Illinois town wants you to know 'Hassert Blvd' wasn't named after Dennis Hastert

By Patrick Hogan  |  May 4, 2016 | 1:37pm
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One of the older memes on the internet claimed that it doesn’t matter what letters are in a word as long as the length is correct and the first and last letter are in the right place. The meme is apocryphal, but it’s starting to ring true with a suburban Chicago street people are misreading as being named after a disgraced Republican congressman.

The village of Bolingbrook has been inundated with complaints over a street people think is named “Hastert Boulevard” after former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, when in fact the street is “Hassert Boulevard.”

Hastert was recently sentenced to 15 months in prison for illegal payments to a man he allegedly sexually abused (due to the statute of limitations, he could not be prosecuted for sexual abuse). Prosecutors claim Hastert molested at least four boys while working as a wrestling coach..

According to the Naperville Sun, the street is actually named after Brent Hassert, another Illinois Republican congressman with no connection to Hastert.

Bolingbrook is going the extra mile to clear up the confusion. The village’s website currently has a giant pronouncement disclaiming any Hassert and Hastert connection.

That apparently wasn’t enough as Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar reluctantly took to Facebook to announce that physical signage would be put in place to clear up any further confusion.


Local residents on Reddit reported seeing the sign in action on Tuesday.

The Sun spoke with Brent Hassert himself about the confusion and he seemed to at least have perspective on the issue.

“My little issue (with name confusion) is nothing compared to being a victim of what happened,” Hassert told the Sun. “It’s horrifying.”

 
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