July 14, 2010

Committee of the Whole 7-12-2010 Video!



Another entertaining cluster for those who find clusters entertaining!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey, where is everybody??

Anonymous said...

Mr. Stapleton might be an accountant but he doesn't know jack about municipal accounting.

Don't look now Mr. Mayor but your good buddy might not be your good buddy too much longer if you screw up his plans to get around his bar parking problem. You might have to pay for your beer at his bar too!

ParkRidgeUnderground said...

A PRU PSA --

If anyone is having trouble submitting a comment, pop an email to us and let us know so we can report it to the blogger gods.

The comment problems were reportedly addressed and fixed by the blogger gods, but there are still reports of problems in the blogger forum.

Anonymous said...

I think people are just out and about and enjoying the summer.

I'm still recovering from the Park Ridge Taste!

Anonymous said...

Anon: 8:47

You mean Republicanfest?

5th ward taxpayer said...

The funniest comment of the night came during the 17th discussion of funding for community groups. One of the aldermen said "Who are we to decide which group does or doesn't get the funding?"

Um...guys? You're the freakin' city council. It is most definitely your job to decide.

Based on voter input, of course.

The thing that irks me most about the community groups funding is that it distracts fromt he bigger picture. It sounded like my alderman who said "this is only 1% of the city budget." What he meant was, why worry about just 1% of the spending?

I think we should worry about 100% of the spending, including that 1%. I really don't care which community groups get funding. I just want a balanced budget, reduced city debt and no more tax increases.

Bean said...

5th wt,

I almost 100% agree with you. I watched Allegretti say that and thought the exact same thing..."You're the clowncil! You're supposed to prioritize and decide!"

Where I disagree with you is when you say, "I really don't care which community groups get funding." I do care. I care because the clowncil IS supposed to determine the priorities for programs on which taxpayer money gets spent.

I find it galling that MOST of them can't seem to tell the difference between spending our money on helping people in need eat or entertainment.

5th ward taxpayer said...

Bean, I'm also in general agreement with you. Yes, I do care who gets funded. I think I was reacting to the fact that 1% of the budget takes up 99% of the conversation, resulting in no meaningful solutions to balancing the overall budget.

Anonymous said...

7:56:

I mostly agree with you. What tends to happen, even in this small town is people focus on political crap. They all go for this us versus them mentality. It is demonstrated in this very post....Republicanfest.....whjat a bunch of crap!!!

Anonymous said...

4:19

Crap? So I saw at least half a dozen Republican names spread around the taste. Democrats=0. Yes it was a Republicanfest.

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmmm..........I noticed some maine township political group working the beer tent but at this very moment I could not tell you the name on the shirts they were wearing.....some Maine Township position. The idea that TOPR is now suddenly being "positioned" by some opponents as a "political" group is, I repeat, crap!!!

Anonymous said...

8:52

On Saturday....

1. Provenzano banner at the beer the tent and staffed by his guys.

2. Mulligan had a booth.

3. Frimark in a Republican polo shirt selling tickets.

4. A Maine Township booth staffed with elected Republican officials.

5. Mayor Dave "Reagan is my hero" working the beer tent. (I'd give you this one since he is the Mayor, but why were there no Dem officals?)

6. And this is the best, the tickets for food and drink plastered with Pete Silvestri's name on the back. WTF?

Oh and one more thing, let's not forget that this organization has a documented history of contributing to Republican candidates.

Bean said...

Anonymous @ 10:35,

pppsssttt...Maine Township and Park Ridge are "held" by Republicans and considered Republican "strongholds"... Thought you might like to know.

As far as I know, "this organization" has only donated to one Republican candidate...the now-"retired" Dudycz, who was also a member of the ToPR organization and a past sponsor of the event. I think the donation was improper and is regretted by some of the ToPR members as being "impolitic"...and at least part of the reason ToPR "re-upped" as a 501(c)6 organization.

By the way, Kotowski, who I believe is a "Dem official", was also a sponsor of the event at one time.

Silvestri has been a sponsor for a number of years. What you should look for, if you are looking for "dirt," is whether or not Silvestri lists the ticket advertising on his campaign disclosures as either an "in-kind" or direct expense for the printing...

I believe sponsorships come with a booth/"canopy on Courtland"...so if you didn't see any "Dem officials" with a booth/"canopy on Courtland" or working as volunteers (dressed in the "tacky attire" of their choosing) it could be there weren't any "Dem officials" who sponsored the event and/or didn't sign-up to volunteer...

5th ward taxpayer said...

Zzzzzzzz..... This is a boring discussion. Illinois doesn't have two parties. It has just one big political combine feeding off our productivity. The tax money gets wasted equally by Remocrats and Depublicans.

Bean said...

5th wt,

True enough...but we still have groups operating under the respective banners...and political whores who'll put out a spread for anyone they think will give them money for their pet projects.

Anonymous said...

All politicians are "political w*****". It goes with the territory.

Bean said...

Anonymous @ 12:59,

I guess it depends on how you define and use the term "politician"...

...and I wasn't talking about the "politicians." Corruption doesn't take place exclusively amongst "politicians" within any given party or, as is the lovely case here in Illinois, in a "combine"...

Talking about corruption and concentrating exclusively on elected officials is the equivalent of believing it's possible to clap with only one hand.

Government corruption sadly seems to reflect "the people"...or more accurately, a segment of "the people" willing to engage in corruption WITH elected officials...and it's usually some un-elected but well-connected/contributor/opportunist/friend(ly) "business interest" which provides the "opportunity" which far too many "politicians" can't seem to resist.

Anonymous said...

taste is clearly (to anyone with eyes) a repuglican politician promoting venture, but they have allowed dems who donated volunteers to empty trashcans (finally this year some recycling bins as well) to have some presence in the past. I didn't see it this year at all which is why the 501(c)(6) re-designation unnerves me. It is, after all, an election year. However, the WalMartization of everything has proved that many folks don't mind how their money and their marquees are used as long as feel they get value for dollar, and the taste definitely delivers.

ParkRidgeUnderground said...

Anon@1:48 --

Maybe the local Dem leadership can put a note to herself in a tickler file as a reminder to seek out a sponsorship and therefore a visible presence for next years' Taste event.

That is, if the local Dem leadership isn't too busy organizing demonstrations at local gas stations which seem to achieve nothing more than providing annoying distractions that slow passing traffic to a crawl.

Anonymous said...

Wow....I guess I am on a completely different wave length. If this was a republican politiciam promoting venture, it was a complete waste of money. I have to assume that I am not that different from normal (opinions will vary) and TOPR this year, and in the 5 or 6 years I have attended has had Zero affect on my political positionjs, votes or anything else political.

5th ward taxpayer said...

OK, PRU, I'll bite -- re: your comment from yesterday at 3:19 p.m., who or what are you mentioning? I don't recall any such disturbance but it sounds interesting and I confess I am not really sure who are the Democrat leaders in town. The GOP leaders got a lot of ink after the last election -- it's Mulligan and Frimark, right?

ParkRidgeUnderground said...

5th ward taxpayer --

The disturbance was a couple years ago and marks the only time we can recall the local Dem organization made itself visible beyond an election campaign. The so called leader of the local Dem organization is Laura Murphy of DesPlaines.

Rosemary - "I worked closely with Obama" - Mulligan is the so called leader of the local Rep organization. Frimark is her lapdog.

5th ward taxpayer said...

Thanks, PRU -- much obliged.

Anonymous said...

Besides election time when do any of them make themselves visible? They only show up when it's time to ask people to vote for them.

I'm with Anonymous July 19, 2010 3:24 PM. I don't notice if any of them are at the Park Ridge Taste and I hope it stays that way. I don't want a nice time ruined by the politicians taking up spots and arguing about turf.

Anonymous said...

PRU,

I'm sorry this question is off topic but there doesn't seem to be a topic so I hope it's okay to ask a question.

Why are there pink ribbons on some trees in Park Ridge?

ParkRidgeUnderground said...

Anon@7:08 --

We believe the ribbons are in remembrance of someone who recently passed away due to cancer.

Anonymous said...

I did hear that as well. Ribbons are for a lost battle to breast cancer. Funeral was apparantly at St. Paul of the Cross last weekend or early this week.