Two items in today’s Park Ridge Journal could be Exhibits A and A-1 for why Park Ridge voters deserve at least the 8 mayoral debates Ald. Dave Schmidt (1st Ward) proposed, instead of the maximum 4 that Mayor Howard “The Coward” Frimark prefers. 

Exhibit A is a Page 5 article about the candidates’ views on all things O’Hare, including its expansion, new runway 9L27R, the O’Hare Residents for Environmental Safety & Trust (“ORD-REST”), the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (“ONCC”), and whether either or both of them could have done more to help address the problems posed by the new runway. (“Mayor Shoots Back After Schmidt Allegations”) 

You should read the article and judge for yourself who makes the most honest, reasoned and plausible arguments – and whether Schmidt is unfairly casting blame or Frimark is merely shirking responsibility.  We note, however, that Frimark does not dispute Schmidt’s contention that he (Frimark) didn’t attend but one ONCC meeting from the time he became mayor until after the new runway opened in November.  And Frimark’s excuse that he “was not allowed to be on that group [the ONCC]” by the former City Council rings hollow in light of the fact that, after the Council was cut in half by the Frimark-initiated referendum that put the Council in the hands of a majority of Frimark alderpuppets in May 2007, he appointed Don “Air Marshall” Bach as ONCC liaison instead of going to any of those meetings himself. 

One thing that article makes clear, however, is that the issue of how Park Ridge should have dealt with O’Hare Airport, and how it should deal with O’Hare going forward, could and should be the topic of an entire mayoral debate all by itself.  But don’t expect that to happen with no more than four debates on the horizon. 

Exhibit A-1 is a close to full-page letter to the editor from Alderpuppet Jim “Chicken Little” Allegretti, which reads like a paid political advertisement for Mayor Frimark.  That’s not surprising given the fact that Allegretti contributed $300 to Frimark’s campaign fund a few months before Frimark appointed him as his replacement 4th Ward alderman back in June 2005 – without either of them bothering to mention such an interesting and relevant fact at his Council confirmation hearing, before that contribution had been publicly reported and could have been discovered by the Council members.  Curiously, Allegretti tossed another $200 contribution into Frimark’s fund about a month after his appointment.  

Already this election cycle Allegretti has upped the ante with a $1,000 contribution to the Frimark campaign, so it’s no surprise Allegretti is one of Frimark’s attack dogs (a Chihuahua?) nipping at Schmidt’s ankles. So with his and “Air Marshall” Bach’s letters already having been published, we can assume that Alderpuppets Carey’s, DiPietro’s and Ryan’s can’t be far behind – all of them raising questions about Schmidt’s character and candidacy. And we’re sure a number of “ordinary” citizens will write letters questioning Frimark’s character and candidacy.  

But the voters and taxpayers of Park Ridge would be far better served by the candidates’ debating their qualifications and their positions on the issues in person, face to face, instead of in print via dueling press releases and letters from surrogates.  Unfortunately, Howard “The Coward” Frimark has already shown that he’s not about to let that happen any more than he absolutely has to, and then only in “structured” formats.