Influential West Loop Group Relaunches — But Keeps Who’s Behind It A Secret

WEST LOOP — A longtime West Loop group is back with a new mission after it faced criticism last year — but the influential nonprofit refuses to say who its leaders are.

For three decades, the West Loop Community Organization served as a powerful city delegate agency helping business owners, vetting development projects and hosting one of the city’s largest summer festivals in the booming neighborhood. As the public face of the West Loop, its board members and staff were long listed on its website — but not any longer. 

In 2022, the West Loop Community Organization, known as WLCO in the neighborhood, announced it would no longer serve as a city delegate agency — a designation that came with funding and other perks — because the board “felt the West Loop no longer needed hyper-local support for attracting and helping businesses,” Kelli Packer, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, said in an email.

The new WLCO — relaunched in February under President Julie Darling, a business owner and former administrator of a West Loop Facebook group — is focused “on cleanliness, safety enhancement and community engagement,” Packer said. 

“We live here, we work here, we play here, we breathe the air here, and I really want people to take the initiative in 2024 to celebrate all things West Loop,” Darling said at the group’s relaunch party.

But despite the group’s new look, its nonprofit status, and its commitment to transparency, it’s unknown who is running the nonprofit besides Darling.

That’s because the board intends to remain anonymous, saying through a spokesperson the members fear “cyberbullying” from West Loop resident Moshe Tamssot, the creator of another West Loop Facebook group who has long clashed with WLCO leaders.

Facebook Posts, Public Run-Ins — And A Lawsuit 

WLCO lists its core values on its newly revamped website: inclusion, accountability, accuracy — and transparency.

“We won’t just tell you why — we’ll show you. As a non-profit former delegate agency, our doors and minds are always open. If you’re looking for something specific and can’t find it, ask us,” according to the group’s website.

WLCO now has three board members and one full-time staff member, but when asked to disclose who they are, Packer declined.

In an April 2023 filing with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, the group’s board members were listed as Darling, Jake Greenberg and Katalyn Rodriguez-Ogren. Rodriguez-Ogren owns POW! Gym in the West Loop and served on WLCO’s board for many years. Greenberg is a principal at Red Sky Capital, a real estate investment company based in the West Loop.

Packer said Darling is still WLCO’s president, but Greenberg and Rodriguez-Ogren no longer serve on the board. Greenberg and Rodriguez-Ogren did not respond to requests for comment.

The group will have to update its filing with the state this month, forcing it to publicly disclose its leaders.

For years, the group’s board and staff members were listed on its website.

But WLCO has made the decision to keep its current board members unnamed due to “consistent harassment” from longtime resident Tamssot, an inventor and entrepreneur, Packer said. 

“We are dedicated to the safety and protection of our board members and will not share the identities of these individuals at this time,” Packer said in an email.

Tamssot moderates the Facebook page True West Loop, an “open public forum,” according to the page, where residents share posts about the neighborhood. He is the primary poster in the group of over 24,000 members, often posting multiple times daily about neighborhood events, gossip and crime and his criticisms of local groups and politicians.

Tamssot also opened a West Loop community garden on a vacant lot near Mary Bartelme Park that was shut down after neighbors complained about rats in the garden.

In August 2021, Darling petitioned for a no-contact order against Tamssot, alleging he monitored her online posts, surveilled her and posted degrading and defamatory comments about her online.

In the lawsuit, Darling, who is a member of the Bally’s Casino Advisory Council and runs Darling Creative, listed 15 Facebook posts Tamssot wrote from July 2020-2022 that she alleged were defamatory. They included allegations of insider deals with local politicians and organizations, racism and mismanagement of WLCO funds.

Court documents also alleged Tamssot is obsessed with Darling, saying he showed up to public WLCO events, making her uncomfortable by walking in “close proximity” to her and staring at her from nearby.

Darling said she “suffered emotional distress” and was left “feeling anxious and losing sleep,” according to the lawsuit.

In response to the suit, Tamssot said he isn’t obsessed with Darling and has been “writing about unelected neighborhood groups and their board members male and female alike” for years, referring to himself as an “equal opportunity community activist,” according to court documents.

Tamssott also said Darling used the lawsuit to prevent him from exercising his First Amendment rights, also known as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice in December 2022.

In an statement to Block Club, Tamssot said the case was dismissed because “it was baseless and without merit.”

“The Judge made the right decision in protecting my Constitutional Rights to Freedom of Speech and Assembly — including being able to report on WLCO and attend WLCO’s Events — all after finding no evidence of Harassment or Threats,” Tamssot said in an emailed statement.

Since the case was dismissed, Tamssot has attended at least two events where Darling was present: an event to meet candidates for alderperson hosted by WLCO in February 2023 in Fulton Market and a 12th District Police Council meeting in May at Union Park. Block Club attended both events.

During public comment at the police council meeting, Tamssot accused WLCO of not filing its taxes, suggesting the police council should investigate the group. Darling immediately followed Tamssot, refuting his allegations.

“The job [of the Police Department] is not for them to investigate whether or not we filed taxes, and if he did his homework, he would know that we did. I am not going to let him make a mockery of me or this forum. … If anyone needs to reach me, just google me, Julie Darling,” Darling said before immediately exiting the meeting.

Publicly available tax documents show the group has filed its taxes as recently as 2021. It is standard for public filings to lag.

Packer did not answer specific questions about the lawsuit’s dismissal or if Tamssot has shown up to recent WLCO events or meetings.

“Regardless of opposition, no one should ever be made to feel unsafe mentally, physically and on purpose. After four and a half years of unyielding attacks on WLCO members, Ms. Darling and her friends and her family being harassed by this individual, we no longer engage with Mr. Tamssot,” Packer said in a statement. “That said, WLCO has complied with every request and will continue to do so for any legitimate request as required by law.”

Tamssot said he has no direct contact with Darling, “nor do I want any.”

“On [True West Loop,] I write about Julie Darling’s role as WLCO’s President because in that role, she falsely claims to represent the West Loop Community — in which I am a Property Owner and Stakeholder, and in which she doesn’t even live — and do so in line with the Judge’s ruling protecting my Constitutional Rights to Freedom of Speech and Assembly,” Tamssot said.

Darling has lived in the West Loop since 1999, according to Packer. Darling Creative is also based in the neighborhood.

Since the case’s dismissal, Tamssot has regularly posted about Darling online. In a since-deleted post on April 6, Tamssot called Darling a “narcissistic time bomb.” 

Darling isn’t the only neighbor to petition the court for a no-contact order against Tamssot. 

In October 2020, Nikki Kanter, a board member of the Mary Bartelme Park Advisory Council and member of Neighbors of West Loop, filed a complaint alleging Tamssot monitored her online posts, posted degrading and defamatory comments online and surveilled her.

One of those incidents include Tamssot calling Kanter an idiot in a Facebook post, claiming she wasn’t born Jewish and that she belonged to the “Bud Light of Judaism,” according to court documents. The post stemmed from a post from Kanter reminding residents that bonfires are not permitted in Mary Bartelme Park under any circumstances, including for the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.

Kanter’s case was “dismissed with prejudice pursuant to a settlement agreement” in January 2022. An attorney representing Kanter did not respond to questions about the settlement.

“I can’t comment on the settlement, it’s really nothing sensational,” Tamssot said.

WLCO Now

From 1996 to 2019, WLCO contracted with the city’s development and business departments to maintain its delegate agency status, according to the city’s procurement site. Each contract secured between $32,000 and $72,000 for the group.

The nonprofit also hosted community development meetings in conjunction with the alderman’s office, inviting neighbors to give input on commercial and residential development in the rapidly growing neighborhood.

In April 2022, WLCO announced on its website it would no longer host development meetings and would shift its efforts toward “community engagement and providing support for residents and local businesses.”

Now, with a revamped website and a new logo, the organization has shifted its focus to cleanliness, safety enhancement and community engagement, Packer said.

The nonprofit plans to hold events throughout the year, like “a volunteer meet-up, clean & green, catalytic converter event or a presentation on how to stay safer in coordination with the Chicago Police Department,” Packer said in an email.

For years, WLCO had committees that were staffed with members and volunteers focusing on, at various points, business and economic impact, development, safety, parks, planning, public education and engagement.

The last committees were listed in 2021, according to an archived version of WLCO’s website.

WLCO will no longer have committees, Packer said.

When asked about the relaunch, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), who has represented the West Loop since 1995, said the new logo is interesting but he doesn’t know what WLCO will focus on moving forward.

“I couldn’t even tell you. They are still going to be around, but I don’t know exactly what they are going to do because they gave up a lot of stuff. … I know [Julie] is going to try to continue to represent this area,” Burnett said.

Burnett attended WLCO’s recent relaunch party and said there was “a nice crowd.” He’s under the impression the nonprofit will be “all about promoting the West Loop,” he said.

WLCO also declined to list its general members. However, sponsorships secured by the organization are listed on its website and include Bally’s Casino, McDonald’s, Geode Health, West Loop Veterinary Care, Bond Collective, Vintage Refined and Nicholas Meat LLC.

WLCO’s Past Troubles

Darling, WLCO and its previous festival organizer, Star Events, faced major questions over how donations were collected and advertised at last year’s Taste of Randolph, WLCO’s largest annual fundraiser.

The organizers drew headlines after Taste of Randolph was found charging a fee for entrance to the free street fest against city rules. Later, Block Club revealed Star Events sold tickets online to other free street festivals without telling attendees a donation is optional.

WLCO also came under fire after a charity’s board member said the charity was “misleadingly” used to boost profits for Taste of Randolph — though it was never involved in event planning or given a clear explanation of how its charity, Face The Future, would benefit.

Posts by Darling on Facebook promoting Taste of Randolph stated “your $10 donation pays for talent, Face the Future (children with cleft palates) and added security” and part of the $10 “suggested donation” goes toward “paying for talent and a donation for kids with a horrible facial disfigurement.” 

After speaking with representatives of Star Events, a Face The Future board member found out the charity would not actually receive a portion of the proceeds, but just a one-time donation from the event producer.

Face the Future received a $1,000 donation from the West Loop Community Organization and a $1,000 donation from Star Events but pledged to return both, citing concerns with how the money was collected. 

Subsequently, WLCO terminated its contract with Star Events, and Darling did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Block Club about its fundraising for Face The Future. 

WLCO still plans to host Taste of Randolph this year with Duff Entertainment, an event company that also puts on the annual Windy City Smokeout.

“We are very excited to announce our new events production partner for Taste of Randolph and will be sharing these details, as well as more insights about this year’s event, in the coming weeks,” Packer said in an email.