This is a letter the Tribune posted in response to today's article about Uptown's recent crime rate:
Unfortunately Uptown has begun to reap what Ald. Helen Shiller has sown ("Uptown fragile in wake of violence," Metro, Aug. 21). When the current wisdom is to distribute the city's needy among all neighborhoods of every economic stripe, Shiller has packed her ward with social agencies and halfway houses. She has created her own modern version of the plantation: bring in people who are totally dependent upon her for housing and benefits and then make sure that they get to the polls every election. Was there ever a more cynical political model? Who, among the city's other aldermen, is going to fight her for the privilege of housing drug and alcohol abusers in their neighborhoods?
"Uptown packs Chicago's densest concentration of social services amid 63,000 people in a footprint of barely 1.5 square miles -- 87 member organizations providing social services, most in Uptown," according to Tribune reporter James Janega. 87?! Interestingly, you won't find any of these halfway houses on Alderman Shiller's street, a shady peaceful street of expensive single-family houses.
This is not about whether we should help the needy among us. All of us who live in Uptown embrace that responsibility. We like the diversity of our neighborhood; that's why we chose to live here. But all the city's wards must share responsibility for the needy. It is a question of balance in Uptown. Alderman Shiller has chosen political expediency over the safety of her constituents. Time for a regime change.
--Tim Kolly
Amen.
ReplyDeleteI agree but who will be the next ald?. I can't think of anybody.
ReplyDeleteHelen only bested James Cappleman by roughly 700 votes. She had Mayor Daley campaigning for her and spent four times what James spent in the election - most if not all of her funds from special interests outside the ward.
ReplyDeleteYou better bet there is someone poised to be the next Alderman - just about anyone who runs in the next election. The 46th ward is finally ready for a change in leadership.
great letter, this is what the original should have looked like.
ReplyDeleteNice work Tim.
I am not vote for anybody that is running for ald right now not even helen. Nobody has convince me or my family that they wouldn't be as bad as helen.
ReplyDeleteI think that's why most people I know still vote for helen because we know helen is no good but the next person could be worst. And when I mean worst I mean not hearing me and people less fortunate that live here.
Hope somebody could change my mind because as of today no one has.
north magnolia,
ReplyDeletei encourage you to continue to express your opinion. Voices like yours have been missing from blogs like this and the Buena Park Message Board
They need to hear from you, and you (and as many friends as you can rally) need to talk about what things could convince you to change. (in a respectful way -- and not get drawn into any negativity that can happen, especially with those who are anonymous)
Zesty Marina,
Helen Shiller was actually beat by 3 anti-Shiller candidates in 1999, but they couldn't unite enough to translate that into a win in the runoff. Despite the number of new condo conversions over the decade, the anti-Shiller forces haven't been able to rally enough votes to match 1999.
The anti-Shiller base (or at least voter pool) has grown, but yet the votes haven't matched. And they've had 4 years since the last election to get organized.
Wow, there can be no doubt now that we've reached the tipping point and Helen is now going quickly downhill in popularity. Did everyone notice the number of negative comments made about Helen in the Trib? Poor Helen. She keeps having bad days. When Wilson Yard goes belly up, that will be the final straw for her. There's no way any elected official would dare endorse her and she knows it.
ReplyDeleteI suggest we all ignore JP. He apparently is off his meds again.
ReplyDeleteHere is a post of his from last year:
October 30, 2007 2:27 PM
JP Paulus said...
When I read these messages, I see lots of unforgiveness, and people who want punishment exacted on someone…usually it’s Helen Shiller. But since I actually take time to respond more personally, it seems that anger is transferred on me on occasion.
I would suggest to you to put that on the person of Jesus. Get a copy of the Passion of the Christ if you need to visualize it. HE is the person who has taken on what Shiller should be getting.
Instead of bringing up Shiller again and again, with no solution, accept that suffering and death of one person as punishment for Shiller, and her supporters.
And then accept that as punishment for you yourself have done. You maybe less hypocritical and judgmental than me, but EVERY one has done wrong to others. It may be subtle, like backtalk, but if you honestly look at yourself, you’ll find that ALL of us are lacking when compared to God.
If anything, ask God to do 2 things:
1) To exact judgment on me for my evil/errors/wrongdoing/etc. that I have done to you
2) To show you where to stand with God, and make it plain what your next step should be.
If you don’t think there is a God, then just humor me, and yell it out loud and tell me that you did it, and that you expect no response.
I am sure you hate this “preaching” more than any of my other posts. But far more important than even “social justice” or “affordable housing” is your relationship with God.
You can talk with me about that God stuff. You can also feel free to “report me” to Pasotr Michael Allen at Uptown Baptist Church at 773-784-2922 or seniorpastor(at)uptownbaptistchurch.org
what things could convince you to change.
ReplyDeleteWhy does north magnolia need to change? This person is fine just the way they are. And when has north magnolia not been respectful? And why do you feel the need to say "I encourage you to express your opinion" as if north magnolia hasn't been doing exactly that on this site for a couple of months just fine without your encouragement. How patronizing can you get?!!
And while I am at it do you think the attraction to this blog is based on people merely ditto-heading the same material or perhaps it is popular because people are exchanging new information and ideas with each other?
Note to self: do not check into the blogs when you come home and need to go to bed. Not conducive for a good night's sleep.
I Like North Magnolia. I had a problem reading a post of hers last week and mentioned it and she was nice about it. Everyone else in the blog screamed like I was BillyJoe correcting grammar.
ReplyDeleteNorthMag brings a relaxed view. I don't agree with her because I am an uptight condo owner on pins a needles half the time, but it is a nice change of perspective.
I agree but who will be the next ald?. I can't think of anybody.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of James Cappelman? What are your thoughts on him? He's spent his life as a social worker, so I think its pretty clear that he'll listen to people like you North Magnolia.
He ran against Shiller last election and lost because, get ready for this, she carried the condo-owning south side of the ward.
JP said...
ReplyDeletewhat things could convince you to change.
Saskia said...
Why does north magnolia need to change? This person is fine just the way they are. And when has north magnolia not been respectful? And why do you feel the need to say "I encourage you to express your opinion" as if north magnolia hasn't been doing exactly that on this site for a couple of months just fine without your encouragement. How patronizing can you get?!!
I believe JP was talking about what things might change north magnolia's mind about Helen v. another candidate (who's worse.)
Some people are also well acquainted with the methods of a few blowhards who blast any and every dissenting opinion. That's kept some people away from the message boards as well as neighborhood events. I know, I'm one of them.
Funny I can’t really speak about our Alderman on a personal basis, I have never met her. I have called, emailed and written to her many times but she has never returned a message. I have only her public behavior and the behavior of her office staff to judge her by. They consistently lie to me about why there is never anyone at attendance at CAPS meetings. They lie about the number of public meetings held regarding zoning changes in the ward and who has expressed an interest in them. Finally, they fail to regularly treat their ward neighbors with respect when asked to perform the services that they are employed. I am missing anything? Maybe after 5 and a half years I have just “Misunderstood” their intentions.
ReplyDeletenail meet head.
ReplyDeleteCappleman is the guy - everyone needs to get on board.
ReplyDeleteTo be frank, I hope more than just Cappleman runs. He is a good guy, but I am not convinced that we should annoint the challenger to Helen just because he ran last time.
ReplyDeleteI want someone that is strong and is a leader before the election. And to be frank, I have as of yet, not seen that. I do not want someone that tries to play footsie with Helens folks and splits the baby.
To quote one of my favorite Chicago movies, The Untouchables...
"You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? "
THAT is what I am looking for in a challenger to our alderbeast Helen!
That was a great letter to the Editor. Excellent work, Tim!
ReplyDeleteTo be frank, I hope more than just Cappleman runs. He is a good guy, but I am not convinced that we should annoint the challenger to Helen just because he ran last time.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you think James is the guy? What about him didn't you like? I'm met him a couple different community events, and every time I do I'm struck by the same things.
1) He always knows what is going in the community and is always trying to attending as many community events as possible. I don't know how he does it.
2) He seems to have a mastery of the inner workings of Chicago politics. If somebody has a question about CAPS, he's got an answer. If someone has a question about court advocacy, he's got an answer. If someone is confused about how to clean up a poorly run CHA building, he's got answers.
3) He's got a track record of success. As I've only met him twice, I can only speak to a couple of his successes, but I'm sure there are more. The first being the cleanup of Clarenden Park. Apparently about seven years ago it was a veritable hoover-ville. James lead a group who helped clean up the park and make it safe for the kids. The second was an extremely poorly run CHA building on I believe Sheridan and Broadway(don't hold me to the address). James went through the painstaking channels to get the city to force the owner to sell the building because he could not meet his responsibilities as a CHA landlord.
I don't support him because he ran last time, I support him because I really think he would make a great Alderman for the ward. He's always been incredibly responsive, so if you reach out to him, I'm sure that he would be more than happy to talk with you about why he's running and what he'd like to do.
I think Cappleman is a nice guy, no doubt. I too have met both him and his partner.
ReplyDeleteBut, my concern to be frank, is that he is too nice and will try to keep things relatively the same as Shiller. I do not see the fire and, to be frank, the passion and umbrage, that is needed to move Uptown in a new direction.
Watching him in a debate the last election...which I note, I DID vote for him... he let Helen and her supporters walk over him. I think last election at least, he was just too polite and afraid to hit back.
Perhaps with the upcoming election, that will change. But last I checked, it is still a democracy and others should consider running as well. I am not going to throw my support behind someone just because he ran last time.
If there is someone out there that shows a deeper passion and outrage and is willing to fight fire with fire against Helen.. and who I think will be a better alderman, then they certainly deserve the right to run.
Again, Cappleman is a good and decent guy. I just hope he reads this and understands that being a compromising, gentle person is not what will win him the election..
I would be delighted to vote for him in the next election if I see him become more passionate about change...
But, there may be others out there as well who's voice should be heard too...
I agree with the Superhero. To be fair, I don't enough about James to have an opinion either way. but the more people that start as challengers, the better the issues get flushed out. Which really means, the more an an uniformed politician Shiller proves herself to be.
ReplyDeleteHere is the thing. If James runs i will vote for him. That being said I will vote for anyone not named Helen Shiller on the ballot. Same as I did last time.
ReplyDeleteI like James and Richard. Can he win? I don't know. I do like what James has to say when he post on here. I do like that he is at all community meetings. I feel he understands it better and really wants it. Is he to nice? Maybe.
Maybe he will step up thi time and say F U Helen? I hope so. He seems to be working for it.
Maybe he will step up thi time and say F U Helen? I hope so. He seems to be working for it.
ReplyDeleteI disagree totally. I think he's perfect because he is nice. Uptown needs someone to bridge the gaps and help unify the area, NOT spit fire and brimestone. Shit, if you want fire and brimestone, elect Denise "F-You" Davis. We've all got a stake in this community and James, more than anyone else, has brought people together.
That said, if someone else comes up and looks like a more qualified candidate, I'm all for that, but the time is now for someone to come forward. Unseating an Alderman in Chicago is not easy and takes an entire community united in resistance. The clock is ticking on another candidate stepping forward and making themselves known, but once we get to late 2009, it'll be time to pick our representative and start working as one to bring down Shiller.
What we need is James to run, and then an over-the-top-socialist-type to run and take a few thousand votes from Helen. Does anyone from CORAJ(sic) want to help me dig up the corpse of Che Guevera? We don't even need to print t-shirts for the campaign...those crappy shirts are everywhere!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that some people think James Cappleman is "too nice". At the debate last year others complained that he came off as "too angry". I thought he skewered Helen quite nicely in that debate. He knows how to criticize her without sounding like a blow-hard, and has the right background and experience to make (more) meaningful change in Uptown. I truly hope he runs again!
ReplyDeleteI hope he runs as well. Eagle gives me a headache. Don't you have a 5 dollar cover charge to dodge somewhere? I got your point from the first 3 novels you posted on here. I agree with you in most parts. Im just a meaner SOB than you.
ReplyDeleteThe F U was not meant as serious to say it allowed. He needs an FU attitude towards her and her ways. Just saying. If you play in the Mudd with the likes of her you need to get dirty as well.
Funny you mention that debate. After is was done the Richard folks said he killed it. Then later we hear Helen got the better. Then she airs it puplicly and boom he looses. Sounds dirty to me.
I like James, but I went to two of his fundraisers and he never shook my hand once or came up to me. I did find that odd. The good ones find a way to meet everyone. But I chalk it up to a new experience for him, because since then we have met.
Not Helen in 2010!
*Sorry Eagle my post came off as prickish towards you. I do like reading you posts. I find your opinion refreshing.
ReplyDeleteUptown Superhero...
ReplyDeleteGreat Untouchables quote! One of my all-time fave movies, and that is one of my favorite scenes.
Sean Connery at his finest!
As far as Helen is concerned... She's nothing but a lot of talk and a badge!
Windy City Eagle said:
ReplyDelete2) He (James) seems to have a mastery of the inner workings of Chicago politics. If somebody has a question about CAPS, he's got an answer. If someone has a question about court advocacy, he's got an answer. If someone is confused about how to clean up a poorly run CHA building, he's got answers.
Being able to successfully navigate city services is a far cry from having a mastery of Chicago politics. I think James would make a tremendous chief of staff (a vast improvement over Denise "this is not your college campus" Davis). However, I don't think he has a strong enough personality and wide enough network to raise the money necessary to unseat Shiller.
I did not vote for James - I voted against Shiller. I am not the only one. He lost. He should have won, but he didn't. Is he going to run again, I hope not. He had the whole Ward against Shiller and he couldn’t pull it off. Someone better will run and get the job done.
ReplyDeleteThe next election is 2 ½ years away, and admittedly, anything could happen. Whether or not Ald. Shiller decides to run is her call and I'll leave that up to her to decide.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in time, I have full intentions of running. It is highly unusual for someone to run for this office and win the first time around, so the fact that I got so close while spending a fraction of what Ald. Shiller spent tells me that it's worthwhile for me to consider running again.
Experience is a great teacher, and almost immediately after the election, I met with some members of my campaign team to create a strategy to win in 2011. Many people have ideas of what I must do to win in the next election and those opinions run across a huge gamut. I continue to appreciate feedback, but please know that just as I am committed to the use of best practices in housing, urban planning, safety concerns, education, and health care, I also stand committed to the use of best practices with running a campaign. I'm not a man of extremes and you will often see me seek balance. However, I will not sacrifice my core beliefs that speak about respect for all, which includes a process that allows for transparency and community input.
I've been told that I'm too nice and I've been told I'm too mean. People will have their opinions, but you won't hear many people say that I'm unfair or that I won't listen. The same was true with my parents and it's true with all 7 of my brothers and sisters.
Do I expect other people to run for this office? Absolutely, especially if Ald. Shiller decides not to run. Am I opposed to the idea of other people running? That's like asking me if I'm opposed to democracy. Let anyone who believes he or she would be a good candidate throw their hat in the ring.
In the meantime, keep making noise to have your voices heard.
What I know about James is that I see him at nearly every community event I go to, even in the non-46th Ward, non-glamour roles. Picking up trash on Clean & Green Day? Working the ticket booth at the block parties?
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw Helen was after I'd lived in the ward for 15 years. She came up to me on Election Day, when I was a poll judge, and demanded to know how many people had voted. Not a hello, not a smile, not an introduction. All I knew was this short rude person came up and asked a question out of the blue. Oh, that's the alderman.
For those who don't think James is effective: This is the only area in the city where the One-Strike Law for public housing is enforced. The block I live on got much, MUCH better (and much less gang-infested) when one family had to move out of the CHA housing due to drug dealing. ONE FAMILY... and the entire block is better.
If you think it's just a coincidence that the One Strike Law was enforced, you're wrong.
James is past and present president of UCC. Do you see a Social Services One Stop Mall at Magnolia and Wilson? Nope, it's market rate housing and storefronts. That's because UCC stopped Shiller from building her social service paradise there.
UCC is also part of the Stop Labor Ready lawsuit. Don't see True Blue/LaborReady setting up shop on Sheridan yet, do you? While Denice Davis ranted about how this was a "done deal" (another famous Shiller "done deal"), UCC quietly went about the business of trying to ensure that the residents' wishes were respected about a day labor shop setting up in that location.
There used to be a men's shelter housing sex offenders on Clifton that was right next to a family shelter and daycare center. When Lisa Madigan got involved, the men's shelter was closed and the residents were moved to other, more supportive housing. Wonder who got Lisa Madigan involved? Hmmm.
Now UCC is holding property management seminars for local landlords to help them screen against trouble tenants, like gangbangers, so no more of our buildings become overtaken by the gangs, with tenants afraid to leave their own homes. Good preventive medicine for Uptown. Again, credit UCC, of which James is president.
So, James isn't flashy or loud. He's not fire-and-brimstone. But he gets things done. Our community is much, much better for having him here.
If he's been able to do so much as a private citizen, I can't wait to see what he can do as an alderman.
At times I have critized JC but after a few things happened in the last month I think it's great he has such dedication to Uptown.
ReplyDeleteWe need more people like him in Uptown.
He's got my vote again and money next time.
I could not agree more TrumanSquareNabr with what you said. James goes out of his way to remain involved with the community and he is almost always present at the community meetings that I attend. If you want to know more about him just get more involved with community events and I guarantee you will run into him. However, the next election is years away and I am not content to wait for it. I will continue to do whatever I can to support public safety and community involvement in any planning that is taking place in the 46th ward.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a candidate get his/her hands dirty going out and talking to people that are disable, low-income, living in a condo from different walks of life about their problems and concerns, family, and uptown. Because what I am afraid of is nobody will be committed to Uniting every single person in uptown if at all possible, they would just say or do anything to get a vote. Then 5 years later it the same as before. I know 50% of what a candidate says is not what's really going to happen. I just hope for the best person to run. Taking the alderman seat is a long time commitment anyone who is going to run bless you and be prepared. Because it's going to be like taking a toy from a crying toddler.
ReplyDeleteI would like to learn more about cappleman and his ideas and opinion about all issues that involve uptown. I would like to vote for cappleman because his name is not helen, but I just can't do it I need more.I am soooo disappointed in helen. I don't what that to happen again. When I see her I think how sad you use to do so much for uptown. Its like she given up on uptown. So I gave up on her to.
And we do need a candidate with a backbone. We don't need a yes person at all as alderman. So if it capplemen or anyone else that's running for the ald office I am ready to listen.
Thanks James. It feels good to know your out there listening.
ReplyDeleteTaking the alderman seat is a long time commitment anyone who is going to run bless you and be prepared.
ReplyDelete1) It's only as long term as voters keep electing them.
2) We all know what James stands for and he takes the high road always and is very open about things.
My beef with him was he didn't fight Helen dirty.
But with technology and the corner she has backed herself into the next election will be hoot to watch play out.
My money is she steps down and appoints someone before that time.
Also there are a lot of people from bankers, lawyers and developers than can't stand Helen.
My money is she steps down and appoints someone before that time.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need to watch for is someone put in place who will owe their seat to the Daley Machine.
I think if we stay as vocal as we are becoming, Helen will step down. Let's just say my fingers are crossed!!
ReplyDeleteWhat evidence is there that's she's considering stepping down?
ReplyDeleteNo evidence, but ... the City Council gives its members full pensions when the years of service plus the age of the alderperson add up to 85.
ReplyDeleteHelen will be 63 in February 2011 (election time) and will have 24 years of "service" (well, in office, at least) at that time. It'll add up to 87, so she'll be eligible for a full pension.
If she quits a year early, she'll still be eligible for a full pension at that time. With the climate running so hot and vocal against her, why stick around? That, at least, is what most people think will happen. It's all conjecture at this point.
Also if steps down she can or Daley and her will appoint an replacement they chose before the election.
ReplyDeleteThat is how Tunney got in.
It's another great trick they use here in Crook County, IL to keep all their cronies in.
The person gets appointed tells us all what we want to hear so then the election comes and boom that person is elected.
Then the person turns into another crappy Alderbeast.
Tim wrote, "Unfortunately Uptown has begun to reap what Ald. Helen Shiller has sown."
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the frustration that many residents feel about our Alderman and her lack of responsiveness. Nonetheless, it is a mistake to blame her wholesale for social and housing policies made, in many cases, before she was born. It is not only an error of history but it is also an error that primes her successor to fail.
Just this week, here on Uptown Update, some readers were confused by the phrase “slum clearance,” just one of several terms used during the long history of housing and social need in Uptown and other urban communities. Post-war SROs emerged in response to the housing shortage. Many later served as affordable housing for migrants from the coal-spent southeast and others in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s through the mid 1990s, Uptown’s housing stock made it a gateway for new immigrants and urban renewal v.2 which including scattered site housing, section 8 rental vouchers, etc.
This is a short recitation of Uptown’s past and for die-hard historians and sociologists, a wholly inadequate one, granted. But hopefully, I can nudge all of us to take in a cumulative view and see how the trajectory of Uptown’s development is less about an intransigent Alderman and more about events and politics that transpired generations ago.
There are plenty of reasons to be dissatisfied with Alderman Shiller that are rooted within her tenure, especially the last five years. But fashioning her as some sort of malicious über-farmer who has seeded Uptown cravenly and deliberately to serve her political ambitions is a heck of a lot more narrative than you need to explain what’s happened and why, which is really much simpler: She’s in over her skiis. It happens to the best of us. ;-)
"Nonetheless, it is a mistake to blame her wholesale for social and housing policies made, in many cases, before she was born."
ReplyDeleteI think that is the frustration..she is repeating the same mistakes with Wilson Yard.
Other neighborhoods have learned there lessons yet Helen seems to not only ignore it, she gives the middle finger to everyone else while she does it.
She has had 20+ years to change those "housing policies"
Although I always think what you have to say is thoughtful, I am afraid we will never agree on this one Suzanne. Helen Shiller is so much more than “up to her skiis.” She is in Uptown today because the Slim Coleman crowd recruited her to come down from Wisconsin and continue her work for a peoples’ movement here. I agree with your description of how Uptown got the way it was before she arrived. But the part you leave out in your depiction is what she and others chose to make out of it.
ReplyDeleteBetween the Black Panthers, SDS and even the religious movements that filtered through here, Uptown became a local stage upon which to enact national level politics. Rainbow coalitions, welfare rights, tenants rights…Uptown, Uptown, Uptown. But gradually the world changed around her, cities had less money and the general public grew tired of the things she was saying. Therefore, she made lots and lots of compromises in order to pursue her social justice goals and to return an ever shrinking portion of the public pie to her constituency. God love her and her refusal to approve Daley’s budget each year and her well-intentioned (but rambling) attempts to get the city to focus on the least of us. But over time all the fire and brimstone that was once directed to a much larger audience became more internal and against the cloutless who stood in her way.
She’s a small woman but a hard-as-nails agitator through and through. She has never abandoned that, especially when it comes to her issues. If she is at all “up to her skiis” it is not that she got out of her depth but that the world changed on her. My guess is that she is just willing to strongarm her little piece of it into what she can because (she rationalizes) there is so much out there already for the “haves.” I can tell you right now that if I were fortunate to be one of those limousine liberals I would probably blithely cheer her on. Yet I live here and I believe that in the long run it is doing more harm than good for the health of this community---a place that could be terrific.
Once again I must apologize for another tome! It is almost embarrassing how much I care about this place. I think I need to go “uptown dad” and go cold turkey for a while. :)
Saskia...if that's a tome, bring it on!
ReplyDeleteI don't read disagreement between us. Your more fleshed out rendition of recent Uptown history is spot on and your take on Helen is largely accurate. Did the world change on her? Yes, that’s exactly my point. Saying she’s in over her skiis is just another way of saying that she didn’t keep up.
She was of her time. But that time has passed, the job is different and she's no longer the person for the job.
To make much more out of it, to credit Helen as the author or prime augmenter of Uptown’s present day ills is not only selective, it's dismissive of a much larger and more influential universe that includes markets—--markets, btw, that have managed to bare the Feds ass---and politicians who are larger and more influential than she was or is today.
Worse, making her villainous, some ogre to be vanquished is to unwittingly impute virtue into the one who eventually defeats her. That’s a horrible set-up that none of us deserve, including her challenger!
Btw, why make Helen such a lightening rod and give the Mayor a pass? IMHO, that really makes no sense.
Well I guess I want to put a finer point on this business of her not keeping up with the times than maybe you do. To me it is more than her being a product of her time. To me, she chose to stay true to her "haves" vs. "have nots" view of the world and merely settled for playing robin hood when other courses were available to her. That set this neighborhood on a path of playing right into the machine's hands as they went about urban renewal v. 3 (as you might put it). The larger resistance and critiques ended but the beatings continued at home.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, what good has that done us? Everyone depicts this history a bit differently but we all seem to agree that we are carrying a lot of responsibility, we are bitter, divided, experiencing violence and that Helen Shiller did have quite a bit to do with how we got here.
As for the mayor, I am personally not interested in giving him a pass at all. And, it really tics me off that Helen can. Our "independent" takes responsibilities off everyone else's shoulders but no longer even speaks about why it is so wrong for others to shirk their responsibilities? Unreal. And, in many cases these people are profiting heavily from it and Helen knows it!
Cha-Cha Jiminez once said, "by stabilizing this community, we can give the people political power, stop the rise in crime, end the sale of drugs and organize the youth so that they can become productive citizens in our society." Well, what the hell happened? I do acknowledge how hard these goals were to achieve but how is it possible that Uptowners are still after the same things today except the rhetoric has changed so that it is no longer permissible to say you want these things? It just blows my mind.
Good discussion in this thread. I love this website.
ReplyDeleteI'm perplexed by the several posts where folks have said they wouldn't yet vote for James because they don't know him well enough yet. Just through his posts on UU I have a sense that I already know him much more than our current Alderman.
ReplyDeleteI have never met James or Helen. However, I have read dozens of posts here from James that gives me what I feel is a reasonable picture of the man. I'm hard pressed to ever find any quote from Shiller on anything. The 46th Ward website is worthless. She's virtually invisible. When I do read or hear clips of Helen, I have a hard time understanding exactly what the heck she is saying. She has perfected the skill of talking and talking and talking without actually SAYING anything. She would be a good CEO in that regard.
I've never seen Helen out and about in the ward. I've seen James only once. He was running around like a man possessed up and down Kenmore Ave. with a big garbage bag picking up trash. I would venture to guess I'll never see Helen doing the same. That simple act alone has left an impression on me.
I would welcome more choices in the next election, but any new candidate needs to start talking now, because they will be hard-pressed to make themselves as visible and open as James has done over the last couple years.
You can tell from my first paragraph I love the word "yet" :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we love you, "confused"!
ReplyDeleteSaskia, you are a delight. And maybe we do disagree a bit but only in terms of the degree that Helen "chose" and her actual influence, i.e. how much she exacerbated the have / have-not divide and how much was ascribed to her. Obviously, I think it's more the latter. In any event, it is worth considering the total # units of market housing that have been created in 46 in the last 10 years versus, say, 48 or 49. Granted, too much is over-massed and, as my little brother would say -- butt-ugly -- but it's precisely because of the amount of new development in Uptown that wonky types like me find it hard to take a Sharpie and give Helen a mustache and horns. But Daley? That man has done more to earn Helen's reputation than Helen has. TIFs for everyone!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you wholeheartedly on what you say regarding Helen being a lightening rod and how that can be setting up our perceptions and expectations inappropriately. I never quite get around to that point but I am glad that you do, Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteFunny we posted at the same time. What do they say about great minds? :) Good night!
ReplyDeleteUptown has had quite a bit of new development and perhaps more than other areas. A more accurate picture would be comparing the overall percentage of low income housing with that found in other neighborhoods. We're over the top and Helen wants to build more in the Wilson Yards.
ReplyDeleteYes it is Helen's fault what Uptown is today. She has been in 20 years and is a rotten Alderman.
ReplyDeleteJust look at how George Bush has screwed up in the last eight years.
Are we not to blame him as Commander in Chief for it?
This is the first time in Helen's 20 years where Helen is being held accountable for her piss poor Alderman skills.
She only cares about one thing her power base, her base, just like Bush.
She has taken advantage of the homeless, poor that she so says she stands for. While she lines her pockets and the pockets of her cronies like JPUSA.
She won't even take a meeting with half the residents?
She loves the gang violence and probably behind the scenes is encouraging it.
That is what keeps her in power.
If enough violence happens us middle class condo owners will move out and then we won't be her opposition or her clans opposition.
She is smarter and gaming it more than people think.
Saskia-
ReplyDeleteWill you please contact me at markscheiderer@hotmail.com ?
Thanks,
Mark
B, this is exactly the kind of hyperbole that gets everybody riled up but doesn’t accomplish much. If Uptown today is Helen’s “fault,” then you have to credit her with what’s good too and you aren’t.
ReplyDeleteIs she a rotten Alderman? No. For examples of rotten, there are other Council occupants who truly deserve the “rotten” moniker, including Arenda Troutman, Rafael Frias, Ambrosio Medrano, Allan Streeter, Jesse Evans, Lawrence Bloom, Virgil Jones, Percy Giles and Ed Vrdolyak. To his credit, though, Ed is also charming which may have made is rottenness less odious. What Helen is? She’s non-responsive and ineffective.
She only cares about her “power base?” Wait, which is it? In your very next point you say she takes advantage of and steals from them. Btw, accusing someone of stealing is a bazooka of a charge and one that you should be prepared to prove. Also, as a person who has run for office, I can assure you, stealing from your base is no way to build power. ;-)
Look, I really get it how much Helen is disliked but ascribing to her this sort of hatefulness is really beyond the pale (“She loves the gang violence”). She may not be doing what you want her to do about (fill in the blank), but that’s a lot different than saying she’s aiding and abetting gang-bangers.
“She won't even take a meeting with half the residents?” You’re half right. I don’t think she takes meetings with ANY of the residents.
Middle class condo owners will move out? Maybe last year. Today, it’s more likely they’re stuck where they are or facing foreclosure.
“She is smarter and gaming it more than people think.” Yup, she is smarter than a lot of people think but Helen gaming the system? I'm afraid you may not be sufficiently familiar with the machinations of Chicago politics yet. For wholesale gaming, see the 48th Ward ;-)
Glad I voted Heather.
ReplyDeleteI am too. It was a choice you were able to exercise, one you wouldn't have had if I or someone else didn't run. After fifty years of appointments, pre-selected candidates, and a chorus line of pension abusers, it was remarkable that we actually managed to have a primary. Reasonable people can disagree on ideas and candidates but when we allow the process become subverted, it's game over.
ReplyDeleteYES VOTE OUT SHILLER
ReplyDeleteI am so tired of see my home area taken over by the gangs and street people. I have voiced my feelings many time to shillers office but never even now get a responce. I was told once by her staff if I ddin`t like the way uptown area is I could consider moving to a place I would like. What a answer. I say yes it is up to us. Lets all vote her out and get a person who cares. It is up to us to take control of our uptown area and we can by getting a new alderman that will be on our side and not the gangs and homeless sides....
Suzanne is just trying to play the Chicago game by sticking up for Shiller.
ReplyDeleteVote Shiller out a retard could be a better Alderman.
It's pretty bad when you have to get the state reps involved because the Alderman isn't listening to the people.
C'mon B, why are you giving Suzanne such a hard time? I don't think there is much to be gained "in the Chicago game" by sticking up for Shiller. She's been in office 20 years, she's unpopular with constituents, she's not powerful in City Hall! What could possibly be gained politically by sticking up for her? And I don't even think what she is doing is really sticking up for her. She's more saying that Shiller is a minor player in something larger (i.e. "the Chicago game") and her ability to be useful to this community is over. Therefore, if Shiller won't move along on her own we need to help her out the door.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I think Suzanne is right in that if we think that all of our troubles will be over once Shiller is gone---once goodness returns to the realm---that we will be misreading our current affairs. There seems to be a range of feelings about how central Shiller is in what is happening/what has happened in Uptown. Suzanne is just expressing one area of the range.
Question - what new developments in Uptown has Alderman Shiller brought to the 46th or surround Wards that is NOT related to SRO's, halfway houses or methadone clinics?
ReplyDeleteMeaning, what BUSINESS has she brought to Uptown in the past 20 years that generates money for Uptown?
I'm really curious to know. My impression is the majority of new bars and restaurants that have come in, were brought in by Mary Ann Smith.
Yes, I agree we can't blame every rainy day on Shiller, but can someone explain to me when she has brough the sun to Uptown?
No I am not blaming everything in Uptown on Shiller but list for me accomplishments in the last year 4 years or 20 that has made the ward a better safer place. Or tell me where she has actually spent money to bring a vibrant mixed community of people and businesses?
ReplyDeleteLook at all the surrounding wards. Even the part of Boystown that isn't in her ward is nicer than the part that is.
Alderman have a lot of power when it comes to business coming to a hood. Lets not forget how she pushed through Labor Ready.
And yes she is now not a minor player in King Daley's machine.
Thanks god someone is good is going to run against him next time around as well.