After deciding in late 2021 to no longer mail out a printed quarterly village newsletter in 2022, in favor of digital-only access, the Oak Brook Village Board will consider bringing back the print version next year.
“Recently, several elected officials have discussed the idea of returning to a mailed print version of the village newsletter, as there is a perception that it received much better readership in hard copy,” Village Manager Greg Summers said. “That discussion remains ongoing and will be fully vetted as part of the 2023 budget process.”
Previously, 3,700 copies of the newsletter were printed each quarter. Those were direct mailed to every household in the village, and, at least once a year, to every business as well, Summers said. He said records indicate that printing costs were just under $1 per copy.
“Therefore, elimination of the newsletter saved the village approximately $15,000 in printing annually,” Summers said. He said he wasn’t able provide mailing costs, as those were processed alongside all other village mail.
The newsletter continues to be produced quarterly in an electronic version, which is available on the village’s website.
Summers said the idea of returning to a mailed print version of the newsletter is partially due to some Village Board members expressing concern that numerous errors have been noted in the Civic Association newsletter, which is still mailed in hard copy to all Oak Brook households.
“Those errors have been noted as simple typos, incorrect names, incorrect references to staff and elected officials, mistaken dates, and conflated discussion recaps,” Summers said.
Board member Michael Manzo expressed those concerns, along with another major issue.
“It’s become so political and inaccurate,” he said. “It used to have news reports of different board meetings in the village, but it’s got lots of opinions now. We can’t allow it to be the only platform in the village for print.”
When Stan Pruss, president of the Civic Association was contacted by phone for a response Thursday July 14, his son, Frank, took the phone and said, “We know you don’t like to report the facts when you do your reporting, so we have nothing to say to you,” and then hung up.
The Civic Association states in its newsletter that its objectives are to preserve the character of the community, to protect the rights and properties of its citizens and foster its social and cultural and civic development.
Manzo said he very much supports bringing back a printed newsletter that is mailed to all households in the village.
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“Our decision to stop printing the newsletter was made when we really didn’t know if our sales would stay strong,” Manzo said, referring to the importance to the village of sales tax revenue. “We’ve actually come back very strong, and if our financial situation allows it, I would like to start sending out the printed newsletter again.”
Manzo and fellow board member Jim Nagle both said they believe a printed newsletter is a better way to reach some of the village’s population.
“We found some of our seniors don’t use computers,” Nagle said, adding that he believes returning to a printed newsletter is a “great idea” because it will keep residents and businesses informed.
Board member Larry Herman also supports bringing back the printed newsletter, but with some stipulations.
“Print is more effective in reaching many of our residents, but the newsletter we’ve had was pretty uninformative,” he said. “It was basically up to each department head to write what they wanted, and that was it.”
Herman said he believes an improved, more informative newsletter is very important, whether it’s in print and/or digital.
“The bigger issue is that we need to do a much better job communicating with our residents and make it easier for them to communicate with us,” he said. “I think there are many residents who don’t even know we have the newsletter online. Print definitely is a way to better reach people with the newsletter, but we have to do a better job with it if we’re going to go back to that.”
While Herman is open to returning to a print newsletter, and both Nagle and Manzo support the idea, it’s not getting strong support at this point from the rest of the board.
Village President Gopal Lalmalani said he doesn’t really have any thoughts at this time on going back to a printed newsletter.
“I’ve not had any residents who have requested that we go back to a printed quarterly newsletter,” he said.
Board member Asif Yusuf said he is against sending out a printed newsletter.
“I think we live in a modern world, and I am fine with an electronic version,” he said. “(It’s) much more cost effective.”
Board member Ed Tiesenga had no comment because he said he has not been involved in the central flow of any discussion about returning to a printed newsletter and therefore knows nothing about it.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.