2017 Chicago Public School budget offers more hope than reality

Forrest Claypool

On Wednesday the Chicago Board of Education in a 6-0 vote agreed to pass a $5.4 billion public schools budget for 2017, that, at its core, relies on aid from the Illinois State legislature, to the tune of $215 million, dependent on lawmakers agreeing to pension reform; more accrued borrowing at $945 million, and still another increase in property taxes.

As previously proposed, a 7 percent payment for teachers, that had long been paid for them, by the city, in a negotiated agreement for the last 20 years, is also part of the cuts, incorporated. The latter, for months, a matter of contention between the Chicago Teachers Union, and the Board, had the endorsement of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said, "I want the teachers to be part of the solution, there's a pay raise in there for them," Mayor Emanuel said. "There are changes to also make sure they get a pension. It's their pension, they individually retire on it."

This comes just on the heels of 1,000 teachers who have been laid off, in what the CBE has called a cyclical maneuver, and cuts to arts education, and a reconfiguration of how special education students are helped.

In the truest sense, the budget is not balanced, yet, The Rev. Michael Garanzini, formerly president of Loyola University, and now board member, claimed, perhaps with more hope than accuracy,  "It's so close. It's just balanced, if all these things come true," Garanzini said of the budget. "But we have to start this way, otherwise we would be responsible for cuts, in anticipation of money that may not or may come. We don't want to budget that way either, so we're budgeting I think about as wisely as you possibly can given the fiscal climate and the fiscal challenges that we face."

Those dependencies in fact are what gave Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, (a watchdog organization) a stinging rebuke both of the process, as well as the content. He said, in a telephone interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, “This is a very expensive budget, at the mercy of the CTU on the concessions, at the mercy of the Legislature on what pension reform would look like and what the governor would accept — and then they still need everything to break right.”

Adding to the mix are some questionable line items, such as $17.3 million for new annexes and classrooms in a district whose lowered enrollment is forcing some schools to consolidate with others. But, most lacking, according to Msall, is plan for capital expenditures, they note: “The Civic Federation recommends that the District provide a plan detailing how it will balance revenues with expenditures in the event that revenue and/or labor contract savings are not realized in FY 2017 and that it continue to work with the State to secure equitable funding”.

The Emanuel administration, so far, has long been keen on tax increases to balance its budget, and pay for the budgetary sins of the past. Last year property taxes were increased to pay for the police and fire pension obligations, and then, prior to that year, there was a telephone tax on landline and cell phones to pay for laborer pensions. Then just last week he again proposed to increase water and sewage taxes to pay for municipal worker pensions. And, now, to the highest extent by the law, another property increase to help shore up the school budget --- projected to bring in $250 million.

Of the greatest concern, by most financial officials and advisors,  is the increased indebtedness that the budget contains especially, the increased cost of borrowing, and other expenditures that are not balanced by revenue. According to the Chicago Tribune, “CPS is borrowing too heavily, at an estimated $35 million cost for $1.5 billion in short-term loans to replenish the district’s cash flow until March, when property tax revenue arrives.” A move that sustains the old adage, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

If CBE is looking to obtain $945 million in borrowing for capital projects,  without any long-term capital improvement plan, then the budget becomes self-defeating by accounting standards. But, spokesperson Emily Bittner insisted still that “CPS’ revenues match expenditures, and expenditures are down $232 million from FY16.”

If these seem like delusional statements, to some, then the reality of certain cuts, and changes in spending become especially problematic, for special education students, where the change in assessment to allocated funds, for “special ed” teachers, in the form of a block grant, to principals makes the future unpredictable, as well as consequential.

The money that principals will now receive is based on what the school spent last year, “a problem because many schools couldn’t make hires until after the start of the year. Schools also lost a flat 4 percent off their total money for children with disabilities, a pot of money that’s still up for grabs by schools that succeed in appealing,” said the Sun-Times.

“It’s putting the principals into a really terrible spot. They’re having to make decisions weighing general education against special education in some cases,” claims education policy analyst Rod Estvan, and in some cases, using general instruction dollars to fund legally required special education services, he added.

With a labyrinth of proposals, taxes, cuts and formula changes, the prayers of Fr. Graziani, notwithstanding, the CPS budget is a fragile one, built mostly on hope. And with the increased cost of borrowing (since the District's credit rating has been reduced to junk status), and its emergency reserves at a deficit of $160 million, plus a withdrawal of $20 million to pay down debts and interests, and an additional $37.3 million in borrowed funds to pay more, it’s hard to see Chicago School Board President Frank Clark’s assertion that the new budget is “extraordinary” and that “progress has been made.”

Even more worrisome is that there is no “Plan B” if the money does not come from Springfield, a definite uncertainty considering the political donnybrook between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic majority, and the former’s desire to place term limits that would eliminate the thorns in his side, in the persons of Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and Senate Majority leader, John Cullerton.

If the new taxes do not provide enough for tension relief, then what are the options? This seems to be a question that no one has answered.

With what many are calling a phantom budget, that is reliant on “what ifs” and
“maybes” including political currents that even Rauner can’t comment on without stumbling, the danger to Chicago public school students remains. But, looming in the background, as we wrote last week, is the specter of another teachers strike, and in fact, Karen Lewis, president of the CTU has said, that while school will open on time, it is highly likely that a vote to approve a strike could occur as early as mid September, once teachers receive their first paychecks.

Chicago Police struggle with reform and increasing crime, residents want change and safety

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson

The Chicago Police Department is grappling with both an increase in crime - especially in North Side areas previously considered safe -- such as Lakeview, and West Ridge --  but are simultaneously attempting to reform both its image, and its outreach; especially in the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald shooting, the black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white officer in 2014, but whose video was suppressed for over a year, prompting charges of a coverup by the mayor's and state's attorney's office.

The effort, at reform, as well as crime fighting, is not only ironic, but is hampered by  Chicago’s reputation as one of the most racially segregated cities in the country, in an otherwise mostly liberal midwest. Critics of the CPD have not failed to mention this in their press briefings, protests and rallies.

Added to the ever increasing crime on the South and West sides, some Hispanic neighborhoods have also been heavily affected, and Thursday's announcement by Supt. Eddie Johnson that Kevin Navarro, would be his second in command seems to support that recognition.

In fact, Ald. George Cardenas, praised the choice, and said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, “The violence isn’t just in the African-American community. It’s not just on the West Side and the South Side. It’s in the Hispanic community. The superintendent needs a No. 2 person who can give him a different perspective. Someone who reflects the diversity of the city and also the diversity of the problems we face.”

Statistical reports have shown that Chicago homicides, and shooting, are up by nearly 50 percent in comparison with the same time last year. While overall violent crimes are still well below what they were 20 years ago, there is still a significant cause for concern, say many residents.  And, while this is a trend for other U.S. cities, in fact more than 24, according to a recent study, residents and police officials alternate between anger and frustration at the reports.

At the end of last month, in West Ridge, so many women were attacked in the early morning hours, according to local reports that police “actually lost track of how many victims were waiting for service.”

While academics, and those who study crime, say that there is no trend, there are many who state otherwise, especially the families and communities affected, and are demanding change. The Chicago CIty Council is holding a series of public hearings to gauge proposals to replace the Independent Police Review Authority, and at a recent one held at a far North Side High School, 200 people gathered, according to local reports, to plea for change, share stories, and condemn the lack of police accountability.

One resident said, “Police must be held accountable and change the department from the racist department that it is today.” Activists note that this is a charge that spans decades and that black arrestees faced forced confessions, even torture, especially under the infamous police commander, Jon Burge, who tortured more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991.

The U.K paper, The Guardian, last fall, showed evidence that Chicago police run a secret detention center, in Homan Square, and that 7,000 people had disappeared from view, and were also allegedly tortured, and abused; and when seeking answers to the charges, journalists, such as this one, received no reply from police officials.

Hearings such as these are also designed, says Ald. Joseph Moore, to help create a Public Safety Auditor to audit the police department and investigate allegations of misconduct within the department. Also considered is a Police Accountability Task Force, and a civilian investigative agency. Restoration of trust between the police and the communities they serve is also sought;  and which has eroded over several decades in the city’s black communities. This was demonstrated in the events that also erupted in  Ferguson, MO,  after the death of Freddie Gray, where police were seen as an occupying force, instead of protectors; an unfortunate national trend.

With the recent release of a video showing police shooting into an open car, that killed a young African American, Paul O’Neal, who stole it from a suburban dealership, the subsequent chase, and firings, in a residential neighborhood on the South Shore, in broad daylight, is proof, say residents and observers, of the deep lack of accountability. Departmental policy expressly bans “shooting at a car when it is the lone threat.”
The reaction by the police also caused some surprise: city officials speedily, and uncharastically, released the video of O'Neal's shooting; and Johnson “almost immediately revoked the the police powers of the three officers who fired shots,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

In another move, that some are calling bold, Johnson, also on Thursday, recommended that seven officers be fired for lying in the aftermath of McDonald, and stripped them of their police powers. But, on Monday, The Fraternal Order of Police countered that the officers civil rights were trampled, because the firings came with no specific policy violations.

Supporters of the change, keeping recent events in mind, show have a three-tiered goal: a community safety oversight board, for community input; a new agency to replace the IPRA, and lastly, to create the new agency before the October budget process begins.

One area of reform that seems to plague the department is “insufficient training and tactical blunders leading to questionable uses of force”, the paper reported, and which are mostly “unresolved.” If the O’Neal shooting is an indication of such gaps, where the body camera of the shooting officer was not recording, then those assertions bear witness. It was later turned on, only to reveal, what the Tribune described as, “potentially damning comments."

Looking away from the racial aspects of charge, and countercharge and back to the crime increase, perception maybe as the old adage, states, “ten percent of the law.” Yet, some say, especially academics, say that looking at specific areas does not make sense, and that the differences between what is happening “in Chicago on the South Side is different than what’s going on in the North and West,” according to Richard Berk, a professor of statistics and criminology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Furthermore,  treating the “city as a unit doesn’t make any criminological sense,” Berk has said.

Off the 24 cities cited by the study, the largest overall increase showed 316 killings in the first half of this year, up from 211 in 2015, with the potential to top 600 homicides in a year; the first time in 2003. Adding to the mix, for Chicago, who had the largest increases,are the proliferation of illegal guns; police have said they have confiscated 5,000, and arrested 1,530 people for gun-related offenses.

To blame, say some, are the presence of gangs, others say drug sales, and then others, taking a step back, say guns, are the reason. Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the group of law enforcement leaders that collected the data for the study,said that even with overall crime decreases, “you still have too many people killed in America by homicide, more than any other industrialized nation in the world,” and citing pockets of high poverty and impact on African American populations.”

Gang violence has certainly been established as part of the recent increase in violence, and one district commander, Roberto Nieves, at an earlier community meeting said, “The gangs that affect us here, believe it or not, are the same ones in Englewood, in Skokie - they travel.” And, some criminologists note that the problem used to be inter gang warfare, and now has spread to inter gang warfare, and, in some instances, aided and abetted through social media.

Part of the fight against the increasing stats, will have to be a corresponding increase in crime prevention, and reporting, an area of both strong contention, denial, and blame shifting that has plagued the nation’s third largest city for some time. Within the last two years, Chicago Magazine even cited evidence that CPD was scrubbing the number of crimes, or underreporting them at best.

What is needed most, many residents, and victims, say are more police to battle the crime. But this has been an ongoing problem, reaching back to the Richard Daley administration, whose reluctance, in a deficit ridden city, to hire more, had residents complaining to a local columnist, that fear of the future without enough beat cops was increasing.

It was apparent, even then, that attrition was being used to balance the budget for what are known as 9161’s -- those officers that are the first responders. With often fuzzy math, those that were on medical leave, or disability, gave rise to figures that were not wholly accurate on the rolls.

On the heels of a long hot summer, some wonder if cooler weather might serve as a deterrent for high crime, but mostly are calling for cooler heads to determine, how, and when Chicago police can provide reform, as well as, relief from cases like McDonald and O’Neal.

Chicago teacher strike is a real possibility despite Mayor Emanuel's remarks

Nearly to the day, one year ago, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is facing off, once again to the 30,000 strong Chicago Teachers Union, over the 7 percent pension contribution that the city contributes to teacher pensions. And, on Wednesday Emanuel,  said that he hopes the teachers will part of the solution, and not the problem as the old adage goes. He said, “The public expects and wants them to be part of it so they can continue to strengthen the classrooms, [achieve] academic excellence while strengthening CPS overall finances, which are mainly about the teachers’ pension. And they will be the beneficiary of both.”

It’s a different tack than he used in 2012 when he became combative with the Union headed by the often fiery Karen Lewis, a veteran of turf wars in the often combative world of Chicago politics. Not to be outdone, she countered that should the pension contribution be rescinded that her members would strike. But, then again she also said the same thing when she told the press, “I don’t have to call for a strike, I think that our members will do it for themselves.”

What is different this year is that the players are re-aligned and using different maneuvers. Lewis has noted the mayor’s declining ratings over the mishandling of the Laquan McDonald case, and some say the deliberate hiding of the tape that showed the black teenager being shot 16 times by a white officer. By framing him as inept she hoped to gain sympathy from like-minded people.

Emanuel, on the other hand, has decided, to cooly frame, this time, the teachers as the block in the negotiations, and that if they weren’t so selfish they could focus on the real improvements that public school students have made in  reading and math. And, for some this is often the view --- but against the background of traditional racial segregation in the nation’s third largest city, not to mention school district, the bases are loaded. Most students are either African American or Hispanic; groups that often lack the political power to counter the image that they are either incapable of learning, or not worth the time.

Now add Public Schools CEO, Forrest Claypool, a crony of Emanuel, to the mix and then the script plays out: teachers have already been given enough, and they will still do well, without the 7 percent, he said, refusing to see the teacher’s view that this is a pay cut. “The Jan. 29 deal had an average, 6 percent-plus pay raise for teachers AFTER phasing out [the] pension pick-up,” Claypool wrote in an email to the Chicago Sun Times.

"At some point a line has to be drawn in the sand. Chicago teachers do not seek to go on strike. We want to return to clean, safe, resourced schools. We want a fair contract," Lewis added. "We will not accept an imposed pay cut."

The question remains: Can Emanuel and Company can force the change on the teachers?

Adding further to the scenario is the threat of classroom cuts -- or to be succinct further classroom cuts, beyond the recent budget that took some from Paul, robbed Peter and made everyone anxious. Under the current plan, the mayoral administration has given Chicago taxpayers a property increase of $250 million to pay for teacher pensions, and in a rare offer, the state of Illinois will give $215 million to CPS -- but with the caveat, that there is agreement on a state budget - absent for over a fiscal year -  in January; if not, then here come classroom cuts.

Often forgotten, except by the teachers, is that the 7 percent city contribution was a negotiated term, in lieu of a pay cut.  As Lewis noted on Tuesday, at a press conference, “The Chicago Teachers Union has been clear. If the Board of Education imposes a 7 percent slash in our salaries, we will move to strike. Cutting our pay is unacceptable, and for years, the ‘pension pickup’ as the Board has called it, was part of our compensation package. This was not a perk. This was negotiated compensation with the Board of Education.”

While Emanuel attempts to draw the taxpaying public to his side, his reputation, especially among black residents, was tarnished when he closed over 50 schools in mostly their neighborhoods.

With an aging physical plant, Chicago public schools, and students, face a myriad of sanitation issues, and as Lewis noted, “Our members are returning to more than 500 school buildings that are filthy due to bad CPS outsourcing; with contaminated pipes that may have exposed children and employees to lead poisoning; and in a climate where random gun violence and neighborhood conflicts have gripped significant parts of our city in fear.”

She continued by noting that, “Our members are returning to campuses where their colleagues have disappeared, by no fault of their own, but because of mandates from the Board that principals reduce positions and cut school budgets to the marrow. Fewer employees—including teachers’ aides—mean enormous class sizes. The more students in a classroom mean fewer minutes of personalized instruction for each student.”

Supporters counter that Emanuel and Claypool are asking teachers to do more with less, a fact that Lewis statements sustain. They wonder what the definition is of “breaking even” that the latter has asserted with the January negotiations.

Chicago Public School layoffs trigger anger among teachers, students and local officials

Last week’s news about the 1,000 teacher and administrators layoffs by Chicago Public Schools was met with a mixture of chagrin, regret and anger by teachers, their union, and families across the city, and only added to the often byzantine and bewildering process that is typical of the nation’s third largest school system.

While CPS attempted to minimize their actions, by characterizing them as a cyclical procedure, most who heard the news, were not as sanguine, as CPS hoped they would be. Stephanie Gadlin, spokesperson for The Chicago Teachers Union in their statement, released on Friday, said, in part: “CPS continues to inflict damage on our school district by implementing layoffs, cutting special education services and other programs that help students excel. The gutting of experienced educators and other school employees only weakens schools and puts children at a disadvantage. This is no way to run a 21st century school district.”

District officials counter that “CPS principals continue to do exemplary work protecting their classrooms so that they can build on the remarkable academic progress their students are making,” CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement.

At the heart of the matter, CPS assertions aside, the issue is a lack of funding (tied to a property tax formula) but also part and parcel of a deficit of over 1 billion dollars. And, in turn, that has seen the district attempt to handle  with cutbacks to teachers, staff and programs, in both the past, and in the present.  CPS charged that "staffing changes are part of the normal process of school planning, and there are more vacant positions in the district than staff who will be impacted today, with roughly 1,000 teaching vacancies to be filled." They also noted that previously when this was done, 60 percent of teachers were rehired at different schools.

Educators note that this type of midstream change can have a deleterious effect on learning, when students have established a positive relationship with a teacher, only to have to begin again, with a new one. One new school on the city’s southeast side was slated to be built with the old teachers going to the new school, but now that is not clear. What CPS has said, is that only 3 percent of teachers will be affected, and that 280 schools will not see any teacher or staff changes.

If past has been prologue, then the very real progress that students have achieved - more than doubling scores in reading and math in fifteen years, has been “threatened by severe financial mismanagement. The district faces a budget crisis driven by the rising cost of past, unpaid bills that is crowding out spending on today's teachers and students,” reported Crain’s Chicago Business.

In their analysis, they note that the.”CPS' budget crisis was not created overnight. For more than a decade, the district has struggled with a widening structural budget deficit. Since 2001, inflation-adjusted spending per pupil increased by nearly 40 percent. In 2001, CPS spent close to $12,000 per student; in 2015, $16,432. Yet revenue has not kept pace: CPS per-pupil revenue has not matched per-pupil spending, with revenue falling short, on average, by $1,000 per pupil since 2001. More recently, the revenue gap has widened to nearly $3,000 per year.”

Coming on the heels of a recent proposed utility tax by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to shore up a large municipal pension fund, these layoff galvanize his critics who see that “This latest round of layoffs comes when Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking more tax hikes from Chicago's working families while he continues to ignore demands that he go after wealthy developers and others who enrich themselves at the public's expense, “ continued the CTU.
To try and address the deficit, CPS has enjoined job cuts, and asked teachers to contribute more to their pension fund, and has not, publicly at least, looked at other revenue enhancement strategies, much to the chagrin of the union, who said,. “If the city and Chicago Board of Education exhibited leadership by implementing progressive revenue strategies, such as declaring a TIF surplus and reinstating a corporate head tax, these layoffs could have been avoided.”

In the past CPS has rejected these suggestions, saying that the contribution from the Tax Increment Financing program would be too little to offer any real help to the ailing school district. The program itself, seen by some as a surcharge, freezes a portion of property taxes and the money is distributed to bank accounts that correspond with designated districts, which are designed to help improve economically depressed sections of the city.
Critics point out that the funds are often misused to help areas that don’t need it such as downtown venues such as The French Market, hardly an economically depressed project, they say.

Those opposed to the way that TIF accounts are managed, also point out that funds for the schools could be obtained from TIF accounts, including Cook County clerk David Orr, as well as CTU. But those funds expected to total $461 million dollars are not expected to go to CPS.

Adding to the byzantine way that the accounts are handled, an admixture, not to be outdone: the mayor is not authorized to directly control any deposits, despite the fact that he can control the funds, once deposited. In fact, all monies are sent to the country treasurer and the county clerk tells the treasurer where the money will go.

The 2015 TIF report, by way of City Hall, reports that there is a $116 million TIF surplus, but what is not clear is which TIFs contributed to the surplus, since the city does not issue a comprehensive audit. But, the funds are said to be returned to CPS.

The earlier cuts that were announced by Forrest Claypool hit some schools harder than others and while low enrollment was to be one indicator of a cut, that was not always the case.
Working within the government a group of local legislators, aldermen, have proposed a new formula that would increase per pupil funding by at least $1,000,and wants to work with CPS to implement them. “Our children deserve to have small class sizes, teachers who are not afraid of being laid off and schools with enough funding for extracurricular programs and support. For this to be possible, we must increase per pupil funding in Chicago,” said Donna Lechel, a local school council member at Shields Middle School, reported the Sun-Times.
If passed, the “progressive revenue package” would funnel tax increment financing funds to CPS and increase the employee “head tax” and personal property lease tax to generate additional school funding.
On Monday, 10th Ward Alderman, Susan Sadlowski Garza, at a press conference issued a call for transparency ”from CPS Central office and her local school, Jane Addams Elementary. The recent lay­off of over 25 educators from 10th Ward schools have angered the Alderwoman, local teachers and community residents,‘ said in a statement released from her office.
Garza, summing her position, said, “The recent news from the Mayor’s appointed CEO has left me, parents, and students with more questions than answers. Working families are being asked to pay more and more through taxes, fees and fines, yet we are receiving less and less every year. Each year we lose more services. We lost mental health clinics, library hours, and then 50 schools now we’re losing 1,000 CPS  employees.”

The future of the Chicago district remains one big question mark, but for Garza and others, the future, and especially for city students, leaves much to be desired.

Utility hikes to the rescue says Chicago mayor; move seen as less of a political risk

In another desperate attempt to shore up city finances, Chicago City Hall sources, said on Tuesday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to increase the city’s utility taxes to meet yet another pension fund - this time the Municipal Employees Pension which has 71,000 members and $18.6 billion in unfunded liabilities.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that “Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown acknowledged that the city needs “in the ballpark” of $250 million to $300 million in new annual revenue to shore up a Municipal Employees Pension fund with 71,000 members and $18.6 billion in unfunded liabilities.”

The Emanuel administration is loath to add another property tax to property owners, which many have likened to a never ending mortgage payment, yet others have also said that additional property tax increases would be the easiest thing to do - and was even predicted by some city council members, with the last increase.

As the Sun-Times reported: “Last fall, Emanuel persuaded a reluctant City Council to raise property taxes by $588 million for police and fire pensions and school construction. He has agreed to raise property taxes by $250 million more for teacher pensions.”

Predicted this year, “utility taxes and fees on electricity, natural gas and telecommunications will bring in about $441 million — that’s 12 percent of all corporate fund revenue,”and represents low hanging fruit for City Hall accountants.

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Alexandra Holt the city’s budget director, at a luncheon, admitted that she did not know where the money would come from, only saying, “Everything’s on the table and we’ll hopefully be in the position of announcing both the benefit reforms and the funding plan in the coming weeks”

Brown, echoing Holt, said, “Everything is on the table and we’ll be telling you our solution shortly,” she said. “We’re looking at every option. The mayor is committed to putting forth a solution for the Municipal Fund. Right now, we’re publicly considering everything.”

Refusing to comment on the possibility of a utility hike, she would also not commit to how much is needed to even fill the hole. And at one point, she was “Pressed to say precisely how much new revenue is needed, but would only say, “We haven’t concluded the ramp. But it’ll be a ramp similar to what we proposed for Laborers. I don’t have the numbers off the top of my head, but it’s within that ballpark” of $250 million to $300 million a year.

In his luncheon introduction of Holt at the City Club, the mayor boasted about having “the smallest operating shortfall in a decade; about having identified recurring revenue sources to save three of the city’s four pension funds; and about the deal he’s about to announce to put the fourth and largest employee pension funds on a long-term road to solvency.”

Absent from that presentation was the high interest loans that he has been forced to take out, and that have relegated the city’s bond rating to junk status, but in what is now a familiar script, the mayor turns to spin, in a none too obvious slight of hand trick to refocus the attention of observers. But, the Potemkin like disguise is not working as many continue to question his leadership, as the nation’s third largest city veers more, and more, into the red.

To be fair, many of these problems were inherited, but for someone who ran on a platform of change and transparency Emanuel’s style seems more reminiscent of Daley, senior, than that of the liberal progressive that he often likes to portray himself as..

“For the first time, you can actually see the other side of the riverbank,” on pensions that were the “dark cloud” hanging over Chicago when he took office in 2011, he said. Afterward, the mayor made no apologies either for the massive burden already imposed on Chicago taxpayers or for the other shoe that’s about to drop."

Continuing he said, “I didn’t create this problem. We inherited a problem. Every one of the four pensions for the city — police, fire, laborers and municipal — were financially on a track to being insolvent, which means retirees were not gonna get the paycheck,” Emanuel said.

With a somewhat recalcitrant admission of dishonesty -- on both sides, he launched into the hoary, when he added, “Everything we’ve done painstakingly over the years — whether on the operating budget or with the pensions — is what does it take to solve the problem, but allow the economy to still grow? . . . I don’t make light of this. But we had to solve the problem. And we do it in a way that’s fair.”

“An argument can be made that we need to give the property taxpayer a rest for a while before we go back to that well,’ said Ald. Joe Moore, one of the mayor’s staunchest allies said about what are, in fact, regressive taxes, which, as pointed out by David Fernandez, public finance attorney,  inherently fail when people find ways to get around them.

The water grew murky when Moore said, “We have to continue to close our structural deficit and we have a yawning gap in our pension obligations that we need to close. We need to come up with something. . . . Like last year, it’s a range of choices that go between bad and worse. We have to pick our poison.”

Some observers say that what is needed is $961.8 million. A figure that is at odds with the projected actual 2016 contribution of $153.1 million. With total contributions significantly lower, it will be hard for Emanuel to even tread water on this issue.

He also faces the need for legislative approval for any plan to be utilized, “just as the telephone tax increase used to save the Laborers pension fund needed sign-off from the Illinois General Assembly.”

Adding to the earlier obfuscation, on Wednesday, "in a speech to financial investors Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a new utility tax on Chicagoans' water and sewer bills to shore up the largest of the city's ailing pension funds", reported the Chicago Tribune.

"Under Emanuel's proposal, the tax would be phased in over the next four years, with the average homeowners' bill increasing $50 each year until it reaches $200 in the fourth year. The average Chicago homeowner's water and sewer bill is $114.30, billed every other month, city officials have said," reported the paper.

The plan only requires the approval of the Council, not the state, and the diversified risk is seen as less risky, politically, for the mayor; except those in low-income communities.

State statutes also limit the amount that can be raised, with one exception: “According to Civic Federation researchers, the Natural Gas Use Tax appears to be a home rule tax imposed at a rate of $0.063 per therm to generate $37.1 million in 2016. If so, it could be raised without state approval,” reported the Sun-Times.

Finding these funds, and securing pensions, could be the tipping point for Emanuel as he walks a tightrope in his second round dealing with city finances, and the very dangerous ground that lies beneath him.