By Ben Joravsky
In December Ronnis announced that she was retiring, and class members say they were told by Warren Park officials that she wouldn’t be replaced. It was hardly front-page news–few people outside the class even knew about it. But Morin and her classmates were upset. “The Park District supervisor decided that because they needed to cut 10 percent from the budget, she would cut the seniors’ program–because her priority is kids,” she says. “I have nothing against programs for kids. Of course they should have them. But they should also have an art class for adults.”
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She and the other students couldn’t understand why the Park District needed to cancel a tiny program. Bennett points out that the class wasn’t competing for a time slot. “We had it at one in the afternoon, when there was hardly anyone else in the park,” she says. “They would just be wasting a lovely art room if they closed it. It’s like building a great center and then locking the door.”
Copies of the letter were also sent to David Doig, the Park District’s general superintendent; to Rodger Konow, region manager of the North District; and to Mayor Daley. No one responded. “We didn’t even get an acknowledgment from an aide that they received the letter,” says Morin. “We were ignored. It’s very frustrating.”
“It’s worse than it’s ever been in terms of paranoia or public participation,” says Erma Tranter, director of Friends of the Parks. “They’re making it very difficult for any kind of public scrutiny. We’re not getting the budget enough in advance to do a careful analysis before it passes.”
As it turned out, the meeting was of a committee of the board, and its members were discussing the installation of new soccer fields. “I got in line to speak anyway,” says Bennett. “I wasn’t going to have come all the way down there and not talk. I said something about soccer–I don’t know. And then I changed the subject and mentioned how we had this great art class that was canceled. This one person on the board was confused. She said, ‘Are we still talking about soccer fields here?’”
Morin says she and her classmates think the central office doesn’t want to admit it has overspent on beautification programs and construction projects such as Millennium Park. “I suspect it’s a matter of spending priorities,” she says. “They’ve spent a lot of money on wrought-iron fences and big planters, and now they don’t have money for programs. I actually think it’s a strategy. When they cut a program they tell you all sorts of things. One person says one thing, another person says something else. Meanwhile, time keeps passing, and after enough time passes people drop out. Well, our art class isn’t dropping out.”
