Results tagged “raysuarez”

The ongoing city scandal over real estate and leases involving the mayor's nephew has drawn the ire of 31st Ward Alderman Ray Suarez. Reacting to the questionable month-to-month lease the Department of General Services established back in November of 2007, Suarez told the Sun-Times that he should have signed off on it. Suarez is chair of the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate.

Alderman Ray Suarez (31st) proposed an ordinance Wednesday that would limit dog ownership in the City of Chicago to five pups. He told the Tribune that 27 alderman supported his effort. "There are a lot of people who can't enjoy their backyards because of irresponsible dog owners," he said. "It smells really bad, especially in the summer," he added. Recently, a woman in Wheeling was given permission by a judge to circumvent that town's four-dog limit to keep her fifth.

Swamped by citizen complaints, cranky aldermen, and a whole lot of snow, Mayor Daley has finally relented and put the city back on its regular snow plow plan. His controversial plan to cut back on side street plowing and avoid overtime pay proved quite unpopular as it made driving hazardous and dangerous all over the city.

"Unfortunately, it didn't work out very well," Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Michael Picardi told aldermen at a Tuesday hearing on the subject. "Now that we are in the extreme winter months of January and February, we know that we are going to have to plow and spread salt as we always have and as we did last year. So, we should expect then a significant increase in service on side streets in future snows."

Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) told Picardi, "The calls I've been getting have not been nice, and the language they have been using has not been nice. The residents of Chicago expect the streets to be salted, and when they are not salted, they can cost an election. And you are starting to get back into the groove, and that's what we want to see." The cutback was an effort to save money on overtime as snowy winters the past few years cost the city $30 million in 2007 and $33.7 million in 2008 (including $8 million just in December). Ald. Tom Allen (36th) one of the most vocal critics of Daley's plan, said, "This was public safety, and we screwed up bad. I'm not criticizing the attempt to make a change, but the attempt was a big flop, and now we are back to reality."