Sun-Times: Mayor Johnson takes aim at Rahm Emanuel, ex-mayor's 'neoliberal agenda'

Rahm Emanuel

Does Mayor Brandon Johnson view his predecessor as a threat? It sure seems that way if you believe this report from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Johnson’s barbs directed at Emanuel came when he was asked during his weekly City Hall news conference whether the school funding increase he plans to seek next week during a lobbying trip to Springfield would be enough to avert a stalled, $300 million, high-interest loan at the Chicago Public Schools.

Instead of answering the question directly, Johnson unleashed a tirade against Emanuel, whom he has attacked before, though never so aggressively.

The mayor said he was watching an interview with Emanuel recently and was “incredibly bothered by his temerity.” Johnson said there has been a “long, sustained movement” in Chicago to push back against the “neoliberal agenda” that Emanuel championed to “set up austere budgets” targeting African-Americans and the “public accommodations” that support them.

“The playbook that Donald Trump is running is a playbook that Emanuel executed in this city,” Johnson said.

“We didn’t get here because we just happen to have a tyrant in the White House. We got here because someone gave him the script… The shutting of schools. The firing of Black women. Privatizing our public education system is why the system is as jacked up as it is today.”

Johnson said Emanuel, who famously closed nearly 50 public schools in 2013 in one fell swoop, had “immense disdain for public education and particularly Black, Brown and poor children, and he was vocal about it.”

“He told one of my heroes — sheroes — that 25% of children won’t become anything. Those are his words directly to Karen Lewis,” Johnson said of the late Chicago Teachers Union president whose planned 2015 mayoral campaign against Emanuel was derailed when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“And now, he’s prancing around this country asking people to reconsider him,” Johnson said. “It is not just frustrating. It is beyond offensive.”

I've commented a lot about the prospect of a future third term for Rahm Emanuel and there is speculation on him running for either Governor next year, mayor in '27, or even President in '28.

The reason why he had forgone a third term in '19 was because of his standing among city voters. It was clear he was unpopular and think about it, he had to deal with a runoff in '15.

In considering the last two mayors we had, we know what we were getting. We might have an issue with what happened with Laquan McDonald and that was a tragedy, however, the last two mayors didn't know what they were doing.

What are your thoughts on the former Mayor Emanuel possibly running for another term as Mayor? You see anyone else who you'd think would be a better candidate?

ABC7Chgo: 'Next-level squatting': Chicago couple says squatters moved into home, state lawmaker taking action

 

[VIDEO] Next-level squatting?

Well these people were able to get into this house, so somehow they got keys. And according to this report there is a mortgage document that shows an address in the south suburbs not this city location - which wasn't established. 

What do you all think of this situation? Should the police have kicked these alledged squaters out in this situation with the evidence presented? Should there be a simpler process for situations like this?

Block Club Chi: 1 In 5 Chicagoans Will Lose Access To CTA, Pace, Metra If State Doesn’t Fund Public Transit, RTA Says

transitchicago.com

Any concerns about this current transit fiscal crisis? 

The Regional Transit Authority oversees Metra, Pace, and the Chicago Transit Authority and they're sounding the alarm over funding gaps. In what ways could this affect the CTA?

The RTA contends this impending crisis was caused by “decades of underfunding” from the state. Seventeen percent of the agency’s operating budget comes from the state — a significantly lower portion than in other major transit systems. In New York, 28 percent of its regional transit authority’s operating revenue comes from the state. It’s 44 percent in Boston and 50 percent in Philadelphia, according to the RTA.

The lack of state funding, combined with the end of federal aid provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, has left the system in a precarious position, the RTA said.

If the cuts occur, the most drastic changes would be felt in Chicago, where the CTA would be forced to shut down half the city’s “L” lines and eliminate nearly 60 percent of bus routes, cutting bus access for 500,000 Chicagoans and leaving “260,000 city workers without a reliable way to commute,” according to the RTA release. The frequency of both train and bus service on remaining lines would be reduced by 25 percent.

If this happened, the CTA would go from the third-largest transit system in the country to having fewer bus routes than Madison, Wisconsin, or Kansas City, Missouri, according to the RTA.

“Public transit is what helped shape the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs as we know it today — it is why and how millions of us call this region ‘home,'” CTA acting President Nora Leerhsen said in a statement. “The results of a 40 percent service reduction are unconscionable, and no decisions about our service future will be made without community input.”

It seems, the state and city finds a way to make it work financially and service resumes under current levels. Of course, there are other issues I would like CTA to address such as safety and even how some riders are smoking on the trains.

Having to rely on transit at the current time cutting services would be inconvenient for me. Of course what bus routes would be cut if CTA isn't funded. And I already take for granted (at least over the years) the headways of the Red Line during the day at least. How infrequent would service on the L be once it's budgeted accordingly?

Set your clocks to Daylight Savings Time

 On Sunday, you have to set your clocks ahead one hour. Unless of course you depend upon your cell phone as many of us do and in that case you don't have to worry about. Daylight Savings Time begins when you go to sleep on Saturday night.

Enjoy this one before our new President could sign an executive order to eliminate Daylight Savings Time.

Another reminder that winter is almost over! 

Do you support recalling a Chicago Mayor?

 This recent post by CapFax talks about the current movement to recall a Chicago Mayor and the history of such a movement.

FOX News - Chicago city council meeting EXPLODES: 'We're turning red'

 

[VIDEO] I think turning Chicago "red" isn't realistic if we primarily judge by the last mayoral election.

I haven't read into too many of these clips I've seen on YouTube in recent months leading up to this month's presidential election. There are clips out there of Chicago residents going to City Hall declaring they're going to turn Chicago red and they often wear red baseball caps - though not necessarily MAGA hats.

Whether or not Chicago will turn red in the future remains to be seen. We know that the presidential race in this state was remarkably close. The margin of victory for Vice President Kamala Harris in this state was not millions of votes but at least 600K votes. An opportunity statewide for Republicans in the future but it remains to be seen if they could capitalize.

I'm sure many of you who are on X/Twitter have seen maps of which precincts in Chicago voted for President-elect Trump and some of those areas are no surprise. Especially if those areas primarily contain first responders (police & fire).

Of course one thing we can glean from comments of "turning Chicago red" is that people aren't very happy with what's going on with the city right now.

NBC Chicago: State's Attorney's race

[VIDEO]As you may know the incumbent State's Attorney Kim Foxx has opted not to run for a second term. And the two likely successors are in a close race to replace her former Cook County prosecutor Clayton Harris III & former Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke. Below are the results as I wrote this post.

This was in interesting discussion that was had in the above clip from NBC Chicago which included former IL GOP state house minority leader Jim Durkin who had considered throwing his hat into the race on the Republican side. However, he concluded that he would be running a more challenging race where he'd have to answer for the now Republican nominee for President Donald Trump. He would state for the record that he's not a Trump supporter and that he opposes him but he knows instead of saying what he could bring to the State's Attorney office he'd have to answer any possible connections that could be made with former President Trump.

Regardless though it's an obvious conclusion, Cook County is a solidly Democrat county and most likely any Republican would have a tough time here. Perhaps who might head the ticket in a Presidential Race might prove to be a huge issue in the long run.

Let's open up the discussion here. How did you vote in the State's Attorney race? Is crime an important issue? You think either Burke or Harris have different approaches to the crime issue in Chicago?

Best wishes to WGN's Tom Skilling

 

[VIDEO] I'm sorry I didn't tune in tonight for the longtime Channel 9 meterologist Tom Skilling. On Wednesday night he signed off for the last time on Channel 9 and soon we'll be seeing more of Demetrious Ivory giving us our nightly weather updates.

It's sad to see longtime personalities move on from their most familiar roles. I want to wish Skilling the best in his retirement. He will be missed.

Here on this blog you can check current temperatures and current conditions at the top of this blog just under the blog title.

EDIT: This is about Tom Skilling if you're a fan find him at facebook.com/TomSkilling

IL Channel - Cook County Dem State's Attorney candidates, a choice not an echo

[VIDEO] We see Public Affairs host Jeff Berkowitz discuss the race for Cook County State's Attorney - Kim Foxx the sitting State's Attorney is not running for re-election. 

Eilenn Burke and Clayton Harris are Democrats running to replace Kim Foxx. Former Alderman Bob Fioretti is running as a Republican. And Berkowitz points out that there is a Libertarian running also, Andrew Charles Kopinski.

Earlier this month there was a debate between the two Democrat candidates for State's Attorney. You can watch that here if you didn't see it the first time.

The primary election is March 19, 2024. This year in addition to Cook County State's Attorney we're voting for President, so in March we vote in a presidential primary for the candidate to stand for election in November 2024. Of course we vote for a Republican or Democrat committeeman err committeeperson. In addition to voting our respective state legislators, county judges, etc.

Check out ChicagoElections.org to see who's on your ballot when you vote.

Also, early voting is paused due to court order. A judicial candidate is to be kicked off a ballot! 

Early voting had started on February 15, 2024. However, as soon as it's open again that news will be shared here on this blog.

CapFax: (state senate president) Harmon still waiting for “clear direction” from mayor on elected school board

What's going on with that fully-elected schoolboard & what is that Chicago Teacher Union activist Mayor's position on this issue? Why won't he make a clear position on an elected schoolboard?

Harmon still waiting for “clear direction” from mayor on elected school board https://t.co/cWftLG4IqJ

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) January 17, 2024

 

Elected Chicago Board of Education district map

 The Illinois State Senate Democrat Caucus puts out new map for an elected Chicago School Board. This is the map below

You can also click here for an interactive map

Over at CapFax there is a demographic background. According to this tweet from Ben Szalinski the breakdown is 7 latino, 6 Black, and 5 white districts throughout the city. A vote in Springfield could come as soon as next week.

Red Line extension gets $2 billion, one step closer to reality

Well this is what the Sun-Times says that $2 billion is pledged towards.

The $3.7 billion Red Line extension has “advanced to the final phase” of the painstaking, federal funding process. The feds are making a $2 billion commitment to cover half the cost and authorizing CTA to advance to the engineering stage, which CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. called the “final step ... in order to begin construction.”

The CTA hopes to award an engineering and construction contract and begin preliminary work before the end of this year, then reach the final step — a full-funding grant agreement with the feds. That would pave the way for construction of the extension and four stations to begin in 2025.

“You have heard us talk about this project for decades, but I’m here to tell you the project is now happening,” Carter told a news conference at the Red Line Extension Community Outreach Center, 401 W. 111th St.

The Red Line extension includes new stations at 103rd; 111th Street near Eggleston Avenue; along Michigan Avenue near 116th Street; and the new terminus at 130th Street near Altgeld Gardens.

Here's a WGN story about this which aired on the news yesterday. It features comments from Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Mayor Brandon Johnson, CTA Pres. Dorval Carter, and Ald. Anthony Beale as he will benefit from this new L branch. [VIDEO] 

Michael Madigan gives up his ward committeeman position

 Not exactly huge news, but worth sharing I suppose.

The base of Michael Madigan's power as Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party is being the committeeman for the 13th Ward. There was a reason that he had been the longest serving speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives since about 1983 until he resigned in early 2021.

Well he resigned from his seat in the Illinois General Assembly, he dropped out of the running for his Speakership as his continued leadership was said to be toxic in Democrat races around the state. It came out that there was a sexual harassment scandal involving people on his staff.

And then of course there is this ComEd bribery business. People connected with his organization have faced trial and he will have his federal trial next year on April 1, 2024 - sorry to note this it's April Fool's Day '24.

However for a man who had been so powerful and I respect some aspects of his cunning and political acumen it's amazing how far he has fallen from power. He gave up his seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, his speakership, the chairmanship of the state party, and now his Democratic ward committeeman spot.

Times have truly changed.

Now petitions are circulating for next year. We vote for among other offices for President. In next years party primary one of those offices up for election is ward committeperson.

CapFax: CTU president won’t answer questions about enrolling her son in private prep school

 Let me enter a quote before we link to Capitol Fax

To me, the Chicago Magazine quote, “I can’t advocate on behalf of public education and the children of this city and educators in this city without it taking root in my own household” really leaves her open to this.

How to beat the heat?

 

[VIDEO] As I write this at 12:00 Noon the temperature is 97°F here in Chicago - according to Accuweather - and we're in a serious heatwave which actually started on Wednesday. This WGN-TV report shows cooling centers open around the Chicago area. 

If you are in need of a cooling shelter please call 311. Here's a link from the City of Chicago for six community service centers utilized as cooling areas. Masks are currently required however. Dang you coronavirus! 

CapFax: MAA grills the mayor on the CTU, CPD and Arwady

 NBC Chicago's Mary Ann Ahern speaks with Mayor Johnson and when you click through to the Capitol Fax blog be prepared for the evasive answers.

MAA grills the mayor on the CTU, CPD and Arwady https://t.co/5Y493Eyegf

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) August 22, 2023

Op-ed: Gun violence dominates the news, but is crime out of control in Chicago

Something for you to read regarding Chicago crime, if you can get past the Chicago Tribune paywall perhaps it's worth reading.

h/t CapFax that provides an excerpt if you can't get poast the paywall.

CapitolFax: Chicago’s air quality is worst in world because of Canadian wildfires

 If you're not currently aware NPR discusses the smoke from the Canadian wildfires:

WGN: Many becoming impatient with Mayor Johnson's approach of getting to root of crime in Chicago

 

[VIDEO] Well, do you think Brandon Johnson in addition to wanting to hire more police detectives could instead hire more police officers? More people on a beat? Just as it seems the city council has, have you grown impatient with Mayor Johnson's "mulit-tiered" approach to the crime issue?

Capitol Fax: Crowds ease at Mexican border, but will that lead to fewer asylum-seekers in Chicago?

 Many of us are concerned about the illegal immigrants who have been bused from such places as Texas or Florida to Chicago which is considered a "sanctuary city". This may be old news to some of you, I've heard that a lot of these immigrants are being housed in some of our closed schools, those that were closed over a decade ago.

It's been in the news that many of these illegals immigrants are sheltering in many of our district police facilities also. Just look for any local news story about them on WGN, WLS, or WBBM.

Then I see that that the number of immigrants have begun to slow at the Southern US border, does this mean less busing into Chicago? Check out today's post from CapFax

Crowds ease at Mexican border, but will that lead to fewer asylum-seekers in Chicago? https://t.co/UH34AMcazZ

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) June 2, 2023