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AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
Vol. 33 No. 21
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West Sider Melissa Conyears-Ervin goes to City Hall,
May 22, 2019
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
City Council awards patronage, favors
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@AustinWeeklyChi
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@AustinWeeklyNews
McDonal’s boosts hiring,, page 6
M E M O R I A M
Without new oversight and accountability, City Hall cannot “escape corruption, mismanagement and waste,” the city watchdog says By MICK DUMKE ProPublica Illinois
The Chicago City Council’s Transportation Committee has an annual budget of more than $467,000 to cover expenses related to its work on legislation and government oversight. But little of that work was on display during the committee’s March 6 meeting. “Fairly quick agenda this morning,” the committee chair, Anthony Beale, said at the start. He and the six other aldermen then ran through its 70-page agenda in about 23 minutes, approving dozens of ordinances that dealt with hyperlocal administrative matters such as signs, awnings, light fixtures or sidewalk cafes for particular addresses. That was typical for Beale’s committee. While it rarely does in-depth legislative work, the committee and its budget have been far more valuable for Beale as perks. Beale, alderman of the far South Side 9th Ward, has used committee funds to hire employees — eight were on the payroll as of December — though he acknowledged they don’t spend all their time on committee work. He’s spent Transportation Committee money on his own transportation, including payments See CITY COUNCIL on page 8
Submitted photo
INVOLVED: Bobbie Raymond at a fundraiser in Oak Park. Wherever things were happening, she was there.
Bobbie Raymond, a bridge over Austin, dies at 80 The pioneering integration activist was an Oak Park icon, but also made her mark in Austin By KEN TRAINER Staff Editor
Inevitably with Bobbie Raymond, the stature thing comes up, so we might as well get that out of the way. She was short but seldom came up short. She was small in
stature but left an outsized imprint. She was larger than life. She went by a youngsounding name and had a young-sounding voice, but no one ever looked down on her (not for long, anyway) or took her anything but seriously. And she was always, right up till the end,
Oak Park’s fiercest advocate. For a while though early on, it looked like she might end up on Broadway or in Hollywood instead. Born in 1938 to William and Rosemary Wolin, she was a hard-work-
State Farm Mutual Automobile • Insurance Company State Farm Indemnity Company • Bloomington, IL • statefarm.com® Larry and his staff are licensed and together have over 75 years of State Farm experience.
See BOBBIE on page 4
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com