Citizen Suburban Times Weekly 3-11-2020

Citizen Week of March 11, 2020

| Vol. 3 | No. 31 | www.citizennewspapergroup.com

SUBURBAN TIMES WEEKLY

Seniors in Charge is one of the programs created by Village of Robbins Police Chief Roy Wells. Wells said every year, the group is expanding. Photos courtesy of the Village of Robbins

PARTNERSHIPS HELP CURB CRIME IN ROBBINS

The Village of Robbins has seen a decrease in crime throughout the last three years. Leaders point to upgrades in telecommunications and the hiring of police personnel, as well as stronger policing strategies. SEE PAGE 3

POLITISCOPE The two-party system is here to stay PAGE 2

TRAVEL

ART SCENE

Travel + Leisure Releases 15th Annual It List, An Editor-Curated Collection Of The Best New Hotels In The World PAGE 4

The 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park June 5–7 PAGE 4

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2 | CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 11, 2020

POLITISCOPE

The two-party system is here to stay

BY ALEXANDER COHEN

The American two-party system has long been besieged. Many of the founders feared that organizing people along ideological lines would be dangerous to the fledgling nation. Alexander Hamilton called political parties a “most fatal disease,” James Madison renounced the “violence of faction,” and George Washington feared that an over-

ly successful party would create “frightful despotism.”

The contemporary U.S. population isn’t terribly keen on parties, either, and tends to give them lukewarm performance reviews.

A majority – 57% – of Americans believe that parties do “such a poor job” that a third major party is needed, and only 38% think that parties do “an adequate job.”

Recent events may suggest that

our two-party system is, unsurprisingly, cracking. The rise of Donald Trump caused ripples in the Republican Party by upending its traditional hierarchy, and self-described Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders’ surprising front-runner status in the Democratic presidential primary has revealed deep divisions among Democrats.

Significantly, these changes have occurred while trust in government

and approval of Congress sit at historic lows. So, then, as some have argued, is America facing the death of its party system?

As a political scientist, I can offer a clear “no.”

Why parties?

Like all democracies – and some autocracies – the U.S. will always have parties. They are necessary and inevitable for two reasons.

Alexander Cohen

First, they facilitate the collective representation of individual interests.

Parties address an important issue in democracies: People have the freedom to ask government to do things, yet the voice of any single individual is quiet. Parties amplify individual voices by combining them into a louder, cohesive message.

Such organized input is necessary for reasonably effective governance, which prevents rebellion. As famed political scientist E.E. Schattschneider wrote in his 1942 book, “Party Government,” “Modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.”

Second, particularly among voters with little political knowledge, party identification simplifies voting. A voter may know nothing about candidates on Election Day but can use their party identification to make a reasonable decision.

Even if many Americans find parties imperfect, they do use them.

Without parties, democracy could not function.

Why two parties?

Likewise, the two-party system will survive, regardless of political turbulence. This is a result of how the U.S. elects leaders.

In the vast majority of its congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative elections, America uses a system called single member district plurality, which means that each election produces only one winner.

Because voters generally do not wish to “waste” a vote, they focus on their most preferred electable candidate.

Because in a two-party system the major parties seek to appeal to broad coalitions to maximize electability, this is almost always a Republican or a Democrat. It is almost never a third-party candidate, which the voter might actually prefer. Candidates and their wealthy supporters recognize this, and so they ally with major parties rather than creating a third.

A quick look at U.S. history demonstrates the inevitability of these forces.

The very founders of the republic who opposed factionalism created the Federalist Party to support a strong national government and oppose the Anti-Federalist Party, Continued on page 5

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CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 11, 2020

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COMMUNITY

Partnerships Help Curb Crime In Robbins Continued from page 1

BY TIA CAROL JONES

The Village of Robbins has seen a decrease in crime throughout the last three years. Leaders point to upgrades in telecommunications and the hiring of police personnel, as well as stronger policing strategies.

Criminal homicide has decreased 29 percent, robbery has decreased 28 percent, burglary has decreased 5 percent and theft has decreased 26 percent, with an overall decrease in violent crime of 17 percent.

Roy Wells is the police chief of Robbins. He said a partnership between the police and the citizens, has contributed to the reduction in violent crime.

“I think it’s a partnership between the citizens, police department and overall, the department staff here in the Village. We’re creating a culture here where citizens come to the police. They’re being proactive, they see things, they’re letting us know about things ahead of time,” he said.

“And, I think that’s the approach we’ve been taking and then more visibility with the police, building a relationship with some of the good people and some of the bad people.”

Tyrone Ward is the mayor of Robbins. He agreed that a partnership between himself and Chief Wells also contributed to the reduction.

“We had to change the narrative of the community, we had to change the culture. So, we worked together in making sure we do things that will involve the community and will eventually impact the community in a variety of different ways,” he said.

“We’re more community oriented now, community involved and in essence, those things we do, have helped us gain the trust of the citizens now.”

Ward said five and a half years ago, the reputation of the Village of Robbins was not good, it was a negative situation.

“Things were out of control. People and some of the so-called bad guys, were doing pretty much what they wanted to do, five or six years ago,” he said. “The chief went in and cleaned it from the inside out. We started doing just a whole gamut of things to help, we started cleaning out and demolishing homes, blighted areas. People couldn’t hide in and go in houses and do certain things.”

Wells agreed that crime was, as he put it, “going north and south,”

but the village put some strategies into place and got officers on board.

Some of the officers were, “just collecting a check,” Wells said, but didn’t have, “a heart for the job.”

Some of those strategies include a program called Citizen First, where from June to September, there are meetings in neighborhoods throughout the Village of Robbins, where resources are brought to the residents.

Sheila Ward and Juanita Williams are residents of the Village of Robbins. Ward has been there for 45 years and Williams has been there for 55 years.

“I feel more comfortable, I feel safer now because all the things that were happening and going on in the Village, have now ceased even down to the loud music that’s going through the Village,” Williams said.

“The crime and everything have gone down. I do feel more comfortable being here and I appreciate the chief of police we have because under his guidance, this has all happened.”

Mayor Ward said Ward and Williams are actively engaged in the community.

“They engage us, they make sure we stay on our toes and that we do what we’re supposed to do. They’re active, they’re at the Board meetings, they help us with all the events that’s going on,” he said.

Ward and Williams are part of Seniors in Charge, a group created

by Chief Wells. Wells said each year, the group is expanding.

“That makes me feel good, that makes me want to come to work every day. I want to serve the seniors, as well as the other citizens here,” he said.

There is another collaboration Wells is proud to talk about and that’s a collaboration with the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office and the Illinois State Police. At one time, Wells said there were some, “bumpy roads with both of those agencies coming to Robbins to do work.” But over time he added, relationships have improved, “and now we’re working with them, they’re working with us and we’ve built better relations,” he said.

With the decrease in crime and cleaning up of the Village, it has led to prospective businesses coming into the town.

“Because we’ve been knocking down houses and pushing back trees and weeds, people are interested in some of these parcels now to poten-

tially build businesses and or housing stock. Those calls have increased, so it’s a good thing,” Ward said.

Wells said when he first got to Robbins in 2014, there were seven homicides. In 2019, there was one.

“I don’t know where that comes from, but it makes me feel good as a chief, and the citizens feel good because people are not doing those horrendous crimes here back in this Village. Every year, crime is going down,” he said.

Ward is the president of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Associations, which represents more than 40 communities and 700,000

One of the ways Seniors in Charge and Robbins Police reach out to the community is through a bicycle and toy giveaway at Christmastime. These interactions foster connections between residents, Village of Robbins leaders and law enforcement. Photos courtesy of the Village of Robbins

residents. Wells is the secretary of the South Suburban Association Chiefs of Police and is set to become president in two years, something they acknowledge might not have happened a few years ago.

“We’re becoming a focal point, we’re becoming a lead,” said Ward.

“We’re floating up to the top based upon our actions. Because this town is so active now, people realize it and they recognize it.”

CITIZEN Democratic Endorsement PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES

ILLINOIS STATE SENATE

JOE R. BIDEN

40TH DISTRICT

PUNCH # 4

MONICA GORDON PUNCH #104

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

JUDGE OF CIRCUIT COURT

BOBBY L. RUSH, 1ST DISTRICT, PUNCH #31 ROBIN KELLY, 2ND DISTRICT, PUNCH #31 DANNY K. DAVIS, 7TH DISTRICT, PUNCH, #31

STATE REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT “BOB RITA, 28TH DISTRICT

JAMES T. DERICO, JR., PUNCH #187 CELESTIA L. MAYS, PUNCH 194 JENNIFER PATRICIA CALLAHAN, PUNCH 200 TERESA MOLINA, PUNCH 205 SHEREE DISIREE HENRY, PUNCH 207 LLOYD JAMES BROOKS, PUNCH 212

THADDEUS JONES, 29TH DISTRICT WILLIAM “WILL” DAVIS, 30TH DISTRICT NICHOLAS “NICK” SMITH, 34TH DISTRICT

JUDGE 1ST SUBCIRCUIT TYRIA B. WALTON

DEBBIE MEYERS-MARTIN, 38TH DISTRICT ANTHONY DELUCA, 80TH DISTRICT

JUDGE , 2ND BSUBCIRCUIT SONDRA NICOLE DENMARK

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION KIMBERLY NEELY DUBUCLET, PUNCH 126 FRANK AVILA, PUNCH 123

JUDGE, 15TH SUBUCIRCUIT NICHOLE C. PATTON

DEYON DEAN, PUNCH 132

STATE’S ATTORNEY KIM FOXX, PUNCH #141

CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURTS OF COOK COUNTY RICHARD BOYKIN, PUNCH #147 JUDGE FOR SUPREME COURT CYNTHIA Y. COBB, PUNCH# 164 JUDGE OF APPELLATE COURT SHARON O. JOHNSON, PUNCH #176

OUR

VOTE ILLINOIS PRIMARY TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2020

REPRESENTATIVES IN THORNTON TOWNSHIP AND BLOOM TOWNSHIP AREAS. THEREFORE ALL LISTED CANDIDATES MIGHT NOT APPEAR ON YOUR BALLOT

ENDORSEMENTS INCLUDES

REMEMBER TO TAKE THIS PAGE WITH YOU INTO THE POLLING PLACE. www.citizennewspapergroup.com

4 | CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 11, 2020

ART SCENE The 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park June 5–7 Experience Blues Music “in the Key of Chicago” at the 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival happening Friday, June 5 to Sunday, June 7, in Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph St.) and Sunday, June 7, at Maxwell Street Market (800 S. Desplaines St.) The event is part of Chicago In Tune, the NEW 18-day celebration of music at venues and organizations across the city in conjunction with the 2020 Year of Chicago Music.

With a diverse lineup celebrating the blues’ past, present, and future on six stages, the Chicago Blues Festival shares the great Chicago-born music

tradition while shining a spotlight on the genre’s contributions to soul, R&B, gospel, rock, hip hop and more. Admission is free.

“Each year, thousands of music fans come together for the Chicago Blues Festival to celebrate our city’s rich cultural legacy and world-famous blues tradition,” said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “In concert with the Year of Chicago Music, this year’s festival will also showcase the vivid rhythms and sounds being played across our entire thriving music scene, promising to make an unforgettable experience for music-lovers of all ages.”

A signature part of the Year of Chicago Music, “Chicago In Tune” will bring music organizations and venues across the city together to celebrate music of all genres and forms from May 21 to June 7. The event is

anchored by three free-admission city music festivals – the Chicago House Music Conference and Festival (May 21–23), the Chicago Gospel Music Festival (May 26–30) and the Chicago Blues Festival (June 5–7) – that spotlight three genres of music born and innovated in Chicago. The 18 days of music will stretch to every corner of the city with free and ticketed events at participating venues and clubs.

A full listing of performances and events will be listed at Do312.com.

“Chicago In Tune represents an outstanding opportunity to experience Chicago’s thriving music scene,”

said Mark Kelly, commissioner of DCASE. “Spanning genres as diverse as hip hop, indie rock, experimental, jazz, Latinx, classical and more, music will emanate from our stunning music halls, authentic neighborhood clubs, world-class festivals, and inspiring youth programs.

The headliners of the Chicago Blues Festival perform on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage from 4:30 to 9pm each evening. Music and entertainment throughout the park will begin at 11am each day.

For complete details, visit ChicagoBluesFestival.us.

Mexico Asbury Ocean Club — Asbury Park, NJ, USA Shinola Hotel — Detroit, MI, USA Four Seasons Hotel Lanai at Koele, a Sensei Retreat — Lanai, HI, USA Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection — Big Island, HI, USA Soho Warehouse — Los Angeles, CA, USA Palihouse Miami Beach — Miami, FL, USA Maison de la Luz — New Orleans, LA, USA Equinox Hotel — New York, NY, USA The Times Square EDITION — New York, NY, USA Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia

at Comcast Center — Philadelphia, PA, USA TWA Hotel — Queens, NY, USA Santa Monica Proper Hotel — Santa Monica, CA, USA MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa — Sonoma, CA, USA Willow House — Terlingua, TX, USA Posada by the Joshua Tree House — Tucson, AZ, USA Blackberry Mountain — Walland, TN, USA The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Resorts Collection — Wanship, UT, USA Captain Whidbey Inn — Whidbey Island, WA, USA Canyon Ranch Woodside — Woodside, CA, USA

TRAVEL Travel + Leisure Releases 15th Annual It List, An Editor-Curated Collection Of The Best New Hotels In The World Each year, Travel + Leisure editors scout hundreds of new hotels around the globe in pursuit of those that offer a special, holistic experience based on location, ambiance, service, and amenities. The editors collaborate with Travel + Leisure’s global network of expert travel writers and agents to narrow the list.

“The beauty of staying at a hotel is that you can drop both your physical and emotional baggage and be the best version of yourself,” said Jacqueline Gifford, editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure. “ With over 70 honorees—including a Loire Valley château and a series of lodges in Bhutan—our annual It List is packed with hotels that make you feel spoiled, nurtured, and seamlessly connected to the outside world.”

The Travel + Leisure 2020 It List includes 19 hotels across the United States, including four in California, three in New York, and two in Hawaii, as well as in places such as Asbury Park, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, among others.

Travel + Leisure’s 2020 It List is as follows, organized by location: AFRICA + THE MIDDLE EAST Jao Camp (Wilderness Safaris) — Okavango Delta, Botswana The Oberoi Marrakech — Marrakech, Morocco Zannier Hotels Sonop — Karas, Namibia Magashi (Wilderness Safaris) — Akagera, Rwanda One&Only Gorilla’s Nest — Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda Singita Kwitonda — Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Camissa House — Cape Town, South Africa Lekkerwater Beach Lodge — De Hoop, South Africa Mandarin Oriental, Doha — Doha, Qatar Al Bait Sharjah — Sharjah, United Arab Emirates ASIA Six Senses Bhutan — Bhutan JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Shanghai Pudong — Shanghai, China Rosewood Hong Kong — Hong Kong Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa — Uttarakhand, India Aman Kyoto — Kyoto, Japan Shishi-Iwa House — Karuizawa, Japan The Chow Kit — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Raffles Singapore — Singapore HOSHINOYA Guguan — Taichung, Taiwan Hotel de la Coupole — Sapa, Vietnam AUSTRALIA Mount Mulligan Lodge — Queensland, Australia CARIBBEAN La Finca Victoria — Vieques, Puerto Rico Eden Rock — St. Bart’s Ambergris Cay — Turks and Caicos CENTRAL + SOUTH AMERICA Kachi Lodge — Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia Rio Palena Lodge — Patagonia, Chile Nayara Tented Camp — La Palma, Costa Rica

Cirqa — Arequipa, Peru EUROPE August — Antwerp, Belgium Belmond Cadogan — London, England The Standard — London, England The Stratford — London, England The Newt in Somerset — Somerset, England Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé — Loire Valley, France J.K. Place Paris — Paris, France Lily of the Valley — St.-Tropez, France Plage Palace — Palavas-les-Flots, France Purs — Andernach, Germany Parilio — Paros, Greece Mezzatore — Ischia, Italy Casa Maria Luigia — Modena, Italy Masseria Torre Maizza, a Rocco Forte Hotel — Puglia, Italy Hotel de la Ville, a Rocco Forte Hotel — Rome, Italy a.d. 1768 Boutique Hotel — Sicily, Italy St. Regis Venice — Venice, Italy Britannia Hotel — Trondheim, Norway Palacio Solecio — Malaga, Spain Finca Serena — Mallorca, Spain NORTH AMERICA Glacier View Lodge — Jasper, Canada Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve — Puerto Los Cabos, Mexico Sofitel Mexico City Reforma — Mexico City, Mexico Casa Adela — San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Juana Bautista — Tlaquepaque, www.citizennewspapergroup.com

CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 11, 2020

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NEWS POLITISCOPE

The two-party system is here to stay Continued from page 2 which favored a decentralized government.

When the question of federal supremacy was settled, the Anti-Federalists were replaced by the Democratic-Republican Party, which championed Southern agricultural interests.

When the Federalists died out, the Democratic-Republican Party split into the Whigs and Democrats, who disagreed about the balance of power between branches of government.

By 1856, a collapsing Whig Party was replaced by the anti-slavery Republican Party, whose feuds with the pro-slavery Democrats led to the Civil War. From that point forward, those two dominant national parties have remained stable.

Third-party challenges have been limited and generally unimportant, usually driven by specific issues rather than broad-based concerns.

Stability in the future The modern Republicans and Democrats are unlikely to go the way of the Whigs, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, regardless of recent political earthquakes.

National politics are a different game now than

they were during the early republic. Advances in communication and technology have enhanced party organization. Parties can maintain a truly national presence and ward off potential challengers. Both major parties have shown a willingness to stretch to accommodate populists like Trump and Sanders rather than splintering.

Recent changes in the Democratic nomination process, for example, demonstrate this flexibility. Barriers to third parties appearing on ballots are ingrained in our electoral laws, which have been engineered by those managing the current system so that it will endure.

And donors and lobbyists, who want predictable outcomes, have little incentive to rock the boat by supporting a new player in the game.

Certainly, the parties have evolved and will continue to do so. For example, the once reliably Democratic “solid South” shifted to Republican control beginning with the Civil Rights movement. Yet evolution should not be confused with destruction, and the persistence of the present system is relatively secure.

Alexander Cohen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Clarkson University.

Illinois Meets With Illinois State Board Of Elections Director To Discuss Election Security Funding U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Rules Committee, recently met once again with Steve Sandvoss, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, to discuss continued federal funding for election security.

Durbin, along with Senators Amy Klobuchar (DMN) and Gary Peters (D-MI), pressed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on recent reports that DHS cut staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, despite warnings that foreign adversaries continue to target U.S. election infrastructure.

According to a press release, beginning in June 2016, the Illinois State Board of Elections was the target of a malicious, month-long cyberattack that enabled the intruder to access confidential voter information and view the registration data of approximately 76,000 voters in Illinois. Last year, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russians for their activities to interfere in the 2016 election by engaging in a sustained operation to hack into the computer networks of Democratic campaign organizations, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and state and local election administrators and vendors. The indictment specifically included charges related to the Russians’ attack on a state board of elections, which was presumed to be the Illinois State Board of Elections.

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