What will Obama do?

sr71plt said:

If he builds his library there, chances are good the name of the Park will be changed to Obama Park without him doing anything at all.

Newsflash: Names on public places/streets get changed from time to time and always have been.

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The Center is designed as a campus to integrate into historic Jackson Park and to encourage local residents and visitors alike to explore the community and bring people together for events, recreation, and programming. We believe the Center will restore the promise of Jackson Park as the “people’s park,” building upon its history as a recreational destination for gathering on the South Side for families, community members, and visitors.

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TalkRadio said:

Seems to me the Obama's have no intention on asking for a name change...

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sr71plt said:

As I already posted, I don't think it matters. I think the name eventually will be changed just because his library is there. It doesn't need to have him weigh in on it one way or the other. I also don't see it as some to post about on a discussion board. Ho hum.

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TalkRadio said:

Time will tell.

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sr71plt said:

Yeah, which is another reason that this thread was lame from the get go.

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O'HARE — Mayor Rahm Emanuel left the door open Thursday for a renewed campaign to remove the Balbo monument from its Downtown perch, but he rejected similar efforts aimed at renaming Washington Park and Jackson Park on the city's South Side.

The nation's first and seventh presidents both "fought for a more perfect union" through efforts to keep the country unified, the mayor said.

Activists have redoubled their efforts at renaming city landmarks since last weekend's violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that statues of Confederate leaders should be left standing across the South.

But the mayor didn't budge on efforts to rename the two South Side parks, which both sit in predominantly black neighborhoods and are named after owners of slave-operated plantations.

But Emanuel emphasized Jackson's role in the nullification crisis and pointed to his opening of the electoral process to citizens who didn't own property.

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BELMONT CRAGIN — Mayor Rahm Emanuel opened the door Thursday to city taxpayers footing the bill for a long list of improvements needed to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, including adding a lane to Lake Shore Drive and two lanes to Stony Island Avenue.

Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said Wednesday the additional lanes would help smooth the flow of traffic through Jackson Park if Cornell Drive is closed to allow the center to be built and the South Shore and Jackson Park golf courses combined.

However, Emanuel declined to take a formal position on the proposed changes that could cost the city tens of millions of dollars until members of the public get a chance to weigh in on the plan to add a new southbound lane to Lake Shore Drive from 57th Street to Hayes Drive on what in now the Jackson Park side of Lake Shore Drive.

In addition, the presidential center proposal calls for a football field and track to be moved to make room for the center’s campus. That will likely be at the expense of the city or Chicago Park District.

In addition, Scheinfeld said two pedestrian underpasses through Jackson Park to the golf course would need to be improved. That cost will also be borne by the city or Chicago Park District.

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richard_daily said:

Why do you care?

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adrina said:

Because he's a hate filled snowflake - just like the rest of the conservative right wing. It's what they do.

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As longtime Woodlawn resident Sharon Payne sat listening to former President Barack Obama explain why he didn't want to sign a contract promising certain jobs and benefits to South Side communities Thursday night, she could feel her stomach sink.

It didn't matter what Obama was saying about the future Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. All Payne could focus on was the people she felt were left out of his explanation.

"It feels like there's a master plan to get rid of the poor and even get rid of the working poor," said Payne, 68, who has lived in the neighborhood for 37 years and was among those who camped outside the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place ahead of the meeting to draw attention to the push for a community benefits agreement, or CBA.

"Some people will be displaced because of this, and they will not speak on that," she said. "The center is a fine idea, but I don't like the way they are going about it."

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TalkRadio said:

Obama's presidential library will be built in Jackson Park in Chicago...
https://www.obama.org/the-center/

A Chicago pastor wants Jackson's name removed from the park...
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/c...ames-to-be-removed-from-parks/article/2631824

What will Obama do?

Build his presidential library as planned in Jackson Park?

Ask the City of Chicago to change the park's name?

Move his presidential library to a different location?

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South Side community activists camped out in front of the Hyatt Regency at McCormick Place on Wednesday, 24 hours before top Obama Foundation officials will hold a public meeting at the hotel to discuss their program and design ideas for the Obama Presidential Center.

The dozen campers said they had to stake out an early spot to speak at the meeting because foundation officials haven’t heeded their calls for a community benefits agreement — a contract holding officials accountable for minority hiring, local business investment and other provisions as the Jackson Park center is constructed.

Organizer Jawanza Malone said “the community is not at the table” for design plans. “The people making the decisions aren’t from Chicago. They don’t live in the neighborhood. They don’t have skin in the game. “They’re saying the right things, that they want to invest in the community,” Malone said. “We want them to put that in writing. We want the beneficiaries to be our local schools, our local businesses, our local residents.”

Malone said his group, the Obama Library South Side Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, was told that a CBA was not “the right tool.” “That’s because they don’t want to be held accountable,” Malone said.

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adrina said:

Because he's a hate filled snowflake - just like the rest of the conservative right wing. It's what they do.

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Chicago has reached a bloody milestone amid a particularly deadly weekend that saw at least 10 people killed and 31 others wounded in shootings across the city.

The weekend killings lifted the city to more than 500 homicides for the year so far, according to data from the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago police said that as of Sunday evening 490 homicides had been reported for the year, but the department's statistics don't include killings on area expressways, police-involved shootings, self-defense killings or death investigations.

Last year, which became of Chicago's bloodiest in decades, the city recorded its 500th homicide in late-August.

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TalkRadio said:

Speaking of Chicago...


http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Records-500th-Homicide-for-2017-Report-445321293.html

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phrodeau said:

Sounds bad.

I wonder why President Trump hasn't done anything about the violence in Chicago. Or St. Louis. Or Charlottesville.

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Hypoxia said:

Because he owns no golf courses there?

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phrodeau said:

Maybe a car will plow into his winery, and burst all the boxes.

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About 300 residents packed a South Side auditorium Wednesday night to demand that the promise of jobs, economic development and other benefits of the Obama presidential library center be put in writing.

“The soul of our city is at stake,” said Jay Travis, of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. “Will Chicago be home to all people regardless of race and income or will we sit back and watch city government systematically remove us?”

The activists and residents want a community benefits agreement, something many say will protect the neighborhoods and people the center may displace.

Last week, at the foundation’s community meeting, President Barack Obama himself told residents that he would not sign a benefits agreement, which would put into writing the promises the foundation has made thus far on bringing jobs, economic development and resources to the South Side.

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The Obama Presidential Center planned for Jackson Park could be a shot in the arm for the South side, bringing jobs, economic development and other benefits. But a coalition of activists and residents want those promises put in writing — something the former president himself refused to do just this week.

Still, those groups are pressing on, saying they plan to go to the city to get the legal enforcement they a written document would provide. The Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization has started the process of getting a community benefits agreement drafted as a city ordinance.

Jawanza Malone, executive director of the group, said plans for an ordinance have been in the works since negotiations for a benefits agreement started two years ago.

“One thing we’ve been doing in addition to drafting the benefits agreement is talking directly to the people making the decisions,” Malone said. “From our perspective [an ordinance] is the best possible route to get something concrete, bound by contractual law and negotiated with the communities.”

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