Gone Fishing!

'Lure' by kev at pixdaus.com

The PRU Crew is taking a break -- we'll be checking in and possibly even posting very lightly over the next month.

Feel free to enjoy some freewheeling!

Have a great weekend!

City Council Meeting 6-21-2010 Video!

For those who've asked about the doings at last night's City Council meeting --

We may or may not get around to indexing the video content so feel free to avail yourselves of the technology without waiting on us!

And for those lazy people faithful PRU readers who waited for us to index the video content, you're welcome!

Meeting begins with the usual opening ceremonies

@ 0:01:19 -- Consent agenda approval begins

@ 0:03:08 -- Mayor's report begins with discussion of draft letter, inviting Federal candidates to Park Ridge to discuss O'Hare expansion

@ 0:07:10 -- Mayor comments on storm damage and asks Public Works Director Wayne Zingsheim for an update

@ 0:10:36 -- City Government Class is recognized as being in attendance and their teacher, Mr. Greg Young, addresses the Council

@ 0:12:43 -- City Manager's contract discussion begins

@ 0:23:12 -- Ald. Allegretti admits being unprepared for the discussion and moves to defer consideration of the City Manager's contract

@ 0:25:30 -- Ald. Bach moves to amend Ald. Allegretti's motion to defer to a Special City Council meeting on July 12th but his amendment fails

@ 0:26:40 -- Council votes unanimously to defer consideration of the City Manager's contract to the July 19th City Council meeting

@ 0:28:07 -- Under City Council reports, Ald. Bach reminds everyone to attend the Taste of Park Ridge on July 8th, 9th and 10th

@ 0:29:05 -- City Clerk's report begins with motions to cancel some upcoming meetings and a motion to adjourn to closed session to approve closed session minutes

@ 0:30:26 -- City Manager's report begins

@ 0:31:29 -- City Manager requests a motion to adjourn to closed session to discuss acquisition of the Scharringhausen parking lot property

@ 0:32:14 -- Mr. Declan Stapleton, of Irish Pub fame, addresses the Council ~~ by the way Mr. Stapleton, how's that parking study for your Irish Pub coming along? Don't fret Mr. Stapleton, this Council hands out variances like priests hand out absolution, but you aren't likely to be required to say even one "Hail Mary" to get that variance

@ 0:33:23 -- Ald. DiPietro notes Ald. Ryan's absence ~~ We're shocked, SHOCKED, that Ald. Ryan is missing another meeting ~~ and DiPietro indicates he intends to vote "no" on the issue of going into closed session

@ 0:35:05 -- Council votes 5 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Bach, Carey and Wsol) to 1 (Allegretti) not to go into closed session to discuss acquisition of Scharringhausen parking lot

@ 0:35:21 -- Ald. Bach asks the Council to discuss the acquisition of the Scharringhausen parking lot in open session at the next Council COW

@ 0:38:00 -- Mr. Dan Knight addresses the Council

@ 0:40:15 -- Council votes unanimously to defer discussion of acquisition of Scharringhausen parking lot to open session at the next Council COW on July 12th

@ 0:40:53 -- Citizens wishing to address the Council on Non-agenda items begins with Ms. Jane Nowak addressing the Council

@ 0:41:56 -- Reports of Boards and Commissions begins

~~ And they're off! ~~

@ 0:42:06 -- Ald. Bach begins report for PROAC with discussion about his phone conversation with the CAL law firm

@ 0:43:27 -- Ald. DiPietro indicates the CAL law firm did not return his call

@ 0:44:06 -- Ald. Wsol shares his notes from his phone conversation and offers information contradicting what Ald. Bach reported he was told in his conversation with the CAL law firm

~~ As we said -- It's the telephone game! ~~

@ 0:46:54 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on his email exchanges with the CAL law firm and confesses that sometimes lawyers are 1) "blow hards," 2) "salesmen," who try to 3) "develop clients," and 4) "market themselves." This may be the greatest truth the Mayor has ever offered for public hearing!

@ 0:49:58 -- Ms. Jane Nowak again addresses the Council and says she's happy to see her Alderman [Robert Ryan] is absent ~~ even odds say she meant it!

@ 0:51:50 -- Mr. Richard Hughes addresses the Council

@ 0:57:37 -- Procedures and Regulations begins with Ald. DiPietro moving to approve a resolution to place a referendum question about O'Hare expansion on the November ballot

@ 0:59:08 -- Ald. Wsol moves to amend the referendum language to read --

"Shall the City of Park Ridge allocate funding to seek expanded and accelerated noise abatement solutions intended to address the negative impacts of O'Hare airport's expansion on residential property values, local schools and the overall quality of life in our community"

@ 1:14:25 -- Mr. Richard Hughes again addresses the Council

@ 1:15:40 -- Mr. Milan Tomaska addresses the Council

@ 1:17:42 -- Ms. Judy Barclay addresses the Council

@ 1:20:57 -- Ald. Wsol calls the question, but discussion continues per the preference of the chairman who then recognizes Ald. Bach who proceeds to declare the full build out of O'Hare will be "horrendous" and "horrible" for Park Ridge ~~ and that muffled moaning sound you may hear are the anguished cries of real estate agents throughout Park Ridge

@ 1:22:21 -- Ms. Judy Barclay continues to address the Council

@ 1:24:24 -- Mr. Robert Trizna addresses the Council

@ 1:28:48 -- Ms. Pat Livensparger addresses the Council

@ 1:31:45 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on the referendum language

@ 1:32:35 -- Ald. Carey comments on the referendum issue and then offers a motion to amend Ald. Wsol's amendment. Ald. Carey moves to include language which reads --

"Shall the City of Park Ridge allocate funding in an amount not to exceed $500,000 to seek expanded and accelerated noise abatement solutions intended to address the negative impacts of O'Hare airport's expansion on residential property values, local schools and the overall quality of life in our community"

@ 1:38:35 -- City Manager Hock momentarily stymies the Council

@ 1:41:40 -- Ald. DiPietro moves the question which is the same parliamentary thing as calling the question

@ 1:42:38 -- Council votes unanimously to call the question which means they all agree to stop debate and take a vote on Ald. Carey's amendment to Ald. Wsol's amendment of the referendum language. Got that?

~~ And we pause now to offer a brief bit on parliamentary procedure. Almost every time a motion is made the newest motion must be acted upon, then the governing body must move backward through the pending motions to the main motion which was originally offered for consideration -- think, Merlin the Magician who aged backwards. ~~

@ 1:42:50 -- Council votes 3 (Sweeney, DiPietro and Carey) to 3 (Bach, Allegretti and Wsol) and the Mayor breaks the tie and votes yes to include the $500,000 Carey amendment language

@ 1:43:30 -- Council votes 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Carey and Wsol) to 2(Bach and Allegretti) to approve the Wsol amendment to the resolution for the O'Hare referendum question

@ 1:44:32 -- Council votes 5 (DiPietro, Bach, Carey, Wsol and Sweeney) to 1(Allegretti) to approve the resolution to place a referendum question about O'Hare expansion on the November ballot

@ 1:45:02 -- Finance and Budget report begins with discussion of City phone service contract

@ 1:49:00 -- City Manager Hock comments on the contract and the potential savings and costs

@ 1:50:40 -- Ald. Bach goes all "Napleton" again, but with much less gusto and oomph

@ 1:52:09 -- Ald. Wsol reveals his complete lack of understanding of what does and does not carry the potential for public relations fiascos

@ 1:53:14 -- Ald. Allegretti ask the City Manager about costs of a bidding process

@ 1:57:16 -- Mayor Schmidt comments on super majority voting requirements to award no-bid contracts

@ 1:57:43 -- Council votes 6 (Bach, Allegretti, Carey, Sweeney, DiPietro and the Mayor) to 1(Wsol) to approve the City phone service contract with Call One, which the supporting City documents indicate the Better Business Bureau rates an A+ company ~~ the PRU Crew is wondering why City staff included the BBB document in the first place, since we know the City does no-bid business with companies who receive a rating of F from the BBB.

@ 1:58:20 -- Move to adjourn to closed session

The end.

Another Turkey Trot Tonight!

Our City Council is set to meet again tonight at City Hall -- the agenda (.pdf) contains a number of items we hope our faithful PRU readers will be paying attention to.

Under the City Managers report, the following agenda item appears -- Adjourn to Closed Session to discuss the acquisition of property, pursuant to Chapter 5, Act 120, Section 2(c)(5) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, which allows an exception to the required openness of the open meetings act, explaining public bodies may choose to go into closed session to discuss "(5) The purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired."

The behind-closed-doors discussion, inspired by the request of the 5th ward's Benedict Alderman Ryan, will be about whether or not the City should purchase the property known as the Fairview parking lot. The PRU Crew knows the property as the Scharringhausen parking lot, which the owner recently placed on the market for the tidy sum of $724,000. The lucky listing agent is the infamous Owen J. Hayes, II who was officially reprimanded by the State of Illinois for his conduct in trying to sell 515 Busse Hwy. to the City of Park Ridge for use as a new police station, without disclosing his ownership interest in the property. Mr. Hayes, II was also lucky enough to hold the position of treasurer for Benedict Ald. Ryan's aldermanic campaign, a factual tidbit Benedict Ald. Ryan apparently felt he didn't need to disclose at an open meeting.

Mr. Hayes, II has an uncanny tendency to be found in the middle of many local real estate deals. The PRU Crew is beginning to think of Mr. Hayes, II as being a real lucky Pierre --

Under reports of Boards and Commissions we find two items of interest --

O’Hare Airport Commission – Ald. Bach

a. Discussion of independent telephone conversations of the Council with Steve Tauber
b. Discussion of hiring legal counsel regarding O’Hare

Can you say plausible deniability? We knew you could. And plausible deniability is the only reason we can figure the CAL law firm would be too demure for public discussion of litigation strategy but not object to private discussions with individual Aldermorons who then publicly discuss litigation strategy per the private one-on-one discussions held with the CAL law firm -- any misunderstandings, miscommunications, or misstatements by the Aldermorons can be denied by the CAL law firm.

Or maybe the CAL law firm just really really really likes to play the telephone game, a.k.a. Chinese whispers to the Brits!

Under Standing Committees, which should not be confused with understanding committees, the following appears under Procedures and Regulations --

b. Move the City Council approve a Resolution providing for and requiring the submission of a non-binding advisory public question concerning whether the City of Park Ridge shall support the efforts to stop the expansion of O’Hare Airport to appear on the ballot of the electors of such city at the Consolidated Election to be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010

We hope the City Hall air conditioner is working, since we expect a lot of hot air will be produced during this particular discussion!

Enjoy the show!

And the Living is Easy!

Relax and have an easy weekend!

Again! -- Pool Of Money!

Yes, we are aware the comment count is wrong -- to read comments, click on the post title above or the comment link below the post. And thank you for your patience -- the Blogger gods are aware of the problem.



Back on October 18, 2007 we put up a blog post we titled "Pool of Money!" Back then the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District was discussing what to do with Oakton Pool -- whether or not to sink more money into costly repairs for a money-losing, outdoor pool or close it down.

Once again at tonight's meeting (agenda.pdf), a mere two and a half years later, the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District will be discussing and likely voting on what to do with Oakton Pool -- whether or not to sink more money into costly repairs for a money-losing, outdoor pool or close it down.

What may make the difference in the Park Board's discussion, vote and follow-through action this time around is the fact that the new Park District Director -- we refer to him as the "Big O", Mr. Ray Ochromowicz -- has been very clear about what he feels the correct and responsible decision should be, and he has recommended to the Park Board that the Oakton Pool be shut down at the end of this season. Considering both Oakton Pool's records of attendance and revenue losses, we can't argue with the "Big O's" recommendation to the Park Board.

So anyone who may be interested in this subject should get themselves over to the Maine Park Leisure Center at 2701 Sibley Avenue for the regular Park Board meeting set to begin tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Committee of the Whole 6-14-2010 Video!

-- And it's a long one!

@ 0:02:15 -- Mayor Schmidt reports on email exchange with CAL law firm

@ 0:03:11 -- Procedures and Regulations begins with action item to approve PROAC Resolution

@ 0:04:38 -- Ald. Ryan moves to amend PROAC Resolution

@ 0:08:20 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to substitute for the whole a Resolution to place a referendum question about opposition to O'Hare expansion on the Nov. election ballot

~~ And they're off! ~~

If these Aldermorons weren't our Aldermorons the PRU Crew would find this theater of the absurd very very very entertaining!

~~ And an hour later...

@ 1:05:34 -- Council COW votes 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Carey and Wsol) to 3 (Bach, Allegretti and Ryan) to place as an action item on the next City Council agenda a Resolution to approve a referendum question

@ 1:06:12 -- Discussion begins on the inclusion of Boards and Commissions information on the City web site

@ 1:32:00 -- Discussion begins on no-bid contracts policy review

@ 1:35:30 -- Discussion begins on land use alternatives for 1200 Elm St -- And the PRU Crew notes the lack of public access and web site posting of the appraisal analysis provided by MaRous & Co. to the City Council

@ 1:47:01 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer the issue to the next Council COW as an action item to be sent to Planning and Zoning for review -- the Council COW votes unanimously to do so

@ 1:48:02 -- Finance and Budget begins with discussion and action on the City's phone service contract along with discussion of the competitive bidding process

@ 2:05:00 -- Vote to approve the phone service contract be place on the next City Council meeting agenda for action is 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Allegretti and Ryan) to 3 (Bach, Wsol and Carey)

@ 2:06:43 -- Public Works begins with discussion and action on parking ordinance policy

@ 2:15:42 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to defer action on the policy until the September Public Works Committee meeting

@ 2:16:20 -- Council COW votes unanimously to defer action

@ 2:16:31 -- Discussion and action begins on commercial parking restrictions for Busse Hwy. between Oakton and Potter roads

@ 2:17:01 -- Council COW votes unanimously to approve commercial parking restrictions

@ 2:17:07 -- Discussion and action begins on Stewart Ave. parking restrictions

@ 2:23:17 -- Council COW votes unanimously to approve Stewart Ave. parking restrictions

@ 2:23:32 -- Discussion begins on driveway guideline ordinance

@ 2:25:00 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer item to Appearance Commission for review

@ 2:25:12 -- Ald. Bach amends motion to include review by Planning and Zoning

@ 2:27:44 -- Council COW votes unanimously to refer item to Appearance Commission and Planning and Zoning for review

@ 2:28:00 -- Discussion begins on Fairview parking lot

@ 2:40:06 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to refer the issue of the purchase of the Fairview parking lot to the next Council meeting for discussion in closed session

@ 2:46:04 -- Council COW votes 4 (Bach, Allegretti, Ryan and DiPietro) to 3 (Sweeney, Carey and Wsol) to place the item on the next Council meeting for closed session

~~ And the PRU Crew finds Ald. Ryan's lack of disclosure about his relationship to the real estate agent for this potential property acquisition to be obnoxious, arrogant, and far short of anything which comes even close to honest, open, and transparent ~~

@ 2:47:12 -- Public Safety begins with Red Light Camera update and discussion of expansion of the program. And the PRU Crew is gratified to hear some of our elected officials call this what it is -- barely anything more than a revenue generator for the City

@ 3:08:31 -- Discussion begins on consideration to ban hand-held devices while driving

@ 3:22:10 -- Ald. DiPietro moves to send the issue to the next Public Safety meeting as an action item

@ 3:27:20 -- Council COW votes 5 (DiPietro, Ryan, Carey, Wsol and Bach) to 2 (Allegretti and Sweeney) to move the item to the next Public Safety meeting for action

@ 3:28:44 -- Discussion begins on Touhy and Northwest Hwy. traffic safety concerns

@ 3:36:19 -- Discussion begins on safety grant programs conducted by the Park Ridge Police Dept.

@ 3:53:23 -- Chiefski's report begins

@ 4:05:20 -- Fire Chief's report begins

@ 4:13:35 -- Public Safety ends and Mayor Schmidt resumes the chair

@ 4:13:55 -- Other Business begins with Mayor Schmidt inquiring about former Fire Chief Dubowski's return to the City and the City Manager's authority for creating a position for Dubowski

@ 4:15:38 -- New Business begins with Ald. Wsol requesting information about how property tax assessments are tracked for improved properties

@ 4:16:38 -- Ald. Wsol asks for a status report to be given at next Monday's City Council meeting concerning the search for a new Finance Dept. Director

@ 4:17:01 -- Mayor Schmidt asks for City staff to begin providing monthly budget reports and updates

@ 4:18:21 -- Ald. Sweeney announces a Youth Campus cook out being put on by the Kiwanis

@ 4:18:55 -- Motion to adjourn

You Don't Have To Join The Army!

Part of baby boomer babble was the phrase "Join the army. See the world." But as it turns out, you don't have to join the army to see the world, especially if you're lucky enough to be an administrator in East Maine School District #63!

The Butterly on Education blog has been having a good old time discussing the subject of school administrators seeing the world, courtesy of taxpayers.


On a related travel note --

The PRU Crew would be more than happy to help foot the bill for sending anybody to Colorado for three weeks -- as long as they came back determined to reform teacher tenure rules.


On another unrelated travel note --

For those who've asked, we're told the discussion about many of the issues surrounding the PROAC resolution about O'Hare expansion seemed to fizzle at last night's City Council COW meeting. When the City completes the task of uploading the video, we'll post it here for our faithful readers to review.


On a final tangent travel note --

Last night's City Council COW meeting was jam packed with parking related issues. We're told the 5th ward's Benedict Alderman Ryan has asked the Council to consider purchase of property for future development and parking. Aside from the rank budgetary stupidity, tsk, tsk Ald. Ryan -- did you forget to disclose something?

Another Methane Mamba!

As many people know, cows produce methane. As we've come to know, our City Council COWs are also a source of a lot of hot air and gas production -- we wish we could find a way to tax it!

Once again tonight, the City Council will be holding another COW meeting and there's plenty of reason to expect the production of another municipal methane mamba!

The agenda (.pdf) covers all four of the Council's standing committees so this meeting promises a bit of entertainment for everyone! Though the PRU Crew is wondering why the Fire Dept. seems to have gotten left out of the supporting documents fun, not that there's anything wrong with that...right? Who would want to read a memo on an overtime budget update?

Remember people, you can pay attention or you can pay the piper -- either way.

Stanley Cup Champions! Celebration Day!

-
THE MIGHTY BLACKHAWKS!



Great series! And a great finish! Way to get the job done!

And in case any of our faithful PRU readers are interested --

May your cup runeth over this weekend! Enjoy!

City Council Meeting 6-7-2010 Video!

Begins with the usual opening ceremonies.

@ 0:1:00 -- Consent agenda begins

@ 0:3:49 -- Mayor's report begins

@ 0:22:44 -- "Park Ridge in 1910" presentation begins

@ 0:37:10 -- Appointments to Animal Commission -- the PRU Crew is holding out for the formation of the PARTY Animal Commission.

@ 0:38:43 -- Garden Club Proclamation

@ 0:41:55 -- City Clerk's report begins

@ 0:42:59 -- City Manager's report begins

@ 0:54:00 -- Citizens wishing to address the Council on Non-agenda items -- A resident asks the Council to consider adopting a ban on all hand-held devices while driving

@ 0:58:00 -- Reports of Boards and Commissions begins -- Ald. Bach for the PROAC

*** The next hour+ of Council discussion is a painful reminder of why we find most of our Aldermorons to be Aldermorons most of the time *** And we're beginning to think Ms. Jennifer Perry has mastered the art of playing a diplomatically doe-eyed damsel in distress very well.

@ 2:09:46 -- Public Safety report begins -- Ald. Wsol asks Chiefski about the forthcoming red light camera update

@ 2:10:05 -- New Business begins -- Ald. Wsol asks for a review of guidelines for no-bid contracts -- Ald. Sweeney announces a volunteer effort at sprucing up the Youth Campus

@ 2:13:15 -- Motion to adjourn

Hump Day PRU Briefs!

To our Monday night post, the following comment was added last evening --

Anonymous said...

The average daily flights, over Park Ridge, on the runways 9L/27R and 4L/22R(these are the paths over P.R), arrival and departure combined, according to the data on the ONCC website are:

Nov 2008--------343 prior to new runway,
Nov 2009-------283,
Feb 2010-------213

Obviously far fewer flights over P.R. regardless of path, with the new runway added.

Now, before someone says this is because there are less flights overall…guess again. There were the same number of total arrivals and 50 fewer total departures when comparing Nov 2008 and Feb 2010; same data source. If you doubt the number just go to the ONCC website and confirm for yourself. I live on the south end right under the new flight path….RIGHT UNDER. It sucks! I got used to it.

What I will not get used to are people talking down my property value by continuing to speak about how bad it is to live here, when it has clearly gotten better for P.R. as a whole.

Lastly, investing anything on an environmental study is just asinine. Park Ridge paid for a study several years ago that shows the air quality in P.R. sucks. I have some news for you; we live next to a major airport, several major expressways, and the 3rd largest city in this country. The air quality will always suck.

June 8, 2010 7:35 PM

The PRU Crew has not taken the time to verify the information in the comment above, but at this time we have no reason to suspect the Anonymous comment as being wrong or intentionally false. And we did find the effort at seeking out and sharing actual facts and data rather refreshing. The Anonymous commenter obviously isn't following the PROAC-scripted version of ineducable ignorance on the part of the citizenry.



Email Release -- from Mayor Schmidtzkrieg
to: presscontacts(at)electdaveschmidt.com
date: Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 3:47 PM
subject: Fwd: Park Ridge, Illinois

To: staber@calairlaw.com

Good afternoon, Mr. Taber, I am the Mayor of Park Ridge. I want to thank you again for coming to Park Ridge to make your presentation. As you may have gathered, I am skeptical of the efficacy of further litigation regarding the O'Hare expansion ("OMP"). However, I have vowed to keep an open mind.

By way of background, I am an experienced litigation attorney and pride myself on being able to assess the viability of a claim or defense. Without going in to too much detail, I have enjoyed great success over the years by consistently approaching potential litigation through a careful process of review and analysis. I view the potential of litigating the OMP issue as I would any other type of potential litigation: before I do anything, I need to see an assessment of the relevant facts, the applicable law, an analysis of how that law would apply to the given set of facts, and then I need to be comfortable with the conclusion before I advise my client regarding whether to proceed. That would be especially true in this situation because I am dealing with taxpayers' money. I cannot achieve the required analysis through a telephone conversation. Rather, I am accustomed to approaching potential litigation by preparing a legal memorandum addressing the aforementioned matters or reviewing a memorandum prepared by an associate.

To that end, if you want to try to convince me that litigation is a viable option for the City of Park Ridge, I would need to first see a detailed legal memorandum which lays out the relevant facts as you see them, your view of the applicable law, your analysis of how that law would apply to our particular set of facts in Park Ridge, and your conclusion which would include an honest assessment of the City's chances of prevailing.

If you desire to take this course of action, please prepare a legal memorandum and submit it to me for my review. Please be advised that the memorandum will NOT be kept confidential. As our City Attorney has correctly pointed out, any discussion regarding proceeding with litigation, and the reason for doing so, must take place in open session.

I look forward to hearing from you.

-Dave Schmidt
Mayor

Mayor Schmidtzkrieg is obviously not following the PROAC and CAL legal team-scripted version of secrecy concerning public policy, at least not on this issue. And the PRU Crew finds that refreshing too.



In an online Herald-Advocate article -- Community group handouts still face veto at mayor's desk -- we read, "Park Ridge Mayor David Schmidt says he will veto any City Council-approved financial contributions to community and social-service organizations."

The article continues, "Schmidt, who believes the 2010-11 budget contains inflated revenue projections and does not take into account potential losses in income-tax revenue from the state, said he will not support disbursements for not-for-profit city groups.

"My intention is still to veto it if and when it goes to the council," he said of the motion. "My hope is that the council will see the light and there won't be a need for a veto."

The PRU Crew once again reminds the Mayor that he has the power to wield a discerning red pen over making the choice to swing a total veto axe.

We find the Mayor's threat to veto all community group contributions in total, without either demanding an accounting of each group's expenditures and--or making a value judgement between the services provided, to be as mindless a course of action as the Council's choosing to make across-the-board cuts of 12% for each contribution.

And as others have repeatedly pointed out, expenditures on tree trimming and planting, as well as fireworks displays and staff support for other special events, aren't essential city services either -- why the nearly complete silence on those expenditures, Mr Mayor?

Seemed Like Forever!

From SodaHead.com

Thanks to our faithful PRU readers for their patience today -- it seemed like it took forever for the blogger gods to get everybody back online!

And now, on with the show!

For your municipal entertainment tonight, the City Council will again be meeting at City Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tonight's agenda (.pdf) is awash in spendy consent agenda items and, considering how routinely this Council spends our money, nobody should be surprised.

The PRU Crew is looking forward to two particular items before the Council tonight --

Under the Mayor's report there is going to be a ComEd update and, under reports of Boards and Commissions we cannot wait to see and hear what the Council has to say about item #2 -- Resolution - City Statement regarding O'Hare expansion (.pdf).

The Resolution states the following --

The City of Park Ridge believes strongly that continued expansion at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport will not enhance the overall quality of life for its citizens. Roughly 6,000 Park Ridge households, which is 42% of all Park Ridge homes, are affected by changes in flight paths resulting from the O'Hare Modernization Plan. The City of Park Ridge seeks mitigation solutions for noise and pollution resulting from continued expansion at O'Hare and vehemently opposes and seeks course correction on continuing expansion at the airport.

As one of our friendly correspondents put it, "Can't wait for another unified City statement reflecting the lack of affect on the other 58% of Park Ridge households, some of whom are tickled pink about the shift in air traffic!"

The PRU Crew is wondering how a commission takes action on something not even listed as a discussion item on their last meeting's agenda (.pdf)? However, building administrator and city staff liaison to the PROAC Mr. Steve Cutaia seems to have understood the item on the Council agenda for tonight should be only for discussion, and he marked his staff memo accordingly. We also suspect the commission's failure to grasp and understand Roberts Rules of Order may be why their next meeting agenda (.pdf) includes a discussion item for Rules of Order How Decisions are Made (.pdf), as well as an action item after the fact to cover the Resolution request before the Council tonight. But hey, the PROAC has only been meeting for a little over a year, it's not like anybody should expect these community volunteers to know by now what the hell they are doing.

We're told the 5th ward's Benedict Alderman Ryan is out of town, which may create the possibility of a 3 to 3 tie vote on what to do with this Resolution. And as our faithful PRU readers know, Mayors can vote to break ties. Yes, indeed -- this could be one fun agenda item to watch tonight!

Billboards Stink!

Not only do we think the billboard deal pushed by 4th ward Ald. Allspaghetti stinks, but now we find out billboards can stink, literally!

According to blog author Jen Aronoff, of What's In Store, the above pictured billboard is a new scent-marketing attempt -- "The Bloom grocery store chain, part of Food Lion, erected the giant sign at 1220 River Highway, between a Shell gas station and a storage facility, to promote its new brand of beef. It'll disperse the scent during rush hour, from 7 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m., every day until June 18, and is visible to drivers heading west, toward Catawba County. It pairs the smell with a big visual, showing a giant piece of steak and a French fry on a giant fork, and is one of the first of its kind in the country."

The PRU Crew expects the people from PETA will pitch a fit and could possibly retaliate with an aromatic billboard of their own -- eau du meat-processing plant? Let the scent-marketing wars commence!

Enjoy your weekend -- we hope it doesn't stink!

A Thursday Two-fer!

#1 -- Water works!

For those of you disinclined to building or buying your own ark, the Park Ridge Park District will be meeting as a Committee of the Whole tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Maine Park Leisure Center to discuss two issues concerning water. The agenda (.pdf) includes the following --

Buildings and Grounds Committee – Commissioners Vile/Maloney

A. Northwest Park – City Flood Issue/Future Plans (Executive Director Ochromowicz)

B. Future of Oakton Pool (Executive Director Ochromowicz)

On a related soggy note, the Park Ridge Park District website contains the following notice --

Notice from Park Ridge Park District:

In the interest of safety, South Park Pool will be closed from June 1 to mid-June for maintenance. To accommodate South Park's pre-season hours, the Centennial Wading Pool will be open at 10am during this maintenance. Thank you for your patience.


#2 -- Wet your whistle!

For those of you disinclined to attend meetings, you may want to consider attending a benefit party tonight!



1900 - 2300 hours is 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. for those of you disinclined to military time.

Contradictions!

You need educatin'! But you're so ignorant you probably wouldn't understand! So we're going to spend your money educatin' you but when all is said and done, if you tell us something we don't want to hear, then we'll know you're just too stupid to understand!

So goes the cluster fuck otherwise known as the Park Ridge O'Hare Airport Commission.

Last week the City Council was treated to a special power point presentation by Mr. Steve Tauber of Chevalier, Allen and Lichman, LLP -- the storied California law firm brought in by the more litigiously bent members of the PROAC to educate the City Council on possible legal strategies for fighting O'Hare expansion.

Our sources report the entire special meeting and power point presentation was eerily reminiscent of the sad SOC (Suburban O'Hare Commission) days gone by and woefully light on substance. Though nobody is saying with any certainty if the Aldermen heard anything persuasive in the presentation, we're told the City Council sat and listened, politely.

And if certain members of the PROAC are to be believed, the City Council is in for a whole lotta listening on down the road.

As our faithful PRU readers may recall, the PROAC asked for funding from the City Council, and 3rd ward Ald. Don Bachtard obliged their request with a suggestion to increase the price of vehicle stickers, making it possible for the PROAC to receive $165,000 in public funds for their efforts.

The PROAC's funding request breaks-down into three areas -- $105,000 for a lobbyist, $50,000 for an independent environmental study, and $10,000 for community education.

That last $10,000 the PRU Crew finds to be a source of twisted amusement -- especially since we are unaware of anyone who is unaware of O'Hare airport and the noise it produces! But it seems, certain PROAC members have convinced themselves of the ignorance of the Park Ridge population.

For example, at the April 28th meeting of the PROAC (.pdf), during discussion of a possible referendum question on the topic of O'Hare, the following is noted in the meeting minutes --

"Commissioner Kutt mentioned that, if it is a referendum, perhaps the residents would start to really look at the real issue and take a true understanding of what the enormity of these numbers mean to us."

"Commissioner Donovan asked if a referendum was really necessary. The aldermen were elected to make decisions. He is not convinced of the intelligence of the public on this problem. They do not know how bad it is. They do not know how simple the solutions are. It is easier to educate the City Council and have them make an educated decision, as opposed to trying to educate everybody."

"Commissioner Kennedy commented that the current level of knowledge in the community regarding changes to the airport and the effect on the community is not sufficient for a referendum to pass and it would take a huge educational push on the Commission’s and whoever else’s part to let them know what the changes are going to be before it would pass. That is going to be part and parcel of what the OAC wants to do: Educate the people about the changes and get them involved. But it is setting up another hurdle for the Commission."

The PRU Crew's very favorite quote is that of Commissioner Donovan.

You see people, the PROAC members are convinced of your profound ignorance on the issue of O'Hare expansion and they intend to use your money to educate you. But they also seem pretty convinced of either your inability to be educated or their inability to educate you.

The PRU Crew finds the sentiments expressed by the PROAC members to be a twistedly delicious intellectual contradiction. And so we are looking forward to the members of the PROAC resorting to the path of least resistance -- educating the dumbest collection of Aldermen ever assembled at 505 Butler Pl.

Does anybody get the feeling the next funding request from the PROAC will be money for another lobbyist -- for the purpose of educating the Park Ridge City Council?

Uninspi(red)!

Found at -- schwimmerlegal.com

In last week's online Herald-Advocate, we read the following article -- District 64 board reviews preliminary budget, written by contributor Alex Mcleese.

Contributor Mcleese writes -- "The budget, which is only a first draft, projects a 15.36-percent increase in operating fund expenditures, including a 7.06-percent increase in payments for salaries. But according to District 64 Business Manager Rebecca Allard, much of the calculated increases in capital-improvements expenditures -- representing a 7.94-percent increase -- will be covered by federal government grants.

The Federal Aviation Administration is paying for sound insulation at Roosevelt and Washington schools, and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding is paying for the improvement of a multipurpose room at Jefferson School."

And the PRU Crew thought, that doesn't sound too bad -- half the increase in expenditures will be covered by money coming from the federales, for the worthy cause of sound insulating two of our local elementary schools and sprucing up another school room.

The article goes on to quote board member Eric Uhlig -- "I'm very pleased with the first draft," said board member Eric Uhlig. "I'm looking forward to comparing next year to this year using this year's actuals."

And the PRU Crew thought, at least one board member is quoted as being pleased with the first draft -- must be a good first draft -- we wonder what else was in that first draft.

So we looked it up on the District 64 website.

On the District 64 website we found the agenda for the May 24th Board of Education Committee of the Whole on Finance, which included a memo from Ms. Rebecca Allard, Business Manager for the school district.

On page 3 (page 5 of the .pdf file) of Ms. Allard's memo to the Board of Education and Superintendent Sally Pryor we read --

"2010-11 Tentative Operating Fund Budget Recap"

"Revenues:
Overall, operating fund revenues are expected to increase by 8.85%, which includes federal funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) summer projects at Roosevelt and Washington schools. Without the FAA federal funding, the revenue budget is expected to increase by 4.86%. Detailed explanations of the budget-to-budget changes are provided throughout this document.

Expenses:
Overall, operating fund expenditures are expected to increase by 15.36%, which includes the FAA projects at Roosevelt and Washington schools. Without these projects, the expenditure budget is expected to increase by 11.14%.

Other than the anomaly of the FAA summer projects, the largest expense category for District 64 is salaries. The salary category is expected to increase by 7.06% from $39,264,833 to $42,035,136. Other expense categories such as employee benefits, purchased services, supplies, capital outlay and other expenses are projected to increase at a total combined rate of 18.5%. Detailed explanations of the budget-to-budget changes are provided throughout this document." (emphasis added)

And the PRU Crew thought, damn, that doesn't sound too good at all! -- without the FAA funds in the mix, expenditures are still expected to increase twice as much as expected revenues? -- and board member Eric Uhlig is pleased about this?

Once again, the PRU Crew feels underwhelmed and uninspired by the fiscal management on display at District 64. Maybe we're missing something, but the continual growth in what looks to us to be red-ink-spending by our local school board and district leaves us feeling rather sucke(red)!