When living here no longer makes financial sense

Illinois exodus: When living here no longer makes financial sense

Editorial Board  Chicago Tribune

If the state of Illinois kept score on millennials it poached from surrounding states, it could have counted Sara Niedzwiecki — temporarily. A Wisconsin native, she moved near Chicago shortly after college, envisioning city life as it’s portrayed in the movies: hip, adventurous, welcoming. Not for her, it turned out.

As part of a series on the accelerating exodus from Illinois, we’re tracking down expatriates (and potential expats) and telling their stories. From millennials to retirees, their narratives follow the same thread: Illinois is losing its promise as a land of opportunity. Government debt and dysfunction contribute to a weak housing market and a stagnant jobs climate. State and local governments face enormous pension and other obligations. Taxes have risen sharply; many Illinois politicians say they must rise more.People are fleeing. Last year’s net loss: 33,703. Among those who’ve left in recent years:

Sara Niedzwiecki, now 30, moved to the suburbs in 2010 just as millennials began to accelerate their departure. In two waves between 2011 and 2015, millennials led age groups in out-migration to other states, according to Internal Revenue Service data compiled by the Illinois Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Illinois ranked second-worst in losing millennials and their dependents, behind New York.

Niedzwiecki, an accountant fresh out of college, worked in Libertyville for several years and then at a downtown location. Sure, it would have been nice to live in Lakeview or Bucktown with other 20-somethings, but she couldn’t afford it. So she endured a daily commute from the suburbs and tried to build a life.

It never happened. After years of watching her paycheck get sapped by rising rent and taxes, and after exploring options to buy a house and realizing she couldn’t afford that either, she moved back to Wisconsin. She got a better-paying job, left her $850-per-month basement apartment in the suburbs and bought a $148,000 two-bedroom condo in Madison with parking and a washer and dryer. Her property taxes are about $2,800 annually.

“I just felt like I was never going to get ahead in Illinois,” she said. “Six years of living there proved that.”

She grew up in Door County with her twin sister. Both women lived in Illinois before moving back to Wisconsin. A handful of their friends left Illinois, too, for Florida, California, Texas and Wisconsin. “I was super excited about trying something new and getting out of my small town,” she told us. “But Illinois was not feasible for me.” Instead, she has an affordable life in Madison. She hasn’t looked back.

Donald Felz, a lifelong Illinoisan who retired from a utility company in 2016, says a sinking home value and taxes drove him and his wife, Debi, out of Illinois. The Woodstock home they built in 2006 for $390,000, into which they put another $35,000, was losing value. This was to be the house where the Felzes would host grandchildren and putz in the yard. Instead, rather than put their retirement finances in further peril, they sold it in 2016 for $310,000. The property tax bill had climbed from $7,658 in 2007 to $8,340 in 2015. That’s not a huge rate of increase. But had their housing value remained at the purchase price, the taxes would have been nearly $12,500. A falling Illinois home value kept a high Illinois tax bill from rising higher.

The frustration, Felz said from his current home in Windsor, Colo., was more than taxes. It was how those dollars were spent: “If I could have seen some incremental improvement that followed the increases, then OK. I get it. I see it. But the roads were not getting fixed. The schools were still struggling. I couldn’t figure it out. The money was going somewhere.”

In Colorado, taxes on their home, valued at $510,000 and climbing, are about $4,000 a year.

Earlier this year, Felz returned to Illinois to visit his father. They spent evenings on the sofa watching TV and digesting the constant scroll of campaign ads from candidates running in the March primary election. That gave Donald Felz one more reason to appreciate his new home in Colorado: “We have term limits.”

Google, The Destroyer!

Google, The Destroyer!

By Jason Stutman Written Apr. 07, 2018

Internet search giant Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has long enjoyed the public perception of being a jovial, gentle giant. Visit the company’s homepage for Search, and you’re met with a playful Google logo. It’s the same color scheme as a goofy and disarming umbrella hat. Visit one of its corporate locations, and you’ll find Ms. Pac-Man arcades, plush beanbags, and rooms reminiscent of an elementary school playground. Ask leadership about diversity, and they’ll tell you Google is an oasis of integrity and justice. In Google-land, everyone is always smiling, safe, and “making the world a better place.” Google’s PR machine has no doubt been a roaring success in recent years. It currently ranks as the third-most admired company in the world according to Forbesand, despite its near monopoly on user data, has managed to dodge any massive privacy concerns like those currently hounding social media rival Facebook. Alarm bells are quietly ringing, though, that Google’s days of untainted perception are fading away. As a result of recent revelations surrounding its business practices, Google may be slipping out of the public’s good favor — as are a number of other major tech firms today. Don’t Be Evil (Unless There’s Money in It) When Google first filed its S-1, preparing for an IPO back in 2004, the company included the now-famous motto of its corporate code of conduct: “Don’t be evil.” Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin argued at the time that the culture behind the motto “prohibited conflicts of interest, and required objectivity and an absence of bias.” But speaking to that motto in 2010, industry legend Steve Jobs candidly told an audience of Apple employees, "It's bullshit," and they all roared in response. Jobs, and others in the know, have long seen Google not as a bastion of good but rather as a potential wolf in sheep’s clothing. Five years after Steve Jobs made those comments, Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. conveniently dropped the “Don’t be evil” motto, replacing it with “Do the right thing.” Seemingly, the company wanted to distance itself from the phrasing... and recent revelations may reveal that was a good idea. In its corporate restructuring, Alphabet Inc. made it clear it’s becoming much more than just a search and advertising company. It wants to touch every aspect of tech, from consumer devices to driverless cars and, more controversially, defense and aerospace. Google, The Destroyer In March, it was first revealed by Gizmodo that Alphabet had quietly secured a contract with the Department of Defense to work on “algorithmic warfare.” In short, the company is providing the U.S. military with its artificial intelligence capabilities for use in autonomous drone strikes. Google was clever enough to proxy the contract through a Northern Virginia technology staffing company by the name of ECS Federal, but eventually the information leaked... and it’s damaging Google’s cheerful image. Citing Google’s old motto “Don’t be Evil,” employees are now protesting the company’s role in the DoD’s “Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team,” code-named Project Maven. Already, Project Maven has reportedly been used in drone strikes against ISIS. As the New York Times reported on Wednesday: Thousands of Google employees, including dozens of senior engineers, have signed a letter protesting the company’s involvement in a Pentagon program that uses artificial intelligence to interpret video imagery and could be used to improve the targeting of drone strikes. The letter, which is circulat… Alphabet, of course, has no intention of caving as far as we can see. There’s big money in military contracting, and as warfare continues to become more digitized, companies like Google are beginning to realize their assets extend well beyond consumer tech. Here’s what a Google spokesperson told Bloomberg in response to the controversy: Military use of machine learning naturally raises valid concerns. We’re actively discussing this important topic internally and with others as we continue to develop policies and safeguards around the development and use of our machine learning technologies. Not only is there no indication here that Google intends to take a step back on Project Maven, but there’s outside evidence it isn’t the only highly admired tech firm competing for big military contracts. According to reports from Business Insider this week, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is close to winning a massive $10 billion contract from the Pentagon to overhaul its IT systems, part of what’s being called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or “JEDI,” program. These revelations, of course, don’t make either Amazon or Alphabet “evil” by default, but they do make them scarier. Undeniably Orwellian in nature, this cozying up between data-enriched tech conglomerates and an increasingly intrusive U.S. government warrants real concern amongst the public. That said, it also opens the doors to substantial revenue streams for big tech from the $1.7 trillion defense industry. The same way automakers are being disrupted by Silicon Valley, aerospace and defense contractors now face the same threat of competition from Alphabet, Amazon, and their ilk. It’s not just about the software, either... This week, The Verge revealed that Waymo (an Alphabet subsidiary) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) will be building a self-driving delivery vehicle together. In 2016, Google introduced the Pixel, alongside an ecosystem of in-house smart devices. For years, the market had been operating under the assumption that Alphabet doesn’t have the knack for hardware, but that perception is officially outdated — and not just in terms of consumer tech. Investors should expect a similar string of events to unfold with aerospace and defense, as Google and its peers — perhaps at the expense of looking a little bit “evil” — could become military powerhouses in their own right.

‘Granny Pods’ Now Allow Your Aging Parents to Live in Your Backyard

3 November, 2017

When we are kids, we rely on our parents for everything from food and shelter to emotional support and care. But time doesn’t stop for anyone, and it comes a time when we have to return the favor and become caretakers for our aging parents.
Recent statistics say that about 23 million Americans take care of their elderly parents. And many of these people have to choose between letting their parents live alone or moving them into a nursing home.
However, many feel that none of these options are right for them and their parents. Well, for these people, there’s now another solution that allows families to stay together while also ensuring aging parents maintain their sense of independence.
Called “Granny Pods,” these small homes help bring families closer together. That’s although not all members of the family are living under the same roof.
MED Cottages, also known as “Granny Pods,” are the latest rage when it comes to elder care, and many feel it is the solution they’ve been looking for.
These cottages allow aging parents to live in their son’s and daughter’s backyard while still having a space they can call their own. These small apartments are equipped like a hospital room and can be set up in just a few weeks.
Prices for one of these cottages range from $85,000 to $125,000. Size-wise, they are comparable to the size of a master bedroom. They even have a small outside terrace where the elderly can relax or enjoy their morning coffee.
Do you think this is a good idea or not? Watch the video below to form a better idea about these new high-tech cottages!

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MEET THE ANTI-GUNNERS AT WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP DEMOCRATS - MONDAY APRIL 30

ISRA ALERT: WILL COUNTY:  MEET THE ANTI-GUNNERS AT WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP DEMOCRATS - MONDAY APRIL 30

You may wonder if there is a correlation between the partisan activities and gun control, but make no mistake, the Wheatland Township arm of the Democratic Party is hosting an evening of gun control with special speaker Sara Knizhnik, Sara's vitae reads like a mini who's who on gun control, she's a member of Mom's Demand Action, ICHV, IGVPC, and the Brady Campaign.  The meeting is hosted at Delicia Mexican Restaurant, where we have heard the Wheatland Democrats enjoy a special 9-course Bill of Rights Banquet. (That might just be a rumor)  Gun owners and especially those that live in or near the Wheatland Township in Will County are encouraged to come and meet the anti-gunners present at this meeting. Listen to gun-control factoids along the lines of "54% of gun owners polled in our secret telephone canvas want the ICHV and the Bloomberg Moms to outlaw 54% of their legally held firearms." along with specially selected statistics. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR FREEDOM 1.  Attend the Wheatland Township Meeting of the Democratic Party at Delicia Mexican Restaurant, 12337 IL Rt 59, Plainfield, IL on Monday, April 30, or just drop by!  The meeting starts at 7:00 pm, be there early to guarantee a seat and to ensure you have a chance to meet and engage the anti-gunners in attendance. 2.  Be prepared to vigorously defend your 2nd Amendment Rights.  These people consider themselves local thought leaders,  help them think correctly. 3. If members of the press are there, seek them out, engage them, tell them that you are a law-abiding gun owner and that banning your firearms will not cure society's problems. 4.  Pass this alert along to all your friends and family, tell them to be at the Wheatland Township Meeting of the Democratic Party. 5.  Post this alert to any and all Internet blogs, forums, or social media sites to which you belong. REMEMBER – GUN CONTROL IS A DISEASE AND YOU ARE THE CURE ------------------- Help the ISRA protect your rights:  Recruit two members. Check out ISRA's webite at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!   Follow the ISRA on Twitter and Facebook.   Give the gift of an ISRA membership.   Not an ISRA Member?  Join Today!

 

City of Lockport Welcomes Assistant to the City Administrator

MEDIA RELEASE

City of Lockport, 222 E. 9^th Street, Lockport, IL 60441

Contact: Ben Benson, City Administrator, (815) 838-0549, bbenson@lockport.org

April 30, 2018

City Welcomes Assistant to the City Administrator

Lockport, IL ­– The City of Lockport welcomes Amanda Pazdan as the Assistant to the City Administrator effective Monday, April 30.  

Ms. Pazdan joins the City with three years of experience as the Management Analyst in the Village Manager’s Office at the Village of Lincolnwood. In this position, Ms. Pazdan served as the communications manager for internal and external stakeholders overseeing a variety public information activities. She also supported the Finance Department, Information Technology and Human Resources Divisions, assisting in the preparation of the annual budget, implementing special projects, performing research and analysis, and supporting recruitment activities.

Ms. Pazdan has held previous positions in local government at the City of Bloomington (IL) and DuPage County. Since November 2016, Ms. Pazdan has served as a Communications Coordinator for a large Chicago-area non-profit, where she was responsible for marketing and communications activities, strategies, and implementation, serving approximately 13,000 members and visitors on a weekly basis.

Ms. Pazdan holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Honors in Journalism and an emphasis in Public Relations from Northern Illinois University. Ms. Pazdan earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013.

At the City, Ms. Pazdan will support the Office of the Mayor, City Administrator, and City Attorney. She will focus on increasing communications and public outreach, and respond to media inquiries. Ms. Pazdan will also plan and execute marketing and social media strategies and initiatives. She will be responsible for researching public records and providing information to the public concerning City Council actions, laws, ordinances, codes, and projects.