43rd Ward United Primary Poll 1

Please take a second to participate in the first part of the 43rd Ward United PAC's Primary Election Poll.

43rd Ward U Primary Poll

43rd Ward Remap TRUTH

Wow! The emails sure have been flying all over the 43rd Ward about the proposed remap featuring an extremely motivated Alderman Michele Smith stoking a fire under seven of the ten neighborhood associations within the current boundaries of our ward. The battle is between the "For A Better Chicago" map presented by the Chicago City Council's African American Caucus and the "Taxpayer Protection Map" presented by the Latino Caucus. While I am sympathetic to the neighborhood association's desire to not be remapped, I have a very big problem that's been glossed over by Smith's efforts. Her desired map, the "Taxpayer Protection Map" should actually be called the "Egan Out Map". Take a look how steady her remap hand is with a straight line Northern border on Diversey from the lake to Sheffield and another perfectly straight line from Diversey to North Ave. That's when Smith's cartography gets a little creative, especially when it comes to the Southeast corner of the ward, where I live. It would be hard to believe she suddenly got the hiccups when it came to looking at the 35th precinct where my family and I reside, because the zig zag is kind of strange given her excuse to fight the map she opposes. She says it would be tough to deliver daily city services with all the zig zags the other map has. But a politically motivated gerrymander in the corner of HER map, which eliminates the candidate she so narrowly defeated in 2011, seems to be OK and no concern about the delivery of city services. Take a look at the map for yourself. There will be a remap meeting on Wed., Jan. 11th at the De Paul Student Center (2250 N. Sheffield Ave.) at 6 p.m. Something tells me Smith's presentation won't be focused on HER back-room, old school Chicago machine political move of gerrymandering her opposition into a new ward. Her rhetoric will be all about continuity... but I hope people will see through the smoke and understand this effort is all about the continuity of her political career.

Blue Behemoth Survey Results

Over 570 people read the last 43rd Ward United email featuring the Blue Behemoth on Armitage survey, over 80 participated and there were over 100 comments logged. Those comments ranged from outright support to staunch opposition.

Here is a pdf of the survey: Blue Behemoth Survey Results

Here is a file with all of the comments: Blue Behemoth Survey Comments

Please understand before opening both the Survey and the Comment documents that they have been presented as they were obtained. The results and opinions, especially those in writing, are not those of Tim Egan or 43rd Ward United. Some respondents have posted swear words and one even makes a reference to Hitler. These, again, are presented 100% as they came in. Slight spelling corrections were made for clarity purposes only and not to protect those who cannot spell.

A Way To Support Our High Rise Neighbors in the 2012 Budget

Because I ran for Alderman of the 43^rd Ward which has many high rise buildings, I proposed to create a High Rise Advisory Council and that effort would have made a big impact on the 2012 City of Chicago Budget. Although I would have strongly disagreed with the elimination and the eventual reduction of the refuse rebate, I believe a compromise could have been reached. Now proposed at a reduction to $25 per owners, our condo owners and high rise residents would be less likely to feel the sting of the reduction if the City Council would restructure the Life Safety Ordinance. I  would have brought a proposal to Mayor Emanuel and the entire City Council featuring a “New & Improved Life Safety Ordinance.” Current enforcement is costing some of our high-rise residents hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes needlessly.  The elimination of the high rise refuse rebate could have been an easy sell if the City Council created a better plan for making high rise buildings meet outdated codes, especially when it comes to façade updates and mandated communication improvements that will be outdated shortly after their installed.

"Art is art"; The Blue Behemoth on Armitage

My good friend John Novak is a great lover of the arts. So much so in fact, that he wanted to give the 43rd Ward a gift of viewing a John Henry original in the yard of his beautiful new home on Armitage. Some art critics however, do not have the same eye for art as the fun-loving Novak. NBC's Blue Behemoth Complaint. On the other hand there are those who appreciate Novak's sharing of what has become known as the Blue Behemoth. The real question here is whether or not the steel structure's over hang on the public sidewalk is dangerous or not. Maybe it is, so Novak is willing to make a few new twists and turns and ensure the whole piece of work is entirely on his property and no threat to pedestrians. How does that impact the 43rd Ward and neighbors? We'll have to ask the Alderman, but apparently she's a little hard to track down as CBS 2's Mike Parker and some concerned residents have found: 43rd Ward's Unavailable Alderman. Apparently Parker is not on Alderman Smith's fundraising email list or he would know where to find her. No open meetings about Lincoln Park Hospital's redevelopment as promised, no returned calls about art, no statements about the proposed budget...but there were a ton of fundraising outreach efforts the last two weeks.

So what about the Blue Behemoth? "Art is art," Novak said and he's right. In no way should someone's taste in art be a danger to anyone, especially walking down the street. But contained on his own property, Novak has the right to display his art.

We don't need Hoopla!!! We need the CHICAGO Plan

Ditch the Hoopla! Connect to the CHICAGO Plan The headlines and reporters are screaming about the safety of our great neighborhoods after a recent sexual assault in Lincoln Park. This horrendous crime has sent shock-waves from Wrightwood to Old Town and there is reason to be both scared and now be prepared. As a long time Gold Coast Neighbors' Board member and publisher of the organization's newsletter, I had the privilege of promoting the "CHICAGO Plan" in our last mailing to membership.

The CHICAGO Plan is a Chicago Police Department initiative that works with the community to attack crime and gang offenses and to help make Chicago a safer city.

 

The CHICAGO Plan asks the owners of businesses and privately owned properties who operate closed circuit security cameras to register those systems with the Chicago Police Department. As the CPD responds to criminal incidents in the 43rd Ward, they can utilize detailed information or even footage from the cameras to assist with the apprehension and prosecution of criminals.

43rd Ward United encourages our neighborhood businesses and property owners to get involved. To help police investigate and solve crimes, simply register your security camera system with the CHICAGO Plan by visiting the CPD's Clearpath webpage.  

To register, you will need to provide the name and address of your location, contact details for the owner and operator of the security camera system and details regarding the system, such as; type of camera, number of cameras, areas covered by the camera(s), and recording and retention capabilities.

Is that 4 to 6 or 46 Weeks?

It has come to my attention, repeatedly, that our Ward does not have an operational website hosted by our Alderman, Michele Smith. Check out www.ward43.com and you'll be greeted with "Complete Ward43.org Coming Soon..."

   'Coming Soon' has turned to 'Coming When Already?' For example, the residents of Orchard Street have had their alley ripped up for repairs and many were not aware of the construction schedule or any other details. One neighbor called the Alderman's office and asked why there was no information posted on a website, either detailing the project or warning homeowners of the impending disruption to their daily lives. 
   The neighbor was told "we'll have the website up in 4 to 6 weeks" which prompted the following response; "Is that 46 weeks?"