After a three-year absence, the Chicago South Side Irish parade is back. 19th Ward Alderman Matt O'Shea is vigorously objecting to the parade being revived. O'Shea sent a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel clearly stating his position with public safety concerns and cost concerns. In addition, O'Shea also sent an email blast to residents of the 19th Ward stating his position.
I firmly disagree with the city's position on this matter; the first duty of any government body is to ensure the safety and well-being of its residents. Past parades have seriously jeopardized the safety of our community.
Moving beyond the overwhelming public safety concerns, this parade becomes even more difficult to justify in light of the $300,000 cost to the taxpayers. To address a $635 million dollar budget deficit, the City has closed mental health centers and police stations, raised water rates, reduced library hours, and laid off 9-1-1 operators; how then can we possibly justify spending $300,000 on a two hour parade?
Moving forward, I have asked that the Department of Transportation, Chicago Police Department, and South Side Irish Parade Committee hold a public meeting to hear from residents about past problems and explore potential solutions. The parade committee has pledged to do everything in their power to hold a safe and successful event. If appropriate solutions cannot be found, I would hope the parade committee would forgo a 2012 parade.
The parade was reluctantly canceled in 2009 by the South Side Irish Parade Committee because of widespread drunken fighting and assaults on police officers. However, the city of Chicago granted organizers a permit over the objections of the alderman. The committee promises a good, clean event.
The South Side Irish Parade Committee hopes to return the Beverly neighborhood event to its family-oriented roots while continuing to draw the massive crowds that, after the parade was launched in 1979, became a bonanza for local taverns and other Southwest Side businesses.
Organizers of the March 11 event are considering setting up checkpoints manned by private security guards, making the parade route along Western Avenue shorter and cracking down more forcefully on outdoor drinking in an effort to quell unruly behavior in nearby parks and residential streets, parade committee chairman Joseph Connelly said Saturday.
The group also hopes to control the presence of chartered buses, which in the parade's final years became rolling bacchanals for revelers from bars in Lincoln Park and college campuses throughout the Chicago area. At the least, Connelly said, those buses would be corralled in designated parking lots.
Beverly resident John Cleary disagrees that the parade is about booze and rowdy crowds. It’s about the history and tradition of the neighborhood. He will be bringing his kids who are ages 9, 10 and 11, who John Cleary says have missed the parade.
There would appear to be an out clause in the permit granbted, as reported by The Chicago Tribune.
City Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein said he would grant the parade permit but told organizers they would need to improve the security plan.
O'Shea wants public hearings to allow area residents to vet the proposal.
"If suitable solutions cannot be reached I would hope that the parade committee would forgo a 2012 parade," O'Shea said.
The public hearings will be held soon in the community and are expected to be well-attended, with plenty of input from the community.
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John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon.
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