By Al Turco
Special to Inside
As the Cubs round first and hustle toward the all-star break with the NL Central lead dangling from their back pocket, their fans aren't the only North Siders making noise around Wrigley Field.
After sliding into the second of this spring's three "Blue Ribbon Committee" meetings last Monday, neighbors turned to civic and city officials, motioning for a timeout to gather themselves before leading into the home stretch of negotiations over a new neighborhood protection plan.
Last year with Mayor Richard Daley's blessing, former Ald. Ward Bernie Hansen (44th)set up the so-called Blue Ribbon Committee to bring city officials and aldermen from Wards 32, 44, 46 and 47 together with representatives of Wrigley area neighborhood associations and the Tribune Company Cubs ownership. The old neighborhood protection plan -- a covenant specifying what must be done to maintain the quality of life in the neighborhoods around the park and who pays for what -- expired in 2002.
The next Blue Ribbon Committee meeting is June 30 — call 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney at (773) 525-6034 for the time and place — but neighbors are worried about who is going to make the final decisions about safety, parking, traffic and trash removal.
"I think we will have a new plan in place by the end of the summer," Tunney said. But he added that he does not know what the Cubs plan to do regarding expansion or addition of night games, nor does he know when the team will announce these plans.
The neighbors are getting restless.
Karen Kennedy of Alta Vista Terrace wrote a letter to Tunney, the Mayor and several news outlets complaining that neighbors were being shut out of the process.
"I asked for a community hearing and was told to hold my own meeting," Kennedy said. Her letter was also critical of the neighborhood association in her neighborhood, the East Lake View Neighbors (ELVN).
But Teri Kata, ELVN representative to the Blue Ribbon Committee, said Kennedy should refocus her attention on the other players -- the city and the Cubs.
"We don't have anything to tell the neighbors right now," Kata said. "ELVN wrote a letter earlier this spring to the Mayor and the aldermen, asking not to be cut out of the negotiation process."
According to Kata, the ELVN letter sparked this spring's string of Blue Ribbon meetings, but Kata and her fellow neighborhood reps are still digging for details.
"At our ELVN board meeting on Monday (June 16) we talked about holding a community meeting," Kata said. This is what Kennedy demanded in her letter. But Kata can not promise when ELVN will hold a meeting because she can not get any firm dates and figures from the city about issues like signage and towing.
"We scheduled a meeting for Sept. 11 and hopefully by that time we will have something tangible to take to the neighbors, but right now there is nothing in writing from the Blue Ribbon Commission to discuss. If we have a community meeting now we will just be talking about the same things we did before and we know through the referendum in March 2002 where the community stands...they want neighborhood issues solved before any expansion is permitted."
"These details are critical to the when and what of our community meeting," Kata said. "And it's the city side more than the Cubs that we are having problems with."
For purposes of this discussion let us consider the Cubs, or Tribune Company, a calm presence at the plate, waiting to see what they are going to be offered, but remember that although they are quiet, they mean business.
"Tunney could have a hearing to discuss these things. He's as responsible for this neighborhood as we are," Kata said. In other words, as Kennedy wants to know, who's going to offer what to whom?
Tunney is sending mixed signals.
"There are still going to be neighborhood meetings on what's going to happen at Wrigley Field," Tunney said in an interview this week. But if the Cubs have not said what they plan to do or when they are going to do it, and Tunney is confident that a neighborhood protection plan will be finalized this summer, neighbors at late summer meetings may share the fate of those inside the park, watching something that is already a done deal.
The neighbors' best chance at getting the Cubs and city to dedicate time and money to Wrigleyville is presenting a united front, but this will not be easy.
"This is East Lake View, not Wrigleyville," said Dr. Todd Ochs, a 20-year resident of Bradley Place. "The Chicago Cubs are the least part of what makes this neighborhood wonderful. The Tribune Company has made a lot of money here, and I think they should be responsible for parking and congestion at least not getting any worse than they already are."
Ochs said he tried to join ELVN but got his envelope back. "They are dominated by the rooftop clubs and bars," he said, echoing Kennedy's criticism of the association.
Neighbors were hardly placated by Terry Armour's mention in the Tribune's Friday, June 13, section that encouraged Cubs patrons to have a drink at one of the local watering holes and get a free parking pass for your car.
But Kata is not affiliated with the rooftop clubs or bars around Wrigley. She is one of 17 board members, three of whom have interests in rooftop clubs and bars, according to Kata. And putting aside issues of who has what power, Kata sees her neighborhood differently.
"The Cubs were here first, and the bars and clubs are a part of that," Kata said.
Common ground may be found in common sense approaches to issues as the information from the city trickles out to the Blue Ribbon Committee reps. For example, Kata said that the CTA employees who drive the buses taking people to and from Cubs remote parking lots must be paid full eight-hour union wages even if a game lasts only two hours. She mentioned private vendors as an option. But does the city, also known as the Mayor, want things to happen this way?
"It's all happening with the mayor's blessing," said Baron Whateley of Alta Vista Terrace. This is, at least, the perception, one breeding cynicism and its nasty sidekick, apathy, among neighbors. Whateley was critical of ELVN and the rooftop owners, again hinting at collusion, but if ELVN brings issues like privatizing busing to the plate, maybe the locals will look a little less like opponents and a little more like the local nine, playing together for a common goal, a good community.
The neighbors are up against the Mayor and the Cubs, so who knows, because although the Mayor always wins, the Cubs.... |
