Close Up
Wed Oct 12, 1994
Daily Herald

9-year-old takes on city hall

It isn't every 9-year-old who would take on city hall to fight for what he believed in.  But Stanley Lemon of West Chicago did.   Lemon didn't like the way cars sped up and down National Street near Turner Elementary School.  "Anybody could have gotten hit, and they could have died," said Lemon, a third-grader at Turner.  Lemon's father suggested he circulate petitions to get the speed limit reduced along the street.  Last spring, Lemon did just that, garnering more than 60 signatures on petitions that he later presented to Mayor Steven Lakics.

He learned that the wheels of bureaucracy often turn slowly when he didn't get immediate results. But he persisted. "He called me up, and a few times his voice was a little stern and a little harsh," Lakics said.  The fruits of Lemon's labors showed up at the start of school this year, when signs reducing the speed limit from 35 to 20 miles per hour were posted near the school.

"I was so happy because there are so many people who just don't care. They just zoom right down the street," Lemon said.  Lakics was so impressed with Lemon's civic-mindedness that he honored him during a recent city council meeting and pro-
claimed Oct 15 as Stanley Lemon Day.  Reduced speed limit signs also have gone up near other city schools.

"It was an excellent civics lesson," said Bob Lemon, Stanley's father. "He learned more about government than he would have in a classroom.

--Carmen Grecco Jr.