2023 Municipal Elections

 Did you miss this blog? I've been posting more at another blog I started called Ninth Ward Chicago, I expect to post there for the forseeable future.

Though to be honest I do wonder about JP Paulus' thoughts on Congressman-elect Jonathan Jackson who was elected in the midterm election just last month. He discussed the race to succeed Congressman Bobby Rush of the 1st Congressional District from earlier this summer.

Well now that the gubernatorial and midterm elections are now over, we turn our attention to the municipal races in Chicago. We will be voting for the city council, city clerk, city treasurer, for people to serve on their police district boards, and of course for mayor.

One of the people running for mayor against the vulnerable incumbent Lori Lightfoot is one Ald. Roderick T. Sawyer. In 2011 we covered the race where Sawyer - the son of a former Alderman and Mayor in Eugene Sawyer - was able to defeat incumbent Ward 6 Ald. Freddrenna Lyle in a runoff. Now over a decade later, Sawyer hopes to be another son of a mayor to take the office on city hall's fifth floor.

A channel on YouTube called Next News Network which is a right ring channel takes a look at the mayor's race and quotes Ald. Sawyer who referred to Mayor Lightfoot as thin-skinned. [VIDEO]

Now with Sawyer seeking the mayor's office that means he must give up his seat on the Chicago city council and that means there are man candidates who want to succeed Ald. Sawyer. Worlee Glover at Concerned Citizens of Chicago shared a list of candidates for Ward 6 Alderman in 2023. Of course the deadline to submit petitions for the 2023 elections had passed on Monday and we're headed into the period of petition challenges.

We had one candidate for mayor to drop out in Ward 15 Ald. Ray Lopez who opted to run again for his seat on the city council.

Just to open the discussion here, who would be your preference for mayor next year? Would you give Mayor Lightfoot a second term in the mayor's office?

Also I have to ask about Eddie, he was a frequent commentor during the weirdness of 2020 through 2021. Where are you big guy? Let us know you're OK out there.

BTW, happy holidays to all.

Chicago Mag: Will Lori Lightfoot Be One and Done?

 You might have seen this in Chicago Magazine recently.

Just a year before the election, Lightfoot looks in danger of becoming the first elected mayor in 40 years not to win a second term.https://t.co/WUIeVQLbcH

— Chicago magazine (@ChicagoMag) January 26, 2022

Here's a brief excerpt.

After Lori Lightfoot won the 2019 mayoral runoff with 73 percent of the vote, an alderman commented, “Her support is a mile wide and an inch deep.” In other words, she was a candidate for a moment in which voters were fed up with corruption, but she didn’t have a base that would stick by her in a crisis.

That has turned out to be the most prescient assessment of Lightfoot’s political appeal. The world has changed a lot since her election. The COVID-19 pandemic is about to enter its third year, and the city is as violent as it’s been in a quarter century. Chicagoans are exhausted — with life, and with Lightfoot. According to an Ogden & Fry poll conducted for Fox 32 in November, 62 percent don’t believe she deserves reelection. Just a year before the election, Lightfoot looks in danger of becoming the first elected mayor in 40 years not to win a second term.

Lightfoot has been praised for leading the city through the pandemic and for investing in neglected neighborhoods, but crime is causing the city to turn against her. The year before she was elected, there were 547 homicides in Chicago; last year, the total topped 780, the most since the mid-1990s. In the summer of 2020, the Magnificent Mile was trashed and looted twice during protests against police brutality. Carjackings were up 43 percent in 2020, compared with the year before. “One of the major issues she ran on was she’s going to take control of the crime issue,” says Matthew Podgorski, who conducted the Ogden & Fry poll. But now 75 percent of voters disapprove of how she’s handling it.

Well we have another year before we vote for mayor, clerk, treasurer and the 50 members of the city council. Perhaps we'll know by fall if the Mayor decided to bow out after a term or run for re-election. 

WGN: Lightfoot focused on safer Chicago, reelection after 'relatively mild' COVID bout

 

[VIDEO] If you didn't know Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier this month put out a tweet stating that she tested positive for coronavirus. WGN later caught up with her at Rainbow Beach as she talked about the issue of crime and her re-election in 2023. Believe it or not that's a year away.

Me personally I'd rather believe that she'd opt not to run for re-election however we shall see how the next few month shake out. Besides who knew that Mayor Rahm Emanuel by September 2018 would bow out of running for a third term as mayor in 2019.

What's also noted in this report is while she does have enough money for a potential re-election campaign it wasn't as good of a monetary haul as Mayor Emanuel as he geared up for re-election in 2015.

However, until the 2023 mayoral race we still have the issue of crime which was noted in the above report as she's point her finger at the Chief Judge of Cook County Timothy Evans as she wants to keep the most dangerous criminals at Cook County Jail.

She's also going to Washington, DC to meet with the Biden administration with regards to federal help for the crime issue in Chicago. Genuinely I'm glad the mayor is healthy and back to work. We also have a little bit more time until we know what her future political plans will be.

Ward Remap: The People's Map

[VIDEO] I'm a few days late however an independent group the Chicago Advisory Redistricting Commission created a map for consideration by the Chicago City Council. This report from WGN discusses this proposed map.

A few things to consider and it wasn't much different from the debate in 2011-2012. The Latino community wanted more representation and this map would create a ward designed to elect an Asian-American to the City Council. For that Asian-American they would likely be elected in a ward centered around the Chinatown community.

With this said, I see that Englewood could be one ward which is what R.A.G.E. has often advocated for. How many wards will be drawn to elect Black Aldermen (or is it Alderperson or Alderwomen). The map is a bit different than I'm sure many of us are used to and for the city council itself I'm sure they will debate among themselves how their map for the next 10 years.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaign in 2019 for an independent commission to draw a ward map. She welcomes this map reportedly though she's a long way from supporting the map you will see below the People's Map.

The People's Map

Also noted in this report by Tahman Bradley the political reporter for WGN and you might know from the last remap led by Rahm Emanuel. 41 Aldermen must vote in favor of this map, however, if more than 10 Alderman reject this map and propose another this will trigger a special election where Chicago voters will choose a ward map.

I also wanted to add that the Mayor had also supported an elected school board then opposed proposals for an elected school board when it was proposed in Springfield and we ultimately got an elected school board whether or not she actually wanted one. Will she treat a city ward map much different we shall see?

Do you like what you see with the above map?

The crime issue in Chicago

 

[VIDEO] I've been hearing about this on the radio today and decided this is a good story to share. We see a spat between Mayor Lightfoot and State's Attorney Foxx over the lack of charges in the case of a shooting in Austin on the west side.

Both the Mayor and the State's Attorney have polled under water as far as the crime issue this past August. Also bear in mind Cook County voters re-elected Kim Foxx last year.

I want to share another post from yesterday over at the CapFax which discusses the lack of charges in the Austin neighborhood shooting from last Friday. Here's one quotable:

False arrests and convictions have cost city taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. A more careful and just approach has been warranted, but this is ridic.

Is Lightfoot wrong in her comments towards the State's Attorney? Should there be more effort to charge the gunmen? 

CapFax: WGN Chicago Poll Mayor and State's Attorney under water crime huge issue

 Get a load of this. I'm not too surprised about this poll regarding Mayor Lightfoot, but State's Attorney Foxx? Really? We just gave her a second term last year and now Chicago voters especially disappove of Kim Foxx's performance?

WGN Chicago poll: Lightfoot and Foxx under water, crime top issue, positive opinion of CPD at 70 percent and rising https://t.co/ppdsdrB5LQ

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 17, 2021

And also support for Chicago Police is growing. 70% of Chicago residents have a positive view of the police.

Perhaps someone reading this is among them.

Is Mayor Lightfoot running for a second term?

 This piece by Crain's Greg Hinz seems to hint that she may not. Although the media just about a month ago was speculating that Gov. Pritzker may not run again only for him to announce that he's running for a second term and since the primary for Governor is in June next year he might drag this process out.

Well I do expect that if Mayor Lightfoot has a deadline for a decision it'll be the same type of deadline that Mayor Rahm Emanuel used or even Mayor Richard M. Daley. Perhaps we'll know more by the fall of next year 2022 just before we cast our ballots for Governor in the general election in November. 

Meanwhile what is Hinz saying:

One thing I learned a long, long time ago is that you never believe any politician—any politician—when they respond to a question about their future political plans. They all lie. Even the best of them. So a wise person takes any pronouncements about future plans with a ton or two of salt.

That having been said, Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised eyebrows all over town today when she seemed to strongly hint in an interview with the New York Times that she may well not seek election to a second term in in 2023.

Re-upping for four more years “is not a gimme,” the mayor told the Times’ Kara Swisher, going considerably farther than she has in interviews with Chicago media.

“The toxicity of the debate, the physical and emotional toll that it’s taking on all of us, those are serious issues,” Lightfoot said. “And we have to have a — my wife and I and my daughter and my close friends and my team, we have to have a serious conversation about why and what that would look like and what we believe that we would be able to accomplish.”

I think this is true considering the challenges - including the pandemic for sure.

Besides, calling it quits at a time of pandemic and soaring violent crimes is becoming a habit among other city chief executives, Lightfoot added. “This is a tough time for mayors all across the country,” she said, mentioning both Atlanta’s Keisha Lance Bottoms and Seattle’s Jenny Durkan.

We are in tough times right now and I can believe even a very strong chief executive probably would want to just step away.

Here's another thought:

One heavy hitter I spoke with who’s been of help to Lightfoot said the transcript of the interview suggests to him she’s “getting ready to walk away from the job.” That source pointed to the mayor’s fund-raising, which after a pretty good first quarter dried up in the second quarter, with Lightfoot for Chicago pulling in just $10,067 in the three months ended June 30, leaving the mayor with a sizable but not overwhelming $1.790 million in the bank.

Well it was noted in this piece that the Mayor said she came into office to push people out of their "comfort zones". Do you believe she was successful in that?

Do you think she should run for a second term? Do you think she's had a successful tenure so far? 

If yout want to check out the interview with the NY Times click here. Unfortunately you have to sign up for an "free" subscription with the NY Times to listen to the interview or to read the transcript.

Capitol Fax: Um, mayor? What the heck?

 Rich Miller covers the FOIA request over emails from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and it's not good. Perhaps many are accusing the mayor of not treating the people who work for her very well. In fact one email that I noticed over the weekend shows her writing repeatedly about how she needs office time. 

I liken that to having to write things over and over again as punishment as perhaps my class had to do in grammar school. Not fun and jarring to see a politician do something similar.

Um, mayor? What the heck? https://t.co/8azWLRSh7H

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 14, 2021

I just had to share this from the blog

…Adding… I didn’t notice this at the end of the Politico story…

The mayor’s job is tough. It’s not hard to imagine her predecessors — Rahm Emanuel or Richard M. Daley — erupting similarly. Hers was just memorialized in an email.

Um, no.

 Hmmmm, being Mayor of Chicago is a tough job. And I have a difficult time believing her immediate predecessors Daley and Emanuel would've had their behavior immortalized in an email that could be FOIA'd.

When I get elected to something I need to avoid using email or any private messaging. While not transparent it seems smart....

City could go into phase 5 with the rest of the state on June 11

 

[VIDEO] Main thing is that coronavirus cases are beginning to go down and especially since people are getting vaccinated. Especially those with underlying conditions or elderly who definitely have a need to be vaccinated.

We're currently in the bridge phase in the state which is before phase 5 which is a full re-opening. I'm glad to see things really return to normal after a very difficult year of pandemic restrictions. It had been at the news that Mayor Lightfoot had planned to fully reopen the city next month on the Fourth of July.

One issue noted in this report the city still doesn't have 70% of residents vaccinated. Only 41% have been vaccinated so far.

I was hoping to have some official documentation however the State of Illinois' website is down. :(

Capitol Fax: Compromise plan for elected school board passes state senate

So we have clear path to an elected school board. It would start off as a hybrid with both appointed and elected members in the near future. This occurred just yesterday near the end of the session. The post starts off discussing a local state legislator who plans to call this compromise for a "concurrence" in the state House of Representatives. There was a bill in the state House for a fully elected school board.

House sponsor of Chicago elected school board bill endorses compromise legislation as Senate takes it up https://t.co/IDSP67oswd

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 1, 2021

CapitolFax: Lightfoot’s proposal would elect just three school board members

 We see more about Mayor Lightfoot's hybrid proposal for the CPS school board which by 2028 will elect three to an 11 member board with ultimately 8 appointed by the mayor. However, the voters will elected two members to a 7 member board the remainder appointed by the mayor by 2026.

The comments in this CapFax is showing how this could go over and it's not very well. The legislation is sponsored by state senate majority leader Kimberly Lightford who unfortunately has tested positive for the coronavirus. I do wish her well at this time.

Lightfoot’s proposal would elect just three school board members https://t.co/vsZkraDxCU

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 15, 2021

Beyond that your thoughts. You like the idea of a hybrid school board? Do you like the mayor's proposal? Do you think there needs to be an elected school board in Chicago?

CapFax on a bill regardaring the Chicago school board

The issue of an elected school board has been debated for many years. On this blog years ago I was supportive of possibly a hybrid board of education partially appointed by the mayor and elected by the people. There's a bill in Springfield that calls for a hybrid board while there is also a proposal for a fully-elected Chicago Board of Education.

Rich Miller has more on his blog.

Ald. Michelle Harris is Mayor Lightfoot's floor leader

 You might have seen this on last night's news Ald. Gilbert Villegas (Ward 36) resigned his role for the mayor's office on the city council and will be replaced by Ald. Michelle Harris (Ward 8).

The Sun-Times writes about it:

Red light tickets

 I recall that the media hit former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for getting caught by red light cams and then we see Mayor Lightfoot evidently has the same issue. She had some tickets for this dismissed.

NEWS: Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s police security detail has received at least 13 speed/red light camera tickets, including at times times when she was scheduled for personal/non-city events. The city dismissed most of the tickets.https://t.co/cw43wXGqlJ

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) November 30, 2020

h/t Newsalert

#AllinIllinois Healthy Holidays to You, Too

 

[VIDEO] As head head into the holidays we are still during a pandemic. Here is a PSA from the State of Illinois wish you all a healthy holidays.

From the media kit:

This year the holidays are about adapting to keep each other safe, and while we may not be breaking tradition, we are certainly bending it. From socially distant holiday carolers to virtual parties, we’re proving we can still have joy and stay safe, too.

We’re all safer and stronger when we go all in, Illinois.

Got wind of this via Capitol Fax which did a rate the ad type of post on Friday. I think most didn't like this ad, and personally I would've liked won akin to what was shared during the summer about wearing face masks.

Also I must add the guidance provided by the city as far as a stay-at-home advisory and family activities during the holidays within the confines of this pandemic.

CBS Chicago: New #COVID19 rules for certain businesses

 

[VIDEO] What restaurants or bars will you go to with eased restrictions? Also do you plan to workout?

This was announced by the mayor's office yesterday.

We’ve lowered our daily COVID-19 case rate, so updated reopening guidelines are going into effect on Thursday.
🏋🏾‍ 15 person fitness class max
🍹 Bars open at 25% capacity
🏬 Other indoor establishments at 40%
More info ▶️ https://t.co/njOQ14kE6Y. pic.twitter.com/FhRXlOJiTt

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) September 28, 2020

Is it grandstanding to call for the Nat'l Guard?

I don't know if it's grandstanding if a group of Alderman want more action on the current issues affecting our city right now. Four Alderman which includes two Mayor Lightfoot foes Ald. Anthony Beale (Ward 9) and very vocal critic of the mayor Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15) in addition to Ald. Leslie Hairston (Ward 5) and Ald. Anthony Napolitan (Ward 41).

BTW, I found an article from the Hyde Park Herald that stated that Ald. Hairston had removed her name from this letter calling for a special city council to discuss the proposals by Ald. Beale and Lopez to not only call for a special city council meeting on public safety and calling on the state to declare a state of emergency due to the increasing violence and threat of civil unrest to call for a four-month deployment of the Illinois Nat'l Guard.

I will share a tweet from Ald. Lopez sharing his proposals.

The two resolutions associated w/ the Special Meeting. One requires monthly hearings to ensure police funds match the will of our residents. The other asks Illinois to declare a state of emergency to deal with the uptick in violence, rioting. How is action on either a bad thing? pic.twitter.com/Ymoy1mvwAO

— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) August 19, 2020

With this said this was covered at CapFax on Wednesday. Probably the first time I saw grandstanding in regards to this proposal.

Simple solutions are usually neither https://t.co/kDWrwUEPKn

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 19, 2020

What is reasonable is what our state's Adjutant General Richard Neely - overseeing both the Army and Air Nat'l Guards - stated as far as using the Nat'l Guard in something of a law enforcement role:

“We’re not law enforcement officers,” Neely told the Tribune after the Guard’s mission ended earlier this summer without incident. “As guardsmen, we’re military. We go to war and we do not need to go to war in our cities. ... It was important to me (troops) were not putting their hands on civilians. So we didn’t do riot control and some of those other missions. We focused on supporting law enforcement, allowing them to do the things they’re best trained to do.”

Using the Nat'l Guard to help support the Chicago Police is nothing new. It's been proposed often over the years and the suggestion of martial law seems very defeatist in solving the issues that really require a law enforcement response with a respect to an individual's rights. I've said we should have more state police assistance in the city.

I've even seen Cook County Sheriff help out with some of this civil unrest, especially a Sheriff Deputy was blocking traffic from getting off the Dan Ryan when 87th Street was beset with looting.

However, as Rich Miller state's simple solutions are usually neither, but to keep the peace in the city in this uncertain time we need to get to work.

NO, not this again!!! Looting downtown overnight

[VIDEO] The last time this activity happened downtown, especially in the last weekend of may in national demonstrations over what happened with George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn - it came here. Peaceful demonstrations great and then came the rioting, vandalism, and looting. Worse still once it happened downtown, it came to the neighborhoods on the west and south sides which are still recovering from them.

I'd say check out the comments in the above video. A lot of people making their own references to who committed the most recent acts of looting and violence downtown. Some of it offensive from some of you.

It lets me know that we really haven't settled down from what happened over two months ago. We're still under some forms of unrest in this city. Granted there were other hiccups such as what happened at a Christopher Columbus statue on the lakefront.

And you know 2nd City Cop had something to say about this and noting that Mayor Lightfoot over the weekend crashed Montrose Beach after a significant group of people congregated there during a pandemic.

I want to share this video from The Hill which often covers what's going on in the US Congress about the chaos from overnight. Even they're paying attention. [VIDEO]

I hate to ask this question, have we started to lose control?

Another Chicago Alderman tests positive for #COVID19 #Pandemic

Ald. Michael Scott Jr (Ward 24) has tested positive for coronavirus. He attended an event - Bike the Boulevard in his ward - on July 31, 2020 and got tested that same day. The results came in Thursday.

Ald. Scott also appeared at a news conference with Mayor Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Director of Chgo Public Health Dr. Allison Arwady per Chicago Tribune on Wednesday which discussed plans to start the CPS school year with remote learning. He is said to be showing no symptoms, however, is following necessary health protocols.

Via Fox Chicago

Chicago Alderman Michael Scott Jr. of the 24th Ward has tested positive for COVID-19.​ https://t.co/BeqgJI5s0f

— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) August 7, 2020

Another member of the city council longtime Alderman Carrie Austin (Ward 34) had also tested positive for coronavirus last month.

As always take your precautions when you're in public. Wash your hands, social distance, and as per this PSA from the State of Illinois wear a mask. Let's do what we can to get out of this pandemic.

Capitol Fax: Responding to “uptick,” Mayor Lightfoot tightens COVID-19 regulations

I'm very glad that since most of June we've found ourselves in a good place as far as infections or deaths from the coronavirus. The bad news is that lately we've seen upticks of infections throughout the state and also Chicago is a hot spot. So we continue to see efforts at mitigation of the spread of this virus.

Recently a quarantine had been placed in effect where if you've visited a state with an uptick in cases of infection - such as Texas, California, Florida for example - you have to be quarantined for 14 days. Of course the next question with that is how does the city of Chicago enforce this?

In any case, check out this press release from Mayor Lori Lightfoot about further mitigations due to the upticks from CapitolFax.

Responding to “uptick,” Mayor Lightfoot tightens COVID-19 regulations https://t.co/DSOJFEJBnf

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) July 20, 2020