'Event Promoters' ordinance

wildfyr

unus spiritus est
Oct 10, 2001
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This is a partial copy/paste of a forwarded email I just received this morning (headers removed). I wasn't aware that this was happening and maybe others don't either.

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Dear friends,


Please take a look at the following ordinance scheduled for vote this week by the Chicago city council. It will greatly affect every performance that takes place across the city, and make the many informal events that make up the chicago cultural landscape effectively illegal without jumping through umpteen bureaucratic hoops at city hall, including fingerprinting. Please, Please, Please write your alderman to express your opposition!!


Links to the ordinance, aldermanic addresses, etc. are below.


thanks,


dave






yakuza





The City of Chicago is trying to pass an ordinance this Wednesday (May 14th, 2008) that could severely damage the live music and theater scene.




In summary:




The 'Event Promoters' ordinance requires any event promoter to have a
license from the city of Chicago and liability insurance of $300,000,
but that's just the start:


* The definition of 'event promoter' is so loosely defined it
could apply to a band or singer-songwriter that books their own shows
or a theater company that's in town for a one-week run.
* 'Event Promoter' must be licensed and will pay $500 - $2000
depending on expected audience size
* To get the license, applicant must be over 21, get
fingerprinted, submit to a background check, and jump over
several other hurdles .
* This ordinance seems targeted towards smaller venues, since
those with 500+ permanent seats are exempt
* Police must be notified at least 7 days in advance of event.




The first link gives a summary of the proposal, and the second is a
petition (Chicago Acoustic Underground is one of the sponsors of the
petition). Please read the links and contact your alderman before
Wednesday, when the City Council will be voting.


http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2008/05/background_reading_on_the_prom_1.html


http://savechicagoculture.org/2008/05/09/stop-the-promoters-ordinance/


Find your alderman:
http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html
 
As quick as it came...it went away! :kickass:

Heard on the radio yesterday that this ordinance has already been suspended indefinitely.

Apparently someone with a brain stepped in & put the smackdown on the most ignorant idea in Chicago history...OK, maybe not THE most ignorant in Chicago history. :lol:
 
Ok. As I mentioned earlier I wasn't aware of the issue at all prior to reading the email this morning, and I wasn't sure where it stood since I didn't have time to look into it before leaving for work this morning. I thought it might be something requiring immediate action by city dwellers so I posted it. Sorry about that!
 
And people thought the mafia was bad!

That's hillarious.

What's next? I remember some weird story about some kid being fined for operating a lemonade stand without a license.. or some shit like that.
 
Ok. As I mentioned earlier I wasn't aware of the issue at all prior to reading the email this morning, and I wasn't sure where it stood since I didn't have time to look into it before leaving for work this morning. I thought it might be something requiring immediate action by city dwellers so I posted it. Sorry about that!

Nothing to apologize for. Actually, I'm glad you posted it...to show how greedy politicians are & how close Chicago came to completely screwing over independent promoters & therefore many bands in the process.
 
Also, it's not like it's entirely dead. It just went back to committee for "fine-tuning". It could still come back in a month and be a terrible law, so it's worth keeping awareness up.

I just thought it was funny how this story was breaking around the same time as that Chaoswave/customs thread. The Man sure is out to get the musicians these days!

I have seen some people elsewhere saying that the law could actually be a good thing for the suburbs, because bands would go play at suburban venues more often instead of going deep in the city. Surprised no one here brought that up...I'm sure the Pearl Room management was all for it! :)

Neil
 
Also, it's not like it's entirely dead. It just went back to committee for "fine-tuning". It could still come back in a month and be a terrible law, so it's worth keeping awareness up.

I just thought it was funny how this story was breaking around the same time as that Chaoswave/customs thread. The Man sure is out to get the musicians these days!

I have seen some people elsewhere saying that the law could actually be a good thing for the suburbs, because bands would go play at suburban venues more often instead of going deep in the city. Surprised no one here brought that up...I'm sure the Pearl Room management was all for it! :)

Neil

Good point, Neil. However, what would stop the 'burbs from eventually following suit if it passes in Chicago? I think we just need to look at the smoking ban and how that progressed to get an idea. :Smokin:
 
Yeah, always some dick with his palm outstretched... :rolleyes:

nevertrust
FUCK THEM ALLLLL!!

Heh, sorry, was just listening to the new Cavalera Conspiracy disc a little while ago. :heh:
 
CHICAGO - Dining on foie gras — a delicacy made of duck and goose liver — will soon be legal again in Chicago.
ADVERTISEMENT

The City Council on Wednesday repealed its two-year-old ban on the gourmet dish, drawing dissent from animal rights activists who consider foie gras cruel because the birds are force-fed to make their livers bigger.

But there were no worries in chef Didier Durand's restaurant, Cyrano's Bistrot.

"All of us are so excited," Durand told reporters as he held his pet duck, Nicolai, named after French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "People miss it. They used to go to the suburbs to get foie gras and stopped going to specifically French restaurants."

Durand was one of a coalition of restaurateurs who started Chicago Chefs for Choice, a movement to overturn the ban, which went into effect in August 2006. He said Wednesday that he would begin serving foie gras again as soon as the repeal goes into effect later this month.

"You might disagree with serving foie gras, but you don't do a ban and forbid everybody to have foie gras," Durand said. His restaurant was one of many across the city that held foie gras dinners in the days before the ban took effect.

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the repeal a political maneuver benefiting the restaurant industry. The Virginia-based organization said the council's first "compassionate decision was reversed in a secretive, rushed bow to special interests that benefit from the cruel treatment of animals."

Wednesday's vote was led by Mayor Richard M. Daley, who called the ban the silliest ordinance the council had ever passed. The repeal measure passed by a vote of 37-6 with no debate, an about-face from the original ban, which passed in April 2006 by a vote of 48-1.

During Wednesday's vote, the ban's original sponsor, Alderman Joe Moore, shouted his objections.

"It was a statement against animal cruelty, pure and simple," Moore said about his original intent, after Wednesday's vote.

Of the council's decision to repeal, he said: "They used a little parliamentary procedure avoiding any public hearing and debate on the measure. I don't think that's very healthy for a democracy or very healthy for the city."

Alderman Thomas Tunney, who brought the issue to vote, said the sentiments of most Chicagoans were served.

"Supporters of this legislation have accomplished their goal by raising awareness of this issue," Tunney said in a statement. "And while I respect their viewpoint, this is clearly a matter the council should stay out of and let the educated consumer and chefs make their own menu choices."

Doug Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's on the North Side, was fined $250 in March 2007 for a first-time offense of serving foie gras. While taking and serving orders at the self-titled "sausage superstore and encased meat emporium," Sohn said the repeal was the right decision.

"I certainly think it was a foolish decision in the first place," Sohn said. "I truly hope this ends it. There are real important issues in this city. This is certainly not one of them. I hope we're done with this nonsense."

The Illinois Restaurant Association, along with a local restaurant, had sued in federal court seeking to have the ban overturned, but a U.S. district judge dismissed the effort in June.

"As an industry, we think that menu offerings are best left to the individual restaurant operators, rather than being dictated by government," the association said in a statement Wednesday.

More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, have banned production of the delicacy. Similar measures have been considered in California, Maryland and Pennsylvania.


what is wrong with you people? :lol:
 
It's so fucked up. The CPD filled a cougar full of lead a couple weeks ago but I don't know what else they were going to do. Apparently the City of Chicago was not ready to deal with a cougar running the streets. They're not funded or trained so of course the cops are going to shoot him. :erk:

It's not just fucked up here though. Look at this shit in Iowa:

http://www.waterloocourier.com/articles/2008/05/12/news/top_story/doc48286721c3b5e333780304.txt


WATERLOO — Immigration officials raided the Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing plant in Postville today, arresting as many as 300 people.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered the plant at about 10 a.m. looking for evidence of identity theft, use of stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally, said Tim Counts, an ICE spokesman.

The raid by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was the largest such operation in Iowa history, said Matt M. Dummermuth, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

Dummermuth said the raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant came after months of planning. Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

The detainees were being taken to the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, according to Barbara Gonzalez, and ICE spokeswoman, where agents had set up a an “intake center.”

Male detainees will be held there until at least Thursday. Female detainees were to be housed in local jails.

An ICE spokeswoman said about 300 people were detained, but 40 were quickly released for “humanitarian reasons,” possibly so they could care for their children.

Immigration proceedings are still pending against those people, officials said.

All the people taken into custody would be interviewed by ICE agents and public health officers to find out if they have health, caregiver or humanitarian concerns, according to a release from the U.S. Justice Department.

Those arrested will face criminal and civil charges including identity theft, improper use of Social Security data and other crimes.

“ICE is committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws in theworkplace to maintain the integrity of the immigration system,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations based in Bloomington, Minn., in the release.

Arnold is in charge of Monday’s raid.

About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Sholom Rubashkin, Agriprocessors vice president, declined to release any information about the raid.

“Right now there is no comment,” Rubashkin said.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa will be temporarily relocated to Waterloo in anticipation of the arrests, according to a release from the court.

Chief Judge Linda Reade made the decision to make it easier for the families of those arrested and because of the scope of the operation, the release said. Courtrooms in Cedar Rapids and Sioux City weren’t big enough to hold and process those arrested. The move will have a substantial effect on court operations in the Northern District.

Jeff Giertz, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, said ICE officials notified Braley’s office about a half hour after the raid had started.

ICE described the raid as a “targeted enforcement action,” Giertz said.

“Basically they explained it they’d been investigating whatever violations in advance and they were looking for specific people,” he said.

Giertz said his office was told as many as 600 to 700 people could be detained. It was unclear if that many people would be arrested or merely detained until authorities could confirm their identities.

ICE officials also told Braley’s office that the National Cattle Congress would be used a processing center.

A flurry of activity has been taking place on the cattle congress grounds in Waterloo since the raid. At 12:25 p.m., a Homeland Security helicopter landed on the NCC grounds. Buses were on the grounds of Agriprocessors and NCC.

Federal officials earlier this month set up dozens of trailers, generators and other equipment at the grounds, sparking fears in Waterloo and Northeast Iowa an immigration raid was in the works. NCC officials said last week they were told the space was rented for a training exercise.

A toll-free hotline was set up by ICE for family and friends of those arrested at 1 (866) 341-3858.

Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, told The Associated Press family members of plant workers were coming to the nearby church in tears.

“The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters,” McCauley said. “They are just panic-stricken and very frightened and some of them are coming to the church as a safe haven.”

The church is about five blocks from the plant, she said.

She said rumors began swirling around the community on Friday about an upcoming raid, leaving many people worried.

She said immigration officials arrived today with buses, vans and two helicopters.

She said she went to the plant to help provide information and assist workers but was not allowed to get close.

“Some of the people that are going to be detained are up against a fence and now they’re tying their hands,” she said.

Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.

Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

In Waterloo, school administrators said they have yet to see any backlash from the Monday morning raids in Postville. No widespread absences had been reported.

However, administrators, who are attending a meeting in Des Moines today and Tuesday, are keeping close tabs on the situation and preparing for any possible impact on students and their families.

“We have heard the rumors and received information about the raid in Postville. We are always cognizant how it could affect our families. Our job is to help children cope and deal with difficult situations,” said Sharon Miller, director of schools and community relations. “With any student who is facing a major concern we want to be there to provide support because what affects families affects our children and our schools.”

On Sunday, an immigrant rights workshop — put on in response to fears of a possible raid — drew several hundred people at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Waterloo.

Hilda, who declined to give her full name because she fears deportation, lives in Waterloo with her 6-year-old daughter and husband, Enfraim, who works in construction. The family said they stayed after Mass for the meeting because they weren’t sure what to do if authorities came to their home or work to arrest them.

“We wanted to be prepared,” Hilda said in Spanish. “We wanted to find out what to do if they detain us.”

El Centro Latinoamericano, a resource center in Waterloo, hastily organized the event after being flooded with calls about rumors of an immigration raid.

The unrest started early last week after news spread federal officials, including some from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had set up a temporary base at the National Cattle Congress.

Local leaders and several immigrant rights organizations from Des Moines put on the presentation, which outlined the constitutional rights of every person, regardless of legal status.

They handed out a detailed, wide-ranging survey that asked questions about who should take custody of children in case of arrest and if they desire legal assistance. Advocates also handed out power of attorney packets.

People also received a “Rights Card” to hand to authorities in case of arrest. It states card-holder chooses to exercise their right to remain silent, and lists a contact number of an organization or attorney of the their choosing.

Sol Varisco-Santini, program coordinator for Des Moines-based Catholic Charities, helped lead the workshop. She said the organized effort draws on lessons learned from a 2006 raid on a Swift meat processing plant in Marshalltown.

By collecting lots of information from people and informing them of their rights, immigrant advocates hope to avoid some of the human rights violations they believe occurred during the Marshalltown raids. During the raid, Varisco-Santini said, reports of detainees not receiving food or water were not unusual.

“(Illegal immigrants) do have their rights, and a lot of people don’t know that,” she said. “There’s a lot of panic, and we wanted to help calm them.”

Feelings of unease have spread beyond Latino communities in Northeast Iowa. Varisco-Santini said Hispanics in Des Moines have also expressed fear, particularly because federal officials have been so tight-lipped about their intentions at NCC. Immigrant advocates from as far away as California are also monitoring the situation through list-servs and online news reports.

Carole Gustafson, a board member at El Centro Latinoamericano, said the meeting was crucial because immigrants raised in other countries often come from a culture in which authority figures are never questioned.

“In their country, you don’t argue with authority figures. You don’t have rights,” she said. “So if a boss says, all the Latinos come with me … it’s kind of like leading sheep to slaughter. That’s what was so important about today.”

ICE has set up a toll-free number for family members to find out that family members can call to find out the status of those detained, and detention locations. That number is (866) 341-3858.
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Lots of issues there. :ill:
 
Good point, Neil. However, what would stop the 'burbs from eventually following suit if it passes in Chicago? I think we just need to look at the smoking ban and how that progressed to get an idea. :Smokin:

The only way it would work succesfully in the burbs, much like the smoking ban, is if it was all the burbs doing the same thing. If town a imposes something similar then promoters will just move everything to town b. Bars and clubs out here would suffer far more from this than a city club would.