It's waaaaaaay past my bedtime, but I needed to close this loop. Saturday evening I commented on the goings on with the Ginderske campaign. I got a comment from Craig about a post from the day before. I had dialed back my Saturday post because I wasn't entirely certain that Ms. Seagraves had attended the function since Craig referred to an "inside source" commenting on the turnout. However, we now have her interview with Mr. Ukonga, which gave his views about the state of the community. I agree with his concerns.
That interview does lead me to ponder whether or not Ms. Seagraves attended the event in addition to conducting the interview and whether she made inquiries with the Ginderske campaign about the contradictions and issues raised at The Broken Heart. Craig complimented her reporting on the issue:
I want ot thank Julie Segraves for fairly covering this issue for the 'Broken Heart'.
Has she gotten Jim's version as to what happened? If she did, it would be useful to know what he said about the contradictions. It is a crucial missing link.
In my Saturday post I said:
Craig sums it all up by describing this as a huge, unethical campaign blunder. Blundering there may be, but whether it rises to the level of huge and unethical remains to be seen. The lack of information about Ginderske's take on what happened is intriguing since it appears Ms. Seagraves has acquired at least one version of the events. Has she gotten Jim's version? If she did, it would be useful to know what he said. It is a crucial missing link.
The Ginderske campaign is hardly on the ropes over this, however appearances can work for or against you. I don't know the dynamics behind the contradictory account of how the DCI store event was organized, however, it led to the bugless flyer advertising the event, copies of which found their way into the Red Eye. Taken individually there isn't much here, but taken as a whole we have a potential cascade effect. It's fodder for the creation of an appearance Jim cannot afford.
I stand by that assessment. If Ms. Seagraves is signing on with Craig then I think she would be doing us all a favor by making inquiries with the Ginderske campaign and getting to the truth.
I told Craig that this jury was still out, and Ginderske is still in the running. Whether or not that changes will depend upon the facts. The campaign made a statement that was contradicted. They do need to explain themselves. I hope they don't take too long to do it.
8 comments:
I'm glad to see that there are some people in Rogers Park who question Craig Gernhardt's credibility and even emotional stability and are willing to do so in writing. I met Craig at a community meeting many years ago. He was not sober at the time at struck me as an obnoxious buffoon. I've been reading his blog for some time and it has done nothing to change my original opinion of him.
It seems that many people who read Craig's blog regularly take it as an entertainment site which might occasionally contain some useful factual information. Others recognize that Craig Gerhardt delivers a good deal of slander, innuendo and half-truths but praise him as a critic of the current political leadership and as an advocate for the neighborhood. I take Craig's blog as entertainment and while I admit that he has been persistent in taking local politicians to task for leadership failures I find praising him for it to be analogous to praising Osama bin Laden for his criticisms of the Bush administration. I do not think Craig Gernhardt is an asset to our neighborhood.
Those of us who have known him for years laugh at his antics but think what the perspective must be for someone who happens onto his blog without knowing anything about him or the other cast of characters. The casual reader is going to see personal attacks, sensationalism, slander and hypocrisy. I wouldn't blame them if the came to the conclusion that the neighborhood is full of morons and those of us who want new political leadership are a bunch of nut cases with no valid cause for complaint. I wouldn't blame them if they vote for Joe Moore out of pure sympathy. Craig comes across as nothing more than a neighborhood bully hiding behind social convention. If this was the 6th grade someone like Craig would be beaten up on the way home from school. Most of us don't do that as adults and he knows it and and is willing to us it.
Some people reading my comments my consider Craig to be a friend and might be inclined to defend him. I give you words of warning.
Aldermanic candidate James Ginderske has recently been the target of vicious attacks on Craig's blog. Some have suggested that these attacks do not result from a genuine sense of outrage but rather from a sense of jealousy caused by a man who is handsome, "manly", vibrant and respected in the community. Some think Craig's anger comes from having been denied a role in the Ginderske campaign in favor of people who are more stable and trustworthy. Both are probably right although I doubt Craig Gernhardt is introspective enough to recognize it. The thing is that I gather that James and Craig used to be on friendly terms. James used to post on Craig's blog and Craig states on his blog that he trusted James to care for his dog when he was away. Now Craig has turned on James in a vicious and public manner. If he did it to James he just might do it to you.
Unfortunately owing to his ceaseless pursuit of attention, Craig Gernhardt has emerged as the public face of Rogers Park and it is not a pretty one. We are better off without him. I encourage people to stop posting comments on his blog (even if you are like one woman who posted here and who comments frequently on Craig's blog and can construct rational and logical arguments) and even to stop reading his blog. A person like that lives to gain attention and if you ignore him long enough he will go away.
I admit that the proverbial broken clock is right twice a day and there have been rare occasions where, in the midst of all the nonsense, Craig Gernhardt has brought to light crime and poor delivery of municipal services. These issues are too important to be left in his hands. We all need to be more vigilant and involved in our community. These things are too important to be left to the village idiot.
I am not quite sure what to make of Craig as I have not met him yet. I have seen enough feedback to conclude that he does indeed leave a very negative perception of himself, especially when he is on a soapbox. Then he puts up a straightforward video of an attempted burglary, and we get a different picture.
I certainly agree that we all need to be more vigilant and involved in our community. I have no issue with holding our political leadership accountable based on solely the facts. Innuendo derived from some facts, or a set of facts however, doesn't do it for me. That's a battle I have fought elsewhere, and it is hard to get folks to look past the noise.
As far as his friends defending him; if it comes to that it won't be the first time I've hiked up my suspenders and stuck my chin out. Probably won't be the last either.
I haven't met the infamous Craig Gernhardt yet either but I saw one of the flyers for his blog with which he's littered the neighborhood and decided to have a look at it. My first thought was "How old is this guy? 10?". He may be an obnoxious drunk. More likely he's frozen at a childish level of development. I spent a snowy Sunday afternoon reading his blog and the comments from the first posting to the most recent. It makes a fascinating novel. The perspective one gets from reading everything from beginning to end is different from which you probably get reading things episodically or at random. The picture that emerges is not a pretty one. I don’t understand how he can have any credibility in the neighborhood after some of the things he has written.
In the comments on one thread Craig is threatened with physical harm by one of the neighborhood gangbangers. He’s quick to use this to make himself out to be both some sort of martyr and a freedom fighter. The thing is, the “gangbanger” is pretty clearly a troll who is out to get a reaction from Craig. Mr. Gernhardt cannot see this as the troll has cleverly manipulated Craig’s heroic self image in order to make him look foolish.
In another thread Craig claims to have been stabbed in the abdomen in Duke’s bar. This generates much sympathy for him among his regular readers. However, a couple of people who witnessed the event posted comments stating what actually happened. Craig was drunk at the time, was being rude toward other bar patrons and got into a confrontation with another equally inebriated customer and might have even been threatened with a knife but was never stabbed. Craig is a great exaggerator and even outright liar.
I was also struck by his blatant hypocrisy. He castigates the local politicians for covering every available surface of the 49th Ward with fliers while he does the same to publicize his blog. Apparently his rantings and ravings are enough of a public service to justify littering. Another recent example of his hypocrisy happens when he takes a friend of Jim Ginderske to task for using mild profanity. This gave me a laugh as Craig uses strong profanity and made no objection when a commentator directed the very same profanity at Jim Ginderske.
I gather that Craig was picked on as a child because his father was gay. Rather than getting over it and moving on with his life Craig seems to have chosen to turn the tables and bully anyone who might get in his way while using an environment which he controls to make himself out to be some sort of hero. Calling the police because you witness a break in? Bah! I have done that on more than one occasion myself and that doesn’t make me a hero. It makes me a citizen doing my civic duty.
I am new to Rogers Park. I am glad I have friends in the neighborhood, have gotten to know my wonderful neighbors and have begun to patronize some great local businesses. If all I knew of Rogers Park was the Morse Avenue Hellhole I would have a very different and very negative perception of the community. It’s not the reports of crime and allegations of political corruption that would give me a negative impression of Rogers Park. It’s that Craig Gerhardt’s blog makes everyone look like an idiot.
Some might say that Craig is doing a service to the neighborhood by providing a forum in which to discuss common issues. I don’t agree. Craig controls all discussion and is very biased. Comments which he doesn’t like get deleted in a seemingly arbitrary manner. I myself tried posting a naïve “newbie” question on his blog. It was quickly deleted along with a lecture from Craig that belittled me but told me nothing of what I did wrong. Those of us who care about our community need a forum with a fair moderator who sets and enforces clear standards in which we can discuss issues in a calm and rational manner. The hysteria of the Morse Avenue Hellhole is not the place to do so.
The big irony that struck me is the similarity between Craig Gerhardt and Joe Moore. Even before I moved to Rogers Park I heard about Joe Moore from his fois gras ban. I thought it was nothing more than an attention grab on the part of an ambitious politician. Craig strikes me was being just like Joe; willing to do anything for attention.
I moved to RP because I believed, and still believe, it is a wonderful, undervalued, and underappreciated community. It needs work for sure, just like my nearly 100 Y.O. condo, but that didn't stop me from buying the condo or buying into the neighborhood.
I have a friend who lives down at North and Clark who was not happy that I moved here. The ongoing perceptions about RP are indeed negative, although my condo neighbors are happy to say that things are indeed better than they were years ago.
The Foie Gras Affair did it for me as far as Joe is concerned. There are far more important issues to get behind than that.
Your article was great! I really enjoyed it and got some insight on that business. I have walked past it a couple of times, but I think I'll be stopping in just in case Mr. Ukonga has something I can use. He sounded like a really interesting person. I met people from all over the world when I lived in Washington D.C. and it was a shame I had to move with my job because it was never quite the same anywhere else.
My issue was elsewhere, and I simply didn't know what was up or down as to what happened. I thought it possible there was more info we hadn't heard/seen.
Thanks for the update.
Julie -- Thanks for taking the time to clarify matters.
Kheris -- like you I agree that Rogers Park "needs some work", is "underappreciated" and suffers from negative perceptions. The thing is, when friends from outside the neighborhood come to see my new place they love it. Everyone comments on how spacious it is and what a good value it is. They like the neighborhoods tree line streets. They've enjoyed dinner at Grupo d'Amici with after dinner drinks and pool at Poitin Still. They've had a fun time drinking and dancing at Morseland. Breakfast at the Heartland is a great way to start the day. I'm surprised at how many people from outside Rogers Park know about the new music and dining venue coming to the old theater on Morse and are looking forward to it. Perception often lags reality. I think people are coming around to seeing Rogers Park as a nice community on the upswing.
From reading some of these other neighborhood blogs you'd think Rogers Park is a neighborhood in Baghdad. We have problems in the community but lets keep them in perspective while we work to correct them.
Agree.
I know Craig from meetings and the blog. I bump into him from time to time walking in the neighborhood. I've sent him stories that he has covered.
I have found his blog valuable for shining a light on issues that need attention. I don't always agree with his slant, but I read the blog knowing the source.
Lately, I've been disappointed with the divisiveness I see going on. I was working for Ginderske and ended up getting flogged by Craig on his blog for defending him.
I don't have the stomach for the nastiness and pettiness I see going back and forth between Craig and Ginderske's people. It has kind of killed my desire to help with the Ginderske campaign because I don't want to choose sides. I like it better when we as a community work together towards the same goal of making a better neighborhood.
I think it's a real shame that people who share a common cause in caring so much about a neighborhood can't work together and instead spend their energy mud-slinging and that goes for both sides.
But no matter what happens this election, I have ideas of what I can do to make the neighborhood better and I intend to follow through on them!
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