Violence in Chicago and economic stalemate in capitol dominated 2016

Rahm Emanuel

As 2016 comes to a close, let’s take a look at some of the top political stories for Chicago, and Illinois. If there ever was a year for pivotal events, then this  was one of them; from City Hall to police headquarters, from the State House to the governor’s office,there was never a time when news events took the road less travelled.

Number One: The continued fallout of the Laquan MCDonald dash cam video from 2015 led to the fall of State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez in the general election, and the election of Kim Foxx, former chief of staff for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Alvarez had been accused of withholding the tape (showing the black teenager shot 16 times by a white policeman) during last year's re-election of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and being less concerned with outcome than process, said voters; and by this they meant justice. She had also been sued by the two reporters that broke the story of obfuscation, and possibly collusion, between her office and that of the mayor's. Aded to that were continued calls for the resignation of Rahm Emanuel. To stem the tide, after a U.S. Department. of Justice civil rights investigation for the CPD, Emanuel called for over 970 new police, but critics say the full effect, after training might not be seen for over a year. There is also no clear cut path to how the increase will be paid for. The city also paid out $5.5 million in reparations, decades later, to black men tortured by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.

Number Two: the increasing crime in Chicago, homicides topped 700 for the year, the first time in nearly 20 years; in November alone, the total was 77, the worst for that month, since there were 78 in 1994. While restricted to mainly two areas, and certain neighborhoods, the perception of the city as violence plagued, has not abated. Earlier this month Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson denied the claim that the city was out of control. He said, “The truth of the matter is Chicago is not out of control. There’s certain parts of the city that we have to address the violence.” He also said that there need to be harsher penalties for repeat gun offenders. Meanwhile Mayor Emanuel has stated that all residents must come together to help solve the problem.

Number Three:The Task Force on Police Accountability released a scathing report on police: “A 200-page report on police accountability found that 74 percent of people shot by Chicago police over the last eight years were black, prompting the leader of the city’s task force to call the revelations "a day of reckoning for all of us." It also said that police must acknowledge their racism when it also said “The department must acknowledge its sad history and present conditions, which lave left people totally alienated from the police, and afraid for their physical and emotional safety.”

Eddie Johnson

Number Four:  Mayor Emanuel had the 2017 Chicago budget passed unanimously by what many are seeing as a rubber stamp by the city council, redolent of former mayor, Richard M. Daley. The core of the budget contains two of the highest property taxes Chicago has ever seen, coupled with a shipload of regressive taxes that critics say will do nothing in the long run to solve the city’s financial problems, mostly due to having to meet mandated pension payments. Recent reports also say that Emanuel is preparing a run against challengers for the next general election to the tune of $1.5 million. Last year, he was challenged in a runoff, a historic first for a Chicago mayor.

Number Five: Both Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s gave the state’s bond ratings two levels above junk status due to the lack of a budget from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic state legislature, whose powerful head Mike Madigan has made head-butting, grandstanding, and plain old standoffs a new gold standard. Illinois’ unpaid bills could hit $14 billion in 2017. Much of that is due to the “rollback of a 2011 temporary income tax increase that’s resulted in revenue dropping by several billion dollars the last two years,” noted the Chicago Tribune. Rauner’s insistence on changing tort law for worker’s compensation coupled with union busting measures, to agree on a budget, in this bluest of blue states, has led to a stalemate between he and the Democratic legislature.

Number Six: No claim for transparency can be made by Emanuel as a lawsuit by a watchdog group, prompted a lawsuit and the release of emails from his private email domain. In an odd legal twist there is no ruling on the legality of his using the private account, leaving a troublesome ambiguity. In another departure from such cases Emanuel’s lawyers made the decision which emails to release, and not, as customary, a judge. Much of what was released was smaller than was sought by the Better Government Association which brought the suit. During his first mayoral campaign Emanuel said that he would create, “the most open, accountable and transparent government that the city of Chicago has ever seen.”

Number Seven: Uniform pot laws came to the state courtesy of Rep. Kelly Cassidy who long thought the patchwork of laws were unfair, and treated some people,especially minorities unequally. The result was House approval of Senate Bill 2228.

Tammy Duckworth

Number Eight: Tammy Duckworth elected to the U.S. Senate defeating Republican Mark Kirk for the 8th Congressional District in Illinois, and after a bruising national elections with Republicans in control of both the White House and the Congress. Her victory gives both Senate seats to Democrats, one bright spot for a defeated party.