Comments on: Saving Ald. Ryan?

By: Palmer

Palmer — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:08:51 +0000

Yikes … Ryan is using the “You Say – Letters to the Editor” section of today’s PR Herald-Advocate to complain about his workload.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:03:11 +0000

The only person who ever called Judy, “Judith” was Chuck Baldacchino which reminds me of his silly attempt to cut his hair and get a suit, The sneakers were just hysterical with the getup.

Is Chuck back again?

Whatever happened to Chuck’s blog?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:25:27 +0000

“Call herself ‘Judith’ and learn a British accent.” HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

By: fred

fred — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:15:12 +0000

Any alderman who doesn’t want to do the job should just say so and quit. NObody’s holding a gun to their heads and demanding that they stay in office. And any alderman who didn’t realize there was going to be a lot more work with only 7 instead of 14 is too dumb to deserve the office.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:42:33 +0000

Disappointed:

No, we don’t “miss Judy or what?” because she didn’t deserve to win. Barclay lost because (a) she ran a really crappie campaign based on nothing more than over-estimated name recognition, (b) she was viewed as a Frimark friend and, as a result, didn’t attract those anti-Frimark voters, (c) she lost the old Homeowners Party vote to Ryan, and (d) she didn’t call herself “Judith” and learn a British accent to impress those shallow voters who think sounding Brit is a sign of intelligence.

By: Another Disappointed Constituent

Another Disappointed Constituent — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:16:20 +0000

I’d like to see a response from Mr. Ryan. Can the Public Watchdog ask him for his comments? In particular, I’d like him to address how he intends to improve his performance.

By: Disappointed constituent

Disappointed constituent — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:43:18 +0000

Arrogant and illinformed and …classic Chicago’s style politics proponent! We have received a kick in the …by electing Mr. Ryan to the council. Boy do we miss Judy or what? At least she would have been there fighting Da Mayor! And representing the 5th ward.

By: Wondering

Wondering — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:35:09 +0000

I am a 5th Ward resident and I know that I, and many of my 5th Ward neighbors appreciate what you are bringing to our collective attention today. And it was a pleasant surprise to see the Herald Advocate not only include a regular piece on this issue in its most recent edition but to editorialize on the matter.

The sad fact is that the 5th Ward is terribly underrepresented in the City Council. This cries out for a solution and one solution would be to reverse the idiotic council reduction of not so long ago and restore the council to 14.

And this is not only a 5th Ward issue and attendance is not the only measure of an alderman’s effectiveness. Take an objective assessment of every ward’s Alderman. I for one do not think it’s a stretch to say that another representative in every ward would contribute by adding some (possible) diversity in thinking; not to mention simple coverage when others are away or possibly just sleeping in the midst of a meeting.

Finally. on the matter of Alderman Ryan, you mention a few important issues where he has seemingly gone against his ward residents despite their outpouring otherwise on the issues. In a recent issue of the PR Journal a guy by the name of Dan Knight wrote a Letter to the Editor wherein he said that Ryan had “abandoned” his ward residents. I think this is a good characterization of Alderman Ryan. He seems not to listen to the people he represents but instead to the “special interests” on the other side of the issues as his residents or the Mayor who apparently can simply tell him what to do or how to vote and Ryan does it.

People need to remember the HA article and editorial when it comes time for Ryan’s reelection, should he decide to run again. On the other hand, maybe we’ll get lucky and Ryan will see the obvious and step down or just not run again… we could only be so lucky.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:24:45 +0000

Quite right about Ryan being Frimark’s pick, although it took me a while to figure out that the mayor invited Ryan into the race because he couldn’t quite trust his friend and Purple Ribbon princess Judy Barclay to play ball on all of his bigger is better condo develompment plans.

But you forgot to mention the real reason Ryan doesn’t have to go to the committee meetings to find out the details about things. He just goes and meets with the parties, like he supposedly did with Norwood builders before he voted to approve their zoning variance at EOP. So he most definitely is “properly” informed when he votes.