To the editor:
"Yes, Harry, There is a Santa Claus" ( An Open Letter to Ald. Osterman in Chicago )
Dear Ald. Osterman:
Your constituents in the 48th Ward of Chicago encourage you to accept in December the petition for a promenade and bike path along the lakefront in Edgewater. A street and online petition have been circulating in our North Side neighborhood since May.
Edgewater is a progressive community with a history of supporting cultural diversity and various civil-rights movements. Newly arrived immigrants were welcomed into the community during the 19th century. The women's civil rights movement sprouted here during the early 20th century.
Affordable housing for returning veterans was supported here after the cessation of World War II. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was invited to speak here in the 1960s. Hollywood Beach, Chicago's traditionally gay beach, is located in our neighborhood. Many progressive-minded public leaders have been born in Edgewater, including Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, your mother and yourself.
Alderman, you are doing a magnificent job. Our streets are well-maintained and lit. Our crime rate is one of the lowest in the city. Our local high school was recently selected as one of the best schools in Chicago. Our main thoroughfares are booming with new businesses. You are greatly admired, beloved and respected as an alderman, and the voters here will see to it that you are re-elected handily in 2014.
No one supports you more than the chair and members of the Edgewater Beachwalk Proposal Committee.
Last September, during a meeting in your office with our committee, you agreed to accept our petition in December. One of your esteemable qualities is your commitment to honoring your agreements. Your steadfast commitment to upholding an open and unobstructed democratic process commands respect. Your support in Edgewater is strong, Harry, and voters will elect an alderman in 2014 who also honors and upholds our progressive roots and who is not afraid of supporting bold moves that will make history. Avoid temptations to cave to scaremongering tactics of nattering nabobs of negativity.
The proposed Edgewater Beachwalk promenade and bike path will create lots of good paying construction jobs for years, draw more customers to our local businesses and enhance the enjoyment of Lake Michigan. Just read our letter to Senator Dick Durbin and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky on our website, and you'll see. This proposed lakefront civic project will symbolize the progressive spirit of Edgewater and represent hope for the future and change for the better.
Yes, Harry, there is a Santa Claus, because people during the 2013 holiday season still want to believe in something that is good, right and inspirational that will bring joy and harmony to the community. Edgewater believes in this project, alderman, and so should you.
Respectfully yours,
Morry Matson, chair of the Edgewater
Beachwalk proposal committee
P.S.This is a partial list of people to whom a copy of this letter shall be sent.
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, President Jimmy Carter, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Dick Durbin ( D-IL ), Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky ( D-IL ), Sen. Harry Reid ( D-NV ), Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ), Gov. Pat Quinn ( D-IL ), Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Ald. Patrick O'Connor, David Axelrod, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell ( MSNBC ) and Rev. Al Sharpton ( MSNBC )