Waukegan is sinking -Guzman impressive brochure

[fedupinwaukegan]

Did anyone else get their Guzman flyer in the mail today. Pretty impressive. It's a large four page color brochure. Two pages in English and the same info. on two pages in Spanish. I typed it as I saw it with certain words capitalized and/or how they were spelled.

The front has a title of 'Waukegan is SINKING under Hyde and Cunningham.' On the bottom it says 'Paid for by committee to Elect Jose Guzman, 818 W. Washington ST., Waukegan, IL.'

Inside second page has 'Waukegan is SINKING' on top again. And then the following;

Under Richard Hyde Crime has exploded;
According to the FBI:
X Waukegan's crime rate is much higer than the National Average and getting worse
X You have greater than a 5% chance of becoming a crime victim
X Our crime rate is worse than 90% of the cities in the U.S.

And Hispanics fear calling Police:
X The Waukegan police have been guilty of brutality -paying millions in damages
X The police have been insensitive to Hispanics, over 85% of routine police stops are Hispanics

Under Richard Hyde, our School are failing
According to State Education data:
X Our Schools have a drop out rate over 30%
X Our Children's test scores are some of the worst in the State
X Only $925, 000 of a $115 million budget is allocated to Bilingual Education, less than 1%

Waukegan School Scorecard -Failure:
X Ranked lower than 87% of State School
X Rated as a '2' on a ten point scale (10 highest)
X One of the highest dropout rates in entire State

Under Richard Hyde Waukegan has been wasteful and mismanaged
According to News Reports:
X $24 million was spent to renovate the Genessee Theatre -$14 million over budget
X The City has a debt of $55 million and getting worse -that's over $600 per resident
X We are paying for vacant land, thanks to Hyde's failed Casino bid

And That's not all:
X Insiders were given huge no-bid contracts causing part of the Genessee overrun
X Indicted Political Power Broker friends of Hyde were selected to Develop the Casino. Their selection led to Waukegan losing the bid.
X Police brultality and mismanagement has led to taxpayers paying millions in damages

Under Richard Hyde Waukegan has become a National Symbol for Intolerance
The record speaks for itself:
X Waukegan passed an ordinance to enforce 287(g), on of only two Illinois Cities. It increased racial hostility. It targeted Hispanics for abuse. It signaled that intolerance in City Government was accepted.
X Waukegan police profile Hispanics, over 85% of all stops
X City employment of Hispanics does not reflect the racial makeup of the city
X Mayor Hyde and Alderman Cunningham have not adequately address the tension and mistreatment

**Page three is the above in Spanish.

Page four says:

Jose Guzman *Change *Respect *Honesty *Service

"Under Richard Hyde and Samuel Cunningham, our schools have failed, our rights violated, our city mismanaged and jobs lost. Enough! It's time for Change." JOSE GUZMAN

The Guzman Change
X Eliminate racial profiling -hire Hispanic Police at command and patrol level -empower a civilian review panel to monitor performance
X Develop jobs by focusing on the HIspanic Business Community and neighborhood redevelopment
X Reduce the School dropout rate through additional tutoring
X Pass an ethics Ordinance, eliminating no bid contracts and political favoritism
X Provice an atmosphere of respect and concern
X Increase School spending for Bilingual Education

Same below in Spanish but all in CAPs

[fedupinwaukegan]

I feel like Mr. Guzman is only addressing about 60% of our population. What about the needs of all of our good residents?

Anyone hear the Hyde/Cunningham/Guzman debate on WKRS? Mr. Guzman again said, "Gimmie six months and I'll make these changes." 8-) He was so calm on the radio, no rantings. I missed the ol' Mr. Guzman.

[mwinston]

Next time Mr. Guzman is in a public forum, someone should simply ask him to outline a schedule how he plans on convincing the city council to follow suit with his unrealistic 6 month plan. As we all know, the City of Waukegan is an aldermanic form of government where 100% of the legislative changes, or alterations / derivations to existing legislation, is approved by council through recommendations of several committees.

Certainly the Mayor's office is one of influence and leadership; but that leadership requires coalition building skills that will have council work with the Mayor. With the attitude that Mr. Guzman has displayed at the CREW interview and at the WLC debate, it would be hard to believe that any of the aldermen are gearing up to be big partners in a 6 month turn around.

Mr. Guzman should be able to show at least some sort of thought process as to where the 6 month figure came from. I would venture a safe guess that there will be no realistic backup to his claims.

All I can say is that from listening to the CREW recording, and watching the WLC debate, I see nothing but an individual without the slightest of governmental experience, void of clear and defined vision (other than what LIbertyville planted in his head) and having no realistic expectations as to how the aldemanic political system works.

[curious]

I think it's interesting that Guzman is using the Waukegan school sytem as a talking point for his campaign since city government does not oversee the school district AND therefore cannot accurately be held accountable. It's rather ironic that while he has stated that he wants WPS to be on par with Libertyville Schools, (which do NOT have a large, successful bilingual program) he is critical that WPS does not do enough for bilingual education???? This guy is all over the place and clearly lacks the basic of what a mayor can and cannot do.

[fedupinwaukegan]

Valid points.

Did anyone else get this brochure? Did we only get it because we are in a certain neighborhood or are Hispanic?

Wow, two more days and we'll know.


**I thought bilingual education was covered by federal funds. If true there were some very misleading statements above.

**Seems like he almost believes that a mayor is omnipotent, can affect all areas of a city and in only 6 months???

My new catch phrase; Gimmie six months 8-)

[fintan1010]

i haven't rec'd the brochure, but i did listen to the 'KRS debate. i had the same thought that Guzman was so calm. finally, someone must have told him to tone it down a notch.

[brandy]

I'd like to say a few things about the subjects listed on the brochure.

1. In regard to 287(g), it you're here legally, it wouldn't matter. The citizens in this country have a right to deport any
illegals - especially the "criminals".
2. Profiling?? - Since Waukegan is what 55% to 60% hispanic, it's only common sense to know that the majority of the stops
will be hispanics.
3. Develop jobs by focusing on the Hispanic Business Community - I think the "hispanic business community" should focus
on becoming part of the city or America. Another new business went up on Yorkhouse Road by Lewis. I believe it may
be a fruits & vegetable store, but who knows, everything is in Spanish. If the hispanic community would become part
of the "WHOLE" community, there would be less discrimination. But, when the businesses put up signs in only spanish
and advertise in spanish, it is telling the rest of us "don't bother coming in here, your business is not wanted". So, why
would I shop there as an American citizen that speaks "English" in an english speaking country??? They bring the
discrimination on themselves.
4. Tutoring & Bilingual Education - Get volunteers to help tutor or go to night school to learn English. Our ancestors came to this country and had to learn "english". They made sure their children learned it, went to school, got educated, and became upstanding citizens. They didn't look for handouts.

If someone is going to become Mayor - he should have the best interests of "all" citizens regardless of race. But, he does not.