NHRP: Odd Man Out

* Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park Dissolved is one of many blog posts you'll see about this in the coming weeks. "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" is a fraud, but has been presenting itself as a legit non-profit, charitable organization for some time now, especially during the current fracas over the Gale Community Center and the NHRP-favored installation of a Boys and Girls Club there. The NHRP, which Alderman Joe Moore loves to cite as some magnificent organization, is actually not a registered non-profit with Illinois. The state dissolved them on May 9, 2008. That's why, as The Bench noted on July 11, their "How to Donate" page was under construction. They cannot legally accept donations - unless they want to pay personal income taxes on the monies as personal income. But here's the kicker: They will try to reform, but only two of the original board members (Jim Ginderske, Francis Scudellari, Tom Westgard) will remain on the board. Mechanics liens attorney Thomas J. Westgard, The Bench is told, was tossed overboard. Odd man Westgard is out. Back on July 11, The Bench wrote this: Their "How to Donate" page is mysteriously "under construction." Their "Who We Are" page does not tell us who they are.Who ARE these people? The only person whose name is revealed in the web site is Jim Ginderske. He is identified as "Jim Ginderske, a Director with the Neighbors group" in a Sept. 11, 2007 press release. His name appears on a total of five of the pages (see list below), but even this "Director's" name is not on the "Who We Are" page. In fact, nobody's name appears on that page. Now why is that? Yup. Saw it coming, we did. Westgard likes to call Don Gordon, a former aldermanic candidate, a man who never sees a project through to completion. Westgard, the attorney, failed to file an annual report with the state, thus resulting in the dissolution of NHRP. Don Gordon gets the last laugh.