Somerset Place just can't stay out of the headlines. There was a hearing in front of the City Council yesterday, with the current situation at Somerset front and center. Read it here. Just a few of the highlights:
- "Foster District police Cmdr. Lucy Moy-Bartosik said that during the 19 months from January 2008 through July 2009, there were nearly 5,000 calls for police service to the area around the Somerset Place nursing home in Uptown. While some of those 911 calls were frivolous, others were for serious crimes, and the sheer volume represented a significant burden on police."
- "Michelle Fire, owner of the Uptown tavern Big Chicks and the restaurant Tweet ... said her customers have seen their breakfasts interrupted by Somerset residents exposing themselves and urinating on the street. "Sometimes it's like a scene out of 18th century Bedlam with people screaming and waving their arms," Fire said."
- "While some unsupervised Somerset residents engage in aggressive panhandling and battery, many are victims of their own addictions, and "the gangs come in to sell them drugs," said community-policing beat facilitator Edward Kuske said. "They end up being a market.""
Michelle Fire for Mayor of Uptown!
ReplyDelete"Foster District police Commander Lucy Moy-Bartosik said".......
ReplyDeleteWhat an embarrasment. Do you have to mention that name and the word "police" in the same sentence?
I find is funny, and not in a good way, that Mary Ann Smith is now responding to Somerset. Somerset has for the past 10 year or longer been a dumping group for those mentally ill felons that have been released by the State of Illinois because of budget cuts and closures mental health facilities.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a new problem. it's a problem that has existed for YEARS and all of a sudden Smith is looking at this due to complaints? PLEASE. Smith is only looking at this situation now because of the Tribune shining a light on a situation that has existed for years and coddled and embraced by Smith.
I repeat again and again. Mary Ann Smith and Schiller are two peas in a pod. it's like they have a pact between them. Smith.... I'll take the mentally ill felons and Schiller..... I'll take the cities Section 8 along with felons in the section 8 housing.
The only way safety will be improved is if both Smith and Shiller are voted out. I understand the need of Section 8 housing however concentration of any certain type of element in one ward are area will only amplify that concentration. Both Shiller and Smith refuse to go after those landlords to remove the elements that are causing problems.
I don't trust Smith to do what is right for safety. My experience with her has proven that. It took a march of over 150 people for her to change her mind on opening yet another homeless shelter housing the "worst of the worst" per her assistant.
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ReplyDeleteNot sure if its just me, but I've been noticing less panhandling from known Somerset residents since the news of investigations broke.
ReplyDeleteI love this:
ReplyDelete"We have made a commitment, under new leadership, and have begun to turn the corner on these issues. It will take working in partnership with our neighbors and the community we serve."
Translation: "Now that we're in trouble, it's the neighbors' job to help us fix the situation, even though we've been ignoring their concerns until just a couple weeks ago. Maybe this will make us look caring instead of a major blight on this area. Wonder how long until the heat's off us?"
I wonder what Helen's response was to all of this? Aren't the vast majority of these facilities located in the 46th Ward.
ReplyDeleteIf Somerset housed elephants, she'd have been all over this, years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis place can't be gone fast enough! I live nearby and I find myself thinking on an almost daily basis how nice this little intersection would be if not for Somerset Place.
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