City Council Meeting tonight!
City Council Recap tomorrow!
July 21, 2008
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Irreverent and Unrepentant Satire and Irony
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44 comments:
I'm nervous...after the article in the Trib and new covereage it's getting and reading the blogs on the Trib I think this is getting much bigger than PR and fear the council chambers and streets will be a bit nutty...
Be not afraid.
Good will come out of all of this.
Peace be with you!
Wow, based on the Tribune comments, there are people all over the place who have an opinion of the PADS shelter. I hope they can all make it to the meeting tonight to share their wisdom.
How about setting up a shelter in the old train station in EP?
actually not a bad idea - except does it have a kitchen, several toilets, sprinkler system, is it large enough to sleep 10-15 with extra space for comfort and privacy and parking...
Cook the meals ( at SPC) Bring the meals in to be served. There are locked bathrooms (for employees only)
Let's get Metra dragged into the debate and see if they can be good neighbors.
I bet they say that there would be a risk of a guest wandering on the tracks . . . .
anonymous @ 2:17--they won't show up at the meeting. They are just people at work who are bored and have nothing else to do. It is sad that this makes our nice town look so selfish.
Our nice town looks selfish because people are being selfish. Currently over 200 houses in foreclosure in Park Ridge - could easily be one of your neighbors requiring some help from PADS.
I agree because we are not selfish - just trying to keep this in a location that makes more sense
yes it could be - however - those with homes in the area likely have friends, neighbors, family who would take them in as well - or who can pull it together enough to move on - a program built for oct - april cold months one night a week and PADS who said themselves there is a small % who move out of homelessness - these are folks who work the system
About the number of foreclosures, right you are Anonymous July 21, 2008 3:12 PM...so, tell me again why charity cannot begin at home...? Why we should look to import transient homeless into Park Ridge when there's quite the pool of "needy" among us already...? Tell me why the PRMA, Morello, Frimark, et.al. have not said one stinking word about either the Concerned SPC Parents' proposal...or the Senior Center proposal...? Tell me why the PADS program is THE ONLY way to go? Who, exactly, is demonstrating ginormous amounts of "selfishness" on this subject...? From my point of view, it sure isn't the folks who've suggested very workable alternatives...
While we're on the subject of the PADS program...can you tell me why this terrificallyfaboo organization spends fully 81% of its revenue on salaries and benefits for its staff...? Or why fully 53% of its total reported expenses goes to salaries and benefits for its staff...?
So, if selfish is to want to do for folks here in town before inviting more "charity cases" to come and eat at my tax table...color me selfish...
...if wanting to protect my community and tax dollars from even more wasteful spending on a program that might, MIGHT, get only a two-star rating out of four from Charity Navigator...then color me selfish...
...if choosing the interests of health and safety of our community's children over the intersts of transient homeless exploited by a program that does little to nothing to achieve the lofty goals they market themselves as addressing is selfish...then color me a rainbow of selfish...
I'll wear the moniker with pride.
ditto
SPC Parent for now...
Threetto!
anon 3:12:
Where exactly is that "location that makes sense" you are referring to????
how about the Senior Center?
I have to say I'm more than puzzled by why the Tribune would be paying so much attention to a special use permit for a PADS homeless shelter in Park Ridge.
Does anybody else smell the rancid stench of the Archdiocese all over this one?
The PRU Crew's been holding our noses all day long.
200 houses in the red........what happened ? Too much HYP
- Harvard
- Yale
- Princeton
Silver spooner's.........
ms manchester:
The senior center has all of the same issues that were hashed through with St. Mary's.
Don't you think that all the home owners on both sides of the park are going to make the same noise that the home owners around St. Mary's did?
This is my point. There is no acceptable location where there won't be someone who has an issue. Pick a church with no school. That was St. Mary's and look what happened.
I guess the Senior Center wouldnt be close to transportation, which is key to the shelter.
It's sad that our town is being pulled apart.
I just drove through town, past city hall.
my oh my, did the Archdiocese call the TV stations?
It's a sad day in Park Ridge.
Are people really naive enough to think that the inhabitants of the foreclosed PR homes would end up at a PADS shelter? PR to PADS – RIGHT..
I'm a Park Ridge resident and I am selfish. I'm concerned for the safety of myself, my family and my property. Guilty as charged, and I'm glad there's no law or ordinance against it.
I prefer to not have homeless folks shuffling in and out of my neighborhood once a week. The only acceptable alternative location for me lies outside of PR borders.
I empathize for the up to 200 families whose PR homes are in foreclosure and am comforted by the fact that they can go to Palatine, Des Plaines or Arlington Heights PADS shelters.
There are plenty of ex-convicts getting out of prison each day that need a new lease on life. They need jobs to help them stay away from trouble. As I'm selfish on this matter too, I hope they will not be hired at my place of employment for my own safety.
Selfish as charged. I'm sure the residents of Kennilworth are just as selfish as I am. I'm OK with that.
Private Citizen:
I give you a standing ovation for your honesty. I have maintained since early on in this debate (shouting match) that your comments are a big part of it - for me too! While I am against PADS, I get this uncomfortable when I read some of the objections raised. It seems like people are trying to come up with "more confortable" reasons that object to PADS rather then owning up to the fact that they (and I) am/are selfish.
ms. manchester:
I could not agree more with your comments. I too was driving through town about 5:30 and saw the TV trucks.
I couldn't help but feel some frustration at how slowly this this process is/has moved. I know that the City needs legal opinions and that there are "behind the scenes" things going on. But them taking so long to render a decision has left the oposing sides throwing accusations at each other and the anger has built on both sides.
I am not saying that an earlier decision would have made everything perfect but at least we would have moved on to the next issue in the debate.
By the way, I am not sure it is fair to the archdiocese to lay the blame on them for calling TV. There are many players in this farce all of who seem to have relished a little publicity. There are also blogs like this one. Hell, it is possible that a Tribune/TV news employee lives right here in PR and brought it up at work.
Yes, I think the archdiocese is all over it. Why else was that smug mug of Adrienne Timm's all over the news? I think she herself put out a phonecall. But the archdioc really is not in the business of suing people, right? Publicity can only get you so far. The further along we get in this process, the more details about the gaping holes in PADS business practices will come to light, which is fantastic. One of the main goals of the concerned parents is to unearth and disseminate information about how PADS operates and why they should not be allowed to conduct business in a school full of little kids.
Again, we are not saying homeless do not need help. We ARE saying there is a host of more suitable locations - away from children.
Anon 10:17:
Again I ask, where exactly are these host of magic locations you refer to?
Can I infer by your comments that you had no problem with a shelter at St. Mary's? There is no school there but....ahhhh....children walk by there on their way to uptown or on their way to school.
Now there is the brilliant suggestion of the senior center. Like no kids go to the rec center or sled or live on either side of the park. The neighbors in that area are probably at kinkos printing up their little yellow signs as we speak.
How about a different church with no school? I bet kids live near those churches as well.
Some of these locations may (or may not) be OK with you but there are those who will object.
It seems like we are all OK with a PADS shelter so long as it provides no risk and does not affect anyone. Well guess what? That ain't going to happen!!
Even the suggestion by Concerned Parents, which I happen to think has some very good points, will cause concern to some.
You talk about a "host" of locations as if this is a no-brainer. So where are they?
anonymous @ 10:17--
I absolutely agree with you. We should help the homeless in our town (if they accept the help!) but don't bus in 30 homeless to hang out in our town, around our children.
I am so discouraged about the events of the past few days in this town. The aggressive behavior of the pro-PADS people is unsettling, to say the least.
I hope we can resolve this soon and move forward.
The Old Hill's Hobby
The old Edison Park Train Station
City Hall
Park Ridge Community Church
The empty Naplton buildings (pick one)
All have restrooms, heat, and are empty on the weekend (or longer).
Think outside the box
Anon at 10:17 - good point. I have some thoughts, shared below. But first I want to take a minute to talk about last night's meeting - thanks to everyone who endured the many hours of standing in the back or in the hall or sitting in the same chair for hours on end. Thanks to the Aldermen for their time and comments. Thanks to Dave Schmidt for being such a mensch - love that guy!! Most of all, thanks to everyone who went to the podium to give their 2 cents.
Shame on Frimark for repeatedly admonishing the crowd to behave respectfully then indulging in a childish posturing potshot at one of the dads with his 'be a man about it,' about the microphone, of all things. The only reprehensible conduct of the whole evening came from the guy shaking his finger at everyone to behave. Crass, crass, crass.
The more I learn about PADS, the more I think putting a shelter in the heart of Uptown is a bad idea any way you slice it.
On to the shelter-
On the one hand, anytime we reference dangerous activity that has gone on in or around other PADS sites, PADS likes to say, oh no, that's not us, we are a smaller organization just in the northwest suburbs. On the other hand, when calling them out on the fact that very few shelters are in churches with schools, they like to bring the entire PADS network under their umbrella to say, oh yes there are tons... Can't have it both ways, but either way, there are problems with how they run the show.
There is no way PADS, with its gaping holes practices, should be in a grade school, period. I think they should not be allowed in a church with a school attached at all.
It is my hope that we can get aid to those who need it accomplished without PADS Inc involved. They are NOT a corporation deserving of the public trust, especially where kids are concerned.
So, instead of harping on what's not ok, here is what I [and many like me] think works better-
The most obvious locale is near the expressway / el stop - that would make more sense. Vacant commercial space along Higgins, I am sure there must be some. If indeed we are indeed dealing with the 6-10 PR native homeless that keep coming up in conversation, a vacant storefront alone would suffice. Again, we have hundreds of volunteers ready, willing and able with time, talent and treasure to convert raw space to a working shelter with shower facilities and a kitchen, beds not mats, laundry, etc. Surely the archdiocese could funnel money towards construction rather than towards protracted litigation, right? The former is a 3 way win-win-win. The homeless get the help they need, we parents keep the school safely intact as is, and SPC - PRMA get recognition.
Kudos to John Garcia/Ch 7 for talking to the 2 fellas outside Starbucks - I thought that was a nice side of the story that PADS, for all its pomp, repeatedly leaves out.
anonymous @ 11:17am--your comments on the mayor are right on target. since he took office it has been absolute chaos and insanity. shameful behavior, tacky rantings & comments, a terrible representative of our wonderful town.
now Alderman Schmidt would be a great, no-nonsense representative of our town.
OK, sorry, back to the normal programming/PADS debate...
VFW hall?
OK, let's have a show of hands.
Park Ridge is a wealthy burg, so this is a plausible solution-
anyone who really is interested in buying property and committing to renovation and volunteerism there, speak up.
We need much cash, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, construction supplies, lawyers, doctors/nurses, social workers and more. Let's meet the need ourselves on a grass roots level - the homeless get help and consequently PADS has no place to roost.
anon 10:53:
Thanks for the reply and I am all for thinking outside of the box. However, let's remember there are all kinds of objections that various people have to a PADS shelter. Your's seems to be at a school - by the way I completely agree with you on this point. Your list of suggestions certainly deal with the "in a school" issue. But let's remember that the only reason it moved to SPC in the first place is that there were LOUD objections from the neighbors of St. Mary's (no school here).
I am fairly new to PR so I am not familiar with the old Edison Park Train station but, depending on what is your hot button and what lens you are looking through, I can see objections from a variety of stake holders in the other areas.
In no particular order:
The Napelton buildings are in or border residential areas. Isn't it possible that the neighbors will take a similiar position to those of St. Mary's?
City Hall is 1 block from the original St. Mary's site. There were people who had the signs in their windows about St. Mary's who are farther away then City Hall. Again behind City Hall you have a residential neighborhood with kids walking, playing etc.
Hills Hobby might is less residential although, again there are some neighbors and alleys.
Also, one of the other objections that some have had is what it will do to the merchants and downtown area.
I guess the bottom line is you are right in that all your suggestions get it away from actual location in a school. However, none completely remove risk to children and none address the myriad of objections to PADS that are out there.
St. Mary's meets your objection and it was shot down.
"NW suburban PADS" -- EP is the citay. And the PR people who are against it have nothing on the EP people who are against it -remember, that 'hood is at about 2/3 cops- it would never, ever fly there, no way in Hades. This is Fr Carl's baby, EP would not be too keen taking it off his hands, I am sure.
anonymous at 1:26--you are referring the Father Carl, the man who is leaving SPC at the end of the year and won't have to deal with this at all, leaving it up to the next guy?
Altough I probably more agaist these shelters than for them due to the fact that I doubt the people from PADS won't mannage things well considering what I've read about the other communities that have them I'm somewhat disgusted at the fact a PR resident would tell some homeless family from here to go elsewhere. Assuming most who do loose their homes are well off.
That's the reason why I and probably others are worried about transporting more people from elsewhere.
If each community deals with the homeless they have they perhaps it might be easier to know who's who.
The first person who spoke told to story about how former Mayor Wietecha found some homeless lady near his law office and how he was appaled that she was returned to Chicago. Well if she wasn't from here why not send her where she came from were she could of gotten the help she needed
What would of been her reasoning for leaving where she came from? And whoever did send her back find a salvation army place or somewhere where she could of been helped?
What I expressed may to some sound just and bad what PC said but you can't keep allowing the homeless to move from place to place whether it's on their own for someone sending them from one place to another.
I bet our mayor hasn’t read the article “Homeless Man Runs for Mayor of Naperville” Arp 14, 2007, because he wouldn’t be so confident about bringing competition to town.
http://cbs2chicago.com/westsuburbanbureau/Scott.Huber.DuPage.2.336389.html
I just checked the CBS 2 site and it mentioned they're already a couple of Streetwise Newspaper people here in town and yes they're homeless.
wonder how long they've been working for SW?
Mike:
Honestly I think you would have to be either a shut in or blind not to have seen the "street wise guy". Am I the only one with a Starbuck's addiction? I see him in front of the Starbucks at least 3 times a week. On Sat. and Sun. mornings he is there like clock work. He has been at that same spot for the 5 years that I have lived in Park Ridge.
By the way he is a very nice guy. Streetwise is a very interesting story. Take a look : www.streetwise.org
Well anonamous did it ever occur to you that I'm not Uptown everyday of the week?
Mike:
Sorry. After reading my post again, it came as off as way more harsh then I intended. It is just that I have seen the guy so often for so many years....I guess I assumed incorrectly that everyone would have known he was there or seen him by now.
At the PADS meeting at St. Paul, a young lady got up and spoke about the gentleman who sells SW at Starbucks. Apparently he helps out there, and they give him water and coffee. She says he is super nice, helpful and reliable. Sounds like a model employee. So this begs the question, how come Starbucks doesn't hire him as a barista, and help him get off the street? Just wondering.
jdawg:
I can confirm he is a very nice guy. I chatted with him a few minutes ago.
But you have hit on a part of the dilemma. I do not want to single out this gentlemen. I do not know his history. I also do not want to single out Starbucks. I know the do some wonderful thing for communities and causes. Instead lets talk in larger terms. Corporations have standards in place when one goes through an interview process. They have idea of what they want to present to the public. If someone is homeless (no bathing facilities, stc), the odds of them having the opportunity to present themselves in the most positive light are virtually zero. Additionally some of the homeless do have other issues that a corporation might not want to touch. I do not think most would fit companies definition of a model employee. The only company that comes to mind doing something like this si Ben and Jerry's. I know that when I lived in the city they opened a store at the YMCA on Chicago Ave. that employeed many peopel who were staying at the Y. I believe it ended up closing.
In short, if you are suggesting that we rely on corporations hiring the homeless for jobs as the way of solving the problem I would suggest you not hold your breath.
The hard reality is that we do have to "hold our breath" when the homeless are around, & based on your comments, it appears corporations have some of the same issues as "Concerned Parents".
anon 10:18:
As a point of clarification, I have never held my breath around a homeless person. That would include those I see in PR. It would also include approximately 18 years of interaction as a resident of Downtown. I have had countless face to face conversations with various homeless people (never holding my breath) and yet have never contracted a cold, let alone the plague.
You seem to be saying that corporations making a decision somehow validates peoples "concerns". I would submitt there is a difference between hiring a person to do a job versus offering a person in need food and shelter. A part of the goal of PADS/Hope is to help these folks goet to a point where they can get a job.
Lastly if you are suggesting we somehow use the decisions of corporations as some moral barometer the we are all in big trouble. There are still decisions that corporations make in hiring that are based on sex or race. Also, most decisions are based strictly on $$$, expecially if they are a public company. One need only look at Exxon (and many others) as an example.
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