Saturday, July 12, 2008

* The Ward According to Ginderske

{bumped - New Documents}
Download Petition here.
Letter from Gale School Principle, Richard Glass Jr., M.Ed.


Source.
Ginderske's Boys and Girls Club


It's Jim's ward and we just live in it. Follow along as Jim the plumber spouts off at the mouth to the Chicago Journal about his greatness in solving all the wards over-flowing problems. Kinda like fixing a toilet. Follow along as "One Meeting" Jim belittles the Gale Park Advisory Council for not working with Jim. Follow along as Jim tells the neighbors what's good for them - because, after one year of being Joe Moore's community tool, Jim feels he knows the ward better than anyone else. Without further delay, I introduce you Joe Moore's "Mini-Me", Jim Ginderske.
Jim Ginderske, the volunteer director of Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park and a former 49th Ward aldermanic candidate, made bringing a Boys and Girls Club to Rogers Park a priority during his failed bid in last year's aldermanic election. Ginderske said he had been talking to the Chicago Boys and Girls Clubs for the past year and a half about bringing a club to Rogers Park. His organization announced the project as its next major undertaking at the opening of the Heartland International Health Center in February.

When news came that the Cotter Boys and Girls Club operating out of the Lathrop Homes was shopping for a new location, Ginderske visited one of Cotter's board meetings at the invitation of Rogers Park-resident and board member Dick Gregory.

"I was grilled. I had [NHRP's] community needs assessment," Ginderske said. "The most important thing was that [board members] wanted to make sure that wherever Cotter goes, they wanted to make sure there was stable diversity. That the neighborhood wouldn't gentrify two years later."

According to Ginderske, who has seen the Chicago Boys and Girls Clubs' proposal to the park district, more structured youth programming would be offered from 2:30 to 9 p.m. weekdays, with an open club on weekends and school holidays. An annual membership fee to the Boys and Girls Clubs is $20, which grants memberships to all clubs throughout the city and nation. NHRP would also raise money for scholarships for families with multiple children.

The Gale Community Center, as well as the Gale School annex, became options as possible locations for the Cotter Club when it became clear that there was potential to bring a Boys and Girls Club to Rogers Park much sooner than Ginderske and his organization anticipated.

"The pitch for the club was going along totally separately," Ginderske said. "Originally, [NHRP] was going to become a [federal tax-exempt orgainzation] and raise money to finance a club totally by scratch. I started talking to Joe [Moore] about this as a funded club and that getting them here would be a huge thing."

Ginderske said that Gale Park Advisory Council members deserved credit for getting the community center built, but described them as being hard to work with, based on one meeting he attended last August, during which neighborhood children weren't allowed to speak at a meeting called to discuss park programming.

McCann said there was a miscommunication about the meeting's intent with Moore's office, in which members met to elect new PAC officers and review bylaws.

"I would have invited them, but I didn't think they were interested in representing the community," Ginderske said. "They've taken every opportunity to be as critical of the alderman as they can. That's OK during an election season, but when the election is over it's time to work together and they've made it clear that they don't want to work with anybody." Source.
Blognotes: Man. Oh, man. Does Joe Moore's little political stooge sound like; One. Arrogant. Dictator. Or what?

With Jim, It's.. Me.. Me.... Me. I. I. I.


And this so-called "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park". Is this even a truly accredited organization or some backyard tree-house club Joe Moore threw together.

* Where's their not-for-profit, 501-3(c), IRS tax-exempt status?

* How long have they even been in existence? (Trick question. That I know already. Less than 2 years.)

* Who's on the board of directors? When are they elected. Who votes? How many members does this backyard tree-house club have?

* Who funds this club? How do they raise funds for lobbying? Bake sales? Car Washes? Government hand-outs?


So, now we know. Joe Moore, Jim Ginderske and Heather Steans want the Boy's and Girl's Club in the Gale Community Center. That makes a community of three. In their eyes, that's all that matters. Screw the rest.

Cartoon by Tim Jackson/Courtesy Chicago Journal

32 comments:

Craig Gernhardt said...

Letters to the editor in Chicago Journal this week.

"Being one of the organizers to initiate the idea of a Community Recreational Center to North of Howard and to work for 12 years with hundreds of community members to make it a reality, I think you know my perspective of keeping the Field House for all the Community.

However, a new idea has surfaced and almost is to a decision point without the input of the total community. I propose that we place this question of a Boys and Girls Club in perspective, and listen to all of the community so that the will of the community will be honored.

First of all, I want to thank all the community members and organizations who put their blood, sweat and tears into making the present Gale Community Center a physical reality.

Secondly, I want to thank the youth programs run by Howard Area Community Center, Family Matters, Starfish, and Good News Partners Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, and Northpoint Advancement Center at one point of their history, and Triangle Park Corporation which ran summer events for youth, including co-sponsoring with the Howard Area's seniors club a softball program every Saturday afternoon with snacks for 2 years. Your efforts have been persistent and long standing, going back 20 years. You need to be applauded, recognized and included, and not squeezed out in this effort to bring additional youth outreach to the area..

I would like to break down the debate about the Boys and Girls Club into four questions:

1. Should we have a Boys and Girls Club in the Howard Area in addition to the existing youth programs?

2. Should it take over the space in the field house whose original intent was to be used by the entire community and not just 6 - 18 year old youth?

3. Should it be located in other location, e.g. Gale Elementary School, which has available space, including gyms, assembly space, classrooms, already dedicated to educating youth, and utilize space in the field house when necessary?

4. Should this be debated in a full community meeting or behind closed doors with only a few community players sitting around the table?"


Thank you.

Sr. Cecilia Fandel
Gale Park Advisory Council
Rogers Park

Craig Gernhardt said...

Gale Community Center should be for all of Rogers Park

"Concerning the editorial comment on page 9 of News-Star June 26 headlined "Gale Community Center should be for all North of Howard residents," what about everybody south of Howard? Or west of Clark Street? Is North of Howard all that special that the community center should serve their needs only?

All of Rogers Park's residents deserve better programming and park facilities.

Better programming at Gale-Gale being open morning to night seven days a week-could make up for the short-comings at Touhy Park, supplement programs at Pottowattomee, and complement programs at Loyola Park.

It seems short sighted to view the Gale Community Center in isolation. It seems excusionary to consider the Gale Community Center as serving the needs of "North of Howard" only. It would be more productive to consider how programming at the Gale Community Center could improve the delivery of recreational opportunities to all of Rogers Park.

Keeping the community center open and providing programs seven days a week from morning to night will depend on finding money for staffing and methods of addressing security issues. Perhaps the Boys and Girls Club will bring some new money to the table as well as some fresh ideas. Let's see.

We have a very nice new building. What ever will we do with it?"


Lorraine Dostal
Rogers Park

Craig Gernhardt said...

Secrecy and disrespect undermine citizens' confidence

"I'm sure the Chicago Boys & Girls Clubs do a lot of good, and I'm sure such a club north of Howard would serve that neighborhood well. It is unfortunate, however, that the manner in which negotiations were held to locate a club in the newly completed Gale School Community Center has created an atmosphere of back room dealing and failure to respect the wishes of those folks who have labored for more than a decade to see the center built. Secrecy and disrespect undermine the confidence citizens have in their elected officials and in their government."

Jim Kepler
North of Howard, Rogers Park

Craig Gernhardt said...

Boys and Girls Club should look elsewhere in Rogers Park

"Ald. Moore has announced a plan to house a Boys and Girls Club in the new Gale Park Community Center.

Sure, it sounds like a great idea, but only at first glance, for about ten seconds. The longer one thinks about it, the more the "wait a minute" response kicks in, and turns into a resounding "Woah-stop! This just isn't right!" The center was built with public funds, and intended to offer park district programming.

Of course a Boys and Girls Club in our community would be a good thing-but in some place other than the new Gale Community Center-that is, in addition to the center, not instead of it. There are a number of other places the club could go, including unused space at Gale School, as some have suggested. Goodness knows that unused spaces abound on Howard and in the surrounding area.

This is a matter that simply must be put to the community to decide. The Gale Park Advisory Council has put many years, countless hours of effort, to be a responsible voice of the community about this new center. Turning it over to the Boys and Girls Club without grass-roots community input is simply wrong. We need the community center, and we need it to serve the whole community, all ages, with a wide range of activities. Over the years, I have followed the painfully slow progress of this much needed project. The advisory council has not limited itself to sitting in meetings and talking. They have mustered all the resources they could, not just to get the facility built, but to involve hundreds of neighbors in the process.

Mr. Moore points out that adults have other options-outside of the immediate community. Notice that little word "outside." Seniors, older teens, young adults, and many others need a place-inside the neighborhood. It could be a wonderful thing to have the community center for all of the neighborhood, along with the Boys and Girls Club in another facility. We probably need both, not just one.

The center was dreamed of and planned for a specific set of needs and purposes, and it is not for sale, barter, or giving away to another organization! The Boys and Girls Club should look elsewhere. There's room, but not in a center that was paid for by others.

We have already waited over a dozen years for our center to be opened. Let's make sure that it becomes a resource that meets all of the needs it was designed for.

The Center belongs to the community, and has great potential. Let's get it right. We need an open meeting to give the entire community a voice about the use of the building. Many people are concerned about this newly announced idea, since it's our neighborhood and our tax dollars."


Beata Riedlmayer
North of Howard, Rogers Park

mcl said...

To Lorraine Dostal:
You say the new Gale Park Community Center is for all of RP and as a Chicago Park District property you are correct. However, I do find it interesting that when in 2002, the Alderman extended the NorthPoint HUD subsidized housing contract NoH, without ANY NoH community input, you were in full support of that, rather than consider discussions regarding the possibility of dispersing the very serious concentration of poverty/subsidized low-income housing NoH throughout RP. NIMBY, depending on the issue! IMO, you have very little credibility on issues such as this! BTW, Beata Riedlmayer, I couldn't agree with you more!

Craig Gernhardt said...

"I consider myself part of this community who has had a long standing interest in the community center," State Rep. Julie Hamos said.

"I haven't spoken to the Boys and Girls Clubs about what they will bring to this and the value added."

Hugh said...

Ginderske said ... "The most important thing was that [board members] wanted to make sure that wherever Cotter goes, they wanted to make sure there was stable diversity. That the neighborhood wouldn't gentrify two years later."

wow

"stable diversity?"

is that code for a doggedly persistent pocket of poverty?

Ginderske was able to assure board members by pointing to the total lack of human progress North of Howard during Moore's 17 years, in fact a steady decline

Ginderske further pledged to continue Moore's policy of neglect should Moore become "indisposed"

The Latham B&G's club selection of North of Howard for their new home officially anoints North of Howard as the number one most decrepit, sad sack problem neighborhood on the north side

Hugh said...

when a Boys&Girls clubs moves out of the Lathrop homes and into your neighborhood, that's a symptom

when the Lathrop homes community is making better progress than your neighborhood, you're in trouble

Hugh said...

Ginderske said ... "The most important thing was that [board members] wanted to make sure that wherever Cotter goes, they wanted to make sure there was stable diversity. That the neighborhood wouldn't gentrify two years later."

rest assured, B&G board!

if past is prologue north of Howard is going to look at lot like it looks now for a long, long time

Craig Gernhardt said...

FYI: MCL is a 33 Year Resident of Rogers Park/North of Howard.

Hugh said...

Maybe DevCorp North can put up some new SSA banners on Howard

North of Howard - The New Lathrop

North of Howard - Lathrop for the New Millennium

Hugh said...

Ginderske was able to assure board members by offering into evidence Moore's recent renewal of Northpoint's 30 year contract to manage 12 subsidized buildings in this compact neighborhood.

"You want yer concentrated poverty, you got yer concentrated poverty right here," Ginderske assured board members. "This neighborhood ain't going no where. Gentrification? No chance! North of Howard is an absolute LOCK to be a festering wound of exactly the kind of problems you need to justify your existence, for the next three decades, at least."

Hugh said...

my god, I'm tired of this neighborhood being used as a petri dish

mcl said...

So are the 4 generations of residents 'trapped' in this unhealthy enviornment!!

Craig Gernhardt said...

Anne Sullivan and Jim Ginderske.

Joe Moore has picked a couple of winners to run his new and improved neighborhood 'public relations' campaign.

mcl said...

To elaborate: As are the majority of the 4 generations of residents 'trapped' in this very UNHEALTHY cycle of poverty, without positive role models and little, if any, hope of a real future. Thanks Joe, et al!

mcl said...

To clarify the e-mails between myself and Jim Ginderske: He contacted me with his 'offer' to "meet with me and anyone I would like to bring along" regarding my opposition the the b&g club taking over the Gale Park Community Center. My response was..."Jim, With all due respect...".

mcl said...

Read the complete e-mail exchange between Genderske and Luckenbach at nhna.blogspot.com.

Craig Gernhardt said...

Isn't this a bonus treat. GInderske's best bud Tom Westgard is calling Mike Luckenback a racist now.

Joe Moore really surrounds himself with class act clowns.

mcl said...

I doubt that he will post my brief
response which was: " Your post shows just how ignorant and uninformed you are about me and the NoH neighborhood! "

mcl said...

From the Declaration of Independence: "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed,....."

mcl said...

What Westgard posted as 'my' comment was edited....the comment/response I made, is as above!

Craig Gernhardt said...

This backyard tree house club has some explaining to do.

Craig Gernhardt said...

Exactly how "healthy" is the "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park"?

We'll soon find out.

Unknown said...

Craig,

I'm a bit surprised that someone in the publishing business so flagrantly disregards other publications' copyrights by quoting from them at a length that goes well beyond any "fair use" exemption. The severe civil and criminal sanctions don't concern you?

Do you see the irony and hypocrisy of accusing others of lawlessness and engaging in it yourself on an almost daily basis?

You can always plead ignorance – this blog provides ample evidence to back up that claim. Among other laughers – it's 501 (c)(3), not (3)(c). It's only required to quality for tax-deductible contributions, and isn't availed of by most community organizations.

Regards,

Joe Zekas

mcl said...

The attached S.O.C.C. petition is for community wide distribution throughout Rogers Park i.e., e-mail, the Health Fair at HACC, circulating at the Clark Street Fest on Sunday, door to door and placed in cafes and coffee houses throughout the community. Please feel free to print the petition and ask your neighbors to sign it. If you would like copies to distribute, please contact me and I will drop them off. Completed petitions may be dropped off at 7712 N. Paulina or contact me and I will pick them up. If you have questions or need information please contact "S.O.C.C." (Save Our Community Center), for now, at luckenbach@rcn.com or call 773-465-2433. Anyone who can help, please contact us right away. Stay 'tuned' for additional announcements!

YourChicagoFriend said...

Does anyone else find it strange that Joe Moore, after 17 years, still is incapable of building support in his own community? Is it just me, or does it seem odd that our alderman is still not trusted nor even wanted in this office by roughly half of the residents of this ward?

Is that his measure of success?

Clearly not. In Joe's mind, half of his constituents are simply difficult and small minded.

It's our fault.

His toady Jimmy G. chastises those residents who remain frustrated with Joe's ineptitude and declares it is time for all of us to work together.

Yet wide-bottomed Joe and small-minded Jimmy go out of their way to bypass half the community.

That's our leadership for you, boy and girls (club).

Madmom said...

Ginderske was able to assure board members by pointing to the total lack of human progress North of Howard during Moore's 17 years, in fact a steady decline...

Oh, boy. Can't they send developers in there? Oops, no. They're all broke.

Um, can they convert some of that ridiculous totally and always to remain unleased space at "Gateway"? Looks pretty damn empty to me. Or maybe they can build on the unfortunate giant hole that used to be the Adelphi? BECAUSE NOTHING WILL EVER BE THERE.

God.

YourChicagoFriend said...

I have to ask: Who the heck is Jim Ginderske, what authority does he carry and why does his opinion count more than the next guy's?

Does Jim seem to have more of a voice on this issue simply because he is an unofficial underling of Joe Moore?

YourChicagoFriend said...

And I have to add: Why would anyone, even Joe, pay any attention to Jim, given that train wreck of a campaign he ran during the last aldermanic race? He was out of the race before it ever began!

Perhaps this is just another example of Joe's seemingly natural ability to attract the least capable individuals to his office?

Or maybe it's just further proof that anyone with a brain knows better than to partner with Joe and his band of idiots?

mcl said...

yourchicagofriend said: "Who the heck is Jim Ginderske."

mcl said: "That's what the residents of Rogers Park would like to know."

YourChicagoFriend said...

Sorry for the multiple posts, but what if Joe really has committed to supporting Jim for alderman if Joe actually gets enough idiots to kick him into congress?

Jim couldn't get elected dog catcher in the last election, so he's Joe's obvious candidate?

More likely, Jim is the only one stupid enough to not be disgusted by Joe.

I'll say it again: Anyone with half a brain knows enough to stay away from Joe and his band of idiots.

I guess that says something more about Jim.

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