Due to overwhelming community response. This is what happens when the community REALLY is involved. Not like Joe Moore's gang of three decision-making team.
New Location: The Good News Church, 7651 N. Paulina at 7:00 P.M.
Community residents are urged to attend and become INVOLVED in the decision making and future of their neighborhood!
21 comments:
This meeting should be a great indicator to see if Joe Moore is lying.
According to Joe Moore, this room should be filled with supporters to the tune of 10-1.
Ginderske came and got a little testy. After all, it was HIS choice to exclude the council AND the community. Or that's what appeared in the News-Star a week or so ago.
We're just to difficult to work with...or maybe he knew we might go to the community and say Whoa there Jimmy, this is a public taxpayer paid for building. Stop the red herring argument.
It's usually pretty easy to tell if Joe is lying. His lips move.
I don't think Jim, Joe, et.al., figured on the SEIU, Local 73, Park District Employees Community Liaison, being present . Stay tuned...this could get very interesting!
joe is not the only one to find the council hard to deal with. the kind of postings that i have read from council members makes me not even bother to have anything to do with this bitter little cliche. it was not ginderske that excluded this group. they excluded themselves by failing to attract a large enough membership to qualify to be an accredited pac. they don't represent the community, they represent themselves. all 12 of them, or however many it is.
it is a pity, as many people identify with the position of keeping the parks public, and stopping the creep of privatization that is a scourge from the lowest to the highest levels of our government today. of course, those routinely grumbling about taxes should be excluded from this conversation. they are the cover for all that is being sucked up. people do not want to see tax increases, so revenues must come from somewhere.
pity to have to decline to speak on an issue because of the company that i would find myself in.
beenthere fyi: There were approximately 60 people at the Gale Park Advisory Council meeting last night. To date S.O.C.C., has collected almost 300 signatures on the Save Our Community Center petition, all opposed to turning over OUR COMMUNITY CENTER to a private organization. Enough said!
So, it wasn't 10 to 1 in favor of the Ginderske Backyard Tree House Club like Joe Moore so proudly claimed two weeks ago?
Just the opposite, it was more than 10 to 1 against the 'Ginderske Backyard Tree House Club'!
if all you can pull out, with all this controversy, and all this press, is 60 people, you do not rise to the level where you trump the ordinary chain of decision making and responsibility. the purpose of the pac is to represent the concerned citizens. if this is all the citizens you represent, you lose. 300 signatures, on an online petition?
go home. go back to your room. you are done.
Again, beenthere, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
This was a Parks Advisory Council meeting, usually attend by 6-8 people, therefore, I would consider a turnout of 60 as significant. Further, the petition is NOT an online petition, although you can print it off the North Howard Neighbors Association blog(nhna.blogspot.com). The 300 + signers we have to date are the result of volunteers going out into the community, talking to people one on one. The petition drive started 4 days ago and we're just getting geared up.
Now YOU go back to your room, and shut the f*ck up unless you know what you're talking about. Thank you very much!
There was also the fundraiser for MaryJane at the Heartland last night. Our meetings are always the 3rd Tuesday of the month. I understand many people attended and generously donated. It's difficult to be two places at once.
Mo, to my knowledge you have never attended a PAC meeting and it's been around for 5 years. People have busy lives and going out of their neighborhood isn't usually their top priority.
so mike, by your own admission we are talking about a "committee" of 6-8 people. sorry, that is not the community.
joe wins because he was elected to make these decisions. he can listen to the little club, but even if they did represent a respectable section of the population, and were able to follow the protocols to have official pac status, they are advisory only anyway. and here is a rule of thumb about these things- the complainers come out. the happy stay home. so, if all you people can find is 60 people in all of rogers park, the whole concept of democracy is behind ignoring the bitter whiners.
really, i have tried to stay out of this cesspool, but once in a while, i just can't take it any more.
you lose. go home.
Stay tuned, this is just getting warmed up. You want numbers, you're go to get and see numbers. And by the way, an elected official is supposed to be making decisions in the best interest of his/hers constituents AND by including those constituents in the process. Further, I challenge you, Joe and Ginderske to come forth with ANY substantive proof of community support or involvement in this scheme to turnover a public CPD Community Center to a private organization. And you know what, beenthere? It's you who bring the cess to the pool!
Mo, have you been to 'community input' meetings held by Joe where less than 60 people showed? We all have.
Joe apparently is listening to a club alright - or should we say 2 clubs.
joe goes to a much greater length than almost any alderman to listen to his constituents. lots of times that is a handful of people with a small set of concerns. ie.-he goes to condo board meetings. there are also times when a large issue has a large constituency, like folks dealing with problem bars, and liquor licenses. but in the end it is his JOB to make decisions about such things.
the park district also has many groups that want to be involved in the parks. when i moved here, the park district pretty much would not let people volunteer. no planting flowers, and certainly no formal process for expressing opinions. partly this was just good old butt covering. but partly it was many years of experience with volunteer organizations. very few hold together long enough to achieve their goals, and few really flourish without at least one paid staffer. so, entrusting them with a role in decision making can lead to a constantly changing set of ideas/plans/demands as the membership rolls over, and often, argues among themselves.
this is why the park district has the process they have. they have their own long term planning process for the parks, they have their own ongoing staffing and program needs. incorporating community members into that in a positive and enriching way is a challenge. it is worthwhile when you have a committed group of people with a clear goal. that is what the pac process is about. things like minutes, agendas, quorums, elections, all show whether or not a group has the solidity to be a worthwhile partner.
the park district has no requirement to allow individuals into the planning process. as i said, they didn't used to. i was one of the people who was involved in the leathers project playlot at indian boundary. although it is a great legacy, and it was a great thing to open up the parks to these things, they worried then about the follow through to maintain the thing. the group did hang together for about 10 years, coming out and putting a new coat of varnish on it, removing graffitti, etc. the last organized work day made us the longest serving group. but that was several years ago, and it is now up to the park district to maintain those things. it is intensive.
this is the part that the park district did not want to take on. what do you do when the volunteers go home? this is why there is a test of commitment built in.
this group failed that test. a small group of people pissed off at the alderman is exactly the type of group that is being screened for here. elected officials have to deal with this sort of person all the time. the best course is to listen, then do the thing that is best for the entire community. that is the sort of decisions that they are elected/hired to make. there is really no room in the larger governing process for people who say only- "NO, NO, NO! WWWAAAAAA WWAAA." that is what i hear coming from this pac. this is not a voice and message that brings anything useful to the process.
to beenthere:
blah, blah, blah, blah blah! Talk about side stepping and spinning the issue! And that's my last response to your blather!
Mo - But by the same token, it's OK for Joe to lead the independent caucus to say NO to the Mayor, it's OK to vote NO on the privatization of Grant Park ie. private entity/public space but flip flop on the same matter here right?
yes toni, he is allowed to consider the facts, and come to a conclusion based on the facts of this situation. it was called thinking last i looked.
if boys and girls clubs can put better programming in the parks, especially for the kids around gale, more power to them. they need more than 6 weeks of playing outside in the summer, and bouncing around after school till dinner time. that i what the parks put out now.
and especially if they can build a real sense of belonging for these kids. imho, that is THE most important thing that kids need. and i know that even kids from good homes can find themselves feeling alienated. maybe bgc can bring some of that to all the kids in rogers park.
i am not happy with the whole wave of privatization that has been going on since st. ronnie. but stopping quality programming for kids in rogers park seems unlikely to be of much value in reversing that.
The only reason Joe was re-elected, in a run off, was due to the 'support' of the SEIU. Now Joe is in favor of union busting the SEIU Park District employees by privatizing the Gale Park Community Center. Gratitude, Joe Moore style!!
P.S. Stay tuned!!
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