Tuesday, December 3, 2013

41st Ward Illinois Legislative Office Holders Both Vote "Yes" to Cliff Hanging Pension "Reform" Bill Vote - Weigh In

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-illinois-pension-vote-20131203,0,5070497


 
Illinois lawmakers approve major pension overhaul
Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) speaks on the floor of the Illinois Senate as both the House and Senate consider a pension reform bill at the State Capitol in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD --- The Illinois General Assembly today narrowly approved a major overhaul of the state government worker pension system following hours of debate on the controversial plan strongly opposed by employee unions.
The House voted 62-53 to approve a measure that aims to wipe out a worst-in-the-nation $100 billion pension debt by reducing and skipping cost-of-living increases, requiring workers to retire later and creating a 401(k) option for a limited number of employees. The measure needed a minimum of 60 votes to pass the House. (See how House members voted HERE.)
Moments earlier, the Senate voted for the measure 30-24. The bill needed at least 30 votes. (See how the Senate voted HERE.) The measure now goes to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who has said he'll sign it.
The vote is a major victory for Quinn as he heads into a re-election bid next year.
“Today, we have won. The people of Illinois have won. This landmark legislation is a bipartisan solution that squarely addresses the most difficult fiscal issue Illinois has ever confronted," Quinn said in a statement. “This bill will ensure retirement security for those who have faithfully contributed to the pension systems, end the squeeze on critical education and healthcare services, and support economic growth."
A coalition of union groups blasted the vote and threatened legal action if Quinn signs it.
"This is no victory for Illinois, but a dark day for its citizens and public servants," the statement read. “Teachers, caregivers, police, and others stand to lose huge portions of their life savings because politicians chose to threaten their retirement security."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a statement reminding lawmakers the city of Chicago's pension problems have yet to be fixed.
"The work is far from finished. The pension crisis is not truly solved until relief is brought to Chicago and all of the other local governments across our state that are standing on the brink of a fiscal cliff because of our pension liabilities. Without providing the same relief to local governments, we know that taxpayers, employees, and the future of our state and local economies will remain at risk," Emanuel said in a statement.
During debate, sponsoring Sen. Kwame Raoul urged colleagues to vote in favor. "We cannot continue to be the embarrassment of the nation," said Raoul, D-Chicago.  Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, questioned the promised savings. "I would be much more inclined to support this bill if this bucket didn't have so many holes in it," he said.
Democratic Sen. Linda Holmes of Aurora dismissed House Speaker Michael Madigan’s assertion earlier in the day that pension benefits are “too rich.”
“I believe this was actually more caused by the fact that we as a state did not make our pension payments as we should have even though the employees worked and their full payments were made,” said Holmes, the only member of the special two-chamber special committee that did not sign the legislation that emerged. “So I think a lot of this problem stems from the fact that we actually didn’t do what we were obligated and should have done.”
Despite the opposition, the Senate approved the bill.
In the House, a vote was expected to soon follow. Madigan presented the measure and found himself in the rare position of answering question after question from numerous rank-and-file lawmakers. The key, the long-serving speaker said, is to fix a retirement system for government workers that is broken.
“Something’s got to be done. Something’s got to be done,” said Madigan, D-Chicago.
Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said the plan falls short and is “short-sighted.”
Citing the bankruptcy crisis unfolding in Detroit, Ives maintained the Illinois needs pension reform immediately but “not just any pension reform.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the issue agreed the issue almost surely will end up in the courts. Unions have threatened to sue, saying the state constitution prohibits reducing pension benefits once they’ve been granted.
Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, called the legislation “the meaningful middle” between protecting retiree benefits and the state’s finances. “It’s one of the most important votes we’ll take in this body,” said Zalewski, who sat on a bipartisan House-Senate panel that built a framework for the final deal.
Earlier, a special legislative conference committee advanced the bill. Lawmakers came back into session and quickly headed into closed-door party meetings in each chamber to discuss the controversial cost-cutting pension legislation. The House and Senate are now debating the measure at the same time.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

State Representative Race Has Begun: A Comment Calling for Change.

The State Representative race has begun in the 20th  District which includes parts of the 41st Ward.  See a previous post to get a glimpse of incumbent Michael McAuliffe's challenger, Mohammad, "Mo" Khan,  http://41stwardcitizens.blogspot.com/2013/10/state-representative-mike-mcauliffe.html.

This comment came in today.... 

"Its time for a change, this guy hasn't been opposed in ten years? Thats why term limits would be great, complacency in office is the worst thing that can transpire. If he feels no threat to his job what is pushing him to keep it and do better for the community. New Blood is in order, Khan will defiantly get my ear and hopefully a fair chance. I agree that his chance will be better if Madigan does not support him, no one wants another puppet part of the machine. From what i have read and heard from Khan is, he is a Democrat with Independent Ideas, mostly focusing on education and job growth in the area. The particulars to these points centralize around more money going to community colleges for specialty courses in IT and other areas where young or old people can go get a crash course or certified education for a cost efficient price. So far I like what I hear coming from the Khan Camp and have heard that the number raised is more around 40k. I hope people can keep an open mind and are not bigoted towards someone with a middle eastern background, he was born and raised in Park Ridge and is as American as baseball. The District lines make me believe that it is set up for McAullife to thrive, and proves gerrymandering is still present in today's politics".

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

No Ice Rink in the 41st Ward: Chicago Park District Website

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/facilities/ice-rinks/


Ice Rinks
Midway Plaisance Park Ice Rink
Featured photo: Midway Plaisance Park                                                               Outdoor Ice Rinks 
                                                   
Ice Rinks                                      

Get ready for a fun winter of skating in the parks.  
Outdoor ice skating rinks open for the season Friday, Nov. 29, weather permitting.  The skating season runs through Sunday, Feb. 23 at most outdoor rinks, weather permitting.  A new rink has been added this year at Wentworth Park, 5625 S. Mobile Ave., which will open in December 2013. 

All ice rinks will be closed on Christmas, Wednesday, December 25.
 
 
Open Skate
Offered all open days (see rink schedules below).
Skate rental for all ages: $6
Admission: adults $3; children and students with valid ID free
Adult admission with skate rental: $7
Friday evening family skate, 6:30 – 9 p.m., special price: $10 per family (includes skate rental)
 

Programs
New this year, most ice rinks will offer programs including learn to skate and pick up hockey games.
Learn more about ice rink programming.


Sled Assisted Skating
Sled assisted skating allows people of all abilities to skate together.  These specialty sleds for both children and adults are designed with a foot guard, ABS bucket seat, foot rest and pusher handle. No usage charge; reservations required by calling individual rinks.
 

 

SEARCH Ice Rinks

OR

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

More Concerns about the 41st Ward: A Post from a 41st Ward Resident

A Post from a 41st Ward Resident...

After O'Connor stood by and did nothing as the ward lost the 90N, 64 and 56A CTA buses, I went ahead and sent FOIA requests about communications between the CTA officials and her office, which were flatly denied.

This happened after O'Connor assured 41st Ward residents would have alternatives to reductions in CTA service and that she was in communication with CTA officials. I sent the same request to Alderman Arena, he actually had the decency to reply and search through his office's records regarding conversations between CTA officials and his office. Despite O'Connor saying there would be transit "alternatives", I did not receive any information from her office. I learned Pace would be operating along the 90N route and be accepting CTA transit passes before the Ventra debacle because I contacted our Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky, about the transit cuts. Her office had the decency to communicate with me regarding reductions in transit service. I requested FOIA documents from the CTA and obtained them through actions of the office of Lisa Madigan which outlined how the service cuts to the 41st Ward were planned far in advance and based on the CTA projecting declines in ridership as the means to eliminate routes.

I am not sure how a world class transit agency could plan for the 21st century on the basis of decreasing ridership, but that's what the CTA and O'Connor agreed on. O'Connor and the CTA said the 41st Ward would have increased train service, service on the O'Hare Blue Line has not increased and in fact slow zones have reduced service. The CTA blamed 41st Ward residents for not defending CTA service at budget hearings, but they were held in the evening in Garfield Park, miles from the 41st Ward.

I am sharing all of this because I attended a forum on TIFs in the City of Chicago. There are not TIFs in the 41st Ward, yet all taxpayers in the ward get TIF dollars siphoned to pay for improvements in other neighborhoods, namely the Loop. Why are the buses being cut in the 41st Ward? Why are police patrolling less frequently? Why is the infrastructure rusting, property values declining and taxes increasing? The money is going places, just not to the overcrowded schools, public transit or public safety. The time for new representation for the 41st Ward is now.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

16th District Beat Meeting Cancelled for the Third Time Due to Technical Difficulties? Come On!

So, for the third month in a row, the 16th District Webinar Beat meeting has been cancelled due to "technical difficulties"?  Is this real?  Or more of the cutbacks to the 16th District?  What do we have to do in the 16th District to have ANY attention brought to public safety?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Alderman's Response to a Constituent Letter... What do you think?

An email comment arrived today, from a 41st Ward resident unhappy with airport noise and other reflections regarding the disrepair of the neighborhood.  The writer asks valid questions:  Where are my tax dollars going?  Where is the reinvestment of my tax dollars into THIS community, the 41st ward? 

I wonder where our tax dollars are going too...  Downtown, the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and other tourist locations?  Why aren't tax dollars going into NEIGHBORHOOD infrastructure, public safety and basic amenities?  True we have had couple of 120+ year old sewers replaced, a few 19th century arterial streets repaved, watched a few family movies in the park and the Seniors have had a grand time at their holiday parties. 

Where is the new high school?  Major upgrades to the parks, including a hockey rink, repaved sidestreets, etc, etc, etc... 

Here is the letter and the RESPONSE from the alderman's office:

Bellow is a letter I wrote to the 41'st wards office. Bellow is the letter is their arrogant response.

Hello,

I am writing in regards to the constant airplane noise flying overhead my house at....Newcastle Ave. Ever since the flight patterns were changed we hear loud noise day and night. This has really become a quality of life issue and something needs to be done about this.

I very much agree that the airport is vital to our economy in the 41st ward, however I've seen little in terms of return. Our street, and surrounding ones, are crater like roadblocks that needed to be resurfaced many years ago. Additionally, our light posts and fire hydrants are rusted/totally faded, and needed to be painted years ago. In essence our streets have been forgotten, almost left in a time warp.

Under your leadership, virtually nothing has been accomplished. Property values continue to plunge and the once great neighborhood is definitely changing for the worse.

As I expect nothing to be done about the airplane noise, streets, and dilapidated look of our light posts and hydrants, it will be my pleasure to quickly vacate the city and start a new life in the suburbs where the tax dollars work for the community.

Kind regards,

The office's response:
I'm sorry you feel that way. Best of luck in the suburbs.

Regards,

41st Ward Service Office
6107 N Northwest Highway
Office: (773) 594-8341
Fax: (773) 594-8345
Email: ward41@cityofchicago.org
Click here to sign up for our 41st Ward Newsletter





   

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Alderman O'Connor Introduces A Resolution Asking Rahm to "Bargain in Good Faith" Which is His Legal Obligation

'Alderman urges mayor not to use FOP president’s mistake to deny police officers a retro pay hike BY Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-times



 
 
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A Northwest Side alderman whose ward is home to scores of Chicago Police officers urged Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday not to use a paperwork mistake made by the police union president to deny rank-and-file police officers their automatic right to a retroactive pay raise in 2012.
Ald. Mary O’Connor (41st) said she introduced the resolution at a City Council meeting in response to concerns voiced by police officers who have called her office and stopped her on the street.
“People feel there’s a rift between the mayor and the FOP president and they’re caught in the crossfire,” O’Connor said Wednesday.
“The perception out there is that they are going to lose income because of a deadline that was missed. That should not be the case. It’s a clerical error made by their representative, but it impacts 10,000 police officers. It has an impact on their livelihood and their families. That would not be fair to the police.”
O’Connor said she talked to Emanuel about stalled negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police and, “The mayor has not implied to me that he wasn’t going to bargain in good faith.” But, that hasn’t stopped police officers in her ward from feeling “a little lost” and a lot concerned.
“The city is strapped. Concessions have to be made both ways. I’m just asking that it be fair. Be respectful of work the officers have done. It’s unfortunate President [Mike] Shields did not abide by the deadline. But, I don’t want that mistake to impact their ability to get their retroactive paycheck.”
Shields, who recently apologized to his membership for his mistake, was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the resolution.
He would only say, “Chicago Police officers, whom the FOP negotiates for, are very grateful to those aldermen who signed on to this resolution.”
Last year, Shields failed to notify the city between Feb. 1 and March 1 that he intended to terminate the police contract and commence negotiations on a new agreement. If that notice is not given within the one-month window, the contract automatically rolls over for another year.
When the same one-month window rolled around this year, Shields acknowledged his earlier mistake by sending the city the required notice to avoid having the old contract roll over for a second straight year.
That gave Emanuel an opening to declare that, if the FOP wants a pay raise retroactive to June 30, 2012, they’ll have to give up something to get it. It will no longer be automatic.
The move was widely viewed as the mayor’s attempt to get even with Shields for working to torpedo a four-year contract with police sergeants — tied to pension and retiree health-care reform — that Emanuel had hoped to use a road map to solve the city’s pension crisis.
Last month, Shields suffered a major blow in his effort to recoup from the paperwork mistake that threatens to cost the average police officer anywhere from $1,400 for a back pay raise of two percent to $2,100 if it’s three percent.
The executive director of the Il. Labor Relations Board dismissed Shields’ unfair labor practices complaint against the city.
Unfair labor practices complaints must be filed within six months of the alleged unlawful conduct. Like the contract termination letter, the complaint was filed too late. Shields has appealed the ruling.
Shields angrily accused Emanuel of unfairly punishing rank-and-file police officers in an effort to silence their feisty union president.
“It’s personal against me because I’m one of two people in the city of Chicago who has spoken out against Mayor Emanuel and his administration,” Shields said then, identifying Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis as the other mayoral critic.
Shields said the same oversight was made by CTA ironworkers, but Emanuel “did not stick it to them.”
He added, “This is a very vicious and vindictive move by the mayor and it comes at a time when police officers are being faced with greater challenges on the streets of Chicago and they think the mayor is gonna screw them.”


 
 
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Our Lady of Resurrection, Alleged "Not for Profit" Hosptal, Threatens to Close Units Even Though Their System Operates at a Profit.

Can you believe this?  Increased dollars coming their way as early as January through ACA, and they are pulling this stunt? 

Print StoryPrinted from ChicagoBusiness.com

Memo: Our Lady of the Resurrection losses 'unsustainable'
The board of Presence Health is expected to make a decision in October on whether to close Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, according to a memo sent yesterday to employees at the Northwest Side community hospital.

The memo by John Baird, who is CEO of the hospital and nearby Resurrection Medical Center, paints a grim financial picture.

(More: Presence Health mulls shuttering Northwest Side hospital)

“The losses experienced at (Our Lady of the Resurrection) in particular are unsustainable and the projections for continued losses are greater,” according to the memo, which was obtained by Crain's. “In fact, declining volumes, unfavorable payer mix, and case mix are all contributing negatively to the current situation.”

Mr. Baird warned of possible layoffs, saying, “There are not long-term guarantees for employment opportunities.”

How many people work at the 269-bed hospital could not immediately be determined. Presence, a Chicago-based 12-hospital system, has about 22,000 employees and is cutting 700 full-time employees, either through layoffs, reducing hours or not filling vacant positions, to create efficiency and reduce costs as part of the 2011 merger that created the system.

Dr. David Fishman, director of the cardiology department at Our Lady of the Resurrection, said Presence Health seems to be abandoning the working-class Portage Park neighborhood.

“We all sort of feel a kinship and a loyalty to this place,” said Dr. Fishman, a former medical staff president at the hospital who has worked there for 35 years. “It's not beautiful, but it's really essential to the neighborhood.”

The hospital, 5645 W. Addison St., is projected to finish the year with a $20.7 million loss, the memo says. Because of a continued decline in patient volume and revenue, the hospital is projecting an additional $5.7 million loss in 2014, the memo says.

“There is an imperative for change and (Our Lady of the Resurrection) cannot maintain the status quo,” Mr. Baird's memo says.

In an interview with Crain's earlier today, Presence Health CEO Sandra Bruce confirmed that the hospital network was considering closing inpatient care at Our Lady of the Resurrection but keeping open the emergency department. Patients who would need to be admitted overnight would be sent to Resurrection Medical Center, 7435 W. Talcott Ave.

But one obstacle to that plan is an Illinois requirement that an emergency department must be accompanied by a 100-bed hospital, Mr. Baird's memo notes.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, which regulates the health care industry, would have to approve any change to Our Lady of the Resurrection.

Only about 20 percent of the hospital's patients were privately insured in 2011, according to the most recent hospital report to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The remaining patients were insured by the government through Medicare or Medicaid, or paid out of pocket.

Presence lost $28.9 million during the first half of the year. In 2012, the system posted an operating profit of $47.6 million on $2.74 billion in revenue.

The system will help employees who lose jobs transition into new ones or find them employment within Presence, the memo said.

 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

New O'Hare Routes: More Noise for the 41st Ward

Sound off here:  How did this happen? How do you think this will work?  Starts Thursday.


New runway, new noise worries at O’Hare

Last Modified: Oct 13, 2013 02:33AM
From his screened-in porch on the city’s Northwest Side, 7.5 miles east of O’Hare International Airport, Don Walsh can’t help but comment on the eight planes that rumble overhead within a mere eight minutes.
“This one is huge. It’s an Airbus,’’ says Walsh, 58, a retired city deputy fire commissioner.
“Here comes the next one — imagine having a barbecue with this.” And again. “This is one where you have to stop talking.’’
With plane noise and frequency already reaching what Walsh calls “obnoxious” levels, like many city residents east of O’Hare, he is bracing for Thursday.
That’s when a new runway opens at O’Hare, creating more arrivals on another runway whose traffic already irritates some residents of the 39th, 41st and 45th wards on the Northwest Side. Average annual arrivals on that runway, 27L, will jump more than 50 percent by day and nearly fourfold at night, an analysis of city data predictions indicate.
Worse yet to Walsh, during about 70 percent of the year all night arrivals will roll into O’Hare on 27L, city officials recently conceded. Meanwhile, the new runway will largely sit unused at night, city data predictions indicate.
“That’s insane. That’s absolutely insane,’’ said Walsh, of the Indian Woods community in the 39th Ward. “Why aren’t they equally breaking up the runways?”
On Thursday, runway 10C/28C debuts as part of the massive O’Hare Modernization Program, which is an effort to wind down use of crisscrossing runways in favor of new, parallel ones. The move should decrease O’Hare delays and increase capacity because planes will no longer face interference from intersecting runway traffic, city officials say.
In this dramatic shift, 70 percent of O’Hare planes will fly from east to west on those parallel runways.
Environmental impact maps predict 15,991 people will be newly exposed to a “significant” level of plane noise, normally disruptive enough to qualify for sound insulation. That includes new portions of the 41st Ward’s Norwood Park; slivers of the 36th and 45th wards; and parts of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Wood Dale, Itasca and Bensenville.
Getting relief from the same noise level should be 12,254 others, including sections of Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, North Lake, Franklin Park, Rosemont, Norridge and Harwood Heights.
After the winners and losers shake out, 3,737 additional city and suburban dwellers will be hit with “significant” plane noise, although the affected land area will shrink with the runway switch, environmental impact maps indicate.
City officials note that almost all recent city O’Hare noise complaints have come from the 41st Ward, where some homes have received subsidized soundproofing. Only a handful hail from the further east 39th and 45th wards, which don’t qualify, they say.
Walsh, a member of the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition, lives outside the area predicted for significant noise. He says the level he lives with now is annoying to him and many other Northwest Siders. By Thursday, he’s predicting it will be worse.
“They [officials] can talk all the numbers they want,” Walsh said. “We are here. We live it.’’
For years, suburbanites who don’t vote in the city have tackled airport noise from O’Hare, but the issue threatens to spread to more city residents who do vote in Chicago.
The new, $1.28 billion 10C/28C runway will be used largely for day arrivals. It is one of three parallel runways absorbing just under a quarter of all daytime landings averaged annually, city predictions indicate. That move alone will increase day arrivals on 27L to 327 from 213, or by 53.5 percent on average annually, a Sun-Times analysis of city predictions shows.
At night, when O’Hare usually consolidates arrivals and departures onto one runway each, all planes will land on 27L about 70 percent of the year, city officials told the Chicago Sun-Times.
During that time, 27L — the closest runway to airport terminals — will absorb, on average, slightly more than 100 flights over nine hours, city data predictions indicate. The bulk will land from 10 p.m. to midnight and from 5 to 7 a.m., city aviation department documents indicate.
“In west flow, which is expected to occur about 70 percent of the time during the year, Runway 27L would most likely be getting all nighttime arrivals,’’ Greg Cunningham, a city Department of Aviation spokesman, told the Chicago Sun-Times in an email.
“I’m stunned. It’s the worst nightmare I could ever think of,’’ said Walsh. Cargo planes between 5:20 and 6 a.m. already wake him regularly.
“Our houses are rumbling, they are literally shaking now at night,’’ Walsh said. “They need to equally distribute traffic when a runway goes in.’’
Cunningham noted that the Kennedy Expy. and I-294 interchange are “directly under the flight path” of 27L, so using it is in line with the “Fly Quiet” program that encourages flights over less-populated areas, including highways.
“Spreading air traffic around the airport by utilizing multiple runways would impact more residents,’’ Cunningham said.
Jac Charlier, a leader of the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition, said he has been expecting increased air traffic during the day and especially at night in at least three Northwest Side wards, but no public data so far has explicitly stated that runway 27L would absorb all night arrivals 70 percent of the year.
In the last month, the coalition has left door hangers at 8,000 homes, mostly in the three Northwest Side wards, saying “kiss your property values goodbye” and that “you can hear the planes, but you were not heard’’ before decisions were made on O’Hare runway use.
The new information is “gonna fire people up,’’ Charlier said. “This is a game changer.’’
U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Jan Schakowsky (both D-Ill.) last week wrote city aviation officials, saying “changes must be explored” to planned flight patterns.
Quigley told the Sun-Times he recognizes O’Hare as an economic engine whose east-to-west routes will “dramatically improve the flow of air traffic across the country’’ and save millions in reduced delays and cancellations.
However, Quigley said, he has asked the City Aviation Department to “re-evaluate” and “try to use as many runways as possible at all times, including nights. I’m trying to spread the burden out as much as possible.’’
In addition, the lawmakers have asked the Federal Aviation Administration to re-evaluate the level of noise that qualifies homes for sound insulation.
“I think they should reduce it significantly,’’ Quigley said. “It was an arbitrary figure.’’

“We appreciate the role the new runway plays in safe and efficient flight operations,’’ Quigley and Schakowsky wrote. But “we don’t believe that vibrant neighborhoods and stable property values should be sacrificed solely in the name of airport efficiency and economic growth.’’
Charlier and others say they can’t understand why some city neighborhoods will be forced to shoulder the bulk of night-time O’Hare traffic and why daytime traffic can’t be split equally among all four existing parallel runways instead of mostly three.
Lisa Ziems, who helped the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition distribute door hangers, said she and her husband bought their home in the Hollywood-North Park area seven years ago to enjoy the quiet of the North Park Village Nature Center across the street. Now she can’t walk through it without planes overhead.
Currently, she said, her family sleeps with the windows closed, the air conditioning on and a sound machine running to keep out flight noise. But other neighbors sleep with windows open and hear flight noise, she said.
“It’s not fair that one community bears the biggest brunt,’’ Ziems said.
Ald. Mary O’Connor (41st) said she inherited the O’Hare Modernization deal, and “stopping a multi-billion dollar plan at the zero hour is not realistic.’’ However, she said she will continue to seek noise monitors and sound insulation “and any other resource that will help limit the impact.’’
With O’Hare located in the 41st Ward, residents “are used to having planes fly over their heads” and “our property values continue to be some of the strongest in the city ,’’ O’Connor said.
The good news on the Northwest Side, said Ald. John Arena (45th), is that by the time the Modernization Program fully expands to include a total of four parallel runways and two runway extensions, day arrivals on 27L should shrink to near nothing, so residents in his ward can eventually enjoy a peaceful outdoor barbecue or a glass of wine on their patios.
As a result, Arena said, FAiR’s door hangers warning of plummeting property values amount to “screaming fire in a theater.’’ However, Arena conceded, he had not been told that all night arrivals would enter through 27L roughly 70 percent of the year.
Arena, a member of the city aviation committee and the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, said city aviation officials told him using 27L allowed them to shut down a control tower at night and efficiently concentrate arrivals on the closest runway to terminals.
“Let’s see what the real numbers are,’’ Arena said. “What are the costs of having two [arrival] runways at night and splitting it up a bit?’
However, Walsh noted that completion isn’t due until 2020, and funding for the next runway is still uncertain. “Why would you spend millions on O’Hare and build a runway that you can’t open [at night] because the tower is not open?’’ Walsh said.
He hears “double the noise’’ he encountered when he bought his home 22 years ago and expects things to only get worse. “If I wanted to buy a home by the airport for half of my property value, I would have done that,’’ Walsh said. “But I bought a house 7.5 miles from the airport, and now I might as well live next door to the airport.”
Email: rrossi@suntimes.com
Twitter: @rosalindrossi


Copyright © 2013 — Sun-Times Media, LLC

Monday, October 7, 2013

State Representative Mike McAuliffe, 20th District (includes 41st Ward), Challenged in the General Election!


It looks like we have a fresh face in the General Election for State Representative.
 
 
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributers


David Ormsby

David Ormsby

 
Lone Chicago GOP Lawmaker Draws Young Democratic Challenger     
Posted: 10/05/2013 5:09 am                                                    

 

DavidOrmsby@DavidOrmsby.com

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Why Won't Alderman Mary O'Connor Speak to the Press?

So, here is a comment that came through today: 

What about Mary refused to be interviewed by the largest newspaper in her ward...the Nadig? 
 
I read the article in the local Nadig paper last week stating Alderman O'Connor refused to be interviewed and had her staffer, Jason Hernandez answering questions.... 
 
Most interesting to me was Mr. Hernandez's dig at former Alderman Doherty for not communicating with his constituents...  While that was certainly true, it's odd coming out of the mouth of the staffer of the current alderman who sends a staffer to talk to the press?  Anyone else wondering why Alderman O'Connor won't speak directly to the news media or constituents (except to post soft announcements about family movie night, senior citizen events, etc....)?
 
Where are her statements on the tough issues?  Haven't heard ONE word about any issue with SUBSTANCE. 

Here it is: 

O’Connor rejects idea of one term and done


by RUSS STEWART
Here’s a quiz for old timers who reside in the Northwest Side 41st Ward: Who is Harry Bell? Is there a "Curse of Harry Bell"?
Alderman Mary O’Connor (41st) scoffs at the notion. According to her senior advisor and spokesman Jason Hernandez, O’Connor, the ward’s first female alderman, is well positioned to win a second term in 2015. She’s not, he insists, going to be a one-termer, as was fellow Democrat Bell, who served from 1959 to 1963.

O’Connor’s most formidable 2015 opponents, Maurita Gavin and Rich Gonzalez, who finished second and third in the 2011 election, are out of the picture. Gavin, a top aide to O’Connor’s predecessor, Alderman Brian Doherty, now works for 36th Ward Alderman Nick Sposato, and Gonzalez, a Chicago police officer, has moved out of the ward.
Over the past 66 years, the 41st Ward has had just six aldermen — a remarkably low turnover rate, although three of those six were defeated. Chicago aldermanic elections are nonpartisan, but a professed Republican has represented the ward for 42 of the 66 years dating back to 1947. Only one alderman, Bell, was defeated after one term.

O’Connor was elected as the ward’s Democratic committeeman in 2008, defeating Ralph Capparelli. Doherty announced his retirement in 2010, and he ran a losing race for state senator against Democrat John Mulroe, O’Connor’s ally. Only key aldermen get the dwindling number of City Hall patronage jobs, and although the 41st Ward is loaded with police officers, firefighters, city workers and plenty of city and county bureaucrats, they are distinctly disinclined to work as Democratic precinct captains. O’Connor’s 20-year presence in the ward as a business woman and the former president of the Edison Park Chamber of Commerce, coupled with Mulroe’s 2010 operation, made O’Connor the best organized candidate in 2011, with the widest precinct coverage.
Doherty endorsed Gavin, as did state Representative Mike McAuliffe (R-20), the ward’s Republican committeeman. That gave her the second best organization.

Gonzalez, a member of the organization of Alderman Dick Mell (33rd), benefited from some 33rd Ward workers dispatched into the ward and tried to appeal to his base of fellow first responders.
In what was unquestionably an uninspiring 11-candidate field, O’Connor placed first in the municipal election. The ward had 36,785 registered voters, and turnout was 20,109. O’Connor got 6,132 votes (30.5 percent of the total), to 5,030 votes (25.0 percent) for Gavin. Gonzalez got 1,918 votes (9.5 percent), and the others were all under 9 percent. O’Connor placed first in 39 of 57 precincts, and Gavin was first in 17.

Turnout in the runoff plunged by 5,651 votes, to 14,458, a decline of 28 percent. Neither candidate was well funded, mailings were few, and it was a precinct battle of O’Connor-Mulroe versus Doherty-McAuliffe. The Democrats barely won. O’Connor topped Gavin 7,354-7,104, getting 50.9 percent of the vote and winning by a minuscule margin of 250 votes. O’Connor, whose base is in Edison Park, won 35 precincts, with one tied. Gavin, whose base is in Oriole Park, won 21 precincts. The vote in Norwood Park and the apartment precincts west of Cumberland Avenue was basically even, but O’Connor’s margin in Edgebrook put her over the top. To be sure, no 250-vote winner can be deemed "safe," and O’Connor’s fund-raising, with cash on hand of $7,674 as of June 30, is singularly dismal.

However, O’Connor ranks among the most obscure and least voluble of the city’s 50 aldermen. Neither a pip nor a squeak emanates from her mouth during City Council meetings. She is a reliable vote for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Compared to her more boisterous, contentious and often obstreperous predecessors, O’Connor is a wallflower, as was Bell.

The ward’s aldermanic chronology is as follows:
1947 to 1959: Republican Joe Immel, an attorney, was part of the City Council’s 10-member "Economy Bloc," who outspokenly opposed the politics of mayors Martin Kennelly (who served from 1947 to 1955) and Richard J. Daley (who was elected in 1955). The ward then was a Republican bastion and the city’s largest, extending west from Cicero Avenue and north from Montrose Avenue to the city limits. The ward’s Republican committeeman, Tim Sheehan, was a congressman from 1950 to 1958. In 1959 Sheehan, who was defeated for re-election in 1958 by Roman Pucinski, ran for mayor, and Daley’s Democrats flooded into the ward. Bell beat Immel, and Sheehan was buried by Daley.

1959 to 1963: Bell served an undistinguished term, voting as a loyal cog in the "Daley Machine." When the 41st Ward was split in the 1962 remap, creating the 45th Ward in the east half, Daley made Bell the 41st Ward Democratic committeeman. The hapless Bell lost in 1963, and in 1964 Daley bounced Bell as the committeeman, replacing him with Pucinski, who moved in from the 35th Ward.
1963 to 1972: Ed Scholl, the "boy journalist," was just 25 when he beat Bell by a vote of 10,155-6,952. He was a writer for a local newspaper, and he had written a book titled "Seven Miles of Ideal Living," about Norwood Park, Oriole Park and Edison Park. Scholl used his public relations skills to become a City Council gadfly, criticizing Daley and voting against his budgets. His constituents were not displeased. Meanwhile, Pucinski was building up the ward’s Democrats, and Scholl squeaked to a 51.4 percent win in 1971. Scholl ran for a seat in the Illinois Senate in 1972, and in the Nixon landslide he beat Democratic incumbent Bob Egan 54,309-41,495, with 56.7 percent of the vote. Scholl faced Egan again in 1974. This time, burdened by Watergate and anti-Nixon revulsion, Scholl lost by a vote of 34,284-31,424.
Scholl was indicted for taking zoning bribes while he was an alderman, and he was convicted and incarcerated.

1973 to 1991: The loquacious and ubiquitous Pucinski, who had a lifelong love affair with microphones and television cameras, was notorious for never letting sound judgment get in the way of his ego. In 1972, despite 14 years of congressional seniority, he challenged Republican U.S.
enator Chuck Percy. His theme was, "a workhorse, not a showhorse." After the results were in, Pucinski was a dead horse. He lost 2,867,078-1,721,031, a margin of 1,146,071 votes. Frank Annunzio took Pucinski’s House seat, and "Pooch’s" career looked kaput.
However, Scholl’s vacancy serendipitously beckoned, and Pucinski eagerly grabbed the job, getting 84.0 percent of the vote in the 1973 election. Pucinski quickly emerged as the City Council’s best known "showhorse," generating headlines but never bucking the Daley machine.
Pucinski did buck the machine in 1977, running for mayor against the endorsed candidate Mike Bilandic and placing second in a six-candidate primary. Bilandic got 51.1 percent of the vote and Pucinski got 32.7 percent. Pucinski won the 41st Ward with 75 percent of the vote. The ward’s pro-Bilandic clique — Capparelli, Stanley Kusper and Harry Semrow — created a rump Democratic organization and began plotting Pucinski’s demise. However, again serendipitously, Bilandic lost to Jane Byrne in 1979, and Pucinski’s ward rivals vanished. After Harold Washington’s 1983 win, the ever-facile Pucinski emerged as a leader of the "Vrdolyak 29."
By 1991, after Pucinski had served 18 years as alderman, 41st Ward voters were weary. Seven candidates filed for the post, and Pucinski got 41.6 percent of the vote in the municipal election, with Doherty the runner-up at 30.6 percent. In the runoff, Doherty, who was a protege of the late state representative Roger McAuliffe, upset Pucinski 13,782-11,698, getting 54.1 percent of the vote. Capparelli ousted Pucinski as committeeman in 1992.

1991 to 2011: During the reign of Richard M. Daley, the mayor always had 40-plus City Council votes in his pocket. Having a token Republican in Doherty and a few liberal independents didn’t bother him. Even though Doherty always voted against the mayor’s budgets and any tax hike, he never publicly attacked Daley, and Daley never tried to beat Doherty or build up the ward’s Democrats. Doherty won easily in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007. He ran for state senator in 2010 and got whipped 30,087-24,203.

Now we come to O’Connor. What has she done in 2 years?
O’Connor declined to be interviewed, so all information was provided by Hernandez. He said that under Doherty there was "a disconnect, a communications gap," which O’Connor "solved" by holding eight public forums and by creating a 5,500-person e-mail list and a newsletter. She has used her $1.27 million "menu" allotment for 40 miles of street resurfacing and for repairing the Lehigh Avenue pedestrian underpass.

As for schools, Hernandez said, "We have serious space issues and overutilization problems." He said that "progress is being made" to establish Northwest Highway as a commercial corridor, with a new produce market, two bars and a shopping mall in Norwood Park. O’Connor also supported a plan to reduce business licenses from 142 to 40.
On zoning issues, O’Connor has maintained Doherty’s zoning advisory board. Senior housing has been approved for the Passionist Monastery property at Talcott and Harlem avenues, and a seven-story commercial and residential complex will be built at Bryn Mawr and Delphia avenues. The vacant property at Harlem and Bryn Mawr is still vacant.

O’Connor supplied this quote: "I have a working relationship with the mayor. My goal is to an effective alderman and improve the quality of life in my ward."
She also needs to improve the quantity of her vote. As for 2015, she is an early favorite.
Send e-mail to russ@russstewart. com or visit his Web site at www. russstewart.com

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Mary O'Connor Has Never Voted Against the Mayor in A Full Council Session, EVER.

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/April-2013/The-Yes-Men-Near-Unanimous-Consent/


The Five Holdouts Who Actually Vote Against the Mayor

Just five aldermen—pictured in their council seats in February—have accounted for more than half of the 112 dissenting votes against Mayor Emanuel so far.

By Steve Rhodes
Inside a Chicago City Council meeting
PHOTOGRAPHY: (COUNCIL CHAMBER) ANNA KNOTT; (SPOSATO) E. JASON WAMBSGANS/CHICAGO TRIBUNE; (HAIRSTON, WAGUESPACK) NANCY STONE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE; (ARENA) ANTONIO PEREZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE; (FIORETTI) CHARLES CHERNEY/CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Above, from left to right:
Nicholas Sposato
Scott Waguespack
John Arena
Leslie Hairston
Robert Fioretti
Nicholas Sposato
36th Ward
10 “no” votes
Scott Waguespack
32nd Ward
11 “no” votes
John Arena
45th Ward
18 “no” votes
Leslie Hairston
5th Ward
7 “no” votes
Robert Fioretti
2nd Ward
14 “no” votes
Mayor Emanuel (at far right)
* * *
The Can't-Say-No Council
NOTES: *Nothing gets to the council floor without the mayor’s blessing, so a “yes” vote means voting with the mayor. **They are: Michelle Harris (8th Ward), John Pope (10th), Marty Quinn (13th), Ed Burke (14th), JoAnn Thompson (16th), Latasha Thomas (17th), Matthew O’Shea (19th), Howard Brookins Jr. (21st), Daniel Solis (25th), Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), Jason Ervin (28th), Deborah Graham (29th), Ariel Reboyras (30th), Ray Suarez (31st), Richard Mell (33rd), Emma Mitts (37th), Margaret Laurino (39th), Patrick O’Connor (40th), Mary O’Connor (41st), Thomas Tunney (44th), and Debra Silverstein (50th).SOURCE: Chicago City Clerk

Friday, March 22, 2013


Man shot in Jefferson Park road rage, police say

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A man was wounded when shots were fired from one car at another in the Jefferson Park neighborhood in what police are calling a case of road rage. WGN's Frank Holland with details from the scene. (WGN-TV)


A man was wounded when shots were fired from a black Mercedes SUV at a white Cadillac Escalade in the Jefferson Park neighborhood this morning, in what police are calling an apparent case of road rage.

The Escalade had pulled up to a home in the 4400 block of North Lavergne Avenue shortly before 5 a.m. when the Mercedes rolled up behind it and someone inside opened fire, riddling the back windows and passenger side with bullets, according to Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

The Mercedes sped off and the driver of the Cadillac started chasing it as his brother slumped in the passenger seat, wounded in the back, police said. The SUVs raced up Lavergne to Lawrence Avenue, then on Milwauke Avenue to Foster, Mirabelli said.

The Mercedes ran a red light at Nagle Avenue and collided with a Toyota van driven by a 29-year-old man, Mirabelli said. The four people inside the Mercedes, three men and a woman, left the SUV in the intersection and ran off. Two guns were recovered from it.

Meanwhile, the Cadillac stopped at a CVS store and asked someone there to call 911 for the wounded man. While there, the driver saw an ambulance headed to the accident scene and followed it, Mirabelli said.

The wounded man, 37, was taken in serious condition to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, according to police. The driver of the van was taken to Resurrection Medical Center and treated for pain in his arms, police said.

Three people in the Escalade were being questioned by police. Mirabelli said the back passenger side windows and the back window were blown out by gunfire, and there were bullet holes on the back passenger side quarter panel.

Police said they were checking surveillance footage from a camera at Foster and Nagle.
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 (The Fiscal Times)