_text_

Fred,
As a CPS parent and teacher I actually like your idea for the school year. One question I have about going year round comes up a lot. A majority of CPS schools are not air conditioned. I don't know if you've ever been in an un-air-conditioned CPS classroom in August or late May/early June but it can be unbearable. Good idea but just one of those things that can throw it off. How would you propose they take care of that?
James J. C..

James,
I attended Chicago Public Schools. During that time it was very cold in the winter months as the windows were not sealed from the cold and I agree that the summer months were very hot also. I guess some things have not changed. So far this year during May and June there has been only about 8 days in the upper 80's and above. The month of August is what worries me a little. I also notice that over the past 15 years or so a lot of newer schools have been built all over Chicago and more are planned – however, without funding and misuse of funding and the misuse of funding by the current Daley Administration, this has stopped. A fast simple fix would be to install window air conditioners in the older buildings, newer air tight windows would probably help also. No matter what - the system has to change to reflect the current times and to give the teachers and children a better environment to learn.
Fred

Fred,
If you are for letting Chicago teachers live where they please by pushing to lift the residency rule, ---I thought this was a free country-- you have my vote

Thanks
Dino H…

Dino,
All city workers are bound by the "residency rule", and as far as I am concerned if they want to move out of the city and commute with the high costs of gas and taking longer to arrive at their work site - I would let them. It would be more loss out of their pocket and their time. I hear a lot of complaints about this rule but it is actually counterproductive to the employee.
Fred

Fred,
I admire you wanting to run for Mayor, but you have no clue on what it takes to run this city. As an Alderman how do you expect me to get by on a 30% pay and budget cut. We have expenses also.

Alderman Anonymous –

Alderman,
There are a lot of people who are making by on a third of your salary. As for your budget, I would move all the Alderman ward offices to vacant offices in the various 25 district police stations, maybe that way you will stay within the law. If there is no police station in your ward your office could then be moved into a vacant local park district office. The people of Chicago should not be “Paying rent” to yourself or family member for your local ward office. There are local police and park district offices sitting empty and the taxpayers are paying utilities and maintenance for these offices already. By moving your ward office here, that would save about 15% of your yearly budget immediately. I am sure that you could find a way to save the other 15%.
Fred

Fred
Are you a Politician? What party do you work for?
Joe L….

Joe,
Am I a Politician? In your opinion just what is a Politician? A politician is someone who is elected by the people to represent them. What party do I work for? I am going to assume that you are referring to the parties of: Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent etc. Well Joe when a Mayor or Alderman is running they are supposed to run as non-partisan, these are the election rules and can be checked out through the Chicago board of Elections. I work for NO PARTY, and part of the problem of our politics today is the politicians have forgotten that they work for the people. I am running to represent ALL CHICAGO and the only special interest group that will have my ear is the citizens of Chicago.
Fred

Fred
I am a member of the NRA and I vote. I would like your opinion about the recent ruling against the Chicago gun laws.
Eddie D...

Eddie,
I believe that our Constitution has set the first 10 Amendments in STONE! The right of the public to bear arms should not be infringed upon. I was very surprised that 4 members of the Supreme Court voted with Chicago, this in direct violation of the oath they took when they took office. To uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States. This surprised me and so far nothing has been said about it. The way the current ordinance has been written will be challenged again, and Chicago will lose. I think that Marls Georges is just doing this to make it look like she is doing her job. Some of the ordinance was copied from the Federal regulations: No felonies, history of mental illness, but limiting guns per person and refusing to allow a legal business to open and operate in the City limits is in violation of the Constitution, every 8th grader knows this.
Fred

Fred
You did not answer the question about all this privatizing going on by Daley?

Melody S.

Melody,
Sorry I missed it. The privatizing that is going on affects the City of Chicago budget in more ways that the current adminastration realizes. They think they are saving money, however most of the jobs are being done by people who live outside of the City. They then take their paycheck home along with tax revenue. The only people who are making money ane the friends of the current Adminastration who own these private companies. If private companies want to do business with the City of Chicago I feel that they should pay the same wages and benifits for the same type of job as City employees, also the employers of that company should have to hire ONLY CITY RESIDENTS. This makes the playing field even. I also believe that the City employees that are being replaced by privatizing were better qualified than the ones replacing them. The tax payer is losing on this deal.
Fred

Fred,
I live in Englewood and we have a very high crime rate here. I do not know if you have been in the area but there is a lot going on. We have vacant lots, boarded up properties, drug deals on the streets and the children are afraid to go out or to school. How would you fix that.
Bertha R..

Bertha,
I read the papers and watch the news regularly. I have also been through the entire Englewood neighborhoods. I have seen the drug deals going down and the boarded up store fronts. I have looked at a map of Chicago's 25 Police Districts and noticed that there are 8 very large districts which cover the south side. This is the same area where most of the violent crime is happening, THIS HAS TO CHANGE! I would look at dividing these 8 districts and increasing the police to the areas. Unfortunately this could take a couple years to have the district headquarters built. In the mean time I would send in more undercover teams to break up the drug operation and gangs. I would also encourage the local people to call 911 when they see or know of something going on, the police needs your help to get this crime out of your neighborhood. The Chicago Police Department has highly educated officers and do a great job when they can. When they run into dead ends or when the public does not help they get very frustrated to not be able to stop this crime. They see it repeating but without witnesses the criminals keep going free and hurting our loved ones. So the public and the police have to work together and trust each other. Believe me - WE ALL WANT A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE AND A SAFER PLACE FOR OUR CHILDREN TO GROW UP.
Fred

Fred,
I work for The Department of Streets and Sanitation, what will you do about all this privatizing going on by Daley? Will you give us back our Holiday pay? What about our pay for overtime? We have bills and pay taxes too.

Andy S…

Andy,
I know that most City employees work very hard and do not get the credit they deserve. Holiday pay is a given, I also believe that if someone works overtime he should be compensated for it. The overtime pay I would offer a choice between comp time and actual pay, I would do this because some employees like to build up their comp time and take longer vacations, this helps out the taxpayers and gives the employees a break they earned. As for taxes I will try to lower them for everyone. I have a few ideas some of which are posted in my platform.
Fred

Fred,
Mayor Daley has stated that Chicago is a “Sanctuary” City. This has many Illegal Immigrants moving to Chicago causing congested neighborhoods, higher crime, damage to property, overburdening the schools and hospitals. In my neighborhood there is a single family home that has at least 3 families living in it. They have 11 cars, mostly clunkers, and take up most of the parking spaces on the block. Neighbors and I have complained to the police, but they seem not to care. I am also a BSN and work in a major hospital in the city. The emergency room is always full of people who have no insurance, are illegally here, have children by children, a lot of the cases are not emergencies but they tie up the emergency room for real emergencies. This is also a strain on the hospital staff and services. I do not think that the general public knows how really bad this is. What is your take?

Sandy B…

Sandy,
First I do not believe that Chicago should be a Sanctuary City. Mayor Daley really surprises me with his beliefs. He used to be the States Attorney and knows the laws. When he took office as Mayor he swore to uphold the United States Constitution. The immigrants who come to this country illegally have broken the laws of this country and with Daley backing them he is violating the oath he swore to uphold. There are many immigrants who are trying to come to this country legally and I welcome them all. But it is against my principals to give the ones who break our laws and flaunt this in our face a free pass to citizenship while at the same time ignoring the immigrants who are trying to come here legally. This is a slap in the face to every United States Citizen and all of the law abiding immigrants who went through the process of citizenship. As for the house in your neighborhood call 311 and speak to someone in the building and zoning department also report them to the health department as this is a violation of city codes and a health hazard. As for the cars, unfortunately, if they have current plates and stickers the police cannot do anything. Most people really do not realize that is why President Obama pushed through his health care program. The illegal immigrants in California have bankrupted the hospital system there, and this is a major crisis all over the country.
Fred

Fred,
What if any is your Military Background?

Corporal Elizabeth G..
Semper Fi

Elizabeth,
I am not going to lie or sugarcoat it, I have no Military background. I am glad you wrote so that I could thank you and all of the Military Men and Women of the armed forces of The United States of America. I have 2 nephews who just came back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and I met some of their wonderful friends that they made over there. Those brave men and women in their young part of their lives have totally earned and deserve all of our support and respect. I have learned one thing from them, the press really does not know what is going on over there. As Mayor of Chicago I will promise to do the following for our Military family:
1 - All Military personal will get first shot of any job opening that the City of Chicago has.
2 - I will ask the Chicago Business community to start and fund a program to honor all of Chicago's fallen military personal. This fund will have brass plaques made with their name, rank, date of birth, date of death, branch of military, area of Chicago where they lived and which theater they fought in. These plaques will be placed on street light poles on Michigan Avenue from Oak Street to Congress, on Clark, Dearborn, State from Lake to Congress. An American flag will proudly fly from the top of each pole in their honor.

Always Faithful,
Fred

Mr. White,

I quickly scanned through your website after reading a comment you posted regarding the violence on a news website. I am on the list for CPD from '06, I'm an infantry SGT in the ILARG recently back from Afghanistan. I love your view on gun ordinance, not too crazy about the police/guard proposal, I like that you acknowledge the need for more officers, love the proposal to slash Alderman funding, end political "juice," and the list goes on.

Here is my suggestion: LINK UP ON FACEBOOK!!! Hyperlink to your site. I will post you to my page and to all my friends. I want that bum, Daley, and all of his ilk gone ASAP. The problem is, according to the news, is that there is no viable candidate. Sir, social networking is key, trust me on the Facebook suggestion.

Lastly, you gave no indication, from what I read, of your party affiliation. That is fine! I don't care, as long as you have sound leadership and ideas, which it sounds like you do. I'd prefer a Republican just because Dems have run this city into the ground. Again, I don't care because it sounds like your head is upright and not buried deep in your ass.

Best of luck!


Sincerely,
Phil S.

Thank you Phil,

The next election in 2011 for Mayor and Alderman will be the first Non Parisian election for these offices in Chicago, that is why I have not stated any party affiliation. As I said my only special interest group will be the citizens of Chicago. I am on Facebook and from my platform you can sign onto a group I formed - Chicagos 50 Ward Connection - this is where I ask people to submit ideas to help all Chicago. In 6 weeks I have over 625 members, please visit and send out to all your facebook friends. By the way, the news media knows I exist, I have sent out copies of my website to Fran Speilman herself the last week of May. I have also sent it out to John Cass of the Chicago Tribune. I think the media just wants some Alderman to jump into the race to stir up Daley. I have handed out over 10,000 business cards with my photo and web site link, over 500 copies of my web site with instructions to Please make 5 copies and pass them out to friends and neighbors, and through my e-mail list over 300 City of Chicago Employees. The Police/Guard proposal was temporary until 500 more officers could be trained and hired. Yesterday Daley said that the city just hired 100 new officers, what he forgot to mention was that 400 are set to retire on Aug 31. A net loss of 300 more officers.

Thank you for your support.

Fred

Fred,
Your card states "Open Honest Government, Lower Taxes" etc. You have not hit on how you would promote the "Open Honest Government" or will this be the same old corruption going on now?

Dave M.

Dave,
Good point, The first thing I would do would to be call a meeting with All 50 Aldermen, their ward superintendents, ward coordinators, All the various Commissioners from each department and this meeting would be held center court at the United Center, and all the public would be invited. I would have these meetings quarterly. Questions would be taken from the citizens who attend and answered as best they could be. This would be a start.
Thank you,
Fred

Mr. White,
I have view your platform and found it very interesting. You have a lot of great ideas. However my question has to do with the Chicago winters. I live on a street that rarely gets plowed and when it does get plowed it is usually to late. Do you have any thoughts on how to improve this problem?

Thank you,
Brenda B.

Brenda,
Right now and during the past couple of years this present administration has been cutting back services and laying off workers.They have tried privatizing the snow removal program and found no takers, only parts of the city would have been covered. Right now the city is short about 300 motor truck drivers and if the coming winter is anything close to last winter it is going to be very bad. The drivers are expected to work their regular 8 hour shift and then from 8 to 12 hours on snow. I have a total out of the box idea that would help everyone and clear the snow more quickly and efficiently. I would purchase 600 snow blowers, 12 per ward. When the snow hit the Aldermen would hire 12 unemployed people from their ward for $100.00 for an 8 hour day and let them use the snow blowers to clear the side streets and blow the snow onto the parkways. The workers could also clear the sidewalks at the same time. The snow blowers would be more manoeuvrable and could get around snowbound vehicles and down tight side streets. It would put a little money into a local residents pocket, clear the streets and sidewalks, this would help everyone. I want to help make Chicago as great as it can be for everyone.

Thank you,
Fredrick K White

Hello Mr. White,
I have a question that I know more people than myself affects. I work for the City of Chicago and have 2 children and a domestic partner. I pay insurance through payroll, I am insured and my children are insured, however I can not put my domestic partner on the policy because he is a male and I am not a lesbian. We have been together for over 15 years and meet all the requirements under the domestic policy act except our relationship status. What happened to equal rights?

Sophia S.

Sophia,
I know of a few people that this domestic partner ordinance effects wrongly. I agree with you, if you have lived together for over a year and have children together you should be able to have your significant other put on your insurance. I know that you are paying for family coverage, but the whole family is not being covered. This I would change because it is only right.

Thank you,
Fredrick K White

Mr. White,

As a public school teacher I have concerns about your ideas with education. Year round school should be year round, not a month off in January and another month off in July. That is not year round and if you count the days that students are actually in the classroom, you still have the minimum that the state has mandated. A one or two week break in December, April and July is all that is needed if you really want a year round school.

We have schools now that start in early August and they have trouble with students showing up on the first weeks of school. How will you change the mind set of parents who don't send their child to school until after Labor Day? With that in mind, how do you change the mind set of parents who pull their children out of school for an extended vacation during the school year?

You can't save millions by closing schools during the month of January. The electrical still needs to run, the heat still needs to be on and you still need to have people in the building for maintenance and security. Principals and the office staff still needs to be there - even if just in the AM to do the needed work like transfers in and out, ordering materials, etc.

You have forgotten about sports and clubs that usually meet before or after school. Students needs these to round out their education. 35 minutes for electives? Can you tell me what can be covered in P.E. in 25 minutes since 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after are used for attendance and changing clothes (in high school setting)? Why only art or music? Why not both?

That said, many school buildings can not accommodate window air conditioners because of poor electrical wiring and setup. Many classrooms only have two electrical outlets and need to run extension cords to run the equipment that is needed. CPS has refused to fund putting buildings up to code, more than likely because of funding. This also stops the required additions to be added to existing buildings. Instead, schools get mobile buildings that are only good for 7 years before they fall apart. Wouldn't it be better to get existing buildings up to code and build the additions needed for schools that show they are overcrowded, especially in elementary schools. Many schools can also be retrofitted with roof top air conditioners that feed into the forced air system that is already in place.

Many schools do not have the equipment needed to teach students in the 21st Century. Up to date computers (not Windows 98), White boards (not chalk boards), Document projectors and LCD projects (not transparency overheads) are needed desperately. How will you get schools up to par with the rest of the world?

You propose high school students to go to school from 3 - 11 pm??? How does that help families with students in elementary school as well? How does that stop gangs? How do you provide safe transportation during that time when many high school students need to take public transportation to and from school? Do you realize that many bus routes stop running by 9 pm? And how do you get teachers to teach during that time with the same security and transportation issues?

Snow plowing.... do you really think that snow blowers will do the job of clearing streets of snow? Who will maintain these machines? Most blowers are made for sidewalks and driveways, not streets with pot holes.
The city use to hire more laborers during the summer to pick up garbage quicker in order to combat the smell and animal foraging. What about hiring the summer construction workers who have a license to drive a truck and have them do just plowing?

Question: By state law in 1995, the mayor of Chicago has total control over the Chicago School Board with authority to appoint school board members and the CEO & CEDO (which presently there is no one). Will you continue that or will you work to change the law so that the board is elected and governed by ISBE?

Question: By state law, education is funded by property taxes. Will you work to change that so the entire state - not just Chicago - is funded equally?

Cheryl
Teacher

Cheryl,
Parents who don't send their child to school until after Labor Day and who pull their children out of school for an extended vacation during the school year will be charged with truancy? A fine can be imposed to the parents and the student may have to take classes over again.

Closing the schools during the month of January will save Millions of dollars not in electric costs but heating costs. If the school still needs to remain open the for office staff, only the office has to be heated.

I did not forget about after school activities, only 5 high schools will offer the evening classes. Elective classes are 40 minutes now, I do not believe that reducing them by 5 minutes would make that great of a difference. I believe that the more important classes of Math, Reading, History and Science should have more time allocated to them. As for art and music they could be taken by the individual student anyway the student wants to progress. If the student wants 4 years of art he or she could sign up for four years of art and no music, if they want four years of music they could sign up for that or they could have two and two, three and one - whatever the student wanted to excel in.

It would be cheaper and more cost efficient to have new electrical conduit ran to each room for window air conditioners. Roof top units are very expensive and might require the roof to be replaced and stronger I beams inserted. Window units could be shut off when not in use and each room temperature could be controlled separately.

Something we agree on, schools need to be brought into the 21st century. We need to purchase and make sure the teachers have the required equipment and resources to be able to teach. We would not send our Police out without guns and bullet proof vest or our Firemen out without protective clothes, however we have been sending our children out to learn without the needed equipment to bring them into the 21st century.

I would propose 5 High Schools to have an evening class schedule. These schools could be picked out and made sure they had transportation to them. Families with younger children who would be in grade school during the day already have in place someone to watch the younger children while they are at work - if both parents and working the second shift. If not that brings up another problem all together.

Snow plowing - - The snow blowers would be mainly used on side streets, a lot of side streets are to narrow to have the large trucks go down them, I know - I drive them. The snow blowers would be more maneuverable around parked vehicles to help clear out spaces close to the curbs so people do not get stuck. Snow blowers would be faster on the side streets and at the same time the larger trucks would be clearing the main streets. Maintaining them would be done by the Department of Forestry. This department has very skilled people who work on small motors for the chain saws and they would know how to sharpen the blades. Chicago has the employees with the know how. As for the city laborers, Chicago needs to hire more. Chicago City services have been reduced by about 30% during the last 2 years and are scheduled to be reduced even further. This has to stop.The truck drivers that work during the summer construction season already drive snow plows and garbage trucks during the Winter. What you have been witnessing is a very bad shortage of man power, and I see it getting worse over the next 8 months.

Your last two questions about the school board authority and funding:
The Mayor should have control over the Chicago School system, not the Illinois State Board of Education and the reason being is that Chicago's needs are different than those of schools through the state. As for funding Chicago receives a precentage of the whole from the state of Illinois through various formulas. With the state unemployment rate at about 11.3% and the inner city unemployment rate at closer to 35% the tax base is way down. We have to create jobs for people to bring up the tax base while at the same time Chicago has to be creative in bringing more revenue to the Cities budget. My platform describes different ways to do this. All together not only could jobs be created but revenue raised. The new ideas which I suggested could raise the revenue if implemented between 500 Million Dollars and 1.5 Billion Dollars a year - this without raising taxes.
Thank you,
Fredrick K White

From: "m l" <mintyfresh315@yahoo.com>
To: "Fred White" <Fred.White@comcast.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 3:00:08 PM
Subject: mayoral race

Hello Mr. White, your website is the most unprofessional website of a Chicago mayoral candidate. There are numerous typos, grammatical errors, and many of your claims sound as if you are speaking to your buddies in a bar (scratch cards, $5000 bounties for taggers, night shift for 14 year olds). Just because you are from Chicago and work for the City, you are in no shape or form qualified to run a city with the fourth largest GDP. Please stop before you get your friends and relatives to throw their votes away on election day.

Hello Mr. Mintyfresh,

I guess you are one of the other candidates lackey. First I am not a drinker, however, Our Country was founded by 5 great gentlemen siting around a bar drinking beer and outlining our Country's future: Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson. At that time in our history these men realized that our water supply carried many diseases and beer was "cooked" thus purifying the drink. As far my web site being "unprofessional" - I do not need the flash to hide or cover up my ideas. My web site has been up since April of 2010 and has over 500,000 hits, I am glad that you have viewed it. You have then noticed that Jodi Weis has used some of my ideas on moving the Police to areas of higher crime, and other Candidates have been using my slogan "A MAYOR FOR ALL CHICAGO" and talking about some of my ideas. This is because they can not come up with their own slogan or ideas - maybe you can get them into a bar. As for the "scratch cards" they will be designed to increase foot traffic into the small business of Chicago while at the same time educating the citizens of Chicago about different areas of the City - this will help the citizens to learn more about each other and each area. The $5,000.00 bounty for taggers - will be paid to anyone who turns in a tagger that is damaging the property of others. Would you like someone to destroy your car or building by tagging it? Are for the criminal behavior of these taggers? As far as "night shift" for 14 year olds. I went to night school when I was young. I went to Carl Schurz to earn extra credits. The classes was from 7;00 PM to 10:30 PM so I know from first hand experience that this can be done. Since these are the only three areas you have brought up, you must have liked the rest of my ideas. If anyone is throwing their votes away it is anyone that votes for anyone of the other candidates. Everyone of the other candidates are collecting taxpayer funded pensions - RIGHT NOW!, Everyone of them has been voted OUT OF OFFICE OR FIRED FROM THEIR POSITION - just check it out. Don't waste your vote - VOTE FOR FREDRICK K WHITE Thank you

Hi Fred,

I came across your website and have been reading your platform. You have some very interesting and unique ideas. I do have a couple of questions about the "Chicago Trade Dollar" idea you've outlined on your website. Specifically, how do you plan to get businesses on board with this idea? I can see why the citizens would want to participate (with the 80 cents on the dollar exchange rate), but I am not sure if the businesses would be willing to participate. While you mention the idea of re-selling them to tourists, are you worried that businesses may not like the idea of having to go through the extra work of getting the "Chicago Dollars" resold? There is also the risk that they can't resell them (especially if there is an oversupply of them) and then they would be stuck with "worthless" money. Can you provide me with your thoughts on these concerns? Is this idea something you have talked to local businesses about? I am confident the concerns I've raised have already been discussed and worked through internally with you and your staff, so I am interested to get your thoughts.

I look forward to your response. Best of luck in the upcoming campaign.
Respectfully,
Sam

Sam,
I am a Numismatist, that is someone who studies the uses of currency by various cultures and Countries through out history. Trade Dollars have been used and are being used today in various States and local economies. Trade dollars are issued in Maui Hawaii over the past 20 years to help their local programs and are collected by 10,000's of collectors and tourists. They are used in local economies down south to keep the money in the business in the local towns, sometimes called script and made of paper. Our local businesses would accept them at face value, this would also increase foot traffic into their stores. People usually do not go into a store with the idea of only spending $100.00, they usually spend more, see something else they want etc. The trade dollars will be designed to showcase Chicago. There will be 4 trade dollars made each year with a different design on each. Each design will be colorized; ex : The Chicago Skyline with the buildings colorized to set off the design. These become sought after collector items, not only locally but for tourists who visit the City. I would also offer the businesses the opportunity to purchase these trade dollars at 80% face so they could make a 20% profit. These will be limited editions. If a business has any trade dollars at the end of the year, I would be very happy to repurchase them at 90% face, splitting the cost of the 20%, and resale them at $6.95 each as souvenirs. These trade dollars would increase foot traffic into our local businesses who accept and resale them, the Chicago tax base will rise as more people will be shopping locally, more people shopping locally will increase the need for employees to hire and the profit of the trade dollars them self would be around one hundred and fifty million dollars. I have been planning on doing this myself to help the local businesses and have copyrights on 14 different designs for metallic art. I have produced two Chicago medals: for the First Official Night Game in Wrigley field and 1910 - 1990 Comiskey Park.

Thank you,
Fredrick K White