Video: Fighting City Hall

You may have heard about a Chicago developer who has subpoenaed Google in an effort to learn the identities of two anonymous blogs on the city's north side. Maybe you haven't; the mainstream media has so far ignored the story. The developer, Peter Holsten, is building a massive mixed-use project on a site called "Wilson Yard," half a mile north of Wrigley Field. Wilson Yard has been a contentious issue for residents of the Uptown neighborhood, and the bloggers have been highly critical of Holsten, the city, and the local alderman. Here is a video from "Fix Wilson Yard," a grassroots group that has sued the City of Chicago over alleged misuse of tax increment funds (TIF). CNB RSS Feed

Olympic-sized TIF Orgy

This is at once astounding and sadly typical, shocking but not surprising. Get ready, Chicago, to bend over and just take it however the City Council wants to give it to ya. From Clout Street, this afternoon, this report on "action" in the council: Without a single word of debate, aldermen today voted to use new property tax revenue for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid and guaranteed the city would cover the expense of additional police patrols, street cleaning and other services for the Summer Games. (By the way, where was Alderman Joe Moore? He was recently voted "Most Valuable Local Official" by The Nation magazine. One of the reasons they gave him that meaningless award was his courageous ability to stand up to Mayor Daley. "Without a single word" means that NOBODY said "boo!" to Mayor Adolf Daley, including Alderman "Benito" Moore.) The measure commits the city to using an unspecified amount of tax-increment financing dollars to subsidize infrastructure improvements at the Near South Side site of what would be the Olympic Village. It also reaffirms a $500 million promise to cover any operating deficit for the event. FULL STORY... Subscribe to Chicago News Bench

Uptown: New "Fix Wilson Yard" Petition

"The original Wilson Yard petition was a huge success, garnering over 3,000 signatures," according to Molly Phelan of the Fix Wilson Yard group. ALSO SEE: First Responders Endorse Michael Carroll for 46th Ward Alderman (CNB, January 26, 2011) However, there is a new petition with updated wording. Phelan urges neighbors in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood to sign it. The Fix Wilson Yard web site notes that, "[the] language [of the old petition] is over four years old and not reflective of the situation at Wilson Yard today. So Fix Wilson Yard has drafted a new petition and we need your signatures and those of all of your friends, family and neighbors throughout Chicago!" The new petition can be found by clicking here. Background (from the FixWilsonYard.org: Wilson Yard is located at the corner of Montrose and Broadway, is the largest parcel of undeveloped land on the North side of Chicago. It sits in a prime location a half mile from Lake Michigan in the Uptown neighborhood, an area that has seen much positive change over the past decade but which now teeters between socio-economic progress and stagnation. Its future lies in our hands. The current Wilson Yard redevelopment plan centers on a failed housing model, funded in part by a whopping $52M in tax increment financing dollars, that will erase our past progress and become a new slum for Uptown.

Message from Fix Wilson Yard

Last night's meeting (Oct. 9, 2008) of Fix Wilson Yard featured Molly Phelan as she gave a presentation to a group of about 30 people. Seems Alderman Helen Shiller is playing games, thinking she was clever by trying to hide yesterday's City Council action. As Molly explains below, Shiller's cheap tactic didn't work. ALSO SEE: First Responders Endorse Michael Carroll for 46th Ward Alderman (CNB, January 26, 2011) Hello All, There have been some questions regarding the latest amendment to the funding for the Wilson Yard Redevelopment Plan. This issue was improperly added to the City’s Finance Committee’s agenda and Fix Wilson Yard will take the proper actions to resolve the situation pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. Fix Wilson Yard asked both Ald. Helen Shiller and Ald. Edward Burke for a copy of the ordinance and amendment. Ald. Burke’s office advised us that their copy was filed with the City Clerk’s Office today during the City Council Meeting and should be available next week through the City Clerk’s Office. No response has come from Ald. Shiller’s office. No information was provided in regards to the issues addressed in the amendment other than there were some “problems with financing issues” for the development. Until we are able to review the ordinance and amendment, Fix Wilson Yard is not initiating contacts with the media regarding this issue. Still, we are appalled by the belligerent abuse of the government process and lack of transparency available in regards to the project. Funny how this amendment was not mentioned in the Crain’s article. Fix Wilson Yard is fighting to stop this abuse. If you have not done so already, please 1) register at www.fixwilsonyard.org, 2) DONATE and 3) Pass this information along to everyone! This is an Uptown issue as well as a Chicago issue! You think Phelan will run for alderman? Stay tuned....

CTA TIF Meeting: Resistance is Futile

Weird meeting with CTA President Ron Huberman last night to discuss the ongoing renovation of the Howard Street CTA Station. The meeting was in gymnasium at Gale Elementary School in Rogers Park. Huberman were here to placate the little folks (us) by pretending to care about how we care about our own neighborhood. Huberman spent about five minutes telling us that he was once a beat cop in the hood. Dunno if that was to establish a bond with us, to threaten us subtly by pointing out that he's good with a gun, or what. Alderman Moore (49th Ward) was there and said a whole lot of nothing, as usual. Look, let's be honest. Moore doesn't give a crap about this or you or me, really, and Huberman already has his mind made up to grab 4.7 million bucks from the Howard Street TIF. One of the attendees asked Huberman, in an eloquent mini-speech, why he doesn't keep his mitts off the local TIF dough and dip into the tens of millions of dollars being pissed away to mothball CTA's Magnificent Failure at Block 37 in the Loop. No answer from Huberman to that, of course. I won't bore you with fine details - it doesn't matter because this is another done deal put before us to try to make us think we're involved. We ain't, folks, and lemme tell ya, Ron Huberman could sell shit to a maggot. Joe Moore, for instance, seems to have bought all the shit that Huberman has placed before him. Joe oughta watch Ron. Ron pretends he's interested in what people are saying, like Joe tries to do, but Huberman is more convincing. Daley's Golden Boy, Huberman is able to send out these weird hypno rays from his eyes to try to stupify us (see photo). You could see them if you looked close enough, but the ray seem to work only on stupid people. The room was filled with about 45 people, most of whom seemed to be too smart for Ron's eye rays. Huberman tried to frighten us by threatening to stop work on the half-finished Howard Station renovation. BS about the escalators needing to be completely enclosed, for example, even though the escalators at Loyola Station have been open to rain and snow exposure for years with no real problem. Huberman lied. He cajoled. He pouted. He made Jim Ginderske uncomfortable, for Jim found himself in the uncomfortable position of not being the prettiest boy in the room. Unfortunately, as I said, the TIF money for this over-budgeted, beyond projected completion, a done deal. This was all for show. Bottom line: CTA will rape and pillage as needed, they will threaten some miniature local version of a Doomsday scenario if we stand in their way, and ultimately, we will not be able to resist. Resistance is futile, folks.

TIF ABUSE? SUE THE BASTARDS!

Ben Joravsky follows TIFs. He follows them hard, with no grease, and understands them as few Chicagoans do. "Three Million Lawsuits Oughta Do It" by Ben Joravsky is a killer. He says there may be a new way to combat the TIF monster: Well, there may be a new obstacle in the monster’s path, thanks to a recent court ruling in a case involving a TIF-financed shopping center in downstate Belleville, just this side of the Mississippi River from Saint Louis. On July 16 an Illinois appellate court ruled that individual taxpayers have legal standing to sue municipalities they think are breaking or bending the laws governing TIFs. Previously the lower courts had held that they don’t have standing. FULL ARTICLE at the READER... Who would like to be the first to start a class action suit against their alderman? Anybody? Anybody?

Finally: Wilson Yard

Work seems to be proceeding quickly at Wilson Yard (photos below taken 7/24/08) in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on the north side. After years of delays and broken promises, the TIF project is chugging along. It will have a residential and retail mix, including over 25,000 square feet of retail space on N. Broadway. Related: The Facts About Wilson Yard (Ald. Shiller) Stories about Wilson Yard at Uptown Update Uptown Neighborhood Council - a history of broken promises Wilson Yard Development Fact Sheet July 2007 (PDF, City of Chicago) CTA Tattler: Construction for Wilson Yard project set for spring - (Kevin O'Neal's web site gets it wrong by over three years on Jan 18, 2005)

Uptown: Bulldozing Wilson Yard

Chicago News Bench took these photos of ground breaking activity in Wilson Yard late this morning from a low-flying CTA train. How much are those union guys getting paid on July 4th? (Click photos to see larger images.)

VILLAGE NORTH THEATER TO BE EVICTED

A beloved institution of Rogers Park will be evicted from its home at 6740 N. Sheridan Road. The two-story building also has a Starbucks coffee shop, a Thai restaurant and a Bank of American ATM center. The top floor of the building has been vacant for years.

The meeting took place this evening at 7:00 p.m., at Loyola University's Mertz Hall.

Alderman Joe Moore, 49th Ward, let it slip on both his web site and at tonight's public meeting that ADF Capital has an eviction order against the owners of the Village North theater. According to Moore's web site, Anthony Fox of ADF "purchased the property last year and plans extensive interior and exterior renovations. He is evicting the current owner of the Village North Theater, but hopes to keep the theater open after extensive renovations."

While Moore was introducing Mr. Fox (photo, right) to the audience of about 20 people, he mentioned in passing that there is an eviction order pending against Village North theater. Mr. Fox said that "the judge would not be happy" if that was discussed publicly, and the the subject was dropped.

The renovations will make use of $200,000 in Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District funding. Mr. Fox noted that the TIF money would be used to replace the crumbling terra cotta facade on the building with a concrete-glass compound "that looks exactly like the original terra cotta."

The TIF referred to is the Devon-Sheridan TIF district.

Mr. Fox also said that the interior of the building would not be renovated, but added that the space now occupied by the Village North theater is being considered for use as a live entertainment venue, possibly with a future liquor license.

Andy McGhee, partner in the still-developing Morse Theatre at Morse and Wayne, praised the use of TIF money for the replacement of the terra cotta.

"I would usually be against using TIF money for something like this," Mr. McGhee said. "I like TIF money to be used for really big projects. But this is a good use. Kudos to you," he told Mr. Fox.

Several neighbors in attendance asked whether this was the most appropriate use of TIF money. Mr. Fox cited a DevCorp North paper that claims that more than $150 million per year are lost to Rogers Park because people shop outside of it. Mr. Fox said that a beautified facade on the building at 6740 N. Sheridan Road would encourage more people to shop in Rogers Park. (He did not say how replacing some terra cotta would make Morse Avenue any more desirable or any safer.)

Notables in attendance: Rene Camarago (DevCorp North), James Ginderske (former aldermanic candidate and member of Moore's "Zoning and Land Use Advisory Committee"), Andy McGhee (The Morse Theatre project), Michael Land (49th Ward Service Office).

RELATED:
Devon-Sheridan TIF district
Public Funds, Private Windfall
Zoning, Economic Development & Land Use
* Hey ZULAC, Where's the Transparency?
* Is the ZULAC Committee Insane?
* Still No Transparency with ZULAC

More TIF Money for the Wealthy

Meeting on Proposed Restoration of Village North Theater

Dear Comrades,

I am writing to invite you to attend a community meeting on a proposal to restore the terra cotta exterior of 6740 N. Sheridan Road (at Columbia), using $200,000 in Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District funding. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 3rd, 7:00 p.m., at Loyola University's Mertz Hall, 1125 Loyola Ave., in the Bremner Lounge.

The building houses the Village North Theater, Starbucks and other businesses. Anthony Fox of ADF Capital purchased the property last year and plans extensive interior and exterior renovations. He is evicting the current owner of the Village North Theater, but hopes to keep the theater open after extensive renovations.

Mr. Fox will be on hand to share his plans for the property.

All applications for TIF funding must be approved by the Chicago City Council and the local alderman. I urge you to attend the meeting to share your views on the proposal, which will inform my decision making. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please feel free to share your views with me by replying to this e-mail or calling my office at 773-338-5796.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Joe Moore

Anti-Eminent Domain Meeting Successful

A group of freedom loving Chicagoans met at the Lincoln Restaurant at 4008 N. Lincoln Avenue on Tuesday evening, March 11. The excellent recap was written by Ralf Seiffe – ralf29@att.net , the moderator of Tuesday night’s events provided the text of the recap and Rich Johns, another speaker, added the links. The meeting had approximately 40 people in the audience. A lively conversation followed several speakers. Also in attendance was Antoine Members, who is running for Congress in the 1st Congressional District against (Black Panther) Bobby Rush. Mr. Members is strongly anti-eminent domain. I intend to write more about this issue for a long time. I hope fellow bloggers - liberal, conservative, Left, Right, Democrat, Republican - can all agree that the abuse of eminent domain is an abuse of human rights. This issue cuts across all political lines. It's really that simple, folks. Finally, I hope that groups such as the Castle Coalition, the Save Lincoln Square folks, and the recently defeated Lawndale Coalition Recap of Chicago Town Hall Meeting on Eminent Domain Tuesday night (3-11-2008) saw another lively meeting of Chicago ’s Town Hall Conservatives at its regular monthly dinner at the Lincoln Restaurant. This month’s topic was Eminent Domain as seen from a practical, theoretical and an historic point-of-view another year after the Kelo Supreme Court decision. Three perspectives were presented by Imre Hidvegi, an owner of Chicago Soccer; John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute and by Ralf Seiffe, Moderator, respectively. Alderman Gene Schulter was also invited to add the government’s perspective. Unfortunately neither the Alderman nor a representative appeared; we understand that the Alderman may be suffering from a new municipal disease known by the initials “E.D.”. This topic logically follows last month’s Tax Increment Financing topic. It is related and timely because Chicago is busy with at least two large-scale municipal takings in the Lawndale neighborhood and in Lincoln Square . One of the targets is Mr. Hidvegi’s business, Chicago Soccer - www.chicagosoccer.net , a large sports retailer located on Western Avenue just north of Lawrence . He recently learned that the city was targeting his business to turn it into a parking lot in one of three plans apparently supported by the truant alderman. Mr. Hidvegi reported that he later met with city officials who were unable to tell him what his business would be provided in the plan or whether he would even own his property under the plan. It is easy to understand why he thinks the city’s plan is simply a scheme to “steal” his property. Nevertheless, a coalition has formed to challenge the city and the neighbors have derailed the city’s plans—at least temporarily. John Tillman is the CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, a fast-rising think tank devoted to expanding liberty and free markets in the hostile environment of Illinois . - www.illinoispolicyinstitute.org . Mr. Tillman asked why ostensibly conservative politicians begin to move left soon after taking office and why leftish politicians just continue to move further left. His answer was the irresistible lobbying by those who benefit from government spending. The solution, he reported, is to add a third source of influence that operates outside of the political parties and politicians. He said it is a mistake for liberty lovers to put our faith in politicians or political parties that instead we should establish permanent support for freedom. He closed by assigning a bit of homework, asking “How can we make liberty cool?” Carl Segvich , the 11th Ward Republican Committeeman also gave an extemporaneous report on the situation in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Bruno Behrend, the WKRS radio host Monday and Friday 10:00 AM to 11:45 AM 1220 AM or anywhere at www.WKRS.com gave a stand-up on the Constitutional Convention question which will appear on the November ballot. He’s for it and has boasted he will appear at any group’s meeting to explain why. Keep that in mind when you need a dynamic speaker. The question and answer session distinguished between a “quick take” version of condemnation and the legitimate police powers of government when a property threatens the health and safety of a neighborhood. One of our first time attendees gave a report on the Lawndale situation and how it was going badly from the resident’s point of view. One other development—and potentially the most important—is the growing realization that there are many issues that are not “left” or “right” but more about us versus city hall, liberally defined. Tom Mannis - http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com - noted that we are not very good at getting the word out about our topics and that freedom lovers should depend on each other and take advantage of the new media networks that have developed over the last several years. So, we’ll send this to Tom and keep him up to speed on the Town Hall Conservative schedule. We’ll convene again on April 8 for another sparkler. Related links: Save Lincoln Square www.savelincolnsquare.com The Castle Coalition – a project of the Institute for Justice – join email list for updates http://www.castlecoalition.org/ Ben Javorsky’s TIF archive at The Chicago Reader http://www.chicagoreader.com/tifarchive/ Alderman Schulter protests mischaracterizations in Lincoln Square eminent domain case Inside: January 23-29, 2008 http://www.insideonline.com/site/epage/58554_162.htm Council OKs acquisition of private property - News-Star: January 16, 2008 http://www.pioneerlocal.com/newsstar/news/741706,sn-eminent-011608-s1.article Council backs off Lincoln Square seizures - Chi-Town Daily News: January 3, 2008 http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago+news/2008/1/3/Council_backs_off_Lincoln_Square_seizures Breaking news in Lincoln Square - - Alderman Schulter pulls eminent domain ordinance from City Council agenda - Sun-Times Neighborhoods with Mark Konkol: December 10, 2007 http://blogs.suntimes.com/neighborhoods/2007/12/breaking_news_in_lincoln_squar.html Chicago’s Lincoln Square faces eminent domain threat -Illinoize blog: December 4, 2007 http://capitalfax.blogspot.com/2007/12/chicagos-lincoln-square-faces-eminent.html Fair warning The Reader: September 14, 2007 http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/070914/ Community Development Commission, The City of Chicago – with meeting schedule – if link below doesn’t work start at www.cityofchicago.org - click on City Departments at the top of the homepage, scroll down to and click on Planning and Development, under Commissions/Agendas click on Community Development Commission where there is a schedule of upcoming meetings. At last month’s meeting Ben Joravsky mentioned details of these meetings are often not announced until 24-48 hours before the meeting http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1801314163.1203539738@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadedgiggemkcefecelldffhdfgn. Other local news sources: Inside – serving Chicago ’s north side neighborhoods - look for Peter Buol http://www.insideonline.com/site/epage/1592_162.htm Medill News Service – look for John Riley http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=81085 News-Star / Chicago Journal – look for Lorraine Swanson http://chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=49&SubSectionID=142&ArticleID=3985 Liberty / Freedom related links: Free to Choose – 10-part documentary with Milton Friedman streaming online http://www.ideachannel.tv The Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman http://www.freetochoosemedia.com/production/POC/index.php The Road To Serfdom – Friedrich Hayek – Reader’s Digest version, April 1945 http://www.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication43pdf?.pdf

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?