Dear Friends,
As I prepare to leave office after almost 22 years as Alderman of the 48th Ward, I would like to thank all of you for your support, encouragement and hard work.
Together we have accomplished much. From increasing the safety on our streets and improving our schools to developing our commercial districts and instituting a host of environmental initiatives, our Ward has been transformed.
We've established task forces to address...and improve...problem blocks and areas, created two new parks and renovated or expanded every other park in the Ward. We've built major additions to three of our elementary schools, substantially renovated the Senn campus and created a world-class auditorium there. More importantly, we've instituted new academic programs in our schools that are making a difference for our students.
The 48th Ward has become one of the most desirable areas of the City in which to build, live or run a business. We have six National Register Historic Districts within our boundaries. Clark Street, and now Bryn Mawr and Granville, are popular shopping and dining destinations. We have a vibrant performing arts community and are home to many fine theaters. And, at last, the tools are in place to restore the Uptown theater and revitalize the surrounding entertainment district.
We are the leader in innovative environmental projects, from permeable surfaces to traffic calming and car sharing. Our public art and beautification projects have received national acclaim. And we are proud that we remain the most diverse area of Chicago.
But this did not happen overnight, and I did not do it alone. Special thanks to my hard working staff and to the block clubs, Zoning and Planning Committee members, religious institutions, community organizations and the many people who came to me with ideas and then rolled up their sleeves to make those ideas a reality.
We have accomplished much, but there is more to do. Alderman-elect Harry Osterman will have to do more with less as we try to solve the City's budget crisis. Our community organizations and social service agencies are facing funding cuts, and the needs keep growing. I urge you to stay involved and continue to make this The Great 48th Ward.
I again thank you for all you've done and all you will do. And I wish you and yours health, joy, peace and prosperity.
Warmest regards and good wishes,
Mary Ann Smith
Your source for news, events, and information about Chicago's Edgewater & Andersonville neighborhoods
6 comments:
Ho! Hum! More of the same bull we have been given all these years.
If Edgewater is so great why has the Zoning and Planning Committee stopped meeting? I'll tell you why! Because there is nothing happening in the 48th Ward. Developers don't want to come here.
Crime is still rampant and HO has had to call special Public Safety meetings even before he is sworn in.
The streets are riddled with potholes and the sidewalks broken.
The Community Council fell apart because her chief of staff ruined it. The only hot spots that have been cured are the ones that Loyola worked on.
We have gotten rid of a lazy alderman who only worked on what she wanted or lived near. Whenever she went anywhere, which was seldom, she took her deck of cards.
This ward has lots of TIFs. What would it be like if they had been used properly? There is one website that likes to criticize the use of TIF funds to help Uncommon Ground in the 40th Ward. At least the money was used to help bring in a vibrant business. Same with the Raven Theatre, also in the 40th. TIF funds are supposed to be for economic development.
What did she do with our TIF money?
Bricolages? Banners? Very low income housing? Grand parks near her house. Is there any business development?? Well Nookies! They got help from the Bryn Mawr TIF and I had a wonderful Sunday brunch there today...NOT!
I hear Ernie, the best of the bunch, is going to the 47th Ward. Wonder if she got her niece Monica a city job?
The biggest laugh of all is she spent months rezoning/downzoning Broadway, and let the people west of Broadway scare everyone because someone might build a six store "tower" and we got nothing.
Used car lots were supposed to be out. But the first zoning variance given after "downzoning" was a used car lot for Metro Toyota at the corner of Broadway and Hollywood.
Only poorly funded rookie developers made proposals and then they went belly up. He what every happened to Joe Pepitones and the Northside Laundry condos? Nothing.
We had a developer propose a beautiful plan for the Funeral home property on Foster and B'way, but lost it because she let her precious Lakewood Balmoral neighbors and the Edgewater Historial Society shoot it down.
How many times did we have development meetings where people gaver her input, and she never listened?
Oh, did we forget, more affordable housing.
Yeah, the refusal to allow development of the funeral home at Broadway and Foster is quite frustrating. That could really help that area if there were any retail or condos there (maybe a Walgreens to challenge the CVS like what's happening with the Thybony space 300 yards from an Osco). It's hard to know what to do with Broadway in general, but a development at the funeral home would have been a big improvement to me.
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