Saturday, May 3, 2014

3 May 2014: Today's Exercise in Democracy

Today was Participatory Budgeting election day here in Chicago's 49th ward. We voted on what percentage of the ward's discretionary funds to spend on street repaving, lighting, and sidewalks, and how much of the remaining money to spend on other projects like new carpeting for the local library or turning an unused basketball court into an astroturfed soccer field for the local kids. This is my favorite election, and i look forward to it every year because--unlike most elections--in this one, there are no bad outcomes.
Voting was held at the Chicago Math and Sciences Academy

I loved the student art work on the walls above the lockers at CMSA. Each kid
painted a self-portait and wrote out a series of promises for goals they hope
to achieve for themselves. Good luck to all you beautiful kids!
And now a few of the sights encountered on the way home from voting:  

Grrrr! It's hard to write a caption for this picture that doesn't include a few
choice expletives. This hole in the ground has been at 7074 N. Clark St.
since 2006, when the old Adelphi Theater was torn down. When i first moved
to Rogers Park, it was still open and specialized in showing Bollywood
films. But it was shut down in 2002, torn down in 2006, and we've had this
lovely hole in the ground to look at ever since. As i said before: Grrr!
 
What appears to be a satellite voting set-up outside the Morse Market.
If i'd known it was here, i could have saved myself a walk. But then i would
have missed out on the first ice cream cone of the season at La Monarca.



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