The 42nd is No.1

From the office of Ald. Brendan Reilly:

The 42nd Ward: #1 in 2008 Voter Turnout and Voter Registration!

Alderman Reilly is thrilled that the 42nd Ward ranked #1 in both overall and early voting turnout! Current counts indicate that 36,224 ballots were cast out of a total registered voter count of 45,474, and 9,734 of these were early votes. Thanks to all who voted and contributed to the 42nd Ward’s 80% voter turnout rate!

The 42nd Ward is also ranked #1 for new voter registrations!

Party Prep

The office of downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly just released the following information about “parking restrictions, street closures and event guidelines that will be in place starting as early as Monday, November 3rd.”

PARKING BANS:

Parking bans will be in effect from Lake Michigan to the Kennedy/Dan Ryan Expressway, as well as the Chicago River to the north to 22nd Street to the south Tuesday, November 4th after the PM rush hour.

Residents are advised to pay special attention to posted signs.

STREET CLOSURES:

On Saturday, November 1, 2008, Balbo Drive will be closed between Columbus Street and Lake Shore Drive.

After the November 3rd AM rush hour, Columbus Drive will be closed between Congress Parkway and Roosevelt Street.

After the PM rush hour, the closure will extend as far north as Randolph.

Please note that residents may see additional rolling closures throughout the Central Business District from Tuesday afternoon thru Wednesday morning.

(Rolling closures are intermittent and temporary street closures used for motorcades as they travel on city streets. They are enacted for security purposes only.)

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

The Chicago Transit Authority will provide additional service and extend the hours of select bus and rail routes serving the Loop until 2 a.m. for individuals attending election night events downtown – including the Obama Grant Park rally – on Tuesday, November 4.

CTA will operate longer trains; provide additional bus service and later service to accommodate attendees. Temporary street closures in the vicinity of Grant Park may necessitate reroutes so customers should allow extra travel time.

In addition, due to potentially crowded conditions, bicycles will not be allowed on the rail system after 4:00 p.m. Tuesday until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.

HUTCHINSON FIELD:

The November 4th event in Hutchinson Field is a ticketed event hosted by the Obama Campaign.

The site opens at 8:30 p.m. and ticketed residents have been asked to enter through either East Congress Parkway or East Jackson Boulevard.

Everyone coming into Hutchinson Field will be screened by event organizers and they have asked that residents refrain from bringing any bags, coolers, bottles, chairs, signs, banners or strollers into the park.

Riley/Reilly

A big change in Ald. Brendan Reilly’s office.

From: Jeff Riley [mailto:Jeff.Riley@cityofchicago.org]
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 5:50 PM
To: jeff@reillyforchicago.com
Subject: My Next Endeavor

I wanted to let you know that after a year as Alderman Brendan Reilly’s Chief of Staff and Policy Director, I have decided to return to my own public affairs and lobbying practice. Alderman Reilly had initially asked me for a one-year commitment to help as he reshaped the 42nd Ward and established a responsive and professional constituent office. Now with a great team in place (and having survived the first year!), the timing is right to return to building my own business.

I have an enormous amount of respect for Brendan and all that he has accomplished thus far as a hard-working, knowledgeable and progressive elected official. Over the years, Brendan and I have become good friends, having had the opportunity to work together on the Paul Vallas
campaign in addition to this past year. Going forward, I plan to continue to help in Brendan’s success and stay active in his organization.

Although not an easy decision, since I’ve enjoyed this job tremendously, I’m excited about the future. I will be transitioning over the next month if you need to contact me about any current matters. Thank for your assistance and support this past year, and I look forward to
working with you again.

- Jeff Riley

Reilly, Jacksons, Quinn Endorse 5th-Grader

From Ald. Brendan Reilly’s latest e-mail newsletter.

Vote Today and Help Chicago 5th Grader Win National Sports Award
Please join Alderman Reilly, Alderman Sandi Jackson, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn in voting online for 5th-grader Nichyria Byrd for the first-ever Earn Your Stripes Youth Achievement Award as part of the 2008 ESPYs in Los Angeles, California.

“11-year-old Nichyria is a member of the after-school program Girls on the Run at Ariel Community Academy on Chicago’s Southside. She’s the only nominee from the Midwest. The winner will be selected based on online voting through this Sunday, June 15th, which is why your support is so important. Please take a moment to vote online here, and encourage your friends to do the same.

“Nichyria wasn’t nominated because she’s the fastest kid in the country. She was nominated becuase she embodies the spirit of amateur sports: team work, respecting others, doing your best, and competing for the love of the game.”

Alderman Reilly is a proud supporter of Girls on the Run Chicago, which focuses on the spirit of amateur sports and much more through its 12 week after-school program. Their volunteer coaches teach girls ages 8-12 self-esteem, leadership, community service, and healthy lifestyles all while training them to run their first 5K. Girls on the Run Chicago currently serves more than 2,000 young girls in 100 schools throughout the Chicago region. For more information on programs in your school or how you can help, visit www.gotrchicago.org.

“P.S. Nichyria is currently in 1st Place, but she needs your help to cross the finish line. Please take a moment to vote today!”

Rocking the Vote

Ben and Mick at Clout City take a closer look at the strangest and most surprising votes cast on Wednesday in the Children’s Museum debacle.

Perhaps most surprising was Bob Fioretti, who, as the Chicago Journal reports, had at some point even advised Brendan Reilly on the issue.

And a constituent at Clout Street says that Fioretti’s office told him he was a No vote a mere two days before the meeting.

Fioretti’s explanation that the most recent draft of the museum’s design won him over sounds pretty thin, especially given his ridiculous assertion that aldermen weren’t lobbied by the administration. In fact, several aldermen have anonymously confirmed to the Tribune and the Reader that a whole lot of shakin’ was going on.

Fioretti has been an independent force in his rookie season as an aldermen, but he appears to have trod that well-worn path to the Dark Side.

Other surprises: Ricardo Munoz and Toni Foulkes supporting the mayor; Leslie Hairston not. And Helen Shiller isn’t even a shadow of her former self; she’s a shadow of her shadow.

Anyway, go read Mick and Ben’s piece.

P.S. I saw Billy Ocasio with one of those cheat sheets during an appearance on Chicago Tonight about the Olympics; he tried to argue that Millennium Park came in on-time and on-budget. Our mayor can control time and space!

Not Their Prerogative

“With an important vote a week away on a proposal to relocate the Chicago Children’s Museum from Navy Pier to Grant Park, an alderman opposed to the plan said Tuesday that he is picking up support in the City Council,” the Tribune reports this morning.

“Asked how many of his colleagues now oppose the project, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) replied, ‘More than [those who] support it.’”

I’m not sure if that constitutes movement or not; Reilly has always disputed claims emanating from City Hall that the mayor had all the votes he needed. (The vote right now looks close enough that it could actually be decided by a single swing alderman; wonder what the mayor would offer to make him or her swing his way . . . )

“The Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to take up the issue on May 15. The City Council is expected to vote in June. For many aldermen, Reilly said, the issue is not about previous court decisions that barred building in Grant Park, but ‘concern is about losing aldermanic prerogative.’”

I hope the plan is voted down, but I have no patience for “aldermanic prerogative,” an ancient folkway designed to allow aldermen to accrue power and build fiefdoms with no regard for how their actions impact the rest of the city.

What happens in one ward affects residents citywide, be it a horror like the new Soldier Field, the desecration of historic landmarks, or the depletion of low-income housing. An alderman is not only a representative of a ward, but the ward’s representative to issues facing the city.

Free Wille!

Lois Wille’s Forever Open, Clear, and Free is considered such the definitive document on protecting the lakefront that Brendan Reilly bought 50 copies and gave them to his fellow aldermen when the Children’s Museum first proposed moving to a new building in Grant Park.

Wille’s support of the museum, then, is so seemingly incongruous that she was asked at a press conference on Monday if she had sold out.

“Sold out?” she responded. “I feel like I can lend my voice to adding something . . . I have never thought that the lakefront . . . should be absolutely pristine . . .

“No, I don’t think I’ve sold out. I’ve supported a lot of things . . . I hate the new Soldier Field, if that helps. I also hated Meigs Field when it was there, and I hated the original McCormick Place. If you want to talk about selling out the lakefront, that building should come down.”

[- as seen on Chicago Tonight]

The Politics of Children

The blogosphere reacts to the Children’s Museum fiasco.

* “10 More Things Brendan Reilly Should Stick In A Cave.”

* “Mayor Daley Loves Children – To Hide Behind.”

* “Any Chicago aldermen who vote to move the Chicago Children’s Museum better think about their own wards: are they sure Daley isn’t going to suddenly insist upon locating a mound of burning tires in their district?”

* “A lot of our political leaders have been busy playing cards. Earlier this week Mayor Daley played the Evil Unions Card, so you had to know it was only a matter of time before he returned to his old favorite: the Race Card.”