Monday, August 24, 2009

A Wasteful, Disorganized, Expensive Mess ...

... and that's just the mailings.

The Wilson Yard TIF has been accused of being a bloated, poorly run, wildly expensive folly. If the sheer number of duplicate notices (sent certified mail, natch) about the upcoming TIF Amendment meeting are any indication of how the project is being run, we have to concur. Twelve notices so far at the UU household -- and more come through the mail slot every single day.

Oh, well, it's only money. 68% of our property tax bill, to be exact.

Since neither big sponsor (Ald. Shiller and Peter Holsten) of Wilson Yard lives in the TIF area, they continue to spend merrily away. Other people's money -- it's free. "Howsabout another mailing, Pete?" "Sure, Helen!"

14 comments:

  1. I am feeling hurt, I have only received 7 of these notices so far....

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  2. Glad to hear that I am not the only one, 10 so far for me (4 certified).

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  3. So I wonder who is specifically in charge of doing the mailings? That is really incredible.

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  4. You'll could take these to the city council meeting for a good ole fashion TIF Party.

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  5. Probably being handled by our wonderful Uptown Post Office branch. That place ROCKS!

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  6. SE, they dont produce and send them out...whoever is in charge of the WY TIF communications does... we should send all of these to a TV station..

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  7. That is a great idea. Those of you that have many many copies should take a picture of the stack and email it to someone in the media.

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  8. In the box pictured: 53 envelopes.

    Those are the ones which weren't stuffed into mailboxes.

    All tolled in my building, an estimated ~350 envelopes sent.

    Based on the shipping rates ($4.80 per - minimum), for my building alone:

    $1680

    And not one of those mailings includes details to what the amendment actually is.

    A wasteful, disorganized expensive mess indeed.

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  9. Time to alert the media of the waste.

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  10. Someone, somehow, should find out who the person was that managed this mailing.

    That person should be reprimanded.

    I'm being kind.

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  11. I haven't received any, so I checked the TIF map. If I am reading it correctly, it appears that several, but not all, of the buildings on Magnolia between Sunnyside and Wilson are excluded from the TIF area. It looks like just north of Sunnyside and just south of Wilson are in, but stuff in between is out. Why would that be? Is there a more accurate listing, perhaps by address?

    Not that it matters as the ramifications of this TIF will spread far and wide.

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  12. Somehow other parts of our area (Lakeview, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, Edgewater) need to be informed that the ramifications of what our alderman is doing is having adverse effects on their areas as well.

    Anyone have any idea how to educate our neighbors???

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  13. Somehow other parts of our area (Lakeview, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, Edgewater) need to be informed that the ramifications of what our alderman is doing is having adverse effects on their areas as well.

    Ramifications of TIF abuse extend to the entire city.

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