Emi Gutierrez |
THE PAWNSHOP SAGA: The
businesspeople of Little Village: Little Village Chamber of Commerce, LV
Special Service Area 25 Commissioners and the Little Village Community Council
are opposing the opening of another pawnshop in the community. Presently, there
are three pawnshops in Little Village and a fourth shop, from Texas, wants to
set-up shop.
BUSINESSMAN Emigdio Gutierrez, owner of Emi Jewelry store for 11 years has been
very vocal about his opposition to the fourth pawnshop.
“WE
DON’T NEED another pawnshop in Little Village. Three pawnshops are
enough. Little Village needs to be identified by its culture, family businesses
and restaurants-- not pawnshops!” said Emi. “Another pawnshop will jeopardize
our neighborhood by bringing down property value, targeting vulnerable families
who are struggling economically, and affecting family businesses established
for many year,” Emi said.
THE LITTLE Village Chamber of Commerce
sent a letter to Ald. Ricardo Munoz
three weeks ago
to request a meeting. “We have not heard from him yet,” said Emi, “we are
waiting patiently to meet with him”.
A PETITION DRIVE is ongoing in Little
Village that reads: “We, the undersigned
and community residents oppose to the opening of a pawnshop on 3959 W. 26th
St., IL 60623” [Spanish] “Nosotros, los firmantes y residentes de la comunidad,
nos oponemos a la apertura de una casa de empeno en el 3959 W. 26th
St., Chicago, IL 60623”. The business owners have collected more than 600
signatures in opposition to opening another pawnshop.
EMI GUTIERREZ is urging business owners
and residents to unite and attend the Zoning Hearing on the proposed zoning
change for a another pawnshop on Tuesday,
July 12, 2011 at 10 a.m. in City
Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. Plans are being made to have a bus for supporters. A
letter was sent to Mayor Rahm Emanuel
on June 7, 2011, advising him of this issue and concern of Little Village
businesses and residents. Hill Torres and Emi Gutierrez recently spoke to the Epiphany Church congregation
about this important issue. “We need the
support of the residents to help us,” said Emi.
IF ANY Little Village resident would
like to sign the petition, they can go to Emi & Sons Joyeria, 4015 W. 26th
St. Phone: 773/542-4929.
Elizabeth Alvarez |
CREW CHIEF: Elizabeth Alvarez is the
first Hispanic [Mexican] hired by CleanSlate.
CleanSlate has been in existence for six years and is a non-profit vendor that
does street cleaning and is hired by the Little Village Special Service Area 25
Commission to clean the streets in Little Village. CleanSlate gives paid
internships to people with challenges and is doing Hispanic outreach for these
internships. Examples are people who lack a job history, gaps in their work
history, criminal records or a lack of skills.
ELIZABETH graduated from Morton East
High School in Cicero and lives in Little Village. She attends both Good
Shepherd and Epiphany Catholic Church. She is a single parent who has
successfully overcome many hardships and struggles in her life. “I’m not a
quitter,” said Elizabeth.
AS CREW CHIEF, with five crew members, they are
responsible for cleaning the streets assigned to them within Little Village.
“We clean the streets on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday,” said
Elizabeth. For more information
regarding CleanSlate call: 708/515-1428.
Jose Gutierrez |
STRICTLY BUSINESS: Have you wondered
what has happened to Jose M. Gutierrez,
a former aldermanic candidate in the 22nd Ward? He is now the Hispanic Business
Liaison for Advantage Chevrolet in Hodgkins, IL. “My job is a challenge and I
enjoy working with Hispanic businesses,” Jose said.
JOSE IS still involved in the Little
Village community. Just recently, he helped the Little Village Mustang baseball
team at Piotrowski Park receive a $1,000 donation, plus $1,000 in equipment
from Advantage Chevrolet.
THE 26TH ST. Chamber hosted
a reception Thursday, May 26, 2011 at Advantage Chevrolet with guest speaker
Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle.
“I’D LIKE TO invite all my friends in
Little Village to visit Advantage Chevrolet to check us out. It’s a new
installation” Jose said. Advantage is open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Monday thru Saturday. The dealership is closed on Sunday. Jose can be reached
at 866/417-8405, e-mail:
jgutierrez@advantagedealer.net
Joe Ramirez |
LEGION
ELECTION: At the monthly
meeting Sunday, June 5, 2011 of the Manuel
Perez Jr. American Legion Post 1017, members elected new officers. By a
vote of 20 to 8, Commander Joe Ramirez
was re-elected. Elected by acclamation were Al Gonzalez, Sr. Vice Commander; Crist Gomez, Jr. Vice Commander; Abundio Zaragoza, Adjutant and Carlos
Gaona, Finance Officer.
APPOINTED OFFICRS: Tony Gonzalez,
Chaplain & Service Officer; Bill
Luna, Judge Advocate and Victor
Franco, Sgt. at Arms. Term of office is one year.
THE POST 1017 sponsors Memorial Day
services, Honor Guards for seniors and deceased veterans, Veteran Day Mass,
supports MAVA Thanksgiving Dinner, parades, host boxing nights, Poppy Sales and
have volunteers at the VA Medical Center, help fraternal organizations with
fund-raisers. The Post also gives awards to students at Farragut Career
Academy, Benito Juarez High School
and Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School.
Post 1017 monthly meetings are held the first Sunday of every month at 3
p.m. I salute the new officers and wish
them success in their position.
FLAG
REQUESTS: U.S Representative Luis
V. Gutierrez [4th District] office can arrange to give
a United States flag flown over the US Capitol on behalf of a
constituent. You can choose
to honor a loved one, commemorate achievements or acknowledge the exemplary
work of an individual or group. To place an order, please contact Kate Johnson in Gutierrez’s Washington
office at (202) 225-8203. Send your
mailing address and any message that you would like to have inscribed on the certificate
of authenticity.
Michael Bloomberg |
HISPANICALLY SPEAKING
NEWS reports New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said the US risks “national
suicide” if it doesn’t
implement a more welcoming immigration policy. Bloomberg spoke on Wednesday
[6-15-11] to the Council on Foreign Relations.
“WE WILL not remain a global superpower if we continue to close our doors to
people who want to come here to work hard, start businesses and pursue the
American dream,” Bloomberg said. “The American dream cannot survive if we
keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere,” the mayor adds. “It’s what I call
national suicide!”
THE REPORT by Partnership for a New American Economy studied the role of
immigrants in the Fortune 500 Companies. Results show that immigrants or the
children of immigrants founded 40% of the fortune 500 companies. These
companies employ more than 10 million people worldwide and generate over 4.2
trillion dollars.
THE REPORT warns of the potential
danger of the US immigration laws forcing the future inception of companies to
happen outside our country. “Every day that we fail to fix our broken
immigration laws is a day that we inflict a wound on our economy,” Bloomberg
says in his speech. “Today, we may have turned away the next Albert Einstein or Sergey Brin. Tomorrow, we may turn away the next Levi Strauss or Jerry Yang.” [Photo Credits: Mike Bloomberg]