Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Maryville Meeting In Words & Pictures

People lining up to get inside

Registering to vote

Some of the crowd

Alderman Cappleman leads the meeting

full house

The gentleman who had to be escorted out, in the midst
of a huge crowd of neighbors and observers.
You can just feel the steamy temperatures in the room!

Wow, you guys came, you snapped (pictures), you observed and you wrote.  We received many photos of the event last night, as well as many different accounts of what happened in that steamy, emotional gymnasium.  Crowd estimates ranged from 200-800 (can we split the difference and guesstimate 500?).  What everyone agrees on is that the crowd was emotional, but well-behaved (with the exception of one gentleman who had to be escorted out at the alderman's request); that Ald. Cappleman did a good job of conducting the meeting; that so many people attended that it started a half hour late; and that it was hot, hot, hot!
  • "Despite stifling heat and a skeptical audience of more than 200 people, Sedgwick Properties representatives argued passionately with neighborhood residents tonight over their plan to build a $350 million mixed-use high rise on the site of a former Maryville Academy facility at Clarendon and Montrose avenues. After nearly two hours of debate, residents cast a potentially decisive vote regarding the development project, though many attendees had made up their minds long before the vote was called." Rob Ross put on his Jimmy Olson hat and did a news article about the meeting, which can be read here.
  • A look back at history:  Someone dug up an 1982 article about what happened when the community opposed a developer who wanted to build a high-rise in the park.
Update:  The Tribune quotes Ald. Cappleman's Chief of Staff, Tressa Feher, saying that there were about 500 votes cast and they'll be counted by the end of the week, if not sooner.  The Tribune also quoted UU in its story.

    16 comments:

    1. Amazing turnout of our community! It makes one feel that a new day may have arrived in Uptown where community input is valued and sought.

      Kudos to the new Alderman - what a stellar performance in his first big test in office. Cappleman conducted the meeting in an extremely fair, civilized, transparent and productive manner. The details, down to the orderly check-in process and simple stated rules for voting and asking questions, were equitable and clear to everyone. [The one disruptor, who thought he could hijack the meeting by shouting down others, was extended great patience and finally appropriate, but polite police escort out.]

      However the vote and city council wrangling turn out, I think this marks a new day for our community. We have matured, we can speak for ourselves and we can even effectively stand up to those who view Uptown as a plantation to be exploited - major real estate developers, and yes, even the Catholic Sisters who now seem more interested in getting the top dollar than in serving people. [They have turned down several other offers for sale that did not include plans to use OUR money (TIF funds) because they were not large enough to satisfy whatever financial mess the Church has gotten itself into.] The Sisters - or their lawyers - attempt to blackmail our community with threats to neighborhood parking, etc. is a disgrace to God. I am so ashamed of these once noble and self-sacrificing religious sisters who, in this instance, proved to be no more than a slimy real estate sales racket.

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    2. who, in this instance, proved to be no more than a slimy real estate sales racket.

      Like you said, it could just be their lawyers ... or it could be higher ups in the church.

      Or not.

      I'm no god fearin' type, but verification might be a good thing to have before raining shame upon some nuns.

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    3. With the money involved I bet it gets built,money talks in this country and $350 million is ALOT of money.We shall see.

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    4. Buena Parker said...

      Amazing turnout of our community! It makes one feel that a new day may have arrived in Uptown where community input is valued and sought.

      I absolutely agree BP.

      However I can't understand the anger directed towards the Catholic Sisters. They have a fiduciary duty to their mission and donors to sell off assets for the best price. I can see how this doesn't look good in light of the opaque process.

      To be fair I am biased, besides my own upbringing our CEO here at Mercy Housing is a nun...and doing a fine and ethical job.

      Agree to disagree on the Sisters, last night was a milestone for Uptown...a great milestone.

      I second your Kudos Buena Parker!

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    5. I don't have an opinion pro or con about nuns in general. I do have an opinion about anyone - nun or sinner - who wants to grab our tax dollars for a lucrative private deal.

      FACT: The nuns previously turned down other offers to buy the property that did not include the potential for developers taking $50 million of public tax dollars.

      As to "YO"s floating of the scenario about this order just doing the bidding of "higher-ups" in "the church" - the nature of this group's internal institutional politics and dysfunctions are not my problem or concern.

      The writer's presumption that this is "the church" is outrageously un-American and obscene. I don't recall America electing any particular cult or sect or church to any political office.

      The nuns or their representatives could have attended last night's meeting and spoken for themselves - they chose not to. Their threat to cut off parking on their vacant property seems highly un-"nun-like" - whether it was their lawyers who came up with this threat or not, the order is responsible for those whom it hires to negotiate for it.

      The nuns exercising fiduciary caution is fine with me, but this does not include a right to make a deal that takes $50 million of public tax dollars. I think a refresher course on civics and the separation of church and state is desperately needed here.

      As I have friends and family who have suffered criminal sexual abuse by "the church," this institution and all its tentacle entities long ago lost any right to request a presumption of good motives.

      I'm not interested in anyone's attempt to hide behind the skirt tails of religious mumbo-jumbo. The only one to blame if the word "shame" upsets some is those who hire lawyers to conduct dealings shamefully.

      Shame and Slime (and dishonesty) are perfect words to describe the dealings we have thus far observed, and I am proud to reiterate these descriptors.

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    6. I was not at the meeting, but great to hear reports that Alderman Cappleman did a stellar job.

      I don't know whether this project will get built now. What I do know for sure is that the land in question is valuable. I don't believe the Sisters will sit on it for years.

      Finally, I am looking to Alderman Cappleman for a clear understanding of the basis for his decision on this project, whatever it ends up being.

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    7. Molly Phelan, where are you? You were so pro-Uptown development during the election. Now, you seem to have disappeared from the face of the Earth.. are you still here, are you participating at all in Uptown's dialogue? You did have a few thousand vote for you so I would be interested in your thoughts. Or did you just walk away from all leadership stands after the election? Molly, are you there?

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    8. The nuns or their representatives could have attended last night's meeting and spoken for themselves - they chose not to. Their threat to cut off parking on their vacant property seems highly un-"nun-like" - whether it was their lawyers who came up with this threat or not, the order is responsible for those whom it hires to negotiate for it.

      Excellent point.

      And without their representation at the meeting, or throughout this process - quite honestly, their motivations are left to one's personal interpretation.

      BP, my point wasn't to downplay your perspective. I just have an aversion to random lightening strikes ;)

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    9. Greatly appreciated the turn-out.

      To me, the only stellar thing the alderman has done, was to call the meeting. Many folks I spoke to believed his opening introductions of the two factions represented, leaned toward the developer in his energy and language.

      The importance of his decisions re this project, as guided by community input will, I hope, determine whether this "Freshman Alderman" will see a "Sophomore" term or not.

      Glad to hear the developer "intends to complete the project"... I'm sure Kelliher of Sherbrook intended to complete the Chicago Spire by the end of 2012 as planned... after spending millions... but the crash changed that outcome.

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    10. I agree with you Gene. I also noticed that the alderman physically stood with the developer for the whole evening as well. I got a weird feeling from that, too.

      If he decides to move forward after what I saw at the meeting, he will have a flash mob of a different kind on his hands.

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    11. that B&W photo looks like that scene from "Field of Dreams" when Amy Madigan's character start talking about Terence Mann's "The Boat Rocker"

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    12. So Gene...Wow...that's a cynicism which hadn't even crossed my mind. Really? He stood so the podium and screen was to his left (my personal preference as well) and that's an indication our Alderman supports the developers?

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    13. Some of the comments here are edging to the point of being bizarre.

      The Nuns are Catholic. The Church had/has a huge sex abuse scandal. Nuns bad.

      Nuns make me think of "The Sound of Music". There were Nazis in that movie. Therefore, the developers are actually the aliens from the TV series "V".

      Alderman Cappleman stood next to the developer. This reminds me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Cappleman is a pod person!

      Where is Molly Phelan? Is her face on an Uptown milk carton?

      Now if you will excuse me I need to go over to Jewel and purchase some medicinal alcohol. "I'm on a mission from God."

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    14. @Gene: To me it was a way of showing others who may have been watching that he's not 100% anti-development. He's not going to be outwardly antagonistic towards the developers, no matter how he may really feel.

      @IP: Do you see the light?

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    15. "I agree with you Gene. I also noticed that the alderman physically stood with the developer for the whole evening as well. I got a weird feeling from that, too."

      Maybe we can drop some of the wild paranoia and conspiracy theories now.

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    16. I think Ald.Cappleman went out of his way - and appropriately so - to make sure the developer's side was heard. I commend him for doing so.

      I do not think anyone who understands the issues would think this was because Ald. Cappleman was in any way pre-biased toward Sedgwick. I think the opposite is more likely the case.

      The Alderman was trying to be fair to all sides in a room where the sentiment was clearly against the developer (as I am) and where, without strict adherence to order, the developer would have simply been shouted down without the audience being able to hear and consider their proposals, as flimsy and dishonest as we all saw those proposals to be. This is called being an effective moderator of a large and potentially heated community meeting - something Uptown has not been used to in recent decades.

      Kudos to Ald. Cappleman for conducting an open meeting that was fair to all sides, no matter how unpopular and misdirected Sedgwick's side clearly is, they had a right to be heard and make asses of themselves, and didn't need any help from the Alderman to do so.

      It reminds me of when Bill Maher has Republicans on his Politically Incorrect TV show - Maher goes out of his way to let Republican guests speak because he knows the crowd is overwhelmingly against them and because he knows that they will make fools of themselves without any help from him.

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