Alderman Moore, in just the past 4 years you have raised $500,000 to fund your re-election campaign. In our interview on Feb. 19 with Carol Marin on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight show I said that the “culture of corruption” is alive and well in the 49th ward. Nearly half of your political contributions – $250,000 – come from developers and the real estate industry. With them calling the shots, it’s no surprise that affordable apartments in Rogers Park are disappearing, and slumlords are often given a free pass.
At first you denied taking $500,000. When Ms. Marin confirmed the number you squirmed then tried a different tactic. Now you want us to believe that you give the money to community groups!
Let’s be honest – you use campaign contributions to stay in office. Your donation figures are public, and available online.
You claim to be an “Independent” and a “Progressive” alderman because you stand up to the mayor. However, in an earlier interview for CAN TV you said you vote with the mayor 95% of the time! The fact is that standing up to the mayor is not as important as standing up for our community. The only thing independent and progressive about you is that you’re independent of our voters and progressively padding your campaign coffers. Instead of delivering favors for special interests, you should be delivering services to everyone.
You are a “bought and sold” alderman. Let’s be very clear about this so voters can make an informed decision on Election Day. You pay little to no attention to the real day-to-day issues that face our community. You run a poor ward service office and ignore the residents and businesses of this ward until election season starts. Your $500,000 buys you a flood of mailers and public relations, but all the gold in Fort Knox isn’t going to buy you another election. We’re wise to you, and we won’t be fooled again!
On February 27, the voters of the 49th ward will have a real Independent and Progressive choice - someone who really cares about his community and understands that elected office is about public service. It is not a career path paved with political dollars. I pledge to be a full-time-and-a-half “beat” alderman, visible and accessible at all times.
I have a real platform of open and transparent government and I will deliver in my first 100 days in office. And most importantly I have pledged to accept no campaign contributions from anyone as long as I’m alderman. With no financial conflicts of interest, I’ll be accountable to 49th Ward voters.
You see Alderman Moore, I believe that one should be elected on the basis of whether you’ve done your job and served the people who elect you, not the special interests who have paid for you. This Tuesday, I am confident the voters of the 49th ward will deliver that same message.
Don Gordon
Citizens To Elect Don Gordon 49th Ward Alderman
1600 W. Morse Ave. - 773.262-9473
27 comments:
Roxy:
Well-funded? How does well-funded happen if a candidate is not getting developer dollars? Do they have to be personally wealthy?
The fact is that DG did not "whine" about JM's war chest. Alderman Moore LIED about his war chest on TV. He LIED about the way he got the money and the way he spent it, all for the sake of making himself look better and sidestepping an obviously embarrasing state of affairs. Obvious, I say, because he LIED about it.
A real candidate doesn't need money. A real candidate stands for principles; he knocks on doors and talks to the community; he has a plan to solve the community's problems. A real candidate gets major endorsements.
However, in your world, a real candidate amasses a fortune through a slick process of quid pro quo - zoning changes for greenbacks.
Don Gordon seems to be for real. Alderman Moore will have is hands full on Tuesday.
Peter,
Roxy is banned. Any comments left will be deleted as soon as I see them. The same goes for Jim's same-ole, same-ole broken record internet team.
If Jim wants to respond, he can send it himself.
there is not an appropiate blog story to post this next comment, but i'm just going to say it anyway. hugh is an idiot who should just stay in the 50th ward where he belongs..his monolouges are tiring..
Many years ago, the late Richard J. daley said, "Good government is good politics." He was right.
When people are elected to public office, they can choose to follow the motto of Richard J. Daley and work their butts off on behalf of the electorate, or they can make deals for campaign contributions and promote gimmick after gimmick to stay in office.
The current 49th Ward Alderman chose the second option a long time ago, unable to realize the fact that in time, voters will usually wise up to such a candidate. Instead, Joe Moore will have to learn his lesson the hard way come Tuesday.
I agree that JoeM sat on tv and lied without even blushing. A true talent, that is.
But for Gordon to say that he'll accept Developer money now, but not next time? That's pretty ridiculous, laughable actually.
No matter how you try to polish this turd, it still stinks.
What I think is really amusing is that Gordon says he won't raise any money once elected AND he will staff the ward office with evening and weekend hours every week AND add all kinds of technology to the ward office. Clueless Don forgets that some of the current positions in Moore's office are paid for with his political money.
How will Don accomplish these feats with less staff and no additional money? He must have studied Voodoo Economics!
Hugh, I was wondering about who you're voting for in the 50th. That's where I live and I think you do to. You can answer here or get my e-mail from Craig.
I really like Don Gordon's positive message, and his strict avoidance of mudslinging. What could be more uplifting than this?
We've already got an alderman like Don Gordon. His name is Joe Moore.
It seems like all the Ginderske people do is tear down Don Gordon. Those of us who support Don (and there are many) must all be idiots or deluded in your book right?
Maybe we just see things differently. No candidate will be perfect. You can point to the fact that Ginderske is not taking any contributions and say he's "pure as the driven snow," but perhaps some of us see this approach as unrealistic. I'm honestly not sure taking no contributions is the way to go.
I suspect that Mary Ann Smith takes them and people seem happy in her ward. The issue is what is done with them and how much sway they carry. If Joe truly used $100K of them for the community, that would mitigate things, but he doesn't.
Things are not so black and white as you make them out to be in my opinion. I don't take Don's stance as BS at all. I think he really means to do this. You guys just can't see anything good in Gordon and that my friends is your problem.
Many of us don't see it that way. Perhaps even a majority- we shall see come Feb. 27th!
Don Gordon has a much higher level of commitment to this area than Joe Moore ever has, in that Don is a 25-year resident who lives most of his life in the community.
Even though Moore nominally lives here, he spends most of his time elsewhere. I have always had the feeling that he cares more about Evanston, his home town, than RP, and sees his job only as a stepping stone to greater things.
Most of all, he cares more about his associations with uber-rich socialites and entertainment celebs, like the Kohl's heiress ($46K to his coffers), Loretta Swit,and Paul & Heather McCartney than he does for his constituents.
Let's send Joe to the next leg in his career, and vote him out this coming Tuesday.
Do you really think Joe has greater ambitions? He's been alderman for 16 years. What has he been waiting for? Unless you are dedicated to the pancake dinner lifestyle, I don't think anyone with grand ambitions would have the patience to stick that out for 16 years. Despite his national attention grabs.
I for one, gave money to DG's campaign committee. I have no agenda other than to give him a fighting chance at beating the incumbent. And I think it's fine and honorable to limit campaign contributions from drug dealers and/or developers (not the same, mind you) but to rule out all future campaign funding is a bit naive. Don may be the best one term alderman rogers park ever had...
> ... contributions ... I suspect that Mary Ann Smith takes them and people seem happy in her ward.
I've compared & contrasted Moore and some of his colleagues in terms of campaign finance. Moore is not quite the worst in terms of being on the take from developers. Burke, chair of Finance, has more cash than Mayor Daley. Banks, chair of Zoning, is scary. MAS takes contributions from developers, but not anything like the scale of Moore's operation. As far as her people being happy, every alderman has fans and detractors.
no one listen to hugh.
I thought I read somewhere online that Moore came in 6th in the top 20 list of Alderman accepting donations from developers/real estate- that's pretty high up there.
Don't developers build all the things you guys want? Nice places to eat and shop, coffee shops, schools, housing are all build by developers. You accuse your Alderman of being tight with the very people you need to achive your goals.
Captain
I have a serious problem believing someone who whores himself shamelessly and then says ...But in the future i won't. What?
So today Don Gordon will happily accept money from any developer who is willing to donate but once elected he will shun all offers of developer money. Just how gullible do we ALL have to be to buy into that BS?
I am NOT calling anybody "stupid" i'm saying we all should be insulted that he would even utter such a sentiment and expect us to lap it up.
That is what makes me think he is no better than the incumbent therefore not worthy of my vote.
Developers who donate to Joe Moore:
A convicted arsonist.
A guy who doesn't pay his child support.
A guy who won't evict a vagrant from the hallway.
That's my kind of people! Go Halliburton!
> the current positions in Moore's office are paid for with his political money.
Gee, wonder how you know this inside scoop! Wonder who's hiding behind the screen name this time?
Most RP residents favor development, and development in and of itself is not the problem.
The problem is our current system of pay-to-play, that gives local politicians truly incredible power over who is permitted to do business in their wards.
If you don't pay, you don't get to play, and never mind about your property rights or the tens of thousands of dollars you spent working up a business plan and having architectural plans made, and all the other things you have to do pursuant to gettin a permit and financing.
However, if you are a big-bucks contributor, you have license to operate as you please, regardless of context,your level of proven competence of lack thereof, or your track record as a shoddy builder, slumlord, or convicted arsonist such as one of JoMo's loyal contributors, Ivan Buljubasic.
The recent speculative rampage has left us with thousands of homes and condo units that are illegal conversions, do not meet codes, and often are so shoddily constructed they cannot be inhabited. Many of the developers who built these units are people with histories of extremely shoddy construction and multiple code violations.
In our own 49th ward, I am encountering many buyers of converted condos whose units were sold to them as newly rehabilitated conversions that met all applicable codes, but who have since discovered that not only do their buildings have numerous deficiencies that were concealed thanks to the negligence and/or collusion by relavent city officials and departments, but are also still listed as gang and drug houses despite having been vacated, rehabilitad and sold as condos to unsuspecting buyers.
When these buyers have sought assistance from JoMo,they have not only not been assisted in obtaining remedy for serious structural problems left them by the developer, but have instead been the object of harrassment and intimidation by our alderman.
We need appropriate, attractive residential development at all price points,but we don 't need shoddy buildings developed or operated by shysters and criminals who are allowed to operate with complete disregard for neighborhood context and applicable rules and codes, because they dropped money into the alderman's campaign coffers.
> We've already got an alderman like Don Gordon. His name is Joe Moore.
I beg to differ. One thing is for sure, we do not need a 'Little Joe' pulling any more new nonprofits to the NOH hood.
Tracy:
How much developer cash has DG gotten? My guess is very little, if any. A developer has no reason to give him money right now; he is not in office and cannot return them favors.
So, do you know how much money he has received, or are you just spewing out jibberish b/c of some other personal agenda.
The Jibberish i spew as you put it, comes directly from DON GORDON'S MOUTH. Were you at any of the debates? Did you HEAR him admit he took developer money? He then said that going forward he would not. It's lame and you can call my words jibberish all you like as they're really Gordon's.
The developer money in question is exactly as others have said. Quick buck artists who flip an beaten down slum or a perfectly fine apartment building, slap some paint, turn a one bedroom into a three bedroom and call it the taj mahal, price tag 350k. I went to an open house on Sunday and i was appalled at the state of the place and the quality of work.
Those people are the scourge.
Taking money from these people sets a bad precedent. I think JM has already shown that and we all should be leery of anyone who gets in bed with them.
Tracy:
I apologise for the "jibberish" comment.
There are many forces at work here. Condo conversions are a big part of the problem that you have. Part of the reason that everything is turning into condos is because apartment building buyers are getting priced out of the market. The sellers are pricing their buildings so that only condo converters can make the investment work. The condo converters are looking to make a quick buck, and a lot of them are still able to do that. There is not much one can do about condo conversions. They are a fact of life in every ward.
So who's to blame?
The person willing to spend $350k for the condo?
The seller who is trying to maximize his profit after owning in the neighborhood for so many years?
The buyer/condo converter, who is looking to make an investment that will earn him a living?
In the condo conversion area, there are not many people to blame.
It is in the developer area where there is blame to go around.
Developers are many times not satisfied with the limitations of the zoning ordinance. They seek amendments, or outright changes in zoning, and for this, they are willing to pay mucho dinero.
The alderman has been all too willing to make these changes, almost always after (or coinciding with) receiving campaign contributions.
The alderman has an "open" community process for dealing with these situations. However, his community committee's decision is made up before they actually have a public meeting. THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS DON'T EVEN ATTEND THE PUBLIC MEETING. That maight be helpful, don't you think.
The City Council has allowed this to happen for years, because it benefits them. The real problem is allowing the aldermen to weigh in on zoning changes. This gives them the power to do whatever they want in their wards, with the aldermen defering to the alderman whose ward is affected. This gives the alderman all of the power in the process and encourages "pay to play" politics.
That is the real scourge.
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