Dabney before he could attack Mr.
Sawyer. Other witnesses gave a different version. One
board member stated Williams prevented Sawyer from attacking Dabney.
This story has more twists than a state fair pretzel.
Former KCHA executive director Frank Mason, yes, the same one with
the impeccable resume and credentials, also said Williams moved to
block Sawyer. Other witnesses said Williams actually jumped
over a table.
Wait. It gets better. A former KCHA
chairman said Williams wasn't there at all.
We're not talking about the possible sighting of a
spaceship landing in Big Creek, Idaho or some mysterious geometric
circles on a farm in Momence. Mr. Williams is a well-known,
long-time Kankakee citizen. Was he there during the
five-minute altercation or not?
At least the kids could remember that the big rabbit
was still in their story.
How can the very same people given the responsibility
to see the future and to make it better for the residents of the
KCHA not even see and agree on what they saw before their very own
eyes?
What would happen if a resident reported an out of
order toilet? Would some board members see it and say it's
full or dirty water and other stuff, and it does need repair, while
others may see only clear water? Would one maybe say there
wasn't a toilet at all?
Now it's almost understandable how the KCHA board
members all saw something entirely different on former director
Frank Mason's resume and application.
Then again, nothing seems understandable about the
KCHA. |
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