Zia's fundraiser and a lot of door to door visits

What a great weekend! About 100 people packed into Zia’s Trattoria on Saturday evening to celebrate our surging campaign. We raised thousands upon thousands of dollars which will help us get out our positive message of open government and fiscal responsibility. Guests were treated to fabulous food and great entertainment and decorations arranged by Fred Bailey, one of our devoted volunteers. And the guests were delighted to have a chance to rub elbows with Gerry Butler, one of our town’s most beloved citizens. There was even a “guest” appearance from a local blogger who had been predicting a Frimark victory, but must now surely be re-thinking the issue after having to force his way through the throng to get to the buffet table.

This was no ordinary fundraiser. Usually, these events are populated by the same old crowd of politicians who go to each other’s events. Not ours. The people who attended this event are the same folks who drive their kids to school very day, pay taxes, fret about the state of the City’s infrastructure and have been tirelessly giving of their time to help our grassroots campaign grow and prosper. I cannot thank them enough for attending, and I also need to thank those who could not attend but sent contributions anyway. I also want to thank Steve and Caroline Bachert who graciously donated four box seat tickets to a Cubs game for our raffle and to Bonnie Canavino for donating a spa gift basket.

But that was not the end of the evening. I went straight from Zia’s to a party hosted by my friend Debby Usher where there was more great food, stimulating conversation and plenty of laughs. A good time was definitely had by all. We did not want it to end, but Debby finally threw us out at 1am.

This weekend I traveled parts of the Seventh Ward whose residents rightfully feel they have been neglected by our City government. I promised them that my administration will not turn a blind eye to their needs. I make the same pledge to the residents of other “forgotten” parts of town who believe the City has spent too much time focusing on Uptown redevelopment at the expense of taking care of the basic needs of the people living in the outlying wards.

Another great part of the weekend came in the form of numerous calls and e-mails expressing support for me in light of the nasty letters to the editor penned by three of the aldermen who have tied themselves to the mayor’s coattails. Many sent me copies of their own letters to the editor which no doubt inundated the local press. Add to that the joy of seeing so many residents sporting their beautiful new blue yard signs, and it was a heartwarming weekend indeed.

Thanks again to all of you who have helped and expressed their support. I hope to see many of you out and about this weekend as we kick off the City-wide canvass. Talk to you soon.

My Packed Weekend - Including a Tour of the "Police House"

A lot has happened since I wrote the first installment of the “blog.” On Thursday evening, I attended a meet and greet at Rosalie DiCola’s house. It was a great experience. There is no question that there is deep dissatisfaction with Howard as mayor, but many people still don’t know who I am or what my vision is for Park Ridge. That is why these “meet and greets” are so beneficial. Rosalie did not beat around the bush. She was very direct in asking me to explain why I am running for mayor. I told her and the others that it boils down to being a resident myself and wanting what is best for residents in terms of having an honest and open government, development which complements the character of Park Ridge rather than changing it, and a responsible budget and spending policy which emphasizes infrastructure maintenance and improvement (sewers, streets, sidewalks, tree trimming, snow removal) over “luxury” items such as Howard’s plan for buying land and building a big new police facility.

On Friday morning, I met with Mike Lake, the last of the four Des Plaines mayoral candidates I had not spoken to. I have now had face-to-face meetings with each of the candidates, and all agreed that Park Ridge and Des Plaines have many common interests which make it beneficial for the towns’ new mayors to have a good working relationship in place and ready to go when we take office in May. All four of the gentlemen said that we need to work together on flooding issues, including lobbying our state and federal legislators to come up with a comprehensive plan for dealing with the lack of retention facilities along the northern part of the Des Plaines River. Three of the four candidates also agreed with my position that Des Plaines and Park Ridge will need to work together in keeping the area around the new casino safe for local residents, and they pledged to consider financial assistance to Park Ridge for expenses we will incur in connection with increased traffic on Devon and the need for increased police patrols.

Friday evening, I toured the house on the 200 block of Courtland Avenue which had been purchased by the City for the purpose of tearing it down to build a new police facility on the property. You may recall I suggested the City consider renovating the interior of the house and relocating some police department functions to that location to help ease overcrowding in the present facility. I was joined by City Manager Jim Hock, Alderman Frank Wsol, Charlie Melidosian and Jim DiCola, a local contractor and son of Rosalie, who brought along a co-worker. While there is no question the interior needs some work, Jim DiCola’s assessment is that the interior and the exterior are both structurally sound, and that the house is certainly usable. Charlie took some video and I took some still pictures which we will post to the website as soon as possible under the police facility issues section in case anyone wants to see for themselves. Charlie apologizes for the quality of the video. He has done much better work in the past, as many of you have seen. It will now be up to the staff and City Council to determine whether they want to further explore using this property. I hope they will at least give it serious consideration.

On Sunday, I met with my friend, Gerry Butler, Marty’s widow. Gerry was the pivotal person in my decision to run when she encouraged me last summer to consider it and pledged her support if I decided to throw my hat in the ring. She is a remarkable woman who loves Park Ridge more than life itself. Gerry was the first person named to my campaign committee, and she has been very active in the campaign, giving advice freely without bothering to mince words. It is no wonder people loved Marty and the way he went about being mayor. You know the old saying: “behind every successful man…”

Anyway, that will do it for now. Things are going very well, but we have to keep at it. Talk to you soon.

My Inaugural Blog

A political campaign is a fluid thing, and many things arise on the campaign trail which are of interest to residents but might not be suitable for a press release or a news story. So I have decided to use this space on my website to ruminate about the campaign and let folks know a little bit more about what is going on. I plan on updating the content on a periodic basis, so I encourage you to come back often to see what is new.

For my inaugural piece, I thought I would thank the people who have opened up their homes to host parties and “meet and greets” for me. These events are a great way to get to know new people and find out what is really of concern to residents. Very often, the residents have great ideas for solutions to various problems facing the City which neither I nor other elected officials have thought of.

The first event was way back in early December at the home of Phil and Karen Donahue on Fairview. It got the campaign off to a smashing success. About 40 people showed up who asked a lot of great questions that helped me learn more about the issues which mattered most to them and began helping me sharpen my message as a candidate. A few days later, an old law school friend, Carla Owen, (I don’t mean you are old, Carla) hosted an event which drew about 20 people, an excellent turnout for a weeknight. The end of that same week, another old law school friend, Linda Coyle, (you aren’t old either, Linda) tossed a great (and crowded) party with her husband, Shaun, which spilled over into Linda’s Amphora-decorated living room and their beautifully-refurbished basement which is actually more like a sports bar.

Since then, Bob and Sara Horak have thrown a standing room only event where about 50 people were treated to a sumptuous buffet and an impressive bar. Sadly, everyone stayed upstairs by the food and drink, meaning that all the hours Sara spent fixing up the basement went for naught. That was the first party I was smart enough to bring a camera to. You can see some photos from that event here on the website. Not only that, Sara contributed the leftovers for the Grand Opening of our campaign office. Sara was also good enough to gather a group of “Washington School moms” together last week on a Thursday morning where we hashed over the O’Hare and casino issues among other things. This week, I am headed to a party at Rosalee DiCola’s house on North Merrill to meet some of her friends. The next few weeks will see more events at the homes of Debby Usher, Bridget Urban, Marty Maloney and my good friends and neighbors, Mark and Carole Brun. I expect that one will run pretty late. Thankfully I live right across the street.

I cannot say enough about how wonderful it has been to meet so many different and interesting people during my run for mayor. Many of the people I have met at these parties have become committed volunteers for the campaign. And the list keeps growing day by day. It is easy to see why Park Ridge is such a great place to live and why it is worth fighting to keep it that way. These folks are why I decided to run for mayor in the first place, and they are why the campaign is going as well as it is.

Like I said, stay tuned for more updates on the campaign. It’s been a great ride, and it promises to get even better. Talk to you again soon.