Friday, April 16, 2010

Fish Farm, Or Incubator For "Many Other Poor People's Organizations"?

The Tribune has an article on aquaponics that mentions Ald. Shiller's next millions-of-our-property-tax-dollars pet project:  the fish farm in the former Salvation Army Center at Broadway and Sunnyside.

Across the street from Schiller's [sic] office in Uptown is a boarded-up brick building that could one day be a hub of urban agriculture. Fish, probably tilapia, would be raised in large tanks in an organic aquaponic system, she envisions, and vegetables and herbs would grow under artificial lights. It could include a community kitchen and an educational center. A farmers market on the ground floor would sell the fish and produce.

All this talk of organic produce, a farmers market and fresh fish sounds so pretty, doesn't it?  Maybe even a way to reimburse some of the tens of millions of dollars from 23 years of property taxes that are supposed to revitalize Uptown's economy.

But wait!  What's this?

Both the Latino Union and the Chicago Coffee Confederation are generating outside support for Café Chicago.  Alderman Helen Shiller has offered space within the proposed Green Center she and activists in Uptown are creating near Broadway and Sunnyside.  This location would not only provide space for the roasting operation, but also establish a partnership with many other poor people’s organizations concerned with issues of justice and environmental sustainability.

We don't see how bringing a non-profit "poor people's organization" from Albany Park to Uptown is going to help turn around Uptown's economic blight... which is, after all, the justification Ald. Shiller gave for creating the TIF.   Perhaps she can explain this to us, and why we have to search the web to find out how our property tax money is being flung around.
 
What are you really fishing for, Alderman?  Those of us who are paying for the bait would like some answers.

57 comments:

  1. Oh good, some much needed "justice"... Sorry, but I find that to often be a code word for hard left politics. Usually in the form of unionism, etc. No thanks

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  2. Alderman Helen Shiller has offered space within the proposed Green Center she and activists in Uptown are creating near Broadway and Sunnyside.

    So, we've officially moved past the planning stages, huh?

    Per the WYTIF meeting last summer, I could have sworn that she'd said something about improved transparency, and about letting everyone know as the project progressed out of the "kicking around ideas" stage.

    Guess not.

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  3. " but also establish a partnership with many other poor people’s organizations concerned with issues of justice and environmental sustainability."

    Environmental sustainability? Seriously? Has anyone ever hear anyone from ONE ever make a comment about environmental sustainability? Can someone please find their position on the current blue fin tuna situation?

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  4. FYI,
    The comment count for each post on the main page is not correct. It's a blogger issue and they are working to fix it.

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  5. The real question is, if we are able to finally vote her crazy @ss out, is it possible to reverse stupid things like this? Can you cut off TIF funds that have already been promised or already in the pipeline?

    The former Salvation Army building would be a prime location for some form of retail or restuarant with apartmants above - especially being across the street from Target. Instead she wants to continue to keep our main retail corridor blighted. She thinks Target alone should shut everyone up.

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  6. If I wanted to live near a farm I would move out in the country.

    This is the dumbest idea I have ever head of raising fish in the middle of Uptown how about we spend the money cleaning up the streets and also attracting for profit business that actually pay workers?

    We can't get rid of that Aldercreature fast enough.

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  7. "I would eat this in a second," said Schiller, who says she won't eat fish grown in traditional fish farms or from most of the country's waterways, which contain pollutants.

    Oh the bougie arrogance of this woman!!! It's always Helen-knows-best with her!

    Last time I looked, Lake Michigan was outside my window and 5 blocks from her office. Six states and 1 foreign county surround the Great Lakes. Has she not heard that they just sued Illinois to prevent the spread of Asian carp? You know, those fish ---accidentally released from a fish farm --- that are moving toward the Great Lakes, where they will "lay waste to the Great Lakes $7 billion fishing industry???

    So, that $7 billion fishing industry bordering Uptown doesn't produce safe and edible fish? So the ChicagolandFishing.org, Perch America, and Montrose harbor sport fishing charter are bunch of uneducated rubes, who don't know what's good for themselves?

    So Uptown's poor should not use those free fishing poles loaned to them byChicago libraries to drop a line in the lake to pull out free COHO salmon, perch, or bass? So families poison their children each year at our annual smelt fries?

    Oh, Helen! Facts mean nothing to you when you are in your not-my-reality, ideologue fantasy land.

    Here's my reality. We are in a financial melt down in Chicago and Illinois. There is no reason to create a financially-nonviable, heavily-subsidized, "urban" industry that creates another money-sucking entitlement program that the city and state must fund into perpetuity when healthy and cheaper alternatives exists in the Lake and Aldi's frozen food aisle.

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  8. If I understand correctly, you're objecting to space in Uptown being used to help poor people. What is your problem? Have you no compassion? I read the article in the Tribune this morning and I was excited about the idea. You pointing out that the space could also be used by a coffee roaster to benfit poor people makes me even more excited. I'm one of the ones "paying for the bait," as you say, and I'm proud of that.

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  9. "...bringing a non-profit "poor people's organization" from Albany Park to Uptown is going to help turn around Uptown's economic blight..."

    TIFs don't create economic activity - they just move it around

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  10. No, I'm saying Helen is fiscally irresponsible in delivering benefits to the poor. She and the Dept of Housing waste moneys budgeted to serve the poor. Am I the only one who feels that way? No, just ask the former Commissioner of the Dept of Housing who spoke out about the waste of money allocated to serve and house the poor on a televised Rehab Network panel discussion.

    The poor are underserved - and stay poor and hungry - when Shiller takes a page from the Daley playbook and bleeds Dept of Human Services and Housing programs to funnel money to her campaign supporting buddies.

    $414,000 to build an Uptown low income housing apartment when same-sized luxury lakefront condos are fore sale next door for $150,000 less? $53,000 for a jobs training that resulted in 2 - count them - 2 jobs??? $100,000 for an Arts Programs that produced no art? The list goes on and on and on.

    People in Uptown are tired of Shiller's spin doctoring, race baiting, class baiting and other smoke and mirror tactics. She needs to stop pissing away money designated for the poor and stop trying to hide her evil deeds by portraying taxpayers as heartless Scrooges because they don't want to entrust HER with more.

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  11. oh no, poor people's oraganizations concerned about issues of justice and environmental sustainability! run for Cricket Hill, women and children first!

    seriously, the classist nature of this post and many of the comments are sad; as is the ignorance about the importance of growing our food as close to home as possible for environmental reasons.

    but beyond that, it's entertaining to see what the uu crowd will come up with to complain about next. so thanks for the entertainment, i guess.

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  12. There you are Ron! When it comes to "justice," I just knew you would have some words of wisdom to share.

    Speaking of justice, shouldn't you be out videotaping and telling the cops how to do their job?

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  13. Oh gawd, this so both annoys me and amuses me.

    "NO FISH, NO JUSTICE".

    Then Ron Durham crawls outta whatever prison he may have been "visiting" because of his "justice and protest" activities and the game is on.

    What we need in this ward is jobs. That means viable businesses.

    Now I know Ron objects to jobs because when people have jobs they pay federal taxes to the "war and torture" machine he considers the federal government to be.

    Of course any money that goes to fish farms and $400 thousand plus per unit subsidized housing is fine.

    After all, it's all about Ron. Or Helen. Hurray for them to hell with everyone else.

    If Shiller runs again I'm taking a few months off and working full time for whoever her ultimate challenger is. If Satan enters the race and runs against Shiller in a runoff I will be on the side of Satan.

    Satan in 2011! Could he do any worse!

    The "fish farm" was projected to create two whole jobs or so. How much are those two whole jobs going to cost the taxpayer?

    I have no problem with fish farms, but to be commercially viable they need space. Acres of space. Graceland Cemetery would make a fine fish farm........oops......I just gave Ronbo and Helen another idea.

    AAAAAAAAAAAAGH.

    As for bringing in agencies to help the poor are we lacking such resources in Uptown?

    The truth is many such agencies don't help the poor, they perpetuate poverty. It's the idea of giving a man a fish or giving him a fish and then teaching him to fish.

    So endeth the rant. Go in peace and register thy neighbors to vote.

    Satan in 2011!

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  14. Shiller has a survey about recycling on her Website, but not about this silly Fish Farm to be developed in OUR NEIGHBORHOOD with public money. What a joke...

    GOD - HOW ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.

    A Fish Farm here would simply continue the polarization of Uptown - Good side of the street, bad side of the street, good block, bad block, good building, problem building. God how I long for the day when its more like...healthy retail corridor, safe and diverse residential section, healthy retail corridor...

    Can we finally make some decisions that would improve the community as a whole instead of continuing this grab-ass social experiment that never seems to end!

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  15. This coffee roasting/coffee shop sounds like it could be a good idea and a potentially beneficial use of the space. I am concerned, however, that this is yet another instance where public funds are being used with no input from the public. One can't claim to be working for a democratic cause while making decisions about how to spend public funds without letting the public know and providing an opportunity for public input.

    This is, of course, a problem of leadership. The 46th has no true leader. Instead, it has an autocratic ruler of sorts lording a huge pot of money over her constituents like a money-filled pinata -- hanging low and waiting for the hand-selected groups or individuals to each take a swing. Rather than acting responsibly, fairly, justly, and democratically about her ever-suspect use of TIF funds, Alderman Shiller has demonstrated yet again that she is arrogant and cynical. Only she knows best. Of course, she may be right sometimes. But it is consistent with many of her own professed ideals to put the ideas in the public sphere, discuss and debate them, and find a good use of public funds that the community supports.

    The basic question here is whether this is the best use of these public funds, and whether this it he best use of the space. These should be open to public debate and the decision-making process should be open to public scrutiny. In short, the public should have a say here. As I've said, this sounds like an interesting idea (I'll leave the fish farm concept on the side for now given that Uptown hardly qualifies as a food desert where such a project could be really beneficial). It's the process and delivery that are seriously flawed.

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  16. Is the 46th Ward really so short of "social justice groups" and "poor peoples organizations" that we need to import more into the area?

    At the cost of millions of dollars supposedly earmarked to being retail to a blighted economic area?

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  17. I think a fish farm would be cool. I agree with ron about trying to grow food close to home is a great thing, especially in a urban setting. Yes we live close to lake michigan, but this is much different. It actually takes the waste water from the fish and filters it through the plants fertilizing them. That way the fish don't swim in their waste and get tainted.

    I don't like where the money is coming from, but if you look at the rest of the city and country. Tax money will always be wasted no matter who's in charge everywhere. That includes alderman. Blah, blah, blah you can say we need to change that. But never going to happen. So...why not try and make something beneficial to the people and enviroment.

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  18. This is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of. How is having a fish farm, farmers market, and coffee place going to help the poor? Yes it may create a few jobs but the products still have to be sold to the poor don't they? Or are we going to be giving the fish, produce, and coffee to the poor for free? How is having these "services" in Uptown going to help? If the poor can't afford the fish, produce and coffee at Aldi's or Jewel then can they really afford to purchase them from Shiller's fish farm, produce stand, coffee selling building? I think not. She wants the non-poor to buy it to keep a few poor people employeed. Doesn't she feel one bit guilty about stealing away a valued social service away form another community to serve our own? This whole idea is just plain stupid and a further waste of our tax dollars that will bring no positive change to anyone in Uptown.

    How about creating open air farmers markets like in Lincoln Park and our close neighbor Andersonville have? This would help our community and give the poor a place to by produce, fish, meats, breads, etc. Some of them might even be able to find jobs with the people who set up stands at the market.

    Shiller is just plain bat sh*t crazy! Lets keep this plan from happening and vote in a new alderman that will bring about positive change to Uptown.

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  19. It doesn't look like Cafe Chicago would be interested in being publicly financed...

    "The anarchist Chicory Center was founded in 2004 to attack food injustice while opening doors to constructive, radical social action, growing out of a do-it-yourself ethic."

    Unless of course they mean do it yourself with other peoples money.

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  20. We really should be signing on to the Tribune and leaving comments there.

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  21. So...why not try and make something beneficial to the people and enviroment.

    Good point.

    However, there are certainly better strategies to improving the lives of people and the environment.

    The issue at hand, as has been noted, is not about the project, but how it's being funded.

    The city is broke due to curious use of TIFs. The county and state aren't in great financial shape, either.

    The lack of proper financial responsibility is having a painfully adverse effect on social programs, the health of our public school system as well as the budgets of those sworn to serve and protect us.

    Tax money will always be wasted no matter who's in charge everywhere.

    So ... we should all just grab our ankles and smile while money is being pissed away ... because the project sounds "cool"? And it doesn't matter how it's being funded?

    Are you suggesting that the people simply accept the fact that our "elected" officials are diverting public funds to personal projects while a growing number of people with immediate needs are being denied the aid they need?

    Did I get that right?

    To say "Meh ... people's hard earned money is wasted by the government ... happens all time, it's going to happen, and there's nothing we can do to change it" is the same sort of mentality that's pushed the city, county and state to the brink of insolvency.

    Go find someone who's experiencing cuts to the benefits that they rely on to survive and ask them how "cool" it is to use tax payer money to fund this thing.

    Or, go talk to a teacher who doesn't have the proper resources to do their jobs, and ask them how "cool" this fish farm sounds to them.

    Or, head on over to the Wilson Stop and ask yourself if $3M is enough to clean this thing up, and why isn't there money we can devote to it (or, CTA is going broke, too BTW).

    Again at the WYTIF meeting, someone asked why we couldn't look to Federal funding for this, or why some sort of private sector donation/endowment couldn't be used in lieu of pulling these funds from the same kitty which is designed to pay for city services (which are being cut, daily - I might add).

    I don't think Shiller had a decent answer for that.

    But .. hey, it sounds cool so ... whatever, right?

    Who cares about an 11% state-level unemployment rate, a bankrupt school system and a $13B budget deficit?

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  22. "That way the fish don't swim in their waste and get tainted."

    Shiller eats the 1st fish sammich at a press conference!

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  23. The more I think about it the more likely Shiller seems to be planning to run for reelection. Of course I may change my mind on that tomorrow.

    Anyway, be thankful that her arrogance and tone deafness is leading her to push this idea. It will cost her votes.

    I'm picturing personalized campaign mailers going up and down Marine Drive:

    Dear Mr and Mrs Smith,

    Your property taxes on your $150,000 condo just jumped 20 percent. Thankfully, Alderman Shiller is spending your money wisely on $400,000 low income housing and fish farms.

    Don't underestimate the anger against incumbents out there.

    Satan in 2011!

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  24. So the plants will filter the refuse fish water and it will magically drain into Lake Michigan clear as Mountain Spring water. Dream on. If plant filtration worked we wouldn't have beach closures many times each summer due to bacteria rising to unsafe levels.

    By the way, what is going to happen to the fish guts? The Park District will not allow even one fish cleaning station at the boat dock because they say it will stink up the harbor. Fish are 25% fillet and the rest is stinken guts, fins, gills, and heads. Where does Helen plan to truck that and how does she intend to drive it past my home without stinkin up the place?

    Schaffer Fisheries, the largest fish supplier in Illinois, was stopped by its' local farming community from building it's fish guts recycling operation in their TIF. These are people who are used to the ripe scent of manure and hog confinement operations. Even they thought some things were best left out in the country. So, Schaffers must transport and grind it's fish entrails into a fertilizer pulp at an off site location.

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  25. I don;t know. The seniors in my building can't figure out why they, with their $650 per month SSI checks can't get into the Wilson Yard housing because THEY DON"T MAKE ENOUGH MONEY. Shall we tell the poor dears that Helen told them that they'd get that housing while simultaneously cutting a Illinois Housing loan deal that required all the low level rental units to go to CHA residents being relocated from other projects?

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  26. How nice that the more than 2/3rds of the money from our property taxes that should be going to support our police force, our grade schools, our firefighters, and city workers is going instead to bring anti-government coffee growers to Uptown.

    Perhaps they can run across the street from their collective of poor people's organizations to staff the aldermanic office (on the furlough days when it's closed due to lack of city funds), or arrest gangbangers (next time a young mother is shot at Wilson and Broadway), or to administer medical aid (when the EMTS are short-staffed because there's no money to pay them), or can teach and donate books and supplies to the kids at Graeme Stewart next time the funding is cut for schools and teachers.

    Not very "cool" to have a fish farm and poor people's collective when there's no money for basic city services. And Shiller continues to play her violin while the city goes bankrupt around her.

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  27. TrumanSquareNabr, maybe I don't quite understand your point but I have to take issue with something you said. What is anti-government about a program that has to rely on the government to exist. Without a big government and the waste it creates none of these stupid programs would come to life. I would think this group would be pro-government. The more the better.I would also add that a lot of these programs have nothing more to do than buying votes and making people dependent on the government. If you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on the support of Paul.

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  28. Neil... I refer to what Bradley quoted above:

    "The anarchist Chicory Center was founded in 2004 to attack food injustice while opening doors to constructive, radical social action, growing out of a do-it-yourself ethic."

    I guess it's cool to call yourself anarchists while accepting government money to finance your cause.

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  29. Does Shiller realize that there are 3 other coffee roasters in close proximity? (Intelligentsia in Lakeview, Metropolis near Loyola and Asado on Irving Park.)

    Asado Coffee's roastery (a personal favorite for home brewing) is at Irving Park between Clark and Ashland. From what I have been told you can rent time there. According to their mission statement:

    "Mission- To help coffee farming families improve the quality of their lives. Donations to Coffee Kids supports works with local organizations in Latin America to create education, health care, micro-credit, and community-based programs for coffee farmers and their families. These efforts allow farmers to reduce their dependence on the volatile coffee market and to confront the most pressing community needs.

    Pay it forward

    A portion of the proceeds from our whole bean sales will go to various charitable organizations, such as Feed the Hungry and Anti-Cruelty society. Our goal as a company is to bring a fresh-coffee experience to our patrons, while paving a path of hope for as many as we can. When you buy fresh roasted coffee from us, you are directly supporting these causes as well. "


    Seems to me like, once again, the best way to go about things really hasn't been thought through.

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  30. yo,

    If you think there is something to do about it, lets see it. This kind of shit always goes down since the beginning of goverment. What is your plan to help change it? Other then writing lengthy complaints on a blog comment page. Funny that you say talk to a teacher, because I am a teacher. I see the same wasteful spending in the school system that I see all over this city and country. TIFs are merely the tip of the iceberg. I can see and understand your frustration, but all you can do is just take it. Look at how unsucessful the wilson yard lawsuit was and other actions. I am all for things changing. So whats the plan? Until you got one, I guess a fish farm sounds pretty "cool"

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  31. jtizzle - here's an idea.... Talk to your neighbors about how Shiller is using property tax dollars for social experiments and fish farms. See if they are even aware, which they might not be because alot of our neighbors are clueless or don't want to get involved.

    No one needs to "just take it" as you say. The answer is educating everyone and voting this idiot out - not playing the martyr and giving up.

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  32. Also, jtizzle - you are a teacher? Do you tell your students "but all you can do is just take it?"

    Just wondering.

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  33. "I see the same wasteful spending in the school system that I see all over this city and country. TIFs are merely the tip of the iceberg."

    jtizzle: Do you blog? I'd love to hear more about the wasteful spending. I thought TIFs were the top of the ticket, but it sounds like you disagree.

    Do tell.

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  34. Colin Howe said...
    Oh good, some much needed "justice"... Sorry, but I find that to often be a code word for hard left politics. Usually in the form of unionism, etc. No thanks


    Hey, aren't you the guy from the 146 bus stop, the story Studs Terkel so often liked to recount?

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  35. "TIFs are merely the tip of the iceberg."

    the tip of an iceberg is the most visible part, the tip of an iceberg is a good thing to stear clear of, in Chicago TIFs are the tip AND a lot of the bulk

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  36. jtizzle,

    *sigh*

    I'm not sure which is more difficult for me to grasp within your post:

    1 - that an educator would be so willing to accept what they deem to be an improper and unacceptable situation based wholly on the historic precedence (ie - slavery went on from the beginning of organized power structures, too) ...

    ... or ...

    2 - that an educator has such a loose grasp of sentence/paragraph structure, grammar and punctuation.


    Until you got one, I guess a fish farm sounds pretty "cool"


    .. honestly.

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  37. the Uptown Update corollary to Godwin's Law:

    "As the number of comments grows longer, the probability of a fatuous class distinction approaches 1."

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  38. The space is supposed to be a farmer's market selling local organic produce, so a local coffee roaster isn't really a stretch. I don't think the fact that the profits would go to disadvantaged people makes it evil, in fact kinda the opposite. Thank got it's not going to be another Starbucks! I'm all in favor of healthy criticism, but I think you missed the mark on this one.

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  39. The only person posting on this site that said "the fact that the profits would go to disadvantaged people makes it evil" is you in an attempt to redefine the issue and (here we go again) to toss the class warface card into the game.

    Nope. The problem is that Helen will spend 50 tax dollars to generate a buck, when that 50 dollars could have gone to generate 100 if handled properly. The woman has no financial abilities.

    Shiller does not demonstrate any financial common sense but she sure know how to damn everyone who dares to question her lack of financial abilities and her habit of funneling government funds to her buddies. She claims to be transparent but she won't even talk to her constituents. And that, in the end, prevents poor people from benefiting from the government spending.

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  40. I think the point of the post was the usual lack of transparency is ascending to new heights.

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  41. Michael,

    I think what you're missing is that we've all seen this Shiller tactic before.

    First, plan for something really really big to get an initial footprint for your TIF.

    Then, slowly but surely start laying the case as to why your original plan isn't going to work(see the infamous movie theatre)

    Finally, replace original idea with low income housing and whatever pet projects Brendon is involved with.

    We all know it's coming, and the poorly planned fish farm is simply the ruse to get the space that Shiller needs to build what she wants, only after the "public discussion" period is over.

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  42. Can I ask that she "mull about transparency" in addition to the next run for office please?

    The Fish Farm plans (and most others) up here are about as transparent as the concrete walls of a low/no income housing block.

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  43. The fish farm is a pipe dream. Unfortunately, in Uptown, if the pipe-dream is created by the local government, it becomes reality and is majority funded by taxpayers.

    Let’s talk some common sense:

    Concept 1: let farms be farms and cities be cities.
    We live in a city and cities are centers of commerce; not food producing farms. Most of Illinois is farmland; great food producers that we all should be thankful for. However, while Illinois creates food, Chicago creates money. Economics dictates that commerce ‘creates money’ and Chicago is GREAT at it!
    So, why do people think it is good to swap rolls? The city cannot and will never be a good ‘farm’ so why waste PUBLIC money on a pipe-dream? Are we going to bulldoze a few blocks and plant corn because it feels good?

    Concept 2: do you honestly believe the Alderman’s office is giving it to you straight?
    I won’t repeat what everyone already knows; that speaks for itself. What I do want to discuss is the fact a fish farm is an environmental nightmare. Animals create filth, require food and water and space; do you honestly think this ‘farm’ will be: non-odor producing, net positive contributor to the local economy (think benefit vs. cost) and a renewable resource? The energy and materials needed to operate a ‘simulated’ environment capable of generating a notable quantity of food that HUMANS would consume is huge. Think trucks of fish food, gallons of potable water, maintenance supplies such as cleaners, filters, scrubbers, plastics, etc. will all need to be shipped on site. I mean, really!?!?!?! If you believe this is a great thing for the environment, ditch the rosy feelings and get your facts straight.

    Concept 3: we have much bigger and more important issues to tend to.
    The state and city budgets are a joke and there is no remedy in sight! Why is this even on the table for discussion?! Do we not have city employees on furlough? City services are being reduced every year. The common person gets less consideration everyday while the taxpayer is expected to pay more. Are we not short of police and emergency staff? Our taxes are going up, the schools are shutting down and the aldermen received their raise. Chicago and Illinois have some of the most corrupt government in the country and some of you think we should give this pipe-dream a chance?!?! GET REAL! Focus on the important issues and forget the BS.

    I love much about this city but I am becoming jaded. The system is fundamentally flawed and we are typing about fish farms. My-oh-my do I pray for the future….

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  44. Ok. Im having a hard time understanding this whole fishy farmy thingy. Just what kind of jobs are you helping train poor people for.

    I get the whole idea behind the Inspiration Cafe, where they are actually teaching people how to cook and do other restaurant type work so the trainees will eventually go out and work in the food service industry.

    But this fishy farmy thingy is helping poor people do what????

    Are these people supposed to take the skills they learn and go out and ... work at other fishy farms in the city????

    Hey, you know a better idea would be to take all this money, put it in a loan program, lend small businesses small amounts of money ($250,000 - $500,000) and get them to employ people who need jobs.

    The only thing I see as "green" or "sustainable" is the pile of my green tax dollars being used to sustain politicians and their political co-horts in ripping us off.

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  45. I just read about Chicago Coffee Confederation in this week's Time Out Chicago. I welcome access to just-roasted fair trade coffee in our neighborhood. I don't know anything about fish farms or Latino unions, but I just looked at the CCC's website and it doesn't look like a "poor people's organization." They do have a mission: http://chicagocoffeeconfederation.wordpress.com/the-confederation/

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  46. Well, Tara, that's how they describe themselves. We didn't make up that phrase, it's from their own website.

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  47. Really interesting development here, and I completely agree with the points made about wasteful spending. However, there's another issue here which seems to be some misunderstanding or ignorance about urban food production. I want to respond to a point by UptownUnity:

    "Concept 1: let farms be farms and cities be cities.
    We live in a city and cities are centers of commerce; not food producing farms. Most of Illinois is farmland; great food producers that we all should be thankful for. However, while Illinois creates food, Chicago creates money. Economics dictates that commerce ‘creates money’ and Chicago is GREAT at it!
    So, why do people think it is good to swap rolls? "The city cannot and will never be a good ‘farm’ so why waste PUBLIC money on a pipe-dream? Are we going to bulldoze a few blocks and plant corn because it feels good?

    This was quite an ignorant statement. In fact, VERY. First of all, most of Illinois grows corn and soybean. But do you know what people in cities eat? Lots of other vegetables, grains, and meat, definitely not that much corn and soybean. There have been studies done to show that farmers downstate eat very poorly, despite being surrounded by such abundant farmland. It's because our nation has chosen to subsidize corn and soybean production, at the detriment of our health. Ever read Omnivore's Dilemma or seen Food Inc?!!

    Secondly, it's not true that cities cannot be good farmland. Where have you been over the last few years with the whole urban agriculture movement gaining momentum? There is Growing Home farm in Chicago providing job training and selling CSA boxes, City Farm right at Division/Clybourn selling amazing heirloom tomatoes, and Windy City Harvest also providing job training. There are several other farms in the Chicago suburbs growing produce. There are dozens of productive community gardens throughout the city, including the vibrant volunteer-run Ginkgo Organic Garden in Uptown at Kenmore/Irving Park that produces 1,500 pounds of vegetables per season that gets donated to Vital Bridges food pantry.

    My point is not that we should be using TIF funding for aquaponics in Uptown; I believe as strongly as many of you here that it's irresponsible and poorly designed.

    However, I wanted to point out that urban food production is, as a practice, the opposite of unsustainable, provided that the right business model is used. There have been examples of success throughout the city -- just look around you. Don't be ignorant.

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  48. You know how at Nordstrom's they have the little bowls of coffee beans to sniff between sampling perfume's to clear your nasal palatte? Isn't this the same thing? Coffee roasting smell will drown out the fishy farm smell. Come on, it's a brilliant, brilliant idea.

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  49. UptownUnity, your ignorance strikes me beyond the need for one post, I need to make a second:

    "Concept 2: do you honestly believe the Alderman’s office is giving it to you straight?
    I won’t repeat what everyone already knows; that speaks for itself. What I do want to discuss is the fact a fish farm is an environmental nightmare. Animals create filth, require food and water and space; do you honestly think this ‘farm’ will be: non-odor producing, net positive contributor to the local economy (think benefit vs. cost) and a renewable resource? The energy and materials needed to operate a ‘simulated’ environment capable of generating a notable quantity of food that HUMANS would consume is huge. Think trucks of fish food, gallons of potable water, maintenance supplies such as cleaners, filters, scrubbers, plastics, etc. will all need to be shipped on site. I mean, really!?!?!?! If you believe this is a great thing for the environment, ditch the rosy feelings and get your facts straight."

    Who needs to get their facts straight? Did you read up anything about aquaponics? Do you know anything about environmental sustainability and lifecycle assessments (benefits vs. cost, as you say)? The whole point of aquaponics is that the fish effluent feeds the plants, the plants act as filters of the effluent and thus return clean water to the fish, and so on in a closed loop system -- i.e. minimized waste.

    Yes, it does need to be done at scale and with energy efficient practices (LED lights mentioned in Trib article, but also energy efficient design and pumping, etc) in order to succeed, and that is not clear in Shiller's plan, in fact I'm very concerned about that. But again, as a well-designed practice, aquaponics is much less wasteful than industrial food production and much more environmentally friendly.

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  50. Jen Jen, if you saw Food, Inc. you saw the miserable life that animals and chickens live in total confinement operations. How can you support growing fish in small tanks where they will live and die without ever seeing the light of day. This won't be the Shed Aquarium conditions that they will be living in.

    I'm ok with farm raised fish, but only in outside farms with plenty of space. I hate small confinement operations for any animal, bird or fish because I believe they are cruel growing conditions. Where square footage is expensive, as it is in an urban environment, the confinement operations have to be small, small, small for the animals or fish to turn a profit. They simply cannot compete with the efficiency of operations on acres of bottom land that only costs $2000 per acre. SO, unless they are continuously and heavily subsidize they will never make good sense. They will simply be a novelty and who can afford that in this economy?

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  51. "However, I wanted to point out that urban food production is, as a practice, the opposite of unsustainable, provided that the right business model is used."

    I doubt it is sustainable, but I may be wrong. Subtract the government subsidies and the grants from the modern day trusts(Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, Hewlett) and urban food production is a fad. It's yield is unlikely to ever approach anything remotely sustainable.

    If people want to use their private property and private capital for urban farming then by all means give it a shot. However, any conceptual framework that says such a measure is sustainable is more than likely to fail.

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  52. All this energy focused on fish when there are still people being shot in the streets in Uptown. Where are our alderman's priorities?

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  53. To me, urban farming isn't the question. To me, it's all about whether or not the millions of dollars spent will transform Uptown into a thriving and self-sustaining economic center. That's what TIFs are created dto do. That's what we're all paying for. Will a fish farm and coalition of groups interested in social justice do that? I don't think so.

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  54. truthbearer: good point about the animal welfare considerations. here's a thoughtful article on the topic with regards to aquaponics that considers both angles: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/is_aquaponics_cruel.php
    i'm with you on the need for humanely raised animals for consumption and it's not clear shiller's plan is going to do that. hmm.

    Boohoo: right on! Just to be clear, I wasn't trying to turn this into an urban farming debate, but rather just wanted to dispute some of the gross misrepresentations/generalizations that UptownUnity was spewing about urban farming in hopes of preventing people from spreading misinformation based on sound bites.

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  55. it is my understanding that Shiller would send out whores to business man for campaign contributions, this is from someone who once worked with her back in the day and left on good terms.

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  56. jenjen, I appreciate your response and I will take a closer look at US agriculture before I make more assumptions.

    However, I do not share your optimism on aquaponics. I see the science behind a balanced system that is supposed to create a miniature ecosystem. However, let me make one more ignorant comment: this fish farm will NOT be the utopic system you expect.

    My interested is peaked; I am going to perform some feasibility research on this site and get back to you...

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