Northside POWER Sleep Out A Snoozer

Alderman Joe Moore left the "Sleep Out" wide awake. So did most of the attendees of this lame and puzzling protest demonstration this evening. (Video from The Bench on Monday evening, 2/25.)

Moore left soon after delivering a speech that could have been given on the steps of the Kremlin in 1917. The speech by Brian White, before Moore's, was even more radical. Both men called, in essence, for the government to control rent prices, private property prices, and they hinted at racial quotas for housing. White is the Executive Director of Lakeside Community Development Corporation, located at 1806 W. Greenleaf Avenue.

The event flyer included such catch phrases as "Curb Condo Conversions," "Support Balanced Housing," More Affordable Housing" and "Stop Renter Displacement." Right out of the Far Left Handbood of Cliches for Useful Idiots. One observer commented that they "are about eight years too late" to try to stop the condo conversions, and since the housing bubble burst it "seems like a pointless exercise anyway."

Nevertheless, a group of approximately 45 people gathered at W. Morse Avenue and N. Greenview in the 49th Ward at 4:00 p.m. today. The event was billed as a "Sleep Out" with a "prayer vigil and press conference." The "Sleep Out" is supposed to end at 7:00 tomorrow morning, but Moore, White and others left before 6:00 p.m. So much for solidarity.

The so-called "Sleep Out" was organized by Rev. Marilyn Pagan Banks of Northside POWER (People Organized to Work, Educate, and Restore). The flyers for the "Sleep Out" advertised a prayer vigil. Nobody was sleeping out, and there was no prayer vigil as of 8:00 p.m. on this frigid evening.

Northside POWER is politically active advocacy arm of the Good News Community Kitchen, located at 7649 N. Paulina Street in Rogers Park, it is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Northside POWER violates the conditions of its IRS tax exempt status frequently, and tonight's event was just another example of this abuse of tax payer goodwill.

But Brian White's Lakeside CDC seems to be violating IRS rules for non-profit organizations, too.

This recruitment ad for Lakeside CDC says that it "is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) housing organization located in Rogers Park on Chicago's far North Side. Lakeside CDC serves eight Chicago neighborhoods, including Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown, West Ridge, Lincoln Square, North Center, Albany Park, and North Park. Services include housing counseling for low- and moderate-income individuals, advocacy for more affordable housing, and real estate development activities. Lakeside CDC has a staff of two and depends on the active involvement of volunteers to advance its mission."

Consider this from the IRS:

The political campaign activity prohibition is not intended to restrict free expression on political matters by leaders of organizations speaking for themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from speaking about important issues of public policy. However, for their organizations to remain tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions.

To avoid potential attribution of their comments outside of organization functions and publications, organization leaders who speak or write in their individual capacity are encouraged to indicate clearly that their comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of the organization.

Rev. Pagan Banks and Brian White are both "organization leaders." The "Sleep Out" was an official function. Alderman Moore said that the event was "made possible" by Northside POWER, which put out the blue flyers.

Both Pagan Banks and White presented themselves as being official representatives of their respective (tax exempt) organizations. Both of them spoke on behalf of their organizations. At no time did either of them "indicate clearly that their comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of the organization." Quite the opposite, in fact.

But this should surprise nobody. This crowd to which Moore, Pagan Banks and White belong are experts at playing with TIFs and playing loose with your tax dollars. These self-appointed "community leaders" wish to tell you what to do. Brian White is not only the chief poo bah of Lakeside CDC. He is also the co-chair of the WRPCO TIF/Community Planning Board Committee. It should also be noted that, through his public activities, Brian White has made himself a very public figure.

The White-Moore-Pagan Banks crowd intends to initiate legislation - at city, county, state and federal levels - to be able to command that you do it, too. If you don't believe that, you've been asleep your entire adult life. Wake up.

The Bench: Moore Pagan Activities, Tax Code Violations

The Bench: EXTRA: The "Press Conference" That Wasn't

How Rent Control Drives Out Affordable Housing

Brian White of the Lakeside CDC suggested that $7 million in TIF funds were available; couldn't it be used to buy down the cost of the condos?