To the editor:

I had the pleasure to meet Ward 4 Alderman Mike Tsichlis in a meeting dedicated to the revamping of the Crestwood city website.

My experience with Alderman Tsichlis was good and I recall talking to a fine man dedicated to his city. I do not know Ward 4 Alderman Mike Vincent personally, but I have to admit that I strongly share his sentiment: I don’t like either personal snipes, untruths and bullying. And quite honestly, although I agree very much with Mr. Tsichlis about encouraging citizens to question their government, his opinion piece published in the Call was partly inappropriate.

As noted by Ward 1 Alderman Darryl Wallach, I do believe that there are issues that need to be dealt with in person, not through a public forum like a local newspaper or even a board meeting.

In my opinion, Mike Tsichlis’ comments in the Call go against what he condemned and honorably tries to achieve.

However, even though Mike Vincent has politically nothing to lose since he is not running to keep his seat, I think his call to remove Mike Tsichlis as board president was a pointless effort and an emotional reaction to probably some unjust personal attacks. So in short, a bad move from one alderman created in response another bad move from another alderman. In the end, we, Crestwood citizens, are just the powerless witnesses — until the next election — of the worst of local politics.

The city faces many challenges and more than ever, we need a united board acting like responsible adults and working for all of us, while respecting each other’s differences and opinions. We clearly do not need a miniature of the U.S. Congress in Crestwood.