"The Star Chamber" (1983)
Yes, PRU readers, once again Park Ridge's own Star Chamber will be meeting again tonight. On the City Council agenda (.pdf) is yet another closed session to discuss the acquisition of property for a new police station. Place your bets folks -- which Friends of Frimark do you think will be in line for another heapin' helpin' of taxpayer money?
Of course, all of the questions that were outstanding the last time the Council discussed acquisition of property for a new police station remain unanswered. But as we all know, Mayor Howard never saw a parcel of property for sale that he didn't want to use taxpayer money to buy, especially if such a purchase can help feather a friend's nest.
Also on the City Council agenda, under the Finance and Budget committee report, is item "b. Approve payment to former Police Chief Caudill", which is rather presumptive considering that the Finance and Budget committee will be meeting a mere half hour before the Council meeting to discuss the issue -- the sole action item on their meeting agenda (.pdf). And the PRU Crew finds it rather curious that there are no supporting documents available for public review under either the Finance and Budget committee posting or the City Council posting on the City web site.
You don't suppose any discussion of the issue has taken place out of the public light, do you? Of course not, our fine elected officials wouldn't do such a thing. And they sure wouldn't be trying to hide the information from public review either, would they?
June 2, 2008
Our Own Star Chamber!
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13 comments:
Hey PRU, quite the wonky blogger today...I've had trouble getting it to load...
Anyway...I would think our loverly elected officials would, by now, understand the drill...the community is just no longer willing to put up with what the Watchdog's call the Culture of Secrecy.
But Bean,
the community is willing to put up with whatever Howard tells them. THe deals are all made before the ink on the agenda is dry, and our little town does not pay any attention to what goes on. And while it is the example of bad politics, to most people, its a tempest in a teapot.
end of the day, no one cares, and "Let's make a Deal" over coffee continues . . .
Bean:
Yes, the Blogger server was down earlier today -- Blogger is reporting the problem has been fixed.
Reggie:
Harsh! We think Park Ridgians are catching on, fast. But what comes of it remains to be seen.
Will all the secrets and trickery ever end? It seems like the only Council member who fights for us on this stuff is Schmidt. Don't any of those other guys have the decency not to hide from us or conceal information from us? Are they that much under Frimark's control, or are they acting like this on their own?
And so...that tells you that if ALL the aldermen ran for Mayor, which one would you vote for? The one who opposes the mayor and TRIES to keep it real? Or the ones who are afraid to step up?
Sadly, Reggie is right. While there is some degree of political awareness on the state or national level, most Park Ridgers are only vaguely aware of who their alderman is, and many aren't aware that they have an alderman at all.
Until something big (like Peotone--another "secret" deal that came back to bite those who supported it) comes along to rile people up, Howard should be able to keep riding his silent plurality of sheep into office.
Not knowing they have an alderman at all?
How can that be?
I admit over the years I've not always have known the name of aldermen in my ward but at least I've always known that we've had them.
If this was 30 40 or 50 years ago would we have had people like this or is this just the 21st century?
I have friends who are long-time residents of PR (who haven't JUST moved here...) and they know what ward they are in but don't know who their Alderman is. It's true.
Mike:
Good question. Certainly voter apathy seems to increase over time. Also, as for local government, the main problems seem to be that (1) citizens don't feel it's relevant in their lives, and (2) there's not much about it on TV. 40 or 50 years ago, more people read newspapers and were thus more informed about goings on on the local level. Now, people suck a steady diet of the boob tube and, well, the rest is history.
Where's Walter Jacobson,Dave Savivni & Pam Zekman ??
Whether or not Park Ridge residents get it and prove Reggie and M. Anderson wrong will be seen in two ways only: A credible, decent, accountable, powerful, well-funded alternative to Current Occupant (credit Kellior) in the upcoming mayoral race; and then equally worthwhile alternatives when the aldermice come up for reelection (either in two waves or one, depending on if they get a referendum on some ballot in re staggered terms).
Everything else - including my babble here - is just that.
Unless we see that, Reggie and M. Anderson are right.
M. Anderson hopes to be wrong.
I agree with the comments on apathy and awareness but I find it hard to make a distinction between local, state and national. I feel very confident that if you asked all the people of illinois of voting age who their senators or congressmen were, the number who didn't know would be shockingly high. If you then asked them what their elected officials positions were on major issues the number who didn't know would be even higher. Are you saying there is no "Star Chamber" in Chicago, at a state level or at a national level?
While I am not impressed with him as a candidate, one of the stats I heard related to Obama serves as a great example. Earlier this year, 8-9% of the people believed he practiced Islam. There are examples for the other candidates as well.
So while I agree voter apathy and community apathy is an issue, I do not think it is worse here in Park Ridge then the rest of the state or country.
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