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| Photo courtesy of Lake Effect News |
Dear Friends,
It is with mixed emotions that I have decided not to run for re-election in February.
My 20 years as Alderman of the 48th Ward have been the most productive and fulfilling of my career. I am so proud of what we have accomplished together to improve the quality of life in our community. Despite the continuing challenges, our streets are safer, our schools are better, our housing has improved and our businesses are strong.
But I believe it is time I move to a new phase in my life. I want to focus my energy on environmental issues, especially climate change and the health of the Great Lakes; mental health and nursing home reform, and animal welfare. I believe I can do this more effectively as a focused advocate for these causes.
Thank you for your help and support. It has been my privilege to serve you. And I pledge to devote my full energy to working on behalf our community as your Alderman until my term expires next May.
With warmest regards,
Mary Ann Smith
still waiting for that e-mail from shiller.
ReplyDeleteWell as she would just fill it up with things that were not true or significantly distorted I am glad she did not waste my time with a goodbye email.
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and keep meeting for coffee in loop area restaurants with reporters, just please leave decisions in my neighborhood for those that want to listen to EVERYONE effected by their choices.
>> "...as your Alderman until my term expires next May."
ReplyDeleteIf she does stick around for her full term instead of doing the retire/Daley-appointed incumbent, this would make things quite interesting...
SORRY FOR THE CAPS
ReplyDeleteVERY CLASSY OF MAS DO SEND THIS OUT. KUDO'S TO HER FOR THAT.
Class.
ReplyDeleteI admire her class. At least she knows how to communicate to her constituents.
ReplyDeleteA real lady and a real asset to her 48th ward. I am sure she will deeply missed. Now for our ward 46 Helen Shiller. A total failure and surely won`t be missed. Don`t let the door hit her in the ass on the way out.
ReplyDeletesorry for the non-caps
ReplyDeleteso, who do else will be exiting their aldermanic piggy banks?
Marc, Towanda has ocular cancer and must use caps so s/he can see what s/he's typing. Please don't mock.
ReplyDeleteVi Daley is the third to announce she's not running. I'll never forget (or forgive) her for voting for the additional $50,000,000.00 for the Wilson Yard TIF and admitting to a UU commenter that she had no idea what it was about, just that Helen asked her to vote yes and it made Helen really, really happy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the percentage of low-income housing is in Vi Daley's ward?
I'm happy the Good Ole Boys Club (eoe/m/f) is breaking up. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get someone in the City Council who won't vote "yes" without looking into just what the $50 mill is buying... besides a smile from a crony.
Here's something to think about...
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's getting harder to raise cash and buy yourself a seat at city hall.
Developers are broke and going back to Ireland, or are "giving back" their properties to the banks that lent them cash. Remember Pure H2O at Clarendon and Wilson? Helen neatly took in thousands of dollars without lifting a finger. It just magically appeared in her campaign account.
The WY well has run dry, everybody's eyeing the $700,000,000 in uncommitted TIF funds across the city to plug budget shortfalls, and pay to play has to be severely cut back, as there is no more "play" to pay for.
Who wants to actually work hard on campaigning?
Certainly not the cozy incumbents.
Let's face the City is broke and things are going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteNo one can vote against Daley if you he do finds a way to screw your ward over.
He is the biggest problem.
@UptownRefugee--"...there is no more "play" to pay for."
ReplyDeleteMaybe not in real estate but there are plenty of other plays in city, county and state gov't and the dollar amounts involved make developer contributions to Aldermen and aldermanic campaigns look puny.
CARING NEIGHBOR THANK YOU AGAIN FOR HAVING MY BACK. THIS "LADY" APPRECIATES IT:)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne:
ReplyDeleteI've read through Helen's D2s for years now. MAS', not so much.
I haven't run any percentage calculations or anything like that, but I'd be willing to bet most of Helen's contributions were development related.
Money from Target's lobbying firm.
Money from Peter Holsten.
Money from Dan Burke.
Money from Aldi's lobbying firm.
There's A LOT of development money in those 2007 D2s, and there probably a lot more in the 2006 D2s.
It's undeniable, and the numbers are right there for you and everyone else to see.
CaringNeighbor - It's still annoying.
ReplyDeleteTowanda - Since the size differential between lower case and caps isn't much on this site, perhaps you could press ctrl+ until the screen is more easily readable to you. Then you'll be able to read AND you won't be yelling. Hooray for everyone!
Hey Marc,
ReplyDeleteHit Control + about a dozen times and digest this:
STFU.
How many times do we have to tell this Shiller Fan Club (LOL) that Mary Ann Smith isn't much better. She used to be independent but like Shiller sold out what she claimed to stand for to get in Daley's good graces.
ReplyDeleteSmith knocked all her opponents off the ballot to get another 4 years. But she continues to brag that she got 70% of the vote in the last election. Most Edgewater residents don't even know her name or see her out in the neighborhood.
Now she wants to work on Nursing Home reform. So where was she all these years when the Somerset clients were destroying the neighborhood. As long as the owner was donating to her, it was just fine. He sold and the new owner didn't donate....BINGO! The Somerset is closed.
Sadly, I don't know much about Ms. Smith, I do know she's more like 'Glinda'the good witch, as opposed to what we have in the 46th.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, there's a lot of Wizard of Oz parallels in Uptown.
Lot's of 'Poppies' (meth clinics or fish farms?) and nasty flying gang members with weapons.
I'm looking forward to walking to the Wilson L stop in the future, and not having my blood pressure rise, like the building at Wilson Yard.
IRISH, THANK YOU! I DO THE BEST I CAN AND AM GRATEFUL THAT THOSE WHO ARE ON THIS BLOG A LOT AND SEE MY COMMENTS KNOW WHY I USE CAPS AND SEEM TO ACCEPT IT. I REALLY DON'T LIKE OFFENDING PEOPLE. IT'S NOT MY INTENTION. MAYBE I SHOULD NOT COMMENT...BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT. ANYHOW, I ENJOY YOUR COMMENTS AND AGAIN, THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteMARC, I HOPE NOTHING BAD HAPPENS TO YOU BUT IF IT DID, PERHAPS IT WOULD GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO WALK IN SOMEONE ELSE SHOES, WHICH WOULD COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR POINT OF VIEW.
Let the political fun begin. I can't wait for February/March of next year. I live on the corner of Marine Drive and Argyle, but I walk to the Berwyn "El" stop because the Argyle stop is so grimy, not to mention the, ahem, "interesting" characters I tend to meet.
ReplyDeleteWhoever is running, they can be sure I will examine their positions on getting more development money for Argyle street, as well as putting more police officers on the street along Argyle/Sheridan (where there has been some Latin King activity as of late), very closely.
@Uptown Refugee. Do look at Smith's D2s, or Tunney's, or Schulter’s, or Moore's, particularly the Jan thru June period of an election year (ex. 2007). What you're describing isn’t unique to Helen. It’s par for the course for all Alderman though the others racked up a lot more zeros. I'm not saying it's right or good or wise...just that it is.
ReplyDeleteAh, as for the plays that remain...see state government ;-)
ReplyDeleteChrist, Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteYou are one heck of an argumentative hair splitter and tangential commenter.
My statement was a theory regarding Helen's and MAS' current (in)ability to raise easy cash, and the possibility that not having access to easy cash might have made them think twice about running again.
It was always easier to rely on the TIF, development, corporate, and liquor license seeker money train than it is to build a sizable grass roots network of individual donors.
Perhaps this isn't the case any longer.
Of course it also relates to other Aldermen, and other Aldermen in wealthier wards absolutely have better money machines. You have added no content of any importance on this theory. You just muddied the water.
I made no comment about county or state political fund raising. You may be correct, but it has nothing to do with what I wrote.
Christ yourself, Uptown Refugee. Why so cranky? In case you didn’t notice, I agreed with you and ADDED information for context. As for being tangential and hair-splitting, looking at other D2s hardly qualifies. Still, you need to learn to express yourself--and debate your theories--without calling people names.
ReplyDelete