This flyer was posted on 24/7 August 2 after the creator made a few edits and corrections and received approval from North of Howard Parks Advisory Council. It was also distributed to certain entities to serve as notice of upcoming elections for officers per protocol/procedure directives from a park district employee.
Meanwhile, the by-laws were emailed to each of us to review for the scheduled meeting.
Then the
ward wide email blast came out announcing a ‘community meeting’ that was followed by this flyer.
Neither email nor flyer had the word
“election” which was in the council’s approved flyer.
The only item that wasn’t re-arranged for the council was the meeting place, date and time! If any of you have ever been in the conference room at HACC it isn’t large enough to accommodate a large crowd, safely, legally or comfortably. But the stage had been set and all the props had been re-arranged for the hijacking.
People started coming into the room and an extra table that was pushed against a wall was pulled out to accommodate the guests. The meeting began and it was announced that there was a miscommunication between the council’s agenda and the information passed out by the ward office via both email and flyer. You see, the
big meeting to gather ideas was planned for September! Perhaps the minutes weren’t read? Perhaps the original announcement was ignored? Ahh, the plot thickens.
No one was told to leave. No one was told they could not sit through the meeting. They were, however, informed that the agenda was the by-laws, election and other business. There were some who do what they do best. Stir the pot. One woman in a Joe T-shirt pulling a suitcase on wheels insisted that she’d been flyering the neighborhood, persuading ‘all those dog walkers by the lake’ to come give their input for the park. I think she was flyering the hood for the $10-$12k political picnic disguised as ‘back to school’ for the kids. But being a staunch Moore supporter must mean they too, learn to make scenes and talk really loud. Then there were others that wanted to claim that they’d been turned away at the door, which is really doubtful but part of the plot.
Late as usual, Moore arrived with a haughty air, pointing his finger and calling the council a ‘club’. Claiming that if he had known that the meeting and we ‘club members’ were not going to be inclusive of the community, he would have been there sooner. As it was, he claimed he had to leave another event to get to our meeting! That’s bad planning now isn’t it? Never, ever overlap important meetings!
He utilized his liberal vocabulary to launch the introduction of his attempted hijacking of a council meeting. He was out of order during his verbal accusations and damn, why didn’t I think to yell
‘out of order’? Hindsight! It was the same liberal rhetoric we heard from his club in Gale School when the vacant building woman came to vote. One of them was present for his very first NOHPAC meeting, Jim Ginderske! Joe, the architect of divisiveness, roared for the crowd. Two of us women had to firmly point out that the flyer had been altered without council permission, and the email had painted the meeting into a community input meeting. He was asked if he contacted anyone on the council about the agenda…he claimed he did, we claimed he didn’t. It’s not a lie to say I dialed someone’s number, but if they aren’t home does that constitute a truth that I had a conversation with them? Nope.
I asked two other members if they had been contacted – negative. Sitting across from Mr. Moore, I had to inquire if he called me. He certainly has called me at work when he couldn’t contact Eva or he wanted to make sure certain information was received. He has my work, cell and home number. He also has my address but then most of the ward does now too.
I also had to ask Mr. Moore when the last time he or a representative from the ward had attended one of our ‘club meetings’. He did not respond. So here we had a planned meeting, an approved flyer, an agenda, and Moore decided to torpedo us and put his advertisements in its place. “For further information contact the 49th Ward Service Office 773-338-5796” His name does not appear on the list of council members, he has definitely missed more than three consecutive meetings in a row, and therefore, should have to follow the agenda set forth by the council he sarcastically called a club. And that’s exactly what he finally had to do.
Our current by-laws came from Robert Steele, CPD, who gave us templates to map our rules. Some questioned why one should have to be a member to vote, including Moore. I wondered verbally why we have to register to vote then! I questioned that if I lived in Logan Square, then was it perfectly legal to come to NOH and vote?
It was a very poorly planned hijacking in my opinion considering Joe immensely dislikes the former Gordon vs Moore plaintiff and beat facilitator McCann. We all know his opinion of me via those pink post cards. Perhaps that is why he was reluctant to take the only empty chair at the table which was directly across from my dark, piercing eyes. I wonder if he liked my hot pink top with hot pink purse and rose colored sun glasses? He is very fortunate that I have not yet created a pink post card ensemble!
Two council members were absent, we did not have a quorum, and the election did not take place. However, the real community input meeting will be in September (
as previously planned by the council) and will be announced. It was agreed that the council would approve any correspondence regarding any future meetings distributed by the ward office. The election will be held in October after the community input meeting.
Outside, after the meeting, the subject of ‘club’ came up again. Moore told me I should be ashamed of myself. I beg to differ since many of us were witness to the shameless antics of the re-elect Moore Club.
I didn’t create the council approved flyer, I just blogged it as requested. I didn’t alter the meaning, point and purpose of the August 21 council meeting. I did show up at the monthly meeting as usual as a requirement of my dedication to the parks and to the community.
I didn’t create the divisiveness as insinuated in the ‘club’ accusation.
It was created long ago by the man who should be working with ALL constituents to create a peaceful, safe, cohesive ward.
