Concerned Residents Brainstorm Best Ways to Tackle Graffiti

By Nandika Doobay

During last February’s epic Snowpocalypse, while the blizzard created near white-out conditions and area residents huddled inside their homes, vandals took it as an opportunity to get a lot of work done. And by work, I mean destruction of property. According to 32 Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, around 400 buildings were hit on the night of the heaviest snowfall.

Boldly drawn tags exploded along the Blue Line’s path, many of them brazenly colored in with lettering that looks as if it took some time to create -- not the hurried scribbles of a tagger on the run. Much to the delight of hipsters, but to the understandable chagrin of property owners, the neighborhood was transformed into something resembling an 80s music video over the course of one night.

Alderman Waguespack held a special meeting about graffiti and vandalism last Wednesday, at the Wicker Park Bucktown library. About 20 concerned residents attended, including representatives from 1st Ward Alderman Joe Moreno’s office, members of SSA#33 and court advocates who attend hearings on behalf of the community. Many ideas were shared about what can be done to clean up existing graffiti and prevent further attacks.

Waguespack recommended that property or business owners install cameras and lights with motion sensors to deter new attacks. That seems to have worked on the corner of Armitage and Damen, where the wall along a liquor store used to be a hotspot for tagging. During the graffiti surge, that was one of the high-visibility places that remained untouched, perhaps due to the large white security camera now looming above the billboard across the street.

The alderman also suggests that residents take a more proactive approach to graffiti removal by keeping a few cans of Goof Off around the house. Many neighbors who attended the meeting were enraged at how long it’s taken the city to remove many of the tags, some of which have been up for over a month. Waguespack explained that the city has been slow to clean up many of the spots due to the high volume of graffiti that needs to be removed and because of a lack of funds. “They cut some funding for Graffiti Blasters,” said the alderman. “Those guys have to realize it comes down to a quality of life issue.”

Other reasons why graffiti remains a huge issue is because people fail to report it or fail to show up to court prosecute vandals who have been caught. Gang graffiti has been making a comeback, scaring some residents into staying mum on attacks in fear of retaliation. The alderman assured residents that they shouldn’t be afraid to file a report with 311, or call police if they see something. “Most of these kids are not gang members,” he said.

It is good to know the difference between regular tagging and gang graffiti, though. Click here for a map of known North-side gangs, and click here for examples of Chicago gang graffiti.

-Nandika Doobay

Dispatch from 32nd Ward Aldermanic Forum

(All content and photos by Nandika Doobay)

With the Feb. 22nd Aldermanic elections soon approaching, area residents gathered last Thursday night at DePaul University’s Student Center to meet and greet the current 32nd Ward hopefuls as well as witness what turned out to be a lively debate.


The race has whittled down to four candidates - Brian Gorman, Bryan Lynch, David Pavlik and Scott Waguespack. Peter V. Diaz, who dropped his bid in late December said that he “consulted with his friends and family and decided that now is not the right time to pursue elected office.” Diaz now endorses David Pavlik.


Pavlik, whose cellphone rang during his opening statement, was born (on Christmas Day, as was his mother) and raised in the Wicker Park area and now lives in Roscoe Village. His main focus is “putting our neighborhood first,” and pledged to attendees that he would “put more police on the street and more teachers in the schools.” Pavlik stressed his frustration with what he called a “lack of attention in the ward,” with rats, potholes and public safety being among his top concerns.


Bryan Lynch has lived in the ward since 1998 and currently resides in Wicker Park with his wife and three sons. He is the only small business owner of the four candidates and told the audience that he aims to partner with the business community to promote growth, create jobs, ease regulatory burden on business owners and take advantage of technology. “I have seen the neighborhood deteriorate,” Lynch told the audience, citing empty storefronts up and down the ward’s major avenues. Lynch hopes to get outside businesses interested in moving to the ward. “We need to look bigger because Chicago is a global city,” he explained.


Roscoe Village resident Brian Gorman, former supporter of Scott Waguespack, told the audience during his opening statement that the current alderman’s failings are the reasons that he is running. Gorman did not mince words, blaming Waguespack for a myriad of problems that he claims plague the ward, such as Waguespack’s vote against property tax relief for residents - the only Alderman in the City Council against the measure. Gorman continued to throw some low-blows, bringing up Waguespack’s past support of alleged woman-abuser Scott Lee Cohen and possible shady campaign contributions from Board of Ethics Chairman and noted zoning attorney John Pitarski.


Alderman Waguespack was on the defensive for a majority of the hour-long debate, deflecting criticism from his opponents by calling their statements “a bunch of myths, distortions and misinformation.” He claimed to have given back thousands of dollars in contributions and tried to steer the audience’s focus on his accomplishments as alderman, such as his authoring and unanimously passing the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Transparency Ordinance and his close work with local Chambers of Commerce. When discussing his efforts at making the ward more environmentally sound, Waguespack recalled his utilization of an abandoned factory. “When Republic Windows ran off in the middle of the night we brought in a company that was greener than the one that was there before, and now Serious Materials has brought 200 jobs back on the line.”


Overall, the candidates agreed on most issues such as adding new liquor licenses to the ward and expanding the duties of Inspector General, which they all support. Two issues set the current Alderman aside from his fellow contenders - big box stores and food trucks, which Waguespack is in support of, but Lynch, Pavlik and Gorman are against. Only one candidate would disclose their pick for future mayor of Chicago. Brian Gorman says Rahm is his guy, with the the other three candidates giving the similar neutral statement of “I will work with whoever is chosen by the public.”


-Nandika Doobay

City of Big Shoulders, Cash Cows

Photo and Words By Nandika Doobay

Aldermen Joe Moreno and Walter Burnett Jr. held a press conference Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 at the 13th District Police Station to discuss their views on the proposed income tax increase which the Illinois house is set to vote on this week.

Both Moreno and Burnett deem the tax-hike unacceptable as it does not include revenue increases to any of the state’s municipalities, capping Chicago’s revenue at the current one tenth of one percent.

With the proposal calling for a four year increase of personal income tax from 3 percent to 5.25 percent and a recent mandate that the City of Chicago must fund its Police and Fireman pension commitments, the Aldermen worry that the city will be getting a raw deal.

“At the same time the State is telling us to fund our pensions, they’re increasing their revenue and not giving us our rightful equivalent on the increase,” said Alderman Moreno. “It’s unfair and unworkable.”

Moreno explained that he has reached out to state senators and other local Aldermen who agree that the city of Chicago should get it’s fair share of the $7.5 Billion expected to be raised during the hike.

“Chicago is this state’s cash cow,” said Alderman Burnett of the 27th Ward. “You don’t kill the goose that laid the golden egg - you need to feed that goose.”

By Nandika Doobay

Dispatch from Beat 1432 CAPS Mtg

By Nandika Doobay

At the Beat 1432 CAPS meeting held at the Holstein Park field house last Thursday, Sgt. Bielicki and Beat Officer Sackett of the 14th District discussed the following crime statistics, arrest highlights, and community alerts.

Instances of robbery, aggravated battery, motor vehicle theft are on the rise while theft, burglary, and narcotics arrests were down compared to this time last year.

Gang graffiti in the area has gone down, while 'tagging' is very much on the rise. On the night of Aug. 20, a bike rider called in that they had spotted some taggers near 2000 W. McLean Ave., which resulted in two arrests.

Officer Sackett told meeting attendees about a simple call that led to an action-packed ordeal from the night before. An anonymous witness called 911 about hearing power tool sounds coming from a truck rental lot on the 2200 block of N. Elston. When Officer Sackett and his colleagues arrived at the scene they heard someone drop a heavy metallic object and began to search the lot. Officers found a catalytic converter on the ground along with tools used to remove them from vehicles.

They continued their search, beneath, under and even on top of the trucks until they noticed a ladder leading down to a barge on the Chicago River where the assailant could have fled. When checking out the scene at the river, officers found a man bobbing up and down in the water who appeared to be in distress. Fire trucks, river police and even an emergency helicopter showed up. Police used the thick rope that secures the barge to get a hold of the man and bring him out of water. The man claimed he had broken his leg while falling into the river and was hospitalized before being charged with burglary.

In other news, there is a business alert concerning a scam in which people posing as Health Department employees attempt to schedule inspections of local businesses. The suspects tell victims that they will receive text messages to their personal phones regarding the inspections. The Department of Health DOES NOT utilize text messaging or websites to schedule inspections (in fact, the plan is that they pop in by surprise), and they encourage businesses to ask for employee identification and badges.

When The Pipeline asked about Mayor Daley's recent announcement that he will be pulling 200 police officers off of CAPS duty and putting them back onto the reportedly understaffed streets, Sgt. Bielicki said that she was unaware of any changes being made to the program. "There has been nothing in writing, as far as I know, but a lot of things might change."

--By Nandika Doobay