*** Community Alert ***
With Aurora becoming "ground zero" in the nation's abortion debate, we are happy both sides have been peaceful and non-violent. We can't speak for what has happened in the past in other communities, but we give credit to everyone for having a passionate and healthy debate that has been safe.
In fact, the only actual or perceived threat we have heard of during the last week is so-called corporation counsel Alayne Weingartz looking like she wanted to rip someone's head off for having the audacity to ask her a question about the controversy going on and the issue of deception.
So, now we learn that after Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner bypassed the Aurora City Council and granted the permit to Planned Parenthood and tried to short-circuit the process that may reveal certain "less than forthcoming" conduct related to how his office and staff mishandled the situation or misled anyone, he now has police protection.
Yes, the same rank-n-file police that Mr. Weisner has battled for years, he says are paid too much and in the midst of a labor union dispute are now protecting him from...well, we aren't sure what, but apparently he feels a threat.
Since the pro-life and pro-choice supporters have been peaceful, maybe he's worried about Aurora residents upset about deception from city officials. It also could be people outraged at the incompetence of his administration on a variety matters. Maybe it's the cronyism? Did some contractor give a contribution and not get his contract?
Massive tax increases? Wild spending? Murder of the drive-in theater? Land scam? That pension scheme for temp employee Chief of Staff (mayor) Bob Vaughan? Violations of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, which is a misdemeanor?
Not sure since the city's public information officer Ergo has been AWOL, but whatever it is, while we disagree with Mr. Weisner's actions and policies, we certainly don't want him hurt or to be threatened. We want him to live a healthy life with his wife Marilyn and hope they have plenty of wedding anniversary fundraisers ahead when they move to their already-existing home in Florida in 2009.
The Aurora Police had to take officers off the street to protect Weisner, so considering they have plenty to do and are already stretched to the limit since we haven't been able to hire more police officers, we are taking three important steps as part of our civic duty to deal with this threat:
1. Our first group of interns (meet them below) have volunteered to accompany Mr. Weisner 24 hours a day with a dedicated cell phone for Weisner's claim-to-fame, the 264-INFO number, that took him a couple years to set-up when he worked under former Mayor David Stover (based upon that, Weisner called himself a telecom consultant after he mysteriously went AWOL after the famous water crisis and before he officially ran for mayor).
2. Instead of using those proposed red-light cameras or spending $127,000 in luxury upgrades for Weisner's office, we want to equip our interns with headgear video cameras to record all activity around Weisner. That way, they can catch any protesters who might be upset at Weisner for any false statements, incompetence, tax increases, cronyism, wild spending or skyrocketing debt.
(note: we will eventually delete any recording that may relate to Weisner talking to his cronies about how to enrich themsleves at taxpayer expense or the dirty political tricks they want to use against opponents like they did with Alderman Stephanie Kifowit).
3. We call upon the people of Aurora to help protect Tom Weisner. Everyone. Planned Parenthood supporters and pro-life supporters unite! East side, west side. All four counties. Cool, smart people. Old-guard cronies. The only exception are the malcontent editors at the local fishwrap because they are very busy delivering limited copies of the Beconfused in the morning because of their ongoing customer service crisis, which is separate from their editorial crisis.
We need everyone to start taking photos, videos, audio of everything and everyone around Tom Weisner. This way, we will make sure to prevent anyone from trying anything dangerous, but if there is ever a problem, we will have a way to deal with it and evidence for law enforcement. And, if there's anything interesting you feel the community needs to know about, we'll broadcast it here, too.
Let the police deal with actual crime and keep the community safe even if they don't have a labor contract.
Let the rest of us unite together to keep an eye on Tom Weisner.
Meet the Interns | 1:59
Originally Dedicated to Local Fishwrap Staff
In fact, the only actual or perceived threat we have heard of during the last week is so-called corporation counsel Alayne Weingartz looking like she wanted to rip someone's head off for having the audacity to ask her a question about the controversy going on and the issue of deception.
So, now we learn that after Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner bypassed the Aurora City Council and granted the permit to Planned Parenthood and tried to short-circuit the process that may reveal certain "less than forthcoming" conduct related to how his office and staff mishandled the situation or misled anyone, he now has police protection.
Yes, the same rank-n-file police that Mr. Weisner has battled for years, he says are paid too much and in the midst of a labor union dispute are now protecting him from...well, we aren't sure what, but apparently he feels a threat.
Since the pro-life and pro-choice supporters have been peaceful, maybe he's worried about Aurora residents upset about deception from city officials. It also could be people outraged at the incompetence of his administration on a variety matters. Maybe it's the cronyism? Did some contractor give a contribution and not get his contract?
Massive tax increases? Wild spending? Murder of the drive-in theater? Land scam? That pension scheme for temp employee Chief of Staff (mayor) Bob Vaughan? Violations of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, which is a misdemeanor?
Not sure since the city's public information officer Ergo has been AWOL, but whatever it is, while we disagree with Mr. Weisner's actions and policies, we certainly don't want him hurt or to be threatened. We want him to live a healthy life with his wife Marilyn and hope they have plenty of wedding anniversary fundraisers ahead when they move to their already-existing home in Florida in 2009.
The Aurora Police had to take officers off the street to protect Weisner, so considering they have plenty to do and are already stretched to the limit since we haven't been able to hire more police officers, we are taking three important steps as part of our civic duty to deal with this threat:
1. Our first group of interns (meet them below) have volunteered to accompany Mr. Weisner 24 hours a day with a dedicated cell phone for Weisner's claim-to-fame, the 264-INFO number, that took him a couple years to set-up when he worked under former Mayor David Stover (based upon that, Weisner called himself a telecom consultant after he mysteriously went AWOL after the famous water crisis and before he officially ran for mayor).
2. Instead of using those proposed red-light cameras or spending $127,000 in luxury upgrades for Weisner's office, we want to equip our interns with headgear video cameras to record all activity around Weisner. That way, they can catch any protesters who might be upset at Weisner for any false statements, incompetence, tax increases, cronyism, wild spending or skyrocketing debt.
(note: we will eventually delete any recording that may relate to Weisner talking to his cronies about how to enrich themsleves at taxpayer expense or the dirty political tricks they want to use against opponents like they did with Alderman Stephanie Kifowit).
3. We call upon the people of Aurora to help protect Tom Weisner. Everyone. Planned Parenthood supporters and pro-life supporters unite! East side, west side. All four counties. Cool, smart people. Old-guard cronies. The only exception are the malcontent editors at the local fishwrap because they are very busy delivering limited copies of the Beconfused in the morning because of their ongoing customer service crisis, which is separate from their editorial crisis.
We need everyone to start taking photos, videos, audio of everything and everyone around Tom Weisner. This way, we will make sure to prevent anyone from trying anything dangerous, but if there is ever a problem, we will have a way to deal with it and evidence for law enforcement. And, if there's anything interesting you feel the community needs to know about, we'll broadcast it here, too.
Let the police deal with actual crime and keep the community safe even if they don't have a labor contract.
Let the rest of us unite together to keep an eye on Tom Weisner.
Meet the Interns | 1:59
Originally Dedicated to Local Fishwrap Staff
40 comments:
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.As far as I am concerned its all part of Tom Weisner's ongoing PR campaign. He thinks this will make residents feel sorry for him, be concerned about his safety and make the pro-life'rs look like bullies. What better way to make people begin to forgive and forget. What Tom does not understand is that his efforts are infantile. Police protection for Tom? Please!
I would ask what Alarm Company has the contract for Planned Parenthood. I wonder if it is the Mayors good friend Ed Bonifas? If he supports Planned Parenthood and the Mayor, HMM.
Isn't there anything else going on in this city. Openline your getting like the Beacon.
Amen! The Plan Parenthood topic has been blogged to death. Next topic please.
I agree, lets start talking about 7:44's posting.
Hmm, ADS and Mr. Bonifas???? Ya think they were the installer of all that alarm equipment? Seems to me that if they were WEisner and at least two of his flunky alderman would have surely known way before this became public.
Was I reading the Beacon yesterday? No it could not have been. A credible and dissenting article against the administration and its elected officials. This could not be, but alas the Earth may have tilted:
The BEACON NEWS said:
"City officials did'nt fool anyone with clinic review"
It had to happen right after writing such a nice column about Aurora and its wonderful Downtown Alive! summer concert series. But when I bragged about "Aurora knowing how to put on a show," this isn't exactly what I meant.
Before we continue, I won't be discussing the pros and cons of Planned Parenthood. And I'm not foolish enough to add another voice to the already shrill national debate on abortion. My only concern is what city officials knew and their blatant exploitation of the business application process.
Aurora officials are asking us to swallow whole the notion that they had no clue Planned Parenthood was coming to town. We have to believe they knew nothing despite then-Community Development Director Bill Wiet admitting he spoke with Planned Parenthood in February. We have to accept Aurora was in the dark even though Wiet, now Mayor Tom Weisner's chief of staff, said, "I surmised that the site they were talking about might be the one on New York Street."
When I asked city spokesman Carie Anne Ergo about this flight of fancy, she said Wiet did indeed forward this news to the mayor; however, "several attempts" to contact Planned Parenthood in the following weeks were unsuccessful.
You mean to tell me that the man who subsequently heads the mayor's office puts two and two together about one of the most controversial entities in this country and they all stick their heads in the sand? Yeah, and I have some White Sox World Series tickets to unload -- cheap!
So now we are to believe that only after it was brought to their attention did Aurora officials realize Gemini Office Development is actually Planned Parenthood. And after recovering from their collective case of the vapors, the winds of discontent start blowing at gale force. And they buckle faster than any Democratic opposition to Iraq.
Then Aurora goes into cover mode and decides it's time for an independent review of Planned Parenthood's application. "Legitimate questions were raised about their application," Ergo said. "This is a high-profile situation, and we don't feel it's unreasonable for them to have to wait two weeks to be sure no laws were broken." But when I also asked Ergo how many other Aurora businesses had ever undergone an independent review of their application, not surprisingly, that answer was zero.
But alas, since there isn't one attorney in all of Aurora without some connection to the city, this "independent review" took a wee bit longer than expected. The first choice, attorney Richard Martens, had ties with the city's outside counsel. The second choice, Phillip Luetkehans, donated to Alderman Richard Irvin's failed mayoral campaign.
So this mess got dropped in the Kane County state's attorney's lap. That's just what John Barsanti needed -- to have Aurora abrogate responsibility for this self-inflicted mess just when he was in the middle of re-trying Edward Tenney in a 15 year-old murder case.
I asked First Assistant State's Attorney Clint Hull how many Kane County municipalities had ever asked his office to review a business application. Hull couldn't remember one.
Can you say disingenuous? I knew you could.
But let's forget about the lawyers. Even I, a lowly columnist, understand the business application process. But who listens to me? A long-time Fox Valley business developer explained it very clearly. "We put our name on applications all the time, even if we know who the tenant is. It's a widely accepted practice, and it's often easier to do it that way," he said, "It's not fraud. You can't prevent a business from occupying a space for which it is zoned and properly constructed."
Again, I'm not taking a stand on Planned Parenthood. It's your right, within the bounds of the law, to get out there and protest. I'd rather see you stand for something than fall for anything. What I am saying is I believe Aurora knew about this all along, and unless they intend to exercise this level of scrutiny for all future business applicants, who do they think they're fooling?
With the clinic opening Tuesday morning after the review found no wrongdoing on Planned Parenthood's part, we now know the inevitable outcome of Aurora's stall tactics. Shame on them for persisting in perpetrating this charade. Shame on them for wasting taxpayer dollars in an effort to save their own hides. And shame on Weisner for acting like he didn't know any better.
Jeffery Ward
That was a great article. Hit the nail on the head.
That dissenting view in the Beacon was not by one of their editors or staff, but some independent person who doesn't work for them.
The Beacon itself hasn't addressed the dishonesty of the mayor. They don't have the courage.
Weisner needs police protection? He must be paranoid!
That was a hilarious post! We should really videotape everything Weisner does.
I would love to see the pro-life supporters and police union both protest at Weisner's house and fundraiser.
Weisner needs police protection because thanks to this PP fiasco, everyone in this town now realizes what an incompetent mayor and administration we have.
If he's not incompetent, he's dishonest. Either way, it's a terrible situation.
Maybe whoever guards Weisner should remind him to get the police union contract resolved.
Weisner is in a no-win situation still no matter what he pulled on Monday. These things are going to court one way or another and the truth about when he knew about the PP clinic is going to come out and he's going to be in trouble.
I just moved here last year. Weisner was a telecom consultant? For what? Alarm Detection?
They should move the next city council meeting to a bigger place so we can all see him have to answer to the people.
What happened with the “Citizens Subpoena Power” issue?
Was it approved?
I live in the 9th Ward and am scare of Leroy Keith's intimidation tactics.
Can I have 24 hour police protection, too? Do I need to file a request through Tom? Do I have to give my name or can I just use Gemini as my name?
This is a hilarious post for several reasons (and I love the interns), but what IS the threat? Just because the entire city thinks Weisner has no credibility or is there some actual threat? Let the police fight real crime and let Weisner call 911 or Alayne if he needs help.
its all a PR stunt.
Weisner is losing his mind. This is not the type of person we need leading the City.
Go. Away. Weisner.
You have set our town back 20 years with your poor management, and by the time we even start to get ourselves out of the hole, you'll be in Florida. Just leave already.
9:21 AM
Maybe he's just nervous about something bigger in the whole scheme of things that will be coming to light soon???
Having a anti-abortion person make threats against the Mayor is really funny, ain't it ?
He should get a big dog. If you can't handle the heat then get out of the fire.
10:13 AM
Who made threats? Where did you hear this info from?
Its all PR people.
Great skit for Saturday Night Live
Of course he needs police protection!!
He is not used to having his decisions questioned.
Plus now he can feel REALLY important.
8:42 Could not have said it better myself/wow.
First Weisner bad mouths the police, and now guess what....come protect me because I have run the City into the ground, and people want my head!
I know people working at Alarm Detection. I don't think they put the alarm in PP. Word would have gotten all around town if they had. PP probably used someone they know well who would keep it secret.
I know a few plumbers and they said the local 501 over on Butterfield rd knew about this facility almost a year ago. They are also big money supporters of Weisner, Chapa Lavia and Holmes. Are we are suppossed to believe these three did not know? Yeah right!
I am with you,8:42, that article by Jeff Ward was exactly what I want from the newspaper. I have been thinking lately of canceling the Beacon (since I read it online or not at all) but I'll continue to support it with my subscription if it helps pay for gems like Mr Ward's article. People at my work had the same reaction - "Wow".
I am pro-choice and I have been trying to explain to my pro-choice friends from outside Aurora that the reason people in Aurora are not happy about the clinic isn't really about abortion. It's because we have a mayor and administration that is dishonest and incompetent.
That article by Jeff Ward is the type of thing this blog has been doing all along. If the blog ran the Beacon, we would see it be a real newspaper again.
I've been reading the Daily Herald and Trib a lot more lately. Daily Herald is doing a lot of coverage on Aurora and their writers are better than the Beacon.
No problem with that, pull some of the guys off the bicycles. Those would be my first choice. Especially the short dirty blonde haired guy that continues to be rude and ignorant to the pedestrians. But yet goes out of his way to make passes at women....
Planned Parenthoods should be credited for aborting Tom from his position in the City.
359 I believe you are wrong. Anybody with 1/2 a brain knows if a company puts up a 7 million dollar building somebody in the city should know about it. There are so many pro lifers from all over the burbs that flock to an abortion clinic to throw their beliefs and horrible photos on everyone. In other words it is their stage to put on a show.
How sad that all the tiny human beings who will be destroyed at planned parenthood cant borrow the mayors guards to protect themselves.
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