The vacant lot on the northwest corner of Lincoln and Diversey is an impressive eyesore, even by Chicago standards. It used to provide parking for Wallaby Station, a nearby clothing store. But Wallaby Station disappeared years ago, and sometime after that the center of the lot collapsed, creating a three-foot-deep sinkhole big enough to hold several cars. The lot’s strewn with paper, plastic bags, broken bottles, and chunks of asphalt. “People are always dumping trash there,” says Jay Zuckert, who lives nearby. “A few weeks ago someone dumped a lawn chair there. The chair’s still there. It’s a joke.”
They decided to go first to the office of the local alderman, Ted Matlak. As an alderman, he has the power to make the lives of property owners miserable by denying their zoning-change requests or sending inspectors to hound them. He can threaten that he’ll never let them build in his ward if they don’t clean up their property. He can even identify absentee owners hiding behind a trust by getting the city to file a public-nuisance suit that forces them to appear in court. “We were hoping Matlak would at least make the owner put a fence around the lot,” says Jay.
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According to Maura Kownacki, a spokesman for the country assessor, the last taxpayer of record for the lot is Clare Group Ltd., whose address is listed as 400 W. Huron. “I don’t know who Clare Group is–I’ve never heard of them,” she said. “You might call the treasurer’s office to see if they’ve paid their taxes.”
The most baffling aspect of this story is Matlak’s lack of interest. The vacant lot is what politicians would call an easy issue, since Matlak has nothing to lose and everything to gain by standing up for his constituents and confronting the lot’s owner. Furthermore, providing basic services, like fencing vacant lots, is supposed to be Matlak’s strong suit. He’s certainly not known for coming up with innovative legislation or making illuminating speeches in the City Council. He rarely says anything in council debates, and almost always votes however Mayor Daley tells him to. In the last election Stone ran against him as a reformer, saying the 32nd Ward deserved an alderman who was willing to at least occasionally defy the mayor on crucial budget and planning matters. But Matlak racked up over 60 percent of the vote, running as a roll-up-his-sleeves service provider who uses his clout with Mayor Daley to get things done. Now the ward has the worst of both worlds–a toady who doesn’t even return constituents’ phone calls. “I hate to say I told you so,” says Stone, “but I told you so.”
Matlak did respond to the Zuckerts on another matter–well, sort of. In March, Jay e-mailed him about the “constant flow of trash blowing down” Lincoln Avenue “due to the fact that there are no garbage cans on the sidewalk.” He asked Matlak to “please place garbage cans on the sidewalk” along Lincoln “from Diversey north to Southport.”
