{"id":52397,"date":"2017-02-23T11:54:36","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T17:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=52397"},"modified":"2017-02-23T11:54:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T17:54:36","slug":"activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists disrupt $50-a-plate Logan Square gentrification dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Kane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justine Bayod Espoz said her organization\u2019s opinions about the rapid development of Logan Square are not welcome by 1st Ward Alderman Joe Moreno.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has never, ever sat down with our organization,\u201d said Bayod Espoz, organizer for Somos Logan Square, a non-profit organization. \u201cJoe Moreno will not meet with us, but he will go to a dinner.”<\/p>\n

Bayod Espoz was one of about 20 people, some from her organization, who recently carried signs and chanted outside of a private residence where Ald. Joe Moreno, 1st Ward, attended a $50-a-plate \u201cDiscussion of Gentrification\u201d dinner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The event was organized by Paul Sippil, who said his company, Community Dining, aims to hold conversations over shared meals. As for the $50 price tag, something picketers said prohibited real discussion, Sippil said he offered discounted tickets to members of a Facebook group chat, who did not take advantage of the offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey chose to protest instead,\u201d Sippil said.<\/p>\n

Picketers chanted \u201cMoreno, Moreno, amigo de los ricos\u201d and \u201cFifty dollars a plate means my rent is late\u201d while Somos Logan Square organizer Justine Bayod Espoz gave flyers to entering guests and passersby. She said the people affected by the alderman\u2019s policies could not afford the dinner\u2019s $50 price tag.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur opinions are not welcome because he\u2019s got developers in his pocket,\u201d said Bayod Espoz, who has lived in her family home in Logan Square since 1988. \u201cHow do they not realize that this is entirely inappropriate?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Donnelly, who said he was forced out of his Logan Square building in 2015 when a developer bought it and doubled the rent, stood near the street to protest what he called Moreno\u2019s support of \u201cluxury development and gentrification in the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just here trying to inform people,\u201d said Donnelly, 33. \u201cLet everyone know that\u2019s attending this dinner \u2026 what\u2019s going on and who is elected into office and we need to get him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Picketers lined up along the property\u2019s fence holding pieces of a sign saying \u201cLuxury = Displacement.\u201d At the end of the line, holding the \u201cNT,\u201d stood Mark Messing, a neighborhood resident who bought a ticket to the dinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I have to say when I get inside is that I\u2019m not the person who should be speaking here,\u201d Messing said. \u201cIt\u2019s a 50-dollar ticket, so that means that the people who are the most affected, most impacted, by gentrification are not going to be at the table talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Somos Logan Square organizer Bianca Mounce, 29, demanded everyone be let in. She and other members approached the porch, where they were met by a gentleman in a black suit who refused to give his name or his association with the event. Eventually, Mounce was allowed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have no interest in talking to people who have been affected,\u201d Mounce said before entering.<\/p>\n

Mounce stayed for the alderman\u2019s discussion, where she said food was laid out buffet style and Moreno spoke about developments on nearby Milwaukee Avenue.<\/p>\n

The 5,400-square-foot residence, owned by Gerard Hartman, who told Mounce he couldn\u2019t allow the picketers inside because it wasn\u2019t his event, is valued at $862,690, according to the Cook County Property Tax Portal. Mounce said she was disappointed \u201cfolks who had stories to share,\u201d like Alicia, were not let in.<\/p>\n

Alicia, who did not want to give her last name because she is applying for housing assistance, moved to Humboldt Park 10 years ago with her two teenage sons. She has seen developers build \u201ccrazy studios\u201d and \u201capartments that nobody can afford\u201d with the help, she said, of Moreno.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s looking out for whoever\u2019s lining his pockets,\u201d Alicia said of the alderman.<\/p>\n

Anne Shaw ran for alderman against Moreno in 2015, causing a runoff election. Shaw said her community is losing its \u201corganic\u201d charm due to \u201crampant overdevelopment.\u201d She said she didn\u2019t trust Moreno\u2019s motives for attending the dinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t trust that he\u2019s going to do the right thing,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n

Bhaskar Manda lives a half-mile north of the property and has seen families forced out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have worked with several families here who have been asked to move or who have been asked to pay five or six hundred dollars more a month in rent,\u201d Manda said. \u201cSo essentially that\u2019s telling them to get out of the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Ukrainian Village resident Matt McWhinney has owned his home for 20 years. He said longtime residents of his neighborhood have been forced out by luxury developments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw my neighborhood completely change,\u201d McWhinney said. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious that the landlord doesn\u2019t want them there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raymond Valadez, Moreno\u2019s chief of staff, said approximately 30 people attended the dinner. Community Dining head Paul Sippil organized the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Alderman accepted an invitation from a constituent,\u00a0Mr. Sipil (sic), to speak at a\u00a0dinner club that he organizes,\u201d Valadez said in an email. \u201cThe dinner was priced by Mr.\u00a0Sipil (sic) to pay for the food that would be served.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Picketers chant outside a private residence in Logan Square, where Ald. Joe Moreno attended a discussion on gentrification. (Holly Kane\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Kane Justine Bayod Espoz said her organization\u2019s opinions about the rapid development of Logan Square are not welcome by 1st Ward Alderman Joe Moreno. \u201cHe has never, ever sat down with our organization,\u201d said Bayod Espoz, organizer for Somos Logan Square, a non-profit organization. \u201cJoe Moreno will not meet with us, but he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":370,"featured_media":52399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nActivists disrupt $50-a-plate Logan Square gentrification dinner - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Activists disrupt $50-a-plate Logan Square gentrification dinner - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Holly Kane Justine Bayod Espoz said her organization\u2019s opinions about the rapid development of Logan Square are not welcome by 1st Ward Alderman Joe Moreno. \u201cHe has never, ever sat down with our organization,\u201d said Bayod Espoz, organizer for Somos Logan Square, a non-profit organization. \u201cJoe Moreno will not meet with us, but he […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-23T17:54:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/SOMOSone.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Holly Kane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Holly Kane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/activists-disrupt-50-a-plate-logan-square-gentrification-dinner\/\",\"name\":\"Activists disrupt $50-a-plate Logan Square gentrification dinner - 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