Yet Another Ginderske-Westgard Fraud and Failure

JUNE 5, 2010 - James "Jim" Ginderske will probably run for alderman again next year in Chicago's 49th Ward. He's been building his political resume since 2006, when he launched his poorly run aldermanic campaign against incumbent Joe Moore.

Since losing to Moore and two other contenders in February, 2007, Ginderske has become a shameless lapdog of Joe Moore and overseen the stunning failure of two of his own pet projects: "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" (NHRP) and "The Urban Coaster."

Ginderske keeps racking up spectacular failures, and continues to lie about them and misrepresent himself. First, let's look at The Urban Coaster. Then we'll examine the NHRP.

The Urban Coaster was first incorporated in October, 2008. It was involuntarily dissolved by the State of Illinois on March 12, 2010. 

However, it continues to illegally misrepresent itself as "The Urban Coaster, Inc." (when we checked the "About" page on their website at 10:00 a.m., June 5, 2010). There, the publisher is listed as "The Urban Coaster, Inc." It's the "Inc." part that's the problem.

They cannot legally use "Inc." in their name, because they are not a legal corporation in Illinois. The original signers of the Articles of Incorporation on October 22, 2008 were James J. Ginderske, Francis Scudellari (right) and Thomas Westgard (left).

Westgard, an attorney of sorts, is currently listed as a Contributing Writer. He should certainly be aware that it is illegal for an entity to use "Inc." in its name and constitutes misrepresentation if, in fact, the entity is not a legal corporation. Such is the case with The Urban Coaster.

Inc-a-dink-a-doo

Curiously, Jim Ginderske calls himself the publisher of The Urban Coaster on his LinkedIn page and says he still holds that title. He says he's in the "Newspapers industry," but we wonder how that can be true when in fact the Urban Coaster seems to no longer be putting out a dead-tree version. He may technically be in publishing, but no longer in newspapers. The question, then, remains: Who, exactly, is really the publisher of The Urban Coaster?

There is a notice at the bottom of that "About" page that says, "All materials are Copyright The Urban Coaster, Inc." Since there is no such entity as "The Urban Coaster, Inc.," we can't help but wonder who actually owns the copyrights to any "materials" posted after their involuntarily dissolution on March 12, 2010.

The Urban Coaster was originally both an online and actual paper publication that billed itself as covering "all the news that fits the neighborhoods of Rogers Park, West Ridge, and Edgewater along the shore of Lake Michigan on Chicago's far North Side."

The Urban Coaster has not printed a paper version since late 2009. Their last post on Twitter was October 16, 2009. The last time they posted to their Facebook wall was March 22, 2009. It still has its website, and the most recent posting was on May 28, 2010.

The Urban Coaster usually misses or ignores the big local stories in favor of non-local headlines such as "Is the Informal Economy the Best Hope for Africa?" (May 27, 2010), "The Threat of Extremism in South Africa" (April 6, 2010), "The Tragedy of Niger's Coup" (February 23, 2010) and "Understanding Rwanda in the Context of Haiti" (January 29, 2010). That can be considered "neighborhood news" only if you live in Africa or Haiti, not Rogers Park, Illinois.

No Union Label: The Urban Coaster presents itself as pro-union, yet the Urban Coaster itself is not and never has been a union shop. Ginderske brags about his union membership but proudly participates in a non-union operation.

No Hablas Espanol: In March, 2008 there was a public meeting in Rogers Park, at which Dan Haley, the new publisher of the News-Star newspaper, introduced himself to the community. Neither Westgard nor Ginderske bothered to show up, but Ginderske minions Francis Scuddellari and Terry "Cookie" Feingold were in attendance. Both men were integral cogs in the 2007 Ginderske aldermanic campaign and both are still listed on the Urban Coaster staff roster. Feingold raised his hand and asked Haley if the News-Star had plans to publish a Spanish language version, citing Rogers Park's large Latino population. Haley said they had no such plans, and Feingold effectively chided him for not caring about the Spanish speakers among us.

The Urban Coaster has never published a Spanish version of itself either online or in paper. For that matter, Feingold's own catering company's website is English-only.

The Urban Coaster, as noted, is not incorporated, so it is misrepresenting itself by using the name "The Urban Coaster, Inc." on its website. It's not the first time, either.

The Urban Coaster has been in violation now (again) since March 12, 2010 by calling themselves "Inc." on a website that still, apparently, accepts advertising. As of June 5, 2010 at 11:36 a.m., Terry Feingold is still listed as their contact for advertising. The next item on that page, below Feingold's name, is "The Urban Coaster, Inc." To be selling advertising - or anything else - while misrepresenting yourself as a corporation is a violation of law.

IT'S FRAUDULENT 

Illinois law states that "Any corporation which (i) puts forth any sign or advertisement, assuming any name other than that by which it is incorporated or otherwise authorized by law to act or (ii) violates Section 3.25, shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and shall be deemed guilty of an additional offense for each day it shall continue to so offend." (Source: Illinois General Assembly web site; see "Article 16 - Penalties".) As of this writing on June 5, 2010, it's coming up on 90 days since they lost their corporate status, yet they continue to use a name that is not "authorized by law." 

A video interview of Jim Ginderske and Francis Scudellari talking about the beginnings of The Urban Coaster (Part 1 here; Part 2 here) reveals much. (Fast forward to 3:20 in Part 1 to get to the Ginderske-Scudellari portion.) The interview was recorded at the Heartland Cafe on March 21, 2009 during a live radio broadcast hosted by SDS member and lifelong marxist Michael James. (Little did any of them know, at the time, that The Urban Coaster would have the same kind of spectacular success that the late Air America enjoyed.)

It's darkly amusing to hear Ginderske insist that The Urban Coaster would be unbiased (in fact, it's had a boldly pro-socialist slant from the beginning), and to hear them promise, in Part 2, that "within a year" they would publish a Spanish version of The Urban Coaster.

As noted, that has yet to happen, and with no paper version - and no advertising - there seems little chance that they their promise will be kept. Involuntarily dissolved by order of the State of Illinois one year and nine days after that promise was made, it seems like just one more broken Ginderske promise.

Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park (NHRP) was first incorporated in December, 2006, at the height of Ginderske's 2007 aldermanic run. 

It was involuntarily dissolved by the State of Illinois on May 9, 2009. NHRP was created primarily as an attempt to make Ginderske look like a man of the people and a guy who just wanted to help the neighborhood. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now see that Ginderske neglected NHRP when it was no longer politically useful to him.

Watch for him to try to rehabilitate the discredited NHRP, however, as he gears up for another aldermanic run in 2011. Ginderske continues to make lame attempts now and then to misrepresent NHRP as a legitimate group.

As recently as September 14, 2009 (four months after losing its legal status as a corporation), Ginderske was pushing NHRP. According to the Minutes of the Public Hearings on the FY2010 Preliminary Budget, page 3, for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board of Directors, he was registered as "Jim Ginderske, Representative, Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" and submitted "written testimony." We couldn't find the details of that testimony, but we bet that Ginderske did not tell the Board that the group he was representing had been involuntarily dissolved by the State of Illinois months earlier.

Ginderske lists himself as the current "President" of NHRP on his LinkedIn page. He claims that NHRP is in the "Research industy."

In July, 2008, Chicago News Bench noted that NHRP had not given a full accounting of any money that passed through its hands. Today, on June 5, 2010, we would still like to see a full accounting from NHRP.

Ginderske's partner in these messes: Thomas J. Westgard was Ginderske's campaign chair in the 2007 run for alderman. Westgard has been an integral part of Ginderske's fraudulent NHRP and Urban Coaster failures. Will he be part of Ginderske's sure-to-be-fraudulent 2011 campaign?

RELATED:

• NHRP: Odd Man Out Did NHRP Break the Law? 
• NHRP Still "Not Good Standing" With Sec. of State 
• NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization 
• Urban Coaster: Non-Local, Non-Union 
• Merchant Alert for Chicago's North Side 
• Newspaper Continues To Threaten Bloggers 
• Pillaging the Boys and Girls Clubs 
• Ginderske: Sit Down, Shut Up 
• Filthy Heartland Cafe Closed for Health Code Violations 
• Heartland Cafe's Inconvenient Truths

(Updated) NHRP Still "Not Good Standing" With Sec. of State

Update, May 22, 2010: The entity known as "Neighbors For A Healthy Rogers Park NFP" went through an "INVOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION" on May 8, 2009, about three months after this post was originally published. (Click images to enlarge them)

Bittersweet congratulations to The Urban Coaster, Inc. Finally, as of today [Feb. 11, 2009], they can legally call themselves a corporation, after months of falsely claiming to be incorporated. However, another one of Ginderske's operations is still "NOT GOOD STANDING" with the Illinois Secretary of State.

UPDATE, May 22, 2010: The Urban Coaster went through an Involuntary Dissolution, on March 12, 2010.

Yep, The Urban Coaster is finally incorporated, but only after they paid the State of Illinois a $25.00 penalty for passing a bad check to them the first time they tried to incorporate.

Chicago News Bench spoke with the Secretary of State's office in Springfield today. We were told that The Urban Coaster's check for $200.00 "just cleared today" (Feb. 11, 2009). That check was for the initial $175.00 filing fee plus $25.00 to cover the bounced check penalty imposed by the state.

The initial filing attempt was in October, 2008. A Form BCA 2.10 Articles of Incorporation was filed on Oct. 27, 2008. The initial registered agent is James J. Ginderske (photo). For months, The Urban Coaster was not legally a corporation, yet deliberately passed themselves off as one. It was not until today that they could legally call themselves "The Urban Coaster, Inc."

Ginderske's other operation is "Neighbors For A Healthy Rogers Park NFP," also known as "NHRP." It is still not in good standing with the State of Illinois. Initial filing for that was in September, 2008. (Ginderske is misspelled as "Gindevske" on the Sec. of State's website.)

You can search for corporations and LLCs at the Illinois Secretary of State's website: http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/index.jsp

RELATED PAST POSTS:
Urban Coaster: Non-Local, Non-Union
NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization
NHRP: Odd Man Out

Newspaper Editor Threatens Two Chicago Bloggers

ACCOSTS BLOGGERS ON STREET, YELLS: "WE'LL SUE YOU! WATCH YOUR MAILBOXES!" ALSO SEE: Newspaper Continues To Threaten Bloggers (2/14/09) We were verbally assaulted by a newspaper editor on Saturday, February 7th. In broad daylight, on a public street, by an editor. Jerk blogger Craig Gernhardt (The Broken Heart) and I were crossing the street on Saturday afternoon over in the People's Democratic Utopia of Rogers Park. We were on our way to Leona's at W. Morse and N. Sheridan to get pizza, which we both agreed is good (and the only thing on Leona's menu that doesn't suck). So much for the restaurant review. As we crossed the street, one of the editors of "The Urban Coaster" (a still-new, socialist propaganda tabloid in Rogers Park, Chicago) walked toward us. He had a mangy dog in tow. With a sneer, the editor said to us, "Well, well, I s'pose you think you're big shots now that the Reader wrote about you." The editor was referring to the Feb. 5 issue of the Chicago Reader, in which Mick Dumke wrote a great piece titled "Where Bloggers Dodge Beers." That title refers to me, when one of Alderman Joe Moore's aides threw a beer at me last summer. She threw it with such force that it destroyed my camera. So I not only have to watch my back for Joe Moore aids, I also have to worry about being verbally assaulted on the street by local tabloid editors. Tabloid editors, who, by the way, are operatives of Joe Moore. Gernhardt and I immediately got the chuckles. "When are you guys going to make your rag newspaper legitimate?" I replied. His name is Francis Scudellari, but he is also known as "Scudmissile," "Scudmuscle," "Frankie," "Scuddles," and words that I won't include here because this is, after all, a family-oriented website. Frankie was flustered. First time I've ever seen him flustered, to be honest, and he was shaking. I've seen him angry before, but to his credit he kept his composure at those moments. "What does that mean?" he said, feigning ignorance. "Your check to the Secretary of State bounced," I guffawed, "you call yourselves incorporated but you're not!" "Hey Frankie," said Gernhard said, laughing, "has your paper gone union yet?" The pasty Scuddlebuttliari went pale, more pale than usual, and his quivering lip threatened to cause his entire head to dislodge. He looked a bit woozy, but managed to raise his voice in a heroic effort. "We'll sue you!" This, of course, only caused us to laugh harder. You know how your cheeks hurt when you laugh really hard, and your eyes kind of tear up a little? Yah, that's what it was. But over our laughter we heard Scudloogy advise us, "YOU BETTER CHECK YOUR MAILBOXES!" For a moment, his pasty face flushed bright red. I couldn't swear to it, but I thought I saw spittle fly from his mouth, over that quivering lower lip, as he said "mailboxes." It was probably the "oxes" part of the word, with that k-s-s combination. It his flustered state, he may have been salivating heavily and so that could have caused a higher than normal amount of liquid to build up in his mouth, which could have been what I thought I saw being propelled from just above that lip. Try it yourself; save up a bunch of spit in your mouth, then try screaming "MAILBOXES." The mangy dog figured he'd heard enough and was, frankly, embarassed by all of this, so Mr. Dog pulled Scudlarian northward, away from us, to a quieter place more suitable to relieving himself. Scudellari is one of three editors/partners of "The Urban Coaster." They refer to themselves in the paper as "The Urban Coaster, Inc." but that is not accurate. You see, not only are they not incorporated, the Illinois Secretary of State's website shows that the check they sent in with their filing papers bounced. That's right, their check bounced. They are not in good standing with the State of Illinois, and to call yourself a corporation when in fact you are not is a violation of state law. (Go here http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/ and search for "The Urban Coaster" and also see "Merchant Alert for Chicago's North Side") In case you haven't guessed yet, there is an animosity between Scudlamander and Gernhardt and me. That is, Scudiarity can't stand either of us. That's only fair play, though, because we're none too fond of him, nor of his pathetic newspaper, "The Urban Coaster." The Urban Coaster is not the first failed venture in which he has joined Westgard and Ginderske. One was the failed "Ginderske 2007" aldermanic campaign. The other was the "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park." (See "NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization" and "Smells Like Ginderske") Why does Scudlemon dislike us so much? Well, isn't it obvious? It's because of posts such as this one, which Gernhardt and I do often. He and I enjoy exposing the dishonest, lying, deceitful misreprentation perpetrated by Scudmingdynasty and his partners in slime. There you go. No mystery, really. Vampires hate it when you shine light on them. Scudlinguini is wrong about our feelings about the Reader article. Gernhardt and I are accustomed to being interviewed in print and on the radio, and the Reader article about us didn't even merit a part of our own conversation up to the point that Mr. Scuddlebutt, in a pique of self-loathing, decided he should belittle us for it. I've been the subject of newspaper articles local and national since February 1976, have written newspaper articles, and had my own radio show in the early 1980's. Gernhardt has been written about many times as well. Scudelingus thinks a small mention in the Chicago Reader makes us feel like big shots? Not hardly. I've turned down more interview requests than I have ever accepted, and I'm sure that's true for Gernhardt as well. I am reminded of a "Soprano's" episode in which the mobster Christopher was mentioned in a newspaper article that named him as being under criminal investigation. Christopher ran out to the nearest newspaper box, put coins into it, and pulled out all of the papers. Unlike Christopher in the Sopranos, however, Scudelarrium wants to put all those Chicago Readers back into their boxes. RELATED: Urban Coaster: Non-Local, Non-Union Ginderske Violating State Law Another Sham Ginderske Organization (Updated) Tainted Evidence NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization NHRP: Odd Man Out CNB RSS Feed

Smells Like Ginderske

I was looking at the campaign finances for Jim Ginderske's 2007 aldermanic campaign recently and something just didn't smell right. But then, Jim Ginderske exudes the odor of fraudulent misrepentation.

He continues to misrepresent two of his projects, "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" and "The Urban Coaster" as legitimate organizations, even though the Illinois Secretary of State states flatly that they are not what they claim to be.

When Ginderske was running his ill-fated campaign in Chicago's 49th Ward, I witnessed him receive a $250 check from a local union. It was all very hush-hush. Why? He didn't want it known that a certain individual had sent him the check.

More importantly, the guy who gave him the check didn't want it known. The check was from a local union, and I don't recall the signature on the check. The unions were all very afraid of incumbent tyrant Joe Moore, which is why Ginderske got almost nothing from them. They knew that any donation to Ginderske would show on a D2 reporting form, which would be seen by Moore.

The point here is that Ginderske received a check in the amount of $250 but it seems to be missing on both his Contributions List or his Itemized Contributions List as shown on the Illinois State Board of Elections web site.

Now, I'm not saying that the geniuses in the Ginderske 2007 scout troop did not report that $250 donation. It is possible, I suppose, that Jim Ginderske never even cashed it. Hell, he might even have returned it. I don't know what actually happened to that check, but it seems likely that the cash strapped candidate did cash it.

If that happened, it should be showing on at least one of those ISBE lists. We are right to be suspicious about the Ginderske campaign contributions reporting. After all, it was Ginderske and his campaign chair, Thomas J. Westgard, who were key players in a sham organization last year called "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" (NHRP).

That venture was dissolved by the Illinois Sec. of State for not properly filing its annual report. As of this writing at 2:00 a.m. on January 13, 2009, the Sec. of State shows NHRP's status as "NOT GOOD STANDING."

Yet Ginderske and his gang continue to pass off NHRP as a legitimate not-for-profit organization. More recently, another venture involving Ginderske and Westgard was never granted incorporation because - oops! - their filing fee check bounced in December, 2008. This venture is called "The Urban Coaster," a web site with a dead-tree version. Ginderske and his gang continue to falsely show themselves as "The Urban Coaster, Inc.," even though they are, in fact, not incorporated in Illinois - not under that name anyway.

As of this writing at 2:29 a.m. on January 13, 2009, the Sec. of State's web site still shows them as not incorporated. The reason stated: "UNACCEPTABLE PAYMENT 12 17 08." (Go here http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/ and search for "The Urban Coaster") Ginderske and Westgard have a demonstrable pattern of not filing official papers properly and of not handling money well. In fact, let's go full circle and return to the Ginderske 2007 campaign.

Seems they screwed up filing then, too. Again we go to the Illinois State Board of Elections, this time to search through "Fines Due and Owing."

There, we find this: 
Ginderske 2007 Imposed Date: 03/26/2007
Balance Due: $500.00
Report: Pre-election
Report Period End Date: 01/28/2007
Reason: 4 DAYS LATE - and -
Imposed Date: 10/25/2007
Balance Due: $2,600.00
Report: Semiannual
Report Period End Date: 06/30/2007
Reason: 52 DAYS LATE

The next aldermanic election will be in 2011. You can bet that Ginderske will run, and is in fact campaigning even now. Front groups such as The Urban Coaster and NHRP are nothing more than attempts to keep his name "out there," to maintain an organization of useful idiots, and ultimately transform those groups into a little campaign army. If Ginderske really wants to project himself as a bumbling idiot who lies about the legal status of his bogus organizations and cannot properly file papers or submit good checks for fee payments, he's doing one hell of a job. If he wants to project himself as a decent man with a good head on his shoulders, he couldn't have chosen a worse strategy.

RELATED: 
Ginderske Violating State Law
Another Sham Ginderske Organization (Updated)
Tom Westgard, Repeat Offender

Flashback: Joe Moore's Burning Pants

Like a psychopathic liar with no conscience, 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore just can't help telling falsehoods. He bends the truth, he rewrites history. This is Revolutionary Truth, it is, and badly practiced at that. After lying through 17 years as a member of the Chicago City Council, you'd think that a man like Democrat Joe Moore could apply his law degree to a perfected level of non-truthfulness. Nope, not our Joe. He's a serial liar. Thank goodness he's a clumsy serial liar. Let's dissect Moore's lie-packed email blast of August 5, 2008: Gale Community Center Now Open; Boys and Girls Club Still Looking for a Rogers Park Home Dear Neighbor, The Gale Community Center at Howard and Marshfield is now open. The 18,000-sqaure-foot Chicago Park District facility comes complete with a full-size gym, a fitness center and a large club room, which can be subdivided into two smaller rooms. "Now open," Moore writes. It opened last Sunday, August 3. It is weird for Moore to write this two days after the fact, given his fetish for ribbon cutting ceremonies. Why no ribbon cutting for this one? And why did this email suddenly appear within hours of The Broken Heart and then The Bench criticizing Moore's silence on the official opening of the embattled community center. The center will be open Monday through Friday from 12 Noon to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center will be closed on Sundays. The Community Center will be staffed and operated exclusively by the Park District. Moore writes that the center "will be open…" Unconscious slip? "Will be" is future tense. The correct phrasing should be "is open." Moore writes that the center "will be staffed…" but it should really say that the "Community Center is staffed…" Present tense should be used here, not future tense. The opening is the culmination of a twelve-year effort to bring to our neighborhood a community center that began when I secured a $500,000 commitment from the original developer of the Gateway Centre. Initially, many in the neighborhood envisioned the future Community Center as a Boys and Girls Club. When it became apparent that sufficient funds were not available to build and operate the center as a Boys and Girls Club, we turned our attention to the Park District, which agreed to underwrite a portion of the construction cost and operate the building as a Park District field house. Let's concentrate only on Moore's big lies here; there are too many in this bizarre Moore email to deal with in less than 20 pages, single spaced. A well-informed and trusted friend emailed this to The Bench today: "It seems Joe thinks he can write history to come out however he wants….Eva McAnn was part of a group that has been working for this Center for years and much of that work was started without the support of the Alderman’s office. In fact, it wasn’t until the group actually started to make things happen that Moore’s office got on board." Part of the above is such a fantastic falsehood that it bears repeating: "When it became apparent that sufficient funds were not available to build and operate the center as a Boys and Girls Club, we turned our attention to the Park District, which agreed to underwrite a portion of the construction cost and operate the building as a Park District field house." Wow! According to Moore's hastily written email, there was not enough money "to build and operate" the Gale center "as a Boys and Girls Club" (even though the concept, the designs and the construction contracts were already locked up before the Boys and Girls Club entered the picture). Consider this: Ben Jarovsky wrote that The Boys and Girls Club would have been paid $100,000 to operate the Gale Community Center. How would that have helped the budget problems that Moore alleges? (Moore and the Park District, by the way, were seemingly ready to allow that even though Park District contracts over $10,000 are requred to be open for bidding. There was no bidding process in this case.) The clincher, from my friend: "If Joe had [really] secured $500,000 for a Boys and Girls Club...why didn’t he mention that during the last campaign?" Excellent question, and in fact Joe Moore himself has said that this is not so. He has written and said publicly that it was not until former aldermanic challenger Jim Ginderske lost last year's election in February that Moore considered the Boys and Girls Club. Ginderske mentioned it a number of times during his campaign, and Moore has said that Ginderske came to him - after February 2007 - and proposed the Boys and Girls Club. As my friend wrote, "With Ginderske waving the Boys and Girls banner at nearly every debate there was plenty of opportunity for Joe to accuse him of stealing ideas and tell [Rogers Park voters] that efforts were already in place to bring a Boys and Girls Club here. Had he done that, he probably could have avoided a runoff." Moore never did so, of course, because he couldn't. So, once again is trying to rewrite history like an old school Soviet propagandist. Moore's email continues: There were times when it appeared the City and Park District were about to back away from their pledge to build the community center. But thanks to the efforts of my office and a coalition of community groups, we were able to hold the City and the Park District to their commitment. Is Moore accusing the City and Park District of backing out of a commitment made long before the Boys and Girls Club entered the picture? Moore repeats the lie about the origin of his involvement: The idea of the Gale Community Center as home to a Boys and Girls Club came full circle when the Cotter Boys and Girls Club mentioned to me last April that they were looking for a new home. Given that the Community Center had yet to be fully staffed and occupied, and given earlier public support for a Boys and Girls Club in Rogers Park, I believed it was an idea worth exploring. I raised the idea with Park District Superintendent Tim Mitchell, who expressed strong interest. Moore claims that "the Cotter Boys and Girls Club mentioned to me last April" that "they were looking for a new home." That may be so, but it would have happened only after Ginderske put the idea into Moore's head. As for the phrase "last April," I believe Moore's hastily written email should have said "two Aprils ago" or "April of 2007." To say "last April" in August means four months ago. I also shared the proposal with numerous residents and the leading community organizations in the area, nearly all of whom expressed strong support for the idea, including Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park, Dev Corp North, Gale Academy Principal Richard Glass, Family Matters Director Kim Delong, State Senator Heather Steans, and my former aldermanic opponent Jim Ginderske. They all agreed the Boys and Girls Club would bring to our local youth expanded programming and other enrichment activities, which the Park District currently does not provide. Gale Principal Glass, a Boys and Girls Club alumnus, was so excited about the proposal he offered Gale Academy as a satellite location to the Community Center. True to form, Moore keeps lying. "I also shared the proposal with….my former aldermanic opponent Jim Ginderske." It is well established that it was the other way around. Ginderske put the idea of a Boys and Girls Club into Moore's head after February, 2007. Under the shared-use proposal, the Park District and the Boys and Girls Club would have jointly operated the Community Center Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Center would have also been open on both Saturdays and Sundays. Programming for adults, as well as children, would have been offered. "Jointly operated," perhaps, but as noted above, it would have cost tax payers $100,000 a year for the contract with the Boys and Girls Club. (It's interesting to note, by the way, that the "non-profit" Boys and Girls Club's top executive is paid nearly a million dollars a year. Roxanne Spillett's compensation for doing "charity work" is listed at $972,908. Source: CharityReports.bbb.org. Does that sound like a "non-profit" to you?) In addition to expanding the Gale Center hours and staffing, the Boys and Girls Club would have brought to Rogers Park some of their renowned character building and leadership programs, such as the Keystone Teen Leadership Club, which takes teens on trips to cities as varied as Atlanta, Orlando, and Washington, D.C. The Boys and Girls Club also would have brought to Rogers Park mentoring and tutoring programs, such as their partnership with WGN-TV in which school age children and teens are paired with responsible caring adults who commit time each week to meet and work with the young people on school projects and homework assignments. As a result of these and other programs, nearly 90% of Cotter Boys and Girls Club members graduate from high school, a remarkable fete in a school system with a 50% graduation rate. Pants on fire. Ginderske, Moore's former opponent turned loyal lap dog, has been trotting out old and misleading information about the Boys and Girls Club, which Moore has been casually recycling. Ginderske has been pumping out trash information filtered through his tiny Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park (NHRP). NHRP presents itself as a legitimate non-profit, but it is neither. It has no official standing whatsoever, unless you consider that it was officially dissolved by the Illinois Secretary of State in May, 2008 for failure to file an annual report. NHRP, and Moore, are fond of repeating "an alumni survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America," which claims that "52 percent of respondents" said the clubs saved their lives, and several other minor miracles were cited as well. But it's fluff. Neither Ginderske nor Moore bothers to tell that the Harris survey was done in 1999, nearly a decade ago. NHRP and Moore will tell us that "an alumni survey by Lou Harris & Associates they determined that there are about 3.5 million Boys and Girls Club or Boys and Girls Club alumni in the United States" according to the Boys and Girls Club of Mount Vernon, NY. (See: "Ginderske: Sit Down, Shut Up") Okay, but of those 3.5 million alumni, Louis Harris and Associates polled only 1,592 Boys and Girls Club alumni." [Source] In other words, a miniscule 0.0455 percent (less than one half of one percent) of the 3.5 million BGCA alumni were polled! Ridiculous, especially when you consider that we are not told by Ginderske or anybody else where those alumni were living when they were polled a decade ago. Despite the benefits a Boys and Girls Club would bring to the neighborhood, a few vocal people began organizing against the Boys and Girls Club idea even before a formal proposal was presented to the neighborhood. A few of the skeptics had thoughtful concerns about the proposal, including concerns about the precedent of turning over the Community Center to a private entity. The supporters of the proposal and I attempted to address those concerns by amending the proposal to ensure the building would continue to be owned by the Park District and staffed by Park District employees. Blah blah blah. Moore is deliberately giving the false impression that the brand new Gale Community Center was the only option offered to the Boys and Girls Club. In fact, use of the Gale School was offered. They turned it down. However, as Chicago Reader reporter Ben Joravsky noted in his article, "Endless War," most of the opposition to the Boys and Girls Club appeared to be politically motivated. The opponents said they were not against a Boys and Girls Club in Rogers Park. Yet, they opposed the only plan with a funding source that made it possible for a Boys and Girls Club to locate here. In fairness to Joravsky, he also pointed out in his excellent Chicago Reader article that a lot of Moore's obfuscation and delays were politically motivated as well. As for Moore's statement that the community center was the "only plan with a funding source that made it possible for a Boys and Girls Club to locate here," well, those keeping score should now add another tally mark in the "Lies by Joe Moore" column. In the end, Park District officials simply did not have the stomach for a fight and decided instead to pursue a significantly scaled down version of the original Boys and Girls Club proposal. Rather than subsidize a permanent year-round Boys and Girls Club presence in Rogers Park, the Park District now says it may be willing to subsidize a summer program in 2009. In the end, actually, the SEIU and union types sympathetic to them pressured Moore and the Park District to back down. SEIU and other labor organizations have given Moore enormous campaign donations over the years, and the idea of Moore and the Park District bringin in non-union staff at the community center must have infuriated them. Furthermore, it would not be at all surprising if Moore got a late night phone call from Howard Dean at the DNC, during which Moore was told to back off and stop making an ass of himself if he still wants a job in Washington under the hoped-for administration of fellow Chicago Machine Democrat Barack Obama. I certainly support any kind of Boys and Girls Club presence in Rogers Park, even a limited summer program. But I'm extremely disappointed that our children will miss out on all the many benefits and opportunities that a year-round club would bring. Boo frikkin' hoo. There are several free libraries within walking distance of Rogers Park residents. The wonderful beaches nearby are free. Board games and hopscotch and television are accessible to all. To be bored in Chicago is to be totally lacking in imagination. To tell us that The Children Will Now Suffer because there will be no Boys and Girls Club in the Gale Community Center is to insult all of us with a cynical, exaggerated, callous, politically motivated lie. It's a miracle that Moore hasn't resorted yet to calling opponents to installing the Boys and Girls Club in the community center racists (as Mayor Daley has called opponents to the ongoing effort to ram the Children's Museum into Grant Park). In the coming months, I will redouble my efforts to bring a full-time Boys and Girls Club to the 49th Ward, and I invite everyone, including those who opposed the Boys and Girls Club at the Community Center, to work with me to identify a funding source and location for such a club. So, as with all the man hours Joe Moore has wasted on (a) drafting the foie gras ordinance and then (b) defending the foie gras ordinance, Moore now pledges to waste more man hours in order to "redouble" his efforts to bring in the Boys and Girls Club. He's been in office for 17 years. He was in office for 15-16 years, apparently, before he ever gave serious consideration to a Boys and Girls Club. We pay this schmuck over a hundred grand a year for this crap. Why the belated interest? Why the "redoubling" of effort? What's really in it for Joe Moore? Moore signed off with "sincerely." You think he's sincere? SEIU no longer does, nor do other attentive brothers and sisters in the labor community. Many Rogers Park residents have had their eyes opened by this experience and now regret voting Moore into another term last year. The DNC is sincerely looking at Moore with growing skepticism, wondering whether it's worth all the effort and expense to keep picking up after his messes.

Merchant Alert for Chicago's North Side

Merchants on the Chicago's North Side need to be alert to "The Urban Coaster," an organization that has been falsely passing itself off as a legitimately incorporated entity. Their incorporation is invalid with the Illinois Secretary of State because the check they sent for fees bounced. The three principals of the operation, pictured here, are Jim Ginderske, Francis Scudellari and Tom Westgard, all residents of Rogers Park. The three were involved in a sham operation last year called "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park (NHRP)," which passed itself off as a legitimate non-profit organization. NHRP's incorporation was dissolved by the State of Illinois for failure to file required information documents. The men pictured here may approach you to sell you advertising for their "newspaper." However, others connected to "The Urban Coaster" might approach you, too. Insist that they show you their incorporation papers or proof that they are a legitimately registered organization before you sign any contracts or make any agreements with them, verbal or written. To file a complaint against "The Urban Coaster," get the complaint form (PDF) from the Illinois Attorney General's office or call the Better Business Bureau at 800-500-3780 . Please warn fellow merchants about "The Urban Coaster."

Another Sham Ginderske Organization (Updated)

Another fraudulent organization is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, and again it's in Rogers Park. You'd think these dunces would learn. Again, it's Jim Ginderske and friends, with yet another sham organization. This time, it's his new "Urban Coaster," a web site with a twin dead-tree version.

Jim Ginderske, failed aldermanic candidate in 2007 in Chicago's 49th Ward has a history of deception. First, he lied during the aldermanic run-off election in March and April of 2007 by telling former supporters that he was not supporting Joe Moore. He did. Then, in mid-2008, Ginderske and company were exposed for operating a sham organization; his "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" (NHRP) was dissolved by the State of Illinois for not filing the proper papers. That did not stop Ginderske from publicly presenting his NHRP as a legitimate non-profit organization. It wasn't. Now, they are presenting their latest venture, "The Urban Coaster," as a legit organization. It's not. They call themselves "The Urban Coaster, Inc.," but in fact they are not incorporated, not in Illinois anyway. See, their check for filing fees to the State of Illinois bounced. Yup, bounced. Like rubber. Additionally, their filing papers falsely list the address of Thomas J. Westgard, partner in The Urban Coaster, as 6970 N. Sheridan Road, Unit C. In fact, that storefront is vacant. This was confirmed by building management.

Don't believe me? Click here to see the filing papers (or see the documents for yourself and see the Illinois Secretary of State's web site. Ginderske hopes to be elected to something someday, yet he can't oversee tiny organizations well enough to make sure they file annual reports or send valid checks to the Illinois Secretary of State. Now, if Ginderske is that inept, that careless, and that willing to lie about the validity of his sham organizations, how effective would he be as an elected official?

Did NHRP Break the Law?

NHRP's Certificate Of Dissolution

Click to enlarge; Right-click to download

Residents of the 49th Ward recently learned that Jim Ginderske's organization, Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park, is a sham. It is discredited, officially, by the Illinois Secretary of State's office.

The NHRP was dissolved by official decree on May 9, 2008 for failure to submit an annual report (see image). Even so, Jim Ginderske continues to brandish the NHRP name as some sort of talisman of legitimacy.

In other words, NHRP is not transparent. You and I - and the Secretary of State - have not been given a full accounting of any money that passed through the hands of the NHRP.

We would like to see a full accounting from NHRP. We would like to see them open their books. (We doubt that they will.) Had they filed an annual report, we could look at it. Did they not file because of incompetence, or because they have something to hide?

During the last aldermanic campaigns, Ginderske's aldermanic campaign chair Tom Westgard filled out a Form NFP 102.10, Articles of Incorporation for a general not for profit corporation. He signed and dated it November 14, 2006. The board of directors members named on the form were Ginderske, Westgard, and Francis Scudellari (a Ginderske 2007 campaign member).

Appendix A of NHRP's incorporation papers raises interesting questions.

Appendix A, Section 2 of the NHRP's articles of incorporation state that it is "organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that quality as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code."

The NHRP was dissolved by the Illinois Secretary of State in May of 2008 for failure to submit an annual report. Let us assume that NHRP immediately ceased any fundraising activity immediately. NHRP submitted its Form NFP 102.10 in November of 2006. That's approximately 19 months in which NHRP was, presumably, soliciting donations.

That raises questions. Notice that Section 1 states that NHRP was "organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes," and for making donations to other 501(c)(3) organizations. It does NOT say "or." It says "exclusively" and "and."

Question: Did NHRP engage in religious activities? Section 1 said they had to. Scientific activities? What were those?

Question: Did NHRP funnel money to the Ginderske 2007 aldermanic campaign? We're not saying they did. We are asking whether that happened.

Question: After Ginderske lost his campaign bid, he supported Moore's campaign in the run-off election. Did NHRP funnel money to the Joe Moore aldermanic campaign? We're not saying they did; we are asking whether that happened.

Questions: Will Alderman Joe Moore completely break with and disown the NHRP? Will he also demand to see their financial records, their missing annual report? Will Joe Moore follow the lead of the Illinois Secretary of State and acknowledge that the NHRP is a group that has no legitimacy?

Section 3 states that "No part of the net earnings of The Corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons" except as "reasonable compensation for services rendered" to the corporation.

Question: Did any money donated to the NHRP find its way into the pockets of NHRP board members? We're not saying this happened; we are asking whether it did, and if so, how much and why?

Section 3 also states that "No substantial part of the activities of The Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing of distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office."

Question: NHRP regularly carried on propaganda activities, and continues to do so. (Propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing; an ad for toothpaste is propaganda, as is an ad telling us to buckle our seat belts.)

NHRP's barrage of messages regarding health centers and community centers is certainly propaganda. This has certainly been a "substantial part of the activities" of NHRP. Furthermore, did NHRP "participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing of distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office?"

Section 4 instructs that "Upon the dissolution of The Corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code," or be distributed to federal, state or local government "for a public purpose." It goes on to order that "assets no so disposed of shall be disposed" by a county court.

Question: What has happened, since May 9, 2008, to any money that NHRP had?

Neighbors: "Say No To Joe!" and Junkie Jim

Better to learn later than never, I suppose. It seems a lot - I mean a lot - of people in Chicago's 49th Ward are realizing that Alderman Joe Moore, Democrat, is just another manipulating, lying opportunist. This photo sums it up. Sick of Moore's 17 years of lies and his recent attempt to ram the Boys and Girls Club down the throats of ward residents like they were foie gras geese, people are speaking up. Moore has been using a shady front organization that calls itself the Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park (NHRP) to ram the Boys and Girls club into the newly built Gale Community Center on W. Howard Street. Moore seems content to stay out of the spot light on this issue, preferring to let NHRP appear to take the lead - and the heat. Fronted by Moore's sock puppet and fellow Democrat "Junkie Jim" Ginderske, NHRP has been discredited as a sham organization by revelations that the State of Illinois issued a dissolution of the group in May. Moore and Junkie Jim, however, seem to be out of synch. Tuesday night's meeting at the Loyola Park field house demonstrates this. Nobody else from the discredited NHRP was there, either. Junkie Jim was left to fend for himself, and he fell to pieces in a room that was not under the firm control of friendly fellow Stalinistas. Joe Moore seems ready to disown Ginderske's NHRP in the same way that fellow Democrat party hack Barack Obama disowned Jeremiah Wright. RELATED: NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization (The Bench) NHRP: Odd Man Out (The Bench) Who the Hell is NHRP? (The Bench)

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.

Who the Hell is NHRP?

"Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" has a lousy web site. 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? "People like Francis Scudellari, Terry Feingold, and Kathy Sprattling," are mentioned in the press release, mentioned above. Curiously, however, it doesn't say whether they are members or just people who attended meetings. There is one person of interest whose name does not appear anywhere on the NHRP web site. Thomas J. Westgard (a.k.a., Tom Westgard, Thomas A. Westgard, Wee Wee) gets no reference at all on the NRHP site. It is curious indeed that the former Campaign Chair of Ginderske's 2008-2007 aldermanic effort is not listed here. Are they that ashamed of their association with him? The pages where Ginderske's name appears: Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park Sep 11, 2007 ... Jim Ginderske, a Director with the Neighbors group credits the tenacity of a ... Ginderske said "Were it not for her technical expertise and ...healthyrp.org/clinic_pr091107.php Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park According to Task Force member James Ginderske: "This population is subject to greatly exaggerated risks of serious illness and often turns to emergency ...healthyrp.org/pr020106.php Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park My name is James Ginderske and I am the volunteer chairperson of the Northside Power Subcommittee on Health. Rogers Park is exceptionally racially diverse- ...healthyrp.org/testimony.php Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park Jim Ginderske, a Director with the Neighbors group credits the tenacity of a broad coalition of community partners and HIHC for the funding of the new ...healthyrp.org/pr.php Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park Testimony of James Ginderske Before the Cook County Board (January 9, 2006) ... Chronically ill patients living in Rogers Park face a fifteen mile commute ...healthyrp.org/clinic.php

Donations? Uhm...

Jim Ginderske's "Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park" has been a part of the recent effort to install a Boys and Girls Club chapter at the new Gale Community Center in Rogers Park.

If you like the work that Ginderske and his gang have been doing, perhaps you'd like to support them with a donation! Can you do that? Let's find out, shall we?

What's that? They're not taking donations? Why not??? Hmmm....

Ginderske's "Center for Decease Control"

For a good chuckle, check out a pamphlet called "Preventing Electrocutions Associated with Portable Generators Plugged Into Household Circuits." According to Jim Ginderske's Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park, it comes from the "Center for Decease Control." By the way, Jim.... did you really mean to write that the pamphlet is from "the Center for Decease Control," or did you maybe mean "Disease Control?" Oh, and another BTW, Jim: Late last year, the City of Chicago told me that you were not licensed in this city as an electrician. Have you straightened that out yet?