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7/30/2008
This is in response to the "carjacking" at McDonalds.
The truth is that a young man was waiting to place an order at the Drive-thru. After placing his order a young black
man opened the passenger side door and pointed a gun at his head. Told him to continue with the order and to do nothing
stupid.
He was asked for his wallet which he handed over. The carjacker went through his wallet and
told him to go a cash machine in Oak Park Il. Removed cash from account and also from another credit card account.
Was told to drive to an another spot where his cell phone was smashed, told not to do anything stupid. The "carjacker"
ran from seen. This man was eventually caught a few days later.
Let it be known that this "situation"
started in our own town of Oak Forest, McDonalds of all places. A place where parents bring their children.
As a side note, another druggie in Oak Forest was apprehended from the Jewel Express after "shooting up" in the
washroom (used needles were found in bathroom). This has been a reoccurring situation not only in the Jewel Express
washroom but in the Store washroom too. I would caution residents to keep all car doors locked at all times while driving
in Oak Forest./
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7/30/2008
Has anyone heard if a decision has been reached by the arbitrator in the Don Hall case. I heard a rumor
that Don won but the city has been quiet on this issue. I'd like to know how much has been spent on legal bills
and hope Queen Kelly doesn't decide to throw good money after bad and appeal. The man deserves his job back.
See Don Hall Update...
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7/30/2008
In answer to "immistered", Mayor Kelly has increased the number of FYI publications to 6 a year
where she can state her case. She also has the city's website. This website was created to tell the other
side of the story. If you would like to start a website that is strictly complimentary to the mayor, you certainly have
that right.
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7/27/2008
I still don't know how a person can be an elected official and collect a full time pay check from the
same taxing entity ? I'd be willing to bet the Law Firm has an explanation, just wish we could share it. Does anyone
think that the city council might make the Mayor the Collector and therefore the Mayor gets a full time check/job/responsibility...
then we can stop wasting time discussing who the clerk is, who the city manager is, who's in charge, WHO'S RESPONSIBLE
?, whose on first ? etc...the buck stops at the door of the elected officials !
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7/27/2008
How come there's no agenda packet available on the City's website anymore? I know Queen Kelly
does not believe in open government but what is she trying to hide now? The agenda and meeting minutes are so cryptic,
the public can hardly piece together what goes on at a council meeting. Funny how her campaign promise of open government
changed once she got in office.
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7/27/2008
The Police Chief stated there is no gang problems in Oak Forest. Maybe he needs to go back out onto the streets
and parks of Oak Forest.
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7/27/2008
I am amazed at some of you people out there. Some of you out there probably would blame "The Queen"
for rain or snow or the sky being too blue. News flash for ya all...she is not perfect, yes some mistakes are made but
they are made by every Mayor. Simple solution...you don't like the work she is doing vote her out and/or run for
Mayor and fix everything yourself. The funny part is that you sign names not even a nickname.
immistered
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7/21/2008
As I was reading the post about the vehicle sticker's, I also wondered why you didn't just
mail it.
You obviously don't realized how ridiculous you sound.
I think some people just want to sound
victimized. Why would anyone pay
$50.00 to deliver a $25.00 city sticker totaling $75.00 when you could have spent $25.42
for the sticker and a stamp.
One Wonders
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7/21/2008
Our new city administrator has no incentive to strive for excellence. His contract has a severance
package of ten months pay. With an annual salary of $113,000, he would leave with over $94,000; enough to tide him over
while he looks for yet another job. Did Kelly really have to put Oak Forest taxpayers at financial risk for an administrator
to possibly hold a job for no longer than 8 months?
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7/21/2008
Scott Burkhardt must go. The fact that he has ran unopposed the last couple of elections and that right
after the Queen took over she rewarded him with a made up position makes it even more important that he is part of the house
cleaning there come April.
Lets not forget that he was the City Clerk for two scandals involving purchase orders
and has managed to come out smelling like a rose both times.
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7/21/2008
I see we're going to get more street lights on cicero avenue. It's too bad we can't afford
to provide proper walking paths along this street. It's a shame people have to walk along the curb on a state highway
and the city is spending money on additional lights that aren't needed. We'll have twice the lighting we need, but
one can't walk under the viaduct at the RR crossing without tripping on the broken concrete. The city is more interested
in stuff that can be used in an election campaign than fixing stuff that's safety related to its residents.
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7/21/2008
Fifty dollars to send a sticker? Was she on Safari? I should think $.42 would cover it.
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7/21/2008
I disagree with all of your comments regarding Scott Burkhardt. Nor did I find Scott's comments to be
rude and or threatening. If anything you were given a extra 15 day's to purchase your Vehicle sticker's what more
do you want? Most of our Police Officers are fairly reasonable, also if your Daughter had your vehicle in her possession and
she were to have been pulled over for some other reason, if she were to explain the situation to the officer, I'm sure
there would have been no ticket issued for the city sticker, Better yet a 37 cent stamp to send your Daughter the sticker
would have more sensible rather then $50.00 in gas, specially with these gas prices.
Respectfully!
Felicia
A. DePyper
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7/17/2008
I agree Scott Burkhardt's threats regarding vehicle stickers were way out of line. I purchased
stickers for all my vehicles on time, but one of them was loaned out to my daughter, out of town. What was I to do,
meet her at the city limits to install the sticker to avoid Burkhard's police force from giving her a ticket on the way
to return my car? My wife spent about $50 to deliver the sticker to her so she wouldn't run into any trouble returning
the car! Thank you Oak Forest.
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7/17/2008
What came first, the chicken or the egg.
The city says taxpayers won't have to pay the bonds for
Gateway.
But, they raised our taxes to get a better interest rate to borrow the money for Gateway.
Hmmm, taxes are
raised, money is borrowed, but taxpayers aren't footing the bill?
Sounds like some pretty good double talk.
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7/16/2008
I checked my utility bills and found I paid an extra $239.68 to the city in 2007. It
looks like its going be even greater in 2008. My property tax reduction from the city's portion
of the bill was less than $30 for the same period. They claim there has been a reduction in taxes
in the same breath they say they increased their income. This increase in taxes resulted in a
savings of 1/2 million dollars in interest so they could borrow money for the Gateway project. They
don't increase their reserves, increase their bond rating, with a decrease in taxes. They
need to start telling the truth. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7/16/2008
I believe the concerns regarding Mr. Marquart, in the short term, are unfounded.
He's known for
his disregard for aldermen, but follows the Mayor's orders.
He sometimes has been accused of not following the rules,
but neither does our Mayor.
Since most of the aldermen are bobbleheads, proven by their recent vote, it's a perfect
match.
It'll be interesting if our new Mayor insists that he's responsive to the alderman.
If the new Mayor
does that and he refuses, it's grounds for dismissal for cause, no severence, case closed.
The answer: A new
Mayor!
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7/16/2008
Mr. "Tax Guy"
I was notified if I wanted to appeal every year (and I did and won).
Not sure why you were not.
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7/16/2008
Comments (follow)
The taxes paid to the city of oak forest have been reduced. (Not true, only
the real estate taxes have been reduced. Total taxes have risen dramatically.) The city cannot control what happens with the
schools, park, library, county and other governmental units. (True.) If you do not accept the city reduction as fact,
pull out your old tax bills and look at the city portion. (After that, pull out your old and new utility bills and compare
the municipal taxes added on to telephone, electric, and gas.)
Please know what you are talking about before
you begin talking about taxes. (Please don't continue to deceive the residents of Oak Forest into thinking taxes have
been decreased. They've gone up.)
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7/15/2008
I dont know how many of you watched the last city council meeting(7/08/08) but I find the comments of Scott
Burkhardt very rude and upsetting. He basicly said that on july 15th at 12:01 AM he is unleashing his boys (Oak Forest Police)
to go out and hunt down people who do not have vehicle stickers placed in the windows of their automobiles. I did not know
that he runs the Police Department! So not only did we have to pay more for our stickers, we have Mr. Burkhart threatening
us! Too many people are paying to much attention to the Mayor and not enough to the rest of our elected officials.
Well Mr. Burkhardt I am not putting my sticker in my windows so let the boys loose and try to find me if you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really think with a comment like that you should just give up your job!!!!!!!!!!! The citizens of Oak Forest do not
need threats made to them in these times of financial hardship. I also hope the Police have better things to do than look
for vehicle stickers, or the lack of.
A now, non supporter of Scott Burkhardt.
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7/15/2008
I hope readers of "The Real Deal" will take the time to go to this website and read about our new
city administrator, John Marquart. Keep in mind that he has a severance package that equals his annual salary.
http://www.ironmountainissues.org/
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7/15/2008
There was no carjacking at McDonald's. I called OFPD and asked. The Southtown decides what
they want to print in the police blotter. Don't know where "Despicable" got their information. ORGO
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7/15/2008
"All Oak Forest Residents have now received their Proposed Reassessment Letters. Run, don't
walk to your current Taxpayer Advocate Guy Gattone. Your Taxpayer Advocate's duties include helping Oak Forest Residents
to appeal their property taxes. Take advantage of this FREE service."
Very good advice. The rest of
what you had to say is a little muddled and may need clarification:
I believe the COUNTY (COOK) is responsible
for any increased assessed value, not the CITY. The Mayor of any City has nothing to do with a County's tax determination
unless the City requests an increase to its own tax levy(in which the City has stated it will not).
I believe that
takes place sometime in December.
The best advice given is to ask your Tax Advocate. I'm sure he'll be
happy to walk you through the process and show you how much goes to each governmental unit.
Reply to your
side note: There's no need to blame any Mayor, blame the Cook County Commissioners.
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7/15/2008
I think you all need a lesson in taxes. As the assessment goes up, the rate comes down. Taxing
bodies levy a dollar amount which is then allocated among the properties. With tax cap laws in effect, the county then
adjusts the levy to restrict what each governmental body receives if it exceeds the cap.
The taxes paid to the
city of oak forest have been reduced. The city cannot control what happens with the schools, park, library, county and other
governmental units. If you do not accept the city reduction as fact, pull out your old tax bills and look at the city
portion. The only exception to this rule would be a situation where someone put on an addition or had a major increase
in value.
Please know what you are talking about before you begin talking about taxes.
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7/15/2008
I'm sure the "queen" knows she is history, isn't about time she votes herself a raise?
As far as the new city administrator, He has been fired everywhere he worked, and we end up with him? Of course Joke
Forest is known for extremly poor judgement.
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7/15/2008
To the writer of the "Tax Guy" Response. Either you cannot read or your comprehension skills
need improvement. Cook County reassesses our taxes every three years and all the other counties every 4 years.
The County does not advertise that you can appeal your property taxes. I am not sure about the current Tax Advocate
of Oak Forest, but I know the previous two women who held that office did help me appeal my taxes successfully many times.
They saved me thousands of dollars. Even if you do not live in Oak Forest you can appeal your property taxes, successfully.
Go to the Board of Review website or the Cook County Assessor's website, it's all there. You would be considered
the idiot, not I, if you don't pursue this matter.
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7/11/2008
Hey Tax guy,
What year have you seen where Cook County Taxes went down? Let me know, if
you can tell me I would appreciate it. We live in Cook County, read the papers, every three years taxes go up, you idiot.
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7/10/2008
Hello Readers,
We think we have allowed the "Youngster" more than enough space on this
site to voice his/her thoughts.
At this time we feel he/she is now just posting to be argumentative and irritating.
We do not feel that we are the "Internet Police", however this is our site and we believe that
a 22 year old going to school should be able to spell (excluding the occasional typo). Maybe you need to stay in Chicago a
little longer???
We also feel that someone that lives in Chicago really should not be out here arguing about
non City issues, (Oak Forest ) with our residents.
The fact is that you have stated you live in an apartment
in Chicago with a Chicago address which means you have moved and you can't vote
in this town. Voting in Oak Forest is then illegal!
If your really concerned about the towns well
being then please move back and make a difference.
As of 7/10/2008 we will no longer post the "-tHe YoUnGsTeR-"
comments!
C.A.N.
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7/10/2008
The "youngster" is so immature that he/she could be the only thing worse than Kelly.
Fortunately,
there probably aren't enough people willing to sign his/her petition to get on the ballot.
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7/10/2008
All Oak Forest Residents have now received their Proposed Reassessment Letters. Run, don't walk
to your current Taxpayer Advocate Guy Gattone. Your Taxpayer Advocate's duties include helping Oak Forest Residents to
appeal their property taxes. Take advantage of this FREE service.
These reassessments will become effective
in Aug. of 2009, NOT THIS AUGUST. Since our current administration is stating that no property tax increase
will be imposed on Oak Forest Residents, I beg to differ. This hugh increase in these reassessment letters means the
top three taxing bodies are asking for an increase. They are, school district, park district and city. I'm
for an increase to help our schools and park district but not the city. Residents already pay high "hidden"
taxes on our utilities, communications, water, sewer, etc. Don't be fooled Oak Forest Residents. Remember one of
our top three taxing revenue bodies left Oak Forest (Community Motors). Were in $$$$ trouble.
On a side note,
the Mayor of Oak Forest stated that she will not need to raise taxes to pay for that Ogre of a Project on 159th. The
increase in your Proposed Reassessment states differently. Your Mayor will be out of office come 2009, godwilling.
The next Mayor will be left holding the bag on this increase in property taxes. Blame current Mayor, not the next Mayor.
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7/10/2008
to the carjack reporting guy....
call the southtown and ask them why they did not report it.
i am sure that the mayor did not have her hand in not reporting it. if she did there would be no police blotter for
oak forest.
what do you want the city to do? call everyone and tell them?
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7/10/2008
To the creators of "The Real Deal"
Continuing to do a great job. Thanks for taking
your time to keep us informed and updated.
Does anyone have any information on the appointment of a new city administrator
last night? Who is he? Where is he from? What are his qualifications? Any special provisions in his
contract? All I know is that his appointment was approved in the CONSENT CALENDAR! Not even a separate vote.
Mayor Kelly: Don't you think a position that pays well over $100,000 a year deserves its own agenda item?
Curious taxpayer
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7/10/2008
Youngster:
Your suggestion for better government is to attract people like you to run for office?
Someone who would use the word "jerk"? I'd love to hear a city council meeting with a group made up of
people just like you. I don't think "The Real Deal" website was started to let anyone just ramble on in
an insulting manner. Let's hear your plans for a better Oak Forest beyond electing people of your ilk. Write
coherently about a way to improve our economic development, decrease flooding, funding of city services, fair and equal treatment
for city employees, etc. You might be taken more seriously if you actually knew what you were talking about or could
write about it in a manner that could be understood.
Jerk
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7/9/2008
Youngster: Your diatribe has provided us with an excellent example of why it is important to seek a mature
candidate to run for public office. Thank you.
(Spell-Check? I don' need no stinking spell-check!)
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7/8/2008
ALL RESIDENTS--I found out yesterday that there was a carjacking at the Mcdonald's on 159th and Cicero
that happened almost a full week ago, but there has been NO PRESS on it, either in the Police Blotter or in the local paper.
Does the Mayor's Office have a reason for not wanting to alert residents and the public about gangbangers pointing guns
at our citizens a few blocks from her precious Gateway project? Hey Aldermen, how about growing some backbone and telling
us here that it actually did happen? Or will they cower under Mayoral pressure yet again????? What's more important, your
job, or serving the public? Novemeber is right around the corner......can't wait.
Despicable. Our town is turing
into West Markham.
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7/8/2008
Let me remind those who do not understand how such internet blogging concepts work. Please understand this
is a forum and punctuation or mis-spellings are a vey commonplace, unless of course you pre-write everything before hand in
Ms Word and spell-check it. Emotions are also very common in forums, when people are angry they will sometimes CAPITALIZE
ALL THEIR WORDS YELLING THINGS SUCH AS IDIOT, LOUSY, or FAT A$$.
All such words that could describe anyone. I would
figure
"not so young"
that you would have something better to do than criticize others about their online
spelling errors. Excuse me for being heated and not spell checking everything down to the last key. If I knew the punctuation
police were out on the prowl I would have saved my internet blogging for another FORUM. Which by the way allows us to use
any specific punctuation, grammar, or slang as WE WISH.
SO LAY the HELL off! JERK!
DO SOMETHING BETTER
WITH YOUR TIME.
Suggest some improvements for the city or something, jeez.
My suggestion is get some
younger people to run for some kind of city political office.
People are so touchy sheesh!
-tHe YoUnGsTeR-
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7/2/2008
One of the proposals on the table of the previous administration was a surface lot in place of the apartments
south of 159th street.
Those folks of course would have had to be relocated, but the plan was better.
There would
be no risk of people running across 159th street since the shortest distance would be the bridge, both ways.
It would
have been designed so a second deck could have been installed on top, level with the train tracks.
Ingress / egress may
or may not have been a problem, but I don't believe a study was ever done.
Of course previous studies done on the
current lot don't seem to be very reliable.
Metra might even have been convinced to move the train stop south of
159th street.
Can you imagine a parking lot in the space the apartments now occupy, and the train stopping south
of 159th street?
Jim Rossi
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7/2/2008
How does the city attract bright, professional people when they cannot be sure they'll have a job everytime
there's an election? There has to be some continuity in order to move forward. Let's get rid of nepotism
and cronyism. No relatives allowed in the future and no full time jobs for campaign workers. However, let's
keep the full time people who have the talent to do their jobs. Moreover, when is the last time taxpayers paid any attention
to two very important commissions: Civil Service and Police & Fire. If you want an end to all the "isms",
this is the place to start.
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7/2/2008
To the blogger who posted the 5 bullet points, good job! I would like to offer some additional comments
on them.
1) Agreed with giving the Gateway project a chance. Its here to stay folks and lets make the most
of it. Heavy traffic into the stores will attract others to locate there. I do think though that the concrete
plant has to move and for exactly the reasons you stated. Whos going to buy a condo and have their windows or balcony
face the plant? Traffic control at the new lot is horrendous and I hope something is done by the time the shops open
up. I still feel this was an area that was not given much consideration in the preparation of this project.
2) Completely agree with this. We should be looking to get rid of these apartments and the trailer park.
Whether people believe it or not, 159th & Cicero is a Gateway for lack of a better term to our community and further west
to Tinley and Orland. If you are a developer and you are coming in from the City and heading west on 159th, where are
you going to locate your business, in a town thats main drag is loaded with burrito joints, cheesy store mascots, muffler
shops and apartments that look like 4-hour motels or a little further west where retail stores are abundant?
3)
I agree with this, but like how the Dominicks has been transformed. What I find is a shame is how many store fronts
in that plaza are vacant. We should be looking to market that area and build it up, like 159th & Cicero. My
guess is that the Mazda dealership will not be there much longer and we should look into developing that parcel and tie it
into the Jewel development.
4) Completely agree. Tinley and Mokena have those electronic signs which
tell how many spaces are available in each lot. That would be nice for the OF lots. Its a shame that the park
district could not have bought the Convent park site a couple of years ago and build the recreation complex they touted.
The administration at the time did little to help with this and the senior block torpedoed it because it would have raised
their taxes $100 a year or basically 50 cents a day. Now as the ultimate irony, they are talking about building senior
housing there. Great, just what we need, more people who pay half of what the rest of us do in taxes and vote against
every possible tax referendum no matter how good the proposal is (see Convent park reference above.) How about some
bike paths down 151st or Central Ave? Lets expand the trail network so the people east of Central can enjoy them as
well. These are the things that help a community attract new residents and improve the quality of life type aspects
that we need. Not giant stone welcome signs.
5) Agreed, lets work with our neighbors to best develop
our common borders and develop plans that will benefit all of us. I think that OF must realize that we will never have
the abundance of development that the other do and we must maximize what we can get. Short sightedness in the past led
to many opportunities being passed up because people did not want this stuff in their backyards. Well, we have the opportunity
now to with several large parcels that could be developed (2 along OF Hospital, 167th & Cicero and when the old Community
dealership site comes available). Lets get some good retail into one of those (Lowes anyone?) and use that as a catalyst
to help develop the other sites. No more condos, no more strip malls, just good development.
As residents,
lets stop this fighting and accept that change is inevitable if we want to keep OF a vibrant community that our kids would
want to live in. If we keep fighting these changes, developers will go elsewhere and this town will become Harvey West.
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