Carpentersville Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski ticketed for calling boys in tree 'monkeys'
She vows to fight disorderly conduct charge for comments made to 2 boys in neighbor's tree
By Carolyn Starks | Tribune reporter
10:48 PM CDT, April 7, 2008
Carpentersville Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski vowed Monday to fight a citation she received over the weekend for a comment that apparently offended her African-American neighbors.
Ramirez Sliwinski said she saw two boys climbing a tree next door to her home about 1 p.m. Saturday and asked them to stop. The mother of one of the boys called police after Ramirez Sliwinski referred to the children, ages 8 and 9, as monkeys.
Ramirez Sliwinski, who is Hispanic, was issued a citation alleging that she violated a village ordinance prohibiting disorderly conduct. The ordinance bans conduct that disturbs or alarms people, and one of the boys told police he was scared by Ramirez Sliwinski's comment, Police Cmdr. Michael Kilbourne said.
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"She was not arrested. She was not fingerprinted. It is a local ordinance violation," Kilbourne said.
The mother told police her son and a friend were playing in a tree in front of their house in the 0-99 block of Sparrow Road when Ramirez Sliwinski came outside and told them to quit playing in the tree like monkeys, Kilbourne said.
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She said the parents were outside, but she intervened because she was concerned about the boys' safety and because the small magnolia tree was being damaged.
"I went over to the kids and told them to get out of the tree," Ramirez Sliwinski said.
The father of one of the boys told her it was none of her business, she said, and "I calmly said the tree is not there for them to be climbing in there like monkeys."
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Ramirez Sliwinski said she intends to contest the citation in an effort to force the neighbors to talk to her.
"I have to do what I have to do to protect myself," she said. "I have to fight this ticket."
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"My take on this is that it is really being blown out of proportion," Village President Bill Sarto said. "To a great extent, you have to take the remarks and put them in proper context. The trustee saw children playing in a tree, and she made an observation that they should be careful because they are acting like monkeys. Had they not been in a tree, it could be inappropriate."
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