Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Ald. Shiller Rambles On WBEZ


Ald. Shiller was interviewed on WBEZ's "Eight Forty-Eight" program. Check out the interview here. Thoughts? We really have no idea what she said.

44 comments:

  1. Why is she doing all these interviews? Is she under the microscope of the feds?

    Seems like she is defending her years as Alderman.

    Throwing mud at the wall hoping some of it sticks to cover something up?

    Just seems weird she isn't running but she is doing all these interviews.

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  2. The woman is a legend...in her own mind.

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  3. Maybe she has some sort of psychological disorder.

    It sure seems that way to me.

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  4. Think about it. She's sunk over 20 years of her life into a job where she has lost the confidence of the voters. That has to be devastating to her. She needs to come up with an excuse why she's not running, searching for one last bit of dignity.

    As far as I'm concerned, she's reaping what she sowed. The glaring issue in all of this is crime and she refused to listen to the community about their concerns. She made it worse by accusations that a focus on crime is picking on poor people.

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  5. It's a startling different Helen when an interviewer doesn't give her puffball questions. Listen to her talk over the interviewer and interrupt her and get defensive when it's not a good buddy like Jim Williams or Laura Washington hanging on to her every thought.

    I don't begrudge her a farewell tour. This is her equivalent of a pat on the back and a gold watch. It's really funny to see all the comments accompanying these stories and interviews, though; definitely not the kind she had envisioned as "grande dame" of Uptown bidding a gracious farewell.

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  6. A lot of activity on her website. She's posted links to a lot of her "exit interviews".

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  7. I don't think I've heard more about the 46th Ward's sewers than I have ever heard.

    That being said - I wonder if she keeps mentioning sewers to warm us up to Don Notworthy.

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  8. Interesting - all of them are links to interviews to the media, yet she *still* doesn't e-mail her constituents to tell them directly.

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  9. "ShillerPhone" from back before da last election.

    An oldie and a baddie.

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  10. In the WTTW interview the woman called Helen a Marxist. Helen just laughed like it was a badge of honor. When in America did being called a Marxist become a compliment?

    In all her years in Uptown the poor are still physically and morally dirt poor. The rich are nowhere to be found and the middle class or the Marxist "working class" are left holding the bag dealing with and paying for it all.

    Спасибо Helen!

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  11. I totally got what she said. Let me translate...

    Klhdfbgsdkkfbvjkesfbvukshdfbvkjhbfdvukhbtdvjkbsfjkhvb
    Jkdfbvkjhwrbvjkh evjkhsbvkhbdsrkvhbksjhdhbrskhbvjfff
    Kjrnsvljsbarlkvjbohjesuschristidontknowwhatimsayingjebksc
    Knbrsajlbsarkbksbdrkjhbkjhbkssrhbvkjhsbrkvjhb.

    At least that's how I heard it.

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  12. If I don't say so myself, I think I sounded much more coherent (albeit nervous) on the same show nearly one year ago:

    http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=36195

    Also, here is the link to Shiller's interview (so that you don't have to scroll through today's entire episode):

    http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=43588

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  13. I bet the new owners of the Cubs want here gone too.

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  14. Moosh - your translating of "oh jesus christ i dont know what im saying" cracked me up!

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  15. Joe,

    I just listened to your interview again.

    When are you announcing your candidacy for Alderman?

    I mean they said you were gonna run so you best run........it all plays into the group psychosis and paranoia.

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  16. Come on, not only UU, but also the comments. She is retiring. Can we start having a more positive outlook about our ward? We only have to deal with her for a little bit longer but it seems like she is the only thing that gets people interested on this blog.

    Did anyone even notice the Inspiration Cafe founder got a Presidential Medal? No one could even be bothered to say congrats in the comments, but oh, post something about Shiller, and everyone comes out to play!

    We know she was bad for Uptown and thank goodness she is leaving. But let's "be the change we wish to see", and start focusing on the positive! :-D

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  17. Brad with all her press junkets she is on and her saying she has a lot to offer my question is what is she up to? She is the one keeping herself in the news.

    I could see her ending up working for Holstein at WY, a non-profit or for that proposed development for Maryville.

    She might still end being a problem in Uptown.

    Frankly, I would like to see her leave the state.

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  18. Bradster,

    please let us have our fun.

    We won't have Helen Shiller to kick around much longer. Sorry for the Nixonesque comment, but their mutual paranoia makes them seem strangely similar to me.

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  19. Who gets to decide what stories are told and when?

    You do.

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  20. Brad,

    after enduring years of Shiller's venom and bile, a lot of commenters have earned a little catharsis.

    Plus, it helps keep people vigilant, because even though she's the lamest of lame ducks, she's not actually gone yet. Which means she has more than half a year left in which to try to implement awful plans and tie the ward up in ridiculous legacies. Or, if she's as petty and spiteful as she seems, to implement a scorched earth policy so that her successor inherits as big of a mess as she can manage.

    So I'm glad that UU is keeping track of her, and will continue to keep track of her, until she no longer can do damage in the name of her warped definition of "justice."

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  21. Helen was nowhere to be seen for at least the past 12 years...soooooooooo busy in her part time job. No public comments on happenings in her ward! All of the sudden, she can't shut up...and it's all about the sewers??? Such a grand effort to justify her last years in office. I would think that if you've screwed up that badly, it's best to keep your mouth shut and disappear.

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  22. "We won't have Helen Shiller to kick around much longer. Sorry for the Nixonesque comment, but their mutual paranoia makes them seem strangely similar to me."

    Mutual paranoia? Shiller and Nixon are paranoid of one another? How is that possible?

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  23. what is she up to?

    - Legacy protection
    - Resume fodder
    - Rationalization(s)
    - all of the above

    Brad's right, we should focus on the future and let the baby have her bottle.

    Then again, larry's gotta point re: her out-of-the-blue verbosity striking a stark constrast to what her constituents have been begging her to do for the last few years.

    Interestingly enough, had she come out and said anything significant regarding the gang violence of late (if only for the sake of optics), lots of folks would be more than happy to let her prattle on about the sewers.

    Regardless, she's got as much right to shape her record as anyone else does to correct it ;)

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  24. Dunleavy,

    lay off the sauce.

    They both exhibit(ed) paranoid tendencies. You may too.

    Now if you will excuse me I need to change my location because the Illuminati are out to get me.

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  25. Sure, Schiller might want to be in the news, BUT...

    A 20 year alderman announcing their retirement, and the first alderman to do so, is what you would call NEWS. So obviously news organizations that cover local politics are going to want to interview her.
    negativity, negativity, negativity.

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  26. Helen Shiller really is old news now. Why is everyone commenting on her. She is doing her farewell tour. Truth be told she has every right to do it after 24 years in office. The real question is who and what is next. What do the four announced candidates have to offer. And, is anyone else going to run. Let's move on folks.

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  27. Helen Shiller really is old news now.

    When the next alderman has been sworn in, then she'll be old news.

    Until then, she's still the sitting alderman.

    Her announcement doesn't change that.

    As for the negativity, maybe/possibly/probably - though, when a good portion of your constituency feels as though they've been ignored, and no measures were taken to correct that perception ... you expose yourself to karma.

    Not to go national (and certainly not to defend anyone); but simply to make a point: people are still fumingly negative over the previous presidential administration (and the administration previous to that one).

    Welcome to the world of politics and that pesky 1st amendment.

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  28. The progress in this neighborhood lags drastically behind areas like Bucktown, Wicker Park and neighborhood surrounding United Center. Having lived in Wicker Park 15 years ago and revisiting today, in the same number of years, Uptown has not progressed. I would love to track the actual growth between similiar neighborhoods over the same period of time.

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  29. Just because people in Italy loved the dictator Mussolini because he made the trains run on time, doesn't mean we have to love Shiller because she made the sewers work (some of the time).

    In fact some of her sewers still don't work (i.e. public housing that harbors gangs).

    Oh well.

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  30. Down and Out in Uptown said...

    The progress in this neighborhood lags drastically behind areas like Bucktown, Wicker Park and neighborhood surrounding United Center. Having lived in Wicker Park 15 years ago and revisiting today, in the same number of years, Uptown has not progressed. I would love to track the actual growth between similiar neighborhoods over the same period of time.

    I like to think of "progress" as lifting people out of poverty rather than out of the neighborhood, but that's just my own observation of the difference in those neighborhoods 15 years ago vs. today.

    I don't quite recall so I may be wrong, but I don't think either Bucktown or Wicker Park had as many social service agencies or as many subsidized housing units.

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  31. IrishPirate:

    I don't think the word "mutual" means what you think it means.

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  32. Down and Out Said: The progress in this neighborhood lags drastically behind areas like Bucktown, Wicker Park and neighborhood surrounding United Center. Having lived in Wicker Park 15 years ago and revisiting today, in the same number of years, Uptown has not progressed.

    Uptown as a whole has progressed--not saying that in support of Shiller, just as a general observer and lifer who could remember when things were much shabbier. It is true that it is not as far along in the gentrification process as Wicker Park and the near west side. However an observation like that does not necessarily make the case against Shiller, because those neighborhoods achieved their improvement in part by pricing and pushing many of the long time residents out of those communities. One of the reasons why Uptown has not changed as much is because it was harder to push poor people out. But before some of you flip out, the point is that I do believe Uptown plays a valuable role in the city as a place where poor people--and those newly immigrated to this country--can make a home, as well as those with greater means. I am all for the neighborhood progressing aesthetically and certainly in terms of safety and retail options. However, I want want leadership that promotes progress that does not result in total displacement to achieve that goal. In that way, Wicker Park is not a success, and that is a balance I hope the new leadership in Uptown can manage to achieve.

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  33. UW -- I think that you're right on point here and I don't necessarily often agree with your opinions on UU :)

    I came to Uptown for its potential, not to watch it become a Lincoln Park or a has-been, sell-out Bucktown.

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  34. When comparing the areas to Uptown, I was comparing the retail growth, gang activity (I am sure many of you have read My Bloody Life) and overall change in the areas. Be careful when you ask for things. We moved here as a family because of the over gentrification in Bucktown. I have to admit it is nice to have a beer, legally, outside on North Avenue with my family. I would like to see Wilson Avenue, Sheridan, Broadway with some increase in restaurant and retail activity. It doesn't need to be as extreme as in the neighborhoods I mentioned. Many of you write here that you are afraid, intimidated to walk down Wilson Avenue. I've seem the pictures posted. That activity is what needs to go away. You can't have it both ways. I don't need to point out the empty storefronts that have been so for YEARS!! You complain about loitering, drug dealing, prostitution public intoxication, public urination...the list goes on. Of course you can take this and be just like Helen, the one you so despise and make it about the Have's and the Have Nots and how you want to fight gentrification and keep affordable housing. The fact of the matter is you have an extreme moving in the wrong direction...something like 28% subsidized housing compared to other wards which have 5%. I work in health care in this neighborhood and I treat the mentally ill, the substance abusers and the elderly. If you think for a second that they feel safe in this community, you are sadly mistaken. This affordable housing you speak of maintaining is often a place run by drug dealers and haunted with psychiatric patients in need of hospitalization. I have been inside Wilson Hotel...We treat animals more Civilized (another common word on this blog). Again, you are correct in that the number of services offered here are greater than that of others areas. Are you proud of that fact? It begs the question as to why it is so. Many section 8 housing was moved here when U of I purchased the property surrounding its downtown campus as well and cleaned up little Italy.

    Toucan...Who exactly have we lifted out of poverty in this neighborhood?? Drive by Heartland Outreach one morning while people are lining up. Drive down Wilson, Broadway or Sheridan...We've done a great job with poverty.

    Meg and Uptown Writer...This area does not have to be Bucktown or Wicker Park. It could be better, much better. Take a look thru this blog and what people complain about..."it's not your college campus." There is a chance to change this area without destroying the community. Complaining about it does not work and then defending the way things are.

    My family is invested here. We didn't want to live in Lincoln Park, but I didn't necessarily sign up to live where walking to the Starbucks with two small children resembles a scene from The Wire nor where I fights occur regularly and gunshots are written about weekly. There has to be a middle ground.

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  35. UW and Meg...I never said gentrification and pushing out the poor was the answer. Again, people complain about the violence in this neighborhood, the loitering, etc. I was simply pointing out that a happy medium can be achieved. It was done to the extreme in 20 years in other communities and in Uptown you still can not walk down Wilson, Broadway, Sheridan or even clean up the EL stop. You can't want things to change and yet stay the same. Google what a neighborhood in California did to address a problem with a drug house. 15 neighbors filed small claims against the buildings owner when all else failed. The neighbors won the case and it even won upon appeal. Again, I have only lived here 3 years and have two small children and am vested in this community.

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  36. Down & Out - I agree with you; I didn't mean to suggest that you were encouraging pushing out the poor. And I certainly think that social services need to be held accountable for showing some progress too; what's the harm with that? Plus, kids should feel safe walking home from school -- not having to face a street fight brewing. I think we all have reasonable and good goals for our home Uptown.

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  37. SORRY FOR THE CAPS;
    BRAD, I AGREE WITH YOU. INSPIRATION CAFE GETTING THE PRESIDENTS MEDAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STORY ON UU. IT'S A COOL THING FOR UPTOWN, BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT UU KEEPS THE RESIDENTS ALERTED TO THE LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN THE ALDERMANS OFFICE, WHICH IN TURN, KEEPS THE HEAT ON HER. HOWEVER, NOT HAVING A STORY ON INSPIRATION CAFE, UU HAS MISSED THE BOAT ON A GOOD THING THAT HAPPENED IN UPTOWN. SORRY FOLKS, IT'S THE WAY I SEE IT.

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  38. Towanda,
    I think you are a tad bit confused. Check the post below this post. We featured the good news from Inspiration Cafe.

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  39. I STAND CORRECTED UPTOWN UPDATER. MY BAD:( JUST DIDN'T SCROLL DOWN FAR ENOUGH. SORRY.

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  40. if I hear her call herself Harold's 26th vote 1 more time, I'm gonna hit somebody

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  41. First act of the NEW Aldermen: rezone the ward map so that that it DOES NOT INCLUDE Shiller's residence.
    ITHis has always upset me that she rezoned it to include her home.

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  42. i would rather have overgentrification in uptown than what we have now.

    i wont be careful for what i wish for.

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