Caspar, where are you?
Too bad Radar O'Reilly is just a fictional character and the Ghost in the Machine is just a pejorative metaphor for unexplained, questionable phenomena. Too bad that the Trib's Ghost in the Machine couldn't stop the Google Trends story as effectively as he appears to conjure political propaganda. See related post.
http://treecityleader.blogspot.com/2006_05_11_treecityleader_archive.html
*******
Who needs Jayson Blair?
""We don't have gentlemen's clubs or porn shops, so maybe that's why they go online,'' Elmhurst Mayor Thomas D. Marcucci said with a laugh.
More seriously, he added, "Sex isn't necessarily a bad thing.'' A lifelong Elmhurst resident, Marcucci, 54, said that when he attended the local Immaculate Conception Catholic school, "the nuns taught us that sex was a gift from God." Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006
***
Concerned Citizen Does Homework, Takes ActionContrasting with the obsessive and frequent self-aggrandizing comment-posts of late, a Concerned Citizen offered the following on last month's disastrous Google Trend/Elmhurst/Sex public relations gaffe.
". . . here is a copy of some of the press releases and email responses from the major news outlets. I am also miffed that the mayor or anyone else would even comment on this story without checking it first. Don't we have an IT department? I believe Andrew Herrmann got his information from a Blog and is now officially an idiot in my book.
Andrew Hermann at the Tribune appears to have gotten his tip from a blog written on May 11, then just did a cursory check of info - misreading it, and clearly doesn't have a clue about what he was researching anyway. Every news outlet in Chicago picked up his story and did not check it for themselves. (emphasis added) Here are the original sources that should have been checked:
The current lead story on Channel 5's website says that Elmhurst, IL is the #1 location for "sex" term searches on Google for 2005. Yet, when I checked this,
http://www.google.com/trends?q=sex&ctab=1&geo=US&date=2005 (click on tab that says Cities) it shows Elmhurst United States. (This image of the Goodle screen with Elmhurst, United States was even the lead image for a couple of news stories! )
According to mapquest, there are at least 10 Elmhursts in the US.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country =US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addto history=&cat=&address=&city=elmhurst&state=&zipcode=
I searched and the first reference to this topic is found on a blog (which posted on May 11 and had Elmhurst, IL ? " (Note the question mark). http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1088)
Only on other blogs that referenced the first blog could I find Elmhurst, ILLINOIS.
Considering that Rikers Island Prison Complex is located in Elmhurst, NY and I have been able to confirm that there is internet access and an IP hub that is sophisticated enough at min. "8,000 conferences per year from the prison"
http://www.techworld.com/security/features/index.cfm?featureid=167
9&pagtype=samecatsamechan.
Elmhurst, NY is located in Queens and is also the home of LaGuardia Airport. In addition, Google's website has disclaimers about IP addresses just for the reading.
Also the fact that the Google site is in BETA is written all over it might need to be put into consideration. This research took me about 45 min. to confirm. I wonder where the source documentation for Elmhurst, Illinois is?
Thank you.
A response from someone on the ball at Channel 7:I am doubling checking with the reps at Google to make sure they referred to the town in Illinois. However the prison you spoke of is in East Elmhurst, NY. I checked their webpage after speaking with you.
Concerned Citizen's response:I found references to the prison in Elmhurst and East Elmhurst, NY. On the Google trends program, you can put in the search term of Elmhurst and NY shows up in the top results. But the bigger questions are about the data in general - for instance, I have a client in Hillside, IL who's site statistics using the top of the line Webtrends software on YNC.net say that the number one origin of hits comes from Virginia. - They don't do business in VA - BUT that is where the AOL hub is. So when
you dig into this origin data the picture changes.
The other question for Google is if what they are REPORTING on that site is stats from all Elmhurst's, or only one. Also, I didn't go so far as to check the traffic on the (East) Elmhurst NY hub, but if it is anywhere as big as that tech article claims it would effect the statistics.
I appreciate that you are at least checking, which is way more than the
others are doing."***Jenco for Elmhurst Public Relations Czar!
A voice of reason shines through.
"Lynne Jenco, a curator at the Elmhurst Historical Museum, said that about the raciest tidbit in the town's past is evidence of bootlegging during Prohibition. Settled by German immigrants, "it still has the reputation of a conservative place,'' said Jenco." Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006*******
Privacy assurances from the folks at the "never-delete-an-email" (Gmail) company, Google:"Rest assured that no one is reviewing your personal data,'' the company says on its site, www.google.com/trends. Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2006
Are you "resting assured?" Do voyeurs ever change their stripes?"
posted by Good Company @ 8:55 AM
1251 comments
1251 Comments:
And too bad Blog Boy is as clueless as ever. Unable to counter the barrage of jabs and body blows, he's windmilling his punches wildly, hoping just to connect. The flailing featherweight is unaware he's fighting far, far over his class.
Often in error, never in doubt, he's the George Blog-strong Custer of Elmhurst.
First, what does a Magus at Jesus' baby shower have to do with this blog? Or did you mean CASPER the Friendly Ghost?
Oops, you did it again!
Second, you're still wrong about the Machine thing. As a Machine Politics Maven, you really should know better.
Wikipedia:
Ghost in the machine is a (sometimes derogatory) philosophical term for Cartesian dualism, introduced by Gilbert Ryle in his 1949 book, The Concept of Mind.
So you got the "derogatory" part right, partly. But that's about the only half-accuracy in this nugatory Purgatory of a fish story.
Again from Wiki:
Deus ex machina is a Latin phrase meaning "God from the Machine." It describes an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot. The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely it challenges suspension of disbelief; allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, but more palatable ending.
"Challenging suspension of disbelief." I think we just found the new subtitle for this blog!
Or, as Dante may have put it, "Lasciati ogni logica, voi ch'entrate!"
Finally, I can't believe you're still harping on the Google "sex" search when the explanation has already been promulgated. One of your correspondents correctly presaged that explanation by his reference to AOL in Virginia. (In fact, based on my impromptu research last week, I'll bet that's Reston, another dirty word nexus.)
The totals were based on anyone searching for "sex" on Google, particularly through e-giant Comcast. And Comcast just happens to be based in a certain Tree City which Google identified as the "source" of all those searches.
i.e. Any search through Comcast for "sex" and other related terms (as I related last week) looks like it originates in good old Elmhurst (IL) USA.
So to recapitulate:
Sex is Comcastic.
I'm Sarcastic.
And Blog Boy is Bombastic.
~Z~
(This one goes out to "a fan.")
I just returned from a refreshing workout at the beautiful CourtsPlus. While I was mitigating my risk of myocardial infarction I was contemplating on the complaints by Blog Boy and others here about the last Park District election. It seems that they are incensed over several public and private donors contributing to the campaign of the winner.
Leaving aside for a minute that these people were legally exercising their First Amendment rights, let's examine exactly WHY people would support him over his opponent. Why did they work so hard against the man with three first names and no first principle - Mark William Daniel?
Let's start with the fact that he represented the Orangistas in one of the longest, most expensive legal running gunbattles this City has ever seen. And speaking of contributions, who paid HIM - and how much??
Let's continue on to the fact that - tortious, tedious and tendentious - this guy has continued to tie up the city calendar and waste thousands of Elmhurst taxpayer dollars on legal wrangles. This is no surprise to those who know that group. A current sitting alderman ran while suing the city, and the two goofball aldermen I mentioned last week sued both the city and their fellow aldermen. (AND a builder - imagine that!)
But what can you expect from a party with more lawyers than common sense?
Let's move on to the fact that the Orangista's MWD (Mouthy Weapon of Distraction) has a long and storied history of trying to supplant our City Attorneys - Kubiesa, Spiroff - from other of their municipal gigs. He's had mixed results and decidedly mixed reviews. But these were usually partisan political imbroglios and often times featured Mayors and Boards suing each other!
Let's continue to roll on with the fact that while representing "citizen's groups" in "courageous battles" against Wal Mart - most recently draining Lockport and his clients dry in a losing effort - MWD works for Rathje, Woodward, whose other clients just happen to include Albertson's, Home Depot and Target!
(They also include many, many local builders, but none of the ones the Orangistas attack. Quelle surprise!)
Finally, on a lighter note, MWD was the lawyer who, representing another group of "citizens," made the infamous statement in open court "Swinging isn't Prostitution!
Glad we cleared that up, Mark!
This guy represents everything that's wrong with local politics. MWD also is the poster child for the double standard exhibited by the Orangistas. Every dollar spent against them was in defense of thousands more for the taxpayers of Elmhurst. And each dollar was worth every penny.
Swinging may not be prostitution, but the way the Orangistas play politics most certainly is.
~Z~
Dateline: Mr. G's for breakfast.
It is a pet political theory of mine that absolutists share a common birth defect. I believe they are born without the
gene to process irony. One would almost have to be, because consistently maintaining such a high level of illogic and the
attendant hypocricy would eventually paralyze anyone who had the normal genetic complement with deep self-loathing.
In the fantasy tale The Sword of Shannara, the power of the talisman lay not in its steel, but in its ability to show anyone
the truth about himself.
So too with the pen of Zorro.
The irony of a tidbit in yesterday's post is exceeded only by my certainty that der Blogher is unconscious of it. It's the name of one of his correspondents: Concerned Citizen. Thereby hangs a tale.
A not-so-long time ago in a town not-so-far-far away... Council Wars!
There used to be two political parties in Elmhurst. Their sign colors were green and red, but they may as well have been
eggshell and off white for all differences between them. Anyone who felt under-appreciated in one party usually found a welcome in the other.
But a group of disaffected people from both parties saw an opportunity to seize the reins of power. Absorbing the (sometimes legitimate) concerns of various inchoate single issue groups, they propagated a wave of dissatisfaction by adding impetus to various eddies and undercurrents.
The established people from the center of town reached out to the fringes (literally and figuratively) to find hungry young up-n-comers, sometimes quite new to Elmhurst. The PTAs and baseball leagues proved fertile recruiting grounds and why not? People who are already volunteering on behalf of their young kids make the best activists and have a built-in base.
Disguised under the banner of gentle reform which attracted many young moderates, the Jacobins gave their new party a benign title: The Concerned Citizens of Elmhurst.
(Ahhh, there was a point in there somewhere!)
First they elected several aldermen and a mayor. After the next election, the Concerned Citizens held the City Council
majority. But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation.
The Concerned Citizens began to disintegrate.
One of the truisms of Elmhurst politics (when things are going pretty well) is that it's hard to find candidates who will run against incumbents. The major function of the now-defunct party system was to file a full slate. The story - possibly hyperbole but certainly not apocrypha - is that the mayor the Jacobins unseated was the first to accept the nomination of his party after 26 others refused.
Inadvertently, the grandees of the Concerned Citizens actually recruited and elected good candidates. Some of the names may be familiar to you: Janice Vanek, Dr. Susan J. Rose and Phillip D. Jordan.
As people who actually studied issues and voted their conscience, these three soon found themselves voting with a different majority. Their onetime patrons, the three Jacobin committee chairs, soon found themselves on the short end of many 11-3 votes.
As crimination and recrimination began to fly, the chairs began to slow city business to a crawl. The final break came over the choice of a developer for the Superblock - the area now known as City Centre. After the final vote went 11-3 for a builder who even today is reviled by the Orangistas, the three tried to float a binding referendum to cut the City Council in half, citing "gridlock." That was a popular charge against Congress in those days, but completely disingenuous, dare I say ironic, coming from the very people blocking the grid in Elmhurst.
Cutting an already too long story to the chase :)
They failed to garner enough signatures because a challenge against the validity of their petitions was upheld, although a
Grand Jury failed to return a true bill of indictment over charges of outright fraud. In retaliation, two of the three sued everyone who ever crossed them, including their proteges and the builder, and the Concerned Citizens Party was no more.
In a last stand for party politics, Betsy Aldred headed a slate which was mostly defeated by a number of independents, including the current mayor.
This touched off a long era of amity and progress in all branches of city government. But like an underground stream, the Jacobins still worked to erode that good foundation. First they came with CORE - Citizens Organized to Revitalize Elmhurst, then it changed to CURE, Citizens United etc. etc. Next they ginned up an anonymous "Buzz Lightyear for Mayor" write-in campaign. Then they opposed the new Library with their "No, not at this time" campaign.
Finally, their quarters began to come back out of the slot machine when they turned from obstructing under the banner of "Revitalizing" to obstructing under the banner of "Preservation." The Orange Ribbon Campaign touched a chord wherever there was no institutional memory.
As the wheel in the sky keeps on turning, so to do the wormy.
And I sit in front of my cold Mr. G's coffee on 6/6/6 to tell you that in Elmhurst Unites, the parallel is exact. The root is the same. The reincarnation is complete.
And yet the seeds of their self-destruction are already sewn; some of the very people they've elected are already showing signs of independent thought.
And isn't THAT ironic!
~Z~
thank you alanis morissette!
"Challenging suspension of disbelief" is a great new title for this blog el zorro. Thanks.
As to the accurate history lesson -
Dateline Mr. G's -
you shared with Blog Boy
Milton said aptly
"Our torments also may in length of time
Become our elements."
anonymous 1: I was thinking of Alanis as I wrote that line, especially from Dogma, when God aka John Doe Jersey was unplugged from life support and re-appeared as Alanis.
Guess he was God ON the Machine! heh heh.
But Jagged Little Pill is my wife's CD. The Journey reference was more me.
anonymous 2: A Paradise Lost quote to accompany my Inferno riff? Nice! What with yesterday being 6/6/6 and the multifarious God references, I do believe we've raised the level of this blog to a higher plane.
Even my "chord/memory" line yesterday was a conscious homage to the "mystic chords of memory" of Lincoln's First Inaugural. In this case, however, they have been touched by the "worser" angels of our nature.
Jesus - Deus - Angels - a pseudo-Gaia, who have we left out?
By Jove! I have it! ...and maybe this explains Blog Boy's stubborn refusal to correct his verbiage. Maybe he is actually thinking the HOLY Ghost is in the Machine. NOW we've covered the whole Trinity.
On the other hand, maybe he has Dubya-osis, a condition characterized by a remora-like clinging to talking points regardless of the course of the conversation and the actual facts in evidence.
In his novel It, Stephen King's protagonist chants an anti-lisp speech exercise he'd learned as a child as words of power against the eponymous monster.
I often think of it in reference to "phantom" WMDs and now I find it especially apropos for our Dear Blogger:
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts,
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts,
He thrusts his fists against the posts,
And still insists he sees the ghosts!
~Z~
Post Scriptum: I am loath to let anything der Blogher insinuates, mischaracterizes or flat out lies about go unchallenged, so I will continue to take him to task for the entirety of his new posts. For now, however, I'm only going to contradict his charge that I am self-aggrandizing.
I only set myself up as superior in wit and wits to you, Bloggie. All this guarantees logically is that I have an IQ somewhere north of 85... that's hardly aggrandizing.
On the other hand, setting yourself up as a judge of Elmhurst political ethics is akin to the lifetime patient submitting his resume for Director of Longterm Inpatient Psychiatry, because who knows crazy better than a crazy person.
That's not ironic, it's supercalifragilist-ironic.
And believing that your little kingdom of Blogistan is the cradle of revolution....
THAT's self-aggrandizing.
Speaking of non-sequiturs: Let's talk about Jayson Blair.
Blair was a reporter for the New York Times who was caught plagiarizing stories, filling them with tissue-thin lies for details, then making up expense reports to mask the fact that he never actually covered them.
It's really puzzling why Blog Boy would use this three year old cultural reference as if everyone would remember the details.
Even I had to look them up: all I remembered was "plagiarize" and the Times.
What's even more puzzling is finding a point here. Is our Dear Blogger saying that the Sun Times faked the quotes? Is he saying we really do have gentlemen's clubs and porn shops? Is he saying the Mayor has bi-polar disorder? (Blair's excuse for his actions.)
Why exactly don't we need Jayson Blair?
Probably, Blog Boy doesn't even know himself. All he remembered was something vaguely journalistically bad about Blair so he juxtaposed it with journalism that involved the Mayor, hoping the badness rubs off.
This is all of a piece with others of his bogus cultural references like Gilbert Ryle and Hill Street Blues.
Along with the fake letter to the Editor, these are clearly meant to lend verisimilitude to his accounts, but are never fact-checked.
They sound good, they're averred with authority, so they must be true, because who would be evil enough to lie - or dumb enough not to fact-check - about such little things.
Hmmm: lies posited as facts to lend verisimilitude but which are so tissue-thin that minimal fact-checks unmask them...
With Blog Boy "reporting" on Elmhurst, who needs Jayson Blair?
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Let's see... who was it again who said "He who is false in little things is false in great ones?"
Oh yeah! I remember! Yeshua ben Yusif, Judaea c. 30 A.D.
(Luke 16:10)
Pinch hit:
I'm going to step in for Blog Boy here and predict that he will link or cut-n-paste something about Niles' Mayor & the FBI (or Daley & the FBI) and finish with some leading question like "How long before the FBI turns its attention nearer to home?"
Even though there is absoultely zero connection between those stories and Tree City.
If he doesn't actually read the comments he probably would do something like that. After all, he operates under the credo of "Guilt by Proximity in my Blog."
I feel so confident in batting for Blog Boy because, in the last thread, I touched every base that he included in this latest post:
First: Radar/Ryle Reprise (cf "Dolt in the Machine")
Second: Jayson Blair proximity fuse (cf "See? Same/Same")
My footwork was a little off on this next one.
Third: disastrous... public relations gaffe (cf "watch the Orangistas try to make an issue out of it next election")
Okay, a lot off, but I touched the base.
Home: Propaganda, obsessive, self-aggrandizing (cf "vehemently accuse your opponents of the very crimes of which your side is guilty.")
It might be... it could be... IT IS! A Home Run! Holy Cow! Listen to the crowd.
~Z~
cut & paste
el Zorro said...
Pinch hit:
I'm going to step in for Blog Boy here and predict that he will link or cut-n-paste something about Niles' Mayor & the FBI (or Daley & the FBI) and finish with some leading question like "How long before the FBI turns its attention nearer to home?"
Even though there is absoultely zero connection between those stories and Tree City.
/cut & paste
Pitch Hit Double:
It could be the Blog Boy will be trying to make a threatening story for Tree City out of the recent manuever to place a certain City Council decision regarding the North Ave. / Rt. 83 on the agenda for reconsideration. Oh wait... nobody made a motion.
No fodder for the fool this time.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
In this latest post, Blog Boy quotes at length from a comment to a previous post. At length, but not in it's entirety!
The information is credited to a "Concerned Citizen" but the info from the original comment seems to be conflated with portions of a private e-mail or some other unposted source.
In addition to adding a 2 graf intro excoriating the mayor and a final fawning "thank you," neither of which appeared in the original post, Bloggie also excised the original lead-in and conlcusion, both of which were critical of himself.
cut-n-paste>
Careful about spreading more questionable claims, Mr. Blogger.
(...snipped for brevity...)
So before spreading more suspect claims as facts, check it out.
/cut-n-paste>
It's just this kind of reckless disregard for truth that calls into question all of this blog's claim, and all of this blogger's motivations.
Rather than aspersions being cast upon his subjects, they are instead cast upon himself.
Couplintg this observation with his pig-headed re-affirmation of his incorrect "machine" reference, I'm beginning to think that Bloggie has a) serious reading comprehension problems b) no demonstrable history of reading his own blog or c) schizophrenia so accute it borders on psychosis.
I think I'll opt for d) all of the above.
I once invented a word for the occasional reality check you receive after your divorce from it: realimony.
Apparently, all Blog Boy's realimony is ending up in the dead letter file - "addressee unknown."
~Z~
"Four legs, good?"
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. Even when they were piglets, the brothers were boors because they were the neighborhood bullies.
One of the brothers, sadly, did not survive to this day. Like the German couriers in Casablanca he became "the honored dead."
The other two piggies, however, failed to find anything lifechanging in the tragedy and carried on in their fashion.
The second little piggie one day decided - in spite of all evidence to the contrary - that he was more equal than the other animals.
He would often demonstrate his greater equality through exercise of his lungs, grunting, snorting and squealing at anyone who crossed him like, for example, the refs, coaches and even children of opposing teams at YMCA basketball.
Pledging himself to Napoleon and her Manor coterie, he duly ascended to the education committee, even though Napoleon failed to rise to power over the Block 300 Windmill.
Rumor now has it that the third little brother piggie wants to put his snout in the recreation committee trough.
Which of course raises the question: how will Squealer the Blogmeister spin his anti-nepotism screed into pro-Napotism?
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Rumor also holds that Alderman Boxer no longer believes Napoleon is always right and will just be a one-termer, by choice.
Z - just remember.... 'pigs get fat, but HOGS get slaughtered'!
Yes, yes, and sheep get fleeced.
Don't gotta tell me, I come from a long line of Tejanos.
Verdadero, the reach of these puercos gordos has indeed exceeded their grasp.
But they have trotters of clay and houses of straw. As regards to their tripe, see what just a little huffing and puffing has accomplished so far!
After next April 17, it will be menudo for all, just in time to celebrate San Jacinto!
~Z~
Can you say "Disingenuous," boys and girls?
A certain political website went off the air when the Orange Ribbon site translated itself over to Elmhurst Unites (dot com.)
Elmhurst Unites itself is off the air, now, so this alderman-cum-school-board-wannabe recently came out of retirement. His most recent post, ostensibly from Election Day, takes issue with a certain anonymous in-kind contribution I've mentioned before.
cut-n-paste>
This morning when I retrieved my newspaper, I once again discovered another edition of a mystery publication that has appeared periodically at my front door. An anonymous newsletter, entitled “Between the Lines,” delivers what has become a predictably uninformed political broadside.
Penned by an anonymous individual, each copy is taped to form a cone. Loads of these are scattered onto lawns and parkways throughout my otherwise well-maintained neighborhood...
{...snipped for brevity...}
...The risk of anonymity, on the other hand, is that there is no responsibility for misinformation and no place to continue the debate.
The latter risks materialize regularly with “Between the Lines.” The anonymous writer doesn’t want to hear that sometimes the basis for those strongly held opinions are factually wrong. And even when I find myself agreeing with him or her, the misinformation causes real damage to valid arguments. By remaining anonymous, this person is just shouting at (not discussing with) the other side.
/cut-n-paste>
Now, let's see what dictionary.com has to say:
dis·in·gen·u·ous adj.
1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: “an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who... exemplified... the most disagreeable traits of his time” (David Cannadine).
2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
(I don't know who David Cannadine is, but it sounds like he knows the Orangistas!)
Look for more on the relationship between a faux-naif wannabe, a phony newsletter and funny Blogger coming soon to a comment-post near you!
Hint: Read the 9/11/05 entry from Blog Boy, then read the minutes from the 9/6/05 City Council Meeting and ask yourself did he
a) Shorthand it onsite and type it in
b) FOIA it and type it in
c) Transcribe it from cable and type it in
or
d) cut and paste it from the original Word file?
~Z~
Can you say "Disingenuous," boys and girls?
A certain political website went off the air when the Orange Ribbon site translated itself over to Elmhurst Unites (dot com.)
Elmhurst Unites itself is off the air, now, so this alderman-cum-school-board-wannabe recently came out of retirement. His most recent post, ostensibly from Election Day, takes issue with a certain anonymous in-kind contribution I've mentioned before.
cut-n-paste>
This morning when I retrieved my newspaper, I once again discovered another edition of a mystery publication that has appeared periodically at my front door. An anonymous newsletter, entitled “Between the Lines,” delivers what has become a predictably uninformed political broadside.
Penned by an anonymous individual, each copy is taped to form a cone. Loads of these are scattered onto lawns and parkways throughout my otherwise well-maintained neighborhood...
{...snipped for brevity...}
...The risk of anonymity, on the other hand, is that there is no responsibility for misinformation and no place to continue the debate.
The latter risks materialize regularly with “Between the Lines.” The anonymous writer doesn’t want to hear that sometimes the basis for those strongly held opinions are factually wrong. And even when I find myself agreeing with him or her, the misinformation causes real damage to valid arguments. By remaining anonymous, this person is just shouting at (not discussing with) the other side.
/cut-n-paste>
Now, let's see what dictionary.com has to say:
dis·in·gen·u·ous adj.
1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: “an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who... exemplified... the most disagreeable traits of his time” (David Cannadine).
2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
(I don't know who David Cannadine is, but it sounds like he knows the Orangistas!)
Look for more on the relationship between a faux-naif wannabe, a phony newsletter and funny Blogger coming soon to a comment-post near you!
Hint: Read the 9/11/05 entry from Blog Boy, then read the minutes from the 9/6/05 City Council Meeting and ask yourself did he
a) Shorthand it onsite and type it in
b) FOIA it and type it in
c) Transcribe it from cable and type it in
or
d) cut and paste it from the original Word file?
~Z~
apologies for the double clutch!
hypocrite: stop hiding behind your mask el zorro, you are doing EXACTLY what you accuse others of doing - if you are so honest and humble, why don't YOU say who YOU really are??? maybe your name should really be: Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde - pretending to be both the blog boy and zorro! TWISTED!
My dear Anonymous,
This is the second time you've accused me of being Blog Boy. Avid conspiracy theorist that I am, even on those times I've swum all the way to the bottom of a bottle of tequila (and learned, to my disgust, that the "worm" was plastic) I've never dreamed of a scenario for the Kennedy assassination as incongruous as your charge.
Why in the world would someone as angry as Blog Boy invest so much effort into this blog to make all these political points, only to turn around at the end and debunk his own myths?
Why would a polymath as literate as myself hide his light under a bushel for 21 months in order to upstage and contradict himself so dramatically?
And here's the real puzzler.
Ostensibly you agree with either Good Company in his rants against the established order, or you agree with el Zorro for taking Blog Boy down in a blizzard of antidisestablishmentarianism.
(Hey, Kids! Betcha never thought you'd see that word actually used!)
If so, why lump us together in a single ad hominem?
Humble? Most certainly not! Honest? Fact check me! I dare you.
I "hide" behind the mask to confuse and goad my target. Apparently, I've struck a few others' nerves as well.
Not to worry, however; in my next post I will explicitly name who I believe Blog Boy to be. Then you can call and ask him whether he also makes his mark thusly...
~Z~
SOooo if you’ve followed up on my lead and done your homework, you know that the only person to have spoken to the City Council on 9/6/05 regarding builders’ fees was John McDonough, erstwhile third ward aldermanic candidate who lost to Alderman Rose in 2003. Adding those three years to his already long residency in our town means he’s become just about an expert on just about everything Tree Cityish in just about 6 whole years. (Just ask him about it!)
The implication in all of this, of course, is that Blog Boy used the letter he printed on 9/11/05 “without permission” because he didn’t have to ask himself! Otherwise, how would he even have known what was said that night, since the minutes only reflect the speaker and the topic?
Furthermore, check out the differences in the punctuation from the rest of the 9/11/05 post and the "reprinted without permission of the author" part. The same differences occur in this exact paragraph here as compared to the rest of this post. Observe the apostrophes and quotation marks.
Like that post, this post here is a mixture of typing into the blog, and pasting from a Word document, i.e. the original source.
Of course, it was long suspected that Blog Boy = John Boy. I originally had my doubts, because I wasn’t seeing enough semantic congruence between the blog and elmhurstthird.com. In time, though, I came to share others’ certitude. Perhaps there used to be several contributors; of late, however, syntax, and usage – especially as regards sentence structure – all have been pure J.McD.
Plus, even his writing sounds adenoidal.
Judging on tone alone, I could be wrong. It’s even remotely possible that someone would FOIA remarks from a stylistically identical stranger at a City Council meeting (because an acquaintance would have gotten permission.) But the confluence of the topics here, including all the prissy legalism, the short local memory and most especially the antipathy towards the Elmhurst Independent… whatever you want to say is in the machine, that‘s way too much of a challenge to the suspension of disbelief.
Add to that his hysterical use of the ‘Net for politics and it’s an even closer fit. Did I say “hysterical?” I meant “historical.” My bad.
I still could be wrong. In the interests of full disclosure, John Boy denied being Blog Boy last Election Night in a confrontation that has already become legend in both political camps. The way it’s been told to me, he was braced quite strongly by someone who has since been excoriated from a safe distance here in the blog. Perhaps he was telling the truth. Perhaps he wasn’t merely avoiding a beating. Perhaps that was only beer spilled down the front of his pants. But that’s my working hypothesis until proven otherwise.
“But, Mr. Know-It-All,” you may ask, “What does all this have to do with Between the Lines?”
And I would answer, in my best William Conrad voice, “Tune in to our next episode….
Disingenuousness Cubed
or
Jonny Blogger and the Philosopher’s Cones.”
~Z~
Post Scriptum: If you’re in the mood for hilarity, go back and check out the little verbal high five he gives himself at the end of the 9/11/05 post: “Damned lie? or Damn right?”
As formal mayoral candidate Buzz Lightyear once said, “You’re a strange, sad little man.”
Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. I’ve already explained why I think the (unintentionally) funny blogger and the faux-naif wannabe are one in the same. Let us now examine the relationship between the phony newsletter and the wannabe, and show why he is faux-naif (i.e. disingenuous.)
First, a little background on “Between the Lines.” As John Boy notes on his website, elmhurstthird.com, these are distributed to all the front lawns in his neighborhood. Taped in the shape of a cone, each issue features two columns of close-packed MSWord Times New Roman type on one side of an 8.5 x 11 white page.
It is completely anonymous.
The first time they appeared was during McDonough’s race against Dr. Susan Rose. In that election, they also appeared in Moira Damm’s neighborhood during her race against Phil Jordan.
Both those races featured some pretty ugly campaigning on the part of the challengers. Damm’s people were knocking on doors of IC parishioners with Jordan signs and browbeating them to take them down. No “or else” was necessary. If you get blackballed by the central clique at IC, you may as well turn Lutheran.
McDonough put his foot in his mouth and then shot himself in that foot with the self-same website I’ve been quoting. He accused Rose of profiteering from the closing of the Berteau “jug handle.” In a decisive and very public slap down, every sitting alderman, including those who nominally were his allies, signed a letter of support for Alderman Rose. The story barely played in the Doings, was covered better in the Elmhurst Press, and was delivered free to every doorstep below the fold on front page of the Elmhurst Independent.
That, of course, explains Jonny Blogger’s varying level of regard for the newspapers. But what about the newsletter?
That first delivery was on April 1, 2003, Election Day, and it helped McDonough avoid a crushing defeat. He just suffered a garden variety whupping instead. Behind his back, Orangistas say he deserved it just for the stupid website.
On every subsequent election day, Between the Lines has only appeared on the lawns within two blocks of John McDonough’s house. Each time, it has espoused a position held near and dear to the hearts of Orangistas and, by parasitic osmosis, of John Boy. Each time, that is, until this last election, where the broadsheet took a position diametrically opposed to that held by – publicly at least – McDonough and the Orangistas. In fact, the only elections in the last 10 years that they stayed out of were the York referendum, and now this.
Why in the world would John Boy support and oppose the latest referenda? Well, to understand that requires a little background and a little speculation.
Background: In the referendum for the New York High, Jim Ruprecht was the figurehead chairman of the committee to support it. Any successful election of this type revolves around identifying your supporters, keeping their names on a list (called the “plus list”) and then getting out the vote on election day, which means monitoring the polls and marking off your plus list people as they arrive. By the afternoon, if they haven’t come out yet, you start calling them.
After the first election, the plus list disappeared. Rumor has it that the Orangistas control it through a relationship with Marta Davy, the chief suspect in the data theft. It’s a powerful tool. (Although it didn't help Ruprecht.)
The same process was followed this time by the Vote Yes Twice committee, chaired by Kevin Diamond, who was more an action figure than a figurehead. The data was kept by a non-Orangista computer expert, and here’s where it gets interesting.
By this time, McDonough had been firmly rejected by the Orangistas as the choice to replace retiring School Board member Penny O’Neill. Despite the board’s intent to keep a geographic balance by picking someone from third ward, they picked relative unknown Peggy Ostojic.
Word on the street is that the apogee of McDonough’s political career was the 326 people he gulled into voting for him in ’03 in losing to Rose, who had half again as many votes. The Orangistas then began edging away from him. After they really saw him in action at Elmhurst Unites the edging became a general rush for the exits. He didn’t get the message until February 13th, however.
Also, sometime during the course of flitting around the edges of the campaign, word also has it that John Boy tried to get a copy of the plus list database. No one in that camp was buying his ingenuous insouciance act, either.
McDonough being between two stools brings us to the latest issue of "Between the Lines."
Suppositions: I believe that, stung by his rejections, John Boy used this latest issue for a number of purposes:
1) To vent his spleen against the campaign.
2) To cast the hounds off his trail as the author of the (illegal) rag.
3) To appear to be supporting the referendum because it was popular with what used to be his base.
4) To secretly try to subvert the referendum.
This latest one involves a twist of logic. A failed referendum would reflect badly on the school board leadership, as well as any field of potential school board candidates that would come out of the referendum committee, beginning with Kevin Diamond. These items would provide a rationale for a call for change in the school board (a-gain?) with McDonough banging the drum.
And isn’t it funny that, since the reprinting of Spaeth’s letter in September (right after reprinting his own letter, uncredited) that Blog Boy hasn’t said A WORD about school finance? A huge election season, and Blog Boy is still harping on 2005 elections? Can’t keep his mixed messages straight?
So, yes, trying to secretly subvert a position you’re publicly supporting so you can supplant your nominal allies is indeed a twisted bit of logic.
And McDonough is just twisted – and desperate - enough to use it.
~Z~
Must be in the manic (or maniac) stage.
EXTRA! EXTRA! I WAS WRONG!!!
...once.
It turns out I was inaccurate in one of my earlier posts. In saying that the 11/8/05 blog entry earned my first anonymous post, I erred.
Mea culpa!
In trying to research the blog's position on school finance, I stumbled across an earlier post where I corrected Blog Boy. It was the first dark cloud on Jonny Blogger's horizon, harbinger of the current storm.
In one of his patented non-sequiturs, he used a couple of 1959 cultural references to emphasize that FOIA was enacted in 1966. Huh? In his original version of the post, he said that the White Sox won the division. Double huh?
As an anonymous, I pointed out:
cut-n-paste>
Anonymous said...
The White Sox did not clinch a division in 1959. Divisional play in baseball did not start for another decade.
5:21:38 PM
/cut-n-paste>
So Blog Boy CHANGED HIS POST from "division" to "it" then made off as if it said that all the time. (And added a link to the exchange in the original post as well)
cut-n-paste>
Good Company said...
That would be the League Championship.
10:51:57 PM
/cut-n-paste>
Typical typical typical.
What he should have said was something like "nice catch" (baseball, get it?) and ended with something like how I end my own self-correction below.
I had totally forgotten the change and exchange, but it came back to me when I re-read it. Given the lapse in memory, I'm reluctant now to say that that was my first post, but it does pre-date the other one.
El Zorro regrets the error.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: I'm a little suspicious of his comment, too. While technically accurate, I don't think the term "League Championship" came into common usage until divisional play and League Championship playoffs, as well. When the Sox won it, I think it was just referred to as "the Pennant."
True fans still do.
I couldn't confirm this usage via research, so you'll just have to rely on the clouded childhood memory of a quickly aging CUB fan.
sounds like zorro must have something against the guy he keeps defaming (careful!). sounds like zorro may even live in the same 'neighborhood'. sounds like zorro may be desperate to seek an elected office and if he does live in the same 'hood', is using this site to try and defame someone he thinks may run against him in the next election. will we be seeing campaign signs next march " EL ZORRO" for alderman. tee hee.
"defamation (careful!)"????
Truth is the first line of defense of libel, "anonymous." In order to bring a case against anyone who has said mean things about him, the burden of proof is on him to show:
1) What is said here is untrue
AND
2a) That I published knowing that these were untrue
OR
2b) I published with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the charges
AND
3) Blog or John Boy has suffered some form of tangible damage as a result of this.
Case law has already established that losing an election, for example, is not sufficient to be counted as damage. Opinions (or clearly labeled "Speculations") and stories relayed with caveat of hearsay (e.g. "word is") is not libel, per se, as it is merely reporting on the rumor, not the subject of the rumor.
Furthermore, by injecting himself into the public eye, as a candidate, as an "activist", with his website and, many others and I believe, with this blog, Jonny Blogger is a "public figure" for whom the bar to prove libel is much higher.
But let's examine what you're saying more closely. You're drawing the conclusion that because I've spoken scornfully about John Boy I must be a potential candidate against him next spring. But the person to whom you're referring is nearly as radioactive as McDonough is, politically, because he bucked the Republican machine and lost embarassingly badly in this last election.
Though not a crazy, and not a bad guy, Elephants have long memories and would work behind the scenes to beat him, even though McDonough is a Daley Democrat. Word is that even Lee Daniels and Tom Marcucci had a bit of a falling out over this, as the mayor stayed loyal to his adherent.
Granted, he has been the gatherer of the newsletters, (naturally while cleaning the neighborhood of garbage, public spirited soul that he is) but everyone who keeps track of these things either has a copy, has read a copy or heard about each one as it's come out.
Politically savvy people keep samples of every political flier, mailing and brochure - look at how the mayor's own 1993 campaign material was used against him last year!
In any event, word is currrently that Susan Rose intends to run again.
Furthermore, in this very thread alone I've ridiculed Mark Daniel, Dan Spaeth (Did you recognize him? Did you recognize the allegorical source?) and John McDonough.
I've also been accused of being Blog Boy, I think by the same anonymous. Aren't you?
So by your logic, I am Chris Healy, Kathy Jordan, Kevin Diamond, Susan Rose, Chip Collis AND John McDonough, with a little Carolyn Ubriaco thrown in, because that's who Spaeth's brother would run against.
Not to mention a sour-grapes someone who hates teenagers and was rejected by the Orangistas.
Better call Father Merrin, for I AM LEGION!
and so o anonymous one who has yet to discover that upper case is needed to begin every sentence or is simply using a very clumsy manner in a weak attempt to disguise the fact that he's blog boy except he has the same penchant for the cryptic one liners, the misleading rhetorical questions, the occasional single space after sentence-ending punctuation (esp. question marks), the post-ending ejaculations (in the grammatical sense), the triple question marks and the uncertainly numbered ellipses (it's three, the answer is THREE! -without s p a c e s) like this...
And so, I say, I repeat what I said in the last thread:
cut-n-paste>
Come clean with where I live and who I am?
You first, Blog Boy. You first.
/cut-n-paste>
Unlike you, I gain nothing from remaining anonymous and lose nothing by unmasking. So until you (or y'all, if I'm wrong) reveal publicly and verifiably who you are, I shall remain known to you only by my mask and my mark...
~Z~
Dateline: Shermer,Illinois.
Been awhile since we've had any input here, relatively hostile or otherwise!
Maybe in a fit of pique, depression and/or spirited self-sacrifice for a greater cause, the Orangistas drowned themselves in "Lake Robert Palmer."
What? It hasn't flooded? You mean with all that construction the underpass hasn't flooded?
Yet another myth debunked.
At the height of any storm, there's been MAYBE a fraction of an inch down there. You'd have to be awfully shallow to drown in that.
And as much as they complain about how the new buildings look, at least it hides that ratty ugly aqua building from view as you quaff a Guinness outside of McNally's. (Maybe it would look prettier in pink?)
And if you are sitting outside, remember to wear sunscreen. It's the best way to buck melanoma.
As you look out of an upper window of the historic Glos Mansion towards the Glos Mausoleum (two early candidates for Elmhurst's new historical preservation program) it's a shame that the view is spoiled by that rust-flecked refugee from Sant'Elia's worst Wallyworld acid daymare.
Who is it who owns this monstrosity anyhow? Class? Anyone? Anyone?
Probably somone who is so popular, eveyone at school loves her.
Poor baby.
~Z~
Not sure why but last night, as I watched the movie "Nacho Libre", I kept thinking about this comment post.
Though more caballero than luchador, I welcome the comparison to a good-hearted man who fights anonymously for the betterment of los pobrecitos.
The tights, though? They seem very close in color to the building I lampooned last night. Besides, I'm not really a "Spring."
Speaking of movie references, anyone care to take a crack at those sprinkled in last night's post, dateline Shermer? And can anyone tell me Shermer's zip code?
~Z~
Echoing this thread's title: "Blog Boy, where are you?"
It seems that the steam has run out of our Dear Blogger of late. It's been nearly 4 weeks since he's graced us with his presence, other than pretending to be anonymous posters.
In fact, it looks like the wind has been out of his sails for a while. From the blog's inception up through last November, Blog Boy whipped posts out regularly. On average, he posted at least once in a little less than a week. By contrast, since that time he's averaging nearly THREE WEEKS between posts. And if it weren't for a flurry around the election this year in which he didn't address this year's elections at all, that average absence would be much much longer.
In fact, the 6/4 post - which was mostly devoted to sex and me - was completely derivative from comments posted to the last thread, and featured information that was just plain wrong or already out of date by the time it was posted.
That being the case, it can be argued that he hasn't made a "real" post since May 11 - which once again dealt with campaign issues long dead and buried.
What caused such a drop in productivity? I can hazard two guesses.
1) An earlier guess about people co-authoring the blog was right, and as the rats jumped ship, the production, quality and relevance of the posts has dropped.
2) His wife said it was time to get out of the basement, clean the Cheeto crumbs off his shirt, and go back to work full time. Perhaps the term used was "Start pulling your weight around here?"
The former would explain why he's recycling old stories that he heard last year.
That latter is very popular right now among those au courant.
I dunno myself. But there's no fun or glory in winning by forfeit.
~Z~
Sounds like YOU can really relate to this guy, Cheeto Bandito.
Sounds like YOU can really relate to this guy, Cheeto Bandito.
Wow. I've been served. Your biting sarcasm and incisive wit have reduced me to tears and shown me the error of my ways.
Cheeto Bandito? Cheeto Bandito?!? Is that the best you can do? Is this what you've been reduced to?
If you applied yourself, studied and meditated hours at a time, and submitted without reservation to the tutelage of a sugar-junkie third-grade Mr. Miyagi, maybe - just maybe - you can aspire to "I'm rubber and you're glue..." for your next post.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Neaner, neaner, NEA-ner!
"Dateline: Shermer, Illinois" Answers
Apparently there aren't many movie buffs reading this blog.
Shermer, Illinois ("One of America's Towns") is the Chicago suburb invented by writer/director John Hughes as the site of many of his stories - over 15, at last count. It is modeled on Northbrook, whose original name was Shermerville. Hence, the ZIP is 60062.
The references featured were:
Reference: "Been awhile since we've had any input here, relatively hostile or otherwise!"
Answer: In Sixteen Candles the Geek has a line "You know, I'm getting input here that I'm reading as relatively hostile."
Reference: "Maybe it would look prettier in pink?"
Answer: Pretty in Pink. Duh!
Reference: "wear sunscreen. It's the best way to buck melanoma."
Answer: In Uncle Buck John Candy is amazed at a huge mole on his neice's teacher's face. Flustered, he introduces himself as "Buck Melanoma, Moldy Russell's wart."
Reference: "rust-flecked refugee from Sant'Elia's worst Wallyworld acid daymare."
Answer: National Lampoon's Vacation featured Wallyworld as the Griswold's tourist Mecca.
Bonus reference: In a subsequent post I use the word "lampooned." Several of Hughe's films were "National Lampoon" movies.
Sant'Elia has nothing to do with John Hughes, he was a futurist architect.
Reference: "Class? Anyone? Anyone?"
Answer: Ben Stein's classic deadpan trying to elicit "The Laffer Curve" as an answer from his mystified econ class, which was short one deathly ill student in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Reference: "Probably somone who is so popular, eveyone at school loves her....Poor baby."
Answer: In The Breakfast Club, Bender responds "Poor baby" to the rich girl who says "Do you know how popular I am? I am *so* popular, everyone at this school loves me."
The rich girl's name? Claire.
I'll see you... At The Movies!
~Z~
Well, well, well, well, well.
Lookahere!
If you require further proof that the Orangistas have no business being in control, you need look no further than the one board they DO control, Elmhurst Unit School District 205.
Despite having not one but TWO hugely successful referenda...
Despite a release of TIF funds from the city that they've been crying for...
Despite having a free run of the place, having gulled the electorate and having chased off Dr. Morris (word is his resume was dusted off and polished up the day after the '05 election)...
Despite all these advantages, they STILL cannot conclude a contract with the teachers, necessitating for the first time the use of a federal negotiator.
It can't be the money. There's plenty of that. In fact, during the run-up to the referendum, the current officers of the School Board (P, VP & Sec) ran around assuring voters that the teachers' raises were taken into account in the referendum amount.
So it must be what it always comes down to with the Orangistas:
Pig-headed, arrogant, uninformed, clueless, overmatched megalomania.
In theory, the teachers' contracts as they stood on June 30th are to be extended until ratification of a new deal, and should prevent a teachers' strike this fall.
But unless the logjam is broken, it's quite possible that, rather than meet to ratify a new deal, they will instead meet to vote to walk out.
Perhaps this rejection of the current school board offer is less a question of dollars and more a question of leadership.
In other words, a vote of no confidence in Orangista control.
If so, they'd better get used to it. It's the first of many.
~Z~
I agree el zorro. Orangista control is cause to be wary - indeed alarmed. Several of the 'no votes' that were cast against the 'first/last offer' in the collective bargaining were mostly a statement on poor direction chosen by Orangista leadership.
poor poor pitiful you, poor poor pitiful you!
Hey Anon & el zorro, I think the most pitiful people here are many of our elected officials. Just watch the last Council meeting and listen to the 2nd Ward Alderperson babble on as usual. What a display. Then you have the same few who RARELY attend, the same one who NEVER speaks,i could go on and on. Point being; there are problems across the board! Try getting out to do good instead of wasting your time obsessing with this blog, which was entertaining to read once, but really people.
Oh, no, mon enfant, that doesn't work here.
In recent months, the RNC has with some success tried to deflect the Abramoff scandal by showing where some Abramoff clients also donated to Democrats. In effect, they are trying to smear everyone with the same excrement so that the scandal is a net tie.
Your post is the same tactic, which is all the weaker for my having exposed it in the last thread.
Trying to promulgate tired out criticism of one side as the moral equivalence of the sins of the Orangistas is to ignore the track records of both. It's the old plank/speck-in-the-eye dichotomy writ large.
Time after time the city, the schools and the park district (whose Renaissance began once Sheila and her coterie were run off) have been seen to be more effective when the Orangistas are NOT running things.
The people you criticize in your post have been responsible for bringing Elmhurst back from the brink. I don't know if you were here when the 2nd ward alderman you accuse of babbling started her tenure, but at that time, Elmhurst was suffered an assault on its bond rating due to a deep gash in the general fund, thanks in no small part to the political forebears of the Orangistas. Her financial savvy helped clean up that mess.
The alderman you refer to as the "one who NEVER speaks" actually does his talking in committee, where anyone who knows anything about the workings of city government realizes the bulk of the work gets done. His fellow alderman from the fifth ward and her associate from ward seven would profit by his example on camera.
"Better to remain silent and supposed a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Furthermore, I think you'd find that almost every poster who has been critical of the Orangistas has already been out and done some good during their time in Elmhurst. In fact, I suspect that both current and former aldermen are among the various "anonymi" posting here.
And keeping the Orangistas honest as they try to make this blog their own little Volkischer Beobachter is not an obsession, but rather good work worthy to carry the brand...
~Z~
"The Man Who Knew Too Much"
Fan mail from some flounder:
cut-n-paste1>
poor poor pitiful you, poor poor pitiful you!
/cut-n-paste1>
cut-n-paste2>
"The Man Who Knew Too Much"
/cut-n-paste2>
Is Johnny Blogger weakly lashing out with a vague sort of anti-intellectualism? Is he admitting to being part of an assassination scheme? Or is he merely accusing me THIS TIME of being someone named McKenna? (1956 version)
Seriously, son, if y'all wanna keep going mano a mano with me, crypticisms from the cryptorchistic ain't gonna cut it.
Next time, y'all best bring kryptonite.
~Z~
You've both got way to much time on your hands....
Don't forget to save some for your campaigns!
Could not agree more Anonymous 2~
Lot's of rumors out on the street about who's going to run. Should be some fun. I hear Chip Collis may be back out (after the recent County Board loss) for 3rd Ward Alderman and Hausol in the 4th Ward. Time will tell!
As noted before, the self-proclaimed "Chipster" has problems with the GOP organization. If he clears those waivers, perhaps by working on Reboletti's campaign or even Puchalski's, he may have a shot. Again, however, word on the street was that Rose will run, if for no other reason than to give John Boy the next spanking he so richly deserves.
Heck, you could dig up anyone north of Lake and east of Emroy and they'd spank John Boy, even if they do come from his natural base. (think about it for a minute)
As for Hausoul - interesting choice, but once again, a highly compromised candidate. A newcomer to the city the first time he ran, he ended up seduced by the Dark Side practically before he could navigate to Spring Road without Mapquest.
As one of the official clients for MWD, he's had to work hard ever since to regain street cred with the Light Side. Starting from that hole, it would be difficult to win in the 4th.
Besides, Hipskind was just appointed to that seat. It's unlikely that il padrone would allow two of his proteges to go head to head.
The Fourth potentially could be one of the most crowded races ever, including about 14 guys named Kevin. Scott Bretl is another confidante of Hizzoner who may have an eye on the seat. Darlene Heslop has quickly made her mark in town. Jeff Ernst and Alan Brinkmeier are two perennial potentials, with Jeffy especially making "vroom vroom" sounds.
A plethora of his pronouncements from his Planning platform apparently pander to the pumpkin pigmented people.
Brinkmeier, on the other hand, may be considering a switch in aspirations from City to School Board. Depending on which version of the ward map is current, he's either in 4th or 5th. But his deep involvement in the referenda stands in contrast to, say, John Boy's, for example, as actually having been contributory to success. Contrary to received wisdom, this lawyer could be a good addition to that board, especially with the growing mess there that needs cleaning.
Oh, the political possibilities and permutations for 2007 are endless! And the landscape has shifted significantly since '05. Anybody who claimed to know now what will be going on then based on what happened before would be whistling through his hat.
Including this correspondent...
~Z~
Heard a funny story; the "Chipster" as you have referred to him, was really just a put up to take votes from De Michele and insure Pulchalski a win. Da whole kissin da ring thing was for show. Stranger things have happened!
I heard the same story, and while I would not put it past the ATRCO to pull something like that, there are several items that argue against that scenario.
1) When a maneuver like that occurs, there's generally a quid pro quo. No quid is yet forthcoming, although I suppose we'll see when Reboletti leaves Addison Township Board. Alderman is not generally the size of the prize for something like this.
2) Collis' literature ignored DeMichele and attacked Puchalski. Under your scenario, the reverse would be true.
3) DeMichele as DeMichele per se was zero threat to the well-heeled Puchalski.
4) The whisper campaign in Elmhurst - rumored to be coordinated by former alderman Faust-ner - would not have taken place. It is said he was similarly employed against Marcucci aldermanic candidates in '05, including the anonymous attack in Ward 2. It is also said he considers Collis to be his bete noire north of St. Charles Road.
5) Probably the most telling argument against is this: the ego of someone who refers to himself in the third person with a nickname construct that died out with disco wouldn't intentionally take on a Kamikaze Kandidacy.
Wannabe feldmarschalls don't volunteer as cannon fodder feldwebels.
~Z~
el zorro -
Never heard of Alderman Faust-ner? ATRCO?
So, you are saying Chip Collis was a SERIOUS candidate?
Trivia Question:
What do Ross Perot, Ralph Nader and Chip Collis have in common?
Dear Blogger Anonymous:
I'm pleased and honored that you've come to me to ameliorate your historical, political, cultural and local ignorance.
I'm proud of you, too. The first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem. Congratulations!
ATRCO? The Addison Township Republican Committeemen's Organization.
Paul Fichtner is a former alderman who, like Collis, finished last in his first principled run at County Board by bucking the ATRCO. At the time, he was accused of being a spoiler against Roger Jenisch.
He won his second attempt by bucking his principles and running to the ATRCO. In fact, the big kiss up began on the very night he lost the first time!
Also, he received the support of almost every Elmhurst alderman just to free the City Council of his super-silly superciliousness.
Word on the street is that the arm was deliberately broken on his ceremonial retirement rocker to denote his fellow aldermen's concern for his real arm, which must ache from patting himself on the back.
Dr. Faust, on the other hand, is a legendary, supercilious germanic character who was accomplished in many fields, yet who still lusted after more knowledge and power. He struck a bargain with the devil to accomplish his heart's desires.
It was your standard Satanic contract:
The human of the first part, hereinafter known as FAUST... yada yada... devil of the second part, hereinafter known as LUCIFER... yada yada yada... his servant Mephistofeles... blah blah blah... period of servitude not to exceed 24 years... blah-de blah blah... in consideration of which he shall render one (1) soul.
Signed in blood.
It remains to be seen whether after 5 more terms in office, Mr. Faust-ner enjoys a Goethe ending (Faust redeemed), suffers a Marlowe ending (Faustus damned for eternity) or features a Scooby-Doo ending, foiled by those meddling kids and their stupid dog.
Was Collis a serious candidate? I'm certain he thought he was, and he was at least as much a contender as DeMichele. And he certainly wasn't any type of a spoiler; even if DeMichele got every Collis vote (or vice versa) Puchalski would still have won.
At that level, only serious money begets serious candidates. When a Fichtner or a Puchalski spends 50-80 THOUSAND DOLLARS of their personal funds... well, welcome to politics 2K in the U.S. of A.
Trivia Answers:
Ross Perot was a Presidential candidate who spoiled GHW Bush's reelection and who has never held elective office. He's never had anything to do with Elmhurst.
Ralph Nader was a Presidential candidate who spoiled Al Gore's election and who has never held elective office. He sponsored his campaign manager to open the Citizen's Advocacy Center which is politically active (read "an unashamed shill for the Orangistas") in Elmhurst.
Chip Collis was most recently a County Board candidate who never spoiled anyone's election. He has held elective office and is politically active in Elmhurst, most recently on the successful Historic Preservation Committee.
BTW: John Anderson, a liberal Illinois Republican with a solid history of public service yet who did not carry a single precinct in the 1980 Presidential election would have been a much more apt comparison.
Anyway, if you'd like to pose any other misleading rhetorical questions (Who needs Jayson Blair? Are you "resting assured?" Do leopards/voyeurs ever change their spots?) which once again shine a spotlight on your invincible ignorance, I'll be here to fire up the generator.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: "Ficht" - contrary to popular prurient belief - does not mean what some think it means. That word is "Fickt."
"Ficht" means "fights" while "Faust" means "fist." So, you see, meine kinder the Fichtner/Faustner metaphor works on oh, so MANY levels.
Vier, at least.
el zorro -
Those that oppose your thoughts do not have anything close to kryptonite. Their word weapons are more like limp toast. Are they being quite for a purpose? Have they no comeback(s)? Are the facts you state too hard for them to handle?
J.
are they being "quite" what?
This from the guy who can't find a shift key?
Reduced past blathering, past childish namecalling, he's now sunk to the level of typo-twitting.
As the poster child for erratic errata, he should know better: people who scribe in glass weblogs shouldn't throw Strunk's.
J. - that answers one of your questions: apparently, they indeed have no comebacks. And your assay of their arsenal ("limp toast" I love it!) has finally shed some light on the title of this thread; six weeks without a fresh post, we at last know the "Caspar" we're looking for.
Caspar Milquetoast, where are you?
(Yes, J., they're not only "quite" they're "too too" as well.)
~Z~
Post Scriptum: And lest anyone accuse otherwise, I didn't choose "kryptonite" to imply I was any sort of Ubermensch. I'm just a plain old everyday hyper-alliterative mensch.
BTW, since it's unlikely he'd actually look it up: "cryptorchism" is the condition of undescended testes i.e. someone who quite literally needs to grow a pair.
Keep talking,it is extremely helpful!
"Extremely helpful" in what way, O Cryptic One?
In the "engineer-hoist-with-his-own-petard" way?
In the "woodcock-to-mine-own-springe-Osric" way?
In the "Federal-Wildlife-Marshal-Willenholly-that-monkey-shot-me-in-the-a**-and-paralyzed-me" way?
Coming from you, that's "Oh, Sweet Irony!"
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Still think you can run with the big dogs? Consider:
John Hughes, William Shakespeare, Kevin Smith, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, Dante Alighieri, Stephen King, Terry Brooks, Alanis Morisette, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Carey, Luke the Evangelist, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, George Orwell, the Karate Kid, Christopher Marlowe, Antonio Sant'Elia, Hanna/Barbera, Fred Rogers, Harold Tucker Webster, Bruce Springsteen, William Peter Blatty, Joseph Goebbels, J.K. Rowling, Tim Allen, Steven Bochco, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietszche, Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Dylan, Rocky & Bullwinkle & their Narrator, George Lucas, Strunk & White, Stephen Colbert, Steve Perry, Rene Descartes, the Book of Proverbs, Ronald Wilson Reagan, Dolores Kearnes Goodwin, Humphrey Bogart, Justice Potter Stewart, Homer Simpson...
and, of course, Johnston McCulley.
Allow me to add Quentin Tarantino: You gonna bark all day, litte Bloggie, or are you gonna bite?
My guess is bark and, also, stay on the porch, especially in this heat. You ain't never gonna keep up with the big dawg.
I really think highly of Paul Fichtner and I'm sure he would not appreciate your seemingly envious attack on him, Mr. El Zorro. As for the rest of your self-serving comments - WHO CARES! And unless you are illegally cracking into peoples email accounts somehow, why do you think you know who these comments are from?
"I really think highly of Paul Fichtner..."
in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
"... and I'm sure he would not appreciate your seemingly envious attack on him, ..."
envious of Fichtner? only for his wife's money
"Mr. El Zorro."
that's Don de la Vega to you, or at least Senor el Zorro
"As for the rest of your self-serving comments - WHO CARES!"
my mommy does - she's proud of my education
And unless you are illegally cracking into peoples email accounts somehow, why do you think you know who these comments are from?
you may have noticed a certain mastery of the written word on my part - or more likely you didn't - and a deep and wide appreciation for literature...
as a trained ear can tell Dvorak from Debusey, as a trained eye can tell da Vinci from Durer,
so too can I tell dumb from dumberer
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Orangista males seem to fit a certain type - Fichtner, Daniel, McDonough, Regan - not a Mike Hammer amongst the lot of them.
R.I.P. Mickey Spillane.
Does anyone out there know the REAL reason Chip Collis left the Park Board so SUDDENLY a few years back? I've seen his name mentioned here several times and el zorro seems to know SO much about him but no one ever talks about his sudden resignation from the Board. Word out was he was asked to leave, but why?
Ah, yes, you HAVE been listening to the whisper campaign coordinated by former alderman Faust-ner.
Just your asking the question, though, leads me to believe you won't accept my answer. It's much easier (and more fun) to believe the worst about someone, don't you think? After all, why would someone whisper it if it weren't true?
It began over a year ago during the mayoral campaign. Word filtered around that the CORE coven of harpies were loudly asking the question, leaving the answer loudly unspoken.
It was, essentially, the same smear without smearing tactic common throughout this blog (and implicit in that last comment) despite the fact that Collis was not even a candidate.
When no one began filling in the answers on their own, a number of scenarios, each more outlandish that the last, began oozing from Claremontasia and slouching about town:
He campaigned for County Board at the opening event of the Wagner Community Center (and......?)
He leaked Executive Session material to the Press (even if it were true, not a hanging offense.)
He stole money (patently impossible on ANY board in town, but average citizens don't know that)
etc etc
The true story is much more prosaic, but those who know it tend to respect the privacy the family has asked for. Suffice to say that his political career was suspended in order to take care of a family medical crisis.
WORST OF ALL: At the time he was also vying for the ATRCO nomination to county board to replace Jenisch. He stepped back from that as well and endorsed - and worked for - Faust-ner. Even during his last campaign, on the stump he was saying nice things about the very guy stabbing him in the back. Poor schmuck.
He was repaid for his high regard of the man by the whisper campaign even though Faust-ner knew the true story.
How do we know the other crap is false?
If it were true, do you think he would have run again less than 2 years later?
If it were true, do you think for one second the Orangistas would have hesitated to give him the Noffs treatment and PUBLISH rather than whisper?
Friend, you've got to ask yourself: are these the type of people you want making public policy? Are these the type of people you want educating your children, running your parks?
Maybe they are. You apparently believe that the Park District would not prosecute a crime in order to spare someone from the Mayor's party.
People on this blog, including Blog Boy, believe there is an elaborate system of kickbacks and quids pro quo. That the Mayor prints false letters to the editor. That the clueless Press is complicit in his schemes. That somehow he is using TIF to feather his own nest.
The Orangistas try to pretend that their motives and their methods are pure as the driven snow. But all their rhetoric comes down to is petty meanness, gossip, lies and innuendo.
But if you truly believe that all these politicians are birds of a feather, then I've wasted about a zillion pixels over the last several weeks.
When I tune into Channel 6 for Thursday night must-see TV, and I watch Alderman Damm hew to the party line and robotically recite her fixed set pieces, non sequiturs be damned...
When I watch Alderman Lomnicki open a sentence on one side of an issue, build the case for that side, and then contradict herself by the end of the sentence and conclude with what she's supposed to say...
When I watch Alderman Tranter, who showed such promise, hold her nose and loyally vote along with the ones that brung her to the dance...
I weep for our town, friend. I really, really do.
But if you think this town would be better off run by Sheila Danno, Donna Geis, Paula Pezza, Carolyn Ubriaco, Cindy Cronin Cahill, Moira Moriarty Damm, Claire Cronin, Mary Keyes, Susan DeRonne...
And by their acolytes: David Pezza, Mark Daniel, Paul Fichtner, John McDonough, Jim Ruprecht...
And by the opportunists and wannabes who have pandered to them: Marta Davy, George Szepaniak, Mike Regan, Mike Bram, Jeff Ernst, Dan Spaeth...
Then by all means, enjoy the Swiftboating. You will have proved once again that Americans elect the governments they deserve.
Me, I'll just take my pension (just MY pension, Swiftboaters) and open a cigar store near Hohokam.
Stop in and say "hi" during spring training.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: I "know SO much about" all these people, Orangista or Tory, playa or wannabe. And despite my candor, I do not tell all I know of any of them. There are certain things that are off limits, whether I agree with the person or not.
Example - the pitiable Orangista stumbling around in and about the library. Who (s)he is and why (s)he's over-self-medicated are germane to exactly NOTHING in these colloquies.
There have to be lines, folks, or we're just two packs of starving wolves getting ready to rumble.
And if you're trying to imply anything, try also to remember that I'm Don Diego de la Vega, not Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker or Clark Kent (quips-tonight notwithstanding.)
Did the Blogmaster just fall off the face of the earth or die or something? Or has he had no time for stories since he is so busy pretending to be el zorro?
Come on, show us what you're really made of, we're waiting!
el zorro is right (again)
Collis stepped aside from his elected position to attend to a family emergency that came up suddenly. Nothing untoward about it......
Anon 11:24:36 - By placing capital letters on REAL and on SUDDENLY in your recent post you imply that the decision made to step aside was for some improper conduct. Please, do not join the methods of the hypocrites that author this blog. The author(s) [really just one now] smear and poke at prey without a shred of fact or proof in support. While claiming to demand fairness and fact gathering in reporting as a reason for this blog, the author(s) have never subscribed to their own tenent.
The supporters of this blog continue to portray themselves as the ones digging for the truth, but they do not live the way they preach, nor do they lead by a positive example.
I observe --
The writing styles of Blog Boy and el zorro are way, way different. Most unlikely for them to be one and the same.
J.
So many preachers, so few choir members!
If you're going to bring the sarcasm, you may want to master the meaning of the metaphor you're mangling. Blogger Anonymous' latest crypticism:
>So many preachers, so few choir members!
Oh, that's just brilliant! Maybe that's because we aren't preaching to the choir!
The Orangistas, however, are all choir, no congregation. The only reason that they aren't inharmonic is that they're more monophonic than Gregorian chant.
How is that possible, you may ask? Well, you've heard of "one-hit wonders," I'm sure.
These guys are one-note whiners.
I could go on, but if I extended that metaphor any further I'd need a variance, and I don't fancy hearing a David Pezza contrapuntal cross-examination for 45 minutes.
Will someone please tell him that DPZ is NOT David Pezza Zoning?
"Here endeth the lesson." (Ofc. Jimmy Malone)
~Z~
Most of lower intelligence don't enjoy hearing from David Pezza since they are nowhere near as educated,informed or able to understand and apply every word of the Elmhurst zoning codes. Since you el zorro are trying so hard to appear so intelligent, you should at least pretend to understand how the DPZ really works! Why doesn't someone as gifted as you appear to have a job? Or are you blogging away at your employers expense? Or are you a 'stay at home dad' pretending to be someone you are not!
(How cute, we have the president and founder of the Orangista Backstreet Boys Fan Club blogging.)
Oh, it has nothing to do with IQ; quite the inverse, if anything. But it has more to do with being a nuisance.
There is no one anywhere near as educated, informed or able to understand and apply every word of the rules of golf (USGA) as I (an occupational hazard from a previous life) but no one has yet invited me to ride in their cart and expound, expand and expatiate on them.
If the whole foursome is in agreement on "lift and clean" then who am I to insert myself into their game?
I'd be almost as boring as the self-appointed guardian ad litem of our zoning codes.
I actually do understand how the Zoning and Planning Commission works. In fact, I do believe a legal challenge could be made to the way they operate. The Illinois Supreme Court decision which made MWD the belle of the bitching has been misapplied.
Real lawyers are opining now that such Commissions don't really have to allow everybody and his uncle to just walk in and start badgering witnesses.
Maybe that's why Damm, Moira is trying to dislodge Kubiesa, Spiroff as city attorney (doubtless in favor of MWD, like other places - could they be any MORE predictable?) so that the city's legal position on this doesn't change.
As for time on my hands, as noted before these missives take me about 5 minutes each. I submit that the person with too much time on his hands is David Pezza.
Ooo, that crazy irony again!
I mean, the guy seriously needs a life. Although if strutting and preening in front of an admiring Jeff Ernst was the only time I got to wear long pants, I'd probably memorize all 13 chapters of the Elmhurst Zoning Ordinance myself.
Perhaps, however, he'd be better off memorizing sections of chapter 12 of the Municipal Code:
Excerpt from Elmhurst Municipal Code>
Whatever is injurious to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, ...is a nuisance.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make... any excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others,
/Excerpt from Elmhurst Municipal Code>
David Pezza - an excessive, unnecessary noise which annoys - is injurious to the senses and an obstruction to free use of property and, thus, by ordinance, the Elmhurst definition of "nuisance."
Book 'im, Dan-O! (Det. Steve McGarrett)
~Z~
Does anyone know if Chip Collis is still the webmaster of Elmhurst Unites? I heard a while back he so graciously purchased the domain and offered free of charge to manage their website but I can't find the site?
Elmhurst Unites! website
http://www.elmhurstunites.org/index.html
was the link. It has been off line for several months. The last time it was updated was about April 2005 to publicize the much talked about TIF meeting held at Angelos. That is the meeting that two of the three invited speakers slammed TIF at the invitation the the Orangistas while the City Manager spoke in favor of the benefits of TIF.
No changes additions or modifications were made to their website for virtually a year and the site went down and is currently out of service as I type this response.
FROM THE ORIGINAL WB...
Yeats. For a stormy time, a little something. Apropos of nothing? C'mon, you know me better than that by now.
This is dedicated to those who find Messiah figures under every rock in the First Ward.
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
What rough beast, indeed?
~Z~
Thanks anonymous but the Elmhurst Unites site Chip Collis managed/owned does not seem to exist any more either, FYI.
el zorro; you forgot to list Chip under your list of 'orange' people, he was very involved in Elmhurst Unites, and after your last post, sounds like you need to take a hint from your wifes favorite 'jagged little pill'and get a prescription!
Oh please, that Yeats poem is a bit trite, or perhaps you wrote the post as a way to work in the poem. Still trying to show off how smart you are? Why should you care what the mob does? Or are you equating yourself with Yeats as the heretic? What exactly is your point?
It's taken me a few days to track down these latest inaccuracies re: Collis = Orangista.
Apparently after the Orangistas opened their Elmhurst Unites website as a dot "org" Collis cyber-squatted on dot "com" and dot "net." He offered them to the "non-profit" as a donation and asked them to have their webmaster contact him. Their webmaster did so, ANONYMOUSLY as "webmaster," and turned down the contribution. Tactically that was a dangerous move, as Collis could have used the addresses to provide confusing counter-messaging during the campaign, but he didn't.
Unlike the "ElmhurstPress.com" folks, who provided anti-Marcucci blather until contacted by the real Elmhurst Press and asked to cease and desist. It still is a website for the "Pivoney" family, but word is they are related to one of the Orangista candidates from the last election.
They couldn't have known Collis wouldn't do the same, so the strategic issue on anonymity must have outweighed the tactical for them. Who were they hiding?
Collis attended subsequent Elmhurst Unites meetings to gauge the popularity of the movement, to track membership and to gather platform plank information.
In short, his participation was what's known in the biz as "oppo."
Opposition research.
~Z~
Interesting information, sounds like you know Chip personally. I wonder if the Elmhurst Unites people were smart enough to know he was just a plant? I heard he really tried hard to get the support of some of the Orange folks during his County Board campaign but they didn't fall for it, so they must have him figured out.Thanks for the update el z.
Hey look! The Mayor and his alder-friends tried to pass a feel-good measure demonstrating their desire to preserve some of Elmhurst's architectural treasures, including Wilder Mansion. It was an "intent to nominate" statement, once the process was finalized. This proves everything Blog Boy has posted in his life regarding "Mansiongate" is patently untrue.
If landmarked, Wilder Mansion, Glos Mansion and the Glos Mausoleum could not be torn down OR MOVED!!!!
So of course, the measure passed with flying colors, right? RIGHT?
Nope. In the spirit of pure, spiteful partisanship, the Orangistas voted against it. Against PRESERVATION?!?
Forced again to support the party, it's no wonder Ann Tranter is rumored to be stepping down after only two years. Of course, her replacement candidate will doubtless be Paula Pezza, who's chomping at the bit to produce "The Paula Pezza Show" every Wednesday and Thursday night on your cable box.
In fact, she would have done so last time, but Mike Regan sold out to Orange to save himself and convinced Paula to run for Mayor (so we hear.)
Question is, will she ALSO run for Mayor in '09? We would never hear that out of the Orangistas prior to November '08 because they're dangling their party support as a carrot for OTHER mayoral wannabes.
It's probably hard for them to keep a straight face while doing it, but buttering up "Mayor Bram" and "Mayor Szczepaniak" keeps those votes in line.
As we saw in the vote against saving Wilder Mansion.
~Z~
I don't think the Mayor has 'alder-friends'. I think the Mayor is a fair guy who's just trying to do the right thing. Why do you think he has 'alder-friends'? I hate when people say he has people in his pocket and his certain little aldermen always do what he says. When did the preservation ordinance pass? It's about time. Is there some place the public can view what the ordinance says and exactly how it works so we can start nominating buildings or our own homes?
I used "alder-friends" more in the concept of "Super-Friends" i.e the Justice League of America!
Preservation passed unanimously a month or two ago, and the final ordinance will be presented next Monday.
The city website has the final report that serves as the basis for the program here:
http://elmhurst.org/whatshot/HPACReport.pdf
(I can't beleive the Justice League let in "el Dorado" but wouldn't accept...
~Z~
Let's examine the Mayors "nomination" of the Glos and Wilder Mansions and the mausoleum, shall we? The Mayor and his buddies were the most vocal AGAINST the owner consent clause in the proposed historic preservation ordinance. They are trying to nominate the Wilder Mansion with out the consent of the building's future owner--the Park District. They're using the ordinance they don't really want in a thinly veiled attempt to stick it to the EPD. It is retaliation for the EPD turning down the Historical Museum. Why else would the nomination idea surface now when the city attorney is still writing an ordinance and the council still needs to pass it. The Mayor is hardly a friend to preservation, no matter how hard you try to portray him otherwise.
Talk about revisionist history! I'm rarely so blatant in a declarative statement, but I will be now: everything you have written is a complete and utter lie.
The Mayor's tune on preservation has changed dramatically in the last couple of years - from con to pro - as the work of HPAC progressed, yet from the start, even when he thought it was a bad idea, he ALWAYS INSISTED on owner consent.
Dr. Rose's position has NEVER changed. She held an open forum for the public in 2003, she created the HPAC, and she guided their report through her committee and through the full council.
The FULL COUNCIL voted UNANIMOUSLY to adopt every provision of the report, including OWNER CONSENT.
It was the Orangistas who favored encumbering properties at will without owner consent. They PRAYED for involuntary designation. Their allies on HPAC pressed for it. That way they could designate anything they wanted in order to block redevelopment.
But the panel - appointed by Rose and the Mayor - had an owner consent majority.
For this latest vote, it was made clear in all deliberations, committee and city council, that the wishes of the Park District would be deferred to in the spirit of the intragovernmental agreement.
If the mayor didn't want the ordinance, it would have been very simple to kill it, the same way a previous draft ordinance was killed: lawyered to death.
No less noteworthy a preservationist than Ald. Norm Leader, who defeated David Noffs (a Mayor guy) in the last election, has publicly commented on the Mayor's burgeoning support for preservation.
Never in all of this blog have I seen such a boldfaced pack of lies, and that's saying a LOT!
Either this is the lamest attempt at Swiftboating I've ever seen, or Juan Valdez slipped some peyote into your almond mocha roast blend.
~Z~
Mayor Preservation was Mayor Anti- Preservation until... let's see; O yes, March of 2005,when he did his phone polling and saw the thousands of "Pezza for Mayor" signs and his campaign manager told him point blank - you should be nervous! Suddenly, his campaign material listed none other than "historic preservation" as his #1 issue! God Bless America and Mayor Preservation!
Hmmm, it's not Opposite Day so what the...oh! Hey, look, kids! It's our first troll!
More lies and self-contradictions, Trollop Troll. Everything you say is demonstrably false, but not even worth my time to refute.
Why are you so desperate to spin this issue this way? Hmmmm? Exceedingly desperate.
Interesting.
Anyway, I'm done with you. Declare "victory" if you want, but I refuse to debate with anyone as sleazy as you.
I never seen a foe less worthy of the steel of...
~Z~
Has anyone thought that Zorro might be a reporter or, a group writing thru one person? Zorro uses the saying "word on the street", alot. Didn't Tim Beryers used to write a column called that? Who could have all this much info?
An interesting assertion and one of which I approve. I also note how quickly Z resorts to insults and misdirection once challenged with facts. Reminds me of a certain mayoral figure in a certain musical. Two step away Zorro. You've come and gone....
Catch that reference if you can...
Super Friends? HAHAHA! More like the Legion of Doom! Very comical.
Anytime someone catches Zorro in a ridiculous mistake or an outright fabrication, "It" resorts to grandiose tripe about "itself" or adolescent "Batman" style insults. Is Zorro trapped in a world of binary choices that are obsessively either Zorro's way or the "Orangista" way?
el zorro does not have it wrong or inaccurate. The 8:48:54 post that claims Marcucci did not address issues of preservation until a poll in 2005 is not accurate.
In the late 1980s I attended a coffee during which Marcucci said point-blank that preserving our city history (using the Old Schoolhouse as an example) was part of his message to the electorate.
In the mid-1990s before the real dialogue began about renovation of the York High School building began, Marcucci was on the record as stating the importance (to former Supt. Joan Raymond) of keeping the historic look of the high school as an important element of our city.
Also, Marcucci was a leader in making sure that the old train station on the Prairie Path (York Rd. accross from the Schiller Real Estate building) be renovated to remind our city of its historic roots.
During the referendum in 2000 for the high school Marcucci was on the trail working to secure votes to insure that the message about keeping the high school with its historic appearance from St. Charles Rd. be maintained.
During the early 2000s the Old Schoolhouse project was completed. Marcucci was one of the leaders among many on that message.
During the early 2000s Marcucci was very clear that any renovations around the Crescent Court project maintain the bank building for retail consistent with the wishes of the community that came out to speak on that matter.
Also, during the renovation of the 1871 Old Main building on Prospect Ave. Marcucci met several times with the then President of the college to push the message that historic preservation of that old landmark be preserved for the history of our city.
So..... under the mayor's watch history has been preserved throughout the city
- in the downtown (Elmhurst National Bank Building)
- in the college area (Old Main) -in the Prairie Path (Elmhurst Train Station) and
-the south Elmhurst area (Old Schoolhouse),
- plus along St. Charles Rd. (York High School).
His approach to maintain historic buildings in Elmhurst has been far longer that a poll in 2005. Those are the facts. el zorro is right, again.
J.
- above post should say
"north Elmhurst area" not "south"
edit as I hit "enter" too fast....
J.
No, I believe zorro is simply a Legend in His Own Mind!
I've already copped to the egotism but, call me what you will, noone's disproven anything I've said in these last 10 weeks.
TTFN.
~Z~
Why would anyone waste their time?
America's Greatest Republican Wartime President once said:
You can fool some of the people all of the time,
And all of the people some of the time,
But you can't fool ALL of the people ALL of the time.
A letter Wednesday in the "Your Opinion" section of the Elmhurst Press once again proves how right Father Abraham was.
Elain Aldrews of Elmhurst takes Alderman "Million-Dollar-Baby" Lomnicki to task for her conflict of interest vis-a-vis the GQ Tux / Angelo's parking lot.
Among the highlights are:
"Alderman Lomnicki has an ethical and moral obligation to represent what is in the best interests of city taxpayers and not special interests of her political cronies from the Battaglia family."
Right on, Elain! But she has many other political cronies who tell her how to argue and vote.
"Alderman Lomnicki clearly lacks the objectivity to do the job independently regarding this legal matter."
You GO, girl! But she also lacks other qualities to do the job independently in other matters, too!
"Do the hardworking taxpayers of Elmhurst a favor, stop wasting taxpayers' limited dollars on legal fees."
Can I get an AMEN, brothers and sisters! But sadly, Elain, wasting taxpayer dollars for private special interests is what the Orangistas do best.
So you see, boys and girls, that the voters themselves are wising up to the scam. Of course, the Orangistas will come back with something about Walter "Skippy" Jacobsen and eminent domain (or "intimate domain" as Damm, Moira was seen saying it, repeatedly, on Channel 6). But that's not gonna play in '07.
As America's Worst Republican "Wartime" President has said:
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...uh...
We won't get fooled again!"
~Z~
A little housekeeping: I have no idea what play that references. If it was anything after Annie, I haven't seen it. If before, I blame Alzheimer's.
Also: ironically, on the day I claimed it wasn't Opposite Day, that evening Colbert's segment "The Word" was "Opposite Day." So it being opposite day, of course, when I said it wasn't I meant it was, because the opposite of... oh, never mind.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Actually, that statement is always true!
1 = not(flip(1))
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
You can fool some of the people some of the time...
But just remember Mr. Orangenvy, a fool and their money are soon parted! Put that in your pipe and smoke it along with whatever else it is you must be smokin!
el zorro,
Looks like you may have picked up on a story from a past post here on the TCL - new pen name? Elain Andrews? Very clever - NOT!
...said another way, "Million Dollar Baby" Lomnicki uses her political position to get rich on the backs of Elmhurst taxpayers while at the same time showing that she is morally bankrupt.
And just think, it only cost a couple of bucks to beat Charlie Mueller!
"When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows."
– William Shakespeare
"Stupid is as stupid does". - Forrest Gump
A couple of months ago Million Dollar Baby, Damm Moira, and Paula's Placeholder (Ann Tranter) made use of an obscure parliamentary procedure to table an item for later discussion.
While perfectly legitimate under the Municipal Code, the maneuver was rather a surprise within the context of Elmhurst meeting etiquette. Usually, given the collegiality that prevailed until recently on all our boards, a delay for a valid reason is granted without demur, and certainly without the need for any Robert's Razzle Dazzle.
If no no other reason than the threat of the procedure itself is always behind the request.
Oftentimes, a couple of phone calls ahead of the meeting can accomplish this - again, if there is a valid reason.
Despite the fact that the ordinance in question supported a committee report previously approved by the City Council, Damm, Moira stated she wanted more time to review the implications.
Not doing your job in a timely fashion is NOT a valid reason. Especially when you've voted on the report once already.
At first, the three tried to have the ordinance tabled. When they lost that vote, they suddenly produced a written request for postponement.
Is it likely that Damm,Moira and her two other cohorts were ALL THREE unprepared to discuss the matter, had NO TIME to call Tom Borchert or other employees for clarification or information, and yet had PLENTY OF TIME to research the municipal code, draft a letter and get together and sign it?
That's what they'd have you believe.
But your friendly neighborhood Zorro has heard another reason.
They didn't know what to think about the ordinance because David Pezza was out of town.
There's an old saying: when you have the votes, VOTE. When you don't have the votes, DELAY.
I guess "delay" is the gameplan when you don't have your marching orders, either.
~Z~
Post Scriptum The exciting ordinance under consideration was: MCO-05-2006 An Ordinance Amending the Subdivision Ordinance in Connection with Subdivision Contributions and Other Matters Related Thereto. Real Rocket Science type stuff.
el zorro
It is so that the
self-proclaimed
"Mr. Zoning Ordinance"
was not available
for the days leading up
to the subject vote you
cite.
J.
Oh, so not only are you people self-proclaimed genius', you also stalk people! How pathetic. If you are so desperate to be a part of the "gang", run for office...
Or have you already tried and LOST? Which explains the envy and bitterness - so sorry for you!
Ooooo, a distinct touch! A palpable hit!
Envious? Hardly! Desperate to be part of the "gang?" Never! Those who lie down with dogs get up with fleas.
But the sound of your desperate howls signals yet another nerve pinked by the piercingly perceptive rapier of...
~Z~
I agree with anonymous
You are oh so desperate to be part of the little gang you idolize. Perhaps they don't want you either? No wonder.
-M-
Does anyone else find it interesting that el zorro - aka: elain andrews, J., anonymous, and the TCL Blog boy, chooses to avoid any comments or questions regarding himself? Instead, he turns it around and attacks others.
Anyone with an ounce of reading comprehension skills and a modicum of impartiality can find all the answers they seek within my previous posts. Arguing further with those of you who have already drunk the Kool-Aid is pointless.
I've never been "rejected" by that "gang" (those gangsters?) because I've never applied. I disagree with their methods and their message.
They have all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire. (Churchill)
Furthermore, the only way to star in that choir is to sing castrato, and that price is a little steep for anyone with a scintilla of self-respect.
I'm not "Blog Boy." Hell, I'm the one who coined the derisive phrase.
I'm not Elain Aldrews (not "Andrews" you dyslexic dipstick) and I've already exploded the myth of the letter in the previous TCL story. And ever since that letter, penned by one Jason McDermott, the Elmhurst Press and all other local papers call to verify the source of all letters.
And it's not envy and bitterness you hear in my tone, it's scorn and derision. And truth.
As Lord Byron said: Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.
~Z~
So you're not looking to be member of the Mayor's clan? Sure sounds like it in your messages.
Good thing you knew the 'correct' spelling of Elain's name too!
Toldja So!
Mosquitos, wasps and yellowjackets have mysteriously been missing this year, despite the abundant moisture. But the infestation of creepy crawly Orangistas on the School Board has continued unabated, and they threaten to seriously damage the fabric of our fair city.
Teachers' Strike. You read it here first, boys and girls. Knowing the character of the players as I do, it was an easy call. With enough artificial testosterone to win the Tour de France, it was unlikely that they'd be reasonable until their backs were against the wall.
Their backs are now against the wall.
As reported in both the Press and the Independent this week, Joan Davis, chief negotiator for the teachers, has stated that "services may be withheld" if an agreement is not reached this Friday, August 11.
Now, normally I'm not a big fan of unions. They have their purpose, to be sure, but their heyday is over, unless more white collar unions begin to spread. Perhaps that is the next wave for American Capitalism. However, the teachers in Elmhurst are doing a wonderful job.
But the Orangista School Board is offering the following deal: one third of you get raises, two thirds of you get paycuts. That's an even worse package than the one rejected by the Union in May.
What would you do if threatened with a pay cut, especially in today's economy, where the energy costs are beginning to push everything higher?
How can you tell the teachers "We'll spend millions more to refurbish Hawthorne rather than tear it down and build a fresh, modern school for less, but we're cutting your pay?"
How can you tell the teachers "We raised millions in taxes to save elementary school Spanish but we're cutting your pay?"
How can you tell the teachers "For '06-'07 our budget will have increased $15 million over '04-'05, but we're cutting your pay?"
It's easy to do when your school board is beholden to an elitist core who consider IC their personal church, Wilder their personal park and Hawthorne their personal school.
It's easy to do when your school board is controlled by a political movement whose prime players all sent their kids to Catholic school.
It's easy to do when you think there are "winners" and "losers" in this negotiation, and that to "lose" to a bunch of school teachers is a sign of weakness.
But if this fails, all the boards' artificial testosterone will have won them is a Tour de Farce.
~Z~
ALL HAIL the GREAT EL ZORRO! Maybe you should run for school board instead of alderman! Your signs could be so unique! White with a big black mask - El Zorro the Great for School Board!
Never mind what you think about me, what's your take on offering the teachers 1/3 raises, 2/3 pay cuts?
Can't answer that, can you? That's because there is no G-Rated answer for it other than ththththbbbbtttt! Which is exactly what the teachers are saying.
They should demolish Hawthorne like "V" did the Old Bailey - with fanfare and fireworks - before they'd even consider losing one Elmhurst teacher by negotiating on the cheap.
And before one of you "geniuses" points out that those are two different funds: yes, I understand fund balance accounting. But you could let the extra millions you'd save by razing Hawthorne and building anew sit in that fund, spend down the balance in the general fund right now and redirect the tax revenues for the next five years to build it back up while spending down the overage in the capital fund.
Or you could build your special Hawthorne in situ, pay the teachers, but don't cut the electives and extracurriculars "saved" by the last referendum. Then let's see how well the Orangista candidates do next April with yet ANOTHER referendum to avoid bankruptcy.
On the other hand... don't. Go ahead and let the teachers strike. Then let's see how well the Orangista candidates do next April, when there's still 3 months of school left.
Then the Class of 2007 could mark their graduation alongside the Fourth of July, with fanfare and fireworks, just like...
(V)
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Five'll get you ten if Marta Davy doesn't bail next spring after the fertilizer hits the ventilator on all this.
Davy, the single school board member who has hopes to be up for re-election in April, will not survive if the negotiations end in a withholding of services.
This is heading toward a community disaster.
J.
Lets all form a circle, hold hands, and sing "Kumbaya"!
Seems to me the refrendum was a non-orangista undertaking. If teachers strike or services are cut, the comment from the electorate will be "the referendum was supposed to take care of all of this!"
And the town's official color will be orange.....
Oh, so you refer to the school board as "orange" but now you say the referendum, which was put forth by the board, was a non-oragnista undertaking? Make up your mind! And by the way, give us all a list of exactly who your orangista members are, how you know so much about it and why you think they have so much power. Better to be on the orange side than the dark side. Touche!
To the previous "anonymous:" Yes, the referendum was supposed to take care of this, and it was the Orangista school board that set the parameters of the budget and the dollars required. It was the school board that BROUGHT the question to the ballot.
It was the trusting non-orangistas who formed the "Yote Yes Twice" committee which, by law, had to be separate from the board, and urged the passage in support of the boards' goals.
It is the ORANGISTA CONTROLLED SCHOOL BOARD which has mismanaged the teachers' contract after claiming to have taken the negotiations into account in their budget.
In fact, one of the Orangista gentlemen of the school board said - in a public forum! - that the 30 cents also took into account the (at that time) pendng contract negotiations.
So either a) they were not dealing with the electorate in good faith or b) they are not dealing with the teachers in good faith.
Either way, there's only one place that barnyard fowl is coming home to roost.
~Z~
Post Scriptum to the last anonymous: Touche? All the questions you ask have been previously answered in my posts, including the abiogenesis of the Orangistas,and a roster of their CORE, auxiliary and associate members.
All one requires to unlock the secrets you so desperately seek is a rudimentary understanding of standard written English - a first principle you clearly lack.
Touche yourself, beeotch.
Not in a chipper mood today el z, are you?
-M-
-M-
I do no know what el zorro feels about it, but I asked what is there to be chipper about? Who is the supposed winner in how the citizens are being treated?
The leadership of Orangista manipulated the message to the citizens concerning the recent referendum misleading them and the vote yes twice volunteers, and now the Orangista controlled negotiation team approaches the collective bargaining in bad faith dealings with the teachers threatening any good will that had been built through the referedum campaign.
Bad for all, sad for all.
J.
Most of these comments are all "inside baseball". 95% of the voters are not going to separate out who might be could be should be alligned with who, who said what, etc. If the teachers go on strike or programs are cut, the electorate will be so mad that the orange-type campaign for new school board and/or council members will succeed. Zorro, be careful what you wish for.
Post-Scrotum: I believe there are more than one Anonymous commenting.
That last analysis is extremely naive. Granted, this entire blog is "inside baseball" but in the next election, the message will be made quite clear as to who is responsible for what.
And the electorate is not as clueless as you might think. Word is that Tom Thrall and Dan Spaeth have already been braced by angry supporters from their last election who have felt betrayed by the tax increases.
While they are not up for re-election, Marta Davy and Dr.Lindberg are, as is Peggy Ostojic.
My best guess is that if a strike does occur, Marta will not run again. That is just a guess; it's very difficult to tell what Marta will do from one day to the next as she has two very different sides to her personality. Will her gi-normous ego be better served leaving as her own choice, or risking being ousted by an angry mob?
Dr. Lindberg has already made noises indicating that he's done. After barely scraping by in the last election due to an 11th hour assist, he's disillusioned at the way that politics has gone of late, and especially with the accession of the philistines on the school board.
Ostojic seems to be one of those public servants in the mold of Rose or Vanek, (or a Norm Leader) who were accidentally promoted to the fore by the worst elements of Elmhurst politics. As I discussed earlier, it never ceases to surprise the baddies when someone with principles rejects their patronizing patronage.
Peggy's intentions next spring are unknown at this time, but I have hopes for that girl.
Nevertheless, it is quite possible that 3 seats may be up for grabs in the next election without any incumbents running. Even if all three go anti-orange, however, it may not be enough to sway that power on that board.
Except for Tom Thrall. Thrall appears to be one of those who used the Orangistas much more than they used him. I believe that in the face of an anti-Orangista swing next spring, Tom will be smart enough (or weather vane enough) to flip.
Coming up on the plus side, as I mentioned before, is Kevin Diamond, the chair of the Vote Yes Twice committee. I would look for other school board candidates to emerge from both that committee, and from the various citizen task forces.
Whether or not you chose to invoke a cry of inside baseball, you miss one very salient fact. The team that ran a tight, disciplined, "Vote Yes Twice" (VYT) campaign this year will back Kevin and his fellows to the hilt. The Orangistas made very shrewd use of the PTAs in the last two elections, but that cohort is now beholden to the VYT committee.
And PTA types LOVE their teachers. If the current school board messes up the contract to the point of a strike, there wil be a HUGE backlash among the PTAs.
Finally, don't forget, as I ALSO mentioned earlier, that the VYT committee controls the latest plus list from the referenda.
Strict message discipline among a united trio of anti-orange candidates is all that will be needed to sweep the school board elections in '07.
Next time: I'll discuss the '07 races for park board, where Claire Cronin and several of her adoring minions have been hovering like hungry vultures in almost every meeting since this spring.
~Z~
Anyone with an ounce of a brain understands that thanks to the 'orange' side, the referendum passed! Had they not supported it or more so, had they worked against it, it would have NEVER passed!
Many thanks to the bright side, the orange side, we hope you keep up the great work!
One small problem with all these orange-centric election strategies: they've never admitted to being a party. They've denied collusion. If they were to come out now and claim credit as a group, they'd be admitting that they've shredded election laws. "Elmhurst Unites" would be admitting that they are a sham "non-profit."
And the state election board and DuPage prosecutor Birkett would be all over them like white on rice.
That's the problem with lying - you have to remember to comport yourself as though your lie were the truth all along.
Oh, the irony! Looks like they seeded their fake "grass roots" movement with sawgrass. And it cuts BOTH WAYS!
UPDATE ON BLOG BOY'S OTHER VENTURE: Jonny Blogger's other site has been updated. It says, verbatim:
cut-n-paste>
Elmhurst Unites and this site will soon reemerge from the fog. Content will follow shortly thereafter. Please stay tuned.
/cut-n-paste>
That is hilarious on oh, so many levels. But those of you who suffer from an orange crush, riddle me this:
Why is their "Elmhurst" website registered with a Miami company, by a registrant from Nassau, Bahamas (a well-known entrepôt for those who wish to avoid US financial scrutiny) via a California cut-out with a Maryland IP address run by a New Jersey server org?
Registered yesterday?
Are they hiding something?
But wait, there's more! There is some residual data indicating both elmhurstthird and elmhurstunites shared some time in the melbourneit.com world.
Has Blog Boy pulled a cybersquat to "protect" the domain and donate it (a la Collis) as his entrée back into the fold?
The plot sickens.
No matter what, the timing indicates that both sites are gearing up for the next election cycle.
~Z~
cut and paste
"Had they not supported it or more so, had they worked against it, it would have NEVER passed!"
/cut and paste
****
(Another fabrication attempting to re-write history as another election approaches)
****
The cut-'n-paste statement is another mis-direction from the supposed "bright side". Truth is, many of the same folks that so vehemently opposed the Block 300 situation were intimately involved in a vigorous email chain attack seeking and garnering support against the referendum in the weeks leading up to the spring election.
The thing passed "in spite" of the wicked Orangista opposition. For those that believe the 'orange side' supported District 205 or the PTAs or the teachers in the referendum, there is plenty of swap land for sale in Florida.
The voters in Elmhurst are too smart for this attempt to re-write history.
O the great el z rides again! Careful not to lose that mask while you are 'chipping' into people's email addresses and websites, etc. You may be "chased" away, then who would try to run in your place?
I respond to this entry ----
"Why is their "Elmhurst" website registered with a Miami company, by a registrant from Nassau, Bahamas (a well-known entrepôt for those who wish to avoid US financial scrutiny) via a California cut-out with a Maryland IP address run by a New Jersey server org?"
----
I don't know who the last three posts are from. But I do know that some of the north side democrats (a la Rahm) have done the same thing using off-shore web addresses and multiple state IP addresses to skirt election campaign reporting. Have you folks in Elmhurst started that approach too?
I thought you guys were all Republicans?
Food for thought: Ever think that this site is not really who or what we think it is?
-M-
I dunno, -M- Who or what do you think this site is?
I'll tell you this much (with no undue modesty): since I began posting, and people began arguing with me, and other people have entered the fray on both sides, the value of this forum has increased.
Rather than a disjointed collection of unilateral screeds, it has become a bilateral discussion, with both sides represented and representing.
And the topics have been much more targeted to what is currently going on in Elmhurst.
As you'll read, for example, in my next post.
Best of all, Blog Boy has hunched his head back into his shell and, chastened, has joined the discussion as one of many anonymi.
I encourage everyone to adopt what "M" and "J" have and begin identifying yourselves by a handle, so that we may better track the discussions.
~Z~
I've confirmed a previous hunch.
This week I had lunch with a gentleman whose institutional memory vis-a-vis Elmhurst Schools is much deeper than mine. In fact, he was involved with teacher negotiations even before District 205 was District 205.
He confirms that never before have we had a strike, nor have we had a federal negotiator involved before. Up until now it had been kept intrafamilial.
Tempus fugit et tempi cambi
tsk tsk tsk
And we see in this past Friday's paper yet ANOTHER failing of the Orangista School Board:
cut-n-paste>
Fast-tracked Dist. 205 projects over budget
..."about $1 million over budget."
/cut-n-paste>
Piggy Spaeth is quoted blustering about his concerns (ever notice how MUCH Piggy gets quoted?) But what is the biggest source of the shortfall?
SIX new classrooms instead of 4 at Lincoln School.
Oh, and whose kids attend Lincoln?
You guessed it: Piggy!
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
"Hawthorne -- 12 added classrooms, along with extensive renovation work."
As I noted before, you could SAVE MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS by knocking down Hawthorne and rebuilding fresh. That would pay for your other overruns.
Plus you could REACTIVATE MADISON SCHOOL.
Plus you could REDRAW THE BOUNDARIES.
But NOOOOooooo - Like the bully that he is, the only people Piggy and his pals will get tough with are the ones who can't fight back - the employees - while pandering obsequiously to "the base."
And now we find that NEITHER referendum was big enough for the tax-and-waste Orangistas.
~Z~
I was astounded to read here that some Orangista supporter actually believes
“..thanks to the 'orange' side, the referendum passed!”
To 12:11:35 AM Anon who wrote that - I remember reading in the 6th grade:
“The truth is always the strongest argument.”
Sophocles
Who among the "orange side" - as you call them - worked for getting it passed? I recall seeing no Orangista leaders working for it, and recall seeing some working behind the scenes against passage of the referendum.
J.
Said it once, I'll say it again - Pigs may get fat, but HOGS get slaughtered! Look out you HOGS!
"...hogs get slaughtered" quoth the SHEEP!
Here's what Ralph Ellison said about folks like you. "The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony, that capacity to discover and systematize ideas."
Your very repetition betrays not only that your wit comprises mere inanities, but precious few at that.
Thus, with no antidote for your megalomanic micrencephalic megalocephaly your diagnosis is clear: terminal hubris.
~Z~
Message to J:
First, thanks for having my back around here. Second, please tell us more about these quotes of yours:
cut-n-paste1>
I recall seeing no Orangista leaders working for it, and recall seeing some working behind the scenes against passage of the referendum.
cut-n-paste2>
Truth is, many of the same folks that so vehemently opposed the Block 300 situation were intimately involved in a vigorous email chain attack seeking and garnering support against the referendum in the weeks leading up to the spring election.
/cut-n-paste>
As plugged in as I often appear to be (because, as I've mentioned in a previous context "in the kingdom of the blind...") I have to admit that these items are news to me.
Word was that DeMichele - a former school board member - was operating against it on the North side - I heard tell of an anonymous flyer (oh, those anonymous flyers!) which appeared in the second ward on the same day and doorsteps (Republican only) as his piece.
But an e-mail - that's not just news, that's damning evidence. The "why" we can guess, but: Who? What? Where? When? How?
Well-o, well-o, well-o, unh! Tell me More, Tell me More!
~Z~
The word going round about those 'flyers' against the referendum was that it was really Chip Collis (the spoiler) who put them out and tried to make it look like it was DeMichele, to help secure even more votes for Puchalski. It will be interesting to see what Chip's reward is for being such a good boy in the next election! Looks like he will have to kiss more than a ring to win another race.
Once again, make up your mind! If the School Board are 'orangistas' why would the 'orange people'have worked against their own board on the referendum? Sorry -z-, not falling for that poor attempt of an accusation. The referendum passed by a big margin, thanks to the orange side and even the dark side. Try a new one!
“Strange to think by the way
Whatever there is to know,
That shall we know one day.”
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
~J.~
Holy moly! What IS it with you and DeMichele? If you think Collis, a political pylon, was the last defender between Paul and end-zone glory, you must be using old Paula Pezza flyers for rolling paper. Plus, I destroyed that "theory" about halfway back through this thread.
Really, you should have someone read and interpret these posts for you, since they're obviously above your grade level.
I have NEVER said Orangistas worked against the referendum. In fact, in detailing their history, I mentioned their opposition to the Library, but not to any school referenda because they didn't oppose them, so far as I knew. They supported Joanie Raymond's referenda because she was their gal.
I suspect they never got organized against the York referendum because Sheila was battling breast cancer at the time.
And at the very least they stayed away from this referendum because it was THEIR PEOPLE who needed it to appear succesful on the school board, and it would also save them from the ignominy of borrowing City money and/or redistricting to balance class loads.
So I thought.
Then some pro-Orange anonymous said it was a non-orange event. Then another anonymous (who sounds like you) immediately accused ME of holding that position. -J- does say Orangistas actively worked against it and I was asking for amplification (elegantly deferred, BTW). In light of what I thought I knew, it doesn't make sense. But, if I held my breath waiting for the Orangistas to make sense, I'd deserve the headache I'd have after turning blue and passing out.
I've only ever said McDonough appeared to work for and against it. I also said McDonough is divorced from the Orangistas as well as reality.
So,apparently, are you.
~Z~
EXTREE! EXTREE! Read All About It!
The papers this week were chock-full of articles detailing how badly the Orangista-controlled school board is mismanaging the public’s business. There’s so much material, I’ll have to break it into multiple posts. Here’s Episode I:
HE SAID / SHE SAID
Board head says budget marks beginning of road to financial health - The Elmhurst Independent 8/23 Page 1, above the fold
District 205 construction $1 million over budget / More could come, board member says - The Elmhurst Independent 8/23 Page 1, below the fold
Well, which is it?
On the one hand, you have the board President, Talking Head DeRonne crowing over the marvelous budget that the board has enacted under Orangista control. But there are just a few problems. First, she’s given the lie on the same page where we learn the budget may be balanced, but construction expenditures will exceed that budget- already! – by a cool million bucks.
Second, you can’t pass an unbalanced budget. By Illinois law, the budget they submit has to be balanced.
Third, she starts talking about a “balanced budget,” then bumps it up to “surplus budgets.” I think what she actually means is that this budget, like all budgets, is balanced, but rather than spending down the fund accounts to balance it, they’re actually building those fund balances back up. (That’s just conjecture, I haven’t actually seen the budget yet.)
Fourth, even with this marvelous balanced and/or surplus budget, they still haven’t addressed the expensive issue of having to borrow to cover temporary shortfalls in the spring while they wait for tax revenues.
Fifth, they still haven’t finalized contract negotiations with the teachers, so the salary numbers for this budget, and for her projections for her “multi-year journey to financial health” are just a plug number.
Sixth, absorption of the Pick subdivision hasn’t been factored in. If Elmhurst residents vote to attend Elmhurst schools, will they be turned away?
All of this begs us to ask the question: Does President Talking Head even understand the ramifications of her maunderings?
That was on the one hand. On the other hand, you’ve got Piggy Spaeth all up in arms over a $1 million overage in the construction budget. He has a right to be up in arms – we all do. After all, it’s been less than 5 months since the referendum passed, and they’re already 2.5% over the final budget – but this is just for the FIRST 3 SCHOOLS. Projected out over the life of the project, and we’ll be $7 million over the $41 million referendum amount.
What Piggy fails to note is that a good chunk of this million dollar overage is due to adding 6 classrooms to Lincoln School instead of the planned 4. Let’s see, where does Piggy send his kids again?
What he also fails to note is that if you tore down Hawthorne instead of trying to refurbish it in situ you could get it done in 1 year instead of three, and spend SIX MILLION DOLLARS LESS which would just about cover the overage predicted above.
Something Piggy DOES manage to mention is his fear that these early overruns will jeopardize projects at the end of the process. And whatever can that project be? Why, Hawthorne, of course. Quelle surprise!
And what if the Pick subdivision does join us? How much will construction go up to handle those kids?
Once they gained control of the school board, and once they had both referenda pass, the Orangistas must have figured the voters had given them everything they wanted.
Looks more to me like the voters have given them “just enough rope.”
~Z~
EXTREE! EXTREE! Read All About It!
Paper, mister? Oh, wait, some people around here have trouble with reading comprehension. Let me explain the headlines in Episode II:
CALLED FIRST STRIKE?
Dist. 205, teachers union negotiations continue - The Elmhurst Independent 8/23 Page 9
District 205 teachers still without a contract - The Elmhurst Press 8/24 Page 5
District 205 teachers may consider strike -The Doings Newspaper 8/24 Page 3
Why shouldn’t Elmhurst teachers be paid more? - James K. Siegman, Letter to the Editor - The Elmhurst Independent 8/23 Page 8
Even Orange journalism can’t ignore the problem
Sounds like we’re getting closer to a strike with each passing day. A timeframe has now been set for the walk-out: after the second week of school. Teachers have begun justifying their position by handing out flyers downtown. They’ve begun promoting their solidarity with t-shirts. They’re planning on pleading their case directly to the board.
There’s an interesting dichotomy in the Elmhurst Independent. The press releases from District 205 and Local 571 are printed side by side. No doubt both are spun their own way, but even taking that into account there is a glaring difference. 205 says “progress was made towards settlement of a new two-year collective bargaining agreement.” The union says “at the close of negotiations the two sides were still far apart.”
Assuming that both those statements reflect the reality as each group perceives it, then the union view must be taken as fact. Consider: if a husband thinks there are no problems in the marriage, but the wife thinks there are then that’s a problem.
The Orangistas say some individual teachers will receive a raise up to 11% - that sounds huge! But that includes salary bumps for all causes – earning a masters, jumping to the next salary lane or step, COLA and the increase negotiated by the union. But according to the union, if the latest offer is as high as the board will go on salary, then there must be an upgrade of the retirement program.
What is the problem here? Well, your friendly neighborhood Zorro recently unearthed this interesting fact: for the first time in ages and ages, the Board has a member sitting in on the negotiations. The union rep and the district staff should be able to meet and remain relatively objective on behalf of each of their groups. With a member of the Board there, the distance which is so conducive to the successful ebb and flow of offer and counter-offer is lost.
Someone needs to remind the Orangistas that this isn’t baseball. In this case:
ONE STRIKE AND YOU’RE OUT!
~Z~
EXTREE! EXTREE! Read All About It!
I had originally included a reference to the Siegman letter here, but decided that it fit better in the previous batch of headlines. That leaves just one citizen letter, but it’s a doozy and well qualified to stand by itself as Episode III:
YOU CAN’T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE - REDUX
More to Lomnicki case than meets the eye – Richard Banks, Your Opinion - The Elmhurst Press 8/24 Page 7
Elmhurst folk aren’t the fools the Orangistas take them for
Add Richard Banks to the list of regular folks who know how to call a spade a spade. He trumps Million Dollar Baby’s long suit, showing her to be rather more than a hapless victim in this case. “Hapless” I’ll buy, especially on the city dais. But no one who comes away with that kind of bling can be considered a victim, especially when they started it.
Somehow, “Skippy” Jacobson missed the whole story. I don’t know if that’s more indicative of his drunk driver persona, his FOX NEWS (fairly unbalanced) anchor persona, or his typically elitist New Trier persona. Probably a mix of all three.
I do know he was in better company when he slept on Lower Wacker Drive.
~Z~
Please, no more carping on the Lomnicki's.
Look, they owned the property. They did not want to sell. The city demanded that they do. They said no way, it's not your property and we are not going to sell and, fair warning, the Lomnick's said they would sue if the city tries to force a sale. The city said we want to force you to sell and the city condemned their personal property. The Lomnick's were true to their word and took the city to court. The city lost and as punishment for putting these landowners through their troubles had to pay (per an impartial judge and jury) over 1 million.
Hopefully, the city has learned it's lesson.
Isn't that what this blog is all about:
"SEEKING the best from our elected officials in Elmhurst, Illinois, ENCOURAGING plain-dealing and honest individuals who would seek local elective office and DEMANDING solid reporting from local media who are essential to democracy."
The press has been nocitably reticent to comment regarding these shenanigans.
Thus, I'm not "carping." I'm reporting on and endorsing what the impartial citizenry have said as they exercise their first amendment rights.
To wit:
They broke their part of the bargain first. None of this would have been necessary had they not lived up to their word, as Mr. Banks noted.
Be that as it may, Ms. Aldrews' point still stands. Because of the obvious conflict of interest, she won't represent the greater good for her constituents and the taxpayers. Million Dollar Baby should recuse herself from discussion and voting on any issues regarding that property.
Don't you agree?
~Z~
The only thing most of us would agree on is the striking similarity between Norman Bates and el zorro!
To the anon that says there should be no more carping on the Lomnicki situation.....
Too bad your story does not hold when checking the records at the Wheaton courthouse.
If you spent a minute or two looking into the facts you'd uncover that your version is just a fairytale.
The spin you put on it makes the plaintiff appear as innocent bystander in this mess, yet the judge tended otherwise.
Check out the facts please, before you announce a spin version to the readers on a blog that has a purpose of demanding accuracy.
As to whether alderLomnicki represented the "citizen taxpayers" as a previous entry says, it seems the definition of 'citizen' depends on who gets the most money.
Here the outcome was a taxpayer funded big-money payday for a select few.
Love to know how much City Attorney Kubiesa raked in on all of this. Since he wasn't able to handle the case and referred it out he must have made some bucks off the referral. He must love when these suits continue on forever. Word out is he now lives in Lee Daniel's old house? Is he also still the city attorney in Oak Brook or did they let him go there after all the hoopla going on about him in the papers last year?
-M-
The Lomnicik's broke their word? Gosh, I'm sure they would say otherwise. Becomes a case of he said she said. Show me where the judge or jury said they violated any agreement with the city....
Nice try at setting up a straw man (woman) But I'm quite sure Ald. L has never voted on that property nor ever will..
Let me summarize again:
Their personal property.
The city said they want to buy.
They did not want to sell and said they would sue if city forced them to sell.
City persisited on forcing a sale, they sued, city lost 1 million on a gamble they could force a sale from private property owners.
A lot of people are awfully blase about an alderman milking a million dollars out of the city - a million of THEIR dollars - taxpayer dollars. Bottomline: the city now owns the property, the facts don't support your spin, and Lomnicki must recuse herself from any decisions regarding that property.
And, once again, the dark side reverts to ad hominems to attack the city attorney and obfuscate the true facts of the case. Hey, genius! Even if Kubiesa, Spiroff did receive a referral (about which neither you nor I have any data) the size of the referral is not contingent upon the length of the case nor the ultimate fees.
Are you lying? Or just ignorant?
If you're lying you sound like Mark Daniel; if you're ignorant, you sound like his factotum Damm, Moira. As I noted earlier, Daniel has made a career of attacking Kubiesa through various cat's paws in the midst of political turmoil, sometimes teaming with mayors, sometimes teaming with mayors' oppositions, sometimes even engendering intra-government lawsuits - in order to get Kubiesa's jobs in other towns.
Therefore, everything that the Orangistas do to attack Kubiesa has the taint of partisanship and a whiff of crookedness.
Cheesy shysters like Mark William Daniel are the reason we have lawyer jokes. There's a reason his boss has lost all his recent bids to become a judge, the same reason MWD will be shut out here in Elmhurst.
~Z~
"...we all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"
Norman Bates - Psycho
To el zorro -
Not a lot of people - just a few that made a bundle "are awfully blase about an alderman milking a million dollars out of the city - a million of THEIR dollars - taxpayer dollars."
The rest of us - a large majority - are really upset that taxpayer dollars are subject to the approach taken by the select few that gained the large money amount here.
Not spin, just facts.
It was Lomnicki's personal property.
The city said they want to buy it.
Lomnicki's said they did not want to sell and said they would sue city if city forced them to sell.
City persisited on forcing a sale, Lomnicki's sued, city lost 1 million dollars and a few Aldermanic seats on a gamble they could force a sale from private property owners.
What's wrong with a property owner trying to protect their right to sell their private property?
Perhaps the blame should fall on the city government that insisted on such a wasteful course of action that cost property taxpayers of Elmhurst not only the million, but hundreds of thousands more in legal fees.
Thought I'd check in today to see if Blog Boy has come out of the fog.
Apparently not.
Link
http://www.elmhurstthird.com/
Geez Norman, sure hope your 'facts' about Mark Daniel's boss are 100% accurate or you could have a big problem.
For the record, MWD is an upstanding photograhy studio here in town and I don't believe the owner would be too pleased with el zorro's comments, they could be misinterpreted.
-M-
Are you kidding.
You asked - What's wrong with a property owner trying to protect their right to sell their private property?
The whole problem with 99% of politicians remains that the only thing they really care about is themselves and their friends. It starts with our Governor and trickles down to the local government levels. There are a few... very few ....out there that really do care about trying to make a difference in the world we live in on various levels. But I learned when I was still a young thing in school that if someone says they want to go into politics they are as crooked as the day is long. And they are in it for the money, no matter what. Add $100M baby to the list.
I may have a right to own property, but I still have the responsibility to take others' interests into account when I use it.
Now consider the relationship between property rights and obligations. My having a right to own land does not allow me to claim that it is nobody else's business whether I keep my land behind strong fences. It is your business, too. At least that is what Jefferson believed.
Now consider the special relationship an elected official – like an alderman - has in overseeing the use of all government funds. Madison's and Lincoln's America was home to lots of morals laws, forbidding lots of what we would now call private behavior. People may or may not have thought they were a good idea, but few thought those laws violated anyone's rights.
Now consider, when there is an elected official there are special dangers when the government coerces its citizens, dangers of arbitrariness and discrimination and hidden agendas. And there are good reasons to limit government power solely in order to limit government power-too much concentrated authority is a bad thing, given that power is often wielded by sinful hands.
Elmhurst - after this sad affair involving the subject 'property rights litigation' - could stand a good deal more thinking and arguing about which choices are virtuous-and which ones are not.
J.
Bottom line - you need to get over the fact that the people in this town came out and spoke loud and clear in the last election and yes - Charles Mueller, Jim Parker, David Noffs, Mark Tebbe, Cathy Jordan and Mike LoCicero LOST and the Mayor slid by. GET OVER IT! Go cry in your beers or medicate yourselves, whatever you need to do to get over it! Jealousy and envy get you nowhere in life, but being on the dark-side obviously prohibits rational thinking.
The reasons for the results of the last election are myriad, but basically stem from a motivated, well-organized team campaigning against a laissez-faire, dis-organized set of individuals who didn't take the threat seriously enough until too late.
The Mayor only "slid by" because he dissipated his energies trying to prop up the rest of the anti-Orangistas, and because he rested on his laurels. A focused, disciplined campaign featuring target mailings, a dedicated phone campaign and extensive door-knocking by Himself would have resulted in a much, much larger margin.
But it was in the individual races that the most ground was lost.
First Ward: Since the departure of Norm Reinertson, the First Ward has been a write-off. Home to the heaviest voting precinct in the area, York 66, as well as the home base of all the CORE malcontents, Tebbe might still have won had he been up against a less-charismatic opponent. But the ill-fated attempt to build at the corner of Third and Addison right on the heels of Block 300 drove Anne Tranter and the enclave north of the tracks into Paula Pezza's arms and Tebbe, a smart guy but not as charsimatic, was toast.
Second Ward: Norm Leader was the most truly independent candidate in the entire election, and David Noffs didn't work hard and was still tainted.
Third Ward: Bram was uncontested due to the Mayor's long-standing policy of supporting incumbents. That will never happen again.
Fourth Ward: Gow. See Third Ward story.
Fifth Ward: Damm, Moira won for a couple of reasons. Name recognition from the previous election. Support from Cronins and Tom Manion. Lack of enthusiasm and message on Jim Parker's part. Parker was the last surviving member of the Elmhurst People's Party on city council, and the last survivng alderman from the class of '93. The "time for a change" message worked well here.
Sixth Ward: Szczepaniak. Sixth verse, same as the fourth and third verses.
Seventh Ward: Two words: Dan Karnatz. I'd say he was worth the 39 vote margin.
School Board: Thrall was popular and had earned a lot of respect due to his work on the committees. LoCicero - well, the poor guy had a brain tumor, the fact that he was standing was a victory. But it did affect his ability to campaign and, in a tight race like this, that was all it took. Cathy Jordan campaigned hard and lost by a handful of votes (less than 1 per precinct) to the man least suited to be a public servant, Piggy Spaeth. Again, the message for change played well, and the strong cross-campaigning that the Orangistas did lifted these races.
Park Board: In the best run race of the election, and a model for 2007, Healy destroyed Daniel, polling more votes citywide than Paula Pezza.
The hubris engendered by the 2003 spanking of the Orangistas is what resulted in the reversals of 2005. The hubris Hushpuppy is on the other foot, now. The question is:
can the older dogs learn new tricks?
~Z~
Fear-mongering and Hidden Shames
Following yet ANOTHER failed negotiation on Sunday, the School Board and the Elmhurst Teachers Council (ETC) are set to meet yet ANOTHER time on Wednesday, the 30th.
BTW, it is the federal mediator setting these meeting dates to try to move the sides closer together. How much are we paying in tax dollars for a human Dayminder?
So far, the only communique I've seen from the process comes from the District in one of their urgent sounding "Key Communicator E-Facts." Of course, the E-Dreck is spun hilariously with a bevy of bewildering facts, figures and percentages. But funniest of all is this line:
cut-n-paste>
It is expected the Union will engage in activities to pressure the Board and the community in connection with the Board meeting and possibly the opening of school on Tuesday, August 29th.
/cut-n-paste>
On second thought, maybe that's not so funny after all. The Orangista propaganda attempts to pre-smear the teachers by hinting that they will act unprofessionally IN FRONT OF YOUR KIDS!
BOOGA BOO! We're scaring you! Be afraid, be very afraid!
How much are we paying in tax dollars for a district "PR" person (Val Stewart) to inundate us with one-sided propaganda designed to drive a wedge between the parents and the teachers?
And why exactly do we need a PR person? It's not as if the schools need to advertise for business. Gotta pity the girl, though, having to front for this school board. Must be tough trying to polish THAT turd.
For example, they keep a lot of info hidden from the public because how can you spin THESE:
Word is that the custodians have been told they must take a pay cut or have their jobs outsourced.
Word is that Dr. Morris jumped before he was officially pushed. As the successor who cleaned up Joan Raymond's mess, as soon as Joanie's inmates took over the asylum, it was only a matter of time before they axed him. And they told him as much.
In his stead, they hired the new Super for $175,000 - $25,000 more than Morris was making. We can only hope she turns out to be the same sort of surprise Rich Grodsky was under identical circumstances when the Orangistas forced out Mick Pope at the Park Board.
Word is that Piggy Spaeth snorted at the teachers to go ahead and leave, we had thousands of applicants to replace them with.
Thousands of rejected applicants, you mean. Ostensibly we hired the best of the best. Or maybe Naperville got them and we got the second best of the best. In any event, if the revolving door starts spinning over at ETC again, we're going to get stuck with the best of the rest.
Under this school board's mismanagement, an old joke is going to be rewritten.
What do you call the person with the lowest GPA at teacher school? A District 205 hire!
Yeah, it's NOT very funny, is it?
~Z~
Two hundred two by fours
Word has come to me today regarding last night's school board meeting. The teachers did come out in force, and they did engage in activities, not to pressure the board, but to inform the board of their concern. And guess what...
It's not about the money.
It's about respect. What happens next will be a signal as to how much this board values its #1 commodity. Heck, its ONLY commodity.
Two months ago I said on this very page:
cut-n-paste>
Perhaps this rejection of the current school board offer is less a question of dollars and more a question of leadership.
In other words, a vote of no confidence in Orangista control.
/cut-n-paste>
Turns out I was right. Knowing full well the characters of these characters, the teachers need tangible proof that the Orangistas value education and educators. And they're smart to get it up front, because the way things are going, two years from now the situation will even be worse.
There's an old joke about training a jackass. First, you take a two-by-four and hit it between the eyes...that's to get his attention.
Well, two hundred two-by-fours dressed in "United We Stand" t-shirts whacked the jackasses on school board last night, right between the eyes.
They barely blinked.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Word has reached my royal ear (as Prince John purred in Disney's animated Robin Hood) that the Orangistas were thrown off their stride a little bit last night by a knot of "civilian" spectators among the sea of teachers.
Their unease grew as the teachers left after public comment and this group stayed for the whole meeting. Apparently, they included several major potential candidates for school board. According to one Observer "Marta's eyebrows disappeared under her hairline." Piggy especially seemed discomfitted.
Reminds me of an old Sicilian proverb: to a hungry vulture, a dead horse is a friend.
Or a dead jackass.
And so it begins...
O Norman (el z), you really are a master!
Anyone know how Lee's put up is doing in her new position at 205? Haven't heard much lately.
-M-
Mr. Tree Chipper has been seen lurking around certain peoples homes lately - especially at night.
Creepy!
For anybody looking to contact me privately, I've set up an e-mail account on Yahoo:
elm_zorro@yahoo.com
Note that it's "elm" not "el."
And if I can ever figure out these "internets" sufficiently, I may be beginning a blog of my own. Anyone who can help with that?
I welcome comments and critiques from all sides, especially people who are motivated to take a stand in the upcoming political season against the elitist Orangistas.
It's a spam- and troll-free zone, so let's keep the mailings relevant, shall we?
Let's hear from ya!
~Z~
Post Scriptum: To whomever wrote that last post, it's highly unlikely he's "lurking" anywhere. I mean, have you seen the man lately? With braces on both knees he can barely walk, even with a cane, much less lurk around multiple homes in the middle of the night. Really, if you're going to smear someone, you may want to make your lies somewhat more plausible.
I thinks I saw him on a Segway lurking around Donna G..the doctors wife,,,so don't be so quick to cut and run.
Loved the Norman Bates comparison!
Still trying to figure out the pun on the "Tree Chipper"?
Have a feeling it may be referring to one in the same person?
I'm surprised Chipster only has knee braces given the amount of time he's been on his knees in front of Marcucci lately....
How can you tell who the head panderer is? The one with the dirty knee braces...
Don't be so surprised. You are the guy who has your fingers up Daley's ass..you and the other Manion operative. Did I mean to say minion?
Play nice, Chip. No swear words. I thought you were wittier than that!
Wow! The Orangistas must realize how much of a PR disaster the school board situation is if they're sinking to this level.
BTW, Jonny Blogger, that was a very weak attempt to deflect authorship away from yourself.
The whole city now knows that you are Tree City Leader. And soon they'll know the rest of your story, as the last poster seems to.
Three letters: B G A
More to come.
~Z~
I will personally see to it that JM.. AKA.. Tree City Leader blogger is exposed for who he is. Hope JM stays involved with the Orangista's, O'Hare Expansion, Elmhusrt Unites, Tammy Duckworth, Richie Daley. Did you run for political office in Elmhurst? Stay tuned>>>
Three months of (official) silence from Blog Boy, and counting...
It's kind of sad, really, that he doesn't have the moral fiber to defend the blog he invested nearly two years of his life into, however indefensible it seems to those who have a passing aquaintance with reality and logic.
At this point, a Stewie Griffin quote might seem approporiate. But instead, let's just observe a moment of silence over the filled-in plot.
~Z~
Johnny blog boy is in a complete state of confusion. JBB can no longer use deception to fool the unsuspecting. Not to mention his use of nameless paper trail left in the neighborhood. It will be embarassing to the family of that new teardown owner..Or do you call it a build up? Gone are the half truths and dirty tricks! You should "Man Up" houseboy!
BREAKING NEWS
Remember in the last thread, the story I told of Jason McDermott, who impersonated an Elmhurst alderman during a traffic stop and from there quickly devolved into a life of crime, ending up jailed in another state?
Well, once again we learn the truth behind that old chestnut "the more things change, the more they stay the same!"
From Channel 4 Eyewitness News, Rock Island:
cut-n-paste>
A Macomb, Illinois man accused of impersonating a public officials has posted bond and is out of jail.
Jason McDermott was pulled over early Monday morning on Interstate 74 for speeding. But police say when he tried to get out of that ticket, a simple driving offense became the least of his worries.
Henry County State's Attorney Terry Patton says anyone who has tried to avoid a speeding ticket with the Illinois State Police Department knows it just doesn't work.
Officials say that was the case for 31-year-old McDermott, who tried to get out of his.
When police pulled McDermott over, instead of handing over a license, he handed the officer a card identifying him as the deputy village president of Villa Park, Illinois.
/cut-n-paste>
IT GETS BETTER
cut-n-paste-2>
...he was not affiliated with the town in any way and license plates on the car were not correct," said Patton. "They actually came back to, I believe, the mayor of that town."
/cut-n-paste-2>
Word on the street is that some VP folk have identified Jason McDermott as Village President Joyce Stupegia's "campaign manager."
Seeing as how Joyce had her OWN VILLAGE SEAL made up because of her feud with the clerk, the type of seal that could find its way onto oh, say a bogus deputy village president ID card...
And seeing as how Jason has a history of getting behind older women and thrusting... their campaigns along...
And seeing as how he's driving a car with her plates...
All this spells a mighty embarrassing time coming up for Joycey Stupidia. I wonder if she's "involved" with him?
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Stupegia beat incumbent Rae Rupp-Srch, a Marcucci ally, in last year's election. I've often wondered if there were any connection between the two elections. Think I'll do some digging. In the meantime, given the similarities between the two elections, we can all heave a sigh and say
There but for the Grace of God goes Elmhurst!
Try googleing "jason McDermott" Macomb" for an eyeopener. It appears he's been a peer mentor to freshmen students at Western Illinois University's law enforcement and justice majors program - in Macomb. Yikes! The guy has a rap sheet a mile long (and getting longer)
You are certainly good at digging... Your own grave that is!
While you're digging up old stories, check out the Joseph V. Collis Suit, 272 Ill.App.3d 200, 210 (1995).
Quite entertaining!
What are you, brain dead? I've mentioned that case a couple of times already here. Everybody who's anybody in Elmhurst politics remembers the case. Joseph, along with Spinelli, Entwistle and Hegarty pulled all sorts of petition shenanigans, and the election board threw them out.
So, the heroes, masters and political forebears of the Orangista leadership (as I've also demonstrated here) were caught CHEATING! Who'd-a thunk it!
They then filed a frivolous lawsuit (for a million whole dollars!)to punish 9 people, 5 of whom were their fellow aldermen, not just the guy you keep maligning.
So, Lexis Boy, want to tell the folks out there the ultimate disposition of the case?
Dismissed.
It never would have gotten to trial, anyway, because the cheaters took great pains not to be caught under oath. In fact, they capitulated three hours into the petition hearing just so they wouldn't be questioned under oath following witness after witness who said they were lying.
You want to try a libel case where the entire Claremontasian squirarchy gets subpoenaed? Where the records of Elmhurst Unites get examined? Where the ownership of all these websites gets revealed? Where hard drives get searched for e-mails and the authorship of various "newsletters?" Where aldermen get questioned as to where their voting instructions come from?
Where counsel for the defense gets to go on a fishing trip for the truth through the filth-choked muck of the septic tank called CORE?
Oh, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished!
See, son, that's the problem with these cases. Truth is defense of libel, and the truth will out.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Plus you have to show that you were damaged by any alleged libel. I value the good name of Blog Boy at about $0.02 - but I'd offer a whole nickel to make this wicked lawsuit disappear! oooo, I'm quivering in my bunny slippers.
LETTERS...we get Letters
Well, not so much, so far. I expected at least a flood of nasty-grams once I announced elm_zorro@yahoo.com, but all I got were welcome messages from Yahoo.
Until yesterday.
Apparently, the original J. McD. is gone but not forgotten. I received a couple of reminisces about the guy.
One person reminded me of a kewl detail I forgot about his arrest for check forging. He was pretending to be a U.S. Congressman - I believe it was Jim McDermott (D) from Washington's Seventh District ("The fightin' Seventh!)
It's a measure of how far he's fallen: impersonating a U.S. Congressman to impersonating Joyce Stupegia's coat holder.
Another said his ties to the Cronins before he started getting caught as a criminal were much closer than I had previously heard.
DISCLAIMER: What I am relating to you here is hearsay from a third party regarding statements made to them by a known felon.
So caveat lector.
J. McD. (the first) had lunches with Cindy, cocoa from Claire and helped Dan move into his hacienda. Per Jason himself (albeit via a third party), the cocoa parties were served by Claire to the "sign squad," whose job it was to tear down opposition signage.
For some players, it appears it's still the same old story as they fight for love of glory, each vote a case or do or die. Their fundamental spots don't change...
As Time Goes By
~Z~
Post Scriptum: I also noticed for the first time last night that comments are continuing on previous threads. Bravo to the truth-tellers out there; don't let the lies go unchallenged.
And "keep those cards and letters comeing!" :)
I sure hope for your sake someone just like you - el z; norman bates;etc. starts reading and commenting on your little blog or whatever it is you are soliciting for. Best of Luck!
The local press begins sniffing around!
The Daily Herald has picked up the story and reached Joyce. Does her reaction sound like the boy was a complete stranger?
cut-n-paste>
Mayor stunned by impersonator arrest
Macomb man told trooper he was a Villa Park official
By Kathryn Grondin
Daily Herald correspondent
Posted Friday, September 08, 2006
Villa Park President Joyce Stupegia was still reeling Thursday night that a Macomb man was arrested after falsely claiming to be deputy village president of the west suburban community.
“I was totally devastated,” Stupegia said late Thursday. “I have no comment. Right now it’s in the court system. End of discussion.”
--rehash of WHBF info snipped--
Stupegia declined to comment on whether she’d sold a vehicle to the man with the plates affixed or if she even knew the man
/cut-n-paste>
If he was a stranger, would she be "totally devastated" and decline to comment? Oh, HELL no! Someone who wasn't neck deep in S--t's Creek would say "Yes I know him, but I'm completely shocked and puzzled over this. I have no idea how he got my license plates, nor that fake ID."
Here's another mystery. He's been well-established in the Macomb area and at WIU since at least 2003 (based on his 9/3/3 letter to the editor of the WIU paper) and apparently is very active on that campus.
How did he end up back in our neck of the woods, 200 miles from there, working on the Stupegia campaign (and pulling more dirty tricks, I'm hearing.)
Where's the tie-in?
And what other campaigns has he been working on? Donald Segretti of Watergate fame called his dirty tricks "ratf--king." Jason lives to ratf--k opponents. It would be just his MO to attach himself to a campaign like Roskam's or one of the County races like Gwen Henry's.
It will be interesting to see what unravels as we pull this thread.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Honesty compels me to admit that I have found nothing to link Stupegia and the Orangistas so far. As a wise man told me today, sometimes the town right next door is worlds apart.
The wild card is Jason himself. Does he make a meld? Stay tuned.
Ground Control to Major Ditz
Word on the street is that there's a move afoot to ban cell phones, Blackberries, Bluetooths (Blueteeth?) and other forms of instant electronic communication on the dais during City Council meetings.
The reason: members of the audience are sending instant messages to aldermen telling them how to argue/vote. That's when they're not handing notes directly to the aldermen. You know whom I'm talking about: the two aldermen on the North end of the dais. Damm, Moira and Million Dollar Baby.
You can argue whether Bush was wired (in any sense of the word) during the debates. But the visual evidence is much more compelling on the videos of City Council meetings.
Come on, guys! We are SO onto you. Think the voters will find this cute?
Maybe they will if DPZoneboy tries the trick while drinking a glass of water. Then again, maybe not.
What say you, Chuck Barris?
GONGGGG!!!!!
~Z~
LOL! not that one definitely gets an A for imagination! How long does it take you Norman to come up with these hysterical stories? Your mother would be proud I'm sure. What does your wife think?
Who is John Galt?
John Galt? Objectively speaking? (shrugs) I dunno. I try not to think about it.
;)
~Z~ is ~Z~
A Bunch of Bull
Well, it looks like we dodged a bullet as the teachers voted to ratify the last contract offer. No details as of yet as to what the final full package from last week looked like.
Last Saturday I was talking this over with a couple of teachers and it looked as though they weren't going to keep quibbling. Those without tenure were afraid of pushing things and losing their jobs. One who was just in her first week of teaching after graduating just wanted to play 'em one day at a time. She was just happy to be there and hoped she could help the team, to give it her best shot and, the good Lord willing, things would work out.
I think her name was Evie LaLoosh.
Teachers: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.
I OWE AN APOLOGY TO PIGGIE SPAETH
I had assumed that at least a portion of the Board's intransigence was due to his pig-headed, anti-expenditure obstructionism. Turns out I was WRONG! (Circle the day on the calendar, folks.)
Exactly because of his pig-headed, anti-expenditure obstructionism, the Board has been FREEZING HIM OUT of information and side-bar discussions on the progress of the negotiations.
So I've been told by a reliably placed informant.
I wonder if that's the reason only the board's officers attended discussions (at the start, soon it was only Marta Davy.) That way they could control the flow of information.
I'm sorry, Dan. I clearly thought you were more influential than you are. Hard as it will be, requiring constant attention and strict discipline, I'll try not to overestimate you in the future.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: "The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness." - Annie Savoy, Philospher
Leave piggy Spaeth alone! Whats wrong with foaming at the mouth to make a point that no one listens to? "Oh shut up" says President Derone, I've got the slick tongued Carlquist at my side and it's used quite well. So what if he drained the SB205 well dry! Mr.IBM is never available, so mark the calender.
el zorro, question?
Do you by chance sport a curved handled woody stem, a.k.a. wooden rod for walking support? Tuck a canister in your pouch for moonshine? And, sport a fedora in the fall? I do know you sport your black cape ridin' the love train to Chicago and back. I'll be damned if I'll tug on Zorro's political gadfly cape!
"Love train?"
Funny how hard people are trying to make this about the messenger rather than the message.
You believe what you want to about me, if it makes you feel safer. I've been named as so many different people in this blog that I've lost count. Whatever you think my true identity is, it doesn't change the underlying truth to my postings.
So don't tug on my cape, if it scares you. Don't spit into the wind, either. And the Lone Ranger is as touchy about his mask as I am.
As for moonshine, sounds like you've been over-imbibing...
Sport.
~Z~
Heard last night the dark side is already lining up their candidates.
Sounds like the masked man in Ward 3 (hint: X Park guy) is gettin passed up again, at least for alderman.
Sounds like another current Park gal may be runnin in the 2nd.
Sounds like the $6,000 boy ain't so sure he wants to run in the 5th, but 2 others are on the sidelines.
Time will tell.
There is at leaset one confirmed candidate for Ward 5. who currently sits on the police and fire pension board. Ward 1 has a confirmed candiate (who is deep pocketed)against the flower child or the moose. Ward 2 is a sitting park board memeber who is a RINO. Alert your sugar daddies cuz it ilbe spenzive! "Oh Lucy,I'm home"!
It's funny, John, how you've tried to reappropriate the term "Dark Side" when I've been using it to describe the Orangistas.
And it dosn't matter who runs in the third. Despite the fact that the anti-Orangistas couldn't organize a birthday party, much less a full slate, they could put anyone from Simon Legree to Simon Cowell up in 3 and still simonize your tail.
As for a "current Park gal" in second, I find it unlikely in the extreme that Pat Moll would run for City Council. Or were you just making that up to appear "in the know?"
~Z~
It would be great if the Ward 1 candidate were the guy w/now 2 X's who have great stories to tell.
The tool will try to stay in the box in 4 but Benedict Arnold may give some good competition.
Handful of possibilites in the 6th.
Do you really think Chuckie is that desperate to run against Mulliner? Let's hope not for his sake!
cut-n-paste>
Sounds like another current Park gal may be runnin in the 2nd.
/cut-n-paste>
I just realized you may not have been thinking Pat Moll would run for City Council from Ward 2. You must be referring to Collette Kubiesa. That's not gonna happen for two reasons.
1) Collette on City Council would strengthen Damm, Moira's attempt to usurp husband Ken Kubiesa as City Attorney in favor of MWD. They probably don't want to risk that.
2) The Kubiesa's don't LIVE in the second ward, you IDIOT!
Once again, John displays his complete ignorance of this city, making stuff up that can't possibly be true.
Give it up, Blog Boy. Daley has his own problems looming next spring: he may face an April runoff. No help will be forthcoming for you, this time.
Once again, just proves Norman Bates/el zorro/z2 THINKS he knows everything. Keep trying big guy!
Zorro,
No wonder why the orangistas will mop up next year. You and your ilk can't even read a ward map. The Kubiesa's DO live in the second ward.
You're such a windbag.
z2 never claimed to be all, and know all, however, I was wrong one time when I was really right.
I aim just to set the record straight and keep the truth coming. We are OK with opposing views.
Collette and Ken Kubiesa moved over to the home of soon to be retired Lee Daniels.
I think Daley is generally a good guy. It's just the political hacks that are always looking for taxpayers booty that stings. It ain't right! Watch for JJJ for Mayor.
The Kubiesa house, former Daniels abode, is in the little jut of Ward 1 that goes above North Ave.
~Z~
El Zorre, El Zorro, Z2, what is it with you people? Learn how to read a CURRENT ward map. Baby steps... Baby steps. Perhaps you'll figure it out by next election but I doubt it.
I dunno dat stuff cuz we just moved to here from Chic kaago (to a big teardown on the nort side.) But weeze got many union thugs and political operatives on da payrolla or doze non-bid contracters to do all da sleeze for da upcoming election. It will be a real doozee! Baby Kaka to you too!
http://www.elmhurst.org/info/wardmap.asp
~Z~
Never trust someone elses information. You're relying on what the CITY says? You're dumber than I thought.
The Kubiesa's DO NOT live in the First Ward and you need to get a better game plan. Flowery language only hides your obvious political weakness and is not going to help you win elections.
Well, shut off my water and call me "Stinky!"
I apologize to all. Turns out I am wrong. That changed over 5 years ago. Oooops! I wonder why the city never updated that?
In any event, Kubiesa would be stupid to try and run there. She's got a great gig on Park Board and is doing a good job. Her background suits her for that. IF she won (a big "if") she would bring huge cries of "nepotism" down on her head, and jeopardize not only her husband's position with the city, but the balance of power on the Park Board.
Bad, bad idea.
And bad, bad Zorro. Again, I apologize for being woefully - and stridently - out of date on my info.
~Z~
Ain't the first or only time, but at least you admitted it.
Better off paying more attention to your work - will do us all a world of good!
Don Roberto de la Rosa checked in with one of his infrequent, but highly enjoyable letters to the editor this week in the Press.
He took to task one of the more vociferous critics of the mayor, Mick Kayler. Kayler blamed Marcucci for the closing of Nu Time Video and of Steven's Steak House.
I have fond memories of both establishments. As a child, coming home at night from a relative's with my dad at the wheel, we kids could always tell we were close to home when we saw the garishly lit Steven's sign.
But Rose's point is well taken - in a town where a whole boatload of restaurants flourishes, Steven's has somehow failed to make the cut. We would still eat there sometimes to please my parents, but we rattled around like dried peas in a tin can, the place was so empty.
And based on my alcohol choices, it may have been because they water their drinks.
As for Nu Time, they alone survived the initial rush and bubble burst of storefront video renteries. They also survived several bouts of righteous indignation from local busybodies "outraged" that there was a discrete, tiny adult section.
They survived the arrival of Blockbuster. They survived the arrival of Hollywood Video. They persisted with tape stock in the face of DVDs. They were usually good for having more obscure movies that the mass market mega-movie marts wouldn't "waste" precious shelf space on.
"Mindwalk" was one I got at Nu Time, and highly recommend for you politicos out there. But you could really refer to any of the whole Sam Waterston ouevre as a case in point.
Rose is correct, however, when he speculates as to the coup de grace. Just as Video Killed the Rock n Roll Star, Netflix killed the video store.
So Marcucci is not the killer of these two businesses. He had neither motive, means nor opportunity. And the real culprit is a notorious mass-murderer of businesses, people, empires and entire species.
Time.
~Z~
Micky(mouse)Kayler has blind hatred for the mayor and this great city, yet continues to reside on the south side of the city. Is anyone keeping him here if its so so terrible? I think not!
Set the record straight: Steven's Steak joint closed shop because the kids choose not to continue the 70-80 hour work week. Take the money and run as the land value has gone though thr roof!
Set the record straight: Nu Time can't compete with all the new technology, (comcast on-demand) and the big corporations who are also losing $$$.
Micky can twist in his panties all he wants about the mayor. Make no mistake..Marcucci is pro-business and everyone but Micky mouse is well aware of it.. Go listen to some US 99 Micky boy.
More revelations vis-a-vis Jason McDermott and Joyce Stupegia have appeared in local papers this week. The Daily Herald has dug their teeth into this one and are chasing things down.
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=229927&cc=d&tc=vpa&t=Villa%20Park
I'm hearing an awful lot about an awful lot in this. I'm hearing that not only will this explode Villa Park, but it may explode sideways into Elmhurst and quite possibly upwards into Illinois politics.
Any of several folks involved in elections in Elmhurst in 1993 and 1995 is at risk of being spattered by association (but NOT implicated, I want to make that clear.)
Beyond the local papers, Chicago papers and TV, perhaps the national media and even (the rest of) the blogosphere may start taking an interest in this case, they've certainly been sniffing. I'm just glad it will be VP and not Elmhurst. We had quite enough undeserved national ridicule over the google "Sex" thing.
But this time it's more than just sex.
Politics, love, the Mob, prison, fraud, forgery, two-timing and yes, sex: if even half of what I'm hearing is true then tape your socks; it's gonna be a wild ride!
~Z~
Row, Row, Row your boat.....
O Yes, Looks like the TCL blogmaster was right again after all.
Lake Robert Palmer Dr was causing a bit of a back-up Friday evening around 6:30 after only, what, 10 or so minutes of a heavy downpour?
Tsk Tsk. Hopefully it didn't take the ambulance that was coming through at about 6:35 too much longer to get to the hospital. And the Toms x2 swore it would NEVER happen.
Leaves and debris, son, leaves and debris. Didn't you go up and down your block after the rain and clear out clogged drains? I did. My street was a lake where two drains opposite one another were clogged by leaves, twigs and bits of newspaper. It cleared up in less than 5 minutes.
The newer construction was not the cause of that flooding.
Leaves and debris.
~Z~
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