A Whole Lot Of Mostly Nothing!

Last night's City Council Committee Meeting of the Whole -- held to discuss the recommendations on homeless shelters from Planning and Zoning -- sounds to us as if it was a whole lot of nothing; 3 hours and 40 minutes of mostly rehashing old news.

Our faithful reporters tell us there were 56 speakers in all -- 30 who spoke in favor of adopting the Planning and Zoning recommendation on homeless shelters, and 26 who urged the City Council not to.

Mayor Howard called the meeting to order at shortly after 7:00 PM, then introduced acting Director of Community Development, Ms. Carrie Davis. Davis made a few remarks about the temporary overnight shelter process and then the City Attorney, Everett Hill spoke. Hill spoke of the reason for having to include an ordinance on homeless shelters in the zoning code, and that he believes the City Council should first determine what licensing standards are to be applied to homeless shelters before the text amendment is added to the zoning code.

Mayor Howard, before taking comments from the community, offered those in attendance a set of ground rules for the meeting; each speaker would be given 4 minutes, no clapping, booing, hissing. Our sources tell us, after the meeting ended, it seemed clear that the ground rules were for those Mayor Howard doesn't agree with, since he allowed speakers he did agree with to regularly talk past the 4 minute mark, and the PRMA contingent clapped and was otherwise audibly out of control a few times without Mayor Howard making much of an effort to quell their enthusiasm.

Speakers who were not in support of adopting the recommended zoning ordinance included the in-house attorney for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Maureen Murphy, who tried to stress that PADS is not a business and that she hopes people "will trust the church to do this." The PRU Crew feels Ms. Murphy must have been living under a rock for the past decade, or she's one of the best "straight men" you'll ever meet.

Other anti-regulation speakers included three former aldermen who are notorious supporters of Mayor Howard, as well as four pastors from other local churches, including Fr. Carl Morello.

Fr. Morello's spoke about wanting to clarify why the 6 churches that do not fall within the proposed 500 ft. regulation for opening a homeless shelter didn't volunteer to open a homeless shelter, which he didn't really do according to the reports we've read. What Morello did say is that he "doesn't feel children will be put in jeopardy." Fr. Morello also pointedly noted that the email he sent to the City Council did not go out to parents and that he "has a right to express his personal opinion." He feels the email was forwarded, without his permission, to be used against him.

Clue for Fr. Carl Morello -- next time you want to express your "personal opinion" it may be best not to rely on your title and secretary to do that. We've seen a copy of the email. There is no doubt in our minds that you were communicating your "personal opinion" in your official capacity as pastor of Saint Paul of the Cross.

Sources also report that while there are some wildly entertaining characters on both sides of this debate, there are more on the "white shirt" side of the aisle -- one source tells us some woman was waxing poetic about cauldrons, and mixing the needy all together, and that some would sink to the bottom, but if you skim the top, those are the PADS clients.

But the most poignant moment of the evening is reported to us as being the mother who spoke about the dangers of believing "it can't happen here" or "it can't happen to you." She told the City Council of a program her child was involved in at Saint Paul of the Cross, through the Park Ridge Center of Concern. She spoke about how she intercepted letters between her child and an older man; the gist of her story being that the older man was a potential child molester attempting to lure her child to meet with him.

By that time it was around 10:40 PM, and the City Council moved to continue their portion of the discussion at their next council meeting.

It's Fun To Stay At The...

Tonight's 7:00 PM City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting at Maine East H.S. should be anything but funny. Still, we hope people on all sides of the the homeless shelter issue manage to keep their cool and maintain their dignity -- something we believe Park Ridge hasn't lost, contrary to the views of a certain parish pastor.

The PRU Crew expects that the City Council will be looking for a compromise on this issue, and that reasoning and reasonable won't factor into that, if the forwarded emails we've seen are to be believed.

We encourage PRU readers to click on the link above and take a look at the documents that have been posted on the city web site.

And as usual, we will do our best to post a recap of tonight's meeting on the blog tomorrow.

Don't Live In The Dark!

Have a great weekend!


Addendum --

Check out the Pub-dogs today!

All you people opposed to opening a PADS shelter in a school or densly residential neighborhood, and daring to question the wisdom of your parish pastors? You know, all you people who've been called "unchristian?" Fr. Carl Morello has corrected that! You're not unchristian! You're "racists" and "economic bigots!"

Addendum 2 --

For our unhappy reader -- you are 100% right. Thanks, we very much appreciate your insistence.

Politics From The Pulpit!

Again the pastor at Mary Seat of Wisdom, Gerald Gunderson, is taking full advantage of the bully pulpit to engage in political organizing.

MSWGundersonPADSswill - Upload a Document to Scribd

Contrary to Gunderson's contention, not a single member of the PRU Crew -- and we suspect most other thinking people opposed to zero restrictions on homeless shelters -- has had an ounce of trouble sorting out anything on this issue. We're very clear on this issue. Your religious beliefs cannot be used to conscript the enitre community into assisting you in carrying out your faith. We're also very clear on this issue when it comes to the rights of the larger community -- health and safety first; personal do gooder deeds second.

We could agree that the current recommendation for restrictions on the location of homeless shelters in Park Ridge may make the task of providing shelter to the less fortunate not as easy as the do gooders would have liked, but it doesn't make the task anything close to impossible.

As many people have repeatedly suggested, the members of the PRMA and PADS supporters could easily house one, just down on their luck, homeless person in their own dwellings, as real guests, as many nights a week as they would choose to do. Of course, that may not allow for the public display of doing charitable works and the commensurate bragging rights a group homeless shelter provides, nor would doing that provide the PADS organization with more reason to try to suck up more public money, but those aren't the reasons for wanting to help the needy, are they?

However, there is one thing we aren't clear on; whether or not all this political organizing and lobbying for a particular public policy, on behalf of a secular organization, violates any of the rules governing tax exempt organizations. We suspect it doesn't, but we do hope our friendly correspondent of this morning looks into that.

In The News Today!

In today's edition of the Journal & Topics, we read about the upcoming City Council COW -- committee of the whole, for those unfamiliar with municipal lingo -- to be held on September 29th at 7:00 PM at Maine East High School.

The COW will be a discussion among the aldermen about the recommendations suggested by the Planning and Zoning Commission for issuance of a special use permit for temporary overnight homeless shelters. As we reported to PRU readers, the recommendations were made by the Planning and Zoning Commission in a final vote of 7-2; not 5-4 as reported by the Journal today.

The 5-4 vote the Journal reporter is referring to occurred when the commission voted on the restriction for allowing homeless shelters to operate within 500 feet of a child day care, nursery, or grammar school.

In reading today's Journal article, we were pretty pissed off about Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg's (1st Ward) regurgitating the PRMA and PADS propaganda that "the majority of homeless people are fine upstanding citizens that are just down on their luck". And we got really pissed off when we also read that Ald. Schmidtzkrieg said, "We need evidence."

We would like to suggest to Ald. Schmidtzkrieg and the rest of the Aldermorons that they make use of some of the technology available to them. It's known far and wide as "the internet". We fully understand the internet isn't a perfect resource, but that's where judgment comes in. And for any elected official unfamiliar with how to turn on and operate a computer, that would be you Mayor Howard, we would suggest city staff be asked to gather the evidence any of the Aldermorons claim not to have seen; though we're pretty sure they've received a pile of evidence already. By most accounts, the demographics of the homeless population fall far short of being folks merely "down on their luck." The only "sources" spouting that garbage are the PRMA and PADS proponents.

We sure do hope that while Ald. Schmidtzkrieg is considering a run for Mayor, he isn't also considering adopting a more "politically correct" manner of representing the concerns of the residents in Park Ridge. We've had our fill of the milquetoast bullshit that for too long has been allowed to get passed off as discussion and debate on issues in this town.

We're also told by our sources inside the city that acting Chief of Police, Tom Swoboda, believes that the State statute restricting sex offenders from residing within 500 feet of a school only applies when children are present. We can only assume that Swoboda isn't interested in reading the whole statute.pdf, or he is acting like a tool for his parish pastor, Fr. Carl Morelleon.

B.O.H.I.C.A!

Addendum -- A response submitted by Alderman Dave.

"Schmidt, David F."
3:47 pm
to: park ridge underground via email
date: Sep 24, 2008 3:47 PM

subject: Park Ridge Temporary Overnight Shelter Issue

Here is a response I wrote to a resident concerned about what he read in the Journal this morning:

I vividly recall the compelling testimony from the police officers, mainly because they appeared before the Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission fairly recently. I am glad you reminded me of the gentleman from Evanston and the other PADS volunteers and neighbors who have had negative experiences. I admit that was not so fresh in my memory.

I will ask the City Manager to include copies of the minutes from the PADS workshop held several months ago and the Procedures and Regulations Committee and City Council meetings dealing with the special use permit issue. You should understand that the Council is reviewing a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Frankly, I would have liked to see those individuals appear before the Planning and Zoning Commission, because we would have a better record upon which to base our review of the Commission's recommendation.

While I am sure it is frustrating to think that your message has not come across as you desire, you need to understand that there will be plenty of individuals who will tell the Council that there are no problems at all at these shelters. It is human nature for people to remember what they have heard most recently and most often. Aldermen are no different. So while I do not think it is necessary to "start over," I do recommend that those individuals having direct experience with PADS shelters be available so the aldermen have both sides of the story fresh in their minds when they make their decision.

On Tap!

As we told you yesterday, the Finance and Budget committee will be meeting tonight to discuss in part what limits, if any, should be placed on city staff's ability to authorize settlement payouts on legal claims.

Tomorrow night promises even more fun and excitement!

Mayor Frimark has scheduled another City Council Workshop at City Hall at 6:30 PM to again discuss the Ekl Williams audit. And if you are one of our loyal PRU readers, you know the last time the City Council dared to ask questions about the police department audit prepared by Mr. Terry Ekl it didn't go very well.

Sources inside the city tell us Mr. Ekl is still refusing to turn over his background documentation for review by City Council members. The PRU Crew strongly urges our City Council members to come prepared for tomorrow night's meeting.

Also on tap tomorrow night is another meeting of the Fair Housing Commission. It appears that, with all the excitement the commission went through over the last year, they forgot to look at the entire Fair Housing ordinance, and just noticed some missing definitions and minor wording changes.pdf they would now like to add to the ordinance.

The PRU Crew isn't going to be cynical and suggest that these "missing definitions" and wording changes are really just an excuse to get the Fair Housing ordinance before the City Council again. We aren't going to suggest that this is one of the oldest tricks in the book to have another bite at the apple, as it were.

photo source credit

Mind the maggots!

The Devil's in the Details!

If you are paying very close attention, you are aware that tomorrow night the City Council Finance and Budget committee will be meeting at City Hall at 7:00 PM.

On the committee's agenda is an interesting action item that caught the attention of the PRU Crew -- Approve Council Policy Statement No. 43 – Settlement Authority for Claims Made Against the City.

The background memo for the meeting includes --

Staff feels strongly that settlement authority should be listed in a City Council Policy Statement. The day of this writing, I increased the
settlement offer for a general liability case. I increased the settlement based on the defense attorney’s recommendation. To limit staff’s authority to $20,000 by comparing it to the $20,000 purchasing limit is inappropriate because a settlement offer is not a purchase and the timing of a settlement conference does coincide with Committee/Council meetings. The factors that go into the offering of a settlement include the odds of prevailing should we go to trial and the cost of going to trial. These are both matters of judgment rather than absolute fact.

In other words, when it comes to making judgments about how much effort the City will undertake to fight any given claim, staff "feels strongly" that such judgment should not be left up to the elected officials.

But the City Council should take heart; they can review and comment on the Open Claims Report a whopping twice a year!

-- On The Just and the Unjust Alike.

digitalblasphemy.com

Have a nice, dry weekend.

GIGO! And Not GIGO!

The GIGO factor is shorthand for "garbage in, garbage out". We've got a lot of that going on today, and the PRU Crew has other things to do so we aren't going to be digging for anything today. We're going to leave it up to our readers to share with each other what they know about any of these subjects --

1. -- CVS Pharmacy is working behind the scenes with elected officials and city staff to move forward on their plans to build on the old Napleton Cadillac site. We recall Alderman Robert Ryan (5th Ward) saying he agreed that the site should conform to the city's comprehensive plan and be residential. We have not heard if Ald. Ryan is doing anything to follow through on that statement on behalf of his constituents.

2. -- Mayor Howard is telling people that the Illinois ACLU is planning to take up the cause of homeless shelters, and will be suing the city on behalf of the homeless, PADS, and the PRMA. One of our sources tells us that unless homeless shelters are planning on performing abortions, the Illinois ACLU isn't likely to take much of an interest, but you never know.

3. -- Mayor Howard is telling people that lawsuits have been filed against the city as a result of the Ekl audit being made public. We've got information that says that is false.


And Not GIGO --

The Park Ridge City web site has a very good explanation of the reverse 911 call system available for reading. We're not sure exactly which city staff member is responsible for putting together the information, but we feel the effort to answer the questions residents raised about the issue is excellent.

If The Shirt Fits! Council Recap!

Attorney Terry Ekl -- Ekl Williams

Once again, we thank PRU readers for their patience.

As most of you know, last night the City Council had two meetings scheduled: A 6:30pm workshop, and a 7:30pm regular council meeting. The purpose of the workshop was for council members to be able to ask attorney Terry Ekl, of Ekl Williams infamy, questions about his investigative procedures and notes, and his final work product -- the police department audit.pdf.

After Mr. Ekl arrived nearly an hour late, Mayor Howard opened the council workshop with a statement saying that everyone had read and analyzed the report and that it is...wait for it...wait...time to move forward!

Alderman Don Bach (3rd Ward) then began by asking Mr. Ekl about travel charges for which he billed the City of Park Ridge. Before Mr. Ekl could answer the question, Mayor Howard intervened to suggest the question was not appropriate for the workshop.

Alderman Frank Wsol (7th Ward) was next and greeted Mr. Ekl and jokingly remarked, "I hope you aren't billing us for this time." to which Mr. Ekl is said to have tersely replied, "I am." Alderman Wsol then responded with, "Then you can stay as long as we need you to answer questions." Mr. Ekl responded by saying he would stay as long as he is asked appropriate questions in the interests of the city. Which leads the PRU Crew to wonder who exactly gets to determine the "interests of the city", the members of our City Council or Mr. Ekl?

Then the exchange between Ald. Wsol and Mr. Ekl got really really interesting. Ald. Wsol asked Mr. Ekl why he (Ekl) had named several officers in his report but had not named any elected officials? Mr. Ekl's answer to that question was, "What are you asking? Where in the report are you referring to? It is not in the city's interest to assess any blame." Ald. Wsol responded that he was not asking Ekl to assess blame, and he repeated his question. Mr. Ekl again asked Ald. Wsol "which part of the report" he was referring to. Alderman Wsol stated that throughout the report several city employees were named and that what he was asking Mr. Ekl is not to change his report, but to simply explain why he had done the report in this way, and then Ald. Wsol again repeated his question. Mr. Ekl then informed Ald. Wsol that he was "not articulating his question -- he was not asking intelligent questions -- he is pandering to his constituents."

At that point, we are told Ald. Wsol kept his seat and did not get up and slug Ekl in the nose. We are also told that the other Aldermen, and particularly Ald. Bach, did not have anything close to a positive reaction to this exchange. We're also told some members of the audience were betting on whose face was redder -- Ald. Bach or Ald. Dave Schmidt (1st Ward). And during this exchange between Ald. Wsol and Mr. Ekl, Mayor Howard remained silent.

Here the PRU Crew would like to interject a note for the benefit of Mr. Terry Ekl and any other interested parties; We think Mayor Howard and most of the Park Ridge City Council are often assholes. But make no mistake about it, they are our assholes. We hope that's understood.

Alderman Wsol then went on to ask Mr. Ekl several questions about several sections of the audit Mr. Ekl had prepared. Our sources tell us that each response from Mr. Ekl was as vague and evasive as his previous responses, but without as much piss and vinegar.

Alderman Robert Ryan (5th Ward) then interrupted the questioning to ask Mayor Howard what the "pro-cess" is for having Aldermen ask questions; apparently because the previous half hour had not illuminated the "pro-cess" for Ald. Ryan.

Then Alderman Rich DiPietro (2nd Ward) cited the municipal code stating the schedule and times for which the council is to hold their regular meetings. Ald. DiPietro used that citation as a lead in to motion to continue the question and answer jousting between Aldermen and Mr. Ekl to October 6th at 6:30pm. The motion was seconded by Ald. Bach, and passed unanimously.

After a break, Mayor Howard then began the regular City Council meeting.

Former 2nd Ward Alderman John Benka was reappointed to the Library Board and had several gushy statements of praise for the work of the board, the services at the Park Ridge Library, and particularly board president, Shlomo Crandus.

After proclaiming October Toastmasters Month.pdf, Mayor Howard offered some gracious remarks about city staff and aldermen regarding their efforts during the past weekend's deluge, noting that the city did a "great job" of communicating with residents. The PRU Crew applauds the city's better than the past efforts at utilizing its web site and the reverse 911 system, but we aren't too sure the delayed and somewhat confusing calls received by residents would fall into the "great" communication category. However, our appreciation of the people who make up the network of our city employees remains unchanged.

Under the City Manager's report on the agenda, Library board president Shlomo Crandus wowed everyone with a power point presentation about the results of the June phone survey the library conducted.

Next up, were some zoning changes for Fifth Third Bank, and a variance for some hapless resident with a garage that was originally built .88 feet from the rear lot line of his property.

Alderman DiPietro offered an amendment to the zoning change for Fifth Third Bank to include cost-sharing between Fifth Third and the city for alley paving at 10 N. Cumberland, with the city's share to be $20,000. Mr. Dan Shapiro, representing the bank, agreed that the bank would pay. Mr. Shapiro also asked that the council wave a second reading of their ordinance approval for this, but the council declined to do that.

The zoning variance was for a resident who is looking to replace a dilapidated garage with a new garage to be built in the exact same location it has always occupied. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Ald. Ryan was "surprised that we are doing this" and wanted to know if this kind of variance is "normal". Ms. Carrie Davis, acting Director of Community Development, replied that the Zoning Board of Appeals had found this to be a valid hardship. The resident did finally get what he was looking for, with the exception of having also asked the council to wave a second reading of the ordinance approving the variance.

We're not sure, but maybe sloshing through flood water is exactly what some of our aldermen needed! Seems to have rinsed some of the cobwebs out of their heads!

The next item of business was to approve a warrant payable to Ekl Williams in the amount of $52,381.25. And it was Ald. Don Bach who led the charge against paying the bill at this time to Ekl Williams. As a grim faced Ald. Bach phrased it, "not one more dime."

Of course there's a pooper at every party, and Alderman Jim Allegretti offered "a different perspective", noting that he is not unhappy with the audit and believes Ekl should be paid now.

Alderman Wsol offered an amendment to the motion to approve payment by including the condition that payment would be made "provided the City Manager receive all background information supporting the submitted report."

The Council then debated the merits and demerits of the amendment at some length, with Mayor Howard asking if the background information would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Substitute City Attorney, Kathy Henn, responded that "maybe parts" of the information could be subject to FOIA. Ald. Wsol then asked if, according to the FOIA law, names could be redacted from the materials. Ms. Henn replied that names could be redacted, but the content could not.

Alderman Schmidt stated that he thought the Ekl report was "flimsy" -- he had asked for the background information and wants to see it for himself. Ald. Schmidt offered that he agreed 100% with Ald. Bach and that Mr. Ekl should be reminded of "who works for who."

Alderman Bach then reiterated his disappointment with the report and noted that Ekl was an hour late in showing up to the council. Ald. Bach also strongly challenged Ekl's accusation that Ald. Wsol is pandering to constituents, saying he believes council members are responding to constituent's concerns. His final comment likened the Ekl report to "Swiss cheese".

Mayor Howard attempted to defend the late arrival of Mr. Ekl by noting that Ekl did, in fact, call the City Manager to say he would be arriving late. Sources tell us Mr. Ekl was coaching a kids football game. We're guessing Mr. Ekl's team lost, which may explain his surly behavior toward the City Council.

Mayor Howard, Aldermen Allegretti and Ryan all tried to persuade their council peers that the Ekl bill should be paid now, with Ald. Ryan noting that he "understands people have mouths to feed and he hates to delay professional service fees."

But get ready for this one folks -- it was Alderman Tom Carey (6th Ward) who demonstrated the greatest clarity of thought and reality-based thinking by offering that it seemed best for the council to defer payment of the bill until Ekl returned on Oct. 6th to continue answering the council's questions about the audit; noting, in as diplomatically stated terms as he could muster, that Ekl may decide not to come back to answer council questions if he's already been paid.

~~~THUD~~~

Holy wow! You think????? Rock on solid, Alderman Carey!

And after some further discussion, and a motion to "substitute for the whole" Ald. Carey's recommendation, the council voted to defer payment of the Ekl Williams bill until Mr. Ekl returns to the City Council to answer questions about the audit.

Finally, the City Council voted to increase ambulance fees and approve the proposal from Disclosure Video Systems to install and upgrade security cameras at City Hall, the police department, and our two train stations.

Under "New Business", we are told council members babbled on about various subjects and that those interested in the process for licensing of temporary homeless shelters should watch the council schedule carefully for upcoming meetings.

Never a dull moment!

How Long Can You Tread Water? - Freewheeling!

A record amount of rainfall again soaked all of us this past weekend. We hear things got a little dicey at places like Home Depot as residents were again making quick trips to purchase items such as shop-vacs. And residents are again dragging warped furniture and sodden rugs out to the curb for pick-up.

If this weren't such a regular occurrence, we'd be smacking our foreheads and downing V8 juice. Unfortunately, it's an all to frequent happening. It seems that if ComEd doesn't get us, the sewer system will.

Our Public Works, Police, and Fire personnel are to be given a hearty round of applause. We feel they did as good a job as they could, under the circumstances. Many volunteers and even our aldermen pitched in knocking on doors and sandbagging, while Mayor Howard kept Park Ridge safe from media crews by sacrificing himself to interviews.

All in all, it was a rough weekend. But as we've seen time and time again, the more demanding the task, the tougher the people of Park Ridge prove themselves to be. And many manage to stay in good humor too.

Remember folks, it could always be worse. Don't forget, ultimately it's just stuff. And to those with family down in Texas -- glad to hear everybody came through okay.

Flooding Updates

Updates are being posted on the city web site, and there is a number to call 847/318-5200 for a recorded message.

There is a temporary emergency shelter being opened at Maine East for anyone needing to evacuate.

Please access the front page of the city web site at http://www.parkridge.us/ for information as it becomes available.

We Remember.

The 'Look! There Goes Elvis!' Chronicles and A Special Note!

Almost a year ago, we told PRU readers that Mayor Howard's method of operating includes creating distractions and pointing his finger in every direction other than back at himself. We called our post Look! There Goes Elvis! It seems clear to us that the buck may stop with Mayor Howard, then go right into his political war chest, but he'll take a pass on responsibility.

Chronicle #1 - Hound dogging the ZBA!

Today's Pub-dog article, Whom Do You Trust?, is about a Journal & Topics item reporting that Mayor Howard was keeping the Zoning Board of Appeals safe from First Ward Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg's diabolical influence. In typical Mayor Howard fashion, he blames an anonymous source for having tipped him to some Schmidtnanigans taking place behind the scenes at the ZBA. Except, it turns out the only behind the scenes -nanigans that have been taking place are of the Mayor Howard variety. After having contacted ZBA chairman Ann Tennes, privately, to "investigate" the alleged complaint, Tennes made the matter public at a June meeting of the board; recorded for posterity in the June ZBA minutes.pdf - pg. 9.

The PRU Crew seems to recall Mayor Howard saying that he doesn't "investigate" anything unless the City Council asks him to, which is why Mayor Howard said he didn't "investigate" who leaked information about former Chief of Police Jeff Caudill's separation agreement.

Chronicle #2 - Viva Bill Napleton!

As PRU readers know, one of the Crew's questionable hobbies is reading meeting minutes. And we thoroughly enjoyed the Sept. 4th minutes.pdf from the Public Safety Committee.

Even though discussion of a new police facility was a scheduled agenda item, Mayor Howard made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to speak ahead of schedule on behalf of a special 'Friend of Frimark', Mr. Bill Napleton.

Public Safety Committee chairman, Seventh Ward Alderman Frank Wsooooolman, has been working to make progress on the building of a new police station on a piece of property already owned by the City of Park Ridge, located adjacent to City Hall. While we take issue with some of the matters surrounding the building of a new police station, we give PRUdos to Ald. Wsooooolman for trying his level best to address one of our town's more difficult issues, especially at this time and in a strained atmosphere surrounding the department and the city budget.

The last thing Ald. Wsooooolman needs is a distracting Frimark fly in the ointment of serious city business. But as you know, you can always count on Mayor Howard to go to the mat on behalf of a pal. And if that means pulling the Public Safety Committee off task and in a different direction, then so be it.

Chronicle #3 - In The Preservation Ghetto!

For anyone who's lived in Park Ridge for more than a couple years, you would have to work diligently at remaining ignorant of CURRB spokesperson, former Fifth Ward Aldermanic candidate, and purple ribbon gadfly, Ms. Judy Barclay.

Ms. Barclay has plenty of faults her detractors can criticize, but nobody, and we mean NOBODY, can ever accuse Ms. Barclay of being anything less than the numero uno interested party in Park Ridge preservation. Ms. Barclay is a member of the Kalo Foundation, and the driving force behind the city's contemplation of a preservation ordinance.

So of course, Ms. Barclay was passed over by Mayor Howard in his selection of Preservation Task Force members -- all the gory details of which have been reported in the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.

And of course, Mayor Howard pointed his finger at Deputy City Manager, Julianna Maller, for having left Barclay's name off the list. But the PRU Crew is pretty sure Ms. Maller's memo to the Procedures and Regulations Committee.pdf is accurate -- that memo bluntly states that Mayor Howard selected the members of the task force, and if you're aware of the (pre)dispositions of some of the names on that list, you're having a good laugh right about now...and the PRU Crew's laughing with you.

A Special Note --

Today's Journal and Topics is reporting that First Ward Alderman Dave Schmidt is considering running for Mayor.

The PRU Crew says...

THANK GOD! GO FOR IT!

Ta Da!

As you are undoubtedly aware, last night the Planning and Zoning Commission met to consider addition of a text amendment to the zoning code to allow temporary overnight shelters under the special use permit process. The commission also discussed restrictions on the special use for temporary homeless shelters.

In an earlier PRU posting, we listed the restrictions requested for consideration by residents at the Planning and Zoning Commission's public hearing. And yesterday, we posted a link to the background memo prepared by city staff.pdf.

By all accounts, the commission's discussion last night went something like this --

Yakety, yakety, yakety -- tweak! Yakety, yakety, yakety -- tweak! Yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety!
Yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety, yakety -- consensus -- yakety, yakety, yakety -- tweak! Yakety, yakety, yakety -- vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, vote.

In the end, the most significant restriction placed on a special use permit for temporary homeless shelters is the commission's 5 to 4 vote to not allow temporary homeless shelters within 500 feet of a child daycare, nursery, or grammar school.

Commission members who voted for the 500 foot restriction are:

Anita Rifkind
Aurora Abella-Austriaco
Milda Roskiewicz
Lou Arrigoni
Cathy Piche

Hallelujah!

The PRU Crew has been requested to give a very special shout out to commissioner's Rifkind, Roskiewicz, and Austriaco -- with particular attention to Ms. Rifkind, who most strongly and unequivocally considered the responsibility of seeing to the safety of the kids in our community.

Commission members who voted against the 500 foot restriction are:

Tom Provencher
Alfredo Marr (Commission Chairman)
Joe Baldi
Mary Wells

Boo! Hiss!

The final vote to send the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations to the City Council passed with a 7 to 2 vote, with Austriaco and Roskiewicz dissenting for reasons we aren't sure of.

We will see if the City Council follows through on the commission's land use recommendations. The licensing process for temporary homeless shelters will be where further consideration is given to the operational restrictions on homeless shelters requested by residents. We strongly encourage residents to continue to contact their elected representatives on this issue.

It's Not A Tumor!

Once again tonight, the Planning and Zoning Commission will discuss addition of a text amendment to the zoning code to allow temporary overnight shelters under the special use permit process. The meeting will take place at Emerson Middle School, 8101 North Cumberland Avenue, Niles, IL at 7:00 p.m. We strongly urge people to attend this meeting. After all, somebody is going to have to brief Mayor Howard on what took place at the meeting, should Mayor Howard choose to attend the Packers game instead of Planning and Zoning tonight.

If you've had a chance to read the staff generated background memo.pdf on the city website, and if you've done your homework on homeless shelters, then you know somebody has got shit for brains.

The memo says, "staff will provide factual responses to some of the comments to help guide the Commission in its decision-making." The memo goes on to "provide", in part, the following two claims:

1. -- "sex offenders exist in most communities and are not necessarily associated with shelters or the homeless."

2. -- "Several comments were made associating the homeless with crime, disease, and drug and alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, these issues exist in all communities and are not necessarily related to shelters or the homeless."

Those claims are factually false and ignore the Planning and Zoning Commission's statutory mandate to consider the impact of use on the general health, safety and welfare of the community.

Even the most cursory of Google searches would reveal reports strongly refuting the claims made in the staff background memo. We'll leave you to it.

While you're at it, you may want to check out the Attorney General's I-SORT (Illinois Sex Offender Registry Team) "Operation Location Unknown". You don't suppose any of the sex offenders, whose location is unknown, would be using homeless shelters, do you? No way -- reports on the use of homeless shelters by sex offenders is just more over-the-top fear mongering by snobby suburbanites. The rockin' tight screening process of shelter operators like PADS will keep sex offenders out of the St. Paul of the Cross school gym, and of course the archdiocese can be counted on!

The PRU Crew has the uneasy feeling that the claims made by staff were the result of "resources" other than empirical research. We're getting the sense that a loosy-goosy text amendment as originally written, allowing temporary homeless shelters to operate wherever and whenever they choose, is a done deal.

As for Ms. Carrie Davis, acting Director of Community Development, by our count she is now 0 and 3 in providing information to those with questions about a zoning issue.

Addendum: The Pub-dogs have asked some key questions of the background memo regarding this topic -- see their annotated .pdf link. Most excellent, Pub-dogs!

Time For Some Campaignin'!

Relax and have a great weekend!

To Secure The Blessings Of Liberty!

That's right, we're still on it!

We've told PRU readers about the discussions taking place to install Red Light Cameras at "dangerous" intersections; all one of them.

We've discussed the issue here, here, here, here, here, and here.

In today's edition of the Herald-Advocate, we read City may add cameras at RR depots.

It sure looks to us as if the City is willing to install cameras almost everywhere!

Except here of course, as we again discussed here....because you know, it's not as if anything is going on here or there that is a threat to our blessings of liberty.

City officials are willing to discuss turning cameras on the citizens in public spaces, under the auspices of security and safety. So why aren't they willing to return the favor by turning those cameras on themselves?

Reader Soapbox! And More --

Re: Kotowski's Campaign Funding - Aug 28, 2008

As a tax payer and resident of Park Ridge, I would like to comment on the recent article by Jennifer Jonson.

(Note:I left a phone message for Jennifer Johnson and she would not return my call.)

Your story on State Sen. Dan Kotowski and his band of merry men and women collecting campaign funds - may be true. But it's not the whole truth and the those of us who have never seen State Sen. Kotowski walk our streets here with the 6th ward need to know the complete story.

Fact: State Sen. Kotowski still refuses to support those retired police officers, fire fighters and most of all our teachers here in the state of Illinois by giving his support for the U.S. Bill H.R. # 82 which is titled " The Social Security Fairness Act For Police
Officers".

Additionally, when I contacted the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois in Springfield, they had no idea of the current social security laws and reduced benefits for all fire fighters. They seemed to be dumbfounded on this very important issue but still support State Sen. Kotowski.

It should be noted that the current social security benefit plan does cut the benefits
for all teachers too and especially those who's husbands have served their community and draw a public pension.

Furthermore, we who have EARNED our pension through public service have had our social security "cut in half" thanks to Convicted felon and ex congressman Dan Rostenkowski who enjoys his FULL pension benefits.

If U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky ( D-IL), Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) are for this repeal then please tell us why State Sen. Dan Kotowski is against it?
Let's right this state political ship and regain the respect from those civil servants who once place their lives on the line - daily for those who enjoy and make up the fabric
of this city, this state and most of all this nation.

We need a voice in Springfield to be heard loud and clear all the way to Washington
now! Please help pass U.S. Bill H.R. # 82.

Maybe U.S. Sen. Dick Durban can find the time to lend his support !

Thank you.
Gene T. Spanos
Retired Lieutenant
City of Park Ridge
6th Ward

Marine 11th Engineer Chapter ( Forming )
Member - MCEA
Semper Fi
------------------------------------------------

PRU Editor's note -- PRU does not oppose or endorse the views expressed in the above letter, however, we do believe the writer's views should be given a forum for expression.

We believe we understand why State Senator Kotowski may want to stay out of the Federal fray and concentrate his energy and efforts down in Springfield. But as we've noted before, we also believe our local elected officials are an important voice of representation not only at the local and State level but also to our other representatives at the Federal level.

MORE --

We've noticed a couple of interesting items in today's Journal & Topics newspaper about expected actions at last night's City Council meeting --

#1 -- "Schmidt Defends Self Against Mayoral Attack"

#2 -- "Alderman Expected to Question Bill For Police Audit"

Sounds like we missed an interesting meeting!

Who?

Tonight's fairly light City Council meeting agenda.pdf includes a Proclamation.pdf designating September 17th-23rd as Constitution Week in the City of Park Ridge.

Oh goody.

We're eagerly looking forward to hearing if Alderman Don Bachtard (3rd ward), Park Ridge's very own Constitutional UNscholar, has any more constitutional law analysis ready for everyone to marvel at.

In other observable ironies, the PRU Crew notes that the final, second reading of an ordinance for a stop sign (Broadway stopping for Cherry) is on tap under the Public Works agenda line item. Stop signs being a matter of safety, one has to wonder why the City Council didn't forgo the usual two readings of this ordinance. After all, at their last meeting the City Council did consider it a matter of great urgency to forgo the usual two readings of an ordinance for a text amendment change to the zoning code; but then, that change was for the client of one of Mayor Howard's special friends and contributors -- Jack "the Zoning Czar" Owens.

Pay attention!

En Prise!

"To do evil that good may come of it is for bunglers in politics as well as morals." -- William_Penn.

The evil we speak of today is the evil of daring to use children as pawns in a political disagreement about public policy between adults.

In an email sent to members of Mary Seat of Wisdom parish, we read that Fr. Gerald Gunderson and Mary Seat principal Judy Schutter have determined that any family wishing to transfer their children from St. Paul of the Cross school -- to avoid having their children exposed to the potential dangers of housing a homeless shelter in their school gym -- have been denied admission in support of St. Paul Pastor Carl Morello's desire to open a PADS shelter there.

MSWEmail-SPCTransfers - Upload a Document to Scribd

We recognize that any private school has the ability and the right to deny admission. But as the old saying goes, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

And we are really disgusted that this is being done with the full knowledge and advice of the Archdiocese; that terrific institution which spent decades covering up their failure to protect the most innocent members of their flock, children, against the wolf-like appetites of the pedophile priests in their employ.

Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, neither the Archdiocese nor the larger Roman Catholic Church has much of an admirable recent track record of looking out for the safety of our kids. Their words have not matched their actions.

As we told PRU readers in our July 15, 2008 post, the Archdiocese created the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth that includes the Chicago Archdiocese's Children Matter Network, which bills itself as "a partnership created to promote and protect the dignity of children."

It seems pretty clear to us that they'll "promote and protect the dignity of children" as long as that protection and dignity doesn't hinder the agendas of the pastors running local parishes. It also seems pretty clear to us that neither the Archdiocese nor certain parish priests consider it undignified to use children as pawns for their political goals.