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Last week Mayor Schmidtzkrieg sent out the following email to his supporters list --

Subject: Meeting videos
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 1:33 PM
From: "Dave Schmidt" dave@parkridgemayor.com
To: supporters (at) electdaveschmidt.com

Good afternoon. I wanted to update you on the situation involving the videos of Council meetings. We were informed last week that motionbox, the company which had been hosting the videos, wanted several thousand dollars to continue doing so. Since motionbox was always meant to be a temporary vehicle for delivering the videos to the community, we immediately began looking for alternatives.

As it turns out, the City purchased a You Tube account in connection with its website upgrade project which may allow us to use the City's website as a host, something we intended to do all along once the new website was ready. The video of last night's meeting will serve as the "guinea pig". I will let you know when I hear it is available for viewing. Just as before when we first started posting the videos on parkridgemayor.com, I ask for your patience while we work out the kinks.

I will let you know as soon as I learn anything more myself. Thanks for staying involved.

So faithful PRU readers, it appears management of the city's YouTube channel may still be kinky at this time -- we had hoped the videos from last Saturday's City Council Budget Workshop would be available by today.

The PRU Crew is pleased Mayor Schmidtzkrieg was recently informed about the city's purchase of a YouTube channel last October, but we hope Mayor Schmidtzkrieg doesn't wait until next October to work out a posting schedule for city videos.

Monday Money Puzzle Twofer!

#1 -- How will they plan to spend your money?

Beginning tonight at 7 p.m. at Park Ridge City Hall, the City Council will hold a Special City Council Meeting & Budget Workshop COW. If you have any interest in watching sausage being made the budget process unfold, as your elected representatives discuss how best to screw up plan for the future of the City of Park Ridge, we encourage you to attend.



#2 -- How have they spent your money?

Some of our faithful PRU readers may have noticed a new link we've added -- Butterly On Education. The PRU Crew heartily welcomes another blogger to the public policy discussion fun!

For Park Ridge taxpayers interested in seeing how School District 64 has spent your money, the Butterly blog has posted a Nine-Year Report – Park Ridge School District #64 for your reading displeasure.

Decisions!

"Decisions" by: *laura242 at deviantart.com


Most of us are predominantly guided by either our heads or our hearts.

Achieving the right balance requires judgement, and the healthy temperance of both.

Have a good weekend.


-- Addendum -- press release

Dave Schmidt dave@parkridgemayor.com
Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 11:35 AM
subject: State income tax receipts
11:35 AM (2 minutes ago)

Good morning. I am writing to set the record straight on my position regarding Governor Quinn's plan to slash the amount of state income tax receipts that the state sends to municipalities like ours. An article in this week's Herald-Advocate misstates my position.

Under Governor Quinn's plan, Park Ridge stands to lose approximately $930,000 which is presently included in our budgeted revenues for next year. A couple weeks ago, I was asked whether we should be factoring the proposed cut into our budget. I unwisely said that I did not believe so, because I viewed it as a political ploy on Governor Quinn's part to push through an income tax hike. However, given the horrendous state of Illinois' own budget situation, I should have taken Governor Quinn at his word.

At the budget workshop last Saturday, I asked our State Representative, Rosemary Mulligan, if she believed we could count on that money. She expressed her view that Park Ridge should plan on the reduction. I then cautioned the aldermen that they should heed Rep. Mulligan's warning. I reiterated that warning on Monday night at the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting during my mayor's report. However, the Herald-Advocate article incorrectly implies that I still do not believe we need to worry about the reduction in state income tax revenue.

Unfortunately, taking the reduction into account is going to necessitate further budget cuts in addition to those already proposed by City Manager Jim Hock. This is not going to be pretty folks, but our long-term financial survival depends a great deal on what we do over the next few weeks. I encourage you all to attend the meetings and stay informed about this process. Have a great weekend.

City Budget Freewheeling Crazy Train!

For anyone who's got a thought or more on any aspect of government related to the Park Ridge City budget, you can share your thoughts and more here. You should feel free to ask questions too.

This coming Saturday at City Hall another budget workshop is scheduled. We again strongly encourage residents to attend and comment.

The PRU Crew has noted the calls for balancing the city budget, the cries for maintaining favored programs and personnel, the moaning over increased taxes and fees, and the complete lack of conscience by those who've called for maintenance of favored programs and personnel without offering suggestions and ideas for either making budget cuts in other areas or honestly calling for still more increases in taxes and fees.

People, you cannot have it both ways. We either spend within our means or we buy on credit and shift the burden down the road. But make no mistake about it, all bills eventually come due. If anyone thinks there's some magic bullet as yet undiscovered and which will make the city budget magically balance without anyone incurring any pain, we welcome you aboard the crazy train.

To City Manager Jim Hock, the PRU Crew expresses appreciation for the effort you've made in suggested cuts and revenue increases so far, while we remain disappointed in the lack of your offering a preliminarily balanced budget -- we are looking forward to further suggestions from you at this Saturday's budget workshop.

Park Ridge Goes YouTube!

If you missed the Monday night City Council COW --

For your viewing pleasure! The City of Park Ridge has a YouTube Cannel!

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 3-22-2010 Part1



COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 3 22 2010 Part2



COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 3 22 2010 Part3



COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 3 22 2010 Part4



COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 3 22 2010 Part5

H-Apocalypse Now!

On March 11, 2010 the H-A -- a.k.a. the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate -- published an article headlined, "Crossing guards could be crossed off budget," written by the PRU Crew's favoritest local reporterette.

The opening line of the article says, "As many as a dozen school crossing guard positions could be eliminated in Park Ridge under a proposal to cut costs by more than $100,000."

The horror! The horror!

The article goes on to report, "Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski said the department's crossing guard budget is $62,100 for the 2010-11 fiscal year, considerably less than the $190,000 the city spent the current year. Kaminski said 12 intersections now staffed by crossing guards before and after school may have to be eliminated unless an alternative plan can be agreed upon. "I don't want to say all 12 intersections will definitely be cut," Kaminski told the Park Ridge City Council during a Sunday budget workshop, calling the list of impacted intersections "preliminary" until the department can discuss the matter with the crossing guards themselves."

The horror! The horror!

The article further reports, "Each crossing guard now is paid the equivalent of three hours of work per day, though they work closer to an hour per day, Kaminski said. Paying the crossing guards for just the hour they work could save the positions, but Kaminski questions whether this proposal would generate enough interest from community members. "The issue is getting a core group of people to work as guards on one hour pay per day," Kaminski said. He added that the department has not yet met with the crossing guards to discuss the situation."

The horror! The horr...er...wait...what???

Did we read that right? The issue isn't that "Crossing guards could be crossed off [the] budget," but rather, whether or not the crossing guards will agree to be paid for...wait for it...wait...only the time they actually work??? So instead of padding the crossing guards' pay with two extra hours beyond what they may actually work, as an inducement to get them to do the job of seeing school children across roads safely, the crossing guards would have to agree to doing the job and getting paid only for the time they actually do the job???

The horror! The horror!

We just love the H-A's reporting!

Reminders!

Reminder #1 -- If you're up for bearing witness to another municipal mad COW meeting, you can do so tonight, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall! The revised agenda (.pdf) promises something for everyone -- if the something you're into is Public Works, Finance and Budget, or Procedures and Regulations.

The PRU Crew enjoyed reading the two, count 'em!, TWO cover memos concerning supermajority voting! We've downloaded copies of both should something funny happen to either one of them. And we can't wait to hear the twisted explanations about why a change to a zoning ordinance isn't a change, it's just correction of a "drafting error," despite the lengthy discussions and vote which took place on the original supermajority zoning ordinance.


Reminder #2 -- Public policy is never about a politician, public policy is about the public. So the Crew got a big kick out of Mayor Schmidtzkrieg's personal email to personally appeal to his supporters for their personal support of him, personally.

From: Dave Schmidt dave@parkridgemayor.com
Date: Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:32 AM
Subject: Attempt to diminish mayoral powers
To: supporters(at)electdaveschmidt

Amidst the very real problems associated with the budget, another danger is lurking beneath the surface that you should be aware of.

You may recall Alderman Allegretti was pushing a zoning ordinance amendment which would allow billboards in Park Ridge. It first went to the Planning and Zoning Commission which voted unanimously against the billboard amendment. Meanwhile, Alderman Bach pushed through a change in the zoning ordinance allowing the City Council to override the Commission by a supermajority vote. However, to the chagrin of Aldermen Bach and Allegretti, when the billboard issue made it the Council, the City Attorney correctly interpreted the term"supermajority" to be two-thirds of the aldermen AND the mayor, meaning 3 "no" votes for an override would be enough to sustain the Commission's rejection of billboards.

Knowing that two aldermen and I had expressed opposition to the billboard ordinance, Alderman Allegretti saw the writing on the wall and withdrew his billboard amendment. But he has found a new angle. Alderman Allegretti is the Chairman of the Procedures and Regulations. He went behind the scenes and asked the City Attorney to draft an amended city ordinance which would strip the mayor of his vote when a supermajority vote is required. Alderman Allegretti claims he is only"clarifying" the ordinance. The timing belies that claim.

If Alderman Allegretti gets his way, there is every possibility that the billboard issue will resurface, and that when the time comes for the Council to vote on whether to override the Commission, I would be forced to sit idly by while Alderman Allegretti and his Council allies maneuvered through a billboard amendment. And even more importantly, it would set a dangerous precedent where a group of only 4 men would be able to unilaterally make any and all zoning changes they desired, gutting the carefully balanced distribution of authority between the Commission, the Council and the mayor which has served this community well for many years.

The residents should be very concerned about this unwholesome attempt led by Alderman Allegretti and Alderman Bach to concentrate authorityamong a few aldermen. Please contact your aldermen and the newspapers to let them know how you feel about it. And also please pass this along to others. This is about more than just billboards. This is a major power play which is bad for our community. Thanks.

Not to rub anyone's nose in their own short-sighted stupidity, but isn't concentrating power in as few as 4 aldermorons' hands exactly what Mayor Schmidtzkrieg supported when he supported cutting the City Council from 14 to 7 aldermen?

Don't look now Mayor Schmidtzkrieg but we think that loud roaring sound behind you is the Karma Bus coming your way!


Reminder #3 -- Any man is only as good as his word, so when we heard Mayor Schmidtzkrieg promise not to take his $1,000 per month mayoral salary, we took him at his word. As it turned out, the law wouldn't allow the Mayor not to take his salary, but we expected Mayor Schmidtzkrieg would keep his word and find some way to return his salary for the benefit of the community.

As it also turns out a perfect opportunity to return that mayoral salary back to the community for community benefit has arisen in the form of Motionbox demanding payment for hosting meeting videos. It seems Motionbox's virtually unlimited storage has its limits. And Motionbox may be looking for payment as high as $6,000.00

The PRU Crew is wondering what the Mayor has done with his mayoral salary over the last year. We suppose buying ads in various ad books and buying tickets to attend various community events could be very generously characterized as returning his salary to the community for the benefit of the community. But we have to admit, self-promotion, paid for with tax dollars provided in the form of a mayoral salary, doesn't strike us as all that beneficial to the community.