2006 Rogers Park Citizen of the Year
Resident and Business Leader
"I believe and I would like to persuade you that we need Don Gordon to represent the 49th ward in City Council as our Alderman. I am going to vote for Don and I want you to vote for him too. Voting for Don Gordon for Alderman is the fastest way we can improve Rogers Park right now, and this opportunity only comes around twice a decade. Please join me and let's make a much needed change in the way our ward is managed.
I am voting for Don because he has the right perspective on community service.
I believe Don sees the Alderman's position as one that will allow him to more broadly serve his neighbors and community. He is honest, smart, hard-working, and determined. Don has been a good neighbor and friend to me and my family for the 15 years we've lived next door to him. Don went into this race in part because of friends and neighbors who urged him to do so because we all were profoundly disappointed in the way our ward has been run for many years. I was one of the people asking him to do it. We need people of Don's character and capabilities to help lead Rogers Park to achieve its inherent promise and realize far more of its inherent potential.
I am voting for Don Gordon because Don understands the tremendous importance of the lake and the beaches to Rogers Park and the whole 49th ward.
This amenity is the truly unique aspect of this community. It is the foundation upon which many of our community institutions were built, both physically and organizationally. Our future with a well-managed lakefront is very bright. It can bring the community together as it used to in our too-easily-forgotten past. On the other hand, if we allow our future to include a continually-neglected and under-served lakefront, then our future will include more struggles for a cohesive community identity and spirit.
Don tried a few years ago to make some of the needed changes when he began the 49th Ward Beaches and Parks Committee and agreed to serve as its Chairman. But, Mr. Moore ignored these issues and our single most defining amenity. He did not stand up with us and fight for rejection of the Loyola marina. Representative Harry Osterman did. Mr. Moore did not. I remember that meeting clearly as I am sure many of you who were there that night also remember. Mr. Moore also allowed the Leone Junior Lifeguard program to be eviscerated without fighting to protect it. This program gave a strong sense of identity to multiple generations of people who spent their summers on the beach learning to be lifeguards. Mr. Moore has displayed apathy for the importance of this and seemingly all other aspects of the impact of the lake on the tapestry of who we are as a neighborhood.
We need a representative in City Council who will explain the error of the idea of destroying Chicago's only street-end beaches. We need a representative who is more concerned about the long-term benefits to today's and tomorrow's 49th ward residents than his own political career enhancement goals. We need someone who has shown that he comprehends both the duty we have to ourselves and our grandchildren. We need someone who understands this community, learned from decades of living here and working to improve it.
Please join me in voting for Don Gordon for Alderman."
21 comments:
Why do I call this a huge endorsement? A little bit of behind the scenes about Dan besides his dramatic Jarvis Square turn-around.
Dan has taken a few bad rental properties over in the last two years with his LAMs management company and cleaned them up 200%.
All the while, keeping them affordable for renters to rent.
Dan and I might not see eye to eye on some crime prevention measures, but there's no mistake, Dan Sullivan is doing the job of preserving our neighborhood the right way.
Way to go Dan for risking potential business hassles in pursuit of new leadership.
Thank you Mr. Sullivan.
Dan Sullivan is an example of what a landlord and developer should be and he is one of the people who had done the most to improve the look and tone of this area and make it into a place most people can imagine living.
Notice he worked with his own money at risk, without a Chamber of Commerce, without TIF or SSA money, and without federal or state money. Maybe part of his success is that he didn't bog himself down with all that, but I prefer to think that here was a guy who already knew what it takes to be successful, who has a vision of what the neighborhood could be and is working with clarity and purpose to make the vision a reality.
What is Joe going to do? Buy his coffee in Evanston?
Knock, knock, this is the health department at the door.
DRAFT DAN!
Dan Sullivan for Alderman!
Write in Dan!
Dan and Don, a great team.
I'm still undecided between Don or Chris.
Retaliation is one of Joe's favorite pastimes.
Did someone mention abuse of power?
http://www.timflentye-not.com/
Craigsfriend - and your point is?
Shocking! A neighbor endorses a neighbor!
And northcoast wrote:
"Notice he worked with his own money at risk, without a Chamber of Commerce..."
looks like devcorp begs to differ:
"The (Gruppo di Amici) owners say the statistics provided at the recent DevCorp North presentation on small business opportunities put what they knew intuitively into real numbers: Rogers Park offers small business owners a great opportunity.
LAMS Real Estate was one of several
property owners/managers who spoke at the presentation and the rest is history. “We met Dan (Sullivan) at the presentation and he's been great to work with,” says Lori. “He has integrity, is
committed to the neighborhood and is ethical. DevCorp North has been incredibly helpful and supportive, especially with our façade
rebate application.”
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, devcorp sucks they don't do squat around here.
rpnayboor -
Isn't Devcorp a 501c3? (I looked all over their site for this and even did a ctl+F but nothing - strange.) If so, how can they be a chamber of commerce? I guess if you believe crappy spin on their role they can be both and neither at the same time and that's just fine.
What they really are is a government agency.
And the numbers the Gruppo people needed for their business plan are available through many sources. I'm pretty sure Devcorp buys these demographics...there are many sources for this info, some better, some worse. Don't get all impressed that they did this research themselves because I'd bet hard cash they didn't. No real reason they should - better they let the experts do that. They should use a decent source like Claritas, but probably don't. Tried to check this just now but their website is such an unholy mess it took forever to find. Finally did, but it's just the same old numbers that have been up forever. Sources not cited. Who knows if these numbers were ever any good.
At any rate, I truly doubt the Gruppo people needed Devcorp to do either this basic research or help them file paperwork. Yes, I guess Devcorp did a tiny bit of squat in this case, for people competent enough to do it themselves. A 7 person staff subsidized mainly with tax dollars to help competent entrepreneurs run basic numbers and file some forms. Big Whoop.
To me, it's all about being able to drop the name and grab the credit off of one of the few businesses that has any visibility and that people truly seem to like. But not thanks to Devcorps' expertise, of that I'm certain.
The funniest part is you quote Devcorps' own account of their performance. Clearly, you don't work in marketing. It's a shame the people at Devcorp don't either.
> Isn't Devcorp a 501c3?
yes
GuideStar
> how can they be a chamber of commerce?
they're not
> What they really are is a government agency.
correct
DevCorp North Revenue
More on DevCorp NOrth
DevCorp North owns Gateway Mall
I appreciate the kind words some have written here about the efforts we are making to improve Rogers Park - truly a great place to live and one worthy of taking risks to improve.
LAMS Real Estate Management has managed 7 buildings in Rogers Park for different ownership groups. The owners of four of those buildings have chosen to replace LAMS with a different management company at the beginning of March. The remaining 3 buildings we will continue to manage - all on Jarvis Square.
The timing, the places and the opportunities to make a difference in Rogers Park may change for LAMS and for me personally, but we will continue to contribute our best efforts to make Rogers Park a place we can all be ever more proud to call our home.
One door closes and another door opens. Or in this case, maybe it is 4 doors closing :(
Please come out and enjoy Charmers Cafe, The Dagel and Beli Shop, Poitin Stil, Gruppo di Amici, TASTE - the soon-to-open (we hope) fine wine shop, Rogers Bark, Lumbar Lounge, the side project theater and all the other ventures at Jarvis Square.
They are there for you!
Dan
What a load of crap. The guy's a jerk! Craig himself exposed Dan Sullivan as a slumlord just over a year ago:
http://morsehellhole.blogspot.com/2005/12/lams-joins-boarded-up-door-method-of.html
Dan joins such other notables as RPCC's Citizen of the Years Past: DevCorp North, Al Goldberg and Loyola University!
Does this reversal mean you're finally throwing your endorsement behind Don?
Craig you busted Sullivan as a slum lord now your parading him around for Gordon nice you could work for the Washington TImes!|
Roxy
I rarely post here unless I feel it’s necessary. I always swear this will be the last time I post on this website. Today is no exception.
coolerman - You don't know what you are talking about.
I have rented from Dan for over three years now. When he took over 1344 W. Lunt it was an absolute mess. Wiring problems, plumbing problems, bad wiring -- you name it. He has done a lot to turn that building around. I now rent from him on Jarvis Square and I've NEVER had a problem with him as a landlord. He's responsive and works extremely hard to manage these buildings as well as the new businesses. He's one of the few people I see with A POSITIVE ATTITUDE working on his own with little help from the current powers that be in the neighborhood.
Personally, I'm voting for James Ginderske and my landlord isn't going to sway me on that. He’s got the best ideas and I think works the hardest on Lakefront Issues, Health Care and everything else. He hasn’t proposed any stunningly bad “wtf” legislation like Adams on Condo Freezes or Gordon’s proposal after the Ramirez fire. I'm digressing though...
All I can say is that I lived in 1344 W. Lunt building for about 1.5 years. I moved in when it was at its worst, and Sullivan did a lot to turn it around. When we went to the Alderman about the drug dealers, goonings and gang problems, Joe Moore promised everyone the sky, made a list, and did absolutely nothing to fix the problems on Lunt. The quiet, obese guy taking notes that we call our committeeman never opened his mouth but blogged about what a great meeting and wonderful job they were doing to fix the problems. He then deleted all the angry comments from neighbors complaining that it wasn’t true.
In fact, things across the street actually got worse because when the Alderman didn't do the things he said, the building owners didn't take him seriously anymore.
Sullivan fixed things on his own at tremendous cost because he believed it would be worth it when the building -- and neighborhood -- turned around.
I can not think of one concrete thing that Joe Moore did to address the situation on Lunt Ave. When I asked my neighbors about this after a meeting at his office (I was new to Rogers Park), I was told that "Joe Moore isn't a nuts and bolts guy." Indeed.
I think Moore is a likable guy. I stood up for him at one point when a mass email went out and he was wrongly accused of something regarding the lakefront. I don’t remember what that was, specifically, but I don’t regret standing up for him when he is unfairly maligned (which by Toni, Craig, et al. is quite frequently).
If we had more property owners like Sullivan it would make more of a difference than whoever gets voted-in as alderman. Adams plan to freeze condo conversions for one entire year while he things of feasible plan and Gordon’s bizarre “legislation” that will have the Family Services Department hunting down landlords every time a fuse blows in an apartment building are not only stunningly bad ideas that are impossible to impliment, they aren’t going to help. Property owners like Sullivan are.
Dan K.
How can we as a community help spread this success like Jarvis Square to other parts of RP and beyond? Jarvis square is just another example of things being done right. An Affordable, Honorable and Diverse rental community.
If someone can do a better job than the dynamic duo Dan and Don I would really like to see it done on Morse Ave.
Margot Hackett said...
"At the SSA meeting last month, Devcorp rep Renee Camaro openly admitted that their only role with Gruppo Di Amici was assisting them in locating available property."
Assisting businesses in finding available property IS DevCorp's job! How dumb are you? You just acknowledged that DevCorp did their job! You can't do that here on the Hellhole!
A good real estate agent could have done the same thing- assisting a business in finding a location-without soaking the taxpayers for it.
DevCorp provides very minimal assistance and service in return for large subsidies.
You could also say the same for most Chambers of Commerce. I have known many small business owners in this city, especially Lakeview, where I lived for 10 years. The East Lakeview Chamber is considered to be among the better Chambers, yet almost down to the last man or woman, virtually every Lakeview merchant I ever talked to regarded the Chamber as useless and parasitical. My boss feels the same way about the one in Uptown, and dropped his membership, feeling that there were better uses for the membership free and yearly award dinner fee, and feeling he surely had better uses for his time than to attend award dinners.
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