I've noticed a trend. Now that Steans and Suffredin have been called on the mat for illegally placing signs on the public way, they've gone to Plan B. The neighborhood slumlords.
These signs have been spotted popping up like weeds in properties owned by Bil Mar Management and other shit-holes in the 49th ward.
* For Larry the lobbyist, if he's really a champion at fighting gangs and corruption, he should be against buildings like this. Not for them.
* As for Heather, if she has the support of our neighborhood slumlords, this is about all you need to know about her.
14 comments:
Actual Bil-Mar Renter: Unless you are a drug dealer, gang member or prostitute - you don't want to live here.
Every time I see signs on rental property I get pissed. How can they say everyone in the building is for that candidate? When I see those signs on rental property it is usually a company and not owned by an individual. So what company is around enough to make sure the signs don't get placed on their property? None. Janitors leave the signs because they could care less. It would be nice if the tenants complained but that won't happen. I just know when I see the signs what it means in terms of the democratic machine. They are at work and not really caring about the people - they care about quantity - not quality. Lots of signs means lots of exposure. That translates into (supposedly) lots of votes. And it isn't just the slumlords. Take a look around. It is lots of properties. And it is discouraging. Makes me want to vote for anyone NOT on those signs. At least to learn more about who they are up against.
Property is run down, with no chance for improvement, unless you want to invest in someone else's property. No insulation or sub-flooring, so the noise in the building is insane, & you can forget about the incompetent management doing anything about any of it, even if it's live music or construction after 10 PM. The company employs psychotic people to keep the grounds, apparently. Garbage in the parking lot year round, & an ice rink in the winter (& verbal abuse once they know you're moving out). Never shoveled or salted - your car will get stuck, I promise. If you want to park back there, by the way, you'll have to fight day workers in the building for it. Building smells like ass most of the time. Heating & cooling bills will clean out your bank account. Exposed brick hasn't been sealed or cleaned, so crap falls out continuously, in addition to the general dust problem, which is beyond noticable. The ceiling also drops crap when someone walks hard above, which they do. I don't know how I got thru a year lease in the place, but it wasn't worth it for the space. Bil Mar is evil - stay far, far away.
If you live in the neighborhood and no that the signs were placed by some political operative, then why don't you throw the signs in the garbage. Just walk right up, pull them out of the ground, and toss them in the nearest garbage vat.
Blight like this is comparable to graffiti. If a politician gets permission from a property owner who lives on private property, then that is one thing, but if you know that the property owner did not give them permission or it is on the public parkway, then decide what is best for your neighborhood.
Frankly, I would pull out the signs even if I supported the candidate whose name is on them. These plastic signs are blight, pure and simple. It is a disappointment that so-called idealistic politicians are so shortsighted to allow their staffers to pollute our neighborhoods. It is a disappointment that the media is too busy fixating on sexy news stories. This is a controversy that creates chaos and pollution. It demonstrates an inability by political litterpigs to respect the communities that they supposedly want to represent.
Just do it. Don't wait for Streets and San. Pick up the sign and toss it in the nearest garbage can. If someone complains, which I doubt ever happens, then quote the Chicago municipal code. In a leading manner ask them, you don't live here, do you?
Most of this signage is placed by hit and run political operatives who lack a conscience. They think that if they post in uneducated neighborhoods, then they will get more votes for people who will vote for name recognition.
If you fear an uneducated electorate, then force voters to learn about the candidates. Just pull the sign out of the ground and toss it in the garbage, even if you are a registered Democrat. Respect your neighborhood. Don't tolerate this sort of crap.
SOUNDS LIKE A LOW LIFE DEMOCRAT ORGANIZATION TIE IN- REASON NOTHING IS DONE -CORRECT?
I've noticed a large flock of signs grazing behind a fence from the Greystone property at Greenleaf/Greenview. At first it was one, then two, now there was about four... They must be multiplying in our sleep.
I have put signs on the rental I live in, with ownership permission, so please don't remove the sign if you don't live there.
My landlords don't involve themselves in local politics.
But I'm sure as hell not putting one out for either Suffredin or Steans.
About the building on Lakewood that Craig has pictured on this post.... too bad.
This is a cute place, and used to be decent. Friends of mine ran the place, under a different ownership and different management company, and it has been straight downhill ever since.
The apts would rehab well into nice rentals, if anyone wanted to do that. It would be nice to save a few hundred more dollars a month toward a purchase, if this were still a decent place.
What a shame. This would be a great place for single people on modest incomes, if it were run properly.
wow. shocked to be agreeing with NC. renters have the right to put out signs. and they do.
no political organization that i have every worked with wanted to waste signs by putting them where they didn't belong. they are just too expensive to throw away. usually it is a volunteer who doesn't know all the ins and outs that puts them on public property. that volunteer is usually educated when and if they are identified.
Mo Cahill said...> "no political organization that i have every worked with wanted to waste signs by putting them where they didn't belong."
LIAR.
"no political organization that i have every worked with wanted to waste signs by putting them where they didn't belong, they are just too expensive to throw away."
This wondrous statement of innocent shock is either incredibly naive OR purposeful obfuscation meant to deceive and confuse us. We voters are not stupid. We are not fresh off the boat. We know which flavor of storytelling this is.
During important election seasons our 49th Ward counterpart of the larger "Chicago machine" collects several hundreds of thousands of dollars for political expenses such as signs. They are not expensive at all considering how much money these guys have in the bank. Every year the real estate industry, lawyers, and nursing home corporate types fork over big bucks to our machine.
It is standard operating procedure for political machines to take the blitzkrieg approach to putting signs on anything not moving. Legal or not. With permission (that's a joke!) or not. It happens across the city.
They don't think twice when putting signs on public parkways, street lights, and mailboxes or on storefronts (vacant or occupied) and on the private property of rental buildings. The owners/janitors feel that it is best to accommodate, or rather, fear the status quo machine. Anyone recall seeing the 49th Ward Democrat Party's candidate signs affixed to the taxpayer-funded Gateway Mall a few years ago?
In a contested political race the guys in the van with the machine's signs put theirs up and also are supposed to remove, steal, or rip apart the signs of the opposition candidate. The name of the game is called Sign Wars. Candidate NAME RECOGNITION is the goal - and it helps them tremendously when election day finally arrives.
I'm a renter. That means I pay rent on ONE apartment in my building - not all of them. Therefore, I do not have the right, nor do any of my neighbors, to litter the "common" area with political or religious or yadda, yadda, yadda . . . signs of any kind. If I want to show my support I can post a sign in my window.
HI, CRAIG! I haven't visited in a while because the last I heard you were leaving the blog life and moving on to other things. I'm pleased that you seem to have had a change of heart. I honestly believe you are an asset to the community and the work you do is important. Welcome back.
- PEACE -
I hope you pass this tidbit along to the morons who make up the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board, who in Monday's editon endorsed Comm. "Sleazeball" Suffredin for State's Attorney.
On Monday, I met with 49th Ward residents at an event hosted by Alderman Joe Moore and Committeeman David Fagus. From Suzanne Elders diary entry on her bogsite
Post a Comment