City of Aurora Ignores Own Law to Allow Protesters to Target Families in Residential Homes | Get Ready Stonebridge, White Eagle, Oakhurst...So-Called Corporation Counsel Alayne Weingartz Says It's Okay to Blast You and Your Neighbors...But What About Her House?

Just when we didn't think it was possible for Alayne Weingartz, the City of Aurora's so-called corporation counsel to illustrate even incompetence (while making a six-figure salary at taxpayer expense), she did.

After the City of Aurora looked the other way last week on protesters targeting a residential home on the west side in violation of law, Alderman Rick Lawrence asked a simple questions of why the law wasn't enforced.

He specifically referred to this city ordinance:

Sec. 29-24. - Certain picketing prohibited.

(a)  It shall be unlawful to picket upon or across the public way from, adjacent to or in front of the personal residence or dwelling of any person; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to prevent lawful picketing of a residence or dwelling under construction or during a time when it is a construction site.

(b)  Any person who willfully or through culpable negligence violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Code 1969, § 29-12)

Weingartz and city spokesgirl Carie Anne Ergo, instead of admitting the city failed to enforce the law and looked the other way, tried to explain the city's negligence by saying that the protesters had told them they had planned to "march" near the home, not realizing they would target the home.

Protesters not only targeted the home and the family within, but they used bullhorns, noisemakers and gave speeches in front of the home, disrupting the neighborhood.

As everyone familiar with Aurora knows, the SAME administration of Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner, the same so-called corporation counsel and same city spokesgirl aggressively fought with pro-life protesters who wanted to assemble near the Planned Parenthood facility on the far east side.

In fact, Weingartz tried to incite a riot on a Saturday when protesters were quietly marching along the sidewalk on the residential side of the street instead of the commercial and business side of the street.  She directed then Police Chief Bill Powell to force protesters, including mothers with baby strollers, even if they weren't protesting, to stay off that side of the street because there were residential apartments.

United States Constitution - 14th Amendment Excerpt

"...No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Even after the City of Aurora has been in court multiples times over allegations of violating constitutional rights, civil liberties and civil rights, it appears Weingartz hasn't learned anything during her taxpayer-funded on-the-job training.

When trying to explain why the protesters who targeted home of ATMI CEO Jim Armbruster didn't really violate the law, she cited an ordinance...the wrong one.  About parades.

Then, once Alderman Lawrence had to point out the correct ordinance, Weingartz and Ergo shifted their excuses to whether or not the protesters "willfully" violated the law and if there was were "culpable negligence."

Next time a police officer pulls you over for speeding or the City of Aurora tries to write a parking ticket for an expired meter, maybe you can try saying "well, I wasn't WILLFULLY" violating anything.

So, we just want to be clear...the Weisner administration, which has aggressively fought with pro-life protesters, shoving mothers and fathers with baby strollers off a sidewalk because they COULD be protesting, is fine with labor and "occupy" protesters marching, blasting bullhorns and targeting a family and home as long as it's not "willful" or "culpable negligence."

Welcome to Aurora, where down is up and up is down, as a taxpayer described the city to the Aurora City Council recently.

But wait, it gets both better and worse.

First, the worst part.

Sources and viewers have reported to us that because the city is tripping over their own law and constitution to not annoy the labor and "occupy" protesters that coincidentally match the personal and political beliefs of Weisner, Weingartz and Ergo, there are more protests being considered, but not just targeting Jim Armbruster's home on the west side, but areas within Stonebridge, White Eagle Club and Oakhurst on the far east side where many executives and CEO's reside, some who may even be considered as part of the so-called "1%."

Executives and CEO's of major Chicago area companies, including a bank.

An alderman from the far east side told us "that would not be acceptable" but too bad, if the city makes excuses for what happened on Sunday, it means everywhere is fair game.  Maybe it's good if the residents of Stonebridge, White Eagle and Oakhurst, most of whom tell their friends they live near Naperville, to understand just how Aurora works.

And, now the best part.

Several of our viewers are urging the pro-life community to take notice of these "changes" in how the City of Aurora is dealing with the law and constitution.  If that means taking the city to federal court alleging violations of equal protection or protesting the homes of pro-abortion city officials or challenging the restrictions they have been given to protest near Planned Parenthood, that's apparently okay under the rules.

In fact, we suggest starting with a protest by taxpayers of any view marching "around" the home of Alayne Weingartz, the so-called corporation counsel, demanding legal competence and her resignation and then the home of Mayor Tom Weisner, demanding he fire her for putting her political and personal views ahead of the law.

Why Did a Downtown Aurora Restaurant Shut Down for the Weekend? Operator Amaury Rosado Blames "Power Outage" As Taxpayers Get Zapped

Several viewers reported an unusual sign posted a downtown Aurora restaurant operated by Amaury Rosado, explaining his restaurant would be shut down last weekend due to a "power outage."  The sign read:

Chef Amaury's

will be closed on

Friday, Saturday + Sunday

due to a power outage.

We will be reopening

for Valentine's Day Tuesday

Feb 14th.  Reservations

available for 7pm only!

+ maybe 8pm?  We apologize

for any inconvenience and

look forward to seeing you soon

Chef Amaury

Power outage?

Usually, a power outage is a bolt out of nowhere that can cause disruption that lasts a few seconds to a few minutes and, in a weather crisis, for several hours, but for several days?  That's pretty rare.  And, yet the operator would know how long it would last and when he would reopen?

What about the surrounding properties, including Hollywood Casino nearby?

A spokesman for the casino confirmed "nope, we didn't have any power outage.  We are all okay."

Inquiries to Ballydoyle across the street also confirmed the same "no power outage here."

One viewer, David Lewis, said there may have been a power outage in downtown at some point and speculated that may have caused the operator to decide to toss out the food in an extended outage and wait for his suppliers to deliver on Monday.

But, if that were the case, the power outage must have been long enough to create destroy so much food, right?

So, we kept looking for any evidence of an actual power outage in that area.

Why should anyone really care about this particular property where the restaurant is located?

Because thanks to a deal between the City of Aurora and Steve Arwady, the AWOL developer, taxpayers have lost at least a half-million dollars on a failed scheme to develop "restaurant row" with promises such as Billy Goat Tavern coming, approved financing that was never really approved and other fiascos.

ComEd said they were not aware of any power outage for that area.

What?  But the owner specifically posted on his sign it was due to a POWER OUTAGE.

Did the City of Aurora create some problem?  Did they try to plug in those tin cans for the failed free wi-fi plan?

Did the developer pull out the wires along with our taxpayer funds?  Was this a technical problem with the property that taxpayers invested in that sources say is being foreclosed upon and headed for receivership?

Restaurants do most of their business on weekends, so clearly this is a problem.

So, we asked Rosado, the restaurant operator, when the power outage started, when did it end and what caused it?  He wouldn't explain.  What caused the power outage?

Lighting?  Transformer blew up?

City crews?  ComEd crews?

Tree crash?

President Obama plugging in his teleprompter into the national grid?

Aliens from Mars?

Turns out it was none of the above.

Sources confirm it was an old-fashioned billing and payment issue, which the operator tried to spin as a "power outage" and hoped everyone would just accept it.

In the meantime, taxpayers continue to be spun about Restaurant Row and kept in the dark.  City officials won't acknowledge the crisis in public, but multiple sources confirm the situation is getting more complicated due to foreclosures and bankruptcy proceedings of the property owner.

Another nearby restaurant closed its doors recently in "Restaurant Row" and it's not clear how long Rosado will get to stay with the various problems with the property owner, developer and legal actions, even without the "power outage" problems.

Nobody wants to see a business shut down, let alone fail, but it's not that Restaurant Row is getting unplugged.  It was never plugged in correctly in the first place.

Thanks to the way the city and developer structured the deal, taxpayers won't see their money come back.

Your taxdollars.  Zapped.

G8 / NATO Summits Are Scaring the Hell Out of Chicago Business, But is Aurora the Alternate Destination for Protesters?

The business community in Chicago is VERY concerned about the potential disruption, mayhem and chaos that could unfold during the G8 / NATO Summit in Chicago being forced upon taxpayers by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and President Barack Obama.

However, due to recent protests in Aurora by those associated with the "Occupy" movement and the city's fiasco in allowing an unlawful protest to target the residential home of a business CEO, there is growing concern that Aurora, the largest suburb outside the City of Chicago and a train ride away via Union Station, could become a staging area and/or alternate destination for protesters during the G8 / NATO Summits.

Law enforcement sources have expressed concern that as Aurora develops a reputation for failing to deal with unlawful protests at a residence, as happened this past Sunday on the near west side, it provides incentive for G8 / NATO protesters to find a weak spot to locate, stage and create distractions that may not have the security focus that will be in the City of Chicago.

"Occupy" protesters and G8 / NATO protesters may overlap, but even before May's international summit, sources expressed Aurora as the #2 most populated city in Illinois, could become more frequently used for Occupy protests, including City Hall.

Some say Chicago officials would be happy to see any protesters stay in Aurora instead of Chicago.  They say the national and international media will be looking for anything to report, so if it's in Aurora, that's better for Chicago.

Chicago City Sticker Fiasco Hits CNN Anderson Cooper's Ridiculist

By now, you've probably heard about the tragic story of the 15 year old who got his city sticker design taken away by the City of Chicago.  Leaving aside why city stickers for automobiles should exist at all other than a scam by government, Anderson Cooper of CNN speaks up in defense of the little boy against city clerk Susana Mendoza.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day
from Google + OpenlineBlog

City of Aurora Holds Ceremony to "Blast" Downer Place Bridges

The City of Aurora held a "ceremony" at considerable expense of time and taxpayer resources to celebrate the fact the Downer Place bridges will be replaced...at a cost of almost $8 million.

We aren't sure why a ceremony and fireworks show was necessary to acknowledge government doing what they are supposed to do about aging infrastructure, but you, the taxpayer, paid for it.

And, at about 17:05 into the video, you can see the Aurora Central Catholic High School Dance Team interrupt Mayor Tom Weisner with a flash mob.

The "new" bridges are expected to open to traffic in November 2012.  No word yet if another ceremony and fireworks show will be scheduled to celebrate the "reopening."

Labor Protests in Aurora - Did the City Look the Other Way or Unequally Apply the Law?

Aurora's so-called corporation counsel, Alayne Weingartz, has continuously battled various groups, including Families Against Planned Parenthood, on issues of freedom of speech, rights to protest and other legitimate acts of expression.

On behalf of the Weisner administration, she's caused the city and taxpayers to end up in federal court numerous times.  One of the contentious issues was a location near the Planned Parenthood facility that is commercial on one side of the street and residential on the other side of the street.  While protests at commercial and public areas are allowed, protests at a residential home are not.

On Sunday, a labor group that has been associated with the "Occupy" movement came to Aurora and protested in front of the home of Jim Armbruster, CEO of ATMI, which has had an ongoing labor dispute.

In this case, even though the protests were in a residential area, city officials didn't attempt to stop them even though police were called to the scene along with many complaints by neighbors.

So, does this mean the city looked the other way or does this mean the city says it's okay to protest in a residential area?

If pro-life supporters had protested in front of the mayor's home on Sunday, would the city have taken any different action?

Weingartz could not be reached for comment.

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