[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?
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
A new city council, a new mayor, in addition to the incumbent treasurer and clerk get sworn into office today. Check out the live feed from our WLS-TV. [VIDEO]
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| Board of Education |
I saw a communication about this months ago via State Sen. Elgie Sims.
Both the State House and State Senate has released maps for the public with regards to the elected Chicago Board of Education. h/t CapFax
Here's the map from the Illinois Senate so that you can see where your home will sit as far as who you might vote for in the future. There's a link the Illinois House of Representatives site however as I click through it seems the House is only linking to the Senate's map.
The school board districts must be drawn by July 1, 2023. According to the redistricting site of the Illinois Senate
In 2021, the Senate and House passed House Bill 2908, which creates a fully elected school board for Chicago Public Schools that will be in effect as of January 15, 2027.
Starting January 15, 2025, a two-year hybrid period begins, with 10 members being elected to four-year terms, 10 members being appointed by the mayor to two-year terms, and the board president being appointed by the mayor for a two-year term.
Starting January 15, 2027, when the mayor-appointed terms expire, the 10 members and the elected at-large member will be elected to four-year terms.
The General Assembly must comply to the July 1, 2023 deadline to draw Chicago school board districts, which must be consistent with the Illinois Voting Rights Act.
[VIDEO] In her interview with ABC 7 since her first round loss in February in her re-election bid for mayor she brushes aside her combative style as why she lost in the first round. Though she does admit there are many things she could've done differently. She even stated if she could get 4000 votes across Black Chicago she'd still be mayor.
Now I saw some speculation on Twitter about her possibly running for Cook County State's Attorney and Lightfoot was a federal prosecutor. Some might say she was a better prosecutor than mayor - which well that's the truth. Some might say she might go back to the Justice Department perhaps even become Chicago's US Attorney although I don't know if there is a vacancy there.
Regardless she did state that she's done with electoral politics. Is it safe to say she won't run for office ever again?
BTW, I forgot to note in reference to the State's Attorney that last week Kim Foxx stated that she will not run for re-election next year. So that position is now an "open seat"!
[VIDEO] Perhaps some of you in this audience is watching FOX News and some of you probably are no fans of Tucker Carlson. However, I did want to share this monologue with you all. This aired on his TV program last night.
And he connects the chaos that occurred in Chicago both downtown - near Millennium Park - and near 31st Street on the south side with chaos going on around America (shown in above video is the chaotic scene at a gas station in Compton, California). It just shows how the eyes are on Chicago and especially since the DNC will have their convention here next summer. If this is already going on now, can they handle the potential chaos of the Democrat National Convention? There will be protests and of course another concern could be rowdy youth converging in one place.
This is something that perhaps the mayor to be Brandon Johnson could get ahead of except as you see here, his own words in an interview during 2020 could be used against him. Ahh which could've been used against him in the recent mayoral race except well perhaps not very effectively and he's going to be mayor for the next four years.
I want to have optimism that as Tucker states Mayor-elect Johnson isn't an ideologue. His way with words, his ability to talk is probably an improvement over Mayor Lightfoot who seemed to refuse to call out the chaos in downtown this past weekend for what it is.
Regardless it's amazing that this story has wings. Shots fired in the loop. Young people fighting each other in the streets. Youth running around disrupting traffic. A young couple being assaulted by said youth. A car burning in the middle of a street. Young people jumping up and down on top of anything from a CTA bus to a car. It's a shame.
So while our new mayor doesn't seem to condone the looting he still doesn't want to condemn the young people whom people say lack opportunities in their communities. I'd be curious how he intends to provide those young people opportunities. Whether jobs, educational, recreational, or even just services to address whatever is going on at home.
With the DNC coming to the city next year, the eyes will be on the Windy City. The new mayor needs to take control and not make excuses for this unfortunate behavior.
[VIDEO] Illinois Channel Director Terry Martin & Public Affairs host Jeff Berkowitz discuss mayor-elect Brandon Johnson. One question to ask if the mayor-to-be would ignore the issue of crime that most Chicagoans are worried about?
I see only that last-night there was some issues - most call it a melee or a mini-riot - near the 31st Street beach on Friday night. Most who commented on this via Twitter just joked that the Mayor-elect would sent social workers to this instead of a significant police presence.
Well next year the Windy City will be host to the Democrat Nat'l Convention. This is hitting the wires today.
It has been in the news that Gov. Pritzker, Sen. Duckworth, and outgoing Mayor Lightfoot had been working on a bid to get the 2024 Democrat convention here in Chicago. It seems their work has been successful and perhaps it will be incoming Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson big opportunity to showcase the city he will soon be set to lead for the next four years.
CNBC:
The Democratic Party has chosen Chicago as the site of its 2024 convention.
President Joe Biden called Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to tell him about Chicago’s selection Tuesday morning before leaving for Ireland.
“Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” Biden said in a statement. “Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the top down.”
The City of Big Shoulders last hosted a convention in 1996, when then-President Bill Clinton ran for re-election and Democrats helped make famous the “Macarena” dance....“The last Chicago convention was a huge success. It makes sense to put the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024. Every facility where it will be located will be a union facility. Every hotel is a union hotel,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told NBC News Thursday. “We are a state that guaranteed in multiple ways the right of women to have reproductive choice. And in fact, we are a beacon of hope and security for women’s health care from all of the states around us.”
Chicago was first viewed as a leading contender more than a year ago. But the DNC has a more troubled history in the city, when police brutality was on display at the 1968 Democratic convention. Thousands of Vietnam War protesters descended on the city in a wide-scale rebuke of the war. Police tear-gassed, dragged and beat demonstrators — images that were captured on television. That moment gave birth to a chant, “the whole world is watching,” signifying activism in the face of abusive authority.
The decision to choose Chicago came after deliberations and site visits from Democratic National Committee members. In recent months, the DNC viewed Chicago and Atlanta as the front-runners, with New York City remaining in the mix.
Part of me wishes the convention could be held at House of Hope in Pullman. Well one day there will be a major convention there with connections to the action in downtown. It's logical that the DNC will hold their convention at the United Center aka the Madhouse on Madison.
For those of you who are Republican or those Republicans who still exist in our great city, the GOP will host their nat'l convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It seems there will be focus on these Great Lake states (really Wisconsin, Michigan & Pennsylvania) which proved very pivotal in 2016 & 2020.
[VIDEO] WGN Anchor Ben Bradley goes on NewsNation's Rush Hour program to talk about the mayoral election. He is already predicting 30% voter turnout among those voters who have a vested interest in the system, the teacher's union. Crime is a big issue, however, they talk a little about the education system.
Brandon Johnson is a former teacher and an organizer for the teacher's union vs. Paul Vallas who former ran CPS in the 1990s under Mayor Daley. Could the teacher's union make a difference in the April 4th runoff?
A number of campaign and certainly political updates from the mayoral runoff. Who endorsed who? What are their policy proposals? And of course who called who a Republican? Via Capitol Fax
That toddlin’ town roundup https://t.co/Lnw1eWIbhJ
— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) March 13, 2023
[VIDEO] As I promised this debate is available to be seen on this blog for those of you who are looking for it and haven't yet watched this. Via CapFax is a react to last night's debate that aired on both NBC 5 & Telemundo and hosted by NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern.
The mayoral runoff is on April 4, 2023.
If you have't early voted, tomorrow is the day to cast a vote for Mayor, Clerk, Treasurer, City Council, and those little known & new police district board council.
If you're looking for some last minute stories check out this round by via Capitol Fax.
And how about a video from FOX 32 regarding Tuesday's election. They speak with Max Bever of the Chicago Board of Elections [VIDEO]That toddlin’ town Monday morning roundup https://t.co/EFpBL82gXt
— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) February 27, 2023
So at a rally over the past weekend the Mayor said that you shouldn't vote. Wait did we hear correctly? Well WLS-TV did the story on this. We can listen for ourselves. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Perhaps you may not know Ron DeSantis - he is in his second term as Governor of Florida. He will be in the Chicago area to speak with the Fraternal Order of Police. And now he's another quick bullet point in this race.
The leader of Chicago's FOP is named John Catanzara who's made many appearances on FOX News Channel especially after the issues of 2020. He's made some appearances for mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. And as a result the visit to this state by DeSantis has become a point of contention in this race.
Vallas was forced to quickly denounce DeSantis as you will see in the above story by our local FOX affiliate. You can read more about this from the Sun-Times.
[VIDEO] This aired earlier this week two days before the recent FOX 32 forum on Thursday night. This quick clip is probably a taste of what you will see later on. The bickering between candidates especially the shots Willie Wilson took at the Mayor. One notable absense, Congressman Chuy Garcia had been in Washington, DC for President Joe Biden's state of the union address.
If you didn't see the WTTW forum check it out below. [VIDEO]
I'd say this is more significant in this mayoral race than Paul Vallas' positions on abortion or even whether or not he's a Republican as opposed to being a Democrat. As Rich Miller says in this morning's post on his blog, "Vallas has been registered to vote in Chicago since 2018. These candidate residency requirements are not difficult to skirt. But he has some more explaining to do."
I suppose the question is from what I have already read, he moved into an apartment in Bridgeport perhaps about a year before running for mayor. The story is that his residence is in Palos Heights, Illinois although his wife currently resides in Palos Heights to care for her parents and mother-in-law.Where does Paul Vallas really live? https://t.co/IZG95Xp6aw
— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) February 10, 2023
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| Vallas, Mayor Lightfoot, Garcia via Sun-Times |
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s reelection battle is clouded in uncertainty, her chances of beating either U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” GarcÃa or former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in a run-off appearing slim — and her prospects for even making it to the April election up in the air.
With the election less than three weeks away, three out of five voters disapprove of the job the mayor has done in her first term, more than half hold an unfavorable opinion of her and 71% think the city is on the wrong track.
Those are among the key findings of a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times/Telemundo Chicago/NBC5 Poll conducted last week.
All falling within the poll’s margin of error, Lightfoot, GarcÃa and Vallas were essentially locked in a statistical dead heat when respondents were asked whom they would vote for if the Feb. 28 election were held today.
GarcÃa led with 20%, followed by Vallas with 18% and Lightfoot with 17%. Businessman Willie Wilson trailed closely with 12% and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson with 11%. Just 2% said they’d vote for activist Ja’Mal Green, and 1% chose either Ald. Sophia King, 4th Ward, or state Rep. Kam Buckner. Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th Ward, drew no support. Another 18% said they were still undecided.
h/t CapFax Isabel Morning Briefing - wait are those morning shorts making a comeback!
Please don't forget early voting is ongoing now through Election Day on February 28, 2023.
I thought this was just going to be another article saying we need to cut the size of Chicago's city council. It goes deeper than that, the city does have home rule powers but never had a charter like other cities in America. Should Chicago have a city manager as opposed to the mayor being the city's CEO? Should there be At-Large Alderman which is utilized in places like Houston in this article? Are the staffs for Alderman too large compared to other American cities?
If you're an expert an urban policy or politics, this is an interesting piece to ponder about what solutions work for Chicago. What say you?
[VIDEO] Basic roundup in case you all don't have time to watch the hour and half debate that aired this evening on WGN. It's safe to say crime was a major issue in this debate with all candidates except the Mayor herself wanting to fire current Police Superintendent David Brown.
Here's the full debate below [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] I suppose this is a quick meme about Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the state of Chicago. The Mayor says the business climate of the city is great, yet we hear about the city losing businesses.
The most recent news is the Old Navy on State & Randolph is closing. I remember that it was home to a Borders Books up until the company went bankrupt in the early 2010s. And Old Navy used the have the store one block south on State & Washington which was briefly a Gap and now is home to another retailer Primark.
And now Old Navy is leaving State Street entirely. Worse still there are a number of empty storefronts along State Street. Just look further south beyond Monroe Street at least. I was shocked to see after the riots downtown in 2020 - after George Floyd's death - that a Foot Locker store closer to the DePaul University Campus near Adams & State had closed down.
The issue is crime. It's shocking to see police with their flashing blue lights sitting on the streets in and near downtown Chicago basically there as a presence. It was true during the unrest of 2020 and it's true even now just go up and down Michigan Avenue at night.
You know I must say I wanted Rahm Emanuel to go in 2019, well he stands down and is replaced by Mayor Lightfoot. Right now, he looks like a better mayor compared to Lightfoot as he is now Ambassador Emanuel in Japan. While it's a bit early to say, how many people could say that about Mayor Lightfoot?
BTW, with the above video I like the Marvel Comics Antman references.
