A emailer asks...
Alderman Moore announced he is turning to his 16-year old son Nathan and his girlfriend Barb Sepanik to help pull together environmental leaders to plan an effort to green the community.
Did Moore look beyond his living room to find a person or persons to help in this effort? And is the alderman gun-shy about recruiting a neighborhood resident to lead this effort? True, the last time he did that the resident put him in a run-off election that cost him half a mil and counting. You know the saying..."fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me."
Anyway, after I read the note on your blog, I had to wonder...
... is it normal for alderman to appoint 16-year olds to take on leadership roles like this when they are not related by blood? Does anyone else find this worth looking into?
... given how much residents were pissed off over Alderman Moore's stewardship of parks and lakefront issues, does this move show that he got the message in the recent election or not? What do the green party activists and parks advisory council leaders, or even the garden variety garden club leaders think?
... is the same Barb Sepanik that manages development projects for New West Realty, a company that is has helped rapidly gentrify - er, revitalize - the near west and south loop areas? Does New West have any specific environmental cred?
I do not know Ms. Sepanik or Nathan, but it seems like an alderman who has received a wake-up call about being out of touch with his constituents does not show good faith by suggesting his girlfriend and kid to take a lead role on any community project, let alone one so near and dear to the residents of our fair community.
Curious.
BLOGNOTES: The emailer ends by adding...
As for Kevin Cosgrove, I find it interesting that Moore did not issue a statement and that Kevin's resignation came on the same day that Joe announced his hodge-podge environmental effort. My guess is that Kevin is burned out and tired of making peanuts. What is curious is whether Joe promotes from within or brings in someone new to run his staff and provide the gravitas and organizational capability that Don Gordon supporters pointed to as a main reason for their opposition.
19 comments:
I look at this development and see sme good news and some bad news.
The good news is that come 2011, Lying Joe will likely take a 20-year Aldermanic Pension and not run for re-election (assuming the feds don't nail his sorry butt to the wall or the Gordon lawsuit has some success).
The bad news is that in 2011 Nathan Moore will be of voting age. Lying Joe's ego is inflated enough to want to elect his son as his successor at the earliest age possible. Lying Joe would love to make little Nathan the youngest Alderman in the city's history.
Let's add this. What if Barb becomes Joe's Chief of Staff until the Feds come a knocking?
Now that Joe feels his pension is assured, he will be more arrogant and corrupt than ever. He is also more distrustful than ever and will prefer to deal with insider.
No matter how unresponsive and lacking in transparancy Joe's office was in the past, we can expect things to get worse, and we should be prepared to be very watchful and make lots of noise.
I welcome all efforts to beautify our community. That said, it's interesting that neither Alderman Moore nor his Evanston-residing son nor his companion (who I'm sure is a lovely person) attended the launch meeting of the Rogers Park Garden Group held last night at Charmers where we announced the group's first community garden project. In fact, as people were filing in, Mr. Moore was seen leaving his office. Posters about the event were displayed at Charmers and Rogers Bark, posted to the bulletin board at Heartland. Additionally, the meeting notice was posted to rogerspark.com, listed in the News Star, featured on almost every RP blog site. Dev Corp sent an email notice. And the founding members hand delivered and mailed and emailed flyers to as many people in the ward as is possible for an entirely self-financed group with limited cash and demanding day jobs. Surely our Alderman, who has his ear to the ground, was aware of this event?
Last night's meeting was well attended by 43 residents. It was terrific to see old faces and meet new ones. Next month the garden group will meet at Rogers Park Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Room, 5/29, 7 p.m. when Christy Webber will give a presentation on container gardening and we will further plan for the first community garden project (the huge planters at the end of Morse/beach).
All are welcome. The RP Garden Group is not affiliated and we welcome one and all to learn, share, and work together to strengthen our community through beauty, camaraderie, and involvement.
Well done on the event last night RP Gardeners. Glad to see the response was positive.
This sounds like very adult conversation. Lets dis a 15 year old. Anyone is fair game in the Moore administration,(even if they are not) but anyone who makes fun of St. Don Quixote, is being unfair.
You would not like anyone making comments about.. say Patrick would you?
Fine if you blame Joe Moore for all crime, global warming, and the Earth's magnetic field reversal. Just leave his kid out of it please.
Deaf Guy
The kid decided to diss Craig on this blog - turnabout is fair play.
Joe Moore pays his son Nathan to work on his political campaign. If Joe and Nathan don't want Nathan to be a public figure then Joe shouldn't be paying him for political work, in which case Nathan's name wouldn't be on file on the D2s. I don't care who you are, if you receive campaign money from an elected official you are a part of the public record and therefore in the public space.
I don't think anyone in here is "dissing" Nathan.
I have nothing to say about Nathan per se.
My criticisms and those of other posters in here are directed at Dad for his nepotism and tendancy to exclude anyone who isn't a relative or crony, regardless of qualifications or lack thereof.
It is not a criticism of Nathan to state that a 16-year-old child is not the most qualified person possible for the job his father appointed him to.
Very interesting. I'd be looking for people with specific backgrounds in environmentalism. Just as the 'zoning committee' is comprised of many 'developers' who are allegedly knowledgeable about building, one would assume a leader would seek 'green specialists' for this effort. I know of one who sends regular enlightening, educational emails to Joe.
Most 16 year olds have homework and teenage 'stuff' to attend to. No one gets to be a teenager forever.
Many disenchanchanted people turned away because Moore either didn't listen or took the credit for their work. Many of us still do our part in the community with or without Joe's attention. Last spring RPCC and Joe paid for the Women's Self Defense seminar at Loyola Park. I did the footwork, set the date with the organization, and the park district.
Cary Steinbuck and I worked on the flyer. It was sent out with the organizations proper logo and colors - purple and black from their website. The site even had directions on making flyers.
One of his staff called me at work (only do this if its an emergency please) to get a copy. Guess they deleted it because it was sent to the ward office. I still have the flurry of emails between the three of us over the ability of an alderman to have the room fee waived. It was unbelieveable to nitpick or try to stall? an event that had been drummed up by a blogger who's concerned about safety....
Soon, a hot PINK flyer was distributed by a local nonprofit. Naturally, it had been re-worked so it appeared that Joe was more or less the main and sole sponsor with the biggest font! He paid for half of it - or $150.00. After the class, he asked for a show of hands of how many people came because they got his PINK flyer. Also a male from the NFP was there that day too.
What's the moral to the story? Go Figure
Very interesting.
Dear Craig and Neighbors,
Thank you for helping us promote the launch of a new environmental initiative in the 49th Ward. I am a neighborhood resident who sees an opportunity to effect positive change by volunteering some time. I was once a community organizer on the south side and I believe in the power of neighborhood activism.
Likewise, Joe's son Nathan is a young man who sees global warming as the issue of his day and wants to get active. We as a community should be applauding a young man who chooses to spend his free time this way.
I hope you will all join me in supporting Nathan and many other young people like him who want to work to improve their world.
I do not purport to be an environmental expert. I simply see an opportunity to make a difference and want to volunteer my time. I hope some of my neighbors with more expertise than me will take the helm. I am simply working to build on what has already been accomplished and to engage more people to get exciting actions started.
There is an abundance of energy and expertise in this community and we hope we can help get things done.
If any of your readers wishes to join us, they are more than welcome. We are going to work with the Department of Environment to train volunteers. We are going to pair young people with leaders in our community so they can better affect the change they want to see in the world. Where this group goes depends entirely on who raises their hand and says, "Count me in."
To volunteer, please contact us at ward49@cityofchicago.org.
Sincerely,
Barb Sepanik
Dear Barb,
Since you are a neighborhood resident, you are invited to help us effect positive change by volunteering some time on our CAPS Safety Walks starting very soon. We have fun, get exercize, meet neighbors and identify bad or unsecured buildings, hot spots, etc.
Also, Beat 2422 meets every second Thursday at 7:00PM. We hope you can join us.
If you know Joe Moore's history you know that he now has 22 years of city service. This term will make 26. He has been maxed out for two years already. Its clear that a pension isn't the motivation.
Nepotism 101:
Get your youngster in the public eye as soon as possible. Choose hot topic of the day, and assign your youngster to a lead role in developing a program to deal with said hot topic. Never mind your youngster's lack of experience, let the community bear the burden of his development.
Toni- So how many people rasied their hands?
Note to kgl: Another four years of "service" (to call what he does loosely) on the City Council will boost Moore's pension, if only because the pension is based largely on one's final salary (which in this case, will be over $100,000 a year).
In the past, there has usually been an urban planning professional on the zoning advisory committee. For a few years, it was a friend of mine who lived on Fargo and worked for another municipality. He's not living in RP anymore. Not sure if there is currently any urban planner on the committee.
It's good to see some professionals in ward leadership positions who do not have a direct financial incentive that could bias their decisions.
Replanting where trees have been removed and keep planting beds clean after folks have taken the time to put flowers and other plants there would be a good start. Kilmer Triangle has been a fine example.
I would like to hope that Barb and Nathan will make good choices. Time will tell.
Machine politics at work, it appears to me. The old "one hand washed the other" and "promote the relatives" routine. If anything that actually looks productive comes out of this latest Moore move, I'll be really surprised.
Classic Joe Moore – try to take our minds off the damage he has done to Rogers Park with nonsense like this – and hope we’ll forget and forgive what a shit he showed himself to be during the election - and maybe we’ll all forget that it isn’t quite over yet either -
Classic Joe Moore – insulting the community by turning an area considered very important to many many people over to the current girlfriend and a child – this is exactly how much respect Joe has ever shown for Rogers Park. It’s an absolute slap in the face. Our neighborhood is just a vehicle for him – let his girlfriend feel like she isn’t expendable and let his spoiled kid feel important - try to take our minds off the damage he has done to race and class relations with nonsense like this – instead of actually doing his job – instead of being a decent human being.
This neighborhood is screwed up well enough without our out of touch alderman shoving his mistress and child down the community’s throat. Parks and environment issues have never been an area of concern for Joe Moore. That’s why we have such a comprehensive bike path system - just as an example. That’s why he repeatedly fronts lakefront development then backpedals and lies about it. He’s had 16 years to pay attention and he still doesn’t get it. He just doesn’t give a damn is what it really is – and turning an issue like this over to the “first girlfriend” is just comical.
I really hope and pray the election challenge lands him an incitement. The crooked immoral self-serving election stealing liar really didn’t care one bit how much damage he did to this community. He needs to go elsewhere and take his fako family with him. It’s the least he could do. Handcuffs would be small justice.
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