Hi again.

Things are happening so fast, I am having trouble keeping up with all of the developments. The big news the past week, of course, was our wildly successful fundraiser at Uncle Dan’s followed by a rousing mayoral debate at City Hall. Over 150 people attended the Uncle Dan’s event, which is more than double the number who attended my opponent’s Uncle Dan’s event in January. Draw your own conclusions; I have drawn mine. Guests were treated to superb entertainment by Spakl, a band featuring local legend, Tom Kasznia, on drums. To keep the peace, we raffled off both Cubs and Sox tickets. The crowd was lively, the food was great (thanks Dan and Sean) and positive energy filled the air.

That event was followed by an equally lively debate where the mask was torn off by opponent’s so-called positive campaign. While I spent the evening responding to questions with specific answers and ideas about how to remedy the problems of our city, the mayor spent almost the entire time engaging in personal attacks. The only time he was not attacking was when he was taking credit for something someone else had done, such as the sound wall at Park Ridge Pointe obtained by Senator Dan Kotowski, the lower property tax levy engineered by Alderman Frank Wsol or the new businesses in Uptown which came here no doubt through the efforts of the developer’s leasing agent, not the mayor. Fortunately, the people of Park Ridge caught on to the mayor’s shtick some time ago, so the biggest response he got from his grandiose claims was an audible snicker from the crowd. At the end, the debate moderator chastised the mayor not once, but twice, for spending his time attacking me instead of touting his record. When he was given one more chance to talk about his record, he had nothing to say. Guess that says it all.

This past Monday, Gerry Butler and I went over to the Senior Center and were given a tour. We received a very warm reception from the folks over there. I’d love to think they were all excited to see me, but truth be told, I think that Gerry was the real draw. After that, we went over to Summit Square and had lunch with the residents there. Judy and Jack Barclay came along with us and helped distribute cookies which went over big with the hungry crowd. Again, it was Gerry who seemed to get more attention than me, but I’ll get over it. Gerry has been a huge help during the campaign. She has been much more than just a figurehead chairman of my campaign committee, she has been active in writing letters, making phone calls, and doing what she does best, giving sage advice. The mailer we sent out with her endorsement of me has had a great impact. Almost immediately after it hit the mails, we were receiving calls from seniors who wanted to get yard signs and help out with the campaign. If we pull off this victory, which I am confident we will, Gerry will deserve a lion’s share of the credit along with our dozens of volunteers who have worked hard to put us in a position to win.

There is some bad news: we ran out of yard signs. But there is some good news: we ran out of yard signs. We have now distributed a full 1000 yard signs. We know that evil forces absconded with 50 or so, but sign theft seems to have slowed to a trickle since the local papers ran a story about it. We have ordered another 300 signs, so do not despair if you want one. Just go to http://www.electdaveschmidt.com/ and click on the yard sign icon, or call the office at (847) 384-0818, and we’ll set you up.

Finally, I urge everyone to take advantage of the weather and go to City Hall for early voting. Early Voting runs from Monday, March 16th through April 2nd. Hours of Early Voting are 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday and 9am to noon on Saturdays One never knows what the weather will be in early April or if something might come up on election day which keeps you from the polls. Stay tuned for details on the April 7 victory party!