Purple Hotel follies: what happens when you lie to a village board

The redevelopment of the Purple Hotel, it seems, has hit a very major snag. Quelle surprise:

Things became heated during a board meeting between the (Lincolnwood) EDC (Economic Development Commission) and (North Capital Group owner Jake) Weiss on Sept. 13. Among the concerns by the EDC was marketing material it received from North Capital Group that stated the redevelopment would have 18,700 square-feet of retail space, which is less than half of the 40,000 square-feet Weiss promised to deliver. There also were two other issues regarding the overall construction of the building as well.

Information regarding the dispute found on the village’s website reads:

“While formal plans have yet to be submitted to the Village, members of the Economic Development Commission have received current marketing material for the site which raises concerns whether the retail element promised for the project is now being significantly diminished.

A concept site plan now being utilized to market the property, for instance, now identifies only 18,700 square feet for retail space in this development. Further, this new concept site plan being used to market the site, also replaces a multi‐story rotunda‐style building that was prominently shown on the cover of previous material provided the Village, with a single story 2,400 square foot drive‐thru facility at the very apex of Lincoln and Touhy. And to the west of the hotel building, the previously shown 40,000 square foot free‐standing retail building, is now shown in more recent marketing material, as only 10,000 square feet of retail.”

While no resolution was agreed upon at the end of the meeting, Weiss signed a tough agreement with Lincolnwood. Village officials can demolish the structure at 4500 Touhy Ave. if certain milestones or initiatives are not met.

Although I'm not willing to parade back and forth across the street from that derelict mess wearing a "I told you so!" sandwich board quite yet, my guess is that a whole lot of people on the EDC or the Village Board who were snowed by the entire "40,000 square feet" lie are now awaiting the arrival of their very own gross of "KICK ME!" signs.

Creepers and stalkers and worse, oh my

io9 has published a very, very nice rundown of creeper/misogyny incidents at recent cons like Readercon (SF fandom), The Amazing Meeting (skeptics) and DefCon (hackers) and you should read it - especially as people who should know better (such as, oh, Richard Dawkins, for one) are involved. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that creeping is becoming more and more of an issue at conventions where you wouldn't think it would be one. For example, the 2011 World Fantasy Convention:

1) “On Thursday night a man groped my breast during one of the parties. Of course, he was drunk, and he did it in such a way that it was difficult to tell whether or not it was done on purpose. (That’s how these assholes work.) I didn’t report it at the time. These things happen. You just learn to avoid the man in question, which I did.”

2) “Holly eventually had enough and told him to get the fuck out and that no one wanted him around. He tried the “I was just being nice ploy” again which, when it didn’t get any traction, quickly moved to aggressive and belligerent.

He stood and I think most of us thought he might try to hit Holly but instead he announced that he was a witch and was going to curse Holly and her entire family. Also, he was going to astral project into Holly’s dreams and turn them into nightmares.”

3) “He wandered into the Nightshade party and decided to regale my boyfriend with tales of how he was TOTALLY a witch and could totally gives ‘bitches’ (all women were bitches, apparently) nightmares about spiders coming out of their nethers. Also how Lemmy from Motorhead taught him how to control strippers with his mind.”

4) “And when told that he actually wasn’t charming or appealing and that in fact he was bothering us, he got more stubborn and more determined that he would only leave on his own terms. Eventually Jonathan got him to move to the other side of the patio but he did yell out at us 15 minutes later “I’m still he-re.” Like it was some principle of his freedom and had no idea that he was more than quashing our own right to stand in our own space and not be harassed or that we even had the right to choose who *we* wanted to talk to. He had become the victim in his own mind. But eventually, Chris and Jonathan escorted him off the premises. It was both a very beautiful moment and also deeply sad because he left because two big guys showed him the door and not because five women had asked him politely, and then more bluntly, to leave us alone.”

You can read about the rest of this crap at Jaym Gates' web site (which is, of course, where these quotes came from); the worst aspect of it is this: all four of these incidents were the work of one unnamed individual who is exactly what female fen are concerned about these days, and for good reason. And keep in mind that the WFC is not exactly anyone's idea of a party con/Relaxacon:

The World Fantasy Convention is an annual gathering (almost a reunion) of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of Light and Dark Fantasy art and literature. The number of Attending memberships are limited (to 850), and usually sell out in advance of the start of the convention.

The main features of the convention are the World Fantasy Awards, presented at a banquet on Sunday afternoon of each convention and the large Friday-evening autograph reception. Cost of the banquet is separate from the cost of membership.

An area of the convention that helps define its character is the Dealers Room.Usually there are about 50 tables of merchandise (limited to art and literature), almost all of which are collectible and new publications. There is also a very high quality Art Show, which includes some works for sale as well as displays of art from the top published artists in the field. Entry into both the Dealers Room and Art Show is juried, and should be requested well in advance of the convention. Books/art work need to be of appropriate subject matter. The convention reserves the right to exclude material which it deems of an inapproriate nature.

Nevertheless, the unnamed turd in question picked this sort of a convention to ply his trade at. Riiiiiight.

Is it any wonder why so many female fans are becoming wary of cons these days? And yeah, I fully realize that for the most part incidents like this are still relatively rare. It can happen to anyone, though. Just ask Connie Willis.