The Blog

Limit political contributions to $10 per person, only from individuals and only from those individuals qualified to vote for the specific candidate's office. That would put a dent in the current systematic 'legal' bribery influencing all elections, especially local ones, ie. city, township and county. Politics is local and, thus, opportunities for this 'legal' bribery from elements not local should be eliminated. How about conducting an on-line poll to see how many citizens would support, and vote for, a binding referendum on the above?

the majority view is carefully cast in law Muni Code 2-120-380 (with comments) The Chicago plan commission shall be composed of 22 members: (9) nine members who are lay citizens, to be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the city council, and (13) ex officio the mayor, (Daley) the president of the board of local improvements, (is this what we now know as the Public Buildings Commission? if so, Daley chairs PBC) (3) Dept heads the commissioner of planning and development, (Arnold L. Randall) the zoning administrator, (Patricia Scudiero) the commissioner of transportation, (Thomas G. Byrne) (6) Chairs of City Council Committees the chairman of the city council committee on buildings, (Stone) the chairman of the city council committee on finance, (Burke) the chairman of the city council committee on zoning, (Banks) the chairman of the city council committee on housing, (Suarez) the chairman of the city council committee on traffic control and safety, (should be Ald. Tom Allen, but not on PC?) the chairman of the city council committee on parks and recreation, (MA Smith) (2) Other agencies the general superintendent and chief executive officer of the Chicago Park District (should be Tim Mitchell, but not on PC?) and the chairman of the board of the Chicago Transit Authority. (Brown) The mayor shall designate a chairman and vice-chairman from among the appointed members. The appointed members shall hold no other public office except where such public office is nonsalaried and no fees or emoluments are derived therefrom.

22 members, and 1 is the mayor and 3 are dept heads and 6 are aldermen. As if they don't have enough influence on City policy already. The 9 "lay" members have no chance of representing real people. The Plan Commission is carefully designed to be a rubber stamp venue for when state law calls for public hearing.

conspicuously absent from the enabling legislation of the Plan Commission: the chairman of the city council committee on Historical Landmark Preservation oops!

Alderman O'Connor is a corrupt joke. Catholic Charities should be separated from the Catholic Church.

coco rat is a idiot.first he sez is going after banks and silvestri on his site.now he sez he has a soft spot.sounds like old coco rat is sacred and backed off.why dumb bell???

We made Coconuts a offer he couldn't refuse!

Put the Childrens Museum in Pilsen. It is close to public transportation and the highways, there is parking, it is in area with lots of kids. Grant Park has too much opposition. The Pilsen community will not oppose it and it can serve children all over the city but especially Hispanics and Blacks in Little Village, North Lawndale, McKinley Park, Bridgeport, Brighton Park, what's left of the Housing Projects and the Near South and West Sides. We can get Fioretti and Reily to support this.

Maybe Daley really means it, when he says that he's dedicated to making this museum accessible to the children of the minorities, maybe it's the people who own the Children's Museum who don't want to have their museum located within the minority communities they purport to be interested in serving. Maybe they are the folks who don't want the museum to be where some of their customers live. Maybe Daley truly cares about these 'under-privileged' children and would welcome the Children's Museum choosing to locate their museum within one, or more, of the 'minority' neighborhoods, but they, the Children's Museum owners, prefer their museum to be located where they'll have primarily tourists and suburbanites utilizing it. Maybe, if Daley truly had his way, the Children's Museum would be 'encouraged' to build their new museum, or museums, within the very neighborhoods where they claim their museum is most needed. Maybe the current proposed location isn't only about money, only about impressing tourists, only about pretending that the very neighborhoods where the kids need this museum most aren't good enough for the Children's Museum to be built in. Maybe it's not Daley's fault that he's being forced to back the Children Museum's proposed plan, maybe the mayor isn't as powerful as we all believe he is, maybe he's been made an offer he 'can't refuse'. Maybe. Maybe Poor Richie really wants to do the right thing, but doesn't have the power to refuse the Children Museum's owners, doesn't have the power to influence what the Commission decides, doesn't have the power to say no those who tell him when to say yes. Maybe. And maybe ducks wear boots.

The deck may be stacked but the cause is not lost. Show up at the Plan Commission meeting on May 15, 1pm at City Hall. Go www.savegrantpark.org and www.savelincolnpark.org and sign our online petitions and contribute!

Anyone doing a running tally of who is for or against the park in terms of aldermen? Suarez, OConnor, Banks are no votes, who else? We all KNOW the Commission will pass it, that is a no brainer.

In the enabling legislation of the Plan Commission you can almost see that perhaps it was designed to foster communication between the mayor, department heads, aldermen, and citizens, to force them to sit down and look at each other and confront the great development issues of the day. But any earlier problems with communications between the mayor, department heads, and aldermen are ancient history. We now have a new problem: PERFECT communication between the mayor, dept. heads, and aldermen. They are all always on EXACTLY the same page. The "lay" members who are supposed to represent real people are the odd men out. The Plan Commission has outlived its usefulness. It's time to rip it out and start over.

Thanks for the great studies, Mick and Hugh. It turns out I was almost done researching the same survey for the Lincoln Park soccer field thing when I found this. My results were pretty similar, I missed a few things, but I also came up with a few other things: Chicago Plan Commission * Linda Searl, chair. Has sat on Landmarks Preservation Council. Worked for Jim Nagle at Nagle Hartray. Sits on Graham Foundation with Nagle. Lives in Ukrainian Village, near Jonathan Fine. * Ald. William J.P. Banks. Always sounds civil, parliamentarian, and rational, but when all is said and done faithfully advances pro-development, pro-mayoral initiatives. Drives the notorious rubber stamp that is the Zoning Committee, and likely has political sway in the CPC. Parliamentary expert. No humility, no mentors. * Ald. Edward Burke. Like Banks, almost always a sanctimonious loyalist who can make whatever argument he wants. Probably the most powerful alderman by most measures. Wife of Illinois justice Ann Burke. Parliamentary expert. No humility, no mentors. * Mayor Richard M. Daley. * David Weinstein. Young Kellogg alum 2000, “bristles with…gritty, get-deals-done energy” (Kellogg alumni magazine Spring ‘07). Runs Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, akin to a chamber of commerce. 1996-2000 Chicago tech adviser. Founder, Blue Meteor. J.B. Pritzker, Michael Ferro, Larry Levy (Kellogg ‘67) and James Tyree have all invested in CEC, which has many institutional sponsors. * Rev. Dr. Leon D. Finney, Jr. Long, storied history. Founder, Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church. The Woodlawn Organization chairman. Hyde Park elite. Close to Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Won a 2000 one-bid federal contract for his Lincoln South Central Real Estate Group to rent space for a VA clinic. Loyal campaign contributor to Daley. Wife Georgette Greenley-Finney, who runs TWO appears to be inappropriately lobbying for the museum * Doris B. Holleb. Renowned social economist and champion of affordable housing. Clinton 1996 pick for National Council on the Humanities. Studied Harvard, taught U of C. Lives in 43rd Ward with husband Marshall M. Holleb at 2650 Lakeview. Marshall is a Wildman Harrold attorney and trustee of Museum of Contemporary Art. * D. Lyneir Richardson. VP, urban land development at national shopping-mall developer General Growth. GGP founder is Matthew Bucksbaum, who with wife Carolyn lives in 42nd Ward at Hancock Building, unit 7001. Founder’s son and current GGP CEO is John Bucksbaum (wife Jacolyn), who until Oct. 2007 lived in 43rd Ward at 1852 N. Burling. Jacolyn is on Latin School board of trustees. * Carole Brown. CTA board chair. Unswerving Daley tool. CCM board member. * Smita Shah. Engineer, entrepreneur and high-powered contractor for Daley. Among other things, she did an O’Hare runway. But also a board member of ELPC. Probably reachable through ELPC and Howard Learner. * Tom Byrne. (Thomas G. Byrne, not to be confused with Thomas J. Byrne, the prosecutor and judicial candidate.) Former Police Department deputy superintendent, moved to CDOT commissioner by Mayor Daley. Can push him on traffic problem here, superior traffic and parking opportunities at alternative locations. * Arnold Randall. DPD commissioner. Need I say more? He has been working for the mayor since about 1995. * George W. Migala. Station manager of Polish radio station WCEV. gwm@migala.com * Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40). The mayor’s floor leader. A tool. Wife CCM board member. * John H. Nelson. High-powered Chicago architect. Big contributor to Mayor Daley. * Nancy A. Pacher. President of U.S. Equities, a building management and equity company that is a breeding ground for Daley loyalists. The company manages many of the largest buildings the city and county own, including the Washington Library and the County Building. * Ald. Mary Ann Smith (40). Who knows which way she will go on this? Probably whatever way Vi seems to lean. As parks chair, she will have a big say, so she should be lobbied directly. * Ald. Bernard Stone (50). Complete Daley tool. But he does support Save Grant Park. * Gracia Shiffrin. Former Mayoral staffer. Don’t know what she is doing now. * Ald. Ray Suarez (22). Daley’s vice mayor. Complete Daley tool. * Patricia Scudiero. Top Daley zoning administrator from 1988-2004.

Know Your Plan Commissioners correction (thanks, Peter!) the chairman of the city council committee on traffic control and safety, (Ald. O'Connor)

It's as if you had a crystal ball! And who wasn't expecting this. A campaign of clout, lies and secrecy. I attended the circus and had to leave before even getting to the microphone. CCM was allowed 1:20 for their dog & pony show, to which you're correct, they were thanked for.