Eli Hodapp’s large collection of words.

Posted by “Chris” on the Naperville Potluck blog today:

“For the record Eli, I think you are being completely ridiculous. I’m not going to “take the hook” as you say and compare you’re overzealous religious pursuit to drunk driving, capital punishment or any other legal debate, those are real issues. I would like to point out that because of people like yourself and Ms. Stella Liebeck (of McDonalds coffee fame) we now have to have Warning Labels on toliet bowl plungers (I’m not even going to mention Mr. Roy Pearson and his $54million pants at a local dry cleaner in DC).

When are people going to start taking responsibility for their actions and lack of common sense? If I trip on a crack in the sidewalk, I’m not going to sue the city; I’m going to look around, see who is laughing at me, laugh at myself, get up, brush myself off, and go on with my life. It really is that simple, if you don’t like what Don Imus said, change the radio station channel. IT’S THAT SIMPLE!!!

We have bigger issues in this country to deal with, PLEASE Eli (and all of Eli’s fans), put your energies in a direction that makes a difference for a real issue.

And for the question of people not joining in on your reindeer games as opposition, we have this thing called APATHY.

I’ll refer back to Warning Labels on toliet bowl plungers, our life has been clouded with so much redicuous rhetoric for our government being pushed by individuals like yourself, Ms. Liebeck and Mr Pearson. Most people just don’t care about more than their immediate lives any more. Terrible, but true, because of rediculous issues brought about by people like you.

Now I can get to the real question, YouTube and more importantly the internet. The internet is a great avenue for an individual (or small group) to reach the masses. However, the public reaction is what matters. The City of Naperville should be ashamed of itself here. For ONE person to affect a community of 130,000 is assinine! Last time I checked we live in a Democracy, where, I believe, government officials are supposed to represent the masses, not .00076% of the population as in this case. Just another sickening example of our government going to wrong way. Oh well…

I would like to hear your response Eli as to why you started on your pursuit… I mean the TRUE reason why. By the way, I have worked in a local downtown bar for 12 1/2 years so I think that qualifies me to ask the question and give my opinions.”

Is ridiculous spelled with an “i” or an “e”, is it “your” or “you’re” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I can’t decide!

Either way, here’s what I posted in response:

It’s true, we do live in a democracy, that’s why I’ve done nothing but encourage people who disagree with the enforcement of the noise ordinances to contact their representatives in local government. Naperville is still small enough that anyone can speak at a City Council meeting about absolutely anything that they feel like talking about. Whether you want to ask the city to reexamine a traffic sign, complain about the treatment of animals at the circus that Naper Settlement hosts, or request that noise ordinances not be enforced. All are valid topics for discussion during the public forum and require nothing more than showing up on time and writing your name on a list.

The problem is, this is the attitude most people have:

“And for the question of people not joining in on your reindeer games as opposition, we have this thing called APATHY.
…
Just another sickening example of our government going to wrong way. Oh well…”

Something is happening in my town that I don’t like, instead of contacting the easily accessible members of the municipal government which I elected to represent me, I’ll just shrug my shoulders, say “Oh well…” and join the crowd of people too apathetic to do anything.

Since you’ve been working in a downtown bar for 12 years, can you answer a question which every single person who opposes me has dodged? If the current noise ordinances too strict, what should they be raised to, and how is the city of New York possibly able to function on noise ordinances which are over six times as strict and vehemently enforced? Why should a bar have bands performing for crowds of hundreds which are many times louder than music performed at city festivals for crowds of thousands? How is being able to hear Beatles covers a quarter mile away anything less than flat out noise pollution?

As far as what originally started all this, as I’ve stated multiple times, this isn’t a new development by any means. I’ve been in contact with various levels of city government ever since Rizzo’s first opened and I discovered that it was built without even the simplest sound-proofing measures. My original avenues of complaint were based on potential building code infractions, thinking that possibly there was something on the books in regards to sound-proofing. Not too long after that I was made aware of the local noise ordinances, and came to understand that the “new restaurant” opening next door was closer to a “night club” than anything else.

Earth-shattered bass pounding through my walls six days a week was just the way things were going to be, after all, I live within 100 feet. And that’s fine. I live in downtown Naperville, I have to take the good with the bad, and I will always be within the 100 foot window to the Rizzo’s dance floor. I learned to ignore the pounding of sub woofers which complied with every law I could find, writing it off as the cost of living in such an awesome location.

Last summer, Rizzo’s decided to kick it up another notch and had live amplified music practically set up on the sidewalk. The fruits of my complaints to city council last summer resulted in Police Chief Dial himself telling Rizzo’s to cut it out. Unsurprisingly, the effect of this warning barely lasted until the end of the week.

This summer I decided that maybe I needed something more than mere emails. “Loud” is too subjective. Since the local ordinances are based off distance rather than decibels, it didn’t take anything more than Google Maps to measure distance and my lousy digital camera to come up with the best way possible to show the city officials what was happening down here after they had gone home to spend time with their families. The unfortunate part of the production of my video is that the microphone in my digital camera focused more on wind noise than lower ambient noises at about the 700 foot mark from the band performing. You have no idea how much I would have loved to been able to capture standing in front of the Nichols Library listening to terrible Beatles covers.

Getting the local media involved turned out to be unnecessary as City Manager Peter Burchard responded to my video at 9:22 AM the next morning. Either way, all I have accomplished is getting the existing laws which have been in place since Rizzo’s even started construction enforced. I’m starting to feel like a broken record player here, but if you don’t like it, contact City Council (council@naperville.il.us or (630) 548-2983)- It’s as simple as that.

How is it my fault that everyone who disagrees with me is too lazy to draft a simple email or even pick up a telephone?

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