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.
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.
Labels: Dave Schmidt, Des Plaines Casino, Mayor, Park Ridge Police
posted by Dave Schmidt @ 11:02 AM
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