Results tagged “alderman”

On Tuesday, the City Council called on Tim Mitchell, Daley's Superintendent of Parks, to answer questions about the District's plans to install parking meters at city beaches this fall. The Park District will contract with Standard Parking to manage the meters, which will charge users a dollar an hour for parking at city beaches. In July 38th Ward Alderman Tom Allen expressed outrage at the deal, saying "The slogan is, 'Come out and play' —not 'come out and pay.' We want to revisit this. People own the lakefront. People own the beach. In this economy, that's the only vacation people can afford."

Later Tunney acknowledged that there isn’t a consensus in the LGBT community whether to pursue a special category as a qualified minority. He told the Sun-Times:

Be sure to check Part 1 of the interview here if you haven't.

Toni Preckwinkle has been the Fourth Ward Alderman for nearly 20 years. She ran for the post twice prior to winning, in 1983 and 1987, against incumbent Tim Evans. "I came to Chicago when I was 18 years old to go to the University of Chicago. That was 1965, and I've been here ever since. I usually describe myself as having a dilettante's major - I was a general studies and social sciences major and then I got a Master of Arts in Teaching degree. I'm a high school teacher by profession," she says. She got into Chicago politics after working with Paul Simon on his race for State Treasurer. "I started working on independent politics in the community in Hyde Park and South Kenwood, with the Independent Voters of Illinois. Larry Bloom, who was married to one of my college classmates, decided to run for Alderman of the Fifth Ward. I was precinct coordinator for him. So I kind of worked my way up from precinct worker to precinct captain to precinct operations. He won, unexpectedly. I think he thought he'd have to take a couple of runs at it before he got elected."

To keep overnight parking free at two lots in his ward, Alderman Joe Moore (D-49) said he will pay the Park District $89,000 a year for three years according to Chi-Town Daily News. Moore says the money will come out of his city stipend (taxpayer money) which aldermen get each year for improvements in their wards. The Park District’s Loyola and Leone parking lots used to be free but the Park District recently approved a 25 cents an hour overnight parking fee to generate revenue needed to balance the budget. The daytime fees at Loyola will increase to $1 an hour. Moore told NBC Chicago, “I don’t have any real serious problems with them increasing the meter rates during the day when parks are open” he said, “But leave us alone at night.”

Yesterday, Billy Ocasio officially relinquished his seat as alderman of the city's 26th ward; taking his place temporarily is his former chief of staff, Hector Villagrana. But Mayor Daley has up to 60 days to name a replacement and the one Ocasio has suggested - Rev. Wilfredo De Jesús of the New Life Covenant Church - has the gay community worried. WBEZ dug a bit deeper into some of their concerns.

As of today, the 26th Ward of Chicago has a new alderman for now: Hector Villagrana. Ocasio officially began working for Gov. Quinn today, an announcement he made last month. Villagranna talked to WBEZ and assured the residents of the 26th Ward everything is going to be just fine.

U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald announced today the indictment of Ald. Ike Carothers (29th) and Galewood Yards developer Calvin Boender on corruption and bribery charges. Specifically, Carothers was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return and Boender was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of violating federal campaign finance laws, and one count of paying a bribe. According to the U.S. Attorney's press release [PDF]:

Artists beware. If you plan to paint anything on your own property that depicts even the slightest vestige of the Chicago Police Department, you run the risk of being brown-washed. At least that’s what happened to well-known Chicago artist and muralist Gabriel Villa Thursday. He received a call that a large-scale, outdoor mural he had been painting in Bridgeport for two weeks had been covered in brown paint - at the insistence of 11th Ward Alderman James Balcer.

WBEZ is reporting that former alderman and Richard J. Daley adversary Leon Despres has passed away at the age of 101. We highly recommend checking out his memoir, Challenging the Daley Machine.

Some Chicagoans are uneasy about a hot dog stand that will be opening at the corner of Jackson and Western mid-next month. But it's not because the eatery will employ ex-offenders. It's the name that has some people riled up: Felony Franks.

Alderman Sharon Dixon (24th) was arrested for DUI last night after an argument with police. The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. when Dixon approached a police controlled intersection in the 6900 block of North Sheridan Road. Police were controlling the area due to a fire and Dixon asked them to move their cars so she could get through. According to Chicago Police Officer Laura Kubiak, when the police told her she would have to move her car, Dixon got out of the car and yelled at the officers. The police simply charged her with obstructing traffic and no proof of insurance.

 

Mayor Daley’s unofficial city council floor leader, 40th Ward Ald. Pat O’Connor, says he’d like to run for Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s seat but only if the mayor gives him the thumbs up. Receiving Daley’s blessing would be a major bonus for any candidate competing in the special election for Emanuel’s soon-to-be-vacant House seat. So far, six other Chicago aldermen in have expressed some interest in the seat. Those aldermen are Manuel Flores (1st), Ariel Reboyras (30th), Tom Allen (38th), Margaret Laurino (39th), Tom Tunney (44th) and Eugene Schulter (47th). State Representative Sara Feigenholtz has filed her paperwork to run and may be joined by some colleagues.

Just when we were gonna take a long, hard look at his case involving a kickback scheme and the sale of a medical school building, former alderman Edward "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak will plead guilty to federal bribery and fraud charges, according to the case's judge.