Why I {{heart}} Ward 47

1. A few years ago a tapas restaurant moved in on Montrose and promptly took over the entire sidewalk with their outside tables. It made it very difficult to walk to the el, especially because they were 2 doors away from the station.  You had to walk around their tables, around their patrons, around the trees and sometimes on the street  just to get to the train. So, I called Gene Schulter's Ward 47 office, complained about the sidewalk obstruction, and got a response back from them the same day saying they'd look into it.  A few days later... voila! The restaurant still had tables out, but they pushed them to the street edge of the sidewalk so pedestrians could walk to the el without running an obstacle course.
   
   
2. Last summer I decided to replace an old, elephantine dresser (okay, dining room buffet I was using as a dresser) with a couple more practical Ikea dressers.  But what to do with the old dresser?  I hate just dumping big things in the alley when I know the garbage trucks won't pick them up.  There's always a chance the junk scavengers will pick them up, but you never know.  So... I called Ward 47 to ask them what I should do. They asked what kind of garbage service I had... I had no idea. Not my building, not my service.  But she said she'd look into it anyway.  The same afternoon I got a call, at my home number, from a manager at the city's Dept of Sanitation!  He said they'd have a truck by the next day to pick up the dresser.  As it turns out, I don't think the city even services my address normally, but they came by anyway.  Problem solved.
   
   
3. A few days ago I noticed that the street sign hanging at the Montrose and Wolcott intersection says "Wolcott ST" instead of "Wolcott AV".  I can't believe it's taken 5+ years for me to notice the error, but there it is.  I emailed the Ward 47 office saying "I know this is a minor thing, I don't expect anything to be done about it, but...".  Yesterday, I got an email from them saying they put in a request with the city to have the signs corrected.
   
   
4. Gene Schulter has worked with I-Go over the years to get 5 more cars installed in my neighborhood (aka, his ward) in the past 2 years.  We love that.  I like to think it had something to do with a conversation I had with him about I-Go at the Grass Roots Festival a couple years ago where I told him we needed more cars in the neighborhood.
   
   
5. Gene Schulter has also been one of the most vocal opponents to the CTA shutting down stations during brown line construction.  He fought it 'til the end, and then got what compensation he could out of them for the businesses.  During the time period the opposition was making the papers, and Gene was being interviewed on the subject, one of the articles I read contained a retelling of an email I had sent to Ward 47 on the subject, some of it verbatim. So, hey, I know they got my email and I know Gene read it.

So... as dysfunctional as Chicago city government can be, it's actually working fairly well in the 47th ward.  I don't know always know what Schulter's personal agenda is, I don't know that he is never self-interested in his actions, but I don't really care.  The man knows how to work the system, and he occasionally works it for me.  He's got my vote as long as he wants it.