Veteran's Day 2008 - 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.

Fat Cat Frimark!

As a handful of our very first PRU readers may remember, we published a piece we called Hat Trick! for our third PRU post. It was a fast, tongue-in-cheek look at Mayor Howard's relationship to three applicants to the Liquor License Review Board.

We hadn't checked in on the Liquor Board in some time, partly because they meet somewhat infrequently. But we decided to take a look and see what is on the City calendar and agenda for this week, and we saw that the Liquor Board is set to meet this evening.


screen shot of city website from this morning.

What we don't see is an agenda or any supporting documents listed for the meeting. And failing to post an agenda is a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The IOMA plainly states:

(5 ILCS 120/2.02)
(from Ch. 102, par. 42.02)
Sec. 2.02. Public notice of all meetings, whether open or closed to the public, shall be given as follows: (a) Every public body shall give public notice of the schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar or fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and places of such meetings. An agenda for each regular meeting shall be posted at the principal office of the public body and at the location where the meeting is to be held at least 48 hours in advance of the holding of the meeting. A public body that has a website that the full‑time staff of the public body maintains shall also post on its website the agenda of any regular
meetings of the governing body of that public body. Any agenda of a regular meeting that is posted on a public body's website shall remain posted on the website until the regular meeting is concluded.

The PRU Crew then decided to take a look at minutes from past meetings of the Liquor License Review Board. At the board's December 3, 2007 meeting (.pdf), they reviewed 30 licenses for renewal and at their March 6, 2008 meeting (.pdf) they reviewed approval for 1 license.

Of the 31 liquor licenses reviewed and approved by the Liquor License Review Board, Mayor Howard had to recuse himself from discussion and voting on 8 licenses -- a little over one quarter of all the licenses approved in the City of Park Ridge!

Pay-to-Play! Priceless!

Update! -- 3:45pm -- The City has finally posted an agenda, background memo, and draft ordinance for tonight's Liquor Review Board meeting -- just hours before it is to take place. You may review the documents here. Minutes of the Liquor Review Board's last meeting held on June 10, 2008 seem to still be unavailable.

Update! -- per PRU reader "MIKE" -- CANC 6:30 p.m. Liquor License Review Board: -->This event has been cancelled.

Got to love decisive leadership!

Freewheeling!

Our congratulations to the winners.
Our condolences to the losers.

We're glad the frenzied federal election season has come to a close.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Election Day 2008!

Republicans are red
Democrats are blue
Let the party of your choice
Be sure to hear from you!



Vote today!

PRESSto Chango!

As many PRU readers may remember, a year ago the City Council voted in favor of giving Norwood's Park Ridge 2004 LLC a density variance for 8 additional condo units; bringing the total number of residential units to be built on the site of Executive Office Plaza to 168. Condominium projects of this type are referred to as "planned unit developments", or PUDs.

We covered the matter at length in a dozen posts beginning here. And as we told PRU readers here, the variance sought for the density was based largely on the inclusion of 50 units -- less than 1/3 of the development -- for "senior housing."

So in last week's edition of the Herald-Advocate an article headline caught our attention:



Senior housing project? What Senior housing project? A 168 unit development that is less than fully 1/3 for senior housing is a "senior housing project?" The local rag has got to be kidding!

Then the PRU Crew remembered the magic of the local press; help the politicians hang their hat on whatever smoke and mirrors spin will make them "look their best", as City Cluck Betty Henneman has been known to phrase it.

Just more of the same.

Boo!

Have a Happy Halloween!

City Council Recap!

A quickie!

At last night's City Council meeting Mayor Howard read a statement saying, "Journeys from PADS to HOPE will not be expanding their service area to include the city of Park Ridge." Mayor Howard then said that in light of this development he was withdrawing his recommendation to the City Council for consideration of his homeless shelter contract scheme to provide the Public Works Center as a PADS site.

Mayor Howard went on to remind those in attendance that the City Council still has "difficult decisions to make" and will be discussing the remaining text amendment and licensing ordinances at their next meeting on November 17, 2008.

The work isn't over, but a big hunk of what we feel was a disaster waiting to happen has been removed. We hope our City Council will address this issue in a way that places the concerns and interests of residents and taxpayers ahead of any other special interests.

The City Council then moved on to consideration of whether or not the city's liquor ordinances should be amended to allow for arcade games and other entertainment to be allowed in establishments that serve alcohol. That action was referred back to the Procedures and Regulations Committee for further discussion.

Finally, we hear PRUdos may be in order for a certain city employee's promotion! The PRU Crew wanted to light some sparklers to celebrate, but we understand that's illegal!

Short but sweet!