A not-so-grassroots process

Yesterday I got a newsletter in the mail from Mary Ann Smith, alderman of the 48th Ward. In it, she gives herself a big pat on the back for her community process. She calls it "grassroots democracy at its best," but that hardly describes what I saw when we were rezoning Broadway. Ald. Smith had her own proposal for B1-2 zoning, whereas the developer and real estate interests were advocating for B1-3. The block clubs argued, often contentiously, and often from a standpoint of ignorance, between these two options until a decree was sent forth upon the land from the alderman's office. Ald. Smith now had a new "compromise" proposal that would leave most of Broadway with a B1-3 designation, and she expected the Zoning and Planning delegates to vote in favor of it at the next meeting, which was only a few days away.