November 4th, 2025 Meeting Minutes

Posted On November 25, 2025

This meeting took place at 6pm at The Third Space, 716 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60613.

ELVN Board Members attending: John McCarthy, Maureen Martino, Patrick Nagle, Christina Pinson

6:03a WELCOME

John McCarthy, standing in for vacationing ELVN president Brian Murphy, opened the meeting at 6:03p. He identified the ELVN Board members present and asked for those in the audience attending their first meeting in person to raise their hands. About seven did so and all explained that they were drawn to attend because of the part of the meeting addressing rat abatement.

6:05 ELECTED OFFICIALS’ REPORTS

  • State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz – Feigenholtz summarized the frenetic final days of the Legislature’s fall veto session. She spoke of the huge transit bill (SB 2111) passed by the State Senate at 4am the previous Friday (10/31) after the House had passed the bill earlier that day. She said the 800-page, $1.5 billion revenue package creates, among other things, a universal fare card for the CTA, Metra and Pace, as well as more transit options for disabled riders. She said that after two years, “It’s done.” …. She noted that she supported the State and Local Tax (SALT) bill that urges our Congressional delegation to work with their colleagues in Congress to deliver fair and equitable SALT reform to Illinois…. She said a bill was approved that protects residents from the unconstitutional practices of ICE and holds it accountable for its actions… She pointed out that the Legislature passed a bill that significantly expands property tax relief for seniors by raising the income limits for the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption and henceforth will tie those limits to the Consumer Price Index… She ended her comments by saying the Governor has set up “Illinois’s own mini-CDC” – a state government entity for public health in light of the “chaos” at the federal Centers for Disease Control.
  • Yoni Pizer (Community Liaison, Office of U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley)… Pizer spoke at length about efforts by Quigley’s office to combat ICE excesses in our neighborhood. He said the office recently held a “Know Your Rights” workshop at Lakeview High School and rattled off several of those rights. He said that in the previous few days ICE had entered a local restaurant and grabbed a chef. He stated that ICE is targeting schools at dismissal because dismissal that’s when parents come to get their children and ICE. He encouraged the use of whistles when ICE is in the neighborhood. He said that Cong. Quigley had demanded a full accounting of ICE actions in the 5th Congressional District… . Regarding the federal cutoff of SNAP funds, Pizer said 5.2% of the people in the 5th CD use SNAP. He says SNAP adds $7 billion to the Illinois GNP. He noted that the workforce of the federal agency that administers SNAP has been cut by 25% due to Trump administration policies…. He said that Cong. Quigley ELVN Board member Patrick Nagle congratulated Pizer on his induction to the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
  • Isaac Troncoso (Director of Policy and Public Safety, 44th Ward). Troncoso again referred to the presence of ICE agents in our community, recounting a recent episode at Lakewood and Henderson where agents “indiscriminately” entered a garage without consent and grabbed a worker. He added that Ald. Lawson’s office is handing out whistles, signs, “Know Your Rights” flyers. He said the alderman has been a strong supporter of what Troncoso termed “this organic response” by residents of the 44th Ward…. He reported that due to Lawson’s leadership, the Chicago City Council had passed an ordinance allowing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) – illegal since the 1950s – to be permitted in all multi-family and mixed-use zoning districts citywide… Turning to crime, Troncoso reminded the audience that the 44th Ward sponsors a court advocacy project that monitors the Cook County court proceedings of those arrested for committing the worst crimes in East Lakeview and the 44th Ward. He encouraged all interested audience members to join the project.
  • Jesse Orr (Director of Infrastructure and Development, 46th Ward). Orr noted that the presentation delivered at the previous ELVN meeting about the proposed residential development at the Torstenson Glass site at 3233-47 N.Sheffield elicited comments that were primarily about the “aesthetics” of the five-story building…. He also announced a town hall meeting on Sunday, Nov. 9th at the Center on Halsted featuring Mayor Johnson discussing his 2026 city budget proposal.

6:45 CHICAGO CUBS UPDATE

Will McIntee, (Director of Governmental and Community Affairs, Chicago Cubs). McIntee said that the Cubs are looking to begin construction on the Security Enhancement Project to install security bollards around Wrigley Field and to widen the Addison St. sidewalk next to the ballpark, as well as the work to move the Highlander Lot fence. Final city approval is expected soon. Timeline and further details will be printed in the Cubs’ Community Connection newsletter.… McIntee, in response to an audience question, confirmed that the Cubs’ annual meeting with the community will again take place this spring….. He also mentioned that football season at Wrigley has begun, with Northwestern playing Michigan at the Friendly Confines on Nov. 15 and Minnesota the following Saturday…. Finally, he noted that the holiday Kindlemarket will be back on Gallagher Way after a year’s absence.

6:50 A NEW APPROACH TO THE RAT PROBLEM – “RAT BIRTH CONTROL”

  • Andrea Flores, OneHealth Research Coordinator, Urban Wildlife Institute, Lincoln Pk. Zoo. Ms. Flores presented a slide show explaining the dangers posed by rats, why traditional rat poisoning programs don’t work long-term, the elements of a “rat birth control” regimen, and a description of the pilot program the Lincoln Park Zoo is coordinating right now in a neighborhood in Lincoln Park. A much expanded version of the slide show Andrea presented can be found at: https://chicagobirdalliance.org/webinar (The relevant slide show in this long webinar runs from 20:00 – 32:00)
  • John McCarthy asked for volunteers to help explore whether a rat birth control program should operate in East Lakeview. (One volunteer agreed to help and is currently familiarizing herself with the subject. )

7:15 EAST LAKE VIEW NEIGHBORS UPDATE

  • ELVN vice-president John McCarthy said that because ELVN is an all-volunteer operation and volunteer time for busy people is a premium, the Board feels that there is a need for a more simplified membership processing system. So now all memberships will run from January 1 to December 31 of each year, no matter when a membership is initiated. So that if a new member pays his/her membership fee on December 15th, he/she will have to pay another full-year membership fee on January 1…. McCarthy also said the annual membership fee will increase from $10/year to $20/year, beginning January 1, 2026…. In addition, the use of PayPal will be terminated as a membership payment option. Instead, membership fees can be paid by Zelle or a number of credit cards…. Also, McCarthy said that a redesigned and updated ELVN website is in the works… Finally, he said that starting in 2026, all general membership meetings will be on the SECOND rather than the first Tuesday of the month.
  • Treasurer’s Report: McCarthy (for ELVN Treasurer Kit Welch) reported that this year’s ELVN Oktoberfest was the most successful in several years. We took in more than $46K with $6K in expenses. Last year revenues reached only $19K. We saw big increases in attendance, and revenue from ticket sales, monetary donations, the auction, and the wine pull……. He said that a charitable donations committee of ELVN Board members had been selected and would be meeting on Nov. 19 to begin the process of identifying and recommending the most appropriate local non-profits to receive our donations. McCarthy asked anyone in the audience who might have donation suggestions to see him after the meeting. (After the meeting two new organizations were recommended by audience members.)
  • East Lakeview Business Report: ELVN Bd member and Exec. Director of Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce Maureen Martino Maureen also noted that the East Lakeview Christmas Tree lighting will happen on Tuesday, November 18th, that there will be 24 pop-up stores in the Wrigleyville area during the holidays, that Saturday, December 6th local shopping gift cards will be sold at a 25% discount at the LECC office on Broadway, and that the LECC will be sponsoring its annual neighborhood-wide holiday party at Merkle’s (3516 N. Clark) on Tuesday, Dec. 16th. Finally, Maureen announced that in the last few months the area has seen 26 business openings with eight more coming in the next weeks. More information on all LECC events can be found on its website: https://lakevieweast.com/
  • Local Crime Report: John McCarthy, Beat Facilitator, CPD Beat 1925 John said that thanks to 19th District CAPS Officer Anthony Mercado we have accurate major crimes information for all the police beats that encompass the ELVN boundaries (Beats 1923-25). Since August 1 to November 1 the data shows:
  • Robbery: 19 during this year’s three-month period; 37 last year during the same period; a 48% decrease
  • Burglary: 10% drop this year over last; 45% drop since 2023
  • Motor vehicle theft: 43% drop over last year; number of occurrences now below 2021.
  • Carjackings: only two, but last year during this period there were none.
  • Shootings: none during this period, last year there were three.

Concern was expressed about four people shot at 1:45am on Sunday morning, Nov. 2, on the 3400 block of N. Clark St. John remarked that “reliable sources” at CPD had told him that the victims were “targeted.” The shootings are being viewed by CPD as a “gang hit” and not a random attack on strangers.

7:40p ADJOURN

  • John encouraged all in attendance to attend ELVN’s holiday party on Tuesday evening Dec. 2nd. He said members can pay their 2026 membership fees and enjoy food and drink and a great festive atmosphere at Murphy’s Bleachers. John adjourned the meeting at 7:40p.