You would have thought this guy was Brad Pitt the way he dodged the camera lens. Like avoiding the Paparazzi, he was cat like, quick as a fox running in the middle of the street to get away. Ms. Kimmy Bares must have held drills and practices? This kid was that good at avoiding the camera.
Funny thing about the situation, all the while saying to me, "You're harassing me... Stop harassing me Craig!" Almost like a reading a telemarketers script. And he knew my name.
I asked him "who he was fliering for today"?
The Brad Pitt wanna-be yelled, " THE ALDERMAN, now stop harassing me Craig!"
At one point the camera shy superstar janitor lunged at me like Tommy Lee trying to scare me off, but quickly turned away and kept on script,"Stop harassing me Craig".Still it was very odd, he told me he was working for the Alderman, while wearing a DevCorp North janitors vest and passing out a fliers for a very political holiday party at 1409 West Morse on Saturday.
Wasn't this guy hired to sweep and clean up the sidewalks? Wasn't this guy hired to shovel snow?
No wonder the store owners have to do these chores themselves, DevCorp North is too busy promoting politicians.
21 comments:
That's incredibly brazen. Or doesn't DevCorp care about it's not-for-profit tax exempt status anymore...?
It's almost like they are daring us...
Craig - who is the official host of this party? I'm guessing it's not Joe...
BTW - can you post the flyer on this blog.
If Joe Moore is going to allow things like this to go on, we must work to get rid of Joe Moore!
There's that logo again, passing out political flyers.
DevCorp North is corrupt. DevCorp North is the property tax-subsidized, non-profit public charity extension of the ward organization.
I am glad I got out when I did.
I'm glad you did too. How is Da Nort West Side?
P.S.: I don't live on the Northwest Side. ( oK shoot me....just a playful hunch)
Your depiction of Roger's Park as a slum is downright demeaning and woefully incorrect.
steph_n_63
You just don't get it and that's why you moved. You don't get this blog either in my opinion.
The editorial message of this blog is not "head for the hills white folk!" That's already happened here a few times anyway.
The message is "this is a neighborhood worth fighting for".
You have TOTALLY missed the point.
steph_n_63
You lived here a long time. While you were here, did you notice the beautiful architecture? Did you enjoy walking to the lake on a quiet street? Did you get a sense of the caring community-oriented people that live here?
Or did you hide in your home/apartment and cower? I walk around here all the time with my harmless little dogs and I have never (I repeat) never been hassled. I've been annoyed yes-panhandled-yes- but I find the crowds and arrogance of Lakeview as well as the drunks more annoying. I find the congestion of Andersonville a bit intense too.
Yes, we have ejem "issues" but we also have something really special and maybe you just don't get it.
You find this blog funny? Well, so do many of us- but we don't think we're better than Rogers Park as you seem to because we are Rogers Park.
And for your information this neighborhood is coming up- so watch out! Everyone wants to live in Wicker Park and it is still grungy/edgy to a degree. Get real!
For your information, this neighborhood kicks ass despite its shortcomings.
Sorry to go off- but your attitude really bothers me!
RP is a wonderful neighborhood and while I have and will complain bitterly about crime and the poor political organization(s) here, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I am sorry that steph n 63 hasn't been here since 1995. It has changed quite a bit since then. The mid-90s were not particularly kind to RP and it had more ghetto like characteristics at that time. I have to say that there were moments around then that I thought we should move. But things have improved (hail to the yuppies, the brave souls who have stuck it out, and the developers).
In addition to the beach, which I just love to death, I also love the wonderful people we've met here, our neighbors who are simply fabulous (mostly -- if Mark is reading, then the mostly refers to you; your bizarre phone messages are not amusing!), and the ecclectic nature of the community. I love walking around the 'hood; I love that I can be downtown in 20 mins. and in Evanston in about 10 mins. I love that market forces are slowly changing the 'hood in spite of the politicos who have trashed the 'hood through neglect and wrong-headed policies over the decades. Jeff o and his ilk are holding on to their rental housing because they know it will be even more valuable in the years to come.
That said, RP's turnaround is not being helped by the likes of DevCorp and an alderman who is unable to get the police resources we need to really tidy things up. That will change though, too, as more yuppies move here and their tax-paying big mouths increasingly demand better. Politicians have a funny way of eventually paying attention to the tax payers. As the neighborhood base moves to move taxpaying types, it will be tough to ignore us.
DevCorp does suck, though. It has too little money to be really effective but enough money to waste, as is the case with most tax schemes. If I were paying into that SSA I'd be very very pissed that workers are spending time distributing fliers -- and it doesn't even matter what the fliers are about or who or if a politician is involved. The SSA is about special services to a business district which means cleaning, snow removal, etc., not party or event notification. Those using SSA workers to put up these fliers ought to be ashamed for wasting taxpayer money in such a way. Everyone screams about government not having enough money (this is the reason we don't have more police resources in RP by Alderman Moore's own words as noted on 24/7 Howard watchers blog), or bad spending policy, we need to raise taxes, etc. but it seems that no one screams about the regular, persistent, and pernicious waste that takes place every day. A dollar here, a dollar there, and pretty soon you've pissed away billions, if not trillions. Personally, I think all SSAs are a waste and the return on investment is poor, at best, but an SSA for an area that has "creepy" businesses (words of an attendee at the Morse streetscape meeting, not mine), seems height of absurdity. Even if the SSA there were really really well run methinks the businesses on Morse would still not be bringing in the law-abiding sorts. . .
I know the readership is low Charlie, but you have a website of your own for advertising.
Grow up......
Just The Fact, Maam posted...
> ... a $5.50 an hour Earnfare worker ...
Is this a fact, or are you speculating again? Do you know what DevCopr North's Special Service Area employees are making? Did you know the minimum wage here in Illinois is $6.50/hour?
Do you know if the particular worker Craig photographed was making any money at all? Do you know if he is working off the value of his food stamps, and his dependent's food stamps?
Just The Fact, Maam posted...
> ... a big crime drop ...
Was there a drop in homicides?
Was there a drop in sexual assaults?
Just The Fact, Maam posted...
> ... the negative effect of this blog ...
Step 1 is admitting you have a problem. You and your pals have had 14 years to try your plan of looking the other way.
> ... all the negative stuff here about how rotten Morse is and Rogers Park and Joe Moore and DevCorp North and RPCC and Bares ...
Don't you mean "untrue stuff?" Have you switched tactics from being a champion of Truth to being a fountain of happy news?
Paradise, I agree with you that in terms of housing stock, the beach and the trees, RP has it all over most neighborhoods in Chicago. (I've met some cool people up here too, but not more so that any other place I've lived in - I think that sort of talk is part of the RP self-mythologizing that I find so irritating...)
So why does RP remain in the predicament it's in? That's the question, and while I think it's nice to boost the new businesses that have come in, like Suron and the irish bar, I still feel a bit peeved that a neighborhood as potentially nice as this one has to treat the opening of one (I admit, very nice) irish bar as a major event and improvement in the community. I'm sure that some of you will see this as a negative attitude, but the fact that we've been reduced to watching every retail business that opens here with a certain trepidation, hoping for something that is, at least, not awful...it's demoralizing. I agree that WP/Bucktown are over-rated in many ways, but at least they have had some decent investment in their retail and services sector. Not to be faux naive, but why there and not here?
As far as the flyering goes, not to put too fine a point on it, but isn't it the case that DevCorp flyering for ANY politician or overtly political event is a violation of both the letter and the spirit of their 501c3 status?
Any part of the statute you can point to that says otherwise will be much appreciated...
Dear I HEART -
> "Kim and David, Kevin, Katy and Michael and the whole gang have a VERY keen interest in the status quo"
As a "newbie" I would sure like to know exactly what this version of the status quo consists of (unless you are too worried that some elderly stray Weatherman might firebomb your house for talking about it...)
I liked the line about Joe's "inner-dictator" being aroused through proximity to the powers that be. Keep that comic relief coming...
DevCorp North is under contract with the City of Chicago to offer services to our neighborhood through their contract as the sole service provider for the Morse Special Servie Area. Is flyering one of the services?
How does one go about requesting flyering services from DevCorp North?
Does DevCorp North have a written policy in this area?
Would DevCorp North flyer for the Broken Heart Tree Decorating Contest?
Or the Illinois Committee for Honest Government?
I haven't posted on here in awhile...
I agree that if this is your main source of news in RP, then it does look bad. Even if you rely on what you read in the papers, the news often in not on the bright side.
However, most news that catches people's attention is bad news. Many people I know who do not live near Chicago, or come here ofen, think the entire city is a slum run by the mob/mayor.
What they don't know are all the positive things this city and it's people have to offer.
I myself have loved living in my RP condo for the last 2 years. I am not nearly homeless, poor, yuppie, or hippie. I live on a great block, full of very nice people.
I eat at many of the restuarants in RP, feel safe walking my dog at any hour and walking to the el at Morse.
Is there crime here, yes. There is also crime in all neighborhoods of any city. Is it enough to scare me away, no.
That being said, in my opinion, the purpose of this blog is to point out what is not right with the neighboorhood. This is in hopes that enough attention will help fix these problems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.
This blog also is a public forum for people to share their oppinions. And...with any blog, people often defend those opinions vry strongly.
Ok, I've rambled enough. In conclusion, RP is not all that bad. I like it.
Fagus posted:
>I am a Democratic Party official.
>I lead the Democratic Party in the 49th Ward and support good progressive Democratic officials.
Apparently Fagus' personal charisma does not extend to shagging out a one of his loyal followers once the temperatures dip into the teens.
Post a Comment