The Mayor on crime #ChiMayor23

 

[VIDEO] I wanted to share this ad you probably have seen somewhere - perhaps on TV or perhaps while watching YouTube. This ad touting Mayor Lori Lightfoot's accomplishments on policing and crime. I can believe that she has been taking a beating on the crime issue at least since 2020.

I like to save videos like this to a playlist, however, I can't save this one because this ad has been set to content made for kids. Interesting....

Then I found this article from April 2020 - at the time David Brown had just become police superintendent - via Block Club Chicago. I didn't know this, however, some detective areas had been closed down. In 2020 two of those areas that had been shut down had been re-opened.

That structure was slashed to three Areas — referred to as Areas North, South and Central — under Emanuel.

But Lightfoot revamped the former map, adding back Areas at 5101 S. Wentworth Ave. and 3151 W. Harrison Ave. All five of the old Areas return to their former names: Areas 1-5.

The three Police Areas were “too big” and weren’t “functionally working … as effectively as [they] could be,” Lightfoot said.

The restructuring had been in the works for months. The city rehabbed the two re-opened Area buildings that were closed and redrew their boundaries as part of the project.

With the changes, parts of the city hit hard by crime now no longer have to share resources and officers with as many other neighborhoods.

For example, the newly created Area 4 will focus solely on crime in the 10th, 11th and 15th police districts, which are in parts of the West Side that struggle with gun violence.

Now, detectives working out of the Police Areas will be closer to the neighborhoods where they work, which means it will be easier for them to work with witnesses and victims and they’ll be able to get to crime scenes quicker, Lightfoot said. She said it also means detectives will be able to collaborate more often with officers.

 Anyone out there thinks this reorganization has been helpful?

Meanwhile almost three years later during the mayoral race, it seems the latest news about David Brown is that he is on the verge of leaving. Lightfoot running for re-election had pledged to keep Brown as Superintendent if she wins another term. Polls seem to suggest it's not likely that she will win another term, however, if she does time to start looking again for another police chief.

We have a debate tonight

 Democrat Gov. Pritzker & Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey will have a debate tonight which will air on WGN. If you aren't able to be in front of TV for whatever reason then you can watch online.

Rich Miller offers a preview for tonight's debate. And bear in mind soon it will be time for early voting in the General Election in November.

Try to keep in mind that tonight’s televised gubernatorial debate is not a presidential debate. Most voters won’t watch. Some will get their information from the news media, others will see clips and commentary online. So, when someone tells you that a gubernatorial debate can change the trajectory of the race, you might wanna take that with a grain of salt. Gov. Pritkzer would have to perform well below expectations for that to happen and Bailey would have to perform well above. Not saying it won’t happen. Just sayin.

I want to add that Darren Bailey made an appearance on CAN-TVs Political Forum earlier this week that I will share with you here. I watched his conversation with Sylvia Snowden for about 20 mins and it seemed like a great discussion. However, if you have about 30 mins to spare you an decide that for yourself. [VIDEO]

Frederick Walls for District 34 State Rep

 

[VIDEO] I just became aware of this candidate for state representative recently. He's a Republican who is running against incumbent Democrat state Rep. Nick Smith in the 34th District. You see what he is running on in this election. Mr. Walls holds very socially conservative views.

Here's a Q & A he did with the Kankakee Times as the 34th district goes into Kankakee County.

Capitol Fax: Duckworth and Pritzker take different paths on Lightfoot endorsement

US Sen. Tammy Duckworth made a robocall endorsing the re-election bid of Mayor Lightfoot in 2023, however, Gov. Pritzker who's going through his re-election for Governor (actually Sen. Duckworth is running for re-election herself) wants to focus on his race before making any endorsements.

Duckworth and Pritzker take different paths on Lightfoot endorsement https://t.co/YHY8iKqPq2

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 5, 2022

ALSO, I might add in that posting someone wrote in the comments that Gov. Pritzker won't endorse the first Black mayor of Chicago. Someone doesn't know Chicago history now do they. Perhaps they weren't yet born in 1983 or they slept through most of the 1980s in Chicago....

Darren Bailey's "hellhole" and cash-free bail comments

 On Tuesday, state Sen. Darren Bailey won the Republican nomination for Governor defeating five other challengers. He also secured the endorsement of one Donald Trump whom I'm sure to editorialize a bit will cause a reaction in the Chicago area where as a downstate Republican he must make inroads.

Yesterday on the CapFax the focus was on his hellhole comments regarding the city. He took aim at "cash-free bail" and made reference to a horrible suburban man who lit a homeless man in downtown Chicago on fire.

Bailey’s sole defense of his Chicago “hellhole” comment just ain’t true: Suspect was out on cash bail https://t.co/FeGCi2bWKx

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 30, 2022

Do you think Bailey made his point as far as cash bail? And do you think of our city as a hell hole?

Political Forum: Illinois 1st Congressional District Candidates

 

[VIDEO] From the video description and it's not clear when this actually aired on CAN-TV.

Learn about these 1st Congressional District Candidates: Chris Butler (D), Jahmal Cole (D), Jacqueline Collins (D), Pat Dowell (D), Jonathan Jackson (D), Karin Norington–Reaves (D), Jonathan Swain (D), and Charise Williams (D).

And BTW, JP Paulus at The Sixth Ward is fired up about a lack of coverage of this open seat. As he states this is the first time in a generation that we have an incumbent-free election that is more open than ever.

Early voting has started in Chicago

 Sorry to not have shared this with you already, however, early voting has started as of May 31st. We do have an election later this month on June 28th.

Here's an article from CBS Chicago:

It's election time in Illinois and early voting starts in Chicago.

The Loop Supersite at Clark and Lake has been open since 9:00 Tuesday morning and will stay open until 6:00 p.m. weekdays. Saturday hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

At the site, you can cast your ballot for the Illinois primary election, which takes place on June 28. Anyone in the city can vote at the Loop Super Site before voting in the wards starts in mid-June.

The Loop Super Site opening was delayed because of last-minute changes to the ballot, which required more testing of the voting machines.

Same-day voter registration is allowed, if you have two forms of ID, and for people voting by mail, your ballots will start going out on Tuesday.

And of course if you want to find a site near you for early voting click this link. Early voting in all 50 wards will start on June 13, 2022.

CapFax: Please don't screw this up

 Rich Miller shared his recent syndicated column on the Capitol Fax blog today. BTW, I hope you all had a very happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Well the gist of this column is regards to the issue of crime and of course as you all know eyes are on the city of Chicago and the gun violence that's been making the news. And we have a sitting Democrat Governor running for re-election for whom the crime issue could become a major problem.

I don't know how many readers of this blog may view the crime issue however the headlines are mostly talking about gas prices, inflation, or even the prices for items at your local grocery store. However many of us might be worried about a carjacking and certainly the issue of roving gangs doing smash and grabs.

How many of you view crime as a major issue in this year's elections?