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The 50th Ward is corrupt, Alderman Bernie Stone may or may not be in the pockets of developers rather than representing the wants of his constituents, according to a longass article in the Trib today. Zoning rules are widely flouted, with developers not notifying residents of new plans or putting up required signs.
The Tribune has found that zoning rules have been ignored or changed to make it easier for developers and harder for residents to have a meaningful say in what gets built on their streets.
Sadface. The story focuses on a proposed senior housing facility in West Rogers Park. The developer's lawyer? James Banks and Samuel Banks, nephew and brother of Alderman William Banks, who is the head of the zoning committee. Some "neighborhood activists" oppose the construction, saying the building will be far taller than everything around it and will lead to increased an unwanted traffic, and they went to the zoning committee meeting to have their complaints heard. Which...didn't work out like that.
[50th Ward resident Hugh Devlin]...told the committee that he wanted to note the multiple political donations to his alderman from the Banks law firm and from the project architect's. State records show more than $3,000 in donations to Stone from Samuel Banks.[Alderman Gene] Schulter cut off Devlin: "That's totally, totally out of line. Totally out of line. We are talking about the project before the committee at this time . . . This is totally irrelevant."
The committee unanimously approved the construction. [Trib, photo by bowl rider]
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Does this city need a little guerrilla warfare or what? Nothing will make a corrupt government listen like a few heads on sticks.
"neighborhood activists" he he snicker snicker. Careful Margaret, Hugh can be a big meany! He might do an internet search on you and then you are finished!
Every time they run one of the articles in this series, I feel like the authors are waving their arms and frantically shouting, "People!! PLEASE give a crap about the massive corruption in your city government! It just might affect you one day!!!" and the majority of readers are saying, "*Yawn*...wow our streets were plowed promptly this winter...I wonder what's on sale at the Jewel this week?"
$3K is a pretty small bribe.
My guess would be that Stone wants a large concentration of elderly voters who like him in his ward.
Yes, $3,000 is not a lot of money. But that is the tip of the iceberg. It is typical for a developer to have subcontractors, the project's insurance agents, insurers for the insurance agency, zoning lawyers, the project's real estate agents and construction employees donate money to a particular alderman. And to have workers of all types provide the manpower to help with legwork for the alderman's campaign. There is a lot of way these developers funnel money to an alderman.
It can be a staggering amount of money and manpower for an alderman to have. And many alderman take that assistance while ignoring the well-being of residents.
Who did Tribune endorse in the last election in the 50th Ward. Are they part of the problem or part of the solution?
There's only one thing that Berny Stone loves more than bribes from developers is another stop sign.