After Morton Grove Trustee Dan Di Maria announced Tuesday he would run for village president in the Action Party primary election on Feb. 26, members of the Action Party issued a statement.
Earlier: DiMaria tosses hat in the ring
It said:
Previously, the Board of Directors of the Action Party chose its slate of candidates for the upcoming April 2013 municipal election. Five seats on Morton Grove’s Village Board will be on the April ballot: Village President, Village Clerk, and three Village Trustee positions. The Action Party still endorses the slate it selected and announced on October 17, namely Daniel J. Staackmann for the office of Village President; Ed Ramos for Village Clerk; and Bill Grear, Tony Kalogerakos, and John Pietron for the three Village Trustee positions.
Earlier: Action Party introduces candidates at pizza party
Mark Matz, president of the Action Party stated, “I am personally disappointed that there will be a primary. Action Party members have chosen very strong candidates. We encourage the voter to look at each candidate's record of accomplishments and continue to support the Action Party."
Village President Daniel J. Staackmann, who is running for re-election, weighed in on the fact that a primary would occur in February.
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“I look forward to letting the residents of Morton Grove see who is better qualified and equipped to lead the village into the future. I am running on my record of leadership, serving on both the Village Board and previously on the Park District Board, where I served for 16 years.
"During my tenure on both boards, I fought for crucial changes which were made to address inefficiencies. I have a vision for this village and will continue to work to ensure that Morton Grove residents receive the best services possible.”
The Action Party is a grassroots Morton Grove-based political party, which prides itself in the fact that its candidates are non-partisan – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – who are dedicated to providing the Village of Morton Grove with experienced, independent, and committed leadership.
Look for more information about the Action Party and the upcoming election on our Facebook page, Action Party of Morton Grove.
Lizzy T
11:38 am on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Having a choice to elect is a privilege many don't have and we should appreciate it. Time will tell who the better person for mayor will be and I will wait to see what each has to say and look at their record. As for the park board, I don't think Mr. Staackmann has been on it for many years now, so any problems are probably due to those there now like the mother and son on the board or all the changes in directors who keep leaving that we read about.
grandpa
2:55 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
#an average joe;
"have outlived their useful lives." So have the %@!#%$ politicing fools. We just got done with six months of horse manure and here we go again.
Just Call Me George
9:31 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
DiMaria says he would have more communication with the residents on big issues like the waste station. If his past behavior is any indicator of future behavior, this is not the truth, either. At the contentious village board meeting where many residents spoke against the idea of a waste transfer station, DiMaria interrupted the proceedings to say “we should have a town hall meeting.” A nice suggestion, but the 200 or so people who would attend are less than 0.1% of our population. Not a great avenue of communication. The special edition newsletter Staackmann produced with details on the issue went to everyone, & it was full of information.
DiMaria's staged statement was greeted by cheers, as he was setting up his run for mayor and pandering for votes. But this calls to question his qualifications. If communication was so important, why didn’t he arrange a town hall meeting months prior when the issue first came up in Village board meetings? Furthermore, by the time in the process DiMaria did suggest it, he was suggesting an illegal activity. At that point in the proceeding, the town hall meeting with elected officials would have been illegal and improper, and put the Village at risk. So, is he a candidate who tells people what they want to hear just to get support, even if what he suggests is illegal; or, is he a candidate who didn’t have know any better and lacks essential knowledge for this position. Neither option is what we need or want in an elected official.
Brad
1:25 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Staackamann good for business? Marshals, Old Navy, and Shoe Carnival all left for Niles and took much needed sales tax revenue with them. What did MG government do to try and keep them? What about the OTB Staackmann voted against? This town needs more revenue to keep taxes low and services high without raising residents property taxes.
steve
3:06 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
First off, the Action party trustees voted FOR the OTB; Krier cast the tie-breaking vote to ban OTB sites from the village. Read: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-07-09/news/0507090064_1_otb-parlor-otb-sites-otb-facility. Secondly, Work n'Gear moved to MG from Niles (across the street); a new Indian Restaurant and green dry cleaner's were opened in that strip mall. Across Harlem, Culver's opened (and is doing boffo business) and Produce World greatly expanded their store and took over the Old Navy facility. An Old Navy manager told me corporate decided to close the MG location due to lower-than-wanted sales; they decided to move to Niles instead. What does that tell you? Shop locally and maybe stores won't have to move out of your town.
Lizzy T
5:23 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
I shop at the new Produce World which used to be Old Navy and think that it is a wonderful new store. How can anyone say that Mayor Staackmann is not good for business. Things may not be perfect but are a lot better than many other towns. We do need more taxes to keep the taxes lower and which I recall did not go up over the last few years since the current Mayor was in office. I do remember taxes going up under the last one though.
Brad
7:59 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
MG has a history of being unfriendly for business. I have three letters to prove my argument. ABT. Enough said! Do you think Dan Dimaria would have let ABT move out of MG. I think not!
Old Time Grover
12:23 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Not nearly enough said Brad. Lived in town a long time, tired of know nothings who make uninformed comments putting them forth as facts. Let's stop all the nonsense about ABT once and for all. They needed more open acres to build what they wanted that did not exist here. Dont believe it? Go look at their space in Glenview. One thing they're not making any more of is land so unless you wanted YOUR neighborhood bulldozed to build a new business tell me where you'd put a facility of that size? Didn't anyone remember reading what Mr. Abt said in an article a couple of years ago? He wanted to stay, had a good relationship with the village, but couldn't find enough space in Morton Grove to suit his needs. Brad is obviously a DiMaria backer so here's questions. Why did Dimaria vote to raise our taxes 20% when he was on the village board back in 2005? Why so many abstains when voting on the board about money now? My comment to Patch, get your reporters to do some fact checking about what is printed on your pages.
SuburbanMary
12:23 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Wow, Brad. Now you're delusional. Abt (it's a family name, not three letters) outgrew its location on Waukegan Road (for both showroom and storage space). They were looking to relocate and no large parcels of land were available in MG. Look at the size of their campus in Glenview. Do you know of anything that large in MG where they could have relocated? Get real. Not even a miracle could have kept Abt in MG.
sherwin dubren
3:04 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
True enough that ABT has a much larger store in Glenview, but they may have not even planned a move in the first place had MG made it more comfortable for them to stay. With all the land on Waukegan sold to car dealerships at a loss by the village, there may have been an opportunity to accomodate ABT. I think the Action Party gave up too soon on that one.
I'm not in favor of DiMaria as a replacement for Staackman, but at least he is showing some opposition spirit, which is what I think this village needs. We are hearing now that Niles is starting a new party to oppose the entrenched party of the former Mayor Blase. Good for them. Now, if we could only swing a similar move in MG, there may be hope yet for the village.