Winners & Losers

There are no Participation Ribbons for elections, either you win or you lose.  Tradition has it that the loser calls the winner to congratulate him/her and wish them good luck.

As of 3PM today Pat Botbyl has yet to make the call to Mayor Elect Clark.  I understand he (Botbyl) may have gone out of town (Chicago) but it stretches the imagination to wonder why he couldn't take 15 seconds to say "Hi, this is Pat Botbyl, congratulations on your victory and good luck, bye"

Now I know things happen, Chicago might have cell phone disruptions, he may have forgotten his phone at WL or maybe even his mobile fell into a toilet at O'Hare.  So I am cutting him some slack.  My guess is Mayor Elect Clark isn't holding a vigil on his phone in expectation of a call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYHN57LNVRk

The Cold Winds Were Blowing...

If you voted yesterday you know what I mean as you approached the Community Center...raw wind, cold, just plain nasty.  I spent a little time in the Clark tent, I have to hand it to all the candidates, it was miserable out there.

Speaking of miserable, Pat Botbyl had not a great day politically.  By 8:52 last night the count was in, Clark 353, Botbyl 274.  From my perspective it was a royal butt kicking, Botbyl was a two time incumbent with the political high ground, but it was not to be.  Clark ran a good campaign, had a coalition of people working on his behalf.  56% of the voters didn't buy Botbyl's look at me, I'm so pretty bragging about all his accomplishments.  He alienated the Board of Aldermen beginning his second term and things went downhill from there.  Not taking anything away from the Clark campaign but Pat has to look in the mirror this morning and realize it was his to lose...and lose he did.

The last minute McGovern campaign on the East was a flop, with Tanya getting over 73% of the vote.  Some feel the Botbyl/McGovern alliance actually subtracted votes for Botbyl...remember Finn is a popular figure on the East Side and has vanquished other challengers.  The challenge to Finn might have energized her base and pulled in votes for Clark as well.  I think the McGovern write-in backfired for Botbyl...oh well.

The West side race is fascinating.  Hoy wins 179 to 175 for Carlson.  Razor thin.  I don't know if a recount is in order but I am sure Carlson is disappointed.  The Hoy name, of course, is recognizable by many on the West side, Britt is a relative newcomer in West Ridge.  I hope Britt considers future opportunities at WL, he would be a great addition.  Mr Hoy finds himself on the Board without his benefactor Botbyl or colleague McGovern.  I know he tried to campaign on being "neutral"...but if you were paying attention yesterday, he quite clearly was standing with Botbyl and McGovern at the CC.  I am hoping he puts aside all of that and works to make the next two years productive for WL.

Steve has plenty of issues to tackle, priorities to set.  I know he sees it as a team effort with Aldermen and City staff.  A preview of what is to come was demonstrated last night at the watch party.  Someone asked for a pic of Steve with his election sign.  He refused unless others on his "team" joined him.

The cold winds might have been blowing...but with them a breath of fresh air.

You Decide

All the talk is done, now it is up to you.

From my perspective the choice for Mayor is clear:

• re-elect a Mayor who isn't interested in working with the Board of Aldermen 

or

• Elect Steve Clark who I absolutely believe will work with his colleagues to move the City forward in a positive, collaborative way.  He has been an Alderman serving both the East Side and West Side.  Steve has demonstrated leadership as the President of the Board and you will always know what he is thinking, in other words a straight shooter. 
• Alderman Clark has been endorsed by his fellow Aldermen and all former WL Mayors. 

Steve can't do it alone, he needs a strong board to pick up some of the load...

Current Aldermen Richmond (West) and Footer (East) will be at the core of the team.

As a West Side resident I think Britt Carlson will bring a fresh perspective to the Council and be a great fit on the Board.  His background as a practicing attorney should be helpful in a number of ways to his colleagues.

East Siders please vote for Tanya Finn.  She has been doing the "right thing" for a number of years and brings her long term perspective on where the City has been and needs to go.  Tanya brings experience and history to perfectly balance the Board.

Steve Clark for Mayor

Britt Carlson, West Side

Tanya Finn, East Side

and that is WeatherbyLakeAsISeeIt

Keeping Your Eye On The Ball

I know it is hard to think about baseball as we had our White Easter, but allow me to use a baseball saying to make a point.

Our son Matthew has played "ball" since 5th grade.  A common mistake hitters make is to take their eye off the ball, even a split second...thus a swing and a miss (my problem with golfing, always wanting to enjoy seeing the flight of the ball instead of keeping my eye on it.).

The same applies, potentially for the City of WL.  Unless you missed it, the bonanza of building in West Ridge is over and the revenue gone or greatly reduced.  My advice, keep your eye on the ball.  For the City, are you watching the Zona Rosa debt debacle and the county commissioners talking about using Road Tax revenues to bail out Zona?  If they raid the Road Tax bucket, how will we pay for roads in WL?  What if the commissioners decide to reduce the tax and up the ante for the Sheriff's department?  It's nice for the Mayor to promise to "keep your taxes low".  Do we have enough funds to cover necessary improvements for sewer in the future?  Serious discussions are required to keep our eye on the ball.

We need the best team in place to keep the City's eye on the ball.

FEMA Extrema

Some of you might remember the FEMA debacle regarding the reclassification of WL lake front property being reclassified as being in a floodplain...result being the increased cost of having flood insurance...which is not cheap.

FEMA had sent a notification, apparently, to the City.  This happened towards the end of the Bos administration.  Depending on which version you want to believe, a) the City was never notified, b)Bos handed it off to Mike O'Neal, city disaster preparedness coordinator, or c)Bos blew it off.  Regardless of which version is correct, the reclassification went through without challenge from WL, and WL lake front property was deemed to be in a floodplain.

Don Coleman was the first to sound the alarm when his property insurance premium was adjusted for being in the floodplain.  Despite discussions (and emails) with the City, Botbyl as the City leader took no action to try to overturn the decision.  WLIC stepped into the breach along with Coleman and others to gain reconsideration of the floodplain decision and finally removal of the flood plain designation, a huge win for lake front residents.  A leadership opportunity missed by Botbyl.  Why, I don't know.  If you are a FOB, Friend of Botbyl, like first tier residents Augie and Brian, you must be wondering as well.