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.
September 29, 2008
It's Fun To Stay At The...
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28 comments:
is it safe to assume that the Archdiocese media machine has alerted the media, who will be there en masse?
I wonder who the keynote speaker this coming veteran's day will be at the pulpit at MSW?
Maybe Fr.G. can find another wartime protester.
Talk about politics in the church.
Where is the IRS??????????
or Lisa Madigan...
Can we all stop for a moment and listen to one another instead of judging one another? I am sick of the MSNBC tactics of creating the news not reporting the news. Can't we just take a moment...just wondering.
I can't be at tonight's meeting, but I did call my alderman and told him how I feel about the PADS situation. I am not sure if it will do any good though.
It will take Father Carl and the other ministers to put everyone at ease and just listen. There isn't a person in this community who would turn their back on someone in need...did the ministers ask for help in the beginning of this debate. No, they decided on their own without consulting with their entire congregation. Why? Just a little dialog would have stopped all this from getting out of hand. Sadly,dialog now is just a debate.
You can call me shallow and selfish - Fr. Morello has already called me "un-Christian," a "racist" and an "economic bigot" - but I turn my back on someone in need at least once a day, maybe more. Because I don't have the ability to take care of everybody who claims to be "in need," or who appears to be "in need," or who wants me to believe that they are "in need." And in turning my back on them, I turn toward others "in need" who I believe I have a better chance of making a difference in their lives, or to organizations whom I believe can do the job better than me.
20 years ago I would donate to save the baby harp seals, to Greenpeace, to the Senate Committee to elect various Republicans and Democrats, and to a bunch of other people, animals and causes that claimed to be "in need." I've give that up now, because I determined that they either really weren't in that much "need," or that I wasn't getting the most bang for my buck.
So when I hear about a PADS homeless shelter that's going to put a bunch of people on cots in a school gymnasium one night a week from October to April, I consider them just a different kind of baby harp seal, another Greenpeace appeal, another attempt to shake me down for money for Rahm Emanuel or John Boehner. Because it changes nothing except for one night; and one night is really nothing except to those who don't want to be bothered for more than one night.
Will have to wait for the synopsis from the Crew on the meeting... which kind of reminds me of my first UFC bout I watched damn I wish I could be there...
it's pathetic. our fine mayor cannot keep time fairly, allowing those PRO shelter folks over the allotted time, and those opposed to the shelter---uh, he cut them off at 3 minutes!
dude, get a watch that works.
I could only stay for about 3 hours and 15 minutes...How'd it go after that?
It was pathetic from beginning to end. The white shirts had nothing useful to say at all, and a lot of them were shipped in too. I overheard one woman telling an alderman that she was invited to come from Oak Park. Not mincing words here, the white shirts were almost completely older too. None of them have kids in school here.
Morello has got to be the biggest putz I have ever seen. He was upset because his inflammatory email got outted. He didn't say he didn't mean it or that he was sorry for name calling. Nope! Just that he was mad because somebody unmasked him! I hope he is the one who burns in hell. He is a fraud!!!!!!!!!
Excuse me???
We have no kids at St. Paul???
I have 2 there now, and 4 that have already graduated from there. I was sitting next to a women that had 4 graduate from there and one still there, and another woman that had 3 graduate, with one still there.
We have as much at stake as you do. Think man, before you speak!
how many more days do we have to stand this yahoo Fr. Morello?
Rumor has it Fr.Carl will be going to Holy Trinity in Pilsen. HE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have stayed out of this...But I was at the meeting last night and support PADS. I wore a white shirt, I am not "older" and have two children (8 and 6) in school in Park Ridge.
I kept hearing one side say the other was all "shipped in" but the only side that introduced themselves as living OUTSIDE of Park Ridge was not the "white shirts". It seemed to me most of the hatred and name calling came from a side saying "Hitler had the Brown Sheets and Park Ridge has the White Shirts"....Nice, you know you are losing ground when you have to revert to those tactics.
Finally, one gentleman was at least honest about the position he took....He doesn't want any homeless shelter in Park Ridge. I was glad he at least had the guts to say it versus alot of the other hiding behind excuses. The misinformation was amazing, one person says "there are no homeless" then the next spent part of Sunday "talking to Jim, who is homeless, outside of Starbucks", which is it?
I hope all sides can reach a reasonable solution. It seems that using an unused building from 6pm to 6am isn't unreasonable. If there is a "fear" of people hanging around after 6am, I am sure some volunteers can do a community watch in the area from 6am to 8am. I want to protect my kids as much as any parent. I think there are ways to do this if everyone would tone down the rhetoric and name-calling.
you are VERY right---the misinformation WAS amazing, especially from the Archdiocese atty. Or the SPC parishoner who said that they have people in the chapel there 24/7 without a permit (what did THAT have to do with anything), or the person who said that she as a medical professional takes her family once a month to work in DP at a PADS shelter and there are NEVER EVER any problems at PADS shelters (she spoke directly after another speaker LISTED actual police reports of attacks in AH, etc.).
The PRO shelter people represented themselves as babbling, non-factual, "we are Catholic and the rules don't apply to us."
CHILDREN BEING PROTECTED IS OUR FOCUS.
VIRTUS TRAINING AND THE ARCHDIOCESE REQUIRING IT FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS IS AN EXAMPLE. VOLUNTEES SHOULD NOT ALL BE PUT INTO THE GROUP OF SEXUAL PREDATORS. YET WE ALL MUST GO THROUGH THE TRAINING TO VOLUNTEER. WHY? JUST TO PREVENT THAT ONE IN A MILLION HORRIFYING THING FROM HAPPENING. THIS IS EXACTLY THE SAME. ONLY, I TRUELY BELIEVE THE ODDS ARE MUCH HIGHER WITH HOMELESS STAYING AT A SCHOOL GYM AND WANDERING AFTER THE SHELTER CLOSES THAT SOMETHING HORRIBLE COULD HAPPEN TO A CHILD.
FOR GODS SAKE JUST CONSIDER IT...
VIRTUS = SAFETY OF CHILDREN
NO HOMELESS SHELTER W/IN 500' OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN = SAFETY OF CHILDREN
FOUR MINUTES WE WERE ALL ENTITLED TO SPEAK.
PRO PADS GOT 4 + MINUTES.
US IN SUPPORT OF THEIR OWN P&Z COMMITTEE 7-2 VOTE (2 NOT STRICT ENOUGH) WERE CUT OFF IN SOME INSTANCES AT 1 MINUTE 30 SECONDS.
THEN WHEN ALL THE JOKES, LAUGHTER, HAND HOLDING CAME FROM THE PRO PADS PEOPLE SPEAKING TO THE CITIZENS NOT CITY COUNSEL, MR. MAYOR JOINED IN ON THE FUN
IF WE EVIL DOERS SPEAKING, EVEN FOR A MOMENT ADDRESSED THE AUDIENCE WE WERE PUT QUICKLY INTO PLACE BY WHAT LOOKED LIKE HATE AND CONTEMPT BY MR. MAYOR.
Same old, same old!!! The are bad, we are good. They got over 4 min, we got 1 and on half min. They were imported from our of town, no they we from out of town!!! They don't even have kids here! We were factual, they just babbled!! finger pointing and accusations!!!
Bottom line. People made up their minds one way or the other months ago. They actually made up their minds a few minutes after they heard about a shelter coming to PR.
From that point on what ever they hear at these meetings or what ever they read is seen through that lens. No minds have been changed to either side.
So someone tell me this? When is the city council going to render a decision. Does this mean that this open forum continues at the next meeting? When do they vote?
If my kid was at SPC I would not worry one bit. They would be graduated and long gone before there is a decision on this thing.
PRU, where DO you get your images?! I got a hearty chuckle from that one! Wrong, so wrong...
anonymous @ 8:58 am who's stayed out of this until now - You say that your propads speakers all were from PR - clearly you're joking or weren't listening. They were from all over, one woman who volunteers said she was stationed at Messiah Lutheran, does she live there? The people who should have a say in this are the people who have children at the school. You are so cute to think the hours would be 6 to 6am. The current contract is 7 to 7 am. DID YOU FORGET ABOUT 8:30AM MASS!!! THE HOMELESS WILL BE STICKING AROUND AND GOING TO MASS WITH THE KINDERGARTNERS. At least you're not being called a racist or a bigot
So the only people who have a say are people with children at the school?? Interesting. I guess my opinion doesn't count.
This gets funnier and funnier!! A bunch of people go to church like lemmings. Somehow they miss the message of charity in Mass and throughout the Catholic Church. Somehow they miss the fact that there are shelters and soup kitchens in Catholic churches and schools throughout the US, or choose to ignore it. Somehow they find this shocking and now I, as a citizen of PR have no say because my kid goes to public school. You act as if somehow you Catholics should be left to resolve this by yourselves. If the were the case the answer would be simple. Fr. Carl's opinion would stand as the decision of the parish.
You would be wise to keep in mind that if the 500 ft rule goes into effect it was not the church but the secular Park Ridge government that bailed your ass out of the fire.
By the way, for the sake of accuracy, I would remind you that the only reason that SPC ever came into play was that a bunch of people near a church with no school objected to a shelter being in their neighborhood.
anonymous at 2:28
The propads people keep saying only the homeless matter. They don't care that there are children involved and will be walking in as the homeless, jobless indigent guests are milling around waiting to go to mass, or sitting in their cars.
So yes, even though you're children go to public school, my guess is you don't care what the other children are subjected to. You are probably also unaware of all the pads card carrying guests who have comitted crimes including sexual assault of a child. You haven't done any research on pads and lazily think it would be easier to look like a good guy in white and look down your nose at the cautious parents.
Interesting guess!! Wrong! I do care about kids, my kids, your kids, there kids. Of course anyone who says anything even slightly against your position (by the way I DO NOT think a shelter should be at SPC or any school)must not care about kids, right??
I would tell you that I also happen to believe that those who support PADS and, yes, even Fr. Carl care about kids. They just see things differently.
Anon 2:28
“For the sake of accuracy”, St Mary’s Episcopal Church did not comply with state and local health, safety and building code requirements and that is why they are not hosting a shelter. I’m thankful it was brought to everyone’s attention before the PRMA snuck it in under the radar.
anon 9:55:
Please correct me if I am wrong. It happens often. They could have complied. The decision was made due to the objections in the neighborhood,no?
Anon 3:05
To comply would be a substantial investment - but anything is possible.
All I can say walking into Main East High School was like walking into the Woody Allen "Everything you wanted to know about sex; but were afraid to ask...The people in white are dividing the community like the Hitler Regime...this was definetlty Saturday Night material!
Ok. So the statement that the reason they are not at St. Mary's is that they didn't comply is not accurate. they were on the path towards complying by the targeted October opening but stopped that process when, becauses of objections to the community, decided to move it to SPC.
I am sorry if this seems like I am beating a dead horse but I see this as important. Ever since the proposed site moved to SPC the argument has become "how could they put it in a school?" They did not want it at the school in the first place. If anyone thinks that simply moving it from SPC to a church with no school is going to solve anything they are in dreamland. We will just move back to argument number 1.
Let's keep going at this "dead horse". St Mary's did not comply/meet fire code safety requirements, and after inspections was not able to host a shelter. SPC volunteered their new gym because it meets all code requirements.
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