Friday, May 20th, the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce and Alderman Rey Colon signed an agreement concerning the operation and support of the 2011 Farmer’s Market.  I helped secure this agreement as a neutral facilitator.  I appreciate the opportunity to serve my neighborhood.  As many people have asked what happened, and the details of the agreement, I’m sharing them here. 

I heard about the hearing in City Hall that Monday morning, May 2nd from an email from the Chamber of Commerce.  The Alderman was opposing the Farmer’s Market event permit application.  I immediately called Alderman Colon and Chamber Executive Director Paul Levin to ask what was up.  I spoke to both of them, and offered my help in any way.  The Farmer’s Market is a precious community asset, and it frightened me that it was at risk.

Next day Tuesday the 3rd: the Chamber of Commerce had a public meeting at 6pm at our Public Library.  In attendance were vendors, neighbors, customers, Chamber Director Paul Levin and Chamber Board President Mario Correa.  The Chamber of Commerce stated that the Alderman was not returning calls.  Chamber President Mario Correa said the Chamber would welcome help from anyone who could facilitiate communication with Alderman Colon. I ask President Correa what the Chamber would need to sign an agreement.  Then I called the Alderman at 8:30pm after the meeting broke and he agreed to meet with me the next morning.

Wednesday the 4th: After meeting with Alderman Colon, I drafted an initial agreement and email to all parties. Negotiations continue until Friday May 20th when the final agreement is signed.  Download the first draft and final document here

So why me, you might ask.  My business, Logan Square Kitchen, is a shared commercial kitchen used by many small food companies as their production facility.  We have many clients that are Farmer’s Market vendors.  I worked as a vendor for two seasons. Second, LSK is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and stepped up to serve it.  I am an active member of the 35th Ward, and have a working relationship with the Alderman.  If negotiations broke down completely, I have a 501(c)3 charity that would be able to operate a market.  I view that as an option that was the safety net if the Market could not operate any other way.  Lastly, I served as a negotiator in my former career, so I felt well-suited to facilitate an agreement.

But the biggest reason I got involved:  I saw this deep rift between the Chamber of Commerce and the Alderman’s office– and I felt the Market had no seat at the table– all the people that both the Chamber of Commerce and the Alderman are charged to serve.  When a fight is this fierce, both sides are deeply passionate about their points of view.  No one is squeaky clean, and there is plenty of righteous and wrong to go around.  But that debate is not constructive.  I wanted the Market to come out of this situation the winner.

I think it has.  Bottom line: Ald. Colon gives the Market and Chamber his full support.  The Market vendors will form an Advisory Panel that will work with the Chamber management.  I will serve the Advisory Panel in a support capacity.  The Chamber gets its support, the Alderman sees new oversight, and the Market gets a seat at the table. 

If you feel the need to weigh in, I suggest contacting the people that signed the agreement:

Mario Correa, President, Logan Square Chamber of Commerce: mario@correalaw.com
Paul Levin, Executive Director, Logan Square Chamber of Commerce: paul@loganchamber.org
Kevin Womac, Farmer’s Market Board Liasion, Logan Square Chamber of Commerce: kevin@kindnet.net
Ald. Rey Colon, 35th Ward, ward35@cityofchicago.org
Zina Murray, Facilitator, owner Logan Square Kitchen: info@logansquarekitchen.com