1) What metal is the major component of the nickel coin?
2) In what neighborhood is the Chicago Park District park, "Rogers Park." located?
3) What color is green plaster?
4) Every year the Lincoln Square neighborhood holds a "Maifest." In what month in 2010 did they hold that festival?
5) You are traveling through the Panama Canal from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Do you end up further east or further west than when you entered the canal?
6) Which avenue is further west in Chicago, Western or Central?
7) You are in Detroit. You need to get to Canada as quickly as possible. Do you head north or south?
It's been a big day for IVI-IPO. More to come from state chair, Bob Bartell in coming days...
Meter deal illegal, suit asks for court to declare contract void
CHICAGO - The Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization and board member Aviva Patt, represented by atty. Clint Krislov, filed suit in Cook County Court Wednesday in an attempt to overturn the city's privatization of parking meters.
Last year, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, after bum-rushing the City Council to fill a supposed multi-hundred million dollar gap in the city budget, sold the city parking meters for, potentially, a billion dollars less than their worth. At the time he claimed that there was no other way for us to come up with that money. This year he is threatening lay-offs and/or furlough days for hundreds of city employees because he said there was no other way to close the city's fiscal gap.
At a meeting tonight sponsored by IVI-IPO (Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization), Cook County Clerk David Orr, Alderman Scott Waguespack and Chicago Reader reporter Ben Joravsky will reveal over 500 million dollars of city tax money hidden away in slush funds around the city, money that could easily close those gaps.
Surprised that you haven't heard anything about this? The answer is you probably have, but haven't understood what Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs) are and how they are abused. By David Orr's account last year, there's over 550 million dollars of city tax money sitting in these accounts that are administered in the least transparent way that you can imagine. Tonight's meeting gives you the opportunity to find out about an abuse that costs you and me a fortune, and creates headaches like the parking meter deal, and then ask these three experts what can be done about it.
Date:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time:
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location:
Logan Square Public Library
Street:
3030 W. Fullerton
City/Town:
Chicago, IL
If you are not able to make it, there are people who are expected to be posting from the event. Check IVI-IPO's facebook page for more info. Hope to see you there.
2-45-155 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Sunshine Ordinance. The following TlF-related documents for each active TIF district shall be made publicly available on the City of Chicago, Department of Community Development website:
1. The ordinances establishing each TIF district, including all attachments, and any amendments thereto; 2. The ordinances authorizing each TIF redevelopment agreement, including any attachments, any amendments thereto and accompanying Economic Disclosure Statements; 3. Written staff reports presented to the Community Development Commission related to TIF-funded projects; 4. TIF overviews prepared by the Department of Community Development and annual reports prepared pursuant to 651LCS 5111-74.4-5(d); 5. City-issued Certificates of Completion and any required annual employment certifications prepared pursuant to TIF redevelopment agreements.
All such ordinances as described in (1) and (2) above shall be made available on the City of Chicago, Department of Community Development website within seven business days of their passage and publication in the Journal ofthe Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago. All such documents as described in (3), (4) and (5) above shall be made available on the City of Chicago, Department of Community Development website within fourteen business days of their completion in final form.
Da Mare must be thrilled. I think he loves his TIFs more than he loves his Home Rule.
Residents of the Chicago region have begun mopping up from the largest one-day rainfall recorded since records have been kept and you probably have lots of questions about it.
I'm a member of the nine-member elected board of commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago ("District" or "MWRD"), the agency charged with wastewater treatment and stormwater management for Cook County. By Saturday morning, September 13, 2008, rains that had begun on Friday and contued through the night had begun to flood basements, fill detention ponds and spill into streets and yards.
Folks, this was one huge storm. By midday on Sunday, September 14, 2008, the rain gauges on the north side of the District's basin had recorded 7.26 inches of rain, with more still falling. Hanover Park recorded 9.45 inches at that time. A heavy one-day rain storm for us is 3 to 4 inches. The Chicago region gets 35-36 inches of rain a year on average. So we got 20 percent of our annual total in about just 30 hours!
i don't really have much to say. the gay & lesbian pride parade is always a blast. the crowd is as fun to watch as the parade itself. the large breaks in the parade made the party atmosphere in the crowd much more intense.
yesterday, dorothy brown (clerk of the circuit court of cook county) held a GOTV rally for all the democratic candidates in cook county at the teamsters auditorium in chicago. mrs bored got a letter from the friends of dorothy brown (because she's on the ballot as a delegate for bill richardson), although an announcement of the rally is prominantly featured on her website.
after the rally, i had the opportunity to talk to dorothy, about democratic prospects in the fall, bush's reckless invasion of iraq and the candidates that she's endorsed. actually, i just started. dorothy pretty much took it from there.
Here is a summary of an analysis of the October 27 United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) regional Out of Iraq mobilization, entitled, "Do we Still Want to March?" The main question is whether street actions are the way to turn mainstream antiwar sentiment into visible antiwar action.
My personal philosophy would encourage it. If half of life is showing up, the other half is endurance. We should relentlessly mobilize every few months and work on ways to draw more mainstream people each time. If I--(hypothetically) known to my neighbors as a smart, ordinary, practical person--believe this is time well spent, it may well have an impact in the neighborhood.
So I find the following reported conflict disturbing:
Chicago/Mid-West. They estimate about 10-12,000 people -- strong regional mobilization in WI, 50-60 buses from outside Chicago and 3 peace trains. Work throughout the region, at least 3,000 people from out of town. The Chicago turnout was good in that the character was changed....not just the lefties, successful in that it was a very diverse march...more labor participation and larger African-American participation than before. The antiwar wing of the state's political establishment, every level of government supported the demo. Had 2 rallies, 2nd one at federal plaza and since that was filled and overflowing they could estimate their numbers. Controversy: hard battle throughout the process with the far left -- they tried to organize a boycott, tried to get people to pull away and to dis-endorse. They were furious that Obama and Durbin (the 2 senators from IL) and mayor of Chicago were invited. There was never an expectation that they would appear, but several partners in the coalition felt it was important to make the gesture...they did not show up, but other electoral campaigns did sign up and participated in the day. Ron Paul had an airplane fly over the demo with an antiwar demo. Future - new highwater mark, but the antiwar majority is still not ready to march. We need to find other forms for people to participate...intervene in the presidential campaign - make the war the main issue to address, voter registration efforts, train people to get involved, put initiatives on the ballot, etc. Not turned off to mass actions (DNC and RNC and others)....but they also understand the need to work in the left electoral arenas. Positive experience with World Can't Wait and ANSWER folks. [Emphasis added.]
Perspective is lacking. This seems more of an appropriate reaction to, say, an invitation extended to Dick Cheney; and how do you not invite the mayor of the city whose streets you're clogging? What a bit of unfortunate zealotry.
in chicago, there are really two classes of alderman: alderman who are merely alderman and alderman who control their wards (and play a role in chicago and cook county politics). those who fall in the latter, more powerful category, serve as their ward committeeman.
being the democratic (or republican or, now, green party) committeeman is a thankless task. it's an unpaid position, with substantial expectations, and probably more (in my mind, useless) meetings than you can imagine. but there's also a lot of power in the position -- although less than there used to be under patronage regimes. committeeman have the power to slate candidates in their wards, they fill partisan positions inside the polls, they are the central organizing point for regular party activists in their wards, and they get to fill elected positions that become vacant before their terms end. as we all know, they also can fill empty positions on their party's ballot if no one runs or they resign their place on the ballot. they get a weighted vote in cook county democratic party decisions (determined by the partisan turnout in the last primary in comparison to the county partisan vote).
on february 5th, 2008, wards in chicago will be electing ward committeemen for their four year terms. township committeemen (outside of chicago) elected their's in march, 2006.
IMO the numbers for yesterday's organized counter-demonstration was accurate at 20.
About 45 rode a schoolbus from DeKalb. On the bus we formed "affinity groups," a buddy system of 3-6 members each so nobody could disappear without some others knowing and taking action. Then we were each given the 1968 version of the "Know Your Rights" pamphlet in case we got questioned, searched &/or arrested.
A bit after 2:30 p.m. we found ourselves in the midst of a very large march from Union Park to Federal Plaza. Numbers matter, I thought, only so far as they put us closer to the moment of "yopp."
Yes, you heard that right, a Chicago DK Meetup tomorrow night!
For those of you who missed YearlyKos, this is YOUR opportunity to come out and meet some of your fellow Chicago Kossacks. It's YOUR opportunity to come out and meet a great candidate for the Illinois State House. And, if you've never met any fellow Kossacks, well, YOU need to come out and meet up! Whether you post diaries, or comment, or lurk, we'd love to see you there!
Elections in Chicago that aren't already a done deal long before the first ballot is cast are pretty rare, which is why when someone retires, leaving an open seat, it is pretty big news. Hence this diary on the retirement of Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine. Devine has been making headlines lately for his aggressive efforts to force Todd Stroger to raise the pay of prosecutors. And I have always appreciated his contribution to our trifecta of Chicago politicians with funny "dick" names: Dick Devine, Dick Phalen (president of the Cook County Board before John Stroger) and Dick Daley.
Democratic Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine won't seek a fourth term next year, deciding instead to cash out in the private sector before retirement. [...]
A longtime friend of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Devine served as first assistant state's attorney when Daley held that office. Devine claimed it for his own in 1996 when he upset Republican Jack O'Malley, who is now a state appellate judge living in McHenry County. [...] His office put out a release noting Devine prosecuted 140 police officers during his tenure. The release did not mention Devine was running the office as Daley's top aide in the 1980s when then-Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge was torturing crime suspects, most of them black, and some of whom ended up on death row for crimes they didn't commit. [...]
Potential Democratic candidates for the Feb. 5 primary include county Sheriff Tom Dart, several county board members, and the already announced Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins. On the Republican side, County Commissioner Tony Peraica plans to jump in the race next week. Peraica lost to Stroger for county board chairman last November.
On July 31, 2007, The Institute for Policy Studies, (IPS), held a press conference, in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. The Cities for Peace is a project of the IPS. The session dealt with the issue of ending the war in Iraq. John Cavanagh, the Director of the IPS chaired the event. Speakers from a number of cities, towns and states involved were heard on the matter and are identified in the video. After the news conference, a number of the activists marched over to the White House, led by Mr. Cavanagh and Chicago City Alderman, Joe Moore. At the White House, Alderman Moore attempted to present over 300 Resolutions, adopted by cities, towns and states across the country, which demanded an end to the war in Iraq, to an official at a White House gate on Pennsylvania Ave. The request was denied by a White House functionary on dubious security grounds.
Their next stop was Congress. If I can't find any news/links for that we'll just have to wait until I've spoken with our DeKalb activist. She gets off the bus tomorrow.
Click the link above to get to the video. Moore appears at about the 7-minute and 43-minute marks; the march to the White House begins 34 minutes in.
(I'm bumping this story back up because the discussion has moved on to the meeting Saturday where Carol Ronen was appointed Committeeman. If you were there, please weigh in with your experience of that morning's events. - promoted by Jim in Chicago)
I recently received a letter (see letter below the fold) from long-time committeeman Mike Volini informing me that he would be stepping down from his position.
As you can imagine there are a lot of rumors running around and a lot of talk has been happening. Much of what I know was presented at last weeks Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA meeting, and also from some other conversations and a few email lists.
Most of the talk is about who will replace Mike Volini and what the process will be. Ward committeeman are elected every four years during the presidential primary, that much I know for sure. When a committeeman steps down prior to election, my current understanding is that the ward's precinct captains vote on who the committeeman will be. Their choice is then approved (confirmed) by either the county or state party, but I am not sure on that point. I've heard the process is outlined in the IL Democratic Party By-Laws and/or the Cook Co. Democratic Party By-Laws, but I've not been able to find those documents. So I imagine there will be a meeting of some sorts. Will it be open to the public? Will there be candidates? State Rep Gregg Harris was chosen recently to replace Larry McKeon in a similar situation, that meeting was open, the candidates spoke, the meeting went on for a good long time before the decision was presented. I guess I am hoping for something similar to that.
Carol Ronen, who is the wards State Senator, State Central Committeeman and DNC Member apparenly has her eye on being Ward Committeeman. Personally, while Carol has taken the lead on a number of progressive issues, for which I am greatly appreciative and supportive, there are some issues that she's aligned herself with that I would normally associate with your typical machine Democrat. And ultimately I think we need more voices in the party rather than less.
During the meeting, Sandra Verthein, who leads the Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA Group expressed interest in being committeeman. Sandra is an organizer extra-ordinaire! Read this post We are making a difference from the DFA-Link website for just a small piece of what our group is accomplishing on the Democratic frontlines. I know Sandra, so I can be accused of being biased, but no one can deny she has a lot of energy, passion and vision. I think she could really activate the 48th Ward Dems in a really positive way. Sandra also asked that we send letters to our local elected leaders to inform them of her interest and qualifications.
I am not sure if anyone else has expressed interest in the position.
Just came across a recent press release from the Chicago Board of Elections, it's available on their home page:
http://www.chicagoelections.com/index.htm
Early Voting turnouts for the twelve Chicago wards with aldermanic run-offs have more than doubled the rate of the municipal elections in February, the Chicago Election Board announced Monday.
“Through Sunday, Early Voting had drawn 5,324 voters or 443 per ward, compared to 214 per ward at this point in February and 249 per ward at this point last fall,” said Chicago Election Board Chairman Langdon D. Neal. “The numbers point to: (1) more voter interest and activity; (2) campaigns rallying around this system; and, (3) Early Voting perhaps reducing the use of absentee voting.”
The press release lists the number of early votes for each of the wards with elections.
NISGUA is going to be participating in the upcoming Latin American Solidarity Coalition conference in Chicago (April 13-15). We'll be doing a workshop with Emilio Tojin, who's a leader of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation that has been pursuing the genocide case against Rios Montt in the Guatemalan legal system. It'll actually be the start of Emilio's U.S. speaking tour - you can read about him here.
