One Man's Thoughts

Well she was able to raise over 20K. Don't know what the legitimate candidate threshold would be but 20K is not bad. It will be interesting to see what Tom has raised and what he has on hand as well

I suspect that his is higher.

Interesting that it looks like she got some money from Lou Lang...

OneMan

Interesting idea, if they can pass it and make it work I think it might help with some of the more 'challenging' neighborhoods.

OneMan

That's why the blogging has been light, still getting used to the new job. So far so good.

It would appear that the cities of Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield are putting together a untied front to try and stop the sale.

I got a postcard from the city today about a meeting on the 23rd and they have set up an electronic sign on the corner of Ogden and Montgomery encouraging people to 'Get Involved' on the issue.

I have a few questions I suspect they will not be addressing are...

A) If the sale happens will the land the railroad resides on get re-assessed? I am assuming that as a landowner the railroad pays real estate taxes.

B) Is the tripling of rail traffic they are talking about in terms of trains, railcars or both and what are the new numbers for the line in Aurora then ( if you go from 3 to 9 trains it isn't as bad)...

C) The suburban commuter line that was/is going to use those same tracks, the one that we all wanted, how much rail traffic will that end up adding?

Having grown up in a town with a lot of rail (Dolton) and knowing that track has been there a really long time I am having a hard time swallowing the NIMBY arguments. The noise isn't really a problem where I live but I can understand the annoyance of getting caught behind the gates on Ogden.

The stuff on the issue from the City of Aurora is here. Interesting that they list the overpasses and underpasses of the track as being 'impacted' .

OneMan

Labels: Aurora

I have been reading 'The Last Campaign' about Bobby Kennedy's run for the White House in '68. About 2/3rd of the way done and I think it may offer some insight into how perhaps Governor Blagojevich can improve his image.

I still reading the book and fleshing out the idea, but I think it just might work for the governor the key would be for him not to be doing it to improve his image however...

More to come soon.

OneMan

I caught some comments today on WBBM from someone leading one (or perhaps the only) anti-ConCon groups arguing that we should not do a con-con because we can't trust the folks in Springfield...

Ummm, that is kind of why people are in fact pushing for a con-con, then again that sounds better than it is not in the best interests of the members of the group I am working for.

It would be interesting to hear what our junior senator thinks about the whole thing.

OneMan

By featuring an interview with a writer for the New Yorker, because if anyone can get Illinois politics it would be the New Yorker...

OneMan

Labels: Obama

It would be interesting to hear Daryl Hammond do Jessie Jackson's latest statement in rhyme.

jibbety-jibbety and rat-a-tat-tat I think something should happen to Obama's...

Just an observation.

Sen. Linda Holmes had about 5 people marching with her, Terry Wintermute had about 30....

From the State Journal Register

“We need to move some of our operations to other parts of Illinois,” Blagojevich said in Harrisburg. This isn’t only about giving you guys a chance to be able to get some jobs,” he said. “It’s about also making sure that the operations of state government are positioned and apportioned fairly across our big, large and diverse state. And we need more of these operations in places like Saline County and in places like southern Illinois.

Later he argues about 'access'.

You know governor there is a solution for this, it is called field offices. They provide face to face services to those folks who need it close. You don't need nor does it make sense to move professionals all over the state, it just leads to extra costs and turnover.

I think we should all chip in so he can go for his MBA in night school or something so he can learn some management skills.

OneMan

Utah is implementing a mandatory 4 day work week. Something to think about?

The Beacon had a column yesterday about changing/getting rid of Aurora's tobacco sales ordinance since it might be getting in the way of economic development.

It's a 100 foot restriction and I can see getting rid of the requirement when it comes to day care centers and perhaps some sort of change for downtown Aurora. Other than that, leave it alone. It's a 100 feet, less than 4 first downs. Is that really so bad? If you can illustrate real economic development issues because of it, let me know. Otherwise it is really so bad that you can't open a smoke shop across the street of East High?

OneMan

Labels: Aurora

Good luck with that, I don't think it is going to go anyplace.

Some previous thoughts on this here. If this ever goes to court CBS's attorney's are going to have a field day with this.

OneMan

I guess my question is what is the big deal with the millionaire amendment going good-bye. As we have seen in Illinois in general is that the millionaires generally don't end up winning. Look at Hull look at Oberweis up until the last primary (keeping in mind he ran against another millionaire in the general).

I guess my argument would be just raise the limits in general on the federal side, improve the reporting.

OneMan