Veteran's Day 2010 -- Observance

In observance of Veterans Day - Again today we will set aside any discussion of politics, government, elected leaders, and policy concerns in order to offer our deepest gratitude to those soldiers who have served our country to protect our freedoms, so that tomorrow, and every tomorrow to come, we may again freely discuss politics, government, elected leaders, and policy concerns.

To all our veterans near and far, thank you.
May God bless you all.

COW 11-8-2010 Video!

The Committee of the Whole meeting was again very long, and we again encourage people to make the time to watch the making of municipal sausage.

The Aldermen managed to talk the Tree Preservation On Private Property ordinance to death, for over an hour and a half, without actually doing too much damage to it.

The PRU Crew was pleased to hear Alderman Carey ask City staff exactly what we were wondering about -- explain exactly what sections and which "language in various sections of the Municipal Code related to parkway maintenance responsibilities" the Public Works Department is proposing "to consolidate and clarify." The PRU Crew also got a chuckle out of Alderman DiPietro's having asked if the issue of parkway maintenance was related in any way to the infamous "meatgate" incident. We're hoping everyone in the room took special note of the City Manager's remarks on the subject, despite the Director of Public Works' denial of any relationship between parkway trees and the proposed housekeeping of the municipal code as it relates to parkway maintenance.

And for those who manage to make it through to the end of the COW video, you may find it interesting to hear Police Commander Keller talk about how our Police Chiefski has been "meeting with parties" concerned about more and less enforcement of the truck parking ordinance in the City's zoning code. Some of our faithful PRU readers may be aware that the issue of truck parking arose from the frustration of some of the neighbors surrounding the residents on Bonita Drive directly involved in the "meatgate" incident. The PRU Crew is unaware of a precedent by which the Chief of Police consults residents on their preference for enforcement of any of the City's codes, but we understand there's a first time for everything. And we're finding the dynamic taking place between City staff and the Bonita Drive "meatgate" people very very very...interesting.

Enjoy the show!

Monday PRU Grab Bag!

#1 -- For our faithful PRU readers interested in more City circuses, you're in luck! There's a COW meeting tonight (.pdf - supporting documents), beginning at 7:00 PM at City Hall. The PRU Crew is looking forward to hearing all about the Public Works Department's plans for Amending Article 9 to include Parkway Maintenance Responsibilities (.pdf), as neither the cover memo, nor the draft ordinance (.pdf), explains exactly what sections and which "language in various sections of the Municipal Code related to parkway maintenance responsibilities" the Public Works Department is proposing "to consolidate and clarify."

The tree huggers among our faithful PRU readership may also want to take note of the Tree Preservation Task Force's recommended ordinance for TREE PRESERVATION ON PRIVATE PROPERTY(.pdf) -- it turned out better than we expected it to. But we have every reason to believe our Alderdopes will try their very best to screw it up.


#2 -- For our faithful PRU readers interested in looking deeper into the recent press coverage on School District 64's recent ISAT test results, you can do so here (.pdf), starting at page 89 -- from the supporting documents for the D64 School Board meeting held on October 25, 2010. The PRU Crew also found these results better than we expected, and we appreciate what appears to be continual growth in the number of D64 students who exceed State testing standards. However, we would like to hear somebody explain how this growth in the exceeds category of testing does or does not correspond to the issues raised in an October 18, 2010 report by the Chicago Tibune -- New ISAT lets kids pass with more wrong answers. Think of it this way, we're just asking for the chiiiiildren!

We've also heard some people grumbling about the announced changes to the middle school lunch program -- specifically, the memorandum of information from the District's Purchasing Manager, Betty Lattanzio (page 144 of the supporting documents), letting the Board know the middle school lunch program will no longer be accepting cash payments for lunches beginning January 4, 2010. In other words, chaaaaarge it! RevTrak, the company so graciously offering this new school meal accounting software interface to the District, has got to love the idea of having likely modest but multiple deposits on account!


So there you go, faithful PRU readers -- pick your public policy poison!

Froize! Fantastic!

via GEEKDAD on wired.com

Have a great weekend!

City Council 11-3-10 video!

Some hair of the dog for your viewing displeasure!

Hump Day Post-election Hangover?

We hope our faithful PRU readers are recovering from any post-election hangovers. However, for those who believe in the hair of the dog cure, we suggest giving the City Council some of your time and attention this evening.

What passes for our local representative government will be meeting tonight at City Hall, beginning at 7:30 PM.

The revised agenda (.pdf) isn't as jammed with entertaining possibilities as usual, but there are some important topics under consideration. Supporting documents for tonight's meeting are available on the City website, here.

We Feel The Same!

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." George Jean Nathan