What a week. I won't add all the hyper-links, you can just scroll down and read the comments if you want.
* A fire destroys a number of small family run businesses on Clark Street. (3 comments)
* Don Gordon files a lawsuit against the board of elections and Joe Moore. (42 comments)
* The new Rogers Park Gardeners Group met at Charmers and 43 residents showed up. No one from the Alderman's office attended. (3 comments)
* 49th ward chief of staff, Kevin Cosgrove resigns. Anne Sullivan goes to housing court in Kevin's place and does absolutely nothing. Jay Johnson gets another continuance. (8 comments) and (10 comments)
* Barb and Nathan want to be more active in the direction of our ward (and world). Nathan and I are in the works for a special tree replacement project on Morse. (34 comments) and (17 comments) and (16 comments)
* A hack storefront lawyer on Sheridan Road wants to continue stirring the race card issue, piling on more neighborhood racial tension. Calling this idiotic moron a ambulance chasing lawyer would be giving a bad name to all good ambulance chasers out there. (Zero comments)
* Oh, did I mention little Patrick has become a international moto-trials sensation! And our own Rogers Park was ranked 5th bloggiest neighborhood. One of those bloggers remembers her dad. (2 comments)
BLOGNOTES: Also a discussion developed on why precinct 26 was part of the lawsuit when I said it was run clean. Let me clarify. I did catch lying Jane Hoffman illegally electioneer for Joe Moore on April 17th. Here in the above photograph is 'lyin' Jaynes wheels parked about 50 feet from the open curtain window of the polling booth window in 26. It's clearly illegal, as the bike with Joe's political posters was well within the blue cones. When I asked 'Homophobic' Jayne about it, she had no comment. As minor as the offense seems, it's still illegal and against the rules of fair electioneering.
14 comments:
Oh I wish you would stop being so hard on my little boy Tommy W. and his storefront. (He calls it his fort!)
He was downstairs in the basement using my computer the other day and must have been reading your internets page, because he was just so angry!
I went downstairs to see what it was all about, and my Tommy was really worked up. He had on his special helmet and had maps spread out all over the ping pong table. His hands were balled up in tiny fists and he was stamping his little feet so hard that his velcro shoes were coming undone!
He kept yelling about everyone being racists and republicans and how he would one day be the most feared mechanics lien lawyer in the neighborhood!
Personally, I think all this anger stems from those boys pulling his underpants up over his head the other afternoon. Oh my, he came home with his underpants still hanging out of the back of his dockers, went straight to the basement, put on his special helmet and refused to come upstairs.
I had to coax him out with a big plate of olive loaf sandwiches (extra mayo)and an extra large glass of Tang (no ice).
So please try to be nicer to my boy Tommy W! The angries aren't good for his digestion, and you don't even want to know what he's like when he's all bound up!
You seem like a nice boy, Craig.
Mrs. W.
Delicious post.
I think Mrs. Westgard has been an Aldermansintern, don't you?
...olive loaf sandwiches! Too funny.
Jane seemed like such a nice lady and I'm sure she is but I'm disappointed if this is true. She wasn't suggesting that women, gays, and minority who voted for Gordon such as myself are incapable of casting an informed vote on who we truly wished for in office
Or the women, gays and minority decision-makers of the Gordon campaign which was more than half were suckered in by a candidate who was raised by three women and currently in a household of women?
Jayne's bike basket needs a little dog named Toto, too.
By the way, "Mrs Westgard" is banned from my blog. The first one was funny. The ninth one "she" sent me within 36 hours was too much of the same thing.
That's nice, dear.
Obviously Thomas's posts are not the work of an idiotic moron. I see alot of name calling and anger on this blog. It's the stop for people who want to b*tch. I myself have jumped on the bandwagon and I like the volume of comments here and I have even found some of the posts to make me think about things I never knew about. As far as Thomas goes, Aside from the obvious, how much I appreciate his positions, I think they are valuable and point out things the rest of us would never see and it makes all this much more interesting. You lose alot of respect calling him a hack and implying that there's something wrong with a storefront lawyer. Not only is this very accessible for common folks (all my friends have always used the neighborhood storefront lawyers who are generally more reasonably priced than the big firms and more interested in working for everyday people) but for heaven's sake its a business in a storefront that would otherwise be empty and Thomas, like you desire so much, does not tolerate littering loitering drug dealing all of that. I can clearly see that his heart is in the right place. I also happen to think the better man won and I think Thomas has given very good reasons why he supported him when his candidate lost. The bitching and whining on this blog however is very out of touch with the deep issues. Its a site for petty, selfish superficial complaining, kmostly. it's not deep and doesn't appeal to my imagination or any worthy causes. Just the street fighter, has it ever brought out.
Mr. Mannis. It's your new boy-friend Toto. I read your silly blog about zoning and it is indeed a Monster. The monsterous part about it is that such a well groomed conservative voice like yours wants to get on the anti zoning change bandwagon.
As an example, one of the first zoning changes on your link referenced two flats zoned as residential in the 2700 block of N. Elston Avenue. The owner of the property is requesting a change to business zoning/commerical zoning. South of this location is a Target store, a Home Depot and a massive shopping center which used to have a Cubs Food as a major tenant. For the government to deprive the owner of these two flats on Elston the ability to develop his or her property in a manner consistant with the use of nearby property would constitute arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable municipal action.
Read Hanna vs. the City of Chicago (Oh Hugh, I know you'll have such a snit fit, but go ahead).
Our Illinois supreme court has stated that "[e]very owner has a right to use his property in his own way and for his own purposes, subject only to the restraint necessary to secure the common welfare. This is both a liberty and a property right." Northern Trust Co. v. City of Chicago, 4 Ill. 2d 432, 437, 123 N.E.2d 330 (1954), citing Village of La Grange v. Leitch, 377 Ill. 99, 35 N.E.2d 346 (1941).
The courts look at the following factors when considering a zoning change:
(1) the existing uses and zoning of nearby property; (2) the extent to which property values are diminished by the particular zoning restrictions; (3) the extent to which the destruction of property values of the plaintiff promotes the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the public; (4) the relative gain to the public as compared to the hardship imposed upon the individual property owner; (5) the suitability of the subject property for the zoned purposes; and (6) the length of time the property has been vacant as zoned considered in the context of land development in the area in the vicinity of the subject property. La Salle National Bank, 12 Ill. 2d at 46-47.
As a fellow conservative, I would hope that you would favor government acting with reasonable restraint in all laws, including zoning.
It is certainly appropriate to object loudly when it appears zoning changes are made in exchange for campaign contributions. I for one would push for stringent legislation that would prevent developers from donating to an alderman who has made a request for a zoning change on their behalf. (1 year/2years/5years you name it).
However, to get on the anti-zoning change bandwagon is bad news for investment...bad news for affordable housing...bad news for jobs...bad news for business.
Most of Chicago's northside joined the residential downzoning bandwagon in recent years. The effect of downzoning so much residential property has in part led to the inflation of housing values. Supply and demand. The less you can build, the more expensive it is. Even areas (Lakeview) that downzoned still experience tear downs. Now instead of being able to build 3 unit and 6 unit buildings, homes are being torn down to build single family homes in the $2 million dollar price range. And, as a result of downzoning, more existing buildings are going up for condo conversion and this leads to the loss of affordable housing.
So I would advise that you not to be anti-development/anti-zoning change. Instead be anti- where it really counts. Be against contributions made before/during and after zoning changes are requested.
By the way I think you are a big phony conservative.
Now see what you've done? My little Tommy W. has taken down all the pretty pictures from his internets page! He's even rampbling about that time he got beat up by the chess club boys!
He'll probably never come out of the basement now!
Toto, agree with your post. Downzoning is not the best thing that ever happened to this area.
Sometimes it's appropriate, especially for a small area of unusual and historicallly signifigant homes, whose owners are agreeable to the change.
Mostly, it isn't.
T Mannis responds to Toto on his blog..."if you've seen me lately you'd know that I'm not terribly well groomed. Leaving the corporate world has allowed me the luxury of not shaving daily."
OK you don't need to shave daily, but pleeeze shower once in a while
(o)(-)
can we figure out a way to settle this horrid political fratricide in the 49th ward, one way or another? i sugggest a meeting between moore supporters and the opposition to work out how we can best benefit the local community one way or another...i've been fascinated with politics since i backed the george mcgovern prez campaign when i was eight years old and got ridiculed for it by other kids on the playground , but apparently the playground bully approach lives on among partisans as i wheeze into middle age...living in over two dozen various neighborhoods of missouri, chicago and new york city in my life, i've never seen a more f'd up electoral mess than the 49th ward, and it's particularly embarassing considering the national media spotlight will focus upon the rancor and corruption of chicago politics (not just in the south side) as long as obama is arguably he most interesting and provocative prez candidate...this website appears to be a good venue for people to suggest a time and a place for a 49th ward political peace conference...am i too utopian to suggest such a thing in a neighborhood that pretends to oppose war as long as it isn't local? i call for a sitdown between all political players, hustlers and local stakeholders, operated via robert's rules of order in honor of the late great humanist kurt vonnegut!!!
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