This is a good question for people to look into. I think the Group is trying hard to make things happen for the town, but it is a tough economy. I do think there have been some bad decisions, but we will need to see how it continues.

Come on the town is still standing and we are all trying to come out of this recession!!

I just wish they would not televise all the meetings in our town, just makes everyone in government look foolish, like they know nothing at all about what is going on in the world.

Does anyone know if the city does televise the Council of the Whole(COW) meetings? At one time there was a discussion about televising these meetings for the whole town is that happening? I have not seen any to date, but maybe I am missing them.

Is there any copies of the COW meetings from past history at the Library? I could swear that these were going to be provided for review, but I am not sure I just hoped it is happening or has really been done?

The COW meetings are taped and played at a later date prior to the next meeting. I would suggest that you talk to the city clerk about old meetings, he probably has them on disk.
They have not had COW meetings since the new administration took over. Not necessary.

Rollo wrote:

Does anyone know if the city does televise the Council of the Whole(COW) meetings? At one time there was a discussion about televising these meetings for the whole town is that happening? I have not seen any to date, but maybe I am missing them.
Is there any copies of the COW meetings from past history at the Library? I could swear that these were going to be provided for review, but I am not sure I just hoped it is happening or has really been done?

The COW meetings are recorded and broadcast as re-runs, not live.
The last schedule in place was:
Committee of the Whole Meeting playback schedule
Tues.- 6:30 PM
Wed.- 12:30 PM
Thurs.- 6 PM
Fri.- 5:30 AM
There hasn't been one in quite a while, so they may not be running them currently.
Those that have been recorded should be available.
If you're interested in a specific one, I may have a copy of it.

Jim Rossi

JimRossi wrote:

<quoted text>
The COW meetings are recorded and broadcast as re-runs, not live.
The last schedule in place was:
Committee of the Whole Meeting playback schedule
Tues.- 6:30 PM
Wed.- 12:30 PM
Thurs.- 6 PM
Fri.- 5:30 AM
There hasn't been one in quite a while, so they may not be running them currently.
Those that have been recorded should be available.
If you're interested in a specific one, I may have a copy of it.
Jim Rossi

I got the impression for the last meeting that the council was having COW meetings. I was just wondering if I had miss them or not, but it seems that they have not had any in quit a while. Someone told me that I would have a better understanding if how the council meetings were run if I watched the COW first. I just want to know if there was someplace I could view them? Has there been any with this council? Could we view them at the Library like the council meetings? That would be best for me if they are there.

Rollo wrote:

<quoted text>
I got the impression for the last meeting that the council was having COW meetings. I was just wondering if I had miss them or not, but it seems that they have not had any in quit a while. Someone told me that I would have a better understanding if how the council meetings were run if I watched the COW first. I just want to know if there was someplace I could view them? Has there been any with this council? Could we view them at the Library like the council meetings? That would be best for me if they are there.

Go to the city's website:
www.oak-forest.org
Click on Meeting Agendas & Minutes
Under category choose Committee of the Whole
Under year, choose 2009
Click search
You will find the last meeting was held on 7/14/09
If you have high speed internet, click on Watch Online
The meeting will play on your computer.
Otherwise, any of the meetings listed, not cancelled, should be available at the library.

Jim Rossi

JimRossi wrote:

<quoted text>
Go to the city's website:
www.oak-forest.org
Click on Meeting Agendas & Minutes
Under category choose Committee of the Whole
Under year, choose 2009
Click search
You will find the last meeting was held on 7/14/09
If you have high speed internet, click on Watch Online
The meeting will play on your computer.
Otherwise, any of the meetings listed, not cancelled, should be available at the library.
Jim Rossi

Hey, I did go to the website and looked up the Council of the Whole meetings and they are on the website, but the last one that is there - July 2009. Is that really the last one that this council has done? Seems like it has been a long time for a COW meeting and if they change the regular meetings to 7:30PM as most Adlerpersons requested I cannot see when they would have any COW meeting except for on another day. Does not seem feasible if the Council wants to get home to see the news.

Rollo wrote:

<quoted text>
Hey, I did go to the website and looked up the Council of the Whole meetings and they are on the website, but the last one that is there - July 2009. Is that really the last one that this council has done? Seems like it has been a long time for a COW meeting and if they change the regular meetings to 7:30PM as most Adlerpersons requested I cannot see when they would have any COW meeting except for on another day. Does not seem feasible if the Council wants to get home to see the news.

That does appear to be when the last COW meeting was held.
That same web page shows all meetings since then as being cancelled.
When the city originally went to the COW format, they intended to meet only once per month.
I was never a proponent of this format.
The meetings were not originally televised and discussion was held there, instead of at the city council meetings.
Citizens are prohibited from commenting at the COW meetings.
Alderman Toland was instrumental in getting the COW meetings televised, but they still are not carried live.
Their availability on the City's website is a huge step forward.
Personally, I prefer the discussions be held at the City Council meetings, televised live, and people can speak at citizen's participation.
I don't see much of a problem with changing the meeting start times.
They can start the COW meeting a half hour sooner, or choose a different day.
It's not much of an issue if they only hold a few per year.

You also have to watch the finance meetings which are taped and televised. They are the meetings that are most important to most of us.

The finance meetings are where you see the lead-in to the levy, and coming up shortly, to the upcoming budget.

I see comments, and questions on this site that would have been answered if the meetings had been watched. Of courcs, the people who have nothing more than a political agenda do not want to see these questions answered.

It Really is funny I have reviewed the Finance Committee meetings and have not seen the information that you have mentioned, but I am sure if you contact the government officials they can explain it all.

Whenever I ask for service from the government in Oak Forest they do a great job of giving it to me!!
I think LHS Alumni must have some inside information about the finance meetings, it would be interesting if that special information could be shared with us all.

As the weather is changing and the snow is melting I see that the streets in my area are really beat up. There are a lot of potholes ruts in the road is there anything public works can do at this time? Or is it still too cold? I see kids on Laramie south of 159th Street trying to ride their bike and have seen some fall in the holes.

Who do we call to see about pothole reporting? I think someone is going to get hurt if these holes are not looked at soon. I know the city tries to keep up with this and streets seem to be overall in good shape, but would like to see something done on this street if possible.

Rollo wrote:

As the weather is changing and the snow is melting I see that the streets in my area are really beat up. There are a lot of potholes ruts in the road is there anything public works can do at this time? Or is it still too cold? I see kids on Laramie south of 159th Street trying to ride their bike and have seen some fall in the holes.
Who do we call to see about pothole reporting? I think someone is going to get hurt if these holes are not looked at soon. I know the city tries to keep up with this and streets seem to be overall in good shape, but would like to see something done on this street if possible.

The Alderman for that area lives close to there. He is usuall pretty good about recognizing problems and getting them fixed pro-actively. Have you e-mailed him to question filling the holes?

Rollo wrote:

As the weather is changing and the snow is melting I see that the streets in my area are really beat up. There are a lot of potholes ruts in the road is there anything public works can do at this time? Or is it still too cold? I see kids on Laramie south of 159th Street trying to ride their bike and have seen some fall in the holes.
Who do we call to see about pothole reporting? I think someone is going to get hurt if these holes are not looked at soon. I know the city tries to keep up with this and streets seem to be overall in good shape, but would like to see something done on this street if possible.

I believe the best way to report this type of concern is to contact your alderman. They are accountable to the residents, can refer the problem to the correct people, and follow up if necessary. In the case of Laramie, south of 159th street, I recall Alderman Simon bringing that up at a recent city council meeting and the public works director stated he was going to review the situation. Alderman Simon can be contacted at rsimon@oak-forest.org for an update.

Jim Rossi
jprinbox-topix@yahoo.com

I have seen the Public Works employees doing the snow plowing and before that they were trying to fill holes around the community! You can't find any better or harder working folks then in our Public Works. They do a tremendous job of servicing the community and should be commended time and time again. Maybe at some point the city will devise a show that will introduce the PW Employees to the community.

When is the Oak Forest Irish Fest Start and when will they be shutting down Cicero, so I can avoid all the traffic mess? Is there a schedule and is it posted anywhere? Will they be directing Semi's down 151st street as someone told me or is that just a rumor.

Erin Go Bragh wrote:

When is the Oak Forest Irish Fest Start and when will they be shutting down Cicero, so I can avoid all the traffic mess? Is there a schedule and is it posted anywhere? Will they be directing Semi's down 151st street as someone told me or is that just a rumor.

Here's a good article:
http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar...

Cicero Avenue from 151st Street to 159th Street will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The city's Emergency Management Agency will redirect non-local traffic down 147th Street to Pulaski Road.
It will allow local traffic to get through the adjacent neighborhoods


Jim Rossi
jprinbox-topix@yahoo.com

Mr. Rossi,

You are the best person for information, you seem to have all of the important information at your finger tip! It is just so great we have a resource like you to be able to get straight forward and correct information. I really wish you would run for Mayor, it would be great to finally get someone that really cares about the taxpayers.

Keep up the great work you are blessing in this community.

I am very greatful for all your help!

I get a lot of these questions answered from my alderman Chuck Toland. He sends out updates to his ward all the time with a lot of these questions answered. He told me alderman Simon does the same. If you want to be added to these updates, I read that you can request it by sending an email to Mr. Toland. His city email is ctoland@oak-forest.org. I think communication is the key. Too often we find out about changes after it happens, and that's just not good for the residents. Mr. Toland answers my questions all the time.

confused wrote:

I get a lot of these questions answered from my alderman Chuck Toland. He sends out updates to his ward all the time with a lot of these questions answered. He told me alderman Simon does the same. If you want to be added to these updates, I read that you can request it by sending an email to Mr. Toland. His city email is ctoland@oak-forest.org. I think communication is the key. Too often we find out about changes after it happens, and that's just not good for the residents. Mr. Toland answers my questions all the time.

You are cottect, I live in Ald. Simon's ward and between him and Toland we get a constant stream of information. Simon's e-mail is rich2967@hotmail.com They are both excellant about responding to complaints and requests for information.