Festivals that showcase art, food, and music are a staple in warm-weather Chicago. But when roads are closed, parking spaces are taken away and traffic is backed up, local councilors are patient.
That’s why Erin Harkey, Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and Special Events, listened at Wednesday’s budget hearing.
This is not the first time elderly people have been furious about being blinded to special events taking place in their wards.
However, Deputy Mayor Walter Barnett (27)th) is disgusted with the department’s decision to notify seniors via email instead of asking for consent, and has canceled the Windy City Smokeout Summer Festival, featuring country music and barbecue in parking lots around the United Center. threatened to prevent it.
“They wanted to shut down four streets. So I said, ‘You want Madison.’ You want Warren, you want Washington, while we’re building all over this city,” Barnett said. “It’s crazy… We had to stop them from taking over the streets.”
“They blocked off access to the church parking lot. The pastor called me late at night because people couldn’t come to church,” Barnett said. “If we had talked about it beforehand, we would have done it this way.” [warned you]…The City Council knows about such things. ”
Burnett finished with an overwhelming threat.
“If I can’t earn enough respect to be a voice for the people of the district, I’m going to ban all events that take place in the district,” he told Harkey.
Aldo. David Moore (17)th) Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed a contentious relationship with the City Council that characterized her first term.
“It’s not just within this department. Trust me, it’s all over the city. At one point, it was a message from the top under the previous administration,” Moore said.
“I tend to keep things quiet when we can’t communicate. We don’t want that to happen. We want to make sure the community is respected.” ..It’s not just [DCASE]. It’s all over the city. And it has to stop. ”
Harkey said he ordered that no special events be allowed without input from local councilors.
Those who do not respond to emails informing them of upcoming special events will receive a follow-up call asking for feedback, which can be relayed to event organizers “before the event is allowed,” she said. Ta.
“We’re working on it. I’m definitely hearing it,” Harkey told Barnett.
Changes will also be made to the city of Chicago’s special events ordinance, extending the review process and raising community engagement standards for events with more than 10,000 attendees. The new guidelines mirror those established by the Chicago Park District prior to the renewal of Riot Fest’s permit.
Event organizers will be notified in advance that certain weekends will be off-limits for days and weekends that are “unsustainable” because Chicago Police Department resources are already “stretched,” Harkey said. That’s what it means.
Aldo. Felix Cardona Jr. (31)cent) could not be appeased.
“There was an ordinance amendment three years ago. We need to revisit that ordinance to give us the power, because we need to take a look at what’s going on in our neighborhoods in terms of festivals and streets. Because the ordinance took away from us the power to say “yes” or “no.” [fairs]” Cardona said. “It took away our say in what was going on.”
“We are the punching bag for our residents,” Cardona said. “We have a lot of work to do, but then we have to go back to the residents and say… ‘We didn’t know about this either.’ It makes us look like we’re incompetent. And we shouldn’t be seen as incompetent.”