Is it grandstanding to call for the Nat'l Guard?

I don't know if it's grandstanding if a group of Alderman want more action on the current issues affecting our city right now. Four Alderman which includes two Mayor Lightfoot foes Ald. Anthony Beale (Ward 9) and very vocal critic of the mayor Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15) in addition to Ald. Leslie Hairston (Ward 5) and Ald. Anthony Napolitan (Ward 41).

BTW, I found an article from the Hyde Park Herald that stated that Ald. Hairston had removed her name from this letter calling for a special city council to discuss the proposals by Ald. Beale and Lopez to not only call for a special city council meeting on public safety and calling on the state to declare a state of emergency due to the increasing violence and threat of civil unrest to call for a four-month deployment of the Illinois Nat'l Guard.

I will share a tweet from Ald. Lopez sharing his proposals.

The two resolutions associated w/ the Special Meeting. One requires monthly hearings to ensure police funds match the will of our residents. The other asks Illinois to declare a state of emergency to deal with the uptick in violence, rioting. How is action on either a bad thing? pic.twitter.com/Ymoy1mvwAO

— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) August 19, 2020

With this said this was covered at CapFax on Wednesday. Probably the first time I saw grandstanding in regards to this proposal.

Simple solutions are usually neither https://t.co/kDWrwUEPKn

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 19, 2020

What is reasonable is what our state's Adjutant General Richard Neely - overseeing both the Army and Air Nat'l Guards - stated as far as using the Nat'l Guard in something of a law enforcement role:

“We’re not law enforcement officers,” Neely told the Tribune after the Guard’s mission ended earlier this summer without incident. “As guardsmen, we’re military. We go to war and we do not need to go to war in our cities. ... It was important to me (troops) were not putting their hands on civilians. So we didn’t do riot control and some of those other missions. We focused on supporting law enforcement, allowing them to do the things they’re best trained to do.”

Using the Nat'l Guard to help support the Chicago Police is nothing new. It's been proposed often over the years and the suggestion of martial law seems very defeatist in solving the issues that really require a law enforcement response with a respect to an individual's rights. I've said we should have more state police assistance in the city.

I've even seen Cook County Sheriff help out with some of this civil unrest, especially a Sheriff Deputy was blocking traffic from getting off the Dan Ryan when 87th Street was beset with looting.

However, as Rich Miller state's simple solutions are usually neither, but to keep the peace in the city in this uncertain time we need to get to work.

A proposal for CTA fares to ride Metra

Metrarail.com

There is a proposal to make riding Metra's Rock Island and Electric lines as affordable as a CTA fare. Would this make some of you more likely to take Metra to where you need to go? Via Curbed Chicago

A plan to reduce fares and increase service on South Side Metra lines is moving forward https://t.co/eZZbkIx6VS pic.twitter.com/focQC58Cun

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) July 24, 2019

A plan to reduce fares and boost service on Metra rail lines serving Chicago’s Far South Side and southern suburbs is building momentum. Officials hope cheaper and more frequent service on Metra’s Electric District and the Rock Island District lines will reverse declining ridership.

If realized, the move would cut ticket prices from the current level of $4 to $5.50 down to $2.50—the same price as a ride on the CTA’s L system. Details such as timing and any financial subsidies from Cook County are still being ironed out, the Chicago Tribune reported this earlier week. Officials are also exploring offering free Ventra transfers between Metra, CTA, and Pace.

A recent mobility study found that although southern Cook County has a higher proportion of transit-dependent residents, the area is lagging when it comes to transit access. Cheaper fares and more frequent service could boost ridership by as much as 33 percent and even lead to a net increase in revenue, according to the study.

I hope they can follow this up with some plans to upgrade some of the Metra stations - especially on the Metra Electric line. Then again we would have to see if these stations see an increase in activity.

A New Abbott Park Advisory Council

49 E 95th St

Got this in an e-mail from the West Chesterfield Community Association. The Abbott Park Advisory Council fired up this past spring and are certainly looking not for people to attend especially if you live nearby. They're especially looking for people to serve on the council and as officers.

• A New Abbott Park Advisory Council
  The Chicago Parks Consortium, West Chesterfield, Roseland Hts and Red Line Extension Coalition (RLEC) helped organize a New Abbott Park Advisory Council and invite your to attend its 6:30 p.m. meeting July, 18, 2018 in the Abbott Park Field House.
  
  These organizations thank the Chicago Park District (CPD) for addressing many Abbott Park operation service requests since the September 19, 2017 CPD Budget Hearing Meeting. The community would like Abbott Park and the 95th Street area to be a “Preferred Point of Destination” that has good business neighbors, level 1 schools, a great park… all of which will improve area walkability and the use of public transportation within the ¼ mile to ½ mile transit-oriented development area of the at the $280 million 95th CTA Terminal.
  
  Since 2017 the CPD planted 140 new trees at Abbott Park, installed Exterior Lights on the field house, trimmed Low tree branches, planted 1040 trees, install a new sink and water heater and drain pipe in the cultural center, repaired park benches and under ground pipes have been repaired in the center field of the.
  
  Michael LaFargue, Chicago Parks Consortium president, congratulates Ms. Lori Burns and Sharon Banks Pincham, Co-Chair’s of the Park Advisory Council for Abbott Park. The PAC is working on its by-laws and goals for the next year.

BTW, I wanted to explore this but will do so at a later time even if it's already a done deal. There is an old playlot on 98th & Michigan that has long since been dismantled and has often seen little activity. Perhaps someone might have a picnic there rarely and sometimes more frequently grown folks or Harlan student just loitering there.

All the same, there is finally a plan to turn this former playlot into a dog park that should've been debated at the last Roseland Heights Community Association meeting in June. I should ask for an update although unfortunately I didn't attend this meeting to observe the results. Though I hope to talk more about this soon and I'm sure this is a topic of conversation at the Abbott Park Advisory Council also.

I even took some more pics recently of the playlot close to 10 years after snapping some shots there as the future of this lot was still uncertain!

From Playlot on 98th/Michigan

Sun-Times: CTA weighs two options for Red Line extension route

Proposed Red Line Extension

Hmmm, I thought that the CTA settled on routing the Red Line extension along the Union Pacific tracks not along Halsted Street. Anyway more talk about this long discussed, long planned extension from 95th Street terminal:

The CTA has narrowed to two the routes for a long-awaited Red Line extension from 95th to 130th Street — one down the middle of busy Halsted Street, the other mostly running along existing freight tracks.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), whose South Side ward would be most heavily affected by the extension, was briefed on the options Tuesday. The chairman of the City Council’s Transportation Committee emerged with a ringing endorsement of the alternative that steers clear of Halsted.

That option for the $2 billion, 5-mile-plus extension generally follows freight tracks operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. A large portion of the tracks run along Eggleston — four blocks west of the existing 95th Street station — and curve eastward as they move farther and farther south.

The CTA’s plan calls for four new stations: at 103rd, 111th, 115th and 130th, with a combined total of up to 2,000 “Park & Ride” spaces, the alderman said.
...
“Halsted Street is wide open. Putting elevated tracks down the middle of the street would disrupt the integrity and cosmetics of Halsted. It would hurt existing businesses. I don’t think anybody wants that,” Beale said.

Now I believed for a while that the chosen route was along the UP tracks. In fact that's the map I frequently shown here when discussing the extension. So in any event in the article there was talk about whether the L extension could be elevated over the UP tracks or whether that route could be widened. Also considerations for the freight UP trains could be carrying in addition to CTA needing right of way on that route.

Then another consideration talking about Mayor Rahm Emanuel:

The biggest question is whether the CTA can persuade the federal government to bankroll the $2 billion project.

Beale believes the chances are good and not just because of the clout Emanuel carries as a former North Side congressman who served as White House chief-of-staff under President Barack Obama.

“That’s a huge ask from the federal government. But, we’ve been talking about the Red Line extension since I was a kid. Since I’ve been chairman, I’ve made this a priority. So has the mayor. I have all the confidence in the world it’s going to happen,” Beale said.

“95th Street is not the end of the city. What about people who need access to jobs downtown and deserve the right get there in a timely manner? Now that we’ve completed the Red Line upgrade and the [$240 million] 95th Street Station reconstruction is about to start, we can walk right into the extension that will finally complete the Red Line from one end of the city to the other.”

If federal funding falls short, Beale said the Red Line extension could be a candidate for Emanuel’s much-ballyhooed Infrastructure Trust to persuade private investors to bankroll projects Chicago can’t afford to build on its own.

That option would likely require CTA riders to pay higher fees to guarantee private investors an attractive return on their money.

“If we have to, we can look at it, but only if it’s the only way,” Beale said.

“We don’t want to put an extra fee on top [of CTA fares]. If we can get the money from the federal government, we can keep the fees down. We’re gonna lean on the federal government for funding first. My emphasis is on the federal government — not the trust.”

The article is correct in noting that the mayor had campaigned on this project, the next question is will it be delivered.

Also you can read more about this proposed project over at the CTA website. Probably not a whole lot new there, but you can check their information on this project.

Via the not very often posted anymore CapFax morning shorts!

Sun-Times: County edges closer to buying up vacant, foreclosed properties

A Cook County land bank was mentioned in an open letter from 6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer back on January 15. Do you believe this to be a good idea in communities that have suffered as a result of the real estate crash and the current recession?

What is being dubbed the nation’s largest landbank — an independent agency set up to acquire vacant land and foreclosed homes and commercial property in Chicago and the suburbs — moved one step closer to setting up shop Tuesday.

The Cook County Board’s finance committee signed off on creating the new landbank – in hopes of cleaning up neighborhoods and returning abandoned property to the tax roles. Because the finance committee’s membership is identical to the full County Board, the measure is expected to sail through final approval during Wednesday’s meeting.

County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, credited with taking the lead on the measure, said the cash-strapped county government wouldn’t have to fund the landbank. Instead, the roughly $15 million in seed money needed during the first three years of operation will likely come from local foundations and grants.

The money will be used for anything from hiring staff to purchasing property to rehabbing or demolishing it.

We learned that as far as this proposal goes the Greater Chatham Alliance has some reservations about it believing there could be serious repercussions for south side neighborhoods if there is little community input on such a program. What do you think?

What should be the basis of drawing ward maps?

Click for better resolution

Courtesy of The Pro Bono Thinking Society!

In starting this project, we hoped to answer the question: “What would the new ward map look like if it was drawn by a completely independent group with no skin in the game?”

We decided to look purely at total population data at the census tract level and ignore any data on race, socioeconomic status, or voting history. We found discussions of “white wards” and “hispanic wards” and “black wards” to be focused on a past that should no longer exist in the City of Chicago. A ward should be designed to represent a geographical community area within the city, not race. As the first Asian alderman, would anyone claim that Ameya Pawar of the north side 47th ward represents the Asian population of Chinatown? Would a white alderman representing Lakeview serve the same interests as a white alderman in Bridgeport? We felt it was time the redistricting process focused on clearly defined, compact wards that were based on intact census tracts rather than gerrymandered blocks.

Wards should be based on geographical boundaries (such as roads, waterways, public spaces), and general community areas, with the aim of being as compact and easily identifiable as possible. Wards should not be created based on race, political implications, or for the benefit of any individual or individual group. Using census tract level data helps achieve several of these objectives, as census tracts themselves are designed to be relatively compact and follow common sense boundaries:

“The Following Features are Preferred as Census Tract Boundaries for the 2010 Census:
c. Visible, perennial natural and cultural features, such as roads, shorelines, rivers, perennial streams and canals, railroad tracks, or above-ground high-tension power lines.” -Source

Another way to say that the politicians shouldn't be allowed draw their own maps.

At least with that map Chesterfield, West Chesterfield and Roseland Heights will be in the 8th Ward. The 6th Ward would be Englewood. The 20th Ward would head further south probably to about 71st or 75th Street.

They should submit this map, but I just know that this map would make too much sense. Thus it probably won't go anywhere!

GCA - Mayor Emanuel Town Hall at Kennedy-King College

Gca-mayor Emanuel & Town Hall

Kennedy-King College is located at 6301 S. Halsted Street and the event is to take place on August 29 from 6 PM to 8 PM. Do you have any ideas to contribute towards the city's budget?

A bridge over the Dan Ryan at 85th

A posting over at the Concerned Citizens of Chatham Facebook page:

Alderman Brookins is requesting a bridge crossing the Dan Ryan at 85th Street. Do you support a bridge at this location?

Hmm, it could work. It could give people an alternate route to shopping and the movie theaters on both 87th & at Chatham Market. What do you think?