Click here for City of Chicago 32nd Ward info
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Listen to Scott on Gerard McClendon CLTV <here>
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TIF Sunshine Ordinance Passed. View Ordinance <here>
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2009 Street Sweeping Schedule now available <here>
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Download a copy of "Your 32nd Ward" Newsletter here! This newsletter is the printed copy we will send via US Mail on an occasional basis.
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PARKING METER LEASE INFORMATION
Chicago Parking Meters Part II
by Ben Jarovsky & Mick Dumke, ChicagoReader.com, May 19, 2009
Download the Parking Meter Privatization Assessment prepared by my office on December 3, 2008 in response to the Mayor's privatization proposal. We prepared this report after my request to see the city valuation was rebuffed in the finance committee.
You can also download the City of Chicago's CHICAGO METERED PARKING SYSTEM CONCESSION AGREEMENT here.
Listen to Scott on WLS 890 AM - talking about the parking meter deal <here>
Aldermen Weigh Privatizing Parking Meters
Mayor scoffs at criticism on parking meter increases
Dan Mihalopoulos and Hal Dardick, Chicago Tribune "Clout Street", December 5, 2008
...Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), one of the five aldermen who voted against the deal, said the city could make more money in the long run --- about $4 billion --- by continuing to operate the meters.
"We are privatizing something for a quick shot in the arm," Waguespack said...<more>
72 hours for 75 years
Alderman defend parking meter lease, regret the rush
Ben Myers, Chicago Journal, December 10, 2008
Chicago aldermen were given 72 hours last week to say yes to $1.16 billion in immediate revenue. They did so overwhelmingly on Nov. 4, by a 40-5 vote. <more>
Mayor's Meter
Hard to know what history will say about meter lease because no one discussed it
Chicago Journal, Our Views, December 10, 2008
Our aldermen, with virtually no warning or public dialogue, have awarded a75-year lease of the city's parking meters to Morgan Stanley.
We are the first city in the country to lease out our parking meters. Maybe there are good reasons why no one else has done it. But there is no good reason for not discussing it thoroughly before the vote. Which points directly to the administration of Mayor Richard Daley. <more>
Ald. Waguespack Says Lease "Bad Deal" for Chicago
The Expired Meter, theexpiredmeter.com, December 9, 2008
Below is 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack’s thoughts on the recent ChicagoParking Meter Lease deal. Ald. Waguespack voted against it.
Here is a copy of the e-mail blast he sent to 32nd Ward constituents.
Well said alderman. <more>
Geek's Naughty and Nice List
The Expired Meter, theexpiredmeter.com, December 24, 2008
Being that it's Christmas Eve, I thought I needed to take a quick accounting for the year and send a quick e-mail to Santa Claus before he leaves the North Pole, to make sure he has these particular people on his famous naughty/nice lists.
NICE LIST
...Alderman Scott Waguespack: 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, is one of the Fantastic Five (see above), in fact the most vocally opposed to the crap lease plan. He also stood up for constituents who got improperly towed before a running race in his ward this summer, and has been working to resolve several other parking issues in the ward. Santa should bring you a nice gift, but you are probably too ethical a guy to accept a gift that might be perceived as a bribe. <more>
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Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Sunshine Ordinance
Opening a Window on Daley's Piggy Bank
Chicago Sun-Times, February 23, 2009
Whenhomeowners hear the phrase "tax increment financing districts" --alsoknown as TIF districts -- their eyes glaze over, if they know aboutthem at all.
...That's why we support a modest proposal from twoaldermen, Manny Flores and Scott Waguespack, to put all of theinformation from TIF projects in one convenient location on the city'sWeb site.
...Flores and Waguespack's proposal is a small step, but an important one, in the right direction. <more>
Transparency on TIFs
Mick Dumke, Chicago Reader-Clout City, February 11, 2009
Over the last two decades Chicago’s tax increment financing programhas reaped billions of dollars in public money that ended up inspecial-use accounts controlled almost exclusively by Mayor RichardM.Daley, with almost no public oversight. For years the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky was the only reporter to complain. Now the Reader's dogged coverage of this issue is being dropped at Daley's door.
Twofrustrated aldermen are now calling for some major reforms of the TIFprogram, and they’re starting by taking on the oversight issue.
First Ward alderman Manny Flores and 32nd Ward alderman Scott Waguespack introduceda proposal at the City Council meeting Wednesday requiring that fulldocumentation of TIF deals be posted online in a“comprehensive andusable fashion.” If passed the ordinance would mandate that by the endof this year the city post every specific agreement, amendment,attachment, order, audit, and record for every use of money fromChicago’s roughly 160 TIF districts.<more>
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Under New Ownership, Republic Workers Are Headed Back To The Job
Angela Caputo, www.progressillinois.com, February 26, 2009
Last month we broke the news that the laid-off Republic Windows workers could soon be back on the factory floor if California-based Serious Materials succeeded in its bid to buy the shuttered Chicago plant.
Well, the deal has been sealed.Yesterday, a bankruptcy court signed off on Serious’ bid to buy the factory and, under an agreement between the new owners and UE Local1110, all of the former Republic workers will eventually be making eco-friendly windows at union-wages. More from a UE Local 1110 release: <more>
Workers in sit-in to get jobs back under new owner
Robert Mitchum, Chicago Tribune, February 26, 2009
The sale of a Chicago windows factory where workers staged a six-day sit-in last December has been approved by a bankruptcy judge, clearing the way for the business to reopen in about a month and rehire those workers,union officials said.
In an order filed Wednesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jacqueline P. Cox approved the sale of assets from Republic Windows & Doors, the Chicago company which abruptly closed the doors of its Goose Island plant in early December, prompting the worker sit-in that drew national attention. Republic Windows later filed for bankruptcy. <more>
Firm buys plant where workers staged sit-in
Chicago Sun-Times, February 26, 2009
There'sgood news for laid-off workers whose sit-in at a Chicago windows plantdrew national attention to the plight of laborers last year. <more>
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION:
NEIGHBORHOODS FOR SALE
How cash, clout transform Chicago neighborhoods
Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2008
1st in an occasional of series
DEVELOPERS: Many give to aldermanic campaigns in quest to build bigger, pricier projects.
ALDERMEN: They decide who can build what. Money, not planning, often drives process.
HOMEOWNERS: They are often left out of the decision-making and boxed in by towering structures.
Zoning: Pay-to-Play (video)
Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2008
Please note: The video "Matlaked Again" that was featured in this segment was not produced by the campaign, as stated in their commentary.
What is upzoning? (graphic)
Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2008
Neighborhoods for sale (photos)
Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2008
Look up zoning changes in your neighborhood
Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2008
Community input an illusion
Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2008
2nd in an occasional of series
ALDERMEN: They decide who can build what. Money, not planning, often drives the process.
ADVISORY GROUPS: Billed as neighborhood's voice, they are often stacked with developers.
Tribune's Dan Mihalopoulos and Robert Becker talk about zoning in Chicago
Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2008
Daley defends system of aldermanic zoning decisions
Chicago Tribune, January 29, 2008
Aldermen should decide what is built in wards, mayor says.
Your Alderman, Your Street
Chicago Tribune, February 24, 2008
Feds: City building inspectors bribed
Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2008
Who calls the shots in your backyard? Not you.Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2008
5th in an occasional of series
Tribune investigation:
In a system city officials call a national model, aldermen collect campaign donations from developers. Developers benefit from looser building rules approved by aldermen. And residents?
Tracking neighborhood changes
Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2008
Zoning reality, reform divide
Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2008
Zoning code cutting edge, Banks says
Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2008
Cracking Chicago's Code
Chicago Tribune
Look up zoning changes in your neighborhood.
The database was created from the records of every meeting of the City Council's Zoning Committee from 2003 through 2007, encompassing the most recent full term of the Chicago City Council.
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Contact the Alderman
This site will continue to be used for campaign purposes.
For city business, please contact me at: 32ndWard@gmail.com.
32nd Ward Office hours:
Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm
Ward Night:
Monday, 5pm - 8pm
32nd Ward Office: City Hall Office:
2657 North Clybourn 121 North LaSalle, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60614 Chicago, IL 60602
Tel: 773-248-1330
Fax: 773-248-1360
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Political Corruption & Transparency
Listen to Lawrence Lessig's views on transparency in government.
Lawrence Lessig (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic. He is currently professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for Internet and Society. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications.
At the iCommons iSummit 07 Lessig announced that he will stop focusing his attention on copyright and related matters. Instead he will work on corruption in the political system. This new work may be partially facilitated through his wiki "LessigWiki" which he has encouraged the public to use to document cases of corruption