Reply:
At least in the case of firefighters and police, that's a question to ask the candidates for the state house in next month's primary election -- since the current pension plan is a mandate imposed by the legislature.
-- Bill
Alderman Baptiste lives just 4 blocks from where this happened. He's at McDaniel and Crain, south of Dempster. I call the police when I hear gunfire. We know the houses that are trouble. The neighbors talk with each other and try to look out for each other, but I'd love some guidance on what we can do to make our neighborhood safer.
How much would the city save if the city union employees did not get a merit pay increase?
It seems Wally B. is proposing to end the merit pay increase for non-union city employees.
Well, while Wally B. is proposing to close the Ecology Center and branch libraries perhaps he should end the merit pay increase for union employees, too.
There are two fire stations on Central Street less than one mile apart. Let's close down one of them and layoff the firefighters housed there.
WOW I am so surprised at the anger in these replies. I did not force my child to protest he asked. He is seven and loves books and the library. Here is a great way to encourage reading, learning and studying. Close the libraries!!! Start with libraries where do we go from here? The north branch of the library has been around for a LONG time, It is not what is killing our budget it is how the "leaders" of this city are managing it. Looking for the easy answer? Do you honestly think that closing these branches will SAVE Evanston? Do you believe it will lower your taxes and make it more affordable to live here? I will be interested in seeing your huge SHOCK when they close the branch libraries and OOPS the budget is still in trouble!
Guess what, the people whose salaries you pay (with your tax dollars) also pay taxes in Evanston. Those dollars you pay to them come back to the City in taxes. I guess it's better to lay them off, tho, because then they can stop paying taxes and their mortgages, put their homes in foreclosure, start using local social services. . . Yeah, it's always good to fire people.
If Evanston wants to be green, it should ban wood burning fires and require thermostats be turned down in public buildings.
Wood burning fireplaces waste fuel, spread disease, and pollute the air:
- They waste fuel as they suck warm air out of the room and up the chimney.
- The "imported" wood helps spread disease. Trucks from Missouri and elsewhere regularly cruise the city to deliver wood. Why are we wasting money to stop Dutch Elm Disease, if we keep bringing in Elm wood from elsewhere? Other cities forbid it.
- WB fires emit particles (PM xx) that foul the air. See the San Francisco and many other communities' ordinances.
Further, people should be encouraged to turn down their thermostats. It'll save money and reduce pollution. Plus, people will be a lot healthier; the cooler air is naturally more humid.
For every person who turned out for this protest there are dozens of tax payers who think it is time to let the branches go. Do we need to organize counter-protests so that our voices can be heard? Or do we trust our elected representatives to do the right thing this time.
The bottom line is that the majority of the City's expenditures are for the salaries and benefits of City Employees. Therefore, the only realistic way to balance the budget is to reduce the salaries and benefits paid to those employees, because tax increases are not going to happen in this economic climate. Therefore, we need to see layoffs, salary cuts, and benefit reductions.
I do agree with your statement that we shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of hard-working taxpayers. We just disagree on who these "taxpayers" are. I think the taxpayers are the people who actually pay the taxes. You seem to think that they are the people who receive the tax dollars.
Even if there was no overlap between these two protests, we now have 400 people out of 75,000 residents who want to pay more to keep the branches open.
To the protesters: feel free to conduct fundraising on your own to keep the branches open as stand-alone libraries.
I don't use either branch but I do use the Main Library. Many of us cannot afford to live in this town much longer and some of us have started checking out real estate in other cities and villages. What does that mean to you protesters? More property on the market and lower property values when you sell. The out-of-sight taxes won't help your resale, either.
To the aldermen, if you value the middle-income residents in this town, please give us a break. We are not ATM for everyone's feel-good project. Go to the Main Library -- you know, that huge, new building on the el line and the bus line.
You hired a City Manager who knows what he is doing. Listen to him and do not micromanage everyone's pet projects. Cut what he advised (every single item) and move on to other issues.
My guess is - each of those 100 marchers (at S. Branch) or 300 ( at N. Branch) represent about 50 residents that did not show up to march, but want to keep the branches open.
Reply:
I have no idea how one estimates such things -- especially when a protest is held on a school holiday and perhaps half the participants are too young to vote -- but 400 x 50 = 20,000 ... just over one quarter of Evanston's population.
Oh, and some protesters attended both rallies.
-- Bill
Evanston has about 75,000 residents. Will we allow 100 people to decide whether all of us must pay more in property taxes to save their pet project?
Perhaps each of these 100 protesters can obtain funds of $5,000 each so that the branches can be "saved"? If not, it's time to say goodbye to something that we can't afford and is obselete given the costly resource (the Main Library) that we already have.
The claim of three branches would come as news to anyone in Oak Park - particularly their library and its website. The OPPL website (oppl.org) lists two branches, Dove and Maze.
Now, it is true that they have three libraries, the third being the Main Library, but it's hardly a semantic quibble. Especially in Evanston, equating the North and South Branches with the Main Library is a rhetorical attempt to give them equal weight - like relabeling the Estate Tax a "Death Tax." Our (and from appearances, Oak Park's) branches are not the equals of the Main Library in size, patron use, collection, staffing, or resources.
I'm glad that Geary Kull was endorsed, being that he is qualified for the position of Judge. Unlike two others who are not recommended for Judge by the Chicago Bar Association, namely Steven Bernstein and Deidre Baumann.
http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/Services/Judicial_Evaluation_Committee/Archives/2010PrimaryGreenGuideWeb.pdf see page 24.
Please contact Alderman Baptiste. We need to come together as a neighborhood and stop this violence. I live on the other side of Dempster.. straight down Fowler and we have seen the same gangs and drugs..for a lack of a better word..crap.
I apologize; I did not intend to suggest that this was the third homicide. This was however the third very violent crime. In fall of 2008, a young man was shot at 9am in the park at McDaniel and Bradley Place. Just a few months ago, gunmen broke down the door of a home on Bradley place (between Fowler and McDaniel) and held two elderly women hostage for hours while they ransacked the home demanding drugs. The gunmen repeatedly told the women that they were going to kill them. Finally, there was this most recent incident last week. Either of the first two incidents could also have easily resulted in deaths. My point is, this much violent crime within one block in such a short amount of time is alarming. Does anyone have contact information for the neighborhood association? If not, I am willing to contact Alderman Baptiste to request some sort of meeting. As residents, we need to make our concerns known and demand that something is done.
I strongly disagree with Doug Gaynor's assertion that the "ice rink" in Larimer Park has good skatable ice ! Perhaps he'd care to demonstrate just how skatable the ice is ? I'm not holding my breath on that. If you consider ice skatable that's covered from end to end, side to side, with large ridges, mounds, moguls of ICE, & generally supremely bumby & hazardous overall -- then I'm Evanston's Olympic speedskater Shani Davis (I'm not !). I've seen the ice in the other parks, just as bad, 'nuff said.
These poor ice conditions can't simply be sluffed off as due to weather occurrences. The responsibility lies directly at the feet of Mr. Gaynor, & the less than competent work of his Parks/Forestry, Recreation crews. You can NOT flood a park for skating by "shooting" water from a FIRE hose 15 to 20 feet UP in the air, & expect to have skatable ice !! The unavoidable result of those efforts will always be ... ice covered with large ridges, mounds, bumps, etc. It never used to be this way, but I suppose those who actually knew what they were doing, took advantage of the recent early retirement program.
So why don't we just end the fallacy right now of outdoor ice skating in Evanston. Very poor to worse than very poor ice surfaces, shelter houses closed, lights turned off, no attendants on duty, low priority -- outdoor skating is just a sham (again, it never used to be that way !). Unfortunately, eliminating outdoor skating probably wouldn't save much re the current budget crisis, since there's no overtime or other adjustment of employee work hours allowed. But then again, who's keeping tabs on the amount/cost of the water used in bungled efforts ?
We do have a 'branch' police station...it's called the Howard Street Outpost. The other 'branch' station was located on the west side (Darrow/Lyons) for years. However, it was closed down and the city has decided to utilize a $50,000, unmanned, camera systems instead(Dodge/Foster).
"...third such incident within a block in the last 12-18 months". So your saying there have been 3 homicides in a one block radius in the last year and a half? That is wholly inaccurate. There isn't a single area in Evanston that can claim such a crime problem. You may want to clarify.
Private donations, a public/private partnership and fundraising are only some of the ideas being put forward, as is the possible conversion to a Library district [like Wilmette's], unlike the Special Service Assessment the city is proposing [more typically used for decorative brickwork or streetlights, and which, to our knowledge has never been used for libraries]. There are many more ideas and a host of talented people working tirelessly to find a solution that is best for all of Evanston, both now and in the future.
We are asking for a one-year reprieve to table the library cut discussion, with a decrease in service if necessary at the branches to minimize the expenses so that we can find a viable long-term economic solution. It does not need to be all or nothing right now.
We can do this, Evanston. But we can't do it in three weeks. We are a smart community that values education. Closing libraries is not the answer and is not ultimately going to help our community. Find out more and sign a petition of support at www.branchLove.org
We have the will, we have the skill, we need the time.
No other concommitant size city has branch libraries. They are a luxury no longer sustainable. Reading, despite the frantic protests of the cloistered, is not dependant on the easiet access, but on the desire. Instead, focus on bringing the schools into focus on this issue, and, BTW, my mother used to read to me, not the libarian. I learned to love literature from my parents and teachers. My parents never foisted their responsiblities on a stranger. Close the branches and enhance the main library services. When I was a kid I wasn't reluctant to walk 2.2 miles to the library. It was good for my body and mind. Bring back the bookmobile for the elderly. As for the police outposts, close them, rarely staffed anyway!
I love Woody and helped elect him lo those many, many years ago, but Woody has not lived in the 18th District for a long time. Although I've worked for Jeff in his past runs for office, I think it's time for a fresh face. Robyn Gabel impresses me as the candidate for these times.
Why not change the pension plan for new hires?
Reply:
At least in the case of firefighters and police, that's a question to ask the candidates for the state house in next month's primary election -- since the current pension plan is a mandate imposed by the legislature.
-- Bill
Alderman Baptiste lives just 4 blocks from where this happened. He's at McDaniel and Crain, south of Dempster. I call the police when I hear gunfire. We know the houses that are trouble. The neighbors talk with each other and try to look out for each other, but I'd love some guidance on what we can do to make our neighborhood safer.
How much would the city save if the city union employees did not get a merit pay increase?
It seems Wally B. is proposing to end the merit pay increase for non-union city employees.
Well, while Wally B. is proposing to close the Ecology Center and branch libraries perhaps he should end the merit pay increase for union employees, too.
There are two fire stations on Central Street less than one mile apart. Let's close down one of them and layoff the firefighters housed there.
WOW I am so surprised at the anger in these replies. I did not force my child to protest he asked. He is seven and loves books and the library. Here is a great way to encourage reading, learning and studying. Close the libraries!!! Start with libraries where do we go from here? The north branch of the library has been around for a LONG time, It is not what is killing our budget it is how the "leaders" of this city are managing it. Looking for the easy answer? Do you honestly think that closing these branches will SAVE Evanston? Do you believe it will lower your taxes and make it more affordable to live here? I will be interested in seeing your huge SHOCK when they close the branch libraries and OOPS the budget is still in trouble!
Guess what, the people whose salaries you pay (with your tax dollars) also pay taxes in Evanston. Those dollars you pay to them come back to the City in taxes. I guess it's better to lay them off, tho, because then they can stop paying taxes and their mortgages, put their homes in foreclosure, start using local social services. . . Yeah, it's always good to fire people.
If Evanston wants to be green, it should ban wood burning fires and require thermostats be turned down in public buildings.
Wood burning fireplaces waste fuel, spread disease, and pollute the air:
- They waste fuel as they suck warm air out of the room and up the chimney.
- The "imported" wood helps spread disease. Trucks from Missouri and elsewhere regularly cruise the city to deliver wood. Why are we wasting money to stop Dutch Elm Disease, if we keep bringing in Elm wood from elsewhere? Other cities forbid it.
- WB fires emit particles (PM xx) that foul the air. See the San Francisco and many other communities' ordinances.
Further, people should be encouraged to turn down their thermostats. It'll save money and reduce pollution. Plus, people will be a lot healthier; the cooler air is naturally more humid.
The two card users in the house only use the Wilmette Library...
As an educator and parent, he deserves our vote. Our children ARE our future.
For every person who turned out for this protest there are dozens of tax payers who think it is time to let the branches go. Do we need to organize counter-protests so that our voices can be heard? Or do we trust our elected representatives to do the right thing this time.
The bottom line is that the majority of the City's expenditures are for the salaries and benefits of City Employees. Therefore, the only realistic way to balance the budget is to reduce the salaries and benefits paid to those employees, because tax increases are not going to happen in this economic climate. Therefore, we need to see layoffs, salary cuts, and benefit reductions.
I do agree with your statement that we shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of hard-working taxpayers. We just disagree on who these "taxpayers" are. I think the taxpayers are the people who actually pay the taxes. You seem to think that they are the people who receive the tax dollars.
Maybe the parents who forced their children to protest can pay for the branch libraries out of their kids' piggy banks.
Even if there was no overlap between these two protests, we now have 400 people out of 75,000 residents who want to pay more to keep the branches open.
To the protesters: feel free to conduct fundraising on your own to keep the branches open as stand-alone libraries.
I don't use either branch but I do use the Main Library. Many of us cannot afford to live in this town much longer and some of us have started checking out real estate in other cities and villages. What does that mean to you protesters? More property on the market and lower property values when you sell. The out-of-sight taxes won't help your resale, either.
To the aldermen, if you value the middle-income residents in this town, please give us a break. We are not ATM for everyone's feel-good project. Go to the Main Library -- you know, that huge, new building on the el line and the bus line.
You hired a City Manager who knows what he is doing. Listen to him and do not micromanage everyone's pet projects. Cut what he advised (every single item) and move on to other issues.
My guess is - each of those 100 marchers (at S. Branch) or 300 ( at N. Branch) represent about 50 residents that did not show up to march, but want to keep the branches open.
Reply:
I have no idea how one estimates such things -- especially when a protest is held on a school holiday and perhaps half the participants are too young to vote -- but 400 x 50 = 20,000 ... just over one quarter of Evanston's population.
Oh, and some protesters attended both rallies.
-- Bill
Evanston has about 75,000 residents. Will we allow 100 people to decide whether all of us must pay more in property taxes to save their pet project?
Perhaps each of these 100 protesters can obtain funds of $5,000 each so that the branches can be "saved"? If not, it's time to say goodbye to something that we can't afford and is obselete given the costly resource (the Main Library) that we already have.
The claim of three branches would come as news to anyone in Oak Park - particularly their library and its website. The OPPL website (oppl.org) lists two branches, Dove and Maze.
Now, it is true that they have three libraries, the third being the Main Library, but it's hardly a semantic quibble. Especially in Evanston, equating the North and South Branches with the Main Library is a rhetorical attempt to give them equal weight - like relabeling the Estate Tax a "Death Tax." Our (and from appearances, Oak Park's) branches are not the equals of the Main Library in size, patron use, collection, staffing, or resources.
Oak Park which is smaller than Evanston in both actual area and
population has three branches.
I'm glad that Geary Kull was endorsed, being that he is qualified for the position of Judge. Unlike two others who are not recommended for Judge by the Chicago Bar Association, namely Steven Bernstein and Deidre Baumann.
http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/Services/Judicial_Evaluation_Committee/Archives/2010PrimaryGreenGuideWeb.pdf see page 24.
Please contact Alderman Baptiste. We need to come together as a neighborhood and stop this violence. I live on the other side of Dempster.. straight down Fowler and we have seen the same gangs and drugs..for a lack of a better word..crap.
I apologize; I did not intend to suggest that this was the third homicide. This was however the third very violent crime. In fall of 2008, a young man was shot at 9am in the park at McDaniel and Bradley Place. Just a few months ago, gunmen broke down the door of a home on Bradley place (between Fowler and McDaniel) and held two elderly women hostage for hours while they ransacked the home demanding drugs. The gunmen repeatedly told the women that they were going to kill them. Finally, there was this most recent incident last week. Either of the first two incidents could also have easily resulted in deaths. My point is, this much violent crime within one block in such a short amount of time is alarming. Does anyone have contact information for the neighborhood association? If not, I am willing to contact Alderman Baptiste to request some sort of meeting. As residents, we need to make our concerns known and demand that something is done.
I strongly disagree with Doug Gaynor's assertion that the "ice rink" in Larimer Park has good skatable ice ! Perhaps he'd care to demonstrate just how skatable the ice is ? I'm not holding my breath on that. If you consider ice skatable that's covered from end to end, side to side, with large ridges, mounds, moguls of ICE, & generally supremely bumby & hazardous overall -- then I'm Evanston's Olympic speedskater Shani Davis (I'm not !). I've seen the ice in the other parks, just as bad, 'nuff said.
These poor ice conditions can't simply be sluffed off as due to weather occurrences. The responsibility lies directly at the feet of Mr. Gaynor, & the less than competent work of his Parks/Forestry, Recreation crews. You can NOT flood a park for skating by "shooting" water from a FIRE hose 15 to 20 feet UP in the air, & expect to have skatable ice !! The unavoidable result of those efforts will always be ... ice covered with large ridges, mounds, bumps, etc. It never used to be this way, but I suppose those who actually knew what they were doing, took advantage of the recent early retirement program.
So why don't we just end the fallacy right now of outdoor ice skating in Evanston. Very poor to worse than very poor ice surfaces, shelter houses closed, lights turned off, no attendants on duty, low priority -- outdoor skating is just a sham (again, it never used to be that way !). Unfortunately, eliminating outdoor skating probably wouldn't save much re the current budget crisis, since there's no overtime or other adjustment of employee work hours allowed. But then again, who's keeping tabs on the amount/cost of the water used in bungled efforts ?
We do have a 'branch' police station...it's called the Howard Street Outpost. The other 'branch' station was located on the west side (Darrow/Lyons) for years. However, it was closed down and the city has decided to utilize a $50,000, unmanned, camera systems instead(Dodge/Foster).
"...third such incident within a block in the last 12-18 months". So your saying there have been 3 homicides in a one block radius in the last year and a half? That is wholly inaccurate. There isn't a single area in Evanston that can claim such a crime problem. You may want to clarify.
Private donations, a public/private partnership and fundraising are only some of the ideas being put forward, as is the possible conversion to a Library district [like Wilmette's], unlike the Special Service Assessment the city is proposing [more typically used for decorative brickwork or streetlights, and which, to our knowledge has never been used for libraries]. There are many more ideas and a host of talented people working tirelessly to find a solution that is best for all of Evanston, both now and in the future.
We are asking for a one-year reprieve to table the library cut discussion, with a decrease in service if necessary at the branches to minimize the expenses so that we can find a viable long-term economic solution. It does not need to be all or nothing right now.
We can do this, Evanston. But we can't do it in three weeks. We are a smart community that values education. Closing libraries is not the answer and is not ultimately going to help our community. Find out more and sign a petition of support at www.branchLove.org
We have the will, we have the skill, we need the time.
No other concommitant size city has branch libraries. They are a luxury no longer sustainable. Reading, despite the frantic protests of the cloistered, is not dependant on the easiet access, but on the desire. Instead, focus on bringing the schools into focus on this issue, and, BTW, my mother used to read to me, not the libarian. I learned to love literature from my parents and teachers. My parents never foisted their responsiblities on a stranger. Close the branches and enhance the main library services. When I was a kid I wasn't reluctant to walk 2.2 miles to the library. It was good for my body and mind. Bring back the bookmobile for the elderly. As for the police outposts, close them, rarely staffed anyway!
I love Woody and helped elect him lo those many, many years ago, but Woody has not lived in the 18th District for a long time. Although I've worked for Jeff in his past runs for office, I think it's time for a fresh face. Robyn Gabel impresses me as the candidate for these times.