Tuesday, July 30, 2013

"JOURNAL TIMES TURNS ITS BACK ON MINORITIES"

"In its July 30 editorial, the Journal Times newspaper made clear that it is indifferent to the needs and wishes of minorities when it called for stopping the recall effort against 4th District Alderman James Kaplan.

"While the 4thDistrict residents (67% of whom are minorities) have raised a clear voice that they no longer wish to have Kaplan as their alderman, the Journal recommends that they cancel the recall and wait. To the citizens, this feels like a 'counselor' telling an abused wife to give her abuser another chance, or to wait til the children finish school.

"Kaplan has been worse than indifferent to the needs of 4th district residents, he has been outright hostile. He has actively worked to prevent minority businesses from opening, has advocated for street lights being shut off in unsafe neighborhoods and has abused his position for personal advantage in petty and spiteful ways.

"The editorial cites the cost of an election as a sound reason for cancelling the recall, but their words are hollow. When hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on remodeling city hall and aldermen like Kaplan voted to cover $100,000 of personal liabilities for the mayor or over one MILLION dollars was given to an engine plant that has produced no jobs and no engines, the Journal Times has stood silent. But try to recall an alderman who has been a disservice to his constituents and they’re suddenly concerned about spending.

"The recall has been called for by hundreds of district residents and it has been certified by the city clerk. At this point, only the city clerk can declare the recall effort unqualified, but only if Kaplan’s undocumented claim against one of the petition circulators is accepted. It would be an unprecedented decision and would certainly result in a review by the Government Accountability Board."

The Racine Equakity Project


http://racineequalityproject.org/

2 comments:

TSE said...

I still want to know how much was given to Team Porters!

I suspect that the ACTUAL current amount is over $3,000,000. The FINAL amount I suspect will be MUCH MORE.

Dishonest John runs a Kleptocracy and the County doesn't care. There is no difference between the Republicrats! Except that they keep shoving it up the taxpayers A$$.

Estimated Total Project Expenditures. The estimated cost of projects to be undertaken
within the District is $1,785,062, consisting of $1,100,000 in development incentives,
$634,012 in financing expense, and $51,050 in expenses for creation and administration
of the District. The expected projects are limited to provision of a development incentive
for redevelopment of the Porter’s site, capitalized interest and interest expense
associated with financing the development incentive, and costs associated with the
creation and administration of the District. The City may, however, elect to substitute
other appropriate projects that will accomplish its objectives for the District. The
Expenditure Period of this District is 22 years from the date of adoption of the Creation
Resolution by the Common Council.

I believe that there were 2 disbursements of over $1.2M - one in 2012, and one in 2013, plus the additional costs - resulting in Team Porters receiving over $3 Million Tax Free.

Taxes and debt are the two methods used for wholesale thievery via confiscation. Can't pay your mortgage or property taxes? Oops, your assets, land and home are confiscated. The ideal situation is not have a mortgage or any other debt, as debt is what gives the thieves leverage over you. The only protection against wholesale theft via suddenly higher property taxes is a limit on annual tax increases (a.k.a. Prop 13).

Our financial system is structurally a kleptocracy. The less exposure one has to Wall Street and the financial debtocracy, the lower one's exposure to the thieves.

It's called opting out, or voluntary poverty. Poverty is of course a relative term. If all one's assets are real-world possessions and immaterial assets such as skills, personal integrity and networks of trusted associates, one is indeed poor in financial assets. But if control of one's assets is the only real measure of wealth, then the individual with complete control of all his assets is the only truly wealthy person in a kleptocracy.


http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly13/thieves7-13.html

Anonymous said...

I suggest you call your alderman, then call them again, to make sure what they are telling you is accurate. A large portion of the aldermen in Racine will have the attitude, "You should just mind your own business" Or, "Stop being rude and negative" You're either part of the problem or part of the solution attitude which Kaplan is famous for. The city and Dickert are totally out of control and also controlling the Journal Times. I have a feeling Racine is preparing for Becker part duex. There are so many shady underhanded deals going on and yeah Porters???? Dickert and Common Council give a millionare, millions of taxpayer dollars and you've got jack shit to show for it. How about Delta Hawk, same thing. How about city dollars given to Dickert's best buddy County Supervisor Monte Osterman? But, F.U. Dino's, this city is gonna go down in a big way and I wouldn't be suprised to see some of these people in prison when all is said and done......but for now everyone should be contacting their aldermen and demanding answers!!!