Gates not just for snob appeal

In the "No gates in Oak Park" article of April 19 (The Acorn), the manner in which the reporter represented the issue of Regency/Chambord becoming gated communities was both embarrassing to me and offensive to Regency/Chambord owners.

The article made it seem like R/C residents are pampered snobs that only want to gate our community because we want to "isolate" ourselves from the rest of Oak Park. Worse yet, the reporter presented the legitimate safety concerns of our community as overblown and irrational.

The sheriff readily admitted that our two communities were specifically targeted for crime. Many residents park their cars in the driveway and leave valuables in visible locations. Some trusting residents don't even lock their vehicles overnight, as Oak Park is and has always been a very safe community.

As a Regency HOA board member, I volunteered to write a newsletter asking residents to make changes to their parking habits. Our HOA adopted a reflective parking sticker program to help the sheriff identify cars that are not usually in the community. We hired a security company at the HOA's expense to patrol the streets during the evenings of highest crime. At the same time, I wrote a survey asking residents their opinions about hiring a security company fulltime, establishing a Neighborhood Watch program and, yes, the desire for gates.

The article did make a point of saying that MAC members "strongly disagreed" (with gated communities in Oak Park), citing "historic precedent." A more accurate article would have faulted the way in which MAC chairman Todd Haines vehemently disagreed with gates during his fiveminute, overly opinionated, longwinded, undemocratic opening remarks. This soliloquy was delivered before opening the issue for discussion, not after.

More than 50 percent of the HOA ballots were returned, and 77 percent of our residents wanted gates. Shouldn't the desires of more than three-fourths of our community be appropriately represented? Maybe that's a question to ask your readers, or Mr. Haines.

By the way, this snob voted no. Richard Iazzetta Oak Park