Freewheeling -- Looking Down The Road!

For our faithful PRU readers who take an interest in local political doings, the PRU Crew is wondering if anyone has given any thought to what should happen in the event a certain 6th Ward Alderman locates his conscience and resigns his position.

The PRU Crew hasn't researched the issue and so we remain unaware of how or if it may be possible to remove an Alderman from office in the event of an ethics violation. We also remain uncertain about the outcome of any current ethics investigation. Though, it sure is odd that no disclosure evidence has been quickly produced in support of the claim by 6th Ward Alderman Tom Carey that, approximately 4 years ago, he specifically disclosed the $5million economic relationship between his employer, Patrick Engineering, and the City of Chicago's O'Hare Modernization Program.

However, we have seen evidence that not only should Mr. Carey have been aware of the specific OMP economic relationship, but also that Mr. Carey was Patrick Engineering's registered attendee at a City of Chicago's Department of Procurement Service's pre-bid conference -- we are unclear about when the conference took place or for what pre-bid procurement purpose Mr. Carey participated.


Click on image for larger view

In any case, Mr. Carey was more than well aware of at least Patrick Engineering's general economic relationship interest with the City of Chicago.

The PRU Crew will admit to being profoundly stunned to find out in the end that Ald. Carey may have so blatantly lied to the public, on video tape, at a City Council meeting. If so, the only remaining question for us will be whether the man is a complete fool or an unmitigated idiot.

For our part, we see issues that go well beyond the narrow concerns some 6th Ward residents and the rest of the community may have regarding O'Hare expansion. The job of Alderman demands a more expansive view of public policy considerations and a deeper understanding of democratic processes than we've recently witnessed from our current crop of Alderdopes and the Mayor.

Beyond the issue of O'Hare, fast approaching is the time when the City Council will again take up budget planning for the next fiscal year. God help us all! The Mayor and City Council just recently completed finalizing some details from the last round of the fiscal budget fun!

The City Council can ill afford another unprepared, know-nothing representative voting on public policy. And keep in mind who will have the authority to appoint a replacement, with the advice and consent of the City Council, should an aldermanic vacancy occur.

We're also wondering if anyone in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th Wards will be picking up an election packet from the City Clerk's office for the upcoming aldermanic elections in the Spring. Election packets, only one each, have been taken for the upcoming races in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th Wards.

Things to think about, if you're looking down the road.

Freewheeling!

#1 -- City Council meeting tonight.

There are a number of interesting items on the City Council agenda (.pdf). The PRU Crew is wondering why, with the city budget in deficit and promises of fiscal conservativism from the 7th ward's Alderman Frank Wsooooolman , the city has scheduled a closed session to discuss land acquisition?

#2 -- Unrest among ORD-REST participants.

A number of comments we've received indicate there are those who feel shut out of participating in the ORD-REST efforts to fight the O'Hare expansion and new runway. We've received reports that while everyone seeking to participate has been given a chance to speak freely in public, they have been privately told their participation isn't needed. We hope that if the City decides to form a city sponsored and taxpayer funded task force, everyone understands that shutting anyone out of the process is undemocratic. But we get the idea that the democratic process isn't how things work in Howardwood.

#3 -- Congratulations to Joe Egan and his petition circulators.

We've received word that Mr. Egan and his volunteers have submitted petitions to the City Cluck, Betty Henneman, that contained more than 2800 signatures allowing a referendum question about a new police station to be placed on the April ballot. They accomplished this participation in the democratic process despite some under-handed efforts from the forces of Frimarkness.

Should be an interesting City Council meeting this evening.

Reader Soapbox! & Freewheeling!

Quality of Writing in Terry Ekl's 2008 Audit

The writing quality in Terry Ekl's Park Ridge Police Department 2008 Audit is not high; it seems, to me, more like a first draft than a final report. This may seem a trivial issue, since the meaning Mr. Ekl intended can be determined, in most places, without great effort. It concerns me nevertheless, because I have no direct way of getting a sense of the quality of the investigation itself, as the report omits many details on which conclusions were based. I am also aware that the report was bought at a much lower price than those proposed by other firms. So I find myself asking: if the writing is this sloppy, to the extent that it wasn't even run through a spelling/grammar checker, was the same laxness applied to the investigation itself?

The report is highly redundant, and I was reminded of writing assignments from my school days, in which I didn't have much to say yet tried to take as many pages as possible to say it. There are multiple spelling errors, many of which would have been caught with the spell checker in Word. Commas are omitted where they are needed, and added where they shouldn't be. Many sentences are conflicting in the use of number, and some preposition choices are… interesting. The underlining is even misaligned with amazing frequency for such a simple task, as if done in great haste.

This issue is best appreciated while actually reading the report, but I've made some observations below.

Some Spelling Problems

Commander Jogmen's name is always spelled wrong.

“Swobada” for “Swoboda”

“Manger” for “manager” twice, one time in the fifth row

“affect” for “effect”

“effect” for “affect”

“there” for “their”

“it's” for “its”

“motived” for “motivated”

“recurrent” for “recurring”

“catlyst” for “catalyst”

“thief” for “theft”

“alderman” for “aldermen”

“who” for “whom”

“whom” for “who”

“may” for “might”

“cover-up” used as verb

“first hand” for “firsthand”

“under-age” for “underage”


A Few Excerpts

(I don't set them off by quotes, and my comments are in square brackets)

There is often two sides to how…

Once I received an accusation by a citizen against an officer, it was important to determine whether the allegations made by the citizens against the police department are credible.

…bias or agendas…

elected officials…put aside any personal agenda

…civilian complaints none of which resulted finding of “sustained”. [Note all three errors.]

…it is not possible for me to make what amounts to a credibility decision as to
whether a citizen who has complained about the conduct of an officer or whether the
officer is being truthful as to how the event actually occurred.
In evaluating my findings and suggested changes, I provide you… [He is evaluating his own findings?]

…unfair in both the administration of discipline or…

…my staff and I interviewed individuals whose identity was learned as a result of conversations with others as potentially having information relevant to the investigation of the police department.

I was able to review the videos as well as compare the statements made at the time of the incident by the persons involved and any witnesses to the information I received during the interview process with my staff.

There appears to be a sincere desire on the part of the officers to bring about
change and improvement to the department. [Followed shortly by:] There
appears to be a sincere desire to bring about improvement within the
department…

…investigation of the complaints have…

…has, in many occasions…

The promotion system provides unlimited discretion in the Chief…

…the mixed message being given to the police over enforcement of under-age drinking laws, as officers were supported by the previous city council in aggressive enforcement of these laws, however, when residents began to complain to the current elected officials, this policy changed;
When it is clear that an officer engaged in misconduct the discipline has, in
many occasions…

…she was, in fact, the victim of identity thief.

…need to impose more severe discipline to officers…

I interviewed labor attorney, Robert Smith,…

This finding should not be confused with those officers…

This perception is extremely detrimental to (1) the morale of the department; and (2) for effective law enforcement.

Love of Quotation Marks

I was asked to make “findings” as to whether…

There will be circumstances where police officers make “mistakes”…

…significance I place on the “perceptions”…

The following are “recommendations” I am making.

What can best be described as a “mixed message”…

Submitted By: C. Elegans

Freewheeing PADS-free Zone - July 16, 2008

Anything but PADS!

Freewheeling - May 13, 2008

The city of Park Ridge has posted the results of a citizen survey on its website.

Respondents were asked to answer the following open-ended question:

The City of Park Ridge Police Facilities have been determined to be inadequate to meet the needs of the department and the community. Given that something must be done, please tell us what top 3 issues or concerns are most important to address in considering how to change the Police Facilities.

The PRU Crew thought the verbatim responses (.pdf) were very interesting.

The Pub-dog's posted a commentary on the results that we thought was pretty good.

If you weren't one of the lucky few chosen to give your response you can take the opportunity to do so here.

PRU Pot Luck!

There's enough room in the PRU kitchen for everyone.

Again, we invite PRU readers to tell each other what's on their minds.

The Crew would love to hear what impressions were left with residents who attended either the St. Mary's PADS information meeting or the Planning & Zoning Commission, or both last evening. We think a fresh, non-Crew perspective and report of those meetings may have an interesting flavor.

Finally, a not-quite-confidential note to our early morning commenter -- rock on!

Freewheeling - April 15, 2008

As we indicated in a previous post, we welcome PRU readers to ask questions of each other and discuss what's on their minds.

One topic that seems to be on the minds of some of our readers is the issue of Red Light Cameras being installed at "key intersections" in Park Ridge. PRU has covered the topic here and here.

Here's a list of recently recommended resources from readers:

1. Red light cameras too good for their own good?

2. Red-Light Cameras' Success Produce Financial Headache For Dallas

3. Effects Of Red-Light Cameras

4. Red-light camera monkey business may be a national trend