Chicago Mayor Daley hopes for inspiration from Chinese Olympics trip

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Ray Hanania's World Comic Strip
August 2, 2008
Mayor Daley hopes to find inspiration during his visit to Beijing, China for the Olympics next week.
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Chinese Olympic strategies inspires Mayor Daley

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Ray Hanania's World Comic Strip
August 2, 2008
Mayor Daley finds inspiration in Chinese Olympics visit
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A documentary you MUST SEE online -- how to run for public office

Here's a documentary you have to watch, about one man's struggle to get on the ballot in the 10th Congressional District.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Allan Stevo
Stevo for Congress
C: (630) 452-7309
allan@StevoForCongress.com
www.StevoForCongress.com

Documentary Released on Highwood man's Congressional Bid

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, August 1, 2008 - Documentary film maker and editor of Republic magazine, Gary Franchi has released a scene from his upcoming film How to Run for Congress. Franchi's documentary, currently being filmed, is about Highwood resident Allan Stevo and his independent bid for U.S. Congress in the 10th Congressional District of Illinois. The film seeks to encourage others to run for U.S. House by demystifying the process.

In the recently released selection, Stevo is shown arguing his case for ballot access before the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Stevo, on Monday of this week, July 28, filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of a ballot access law that randomly requires 5,000 signatures for ballot access for independent candidates after a census is taken, but 10,285 in all other years. He will submit evidence showing that in years in which the requirement is only 5,000 signatures, the ballot is never crowded. The 5,000-signature requirement for years after redistricting has been in effect starting with 1982, and when one looks at the record for 1982, 1992, and 2002, one finds that there were no U.S. House races in Illinois with more than four candidates on the ballot. The case is Stevo v Illinois State Board of Elections, U.S. District Court, Central District, no. 08-3162.

This year, Republican candidates in the 10th Congressional district needed 687 signatures in order to be placed on that ballot. Democrats needed 1,001 signatures. In addition to being difficult for independent candidates to get on the ballot, election practices in Illinois make it relatively easy for independent and third party candidates to be thrown off the ballot with relatively little effort from their opponents. Illinois is considered by ballot access experts to have some of the most biased election laws in the nation, behind only Georgia and North Carolina.

A University of Illinois graduate, Stevo's campaign is based on the need for the federal government to operate in obeisance to the U.S. Constitution. "No undeclared wars, innocent until proven guilty, no searches without probable cause, everyone gets his or her day in court, small central government," he said.

His campaign website touts personal choice on health care and a "more humble" foreign policy. Stevo also vows, on his website, that he never would vote to increase taxes, spending or national debt. He believes strongly in the need to protect all individual rights, no matter how popular or unpopular those rights may be.

"As our founders understood from their dealings with the tyrannical King George III, it is the job of the federal government to protect life, liberty, and property, and to do little else beyond that. Their concerns about an overly powerful government resonates with many Americans today. Yet Congress, and our representative in the 10th District especially, refuses to perform its constitutional duty to uphold that vision. In fact, it does quite the opposite."

Stevo is running full-time but he has previously worked as a writer and teacher, having lectured in British literature. He also has participated in several better-government projects and served as an international observer of the 2004 Russian presidential elections in addition to having trained Iraqi NGO leaders.

The scene from Franchi's film How to Run for Congress can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuB2B90_XE0

At least one newspaper is talking truth about Orland Park's budget problems

It amazes me how easily local newspaper reporters have allowed Mayor McLaughlin and the Orland Park Village Board to tell residents, "Don't worry, everything is intact." There is a $4.8 million budget shortfall, a word the village doesn't like, and no one seems to really care, and the only real answer so far is to cut the property tax rebate by 35-40 percent.

The biggest mistake is in accepting the false claims by the village that "everything is okay" with the property tax rebate and that increases in fees are okay because there are other places that charge far more. Isn't that why Orland Park is BETTER than other communities?

The truth is, things are not going to be okay, even though Mayor McLaughlin is on record only a few months ago patting himself on the back claiming Orland Park is financially sound and has no problems.

The Regional, at least, has outlined the cuts in services and the increases in costs that the Village is considering. And increases in fees are soft tax increases because "fees" are a form of taxes.

The Regional's mistake was to play the property tax rebate at the bottom of their story. It's the LEDE! It's what people really care about. The real headline that every newspaper missed is this:

Village Proposes Major Cut in Property Tax Rebate

Every paper has been afraid to say that. Too bad. That's the real story out here. That's what everyone is talking about. That's what concerns everyone.

How about some real reaction from real residents of the Orland Park, instead of printing word-for-word the press releases issued from McLaughlin's office? I can read the same press releases on the village web site (which is very good because the village has one of the nation's top IT Departments and staff). Why do I need to read them in a local newspaper. Word-for-word?

The village has a $3 million hole in the pension fund and they need to take it out of the capitol budget so they are going to cut the property tax rebate by as much as 40 percent -- that's huge -- and shift the savings to the pension funds.

That's outrageous! Do the math, people. You're getting screwed. But maybe you don't care. Or more likely, you think there is nothing you can do about it.

There is something you can do about. Make your voices heard. Tell the village that just because some things are great in Orland Park (some dude in New York working at Money Magazine says we're one of the best places to live, not as great as last year but still on their list, way down), it's not acceptable for them to hide behind that to do things that are not so great.

Orland Park is one of the best places to live not because of the government doing their job, but because of the people who live here. We're a great community.

Although nothing has been formally approved by the village yet and all the proposals from our newly hired village manager Paul Grimes are just that, proposals, you, the community, can still stop the changes. Each and every trustee has to vote on the changes. You can make your voices heard.

Recreation Department fees may increase 10 percent. That's huge.

Costs for other services are going to increase, too.

They're not talking about the routine increases that the news media has failed to cover like the increases int he Water Bill -- 60 percent of which are unrelated to the increase in the cost of water. (That's only 40 percent of the bill.) The village is increasing fees for sending you the water bill, and collecting garbage, sewer services and rain water drainage.

I say if the village board can't protect the property tax rebate, then they don't belong in office any more and we should find someone else. And Paul Grimes can go back to where he came from. He's starting to sound more like a Chicago Machine Bean Counter than someone who understands what makes Orland Park what we really are.

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

Press Release from the Better Business Bureau

Steve J. Bernas President & CEO

Tel: 312-245-2514
Fax: 312-832-1907
Cell: 312-848-8437
Web: www.chicago.bbb.org

BBB
330 N. Wabash Ave Suite 2006
Chicago, IL 60611


BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU®
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve J. Bernas, Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois, 312.245.2514; President@chicago.bbb.org

PRESS RELEASE

Nominations being accepted for the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics

The Torch Awards are presented annually to outstanding businesses from Northern Illinois in recognition of their commitment to exceptional standards in relationships with their customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, and the surrounding communities. Like the BBB Torch logo, this award is helping to illuminate the importance of a corporate conscience and accepting the responsibility of creating a fair and honest marketplace.

The Torch Award is open to all for-profit Chicago and Northern Illinois based businesses. An individual may nominate the company he or she works for, owns, or is affiliated with, or any company that individual does business with, or any company, which the nominating individual believes, meets the Torch Award criteria. A company can also be nominated by an organization (i.e., Chamber of Commerce, academic institution, ethics organization, trade association, etc.).

Candidates for the 2008 Better Business Bureau’ Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics will be evaluated by a prestigious independent panel of judges from the business and academic community against these criteria:
High ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, and communities;
Demonstrated ethical practices surrounding their buyer/seller relationships;
Marketing, advertising, communications, and sales practices which reflect a true representation of the nominated business;
Acknowledgment of ethical marketplace practices by industry peers and in the communities where they do business;
Management practices and policies that give long-term value to shareholders, customers, employees, and vendors.
Training programs that assist employees in executing ethics policies.

Companies are judged in five categories based on the following employee head counts: 1-9; 10-99; 100-999, 1,000-7,499 and 7,500+. Recognition and awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza. To nominate a company go to our website www.chicago.bbb.org and click on the torch award at the middle of the page; e-mail tjoyce@chicago.bbb.org or mail to BBB Torch Award, 330 N. Wabash Ave., #2006, Chicago, IL 60611. Deadline for completed entry is September 5, 2008.
# # #
As a private, non-profit organization, the purpose of the Better Business Bureau is to promote an ethical marketplace. BBBs help resolve buyer/seller complaints by means of conciliation, mediation and arbitration. BBBs also review advertising claims, online business practices and charitable organizations. BBBs develop and issue reports on businesses and nonprofit organizations and encourage people to check out a company or charity before making a purchase or donation.

Orland Park quietly scores another achievement -- Borders Book Store rated among top 10 in the World

This is a breaking news story, of the sorts we're used to reading in Orland Park, but it is surprising considering that clearly Orland Park's elected officials don't know how to count. And if they don't know how to count, then obviously, they probably don't read much, unless they are reading their own press releases.

But it is official, at least from the mouths of the store clerks at the Orland Park Borders Book Store at 15260 S. LaGrange Road is in fact one of the TOP 10 book stores in the World. That's it. THE WORLD.

That's way "huge-er" (that's not a word, but village officials can't read anyway so who cares?) than the village slipping from 45 to 92 in the ranking of the Best Places to Live in America from "Money Magazine," which costs a lot of money to buy, by the way.

One reason is they nearly set a record for the number of copies of the Harry Potter sales. The other reason is that people in Orland Park are far smarter than village officials take them to be. We read. We read a lot. We read through the PR crap thown at us from the village officials.

(I know. You're asking. How did I turn a story about Borders Book Stores into a commentary on the sad state of affairs in Orland Park politics? Well, they're both important!)

So congratulations Borders of Orland Park -- where I hang out a lot when I am not eating that Bestever Steak Skillet breakfast at the soon to be relocated (hopefully) Plaza Cafe ... and which also carries my book "Arabs of Chicagoland."

You deserve it.

Budget shortfall Shell Game -- Everything is "Intact!"

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Ray Hanania's World Comic Strips
July 30, 2008
The Village of Orland Park claims that all of the village services and the highly touted property tax rebate is "intact." Not fully intact, but intact!