Berny Stone works hard to make the 50^th Ward a great place for him to live, work and raise a family. The following are a few highlights of Alderman Bernard L. Stone’s accomplishments:

• Led the creation of T.I.F.s for Devon, Western, Lincoln and Touhy. T.I.F.s increase your property taxes, by diverting tax funds to the pet projects of local politicos. Aldermen love T.I.F.s, because there is nothing an alderman loves more than to be able to reward well-connected political supporters with money out of your own pocket. In this way the alderman's local power and influence is aggrandized, and you end up paying for it, since the county makes up for the shortfall in revenue by raising local assessments, which leads to poverty and economic stagnation in the geographical areas that the alderman wants to punish — an extra bonus, from the politician's point of view. If your property taxes have gone up in the past several years, it is directly attributable to Berny Stone's T.I.F.s.
• Ordered the construction of the illegal barrier on Howard Street. On May 26, 1993, Berny Stone ordered city work crews to construct &mdash at taxpayer expense &mdash an illegal 2½-foot-high metal barrier running down the middle of Howard Street, from Kedzie Avenue to Francisco Avenue. After the city work crews obeyed his illegal order, the city of Evanston took the case to court, and on September 21, 1994, Judge Albert Green ordered the city of Chicago to remove the barrier immediately and to pay all related costs, including Evanston's legal fees.
  
  The citizens of Chicago will probably never have municipal workers with the courage to disobey illegal orders, since their mindless obedience to illegal orders is the quality that both beckons them to, and qualifies them for, their careers as municipal employees. People with the courage to disobey illegal orders are not hired by the city of Chicago in the first place, and any employees who exhibit that quality are quickly fired, and they are not reinstated when the courts rule that the orders were illegal. But at the very least, the citizens of Chicago should have a 50^th Ward alderman who does not perform illegal acts. That much, at least, we have the right to expect.
  
  We might also expect an alderman who takes personal responsibility for his actions. Here are the answers to some of your questions:
  
  Q: How much did the illegal Howard Street barrier cost?
  A: The construction alone cost more than $100,000. Then the barrier had to be taken down at additional expense, and Evanston had to be reimbursed for its legal fees.
  
  Q: Did Berny Stone pay these costs out of his own pocket?
  A: No.
  
  Q: Did Berny Stone ever even offer to pay these costs out of his own pocket?
  A: No.
  
  Q: Can I sue Berny Stone to compel him to pay for his illegal act?
  A: It would be difficult, because of the statute of limitation, but it can be done. You have to find a plaintiff who recently turned 18. Berny Stone can be found in his aldermanic office every Monday and Thursday evening at 6:30pm, and that is when you can serve summons upon him.