Norman White, Donald Rankin, Cary Steinbuck and the Rogers Park Community Council for giving DevCorp North it's "Citizen of the Year" Award.
Raising 200 plus-property owners, property taxes earns "them" this honor. This tarnishes the name of Charlotte Goldberg.
Now DevCorp North needs to list "Citizen" on it's Mission Statement and tax returns?
Who is Charlotte Goldberg?
11 comments:
I wondered about this when I saw the RP2000, funny.
What is RP2000?
Evidently no citizen in Rogers Park did anything noteworthy last year, so a corporation was recognized as Citizen of the Year.
Great blog! But.... I bet you don't have many friends?
Yes, Craig, bow down and worship DevCorp North and you too can be in with the in crowd.
The Rogers Park Community Council betraying their fundamental misunderstanding of basic civics by giving a citizenship award to a corporation that runs a shopping mall is outrageous, but there's a much more severe betrayal in their annual report, distributed as their "Rogers Park 2000" newspaper, widely available around the neighborhood.
"SUPPORT NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES ... The Devon/Sheridan TIF ... RPCC supported the TIF ... RPCC also supported a TIF application by S&C Electric Company" (page 23).
The biggest private, taxable landowners in Rogers Park are:
1. Combined Development-Howard, L. L. C. (owners of Gateway Mall, including DevCorp North)
2. Loyola University of Chicago (LU owns extensive holdings of taxable as well as tax-exempt properties in our neighborhood)
3. S & C Electric (Ridge, Pratt to Devon)
And each has their own Tax Increment Financing district ! Each is dominated by a single, large corporate landowner. Their contribution to funding public services is frozen for 24 years (at least). Their increases in property taxes will be rebated back to them for their own projects. Meanwhile, somebody has to help the police and fire departments and schools and hospitals and parks meet their rising costs. Make no mistake about it, there's a war going on in Illinois, a war over who is to fund state and local government and schools, a war between home owners and corporations, and RPCC has taken sides. In supporting these TIFs, RPCC revealed themselves to be no friend to home owners in Rogers Park.
An explanation for RPCC support for property-tax payer subsidized corporate welfare may be found later in their annual report, "Management and Finances" (page 27). RPCC receives 52% of their funding from the City of Chicago. Like DevCorp North, RPCC knows the price to be paid for their funding: they are expected to support the Mayor and the Alderman's legislation, they are required to write and appear downtown and testify, introducing themselves as "community-based organizations" and speaking for us.
A further explanation for the Rogers Park "Community" Council's support for property-tax funded corporate welfare for S&C Electric may be found on their web site, which lists S&C Electric among their corporate sponsers:
http://www.rogerspark.org/rpcc_funders.htm
http://www.rogerspark.org/rpcc_funders.htm
A Neighborhood Initiative"SUPPORT NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES ... RPCC ... supported a TIF application by S&C Electric Company"-Donald Rankins, President, Rogers Park Community Council, 2004 Annual Report
The Tax Iincrement Financing program for S&C Electric was NOT a "NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE". The TIF for S&C Electric was an initiative of S&C Electric, with Alderman Moore and DevCorp North serving as paid consultants to the application and legislative processes.
S & C Electric to Citizens for Joe Moore
$2,500.00 on 1/28/2004
$2,500.00 on 7/31/2003
$2,500.00 on 1/23/2003
$2,500.00 on 5/23/2002
$2,500.00 on 1/31/2001
$2,500.00 on 3/3/2000
John R. Conrad (Chairman of the Board, S & C Electric), 505 N Lake Shore Drive, to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,000.00 on 11/10/1999
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign DisclosureRPCC's annual report makes it sound like the idea of corporate tax cuts came up at an RPCC brainstorming session. As if my neighbors and I wander around the neighborhood, saying, "Gosh, you know, property taxes in this neighborhood are just too darn low. I know! Let's expand our corporate welfare program, and let's fund it with our property taxes!"
That the President of RPCC would attempt to cast the tax cuts for their corporate sponsor as a "neighborhood initiative" demonstrates how they have embraced their paid assignment: claiming to speak for our community while being paid to stump for the Alderman's and their corporate sponsor's programs.
Rogers Park Community Council Annual Report 2003-2004
This year RPCC plans to pursue full citizenship for DevCorp North, right to vote, right to remain silent, right to trial by jury of peers, the works.
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