OrlandParker

ONLY 13 DAYS LEFT TO APPEAL ORLANDTOWNSHIP OPEN FOR TAX APPEAL TO THE BOARD OF REVIEW

2012-01-26T08:46:00.001-08:00

ONLY 13 DAYS LEFT TO APPEAL

ORLANDTOWNSHIP OPEN FOR
TAX APPEAL TO THE BOARD OF REVIEW

There are only 13 days left to file an appeal of your property tax assessment to the Cook County Board of Review. All appeals for Orland Township must be completed and filed by February 8, 2012.

Even if you filed an appeal with the Assessor's office last fall, you still have the opportunity to appeal to the Board of Review.
My office is here to assist you in completing the required paperwork and filing it with the Board of Review. If you or anyone you know may benefit from an appeal, please contact my office at 708-349-1336 for assistance or click the link below to schedule an appointment live in real time: All appeals must be filed by February 8, 2012.

SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT FOR ASSISTANCE

Please be sure to bring a copy of your 2010 Second Installment Tax Bill with you.
Please feel free to use the forward function at the bottom of this email to send this to your friends and family that live in Orland Township.

Distributesd by Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman.

SEAN MORRISON NAMED GOP COMMITEEMAN FOR PALOS TOWNSHIP

2012-01-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

SEAN MORRISON NAMED GOP COMMITEEMAN FOR PALOS TOWNSHIP

Cook County, IL, January 19, 2012 – Cook County Republican Chairman Sig Vaznelis has named businessman Sean Morrison Palos Township Republican Committeeman.

For more than a decade, Morrison has actively supported Republican causes, including the Reagan Library. He is an active member of the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Business Advisory Council of the NRCC. In 2005, he was awarded the Ronald Regan Republican Gold medal and, in 2007, was nominated to serve as a Delegate from the State of Illinois at the House Republican Trust Candidates' Convention.

Former National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) has said of Morrison: “Sean Morrison has long supported Republican ideals like debt reduction and tax reform as they relate to the growth and stability of small business in this country.”

“I believe Cook County Republican party’s platform is more business friendly and we need leaders from the business community to step up, work with us and be heard in Cook County and in Illinois. Removing all outside factors, just looking at vision and business backgrounds made Sean the choice for Palos,” said Chairman Sig Vaznelis.

“I am honored to be named Palos Township Republican Committeeman,” said Morrison. “I’m looking forward to working with all people of good will – my fellow Republican township committeemen, grassroots leaders, businessmen, taxpayers, and concerned citizens – to build a Republican Party we can be proud of.”

Morrison has also performed extensive pro bono work in Cook County and Illinois. In November, Morrison was awarded LEADS 2011 Humanitarian Award for his work with LEADS and the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force in helping solve missing persons and exploited children’s cases over the years.

A self-made businessman, Sean Morrison, 44, is the Founder and CEO of Morrison Security, Inc. headquartered in Alsip, Illinois. Morrison Security has more than 1,000 employees nationwide. He lives with his wife, Lora, and two children in Palos Park.

###

Election Board throws out politically motivated Thompson complaint against Gormans

2012-01-17T11:29:00.001-08:00

Orland Park -- The Illinois State Board of Elections this week dismissed complaints filed against Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman by Mark Thompson alleging that there was improper disclosure in her campaign funds.

Originally Thompson, who Gorman defeated last year for the Republican nomination for the Cook County Board, had filed before the Illinois election board on January 11, 2010 eight (8) specific counts alleging fraud. During the nearly two year long hearing, Thompson was forced to withdraw seven of the complaints as being irrelevant and without merit.

The final count, asserting that the Gorman's received anonymous funding, was dismissed by the Board of Elections.

"This is a good example of how some individuals like Mark Thompson use and exploit the taxpayers' money, time and our public agencies to conduct their failed political campaigns," said Liz Gorman in reaction to the recommendations of the State Commission.

"Mr. Thompson filed his complaints purely for political reasons. He didn't care that the complaints would exhaust taxpayer dollars. He didn't care that the allegations were a lie. All he cared about was the ability to file his outrageous and proven false claims so that he could make a political statement during his failed campaign. In his capacity as an attorney and employee of the State of Illinois, he should be investigated for knowingly filing a frivolous complaint and forced to reimburse the taxpayers."

Gorman filed a counter claim successfully exposing Thompson and his political allies, including disgraced former Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, for their illegitimate disclosure practices, and depositing receipts into his campaign manager’s checking account rather than his own campaign committee.

"The voters saw through the charades of both Mr. Thompson and Mr. Peraica who remains a defendant facing charges that he vandalized and destroyed the campaign signs of his opponent Jeff Tobolski and was then arrested and placed in a jail pending the filing of charges," Gorman said.

"These are not the kinds of people who should be representing the public. They are a disgrace. Their total disregard for the interests of the taxpayers is now on full display for everyone to see."

Gorman said she will continue to fight for the best interests of the public and the taxpayers.

(Judge's Order Below)

STATE OF ILLINOIS )

) SS

COUNTY OF COOK )

STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

STATE OF ILLINOIS

In the Matter Of: ) )

Mark Thompson, ) )

Complainant(s), )

vs. ) 10 CD 001)

Elizabeth Gorman/The Gorman )

Good Government Group, )

)

Respondent(s). )

ORDER

TO: Mark Thompson Elizabeth Gorman/The Gorman Good Government Group

1168 Margret Street 10834 Carolyn Court

Des Plaines, IL 60016 Orland Park, IL 60467

This matter coming to be heard this 12th day of January, 2012 following a Closed Preliminary Hearing of a Complaint filed pursuant to “An Act to Regulate Campaign Financing” (Illinois Compiled Statutes, 10 ILCS 5/9-1 et seq., herein referred to as the “Act”), alleging that the respondent(s) violated 5/9-11 and 5/9-25 in that the Respondent committee failed to correctly identify the source of certain campaign contributions and expenditures and received contributions made in the name of another; and the State Board of Elections having read the report of the Hearing Officer and hearing the recommendation of the General Counsel and now being fully advised in the premises:

THE BOARD FINDS:

1. No proof has been provided that the source of the loans was anyone other than Gerald Gorman; and

2. The name and address of the contributor of the loan was disclosed as required by Section 5/9-11(8), and

3. The Gorman Good Government Group did not act improperly in amending their campaign financing reports in relation to the source of the loans and their subsequent partial repayment, and

4. The loans were neither anonymous nor made in the name of another which would have been a violation of Section 5/9-25, and

5. There is no proof the reporting of the $390,000.00 in loans violated either Section 5/9-11 or Section 5/9-25.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. The Recommendation of the Hearing Officer and the General Counsel is adopted; and

2. No further action is required, and

3. The effective date of this Order is January 17, 2012.

DATED: 1/17/2012

William M. McGuffage, Chairman

END

Best meals for a family in Orland Park: 94 West and the Grape Vine bakery

2012-01-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

If you want to really splurge, affordably, the best restaurant in Orland Park is 94 West Steak & Seafood restaurant. The top pick off of their menu is the 22 Ounce Prime Rib "Johnny's Cut" served with garlic mashed potatoes. It's $38 per person but it is the size of a brick. It's huge. There's the smaller 18 Ounce Prime Rib "Mary's Cut" which is only $34 with the Garlic Mashed Potatoes, too.

94 West is a high end, classy restaurant where you go to enjoy a meal with the family.

The ambiance in the restaurant reflects the quality of the service and the food.

Make sure to say hello to the owners, Brian and Maria Sjord.

Check it out.

But you don't always want to go out to eat. Sometimes you just want to stay home and enjoy a great quality meal, too. Maybe watch a great movie at home, or just sit around family style with the family in the comfort of your own home.

No place better serves take out than a little bakery called The Grape Vine. It's Middle Eastern (Mediterranean, if you prefer). They have a fabulous menu prepared int heir kitchen for pick-up and enjoyment.

I always order a "jar" of stuffed grape leaves (about 90 leaves). That's lamb and rice wrapped in grape leaves and simmered for about 45 minutes over a selection of lamb, chicken or kifta kabob (ground meat and parsley).

My favorite, when I'm not ordering grape leaves to take home is the Shish Kabob plate. You can order it based on the number of people you are serving. Each person is about $10 and you get top grade sirloin, chicken and kifta on a bed of yellow rice and sliced almonds, and slices of green peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Order for three people and it's really a full meal for four. Grab some hummus or diced salad with Tahini (ground sesame seed paste) sauce from Ziyad Brothers Importing (the nation's best distributors of fine Mediterranean foods -- www.Ziyad.com.)

You MUST try the shish kabob take-out. It's phenomenal. The meat is the best, which makes this little bakery one of the tops in the region.

(closeup of a portion of the large aluminum tray that you will get.)

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Fran Eaton's pathetic attempt to help her pal Dan Patlak

2012-01-04T04:32:00.001-08:00

Recently, as many South Suburbanites know from reading my columns, Fran Eaton, a rightwing political activist hack attacked me in her column at a little-known blog called "Illinois Review." Eaton has been campaigning to turn the Republican Party into a pantry for the Tea Party so she and her pals, other rightwing nut jobs, can take over. That's what she has been working on for years.

Click here to read my columns on the "Eaton scandal."

During the scuffle, Eaton and the Illinois Review denied that she was pals with Patlak. Really? That's a joke.

Just a few weeks ago Eaton wrote a scathing column attacking the Cook County Board of Review. (Click here to read that column.) Pretty obvious what she is saying, right. She's attacking the Board of Review and blaming all of the Board's problems and Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (which is ridiculous, by the way) and on the Democrats.

In fact -- and here is where the Eaton pro-Tea Party spin machine falls in to place -- Eaton wrote:

The powers-that-be who control the county board and county offices as well as the board of review (which hears tax assessment appeals) are all Democrats and so solidly in place that few, if any, challenge them during elections. It’s meaningless for the most part, and those in power know it. Welcome to the “benefits” of one-party rule.

"... Are all Democrats ..." at the Cook County Board of Review. Hmmm. Why would she write that? Well, her pal, her buddy, her chum Dan Patlak is a member of the Cook County Board of Review. But Patlak is a Republican endorsed by the Republican Party and by Fran Eaton.

"all Democrats?"

How does that get by an editor of her columns?

Patlak is as Republican as they come. In fact, the Republican Party is divided over Patlak and Sean Morrison, which is one reason why Eaton hates Cook County's leading Republican champion Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman. Gorman is a leader of the moderate, mainstream Republican Party. She represents everyday, average taxpayers and voters. She's been targeted by Eaton and Eaton's "creepy" friends. ("Creepy" is a word that Eaton and the Illinois Review use often to disparage anyone who disagrees with them, but they are the real creeps!)

Gorman is backing Morrison. Eaton and the Illinois Review are backing Patlak.

Eaton wouldn't disparage Patlak in her column bashing the Democrats because at least one of those "Democrats" -- Dan Patlak -- is a Fran Eaton Republican.

Here's a nice picture of the objective Eaton and Patlak together at the Republican State Fair in August 2011. (From Patlak's web page)

(Click here to see the picture on Patlak's Web Page)

Here is Fran Eaton's writings attacking Sean Morrison to help Patlak, in one of the blogosphere's most rightwing blogs, making the bizarre claim that Morrison, who is a registered Republican, isn't a Republican at all. (To Eaton, anyone who isn't a Tea Party right wing fanatic is not Republican enough.) Click here to read that endorsement of Patlak from the Illinois Review's Eaton.

It was when I criticized another pal of Eaton and the Illinois Review, Jeff Junkas, that Eaton went spazz on me. Junkas did extremely well in the 2010 election against State Rep. Kevin McCarthy even though the Republican Party was split and Junkas did not have all the support. That's why, I wrote, that McCarthy decided to get out of the race to let State Rep Renee Kosel, a moderate mainstream Republican backed by Gorman take the district in the November elections. (Click here to read the column that lit Eaton's chubby fuse.)

Nice hack job Eaton! You're pathetic like the extremists you hang around with.

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Illinois Review and Fran Eaton continue racist bashing

2012-01-01T20:08:00.001-08:00

Poor little Illinois Review. They began a fight with me by attacking me and hiding their own racist bigotry that finally did come out in their multiple posts. But I took them on directly and confronted their lies and racism and now they are saying they are not goign to waste any more time on me, trying to connect me with Rod Blagojevich.

What a bunch of immature babies. Fran Eaton is the worst, a hypocrite who throws mud at people who criticize her personal friends and cronies like Jeff Junkass, the Tea Party extremist who was beaten by State Rep. Kevin McCarthy in 2010. When I criticized Junkas, Fran Eaton went berserk and starting attacking me, first saying that she wasn't pimping for Junkas (when she was) and then later attacking me because of my Arab heritage, which she and Illinois Review -- a racist publication with a racist past record -- published their second attack against me.

But when the protests came in hot and heavy against them, and their racism raised an ugly specter about their bigotry, they suddenly decided they want out of the hole they dug.

You are exposed Fran Eaton as a hypocrite, racist bigot. You can erase what you wrote to cover it up, and post updates to push evidence of racism down but everyone saw it.

And then to claim that somehow Rod Blagojevich is any more a friend than a friend of theirs (I never met or interviewed the former Governor even though I felt the sentence against him was too stiff), they can't say the same for the morons they hang around with.

Bring it on Fran Eaton and Illinois Review. I don't mind calling your bluff, exposing your poor writing, bad grammar and inaccurate reporting. Oh, and you won how many journalism awards? That's right. Just what I thought. Horrible people. Terrible publication. Exposed for the frauds that they are.

Click here to read my last response to their continued attacks. But they have been beaten down. Pathetic!!!

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Poor Illinois Review and Fran Eaton, can't get their facts right but they love racist hate

2012-01-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

The Illinois Review is a blog. It's not a real reputable journalism source. It is a launching pad for right-wing nut jobs like Fran Eaton.

And the thing that nut jobs really hate is when they are taken to task, as I have recently skewered Fran Eaton and her writings. (She's not very good but that isn't as bad as her inability to get the facts right.)

Eaton launched a vicious attack against me last week when I wrote about the decision by State Rep. Kevin McCarthy to resign from his legislative seat. He did so because the state remapped districts and Republican State Rep. Renee Kosel, a Republican powerhouse from New Lenox/Mokena region decided to run in that 37th district. I noted, accurately, that McCarthy got a pass in two prior elections in 2006 and 2008 but faced a stiff challenge from an unknown (and thin-skinned) rightwing nut job Jeff Junkas. Click here to read the column which has been picked up and circulated throughout the state.

Junkas is a rightwing crackpot with no real substance. Just a lot of yelling, screaming and anger. he is also a GOOD FRIEND with Fran Eaton who is now distancing herself from him hoping that she can pretend to be objective and promote his candidacy to give her pals a leg-up in local politics. (They haven't been doing well at all.)

Eaton, like Junkas, hates moderate and mainstream Republicans like Kosel and Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman. Liz is the leading Republican in Cook County. Because I have written some columns praising Gorman, while criticizing Junkas, Illinois Review unleashed their poodle, Fran Eaton, to lumber through some ridiculous column (taken from the Chicago Sun-Times) about McCarthy's plight attacking me to defend the honor of Mr. Junk-ass. They referred to Southwest Suburban politics as "creepy."

No. The only thing creepy is Fran Eaton.

So I responded to Eaton's inaccuracies (as noted in the link above.)

And Illinois Review responded last night attacking me again. They can't get their facts right, as usual.

Eaton has never been a good writer and she is a journalistic fraud. She's an activist pimping for political pals of Illinois Review. Everyone knows that. But Illinois Review can promote the charade that they are objective all they want. No one believes them.

Here's their most recent personal attack. (Click to read their racist attack.) Note at the end when they can't provide any facts to contradict my points in my columns, they resort to racism and hatred. (Yes, I am Palestinian Arab, though they think I am Muslim. My wife Alison and my son are Jews. And I write for the Jerusalem Post, a real newspaper, unlike Eaton. And I stand up for peace in the Middle East, something the nut jobs in the Arab community dislike too -- ah, Eaton is much like the very people she despises!) When you can't attack the facts you attack the messenger and when you have nothing of substance to say about the messenger, you resort to racism.

So now Fran Eaton and the Illinois Review are racist. Why am I not surprised? The fact that Eaton and Illinois Review have to resort to racism and hate is not surprising since they are defending the segment of the Tea Party that has used racism and hatred as a part of their far right wing ideology. They are living proof of my contention that the Tea Party has some racist bigots among their ranks. (Thanks Fran for the proof.)

They are no different than the Jew-hating sites like Ilhras that constantly attack me.

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Fran Eaton takes her shots but she's more of a hypocrite than anyone

2011-12-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

Fran Eaton calls me a "character," but I wonder what she would call herself if her writing wasn't so far up the butts of the Tea Party conservatives and the extreme wing of the Chicagoland Republican party.

Eaton writes a PR puff piece for the Illinois Review, a conservative Republican publication that gives her a platform to promote her extreme rightwing pals. I should say it's not about her hiding behind the Republican Party coats that bothers me; there are a lot of great Republicans out there. But Eaton is a phony. She wants people to think she can analyze politics objectively but she can't. Her writing is stilted and her naalysis is handed to her usually by her political buddies who feed her the inside "scoops" she passes off as news.

This week, I wrote about how State Rep. Kevin McCarthy has decided not to run for re-election, and speculated based on my 35 years of covering Chicagoland politics, that he was stepping down on a high note rather than facing off with Republican Renee Kosel. Kosel is a powerhouse in Republican circles and not one of the nutjobs that Eaton usually pals around with. Eaton has taken shots at me before. I covered Chicago politics for 35 years including 16 years covering Chicago City Hall (from Daley to Daley 1976 through 1992). So although my family is Republican (and so is my wife) I lean towards the Democrats since there is no real Republican presence in Chicago at all.

And Eaton took off on me again, this week attacking me in her usual wet blanket and pacifier in mouth style.

What angered Eaton this time? Well, in analyzing the McCarthy decision not to run, I wrote critically of Jeff Junkas who ran against McCarthy in 2010. Junkas is a rightwing Tea Party activist and is a personal friend of Fran Eaton. During that battle against McCarthy, Eaton played an active role in trying to diss the other Republican in the race, Molly McAvoy Flynn and also Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman.

Well, Eaton decided to use her political column in Illinois Review to defend Junkas' honor.

Her biggest points:

1 - I am a media consultant
2 - I also write for several newspapers (several in Chicago and several in the Middle East)
3 - I am "friends" with Liz Gorman
4 - I criticized Junkas' junky campaign

Guilty on all counts. But I am upfront about my relationships, unlike Eaton who hides hers to pass herself off as "objective." She's not objective at all. But she is transparent.

Eaton basically argues that I mix politics and journalism. Wow. Being accused mixing politics and journalism by Fran Eaton is like being called ugly by a pig. If anyone uses her column to pimp for her political pals it is Fran Eaton. (Here's a profile the Chicago Reader wrote about the openness of my journalism-consulting balancing act.)

At least I am up front about my work. Yes, I am president and CEO of Urban Strategies Group. I have seven political and government clients. When I write my columns I openly identify myself as being a media consultant or a political consultant. When I write about someone that is a client, I point it out. When I write about someone who is a political "friend," I point it out.

One of those clients is the high profile Town of Cicero and Town President Larry Dominick, who I not only work for as spokesman but admire. (Eaton, remember, writes also for the Southtown/Star which is owned by the Chicago Sun-Times. I worked at both newspapers years ago and loved the Southtown and loved the old Sun-Times. But today's Sun-Times is nothing near what it used to be two decades ago. And people like Eaton only help bring it down even more.)

It's called "ethics," Fran. Something you clearly lack besides being a horrendous political writer. (Who learned you politics anyway? LOL).

It is true that I am "friends" with Liz Gorman. I admire her and I think she is the best political force in Cook County that the Republican Party has. That came AFTER I spent three years criticizing her and questioning her actions. And that makes me far more objective than the politically partisan Fran Eaton could ever be.

The truth is that Fran Eaton was and basically is Junkas' campaign manager. How did I find that out? When Eaton asked to interview Gorman, Gorman called me and asked me to attend as a writer I did. Eaton mentions this meeting but turns it upside down pretending that she was there to write an "objective" story. Baloney. Eaton was there as an activist for Jeff Junkas. During the entire interview, Eaton kept trying to push Gorman into supporting Junkas. She kept slandering Flynn (who I met several times but Eaton apparently can't locate) in the hopes of undermining Flynn's candidacy against Junkas. Junkas eventually won the Republican primary and went on to get his ass kicked by the weak McCarthy.

Ironically, Eaton questions Gorman's support of Junkas. But the truth is that had Gorman gone south on Junkas and helped McCarthy, the unknown Junkas and Tea Party activist would never have come within 117 votes in Orland Township where Gorman is the Republican Committeeman. In fact, the vote shows that Gorman came out strong for Junkas.

Eaton goes as far as to attack House Speaker Michael J. Madigan who is one of the most brilliant politicians in Illinois history and in the Midwest. I've known Madigan for 35 years, since the very day I started working at the Southtown in the 1970s. We've had our ups and downs. Like Gorman, I've criticized him and I have praised him, too. Eaton? Well, she hates Democrats, hates moderate Republicans and is a groupie for the Tea Party nutjobs who have, in my opinion, undermined the Republican party's honor.

Fran Eaton is no journalist. She's a political hack doing hack jobs for her pals. And the Illinois Review does't care as long as those hack jobs align with their political bend.

I'll put my credentials up against the smarmy Eaton any time. I have four Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing from the Chicago Headline Club. A sigma Delta Chi Award from the SPJ. Best Ethnic Columnist in America (2007). And two Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild, among many more.

What does Eaton have? Well, she has her political chums who spoon feed her most of her worthless drivel. if the word "creepy" applies to anyone, it applies to the hypocrite Fran Eaton and her unethical writing and her efforts to disguise her political activism. Eaton loves to dish it out but she has a skin so thin her screaming rants are notorious. Eaton is pals with right-wing Republican Dan Patlak who is running for another term on the Board of Tax Review. He's only taken $300,000 in donations from the lawyers who appear before the board. You won't see Eaton writing about that, but she will be attacking Patlak's challenger Sean Morrison who Gorman supports.

Click HERE to read Eaton's political consulting analysis for the Illinois Review.

Click HERE to read my analysis of McCarthy's decision to step down.

The truth is Junkas is a horrible public candidate, Gorman is the best thing that has ever happened to Southwest suburban Republican politics, and Eaton is a flaming hypocrite.

By the way Fran, I host a Sunday morning radio show on WSBC AM 1240 from 8 until 11 am (www.RadioChicagoland.com). And I'm happy to expose your hypocrisy there this Sunday, too!

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Kevin McCarthy stepping down: who will take his place?

2011-12-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

It really isn't much of a surprise. State Rep. Kevin McCarthy decided to resign from office rather than run for re-election.

McCarthy had it easy until last election. In 2006 and 2008, McCarthy ran unopposed in the 37th House District. Then in 2010, he faced a pretty obscure Tea Party candidate who seemed to upset everyone, Jeff Junkas. Junkas divided the Republican Party, and yet he came within 1,195 votes of beating the 14 year incumbent McCarthy (Junkas got 16,269 votes in the district while McCarthy's received only 17,444 votes). Junkas almost won Orland Township losing it to McCarthy by 117 votes.

That's not much of an insurance for a longtime Democrat.

So the amiable McCarthy decided better to leave on a high note rather than to risk getting booted out in the election. Especially since a real heavyweight decided to file in the 37th District against him, Renee Kosel. The Democratic remap pretty much sealed McCarthy's fate. Kosel, who had been in the old 81st District, now shifted over east a bit into McCarthy's cozy nest.

McCarthy has served in the district eight terms (16 years) representing communities that include parts of Orland Park, Tinley Park, Oak Forest and Frankfort Square.

The Democratic Primary election is March 20, 2012 and the General Election is November 6, 2012.

It's not an easy district to win, especially with the rising influence of Cook County Commissioner and Orland Township Committee-person Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman. Gorman almost singlehandedly gave the Democratic organization in Illinois a knock-out punch when she easily defeated Pat Maher, a member of the once powerful Hynes dynasty. Gorman is a close ally of Kosel.

The only really big bad news for Republicans in the Southwest and West suburbs is the anticipated loss of Congressman Judy Biggert who has been forced to file in the heavily Democratic 11th Congressional District. Former Congressman Bill "The Phantom" Foster is planning to run there and he'll be challenged by Jim Hickey, the now current president of the Orland Fire Protection District who is a Democrat with a lot of Republican balance among his support.

But McCarthy probably caused himself his own problems. He was not the easiest person to reach. I lived two houses away from his district office and only saw him once when he came to my house with literature in the last election. I don't think he expected that knock-out, drag-out battle from a nobody like Junkas.

Worse is that McCarthy is one of the few legislators without a web site. Yikes! And those political web sites that list him can't even get their information right and one (click here) posted the wrong photograph for him. It's bad enough that online information for voters on state and county elections are so screwed up as it is. It doesn't help when your legislator doesn't have a presence -- though he is a good person and we do wish him well.

The Democrats will probably push back the Republican gains in the U.S. House but they are set to face some tough battles in the state.

Democratic Committeemen will have to come together and find someone else to put on the ballot. It was kind of a cheap trick to deny voters the ability to slate their own since the filing deadline for candidates to seek the office passed in early December. (The congressional filing deadline was delayed until this week). So the Democratic candidate who will face-off with Kosel will be hand-picked by the Democratic Machine, not by support from voters. I know several Democrats wanted to run but in deference to McCarthy wouldn't challenge him. McCarthy passed out his petitions suggesting he planned to stay in, but that's just a cheap political trick often used by veteran politicians.

Can't say I blame them, though. Voters don't really care. Turnout is so low. Who's to complain?

So who should the Democrats slate? Not me. I ran there once in 1992 against Larry Wennlund when much of today's 37th District was the old 38th District which became the 81st District. Whatever! (That shell game called redistricting happens every 10 years and it's always a mess). Poor Larry, I drove him nuts though he managed to tip the vote against me with a last minute letter to voters that read, and I quote "Ray Hanania isn't just an Arab, he is Iraqi." That didn't help with our soldiers coming back from Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. And even though I served active duty in the military during the Vietnam War and Wennlund never did serve active duty anywhere, it was not an easy hurdle to overcome. Divisions among the American Arabs and Muslims were hard enough to handle -- they are worse today -- let alone facing the bigotry of the pre-Sept. 11, 2001 public anger out there.

Maybe the Democrats could run Pat Maher, if they can get his birthdate straightened out. He left a mess at the Orland Fire Protection District that the new board leadership is working hard to straighten out for taxpayers.

Maybe Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin might run. The rumors are rampant he is planning to step down as mayor. Who knows? Maybe Springfield appeals to his political interests? Although neighboring Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki ran for the legislature and decided that he preferred to spend more time on his Tinley constituents. (How many politicians would give up another public office to serve their constituents? Zabrocki was one of the few.) Today, under the new map, Tinley is represented by three members of the Illinois House. That's good because it means you have three legislatures fighting for your needs. And it's bad because it means you have to meet with three people instead of one to get something done. Zabrocki can handle it. He's a good guy, too.

Don't even worry trying to sort through all this. It won't matter anyway.

Just in case you want to figure this all out, here's the link to the current list of candidates who have filed for statewide offices (not including Congress). Click here.

-- Ray Hanania
www.Hanania.com

Coyotes in a Winter lull

2011-12-26T03:40:00.001-08:00

You might not see them. You might not catch a glimpse. But they are out there. In the twilight of the passing night. Prancing on tip-toes through the shine of the street light, darting from shadow to next. You can stare down the street or through a neighbor's yard. Under the yellow light above a porch or in the faded reflection of a full moon above in the night sky.

They pace themselves cautiously. Not afraid but vigilant. Looking. Smelling. Listening for signs of humans or prey. Small animals that are lost or left wandering the night outside the safety of the home.

You can see their elegance, if they let you a glimpse. They don't pose for portraits or stop to trade glances or attitudes. They're on the prowl for prey or safety. Their destiny in the wild. A wild that was once a forrest or a prairie of tall grass and oaks now a canvas of manicured front lawns, shrubs, Malibu lights and concrete sidewalks and driveways with cold steeled cars.

They walk carefully on their tiptoes. But they don't hesitate. Werewolves of the night. Grey coats of thick fur. Silverish hue in the distance. Their long snouts distinct and piercing black eyes.

They emerge in the middle of the night as the stars are bright. Where do they hide? Where do they spend their daytime? The forest? Large clusters of Italian carved evergreens? An old, abandoned garage? Under a rotting porch or gazebo? Waiting for the sun to go down and the streets to clear of cars and headlights and the loud echoes of racing engines. For the people to retire to their heated homes, heat exhaust billowing like white smoke from the roof stokes? The eeriness of the smoke as it sales like a soft haze in the night sky, slowly until it evaporates into the chilled air.

Dead silence outside. Maybe a train in the distance, making them four legged hobos and transients past your window.

They are not easy to spot. But when you do, they is an elegance to the madness of animal charm. Dangerous yet appealing. You don't want to get too close. Cross paths with the wild. Just watching as they move in their stealth from out of one dark shadow to the next.

-- Ray Hanania

www.hanania.com
using Blogsey for iPad2

The absolute best restaurant to eat a fine dinner for a great holiday

2011-12-25T15:44:00.000-08:00

Normally, I love to cook for the holidays. But this Christmas, we decided to take it easy and instead of slaving over the oven, we wanted to go out an enjoy a great meal. There are a lot of restaurants where you can enjoy a great meal, but there is only one in the Southwest suburbs where you can really enjoy a fabulous meal worthy of Christmas or even New Years. That's 94 West Steak and Seafood, 15410 94th Avenue in Orland Park.

94 West is the absolute finest restaurant where you can get one of the best meals not only for quality but even for price. We ordered the Prime Rib. Now, my son ordered the 18 ounce Mary Prime Rib and I ordered the 18 ounce Johnny's Cut. I thought, for some reason, that the cuts would be pretty normal. But the Prime Rib I got was huge. I mean huge! It melted in my mouth it was so good.

Alison got the Sea Bass which was phenomenal. And We had the buffalo shrimp and the buffalo calamari as starters. Wow!

I figured this was one of the best Christmases we have had in a long time. The weather was beautiful -- one of the first Christmases I can remember where we didn't have any snow. Not a snow flake. It felt like a slightly chilled California with a clear blue night sky and bright stars.

What a perfect Christmas. Thanks to owners Brian and Maria Sjord. What wonderful hosts and phenomenal food. Try it.

Don't forget that they have a Special New Year's Eve dining evening planned from 11 pm until 3 am only $25 a person including a while roasted Filet Mignon carving station. Lobster Newberg saute station, Scottish Salmon, Tilapia, snow crab and more. Reservations for open menu available from 3 pm to 5 pm.

Visit www.94westrestaurant.com for more details.

-- Ray Hanania
www.Hanania.com

Orland Park a long way from the days when they discriminated against American Arabs

2011-12-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Village of Orland Park, years ago, was a place where discrimination against American Arabs was common. It was reflected in the three high schools at District 230 (Andrew, Sandburg and Stagg) back in the early 1990s when the number of expulsions of students showed that 90 percent of them were Arab or Muslim, even though the total Arab and Muslim student body at the three schools was only about 10 percent of the total population (6,600). Arab kids were beaten, harassed and no one did anything about it. And then there was the Orland Mosque controversy, in 2004, where bigots and racists packed meeting halls to warn that if they build a Mosque in Orland Park "Osama Bin Laden will come to Orland Park and kill our people."

Thank GOD, then, that President Barack Obama managed to do what his predecessor George W. Bush failed to do (or didn't want to do because he is such close friends with the Saudi Royal family) and had Bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks killed in his secure little castle next door to a Pakistani Security and Military center. (That's another story we all know).

Anyway, back to Orland Park.

The fact is that in the past seven years, Orland Park has changed much. Mayor Dan McLaughlin has worked more closely with American Arabs and Muslims. The Orland Mosque is a showpiece of how a mosque should be run -- it's considered one of the most "moderate" mosques in the Chicagoland region. And many American Arab businesses have opened in Orland Park -- but like other businesses have also stumbled on their own because of the terrible economy and their lack of marketing knowledge.

Pita Oven, one of my favorite, closed a few months back. It just couldn't generate the business to cover its expenses. Shami Restaurant at 152nd and LaGrange Road next to the now shuttered Borders book store is continuing but who knows for how long? There is a wonderful Arab Muslim Grocery store that makes GREAT foods, The Grape Vine (Laila there makes the best stuffed grape leaves and lamb in the region -- order them for your dinners sometime.)

It's not because of Americans who dislike Arabs. American Arab restaurants have a tough time because many Arabs and Muslim won't eat at them. They prefer to cook for themselves. And the Arab restaurants don't do a good job of marketing. How do you teach marketing and communications strategy to a community that has a 2,000 year history of ignoring such important things? Can't be done.

The truth is the Village has been very supporter of American Arabs and Muslims, treating them no different than other ethnic and religious groups. (There is a growing population of Jews in Orland and Tinley Park and they are talking about trying to find a way to build a Synagogue here -- I hope they succeed. It would save my son and wife a 35 minute drive that they now make to go to their synagogue.)

But the issue of discrimination came up, this time in the case of a cigar store, the only one where smoking was permitted under the Village's smoking ban ordinance. (If anyone is discriminated against, it is smokers). But the former owner of the cigar store, an American Arab, was arrested, charged and jailed for tax problems and the new owners, who is also American Arab, is charging that she is being discriminated against because she is Arab. Click here to read the story.

I don't think so.

I think Orland Park has been very supportive and sensitive to the needs of American Arabs and Muslims and they are a bright star in a sea of Southwest Suburban communities where discrimination is a common practice -- like in Worth Illinois where several Sheesha (nargeelah or bong) shops were forced to close while smoking continued in other non-Arab owned bars.

Orland Park deserves praise for their ethnic, racial and religious sensitivity and Mayor Dan McLaughlin and the board of trustees including Ed Schussler and Pat Gira and Brad O'Halleran and especially the Village Administrative staff headed by Paul Grimes deserve much praise and credit for that.

Even District 135 has strengthened their support and programs for children of Arab and Muslim families to give them the same educational benefits as all of the families in Orland Park enjoy.

Discrimination at the Cigar Store? I don't think so.

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Here's the two-part video I did on the Mosque controversy ... Part I and Part II.

Alert: Community Alert: Increases of “Ruse Burglary” attempts in Orland Park and surrounding areas.

2011-12-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Alert: Community Alert: Increases of “Ruse Burglary” attempts in Orland Park and surrounding areas.

PLAY THE AUDIO FILE (.WMA)

Community Alert: Increases of “Ruse Burglary” attempts in Orland Park and surrounding areas.

“Ruse Burglary” is a term used by police to describe burglaries that occur when criminals attempt to distract a person or people from their home so that an accomplice can enter from another door and steal cash, jewelry and other items.

The offenders like to target elderly residents.

There was a recent attempt in Orland Park on December 1st, 2011 at 9:30am, in the 15300 block of Regent Drive

If a solicitor comes to your residence, before answering the door, attempt to locate and remember what kind of vehicle he or she is driving

Further, make a mental note of the person’s attire and physical characteristics. If you do choose to speak with a solicitor or utility worker, be sure the other doors in your home are locked and/or attended.

Here are a list of story lines offenders have used:

Inquiries about the homeowner’s water supply or pressure
Informing the homeowner there is an electrical problem
Offers to repair gutters/fences or tree trimming and landscaping
Blacktop/driveway repair
False statements about problems at the neighbor’s house
Inquiries about homes for sale in the neighborhood

Police are reminding residents not to allow strangers access to their yard, home or garage and to call 911 immediately to report suspicious people asking for access to their home.

For full details, view this message on the web.

While visions of Jewel-Osco numbers danced annoyingly in my head

2011-12-01T08:51:00.001-08:00

I love to shop at grocery stores. It's a lot like shopping at the hardware stores. Jewel is my favorite, although I continue to fight against the computer self-check out sections. (Those computers always give me a hassle.)

But I have been collecting those little green playing cards that Jewel gives you when you buy food. It's part of their "Wish Big, Win Big, Holiday Giveaway." But deep down I doubt I am going to win much of anything except maybe $5 -- if I am lucky -- or a few "instant winner" tickets so I can get two more tickets, suckering me in even more.

Here is how it works. You get a game board with pictures of products on it. Sections of the pictures have numbers and you get little green square playing cards that you have to open (not easy) and then find four numbered playing pieces, numbers 1 to 85. (Each number represents an image slice of a specific product.

You open the playing card and then carefully tear away the coupon and then tear away each of the four playing tabs. Each tab gets glued onto its numbered space on the playing board, which is a flimsy sheet of glossy green paper.

Now being a baby boomer, I have certain habits that I am sure some consultant explained to Jewel. I love to spend money on food. I love to play grocery store games. I'm addicted to grocery store games, actually. I don't love to play them at all. It all began int he 1960s (maybe 1950s) when my mother used to collect S&H Green Stamps and I would help her lick the backs and put them in the stamp book. As each book filled up, you could turn in books for certain prizes, like a Waring Blender. Of course, I was only 5, so it was fun. Plus, the glue tasted good. That got me hooked on White Paste glue which I ate along with my lunch at school each day.

But, I have some issues, of course. What respectable curmudgeon wouldn't have a few issues with a game of stamp giveaway at a grocery store? First, there is no real system to the ticket giveaways when you shop. When you make a purchase, the cashiers give you the playing cards with the little tabs that you have to cut away to place on the game board. There is no rhyme or reason to how they are given out. One day I spent $111 and got one ticket. One day I spent $20 and got six. When I shop at a Jewel in a "poorer" community, it seems like I get more playing cards. When I shop in richman's Orland Park, it seems like I get fewer gaming cards.

At first, it's fun to rip them open and locate them on the board. The board is empty. Nearly every one will find its place. But after a while, it becomes harder to find a piece to paste onto the game board.

You need six tickets numbered 1-6 to win the $250,000. I'm missing 1, 4 and 5. I need two tickets to win one of the 8 cars they are giving away (numbers 22 through 25, I have all but 22 and 25.) I need only one ticket to win the one of 75 big screen TVs (42--45, I need 44). And one ticket to win the $500 Jewel-Osco Gift Card (50-53, I need 50).

So I collect the little bastards when I shop. I want to say know, but you never know. What if you get that number 50 and don't check? You have to check. Arrrgh! That's what is so annoying. I have to check. So, for the past week, I have been collecting them, placing them on the dinner table. Starrign at the growing pile. I figure, if I collect enough, I will find one of them.

I have three of four tickets (46-49, I'm missing 46 (Reddiwip)) to win an Apple iPad2. (Nooooooo! Not an iPad2? And I need only 1 ticket to win a digital camera (62 through 65, I'm missing 62.) There are 500 of those cameras.

I can already see where I am headed. The statistics don't lie if you read them right. There are 60,000 $2 prizes and 8,000 $5 prizes. 500 digital cameras and 100 Apple iPad2s. There are four $50,000 prizes and eight cars valued at $25,000 and again, only two $250,000 prizes.

I keep all of the old tabs, just in case. What if I glue the wrong number on the wrong spot by accident. It could happen? These concerns haunt me throughout the day while I am working.

Oops. I have to run to the Jewel to get some lunch from the deli section. Caesar's Chicken salad. Gotta go. And get one of those last few tickets before the contest ends Feb. 8 -- last day to get a ticket is Feb. 1. So, I have time. Bye.

- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Bob Cacciato is a nice guy, but he's dead wrong

2011-11-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

Bob Cacciato is a former member of the Orland Fire Protection District board. He was thrown out of office by voters in the last elections along with Patrick Maher, the deceitful former OFPD board president.

I am not going to say Cacciato is a bad person. He's not. He is very personable. In any other circumstance, I'd probably be his friend. But I have to take issue with his ridiculous public posturing and his one-sided politically motivated attacks on the Orland Fire Protection District Board. As a resident of Orland Park for more than 27 years, that is my right!

Cacciato served for six years on the Orland Fire Protection District board (elected in 2005). But in the few times I attended district meetings (twice) I NEVER heard him speak a word. In fact, most of the comments came from the former district's attorney who would lean over and tell Maher what to say and do.

Suddenly, since being tossed off of the OFPD Board Cacciato is all mouth. At every meeting, he gets up and expresses his views as if his own history didn't exist. Like at Tuesday night's meeting when he got up and criticized former OFPD Board member Cindy Katsenes.

Cacciato was thrown out by voters who elected Blair Rhode, a respected local orthopedic surgeon, and Chris Evoy, a respected local businessman. Evoy and Rhode are average Orland Park taxpayers whose concern for the unlimited budget and spending at the Fire District is what drove the election results. Maher and Cacciato were thrown out of office because they refused to get a handle on district spending.

But today, Cacciato continues to make the spurious claim that the new board with Rhode and Evoy and its new President Jim Hickey don't care about public safety. Cacciato makes the ridiculous claim that throwing taxpayer money on the OFPD will make it a better place and that the public will be safer. Cacciato's message is ridiculous, that the quality of Fire Service is based on how many millions you throw into the OFPD fire.

The two are unrelated. Some of the neighboring fire departments are providing excellent service with far less money. In fact, the real problem isn't money for equipment, but the excessive salaries that were given to firefighters by Maher and Cacciato. Yes, when Maher and Cacciato were in charge, they gave away the bank. Because they didn't care about the interests of the taxpayers.

I don't know what Cacciato's purpose was, but clearly Maher saw himself as the next president of the United States. He came from political royalty, related to the family of Tom Hynes, a great scion of a great family that has since gone off the political deep end.

By pumping money into the salaries of the Orland Fire Protection District, Maher was doing what every Chicago Machine politician has done, believing that if they give firemen and policemen raises above and beyond the norm, those firemen and policemen will work the precinct for them to get them elected to hire office. They sold the OFPD (and the interests of the taxpayers) to the unions in exchange for political support.

But Maher ran into the Gorman Machine. Maher tried to unseat Liz Gorman as Cook County Commissioner and she slam-dunked him so hard, he literally vanished from local politics. Good riddance. Personally, Maher was a good person. Politically, he was a jerk. And as a president of the Orland Fire Protection District, he was a terrible leader who had no control on spending. And that's why the OFPD spends more than $30 million a year on their budget.

The majority of the spending is for personnel wages and salaries, and that number is among the highest in the country. Thanks to Pat Maher and Bob Cacciato. It didn't have to be.

So now the new board is stuck with this overpaid budget and they can only trim expenses from the remainder of the budget where there is some discretion.

But, instead of trying to help, Cacciato suddenly has found a voice. Suddenly he can speak up at board meetings, even though he remained silent at nearly every one where he was a sitting board member. (Just read the past minutes to see his silence.)

And that brings me back to Katsenes. Katsenes was hired to help find ways to save money. She has experience having served on the Orland Fire Protection District Board (serving as a trustee from 2001-2007). She was initially hired at $3,000 a month. But after the first month, Katsenes decided she didn't wan tto take the salary because the budget hurdles were so outrageous that she felt she needed to do something to make a contribution. So, she turned back her salary.

She took one month's wages and since then (June, July, August, September, October, and November), she has not taken a dime.

So what did Caciaato do at the board meeting during the public session? He got up and attacked Katsenes asking if she was going to "return" the $3,000 she received for that one month of work.

Are you kidding me Mr. Cacciato? When during your term on the board can you even name one consultant who turned back their salary ever while you were a trustee on the Orland Fire Protection District? It never happened. Not once. So instead of bad mouthing Katsenes, maybe you should thank her.

The public thanks Katsenes. And all that does is show you how disconnected Cacciato and the old board was when it came to the best interests of the public.

And then there is the issue of the three former members of the Senior Advisory Group. They loved Maher, because they had ties to the Maher administration. When Maher was tossed and the board sought to make the senior advisory group more productive, they got upset and they quit. But they disrespected the Fire District by attacking the new board and making ridiculous and unsubstantiated charges throwing mud at Rosemaria Genova who has a small $1,000 a month contract to do special projects and PSAs for the Fire District -- hired by Maher. She is a hard worker.

Instead of offering to help the district, these three politically-motivated seniors instead come to every meeting to be disruptive and make unsubstantiated accusations. They want to create turmoil and start fights. They couldn't do anything productive so their only recourse now that their hero Pat Maher is out is to cast ugly aspersions.

Taxpayers should come to the board meetings and see how hard Rhode, Evoy and Hickey are working to keep costs down and maintain the high level of professionalism that exists at the Fire District. They deserve the praise. Thanks to Rhode, Evoy and Hickey, the district has saved hundreds of thousands and prevented the spending of hundreds of thousands more that would have taken the OFPD budget to new heights.

As for the critics, hypocrisy is about all they really have.

-- Ray Hanania
(For full disclosure, I started working as the media consultant for the Orland Fire Protection District replacing Bill Figel. Figel was paid $4,000 a month, but to help the district, I accepted the same job at only $3,000 a month. Cacciato doesn't like that either. So what! As an Orland Park resident for more than 27 years, I have every right to express my views, too. And I am going to defend public servants who are dedicated to helping the public.)

Speech to the Orland Park Chamber of Commerce on Communications Strategies

2011-11-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Communications strategies and the new media

By Ray Hanania

Speech to the Orland Park Chamber of Commerce on Communications Strategies Nov. 30, 2011

The media has changed but the fundamentals of communications have not changed.

In the 1970s when I entered journalism, broadcast journalism was battling with the dominant print media to take control of the hearts and minds of the public. Mike Royko used to write a column that was valued at 35,000 votes. That means his column could directly give a candidate 35,000 in a Chicago election.

Jane Byrne got elected on his columns and on the failure of the Chicago Machine to recognize how the media was changing. Byrne said it that the new precinct captain was not their loyal worker or volunteer who went home to home ringing doorbells and giving away new garbage can lids, but the TV. Television was the new precinct captain.

Today, we’ve moved from a broadcast-dominated media to cable TV and then to the Internet.

The new precinct captain is Facebook, Twitter and Social Media. You need an online presence to engage not only young people but baby boomers like myself.

I brought the first computer to the City Hall press room in 1979 to keep up with the fast pace that Mayor Byrne had in creating stories. She’d make a story in the morning, then change it at lunch, change it again after lunch and change it before going home. Then some reporter would catch her at a night appearance and she would change the story again. The only way to keep up with her frenetic pace was to use a computer. I had used a laptop. It had a 300 Baud Modem. I plugged it in to a telephone coupler and then dialed a number at the Daily Southtown and watched as each line of my text slowly crawled up the computer screen as it was sent to the office.

Today, text and images and your thoughts scream across time and cyber space with Flash Gordon technology at what seems like the speed of light.

But in all this change, the fundamentals of communications remain the same because the audience we are trying to influence is the same. We’re human beings and no matter how fast things are processed in a computer chip, we still take the same amount of time to understand things.

And when we talk to human beings, the issue isn’t how fast we speak, but the quality of what we say. People are smart. Most of them see through the bullshit. They know right from wrong and no matter how slick your message, they know when you are lying. A human gut feeling is more powerful than all the money spent on a campaign. Just as Herman Cain and Rick Perry. Poor guys. Cain wants us to believe he doesn’t have a habit of harassing women and Perry wants us to believe he’s smart.

No matter what your communications goal, it comes down to three things:

knowing your audience, who are the people – the human beings – that you are trying to reach?
what is it that you want to say?
and most importantly, what are you going to write?

Add only the up-to-date methods of delivering the message.

It’s not what you say that is important but rather, how you say it.

Perception is oftentimes more real than reality. What the public thinks matters.

You can sell something to anyone, if you make them feel comfortable and that ability to identify with your audience is still the most important factor in the human experience of exchanging ideas and thoughts and communicating.

You will listen to and believe a friend, even when they are wrong, but you will always distrust a stranger.

Your message needs to connect with the audience in a friendly way, not as a combatant.

Middle East as an example

I’ll make a quick segue for a moment: As some of you may know, I am Palestinian American Christian. One of the most powerful forms of communications is humor and I’ll give you a taste later of some of my comedy which is based on my marriage – my wife and son are Jewish.

But the Arab community is a good example of how good causes are destroyed by the failure to deliver a message properly and effectively.

It’s not about speaking English. It is about speaking American. Baseball. Hotdogs. Apple Pie. Nearly every book by an Arab writer is some form of boring politics, written in a boring style of academic dissertation. Great books. Great content. But not presented compellingly.

The most effective message on the Middle East was presented in the 1960s in the form of a book called Exodus. Have you read the book or seen the movie? Just in comparison, how many have read the book “The Transformation of Palestine?”

Well, let me just say that when Israel wanted to tell their story, they chose the effective strategy. Hired a brilliant PR person – his last name was Edward Gottlieb I met his daughter years later online -- who then went out to hire an author to write Israel’s story in a book. You probably even know that author’s name, Leon Uris. The book was published in 1958, 10 years after the State of Israel was created. It was a hit. It also was a novel which means that the majority of the information in the book was fiction.

And Arabs just don’t understand the power of fiction in terms of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

They are learning, but not fast enough.

Content drives success

It all comes down to the writing. Every successful message is built on compelling content. And most of you don’t have compelling content. Why would you? Most of you are not writers and sadly, most of the communications consultants who design web pages and write press releases are not very good writers either.

Consultants will tell you that the key to an online presence is a great web site with all the latest bells and whistles. But that defies common sense. Yes, you need a good web page, but it’s not just how it looks. It has to do with how fast will it load? Is it filled with annoying disturbances and distractions? And once someone comes to your web page, what do they find?

In most cases, companies buy the bells and whistles. They have great looking web pages. They offer some services. But the real missing element is quality content. You need content that is compelling, that compels them to engage your products through intelligent thought because today’s consumers are very intelligent and aware.

They hate ugly looking web sites that are hard to navigate, but they also hate great looking web sites that offer little in terms of engaging them.

It comes down to content, what you write.

Fundamentals of communicating are so simple and easy to understand, but you need someone who knows how to write.

A consultant will tell you they can give you new ideas, but common sense drives the best communications strategies. New ideas are great but how do you communicate those ideas to the public?

You don’t have to buy advertising. In fact, outside of a the local news media, I would tell you that unless you are a large corporation, cancel your advertising in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. You are wasting your money, enormous amounts of money that do very little except stroke your ego. Maybe you want to make yourself look good.

I would urge you to find someone who can write. And then post what you write on a blog. Link that blog in an automatic fashion to eliminate the extra work to a Facebook Fan Page, Group and to your Twitter Account. Create a dozen accounts on all the major social media including MySpace, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Use Ping.FM to post your tweets. Ping will send your Tweets to ALL of your social media at one time.

Understand how to reach people. People live in social groups in cyberspace just the same way they live in real life in neighborhoods. When I grew up, we were more race conscious. We lived in a White neighborhood that was Arab and Jewish and Irish Catholic. Near us was the Polish neighborhood. Near them was the Czech neighborhood. Near them was the Black neighborhood. And near them was the Hispanic neighborhood.

We think things have changed with regards to race, but they really haven’t. I wrote an online book called Midnight Flight that is linked on my web site at Hanania.com or TheMediaOasis.com or RadioChicagoland.com that tells the story of White Flight from Chicago in the 1960s. Things have changed a lot since then. But humans fundamentally fear strangers and embrace those who look like themselves. Friendship helps to change that fundamental dynamic.

Cyberspace and online are the same. You have to look for groups of people in different places so you need to have a presence in many places. Learning how to connect all of those social media places is an art form and a new aspect of communications. Ping.fm is a good place to start.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, media consultant and radio talki show host. His show is broadcast every Sundays from 8 to 11 am on WSBC 1240 AM radio. www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

end

Gorman offers Coast2Coast RX prescription services from county office

2011-11-29T12:04:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2011

Dear Editor:

As the economy remains stagnant and expenses continue to rise for American families, especially healthcare expenses, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs to make ends meet. To help my constituents save money and ease some of the financial burdens on their already strained pocketbooks, I have been providing a Coast2Coast RX Prescription Discount Card which has been saving constituents money since June of this year.

The card is being distributed free of charge from my district office and from my web site as a download. The card is good at over 59,000 pharmacies nationwide and accepted at Walgreens, CVS, Osco, Target, Costco and many neighborhood pharmacies in your area. It may also be used for discounts on lab tests and imaging, Outlook Vision program and Dentemax dental program.

Several of our constituents have contacted us to let us know of the great savings they received by using this card. To date, the average savings to our constituents has been a whopping 66% off the regular costs of their prescription medications. For instance, one constituent who paid $59 per month for one prescription is now paying $19 and another was paying $281 per month for one prescription and by using the card his new cost is $121 per month. That same constituent found that if they switched to the generic brand of their medication, they would pay only $13 per month.

Everyone is eligible to use it. What’s even better is that one card may be used by your entire family. If you think you can benefit from this card, please contact my office at 708-349-1336 or log on to my web site at www.lizgorman.com and download your own copy of the card.

Sincerely,

Liz Gorman

Cook County Commissioner

Great idea: Orland Township to Launch New Prescription Drug Savings Program

2011-11-28T12:54:00.001-08:00

Orland Township to Launch New Prescription Drug Savings Program

November 23, 2011 – Orland, IL – On December 2, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Orland Township Supervisor Paul O’ Grady and IPPFA Benefits will hold a press conference to launch a new prescription drug discount program at 14807 S. Ravinia Avenue Orland Park, IL.

Once launched, the new Coast2Coast Rx card will allow all Township residents, regardless of income, age, or health status to participate in the program and save on the cost of their medications. This program saved cardholders throughout the nation an average over 50% in 2011 on the cost of prescription drugs. Even pets and other people living outside the Township are able to take part in the program. The Rx card will be distributed free of charge and may be used at all pharmacy chains and most independent pharmacies in Orland Township and includes over 60,000 drugs in its formulary.

“In offering the prescription drug discount card, I’d like to alleviate a bit of the stress that many residents are facing right now in this financially unstable time. Paying a little less at the drugstore can’t hurt, especially when the cost of healthcare is steadily rising,” said Orland Township Supervisor, Paul O’ Grady. There are no eligibility requirements so the Rx card is expected to have a sizeable impact on uninsured residents or residents facing high insurance deductibles. If a particular drug isn’t covered under a person’s health plan – they can use the card to save on those prescriptions.

Providing savings for residents through the Rx program will come at no expense to the Township. Besides the discount on prescriptions, the card also provides 50% to 80% discounts for lab and imaging tests, and discounts on Dental, Vision and Hearing services, further helping residents save even more money on their healthcare costs for these services.

Debby Karton, Benefits Coordinator at IPPFA, the distributor of the Coast2Coast Rx free discount card, says “we are pleased to work with the Township to help individuals, their families and pets combat the rising cost of healthcare.” Karton added, “we appreciate all that the Township and local pharmacies are doing to help those in need.”

The Coast2Coast Rx card will be available for residents at most participating pharmacies, governmental offices, libraries, and the Orland Township offices. Residents will also be able to print the Rx card, check their prescription prices and view the nearest participating locations at www.coast2coastrx.com/Orland.

The Coast2Coast Rx card will provide residents with a valuable tool to help maintain their health and wellbeing at a discounted cost. Orland Township joins over 30 townships in Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties making the program available to residents.

###

Lots of hassles in Orland Park but at least one thing I really enjoy

2011-11-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of annoyances in Orland Park. Some crappy neighbors, buts lots of good ones to compensate! ComEd digging in your yard without ever giving you a notice they're doing any work. Crowded LaGrange Road. But the one thing I enjoy, our population of Canadian Geese. Here's a video of a gaggle of geese crossing a road in Orland Park. Fortunately, all of the vehicles stopped and didn't run them over as some moronic drivers often do. Enjoy it.

How ComEd screwed in the legislative lightbulb and screwed its customers with a rate increase

2011-11-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Vote shows how much control ComEd has over our pocketbooks

By Ray Hanania

Commonwealth Edison is all about wealth and less about Thomas Edison’s driving desire to serve mankind with electrical power.

The ComEd combine steamrolled through Springfield’s legislature this past session doling out donations and roping in legislators to back its push for a rate increase.

In the neighborhoods, many homeowners were dragged in the fight when their electricity – in many cases for absolutely no reason – went out for hours. It was kind of like the mafia coming by and busting your store window to remind owners to pay-up of face the consequences.

The consequences for the public are steep. Their rates will again go up. And for what? Continued erratic and lousy service.

ComEd continues to play the pauper while it is the abandoned son of Exelon the multi-billioned profit center parent. Exelon threw ComEd out of the “house” so it could separate ComEd’s financial needs from Exelon’s profits. How can you pretend to be in need of money when you are one of the wealthiest companies in America? So Exelon cut ComEd from its corporate structure creating all kinds of phony distances so ComEd could profess to be the pauper.

Meanwhile, ComEd’s lobbyists and media minions worked the legislature like the Mafia on Chicago’s South Side, even to the point of having colleagues vote on behalf of the skittish few.

ComEd’s spin machine claimed that the new increases would help them to improve the delivery of electricity through a new “smart grid” system. They only need $3.5 billion. (They probably spent that much for the army of lobbyists who swarmed through Springfield to push for the consumer rate increase.)

Amazingly, the ComEd army sold the hapless legislators on the anemic argument that a rate hike will actually save consumers money.

Gov. Pat Quinn was right when he pointed out that something stinks in the passage of the ComEd “Smart Grind” legislation – the name was a lobbyist’s wet-dream. Supposedly it will help improve the service so neighborhoods won’t experience so many electricity service shutdowns. After pummeling residents in neighborhoods in legislative districts where legislators were on the fence with electricity shut downs, those legislators managed to somehow cast a shaky vote or walked away from the vote so that their colleagues could cast their votes for them.

Gov. Quinn rightly calls it a theft of representation, but suddenly Quinn is the bad guy in this. Suddenly the media which touted Quinn as the best alternative to the scandal-plagued former governor Rod Blagojevich – who never met a friend he could turn in to an enemy – and now somehow Quinn is worse.

How fast the media whores can spin their ethics?

The "smart grid" measure passed 36-19 in the Illinois Senate. There was no debate before the House voted which rallied for a rate hike and ComEd’s lobbyists by a whopping 74-42 vote, making the vote veto-proof.

It’s a snub against Quinn but the real victims are consumers. The utility company managed to once again find a way to increase rates without a whimper from our centurions in the legislature. Centurians? More like puppets.

The bill was sponsored by:

In the Senate, Mike Jacobs, John O. Jones and John J. Millner. In the House, by Kevin McCarthy, Mike Bost, Dave Winters, Kenneth Dunkin and Dan Reitz.

McCarthy’s legislative office is in the ComEd hit zone that was targeted for electrical shut-offs. There were five just in the past month in that area, each time for several hours during the day. No explanation. No one cares except the homeowners stuck in their homes wondering what the hell happened.

Here’s how your legislator voted to give ComEd, which provides terrible service, a means of increasing rates and Exelon’s profits. House Vote followed by Senate vote -- (By vote and by last name except where last names are similar to other members):

Click to display the House Vote in PDF Format or check list below: Click here.
Click to display Senate Vote in PDF Format or check lists below: Click here.

HOUSE VOTE, Oct 26, 2011

74 YEAS 42 NAYS 0 PRESENT

Y Acevedo

Y DeLuca

Y Kosel

Y Reboletti

Y Arroyo

Y du Buclet

Y Lang

Y Reis

Y Leitch

Y Beiser

Y Dunkin

Y Rita

Y Bellock

Y Durkin

Y Lyons

Y Rose

Y Berrios

Y Eddy

Y Mautino

Y Roth

Y Bost

Y May

Y Sacia

Y Bradley

Y Mayfield

Y Saviano

Y Flowers

Y Schmitz

Y Brauer

Y McAuliffe

Y Senger

Y Fortner

Y McCarthy

Y Burke, Daniel

Y Franks

Y McGuire

Y Smith

Y Gabel

Y Carli

Y Mitchell, Bill

Y Sosnowski

Y Mitchell, Jerry

Y Soto

Y Sullivan

Y Chapa LaVia

Y Morrison

Y Thapedi

Y Morthland

Y Tracy

Y Tryon

Y Colvin

Y Turner

Y Connelly

Y Hernandez

Y Nybo

Y Verschoore

Y Howard

Y Osmond

Y Watson

Y Cross

Y Phelps

Y Jakobsson

Y Pihos

Y Winters

Y Currie

Y Jefferson

Y Poe

Y Yarbrough

Y Jones

Y Pritchard

Y Davis, Monique N Kay

Y Ramey

Y Mr. Speaker Madigan

Y Davis, William

N Barickman

N Dugan

N Riley

N Lilly

N Mathias

N Rosenthal

N Biss

N Evans

N Farnham

N Feigenholtz

N Brady

N McAsey

N Ford

N Brown

N Sente

N Burke,Kelly

N Mell

N Sommer

N Gaffney

N Cassidy

N Golar

N Cavaletto

N Gordon

N Moffitt

N Hammond

N Harris,David

N Cole

N Harris,Greg

N Mulligan

N Hatcher

N Mussman

N Hays

N Nekritz

N Unes

N Costello

N Crespo

N Jackson

N Williams

N Cunningham

N D'Amico

N Zalewski

E Coladipietro

(y – Yes, N – No, E - Excused Absence)

Senate Bill No. 1652 OVERRIDE VETO

MOTION IN WRITING THIRD READING

Oct 26, 2011

36 YEAS 19 NAYS 2 PRESENT

Y Althoff

Y Haine

Y Lightford

Y Raoul

Y Harmon

Y Link

Y Rezin

Y Holmes

Y Luechtefeld

Y Righter

Y Brady

Y Hunter

Y Sandack

Y Hutchinson

Y Martinez

Y Sandoval

Y Collins, A.

Y Jacobs

Y Crotty

Y Johnson, T.

Y Meeks

Y Jones, E.

Y Millner

Y Delgado

Y Jones, J.

Y Dillard

Y Koehler

Y Muñoz

Y Murphy

Y Trotter

Y Noland

Y Wilhelmi

Y Landek

Y Pankau

Y Mr. President Cullerton

Y Radogno

N Bivins

N Maloney

N Clayborne

N McCann

N Schmidt

N Johnson, C.

N Schoenberg

N Silverstein

N Cultra

N Steans

N Sullivan

N Syverson

N Duffy

N Kotowski

N Forby

N LaHood

N Frerichs

N Garrett

N Lauzen

NV McCarter

NV Bomke

P Collins, J.

P Mulroe

(Y – Yes, N = No, P – Present, NV – No Vote cast)

END

Long past days of Halloween old

2011-10-31T18:56:00.001-07:00

I don't recall my father ever walking with me or driving me around for Halloween when I was young. And, unless my memory is really slipping, Halloween didn't seem as cold back then as it has been in recent years.

We had only one rule when I was a kid. Be home when the street lights went on, or, thereabouts. Sometimes, we'd be out until 9 or 10 pm knocking on doors. Back then, there was a greater sense of safety. Maybe it was false, but the worst we feared was someone putting a razor blade in the apples. It was more of an urban legend, but nonetheless, we always sliced the apples before we started to eat them.

Although we had store-bought costumes, many of the costumes were home made. It looks like that hasn't changed much in the past half century, but the store-bought costumes seem more elaborate. Or maybe not.

I drive my son around in the car, mainly to be able to warm up between half block trick-or-treat runs. In Chicago, the homes were so close together, you could hit 20 homes on one block. In the suburbs, the homes are spread out so far, it's a real haul to do 10. Long walking between doorbells. And it seems as if there are fewer kids on the street.

There's an old wives tale that many of the Muslim families don't celebrate Halloween, but we knocked on a lot of doors where many Muslims lived and they were extremely generous and welcoming. It was part of the fun we had talking to some of the courteous homeowners who welcomed the Halloween holiday.

The variety of candy has changed. In the old days, the big prize was one of the large chocolate bars. Mars. Snickers. Buetterfingers. Now, everything is made for convenience and cost. The chocolate bars are still the prize but they are distributed in "mini-bite" sizes.In other words, pretty small.

Nothing makes me think of change more, though, when we're done trick-or-treating and we're home in front of the TV set and it's early evening. Still no later than 7 pm. And we turn on the prime time sitcoms and the characters are talking about "vaginas," sex, "getting laid," and even worse. I won't repeat the jokes. It used to be that most of the forward humor was based on double entendres (adianoetas). Now, they are double-packed with adult humor. And it's not even 8 pm yet. (2 Broke Girls -- Two and a half Men, and more). Two and a Half Men isn't as funny with Ashton Kutcher as it was with Charlie Sheen, but the "double entendres" have been quadrupled in meaning.

Can't we go back a little bit in time to the old days when sex was really secretive and children were more interested in exploring than getting achievement badges for it at a young age?

Fortunately, my son hear's the words on TV as we sort through the candy, and when something nasty is spoken on TV, he blurts out "Inappropriate language dad."

I used to hate the candy corns when I was a kid because they were so cheap compared to the giant candy bars. But now that the candy bars are so small and cheap, the candy corns don't look so bad any more.

Well, it wasn't the same as it was when I was a child running amok painted up as a pirate, wondering about sex and spending my evenings watching Batman, Robin and Roy Rogers. We worried about less. Of course the population on the planet wasn't at 7 billion and the cost of a gallon of gasoline didn't cost more than a burger.

Somehow, it all has changed. A little too dramatically. A little too shockingly. A little too fast.

I wish my son could have experienced the simple pleasures of a world without computer, where a telephone was a luxury and not a necessity of human communications, and a byte was a bite. Horror films were cheesy and not so hi-tech they are so realistic.

Long gone.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Not sure which is more disturbing about the Loren-Maltese/Water Reclamation District controversy

2011-10-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

Federal agents discovered a fully loaded automatic weapon, a Glock, in the confiscated former Las Vegas home of convicted felon Betty Loren-Maltese.

I don't know which is worse, that Loren-Maltese had the Glock in her possession at the home where she stayed following her release from prison, or worse, that the gun belonged to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, an agency that spends billions to do a poor job of managing flooding caused by heavy rains.

It's one of the typically bizarre stories that surrounds Loren-Maltese, a former dancer turned politician and wife to a former mobster.

It's not surprising that Loren-Maltese, now on parole after she was released from prison for her role in an insurance scam that stole more than $12 million from Cicero taxpayers over a three year period while she was the Town President in the early 1990s. (It was the discovery of that crime that prompted me to break with her as her political consultant and media spokesperson, and then spend my time helping the FBI put her away.)

Loren-Maltese never accepts blame for anything and she always blames everything on everyone else. So who is surprised that the former convicted felon is now saying that she was "set up" by someone, that someone planted the weapon in her home.

It was wrapped up in a pair of her old jeans. Making the story more bizarre -- everything about Loren-Maltese is bizarre, believe me -- is the fact that this occurred sometime back in 2010 while she was cleaning out the home and was being "assisted" by federal agents in Las Vegas.

I didn't know that federal agents in Las Vegas also worked as furniture movers for convicts. That's strange.

Loren-Maltese was convicted in 2002 and released on February 26, 2010, about the same time she went to the home hoping to keep it. The feds took the home and she spent the next many months in a Las Vegas halfway house before moving to a Chicago suburb where she now spends most of her time bashing and lying about her crimes and her "enemies" on her very entertaining Facebook page.

Why did the story come out now?

But it even gets more peculiar. The gun was traced back to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, an agency that spends billions to do basically nothing but blame everyone else for their failure to confront area wide flooding. The MWRD built this giant "deep tunnel" to take flood waters away from communities, but the deep tunnel is often filled to near maximum and when it rains, the rain waters have no place to go.

Even more shocking to me and it should be shocking to the public and the taxfpayers who fund the high-flying, high priced life of the board's do-nothing commissioners is that the MWRD carries an aresenal of automatic weapons and Glocks.

WGN TV reported on the story:

"That automatic glock was fully loaded and unregistered-- but the manufacturer traced the sale back to Illinois and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. It's an agency with 66 sworn police officers charged with watching and protecting Chicago’s water assets-- and yes, they are assigned weapons-- glocks."

Are you kidding me? What does the MWRD need automatic weapons and Glocks for? To protect their failed flood water strategy from being stolen by terrorists like al-Qaeda?

The idea that one of the 66 "sworn" police who work for the MWRD (let's call them expensive security personnel, not police) may have moved the gun to Las Vegas or to someone who knows Loren-Maltese or who had access to the federally managed home while she was in the hoosegow should be even more disturbing to the public.

But don't expect answers. We can't expect services from the MWRD. Flooding continues to plague all of the suburbs of Chicagoland across the board. We can't expect any truth from Betty Loren-Maltese who is notorious for many things but is a pathological liar. Loren-Maltese will lie to gain any kind of sympathy as she lives her remaining life in a purgatory of shame. And we can't expect a better reported story -- this was one of the most incomplete reportings I have seen in 35 years of journalism.

What we can't expect is exactly what we should expect when a news story like this scratches it's way to our online Google alert in boxes.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

The MicRib sandwich at McDonald's: A case of heavy media spin and poor American eating habits

2011-10-27T04:57:00.001-07:00

The first thing you should know about the new McDonald's McRib sandwich is that it is not made out of ribs at all. It is pork, meat like a lot of the scraps that are gathered together to create unhealthy "foods" that help the corporations make huge profits. And there is nothing wrong with pork -- lots of religious people who once put pork on their Sin Lists have since changed because pork today comes from pigs that are better cared for and raised in better environments. In fact, the whole ban on pork by religious groups, Christians, Muslims and Jews, was all about public perception than reality.

Which is one reason why corporations like McDonalds, which make huge profits from huge sales numbers, use a lot of pork. Most people just don't care any more.

But while the McRib sandwich is pork, it is not a rib at all. It is made from scraps from the shoulder of a pig. So, in truth, McDonalds should call it the McShoulder Sandwich, but for some reason that doesn't sound as appealing as a rib. There are many rib joints all over -- in the Southwest suburbs they include Portillos, Patio and the Pit Rib House.

People love ribs. No one has a restaurant that specializes in shoulders.

But even though it is called a McRib made from pig shoulder scrapes, it's not even a rib in form. There is no rib bone, which is the true essence of a rib. A rib bone. According to Genesis in the Bible, God took a rib bone from Adam and created Eve with it. Well, that's if you are religious of course, but it never hurt to study the Bible or go to Bible school as a child. Many people believe that women have more ribs then men. I always believed it. They taught that in Sunday School.

It's an urban legend, of course. Humans have 24 ribs, unless there is some other cause for an oddity in the number. And it's an urban legend that the McDonald's Rib sandwich, the McRib, has any ribs in it at all.

The thing that bothers me about the McRib sandwich is that it is made to "look" like a rib section. There are little stripes of what looks like bones. But the sandwich reportedly is just smashed pork scraps from the pig's shoulder, pressed together so tightly they look like a flat piece of grisly meat. Wow. So appetizing already.

I am not sure I want to know how that get that "rib" appearance. But I don how McDonalds made the McRib so popular.

It's a lot like the children's Disney movies and the invention of the VHS tape and later the CD, then DVD and now Blue Ray. In the video industry, which I know something about having been part owner of several Orland Videos later renamed VideoShark Video in the late 1980s and 1990s, Disney would limit the release of selected movies. You always hear about how Disney kept certain movies in the "Vault" away from public access and then suddenly they would release it to the public with the caution, "Better buy it now. It's only out of the vault for a limited time and then it's going back in." You won't be able to buy Snow White, or Bambi once that window evaporates. And the videos sell like hot cakes. Which is a good seque. People eat pork with hot cakes all the time. I think it started when the pioneers were pillaging their way across Native American lands beginning in the 15th Century through the 19th Century. Pigs and cows were corralled together in those wagon trains across the American Indian plains but the pigs did not give milk and they were surly. Cows provided milk and were very accommodating to the end.

Well, it's that time again, America. McDonalds has opened the vault. The "McRib" sandwich is now available in their franchises all across the world today, not just in America.

It debuted in 1981 as a means to off-set the huge demand for Chicken McNuggets. I don't even want to get into what part of a chicken makes a McNugget, but it's not very healthy, though very popular. The McNugget was selling fast so the guy who invented the McNugget for McDonalds came up with the rectangular meat patty and the rectangular bun to help fill the void. It didn't take off right away. And they pulled it from the market, maybe figuring the Chicken McNugget scarcity problem had been solved and now consumers were swimming in chicken scraps, too, and didn't need to confuse them with pig shoulder scraps.

So it has left the market and been brought back out of the McDonald's vault, to much success.

Americans will eat almost anything. Just look at our obese children and our obese parents. We are among the least healthiest people on the planet and yet we are the wealthiest and very well fed. Over fed, some might argue. We throw away so much food, wasting so much in food resources. But isn't that what being American wealthy is all about?

I can just them in the plains as the rickety wheels wobbled over the bumpy plains and rocks, and the kids dragged along as the father's pushed ahead with their rifles drawn shooting and killing animals and Indians as if there were no difference.

"Paw?"

"What Ottis?"

"I'm hungry."

"Don't worry son. We're on our way to Calee-forn-ya and we'll be able to eat everything we want, including the McDonald's McRib sandwich."

"Paw?"

"What Ottis?"

"Is it really a rib?"

"That's the beauty of America, son. Nothing has to be real in the new World. Just what we want it to be."

-- Ray Hanania
www.Hanania.com

Cub Scout Camp out: Under a bright moon with the coyotes howling all night

2011-10-17T10:54:00.001-07:00

Boy Scout Troop 318 invited the Cub Scouts of 372 to camp out with them over the weekend. Of course, the invite was made several months ago when the weather was great and I eagerly said yes. Let's do it!

Of course, I would have camped out anyway, but the idea of warm weather was very appealing.

The weather wasn't too bad this past weekend, though. It was sunny Saturday but chilly at night. Not arctic-like, which often is the case when camping out.

So, we went out and bought a new tent. The old "triangle" tent didn't seem to appealing. You know the kind where the front is a triangle, the top is a single bar and it's easy to set-up? I think the tent was from the 1960s and I may have used it once. (I can only imagine what it would have done in the rain.)

We bought the new tent at Dick's and bought a tent they said would accommodate four people. Four? I doubt it. Two for sure, three if we slept on top of each other. It was Field & Stream. The store had a miniature set-up on the shelf and it looked cool. And simple. But simple is never simple. Tents are always complicated.

It only cost $59 -- on sale. That should have been my first tip-off on the tight squeeze. But it was great looking. Round. A front canopy. About 8 feet wide and 6 feet long, with 4 more feet under the outside canopy. Why would anyone want an outside canopy? What were we going to do, sit there like we were on our stoops on Chicago's South Side back in the 1960s waiving to all the neighbors as they walked or drove by?

We were in a forest. We don't need a stoop on our tent. What was I thinking?

Oye ve!

Anyway, we got there Saturday morning around 9:30 and I immediately unpacked the tent. Have to get the tent up first. The wind was howling and gales were sweeping the tent parts like sails in the Mackinac boat races from the Chicago Yacht Club. Finally two other fathers who had come the night before, came by to help. You can't set up a tent with one person, anymore, I learned the hard way.

And they also had a suggestion. We were setting up with the large group of tents on the east side of the field against the tree line. The wind was blowing to the northeast right into those tents that flapped loudly all day and all night. They pointed to a few tents on the west side of the field along the other tree line that look solid as brick.

I'm thinking the whole time of the Three Little Pigs at this point. Because as the tent was gale-ing in the wind, the fiber glass rods were knocking me in the noggin.

So they helped me lift the mess up and we walked across the field to a smaller group of tents and set up there. It did make a huge difference. No wind, I was almost able to do this myself. I spent an hour trying to set it up before we moved. Now, with their help, it only took about 45 minutes.

Lay the tent out. Stake in the corners. Put the fiber glass rods through the tent loops. Figure why I had about 15 remaining pieces with no place to go.

It worked. I was winded. Tired. And thinking about food. We missed breakfast but the Scouts prepared a phenomenal lunch as the Cub Scouts were returning from a hike through the forest with the Boy Scouts.

Once the tent was up, I was able to walk to my SUV and grab the rest of the junk. A bag of food. Two sleeping bags wrapped tight in their holders. Two very heavy sleeping cots. I figured if it were really cold, having the beds off the ground would help. Other people used air mattresses.

I even purchased a gas heater, but then was easily convinced in the tent, it wouldn't be very safe. So I left it in the car.

The adults spent most of the time reminiscing about Scouts when we were kids. I still have my Hiawatha Trail Copper Medal. That was from a 20 mile hike along the lake short near the old train tracks back in the 1960s.

And most of us were baby boomers, so we talked a lot about how in the old days, the Dens and Packs were usually run by one or two scouts and our parents never came along to join the camp outs. At least where I was a Scout, the parents didn't join us. Television news has destroyed our sense of safety and security. We think a killer is around every corner, and a monster in every shadow.

We had a huge bonfire and the Boy Scouts did most of the work. They spent the day showing the Cub Scouts how to do things, qualifying them for more badges. They told stories, performed some skits, all funny. And we had a great meal.

When it was over, we all went to our tents. And by then, I was ready to collapse and go to sleep. Eventually, I went to the car and got the iPad2 and we watched a couple of Movies on Netflix.

It's amazing how the world has changed.

During the night, I woke up to the sound of coyotes howling to each other from different ends of the forest. It was pretty cool. It wasn't that cold at all. The sleeping bags were very warm. And once I realized that I should keep the tent door closed, there were no more bugs.

It even rained in the morning. That's what woke up up at 6 am. The tent held out with no problems.

I wanted to thank the scouts, the friends we made and all the people we met. Lots of moms and even sisters of the scouts joined in the fun so it was a real family affair.

That's the way it should be, I think.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

A gaggle of gapers block

2011-10-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

A Gapers Block is merely a bunch of bored drivers on the way to work or on the way home who just can't take their eyes off of a gruesome tragic accident off on the side of the road. Gapers slow down as they pass an accident to stare, usually when they are in heavy traffic. But even when they are speeding along at 60 MPH, drivers will slow down to see what's what.

Gapers Blocks are the biggest cause of traffic jams in Chicago.

In the suburbs, we have some Gapers Block traffic jams. But, more often than not, traffic jams are caused by a Gaggle Block.

Yes, a Gaggle Block is familiar to most people who live int he suburbs. It refers to a traffic jam caused when the Canadian Geese walk right in to traffic on a main street, without looking both ways, and slowly meander across the street.

It usually involves a Gaggle of Canadian Geese, too.

In many instances, the Canadian Geese eat their own poop. Yes, hard to believe except maybe in this economy, but that's what Geese do. Maybe that's what slows them down.

This morning a Gaggle of a Gaggle of Geese blocked traffic right near my house. Seriously. There were maybe 100 of them all munching on CGE (Canadian Geese excrement). And their muddied mouths made them look like beatniks as they bounced to some internal and strange bongo drum beat from the 1950s.

I always stop when the Geese go Gaggle Block. The idea of killing one of them is offensive. And there should be a law to put motorists away if they run them over intentionally. Some moron in a farmers pickup truck just couldn't wait and raced through the Geese Gaggle, gunning his engine.

I'm sure he thinks Geese are an annoyance in the suburbs, but frankly the real annoyance are people like him who go out and buy these pick-up truck monstrosities and drive them around burning up gasoline as if there were no tomorrow. Maybe no gasoline tomorrow, thanks to them. They're the ones who need a head check, not the excrement eating geese, even if they are from Canada, which mifght explain that nasty habit by the way.

Still, I can live with the Gaggle Blocks but not the pick-up truck drivers. Ten-four good buddy?

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Comet Elenin hangs in Northern Sky in early evening ...

2011-10-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

While everyone is talking about the Draconid Meteor Shower which is now at it's peak today (during the sun light hours) in the Constellation Draco (located in the northern sky just above the horizon), everyone is missing another major event just to the east of that in the northern sky and slightly to the east.

While my family was watching the 1982 John Carpenter film "The Thing" to prepare us for next week's release of yet a second remake on the big screen, my son noticed a bright object in the northern sky through the window that he said looked like a UFO.

Of course, being the skeptic and not wanting any more media attention than I already get from the biased, screwed up Chicago Sun-Times (which is fast going out of business -- but not fast enough), I'm not going to start screaming "The Sky is Falling. There is a UFO" out there. But it did look strange like it had a veil around the lower part of it.

I remember watching Halley's comet streak across the sky (well, streak would be an exaggeration because while it WAS streaking a millions of MPH, it was so far away that it appeared to just hang in the sky. That was back in 1986. To celebrate that famous comet which comes around once every 75-76 years, I bought a huge telescope (six feet tall) and very powerful (which I still have) and my daughter and I went in the backyard and really got a close up of Halley's comet with its long bright tail. It was spectacular. I remember writing about it for the Chicago Sun-Times when I was a columnist at the newspaper back then -- when it was a real newspaper and not the crap that it is today.

Hey, why not beat the crap out of a lousy newspaper like the Sun-Times in a column blog post about a comet? Who knows. Maybe those crazy people who took their lives when the comet Hale-Bopp passed through the sky in March of 1997. Remember that one, that they dubbed Heaven's Gate after a group of 39 people by that name committed suicide believing they would be scooped up and taken away to meet God. The only place the Sun-Times is going is to Hell. But then, I digress. With some enjoyment, though, I might add.

Anyway, Elenin has gotten no press at all in the mainstream news media. (I'll skip the opportunity digress on that topic which continues my other digressions.) But it is something to see. Check it out tonight. It is at the end of its cycle because apparently it has been getting too close to the sun (sun-times) and the sun's flares have been destroying it little by little.

It's worth a look. Far better to see that than to buy a copy of the Chicago Sun-Times. (Well, Hispanics, Blacks and now Arabs are boycotting the newspaper so maybe it won't need a sun flare to put it out of business.

Here's a link to the Elenin web site: Click here.

And here is a link to the Draconid meteor shower that few will be able to see because of the timing of the shower (day time) and the nearing full moon at night: Click here.

And there's more on Hale-Bopp and the Heaven's Gate cult (just in case some of the Sun-Times maniacs have any cryptic thoughts.) Click here.

-- Ray Hanania
http://RayHanania.wordpress.com

Why are we always remaking movies?

2011-10-08T04:46:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite movies is John Carpenter's "The Thing" starring Kurt Russell. The movie came out in 1982 on the big screen. At the time, the graphics were phenomenal. Nowadays, the 1983 graphics would be considered mundane. Today's high tech graphics and animation are really phenomenal. (see how life destroys all that we once held sacred?)

The Thing was a remake of a previous original that came out in the 1950s, I think. It was good but not great. The "Thing" was actually an actor who lumbered around like a bad Frankenstein who came out of the Arctic chill. So the Kurt Russell version was a real treat. The monsters grew out of it victims in the 1982 version, although the ending was lacking. It was like the new movie traded in the originality of the first film for better graphicw. The original film not only had a great plot, but it had a better ending, too.

Well, the 2nd film was about 30 years ago. And about every 25 to 30 years, remakes arrive to entertain the new audience of younger generation filmgoers who probably saw the Russell film but not the first one. That's kind of a statement about out lifestyle and the length of a real lifetime. We who loved the first movie are no longer relevant. Those who love the Russell version are being deactivated culturally, though we struggle to keep up clinging to technology we can purchase with our babyboomer mentality of spend, spend, spend.

But there is a new generation out there today and they want more. More than we babyboomers had. More driven by a feeling of entitlement created by the power of technology. Steve Jobs didn't really teach us to expand our minds. Jobs really taught us to covet that which we could purchase. We don't buy a computer to mprove our lives. We buy computers to fill an insatiable hunger. We have a computer but it's not good enough. So we buy. Aother, better, faster and supposedly doing things we need. But we don't need anything. We want things.

And that's how we see entertainment. We don't need a new version of The Thing. We just want it, like a new computer. It's how we describe today's generation, what i call the "entitlement" generation.

The new version of "The Thing" comes to theaters this coming weekend. Same story. Same fright. Better graphics. And a new public hunger that can never be satisfied.

In fact, I am writing this from my iPad2, struggling to be as good as the laptop that already did everything.

And I will go see the new remake of The Thing because I've been conditioned to be that way, and for no other reason.

If Steve Jobs taught us anything, it might be something like this: "Why be happy with what you have when you could have something that might be better, but will probably just be mediocre? That's why the great inventions I just unveiled last year are no longer relevant and the one I am touting now is what you need to have ... Need! Need! Need!"

See anything similar with today's movies?

- Ray Hanania
Http://rayhanania.wordpress.com

What is that exhaust coming out of the back of most of our school buses?

2011-10-06T07:42:00.001-07:00

Talk about heavy pollution. Why is it that our school buses are among the worst when it comes to spewing choking pollution into the environment? Is it because we don't care about the health of the environment? We don't care about the health of our students? Or, the bus companies are given a pass because they have some kind of political clout?

Here's a video I shot recently behind a school bus that was pouring out pollutants and choking exhaust. It is "whitish" in color but the fumes were horrible.

People familiar with school bus pollutions say that poor air quality is particularly hard on children, whose lungs are fragile and still developing. Many yellow school buses, because they are run on diesel fuel, are particularly lethal to their hundreds of thousands of riders. The exhaust may include "Particles" that can be filtered out using special filters on the exhaust systems. These particles from diesel exhaust are carcinogenic

The fact is truck and car emissions can lead to heart disease.

Air pollution aggravates allergies, asthma and other respiratory illness.

Major airborne pollutants such as lead, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, contribute to the city’s high incidence of asthma (double the New York State average, in some neighborhoods, and up to six times the national average) and other respiratory ailments.

So why are we not doing something about this? The school system receives probably 60 to 70 percent of the taxes we pay (high school and elementary school, just look at your tax bill if you live in District 230 or District 135. Mine was more than $3,600 out of a $5,000 tax bill.

What are we paying for?

Ryan's 22nd Century Media chain grows even more in North suburbs

2011-09-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

The Orland Prairie isn't just a great and reliable newspaper. It's also a part of a successful media empire being built by Jack Ryan, the former Republican Candidate for the US Senate (whose decision to leave the senate race handed the post to then unknown Barack Obama). Ryan always felt he was bullied out of the race by vicious news media attacks against him by the major downtown Chicago news media, and he was right.

But Ryan has gotten his vengeance, building an empire of compelling and informative newspapers in the Southwest Suburbs under the banner of 22nd Century Media.

The newspaper chain includes editions in Orland Park (Orland Prairie), Tinley Park (Tinley Junction), Homer Township (Homer Horizon), Frankfort (Frankfort Station), Mokena (Mokena Messenger), New Lenox (New Lenox Patriot) and Lockport (Lockport Legend). This past week, though, Ryan has expanded his magnificent newspapers into the north suburbs taking on the Chicago Sun-Times' owned Pioneer Press Newspapers with newspapers by adding an edition in Glenview (Genview Lantern) to join his papers in Wilmette (Wilmette Beacon) and Winnetka (Winnetka Current). Ryan is a Wilmette Native.

Ryan's principle of journalism is ideal and not only a response to the ugliness that represents the mainstream media and the wild out-of-control online news media (with their vicious anonymous posters and personal attacks)/ It's based on a solid principle of journalism that has been forgotten: local coverage. Each of his newspapers focuses only on the communities where they are located. He calls it "hyper local."

He has plans to launch three more editions up north in Lake Forest, Northbrook and Highland Park where media choices are few and far between.

The truth is the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune have pretty much abandoned local news coverage. The Sun-Times bought up most of the community newspapers in the area, gutting their staffs and plundering their advertising resources.

I saw the need for a suburban newspaper in the southwest suburbs back in 1993 when I launched The Villager Newspapers, consisting of 12 editions. It was very successful and popular. And although we had a strong advertising base, we never had the deep pockets you need to build a media giant. We ended up selling the chain and it was later gobbled up by Liberty Publishing.

Ryan, though, which is strong financial base, has put the newspaper on solid ground. Their online web site has a user-friendly system to navigate and find stories. It doesn't have the viciousness that dominate other local online news web sites,and postings are generally informative. Readers and submit and post their local news and photos online for others to see and read.

Ryan's newspaper giant could become the model for how print newspapers can survive in the Internet generation.

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Protests force three Cook County Commissioner holdouts to take furlough days

2011-09-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

In the past year, Cook County;s employees were slapped with 10 furlough days to off-set the growing deficit at County Government caused by the poor leadership of former County Board President Todd Stroger. Instead of cutting the bloated bureaucracy, Stroger slammed taxpayers by adding 1 percent to the already overburdened Sales Tax.

The sales tax was repealed following a stubborn campaign led by Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Gorman. Ironically, Gorman was attacked by two Orland Park village officials -- Trustees Ed Schussler and Patricia Gira -- who claimed she was responsible for the county's terrible financial situation. Without getting in to the equally terrible financial situation of their Village budget, it was hypocritical since Schussler and Gira were partly responsible for the repeal of the sales tax rebate paid to Orland Park homeowners.

Orland Park increased the sales tax to grab funds from consumers, many of whom come to Orland Park from other communities. The rebate was intended to take the burden off of residents. But that came to an abrupt end.

In my book, increasing the Cook County Sales Tax by adding 1 percent is the equivalent of eliminating the Orland Park village sales tax rebate by Schussler and Gira. There is no difference.

But back to Cook County. This week, enraged by the declaration of five Cook County Commissioners that they would refuse to do what they imposed on county workers and they would not take furlough days to help the county saves money, three of them changed their minds. Or, should we say their minds were changed for them. Cook County residents pelted Commissioners Deborah Sims, Joan Patricia Murphy and Robert Steele to accept the furlough.

Imagine the gall of Murphy, who had originally pushed hard to increase the sales tax not 1 percent as Stroger sought but by 2 percent. Murphy claims she can't take the furlough days but will reimburse the county to the tune of $3,269.23, or the equivalent of what their $85,000 a year salary would have lost with the furlough days. She's too busy to take days off. As a PR person now and no longer a journalist, I have to admit that excuse is a brilliant deception, what we call in the business "spin."

Murphy thinks I don't like her, but she's wrong. I do like her. I like the Old Joan Murphy. I like the old Joan Murphy who put the taxpayers' interests above the interests of her political cronies. Murphy is a good person but her policies have been horrible. She should take the lead of Gorman, who has put the interests of taxpayers above her own.

And Schussler and Gira also should follow Gorman's lead instead of bashing her the way they have. It's bad enough the saddled Orland Park taxpayers doubling the village's debt by piling on a loan for a private developer to build a questionable apartment complex. Orland taxpayers are paying the $62 million to fund the Ninety7Fifty in the Park project. Why? Because the village officials have, over the past decade, done whatever they wanted.

Well, the furlough at Cook County won't off-set the mess that Stroger and his allies (Sims and Murphy) have put the county in over the years. And the sales tax rebate money the village has taken away from taxpayers won't cover the loan to the private developers who promised to pay us back. But it is symbolic.

Although, one word about promises. The developers have promised to repay the loan, which is essentially a mortgage in a time when mortgages are falling like dominoes. But promises are sometimes not kept, like when Mayor Dan McLaughlin promised to rebate the sales taxes of residents when he increased the sales tax so many years ago. Afterawhile, the politicians believe that promises can be forgotten and then will be broken.

We'll see. But don't be surprised.

-- Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com

Gorman responds to personal attacks from Gira/Schussler

2011-09-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Editor:

After reading the letter to the editor by Orland Park TrusteesGira and Schussler regarding the public financing of a privately ownedapartment building known as “Ninety7Fifty”, I must address several of theirpoints.

In their letter, Gira and Schussler complain that Trustee O'Halloranis doing my bidding? Is it doing my bidding because he is displaying aconscience when it comes to saddling the taxpayers with a record amount ofdebt? Is it doing my bidding because he decided to openly share his views withhis fellow Orland Park residents? O'Halloran is an elected member of the VillageBoard of trustees, and serves as a respected director on the Metra Board.Trustees Gira and Schussler should be appreciative that their colleague is ableto represent the region, and just successfully stopped proposed service cuts tothe Southwest Line where Ninety7Fifty and our tax dollars are being banked. Bottom Line is O'Halloran is being attacked, because he has asked questionsabout the Ninety7Fifty project, that they don't want addressed.

Gira and Schussler then ultimately tell me to mind my ownbusiness and worry about County taxation. First, one does not give up theirright to question their local government when they get elected to publicoffice. Second, as they need to be reminded, I successfully lead the charge torepeal the infamous Todd Stroger sales tax, which gave some competitive reliefto the businesses in the area. Stroger never mortgaged County taxpayers andtheir homes to finance a project to the tune of $65M…even Stroger knew better than what our Mayor and trustees are about to do.

I asked for two things. We must have public hearings and weshould slow down. Why the rush? They are going to pass this today regardless ofthe public's concerns.

Gira and Schussler further complain that Trustee O'Halloran issued his open letter not to them and Mayor Dan McLaughlin but to the publicthrough the media. Are they saying that they prefer that all questionablepublic financing projects be discussed in closed door sessions amongthemselves? That's what got Mayor McLaughlin in trouble last week when thepublic demanded to know more about the project at a public hearing the villageonly scheduled at the last minute in response to complaints.

What we are seeing is not strategic leadership but ratherpolitics at its worst. Instead of addressing issues, they attack individuals.Instead of discussing the project with the public -- the taxpayers of OrlandPark -- they want the issue to be put behind closed doors.

The letter makes many ridiculous claims that are intended todistract voters away from the real priority here.

The Village of Orland Park should not be a banker,especially in today's economy, underwriting risky projects that are directburdens on the taxpayers who are already over taxed. The Village Board shouldsuspend action on this project and give the public more time to hear all sidesto this debate before rushing a decision at today's board meeting.

I urge the Village Board to postpone a vote on the Ninety7FiftyDevelopment and instead spend more time listening to the feedback of thepublic, the taxpayers and the community, and get a back-up plan before pursuingthis monumental project and its financing.

Sincerely,

Liz Gorman
Orland Park Resident & Cook County Commissioner

The differing styles of the Orland Park Village Board members

2011-09-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me, why I was so critical of the statement made by Village of Orland Park Trustees Ed Schussler and Pat Gira, compared to how I simply ran the letter from Trustee Brad O'Halloran a week earlier.

I told him to re-read both statements.

Here is O'Halloran's statement from Sept. 9: Click Here

Here is the Gira/Schussler statement from Sept. 18: Click Here.

There is a marked difference and the person emailed back later and said they understood. Brad O'Halloran addressed the issues in his statement. In fact, he was very respectful, mentioning Mayor Dan McLaughlin by name not to criticize him but to explain that although he respects him and the other trustees, he respectfully disagreed. "Respectfully."

That's the difference. O'Halloran is a gentleman with class. His letter tried to express the outrage that he was hearing from his constituents. He said that in his letter, more mildly than I have described it.

He explained why he disagreed with the approval of the Ninety7Fifty on the Park project.

Instead of reflecting the same professional and respectful style, Gira and Schussler filled their letter with diatribe and personal attacks. They attacked O'Halloran and then they attacked Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman.

Why Gorman? Well, during the recent village elections where Schussler and Gira, both incumbents, won in a crowded field with far less than a majority of the votes cast -- in a one on one race, they would have both been ousted -- they had been behind the election the previous Fall of Pat Maher who challenged Gorman for Cook County Board. It was their support of Maher that cost them so many votes. Maher went on to lose the battle to control the Orland Fire Protection District (where I now do media consulting) and thank goodness he's gone. The policies he pushed were outrageous and unsympathetic to the needs of taxpayers. The new board is pushing reforms and transparency and what everyone has seen there has been shocking in almost every respect. The new board is making changes to conform with the interests of the taxpayers, who Maher and his crew ignored.

So Schussler and Gira are upset with Gorman and they know that Gorman was the key factor in galvanizing public outcry against the Ninety7Fifty project. Gorman, who is a champion of fighting for the taxpayers and led the battle to rescind the oppressive Cook County Sales Tax -- that the Village Officials backed with their silence -- went on to represent the concerns of the taxpayers in addressing the Ninety7Fifty project.

The Village is going to LOAN the developers some $62 million, like a mortgage, to build the project and, assuming it works and so far similar projects have not, the taxpayers will be slowly paid back, or so the village officials claim.

Really. Has anyone noticed how the mortgage market has collapsed and now is not the time to be loaning anyone money, especially taxpayer money to risky developmenrs?

Those are legitimate concerns that O'Halloran express, that Gorman expressed and that the taxpayers expressed. But the village won't listen. And instead of defending the plan, they decided to try and make it personal, attacking O'Halloran viciously and attacking Gorman viciously and in directly attacking viciously all of the taxpayers and residents of Orland Park who agree with the issues that O'Halloran and Gorman have expressed.

That's the difference between O'Halloran and Gorman, and Gira and Schussler. One is concerned with the views of the taxpayers. The other, Gira and Schussler, are concerned about politics.

Notice how Mayor McLaughlin is having Gira and Schussler do all the attacking? They just got re-elected. The Mayor, who is standing by as this fight is launched from his camp, will be running for re-election and some people are speculating that maybe Gorman might run for Mayor against him. She'd be a more powerful challenger compared to the easy races he coasted through in past years.

But there is even a rumor that now O'Halloran, having been slandered to the edge by his colleagues for expressing legitimate views about an questionable project that may harm taxpayers, might consider running for mayor too. Actually, O'Halloran would be a good mayor, one who avoids rancor and one who tries to address the issues.

The village board votes tonight on this plan. It could define the leadership of this important community moving forward.

-- Ray Hanania

Orland Trustees bash officials in response to taxpayer concerns on Ninety7Fifty project

2011-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Trustee Brad O'Halloran issued a public statement last week expressing his concern with the controversy-plagued Ninety7Fifty luxury apartment complex. O'Halloran, who initially supported the concept, said he was uncomfortable with the proposed financing which involved Orland Park taxpayers putting up almost all of the money to help the private developers make the project work.

Here is a link to O'Halloran's original letter.

A lot of Orland Park taxpayers agree with O'Halloran.

But today (Sunday Sept. 18), Trustees Patricia Gira and Ed Schussler issued their own letter. (You can read it below.) Although they defend the project, they spend a lot of time bashing O'Halloran and Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman.

When officials spend time bashing their opponents, it usually means they are weak on the issues. But it also is a good sign of who they think really has influence in Orland Park. Liz Gorman? Or Mayor Dan McLaughlin, their ally?

Their main complaints seem to be about the people rather than policy. The letter below attacks O'Halloran and Gorman. It makes an absurd claim that O'Halloran is doing Gorman's bidding in opposing the project, noting that she was instrumental in getting him appointed to the Metra Board. And, they lash out at Gorman, claiming she should be more concerned about the county taxation than the taxation in the village.

Wow. Clearly, Gira and Schussler are saying Liz Gorman is the most important political leader in Cook County and this region. Their letter also basically says that poor Mayor Dan is really nothing in all this. By attacking Gorman, Gira and Schussler are saying that Gorman better represents the taxpayers than McLaughlin. It's the only way to read the letter. Is this more about politics than economics to them? Apparently so.

Taxpayers showed at the August public hearing that they agree with the concerns that both Gorman and O'Halloran have expressed in challenging the village-mortgaged project. That was obvious from the public response made at the public hearing the village reluctantly held. (The Regional, Southtown and the Tribune Local had great coverage of that meeting.)

The most startling aspect of the Gira/Schussler letter is the admission that Orland Park taxpayers will be giving the developers the mortgage loan to build their project, and they will pay it back the way homeowners repay their mortgages. I don't know if they have noticed by nearly a quarter of the country's mortgage holders are having problems paying back their mortgages.

If there is any problem with this project, or if it fails, the taxpayers of Orland Park will be stuck holding the bill thanks to Gira, Schussler and McLaughlin.

Gira and Schussler did not point out that their ally on the board, Trustee Jim Dodge, was also appointed to the Metra board and was on it how many years? Eight? No complaints when he was on the Metra Board and the Metra service went to hell in a handbasket. Why didn't they say something then?

I think it was a poor move on Gira's and Schussler's part. That's what happens when you hire too many PR firms and have too many PR people on the village payroll.

I reached out to Gorman and O'Halloran for a response.

Here is the Gira/Schussler Letter issued today (Sunday Sept. 18):

Wehave decided to explain our position in light of Orland Park Trustee BradO’Halloran’s recent decision to send an open letter to the media regarding hisposition on the Ninety 7 Fifty project. Trustee O’Halloran is certainly free tovote as he chooses, however, it is inappropriate to address an open letter tothe Mayor and then send it only to the media. He could have shared thoseconcerns with the rest of the board and perhaps swayed others to hisbeliefs. Why would someone go to themedia before sharing his thoughts with the board with whom he professes towork?

Thetwo questions that we have repeatedly heard about this project are “Whyapartments?” and “Why is the Village of Orland Park loaning money to thedeveloper?” Luxury apartments are beingconsidered because that is where the market is at this time. We have two market studies that indicateluxury apartments are in short supply and the demand is growing. As you know, these market studies areavailable on the village web site for review and analysis. In addition to those expert opinions, in arecent letter, Mr. John Jaeger, senior vice president of the CB Richard Ellis,Inc. real estate firm, made the following statements regarding this project,“The project itself is well designed and thought out….The suburban MSA needsadditional apartments to meet growing demand due to the shift from homeownership to rental living.”

Thereare two reasons the Village of Orland Park is considering loaning $38 millionfor this development: it puts the village in a first lien position if problemsare encountered and it allows the village to recover all or a major portion ofthe $23 million incentive that is necessary to get this project under way. If a third party lender were involved, thevillage would not be in a secured position if a default occurred and thevillage would not be able to recover the $23 million incentive.

TheVillage of Orland Park will not own an apartment building; it will be owned byFlaherty and Collins, the developer. Just as we own our homes, a lender, in this case the village will carrythe loan for the project. We will berepaid as Flaherty and Collins repays the loan, a process we are all familiarwith as we pay the mortgage on our homes. Bonds will be sold to obtain funds to lend to the developer. The bonds will be repaid from the netoperating income of the building not from real estate taxes. The Main StreetTriangle is a Tax Increment Financing District, a TIF. TIF incremental revenues or sales tax can beused to carry the project if it isn’t rented as quickly as projected. There are also other parcels to be sold anddeveloped that will contribute financially to the triangle redevelopment. This project should have no adverse financialeffects on residents. There has been noreferendum because residents are not being asked to pay more in propertytaxes. In fact, when the project iscompleted and leased, it is estimated that it will produce over $700,000 inreal estate taxes annually and have the potential to reduce the village’sportion of our residents’ tax bill.

People who live in the development will shop our local businesscommunity and 400 to 500 construction jobs will be created over a three-yearperiod. Standard and Poor’s and Moody’shave reaffirmed our excellent bond rating, fully aware of the plans for theNinety 7 Fifty development.

Becauseof conservative budgeting and prudent decisions that were made by successivevillage boards over the last forty years, Orland Park is a very desirable placeto live and work. Residents and businesses receive a plethora of services at avery low relative cost. Twice in thelast five years, we have made the list of the most desirable places to live inthe entire country. New businessescontinue to open in Orland Park.

OrlandPark is one of a very small number of municipalities in Illinois that has thefinancial ability to handle a project like Ninety 7 Fifty. At the end of our most recent fiscal year(2010), we had more than $37 million in fund balance reserves. The village’s debt, as a percentage ofequalized assessed value, is low. In1992, we had just under $22 million of outstanding debt which was 2.93% ofequalized assessed value. In 2010, theoutstanding debt was over $79 million but the percentage of equalized assessedvalue was almost the same, 2.89%. Theboard only borrows for capital projects and never to cover operatingexpenses. That is one of the reasons whyapproximately $4.4 million was cut from the operating budget during the lastthree years.

The highest Standard & Poor bond rating isAAA and ten municipalities have it. We,along with 24 other Illinois municipalities, have the next highest rating ofAA+. Our per capita debt and liabilitiesare $1,811. The average per capita debtand liabilities for southwest Cook County is $5,244. Conservative fiscalpolicies have kept the village real estate taxes low. In the last ten years a single family homewith a value of $300,000 has paid an average of $533 per year in real estatetax to the village. If you factor in the property tax rebates that were givento residents in the last ten years, the average amount of taxes paid to theVillage of Orland Park drops to $184 per year. This amount includes a levy forparks and recreation. Orland Parkresidents do not pay a separate tax to a Park District. That certainly is not the “high taxation”that Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth Gorman mentioned at our lastmeeting. Perhaps she was referring tothe Cook County taxes that burden us and our businesses each year.

CommissionerGorman also stated “We also have a lot of vacant retail space.” Not true. Orland Park had a retail vacancy rate of5.32% in 2010 while the national average during the same period was 12.7%. In spite of the recession, our business sectoris growing.

TrusteeO’Halloran has tried to justify his recent decision to vote against the Ninety7 Fifty proposal. Redevelopment of thetriangle started eleven years ago when Trustee O’Halloran was on the board. Many votes have been taken the last elevenyears regarding the triangle and Trustee O’Halloran has voted in theaffirmative on all of them. Now, when weare finally ready to get redevelopment under way, he suddenly flips and says hewill vote no. He is certainly entitledto his opinion and to change his mind, however, we wonder if his recentappointment to the Metra Board of Directors, allegedly orchestrated by CookCounty Commissioner Gorman, had anything to do with his sudden change of heart.

OrlandPark residents should not fear bold action. Forty years ago, a nervous mayor and board approved the construction ofa big shopping center on a former pig farm. It was a controversial decision that many said would change thetown. It certainly did that. Today Orland Square is a huge success.

The only other TIF in the village was OrlandPark Place which was met with some opposition at the time. That TIF was retired early and is clearly atremendous success and has made a positive contribution to our community.

The current economy calls for creativity andinnovation if Orland Park is to remain a dynamic village. We need to invest in the future. Orland Park has hired the best consultantsand advisors who have indicated that the Ninety 7 Fifty project maximizesreturns to the village and minimizes the risks. It will act as a catalyst for millions of dollars of future privateinvestment in the Main Street area of our Downtown Orland Park. On September 19^th,we intend tovote yes on this project and for the future of the Village of Orland Park, oneof the most dynamic communities in the State of Illinois and the country.

TrusteePatricia A. Gira

TrusteeEdward G. Schussler III

Villageof Orland Park

Sunday Sept. 18, 2011

HH Gregg. What's the big deal? Seriously!

2011-09-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

I was planning a nice Friday night to relax. Alison took Aaron to the Cub Scouts meeting but I got a call asking me to bring his uniform shirt and belt and neckerchief. She misread the meeting notes saying that you had to be in uniform. So, I had to jump in the car and drop the uniform off at the meeting. On the way back, I noticed the flood lights spinning in the night sky over the Orland Park Place shopping Mall.

Was Barnes & Nobles celebrating the closure across the street of Borders Books? I loved Borders and I already miss it. And then I realized it was the opening weekend of a new appliance and computer store called HH Gregg. Really it's all small letters, kind of the new thing in the 21st Century. "hh gregg."

Every conversation where the name came up, there was this excitement like, wow, it's going to be better than Best Buy or Comp USA when it comes to computers and technology, and appliances.

Really?

I don't think so. But, I love excitement, like everyone. The opening of a new technology store is exciting. So on the way home from my errand, I stopped by the packed parking lot of the Orland Park Place mall and barely found a parking spot. They converted the old sports store that was there. It's one of those stores where you enter this tall foyer and take these escalators to the second floor. (I assume the bottom part is another store you enter from the other side of the mall. Or, as they said in the movie Contact, it sure is a lot of space to waste!

It was exciting because there were so many people there buzzing around. Old men, grandpas like me, dragging behind their grandmas barely able to carry these large boxes of flat screen TVs. People rushing in and out. I wonder what they're all excited about? So I went in.

I was immediately disappointed. Partly because I am spoiled. I have everything. Half the place on the left was washers, dryers, dish washers, ice boxes -- okay, okay, refrigerators (I can't get over calling them ice boxes from when I was a kid) -- and freezers and stoves. It looked like the inside of a Sears Roebuck Store, honestly. On the right were the big screen TVs and the sound systems and the computers. Not a lot of computers but enough to create a crowd.

I walked through the whole place, trying my best to find something. Don't you want to buy something at a new store? I wanted to, but I couldn't find anything to waste my money on. I breezed through the computer section and then past the flat screen tvs and then paused and contemplated buying a sound bar for one of the flat screens I already have. It was only $279, a little bit cheaper than what I've seen at CompUSA (Tiger whatever). I almost bought it but couldn't find any real information to assure me that I could easily connect it to my TV. It said I could connect it to the Blue Ray Player I vowed never to buy (I have three) and to the flat screen TV using an optical cord. But how would I know they would really work? And, I bet I'd have to buy the two optical cords that actually involve better sound quality, I think. I didn't want to buy any additional cords.

I walked past it several times, each time looking. And then walking away. Finally, I just left, really disappointed. There was nothing there that was exciting. So I drove back to Best Buy just to satisfy that urge I had brought out because I had to leave the house. And I wandered around there, too, lamenting the fact that there are no more stores that sell great computer software. Everything is sold online nowadays and that's a real rip-off. Online purchased software is risky. When you download it to a computer, it's great. But if that computer crashes or you upgrade and buy another, forgetaboutit! You ain't getting the software you bought off one computer and on to the other without spending a lot of money on another software program.

Don't believe the lies. I've tried it with lots of downloaded purchased software and it doesn't work trying to move it to another computer. They can move the data files but not the software. That's why I prefer to only buy software that comes in a box on a CD. Period!!!

You can always get around the registration problems if you have the original CD and license and are moving it to a new computer.

Best Buy had nothing. That got me thinking. Maybe hh gregg isn't a bad store after all. Maybe it's not about hh gregg or Best Buy or any of the other disappointing technology stores. The truth is, the real problem is with the industry itself. We've gone from selling software in boxes on store shelves to online downloads that are unreliable and do not have a long use-life. (Don't let anyone BS you. It is almost impossible after 2 years to move a software program to a new computer that you downloaded. The best odds are with a software on a CD that you actually have in hand with the license and registration.)

The industry and the way we sell software has changed. And I am glad. Because it is saving me lots of money. I am a serial technology spender. I spend a lot on computers. Ever since I bought my first Coleco Adam Computer from Wards which lied and said my daughter would get a $500 scholarship if I bought the tape-driven computer machine. They lied. Promises from a retailer are promises made to be broken no matter who they are.

I bought the IBM PC Jr and then an IBM XT back in the day when a 5 MB hard drive was considered huge and we used those large 5 1/4 inch floppy discs. Now I use the iPad and that's a "whole-nother" problem, especially when you move to a new computer and try to sync the iPad through iTunes. I don't work!

But it is the industry that is disappointing. Lot's of neat new technologies in the works and available. But I have it all. And there is such a thing as technology overload, or technology hoarding, what physicians call "disposophobia," or the selfish act of greedily collecting stuff. That's me, Mr. Disposophobia, the selfish collection of possessions just to possess something.

And that's how hh gregg disappointed this disposophobic shopper. They had nothing I wanted to hoard.

-- Ray Hanania

Why did I go to a White Sox Game? Hell-u-lar Field

2011-09-14T05:10:00.001-07:00

Why did I go to a White Sox game last night? It was so disappointing on so many levels. But my son won the seats as a reward for his academic efforts so it was to share his moment that I had to suffer with the White Sox.

It isn't the White Sox players themselves that disappoint me. Any White Sox player can become a Cubs player, some day. The Cubs lose but the Cubs fans go to the ballpark to enjoy the game, win or lose. White Sox fans actually think they are going to win the World Series again. Delusional!

I hate the stadium. It is so commercial and un-intuitive. Who designed that monstrosity of a public hassle? And to name it after a cell phone company only adds insult to injury. The cell phone companies are the biggest rip-offs in our economy. They charge us an arm and a leg for service but they fail to provide adequate service. Not one of them. All of the services stink and they constantly drop calls. The cell phone industry doesn't work properly. it is plagued with bugs and failure. Co "Cellullar Field." Pathetic!

The parking around the stadium should be the easiest to get to but the fact is that it is easier to park at Wrigley Field -- built when? A few years after the turn of the 19th Century? -- than it is to park at Comiskey Park. There I said it. F-You Cellular Field! The parking there is horrendous. Some moron who flunked out of the Chicago Public schools -- and that is so hard to do, actually -- must have designed the parking lot patterns. And the idiots they hire to manage "security" around the park only make it worse. You turn on 39th Street to par and they immediately wave you away, even though the signs tell you to keep going to park with a ticket or for cash, they make you go around in circles on purpose. The signs are lies at White Sox park. The people hired to direct traffic are not directing traffic at all. They are mocking White Sox commuters.

A smart rat couldn't figure its way around the parking maze at White Sox Park! It's a hassle and an intentional mess. I think it might be a strategy to make life difficult for Sox fans so that they have lowered expectations before they get int he park and consume cases of beer and slosh around the F word like they were at the South Side Irish Parade.

The food at Sox Park is okay. It's not great. It is just okay and that's amazing for a politically connected place to give the food to people who are there only to make a fast buck rather than service the hunger pangs of the fans. What else is new?

The prices of food is not out of line with the prices at Wrigley Field or any other place. But the food at Wrigley is so much better.

Then there are the people. I think it is an anecdotal fact that South Siders are fatter than north siders, and maybe that's why the smartest south siders are also Cub fans and not White Sox fans. A lot of South Siders are heffers. (Who came up with Cows on Parade? A northsider mocking south siders, of course.)

And the souvenir shops had pure junk. At least at Wrigley Field I can buy my son an autographed baseball. Not at White Sox Abomination. Pure worthless junk.

But the drunks who stumble in to the White Sox games and then stumble out -- and are too afraid to walk through the local neighborhood even though many of the public housing units have been demolished to make them feel better -- don't care about the quality of the junk there because many of them are dressed like slobs.

I actually sat there and watched a White Sox prodigy who was maybe 12 years old sit at his chair and spit constantly on the cement steps next to his aisle seat. His friend did the same. Spitting through the whole game. Fortunately a Cubs fan told them to stop. Who else would step up to the plate to teach them public manners?

Of course, the White Sox lost the game to the Detroit Tigers. But that isn't exclusive to the White Sox. The Cubs lose often. But when I go to a Cubs game, I go in knowing we have no chance in hell of winning anything. And it doesn't bother me because by the time I get to my seat -- which is just as expensive as the seats at the White Sox Rat Maze -- I am happy and hassle free and I am enjoying the food at the park. I'm content at Wrigley Field before the game starts, unlike the nightmare experienced at Hell-u-lar Field.

-- Ray Hanania

Another major gunfight at the OK Corral Mall

2011-09-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

How many shootings have there been at the Orland Park Mall? That's what I asked my wife this morning as she sat at her laptop and read the stories about the manhunt for a shooter who attacked a shopper at the Orland Mall, shooting the woman in the arm with a gun outside of Penny's around 9 pm Friday night.

That will be a big draw for Orland Park. Thankfully we have the best Police Department in the nation to respond to it.

As my wife read through the stories, I kept asking her to tell me what was happening. That made me think of how our society has changed in the computer era.

"Didn't you hear the helicopters flying over the mall last night keeping us awake?" she asked.

I was fast asleep. "No. What helicopters?"

Cook County sent a helicopter to help track down the gunman, who is seems, was a woman attacker. That's even worse, I think. Male chauvinism maybe?

"What happened?" I asked.

After I pestered her with a dozen questions, my wife looked at me and said open your iPad and read the stories yourself.

No. I want someone to tell me the story. "I wonder if we can invent a little box that you put in the frontroom and turn on and some guy comes on the screen and tells you everything that happens instead of having to dig for the news ourselves?

Oh yea. That's called television news, something that is fast disappearing from our daily agendas. We used to watch the TV to get all the news that the newspapers couldn't get straight. The reports and videos were informative and fast.

Now, we have to scan the Internet news sites for news ourselves. I didn't get it any sooner on the Internet and only listened as I prodded my wife to tell me what was happening Saturday morning as I drank my black decaf coffee.

Maybe that's the problem. No caffeine to fuel the energy I thought.

Yea, I'm watching some dufus trying to tell me how to make millions using the Internet. "Just let the money come to you. I have this automated system and you don't have to do anything. You build the web site, use my three step system and blah, blah, balh."

It was "Paid Programming" on Comcast Cable, which has seriously deteriorated in the past few years. Comcast charges you for everything on its channel lineup, even old movies that are junk have to be bought. It's crazy. How did I let myself fall in to this Comcast Crap anyway? I need to cancel Comcast and try satellite, I think. Although Netflix has partially replaced my movie viewing habits. Netflix downloads are good quality but the selection of movies sucks. There really isn't much. So far no one has invented a great system for TV. We've only gone backwards into the Stone Age.

I want some guy, or girl, on TV telling me the Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of the news story. The updates and the conclusion. I don't mind reading about it later, if it interest me. And anytime there is a gunfight at the Orland Park Mall, it interests me. The thought of the suspect scurrying away and around the nearby homes at night is frightening.

Maybe Mayor McLaughlin can take some of that $62 million we're giving to his developer pals and boost up security around here. Yea, a gunfight at the Orland Park Mall isn't going to attract a lot of those wealthy rich people to move into the luxurious Orland Park apartments a stone's throw from the Mall. Although maybe that might get the thieves to stop focusing on robbing people at the Mall and focus on breaking in to the apartments of the very rich who are not so bright to invest their wealth in an apartment overlooking a Metra Train station.

Okay. There's too much to process here.

Back to the Boob Tube!

--- Ray Hanania

Breaking News: Trustee O'Halloran on Ninety7Fifty: "Mr. Mayor, I respectfully Disagree"

2011-09-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

Letter from Trustee Brad O'Halloran

Mr. Mayor, I respectfullymust disagree.

I have been aTrustee in the Village of Orland Park for the past 18 years. While there havebeen many challenging issues during this time, none has had the potentialeconomic impact on the Village’s finances to the degree the proposed “9750 OnThe Park” project will have. As such, it is the single biggest financial votein 20 years. When I first became a trustee the Village’s overall debt wasaround $18 million, today it is $79million. The proposed 9750 project would almost double that debt to $144 million. To put things in perspective, the 9750project’s debt of $65 million is greater than the debt of the new policestation, the Sportsplex, the new library, the new train station, the publicworks facility and the old police station renovation----COMBINED. Now that’s abig deal.

I received the finaldetails of this deal in my weekly Village package on August 13th in the form ofa 5 inch ring binder stuffed full of details. I’ve been trying to absorb themever since. While it’s certainly true that I knew this project was in the worksfor quite some time, this was the first time I saw the final business terms andwas given the third party report that analyzed the risk factors involved. Inaddition I always assumed there would be plenty of time for debate with publichearings and the traditional Village Committee process, prior to any finalvote. Well, as we all now know the final vote is to occur at our next meetingon September 19th, after the public hearing this past Tuesday. So in addition tothe statements I listened to on Monday, I’ve been soliciting my own input fromthe same neighbors, friends, former coaches and local business folk I’ve reliedon for years and whose opinions I respect. And we’ve hit on some common themes.

1.) Thisis no time for anyone to be doubling their amount of debt. If I wouldn’t do itas an individual or business, why would the Village ever consider it? If thereis one common thread to the current problems in our state and country it is onething, too much debt.

2.) Apartnership is just that. 50/50 or 60/40 or even 70/30, but 96/4, I don’t thinkso.

3.) TheVillage has no business being in the Apartment business. If this is such a goodidea then let the private sector have at it, but don’t risk my money by usingpublic funds.

Of course there was a lot more banter, but those three werecommon to any discussion.

So how did we gethere today? Well, this project is perceived to be the linchpin of the Village’sdowntown redevelopment. A vision the Mayor and this board have worked on for manyyears. A vision I must say I share and have supported to date. A vision thathas been many, many years in the making. Unfortunately, I think with respect to the 9750 project maybe there’s been a little toomuch tunnel vision. Too much focus on the end result and the beautifulrenderings and rosy projections and not enough focus on the economicuncertainty in both our state and country and the fact that these funds are thefunds of our citizens. The same citizens that I have been so proud to representfor so many years. The same citizens that have entrusted me to represent themto the best of my ability.

The one thing I’vealways admired about the Village board and the Mayor is that we can disagreewithout being disagreeable. So in the end I guess I must concur with the folksI spoke with and the common sense input they offered and respectfully disagreewith you Mr. Mayor and say no to the proposed financing of “9750 0n The Park“.

Sincerely,

Brad S. O’Halloran

Village Trustee

Finance Chairman

Village ofOrland Park

A trip to Chick-fil-A in Orland Park

2011-09-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

I went to Chick-fil-A in Orland Park this morning. I've been putting it off for months. The place has been here but I just didn't feel inspired to go eat there. I'm not sure why though maybe it has to do with my attitude that chicken is best served from the barbecue, why pay for it at a restaurant? I don't know.

But leave it to my wife to figure out a way to get me there. She heard that Chick-fil-A was giving away a free breakfast and all you had to do to qualify was to go online and register. Sounded like a gimmick but she got two full page printouts one for each of us giving us a free breakfast.

So she dragged me there this morning. Had to be between 9:30 and 10:30 am. Okay. I was free.

The place is nestled near Red Robin and Lowes between 94th Avenue and LaGrange Road. The counter was busy with people waiting for their orders. We got in one line and then ordered. She handed the cashier the two sheets of paper reservations and the cashier put them on this huge pile.

Impressive so far. Lots of people coming here for this promotion.

But I got a crumby muffin with eggs and bacon and cheese. What? Why would I go to Chick-fil-A to order some high fat breakfast sandwich that I can get at McDonalds, if I didn't care much about my cholesterol levels? Fine. Throw in the little round hash browns and some coffee. Alison got her free little McDonald's like muffin sandwich and so did I. And we got coffee. We ended up spending another $5. Okay.

It really tasted just like a McDonald's sandwich. So why would I come here? Why didn't they just offer or push as a promotion the chicken breakfast sandwich. It's Chick-fill-A, after all? It's a chicken restaurant, I mean. Right?

Not smart. After I got the McDonald's breakfast muffin, I started to wonder what the chicken here taste's like. The egg and bacon and cheese muffin tasted pretty routine. Nothing to cluck about.

But a nice waitress walked around with a little tray of chicken chunks on small little slices of bread offering them as samples. And that tasted great. I almost walked out thinking why come back? I don't like McDonalds. Why would I like Chick-fil-A? The chicken tasted good, so maybe I'll go back.

That got me in to a conversation about another place opening soon, Dave and Busters. They're taking over the long abandoned eyesore that used to be the Orland theaters on the south end of the Orland Park Mall. I figured, oh, another big hamburger place? But no. It's a kids hangout, like Chuck-E-Cheese with the big Rat where kids plow a fortune in change in to worthless electronic pinball games. What a waste, but fun for the kids, of course.

They have 55 locations and number 56 will be landing in Orland soon, Mayor McLaughlin's idea of economic boon. (Not!) I can just see all the rich people who are going to plunk down their retirement fortunes to land one of those nifty Ninety7fifty luxury apartments that everyone is complaining about, lining up to get in to Dave and Busters to play the video game machines.

Their slogan is "play your little heart out," a message to the "little" kids who will plop in coin after coin eating up their parents disposable income or grandparent's retirement funds on junk time.

Hey, whatever brings in the sales tax money to the village.

By the way, where is my annual sales tax rebate check? I miss that. Bad move getting rid of it. It's the little things that really count and what little we got made me feel great. They then got rid of it and now what? I have no plans to move in to Niety7Fifty any time soon. And I am not sure how many people are, although I know that the money to build the place is coming out of taxdollars I've paid to the village that could go to do something else.

-- Ray Hanania

McLaughlin says 95 percent of retail space is filled but I don't believe it

2011-09-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

I don't believe it ... I don't believe that 95 percent of the retail space in Orland Park is filled.

McLaughlin is quoted in the TribuneLocal as saying 95 percent of Orland Park retail space is occupied, giving it the lowest vacancy rate in the south suburbs.

Do I have to go out and count every retail vacancy that exists? They are everywhere. An eyesore. A sign of a terrible economy. How do we assess it otherwise? Just by taking Mayor McLaughlin's word. I like him but I don't always agree with him. That's what Democracy is all about. It's not personal except in this sense. I live in Orland Park and I am concerned about Orland Park and I don't think all of the members of the Village Board have acted responsibly when it comes to Orland Park.

There is no doubt in my mind that the village is playing with the numbers. Manipulating statistics and data to make themselves look good. The Ninety7Fifty project stinks. It's just not smart government. Worse for the mayor, it's not smart politics.

Oh, don't tell me politics is not a part of all this. That's why the village is moving to hire its fourth communications person. Four. Two employed with the village, and one already contracted with the village and now they want another one. Didn't thew village do this when Pat Maher (name from the past) was running as the Village of Orland Park's dynasty representative in the last two elections? The voters rejected Maher because the voters rejected what he stood for and what he represented. And the elected officials who backed him stand to lose in the next election, too.

-- Ray Hanania

I guess we know what the Village of Orland Park's problem is ...

2011-09-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

Orland Park Says it needs to get it's message out:

the problem is their message is already out and the public doesn't like it.

The Village of Orland Park has two full-time communications people to help promote their events and agenda. Apparently, they're not very good, their political clout and pedigree not withstanding.

Don't get me wrong. I think communications consultants and employees are important to every government, After all, having spent 30 years as an award winning journalist with front line professional journalism experience under my belt, I am a communications consultant today. My job is to know not only how to present a message for a client, but also to whom. Who is the audience? And, what message is most effective. Comes from years of experience, folks.

But I have also learned that when a government has two full-time communications employees who were paid last year $142,768 -- and no doubt far more this year to issue press releases touting Mayor Dan McLaughlin and his agenda -- and the mayor declares that clearly the problem with the village is that it is not getting their communications message out very well so they have to hired a third communications consultant. Houston. We have a problem.

Now, communications isn't rocket science. So they hired a friend of mine, Lloyd Betourney -- I say that knowing that chances are in the small minds of some of the village officials, being my friend may not be an asset. Betourney heads up The Public Response Group which mostly does political campaigns but was brought on specifically to manage "reputation management" for Mayor McLaughlin and the Village.

I'm not sure which one has the reputation management problem at this point any more. (I love the village and I like McLaughlin -- he's a decent guy but we find ourselves on the wrong side of issues many times.)

The Public Response Group will only be paid about $49,500 for their 18 month contract to help the village get its reputation in order. So that brought the amount taxpayers are spending to manage communications (and the very related aspect of reputation management) to -- let's see, I went to the public schools where class length was far longer than what we have today in Chicago and even in the suburbs -- $192.276. Again, this Chicago Public Schools alumni can figure out that represents last year's total and my guess is the salaries this year for the "two" village relatives on the payroll is probably higher. So, for the sake of sensationalism, let's just say the village is already, now, paying about $200,000 for communications.

But apparently in the month since Betourney's Public Response Group was brought on, the village of Orland Park has decided to bring on yet another communications firm. Yes, another PR group to handle the issues probably being ruffled by the village's misguided plan to build luxury condominiums next to the Metra train station. (Sure. Wealthy people are going to move next to a Metra Train so they can get to work? I don't think so.)

The new fourth PR Firm being brought is in going to deal with surveys of the public to determine, as one village official explained, if things like snow removal and street cleaning were still relevant to residents.

I'm a little surprised that someone would ask that question. Of course, they were probably told what to say when asked by the three Communications employees and consultants who I am sure got together to figure out why that amount of money wasn't going to their pockets.

And by the way, how much with the village spend to hire the fourth communications consultant? We don't know. Maybe the village needs to hire another communications consultant to help them figure that out. They'll take bids and they will do it publicly.

Mayor McLaughlin and the "IT Team" headed by Trustee Jim "Sunshine" Dodge -- that's his favorite saying -- are probably just doing their best to try and figure out why their originally intended message hasn't gotten out. And maybe they want to know why the message of the luxury apartment complex they want to build using taxpayer money seems to be mired in public rejection. And oh, the public so does not want that Main Street Ninety7Fifty complex with the nifty little name.

They just don't understand. The problem is that their message HAS already gotten out and the problem is that the taxpayers in Orland Park understand it very well and they don't want it.

Wow. And no one had to pay me for that communications advice. I can just hear the commotion at the Village of Orland Park's new Communications Consultant Armory Offices and the $280,000 in salaried and consulting employees screaming, "Let's put out 5 press releases and see if we can spin this differently folks!"

Why not? It doesn't bother them how much the village has to spend on consulting, on luxury apartments and on PR spin. It's taxpayer money anyway.

-- Ray Hanania

Suburban school children stay in school longer than their Chicago counterparts

2011-09-06T06:23:00.001-07:00

I was fascinated by the debate in Chicago over the length of time schools kids spend time in schools. There is no question that the big concern is teachers is their excessive salaries and their pensions, not the children. And that's sad. The fact is Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is not right about much, is right about the schools. Children need to stay in the elementary school classrooms longer than the 5 hours or so they are there now. Emanuel wants to increase their time in school and that's a great idea.

The Chicago news media (Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times) are preoccupied with the subject. But the truth is they don't care about school children at all either. They care about selling newspapers. Even the TV media which slurps up sloppy seconds on news, follows the lead of the Tribune and the Sun-Times reporting only on Chicago's school dilemmas.

Well let me give some information that no one seems to care about.

Suburban schools started one week before Chicago's schools and will probably remain in class days longer than Chicago's schools.

Suburban children are in class more than 6 hours every day and there is nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, Emanuel is right. School children should be in class at least 6 hours but the Chicago Teacher's Union doesn't agree. The issue for them is salaries and wages and costs. It's not about the children. Teachers complain about their salaries but they get great salaries and great benefits. But they always want more.

Chicago's Mayor Emanuel should win this fight and force the kids to stay in school longer.

It may be different from some kids in High school. There, the children in junior and senior year may have to work to help their families and staying in school longer might be a costly burden for them. But that's easily resolved by giving those children permits to leave school early.

The point is, children should be in school all day and at least 6 hours or more. That's where they learn. And if teachers don't want to be teachers, maybe they should join the unemployment line and see what it's like being without a job.

They have great healthcare benefits that are far superior than anything their students get. So quit whining, teachers and start focusing on what's good for the students. Your union has done far more for you than you deserve, getting more benefits than the students. While your salaries have increased, school programs have been cut.

I wonder if they teach about all this in economic classes?

-- Ray Hanania

Main Street or Main Problem

2011-08-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

I admit, I haven't spent a lot of time analyzing Mayor Dan McLaughlin's Main Street plan. And while I have confidence int he abilities of some of his advisers -- the Village Manager Paul Grimes for one has done a great job over the years and is an asset to the village -- I just can't fall in love with this latest development plan.

It's called Main Street. Or "Ninety7Fifty on the Park." It's supposed to be the Park Place of Orland Park. It's supposed to attract the really rich, and I assume their money to Orland Park. It's supposed to be financed by the Village. Officials say it doesn't involve tax dollars but that's not really true. Every dollar that government spends is basically a tax dollar that comes out of our pockets. And that is the first red flag. Why is the village and McLaughlin using village funds to build an upscale apartment complex for the rich? Can't they afford to do it themselves?

I understand the argument. The developers want help to get it done. Every developer wants help to get their projects done but we don't help them all. And we certainly haven't helped developers to the extent that the village and Mayor McLaughlin want to help "Ninety7Five on the Park." That's a lot of money we're going to be floating for the developers. They say it will work. Maybe. And maybe not.

And who gets stuck with it? The taxpayers.

But I have a concept problem with the whole deal, besides legitimate concerns about the financing plan Mayor McLaughlin has developed for the developers.

To put it simply, the Village of Orland Park is going to put up $62 million to help build this project, expensive luxury apartments that will be bought by the wealthy -- I assume these are people who don't already live in Orland Park and have pots of gold stashed away in their 6,000 square foot homes that haven't fallen to the mortgage banker robber barons for foreclosure. 295 units of luxury apartments -- why not call them expensive condos? That are supposed to "anchor" the new Orland Park downtown. Downtown. My family fled Chicago specifically to get away from "downtown." Maybe Mayor McLaughlin has been working downtown too much to see the pitfalls of a downtown.

Anyway, seriously. Some rich dude with loads of cash is going to move to Orland Park to live in a luxury condominium which is supposed to be the anchor of a yet unbuilt "downtown?"

I don't think so.

Worse. They are going to drop how many hundreds of thousands in today's crappy real estate market where condos are the last to sell and the first to go in to foreclosure?

I don't think so.

And even worse. The idea that some rich dude is going to buy a luxury condominium apartment next to a train station -- the METRA train station?

I don't think so.

Didn't Tinley Park try to build a bunch of expensive condos near their train station and didn't that fall through specifically because rich people don't want to live near train stations?

We just finished an ugly debate a few years ago about giving seniors free CTA transportation because Gov. Quinn and others said that rich seniors shouldn't get free public transportation. They can pay for it. So some rich guy will millions is going to take the train from Orland Park's "downtown" where he moved to, in order to go to Chicago's "downtown" which everyone is trying to escape from?

I don't think so.

Mayor McLaughlin has a few good advisers. And he has a few goofs, like his buddy on the planning commission who has run-of-the-mouth disease on the Orland Park Patch hate board. Or the District 230 idiot who thinks she can be five things at one time, who also publishes here stupid comments on the Orland Patch hate board. (I love the Patch but I think its chat board is too filled with viciousness and hatred.)

I think there is a tinge of pre-election jitters involved here. McLaughlin knows that he is in for an election fight this next go around. The last few elections have been a breeze. The candidates were good people who couldn't get their acts together. But this next election, I think, the mayor is going to have a serious challenge. And I think he wants this to work so bad to help him get re-elected.

I could be wrong. But, I don't think so.

-- Ray Hanania

Open Letter to the Officials of the Village of Orland Park From Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman

2011-08-26T12:43:00.001-07:00

Open Letter to the Officials of the Village of Orland Park

From Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman

For some time, the Mayor and Trustees of Orland Park have been proposing a “Downtown” Orland Park development plan. A cornerstone of this plan is to be a Luxury Apartment/Commercial Complex to be built adjacent to the Metra Train Station at 143^rd Street. As these plans are now being finalized, it has come to light that contrary to what was previously assumed to be a private-public partnership, is in fact a plan where the village will be financing 95% of this project through its bonding authority.

Now you will have a monumental decision that impacts all of the taxpayers in the community. It should be an easy decision to make if village officials make as their priority protecting the best interest of those taxpayers.

There are many questions that must be answered. And given the village’s push for full transparency, providing the answers to these questions to the public should be simple.

For example, is it in the best interest of the taxpayers to double Orland Park’s debt in order to finance constructions of the proposed luxury apartment /commercial complex? I’m certain there would be local taxpaying developers that would love the opportunity to put up $1,000,000 and have the village finance the remaining $62,000,000 coupled with the well over $40,000,000 that has already been spent on this project.

Making the assumption that the sales tax will remain constant is a reckless risk. We know that Governor Quinn is seeking to roll back sales tax returns to the municipalities in order to bail out our deeply debt-burdened state. Mayor McLaughlin is keenly aware of the risks of relying on sales taxes to repay the debt because he attended a press conference at which local mayors plead with the Governor not to reduce sales tax returns to local governments. If Governor Quinn gets his way, you will be putting every Orland Park property owner in serious peril.

Increasing debt has its consequences. Look what happened to the nation’s bond rating in the wake of the recent public debate about increasing the debt. Is it wise to risk all this for a speculative venture?

Who is going to pay that type of rent, $1,500-$2,000? Young professionals, who the village is targeting, will choose Lincoln Park or the South Loop without the travel time or expense. Orland Park has a growing inventory of vacant retail space and rental property. Only a handful of the units at The Park Station at 153^rd Street Metra Station (behind Colette Highlands) have been purchased, where an empty foundation lies.

More importantly, we just had a village-wide election in which all of these issues could have been brought to the public for discussion and debate. Instead, these plans were held back until after the election as if to avoid public discussion.

Orland Park should not rush in to this venture. The financing and the debt it will bring needs to be examined more closely. It has taken years to get to this point and now the village officials want to fast-track this? It doesn’t sound right.

It is my understanding that the Village will be hosting an “open house” regarding this development on August 29, 2011 at the civic center. Holding a meeting the week before Labor Day with a planned vote the day after Labor Day is simply not enough. Most people are busy getting their kids back to school and focusing on the holiday. I would hope village leaders would schedule several public hearings in September with a final vote on the issue in October. Don’t muzzle the taxpayers on this issue. Please hear us out.

Respectfully,

Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman

Orland Park Resident and

Cook County Commissioner

VILLAGE OF ORLAND PARK PLANS GOLF OUTING TO BENEFIT OPEN LANDS AND ART IN THE PARK

2011-08-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

VILLAGE OF ORLAND PARK PLANS GOLF OUTING

TO BENEFIT OPEN LANDS AND ART IN THE PARK

ORLAND PARK, ILLINOIS – The Village of Orland Park will hold its annual golf outing on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at Silver Lake Country Club. The outing benefits Open Lands of Orland Park and Art In the Park.

“This is a beautiful day on the golf course to benefit two great programs in Orland Park, Open Lands and Art In The Park,” said Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin.

Check-in and continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m. with a shot-gun start at 9:30 a.m. The outing is limited to 144 golfers, so golfers are encouraged to send in their reservations as soon as possible. Tickets are $130.00 per person and include eighteen holes of golf, ½ cart, continental breakfast, lunch on the course, cocktails, dinner and door prizes. For those who are unable to golf, dinner tickets are available at $50 per person. The outing is open to the entire community.

Golfers will enjoy testing their skills for prizes in contests at several of the holes, including the Hole In One Contest, sponsored by Terry’s Lincoln.

Additional sponsors to date for the outing include The Private Bank, Peace Village, Buffalo Wild Wings, Costco, NAVA Disaster Services, Inc., V3 Companies, Monee Rentals and Sales, Day & Robert, P.C., Apple Chevrolet, Christopher Burke Engineering, Robert J. Sheehy & Sons Funeral Home, Fox’s Orland Park, William Filan, Ltd., and Petey’s Restaurant.

Opportunities are still available for businesses to sponsor a hole, sponsor the cocktail hour, and lunch. The committee is also seeking door and raffle prizes for the event. All sponsors and prize donors will be listed in the event program that is given to all attendees.

For more information and to sponsor the event and/or donate a prize, please contact Patty Vlazny at 708/403-6145 or visit the village’s website at www.orland-park.il.us.

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LaMargo's plan to bring full transparency to District 135 is long overdue

2011-08-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

I guess I am not surprised by the outrageous response that Joe LaMargo got when he suggested that District 135, with all of that taxpayer loot stored away in its checking accounts, start posting public records publicly. Tom Cunningham attacked LaMargo calling his proposal to educate the public "offensive." Sorry Tom. What's offensive is that the district has so much money in its coffers and it is always asking for handouts from the taxpayers. What's really offensive is that when the board finally gets some clear thinking board member and some good proposals, the board reacts with knee-jerk secrecy concerns.

Transparency is the best way to prove that a government is doing a good job. The Orland Fire Protection District where I work as a media consultant launched its transparency in May posting all contracts, budgets, financials and even the actual salaries that fire fighters receive on their web site. Soon after, the Village of Orland Park under the leadership of LaMargo, the deputy clerk, and the village manager, Paul Grimes, posted all of their documents online, too. Both initiatives are modeled after proposals by the Illinois Policy Institute, which I have been working with as a radio talk show host for years promoting full transparency.

Not everyone wants that, though. Each effort needs to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. But LaMargo is right to push at the school board.

My biggest beef with the District 135 board is that too many of its board members have children who don't even attend the public schools they regulate. That's outrageous, Tom Cunningham. How about if District 135 required its board members to send their children to the public schools. Do you think we might start seeing even more concern for the District 135 students when their children start attending District 135 schools?

I have to say this Cunningham, you are a grave disappointment as a public official. You need to get your act together and start focusing on the concerns of the public and stop playing politics. What's really depressing is that Cunningham tried to run for the village board. Looking back, I can only imagine the horrible policies had he succeeded.

We need more transparency in Orland Park, not less. The public has legitimate questions about the huge cache of taxpayer funds the district is accumulating. For what? What District 135 should do is return and rebate most of that savings to the taxpayers, who are in desperate need of taxpayer relief. The reason why Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman is doing so well is that she has a proven track record of fighting for the rights of taxpayers. Have you heard that too much? Well, you'll hear it more here.

The reason why the voters threw out the former OFPD Trustees Pat Maher and Salvatore Cacciato is that they were oblivious to the needs of taxpayers, spending money like wild sailors. Gorman set the bar and now governments are climbing on board.

Of course, Orland Mayor Dan McLaughlin needs to get with the program. He's hiring a "reputation manager" to help him change how the public perceives his work. Perfect timing for the $48,000 political contract since he is coming up for re-election. His missteps on the proposal to make taxpayers give the developers of a luxury condominium project at the questionable Main Street Triangle project raises real concerns. I guess you need a reputation manager when you do stupid things like that. Why should taxpayers pay for the building of luxury condominiums for the rich and wealthy? It's the dumbest idea I've heard. And the SouthtownStar agrees with that one.

I'm hoping village transparency might also help the public see who owns all of the land around that development. There are too many rumors about people with clout, and maybe some elected officials, holding shares to titles on nearby property.

Maybe the District 135 board should get its act together and get with the program. The priority is the interests and needs of the taxpayers of the district, not the political ambitions of its members.

LaMargo has a great idea and the Village of Orland Park and the Orland Fire Protection District (where I work as a media consultant -- full transparency is so refreshing) all agree.

District 135 needs to publish its full budget online, not the Budget at a Glance document which buries the most important information. The public has a right to know what is going on. Joe LaMargo is a refreshing voice on that board. He should be its president.

-- Ray Hanania

Saying goodbye to Borders Book store in Orland Park

2011-08-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Borders opened about 14 years ago in Orland Park, but it seems like it's been here forever. I loved going to that store and now that it's closing, it seems like the entire world is collapsing.

Borders was great, but then I have always been out-of-step with the world. Apparently, Barnes & Noble has been doing a better job although int he past 14 years that I have visited Borders in Orland 1,000 times, I may have gone to B&N 10.

It's the way the store was laid out. The great new titles were in the front. That changed about a year ago when they s tarted to use that old strategy of putting the best towards the back to make people walk through the garbage. Some business consultant who never bought a book obviously convinced someone that was a better way to do business. It's not. I'm happiest when I find a book and if I find a book very early on entering the store, I end up walking around the store and browsing longer. If it takes forever to find a book I want, I usually just leave and buy it.

Business consultants are not like political consultants. They're just dentists who couldn't be doctors.

One of my favorite pasttimes is book store terrorism. Well, not in a violent way, of course. I walk through the store and terrorize the extremists, turning their book covers inward so I won't see their names or their faces. Ann Coulter. Glenn Beck. Sarah Palin. Michelle Malkin. I love going through their books and turning them all around. You have to fight extremism with extremism, sometimes.

Although I will certainly miss my assaults on the rightwing fanatics on the book store shelves, I did get some satisfaction as I wandered through one final time as Borders began unloading its library of books at discounts between 25 and 40 percent. (25 percent off for the good books, 40 percent off for the politics, and 30 percent off for biographies. It tells you what sells, I guess.) Yes, I found satisfaction in thefact that Beck's books, Palin's books and the books of other right wing nut jobs are still on the shelves, not moving even with a close out sale. In fact, I saw all of George W. Bush's memoirs still crowded on the shelf. Not moving an inch. And, the hate books attacking poor ineffective and weak President Barak Obama are not moving either. The one that calls Obama a "gangster" is outrageous. That one I grab many copies of and then walk through the book store planting them behind other books all over the place -- cover facing the back of the shelf, of course.

We'll miss you Borders. Jeez. When Cattle Company shut down and you couldn't meet women any more and then it got replaced by Hooters where all you can do is stare at women, times really changed and I had to settle down (for the third and final time). But now, Borders?

Say it ain't so Joe?

-- Ray Hanania
http://RayHanania.wordpress.com

So empty, so good,not that expensive

2011-07-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

We decided to try the new restaurant, It's Greek to Me at 131st and LaGrange Road. Of course, it is a hassle to get in to the strep mall that is part of the home development there. I figured, it's not convenient but we can give it a try.

The prices were high but not too high. The food was good. I ordered lamb shank. It was kind of skimpy and tough. My wife had the Greek salad. I wondered why we would go to It's Greek to Me to enjoy a salad when it is so much easier -- and cheaper -- to enjoy a soup and salad at Olive Garden?

It was a clean place, but it didn't seem too crowded for lunch Friday. I think it's a great place for the people who live in the old golf course. But it needs better access so I don't have to twist and turn to get there off LaGrange.

It was nice. Not that notable. A little pricey, but decent. Is that a good enough reason to eat someplace? I don't know.

-- Ray Hanania

Orland Park hit by brownouts every day this week

2011-07-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

For the fourth time this week, Orland Park neighborhoods were hit with ComEd brown outs. What are they doing? No one knows. They just shut down the electricity for up to two hours. Take it or leave it.

What is ComEd doing? Did we have a power outage or is ComEd managing electrical service to spread it around to compensate for their poor service? ComEd is owned by Exelon. Exelon makes huge profits and its CEO is paid millions in wages. ComEd is losing money and begs for state subsidies and rate hikes. It's a shell game.

Much of their problem has to do with their failure to communicate well. They don't do a good job of informing the public. Their PR stinks and their explanations of their phony relationship with Exelon leave the public suspicious about rate hike needs.

But the worst part is they just do whatever they want and they don't care. They tell you they care, but their actions of uncaring speak louder than their empty words.

-- Ray Hanania

Gorman urges legislature to mandate posting of complete public employee wage listings

2011-07-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Gorman urges legislature to mandate posting of complete public employee wage listings

Commissioner Gorman to introduce resolution asking the General Assembly to require all public employee salaries and benefits to posted online

For Immediate Release July 20, 2011
For More Information Contact:

Orland Park -- Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman Wednesday joined in calling for the Illinois Legislature to require all taxing bodies to publicly post detailed wages and benefits received by public employees.

The proposal was made this week by Orland Fire Protection District board President Jim Hickey who released a comprehensive list of all wages and benefits earned by the district's 112 public employees.

The disclosure, which was withheld by the unions and the former OFPD board, shows Orland firefighters are among the highest paid in the country with the average salary at more than $100,000 and more than $200,000 with salary and benefits.

"This is what we have been fighting for, to release basic information so that the public has an accurate understanding of how their tax dollars are spent by their local governments," Gorman said.
Gorman in fact was challenged by the former president of the OFPD Patrick Maher, who is related to the powerful Chicago 19th Ward union family of Tom Hynes.

"Now we know why they targeted me. The release of the data by the Orland Fire Protection District shows that Pat Maher failed in his duties to fight for the best interests of the taxpayers of the district, while Mayor Dan McLaughlin condoned this behavior." Gorman said, noting that past efforts to get the data released were blocked by Maher and his allies on the Fire Protection District.

"People are shocked by the wages that the data shows. It's not about whether or not we support firefighters. Of course we support firefighters. But their wages should be dictated by the needs of the community and the ability of the taxpayers to fund those services, not by a clout-heavy union that was used as an election army by their political sponsors."

Gorman noted that Maher received both political and financial backing from the fire union in his unsuccessful bid to unseat her from the County Board in 2010 and again in his failed bid to win re-election to the Orland Fire Protection District.

"I applaud the Orland Fire Protection District trustees for standing up for the interests of the taxpayers. Their new policies to create total transparency may have upset the powers that be, but they are helping to give the taxpayers the complete facts so they know how their money is being spent," Gorman said.

Gorman praised the Fire Districts new board majority, Hickey and newly elected trustees Blair Rhode and Christopher Evoy, for standing up to "those who want to dumb down the system, keep the taxpayers in the dark and maintain the status quo in Orland Park."

"Let's be clear. I am not against the unions. I am against those unions that form unholy alliances with government officials to manipulate and undermine the taxpayer's interests. And clearly in Orland Fire Protection District, as we have just seen, the interests of the taxpayers were subjugated to the needs of politics," Gorman said.

Gorman said she will introduce a resolution to the Cook County Board to push local governments to follow suit and make all their records public, and to use that to urge the Illinois General Assembly to do the same.

"The taxpayers in Illinois and Cook County need this legislation. Someone needs to stand up and defend their best interests when it comes to the spending of their hard-earned dollars," Gorman said.

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Borders is closing and we're building more retail strip malls in Orland

2011-07-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know. Sometimes I wonder about government. Borders is closing and that is a major setback for consumers. It's a great store. And while we can't blame Orland Park for the closing of the Orland Borders -- Borders is a far better store than Barnes & Noble -- the closing will impact our community which has been hit hard by retail slumbers.

On top of that, the village pushed ahead with its plans to create some kind of downtown section at 143rd and LaGrange Road, the so-called Main Street Triangle plan. I never liked the plan, really. I liked the stores that were in the mall there. The Cafe was wonderful for it's breakfast steak skillet. I liked Randy's Market. And who can get rid of any of the rumors and suspicions that a lot of already influential people invested in the land around the Triangle area and the push is to help them more than the people of Orland Park?

Do we really need another mall? Do we really need more retail space when so much remains empty? Again, I'm not blaming Orland Park for the store closings. But seriously, hasn't anyone noticed all the stores closing? And among the ones that haven't closed, many are having serious financial troubles.

Now, the village is going to give Terry's Lincoln auto dealership a sales tax give-back of up to $100,000 a year for 10 years. Will the village live up to their promise? That's not an easy one to answer considering they reneged on the promise to taxpayers to rebate our sale tax portion. Remember those sales tax rebate checks we were promised. That just disappeared. Can't afford them. But we can afford this? No way. Those rebate checks symbolized the village's concern for the residents. Now, where is their concern? Those checks used to come to taxpayers and homeowners in the Spring. No more, folks. Because the village can't afford it. But the village CAN afford giving a rich car dealership a $100,000 sales tax rebate? Why?

In contrast, the Village is fighting a tax rebate for the Orland Park Mall. They don't want to give any money back to the owners of the fast decaying Orland Mall run by Simon Properties. The place is a dump. How about helping them with substantive improvements before the place turns in to a teenage skateboard hangout? I hate to go there and that's a tragedy because there was a time when I loved going to the mall. But the mall doesn't cater to the area residents any more. It's more for people from outside of the community who come here to buy the cheap junk that's being sold.

A bad economy does that to society. it pushes people to buy cheap junk. And that's what's at the mall these days. Junk.

We need quality stores. Not more cheap retail outlets.

And should we be giving sales tax rebate incentive to a car dealership? Why? Politics? Well, Terry's did put that favorable Ad in the newspaper before the election praising the incumbent office holders. Some of them deserve praise, like Trustee Brad O'Halloran. But is it payback? It sure looks that way.

Click here to remember what Terry's did for the incumbents just before the last election this past April.

I say invest the money in fixing up the village. I like where the village has been going. But I don't like a few of their recent decisions. Terry's is not what we should be doing with our tax dollars. What breaks have they given the taxpayers in Orland Park -- Oh, I did lease a car from them once. I wanted to buy it from them but their terms stunk.

Put the Triangle plan on hold. Stop the giveaway to Terry's, and how about coming up with a strategy to strengthen the commercial retail businesses we have, not dilute them?

Apparently, we homeowners are not really that important.

By the way, what does $100,000 in sales taxes actually represent? Well, if that's 10 percent of sales, that means $1 million in sales each year. (Anyone see the sticker prices of cars lately. You think gas prices have gone up!)

How about take the $100,000 and give it to someone to keep Borders open in Orland Park. Losing that store -- again not because it is the fault of the village -- is a major blow to the village. Next thing you know, we'll have some flea markets popping up. I don't want that.

Of course, I do like the decision by the village to publish all of its wage and contract records online. That's a great idea. (Sounds familiar.) But at least we know that we do have some very bright people working for the Village of Orland Park. Somehow, I don't think a lot of these decisions, though, are about economic sense as much as they are about politics and pals.

-- Ray Hanania

Racists in Orland Fire Protection District lie about almost everything

2011-07-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Orland Fire Protection District election in April was a cry from taxpayers that they were tired of the excessive spending by the fire district.

It was marked not only by the election of two newcomers, regular Orland Park residents and taxpayers who had no name recognition but who were concerned about the inability to get facts and data from the old Pat Maher/Salvatore Cacciato run board. Voters threw the incumbents out of office and they did it in a voter landslide that had a HIGHER VOTER TURNOUT than the same election four years earlier.

Since the election sweep, bigots and haters who have been writing on the Orland Park Patch (a web site I like, by the way) have libeled and defamed all of the people like myself who supported that change on the Orland Fire Protection District. Their lies have run the gamut and have been posted by anonymous people who refuse to post using their real names because their information is so exaggerated, inaccurate and wrong, it is pathetic.

Here are a couple of examples:

THE OPEN MEETINGS VIOLATION LIES

For example, a guy named "Spike" -- who clearly is hiding is relationship to the OFPD -- claimed that the new board members, Blair Rhode and Chris Evoy, were violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act by meeting with each other.

The law says that no number of an elected board that equals a "majority of a quorum" can meet together. For a board of 10, 5 is a quorum and 4 would be a majority of a quorum which means 4 people could not meet. Without doing research "Spike" and his minions on the Patch then claimed that since the OFPD board is 5 members and a quorum is 3, then a majority of a quorum is 2 and therefore -- according to these geniuses -- two board members could never meet to discuss issues.

But, the fact is the state has a special provision that is right in plain site that excludes 5 member boards from this rule and that says that the majority of a quorum rule does not apply. Instead, a quorum of a 5 member board cannot meet. That means 3 can't meet, but 2 can.

THE RACISM ATTACKS

Spike has peppered the Patch with references to my heritage which I am proud to claim is Palestinian Arab. (My mother is from Bethlehem and her church was the Church of the Nativity, where my cousin is now the Pastor.) Being a Christian Arab is important to me. But it provoked hate from Spiek and his minions who referenced numerous links to my Arab heritage and posted it on the Patch ridiculing me and my race.

Pathetic.

THE ELECTION TURNOUT LIES

The most recent lies from Spike and his minions is that the April 2011 election was the worst turnout of any past election.

Again, they are lying. They are basing it on the FACT that the voter turnout in Cook County was the lowest ever. But NOT in Orland Park or the Orland Fire Protection District.

In fact, the newly elected board members, Blair Rhode and Chris Evoy got more votes than not only the two board members they defeated (Maher and Cacciato) but also more votes than were cast (in 2007) for two of the three incumbent board members, Glenn Mihalek and Marty McGill. The ONLY person who ever got a significant number of votes above all was Jim Hickey in the 2009 election

Here are the FACTS:

In the April 2007 election Blair Rhode received 3,347 votes and Chris Evoy received 3,483 votes. Cacciato received 2,350 votes. More than 6,200 votes were cast for five candidates. In the Village trustee race (non-mayoral race) that same election, Ed Schussler got the highest vote with 2,616 votes cast in a field of 9 candidates and about 6,000 votes cast.

NOW, compare that to four years earlier (the off-year equivalent election), in the OFPD District the winning candidates Marty McGill got 2,603 votes and Glenn Mihalek got 2,695 votes, which were almost 1,000 votes less than Rhode and Evoy got. About 4,700 votes were cast in that election. In the village election (again, non-mayoral race) Bernie Murphy got 3,492 votes of a total of 4,120 votes cast.

The new board coalition, led by Hickey, Rhode and Evoy, are determined to implemented the mandate demanded by the taxpayers to cut costs. In the first 60 days, the new board cut nearly $500,000 from the budget.

FULL TRANSPARENCY DEMANDED

The new board hired me to help them get the word out on their efforts, and we immediately implemented a FULL TRANSPARENCY policy to place ALL public records on the Orland Fire Protection District web site.

We did that. It's called Dollars & Sense. There, all the questions that the old board REFUSED to answer are now available for the public to see for themselves. Instead of relying on the lies and exaggerations of people like "Spike" the public can get the facts firsthand and make judgments themselves.

Leading the way are Jim Hickey, Blair Rhode and Chris Evoy. They are determined to get the facts and truth out to the taxpayers.

The documents BEGAN not with exposing past spending but by detailing the spending of the current board. All of the new contracts are posted on the web site. And then, the new board began posting documents looking backwards including, for the first time, a full line-item budget of the Orland Fire Protection District and the salaries of every employee. The fact that many employees are making over $100,000 a year is of concern and interest to the taxpayers and the new board is determined to make sure the truth and the facts are released.

Obviously, based on their campaign of hatred, racism and name-calling, Spike and his (or her) minions are not happy that people know what they have been doing for the past 12 years behind the curtain of secrecy.

Visit www.OrlandFire.org to view the documents. And when you visit the OrlandPark.Patch.com web site, enjoy the great writing of Ben Feldheim and the reporters there, but be cautious and wary of the lies from anonymous posters like Spike and his minions.

-- Ray Hanania
(PS ... my contract is $36,000 a year compared to the $48,000 contract that Spike's pals were paying the previous media person and I have done more in the past two months to get public records out than was done before.)

Another spectacular 4th of July Fireworks display in Orland Park

2011-07-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

It was another spectacular fireworks display for the 4th of July in Orland Park. A salute to Mayor Dan McLaughlin and to Village Manager Paul Grimes for putting together a great event. The band was phenomenal -- the Beach Band (or something like that -- sorry dudes -- great music though). The crowds were pleasant. And I always love to be able to stand up when Mayor McLaughlin asks our veterans to stand to give them a salute. Lots of people came up and said thanks -- (I served during the Vietnam War and was fortunate, I guess, to hot have been sent overseas, although our F-111 Air Force Base unit was readied to go).

I used to go to the fireworks display in Tinley Park which is also a spectacular event, even while living in Orland Park, but shifted to Orland Park's fireworks about 15 years aog. And they have never let us down.

-- Ray Hanania

No reason to waste money or time at Taste of Chicago

2011-07-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

When it all started with Mayor Mike Bilandic in 1978, the idea of a downtown festival was unique and badly needed. The purpose was to bring everyone together and try to restore the Loop as a family fun attraction. So Bilandic launched ChicagoFest. It lasted two weeks and it featured some of the great entertainers like Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, the Doobie Brothers and Carole King just to name a few of the hundreds. There were some 600 performances each year.

The big benefactors at that time were the beer companies that sponsored the stages. They are the ones that made fortunes and they donated to the politicians. Isn't it always about the campaign contribution?

Image by jericho1ne via Flickr

When Jane Byrnebecame mayor, she vowed to dump ChicagoFest and then changed her mind and turned it in to a world class event of music, food and entertainment. Of course, several of her closest aides ended up getting the food concession franchise that sat right at the front entrance where she held her opening day press conference.

Byrne politicized the festival during her four years in office, giving reporters she liked books of free tickets for food and the event and they ones she despised -- like me -- had to go on my own dime. It was cheap back then.

When Harold Washington came to office, he ended up cancelling ChicagoFest. There was too much criticism that the festival was intended for White residents of Chicago who packed the entertainment, even though there were lots of African American entertainers and the Blues.

Then, ChicagoFest morphed into Taste of Chicago and something changed with it. The focus, which was supposed to be on family, suddenly shifted to the big shot restaurants and food companies. Taste of Chicago became a promotion not for families and the city but for the restaurants that had deep campaign roots with the office of the Mayor. The costs started to rise.

It was a simple transition. Taste began while Byrne was mayor, intended to be the alternative to ChicagoFest. CHicagoFest was the baby of the Chicago Tribune, which was one of the big sponsors and they campaigned against Byrne to prevent her from cancelling it. But Byrne had her restaurant pal Arnie Morton come up with the idea to do a Taste of Chicago in 1980. The political transition started from that.

It all became about the money and making the restaurant owners happy, because some of those restaurants had real clout. And the news media started to fall in line, turning their backs on exposes about clout and politics at the Taste each year because their advertising revenues were dropping and they couldn't afford to criticize the restaurants, who were their biggest advertisers.

And then crime started to happen at Taste. And that grew too.

The only thing that didn't grow was the food. The portions got smaller and smaller as the restaurants got greedy. Prices kept jumping. And the quality of the food started to fall too. Honestly, the whole reason to attend Taste of Chicago was to see what it was like to be a sardine without any aluminum walls. No can. Just space packed with people. It became a game. Could you walk through Taste of Chicago without having your pocket picked by a pick pocket?

And the biggest game of all, how much money would you have to lay out by the end of the Taste of Chicago tiring trip. Walking back and forth and all you really got for your time was the opportunity to spend a lot of money -- as much as $200 for two adults and one child -- to sample the sometimes lousy food samples.

The way money went through the Taste of Chicago experience was similar to the way money flows out of your hands in to the casino slot machines, with very little to show for it but body odor and sweat. Well, at Taste of Chicago, over the 4th of July weekend, it was caused by the hot summer. At the casinos, the B.O. is from the level of patrons who have begun dominating the gaming experience. The poor need the money so bad they are willing to risk what little they have on gambling, not spending it on food and other things they really need because it isn't enough anyway.

This is the second year we didn't go to Taste of Chicago and frankly I don't feel like I missed anything. There is nothing to see. I don't need to lay out hundreds of dollars just to be able to sample a measly portion of crappy food.

This year's tickets sold for 12 for $8, up from last year. Each strip of tickets basically pays for one dish of food. So, to stop at four of the 59 restaurants, you would probably need 12 strips or about $96 just for the samples. And that is NOT much food at all, believe me. They did come up with some called "Samples where you pay the equivalent of $2 to get a tiny "sample" of food. But when you are done "sampling" 10 different places, you will have spent $20 -- supposedly because it is all based on tickets and each ticket is about 67 cents per ticket. So a $2 group of tickets would be three or four tickets, or really $1.97 for three tickets or $2.64 for four tickets. Believe me, it is all a scam to get your money.

Image via Wikipedia

Hey, at least this year the ban against having an American Arab vendor was lifted and alHambra Palace was allowed to participate. Oh yes. Arab vendors have been banned by the city by practice not by stated policy. What looked like Arab vendors in the past were not really Arab at all. And that is kind of ironic considering that under the new administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose father was a member of the terrorist organization the Irgun during the 1940s Arab-Israeli wars before the creation of Israel in 1948, all things Arab have begun disappearing (the annual Arabesque Festival ended this year; no major Arab appointments to the city administration; and the targeting of Arab owned small grocery stores in the inner city, among the many anti-Arab policies of the Emanuel Administration. Read about it all.)

Well, no one really cares much about the Arabs, including many of the Arabs who are happy to get whatever crumbs they can from the Mayor's Office under Daley and even less from Emanuel. Chicago supposedly is the role model of diversity and cultural richness but some how the Arabs get stiffed every year when it comes to grants, cultural programs (the city considers "Israeli" events to be "Arab" when you FOIA the paltry list of funded real Arab events). In truth although Emanuel's administration by design or by accident is anti-Arab, Mayor Daley did his best to only give us as little as was needed to keep the Arabs of Chicago happy. (I wrote the book on Arabs of Chicagoland, so I know.)

But I digress, of course, because when you are American Arab, digressing is about the only way you can get someone to consider your challenges.

The bottom line is this. Taste of Chicago sucks. It is too expensive, it is not family-friendly. The entertainment is not the priority and the campaign contributions to the politicians are all that really matter. And even though Mayor Emanuel has beefed up the police presence at the festival, crime is always a major issue -- crime that often gets under reported by the media which are partners in the festival to make money, too.

Save your $200. You are better off using it to by fresh food and the barbecue it at your home, somethign you could do five times on t hat budget as a much more family-focused alternative.

(But I do think that you will have more fun out in the suburbs like at Naperville's RibFest and Orland's Taste of Orland.)
-- Ray Hanania

Gambling on a casino -- not worth the bet

2011-07-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

I don't gamble much which made the idea of going to a casino that much more exciting. I hadn't been to a casino in at least three years or more. So I figured, why not take the little woman and go and throw away a little money just for the heck of it? I mean, money doesn't have much value these days with the prices skyrocketing through the roof for gasoline, food, vacations and clothing. When you pay almost $10 for a "value meal" at McDonalds or at Burger King, it's time to rethink the whole value of money. And what better place to do that than at a casino where your money basically has no value whatsoever.

We decided on Jack Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Hammond Indiana. We'd been there before and I prefer it over the Empress, which is not very impressive, and the Grand Victoria, which is really too far away to drive. It was a Saturday night but I was surprised how crowded the place was. It was jam-packed. Full. Shoulder to shoulder. Every one of my favorite slot machines, the Wheel of Fortune, was taken (I think they have 14 of them in an island). So I walked around a bit and I was shocked at how things changed.

First of all, I had a hard time finding the $1 slot machines. They've been replaced. Years ago, you would see some Dime Machines and a couple of nickle machines. But this place was filled with Penny Machines. Yes, One Cent machines and there were lines waiting for seats. There were Two Center machines, too, and also Nickle Machines. I'm thinking, who walks around with a pocket full of pennies. But, that's the other thing that has changed -- no pun intended. The casino doesn't use "change" any more. You don't use coins. You put money in and you get worthless pieces of paper that you have to "cash in" at little Casino ATMs.

What a hassle. I liked it when I could walk out of a place with $400 in Silver Dollars. Well, we don't have many Silver Dollars any more. We have those gold colored dollars which are the size of half dollars.

The place was really disappointing. I finally got one of the Wheel of Fortune Machines and it turned out to be a good one .. I love getting the Wheel of Fortune and then spinning the wheel. It's rigged, though. The machine on; lands on 25 and 50. And once-in-a-while, a 75. That is not much when you can only pay for quarters. Yes. Crap. No, not dice. Crap. They didn't have a $1 Wheel of Fortune Machine. When I finally did land a 750, that was only $200 in quarters. What a waste of time.

I think the casinos make more money from the poor slobs who play pennies, nickles and dimes because it's so easy to lose change than it is to loose a dollar or more on each spin. And a lot of the people were slobs. I guess no one considers going to a casino a classy place. We were dressed up but I felt like I was walking down Skid Row or something. The place was skanky.

Ihad to try a Penny Slot. I figured $20 would be like playing a million dollars.But, I quickly discovered how misleading they are. You can bet the maximum and it's really $2 I thought the maximum bet of 20 meant pennies.

I don't mean to be mean to Horseshoe. The place has a great reputation. But gee wiz. Gte rid of those penny slots if you want people to come and drop some real cash. I left after donating $200, with more than $500 in my pocket that I had planned to play but just didn't think sitting there dropping quarters and nickles all night was worth the time or the effort. I mean, the Progressives -- the slot machines that are rigged to really rip you off -- offered astronomical winning pots of ... $125. Wow.

I had to wait in a long line of people who needed a bath badly until I could put my slips of paper into the machine only to find out that it was jammed and I had to go to another one. And then when it did pay out, it gave me $400 in crinkled fives and singles. And the dollars had B.O., too.

Okay. I don't care if you think I am being insensitive. There were people there that needed a bath, damn it! And if they don't care smelling like slobs, then I don't care about writing about them.

All in all it wasn't a fun time. The machines were broke too. I got one of the Club Cards but every time I put it in a machine, it wouldn't register at all. And after a while of trying to get it to work, you end up playing the machine anyway with no real credits to your name. But then, I figured if the place is filled with Penny Slots, I wonder what kind of food they offer at the buffet, which in the past was my favorite place to go? McDonalds? Burger King? Value meals?

So much for the gaming industry. And Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel thinks bringing a casino to Chicago is going to generate revenue? No. It will just create a hangout for the "out crowd."

Put some people at the door Jack and keep some of the riff-raff out. Get rid of some of the Penny Slots and bring back more $1 slots and put some $5 and $10 slots back in the gaming room.

-- Ray Hanania

Orland Fire Protection District dedicates new headquarters Sunday June 26, 2011

2011-06-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ray Hanania

Sunday June 26, 2011 312-933-9855 cell

Orland Fire Protection District Headquarters officially dedicated

Orland Park -- The Orland Fire Protection District officially dedicated its new Headquarters with a ribbon cutting and reception Sunday.

Acting Fire Chief Raymond L. Kay told attendees at the new headquarters, 9790 W. 151st Street, Orland Park, that the facility will consolidate the district's fire services.

"It is important that you get a chance to see what takes place in the support building. Our people on the streets run 8,000 calls every year and they need support to get there. Things like dispatch, which is upgraded in our new building," Chief Kay said.

"Things like fire prevention which you will see when you take the tour. Part of keeping our buildings up to code so we have safe buildings in the community. And the administration is here to help make sure things run efficiently," Kay told the gathering.

Orland Fire Protection District Board President James Hickey applauded the dedication but reminded the audience that the ribbon cutting for the headquarters symbolizes a new era in which the district will focus on maintaining and supporting the fire district's high quality of services, and the call of voters and taxpayers to better manage costs.

"I think everyone knows that the Orland Fire Protection District is changing. We're moving forward with a mission given to us by the voters and the taxpayers. In the last election they spoke out loud and clear. They want to preserve the high quality services that the Fire Protection District offers, but they want us to do it with an eye to cost-savings and fiscal efficiencies that make sense," Hickey said to applause.

"They are not just saying cut. They are saying cut where we can to bring down the burden on the taxpayers. That's what this new board is doing. We're doing it with precision and respect. We're trimming down some salaries on some positions. We're working closely with the Fire leadership to find ways to maximize what we can get out of every dollar."

Hickey said the board is committed to "preserving the highest quality fire services that the taxpayers have come to expect. So today, as we inaugurate this new headquarters building, let's look at this as a beginning of a new era to rein in costs while exceeding performance and maintaining quality."

Dedication emcee Battalion Chief Dan Smith also introduced Orland Park Village Trustee Patricia Gira, who attended the dedication, and former trustee Salvatore Cacciato who also briefly spoke about the years he spent helping to bring the headquarters to realization.

Smith said the new headquarters will improve work flow and provide room to allow more employees to work out of the centralized fire headquarters.

The new State-of-the-Art headquarters building replaces the smaller office property located behind Fire Station 1, Smith said. The new headquarters accommodates about 25 staff (compared to 10 previously). The new board room accommodates up to 80 people and replaces the older room which accommodated about 30 people.

The new building features an expanded training room, the Fire Prevention Bureau and all administration functions and services (parts of which in the past were distributed among the various fire houses). The lower level features a renovated dispatch center which not only services the Orland Fire District but also services Oak Forest and Calumet City Fire Departments. It also provides MABAS (Mutual Aide Box Alarm System) services for extra alarm fire/EMS calls in Division 19 (Orland/Frankfort /Manhattan area) and also Division 22 (Alsip/Blue Island area) and Division 24 (Tinley Park, Lansing area).

The building received a blessing from Pastor Shawn Nettleton of Christ Lutheran Church.

About 100 people attended the ceremony.

You can view the video of the dedication by clicking this address:

On Youtube, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzsh0G7oVLs

On Vimeo visit:

http://vimeo.com/channels/217924

(The media has permission to embed the video on their web sites if they wish)

Below are the full remarks of President Hickey:

I want to welcome all of you today to the formal opening of the Orland Fire Protection District headquarters. This new building allows the district to concentrate many of its services and brings together a lot of talent that is dedicated to providing you with the best firefighting services in the region.

I think everyone knows that the Orland Fire Protection District is changing. We're moving forward with a mission given to us by the voters and the taxpayers. In the last election they spoke out loud and clear. They want to preserve the high quality services that the Fire Protection District offers, but they want us to do it with an eye to cost-savings and fiscal efficiencies that make sense.

They are not just saying cut. They are saying cut where we can to bring down the burden on the taxpayers.

That's what this new board is doing. We're doing it with precision and respect. We're trimming down some salaries on some positions. We're working closely with the Fire leadership to find ways to maximize what we can get out of every dollar.

It isn't just the taxpayers who are demanding this. It is mandated by the economic times in which we live. We can't ignore this very important mission.

It can be done and it can be done in a way that will preserve the highest quality fire services that the taxpayers have come to expect.

So today, as we inaugurate this new headquarters building, let's look at this as a beginning of a new era to reign in costs while exceeding performance and maintaining quality.

OFPD Board President James Hickey

end