Evanston, IL

I am compelled to write about the 700 billion dollar bailout plan. Here is my problem, nobody is talking about helping the homeowner who is about to lose his home. Mr Paulson states, this bailout is not the same bailout which took place for the Savings and Loan Industry. During the Savings and Loan crisis, the treasury owned the real estate as collateral. Mr Paulson says the bailout today will not involve ownership of real estate as collateral. I say thats crazy....If the government is going to bailout bad mortgage securities and not attach a value to them then I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the plan. I say these loans are worth nothing if you do not use the real estate as collateral.

So, here is my solution to the financial mess and it should not cost $700 billion dollars.

Banks should clasify their bank portfolio of loans into three groups.

Group 1 should be those loans who should be restructured for people who want to keep their home and have the ability to pay a new mortgage.

Group 2 should be loans where people have no interest in home ownership today but do not want a bad credit on their records. These homeowners have other buyers "Short Sales" interested in buying the property at a discount.

Group 3 should be those loans already foreclosed by the bank.

In each group the mortgage security is backed by the market value of the asset which is the real estate. The treasury should help those who want to restructure their loan. should assist in the sale of the asset to a new buyer "short sale". and finally should have the ability to own title to the asset in the form of home ownership when the home has been foreclosed and wait until the market corrects itself. In each situation I bet the bailout would be less than what the government is proposing. It is my opinion that, once these bad loans get off the books of the banks confidence will come back to the market. Banks will be able to borrow money and lend money under new regulation standards which are needed in the banking industry. Your comment are always welcome..

George J. Cyrus, Jr. passed away on Friday night. Among other things, he was also the founder of our agency (Cyrus Realtors) and our office, which was later purchased by Coldwell Banker. Following is a letter published by the local Chamber of Commerce executive director, Jonathan Perman. I thought it was appropriate to post here:

It is with profound personal sadness that I bring to you news that George J. Cyrus, Jr. passed away on Friday night. George defined what it meant to be a business leader. He was involved in so many facets of Evanston, providing wise counsel, serving on boards, providing financial resources, and most of all, contributing to the advancement of this community with his incisive wisdom and his outreach.

George served on The Evanston Chamber board for at least four terms (as far back as I could accurately research): 1987-89, 1990-92 (also Executive Committee), 1996-98, and 1999-2001 (also Executive Committee). He was one of the first businesspersons in Evanston that I was introduced to when I came to Evanston in the early 1990s, since George served on the selection committee that hired me. After, and often during, his service on The Chamber board of directors, George was also involved with The Chamber's Governmental Affairs/Economic Development Council, its Nominating Committee, and the City-Chamber Committee.

In 1994, The Chamber named George as the second winner of its annual Community Leadership Award, which honors an individual who has demonstrated over their career an unusual ability to:

* channel private sector resources
* respond creatively, effectively, and efficiently
* inspire others to become involved

to make the Evanston area a better place for its people and its institutions.

In the early 1990s, George was perhaps the leading voice of the business community to open up the zoning envelope in downtown Evanston and permit denser mixed-use development near transit stations. George understood, long before many others did, that to have a thriving and vital downtown, a city like Evanston needed to create a local customer base that would patronize the local stores and restaurants. On many late nights at the City Council, George and I worked very closely to fashion a zoning ordinance that would stimulate development and investment in Evanston. George seemed to know every chapter and verse of the complicated zoning ordinance and would offer recommendations as well as broker compromises. In the last year, however, George helped to craft a proposal for a new economic development organizational structure as he saw that Evanston would need to adjust to a more commercial-oriented strategy rather than relying so much on residential development.

George was a lifelong Evanstonian, a graduate of Evanston Township High School, and became involved with his father's firm, Cyrus Realtors, in the 1950s. At that time, the firm began building multiple family housing in Evanston. They developed construction activity from moderately-priced apartments to larger, profusely landscaped, court-type apartment buildings with underground garages which became distinctly known as "Cyrus-built" Evanston apartment residences.

In 1967, George became president of the firm, and in succeeding years, a program to build the residential brokerage business of the firm involved a combining of efforts with Walter Kihm, Jr., a former high school classmate. Cyrus Realtors became one of the leading real estate companies in the Chicago area. Their success with the company was due, in large part, to the community involvement of the ownership and its employees. Kihm and Cyrus would often say that, "the community is our product, our inventory and that is why we must be involved in the shaping and improving the quality of Evanston." Later, the two entrepreneurs would join with Donna Doberstein (a former Chamber president) to create CDK Mortgage Company.

In addition to his activities with The Chamber, where he served as President in the 1980s, George was involved with the North Shore Board of Realtors, and served as president of the Mental Health Association of Evanston. He also was on the boards of the Evanston Historical Society, Evanston Symphony, Northlight Theatre, Youth Job Center, and Youth Organizations Umbrella (YOU), just to name a few.

George's death is a great loss for this city. He was a "go-to" guy, and someone who's opinion was respected and listened to. George was not boisterous or loud, instead he listened attentively. But his heart was bigger than most and he showed us why he cared by the eloquence of his example. Most of all, that heart expressed his deep love for Evanston. And because George cared, today Evanston is a better place.

George, I will miss you, and so too, will all of Evanston.


Jonathan Perman
Executive Director

I've had a local colleague, friend, acquantaince, Rachel Harrigan, with whom I've had only one transaction come down with a serious illness only a short while ago. She was diagnosed with tumors in August (I won't go into the details here).

Her disease progressed rapidly, and she died quietly and peacefully this morning holding her husband, Pat's, hand. Her husband has been updating the community by blogging (welcome to the 21st century) daily with her progress. I don't know where he found the strength. I literally gasped, as I checked her blog this morning, and it noted her passing. http://www.rachiereport.blogspot.com/ It hit me harder than it should, I have no right to feel this sad for someone I hardly knew, and yet... there it is.

I find myself sad beyond understanding. I've been touched by death too many times, and too recently. When we become of a certain age, that begins to happen. My father, my father-in-law, my sister, my mother-in-law, my siblings extended families, family friends... and now Rachel Harrigan.

Rachel and I weren't particularly close. We'd had the single transaction, but it was a nice one. She brought the buyer, the transaction went smoothly, and while Rachel was a tough negotiator, she was civil, pleasant and professional. Rachel had a good reputation in our small north shore of Chicago Realtor community, and she will be missed.

She leaves behind her, a husband & young children (8, 10 & 12).

Look around you. Value your relationships. The fellow in the office who always makes you laugh. Your officemate, who is the only one who knows how to fix the photocopier. The older woman who sits two desks back, and always brings you a coke from the kitchen. Your office manager, who somehow has an ear for everybody's problems and complaints (including yours), that pesky guy who drives in from the western suburbs, & tells all the off-colour jokes. Value those relationships. You never know when one will come to an abrupt halt.

Please send up a prayer for Rachel & her family.