The people have spoken. We of the 30th Ward are sick and tired of all the violence taking place in Avondale, particulary on Belmont from Monticello to Central Park. So, one reader by the name of Yasmin decided to email our alderman about it. It is a great letter if you ask me. Here is what she had to say:
"Dear Ald. Reboyras,
Last night was quite a disappointment for your ward. I was wondering why there were so few trick or treaters compared to last year and when I woke up this morning to news of a shooting 3 blocks from my front door I realized why. For nearly one year I have been reading in the media about the bottle throwing, brick throwing and general gang activity that was occurring at the corner of Belmont and Central Park. It didn't take a crystal ball to know that a shooting would occur there eventually. Why wasn't this area safe at 6:45pm on Halloween when hundreds of families with young children were roaming the streets?
Your ward needs beat officers that actually do foot patrols and pro-actively target areas that show repeated gang activity. As the gang activity creeps further north of Belmont the demographic being affected changes. Perhaps then you might start to care. It was only when the condo owners in Uptown started to get mad about rampant crime that the alderman up there took notice.
So do we have to wait until The Villa is overrun by gangbangers or will you help out the heart of your ward, the cornerstone area of all of your district schools, now. I would say before it's too late but I think the two shooting victims from last night might think differently.
Please outline a plan for me. I want to know what specific actions are going to be taken to clean up the area around Belmont and Central Park [and Monticello].
I have copied a Tribune staff reporter and the Avondale Logan Square Crime Blotter on this email, he was featured in Time Out Chicago this year and has many many supporters in your ward.
Please respond yourself Alderman. I've written many, many times and always been responded to by one of your employees. I've attended CAPS meetings and the foot patrols have never arrived. Try to write me yourself. Make the effort. Please."
Once again, I personally think this was a terrific email to the alderman. He needs to see what the heck is up in his ward. I'm glad to see that people besides myself are starting to question him about the area of Belmont and Central Park. I wonder why he's let the area get that bad? I mean, come on, a pregnant female was shot. She was innocent, too. Jeez. I just hope that there is no more gunshots fired on Belmont today.
Shooting At Altgeld and Ridgeway This Morning
Shooting In 2100 Block of Lawndale
Shots Fired On Belmont Last Night
17 Year Old Murdered In Logan Square Club
Gunshots Ring Out On Ridgeway Last Night
Shooting At Lyndale and Campbell
Shooting On Palmer Wednesday Night
Shooting/Beating @ Diversey and Lawndale
Shots Fired Last Night On Harding
Shooting On Gresham Last Night
Shooting at Armitage and Humboldt
Stabbing On Springfield
Early Morning Gunfire In Avondale
Shots fired near Diversey/Kedzie late last night
Avondale erupts in gunfire ... AGAIN
More shots fired in Avondale last night
Shooting on Diversey late last night
Two shootings in Avondale ... IN ONE DAY!!
Shooting at Diversey and Albany last night
Another day, another shooting
Shooting on Diversey and Lawndale
16 yr old shot down in Logan Square
Update, 11/2/09: I received a comment from someone who says Aldermen Colon has ward night on Monday nights, tonight being one. Call the office to double check. For those who live in his ward, please, print out this letter, attend, and show this to him. He needs to see what's going on. I can't do it myself because I do not reside in Colon's Ward.
Update #2, 11/2/09: Ward night is confirmed to be on Monday nights, from 5:30-8:30pm. You can meet with him based on a first come, first serve, basis. You have to sign up to have a 1-on-1 meeting with him. You can speak with him for 15 minutes. The is NO Ward night on holidays, however. I encourage all residents in Colon's Ward to go tonight and every other night the meetings are held. We need to keep pressure on Colon for something to be done. Colon will only respond to constant pressure from his constituents if you show up to these ward night meetings. I also encourage residents to continue calling and writing in complaints.
13 comments:
Thanks Timmy!
Not a problem, Nobody :). It's gotten out of control over there if you ask me.
I just realized something. The intersection of Belmont and Central Park is in Alderman Colon's (35th) Ward. This letter should be addressing him instead. For once, Alderman Reboyras doesn't get my blame on this.
The ward boundaries are so arbitrary let's blame them all.
well if its Colon's ward i wouldnt expect much, i have emailed his office several times and have never gotten a response
I like your thinking, Nobody.
Anonymous, to me, Reboyras is the same exact way.
This is Colons territory. I'm pretty sure Mondays are ward night at his office. Call and double check, but if so maybe tonight would be a good night to show up, letter in hand, and present this.
Mondays are indeed ward night for Rey Colon. It's from 5:30-8:30. Meeting with him is done on a first come - first serve basis, they begin sign-up for one on one meetings @ 5:30. Each sign-up party is given 15 mins to speak with him.
I really think we should encourage people to go tonight and every Monday (excluding holidays when there is no ward night) and keep the pressure on Colon to get something done. That stretch between belmont/central park and Belmont/ridgeway has become a gang haven and threatens the lives and well-being of the law-abiding citizens of this area. Colon will only respond to constant pressure from us if we show up to ward nights and continue to call and write in complaints.
Maybe you could post a reminder for people every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning that ward night is here to remind folks?
Please keep up the great work on your blog and keep your head in those books!
Anonymous 3:08, thanks for the comment. I apprieacte you letting us know what's going on and your compliment about the blog.
Yes, we should encourage people to go to the ward night meeting each Monday. And you are correct when you say that the gang heaven along Belmont from Central Park to Ridgeway threatens the citizen's lives.
For now on, I will most definately put up a reminder, on Sunday evening or Monday morning.
Yup Belmont & Central Park is Latin King hood..."Bogus City"
I see taggings up on that bar sometimes when I pass through.
let me just say, this is not the first time a shooting occurs on this corner. I grew up in this area for the past 20yrs. I've seen the old and new gang members that run this block!! I remember going to Reilly and having to hear the stories of young kids being killed in the area!
Anonymous 1:51, I know this hasn't been the first shooting at this particular intersection. There's been a lot of more over the years. There's been at least five or six in the last year and a half of me doing this blog, and over ten in my two and a half years of owning the scanner.
I'm sorry to hear that you've seen and heard all of this in the last 20 years. But I'm not surprised at Reily "Gang" (that's what I call it) School. I bet they still do it. I've seen those kids have a gang fight or two before, and I've seen plenty of disturbances.
Such a shame... these "aldermen" (Reboyas & Colon) do nothing for the ward. Let me tell you that we had not seen Reboyas in 2 years... so when election came around there he was asking us to let him put up a sign for re-election, NOT at my HOUSE! When we started to ask him about certain "things" that were happening in our area the aid knew the "blocks" situtation better then Reboyras himself. We saw Reboyras' fustration as he walked away. However,we are not stopping there. Not one of us voted for him this term. We will be spreading the word about his absence with our area. The constituents are starting to say" put up or shut up"- We Don't want Puppets or people that just give lip service. We want action takers. Our children and our seniors need protection.
Anybody who reads this pass it on and come out to the meetings on Mondays, the aldermen need to earn their pay.
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