Riverside Info: Recent Topics

Riverside Info: Recent Topics http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Discussion Forum for Riverside Illinois en Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:36:31 +0000 KimJ on "Your 5th grader needs his own Laptop" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/your-5th-grader-needs-his-own-laptop#post-9187 Sun, 03 May 2009 20:39:58 +0000 KimJ 9187@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Considering every District 96 5th grader will be receiving his/her own laptop, it is a good thing we are not in the financial straits our neighboring communities are. Sure hope we are not spending ourselves into a like situation. <a href="http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=4930&TM=81162.69" rel="nofollow">http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=4930&TM=81162.69</a> For more information about District 96 and their 5th grade Apple laptop initiative see their FAQ at <a href="http://www.district96.org/resources/1-to-1-laptop-initiative/" rel="nofollow">http://www.district96.org/resources/1-to-1-laptop-initiative/</a> bensells on "Riverside Springs Ahead Community Work Day" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-springs-ahead-community-work-day#post-12241 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:54:58 +0000 bensells 12241@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ The Landscape Advisory Commission is sponsoring a Riverside Springs Ahead Community Work Day on May 29 to replant the public planters on Burlington, Quincy, and Riverside Roads. This is an ambitious project for which we need your help. Commissioner Terri Lynne-Culloden presented a beautiful landscape plan to the Village Board at its March 1 meeting, where it was approved unanimously with strong support. The plan is to use existing plants within the Village, both on public lands and from private donations, to give our CBD a long overdue make over. The plan also includes removing several of the existing planters to increase ease of access to our businesses. This is part of an ongoing effort to 1) make our CBD more attractive, 2) support our local businesses, and 3) create a sustainable downtown landscape that reduces the maintenance demands on our Public Works Department. On March 31 we will be collecting plants to divide for the project. Here are the plants we need: Stella D'Oro Daylily Coneflower Feather Reed Grass Blackeyed Susan Fountain Grass Penstemon Prairie Drop Seed Autumn Joy Sedum Solomon's Seal Catmint Liatris Christmas Fern Coreopsis If you have any of the above in your garden, and they are mature enough to be divided, please let us know. We will gladly come dig them and take them to Public Works on March 31. Or, if you prefer, you can dig up what you would like to donate and we will come pick them up. In addition to the above, we will be purchasing plants for this project. If you can, please help out with a donation (our budget for this project is $5000). Here is the timeline for the project. We need volunteers for all of the following days. Times for the first four days are 8:00 a.m. to Noon. May 29 we will be working all day so any time you can contribute that day would be great: March 31 -- Collect plants for division; clean beds and cover with compost April 3 -- Divide and pot plants at Public Works April 21 -- Amend soil in all beds, cover with weed barrier and mulch April 24 -- Pot seedlings at Public Works May 29 -- Riverside Springs Ahead Community Work Day! Bring our CBD alive!!! To donate funds to the project, checks should be made out to the Village of Riverside with a note that it is for the Riverside Springs Ahead Community Work Day. You can give or send donations directly to the Village office or contact me and I will help you to direct your donation to the proper place. To donate plants, or to volunteer for any of the above work days, please contact me at <a href="mailto:bsells@riverside.il.us">bsells@riverside.il.us</a> or (708) 442-2670. Please let me know if I can provide any further information. And, please SPREAD THE WORD -- you can see from the above that we are going to need lots of hands to make this project a success for our Village. This is a BIG opportunity. We all want to help revitalize our CBD. What better way to start than to make it a beautiful place where people want to come visit, shop, and enjoy? Come June 1 we can have a freshly landscaped CBD of which we are all proud and WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN! Thank you in advance for supporting this project, and thank you to Terri Lynne-Culloden and the LAC for their work in making this possible. Ben ChrisHajer on "ISAT Testing" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/isat-testing#post-12265 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:34:40 +0000 ChrisHajer 12265@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Schools stress over ISAT, hope students don't: <a href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/03/schools-stress-over-isat-hope-students-dont.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/03/schools-stress-over-isat-hope-students-dont.html</a> Really interesting summary of all the considerations that go into ISAT testing in elementary schools. Kelly on "What Can We Do to Protect Riverside Home Values?" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/what-can-we-do-to-protect-riverside-home-values#post-11569 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:10:15 +0000 Kelly 11569@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ What can we do to protect our home values in Riverside? November 24, 2009 Homes for Sale 79 with a median price of $399,000 Foreclosures 51 $300,000 -16.7% Sept 14, 2009 Homes for Sale 77 with a median price of $399,000 Foreclosures 37 with a median value of $354,750 June 15, 2009 Homes for Sale 63 with a median price of $429,900 Foreclosures 43 with a median value of $307,575 <a href="http://realestate.yahoo.com/Illinois/Riverside" rel="nofollow">http://realestate.yahoo.com/Illinois/Riverside</a> TomJacobs on "Open Letter to D96 Board of Education" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/open-letter-to-d96-board-of-education#post-10092 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:40:08 +0000 TomJacobs 10092@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Please e-mail your name and street address to <a href="mailto:district96taxpayer@yahoo.com">district96taxpayer@yahoo.com</a> if you would like to co-sign the letter, or assist in distributing the letter to members of the community. As of Wednesday 8/5 9pm, there are over 40 signatures already. OPEN LETTER to Riverside Public Schools District 96 Board of Education, and Dr. Jonathan Lamberson, District Superintendent Riverside, August 4, 2009 In light of the recent contract negotiations with District 96 superintendent Dr. Lamberson, we, the undersigned, feel compelled to express our disapproval with the level of compensation granted to Dr. Lamberson, and the handling of this issue by the members of District 96 Board of Education. We have concerns as to the intent and ability of the current school board to fulfill its duties and obligations to the District’s taxpayers, which include providing leadership and administrative oversight. As a result, we urge the Board to adopt 6 recommendations and policies, and ask Dr. Lamberson to voluntarily renegotiate his salary and not take the proposed pay increases. Inadequate fiscal prudence We have reached the conclusion that the current Board is lacking perspective with regard to a reasonable and fair level of compensation for the District’s superintendent based on two specific facts: first, the overall level of the superintendent’s compensation, and second, the 20% pay raise for school year 2008-09, aimed at further inflating pension benefits paid for by all IL taxpayers. Over the terms of the superintendent’s two contracts, from school year 2005-06 to 2012-13, a 77% salary increase will have been granted to Dr. Lamberson. During school year 2012-13, Dr. Lamberson’s annual salary will be $313,000, not including other benefits. For the purpose of providing perspective, following are the annual salaries for various high level governmental management and leadership positions. The Governor of the State of Illinois is paid $166,000, the City of Chicago Mayor $216,000, and the U.S. Vice President $221,000. The CEO of the Chicago Public School System, which is the 3rd largest school district in the U.S., is paid $195,000. Chicago Public Schools are comprised of 666 schools, 407,955 students, and an operating budget of $4.855 billion. By comparison, Dr. Lamberson’s 2008-09 retroactively adjusted annual salary is $268,000. District 96 contains 5 schools and a total of 1,378 students, a vast majority of whom come from stable homes in a stable community, where parents prize and promote academic achievement. The most recent 2008-09 school year salary adjustment that amounts to a 20% pay raise is inconceivable. It appears to be a move to circumvent state regulations and associated penalties meant to discourage the arbitrary action of granting the 20% pay raise in the first place. This irresponsible and unfair action renders the Board complicit in the abuse of the statewide pension system for educators, and presents an embarrassment to a District with a mission, among others, to foster respect for self and community. Further, the board seems unwilling to acknowledge that events and forces outside the halls of the schools can and should have an impact on the spending habits of the district, and that the funds used to pay Dr. Lamberson's salary are coming from many people who are facing significant financial difficulties. Lack of perspective regarding fiscal health of district In their letter titled “Extending contract in best interest of District 96 community” published in the Riverside Brookfield Landmark on 8 July 2009, the Board asserts that the District’s great financial standing is due to Dr. Lamberson’s stewardship and expertise as the district’s business manager, while not acknowledging that the main reason for the District’s excellent fiscal health is the 2004 Property Tax referendum for District 96 which was approved by the taxpayers. As a result, District 96 has had a budget surplus totaling over $9million over the past 4 years of Dr. Lamberson’ tenure. However, expenses surged to just under $17 million in school year 2008-09 during his tenure, while they consistently ranged between $10.5 million and $11.5 million for the 5 years prior to Dr. Lamberson’s arrival at District 96. We conclude that D96 School Board members lack perspective regarding the key drivers responsible for the financial health of the district. Inadequate oversight The underlying message, in the limited communications by the Board with the community, alludes to the success of our schools and students primarily as the result of one man's efforts, much more so than a joint effort including our school principals, teachers, and parents. This apparent tendency to unevenly acknowledge credit is an issue of fairness, and is confirmed upon closer study of the levels of compensation across all levels of District staff. There is a significant discrepancy in the ratio of average administrator’s salaries over teachers’ salaries in District 96 as compared to the same ratio in the entire State. Over the past 10 years, based on information from the IL State Board of Education, the average administrator salary was $110,615 in the district, while the state average admin salary was $91,969, a 20% premium at D96 over the State. The teachers’ average salary of $52,446 in the district was actually smaller than the one in the State at $52,706. Averaged over the last 10 years, 57.8% of D96 teachers hold a master’s degree or above, as compared to 48.5% in the State, and the average individual teacher’s experience over the same period is 13.4 years in the district and 13.7 years in the state. Additionally, the pupil to administrator ratio has consistently been lower in the district and stands at 172:1 in 2008 as compared to 212:1 in the state. Recommendations In light of all of the above, we, the undersigned, urge the Board to adopt the following recommendations and policies in the spirit of our shared purpose and highest objective to continually improve District 96 schools: 1. The Board shall improve communications with the community. It achieves this charge by proactively soliciting and balancing the participation and input of members of the community. It shall establish a forum for questions, discussion, and public input in addition to and outside of the monthly School Board meetings. In responding to the communities’ questions and concerns, the Board shall set the highest standard with regard to transparency and accountability, aimed to assure that every possible angle is covered as the basis for informed decision making. 2. All written information and documentation discussed during regular Board meetings shall be made available to the general public at least 3 business days in advance of a Board meeting, similar to the pdf packets the Village of Riverside administration posts on their website for review and download. All written information and documentation pertaining to business items discussed during closed session meetings shall be distributed to all Board members 3 business days in advance of the closed session meeting. 3. The Board shall fulfill its leadership role within the larger Riverside community, and acknowledge the role of education within the community’s broader purposes and other taxing bodies. It shall proactively engage in coordination and planning meetings and activities held among the major taxing bodies, and initiate them in case such efforts do not exist. The Board shall regularly provide status reports of this coordination effort to the community. 4. The Board shall assume a leadership position in fighting prevalent abuses in the State of Illinois Administrators and Teachers Pension System. It shall do so on all jurisdictional levels, including local, state and federal. It shall reach out to all members of the community in soliciting the vast expertise among its residents, in an effort to jointly tackle and fight the prevalent abuse of a well intentioned system. 5. The Board shall present to the community the systems of performance tracking and processes of accountability used to evaluate the District superintendent and its principals. 6. The Board shall request that Dr. Lamberson follow the example of Elgin Area School District U-46 Jose Torres, who turned down his pay raise as reported in the Daily Herald on July 22, 2009. Sincerely, Thomas Jacobs, 104 Scottswood Road, Riverside spatny on "Signs of the times..." http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/signs-of-the-times-1#post-11296 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:36:00 +0000 spatny 11296@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Or, We Ar Not Alone.... (In Lincoln Park, one of Chicago's wealthiest neighborhoods, about two dozen stores have gone dormant in the past year on the prime shopping strip along Armitage Avenue between Halsted Street and Racine Avenue. Among the casualties: Fresh or Faux, Moonlight Graham and Entendre Couture closed. She Boutique left to consolidate with its Highland Park location, where rent is cheaper. And the little cottage that housed Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, a Mars Inc. venture, stands empty. The biggest eyesore sits at the west end of the street where the Armitage Collection, a 40,000-square-foot mini-mall conceived during the boom, remains vacant but for a hair salon that relocated from down the street. The project, one of Chicago-based M Development LLC's ventures, is battling a foreclosure suit. Officials at M Development didn't return calls seeking comment. As the boutiques moved out, the resale shops moved in. A furniture consignment pop-up shop called Millionaire Rejects and a designer sample sale shop from San Francisco called Thread Lounge are the newest fixtures on the street. The bare spaces and discount stores prompted residents, worried about their home values, to gather in September with shopkeepers, real estate executives and Ald. Vi Daley, 43rd, to discuss how to keep the Armitage neighborhood from looking like a retail ghost town. "We need to add a little excitement and a reason for people to walk this way," said John Witte, co-owner of the Poison Cup wine and art boutique, which opened on Armitage in April after a florist moved out. Daley said she is working with the city's cultural affairs office on a stopgap measure to turn the empty spaces into temporary art galleries. "I've never seen vacancies like this on the street," Daley said. "Everybody's concerned about it." Not long ago Chicago was on its way to becoming a fashion oasis. Mayor Richard Daley appointed a fashion czar. First lady Michelle Obama propelled favorite designer boutiques Ikram and Maria Pinto into the national spotlight. And the Washington Post's Robin Givhan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic, dubbed Chicago the "Milan of the Midwest." "It was a stage where it was certainly blossoming," said Lois Weisberg, commissioner of cultural affairs for the city of Chicago. "Designers were opening their own boutiques. Then all of the sudden they were having a hard time paying rent because of the recession. My fashion people did meet to see what we could do to help. It's very, very difficult. We can't pay the rent, they can't pay the rent." The scene is similar on the Southport corridor. The North Side strip of boutiques and restaurants was on the cusp of becoming the next hot shopping district when the recession hit. Like Armitage, Southport is dotted with vacant storefronts and for-rent signs. And the new 20,000-square-foot retail complex called the Southport Collection remains vacant. "Three years ago getting an apparel tenant was like falling off a log," said Joe Padorr, director of marketing and leasing at Preferred Development, the Chicago developer behind the Southport Collection. "Getting a bank was like falling off a log. They were expanding branches. Starbucks was expanding. Now there's just fewer of them doing deals, and the ones that are doing deals are the Dollar Stores." Preferred Development bought three buildings, including the one that housed the restaurant Red Tomato, on Southport Avenue by the elevated train stop in 2007. The firm had a tentative agreement to bring in yoga gear store Lululemon and was talking to such national chains as Club Monaco and Banana Republic when the market tanked, Padorr said. Now, Preferred is leasing part of the space to a Halloween pop-up store and has an agreement to bring in Wicker Park Fitness club in early 2011 after the building is gutted and redeveloped.) spatny on "Illinois is Broke" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/illinois-is-broke#post-12187 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:08:52 +0000 spatny 12187@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Somebody previously put up the link for the above mentioned Civic Federation website. One of them was on Chicago Tonight and I jotted down a few numbers as he spoke... Pensions; Illinois has $40 billion in various pension accounts, some more fully funded than others. But there is $100 billion unfunded... Back debt: $12.5 billion, $4 bil in unpaid bills... This is a generally conservative, pro business group but they claim a combination of tax increases and spending cuts is the onlything that can save the state from imminent collapse. They call for raising individual income tax to 5%, corporate rate to 6% and making $2.5 billion in spending cuts - which were not defined. That would include taxing retirement benefits which we currently don't do. IF this is done it will fill 84% of he hole and still leave $2.5 bil unfunded. Here's the catch: There are no Republican leaders that will go for raising taxes - they went over them one by one. So it won't happen. So, with that in mind, what is Plan B? DKing on "Crime in Riverside" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/crime-in-riverside#post-12247 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:46:27 +0000 DKing 12247@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Having recently moved into Riverside I was suprised to see the story of the 2 subjects charged with kidnapping along with their relative who lives in Riverside. I thank the Riverside Police Department for investigating it so quickly and arresting all of the parties involved. I know that they are short staffed and only have 1 detective also. Nice work to all involved at the police department. spatny on "A great new video on the Arcade Mural Project..." http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/a-great-new-video-on-the-arcade-mural-project#post-12242 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:43:50 +0000 spatny 12242@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ by Sally and Bob Faust. Check it out and show it to everyone you know - especially the kids. <a href="http://vimeo.com/9806544" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/9806544</a> A great job that captures the essence of the project perfectly. Now to land an angel to help us get it back in operation... TomJacobs on "Riverside Bicycle Plan" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-bicycle-plan#post-12061 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:42:43 +0000 TomJacobs 12061@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Pamela Brookstein, Suburban Coordinator with the Active Transportation Alliance, will talk about a Riverside bicycle or multi-modal transportation plan, on Thursday, 25 February 2010, at 7:30pm in Riverside Township Hall Room 4. Please join and invite your friends and neighbors. Following her presentation, there will be an overview of the bike route planning activities by the Riverside Sustainability Council. Let’s make 2010 the Year of the Bicycle in Riverside - of enjoying and sharing our town with people from near and far.