Two former political workers for Ald. Berny Stone (50^th) were sentenced to jail terms after both were found guilty on multiple misdemeanor counts of attempted mutilation of voting materials and attempted absentee ballot violations stemming from the 2007 aldermanic election in the 50^th Ward.

Anish Eapen, Stone’s handpicked Streets and Sanitation Ward Superintendent, was given the maximum jail sentence of 364 days in the Cook County jail for his part in a scheme to engineer absentee ballots favoring Stone that targeted the ward’s mostly immigrant and elderly voters.

Armando Ramos, a paid campaign worker in Stone’s 2007 aldermanic campaign, was sentenced to 270 days in the Cook County Jail. Both men were immediately taken into custody after their sentencing hearing on Wednesday morning.

In 2007, Stone faced three challengers in the general election, but was forced into a contentious runoff against Naisy Dolar. Stone narrowly won the runoff by 700 votes. Dolar has since moved out of state with her husband and family.

Eapen and Ramos were indicted on multiple felony counts of vote fraud after a joint investigation by then-Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in January 2008.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Lake Effect News.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Two Former Aides for Ald. Berny Stone Found Guilty (chicagotalks.org)
• Jay Stone Is Running for Mayor (chicagoist.com)

Photo by Joshuashearn

A news report from Lorraine Swanson, Lake Effect News

In an all too familiar scene that is being played out across city neighborhoods in Chicago’s bucket-of-blood summer, this time it was Uptown’s turn to gather in front of street shrine of holy candles and stuffed animals for a murdered neighbor.

More than a hundred residents turned out for an uneasy peace vigil on the 4500 block of North Magnolia on Friday evening where a 21-year-old man was shot to death earlier this week.

Aaron Carter was gunned down around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, along with a 27-year-old man who was shot in the legs, according to published reports. Carter, who grew up on Magnolia, was pronounced dead early the next morning at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Lake Effect News.

Senn H.S. Chicago. Image by t3mplar see flickr.com

Members of the Senn High School local school council elected a new contracted principal to replace retiring principal, Richard Norman.

Lincoln Park-resident Susan Lofton was awarded a four-year contact on July 1. Prior to coming on board as Senn’s interim principal in May, L

ofton was an assistant principal at Steinmetz High School.

Senn is an open enrollment, neighborhood school drawing students from Rogers Park, Edgewater and Uptown. While the school offers many ac

celerated paths for students, incoming freshmen living within the school’s neighborhood boundaries do not have to test into the school, unlike magnet high schools.

To continue reading click here to go to Lake Effect News.

If you’re mad as hell about fraud and corruption, and sick of the government wasting your money, you don’t have to take it anymore.

The Better Government Association is hosting two Citizen Watchdog Training sessions from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on July 20 and July 27. Both sessions are free and will be held at Loyola University’s Quinlan Life Sciences Building, Auditorium 142, at 1032 W. Sheridan.

The big dogs at BGA will train everyday citizens how to monitor government in their communities, publicize what they find and advocate for real change in government. Veteran investigative journalists, political reporters and legal experts will share their tricks of the trade with watchdogs to identify stories, research and analyze government reports, writing bullet-proof FOIAs, develop sources and report on their findings in all areas of government. More importantly, watchdogs will be equipped with the tools to advocate for change and demand better government.

Former ABC 2 political reporter and BGA executive director Andy Shaw will make an appearance. Citizens will also have the chance to meet a real government whistle-blower and learn how she stopped corruption in her own government agency.

Both sessions are identical so watchdogs-in-training need only sign up for one session. The sessions are expected to fill up fast so RSVP early at [email protected].

The Better Government Association (BGA) is an independent, non-partisan watchdog group committed to improving government.  With hard-hitting investigations and timely litigation the BGA exposes government corruption, waste and mismanagement.  We promote effective public policy and engage citizens to advocate for a transparent, accountable and honest government.

A Cook County judge handed down guilty verdicts in the bench trial of two political workers for Ald. Berny Stone on charges that they had allegedly tampered with absentee ballots stemming from the 2007 aldermanic race in Chicago’a 50^th Ward.

Anish Eapen, the former ward Streets and Sanitation superintendent, and Armando Ramos, a paid campaign worker for Stone’s political campaign committee, were both found guilty of multiple Class A misdemeanor counts of attempted mutilation of voting materials and attempted absentee ballot violations.

Ald. Berny Stone (50th Ward) in 2008, with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Devon Commissioner Majia Mustafa, and former Ward Superintendent Anish Eapen.

Both men were facing more serious felony charges that they had engineered absentee ballots of mostly immigrant voters in the 50th Ward favoring Stone. Stone was not charged with any wrongdoing.

“There is a difference between law and justice,” Judge Marcus Salone said. “Sometimes we ruin lives and sometimes we punish.”

Thursday’s verdicts conclude a long and often complicated trial that began in November, for an election that took place almost four years ago.

Ramos was found guilty on 20 different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and 19 counts of attempted absentee ballot violations.

Eapen was found guilty on nine different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and eight counts of attempted absentee ballot violation.

Salone said there was no doubt in his mind that Eapen had attempted to influence voters in the 50^th Ward.

Both men were ordered to have their affairs in order for their sentencing on Aug. 4. Their attorneys also have the option of requesting a new trial at that time.

Eapen and Ramos face up to one year of jail time, two years of probation, fines or a combination of all three.

Lead prosecutor Lynn McCarthy for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said she was happy with the outcome.

“I’m happy that they were both found guilty,” she said.

Ald. Helen Schiller

In a way, James Cappleman has never stopped campaigning for 46^th Ward alderman. His last defeat was seemingly a blip on the Doppler radar as he dusted himself off and hit the campaign trail the day after losing to Alderman Helen Shiller in 2007.

On Saturday, Cappleman formally announced his candidacy in a pointed campaign speech that took aim at an embattled incumbent who has yet to announce her re-election plans and three declared challengers, and others possibly standing  in the wings.

Cappleman chose the Sunnyside Mall to launch his 2011 campaign, a promenade known both for its community gardens and as one of Uptown’s most notorious open-air drug markets.

In a campaign speech that lasted all of seven minutes, Cappleman spoke of how the garden beckoned to him and life partner, Richard Thale, when searching for a new home on the North Side 12 years ago.

“I remember very clearly … it’s was a hot summer day,” Cappleman said, “there were a number of children playing in the area. We sensed immediately this felt like home.”

Cappleman hammered on the themes from his 2007 campaign, citing the current ward leadership’s lack of communication and accountability.

“The unresolved questions that we have about this garden are really no different than the unresolved questions we have about development in this ward and the unresolved concerns we have about public safety,” Cappleman said. “Like this garden, people want to know who will be there for them in their time of need. We deserve better.”

While Cappleman has never held public office, he touted his achievements as a community activist, working with Attorney General Lisa Madigan after discovering that a law forbidding registered child sex offenders from living within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds and childcare centers wasn’t being enforced in the 46^th Ward.

He also spoke of the many task forces he has served on addressing public safety issues for State Sen. Heather Steans (7^th District) and State Rep. Greg Harris (13^th District). Steans sent her chief of staff and former campaign manager to assist with Cappleman’s campaign kickoff on Saturday.

Taking aim at the other declared challengers in the 46^th Ward aldermanic race, Cappleman said he was the only candidate who was prepared to get down to work, “on day one.”

“While others in the race are on a steep learning curve and are just now beginning to talk to people, “ Cappleman said, “for the past ten years I have been working to make this ward a better place for everyone, and I did this long before I ever thought of running for public office.”

Cappleman claimed to have a detailed plan for improving the ward, from addressing public safety issues and creating an open door policy for the alderman’s office, including evening and weekend ward service hours, to requiring broader input on development.

“Imagine that,” he said to laughter. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

Cappleman faces three other challengers, including Ward Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Don Nowotny, Chicago police officer Michael Carroll, and Gerald Farinas, a Lakeview social worker and former political consultant to the 2004 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes.

Last week, Buena Park attorney Molly Phelan, who engineered Fix Wilson Yard’s lawsuit against the City of Chicago and developer Peter Holsten for alleged breaches of the state’s TIF laws in the creation of the Wilson Yard TIF District, filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections for the formation of a political campaign committee, Friends of Molly Phelan.  Phelan has also been said to be considering a run for 46^th Ward alderman.

Along with Nowotny and Farinas, Cappleman is one of three openly gay candidates running for 46^th Ward alderman.

Residents attending Cappleman’s campaign kickoff, and,  later, an evening fundraiser, saw a more battle-hardened candidate than the novice from four years ago, after enduring whispers that the votes he garnered in 2007 were merely votes against Shiller. He’s hired professional campaign manager Lauren Peters, who ran Jim Madigan’s tough, aggressive race against Steans in the Democratic primary for the Illinois 7^th Senate District.

Cappleman was the sole aldermanic challenger in 2007, handpicked by a committee of community and business leaders that wanted to avoid a runoff against Shiller, who has served on the City Council since 1987.

Both adored and reviled throughout the ward, Shiller has taken knocks from some residents who have seemingly declared war on the alderman for her affordable housing policies and being soft on crime. Shiller has yet to announce if she will seek re-election.

Until then, Cappleman is zeroing on Shiller’s support base, which he claims is shrinking. He also says that he learned a lot from his 2007 run.

“I learned not to take for granted that I would get huge support from the GLBT community that they would vote in droves for a gay candidate,” he said. “Money is always a factor. It certainly helps but it’s not one of the primary variables that’s going to get someone elected. I was outspent four to one and I still almost won. Time was a variable. I started in September and that was way too late.”

U.S. Representative and diehard Chicago Blackhawks fan Mike Quigley (D-5th District) congratulated the newly minted Stanley Cup champions on the House floor the day after the Blackhawks’ overtime win in Game 6 of the Stanley Cub championships.

“Madam Speaker, you have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy this, but sometime late last night, Patrick Kane slipped a puck past a Philadelphia goaltender in overtime and the Chicago Blackhawks became the Stanley Cup Champions,” Quigley said on the House floor.

Quigley also thanked Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, and sent special shout outs to the management team of John McDonough, Jay Blunk, Stan and Scotty Bowman, Coach Joel Quenneville and Dale Tallon. He even sang a few lines of “My Kind Of A Town.”

After the Hawks’ win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, Quigley celebrated with the team in the locker room and got to hoist the storied Stanley Cup, which weighs about 35 pounds.

Quigley still plays hockey regularly in Chicago and Washington. He recently played in a charity game at the United Center against the Blackhawks alumni, as well as a “Lawmakers vs. Lobbyists” match-up in Washington. He is a co-chair of the Congressional Hockey Caucus, a bipartisan group dedicated to combating childhood obesity while promoting exercise, teamwork, discipline and commitment through hockey.

To see a video of Quigley’s speech on the House floor, click here.

Chicago will host a ticker tape parade today starting at 10:30 at Michigan and Washington, with a rally to follow at 11:30 at Michigan and Wacker.

Did you get the message?

There is going to be a “flash mob” against BP Oil on Friday, June 11, at Millennium Park. The silent protest is one of many vigils taking place across the country this week marking the 50^th day of the BP oil spill in the Louisiana Gulf. As is typical of a flash mob, no one in particular is organizing the event. The Yes Men were forwarding an email around about the event, and perhaps MoveOn.org folks are involved.

Participants are being asked to bring black umbrellas, or wear all black and “casually converge” on the BP pedestrian bridge starting at 12:11 p.m.

When the whistle blows at 12:30 p.m., participants will generate a visual representation of the oil slick seen from above by filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge.

Starting from the middle of the bridge over Columbus Drive, mob participants will open their umbrellas and squat or sit down, covering as much space of the bridge with umbrellas or bodies as possible.

MoveOn.org asks that participants not carry signs or confront patrons of Millennium Park, damage property or otherwise break any laws.

The flash mob is a “silent protest intended to bring together a community of concerned citizens in creating a living illustration of the damage that threatens the collective health of our planet,” according to MoveOn.org.

At 12:35 p.m. when the whistle blows a second time, participants will quickly and calmly collect themselves and disperse.

The vigil will happen rain or shine.

For more info, check out MoveOn.org.

And if you haven’t done so already, Bark Bark Club at 5943 N. Broadway, is collecting nylons and tights send to Matter of Trust. The San Francisco-based environmental group is stuffing the donated nylons with pet and human hair to make homemade hair-booms that will be used to line the beaches to hold back the oil spill along the Gulf Coast.

Vice Mayor and 50th Ward Alderman Bernard L. Stone

An ongoing, well documented investigative series by the Chicago Tribune into various City Council expense accounts turned up numerous instances of city taxpayers’ largesse to the friends and family members of Chicago aldermen.

In November 2009, Lake Effect News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Chicago Office of Budget and Management inquiring into the expenditures of the Vice Mayor of Chicago, a position currently held by Ald. Bernard L. Stone of the 50^th Ward.

Although the original purpose for requesting these expenditures was not fulfilled, the information that Lake Effect News did receive revealed what may be another overlooked fund being used by Chicago aldermen further enrich friends and relatives already being paid for out of their aldermanic expense accounts as well as the city’s “regular payroll” and the recently-revealed Finance Committee chair-controlled expense account. (Better Government Associate Payroll Database).

The Vice Mayor of Chicago is an unpaid office established in state law following the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley in office in 1976. The vice mayor’s sole duty under law is to serve as interim mayor only long enough to chair a special City Council meeting to select an acting mayor.

While the vice mayor himself is unpaid and the office has no ongoing duties or programs, the Chicago City Council routinely appropriates $100,000 a year to the office of vice mayor. The line item in the city’s budget for the vice mayor’s expense account, coded “9701,” is described as follows:

“Contingent and other expenses for corporate purposes not otherwise provided for. To be expended under the direction of the Vice Mayor.”

City records obtained by Lake Effect News revealed at least eight persons being paid out of the vice mayor’s expense account that is being used entirely to pay individuals, and not for the purchase of office supplies or vendors’ services.

Allocations for the vice mayor’s office generally increase each year. Expenditures routinely exceeded annual allocations by 15 percent to 22 percent from 2002 through 2006. But overages increased sharply at the beginning of 2007 with a budget overrun 0f  86.4 percent, and in 2008, the vice mayor’s office had expenditures of $888,112 against an allocation of $108,792, a 713-percent budget overrun, according to Mayor Daley’s 2010 budget recommendation. [pdf page 57, budget page 49].

The records of 2009 expenditures from the vice mayor’s expense account, obtained through FOIA in late 2009, are incomplete, but show that the account is already over budget.

The sharp increase in expenditures by the vice mayor’s office was “due to bookkeeping issues in the City Comptroller office,” according to Peter Scales, spokesman for the Chicago Office of Budget and Management.

Known City Council accounts used for wages and salary, including the Finance Committee chair-controlled expenses, aldermanic allowances, aldermanic staff accounts or “regular payroll,”  and the vice mayor account, are established in the city operating budget within cost center “2005,” the City Council.

An examination of the beneficiaries of these four accounts reveal a distinct pattern of considerable overlap and frequent juggling of payees between accounts, including many instances of double, triple and even quadruple dipping among the payees.

The vice mayor’s expense account also demonstrates sharp increases in the number of payees in the second halves of 2007, 2008 and 2009. In many cases, a payee was apparently moved to the vice mayoral expense account in the second half of a calendar year, which corresponds to the city’s fiscal year.

Stone’s employees were the biggest beneficiaries of vice mayoral cash. Alan E. Crown received bi-monthly payments amounting to $73,991 in 2007, $70,943 in 2008, and $65,749 in 2009. Crown is also carried on the regular payroll of as a “legislative aide” at a monthly salary of $6,184 or $74,208 annually.

Ald. Fred Roti

Another beneficiary of the vice mayor’s expense account was Mary Ann Roti-Walz, the daughter of former 1^st Ward Ald. Fred Roti, who was convicted on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery 1992.

Roti-Walz received bi-monthly payments amounting to $53, 904 in 2006; $59,134 in 2007; $59,931 in 2008; and $57,648 in 2009. Roti-Walz is also carried on the regular payroll as a “legislative aide” at a monthly salary of $5,224 or $62,688 annually.

Between Sept. 16, 2008 and Jan. 1, 2009, Stone employee Beligh Sraieb received eight payments totaling $9,656. Sraieb was also paid $9,886 out of Stone’s aldermanic expense account in 2008.

But starting in the second half of 2007, aldermens’ friends and families from the length and breadth of Chicago’s 50 wards found gainful employment, as well as a certain amount of concealment from the usual Freedom of Information Act requests, on the vice mayor’s staff. Select and far from exhaustive illustrative examples follow. Stone did not return calls for comment.

10^th Ward, Ald. John Pope: A Quadruple Dip

For example, the Chicago Tribune reported that Ald. John Pope (10^th) paid a former streets and sanitation worker, Thomas Sadzak, who resigned after allegations he sexually harassed a co-worker and banned from future employment by the City of Chicago, nearly $18,000 from January 2009 to July 2009. Sadzak was also allegedly placed on a “no hire” list.

According to city records obtained by Lake Effect News, Sadzak was paid $1,059 on Dec. 1 and Dec. 16, 2008, and Jan. 1, 2009, amounting to $3,177 out of the vice mayor’s expense account. Sadzak was also paid $11,289 out of the Finance Committee expense account, and earned $2,254 per month as a “legislative aide,” about $27,048 per year from the City Council pay roll.

The Tribune’s web application provided with its investigation into aldermanic expense accounts also show Sadzak being paid $3,177 out of Pope’s expense account in 2008. In total, city records show Sadzak earning $44,693 in 2008. Pope did not return calls seeking comment.

19^th Ward, Ald. Virginia Rugai: A Triple Dip

Ald. Virginia Rugai (19th)

In addition to paying 19^th Ward Democratic Committeeman Matthew J. O’Shea more than $43,000 over 2008 and early 2009 to work for Ald. Virginia Rugai, the Chicago Tribune reported, Rugai paid O’Shea from her separate aldermanic expense account.

An examination of the vice mayor’s fund shows O’Shea was paid $23,757 in six payments between Aug. 16, 2008 and Jan. 1, 2009, according to city records. In 2008, O’Shea was paid $13,940 out of the Finance Committee expense account, and $24,451 in 2008 out of Rugai’s aldermanic expense account. Considering funds from all sources known at this time, O’Shea earned $62,149 in 2008. Rugai did not return calls seeking comment.

18^th Ward, Ald. Lona Lane: A Triple Dip

In 2008, Rosalba Lopez was paid $17,852 out of the vice mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments, city records show. Since at least Jan. 2, 2009, Rosalba Lopez has also worked for the Chicago City Council as “aldermanic aide,” currently earning $1,613 per month, or $19,356 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In 2008, Lopez was also paid $18,130 out of the aldermanic expense account of Ald. Lona Lane (18^th).

20^th Ward Ald. Willie Cochran: A Triple Dip

On Aug. 18, 2008, Angela Moore was hired by the City Council as an “aldermanic aide” at an annual salary of $30,804. Between Sept. 1, 2008 and Jan. 2, 2009, aldermanic aide Angela Moore was paid $10,696 out of the vice mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments. Moore was also paid $2,000 in 2008 out of the aldermanic expense account of Ald. Willie Cochran (20^th).

27^th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett: A Triple Dip

Ald. Water Burnett (27th)

In 2008, Dorothy Burnett was also paid $25,936 out of the Vice Mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments. Since at least Jan. 2, 2008, Dorothy Burnett, the mother of Ald. Walter Burnett (27^th) has also worked for the Chicago City Council as a “legislative aide,” currently earning $2,344 per month/$28,008 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). Dorothy Burnett was also paid $19,692 out of Ald. Burnett’s aldermanic expense account in 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported. Considering funds from all sources known at this time, city records show Dorothy Burnett earned $73,637 in 2008. Ald. Burnett had no comment.

31^st Ward, Ald. Ray Suarez: A Double Dip

In 2008, Fernando Martinez was paid $12,749.98 out of the vice mayor’s expense account, and one penny more out of the expense account of Ald. Ray Suarez (31^st), city records show.

47^th Ward, Ald. Eugene Schulter: A Triple Dip

Monica A. Schulter, daughter of Ald. Eugene Schulter (47^th), was paid $31,216 out of the vice mayor’s budget in bi-monthly payments between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 1. 2008. According to city records, Monica Schulter is paid $40,368 per year out of the aldermanic staff account as a  “staff assistant to the alderman” (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In addition, Monica Schulter was paid $31,614 out of Schulter’s aldermanic expense account in 2008, according to city records obtained by the Chicago Tribune. Considering funds from all known sources, Monica Schulter earned $103,199 in 2008, nearly as much as her duly elected alderman father ($104,100 in 2008). Schulter did not return calls for comment.

49^th Ward, Ald. Joe Moore: Triple Dip With Side of Political Funds

Since at least Jan. 2, 2008, Wayne Frazier has worked as an “aldermanic aide” to Ald. Joe Moore (49^th) currently earning $36,840 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In 2008, Frazier was paid $33,970 in regular, bi-monthly payments out of the vice mayor budget of Moore’s desk mate on the City Council, Ald. Berny Stone (50^th).  Frazier was also paid $34,500 in 2008 from Moore’s aldermanic expense account, according to city records obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

Frazier is also an employee also an employee of one of Moore’s political action committees, Citizens for Joe Moore (Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign Disclosure). Moore did not return calls for comment.

2008 Payees

City Council Amends Ethics Ordinance

The Chicago Ethics ordinance specifically exempts the personal staffs of aldermen from the prohibition against hiring relatives:

2-156-130. Employment of Relatives or Domestic Partners.

(a) No official or employee shall employ or advocate for employment, in any City agency in which said official or employee serves or over which he exercises authority, supervision, or control, any person (i) who is a relative or domestic partner of said official or employee, or (ii) in exchange for or in consideration of the employment of any of said official’s or employee’s relatives or his domestic partner by any other official or employee; provided that the prohibition in (i) applies to City Council Committee staff  but not to personal staff of an alderman. (Emphasis added.)

The Vice Mayor’s budget serves aldermen as a mechanism for adding relatives to the public payroll while avoiding the prohibition against hiring relatives into posts over which a city official has direct authority.

The Chicago City Council reacted to the Chicago Tribune’s investigative reports by passing an amendment to the city’s  ethics ordinance that purported to restrict the hiring of relatives of aldermen with expense account funds. Those already on the payroll can stay there.

Effective April, 2010, the above application clause is amended to:

… provided that the prohibition in (i) applies to city council committee staff and independent contractors who are paid from funds appropriated to the Alderman for contractual services, provided that those individuals who are relatives and are currently retained as contractors shall be allowed to continue to renew their service contract on an ongoing and annual basis: but not to personal staff of an alderman.

Chicago aldermen carefully preserved their right to hire relatives on their personal staffs by “grandfathering” relatives currently on expense account payrolls. Five aldermen, Beale (9^th), Lane (18^th) Cochran (20^th) , Suarez (31^st) and Stone (50^th) voted against the measure.

Issues

Unclear is whether this new language prohibits parking relatives of aldermen in the vice mayor’s budget: is the vice mayor’s budget fund appropriated to an alderman?

Also unclear is whether job descriptions, performance evaluations, or background checks exist to the extent the expense account payees are employees, and whether written contracts exist to the extent that expense account payees are independent contractors. To what extent taxpayers are picking up benefits, including health insurance, for these many expense account payees?

FOIA Compliance

The request to the City for information regarding expenditures from the vice mayor’s budget was filed Nov. 17 under the Illinois State Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). The City did not comply until Dec. 21. The act mandates a response within seven working days (”A Guide to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan, September, 2004).

In the continuing saga of Reggie, Lincoln Square’s most wanted cat, his person, Luise Jochum, schlepped out into the cold on a rainy, October afternoon for Reggie’s administrative hearing at 400 W. Superior.

Reggie, the pumpkin-shaped, 20-pound, orange tabby was busted for violating a city ordinance that requires pets to be leashed by the same cop who nabbed him two years ago for being an animal-at-large. Because this was Reggie’s second offense, he faced a fine of up to $500.

For nearly a month Reggie’s neighbors, who have appointed him the “Mayor of Lincoln Square,” have been taking turns walking the friendly, roaming cat on a leash. Reggie has been thrown out of some of the finest coffee houses in Lincoln Square, and according to neighborhood legend, once spent 11 days in the basement of the Davis Theater.

Sliding her cane and purse on the conveyor belt at the security checkpoint in the Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings building, 81-year-old Jochum, sans Reggie, grabbed the sides of the metal detector for support and walked through it, setting off the beeper. Jochum, who apparently doesn’t pass through too many metal detectors, forgot to take off her jangly bracelet.

Standing precariously without the support of her aluminum cane, the security guard waved a wand over Jochum, which was set off by more of her jangly jewelry. Not wanting to see Jochum topple over in the lobby of the administrative hearings building, the guard quickly handed back Jochum’s cane.

Taking the afternoon off from being productive members of society were Jochum’s neighbors: Wendy Carlstrom, who drove Jochum downtown, Pat Kovar and Maureen Sanderson. Neighbor Charles Fowler, wearing a suit and reading the Wall Street Journal, was already waiting for them in the lobby. Kovar carried pictures of Reggie crashing one of her backyard cocktail parties to show to the judge.

Susan Dimanno, co-founder of the Tree House Humane Society and a volunteer court advocate for animal abuse cases, greeted Jochum and her neighbors. Ald. Gene Schulter (47th) also sent his aide Patrick to assist in the delicate legal negotiations. (For the record, the damn pay box on Sedegwick ate five of Lake Effect News’s quarters, crediting us with only 45 minutes of street parking when we paid for two hours.)

Reggie’s dream team ran into its first obstacle when it approached the information desk. The room number recorded on Reggie’s ticket was “404,” which we soon found didn’t exist because there is no fourth floor at the administrative hearings building on Superior.

After several minutes of docket checking, Reggie’s dream team was redirected to the courtroom of Administrative Law Judge Diedra A. Cato, which greatly resembled a double-wide trailer. Jochum, Dimanno and Patrick disappeared into a side room to beg the court’s mercy for Reggie.

The rest of us sat in the courtroom watching the other live administrative hearing drama unfold. (Note to readers: they don’t fool around in administrative hearings, a department that serves to enhance the quality of life of all Chicagoans. It’s not like Cook County Circuit Court where, if the judge is in a good mood, he or she lets you off on your speeding ticket or disgusting building code violation. Nope, the administrative hearings department’s job is strictly to collect people’s money to help the city with its budget deficit.)

The cop who arrested Reggie wasn’t there. The ticket alone, we later learned, served as an affidavit. Jochum reappeared moments later and waved the other dream team members down the pew with her cane. Dimanno and Patrick took their seats in the row ahead of us, looking frustrated.

Finally, the administrative law judge called Reggie’s case: “The City of Chicago Vs. Luise Jochum.” Jochum approached the bench, and, raising her right hand, swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Reggie’s dream team was able to negotiate a plea bargain, reducing his fine to $100, plus an additional $40 for the administrative hearings department’s valuable time.

Waiving her rights to an appeal, Reggie’s, or rather Jochum’s violation was reduced from an animal-at-large to a disorderly conduct violation. An audible sigh of relief could be heard from the other alleged offenders waiting for their own hearings that Lincoln Square was now a little safer from this reckless, marauding elderly woman with a cane and her chubby cat.

“We tried to get it dismissed,” Patrick from Ald. Schulter’s office said apologetically after we had reconvened outside the courtroom. “They said it was a good ticket.”

Reggie’s dream team was still left with lingering questions. Had someone complained about Reggie, who couldn’t outrun a pigeon? Why was Reggie being singled out, when there were clearly other cats out there selling crack and driving without insurance? What if Reggie slipped out the door again and invited himself to one of Kovar’s cocktail parties?

“Reggie brings so much love to the neighborhood,” Sanderson said, as Fowler went to pay Reggie’s $140 fine. “Everyone is going to miss him.”

“Well,” Carlstrom said, “I guess we better start lining up some volunteer cat walkers.”

The Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch Medical Group pleaded its case for closing the hospital it has operated in Ravenswood since 2003 in a public hearing before state health officials at the Sulzer Library last week.

CINN announced plans in August to join forces with the NorthShore University Health System in Evanston and close the Neurologic and Orthopedic Hospital at 4501 N. Winchester. CINN’s agreement with NorthShore is conditioned on obtaining the governmental approvals from the state. The hospital treats a wide range of complex neurosurgical, neuromedical and orthopedic cases.

In his testimony before the Illinois Facilities Service and Review Board, CINN Chief Operating Officer Peter Breen blamed low occupancy levels and the changing healthcare environment, coupled with multi-million dollar loans for the hospital’s poor financial performance. While clinically successful, the hospital has suffered losses of $30 million over the past two years.

“While regrettable, the only option available is to discontinue operations,” Breen said.

CINN leases the 8-story building adjacent to the former Ravenswood Hospital Pavilion from Health Care REIT, a Toledo, Ohio-based trust that invests in senior housing and health care properties. Breen said that REIT worked with the medical group to consolidate its outstanding debt.

“Despite this unusually high level of cooperation between the property owner and the hospital,” Breen explained, “the stark reality is that Neurologic and Orthopedic Hospital cannot even pay debt service on the loans, let alone pay down principal.”

Dr. Leonard Cerullo, founder and medical director of CINN, stated that the hospital falls below the state hospital occupancy standards. He added that other hospitals in the surrounding community–Weiss, Aurora Chicago Lakeshore, Thorek, Methodist and Swedish Covenant Hospitals–have already said they would take patients normally accepted by Neurologic and Orthopedic Hospital.

Jeffrey Miller, vice president of operations and general counsel for Health Care REIT, said his firm was already at work on a comprehensive leasing or re-use plan.

“Let me assure you that Health Care REIT will aggressively pursue alternative users who will occupy the facility and build the economic bases of the community,” Miller said.

Ald. Gene Schulter (47th) called the impending sale of the medical group and the hospital “disastrous” for the community. In addition to a loss of 300 jobs, Ravenswood Hospital’s former owners, Advocate Health Care, enacted a “non-compete” clause prohibiting specific medical uses from being conducted on the site when they sold the property.

“This means that there will be a technologically-equipped hospital sitting vacant and unusable in the middle of the 47th Ward,” Schulter said. “I am very disappointed in our suburban neighbors. While they rely on the stability and access to clients brought to them by their proximity to the city of Chicago, they are actively undermining my community’s quality of life.”

Schulter further cited the ongoing vacancy’s negative impact on surrounding businesses, crime rates and property values in the Ravenswood neighborhood.

“I oppose this application,” Schulter said.

State Sen. Heather Steans (D-7th District) and state Rep. Greg Harris (D-13th District) supported Schulter’s opposition to the sale of CINN and the closing of the hospital.

“The abrupt nature of the closing of this facility, in my opinion, is not being carried out in an orderly or timely manner and will decrease rather than guarantee the availability of quality health care… to the surrounding community and to existing patients,” Harris said. “I speak for my constituents to oppose this application for closure to benefit a suburban hospital and small handful of investors.”

Harris also urged the Illinois Director of Public Health and the planning board to examine the legality of the anti-compete covenant implemented by Advocate “to see if its existence threatens the general public health of this community by denying access to adequate healthcare facilities.”

At Schulter’s urging, neighborhood residents, many of them employed by CINN, testified at the hearing, supported closing the hospital.

“I don’t know anyone who lives in the neighborhood who uses this hospital and don’t think it will be a problem,” Ravenwsood resident Patty Tillman said. “I support the application.”

After the public hearing, Schulter lambasted CINN for putting up its own employees or their family members to testify in favor of CINN’s application, stating that it was an insult to the community and to themselves. He also chastised officials from nearby Weiss and Thorek Hospitals for their favorable testimony.

“Their only concerns are the bottom line; it means more money for them,” Schulter said. “They haven’t come to the table to say how we’re going to solve these empty buildings in the Ravenswood area. They’re greedy people.”

The state review board’s rules that public hearings be held during the day precluded many working residents from attending the hearing, Harris said.

“Had this meeting been held at night, you would have had a roomful of angry people here,” he said.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Review Board is scheduled to meet in December to review and vote on CINN’s application to close the hospital. Pending the review board’s approval, CINN could pull up stakes and relocate to Skokie by the end of the year.

The review board will continue to accept public comments up to 9 a.m. Nov. 12. Comments should reference Project 09-045 and be sent to Mike Constantino, Supervisor, Project Review Section, Health Facilities Service and Review Board, 525 W. Jefferson, 2nd Floor, Springfield, IL 62761, or by fax at 217-785-4111.