Free Shred Day - Sat. June 17, 2023

Sponsored by state Sen. Elgie Sims, Commissioner Stanley Moore and the new Ward 6 Ald. William Hall

This is to take place at

• 8253 S. Princeton Ave.
  Chicago, Illinois 60620

Contact info for those public officials who are sponsoring this event to dispose of any documents & paperwork is on the flyer below.

This is to make up for the fact that I forgot to share with you Ald. Beale's Shred Day which took place yesterday on June 10, 2020 at the Pullman Community Center. If anyone knows of any other shredding events feel free to send them to me via email.

Does CPS need police officers at their schools?

[VIDEO] Alderman Roderick Sawyer (Ward 6) speaks with WGN on a proposal to remove Chicago Police from CPS schools.

A couple of things that resonate with me from this discussion. First, should students be concerned that some minor mischievous actions could quickly turn into a police situation. Ald. Sawyer noted that a student spent a night in jail for mouthing off to a police officer. One shouldn't get smart with police anyway, however, was it worth a night in jail?

Second, while police were stationed at schools initially to keep out bad influences could the schools find other resources to help students. Let's say CPD or CPS ended the contract for police at the schools, perhaps they could find a way to bring in resource officers. We've heard a lot about bringing in nurses, psychologists, social workers, etc into our schools. So let's say we do take police out of our schools, we can replace them with resources for our students.

What do you think?

So who could win the mayoralty in 2011?

Block Club Chi on Tuesday told us about the eleven candidates who have already declared at least before the Mayor dropped out of the 2019 race. Even told us about how much money they have and Emanuel had the most by FAR! Problem is what good are those millions if he's not running for mayor again.

Anyway the Capitol Fax takes a look at who could jump in now that Emanuel is out of the running. And thankfully no Pat Quinn - I wasn't even aware he lived in Chicago - who was our former governor from 2009 to 2015. We know it's not attorney general Lisa Madigan who will leave her office next year as she's not running for re-election and she won't run for mayor either.

6th ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer is looking at it. And remember his father was mayor after the death of Harold Washington. Who knows whether or not he'd pull the trigger.

Finally Mayor Emanuel who was not only a former Congressman, but chief of staff to President Obama before becoming Mayor had this to say about who could be the new Mayor in 2019:

Emanuel told WGN radio host Steve Cochran he doesn’t think any of the 12 announced candidates for the fifth floor office at City Hall has the skill set to do the job, while getting in plugs for some of his own work.

“No,” Emanuel said when Cochran asked him whether the next mayor is in the race. “I don’t think so. And here’s the thing: The public knows that this is a very big job, and the mayor cannot be a one-trick pony. You can’t just speak on one issue. You got to do economic development, you got to do education policy, you got to be able to get money out of Springfield and Washington. You’ve got to have an ability to actually invest in our neighborhoods, transportation, libraries, schools and park system.”

“My view is … the list is not done,” he added. “It’s going to shake out for about a month, and then the voters will make a smart decision of who can fill that office. And what I mean by that is, you’re not going to shrink the mayoralty, and there’s got to be a mayor that actually fills this job.”

So the next mayor of Chicago isn't in the race yet. Just remember in 2011, Emanuel gets in the race and automatically he was the front runner and later the victor. Unfortunately the big names I'd like to see do it aren't jumping in...

Mary Mitchell writes about the decline of Black Chicago

Sun-Times columnist Mitchell takes on the issue of Blacks leaving Chicago

After a lifetime of living in Chicago, my husband is seriously talking about moving away.

It’s not just one thing that is spurring him to pack up and leave, he explained; it’s a combination of things.

He cited high taxes, crime and bad politics, but he’s obviously not alone. Black people are fleeing the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods on the South and West Sides.

Meanwhile, according to recent U.S. Census data, white people are flocking to neighborhoods near Downtown.

Chicago, once a haven for the black middle class, is no longer seen as a place of economic opportunity for African Americans.

6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer was quoted:

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) argues that white people are moving in as black people abandon these neighborhoods.

“I’m in Woodlawn right now, and there are white people walking down the street, walking dogs and jogging. People don’t mess with white people. If I walked up and down the street over here, I would probably get hit in the head, and that’s an awful thing to say,” Sawyer conceded.

“But we can make it better by staying and putting in the time and work and getting involved in your neighborhood. You can’t complain about it while you are locked up in your house,” he said.
...
“We may lose another black alderman as some of our wards are teetering around 60 percent black. In fact, Walter Burnett’s ward is not black. We lost the second ward in the last redistricting,” Sawyer said.

Still, the alderman is wary of the Census data.

“I don’t think as many people are leaving, as they are not being counted,” he said.

Conclusion:

This latest Census data shows black residents want the same things other people want: employment, fair government, safe neighborhoods and good schools.

Unfortunately, too few African-Americans in Chicago can say they have any of those things.

Employment, fair gov't, safe neighborhoods, & good schools. How do we get any of those?