One thing that came out of Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting is that the Number One concern of those who want to eliminate the 500-foot restriction (from nursery and elementary schools) from the proposed zoning ordinance text amendment is not “the homeless”: it’s about making sure that PADS gets the Park Ridge homeless shelter franchise. 

That’s right, it’s all about PADS.

So why didn’t PADS officials show up Monday night to state their case for why PADS is the right choice to solve whatever homeless problem Park Ridge may have?  Why did they leave it up to PRMA ministers, a lawyer from the Chicago Archdiocese, a parade of former Park Ridge aldercritters, and an array of white-shirted supporters of the PADS franchise to explain the need for PADS? 

Those are questions posed by occasional Watchdog contributor “Kaiser Sosay,” who shared with us what he would have liked to have heard PADS say Monday night, but didn’t:

*  “We understand you are concerned about the safety of your children.  We take safety as our first and foremost goal when it comes to our guests, our volunteers and each community in which we operate a shelter.  The following are all of the safety measures we currently employ….”

*  “These are the extra things we are going to do at St. Paul of the Cross to ensure the health and safety of the children….”

*  “Here is a list of the other elementary schools in/near where we operate shelters on nights where school will be in session the following day….” 

*  “Here is what we do (or will do) to make sure that our guests enter and leave the shelter area before the children begin to arrive….” 

*  “Here is what we do (or will do) to make sure that no contraband will be stored around the church/school building by any of our guests….” 

*  “These are the costs that the City may incur as the result of our shelter being opened in your town, for which we will reimburse the City….”  

But I really would have liked it if representatives of the PRMA had stopped complaining about how there should be no restrictions on a PADS shelter in Park Ridge and told us what the PRMA would be willing to do to help those homeless people they talked about Monday night, like that guy who delivers and installs appliances, or that mom of three kids who works two jobs.

I would have liked to hear the PRMA say that its members were going to “adopt” one or more of these people and actually work to get them up and out of homelessness, not by providing shelter for just one night a week but by providing real housing for up to a year.

I would have liked to hear PRMA say how it and its stable of volunteers would work to provide each of these people (and their families) with training, daycare, food, clothing, a job, help with paying bills and other incidentals as a way to enable these down-on-their-luck folks to earn their way out of homelessness.  Instead of just a series of random handouts to whomever shows up on a given Sunday night, I would have liked to have heard about a comprehensive, well thought-out plan to deal with the root problems that have caused these people to become “down on their luck” and give them a boost back up the ladder.

I would have liked to hear how this plan would let the participants know that by the end of that year they would be expected to have made substantial strides toward getting past whatever brought them down and move into the “payback” phase of this program – in which they would contribute their own time, effort, money, or whatever other resources they can spare to help mentor some new person entering this program.

What would happen?  I don’t know for sure, but ideally within one year these people would have built ties to our community and transitioned from being part of the problem to being part of the solution – one person/family at time – by “teaching them to fish” as opposed to tossing them a perch one night a week. 

That’s what I would have liked to have heard in place of PADS, PADS and more PADS.

We think “Kaiser” is onto something, although it will require more effort and commitment than what the PRMA has signed on for with a lightweight, turn-key PADS “if it’s Sunday, this must be Park Ridge” franchise. 

Are the PRMA and its White Shirts up to such a task?  Don’t hold your breath…unless you look good in blue.