Moving Forward Rather Than Standing Still
Don Gordon has gone on and filed his complaint regarding the election and it will make its way through court system until it reaches a conclusion. If history is a guide, it will not change the election results in any significant way. No matter what happens it could be days or could be years until a final decision in reached. As a community we cannot afford to stand by and wait.
There are many things to do in the 49th Ward as we move past the campaign and into the next four years. I don’t believe that anyone is content with things exactly the way they are. I believe that while there are differences in the level of importance we assign to things, the differences in what things need to be done is small. Things that most agree upon are perhaps a good place to start. These are my top five not in any order of importance:
1.) Crime should continue to decrease.
2.) Affordable housing should continue and increase.
3.) The lakefront must continue to be protected and preserved in a way that benefits those neighbors immediately at the lakefront and all of the rest of the 49th Warders which means more access, programs and activities. (Maybe even the much debated dog park idea can be addressed with some space it the ward set aside for it.)
4.) We need to develop a strategy to increase the desire of people and business owners to invest their hard earned money into our business strips. People will not invest because the Alderman says so or asks nicely. It has to be in their financial interest.
5.) We need to preserve single family homes when it makes good sense and make smart choices on the very few occasions when it doesn’t.
Those things I list above are in and of themselves difficult tasks to accomplish. But there are more. CTA, Schools, Bad Landlords, a Boys & Girls club are just a few more. And there are more, some of which are directly related to an Alderman and his power, and others that will require support from other politicians and branches of government.
This new term is an opportunity to put many ideas on the table and have them looked over. I would urge all of those who have some idea of how they would like to see things go forward to make written suggestions and send them to the Alderman’s office. I would hope that there are hundreds of these e-mails that come in so it might not be realistic to expect responses to each, but I do think that two things will come from this. One is that the Alderman will get a very direct and a more refined sense of what you want. Second is that in these suggestions will come good ideas that will lead to things that actually happen.
The start of a new term is a good time to take stock of where things are and where you would like things to go. Send your thoughts and ideas.
