Illinois Democrat gubernatorial candidates forum nicely, again, almost

IIllinois grabbed national attention, for nearly two years, with the absence of a state budget, and the contentious, and very public, squabbles with Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and the defunding of child care, by Gov. Bruce Rauner, and his refusal to sign an increase in the minimum wage; and these were just some of the issues that emboldened over 44 women’s organizations to hold a forum Saturday, at the Methodist Temple, to address the issues that affect women statewide, before the March primary.

Galvanized in part, by the sexual abuse and harassment news stories, and headlines of celebrity misbehavior, such as Harvey Weinstein, and Charlie Rose, the revelations caused many women to rally in support of those who told their stories.

“The issue of sexual harassment has been part of our agenda since it was created in 2014,” said Chicago Women Taken Action Alliance co-convener Marilyn Katz. She also noted that the forum asked candidates not only to“propose remedies” but to “look at the underlying economic and social issues that place women in vulnerable positions. It’s really not about sex but about power,” and “we are as – if not more concerned with ensuring women have the equalizing power that is ultimately protection.”

While Gov. Rauner and his challenger State Rep. Jeanne Ives were invited, they declined, but accepting were Democratic candidates J.B. Pritzker, Christopher Kennedy, Daniel Biss and Tio Hardiman.

Moderated by local NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern and SEIU Healthcare’s Jaquie Algee, the candidates staked their positions, and experience with women’s issues, and policies that were important to them. Among the groups represented were Affinity, Chicago National Organization for Women, Community Renewal Society, Enlace Chicago, and the National Council of Jewish Women Chicago North Shore.

Fresh off the starting block, in his opening statement, was J.B. Pritzker,, endorsed by Sen. Dick Durbin, and Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who gave his strong and personal history of supporting women, and their right to choose reproductive decisions.

Not to be outdone was Tio Hardiman who also told of his ongoing support for women and his steadfast belief in women’s ability to lead with his choice of running mate Patricia Avery, former head of the NAACP in Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Tio Hardiman

Chris Kennedy, scion of the storied political family, and son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, gave the trajectory of his arrival from Boston to Chicago, “31 years ago to live in Decatur,” to learn about the food industry, and to tackle “the anti hunger program in 1986.”

Pritzker countered that this was “really a question of power,” and the need to “address economic hardship for women ... they need to take power.”  To enthusiastic applause he emphasized that for men, like him, “we believe in you.”

Helping define himself, even more than the only African American candidate, Hardiman claimed “a proven track record of empowering women,” so that they can “not be afraid of losing their jobs, “ to help secure that power.

Kennedy emphasized that during his tenure of heading the Merchandise Mart that supporting women in leadership positions were “a proven part of my track record. At most, one-half of the vice-presidents, were all women.”

Daniel Biss noted that he “wanted to say thank you to all the women who have spoken out, “and if elected [governor] a majority of my cabinet would be women.”

Probably one of the more lasting issues affecting women, in Illinois, as well as the country are reproductive rights, or more specifically, continued federal support for a women’s right to choose, and “codifying the basic principles of Roe v. Wade, in consultation with her healthcare provider, without government intrusion,” a question that all four answered on their candidate survey, in the affirmative.

Kennedy commented that It’s sad to say that we have to fight this, especially on the state level.” Taking another tack, Biss commented that “We need universal health care access, and [the solution] is single-payer to give full access to women’s healthcare, plus mental health.”

Segueing into that Pritzker noted that the best way to “protect women is with the law and pass the ERA; something that I know because I marched with my mother [in support] in the 1970s, and I’ve been standing on this issue for many years.”

With many women working in low-paying jobs, fast food restaurants, and other low paying positions, often heading single parent households, or supporting a low-earning wage earner, the increase to a $15 minimum wage has been a front burner issue for many groups, but Rauner refused to sign this much needed bill and the candidates were impassioned by the need for it to become law.

Kennedy said “You can work fulltime and still be in poverty,” and furthermore, this is an issue “connected to the promise of our country.”

JFK in 1963 signing Equal Pay act

Biss, continuing that theme endorsed Kennedy’s view but added that there is a need “to build a cost of living adjustment into the wage increase,” and change the tipping wage to be more equitable in light of their purchases.

Pritzker continuing in the same vein, said “We need higher wages in the amount that will provide equal pay for equal work,” a long sought after goal for generations of women. Expanding this further, he also noted that the issue “has to have some investment jobs in forgotten neighborhoods.”

Next up was the issue of paid family medical leave, something that many Western Europeans have but has been a point of contention for many in this country, but which Biss notes “should be a reality,” and not having it is just “short of barbaric.”

Of all of the issues, this one garnered the most garnered the most enthusiastic applause from the audience and Ahern had to ask those to save the applause, so that the candidates could be heard, especially when Kennedy said, “this is easy to implement,” and “we can change the paradigm.”

Closely connected to wage parity, is paid child care, something that was cut by Rauner and that sent many families scrambling for replacements to keep their jobs; and Kennedy feels that a $20.00 per child credit could help, not only with this issue, but help stem the tide of out migration from Illinois.

Pritzker feels that it is “unconscionable” to have it and that its absence creates a vacuum.

Close on the heels of this discussion came questions related to immigration and that would strengthen family units and also increase the economic support to families. And, as Pritzker remarked, that “Illinois should be a welcoming state.”

Kennedy emphatically feels that we need to “create a path to citizenship, for those that are vulnerable to ICE raids.”

Rauner has been adamant since he took office that the state needs to adopt his so-called “Turnaround Agenda” that includes, a right to work provision, where those working in a union shop are not compelled to pay union dues.

Pritzker who has the endorsement of the AFL-CIO dubbed it “the right to work for less money,” and Kennedy labelled it “not only a disaster, but a distraction” by the governor, presumably to mask his inadequacies, that even the GOP house organ, the National Review, which gave him the title of the worst Republican governor in the nation.

In a not unsurprising list of agreements the candidates agreed on much they felt was onerous: the Republican Tax Reform bill that Biss called “a scam,” to Kennedy saying that it is “bad for Illinois as well as the country.”

All were in favor of limiting charter schools, such as Kennedy, and Biss who called for a moratorium on them, with Pritzker deploring the closing of four schools in low-income Englewood, and while noting, “they deserve a new high school, this is not the way to do it [by closing schools].

There was divergence on legalization of marijuana with Pritzker saying “legalize it and tax it, the $750 million [in potential taxes] could ensure safety and quality.”

Hardiman demurred saying he did not want “people to say that Tio Hardiman said it was okay to smoke pot, and that it is the gateway for hard core drug use,” something that most epidemiologists, and medical researchers have denied.

Kennedy seemed more cautious than on his website and cited a conversation that he had with Colorado’s Gov. Hickenlooper about packaging that might lure young children and that “the THC count is higher than seen previously.”

Biss on the other hand spoke of the unequal sentencing with black and white offenders, even with the new ticketing guidelines, smacked of  “racial injustice.”

While the nature of a forum is not a debate, and with much that was agreed on, it seemed as if the near 90 minute presentation towards a large crowd, over 1,000 might draw to a peaceful and collegial conclusion. Expected not seen, when unexpectedly, in an offhand remark about Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and that Pritzker was his favored candidate, to which he replied, “That’s hypocrisy, if you want to see the man that voted for Madigan, look at the end of the table!”

Update: Monday Dec.12, 2017

"During and for an hour after the conclusion of the event, a non-scientific straw poll was conducted to determine whom, after hearing the candidates, attendees and others would vote for if the election were held that day. They were asked to choose among the four candidates at the forum, though they could also select “none of the above” (that option received .4 per cent of the vote).

The straw poll taken between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday garnered 554 votes, with Daniel Biss receiving 256 votes or 46%; JB Pritzker receiving 161 votes or 29 %; Chris Kennedy receiving 129 or 23% of the vote and Tio Hardiman trailing with 4 votes or .7 percent. Four people chose ‘none of the above’.",  in a statement from Katz

Democratic gubernatorial candidates shine at LGBTQ forum

As the Illinois gubernatorial election grows closer, the increase in exposure among the candidates, especially, from the Democrats has increased, in their desire to remove and replace the much dreaded, Bruce Rauner, the current Republican incumbent. With the nearly two year impasse that the state had no budget, and the near constant squabble between he and Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, plus his anti-union efforts have brought this blue state to the brink for those that oppose him.

Nowhere was this more in evidence, than on Wednesday evening, when the Democratic candidates gathered once again, after a previous forum sponsored by local and statewide women’s groups, to present their views in an unscripted live format, this time by the Illinois LGBTQ Forum, held at the historic Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago’s South Loop.

Present were State Sen. Daniel Biss, Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools Bob Daiber, anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman, businessman Chris Kennedy, and businessman J.B. Pritzker, who in a 90 minute session were asked questions that by Illinois LGBTQ leaders that wee based on issues collected on an online form in recent weeks from community members throughout the state.

This was the first LGBTQ forum of its kind, and the packed church reflected both the purpose and the content, as Anthony Galloway, director of civic engagement, for Equality Illinois, gave the introduction and welcome followed by the pastor, The Rev. Dr. David M. Neff, who affirmed the church’s commitment that all are welcome and affirmed the statement on same sex marriage, which states, in part, “The Session of Second Presbyterian Church unanimously approves hosting, conducting and blessing same-gender marriages. We offer our pastoral staff to fully celebrate the inclusive love of God for all people, without exceptions,” and jokingly said, “well even bake the cake,” in a reference to a case coming before the United States Supreme Court.

What the evening revealed was a thoughtful brace of candidates that were firmly and unequivocally committed to full and equal rights for the LGBTQ community, with long-time community activist, Tio Hardiman,  proclaiming, “I've got your back,” to Daniel Biss, emphasizing that both the gay and non-gay communities have “shared values” and that protections for LGBT will take priority and that should also be “put in the [state] constitution”.

Chris Kennedy, businessman, and former head of the Chicago Merchandise Mart, and the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights champion, mentioned that he was “one of 11 kids, with over 50 cousins, and that some members of our family are LGBT, and that when I was at the Mart, in the 80s, we were fully committed to the the values of helping those with HIV.”

Bob Daiber, a professional educator, emphasized that he was committed to the “rights of all students, and especially transgender students; and all people should be treated with dignity and fairness,” and that he wanted to create a vision of a united Illinois,and what it should look like in the 21st century.

Health questions, abounded, and especially with the Trump Administration’ desire to destroy the Affordable Care Act, colloquially, known as Obamacare, and it's especially deleterious effect on the health needs of LGBTQ people. Simply put, “A sweeping 2016 final rule from the Obama administration prohibited healthcare providers and insurers who receive federal money from denying treatment or coverage to anyone based on sex, gender identity, or termination of pregnancy, among other conditions.

It also required doctors and hospitals to provide “medically necessary” services to transgender individuals, as long as those services were the same ones provided to others,” reported The Hill, in August of this year.

“That rule was challenged in court by a group of Christian providers called the Franciscan Alliance. They argue the rule forces insurers to pay for abortions and compels doctors to perform gender transition services, even if the services are against their medical judgment,” they also noted.

What happened afterward, was that “The Alliance won that case, and a Texas district court judge issued a nationwide injunction blocking the gender identity and pregnancy termination provisions from taking effect.”

Trump’s Health and Human Service department decided not to appeal the ruling. And, “on Aug. 4, the Department of Justice, which represented HHS in the lawsuit, “said it was reviewing a draft proposed rule that had already cleared HHS.”

Of particular importance is that the Obama administration extended Medicaid coverage to those that were more than 133 percent of the poverty line and covers more than  40 percent of people with HIV in the nation, and in combination with those contributes to more than 30 percent of dollars for treatment.

In fact, the Washington Blade in an interview with “Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, said many people with HIV/AIDS depend on Medicaid — both for drug and doctor care — because “a lot of people with HIV are very poor,” raising fears about how Trump might undo efforts to address the epidemic.”

Hardiman mentioned that there were “900,000 cases of HIV”, not to mention the population in the Illinois Department of Corrections. And, he added, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s closure of one-half of the city’s mental health clinics.

J.B. Pritzker remarked that “cuts in services to some that were not good to begin with,”: have added fuel to the fire, stoked largely by Rauner’s partner, Donald Trump and his vice-president, Mike Pence.”

Nearly all of the candidates echoed each other in their desire to see parity for gay and lesbian youth, as evidenced by one of the questions where a mother had deep concern for her identified daughter.  Biss noted that so many LGBT youth, often kicked out of the house, “end up in the courts, instead of with the schools,” and we need to prevent that from happening.

Also all of them agreed that there needs to be targeted programs to prevent teen homelessness, and what Kennedy has called before the largest shelter for them, the CTA Red line.

Kennedy, on the other hand, wants to not only prevent that but “every parent [in Illinois] should feel that they are in the best state to raise their kids, and that they can say, ‘I’m so lucky to be here [raising] them’, and that ‘they don’t have to move to the coast at 18 years,” to get a better life.”

Perhaps the most riveting part of the evening came with the discussion, and perhaps revelation, that there were 267,000 [undocumented] immigrants to the U.S. that identified as LGBT, and all agreed, especially Daiber, that they needed a path to citizenship.”

Pritzker commented that “we have a government who has a history of fighting against gays and lesbains and undocumented immigrants,and Kennedy questioned, “how do we make a path for citizenship a national movement.”

He also said, in summary, “any of us on this stage could do a better job than Bruce Rauner,” and while that well may be true, it is forums like these plus another women’s forum, sponsored by the Chicago Women’s Forum, scheduled for this Saturday that will help make the case.

Chicago Mayor Emanuel and CPS schedule more school closings

“Now I got to go to a new school where I don’t know anybody, said young Jaquan Douglas, a junior at Harper school on Chicago’s South Side in response to the news that his school was closing and that he would have to go to a new one after it was announced that CPS was proposing closing four schools last week, in the Englewood neighborhood, with the goal of building a brand new $85 million school, to provide enhanced learning, said school leadership.

After the near deluge of bad publicity from the 2013 closing of 50 schools, the largest in Chicago history, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has now chosen a different tack to merge, consolidate, and build, plus solicit community input, in a series of public meetings to be held in January, with a school board vote in February.

The latter is somewhat dubious as to how much value, or input, will be heeded, but in an age-old Washington sleight of hand trick, it holds out promise, but in the end, delivers little, since the plan is already cast.

“We do need to open this up for more public debate and discourse,” CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said. “A comprehensive school management plan is needed, and that’s something that we have to keep working towards.”

Of particular interest to Emanuel is to not to alienate the black community any more than he did with the 2013 closings, or the suppression of the Laquan McDonald tape, showing the young black teemager getting shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer; and which after a court-ordered release, there were demonstrations and calls for his resignation.

The recent news pitts school economics against demographic changes that have seen an outward move from the city, mostly from African American families seeking solace from gun violence, crime, and depressed quality of life.

One glaring exception is the conversion of the National Teachers Academy, an award winning elementary school, whose students score high on standardized test, is known for its racial and economic diversity, among other characteristics, into a high school.

“NTA students would move into buildings controlled by the nearby South Loop Elementary School, which will take over NTA’s attendance boundary. That plan continues to face stiff opposition from a well-organized group of NTA parents and teachers.”

“No one is going to argue integration is not a good thing. Integration is a great thing,” said Elisabeth Greer, NTA’s school council chair, after a protest in front of campus on Friday morning. “But there is natural integration, and then there is, essentially, forced busing — which brings two communities together by force.”

CPS plans to spend $85,000 on a racial “equity analysis” of the plan, Jackson said.

That alone makes observers, lawmakers, and longtime residents to try and discern a pattern here. Some are looking at increasing gentrification as the reason, others see a misguided use of public funds, and others sheer inertia in a system overrun by politics.

It’s easy to explain the zero enrollment at some schools, or the decreased enrollment at others, which some observers did not consider as burdensome as four years ago, when enrollment was greater; yet these recent moves send a mixed message. For example Manley has a recent enrollment of 95, but there was 500 total enrollment in 2013. Some critics argue why wasn’t it closed much earlier?

Numbers alone do give some sign for action, for example, in a study done by local PBS affiliate, WTTW, 32,000 students left the system; some for South and West suburbs, presumably for better living conditions, that might also include better schools. And, some might have migrated to nearby charter schools.

Some reported figures decrease the numbers to 20,000, in the nation’s third largest public school system, but many cannot agree as to how the handle the decrease: merge, close, or build anew seem to be the only current options, in the lack of a cohesive plan.

Paradoxically, there have also been 39 new schools in the last five years, since the closing; and five of them are alternative schools.

Where does the money come from, many Chicagoans are asking, from this cash-strapped system? According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “About $12 million was put aside in capital funding from a new capital tax, but that won’t cover all the costs, CPS spokesman Michael Passman said.”

“But three open-enrollment neighborhood schools will use a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to turn into magnets: Jungman and William H. Brown Elementary School, 54 N. Hermitage, both in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and Claremont Academy Elementary School, 2300 W. 64th St. Jungman, which has CPS’ second-best Level 1 rating, will remain a neighborhood school and offer extra spots through a lottery,” the paper also noted.

Also unveiled were plans to open two selective enrollment K-8 campuses next fall, one on the site of a former charter school near the Bronzeville community, the other in a former Catholic Archdiocese school on the Southwest Side next fall.

“Across Chicago we are expanding quality school options, ensuring every student has access to a world-class academic experience and providing every family with a range of quality options for their children,” Emanuel said in a statement, mixing the ying with the yang, say his critics.

Perhaps as an indicator, “All three serve predominantly low-income children, but no guarantees exist for current students or children in surrounding neighborhoods. Magnets tend to be wealthier and whiter than CPS as a whole, as do classical schools.”

Pleased by the decision, is “Cederrall Petties, principal at Earle STEM Elementary School in Englewood, said he’s excited about the plans for the new Englewood high school. “We will have a state-of-the-art high school built in our community that will afford our students with the opportunity to continue their educational experience,” he said.

“The Chicago Teachers Union has said the district would be better served providing more money for the four schools it plans to close. Reported CBS local affiliate, CBS Chicago, “This is an outrage,” said CTU staff coordinator Jackson Potter. “You can’t begrudge people for wanting something better, but that’s precisely why we need to invest in schools like Robeson, TEAM Englewood, Harper. We can’t abandon Englewood.”

One overlooked aspect with the desegregation from predominantly black and brown students to schools that are less so, is having students traveling through dangerous areas pockmarked by gang violence to reach their new schools, that has some wondering of the logic of CPS leadership; especially since it faced this same problem before, and had to hire people to protect the children, as they travelled to new schools.

Next up for financial consideration are so-called classical schools, that will require minimum test scores for admission, and “CPS is covering the cost associated with the new classical schools with Capital Improvement Tax funds. The district said it had budgeted roughly $12 million of borrowed money for the cost of the classical schools, but that it expected to spend more on both projects. The district is leasing the St. Turibius building [used for one] from the archdiocese, a district spokesman said, at an annual cost of $414,000,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

Reaction from the Chicago Teachers Union,  was predictable, with their prior statements, and this news brought no exception: “This is a mayor who has done nothing to address the needs of our struggling neighborhoods, or the needs of the Black and Latino students whose schools he chronically underfunds and neglects,” union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said in a statement. “His actions are contemptible.”

Preckwinkle vows to fight to retain her Cook County presidency

After the defeat of the Cook County sweetened beverage tax, what the Chicago Tribune called a “cockamamie” tax, Board President Toni Preckwinkle proclaimed that she would issue a series of severe, even draconian cuts that would be at least tantamount to 11 percent across the board; she then later relented saying that she was only responsible for 8 percent of them.

With a looming deadline of Nov. 30, to pass a budget, and dire warnings from State's’ Attorney Kim Foxx, and Sheriff Tom Dart, that even 10 percent cuts would jeopardize public safety, and threaten an “already depleted office,” negotiations began “to save at least 85 jobs in the Cook County Sheriff's office, and the Public Guardian's’ office,” reported the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Through shared sacrifice and cooperation we were able to develop and pass a balanced budget,” President Preckwinkle said in a statement this past Tuesday. “We have had to make exceedingly difficult but necessary choices, but we have met our fiscal obligation to the people of Cook County. While at the same time protecting key public health and public safety services.”

In total there are 300 layoffs coming as a holiday gift to long-time employees, some with nearly two decades of service.  Also, on the chopping block are the closing of a North Side court house, and including some in the Cook County Assessor's office, the Board of Review, the Chief Judge, the sheriff's office and others, said local NBC affiliate Channel 5.

The deadline for bringing petitions for all of the board positions, including the president, came on Monday, and heading the line was Preckwinkle herself, in her trademark solid colored suit, and sensible shoes, with bales of petitions, at her side, containing more signatures than she actually needed, and vowing to fight off contenders, as she gained the coveted top spot on the ballot.

A popular board president, she gained an immeasurable amount of support nearly seven years ago, as she defeated her predecessor, Todd Stroger, and his sky high sales taxes,and those opposed to his dynastic hold on county politics. She also became the darling of many liberals with her supportive stance for fair sentencing guidelines, and her support for dialing back jail time for low-level offenders, caught by police with marijuana.

Preckwinkle might have continued riding this wave of popularity, had it not been for the tax, and a somewhat lame projection, which few believed: that she was doing it to improve children’s health. She was later forced to reveal that it had been a revenue builder all along.

Another sustained injury is that Preckwinkle brought back the higher sales tax that she ran against, and now at 10.25 percent, the area holds the dubious distinction of having one of the highest in the country.

“I have a strong record and I’m going to run on it,” Preckwinkle said while talking to reporters before filing.

She faces no strong opponent and there are some that would like to see her defeated, while others, fearing her powerful political supporters, do not want to risk their reputations, such as, some have said of RIchard Boykin, a frequent critic.

Now, smelling blood in the water are Stroger, and old-school veteran, Bob Fioretti, to get the top job that serves the county’s 5.2 million residents. Yet, uncharacteristically, the former was not at the County Clerk’s office, with some saying that he did not get the required 8,326 signatures.

Following Preckwinkle are a string of names, some familiar, and others less so, all who have seen their vote, or their opponent's vote as commissioner, as a litmus test of reform in this populous county, that contains all of Chicago. That tax also saw some ironies in partisanship, in this bluest of blue states, where it brought about 63 percent of Democrats in support, with 57 percent of independents, and only 44 percent of Republicans. Adding even more irony is that all but four of the 17 elected commissioners are Democrats, bucking a statewide trend.

That could change, or even remain the same with the March elections, and with the decision of Jerry “Iceman” Butler, a 32 year veteran, not to run, and opening up a wide berth for five candidates from the South Side.

Political alliances rebound, in nearly a cyclical fashion, with Chicago area politics, and this election proves to be no exception, with Edwin Moody, (who voted for the beverage tax) and who is also a political operative for the powerful, and indomitable, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan.

He was chosen last year, to fill the seat of  the late Commissioner Jean Patricia Murphy, who died of cancer; and her daughter Patricia Jean Murphy is also slated to run.

Joining them is John Ritchey who opposed the tax and wanted to fill the county coffers with money from a proposal to legalize marijuana; he is a Republican.
Nipping at the heels of the pack is Chicago Teacher Union organizer Brandon Johnson, who is after Boykin’s seat and has said, “Unfortunately, what you’re hearing from Richard is about cuts, closures, consolidations and efficiencies,” and “He’s going after working-class people. Those are the talking points of the Republican Party.”

Longtime local pol, the avuncular Larry Suffredin, from the Northern suburban lakefront communities, now is being challenged by DePaul University student Barbara Amiwala; Suffredin was one of two commissioners who voted for the beverage tax.

“Also in the line that snaked through the basement of the County Building downtown was Assessor Joseph Berrios, who doubles as county Democratic chairman. Berrios has drawn a primary challenge from Fritz Kaegi, an asset manager who has been hitting the incumbent over what he says are problems in the tax assessment system highlighted this year by the Tribune,” they reported.

“People are dissatisfied with the corruption they see in the process, that’s in the pay-to-play and the nepotism, the favoritism and the indifference to neighborhoods that have been impacted by the housing crisis,” Kaegi said.

Gosh, does this sound like Chicago?

Price tag maybe too high for a Chicago bid for Amazon HQ2

While Adam had Eve to pluck the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, it seems that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has all manner of help to pluck the corporate fruit of Amazon’s second world headquarters, but critics are saying that there was no reptilian voice urging him on, only the desire for legacy, and perhaps a tiny bit of hubris.

With the Oct. 19 deadline looming, Emanuel and even his arch rival Gov. Bruce Rauner, have held hands to lure the world’s retail giant, ready to seemingly pounce on the lucrative needs of worldwide retail, a place where everyone from the suburban millennial to the future Queen of England, the Duchess of Cambridge, seems to shop.

In a story that has legs, this is the best for most of the nation, as they have answered the Requests for Proposals from the corporate giant, and its CEO Jeff Bezos, with the promise of jobs, and ancillary services and prestige.

Cities like Chicago are looking at a $5 billion investment,and 50,000 jobs; and Emanuel has touted the city as having the right combination of “talent, transportation, technology,” as the draw.

He has also leaned heavily on clout rich people such as lawyer Jamie Gorelick, Environmental Systems Design head, Zackery House, and employer food provider Dustin Lasky to provide a plan and financing, and has scoured various sites for consideration, including the grand Art Deco style, old Post Office Building, or a site near the ever so chic River North, with a twinned tower of residential and corporate tenants, in a mix that some say suggests Buck Rogers meets Frank Lloyd Wright.

Waggish critics aside, the most pressing concern is meeting Bezos’ conditions for consideration, and that includes a prominent request for incentives,  that is described as a “significant factor in the decision making process,” in other words big bucks, be it in infrastructure breaks, or most seen as tax breaks.

For a city that has been reeling in red ink for several years as it struggles to pay for earlier pension holidays for teachers, municipal workers, firefighter and police, how much of a tax break can be proffered to Bezos, when Emanuel closed over 50 schools in predominantly black neighborhoods, and mental health clinics in his first term, and the largest property tax increase in modern Chicago history?

Not to mention a public school deficit that has, despite heavy borrowing, still need $500 million dollars and that with a new state funding formula cut millions of dollars from South and West Side communities, that just happen to witness some of the most violent crime.

Some are saying that this is the new definition of bailout a term that has been bandied about the state for several years, and where each penny gained seems to tie the city to the rails for help, like a damsel in distress, as she pleads for mercy from the Eastern banking elite, who gloat over the interest Chicago has paid to keep the doors open on the schools alone.

All in all, Chicago property owners can expect to see an addition to the already $543 million in taxes, they currently pay. Not to mention, the phase in of the burgeoning contributions to police and firefighters pension fund, pegged at 10 percent, and even those living in the North and South Suburbs can see a surge of 6.5 and 3.9 percent.

These are part of four-year increases set to expire in 2019, but more will continue when the ARC payments begin; these are formally known as Actuarially Required Contributions, which require payment from the city to the pension fund while the city sets aside enough money for future payments.”

Can Emanuel afford what some are saying is a bailout of $2.25 billion while slashing public service and hiking taxes? For example, a 28 percent fee for dialing the emergency number 911, or increases in water and sewage, just to ‘stuff billions more into Jeff Bezos’s pockets says Anwar Patel, head of a liberal umbrella group called Grassroots Collaborative.

“Without a trained workforce ready to take these tech jobs, they will go to transplants. One only has to look at San Francisco — a shell of its former self, full of businesses and housing developments for the wealthy but lacking basic amenities for the poor — to see what a tech-company paradise looks like,” claimed Jacobin Magazine.

If Chicago wins the contest, costs in increased housing and services will force many from the city, who has already faced a significant population drain due to a myriad of taxes, including shopping bags, and a recent sweetened beverage tax, due to expire on Dec. 1 after loud protests to Cook County commissioners.

To add insult to injury, “More recently, reports have surfaced showing that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Forrest Claypool, an Emanuel appointee, cut the special-education program budget by $29 million. At the same time, he’s trying to increase payments to outside consultants to a total of $28 million: almost enough to fully restore special-education services to the schools,” the magazine noted.

Drawing a cautionary note is State Rep. Kelly Cassidy who in a press release said that she has “introduced a resolution and a companion bill requiring a measure of common sense in our State’s pursuit of Amazon.com, Inc.’s new headquarters.”

“Just recently, the State of Illinois in conjunction with the City of Chicago responded to Amazon’s“request for proposals” with an offer of tax and land incentives. Though the full details of this offer have not been released to the public responsible for subsidizing it, initial reports place the total at several billion dollars. HR655 urges caution and requests public hearings before any final deal is struck, complete with expert testimony demonstrating to the public whether this is an economically effective use of their money.”

“Job growth and retention is crucial”,  Cassidy said. “But fighting with taxpayer money to win a bid from a corporation that has absolutely no financial need for subsidization is a dangerous path to tread.”

Citing previous examples she cautioned that “Illinois has been burned in deals like this before. In 2011, Illinois gave Sears $275 million to keep its corporate headquarters in the state. Only a few months later, it laid off 100 workers. Illinois taxpayers filled the corporate coffers and actually lost jobs in the process.”

Cassidy stressed that “Capping subsidies at $50,000 ensures at the very least that Illinois won’t get stuck in a deal it regrets for decades. But even so, public hearings should be required before any final deal so Illinoisans know exactly what we’re signing up for.”

Improved bond ratings for CPS still show need for better grades

In what many are considering to be a step in the right direction, two bond rating agencies have given thumbs up to the recent Illinois school funding formula, with reservations but praise nevertheless.  S&P Global Ratings “revised the outlook on the Chicago Board of Education’s junk credit rating to stable from negative on Tuesday, citing a boost in state and local funding for the cash-strapped school district,” reported Reuters.

“The outlook revision is based on our view of the district’s higher state aid revenue as a result of the state’s new funding formula, and lower pension costs, with the state now picking up more of the employer pension contribution, and the district’s ability to extend a higher property tax levy to support the pension contribution,” S&P analyst Jennifer Boyd said in a statement.

Last Friday, Fitch upgraded the Chicago Public School bond rating from B-plus to BB-minus, again attributing the new funding formula as the reason and also stating that Chicago Public Schools will still be very dependent on borrowing money; a fact that swells the deficit due to high interest payments.

They also stress that while they feel that the upgrade is warranted, but the “potential volatility of state aid,” is still a factor, and as S&P Global notes will still be “dependent on external cash,” as Fitch noted, even as critics bemoan the specter of even further tax increases despite the historic property tax, that was passed, last year under the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Others are sanguine such as Civic Federation President Laurence Msall who also notes that the rating is still beneath investment grade.

Earlier during the year it was announced that CPS would need even more money, $269 million to be exact, which of course meant more taxes. As CPS noted in its October statement: “The initial FY18 budget also included $269 million in local resources to address the district’s budget gap. As a result of both the new funding law and management efficiencies taken by CPS, the district now requires significantly fewer resources from the city and will fully resolve the budget gap through the following steps:

-$130 million increase to CPS’ property tax levy for Chicago teachers’ pensions
-$80 million in City of Chicago funding for school security and student safety costs
-$55 million in debt refunding savings and purchasing savings
-$4 million in additional state aid above the amount assumed in the original budget”

As we noted before, “Expected is a tax increase of $130 million per year, yet CPS officials claim that they always want to separate pension expenses from operating, but that is still under discussion.

All in all, Chicago property owners can expect to see an addition to the already $543 million in taxes, they currently pay. Not to mention, the phase in of the burgeoning contributions to police and firefighters pension fund, pegged at 10 percent, and those living in the North and South Suburbs can see a surge of 6.5 and 3.9 percent.

These are part of four-year increases set to expire in 2019, but more will continue when the ARC payments begin; these are formally known as Actuarially Required Contributions, which require payment from the city to the pension fund while the city sets aside enough money for future payments.”

Critical opinion is divided over whether or not the good outweighs the bad, that is the very high price tag that Illinois, and especially Chicago residents, who are now on the hook for even more, and that does not include the $75 million dollar tax break given to the wealthy, under the guise of scholarships, but that as most define it as a voucher program.

The hold harmless provision, while pleasing to liberals, has become anathema to conservatives, especially those those seething that Gov. Bruce Rauner signed what they are calling a bailout for CPS.

In a recent blog post the conservative Illinois Policy railed at it in a litany of abuse, and called for more school closings for what they say are underutilized buildings. Here is what they are saying:

“It’s easy to see how some of those bailout elements are playing out by looking at CPS’ annual enrollment. The new formula forces state taxpayers to pay for CPS’ inefficient and underutilized schools.

CPS is shrinking. Its student enrollment is projected to fall by another 8,000 this year, according to the Chicago Tribune. That’s on top of last year’s loss of nearly 11,000 students.

In fact, CPS’ student enrollment fell 13 percent between its last peak in 2002 and 2016 – a loss of over 57,000 students. And with the city’s overall population declining as well, there is no reason to believe the loss of students won’t continue.

A decline in the number of students should logically result in a smaller amount of total state aid for the district. But thanks to the state’s new education funding formula, CPS won’t lose a dime in state funding, no matter how many students it loses.

That’s because of the “hold harmless” rule in the new funding formula that says no district can ever get less money from the state than it did the year before.”

Others, especially the Chicago Teachers Union, feel that the new budget proposal from Emanuel takes away from the education of black and brown students, who are its majority, and adds further to the debacle of the 50 school closings by Emanuel, four  years ago, in their neighborhoods.

In her address to the Chicago Board of Education, President Karen Lewis said, “Rather than holding schools harmless, as the new state law does, the mayor’s and this board’s budgeting system punishes low-income schools and further attacks neighborhoods already subject to the wholesale elimination of affordable housing, widespread unemployment, and a surge in violent crime.”

“Mayor Emanuel’s budget address is built on fiction and spin instead of the hard facts. First, it’s fiction that Chicago’s public schools do better under this budget. In fact, Emanuel’s school budgets have cut hundreds of millions of dollars from neighborhood schools and angled to enact policies that short-change students—especially Black and Latino schools,” CTU noted in an earlier statement.

“The result has been extreme shortages of guidance counselors, school librarians, teacher assistants and school social workers at a time of record violence and ever-increasing demands on teachers and school staff. Emanuel’s school bosses, for example, worked secretly to rob special education students of support, deny them a federally guaranteed equal education and use bogus statistics as the basis for harsh attacks on our most vulnerable students,” said CTU Vice-President Jesse Sharkey”

Using corporate money, for education, and social services can be a risk, especially for Chicago, to address its huge pension deficits, and perhaps no where is this more clearly seen than in the decrease in funding for special education, that makes the improved bond ratings, and the new funding formula unhelpful.

CTU is referring to “A WBEZ investigation into that 2016 overhaul found officials relied on a set of guidelines — developed behind closed doors and initially kept secret — that resulted in limiting services for special education students, services like busing, one-on-one aides, and summer school. This overhaul was orchestrated by outside auditors with deep ties to CPS CEO Forrest Claypool. They had no expertise in special education.”

Lewis has said, “Even with all the school-level cuts embedded in this proposed budget, and with prior rounds of cuts remaining unaddressed, the budget still relies on more than $500 million in phantom revenue.

Even after accounting for additional funding CPS hopes to get from the state from the passage of SB1, their budget will still have a gaping hole. Duly noted. CTU can honestly state that “This fragile budget is also patched together by unsustainable short-term borrowing.”

Here is a history of just that:

“In FY2015, CPS had a $700 million credit line, in FY 2016, CPS had a $1 billion credit line, In FY 2016, CPS spent $35 million just to pay the interest expense on maintaining their credit line, in FY 2017, CPS had a $1.5 billion credit line, in FY 2017, CPS spent $35 million just to pay the interest expense on maintaining its credit lines.”

Looking at the present: “in FY 2018, CPS plans to rely on a $1.5 billion credit line,” and to make matters worse, “the district is already relying on short-term borrowing to open the school year, with $400 million in borrowing to cover delayed state grants from the last fiscal year.”

In addition, Lewis points out that “District high schools are again taking the brunt of the impact. High schools will lose nearly $15 million, or a 2.3 percent cut. District schools stand to lose a total of 1 percent, or more than $18 million in funding from their final FY2017 budgets, but this masks the steep declines that are happening across many schools.”

Especially hard hit are South Side schools, still recovering from “budget reductions of $6.8 million from their final FY 2017 budgets. The 10 high schools in those networks are losing $3.4 million overall, “ she continued.

In light of the increased violence in these neighborhoods associated with economic impoverishment,  and disinvestment, these reductions further disenfranchise those students that want a solid education to compete with their peers, for a better economic future.

As we’ve noted before, the new funding formula came with a very high price tag, and now a peek under the tent, shows a debilitating tax burden, that creates a hardship for specific neighborhoods, already under siege, both within and without.