April 30, 2008

Oh No!

We found the following photo and caption in today's Journal & Topics. We've underlined the distressing passage in the photo's caption.



We feel that with the right combination of therapy and tlc, these second and third graders will recover from this unfortunate incident.

After all, if you've been paying attention to what Mayor Howard and his Council lapdogs have been up to, you know that Mayor Howard believes the role of the City Council is to do exactly as he commands.

In fact, the City Council
Procedures and Regulations Committee has been discussing a new ordinance that will give Mayor Howard all the power and authority he could possibly ever have wished to call his own.

Addendum for our inquisitive friend: The current ordinance language

3-1-1 APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS

The Mayor shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the City Council, all officers of the City whose appointment is not otherwise provided by the laws of this State or the provisions of this Code. The City Manager shall recommend and the Mayor shall appoint department heads with the advice and consent of the City Council. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in any office, which by law the Mayor is empowered to fill, the Mayor shall within ninety (90) days after the occurrence of such vacancy, communicate to the City Council the name of his appointee to such office. The name of the appointee shall be submitted to the members of the City Council two (2) weeks prior to the request for the approval and consent of the City Council to such appointment.

If you are really bored, you can read the rest of the municipal code here.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I could attend one of those meetings. I am very interested to learn what the "role of the city council" is. I bet his explanation, and the reality, are quite different.

Anonymous said...

It's really interesting to see someone stand in front of the kids when Howie supports Rosemary M. who is pro-abortion.

Two faces am I......as the song goes.

Anonymous said...

Well, you have to give Howard and his cronies some credit for honesty...

At least they are willing to put into law what it is they have always wanted...absolute power vested in the Mayor.

That, of course hasn't been the tradition in Park Ridge...even under Marty Butler...who, in my personal opinion, wielded a ton of power, but never to the detriment of the people, as far as I recall...and he understood the traditional healthy construct of our local government...

But...well...that was then...and this is now...

Told ya so.

Anonymous said...

The guy has got nothing better to do.

Anonymous said...

The PDF of the P&R committee minutes (downloadable from today's entry) contain this hidden gem, clipped out here and posted (with permission of the Crew).

I request your attention to this matter in order to dispute previous implications here that Ald. Carey is a lightweight. This slightly edited clip proves otherwise: Mr. Carey is thoroughly engaged with regard to topics he is passionate about, such as belly dancing, to wit:

B. Modification to Liquor Ordinance based on Business Requests...
Over the past several months, the City has received requests from two restaurants that hold liquor
licenses regarding entertainment options they wish to provide. The first request is from Tandoor
Restaurant (715 Devon), where they wish to bring in a group of Indian belly dancers that tour the
United States and would perform at the restaurant. Currently, the liquor ordinance states the following, “No video or arcade games or dancing shall be
permitted.” The Committee discussed these suggestions and the idea of considering other entertainment options for children and young adults, to make restaurants more family friendly. Ald. Carey stated that he would like to take a more in-depth look at the ordinance and the proposed changes. The Committee
decided that Ald. Carey and Assistant to the City Manager Doczekalski work together to bring some additional information and suggestions to the next P&R meeting regarding this matter.

Anonymous said...

Dear Friends at PR Underground,
I must share this story with all of you. I dwelled on it all afternoon.
I stopped at the Hallmark Store and Starbuck's in town today at around noon. There was a black man wearing a hoodie, standing in that arcade in between the stores. He was holding up one of those "homeless gazette" newspapers like the homeless guys sell downtown for a dollar.
Because I am curious, I went up to him.
I said--what are you selling?
He said they were newspapers for $1.
I said--are you homeless?
He said--yes.
I said--you aren't from around here are you?
He said--no.
I said--how did you get here?
He said--they dropped me off here.
I said--who?
He said--the people from the shelter.
I was speechless. I was jumping to conclusions. I wanted to call the police. WHY was he allowed to sell that on the streets of PR?
WHO dropped him off?
I didn't call the police. I just walked away. Not sure if they would've done anything.
But I swear, if the PADS people are DUMPING homeless in PR to make it look like all of a sudden we have a homeless problem, that is really pathetic.
I know you are reading, PADS people. If this is you, knock it off. We don't want you here.

ParkRidgeUnderground said...

ms. m:

Thanks for the testimonial. It is what we have been told to expect, since the shelters are now closed for the season and the PRMA and PADS to Hope crowd need to make the need very visible in support of their cause.

Anonymous said...

If they want a fight, they are truly gonna get one.

Anonymous said...

To Ms. M : you should have asked from what specific shelter and ask to see some identification-
PADS shelters do NOT sell newspapers or deliver homeless people to various locations to sell them. That person was obviously from a Chicago shelter and he was probably selling streetwise. Those "salesmen" frequently get on the train to travel to a location with less competition. You're experience is not related to PADS. You need to direct your argument to the right place. Please ask more specific questions if you are going to hold other people accountable.

Anonymous said...

Look what they've done to my town.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Manchester: you must have missed the guy who has been selling that newspaper at the Walgreens on Devon for years. Nothing new there. oh, wait, he's white so it must be okay

Anonymous said...

If the homeless are such a good thing to have around - like all these no-account clergy are telling us they are - then why stop at just one PADS shelter? Let's open a bunch of them. Let's become known as the homeless-friendliest suburb of Chicago. We can adopt "A panhandler on every corner" as our new motto and advertise on the CTA buses and L trains: "Park Ridge. A wonderful place to flop."

Anonymous said...

All you PADS people and the Ministry have been telling lies and keeping secrets on this whole shelter idea the whole time. I don't trust anything you say!!!!

Anonymous said...

hey Anonymous at 8:42am---no, I have never seen a homeless person at Walgreen's on Devon. That wasn't the POINT. And the fact that the person was black wasn't the point either.
Stop making more issues than we already have.