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Children's Museum Passes City Council
The full Chicago City Council voted on Wednesday, June 11, to move the Chicago Children's Museum into the heart of Grant Park.
This vote came on the heels of the May 15 Chicago Plan Commission vote and the June 5 Zoning Committee vote; both in favor of the Museum move to Grant Park.
Wednesday's aldermanic vote was 33-16 in favor of the move.
I voted against the Museum's move into public land and agreed with Alderman Reilly. My general comments during the Council meeting are attached below.
Other alderman voting NO were Manny Flores (1st); Pat Dowell (3rd); Toni Preckwinkle (4th); Leslie Hairston (5th); Sandi Jackson(7th); Sharon Dixon (24th); Ed Smith (28th); Rey Colon (35th); Tom Allen (38th); Brian Doherty (41st); Vi Daley (43rd); Tom Tunney (44th); Eugene Schulter (47th) and Joe Moore (49th).
Articles on the vote:
Skyline - Children's Museum: Now the real battle begins--in court
Suntimes - Children's Museum to be built in Grant Park
Chicago Tribune - Duel at Grant Park
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Thank you Mr. President:
All across the city, Chicagoans clamor for treasured greenspace, determined to balance the reality of city life with a respect for nature, culture, quality of life and the justice saving this space requires. Yet now, when it really matters, many of us are willing to award our greatest treasure, Grant Park to the Children's Museum, a private entity. What is appalling is that after 172 years of holding firm, we are being asked to give it away without any due diligence done on behalf of the Museum.
It is time for Aldermen to stand up and do the "heavy lifting" elected bodies are required to do when it comes to decisions that impact the past, present and future of a city, as greatly as this will.
Aldermen must show that we are accountable to our constituents of our wards and of the city, to our parks and to history and we must show that we have acted responsibly, in every instance, when determining the future of what we hope will be a true global city.
Responsible action by our City Council happens only when we have all the information necessary to make any decision. While we hear fuzzy opinions about the Children's Museum size, Hobbit like design, parking, and architectural magnificence, the Museum proponents have utterly refused to address feasibility, much less legality. Backers of the plan to site a new Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park would have us vote on this site without conducting a feasibility study, as all such Museums must do, and instead they would have us risk spending millions of taxpayers' dollars on potential litigation.
One can go to the Jones Lang Lasalle website, one of many consultants working on the proposal, to find out how a feasibility study is conducted for such projects. There are matrixes, charts, and maps that outline the criteria for site selection, a very professional and thorough investigation.
But while we are all ensconced in the arguments about size, the cavelike nature of the museum, parking, and who will foot the bill in the end, we have failed to address rule number one in museum development; feasibility.
If the Planning Commission was not tasked with providing the scrutiny of typical municipal urban planners, then it is left to us to take up that mantle, and apply a level of scrutiny our residents demand from us as urban planners of our respective wards. The process of demanding facts and transparency cannot be shed simply because someone has determined that aldermanic prerogative no longer applies. Without openness and transparency, we will never attain the goal of a global city suitable to host an Olympic event.
The time to ignore and dismantle our aldermanic prerogative is not when it is being used for the benefit of our parks. The backers of the museum have clearly stated that Alderman Reilly should be stripped of his aldermanic prerogative. There may be a point in saying Alderman Reilly alone should not determine what gets built in Grant Park.
But Alderman Reilly is not alone.
Alderman Reilly stands with millions of Chicagoans, historical figures like Aaron Montgomery Ward, over 170 years of protection, and Aldermen like me and you, who as one, will demand that the land of the people not be sold to the highest bidder.
If proponents of the Museum wish to ignore aldermanic prerogative, so be it. Then we as a City Council must act as one, to save Grant Park. Again, the burden is not Alderman Reilly's alone.
Racism, economic elitism, cronyism and, not in my back yard (NIMBY) are decoys that muddy the waters of feasibility and aldermanic prerogative. We have a duty to extinguish these loathsome and irresponsible fears injected into the debate.
We should instead provide justice to Chicagoans today and for future generations.
Our collective "NO" to the Children's Museum will protect the park for years to come and allow it to remain forever open, clear, and free for all.
(Scott Waguespack, Alderman 32nd Ward)
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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
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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