10-04-2008, 02:44 PM
I[/quote]Kirsty,
thanks for providing the information here. (I remember you from the TOWN forum) I'm curious who conceived and created the crew website. How did it come about, what is the history? Is it just for the election period? Is it going to end after the election?[/quote]
Frank,
The site came about after a few Waukeganites realized that there had to be another way to seize the town back. I started talking with a few friends here, including those I had met through the Town site, and we realized that a call to action was needed. Myself and Kate Collimore, (new Waukeganites) met with established Waukeganites, including Steve Kolbers, Kelly Ann, and Jeff K to try to figure out a game plan. After the collapse of the Town site it was myself and Steve, along with Steve's colleague Verena who put together the Crew site. In the meantime, myself, Kate Collimore and Steve went about contacting candidates for the mayoral election, with a view to interview all the candidates. Myself and Kate met with Mayor Hyde. I invited Chris Wakefield round to my house for an informal discussion with a few friends. Kate contacted Sam Cunningham, and now, we have a schedule lined up to interview all the candidates. Crew has no questionable agenda, there is absolutely nothing in it for us. Nor have we decided which candidate to back as of yet. I am happy with my career in academia and I am most certainly not looking for a City Hall job at the end of all this! The same is the case for Kate, Steve, Verena and the many others associated with CREW. We just want the disaster that is Waukegan to be resurrected from the dead and put back on the map. The downtown looks like Northern Ireland during the 1970's. The schools are atrocious. The hospitals, well, if you've read the NEWS-SUN you'll know I've had my own private battles with Vista. Yet Waukegan is still screaming 'potential.' Why, if individuals have invested thousands of dollars in a property would they like to see things stay as they are right now? That much I don't understand.
So, that's the long and short of it. We now have over two dozen members of CREW, with many more interested parties. All these individuals are willing to take action, whether it be attending the candidate interviews, passing out flyers, spreading the word, knocking door to door, whatever it takes. I am glad that this site, wauktalk is up and running because it serves a broad audience. Ours, as I said before, is very specific. What will happen to WaukeganCrew after the election has yet to be decided. It is conceivable, given the ground swell of interested citizens, that we will continue to work to improve the City! It is equally possible though, that the site will have served its very specific purpose and will no longer be needed. Only time will tell. Of course, Frank, I welcome you to join us!
thanks for providing the information here. (I remember you from the TOWN forum) I'm curious who conceived and created the crew website. How did it come about, what is the history? Is it just for the election period? Is it going to end after the election?[/quote]
Frank,
The site came about after a few Waukeganites realized that there had to be another way to seize the town back. I started talking with a few friends here, including those I had met through the Town site, and we realized that a call to action was needed. Myself and Kate Collimore, (new Waukeganites) met with established Waukeganites, including Steve Kolbers, Kelly Ann, and Jeff K to try to figure out a game plan. After the collapse of the Town site it was myself and Steve, along with Steve's colleague Verena who put together the Crew site. In the meantime, myself, Kate Collimore and Steve went about contacting candidates for the mayoral election, with a view to interview all the candidates. Myself and Kate met with Mayor Hyde. I invited Chris Wakefield round to my house for an informal discussion with a few friends. Kate contacted Sam Cunningham, and now, we have a schedule lined up to interview all the candidates. Crew has no questionable agenda, there is absolutely nothing in it for us. Nor have we decided which candidate to back as of yet. I am happy with my career in academia and I am most certainly not looking for a City Hall job at the end of all this! The same is the case for Kate, Steve, Verena and the many others associated with CREW. We just want the disaster that is Waukegan to be resurrected from the dead and put back on the map. The downtown looks like Northern Ireland during the 1970's. The schools are atrocious. The hospitals, well, if you've read the NEWS-SUN you'll know I've had my own private battles with Vista. Yet Waukegan is still screaming 'potential.' Why, if individuals have invested thousands of dollars in a property would they like to see things stay as they are right now? That much I don't understand.
So, that's the long and short of it. We now have over two dozen members of CREW, with many more interested parties. All these individuals are willing to take action, whether it be attending the candidate interviews, passing out flyers, spreading the word, knocking door to door, whatever it takes. I am glad that this site, wauktalk is up and running because it serves a broad audience. Ours, as I said before, is very specific. What will happen to WaukeganCrew after the election has yet to be decided. It is conceivable, given the ground swell of interested citizens, that we will continue to work to improve the City! It is equally possible though, that the site will have served its very specific purpose and will no longer be needed. Only time will tell. Of course, Frank, I welcome you to join us!