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6 Crestwood Adviser October 2020 Number 523
Preserving Our Heritage: Anthony Marino
By Ken McClory
To access the Wi-Fi, Moraine Valley students will
log on using their college A part of the Tinley Park
American Legion Post 615 and its Preserving Our
Heritage Initiative, the following feature highlights
the journey of another of our revered World War II
Veterans. It describes the stories and revelations of
valor and sacrifice as told by 96-year-old Anthony
Marino. It includes the kind of stuff you won’t read
about in school history books.
Anthony Marino attended Manley High School
on the West Side of Chicago. After completing his
junior year, the 17-year-old enlisted in the U.S.
Coast Guard, which, until World War II was part
of the U.S. Treasury Department. He was sent
to the Coast Guard bootcamp located in Battle
Creek, Mich., being drilled in seamanship. Marino
was assigned to the U.S.S. Sellstrom, a destroyer
escort ship serving the U.S. Navy during the
North Atlantic operation. Its main mission was to
provide destroyer escort protection to repel enemy
submarine and air attacks for Naval vessels and
merchant ships. The merchant and troop ships
carried precious cargo of war materials, supplies,
equipment and weaponry direly needed to fight the
war on all the combat fronts. As Marino explained,
harm’s way was always just around the bend, with
never a dull moment.
Marino navigated the Atlantic on Coast Guard
missions to include England, Ireland, North Africa,
France, Italy, Corsica, the Mediterranean and
Caribbean Islands, along with close surveillance
along America’s Eastern shorelines.
Educate, Advocate,
Empower: A Home
Rule Overview
Since Mayor Presta and the Village Trustees decided
to put Home Rule on the ballot this year, there
have been strong opinions on both sides about how
it will affect residents. It is extremely important
to the Mayor that residents understand exactly
what Home Rule is and what it means to residents.
“I want residents to be able to make educated
decisions, to be fully informed on the reason for our
decision to put this back on the referendum,” Mayor
Presta stated.
What is Home Rule?
The purpose of Home Rule is to allow for local
solutions to local issues and problems. The terms
of this authority are broad, and the powers of
Home Rule municipalities are construed liberally.
A municipality with Home Rule status can exercise
any power and perform any function unless it is
specifically prohibited from doing so by state law.
Article VII, Section 6(a) of the Illinois Constitution
of 1970 provides that “except as limited by this
Section, a Home Rule unit may exercise any
power and perform any function pertaining to its
government and affairs including, but not limited
to, the power to regulate for the protection of public
health, safety, morals and welfare; to license; to tax;
and to incur debt.”
In contrast, a non-Home Rule municipality may
only exercise powers for which express authority is
provided by state law. This means that non-Home
Rule communities are dependent on obtaining
grants of authority from the General Assembly and
Governor.
What are the Benefits of Home Rule?
Home Rule municipalities are autonomous and free
to exercise governing authority independent of the
The Battle of the Atlantic campaign started with
the War in Europe in 1939 and would end with
VE Day and the surrender of Germany in 1945.
It has been called the longest, largest and most
complex naval battle in U.S. history. Overall, the
Coast Guard rescued nearly 1,000 Allied and Axis
survivors along the North Atlantic convoy routes,
and another 1,600 along America’s coast. It was
dangerous duty — more than 240,000 Coast Guard
members served in World War II, and more than
2,000 of its seamen lost their lives.
Marino recollects during convoys to Gibraltar,
Casablanca, Morocco and Tunisia, the Sellstrom
was attacked by German submarines and aircraft
bombers. April 1st, 1944, as the enemy mounted
a heavy offensive hunting down the convoy,
“Allied anti-aircraft fire and another destroyer
came with much-needed support, sinking the
German submarine,” Marino recalls, adding that
the Sellstrom’s crew was “ticked off,” because “after
risking our lives, we didn’t even get credit for the
kill.”
Marino participated in one more operation, “The
Greenland Patrol,” in April of 1945, taking part
in convoy duty, search-and-rescue missions, and
defending against German infiltration.
Semper Paratus — “Always Ready” — is the Coast
Guard motto, and Fireman 1st Class Marino
displayed it well during World War II. “All recruits
went through bootcamp, were schooled on
seamanship, and learned to be team players, and to
think less of ourselves and more about being part
General Assembly and Governor in most cases. They
have much greater flexibility over local finances, as
well as exercising authority over building, zoning,
sanitation, nuisance abatement, civil disturbance
and certain criminal offenses (such as defining
and providing punishment for some misdemeanor
offenses). Other benefits include less dependency
on the state government, greater opportunities for
local self-governance and options to implement
revenue policies that lessen reliance on property
taxes.
How is Home Rule Status Achieved?
Home Rule status can be achieved in one of two
ways: (1) a municipality automatically achieves
Home Rule status when its population exceeds
25,000 residents. If the municipality’s population
drops below this threshold, it continues to be Home
Rule, but the clerk is required to certify the question
of Home Rule for submission to the voters at the
next general election; and (2) communities with
fewer than 25,001 residents can become Home Rule
by passing a local referendum.
Currently there are more than 210 Home Rule
communities in Illinois.
One of the opposition points? That giving the
Village the same authority as a larger municipality
will let officials use almost absolute power to spend,
tax and to incur debt.
An important fact about the financial status of the
Village of Crestwood is that history proves that
year after year, the Village remains underbudget
and with a surplus of a million dollars or more.
This is something that the Mayor Presta strives for
and takes great pride in, and that will NOT change!
In addition, the Village has given back more than
$62,000,000.00 of property taxes since 1994.
Our intention is to continue that, and to increase
percentages when feasible.
A good example of commitment that the Village
of a close, well-trained unit,” Marino said. “We were
all 18-19 years old, wanting to prove we were men,
and part of the finest fighting force in World War
II.”
He was discharged April 3rd, 1946, and was
awarded the American Campaign, European-
African-Middle East Campaign, and the World War
II Victory medals. Fireman 1st Class Tony Marino
and the U.S.S. Sellstrom were awarded one Battle
Star for meritorious participation in battle.
Tony and his wife, Mary, recently celebrated their
72nd wedding anniversary.
Ken McClory is a Tinley Park American Legion Post
615 member who authored the feature
and is currently taking the lead in his Post’s “Preserving
Our Heritage” initiative.
has not to pass on liability or responsibility to the
residents for cost of major projects is the Playfield
Water, Sewer and Sanitary Storm Sewer project.
This $23 million project is being completed without
putting liability on residents. A program was
established to pay for the project through grants,
forgiveness and various other ways that prove that
the Village is fiscally conscious of its spending so
that residents are not burdened with extra taxes.
Becoming a Home Rule Village will allow us to
increase income in ways that, currently, have us
losing money to the state! We need to keep as much
income localized as possible.
A Home Rule Tax Committee will be put in place
by ordinance to oversee any new tax that is not
authorized under Illinois Municipal Code. This
committee will have the power to stop tax increases
because the board would have to use a referendum
to pass any non-Illinois municipal code, so the
residents will have control of the property tax.
This is just the beginning of conversations about
this. Mayor Presta and the Village Board plan to
hold a community information night to provide
additional information. Please stay tuned for future
dates and details. As always, please feel free to reach
out to Mayor Presta or Village Services Director
Bill Graffeo for information. We will be providing
information on our website in the near future about
this topic.
Elected officials are your friends, your neighbors
— people you see at the River Crest Mall. Trustees,
the mayor and many Village staff members, who are
residents as well, would be impacted by any changes
they make in the same way that other residents are.
This is the Village they call home, and in which they
are raising their families.
Together, let’s continue to keep Crestwood on the
move in a positive, prosperous and safe direction.