Allegretti? Allegretti? Allegretti? ***Addendum

Once again last night, our very special City Council held another special meeting. And once again last night, an Alderdunce was absent -- specifically, the 4th ward's Ald. Allspaghetti.

In spite of Ald. Allspaghetti's absence, the assembled Alderdunces moooooved the political football, known as contributions to community groups, forward. The 2nd ward's Lord of the Manor, Ald. DiPietro, motioned to divide the question and vote on each contribution separately. The vote totals were mixed, but everything passed, with only the 7th ward's Ald. AssWsol voting "no" across the board -- we're looking forward to the video.

However, if Mayor Schmidtzkrieg was paying attention -- or took off his shoes in order to use his toes for counting -- he may have noted the potential and likely votes available to sustain what will be his coming veto of these budget items. It will be interesting to see what response Mayor Schmidtzkrieg will choose to last night's Council vote.

As the PRU Crew suggested some time back, if Mayor Schmidtzkrieg had used a discerning red pen veto, instead of swinging a total budget veto axe, some of what the Mayor's budget goals are, and veto intentions were, could have and probably would have received sustaining votes. And if the Mayor had taken a decisive position on cuts we suggested and then had taken an equally decisive position on cuts to reach the balanced budget he was seeking, he would have forced the Council to act on his terms and his recommendations and we believe he would have drawn some modest victories as well as populist support.

And the long and unnecessarily drawn out saga of contributions to community groups would not be the pitiful political folly it has become. You would have to have had your head thoroughly up your ass not to hear exactly what each of the Alderdunces were willing to do on this issue.

It will be interesting to see if all of the special Alderdunces can manage to show up for the next meeting where consideration of the Mayor's veto will be voted on.

What are the odds...

Well if this year's history is any teacher, there's a slightly better than 50/50 chance all the Alderdunces will show up for that meeting. As we mentioned in our post yesterday, attendance by all the Alderdunces at regular City Council meetings reaches only 54%.

Only 4 of our 7 Alderdunces appear to have attendance records of 100% for the 13 regular City Council meetings held so far this year -- they are, Ald. Sweeney, DiPietro, Allegretti, and Wsol.

By our count, Ald. Bach has missed only 1 regular City Council meeting for a 92% attendance record -- Ald. Carey has missed 2 regular City Council meeting for an 84% attendance record -- Ald. Ryan has missed 4 regular City Council meetings for an attendance record of 69%. Old hookie habits die hard, eh Bobby?

To date, there have been 11 COW meetings held with only 50% of those meetings having a full complement of Alderdunces in attendance. The individual attendance records are --

Ald. Sweeney -- has missed 0 COW meetings -- 100% COW attendance

Ald. DiPietro -- has missed 1 COW meeting -- 90% COW attendance

Ald. Bach -- has missed 1 COW meeting -- 90% COW attendance

Ald. Allegretti -- has missed 2 COW meetings -- 81% COW attendance

Ald. Ryan -- has missed 1 COW meeting -- 90% COW attendance

Ald. Carey -- has missed 3 COW meetings -- 72% COW attendance

Ald. Wsol -- has missed 0 COW meetings -- 100% COW attendance

Why should people care about attendance at COW meetings? Because COW meetings are presumably where the nitty gritty discussion and debate on issues takes place before an item goes before the City Council for, presumably, final consideration.

In addition to regular City Council meetings and COW meetings, so far this year there have been no less than 18 Special City Council meetings and Workshops. On the City's spanky new website there are 4 sets of minutes and-or videos missing -- the 1/25/10 Flood Control Task Force workshop, and the 3/6/10, 3/13/10, and 3/20/10 Budget Workshop. For our purposes, we've assumed full attendance at all of those meetings, but we're fairly certain there were absences.

The individual Alderdunce records for attendance at Special meetings and Workshops are --

Ald. Sweeney -- has missed 0 meetings -- 100% attendance

Ald. DiPietro -- has missed 0 meetings -- 100% attendance

Ald. Bach -- has missed 0 meetings -- 100% attendance

Ald. Allegretti -- has missed 4 meetings -- 77% attendance

Ald. Ryan -- has missed 1 meeting -- 94% attendance

Ald. Carey -- has missed 5 meetings -- 72% attendance

Ald. Wsol -- has missed 2 meetings -- 88% attendance

So there you have the year-to-date attendance records for each of our 7 Alderdunces. We're sure the people of the 5th and 6th wards are simply thrilled with their smaller, more efficient representation!

*** Addendum

Mayor Schmidtzkrieg sent out the following press release --

from: Dave Schmidt
to: presscontacts@electdaveschmidt.com
date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:15 PM
subject: Text of Mayor's comments to the aldermen given at Aug. 23 Special City Council meeting
re: community group contributions


I have personally contributed to at least seven of the organizations.
I whole-heartedly support their efforts. I encourage the aldermen, the
residents and the business community in Park Ridge to also generously support the organizations of their choosing...but with their own money.

We should not be supporting the organizations with taxpayer money.
Taxpayer money should only be used to fund essential city services
such as police, fire, water services, sewer services, roads and
tree-trimming.

Even if the money was available, which is something I have serious
doubts about, the money should be spent on those essential services.
By way of example, $190,000 would pay for reinstating brush pick-up.
It would pay the salaries of two laid off policemen who could help
patrol the streets. It would pay for almost a full block-long relief
sewer. Or it could be used to help offset the multi-million dollar
deficit we experienced last year and are facing again this year. You
should vote no on these contributions.

City Council COW Mtg (PRFB) 4-26-10 - video!

The Council COW begins with the usual opening ceremonies, such as taking attendance -- Aldermen Bach and Carey are absent, as is Mayor Schmidt

@ 0:0:55 mark -- Finance and Budget begins -- agenda items covered are --

A. Action Items

1. Approve Payment for Database Administrator Services – Ariel, Inc.
2. Approve Payroll for Human Resources and Payroll Processing Services – Ceridian Employer Services.
3. Approve Payment for Employee Medical, Dental and Life Insurance.
4. Approve Prevailing Wage Ordinance Effective June 1, 2010.
5. Approve Services to Third Millennium.
6. Approval of SCH Real Estate, LLC Lease for Parking.


@ 0:23:46 mark -- Procedures and Regulations begins -- agenda items covered are --

A. Action Items

1. Modification to the 3P Manual regarding the City Attorney
2. Approval of the City Council referring a modification to Section 4.8.C.2.b (Definition of Supermajority) to the Planning and Zoning Commission for public hearing
3. Modification to the Liquor Ordinance Regarding Sealing and Removal of Open Wine Bottles
4. Lease Approval – 15-19 S. Prospect Ave. (Pedestrian Plaza and Arcade)

B. Discussion Items

1. Land Use Alternatives – 1200 Elm
2. Establish Solicitation Permit Fees
3. Required Votes to Grant an Appeal on Public Works Decisions


@ 1:48:02 mark -- New Business begins

@ 1:49:14 mark -- Adjournment


As usual, we strongly encourage our faithful PRU readers to spend the time reviewing the video of the meeting, and we believe you may get a sick and twisted kick out of watching the 4th ward's Ald. Allspaghetti offer up a performance worthy of an Oscar in the category of best special interest supporting bullshit artist!

More Cow Pies Tonight!

Tonight's City Council COW agenda (.pdf) covers issues under Finance and Budget, and Procedures and Regulations committees.

The Finance and Budget committee will be voting to approve spending your money on Ceridian Employee Services (.pdf), Ariel Database Services (.pdf), Employee Medical, Dental & Life Insurance (.pdf), and Third Millennium (.pdf).

In addition to those expenditures, the Finance and Budget COW will also be spending your money to renew the lease agreement (.pdf) with "SCH Real Estate, LLC for parking spaces at 20-22 S. Fairview. The City then sells parking permits for the lot to cover the amount of the lease. The existing lease expires on June 1,2010. The lease is being renewed for a period of six months with an automatic renewal for an additional six months in the amount of $20,520. This amount is based on an annual rate of $360 per space, with 57 spaces leased."

And the PRU Crew is wondering if SCH Real Estate, LLC sends flowers and chocolates to City Hall on Secretaries Day. If they don't, they should -- the PRU Crew feels it's very nice for the City to provide secretarial services and staff time to SCH Real Estate, LLC, as well as snow removal and other services to the lessor. The PRU Crew is also wondering if the City is obligated to pay the lease amount whether or not the spaces are sub-leased?

However, the real fun at tonight's City Council COW meeting should come under the Procedures and Regulations portion of the meeting.

Procedures and Regulations, chaired by the 4th ward's Ald. Allspaghetti, is set to again take action on the issue of Supermajority voting (.pdf), as well as a 3P Manual modification re: the City Attorney (.pdf) and a Liquor Ord Mofification re: Wine Bottles (.pdf).

The City Attorney's cover memorandum includes an entertaining passage -- "The attached Ordinance contains the City Attorney's addition of the term "2/3" to supermajority. The remaining proposed changes were made at Alderman Allegretti's request." And the PRU Crew laaaaauuuuughed! We may begin referring to the City Attorney as either "Pontius Hill" or "Buzz Pilate."

Also on the Procedures and Regulations agenda is another renewal of the lease agreement (.pdf) for the "pedestrian arcade from Prospect Ave. to the alley behind the building." Gillick-Zember Partnership will be receiving $15,000 for the first year and "the annual rent will increase at a rate of 4% annually. The initial term of the lease is 15 years, with an automatic 15 year renewal." And we're sure the Prospect Ave. Starbuck's crowd, among others, will be very pleased.

Enjoy the show!

We Recommend --

Lifted from salon.com/story

For those of you paying attention to City Council antics, you'll want to stock-up on some good old fashioned lubrication in preparation for the screwing you're likely to get this week from your representatives -- we use the term really really really loosely.

Tonight's City Council COW agenda (.pdf) is set to cover topics under Public Safety, Public Works and Procedures and Regulations.

Topics to be covered under Procedures and Regulations look to be particularly entertaining.

Once again it appears the 4th ward's Alderman James Allspaghetti has taken some liberty in clarifying the cover memorandum submitted for public review by the City Attorney -- Here's a link to the original cover memorandum and here's a link to the revised cover memorandum regarding Supermajority voting to override denials by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The revised language reads --

Alderman Allegretti states that this change is only directed at the ordinance adopted November 16, 2009, which he believes misstated the intent of the Council by requiring 6 votes instead of 5 votes as intended.

Our faithful PRU readers can review the videos of the November 16, 2009 meeting here -- the subject of supermajority voting is covered in videos #3, #4, and #5. So how about it PRU readers, do you think after talking the issue of supermajority voting to death, to borrow a phrase Ald. Allspaghetti so often likes to use, can any of the Aldermorons claim to not have been clear on what they were voting for or against?

And as everyone should understand by now, the only reason this issue has come up again is because Ald. Allspaghetti is doing his incompetent best to see to it Park Ridge has the privilege of billboards being erected within our borders. And in light of the legal cites and legal history surrounding the issues of billboards, zoning and fees -- the only question remaining is what exactly is in this for Aldermoron Allspaghetti, personally, because this guy has never worked this hard for any other single piece of City legislation in his entire term in office.

Also under Procedures and Regulations is a cover memorandum (.pdf) from City Manager Jim Hock discussing the District 207 Board of Education's proposal to add nominal interest to the deferred TIF payment from the City of Park Ridge -- and as we bantered back and forth in the comments on this post, it does indeed appear the discussion between the City Manager and the Board was, in fact, interesting.

Hopefully, the videos from tonight's meeting will be available for review at some point in the future!

Freewheeling PRU Briefs!

item #1 -- "The only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing." -- André Maurois

You don't have to have a kid in one of Maine Township District 207's high schools to have a legitimate interest in the budget cuts being considered by the District 207 School Board. So we strongly urge everyone who's got the time to show up to the public meeting set to take place tonight in the Maine East school auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m.

And to the teacher's union we offer the frequently used, WTF???


item #2 -- "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer

The PRU Crew still hates red light cameras. We feel they're a fraudulent public offering on the issue of traffic safety -- nothing more than revenue-generating ventures for cash-sucking municipal governments. And as soon as Commonwealth Edison gets around to turning on the power for the new red light camera at Oakton and Northwest Hwy., we'll all begin to hear that old familiar sucking sound, but we're sure the ball-less will feel perfectly safe.


item #3 -- "The treatment process does reduce the liklihood of recidivism." -- Dr. Jesus Padilla

In today's Journal & Topics on page 3A we had the displeasure of reading a small article titled, "Ald. Allegretti Refutes Story, Will Run Again"

In the article 4th ward Ald. Jim Allspaghetti denies being unhappy in his role as an alderdunce and claims he will seek re-election in 2011.

In other words, Ald. Allspaghetti promises to be a repeat offender. The PRU Crew feels the appropriate treatment process is for voters to have the opportunity to elect somebody else and send Allspaghetti back under the rock from which he crawled.


item #4 -- "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." -- Naguib Mahfouz

The Pub-dogs post today asks "the following question for Messrs. Ryan and Wsol: Why did you vote to make the City the appllicant for the zoning ordinance amendments to permit billboards, especially where doing so allowed GGI to avoid the disclosure requirements of the City’s ethics ordinance that are designed to combat kinky deals?"

If the Pub-dogs get any answers at all, we expect they will be very clever answers.

Minding The Store!

The PRU Crew has appreciated the many expressions of worry and relief we have received this week due to our choosing not to post anything Monday through Wednesday. We assure our faithful PRU readers that nothing was wrong -- PRU.ADMIN simply made the choice not to duplicate or distract from what the Pub-dogs seemed to be covering very well -- discussion of the City's budget in both their Monday and Wednesday posts.

And sometimes it's simply better to sit back and listen, rather than speak.

Our readers did as we expected and began clicking out to visit the Pub-dog's blog more frequently, and our meter tells us the Pub-dogs have picked up at least 5 more dedicated first-visit readers -- meaning people who read there first then come to PRU.

We don't mind.

On the issue of the City budget, one commenter to the Pub-dog's Monday posting offered, "This is the major issue facing this city right now." And we agree. Wholeheartedly.

Everything the City strives to achieve, with any lasting competence, is a direct function of the City budget. If the City budget is unhealthy, everything the City strives to achieve is in jeopardy. Everything. Absolutely everything.

Tomorrow the City Council will be meeting from 9 a.m. to noon in the City Hall Council Chamber for their first budget workshop to begin planning the City budget for the next fiscal year. The agenda (.pdf) for the meeting has a new, never-before-included line item -- IX. Resident comments.

The PRU Crew is hoping beyond hope the residents of Park Ridge take full advantage of this new opportunity to participate in democracy and our local government. We have our own ideas and opinions on the City budget but we are eager to hear yours.

And the PRU Crew is really really really looking forward to hearing what local resident and attorney Frank DiFranco has to say about his deep concern for the City budget, you know, beyond the issue of billboard revenues.

Chumbolones And Billboards, Baby!

Available from -- Carnival source.com

Chumbolone! The Urban Dictionary defines the word as --

1. chumbolone

idiot, stupid - Popularized by Chicago newspaper columnist John Kass after first hearing the word spoken in testimony by mob messenger boy Anthony "Twan" Doyle during a 2007 federal trial. While working for the mob, Doyle got himself hired into the Chicago Police Department evidence department in order to remove or destroy DNA and other evidence of mob homicides.

Actual example: "I gave him lip service," Doyle said. "I didn't know what he was talking about. I don't wanna look like a chumbolone, an idiot, stupid," Doyle said from the witness stand.

Wise guys count on the majority of people to be chumbolones, idiots, stupid -- it makes getting what they're after a lot easier.

And chumbolones are exactly what the wise guy billboard brigade -- 4th ward Ald. Jim Allspaghetti, local attorney Frank DiFranco, and Generation Group agent Joseph Loss -- seem to think Park Ridge is full of; nothing but chumbolones.

Chumbolones are the kind of people who put on cheap carnival dollar-sign glasses when reading fliers, like the one distributed at Frank DiFranco's Morningfields Market, and believe it.

Chumbolones are the kind of people who believe the only way for the City of Park Ridge to get back to a healthy financial position is to sell-out the character of our community over the next 20 years for a quick $400,000 down and another $200,000 in installments -- chumbolones believe in a quick fix that isn't.

Chumbolones are the kind of people who think wise guys like Joseph Loss of Generation Group, Inc. are just entrepreneurial businessmen with nothing to hide and who didn't look for a way to avoid the City's disclosure demands for applicants seeking special consideration for zoning changes.

Chumbolones are the kind of people who feel if something doesn't happen on their property, their block, or in their ward then it doesn't affect them.

Chumbolones are the kind of people who believe every deal is on the up-n-up because this is Park Ridge, not Chicago, and the volunteers on the City Council always look out for their best interests.

The PRU Crew doesn't believe for a minute that the whole of Park Ridge is full of chumbolones. But we're not too sure that holds true for the whole of the City Council.

Billboards And Bullshit, Baby!

Some of our faithful PRU readers may remember the shock, SHOCK, former Mayor Howard offered about local businesses becoming involved in local political matters -- we discussed the topic here.

We noted in the linked piece above that former Mayor Howard launched his 2009 mayoral campaign inside Morningfields Market on Devon Avenue in Park Ridge. We've also noted the first mention of billboards was on former Mayor Howard's campaign website -- in our post here, we said, "And we hope Mayor Howard isn't serious about licensing billboards in town!" Looks like former Mayor Howard was very serious.

And now it looks like close associates of former Mayor Howard are still very serious about billboards in Park Ridge.

As some of you may be aware, the owner of Morningfields Market, where former Mayor Howard launched his 2009 campaign, is none other than local attorney, Frank DiFranco --



Our faithful PRU readers may also have taken note of Mr. DiFranco's recent public interest in the topic of billboards. In an article posted on the Herald-Advocate website, it is noted -- "Other residents, including Park Ridge attorneys who share a law office with Allegretti, expressed support for the billboards, saying the city needs the revenue at this time.

"$600,000 is a substantial amount of money," said attorney Frank DiFranco. "I think the city needs to find more ways to get revenue other than through property tax."

Aw Frankie, you are a real good guy to show up and support your pal, 4th ward Alderman Jim Allspaghetti in his fervent quest to see to it the City of Park Ridge gets back on its financial feet!

And the PRU Crew thinks the fliers being distributed at your Morningfields Market are positively priceless!
Morning Fields Billboard Flier

Absolutely priceless! Absolutely bullshit, too!

But Frankie, we do have to confess -- we sure hope you didn't write up that flier! Do your briefs read like that? Shocking!

You are right, Frankie, Park Ridge residents should care about the City of Park Ridge running multiple year budget deficits in multiple millions. Hey Frankie, where you been for the last 5 years, buddy?

Frankie, we hate to break it to you but...the $400,000 offered up front won't make a dent in the budget deficit and because of the very fact that there is a budget deficit, that $400,000 won't do a thing to cap property taxes, even if the City of Park Ridge can find some way around the court ruling that impact fees for billboards are unconstitutional.

We've got some other bad news for you, Frankie. The $200,000 over the next 20 years of living with billboards would barely go beyond the costs of covering city staff efforts for inspections.

On the Pub-dog's blog, somebody commented, "It’s interesting that guys who would never be caught dead at a PR Council meeting were there; Frank DiFranco, Dave Nelli, Jim Debruzzi. Now I get that there are many family relationships in place but still, why would they all show up for this particular issue if they didn't have skin in the game?"

Hey Frankie, you're working your attorney tail off on this one, buddy, though we have to confess, we aren't impressed with the effort.

Hey Frankie, you got some skin in the game?

Ooh, Ooh That Smell!

The City Council will meet tonight at Park Ridge City Hall, beginning at 7:00 pm, for another exciting COW -- and the PRU Crew can already smell the odor of bullshit wafting throughout the City of Park Ridge!

The agenda (.pdf) for tonight's meeting offers some very special COW pies for public consumption. We have no doubt the taxpayers of Park Ridge will be enormously please with the Property Tax Levy (.pdf) and Six-Months Financial Report (.pdf). And the discussion of Contributions to Community Groups (.pdf) along with discussion of the Modifications to the 3P Manual for Special Events (.pdf) should be very entertaining.

The PRU Crew is really looking forward to hearing the Alderidiots talk about the proposed Video Poker Ordinance (.pdf) and Modifications to the Ethics Ordinance (.pdf).

We anticipate some Alderidiots will say the revenue, which may be produced from licensing video poker machines in Park Ridge, is not an amount for which it is worth altering the character of Park Ridge, despite the budget black hole deficit. We also anticipate some Alderidiots will completely ignore such an argument when they discuss billboards at a future meeting.

But without a doubt, the PRU Crew's favorite topic on tonight's agenda is the discussion of the proposed modifications to the Ethics Ordinance, courtesy of Procedures and Regulations chairman Alderman James Allspaghetti. Ooh, ooh that smell! Can you smell that smell?

We look forward to posting the videos tomorrow!

Big Bucks and Billboards, Baby!

By now, anyone paying attention to the issue of a proposed zoning change to allow billboards to be put up in Park Ridge has also heard 4th Ward Aldermope James Allspaghetti chant, "I did want the City Council to have the final say on it because it's a substantial amount of revenue."

"...it's a substantial amount of revenue...it's a substantial amount of revenue..." echo echo echo

According to an online article in the Herald-Advocate -- 'Zoning panel's message: Don't place your ad here' -- "Allegretti said the city stands to receive $400,000 if the billboards are installed, with another $200,000 to be paid over 20 years" despite the fact the article also reports, "There is no proposed, written agreement stating how much revenue the city would actually receive, said City Manager Jim Hock."

Ignoring for the moment Ald. Allspaghetti's dangling of dollars before the dolts on the City Council -- with very few exceptions, those amounts aren't chump change, until you take a closer look at those amounts in the context of the City budget and the proposed 20 year permit term.

Last Spring, the City Council reviewed and passed a City budget of nearly $50 million with a planned-for deficit of roughly $2 million. After the City Council planned to spend more money than it took in, the Aldermopes promptly got down to the task of further subsidizing water usage by refusing to pass along the full amount of water rate increases from the City of Chicago to Park Ridge water users. Then the Aldermopes really got serious about the budget, after voting for more water usage subsidies, by immediately voting to exceed the budgeted amounts of taxpayer dollars annually gifted to various community groups -- an amount that totals almost $250,000.00.

One thing we can say, nobody is ever going to accuse the members of the City Council of being "conservative to a fault," at least not where fiscal management comes in.

So now Ald. Allspaghetti is very very very concerned about opportunities to bring in revenue for the City of Park Ridge, and he believes a one-time payment of $400,000.00 is so important that the entire Planning and Zoning process for independent review of land use matters should be altered.

Here we suggest the English majors skip ahead --

Let's do the math: ($2,000,000.00) + $400,000.00 = ($1,600,000.00)

Looky there. After receiving a one-time payment of $400,000.00 to allow billboards in Park Ridge, the City budget -- assuming nothing else changes -- would still have a budget hole of $1.6 million. And we get these billboards for 20 years.

And brush pick-up will still have been eliminated. And Public Works employees will still have been laid off. And Park Ridge will still experience flooding. And the Park Ridge sewer system will still need major upgrades. And Park Ridge streets, curbs, and gutters will still be in disrepair. And the Aldermopes will still spend our tax dollars like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Okay, we know what some of our faithful PRU readers may be thinking, "But PRU, what about the $200,000.00 over the next 20 years?" Okay, what about it? For an annual fee of $10,000.00 for billboards, fees that are supposed to cover annual inspection costs to the City, we're supposed to believe this billboard deal is some kind of good deal for Park Ridge, for the next 20 years?

We don't.

We don't feel Park Ridge's zoning ordinance should be for sale. We don't feel Park Ridge should be for sale. We used to feel it was bad enough when we thought City Hall was for sale. We would never have guessed we would be saying, "We miss those bad old days."

Try to enjoy the weekend.

PRCC Videos 11-16-09!

As always, we thank our faithful PRU readers for your patience. The Motionbox magic was extra sluggish yesterday, but all 4 videos from Monday night's Council meeting finally uploaded.

So! Without further ado --

video #00002.MTS PRCC 11-16-09


Begins with the usual Council festivities

@01:29 mark -- Consent agenda

@03:15 mark -- Mayor's report

@22:35 mark -- Park Ridge O'Hare Airport Commission update


video #00003.MTS PRCC 11-16-09


Begins with Ald. Rich DiPietro explaining how the City budget and expenditure process works to his fellow Aldermen. Don't be alarmed, good citizens of Park Ridge, these are well-intended volunteers -- you should not expect well-intended volunteers to understand what they've been doing for more than two years.

@03:09 mark -- Director of Finance Diane Lembesis also attempts to explain the City budget and expenditure process to the Aldermen.

@10:15 mark -- PROAC Chairman Jennifer Perry informs the Council that a budget for PROAC activities will be submitted to the Council for next year -- B.O.H.I.C.A!

@11:15 mark -- City Council report begins with Ald. Don Bach making nice with Mayor Schmidt. Ald. Bach then reports on the 3rd Ward meeting he conducted with Rosie Mulligan to help residents with property tax complaints. We learn 15 people were in attendance -- the majority of whom were not 3rd Ward residents.

@13:15 mark -- City Clerk's report -- the Dec. 28th Council meeting is cancelled

@14:17 -- Residents address the Council on Non-agenda items -- begins with the owner of 32 Main St., Mr. Michael Athens, asking for relief from the Special Use permit process for properties already in existence as office uses.

@19:45 mark -- Ald. DiPietro suggests an application be made directly to the Planning & Zoning Commission

@23:29 mark -- Resident Ms. Missy Langan asks the Council about the progress of the Executive Office Plaza/Norwood Builders development. Here the PRU Crew shed tears over all the people who were said to desperately be in need of Senior Housing but for whom the development has not yet been built.

@24:35 mark -- Director of Community Preservation and Development Carrie Davis informs the Council that the City Attorney and the EOP developer have been communicating.

@25:30 mark -- Resident Jorge Zavala inquires about preventive measures for sewers and leaf pick-up

@26:00 mark -- Director of Public Works Wayne Zingsheim almost loses his religion, but manages to smile about it; Assistant City Manager Julianna Maller (seated behind Zingsheim) does not. Jeez!

@28:15 mark -- Mayor Schmidt manages to regain control of the meeting

@29:08 mark -- We learn Ald. Bach was looking out the window during the 3rd Ward meeting

@30:18 mark -- Mayor Schmidt reads his response to a letter from the Planning and Zoning Commission

@31:27 mark -- Ald. Joe Sweeney begins his Planning and Zoning Commission report on the text amendment, TA-09-02 and reads the aforementioned letter from the Planning and Zoning Commission.

@36:51 mark -- The Ald. James Allegretti show begins and includes Ald. Allegretti's blatant cherry picking of the City Attorney's opinion and advice.

@47:10 mark -- Ald. Allegretti calls the Planning and Zoning Commission a "black hole"

@47:55 mark -- Ald. Robert Ryan remarks that he continues to "get an education from Ald. Allegretti." Aha! That explains everything! Ald. Ryan motions to amend the text amendment to require a super majority vote by the Council to overturn denials from Planning and Zoning.


video #00004.MTS PRCC 11-16-09


Begins with continuing discussion of Ald. Ryan's amendment, which is withdrawn. Then, Ald. Bach moves to amend the main motion to make super majority votes of the Council required across the board to over turn denials from Planning and Zoning.

@03:25 mark -- The Ald. Allegretti show begins again and includes Allegretti lamenting the "emasculation" of the City Council

@07:50 mark -- Ald. Bach responds to Allegretti's lamentations that the Council votes should be consistent and his amendments "sends a message" to Planning and Zoning of their value

@08:59 mark -- Ald. Sweeney remarks that he supports the amendment

@10:08 mark -- Resident, and PRC Uptown redevelopment architect, Mr. Andy Koglin addresses the Council and opposes the changes being made to the Planning and Zoning Commission process

@11:53 mark -- Mr. Koglin repeats the big lie about the lawsuit holding-up construction of the Uptown redevelopment and the City Clerk amen corner can be heard in the background

@15:00 mark -- Resident Ms. Pat Livensparger addresses the Council

@16:10 mark -- Resident, and CURRB spokesperson, Judy Barclay addresses the Council

@17:18 mark -- Planning and Zoning Commissioner Joe Baldi addresses the Council and explains the "character" of the Planning and Zoning Commission and explains the difference between policy considerations and political considerations

@24:31 mark -- Ald. Thomas Carey asks Commissioner Baldi his opinion on whether the requirement for a super majority vote by the Council would mitigate the potential for political influence.

@30:07 mark -- The Ald. Allegretti show resumes with Allegretti again lamenting that what the Planning and Zoning Commission recently considered as a text amendment for billboards was not what the City Council sent down to the commission for review -- translation; "you people didn't carry our water and give us something to hide behind!"

@32:07 mark -- Ald. Allegretti says, "Developers say no to Park Ridge" because their plans "will die" in the Planning and Zoning process. The PRU Crew feels Allegretti is assuming facts not in evidence...or...does Allegretti know something we don't?

@32:30 mark -- Ald. Allegretti accuses the Planning and Zoning Commission of being "conservative to a fault"

@34:33 mark -- Lady Allegretti doth protest too much, we thinks

@34:57 mark -- Ald. DiPietro recalls his Roberts Rules of Order and requests a "point of order"

~~ the Allegretti show continues for what seems another eternity ~~

@36:52 mark -- Mayor Schmidt remembers he's the chairman of City Council meetings and interjects remarks into the discussion

@37:24 mark -- Ald. Ryan asks Commissioner Baldi whether denials from Planning and Zoning could previously be over turned by a simple majority vote when a text or map amendment is sent to Planning and Zoning by the Council -- Baldi answers "yes"

@38:15 mark -- Local attorney and Zoning Czar Jack Owens addresses the Council -- nuff said.

@41:45 mark -- Resident Ms. Carla Owen (no relation to Jackie boy) points out the obvious

@43:14 mark -- Resident Mr. George Kirkland talks about traffic because old dogs like old tricks -- we mean that in the nicest way

@44:29 mark -- Ald. Sweeney points out more of the obvious

@45:35 mark -- Zoning Czar Owens gets special dispensation to speak before the Council again...and runs off at the mouth

@47:09 mark -- Resident and PRC architect Koglin again addresses the Council

Video ends just as the Council readies to vote on the super majority amendment, remember that? The amendment was supposed to be what all the yak yak yakking was about.


video #00005.MTS PRCC 11-16-09




Begins with the Council vote on the amendment to require a super majority vote to over turn denials by Planning and Zoning. The Council votes 4 (Sweeney, DiPietro, Bach and Wsol) to 3 (Allegretti, Ryan and Carey) to adopt the amendment.


@00:43 mark -- Ald. Frank Wsol questions City Attorney Buzz Hill on language in the text amendment


@06:00 mark -- Ald. Wsol motions to amend the text amendment to clarify language, and the Council unanimously votes to adopt the clarifying language


@06:15 mark -- Ald. Wsol asks Allegretti about the billboard developer and opines that the developer is getting "2 swings at the plate"


@07:50 mark -- Allegretti -- yak yak yakkety yak yak yak -- and when Allegretti offers that he does not expect applicants to come to the City Council first, instead of going directly to Planning and Zoning, the PRU Crew had to pause the video and wipe away our tears of laughter.

@11:37 mark -- Ald. Wsol attempts to reword and explain his previous question to Allegretti


@12:49 mark -- Allegretti -- yak yak yakkety yak yak yak -- which includes more crabbing and complaining about Planning and Zoning and City staff


@14:30 mark -- Ald. Bach actually begins making some sense, but it doesn't "take"


@16:40 mark -- Ald. DiPietro reads a prepared statement to the City Council, and in the PRU Crews' opinion, he does a fine job of addressing the fundamental problems with the proposed change to the Planning and Zoning process


@24:41 mark -- Ald. Bach claims the current Planning and Zoning process is broken


@26:40 mark -- Ald. Bach reveas that he does not quite understand what takes place at Planning and Zoning Commission meetings


@28:39 mark -- Ald. Bach provides still more proof that he is Park Ridge's own Constitutional UNscholar -- and Mrs. Bach is a real shopper!


@30:15 mark -- Ald. Bach poo poos speculation about ethics violations and wrong doing and the PRU Crew discovers Bach can be as belligerent when sober as he can be with a few under his belt

@31:56 mark -- Council votes on the main motion to adopt TA-09-02. The vote is 4 (Bach, Allegretti,Ryan and Sweeney) to 3 (DiPietro, Carey and Wsol).

Yes. Sweeney. Sweeney voted for the amendment which will essentially change Planning and Zoning, from an independent review commission for land use issues, to a recommending body for the City Council. And now the PRU Crew will be calling Ald. Sweeney, Ald. Sweiner.

@32:55 mark -- New Business begins with Ald. Wsol asking about the upcoming budget process and requesting staff to provide information to the Council on the current zoning ordinances for billboards

@33:53 mark -- City Attorney Buzz Hill attempts to cover his ass and explain his remarks at the last Planning and Zoning Commission

@34:52 mark -- Motion to adjourn.

Thank God that's over!

Now, A Word From Planning and Zoning

This past Tuesday night, the Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission held one of their bi-weekly meetings.

If you haven't reviewed the videos from the meeting, we very strongly encourage you to do so. You'll find the videos from the meeting here.

On the agenda (.pdf) were two public hearings for two proposed text amendments to the zoning ordinance. The first covered proposed changes to the zoning ordinance governing planned developments and construction schedules. The second covered proposed changes to the zoning ordinance regarding billboards.

Currently the Park Ridge zoning ordinance does not allow billboards, which is just a cryin' shame, isn't it?

Apparently 4th Ward Alderman Jim Allspaghetti thinks so, because he's taken full credit for submitting the matter for consideration to the Planning and Zoning Commission after having been approached by Mr. James Loss, the attorney and controlling interest in a company known as Generation Group, Inc.

What Ald. Allspaghetti seems not to have expected is the Planning and Zoning Commission thought it odd, unusual, and even manipulative for Ald. Allspaghetti to take the lead on the matter instead of having Mr. Loss and his Generation Group, Inc. make a direct application to Planning and Zoning.

What Ald. Allspaghetti should also get credit for is seeking to eviscerate the independent review and decision making process that has long governed land use matters in the City of Park Ridge. It has been Ald. Allspaghetti leading the charge to make sure that any and all denials from Planning and Zoning are to be reviewed by the City Council, which can then over-turn those denials with a simple majority vote -- that's a whole 4 people deciding land use matters for the entire City of Park Ridge.

The reaction on the part of the Planning and Zoning Commission members, to the maneuvering being done by Ald. Allspaghetti and his Council cohorts, can only be described as negative, which the PRU Crew believes is the only appropriate response. And that negative response was placed into a very well-written letter to the Mayor and City Council, which you can view, below --


Planning and Zoning Commission Letter to the Mayor -- 11/10/09

Council Meeting Tonight!

There's a City Council meeting tonight! On the agenda (.pdf) are some interesting items, such as a report on the 2009 Taste of Park Ridge and Council consideration of a text amendment to the City's Zoning Ordinance to allow billboard signs in certain commercial districts.

Does anybody recall hearing about billboards a while back? Oh that's right, former Mayor Howard listed "licensing bill boards" as his first idea for "raising revenue." In fact, former Mayor Howard talked about "licensing bill boards" on his campaign web site -- and the Pub-dogs took note here.

Oddly, we observe the letter (.pdf, pg. 8) written by the law firm of Loss & Pavone, to Procedures and Regulations Committee chairman and loyal Frimark lapdog, 4th ward Alderman James Allspaghetti, is dated June 23, 2009.

And of course Allspaghetti -- along with a majority of the City Council -- thought that the issue of billboards was so important that this zoning text amendment should be sent from the Council to Planning and Zoning on behalf of the applicant, while Allspaghetti seems to have remained stone-cold silent on doing local businesses the same favor, according to the July 13, 2009 COW meeting minutes (.pdf, pg. 4).

At the same COW meeting at which the Alderdopes voted to recommend a text amendment request be sent from the Council on behalf of law firm Loss & Pavone and their client, Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gail Haller made a similar request on behalf of local Park Ridge businesses to allow A-frame sidewalk signs. The Council's answer to Ms. Haller and our local businesses? You're on your own.

Clearly, our PRU readers see the logic in all this! And the PRU Crew is sure Frimark's past mention of billboards and the advocacy position taken by Allspaghetti are just pure coincidence.

As we said, it's just a little odd.

Hope to have video tomorrow at some point!

It's Getting Crowded In There!

For most people who find themselves in the position of experiencing something from a different point of view, that experience is often idiomatically referred to as "the shoe being on the other foot."

For 4th ward Alderman Jim Allspaghetti, it appears the other shoe is in his mouth -- as evidenced by a report in today's Journal and Topics.

The report notes, as we recapped for you yesterday, "Ald. Allspaghetti complained about the candidates [for replacement of the 1st ward alderman] appearing before Schmidt's committee instead of the council. "We had no input and as Mayor Schmidt has said, he selected this candidate from input he had from four members of some commission he selected."

The Lord of the Manor, Ald. Rich DiPietro diplomatically corrected Allspaghetti's recall -- or lack thereof -- and urged that the Council minutes for the meeting, at which Allspaghetti was appointed, be furnished to current Council members.

We think you should get to see those minutes too --

Council Min 6605

It looks to us as if Allspaghetti has trouble remembering the things he does and the events he participates in. That must be why Allspaghetti, along with former Mayor Howard, forgot to mention the pre-appointment $300 campaign contribution Allspaghetti made to Frimark's mayoral effort.

The PRU Crew doesn't believe a campaign contribution of $300 would have been a good enough reason to keep Allspaghetti off the Council. But we do feel the failure to disclose the contribution during the appointment process sure does raise some red flags and reveal the characters of those involved.

We sure are glad that particular bit of history isn't repeating itself.

Nice Shootin' Texxifer!

Ping-Ping-Ping!


In today's Herald-Advocate we read that one of our local reporters has been paying attention! Local reporter, Jennifer Johnson, took a look around the room she was in last Saturday and she noticed something missing -- 4th Ward Alderman Jim Allspaghetti! She then did some digging. The result is today's Herald-Advocate article 'Alderman: Work interferes with budget meetings'

The article notes, "Allegretti was absent from the council's March 14 workshop, and also missed the one-day Saturday budget meetings in 2006, 2007 and 2008." The article goes on to quote Allspaghetti saying, "I always see clients on Saturday and I use Saturdays to prepare for the coming week," he said. "I wish I could have been there." The PRU Crew would like to point out that budget workshops are scheduled well in advance, and most competent adults are able to manage and juggle scheduling demands. We find it very difficult to believe that Ald. Allspaghetti could not manage to attend even one Saturday budget workshop during the last 4 years.

As we've discussed many times, most of these clowns do a terrible job of representing the interests of Park Ridge. But if they don't even bother to show up then the people they are supposed to represent have nothing. And in this particularly rough economic climate, nothing could prove to be very costly.

PRUdos to the Herald-Advocate's Jennifer Johnson for a good little fully-loaded article!

Whoa!

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com


PRU readers may remember our post, Moooooving Forward!, where we asked, "Anyone want to guess what power play Mayor Howard has up his sleeve next? We will give you a clue -- what bodies within the structure of our local government still maintain some measure of independent authority from Mayor Howard and his council lapdogs?"

The answer is the Appearance Commission, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Each of those qausi-adjudicative bodies (defined in 5 ILCS 120/2 (d)) are "an administrative body charged by law or ordinance with the responsibility to conduct hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make determinations based thereon, but does not include local electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition challenges." There are circumstances under which these bodies do not make final decisions, such as when the Zoning Board of Appeals recommends approval for a major variance.

In his role as one of Mayor Howard's favorite lapdogs, Alderman Don Bachtard (3rd ward) has suggested that decisions made by these quasi-adjudicative bodies should be appealable to the City Council -- appealable not only by the applicant, but also by neighbors of an applicant, who may or may not agree with either the applicant's request or the decision made by the commission or board. You can read the background information here (.pdf). Furthermore, Ald. Bachtard, with the support of Alderman James Allspaghetti (4th ward), wants all negative decisions by these quasi-adjudicative bodies to be appealable to the City Council.

Does anyone see a problem with this? The PRU Crew sure does hope everyone is getting along out there!

We also wonder just how far Mayor Howard and his lapdogs will go in their unending efforts to seize control with the potential to politicize city procedures. We agree with those who have expressed concern on this matter, as recorded in the Procedures and Regulations Committee meeting minutes of November 4, 2008 -- this is not a good idea.

They May Try This Next!

By: Gary Larson, The Far Side


As regular PRU readers know, we usually post a city council recap the day after city council meetings. But yesterday we decided to bite the bullet and post about the O'Hare expansion issue -- we felt we had sat on the topic without comment for long enough. We had been looking to find something, anything, to offer PRU readers on the O'Hare issue as a beacon of possibility, so we took our sweet time researching the issue. We are grateful we didn't get a beating.

So thank you for your patience! And once again today we have a quickie council recap for you, plus a snippet.

Today's recap has been written and submitted by a guest reporter -- Naomi de Plume! We are grateful for the opportunity to publish this guest perspective.

We've got a sneaking feeling that the next move Mayor Howard and his Aldermorons may try, to get people to stop paying attention, is to feign death! We say everybody should hold out for the real McCoy!

O.k. -- we're just kidding about that...mostly.

Enjoy!

Council Recap!

Howard Frimark’s handpicked City Council started off the new year the way it spent all of 2008, thumbing its noses at the residents of Park Ridge. In a precursor of things to come, almost every matter on the agenda was designated as a “consent” item, meaning there was no discussion at all before they were approved. Get used to it.

Most of the evening’s festivities centered on the Council’s ill-conceived plan to go to a Committee-of-the-Whole process. Incredibly, Fourth Ward Alderman Jim All-spaghetti even admitted, proudly in fact, that now the Council will be able to put almost every issue on a consent agenda and forego public debate at Council meetings, because all of the discussions will already have taken place at the COW meetings!

Rubber stamps will be in short supply in 2009, because the Council will be using them all. So if you happen to be a resident who chooses to attend Council meetings to find out what the Council is up to, well you’re out of luck. When Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg warned that the COW process was inherently flawed because the public will have even less opportunity to follow what the Council is up to, he was told that any alderman who wants to can pull an item off the consent agenda. Right. We can see it now: an alderman will do just that, say his piece, and the others will sit there in stony silence or criticize the offending alderman for wasting their time since the discussion has already occurred. Dollars to donuts that All-spags himself will be the first guy to say just that. And what if a citizen wants to pull an item off the consent agenda? Well, tough luck. You don’t count.

Once that fiasco was through, Alderman Schmidt updated the Council on the citizens’ efforts to get a police facility referendum on the April ballot. He reported that Joe Egan & Co. have obtained over 1000 signatures despite the fact that Park Ridge experienced its most inhospitable December weather in years. Schmidt implored the Council to do the right thing and listen to the residents who want to have a voice in this matter by doing in 5 minutes what it has taken these valiant citizens weeks of braving snow and cold and rain to accomplish. The reaction from the other aldermen? Stony silence. Better get used to that as well.

Naomi de Plume
Cub reporter for the Underground


Snippet!

We've been wondering what the Journal & Topics has been up to because we hadn't seen anything come over the wires from them in a while -- now we know! They're upgrading their web site; welcome to a brave new world, Journalites!

And here's a sample of the JOURNALonline to come, along with an explanation of something we've been scratching our heads about too!

Council Recap -- SSSHHHHH!

Our sources report that last night's City Council meeting was business as usual for the forces of darkness.

After the usual beginning niceties, including congratulations for our Maine South Football Champions, Mayor Howard let everyone know he's a day late and a dollar short on chasing the O'Hare noise problem. While Mayor Howard was doing his Rip Van Winkle impression, when he wasn't voting to pull out of the Suburban O'Hare Commission, the problem of noise and the new runway configuration at O'Hare was creeping up on the citizens of Park Ridge. But now Mayor Howard, and one of his more drooling alderdogs, Don Bachtard (3rd ward), are "challenging the FAA" to provide answers to questions about the jet noise. If either of these idiots had bothered to pay attention to this issue over the last several years, they would find all the answers they're now looking for in the meeting minutes of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission. Or they could have spent an afternoon in the park on the North end of Park Ridge for a taste of things that were to come.

"Challenging the FAA" -- that is very funny stuff!

Next on the council agenda was 1st ward Alderman Dave Schmidt's report and resolution request to put the issue of building a new police station to a referendum vote. In stark contrast to the treatment of every other single resolution undertaken by the council, our sources report that Mayor Howard would not allow Ald. Dave to read an opening statement to begin his report and then offer a motion to adopt the resolution. When Ald. Dave began speaking, Mayor Howard cut him off asking for a motion. Ald. Dave then read the shorter text of the referendum question and motioned the item up for discussion and debate. Mayor Howard then asked for a second to the motion, as required by Roberts Rules of Order, so that discussion and debate could begin. Our sources report that for the first time, Mayor Howard proceeded very slowly through the process of asking for a second -- asking three times if there was anyone to second the motion. All the other aldermen on the council remained silent, and the motion died -- along with the possibility of a public discussion and debate -- for lack of a second.

The PRU Crew feels that, no matter where anyone falls on the issue of building a new police station, everyone should have the guts to discuss, debate and defend their position publicly. And if you are an elected representative of the people, you are obligated to grab hold of your fortitude and tell the people of Park Ridge, in an open forum, why you don't feel they should have a direct and explicit say on the issue through a referendum vote.

We're told two members of the audience rose to address the council after bearing witness to the shenanigans, calling the council's action -- or lack of action -- "appalling" and "sorely disappointing."

The City Council then moved on to other business which included debate and discussion, in great detail, of whether or not to allow businesses to advertise that they have televisions in their establishment, and whether or not minors can play arcade games in an establishment "when accompanied by a person twenty-one years of age." We are told the discussion of keeping our local youth safe from the ills of arcade games took about 30 minutes, and the ordinance passed on a final vote of 5 (Schmidt, Bach, Allegretti, Ryan, and Carey) to 2 (DiPietro and Wsol).

We bet our readers may be wondering why the council was willing to spend a half hour on the minutia of the liquor ordinance, while foregoing any discussion on the potential expenditure of an estimated $20million dollars and a referendum vote. The PRU Crew feels anyone wondering about that should contact their alderman and the Mayor, and ask.

The final highlight in the council's actions last night was to tell PRC Partners, the development entity for Target Area 2 (Uptown), they would have to wait another two weeks before the council would again consider their request to lease space to service provider, Coldwell Banker, instead of a sales tax generating business.

We're told the discussion between the council and two of the partners for PRC began very cordially, but as it became clear the council wasn't in a mood to again give a concession to PRC, the partners became somewhat testy and said the city wasn't likely to ever see the originally promised profit sharing, and that the city should take this deal now. The partners also let it be known that every payment made to the city now, in return for the city's concessions to PRC, is included as an expense that is added to the project. What this means, people, is that PRC is adding expenses to the ledger which will almost guaranty that the city never sees a dime of profit from the project, because if the 11% target return for PRC partners isn't met, then the city is left out of the calculation for profit taking. So, is there anybody out there who would be willing to settle for an 8% return on an investment? We're betting the PRC partners will be just fine with that.

Alderman James Allspaghetti (4th ward) asked what would happen with the potential tenant if the council didn't approve the deal in a timely manner? The partners for PRC said they weren't sure what the potential tenant would do, but that it was important to approve the concession. We are told Allspaghetti then launched into one of his long winded and circular ramblings about approving the concession because the empty spaces in the new development are bad!

We are also told that a member of the audience then rose to address the council and, citing "the interest of full disclosure", said that Coldwell Banker is already leasing space in town and that if they were to move into the new development another, larger space would become vacant.

The PRU Crew has long heard that PRC Partners has spent a great deal of time trying to "canibalize" other local businesses in their efforts to fill up their development.

We give big PRUdos to the council for deferring action on this item until the costs to the city can be more fully understood. However, we're not foolish enough to believe the council will see this one through, and we think PRC will eventually get exactly what they're asking for again.