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.
Let's not forget the cutback in service hours on the Higgins/Canfield route. Alderman O'Conners' failure to document her claim she defended her wards' public transit riders is either incompetence or deceit. Either way, not good.
ReplyDeleteBut, Alderman O'Connor will make $108, 000 next year.
ReplyDeleteThe 41st Ward made news! Edison Park- http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjkiebus/drunk-chicago-bears-fan-runs-headfirst-into-street-sign
ReplyDeleteThe Irish mob likes O'Connor and so do the Democratic voters.
ReplyDeleteWe need an alderman who actually lives in the 41st.
ReplyDeleteOconner is just a city hall lap dog.
To clarify: No one in the 41st ward is paying for the TIF in the Loop, or any other TIF in the city. That is not how Tax Increment Financing works. TIFs are geographically specific and "freeze" the taxes at a specific level within a certain boundary for 23 years after a TIF is implemented. Any increment above that level is pooled into a fund - controlled by downtown - and is available for projects within that specific TIF district. If there are adjoining TIFs, one may "port" money to the other. But tax payers do not pay into TIFs where they are not located.
ReplyDelete