Michael Chavez

Sex Offender Residence Restrictions Further Complicate Access to Affordable Housing and Social Services

While the home addresses of registered sex offenders are loosely “checked,” the lack of Chicago’s social service programs and affordable housing further inhibit the previously incarcerated from obtaining help or supervision.

Michael Chavez, 33 and, Kevin Smith, 55, are registered sex offenders living in the same building located on 426 South Clark Street.  According to the Illinois state law, a registered sex offender may not live and/or loiter within “1000 feet of a public park.”  Pritzker Park, which is also located across from Harold Washington Library – a host to numerous afterschool programs for children under 18, is located 897 feet from Chavez and Smith’s residence.

“Nine times out of ten… you report this to the local police station, and they’re not going to do anything about it,” said Sgt. Mike Schassburger from the Cook County Sheriff Department.  “These men are clearly in violation of the state law but more than likely the system will take a while before addressing this issue.”

Chavez was 21 when he was arrested on October 13, 2000 for predatory criminal sexual assault with a victim who was 11.  Smith was 40 when he was arrested on October 11, 2002 for aggravated criminal sexual assault with a victim who was 33.  Because both offenses are a felonies in Illinois and both have plead guilty to charges against them, they are required to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. 

In 1990, when Harold Washington Library was undergoing its construction, the city of Chicago created Pritzker Park as an “outdoor enhancement to the new library.”  In 2008, the Chicago Park District took ownership and transformed the space with grass plantings and wall’s inscribed with quotations from famous authors.  The area is also home to temporary art installations such as Tony Tasset’s 30 foot tall plexiglass “Eye” in 2010.  Now used as a popular hangout for businessmen during their lunch-hour break, or homeless men finding company in feeding the pigeons, children often frequent the area on their way to the library.

Robert Reid, the security manager for Harold Washington Library, declined to directly comment on the sex offender’s living near Pritzker Park, but said it is a matter of a “police issue that needs to be resolved accordingly.”

Chicago police spokesman Sgt. Cesar Guzman said individuals who register as sex offenders, regardless if it’s for the first time or for their annual renewal, are required to input an address in which they will be residing.  Once their address is inputted in the system, there is a “check” to see if there are surrounding schools or parks within the area, which if appears not far enough, will be asked to relocate to another address. 

“There is a system that the offender’s address goes through to see if they are too close to a school and/or a park,” said Guzman.  “And if they are too close, then they have to relocate immediately.  If the individual violates that law of being near at least 500 feet from school grounds or 1,000 feet from a public park, then they are subject to an arrest.”

However Schassburger believes not many steps are proficiently taken in order to prevent sex offenders from living near public recreational areas.

“If a sex offender registers with an address that clearly shows up on the map near a lot of public schools or parks… then something is done to prevent them from living there,” said Schassburger.  “But if there aren’t as many schools around the area, most likely a second glance isn’t done to see if they’re violating the law.”

Coincidentally, both Chavez and Smith are currently residing in the Ewing Annex Hotel located on South Clark Street.  The hotel has no affiliation with the state judicial system, though it was challenged in court 10 years ago to be turned over to state ownership.  Due to the lack of affordable housing, especially for the recently incarcerated, mentally disabled, or homeless, the Ewing Annex Hotel has served as a sort of an unofficial social services facility.  

A small sign that reads, “Hotel Men Only” sticks out perpendicularly from the building as the entire block of wedged windows and metal fire escapes help camouflage the address.  “Cash Loans,” “Liquor,” and “We Buy Or Sell” take up the rest of the signage on the street, with a couple random seafood take-out restaurants awkwardly placed in between.  Unless looking for the hotel, a passerby probably wouldn’t know the hotel hosts up to 210 men each night. 

“There is a general shortage of affordable housing,” said Dr. Roberta Garner, a professor and director of the sociology graduate program at DePaul University who specializes in urban and political sociology.  “Even for moderate income working people, let alone for individuals who are mentally ill, unemployed, very poor or formerly incarcerated.”

Garner believes the restrictions against sex offenders living at a certain distance from particular areas, “further complicates a situation that is already difficult” and could lead to further displacement of formerly incarcerated individuals trying to seek employment.  With the rapid decline of health care and social services programs in Chicago, Garner doesn’t see a choice for individuals to live in areas other than what is affordable and basic to their needs.

“The issue is not where they live, but whether they are getting the supervision and treatment that can prevent further incidents,” she said.  “That is a matter of highly trained social workers and mental health professionals who would cost the taxpayer more money.   (However) that question is not solvable in today’s housing market except with government spending.” 

Garner believes the services and resources are not available “neither in the market nor in the current situation of government services” unless a dire need is demanded from the community.

The vicious cycle of a failed social service system affected Chavez in 1994 when his mother took him to see a psychiatrist at 15.  Chavez claimed he heard “voices” and constantly talked to himself to “stop them.”  In his arrest report, Chavez said he didn’t return to the psychiatrist after that initial visit until 1999.  Raised by his mother, Inez Seda, and stepfather, Peter Seda, Chavez was sexually abused by his uncle from age 11 to 15.  Never met his father, Chavez felt alone and considered suicide in high school.  Though he tried to get his life together in 1999, Chavez’s mental state caused him to quit after working six months as a paper route boy for the Chicago Sun Times.  That was his first and only job.  His mental state then began to rapidly deteriorate, as he could never “get over” the trauma from his abusive past.  In 2000, he remembers hearing the term “schizophrenic” as his diagnosis, but didn’t receive any prescription or follow up’s regarding that meeting.

Chavez was examined on January 31, 2001, before his trial date for predatory sexual assault, by staff psychiatrist Albert H. Stipes.  He was declared “fit for trial” and showed no evidence of “intellectual deficit.”

Although Schassburger believes the sex offender registry has tried its best to obtain accurate information, particular instances, such as Chavez and Smith’s residence violation, are not fully monitored unless someone points out the flaw directly.  And regardless of their violation, the monitoring of their whereabouts and upkeep of their mental and financial stability is, in his opinion, last on the state’s priority.

“If no one is keeping watch,” said Schassburger.  “Then certain instances such as this one will go unnoticed.”     

Green City Market in Lincoln Park

Organic vs. GMO labels:  A Consumer's Right to Know

It’s Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and swarms of Chicagoans flock to the streets near the Old Town Triangle of Lincoln Park.  Summer is officially here, besides being the hottest day of the year with a record breaking 90 degrees out, local farmer’s markets are in full bloom with fresh produce picked from the day before. 

Visitors happily park blocks away and walk the rest with their strollers and reusable eco-friendly bags to the Lincoln Park High School parking lot, where a variety of Midwest vendors are selling brightly colored fruits and vegetables specially grown for this year’s warmest season. 

About a mile east, at the intersection of north Clark and west Menomonee street, the Green City Market, a non-profit created to support natural and organic farming, hosts its 12th annual farmer’s market, held every year at the beginning of May to the end of October.  

The Green City outweighs the Lincoln Park market vendor volume four to one, but both attract the same clientele.  Customers carefully ask the farmer’s how “fresh” their produce is, whether or not pesticides were used on their crops, and the overall steps it took for them to get it into their hands today.

“People are beginning to really question what’s in our food,” said Joelle Rabion, a certified holistic health practitioner who works as a health coach for the Good Food Better Life program in Chicago.  “We’re beginning to see a shift in people’s minds, that we’re all responsible for our own health and nutrition and understanding that the heavily processed foods may not be so good for us.”

However it’s easier said than done as Rabion points out the many opportunities for our cultures confusion in food. 

“Commercials and advertisements rule our society’s culture and our relationship to food,” she said.  “You can’t make money off of commercials telling people to eat healthy.  The doctors with their pharmaceutical pills certainly won’t sell themselves.”

The supermarket for example, is optical illusion of what U.S. food has become, Rabion said.  What looks like an abundant variety of produce, is actually a highly skilled scientific project concocted in a science lab more so than in a pasture of a farm.  Although nutritional labels, controversially mandated by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990, help acknowledge the ingredients of products, the ever-growing list of non-pronounceable food additives is starting to worry consumers.  A concern that has many nutritionists questioning its food is the monstrous conglomerate of GMO (genetically modified organism) products, also known as genetic engineering.  However the problem with genetically modified foods, there is no label required.

“A person could probably go crazy if they think about all of the products that are genetically modified,” said Erin Riley-Strong, the communications and marketing coordinator for Green City Market.  “But the truth is, it’s in the majority of products in the supermarket.  Americans eat it almost everyday without even knowing it.”

Unless labeled “USDA certified organic” or “Non-GMO,” produce purchased from a local supermarket was specifically derived from a science lab before being planted in the ground.  According to the Non-GMO project, a non-profit organization established in 2005 by the “People Want to Know Campaign” in Berkeley, California, more than 80 percent of conventional processed foods come from GMO crops.    

First initiated by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992, the United States’ role in pursuing biotechnology was a top priority in scientific research.  Quayle declared, in a press conference on May 26, 1992, that the United States’ will remain the world leader in biotechnology as “long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulation.”  The problem with the lack of “regulation,” however, results in disingenuous corporate interests over obligations of responsible agriculture.  

International best-selling author Jeffrey M. Smith, reports in his book, “Genetic Roulette – The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods,” that as crops were becoming larger in size and primarily owned by multinational corporations, farmers were becoming less involved in the growing process on their own land.  

Weeds then began to grow over mass crop acreage, causing a high demand in herbicide.  But as most herbicides are highly toxic, scientists had to create a “modified” version of the farmer’s crops.  While injecting its DNA with genetic proteins, one that’s specifically resistant to the herbicide toxin, the result was a thousand acre farm completely resilient to the herbicide sprayed amongst the crops.  A tremendous accomplishment in agriculture and biotechnology, but many farmers and consumers, says Smith, are disturbed by scientist’s “life” creation in a Petri dish without responsibly considering its affects on the environment or human consumption.  

Genetic engineering.  GMOs.  Biotechnology.  Fueled by anti-GMO campaigns, food documentaries and state leaders, the scientific terminology is starting to become a part of casual dinner conversations amongst Americans today.  And with majority of produce in U.S. supermarkets being created by genetic engineering, as reported by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser in the documentary, “Food Inc.,” Americans may have no choice but to stare at their BLT sandwich (maybe literally) in the face. 

Unlike 50 countries around the world, citizens of the United States have been unaware of their GMO food consumption for over 20 years because a GMO label isn’t required.

As reported by the New York Times, California will be the state to watch in November’s election concerning the GMO labeling debate.  Surpassing nearly double the amount of required signatures needed (971,126 to be exact) to qualify for the November ballot, “California cleared a crucial hurdle this month, setting the stage for a probable November vote that could influence not just food packaging but the future of American agriculture,” reported journalists’ Amy Harmon and Andrew Pollack for the New York Times.  

Illinois Representative’s Deborah Mell, Naomi D. Jakobsson and Kelly M. Cassidy are also hoping to stir a dialogue of GMO labeling with the Genetic Engineered Food Label Act Bill HB 1249.  If passed, it would require all “foods containing genetically engineered material or produced with genetically engineered material (to) be clearly marked with a label placed in a conspicuous place that indicates that the food contains genetically engineered material.”  Representative Cassidy, who is also a member of Illinois Environmental Health Committee and the Consumer Protection Committee, says this bill is an “overdue legal framework” that will only help consumer’s create healthier choices for themselves and their families.

“Consumers should be aware of foods containing or produced with genetically engineered material,” she said.  “I recognize the importance of allowing consumers to make knowledgeable and health food choices, and this bill is a great step in the right direction.”

According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, as Illinois is the leading producer of soybeans and corn, and ranked second nationally in the export of agricultural commodities, the passing of bill HB 1249 will also send a tremendous message for GMO labeling and an uprising in proactive consumer awareness and protection.     

“We have the right to know what’s in our food,” said farmer Dean Froehlich, a vendor of the Lincoln Park farmer’s market. 

A fourth generation farmer of Froehlich’s Finest Fruits and Vegetables from Berrien Center, Mich., Froehlich believes in “nature’s course” of creating food rather than “white coats” who are afraid to get their hands dirty.  “I’ve got friends who are in biotechnology and you know, I just don’t understand it,” he said.  “Why would you want to eat something that you have to drastically alter?  I wouldn’t eat it because I don’t know what’s in it.  It’s just not natural.”

Beth Eccles, co-owner of Green Acres Farm in North Judson, Ind., and vendor of the Green City Market, proudly continues her grandfather’s farming tradition by producing “naturally grown” heirloom vegetables, fruits and specialty greens. 

“I only heard of GMOs until recently,” she said.  “A lot of our customers were starting to ask, but no our food is 100 percent derived from a natural seed.  Those companies, it’s just getting to the point where you don’t know what they’re doing to the crops.  It’s scary.”

In August 2003, Monsanto, one of the top Goliath biotechnology companies in the world, paid off $700 million in damages for poisoning over 20,000 Anniston, Alabama residents.  For over 40 years, Monsanto had been secretly dumping mercury and PCB-laden waste into their local creeks without consulting a single resident or government authority.  Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group in Washington D.C., demanded and uploaded documents on the EWG website that showed Monsanto’s knowledge of poisoning the residents of Anniston, yet purposely sent internal memos to keep it a secret. 

A letter titled “Pollution” sent out to Monsanto sales executives on February 16, 1970, reads, “We will continue to make these products; however, customers will have to use their own judgment on continued use.  We can’t afford to lose one dollar of business.” 

When Monsanto was taken to court by the residents of Anniston, the Monsanto manager of environmental control, William B. Papageorge stated in the court document on March 31, 1998 that he saw no reason to “inform” the residents as it was “no different than a service station man telling his neighbors he has got motor oil on the curb by his service station.”

Since the settlement in 2003, Monsanto has claimed its products to be PCB and mercury free.  However many are skeptical of the companies intentions and current chemicals used to produce herbicide resistant crops today.  The new PCB, as reported last year by NaturalNews.com, is an herbicide called glyphosate, which is, according to a study by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides in Eugene, Oregon, linked to cause birth defects, DNA damage and cancer. 

“It’s being found in our rivers and rainwater across the Midwest, which is truly disturbing,” said Riley-Strong.  “Now it’s not so much about creating food, but about being economically and environmentally responsible.  These GMO companies have none of that.”

Environmental law firm, Earthjustice, has dealt with numerous environmental cases regarding herbicides used for genetic engineering crops.  Managing attorney for Earthjustice, Paul Achitoff is currently helping residents of Hawai‘i pass a GMO labeling bill. 

“Hawai‘i was once used as the biggest GMO testing ground in the world,” said Achitoff.  Covering over 2,000 acres of land since the early 1990’s, Achitoff didn’t know himself about the companies testing grounds until 2001.  “These companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, and Dupont have spent millions of dollars to keep people in the dark about their products.  Reason?  They don’t want people to know because they have a lot to lose.  Once people discover what they do to the crops, people may not want to buy their product anymore.”

Dr. Melissa Yee, an acupuncturist at the Kapi‘olani Health Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and advocate for the anti-GMO corporation Seeds of Truth has conducted tests and research on GMO products. 

“We’ve had lab rats come back with results of infertility, kidney and liver failure, and intestinal issues,” she said.  “Tourists come and eat our papaya, because it’s one of our known popular fruits but they end up with severe digestive issues.  We see a lot of those cases in our hospital.”

On Monsanto’s official website, they claim that GM crops are “as safe as conventional (non-GM-derived) food” and studies from the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, a non-profit created by biotechnology scientists of the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation (headed by Monsanto executives) show the “wholesomeness and nutritional value of GM crops.”  Achitoff sighs in disgust and strongly opposes their research.

“The testing that is done by Monsanto, it’s by scientists that they hire and pay. And there are a lot of ways that you can conduct a study with which you can make the results in your favor.”  Achitoff claims the lack of “regulation” by the government allows such tests to pass as “sufficient” when majority of the results are rigged. 

“People assume when they eat GMO foods, they think the government said it’s okay so therefore it must be okay,” said Achitoff.  “But the truth is the government has very little to do with it.  All of the GMO companies have yet to conduct a complete public study of their products.  Now doesn’t that tell you something?”

Just like cigarette packs and alcoholic beverages, Achitoff says GMO labeling will soon become “inevitable.”

“Its one of those things where for a period of time an industry gets away with something but sooner or later people demand it.  So sooner or later it will happen,” he said.

Meanwhile farmers such as Froehlich continue to produce their crops with as much care and devotion as if they were to sell it to their own families.

“You look around here,” said Froehlich, pointing to the families shopping around the Lincoln Park market.  “It’s about being honest and trustworthy to your craft.  I wouldn’t want to eat anything that I’m not sure of, so why would I sell it to someone else?”

G8 Summit:  Chicago Greektown Feeling Impact of Homeland's Economy


Greektown business owners say they are feeling the shaky economies in both the U.S. and Greece as hardships from their loved ones overseas remind them of their own fate here in Chicago.

Many are skeptical whether next months G8 summit will address solutions to both countries economic crisis.

Sprawled over a mile near the West side, Greektown has become an epicenter of local shops, businesses, and restaurants, many owned by Chicagoans with strong ties to Greece.

“I consider myself very lucky for being here,” said Christos Liakouras, a first generation Greek and owner of The Parthenon, “the oldest Greek restaurant in Chicago.”

Unlike Liakouras, his one brother and two sisters were not able to migrate to the U.S. in the late 1960s due to financial constraints. Liakouras shared that him and his siblings were forced to choose between staying in Greece to take care of their parents or flee to the U.S. They had no idea Greece’s economy would decline and cause more financial turmoil.

“I have brothers and sisters in Greece who are affected,” said Liakouras who explained his family’s hardships over the past years.  “They are older than me.  Retired.  They cut their salary and their social security in half because of the problems.”

Liakouras took out a loan last year in order for The Parthenon restaurant to “get by without trouble,” which he calls a luxury for “living in America” unlike many of his friends and family in Greece.

“(The European Union) already bailed Greece out but they charged them so much interest that they owe more than what was they previously owed… it just doesn’t make sense.” Liakouras said, shaking his head.

Greece received its first loan from the European Union in 2010. According to BBC News, the loan was to recover much of the countries overspending since it joined the euro. Now in 2012, Greece has found itself in need of another bailout, exchanging $173 billion of its $485 billion debt for loans at a low rate of interest in order to keep it from defaulting.

 

“The European Union has leant them so much money,” said Dr. Patricia Werhane, director of DePaul University’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics.  Werhane believes Greece’s economy has become “too dependent” on the European Union and the United States, a mistake that could enable the countries resiliency in the future.

“I know it sounds mean, but it doesn’t help to loan these countries in need with huge amounts of money.”  Werhane said.  “Amounts that they would not be able to pay back in time.  It’s just not that simple.  Greece will never be able to pay them back.”

Joe Collado, co-owner of Greektown restaurant Rodity's, said he hears a lot of their regular customer’s talk about their relatives in Greece.

“They can definitely feel their relatives pain,” said Collado shaking his head.  “We all do in a sense that we hear and connect stories of what’s going on over there… it’s scary.”

Chicago Greektown Roditys restaurant

Yiannis Morikis, owner of Greekown Music, had to rebuild his family’s 20-year business after a fire caused damage to his entire shop in February 2010.  He said he’s lucky to have been able to “start over” unlike some of his relatives in Athens.

“My cousin was a computer programmer but he lost his job,” said Morikis.  “He was able to buy his own taxi to run in Athens but, he’s been forced to strike with them if they strike, so it’s been tough.  They’ve been getting by but it’s been rough for them.”

While unsure of his store’s financial future, Morikis and his wife, whom is his “one and only other employee,” are doing “okay” in light of the United State’s dire economy. 

“Financially, it hasn’t affected us as much,” said Morikis who has been able to relocate to a friend’s cell phone shop just two blocks down from the store’s original location.  “We still import from Greece.  The euro is down now and the record labels have been giving us a better discount so that has been good for us.”

Nia Tsamis is an employee of Flea – Mediterranean Food Market, which is owned by her father.  She said Flea’s orders of Greek produce is good for the country’s interests as well.

“All of our products are from Greece.” said Tsamis.  “The exchange rate isn’t the greatest, but if anything we’re helping them by getting products from there.”

Aware of his customer’s strong ties to Greece, Collado acknowledges Rodity’s circumstantial advances due to Greece’s hardships.

“Most of our products are imported,” Collado said.  “All of our wine, many of our cheeses, some of our meat products and fish have come directly from Greece.  And with the euro down, we’ve been, I guess you can say… benefiting from their crisis.”

Many Greektown businesses are caught between Greece and the U.S.’s economic dilemma.  Werhane said it’s an unfortunate predicament they face while their home country slips into further debt.

“It helps Greektown a lot because the dollar is in their favor,” she said.  “But on the other hand they’re Greek.  So they can understand how they feel.  It’s definitely morally debilitating.”  

The world’s economic status will be available for a greater dialogue, as leaders for the G8 summit will gather May 18-19 at Camp David to discuss the debt crisis particularly in the European Union.  Werhane said one of the top concern’s discussed in the summit will be the economic crisis in Greece and whether or not the country can sustain on it’s own without intervention from the United States or the European Union.

“Greece doesn’t have much industry,” she said.  “And the G8 hasn’t gone into Greece to do any industrial development.  Either they have to bail them out completely or Greece will go off the euro.”

If Greece were to “go off the euro,” though the initial change will be “extremely difficult,” Werhane said.  But she added that the long-term scenario might end in Greece’s overall favor.

“At least they’d feel independent,” she said.  “Right now they feel enormously dependent on the European Union.  And to be dependent on the European Union is to be dependent on Germany who has the least amount of debt and the most amount of money.  And the G8 is going to worry about that.”

Developed in 1975, the summit originally consisted of six governments:  Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States thus called the Group of Six or G6.  Canada joined a year later and Russia completed the organization and became the G8 in 1997.  Often criticized for not having a clear “agenda,” with no official spokesperson or offices for its members, the annual G8 summits, according to Werhane, have no official “power” as a group.

“Unless they decide as a group to do something… The G8 is really an economic liaison,” she said.      

Despite the G8 summit and U.S. Presidential candidates promising an increase in job stability, Greektown business owners interviewed say they won’t hold their breath for drastic changes in both countries’ economies.

“I’m not the best at politics, but you never find an end to politics,” Liakouras said, shrugging his shoulders.  “You look at it this way you look at it that way there is always a plus and minus.  Nobody wins that way.”

Story posted on redline project.org/g8greektown.php