Heart of Lakeview Neighbors offers a forum for neighbors to discuss quality of life issues, provides our neighbors with information that impact their lives as residents, and represents our voice to the Alderman’s office on licensing, zoning and other issues in our area.
Heart of Lakeview Neighbors was formed on Jan. 1, 2023, from the merger of Hawthorne Neighbors and Triangle Neighbors.
Frequently discussed items include: activities at Wrigley Field, zoning variance requests, liquor license applications including outdoor patio (beer garden), sidewalk café permits, crime, nuisance issues (trash, noise, public drinking), mail delivery and parking. Individually with our branch and collectively with the Lake View Citizen’s Council (LVCC), we will continue to meet the challenges to improve our living environment.
Heart of Lakeview sends a monthly newsletter via email to its membership. We also forward important communication received from various city officials, including the Alderman and the Police department, in brief Neighbor News Alerts which are also sent via email.
Heart of Lakeview also contributes back to our community. We have donated to various local charities over the years; have hosted garden walks, member mixers, and neighborhood garage sales. For the past several years we have also co-sponsored the Movies in the Park series at Hawthorne School.
We are always open to suggestions and participation from our membership. For more information, send an email to info@heartoflakeview.org.
Upcoming meetings
Our meetings are usually on Zoom, at 6 PM, on the third Tuesday of odd months.
November 19, 2024
January 21, 2025
Board of Directors
Jim Ludwig, President
Mike Raffety, Secretary
Scott Miller, Treasurer
Susan Begala Brothers
Michael Hoffman
Maureen Martino
Announcements
Meeting minutes
May 21, 2024
Mike Raffety called the meeting to order at 6:04 PM. Board members Jim Ludwig, Maureen Martino, Scott Miller, and Susan Begala Brothers were present, forming a quorum; Michael Hoffman was absent. 11 other people were present.
Congressman Mike Quigley: Watch out for the storms tonight. Need to get ready for the Democratic National Convention in August, especially security, and he’s gotten a lot of funding for that. Police presence will be maintained in all wards. If you need help with passports, Social Security, Medicare, reach out, they can help. If Democrats win back control of the House, he’ll be chair of the appropriations Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development subcommittee, with lots of major capital projects around Chicago to be funded, such as the CTA red line extension and Union Station refurbishing..
Senator Sara Feigenholtz (Samantha Biel): Working on several bills, including the Business Improvement District (BID), and to make sure electric vehicle batteries are properly stored and disposed of, and regulations for payday collections agencies.
Representative Margaret Croke (Jacqueline Duarte): She’s busy working on the budget in Springfield, hopefully by the end of this week. A big priority has been to improve access to healthcare, such as eliminating ghost networks, requiring health insurance companies to keep an accurate list of participating providers, and paying for more than four rounds of IVF.
Alderman Bennett Lawson (Jessica Papp): This upcoming weekend starts the summer festivals, like the Belmont/Sheffield music festival.
LVECC (Maureen Martino): The CTA RPM project is proceeding, but many businesses are experiencing a lot of pain, and some are closing, for several more years. The redevelopment phase will also put a burden on the area. The Belmont/Sheffield music festival is this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Private security will be out in force, they apprehended someone after the shooting on Addison. They’re also following what’s going on with the Pride parade, which will include a festival after the parade; the police department will use the LVECC’s office as a command center. Check the https://leaseinlakeview.com/ site for local vacancies.
Minutes: Scott Miller moved to approve the minutes for March 19, seconded, approved.
Treasurer’s report: No changes since the last update. He will share the PayPal/FourSquare address to pay dues, be sure to include your name. It should also be posted in Space Park so people can support us.
Berlin sale: The sale has not gone through yet; the alderman’s office is working with the proposed buyer. The draft plan of operation is not yet ready to be reviewed, and no one was on the call from the buyer to present it.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 PM. The next meeting will be July 16, at 6 PM, at Space Park.
March 19, 2024
Heart of Lakeview Neighbors Association
March 19, 2024, meeting minutes
Mike Raffety, secretary
Jim Ludwig called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM. Board members Mike Raffety, Maureen Martino, Susan Begala Brothers, and Scott Miller were present, forming a quorum; Michael Hoffman was absent. 12 other people were present.
LVECC (Maureen): Just finished the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, not many complaints, though there was a break-in in one business. Getting ready for Cubs opening day. The Belmont-Sheffield music fest is May 24-26.
Cubs (Heather Way Kitzes): Home opener on Monday, April 1, at 1:20 PM, it’s almost sold out. There’s a lot of activity coming back to Wrigley. The Gallagher Way event schedule for spring and early summer is posted. There are five concerts scheduled for this summer. The sports book has its gaming license, you can now bet on-premises. Steingold’s deli is opening up in the Hotel Zachary in a few weeks.
44th ward (Isaac Troncoso): The developers for the 925 W. Belmont project had a well-attended presentation and Q&A at the Center on Halsted last night.
Secretary (Mike): Maureen moved to approve the June 20 and Nov. 14 meeting minutes, approved.
Treasurer (Jim): The Byline bank account is all set up with three signers, seems to be fully organized now.
Berlin sale: After 40 years, Jim and Jo are ready to move on. Arthur Hood (who owns Fantasy on north Halsted) is the proposed buyer. They’ve met with the alderman’s office, and will be entering into the usual required plan of operation for a liquor licensee. Several neighbors spoke up with fond memories of Berlin and supporting the new owner. Maureen moved to send a letter of support for the sale to the alderman’s office, approved.
Senator Feigenholtz (Samantha): Samantha is also a neighbor on Wilton. The senator is heading back down to Springfield tomorrow, there’s lots of committee work to get bills through before the deadline. She got her bill for the business improvement district concept approved by the committee. Another bill she sponsored will require police to attend training to recognize crime motivated by bias, and how to help victims of hate crimes. There will be a paper shred event near Earth Day at the Notebaert Museum.
925 W. Belmont development proposal: It’s not in our footprint, but being just across the street, we’re welcome to get involved with the CLVN review effort. Information is available on the alderman’s web site.
An informal poll of those attending regarding preferences for in-person meetings vs. Zoom meetings produced roughly 50/50 results.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 PM. The next meeting will be May 21, at 6 PM.