Keep Politics out of our Council/Commission Governance

Commission members for the City of Highland Park should not be asked if they will endorse a Candidate for Mayor or the City Council. Commissioners should be appointed on their merits and abilities to contribute to policy rather on than being politically committed to the Mayor or Councilman.

As the City Council has talked about protocols designed for the City Council and our Commissions to be ethically clear of interests that might be interpreted as influential decision making, I would ask us politicians not ask Commissioners to politically endorse any member that runs for political office in the City of Highland Park.

By enacting this protocol, Commissioners would not feel obligated to endorse incumbents because of a concern they might not be re-appointed to the commission or not be considered for Chairman. These appointments should be solely based on merit and not politics.

There is plenty of politics going on in Highland Park as candidates will be spending between $20,000 to $100,000 in the 2011 races to get their positions out to the citizens. There is every reason to keep politics away from our Commission system and let our appointed citizens make their recommendations on the facts of petitions and not allow politics to cast a influential shadow on their work.

Who needs Government?

With all the stress and skyrocketing costs of government, one might think we should just leave everybody alone and stay out of your life.

In Tisch Mills they must think so!

NEW Volume Based Garbage Deal

Last night the City Council okayed a new 5 year contract with Veolia for our Residential Volume Based "Pay as you throw" program. Residents need to understand changes in Options and Pricing so watch for the mailed survey and information in the upcoming Highlander.

Our first Volume based contract was negotiated over 8 years ago and because of its great success in getting residents to use stickers and producing the highest recycling rate in Lake County, Veolia stated that they had been loosing large sums of money monthly on the existing contract. To continue a low cost sticker Volume Based system we needed to charge a minimum $60/year ($5/Mo.)base service fee to all households in this new contract to cover some costs of operations. In exchange for that reliable fee we were able to get the sticker price lowered to $2.35 from the current price of $2.84.

Also, along with most other communities in the nation, we are moving our garbage curbside to allow automated truck systems to operate in a more sustainable fashion. We will be getting all new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles and free carts for refuse and recycling. Promotion of these CNG trucks reduces our reliance on oil and imported fuels. As a matter of fact our entire Volume Based Program will promote reduction of waste, increasing of recyclable products, and a much reduced carbon footprint of our entire refuse system.

Current rear door/top of drive will still be offered during this 5 year contract at a cost of $15/month add on but I suggest you wheel it down to the curb for the best rates.

Change is never easy and there is always reasons not to move forward, but I am proud of Highland Park being a leader in sustainability and doing what is right for us and our world.

July 2010 Round Up

1. Authorized reconstruction for Orchard Lane to a tune of $658,033.00. Along with reconstruction of the street we will be putting in a bike lane and a new water main.

2. On Pleasant Avenue we will be upgrading the storm sewers at a cost of $445,099.

3. We accepted the water distribution Master Plan that has called out millions of dollars of needed upgrades over the next decade. We need to really address this infrastructure so we don't have increasing failures in our water system.

4. Discussed the continuation of the Special Service Area that funds the Downtown Business Alliance which includes the Association of Property Owners, Chamber of Commerce, and members of the City of Highland Park. It is important we keep a close eye on our downtown and the revenues it can produce for the community.

5. Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal year Ended Dec. 31, 2009. See this report, our budget, and all you ever wanted to know about our finances.

Independence Day Spirit

Riding down Central in the parade and viewing the many Highland Park families that attended demonstrates the great national and community acknowledgement to the values that created our country.

What strikes deep in my heart during these times of economic stress is the need for government to lighten up on the citizens. We need to constantly bring back that revolutionary spirit that slaps complacency and pushes back big government. Burdening our citizens with unsustainable public pensions and robust programs that can be trimmed can't continue. We must not lose steam in creating sustainable government.

We must demand immediate reinvention and priority on the REAL needs of our community. Consolidated government, reduced costs, and networking across our municipal boundaries for efficiencies will produce great results.

Municipalities, School Districts, and Townships need to evaluate solutions together to reduce administrations and create efficient programs that serve the people at reduced costs.

The spirit of 1776 lives within us still and can liberate us from the burdens that we face today if we are willing to change.

Unite on June 28th and Promote Lake Michigan Access

UPDATE*****Last night the Mayor released a statement that told residents there would be no license given, the fence would come down, and the staff would develop a plan for the public enjoyment of this street end. I want to thank all of you for your emails and calls to support public access to Lake Michigan and the street end program. This result has come forward because of your expressions.
Thank you!

The request to continue the privatization of the Prospect Ave. street-end really drives home the need to promote public awareness and interaction with the lakefront. Currently the Prospect Ave. street end is barricaded and used by the adjacent owner as their private back yard. While the lakes majestic beauty is in full bloom, the vista down Prospect is the obstruction of our lake with an old iron fence and dense privately maintained foliage that enforce private property use of these public lands. Please come to the meeting and petition the Mayor and City Council to tear down these fences and obstructions to allow public view and access to our lake.

Please look at our city website at http://www.cityhpil.com/ and download the agenda for the June 28th for information on the time of this discussion in front of the City Council. Let the Mayor and City Council understand our connection to our public lands, lake, and values concerning community rights and expectations. Words from my colleges on the Council have been weak and very confusing as they have been on the fence and non-committal on protecting the public right for access to our lake. Request that they step up and take affirmative action at this meeting to really open up this street end to the public. FREE PROSPECT AVE. STREET END!

June 2010 Table Roundup

Our Social Hosting Ordinance to help prevent teen drug and alcohol abuse will be getting a tweaking using best practices used in neighboring communities. Bottom line here is that parents can't take a hands off approach and need to be proactive on guiding the actions of children in their homes. Party houses that tolerate teen drug and alcohol abuse is not okay.

Discussion of government consolidation continues with the merger of the Lakefront and Environmental Commissions. I think that together they can unify their passion and expertise for a greater impact on our environment.

A filibuster emerged to delay the continuation of our Downtown Alliance Strategy's funding (Special Service Area) mission to promote the success of our core business district. While the jury is still out on the payback for this mission, the signs are positive and the consensus from a majority of our property owners and business leaders seems to be supportive. After a 60 day window for appeals the SSA will come back to the Council for a final vote.

UPDATE- This item was pulled from the agenda and use of Tasars seems to have been put on hold.Police were scheduled to carry Conducted Energy Devices "Tasers" in the coming months as another instrument of force to preserve the peace in Highland Park. I voiced my minority objection if the Tasers use would be to control upset suspects instead of an alternative to deadly force. Officers should be instructed to continue to put their hands on disorderly suspects and not resort to Tasers in my opinion. Tasers have caused death and large lawsuit settlements paid to the suspects. Hope neither of these results happen in Highland Park.

Highland Park Historical Society will hold its annual Antique and Classic Auto Show on July 31st between 11am and 3pm.

2010 vehicle sticker design will be honoring the 100th year anniversary of our Chamber of Commerce of Highland Park. I would ask you to shop local and support our merchants which in turn provides needed revenues to support the community services that we all enjoy.

Staffs Budget Ideology pushes increases in Taxes and Fees

While I have been asking that we immediately talk about reducing costs of city government to meet existing revenues, we again turn back the clock and listened to the old ideological discussion about bringing up revenues to meet existing cost of government PLUS++++. Now this all seems like open and clear government in action.. at it is!.... Staff again wants to increase revenues by raising fees and taxes to support an unsustainable government. If more infrastructure work needs to be done (and it REALLY does), staff suggests we get more fees and taxes from the residents. I have suggested we cut costs in our City Mangers office and other departments to increase spending on our infrastructure. Up until now the opposite has occurred and we have continued to allow our infrastructure spending to fall behind.

Staff is pairing under achieving revenues with over demanding infrastructure costs in an attempt to justifying raising fees and taxes. This is just a government strategy to raise taxes by mental gymnastics accounting instead of simply adjusting revenues to be shared by priority amongst all the expenditure accounts. While we should have a basic plan on understanding the revenue structure in relation to our city expenses, the major emphasis on setting the budget must be the fiscal impact on our residents.

Where is the Knife?? Lets start cutting fellas and ladies.

Was the Right Decision made about Arizona travel?

First of all lets get the facts straight! The administration that made the decision to not let the girls go to Arizona is hired by a board of elected officials and is a representative government of citizens that live in Deerfield, Highwood, Riverwoods, and Highland Park (attendance map). For the citizens or the City of Highland Park to unilaterally take any heat for 113's decision is unwarranted. This was not a Highland Park decision!

The Community of Highland Park is a place I am proud to have spent my entire life raising my children and serving the citizens as a City Councilman. We have a wonderful community that offers a great friendly cultural, historical, and business climate for all area residents to enjoy.

Political diversity and the tolerance of views is what we should teach our children and not lead them by the nose in any direction. Let them be part of the process with their parents. Tolerance and objective reasoning was not demonstrated by this school administration decision process. District 113 had no business putting our community or children in the center of this controversy by representing that their decision to not send the girls represented core values of this community.

I personally do not think any child is unsafe in Arizona and to okay foreign sanctioned visits anywhere over our children's ability to visit places within this country is ridiculous.

We need to deal with our immigration situation on a federal level immediately. Existing illegal residents and future immigrants need to live under a practice and law that supports the need of our country to have immigrant labor. This is mostly just supply and demand but it needs to legally work.

We should learn from this unfortunate situation with our schools and leave these kind of national debates to our citizens that vote and simply promote education, tolerance, and objective reasoning to our children.

The Publics Prospect Street End up for discussion

On May 10th the City Council will decide the fate of the Public Street End that overlooks Lake Michigan at Prospect Avenue. Over the past 30 years a license has existed that has kept this publicly deeded property in the control of the adjoining private property owners hands. A fence was erected and access to the bluff edge was prohibited during the past 30 year life of the license.

Good news is that the license has now expired and the disposition of the street end is entirely within the will of the City Council. The City Manager has placed this discussion on the agenda for our next meeting.

Now back in 2007 we put together an amendment to our Greenways Plan that incorporated 12 publicly owned street ends that terminated at the waters edge of Lake Michigan. Prospect Ave. was one of the twelve that we designated for this program. Prospect Ave. was designated for public views of the lake, possible access to the beach, and overall connection of the citizens of Highland Park to experience Lake Michigan in the neighborhoods.

The license that gave private property rights to this public property have expired. It is understood that the adjacent owner wants to renew those rights. I would ask all those citizens of Highland Park that have wishes that these public street ends return and stay in the public hands come to the meeting on May 10th and voice their support for public access. Look on the Cityhpil.com website after May 6th for time and location of meeting as part of the City Council agenda packet.

Round-Up on Current Issues

I am going to try a new format for general issues that are being discussed to help immerse you in more topics "On The Table". I will still be using old format as well.

1. We are looking to have a new Residential Garbage pickup contract in place in Sept. of this year. Just putting out our RFP asking waste haulers to give us bids. This has been a hot topic in the past and big changes need to happen to keep our volume based system intact. We will be getting larger wheeled recycling toter's as our first priority but they will need to be brought to the street curb for pickup. We are asking for subscription options for those of you that want to keep the current small carts in front of your garage.

2. If you read the paper you mostly know about the HP theater and the fact that the committee was asked to look at renovation options. Recommendation is to not proceed with any major upgrade at this time and to clean up the existing movie theater in ways to increase net revenues. The operating budget is projected to run in the black for 2010.

3.Ravinia Farmers Market permit okay starting June 16th through Oct 27th from 5am-1pm.

4.The Arts Center (TAC) has been given a break on the rent through December of 2010 and modifications on moneys due the city to help them get back on their financial feet. Their default would not serve our community while their mission enriches our life's and community. Please help us promote their success.

5. We saved $70,000.00 by contracting out our street sweeping instead of doing it in house.

6. Received a bid for $254,400 for salt for the 2010-11 season.

7. Okayed contracts of $989,000 for Asphalt and Concrete Street repairs.

8. Our Automobile Boot Law will now cover anyone that receives 5 unpaid parking citations which are over 90 days old.... Pay them tickets or get booted!

9. I have also asked to get the cell phone ban on an agenda as well as talking about the extra payroll last year that cost the city over 500,000 dollars.

10. We talked about the budget and asked staff to present us a balanced budget that was defined by revenues being equal to expenditures. In the past several years money was taken out of reserves to define a balanced budget.

11. All on the City Council except for myself gave the go ahead for a Special Zoning Permit to go directly to staff for approval of variances for extended porches, pillars, and basketball hoops in the required front yards instead of the past practice of notice and public hearing in front of the Zoning Board of appeals . It also moves multiple garage doors to the staff for approval...... Very slippery slope on the vision of how our community front yards will look and will cause friction amongst adjacent neighbors that are asked to sign off. More development and lot coverage policy from staff again! This should be on agenda May 10th.

12. Central (Downtown) District Plan came in front of the City Council for a visioning sign off.... As I told the Mayor and staff, this should be directed and visioned by the City Council first before staff reaches out for citizen involvement. I am open to tweaking a great 2001 plan that is approved but do not want to see Evanston type goals brought to Highland Park. Yes, we can work on small changes that have discouraged redevelopment of needed areas but the goals and vision we set in 2001 is SOLID! While it was a great exercise for our round table participants and many good thoughts emerged, I think it is premature until the Council weighs in on direction.

13. Structures on public property laws will be redefined again on the May 10th agenda. Basically just regular mailboxes approved by the post office will be allowed. Also, 18 inch boulders will be allowed no less than 24 inches from the street edge. Past structures and boulders that are legally existing will be allowed unless they are unsafe.

14. We approved transfer of money to library but I asked for a strong commitment from their President Ken Henry to work with us on consolidation and efficiencies to save the taxpayers money. They committed to work with us across the board.

15. We recognized Dr. Mark Hill and the wonderful students from Elm Place School that participated in Project Citizen and the Sustainable Green School Compact. Our kids are our Future and they will make a difference!

16. We put in a place new multifunction machines that copy, print, and scan. This consolidation and updating has saved us $500 dollars per month on our current contract.

17. Repair of our pedestrian overpass at Central Ave in the amount of $110,170. This upgrading has been phased to lower yearly costs.

18. New laws were passed concerning Group Homes to better address compliance with our local zoning ordinances and best practices. I have been informed that providers for these facilities were part of the process.

19.Worked out a Traffic and Parking agreement with Ravinia Festival to better deal with enforcement to provide reduced neighborhood disruptions.

Spring Cleanup and HP Recycling Options

Remember Spring Clean up is available from the City so put your trash on the curb. City program is described in this link. Also, remember not to throw out recyclables that can be picked up on normal trash days in your recyclable container. One more thing!! Electronics should be taken to the public works drop off site on Tuesday and Friday from 7am until 1pm. Check out best disposal and recycling options at this link.

Council needs more time

As I have shared with my fellow colleagues on the City Council, we need to spend more time together to make timely decisions on many outstanding discussions. Many times we discuss a subject and review 10,20, or 30 pages of documents just to not have enough time to discuss the item fully or even at all. The next time we might see it is months down the road. This is not good!

I remember that past Councils always afforded more time to get through all the issues on the table. It seems lately that the issues are piling up and not discussed in a time connected manner. It is like mental gymnastics sometimes. Lets put in the time to get the peoples work done!

Lets get moving on the budget......

For this years budget that Councilman Rotering and I voted against, we cut our spending on our infrastructure about $750,000 and took about another $500,000 or more out of reserves to balance 2010's books.

At the time Nancy and I also asked that we immediately move forward on making additional core decisions to realign our government to have a better sustainable position in this new economic climate. While we were unsuccessful in getting a continuous process to proceed, we were promised that in March we would move on tackling these issues.

Well March has come and gone and we are next scheduled to talk about the budget April 26th, from 2:30 to 4:00 at City Hall. But instead of picking up where we left off with the City Manager proposing some $750,000 in expenditure reductions, we are back to first base talking about policy statements and looking at the optimistic tea leafs we have been fed for the last 3 years. I say plan for the worse and hope for the best.

We need to realign spending from large administrative purposes to boots and actions on the ground. This government over thinks and acts less than I think we should operate. We should be increasing infrastructure repairs instead of slashing them. Lots of work to be done and NOW is the time to start to finish the job.

Payroll change can save Money!!

Recently, the City Council was informed that an additional payroll was made in 2009 because of using a bi-weekly (26 payment) payroll system. This additional 27th bi-weekly payroll is an anomaly that occurs every 11 years because our bi-weekly payroll it is based on a 364 (52 week) year versus the reality of a 366 on leap year and 365 normal year. The extra 1 or 2 days(leap yr) add up to an extra payroll on the 11th year.

What this all means is that an annual salary's that we voted on in our budget (look at page 7-10 of this personnel summary) was altered by this extra week . My understanding is the proper salaries were paid in the first 26 payments. Problem is that we had 27 in 2009.

The remedy to this problem is to do what the State of Illinois and many other large corporations do. That is to change to a twice a month(semi-monthly) payroll system that is based on a full year and never has anomalies like this one. The switch not only saves us the salary in the extra payroll every 11 years, but also saves us the cost of having two extra payroll periods every year (24 vs 26).

It is amazing to me that this is the first we have heard of this extra cost since it is accumulated every year. We have been struggling with getting our revenues to match expenditures and this adjustment can fill a big hole since we are talking about hundreds of thousands. I don't know about you but anywhere we can cut costs without reducing services or laying off employees I Say Yes!!

Contributions Requested

I am asking you to donate to the Steve Mandel Committee (2157 St. Johns Ave. HP) by mail or online at stevemandel.com to pay for the online content that is hosted and emailed on the internet. I would like to raise about $1000... Thank YOU

GreenTown Shows Green Solutions not Green Wash

This was my 3rd Greentown event that I have attended. It is produced by Gary Cuneed from Seven Generations Ahead and John Harris from A5 inc. These guys do a great job of bringing us back to reality. Their presentations remind us we have an obligation to our children. We need to correct the environmental unbalances that we have brought upon our planet. Bob Dixon, Mayor of Greensburg Kansas, spoke about a community working together in sustainably rebuilding their town after a devastating F-5 tornado destroyed everything. Mayor Dixon talked about how we need to spead the word on green solutions to promote future life for humans on this planet. Bottom line is the reality of green wash (talking the talk but not walking the walk) has to be replaced by action by a majority, promoted by strong leadership in government and business. We need to start to walk soon for the preservation of our children's future. Who's In??

All Public Meetings should be Recorded

UPDATE>>>>Council unanimously supported resuming verbatim recordings for COTW City Council Meetings(afternoon session) and the Commission Meetings. YEA!!!
Recently I have found out that staff had Stopped Recording pre-session City Council meetings otherwise refereed to as Committee of the Whole. Staff has also stopped recording the commission meetings. This was done unknown to the City Council. At the last Council meeting I asked to discuss restoring those recordings at our next meeting.

It is important to have these recordings to have a specific record of events. Also, to provide a resource to those of us that might miss a meeting or are interested in a subject on an agenda and want to research how a specific vote was discussed in detail.

As we move forward in open and accessible government this was a big mistake to stop recordings. I am hopeful that the Mayor and fellow Councilman will agree with me and move to restore these recordings for all to hear if requested.

Library Board Upset with the Council for cutting Taxes

Last year the Library brought their budget to the City Council for review and passage. Just like several of the past 16 budgets that I have been part of, the City Council attempted to work out a smaller increase than was requested. In all those past years we have struck a deal with the Library board in the spirit of cooperation and in the best interests of the citizens. This year however seems like things have dramatically changed.

While I was not involved in many of the direct discussions that took place with the Library, we were told by them that the Library was its own government and we needed to pass the much larger increase in the levy.

What we had asked the Library to do in these down economic times is to follow what the rest of our city government has done and have ZERO increases in their budget outside of mandatory IMRF pension requirements..... They refused and demanded their increases be levied upon the citizens of Highland Park through higher property taxes.

We asked the Library Board to work with our staff on creating administrative efficiencies by combining staff duplication of services, bidding together on insurance, and taking advantage of other opportunities to save money.

I truly believe the Library boards in the past and the present have done an excellent job on providing a fine establishment for education, leisure, and entertainment. The Library is a sanctuary for many that do enjoy its immense resources and peaceful atmosphere. It is a prime cultural pillar of our community and all of us on the City Council recognize its importance and have always stood behind its preservation as a great benefiting institution in our community.

Now, as far as who makes the final decision in how much money is spent and who governs our Library? It is our citizens. The way that our citizens effectuate this policy is to elect 7 members to the City Council of Highland Park. The citizens entrust the seven of us to govern this City Government, including the Library, for four year terms. We, the City Council of Highland Park, are the ones that are empowered by the citizens to make the final decisions.

The Mayor recommends and the City Council approves citizens to serve on the Library board to over see operations and programming of the Library. The Library board is required to submit its levy (property tax request) to the City Council for approval. The Library Board serves at our pleasure and is accountable to us on the City Council.

While this conflict between the City Council and the Library board has never erupted in the past, it has always been clear to me where the authority lies. This Councilman will not give any department or recommending body a BLANK CHECK when it comes to property taxes that our citizens have no choice on paying.

I am hopeful that the current library board will retreat from this unsustainable aggressive posture and work with us as the boards have done in the past. The City Council will not let anything happen that will jeopardize the Library's mission to serve our community and will do all that it takes to preserve civility and cooperation between the city and our library.

Highland Park Theater discussion is tamed under current economic climate

While our hopes were high that we would have a new performing arts theater group rehab the Highland Park Theater after our purchase......that idea will have to be put on the shelf for the moment.

After sitting in on several Theater Reuse Advisory meetings over the past several months it seems that the consensus in the short term was to make the theater more presentable as a movie house and not currently move forward on a mass renovation. Suggestions were also made to make changes to the business model that could increase revenues for the movie venue.

I think on a parallel path we should make it clear to the Chicago Area Theatrical Community that Highland Park is willing to work with viable theatrical entities on renovating and promoting performing arts within this facility with the right partnership. We have a core downtown and population that is very theatrical friendly and would be a very supportive to an incoming theater company or operator.

Also, we need to see if there is interest in establishing a foundation for preservation of the Highland Park Theater in perpetuity since many of us old timers believe it is a cornerstone in our history and cultural fabric. WELL>>>> Time to hear from the City Council to see whats next!

We need Change Now in HP Government

Mayor Belsky just announced his intention to run for a 3rd term. While I think his political rhetoric and values he speaks to is something I do strongly agree with, he needs to step aside and let another provide leadership for our community.

One of the major problems our mayor has had is his dependence on our City Manager David Limardi on dealing with issues and carrying out the policy and values of the City Council. It is up to the Mayor to be sure these values are carried out and there is full disclosure, cooperation, and subservience to the Council and the Community at large.

Unlike past Mayors Ray Geraci and Dan Pierce that I did also have the pleasure to serve with, this mayor does not seem to possess the management skills to control the City Managers conduct or passions on his personal preferences over those of the City Council. Thus we continue to get side tracked on issues important to many of us and head full steam ahead on issues important to the City Manager.

Mayor Belsky has given two full terms as Mayor and it is now time for new leadership. I am available to discuss this issue with anyone that is willing to talk about possible candidates for Mayor of Highland Park. My door is wide open and I ask for conversation on this subject as an election approaches us in 2011 for which the legal process will start in September of 2010. Three Council seats and the Mayors seat will be up for election a little over a year from now and look forward to a debate about the best possible future for our community.

Sustainability Recommendation from Environmental Commission

The Environmental Commission came in front of City Council and asked for staff to facilitate networking sessions with our business community to help promote elimination of Styrofoam and plastic bag use.

This proposal was enthusiastically endorsed by the City Council instead of the original bans proposed in the past. There was a concern that an outright ban would cause undue hardship on the business community at a time when current economic stress is very high.

I believe if we can achieve these sustainability goals through networking and education and will achieve the positive sustainable results we hope to accomplish. I thank the Environmental Commission for a fine job in progress on these issues.

Making it easier to Build More!

The City Staff is suggesting a streamline process to build structures that are not in compliance with our current city code. Instead of going to the ZBA for a variance and appearing at a public hearing to build into the home setbacks from the street, a SPECIAL ZONING PERMIT could be attained from our staff after meeting a reduced set of standards.

Again, staff is suggesting we make it easier to create more mass into the dedicated open spaces we visually share with everyone and nature on our private properties. The current community rights do not put an undue burden on our private property rights and should be upheld to the strong standards currently in place. These standards protect our community character and the natural buffers around our homes.

I suggested to the City Council that if they think current laws that govern land use and building are unreasonably burdensome they should change the laws to support more build out of our homes. I would however strongly oppose such legislation that would promote larger homes as I am opposing the Special Zoning Permits to make it easier to build out residential properties. Only Councilman Levenfeld and Myself voted against moving forward on this proposition.

While we on the City Council are still hearing from residents that they are upset about large structures next to their property, new homes and additions blocking the sun from their residences, and increased flooding from adjoining properties, the majority of the City Council still pushes for more development........ HELP!!!

Time to take Cell Phones out of Drivers Hands

When Aaron Wolff came in front of the City Council at the first Council meeting in February he requested for the seemingly 10th time that the City Council hold public hearings on banning cell phone use while driving. He has stated the obvious distraction and safety hazard that this has caused on our roads.

I responded that the time has come for us to take the step and move forward on this issue but was immediately and abruptly interrupted by Mayor Mike Belsky as he successfully cut me off from finishing my thoughts. Again the Mayor, showed disrespect and lack of courtesy toward City Council members and would not allow me to finish my thoughts on this issue.

While driving down Elm Street a few weeks ago a woman driving a huge SUV was chatting away on her phone while driving on the wrong side of the street. She headed straight at me and if I did not pull over into the parking spaces in front of Walgreen's we would have had a head on. Whatever the conversation she was having on that cell phone was too important for her to focus on driving properly.

I applaud our Representative Karen May on moving forward on a state wide ban of hand held cell phone use as Chicago and Winnetka have done. But just because Rep. May is proposing this law does not mean it will happen.

We have been leaders in the past on smoking, environmental, and land use laws prior to other municipalities or the state adopting those changes. The time has come to ban hand held cell phone use in Highland Park and look forward to a good discussion at the City Council.

Getting Along Should Not Silence Speaking Out!

Civility should always be maintained in venues of communications with our fellow man. We can always get more done if we treat each other with respect and listen to what others have to say on the subject of the moment.

Last week's Highland Park News stated that our budget process and results were right on target and that more civility was needed in our budget process......... or something to that effect.

With all due respect, the functionality of our government, directed by our City Manager David Limardi, has a lot of room for improvement. In my opinion, where we ended up in December on the budget could have been attained six months earlier. To say trying to get a balanced budget was like pulling teeth is an understatement...... and still is!

Now I have been told we will not start our budget process until sometime in March. Let me remind everyone that we are still about 1.5 million in the hole for fiscal 2010. That is about $.75 million coming out of reserves and $.75 million of diminished spending for infrastructure.

While the last holdouts that voted against this past budget were Nancy Rotering and I, Scott Levenfeld held with us almost to the end. Others on the City Council had signed along with voting yes on the budget because the Mayor asked them. Maybe there were 2 or 3 Council members fully comfortable with the 2010 budget.

The Mayor, upon a simple request, moves legislation because of his enormous seemingly blind respect from a majority of the City Council. It is clear to me that nothing of prominence gets done on this City Council without his blessing. Again, this is said with all civility and respect.

We can make these very hard decisions and maintain civility. We can talk nicely to each other, disagree and discuss drastic government changes to balance the budget without being characterized as reckless or detrimental to our community that we all love.

Let's not hesitate to speak out on "constructive thoughts" of living within our means and maintaining a sustainable community for our residents. To do less can create hardships that can drive long time residents from our town and that is unacceptable to me. Civility and Sensibility must rule in 2010....

New Tree Ordinance and Ban on Phosphorus

Great Progress from our Environmental Commission with the leadership of Bert Frey, past chair and just announced Environmental KING of the year, on providing more protection to our community forest. This ordinance further protects trees larger than 20 inches, better construction planning on effects of trees on and off construction property, and larger fines for non-compliance.

Also, after I sent the issue of a Phosphorus ban to the Environmental Commission, they held a public hearing, did the research, and brought us a great ordinance that further protects our waterways and environment from this harmful soil additive. Since there is naturally so much phosphorus in our soils this ban was a no brainer and had no opposition.

GOOD STUFF!!

Get up and Stand up For Open Space and our Environment

Reflecting on the past several votes of the City Council where I was voted down by a very large majority concerning moving forward the Open Space District and a Lot Coverage Ordinance, we must now organize and activate the majority of citizens that want Highland Park to become a more sustainable community.

If this City Council was around in the 90's we would have not bought the Highland Park Country Club, saved the 38 acre wetland preserve, created Founders Park, or reduced the density on several zoning districts cutting future development in half.

While I have been trying to work with this City Council and the Mayor on continuing the quest towards a sustainable city, we continue to revert back to old slogans and practices that will continue to raise our carbon footprint, increase runoff and pollution, and occupy more of our natural environment with structures and cement.

It is time for all of us tree huggers to unite and say we are not going to take it anymore and want to see this government start sustainable planning and practices for the future. We need to organize a group and start a political action committee to promote the environment and sustainability in Highland Park so we can get some movement on these issues. WHO'S IN?

I will continue to push for an open space district along the Skokie river basin and work with our Mayor to re-focus the Council to achieve some positive results.

Yes, to a Great Holiday!

While we are struggling to realign government and still provide services needed for the community, I give thanks for the great town we live in and all the people that are willing to help others.

It is nice to step back from the grind of business and just enjoy this time of peace. Please enjoy yourselves and remember to shop and dine in Highland Park to help our local economy. See you in 2010......Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!!!

No to Proposed 2010 Budget !

UPDATE - Budget passed 5-2 12-14-09. Even though staff has cut the budget in a very significant manner, there is still much more to do. I will not support the proposed budget for 2010 because I still do not see a near term commitment from staff or the majority of the City Council to balance revenues and expenditures. I will also not support a tax levy that exceeds the property tax cap of .1% and increases the sewer fees attached to our water bill. I am not supporting any further burdens on our citizens that are struggling in this economy. Bottom Line----Less government, more money in citizens pockets.....

In 2010 staff is proposing that about 3/4 of a million be taken out of reserves to balance the budget. . This deficit spending must stop. Along with this budget gap we will be reducing infrastructure work 700k. We have to convince staff and the City Council that a smaller government can survive the current economic environment and will still serve our citizens just fine.

Last night at the 11th hour our City Manager came forward with approximately 800 k of additional proposed cuts in our expenditures. I felt it was along time coming but an extremely welcome surprise. Still, we could not get a majority of the Council to pursue even a portion of the cuts at this time. The good news however is that most of the Council was willing to look at these cuts during the 2010 fiscal year.

While we hope for the best in the coming months, we must plan for flat revenues and reconstruct our government services accordingly. This will take hard decision making and a real commitment from the City Council to keep our City Manager on this task. Since this is a very complex set of decisions it will be easy to cloud the issues at hand. We must stand strong and do what is right for our citizens that are struggling to make ends meet.

Is the City Council Serious about being Green?

In 2001 we passed a master plan for Highland Park that had many sustainable and environmentally friendly visions that were suppose to be implemented by changing our city code. Through the following year in 2002 we changed our land use ordinances to reduce our built structure density throughout the city by increasing open space requirements and reducing the amount of units that could be built.

In the master plan we also said we were going to change zoning on government owned property so that it could only be used for open space and government uses. By changing this law we would provide a public process to allow much more dialog if the school district would decide to sell property for home or commercial development when they need cash. Most if not all of these properties were dedicated just for open space and school use.

Also in the 2001 master plan we envisioned an open space district to preserve the 1000's of acres currently used by private clubs along the Skokie River Corridor. We need to push Councilman Levenfeld who is the Plan Commission liaison and Mayor Michael Belsky our leader, to get these proposals out of the holding pattern and implemented soon. Plenty of talk about being green....... BUT every time I get these discussions back on the table a majority of the City Council and Staff find reasons to send it back to the shelf. This will continue until the City Council really wants to move these basic green elements forward.

We currently have talked about lot coverage regulations that would limit the amount of land that could be covered by cement and structures thus reducing flooding potential..... NO! NO!, we must wait and study some more said a majority of the City Council. This after 2 years of public meetings initiated by the City Council and unanimous approval of the Plan Commission, Environmental Commission, and the Lakefront Commission. I have seen so much smoke and mirrors it is amazing. Council People just say how you feel!!! BUILD BUILD BUILD BUILD!!!!

My Friends, don't be fooled by green wash. Water Conservation, Sustainable stormwater ordinances and practices, open space designation, Solar designs and energy conservation, geothermal promotions for HVAC, and strategies for green grants at state and federal levels just never seem to get off the ground with this government.

I have been trying to work with this Council for many years now to continue our leadership on "being green" in this community... BUT continue to meet brick walls and derailment. I really think we need to all get ready for a new wave of overdevelopment in the name of sustainability and economics.