By Carrie Jackson
Special to Inside
Chip Greenspan, president of the Northcenter Chamber of Commerce (NCC), has resigned from the position in the middle of the chamber's efforts to designate a Special Service Area (SSA) for various improvement projects. Michelle Kunze, owner of Signs Now, has stepped up in the interim from her position as 2nd Vice President. Greenspan, whose family owns Community Home Supply Co. Inc., has served on the board of directors for five years and was elected president last year.
An SSA is a way for industrial, commercial, or residential areas to make improvements funded by a self-imposed localized tax levy. The chamber proposed an SSA that would mostly affect Irving Park Rd., Lincoln Ave., and Western Ave. The proposal was approved Nov. 23 by City Council. The Department of Planning and Development (DPD)at the time had a policy of requiring social security numbers from all members of the board of directors of the sponsoring chamber. According to Gina Caruso, a financial planning analyst with the DPD, this is so they can run indebtedness checks for child support. Another one is done by the Department of Revenue, with the thinking that everyone on the board takes part in the initial planning process, including making up a budget, and everyone helps find local contractors to complete the work. The DPD later decided that was becoming too time consuming and unnecessary, and instead decided only to require social security numbers from the president, treasurer, and executive director of the board.
Greenspan was under the impression that only the SSA Commission, which is a group of nine chamber members specifically chosen to follow-through with the SSA after it is approved, needed to provide social security numbers. He resigned after learning that, as president of the board, he was also required to submit his. Citing personal reasons, Greenspan does not believe the city should have access to such information but acknowledges that "they have the right to require it, just as I have a right to my privacy."
Possible projects for the SSA include maintenance and beautification programs for sidewalk cleaning, weed control, litter pickup and new sidewalk amenities; programs to purchase, install and maintain planters and hanging flower baskets; snow removal; a marketing campaign to bring more businesses and customers to Northcenter; transit/parking improvements to encourage shared parking, and install new signage and kiosks; and additional administrative support. To fund the SSA, property taxes will be raised by approximately 2.5 percent a year.
Despite stepping down, Greenspan plans on staying active with the chamber. He likes that NCC is very careful to be non-political as well as close with the neighborhood community, and always has done things for the kids. "I love putting back into the community—that's what it's all about," he said. "But it's a volunteer position, and it was going way above and beyond."
Kunze will run for president in the upcoming January elections, and is determined to increase the city's awareness of the Northcenter area.
For more information on the SSA, contact the Northcenter Chamber at (773) 525-3609. |
