In 2018 Chicago was at the crossroads: politics, money, and fed raids

2018 was a year that Chicago lost more than it gained in almost every area: population, revenue, (other than taxes), the continued erosion of confidence in public officials, dents in public education, and personal safety.

First, and foremost, was the startling news, in September, that Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not going to run for reelection, seemingly, because he saw the writing on the wall, and it was not a good script: the political fallout after the Laquan McDonald shooting, and the infamous police videotape that critics said he suppressed, with the help of former states Attorney, Anita Alvarez, until a judge ordered its release; and, all ending with a tattered reputation, and a loss of confidence, from many residents, especially from African Americans, who have repeatedly called for his resignation.

With the trial verdict pending of McDonald’s shooter, Jason Van Dyke, the city was tense and relentless, and there were calls from activists, nation wide, to come to Chicago, in a show of defiance and solidarity, and many expected violence.

In sum, perhaps, and fearing the spectacle of street rioting, and noisy demonstrations, filling the national media, Emanuel bade his adieu, and still others, without evidence, saying that his former boss Barack Obama advised him to do so.

Emanuel was taking heat on many sides, but also for becoming Version 2.0 of the Daley mayors, both father and son, replete with an ironclad will, and a rubber stamp city council.  And, adding to the list of complaints, for his critics, was that he was holding fast to Tax Increment Financing monies, as a slush fund, as his predecessors had done.

Going even further, there was a feeding frenzy, when private emails of Emanuel were released, after a lawsuit by the Better Government Association  and reported by a Chicago Tribune investigative report, and the Chicago Sun-Times, as evidence of influence peddling.

Here they all come

Emanuel’s  decision, not to seek reelection, opened a floodgate of mayoral candidates, mostly familiar names to any Chicagoan, including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, ex police chief Garry McCarthy and some old school names, such as Paul Vallas and Gary Chico, plus Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who later dropped out.

City cynics have labelled them as beholding to the machine, while stating that they have no ties to established politicians, such as Ed Burke and notably after the Fed raid of his city hall and ward offices there were predictions, by some, that he would  skate away unscathed, with others saying, it was a move, by the Feds, to clean up our city’s legendary corruption.

But many of the above mentioned candidates had long-term ties to him, and all were noticeably quiet, after the event, except, Lori Lightfoot, who gave it to the press, straight, when she said: “It seems all these other folks are running for cover and don’t want to talk about him, but frankly, that underscores the fact that we’ve got different factions of the political machine manifested in Mendoza, Preckwinkle, [Bill] Daley and Chico and others who don’t want to rock the boat because they are very much wedded to the status quo.”

Preckwinkle through her spokesperson said that she did not know Burke, yet the Trib, revealed that Burke had thrown a recent fundraiser for her at this South Side home, a move that Tribune columnist Kristen McQueary called in a recent Op-ed piece, an “anointment.”

As to be expected, once the candidates amassed the required 25,000 ballot signatures came charges, and counter charges, of fraudulent and questionable signatures, with Preckwinkle leading the pack, only to later back down, as the designated, some say, self-designated, front runner.

Notably, in a race featuring prominent women, the back and forth among them seemed to be bad form, but the fight was on, and the battle not yet won but “Lightfoot called the move a win for the democratic process, and predicted Preckwinkle’s attempts to knock candidates out of the race will backfire with Chicago voters by showing her to be “a party boss” rather than a progressive, reported the Tribune.

“What it’s done, I think, is give me an opportunity to demonstrate to people all over the city that the Toni Preckwinkle they may have been nostalgic for, that presented herself back in the day as a reformer, is gone,” Lightfoot said outside the hearing room in the basement of the George W. Dunne Cook County Office Building downtown.

Shots were also fired, from Preckwinkle, to Mendoza, even after she ended the challenge to her signatures, saying through a spokesperson, that the latter was ill-prepared for the challenges of the mayoral office.

Issuing a Parthian shot, Mendoza shot back via her campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, framing the challenge as yet another machine political tactic:

“Despite what boss Preckwinkle hoped, there will be an election and voters will hold her accountable for her record of raising taxes first and providing transparency last,” DeMont said, and added, that “Her political games are exactly why Chicago needs a mayor focused on the next generation, instead of just the next four years.”

Taking some heat after news of the fundraiser and Burke’s appearance at Mandoza's wedding reception, they both decided to not spend, monies given to them by Burke, and instead donated them to nonprofits, and the families of fallen police officers, but, for many, the damage was done.

Still crying broke, Chicago is singing the pension blues

Not to be outdone, by any one person, or events, was the dark cloud of city finances, notably pension obligations for firefighters and police, and the decision of Emanuel not to float a 10 billion bond, or did he?

When the idea became news, his critics accused him of kicking the can down the road, for his successor to deal with. But later there were rumors, to maybe adopt it, or at least, some of it, only to not entirely disown it, and then later to maybe keep it.

“Chicago's four pension systems are about $28 billion short of promised benefits, prompting Emanuel's financial team to consider a risky fix: borrowing more than $10 billion by issuing bonds to help lower that debt.”

Crain’s Chicago, then shared an article from Bloomberg Financial News, on its website, who said it is “a well tried tactic, and one that has met with success, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, which found that governments on the whole came out ahead by doing so. But there’s a big caveat: Those that sold so-called pension obligation bonds after the dot-com and housing bubbles found themselves deeper in the hole when stock prices collapsed.”

Considering the volatility of the bullish market, it seems like a risky proposition, and "Historically, the timing of pension obligation bonds to seize the right window has played out fairly poorly," said Dora Lee, vice president at Belle Haven Investments. "Right now, going into 2019 and 2020, it doesn’t look like you’ll have the stock market that will be able to generate the returns necessary to make it economically feasible."

Crime lessens, then increases, but still higher than in other major cities

Crime, a major problem, for many years, in Chicago, has the good news of an abatement: 4th quarter results from the Pew Research Center, based on FBI reports showed, 1,900, and the label of “murder capital”, on a per capita basis, cannot be hung around the neck of Chicago, with Baltimore leading, followed by St. Louis.

Chicago, according to early data, showed a crime drop to 18.1 percent, and the Chicago Sun-Times reported in September that “Chicago saw 765 murders in 2016, the most in two decades. In 2017 that number dropped to 653 — a rate of about 24 murders for every 100,000 residents. That’s a drop in the city’s murder rate of 14.6 percent, outpacing the 1.5 percent drop nationwide.”

Among cities of comparable size the reduction in New York was the most dramatic, and “Even if 2018 [Chicago] comes in at a 25 percent reduction by the end of the year, that gets us back to roughly where we were in 2015, before the spike happened,” said Max Kapustin, the research director at the University of Chicago Crime Lab. “Which is a vast improvement, but still very far from a city like New York or Los Angeles, which is, I think, where Chicago ought to be,” he said in a Chicago Sun-Times interview.

“The 292 murders that took place in the Big Apple in 2017 were down from a peak of 2,245 in 1990. In fact, New York’s murder rate – 3.4 homicides per 100,000 people – is now below the national average,” noted Pews.

An exception is the recent surge in robberies in the Loop, the city’s business district, which has seen a dramatic rise in robberies, even in broad daylight, with cell phone thefts being most prominent.  There were 86 robberies there, the highest in the first quarter in 15 years, compared with 49 in 2017, and 52 in 2016.

In rapidly gentrifying Edgewater, a neighborhood on the city’s far North Side, a popular Thai restaurant, on Bryn Mawr, had a plate glass window broken, in the small hours of the morning, and according to the manager, “they stole everything,” prompting other area restaurants to post signs, in their windows, up and down the street, and its intersecting street of Broadway, stating that no cash is kept on the premise, after closing.

Our emailed inquiry to the aldermanic office of Harry Osterman received a tardy, and lukewarm response; surprising, considering the increasingly high residential and commercial rents, not to mention the new construction, featuring two residential high rises.

The city’s iconic El trains have also seen an increased spate of robberies, about 40 per week on the Red Line, according to one area detective we spoke with; and, some are attributing it to the holiday season, plus the usual pickpocketing, that we observed this summer, first hand, as attendees boarded the Red Line, after a country and music concert.

Adding further to CTA passenger concerns, there has been more than one shooting, one during rush hour, and one just before; with the former occurring in a connecting tunnel, between the Blue and Red Lines; one that is used by many travelers to and from O’ Hare airport.

A recent train robber was apprehended, by one quick footed policeman, and the cell phone returned to its owner, giving some residents a sense of relief. CPD has also announced that in addition to the annual New Year’s Eve stop points for drunken drivers, they will be a visible preference on the CTA trains.

For 2018, overall Chicago robberies are down by 19 percent, CPD stated in a recent report.

Some residents have had enough and are leaving town

Population erosion continued even further from 2017, and one source, cites that, on the average there were 156 people that left the Windy City; some for even the even colder climate of Minnesota, a fact, claimed one report, to gain better, and more consistent employment, and safety.

“Chicago’s black population has declined every year since at least 2005, something researchers believe has to do with housing, a perception that there are more opportunities elsewhere and safety, said the Minneapolis Post, in an economic report on its website, earlier this month.

Chicago is also losing its white population, especially those that are low and middle income, accompanied by working professionals with at least an associate’s degree seeking, like their black counterparts, safety, and greater job opportunities.

According to U.S. Census estimates, Greater Chicago lost more than 13,000 people between 2016 and 2017.

“That’s not a huge share of the population of the metro area of 9.5 million, but it does represent the third year of declines, and it comes at a time when most big U.S. metros are seeing their populations grow. Chicago is the only one of the 10 biggest U.S. metro areas to have seen population loss between 2016 and 2017.”

We noted two years ago that, ”While the amount lost was smaller - in thousands compared to millions of residents - “The City of Chicago itself lost 6,263 residents. Nevertheless, the Chicago Tribune notes that this is the first decline in population for the city since 1990.

“By almost every metric, Illinois' population is sharply declining, largely because residents are fleeing the state,” and the Tribune surveyed dozens of former residents who've left within the last five years, and each offered their own list of reasons for doing so. Common reasons include high taxes, the state budget stalemate, crime, the unemployment rate and the weather.

Certain demographics now stand out: a greater loss of those aged 35 to 49, with a corresponding decrease in families, and those 19 years old, and lower, suggesting that careers will be forged elsewhere.

For many, the bottom line may be the lack of affordable housing, a fact that many residents are struggling with, especially older residents.

MinnPost noted that “Significantly more Chicagoland residents are spending a bigger share of their paycheck on housing than are Minneapolis-St. Paul residents, according to a report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

In Chicago, 50 percent of renters are cost-burdened — defined as paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs — 28 percent of them severely, which means they spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing. In Minneapolis, 46 percent of renters are cost-burdened, 23 percent of them severely. When it comes to home ownership, 28 percent of Chicago homeowners are cost-burdened, 12 percent severely, while 20 percent of Minneapolis-St. Paul homeowners are cost-burdened, 8 percent severely.”

Challenges to Education: not making the grade

Chicago Public Schools took a drum beating with credible accusations of sexual abuse of students, and the continued opening of schools in gentrified areas, while schools in some black neighborhoods are slated to close, even after the 2013 closings of over 50, by Emanuel, and with decreased enrollment, overall in the classroom.

While plans to close a popular elementary school, the National Teachers Academy, and reopen it as a high school, was met fierce opposition by parents, and a judge’s order later prevented it. 

The move, say observers, was so that white parents in the area, (near South Michigan Avenue), would not have to send their teens to the black High School in Bronzeville, the heart of a once vibrant African American neighborhood; once again showing the sharp intersection between race, class, and political power in Chicago.

Chicago’s charter school teachers were the first to strike, and while it was short lived, it was enough to make headlines and cause tempers to flare, in a hotly debated discussion of which was better for students, and teachers; most of whom were lacking salary parity, with their CPS peers, while administrators and executives were earning six figure incomes.

Having sat  under a cloud, CPS now has a budget, it says is the most stable in years with increased money for universal pre-K education, with an approval for $6 billion, and an operating budget of $285 million.

Concerns remain about hiring enough special education teachers and social workers to meet the legal requirements, and many parents continue to have long standing concerns, if these can be met.

CPS said it carried $8.2 billion in long-term debt as of June 30. But, not so fast, say some, and “those debts will increase in order to finance Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s election-year proposal to take on a $989 million infrastructure spending plan that has been met with growing complaints about inequitable distribution,” Crain's Chicago said.

“The district says much of that money will come from new long-term debt, a strategy that provoked concerns from the Civic Federation budget watchdog organization.

The group endorsed the overall CPS spending plan — but worried about the district’s growing expenses in the face of dwindling enrollment and continued uncertainty over state government’s ability to keep promises to better fund education and grapple with its own financial problems,” reported the Tribune.

“With CPS’ finances just barely having reached more stable footing, the Civic Federation does not believe this is the right time to be issuing massive amounts of additional debt with only a portion going to the District’s most critical facility needs,” the watchdog group said in its annual assessment of the district’s budget.”

Goodbye Sears

Saying goodbye is hard, and even harder when the iconic Sears is leaving town, and its ill-fated marriage to K-Mart has hit the skids after the former filed for Chapter 11, and the iconic brand, the Amazon of its day, made some bad decisions, under the direction of CEO Eddie Lampert, who had no previous retail experience, and now says, Sears will come back; with few believing him.

The Economist notes that its stock market value fell from $30 billion dollars in 2007, to $69 million in mid-October of this year.

Such hemorrhaging was accompanied by the sale of the legendary Craftsman brand, and now we hear that in a $4.4 billion bid, Lampert wants to rescue the ailing retailer, who has been hit by options form online retailer, the demise of department stores, and of course,  Amazon.

An amazing year of losses, except the good news: The Chicago Bears are going to the playoffs.

Urban Prep West Campus closing, another dent in Chicago education

Wikipedia Photo

Continuing the further erosion of education on Chicago’s South and West sides, and what many observers are seeing as a concerted effort to reduce Chicago’s black population, the Chicago Public School announcement, this week, that Urban Prep Charter will close, brought both shock, and concern, to local educators and community leaders.

Coming closely on the heels of the end of the victory of a new contract that ended, the nation’s first charter school teacher strike, at Acero, another charter, serving mostly Latinx students, has now shown, to many education advocates, without a doubt that the effort to preserve schools for mostly black students is tenuous, at best.

The Chicago Teachers Union,  in their statement, noted that they were “disappointed to learn of Chicago Public Schools’ plans to close Urban Prep Academy’s West Campus. The Union’s position on school closings has long been clear: We oppose the closure of any school for the same reasons we oppose charter expansion. Both have destabilizing effects on communities and lead to privatization of public education at the expense of those our schools should serve.”

While the value of charter schools, versus neighborhood schools has been part of a long simmering debate, across the nation’s urban cores, they are also acknowledged to have become a part of  America’s educational landscape, it has also resisted unionized teachers, offering both educators, and staff, lowered salaries, and benefits, which was the dominant issue with Acero.

The end result, as we have seen, has been frequent teacher departures, less academic cohesiveness, and a decline in test results; which have consistently been higher, (especially in Chicago), in traditional neighborhood schools.

When Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 schools, during 2013, in predominantly black neighborhoods under the guise of improving them, only to have some turned into North Side luxury condos, (as was done with Uptown’s Graeme Stewart), or had money earmarked for other schools siphoned off to real estate developers, the effect has devastated these areas, not only for the students, but also as an anchor for their communities.

Added to the economic disinvestment, and high crime, and decreased housing value, that these neighborhoods, and their students face, the situation is dire: another nail in the coffin for community disenfranchisement, and one that reached its peak in the administration of the incumbent, and now departing, Emanuel.

An earlier report, this year, from the Washington  Post noted. “Schools officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel made this promise to nearly 12,000 mostly African American students from families living in poverty: When you are sent to a new school, there will be better opportunities for academic success. But a new report says that isn’t exactly what happened.”

“Closing schools has been a favored tool among school reformers who have tried to operate public schools as if they were businesses rather than civic institutions. Though research has shown that promised academic gains don’t materialize, reformers have closed schools anyway, sometimes because they were underused or persistently low performers, or to address financial woes,” The Post added..

Citing a University of Chicago report, “researchers looked at the short-term and multi-year effects of the closures on students’ academic, behavioral and other outcomes. They sought to answer two questions about the school closings, which were strongly opposed by the affected communities.”

They discovered, in part, the following:

●     School staff said that the planning process for merging closed schools into welcoming schools was not sufficient, resulting in staff feeling unprepared.

●     When schools closed, it severed the longstanding social connections that families and staff had with their schools and with one another, resulting in a period of mourning.

●     A lack of proactive efforts to support welcoming school communities in integrating the populations created challenging “us” vs. “them” dynamics.

●     Students affected by school closures did experience negative learning effects, especially students from closed schools.

●     The largest negative impact of school closures was on the test scores of students from closed schools; their scores were lower than expected the year of the announcement.

“But the closure of Urban Prep West, a school serving a student population made up entirely of African-American males, goes one step further in its negative impact as it represents another chapter in the wholesale removal of Black and Brown people from our city,” CTU said.

Looking back at the recent gubernatorial campaign, then candidate Chris Kennedy “opined that the mayor’s planning policies were intended to drive black people out of town,” reported the Chicago Reader, recently, and CTU concurs when they emphasize that they “are steadfastly opposed to the school’s closure, which would only exacerbate the Negro Removal Act that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has put in place since taking office in 2010.”

Bloated executive salaries seem to be part and parcel of many charter school criticisms, as they operate, for profit with tax payer money, and, as we saw with Acero, we now see with Urban Prep; only in this case they planned a Westward expansion.

“Urban Prep last year chose to expand its organization rather than invest in the classrooms, staff and students they currently serve. Urban Prep applied for, and was granted, a contract to run a charter school in Las Vegas under Nevada's Achievement School District. The Achievement School District operates much like other state takeovers of urban school districts, where privatized charter operators are hired to take over struggling, under-resourced public schools.

According to documents submitted to the Nevada Department of Education, Urban Prep management created a full-time, six-figure position specifically for its expansion effort, and top officials took numerous trips to Las Vegas over the past year to secure its expansion. Meanwhile, Urban Prep has one of the most bloated central office operations of any charter school in CPS, serving fewer than 800, yet spending $1.3 million on executive and central office administration (or $1,700 per student).”

The loss of funds to traditional neighborhood schools, by charters, has peeled away, both at the lives and fabric of American cities, plus its black and brown children, but also the social capital of cities, that are often economically marginalized; and the loss of Chicago’s Urban Prep, is another step in misalignment.

UNO/Acero begins first ever charter strike in Chicago

Updated 10 December 2018

In the ongoing tug of war between charter schools and their management, especially with the lower compensation, than their public school counterparts, it was recently announced that “CTU charter teachers and paraprofessionals at four CS/Civitas/Quest schools voted overwhelmingly to strike . . .in their battle for more classroom resources for students and better treatment of educators by the bosses,” in a statement released earlier this month.

On Tuesday morning, it began, the first ever charter strike, with demands for smaller class sizes, increase resources to meet federal guidelines for special education students, low pay for paraprofessionals, increased time for lesson planning, greater classroom resources, and sanctuary status for an increasing Latinx student body.

"Management had the power to settle a contract tonight—and instead they offered us more of the status quo that has plagued the charter industry for years," said CTU President Jesse Sharkey, who caucused with bargaining team members tonight. "We will be on the picket line until they come back with an offer that respects our students and the people who educate them."

In their media alert, UNO/Acero, via the Chicago Teachers Union, said: “Management has been denying resources from its schools, and ended 2018 spending $1 million LESS in staff salary costs for program services than in 2017, according to an audit that management provided Friday morning—months after educators first began asking for it. As of June 2018, ACERO had $24 million in unrestricted cash in its accounts, plus a separate reserve of $4 million in cash as part of its requirements to its bond holders.

They also stressed that “Overall, ACERO’s cash position increased by $10.6 million in just one fiscal year—yet they have said that they cannot give paraprofessionals ANY wage increase—even an increase that allows their wages to keep pace with inflation. Management also tendered a salary 'increase' for teachers so paltry that CTU members describe it as laughable. That move, say bargaining team members, was designed to pit teachers against paraprofessionals—a strategy educators reject.”

Last month, The Chicago Tribune reported that “The Acero charter school network, which serves about 7,500 predominantly Latino students at 15 campuses, has so far failed to negotiate a labor deal with roughly 500 teachers, counselors and office workers who are now affiliated with the Chicago Teachers Union.”

“Out of the four-school bargaining unit of roughly 150 union workers, 138 CTU members, more than 90% of the union workforce, voted. 133 CTU members, just over 96% of those who cast ballots, voted to strike. More than 70% of the schools' workforce is female, and over half identify as people of color, it was noted.

No less important was the top-heavy pay for managers; and, they noted that “Citing less money for special education students and more money for CEO salaries, “Charter managers admitted to teachers today that one school pays over 24% of its public education dollars directly to CICS and its 'manager' Civitas, instead of spending those funds on students in classrooms. CPS takes an additional amount—between 2.3 and 2.8 percent of public education dollars at each school—for its own 'fee',” they reported.

“UNO/Acero CEO Richard Rodriguez collects more per year in compensation than CPS CEO Janice Jackson, while overseeing just under 8,000 students at 15 schools. Jackson oversees more than 500 schools with over 350,000 students,” they

"Even after the Illinois' General Assembly passed new educational funding a year ago, there still aren't enough funds going into our schools," said CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates. "That is offensive to our students who need special education and other educational supports, and it is offensive to parents and educators who come out of their own pockets to pay for basic classroom resources that charter operators should be providing”.

“Charter operators are failing charter school students," said CTU ACTS Division Chair Chris Baehrend. "They're diverting public funds away from education into private enrichment. We lack transparency, accountability and diversity. We're putting the entire charter industry on notice—public funds will be used for public services in our schools, and if we have to strike to make that happen, we will."

Charter schools have long been a bone of contention for Chicagoland, as educators have worked with reduced resources in Chicago Public Schools, while charters have frequently siphoned money away from neighborhoods schools, while, as stated, their teachers have made less than those in CPS.

Notably charter test scores have remained behind those of traditional neighborhood schools, thus increasing public scrutiny.

Besides better wages and more reasonable working conditions, CTU Acero educators are also fighting to make schools real sanctuary schools for a student population that is overwhelmingly Latinx. Special education needs and poor treatment of paraprofessionals are also critical issues.”

In June of last year, ASPIRA another charter averted a strike and it is hoped that the same will be true for Uno/Acero.

At the time, CTU President Karen Lewis said, “"It's not about destroying charter schools," she said. “Charter schools are here; they're not going anywhere. So the key is, how do you make them a bitter pill to their management companies? It's the management companies we have the issues with, not the charter teachers, not the students, not the parents. The key is, organize people to fight for fairer conditions of work, and then that's good for everybody."

Some of course have said that this is an attempt to destroy charters, which strikers have characterized as false.

“After the 2017 state funding change that sent over $38 million in additional funding to all CPS charter schools, ACERO saw a leap in its budget picture, its 2018 audit shows. ACERO closed out 2018 with over $89 million from CPS revenue sources, a 10% bump from the $81.6 million they received in 2017. But rather than investing that windfall in the classroom, ACERO chose to stockpile cash, and slash expenditures and resources to its schools and students,” they concluded.

On Sunday, a tentative agreement was reached to settle the strike. Here, in part, is the AP story:

CHICAGO (AP) — The nation's first teachers’ strike against a charter school operator will end after their union and management struck a tentative deal Sunday that includes protections for students and immigrant families living in the country illegally.

The Chicago Teachers Union said more than 500 teachers will return to classes Monday at Acero’s 15 schools with 7,500 predominantly Latino students. Teachers went on strike Tuesday and classes were canceled.

Robert Bloch, general counsel for the union, said that since the schools’ enrollment is “overwhelmingly low-income Latino,” the union felt it was necessary to have provisions to protect students, their families and teachers who may be living in the country illegally. The agreements prohibits Acero from collecting and distributing information about the immigration status of students, teachers and families and restricts access by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to schools except by court order, he said.

Acero said in a news release the two sides agreed to raises for teachers and staff annually over the four-year term of the contract and the charter operator agreed to the union’s request to shorten the school year to more closely align with the Chicago Public Schools.

Will Ed Burke join the list of convicted Chicago aldermen?

With the two federal raids of the city hall and aldermanic office of longtime Chicago pol Edward M. Burke, gave more credence to the reputation of Chicago, being corrupt, even in the previous absence of details on why the Feds did the raid, and what the consequences will be, added rumor to the long list of Chicago aldermen, and governors, tried, and convicted, such as former Governor Rod Blagojevich, and those before him.

Thursday's charge of wiretap fraud in an attempted shakedown of Tri City Foods and its Burger King franchise, has revealed that, not only was this egregious behavior, but now places Burke in a whopper of a mess, pun intended.

While no one can predict, what the outcome will be, it is noted that he has survived previous raids, and come out like the un-slaughtered lamb. But, some locals are saying that the Feds are coming into the Windy City to show that it’s time for a clean up, and the days of the political machine, are waning, and that with the departure of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a new sheriff can reform the old school play. And, that seems to have come into play as some feel that the tap revealed more than what has been stated, and that there was something even more solid; since the feds don't get a wiretap unless they are convinced, they have got something solid, say local media sources.

Paddy Bauler made the infamous quote: “Chicago ain’t ready for reform yet.” And, there are many that believe it, even in the age of Trump, and who had Burke, who is an attorney, lowered his tax bills. and that of other wealthy businessmen.

“A Sun-Times investigation found that Burke’s law firm had saved President Donald Trump $14 million after appealing property tax bills over seven years. Burke’s firm would stop representing Trump’s Chicago interests in 2018.”

The powerful head of the City Council Finance Committee has amassed a wealth of influence and his wife, Anne, is on the Illinois Supreme Court; he has also been a mentor to many, including much of the corral of the current mayoral candidates, including Susan Mendoza, Gery Chico, and bankrolled the Daley Dynasty, of whom, Bill Daley, another candidate, the son of one mayor, and the brother of another.

As the Chicago Tribune pointed out, there had been radio silence on their part, other than murmurs of hope, from most of them, and an unbelievable statement from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, another candidate, issued from her spokesperson, that she was not close to Burke, yet the record shows that he threw a pricey fundraiser at his home, last year, for her.

One candidate who did speak was Lori Lightfoot, who told the Tribune, ““It seems all these other folks are running for cover and don’t want to talk about him, but frankly, that underscores the fact that we’ve got different factions of the political machine manifested in Mendoza, Preckwinkle, Daley and Chico and others who don’t want to rock the boat because they are very much wedded to the status quo,” said former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, one of the few mayoral candidates eager to discuss Burke. “It’s telling that they aren’t willing to step up and say, ‘Look, this guy has been in office way too long, he’s been allowed to amass way too much power.’ ”

Then came the revelation that the shakedown involved a $10,000 payment, air quotes, to a certain unnamed politician, who was later identified as Cook County Board President, Ton Preckwinkle, who initially denied the relationship, or the amount,  only later to give some of it back and then after public pressure mounted to give it all back.

She has since defended her role in providing affordable housing, and neighborhood schools, but the die is cast, and her critics are seeing blood in the water, as she gasps for political air.

Looks like Paddy may be right. And, If the city built on a prairie is a rule onto itself, and he is spot on, then what changes, even minor, can be expected, say city hall observers?

There are also religious ties, as part of the role, for many of these, but not all, are Irish Catholics, and in a city where being Catholic was once a pass to political power via the political superpowers, such as Mayor Richard M. Daley, this tie-in cannot be ignored.

Last year when the new financing for public school included a salve to get GOP votes in the state legislature, Cardinal Blase Cupich, was front and center in the negotiations, confident that the new scholarship, which opponents called a tax break, benefited Catholic schools.

While the words clan is often used to describe Irish-American politicians, it has had its humorous acknowledgments: In an aside, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy once affectionately called all of the Irishman, surrounding her husband’s administration, the “Murphia”, and the term seemed to fit old-school Chicago machine politics, and its members like Burke.

Perhaps one of the more outstanding examples of machine politics is when it rose up in protest, and furor, over the election of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, (the city’s only black mayor), and the scene of Edward Vrdolyak, rising in furor and anger during the Council Wars, and whose colleague in the battles, against Washington, was Burke.

The intersection of race, political power, religion, and money are a potent mix for any major American city, but in Chicago the four are so intertwined, as to be virtually indistinguishable.

The aldermen in Chicago hold near unlimited power, second to maybe those in Boston, and it’s easy to see that Lord Acton was correct, when he said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

While Burke’s status as paterfamilias may be in jeopardy, if the goal of the raid is to “clean up Chicago,” then the Feds may underestimate the many headed hydra that make up machine politics.

In its coverage, the Associated Press, once noted that, “A long series of Chicago alderman have faced state and federal investigations going back decades. Since the 1970s, nearly three dozen aldermen have been convicted. A common joke in Chicago is that so many aldermen had gone to prison that when they saw each other behind bars they'd holler, "Quorum call!"

Among them were Wallace Davis, Jr, Clifford P. Kelley, and Thomas Keane, and countless others as seen above, mostly on bribery and extortion

Keane, having earned a reputation as the “professor” for has vast knowledge, had a public life that “ended in ignominy in 1974 with a federal conviction on mail-fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from some questionable real estate deals,” later served 22 months of a five year prison, said the Trib upon his death.

They also noted, “In his final years, Mr. Keane, though in failing health, regained his law license and was a regular visitor to the downtown restaurant haunts he had frequented for years when he dominated many of the activities in City Hall.”

While Emanuel demurred when asked for a comment, but for many, it seems as if history might repeat itself with Burke, whose attorney, Charles Sklarsky, noted that the "evidence" was not really that and noted, “The transaction described in the complaint does not make out an extortion or an attempt to extort,” Sklarsky told reporters. “We look forward to a prompt day in court to prove the innocence of Alderman Burke.”

Updated Jan. 6, 2018

Pritzker plans for Illinois require pension overhaul

In one of the most expensive gubernatorial elections in the nation, exceeding the one in California with Jerry Brown, with $90 million in TV and radio ads alone; the 53-year-old billionaire, who also spent a cool $171.5 million of his own money, says that he is glad that the one-term outgoing Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner is leaving, and supports plans to legalize recreational marijuana, to bring in much needed monies to the depleted coffers of Illinois.

Beset by a nearly two year absence of a state budget, the state accumulated more than $14 billion dollars in unpaid bills, and sent incoming freshmen to out of state colleges, rather than face diminished resources at Illinois public universities; social service budgets were slashed, and some forced to close, or severely limit the services they provided.

If cotton was once King, in the American South, then pot may rule in the land of Lincoln, as the governor-elect struggles to find ways to erase the red ink, mostly attributable to pension obligations that were often sidelined in the past, or had their funds diverted to other needs.

Pritzker says that he expects profits to be between $700 million to $1 billion a year.

The idea is not new; in March of this year, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy introduced the idea and said, in part, that she believed that given the current financial situation in Illinois, the legalization and taxation of marijuana “could help fill the much needed revenue gaps in our budget. In Colorado, marijuana sales generated about $70 million in revenue during the first year of legalization.”

“The fact of the matter is that marijuana is being bought and sold throughout the state right now, unregulated and untaxed,” Cassidy said.

The specter of unfunded liabilities --- more than $129 billion remains - is another factor that affects ratings by the bond rating agencies. Balancing that with an operating deficit of $6 billion requires more than both the State Assembly, and any governor, may be able to do.

Joining Cassidy on the Senate side was State Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) who has also proposed legalization of cannabis. She, in turn said, “Right now, all the money being spent on marijuana is going into the pockets of criminals and cartels,” And, she also added: “In a regulated system, the money would go into the cash registers of licensed, tax paying businesses. [where] It would generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year in new revenue for our state. Prohibition is a financial hole in the ground, and we should stop throwing taxpayer dollars into it.”

In a recent interview with local media, Pritzker assured them, that there would be a budget during the next cycle in 2019.

Earlier this year, we noted that a “closer look at the details showed more than one sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the governor and the legislature. As Bloomberg News reported in February: “$2.3 billion of deficit spending in the form of unappropriated liabilities held at state agencies as of Dec. 31; $8.4 billion of unpaid bills as of Feb. 7; $1.03 billion of late-payment interest fees incurred as of Dec. 31, 2017 (Note: At least $143m has been paid); and, a $1.7 billion general fund deficit, according to the governor’s office of management and budget.”

One idea that Pritzker has floated is a pension obligation bond, going against the accepted grain of not loaning money to pay off loans, but the governor-elect has said that he might be able to parse the interest rates to save money.

Giving some assurance that he will address his issue is his economic transition team consisting of former state comptroller Dan Hynes, Civic Federation president, Laurence Msall, and the esteemed Center for Tax and Budget Accountability head, Ralph Martire.

Harnessing this star power is essential to remove the muck and mire of Illinois state finances to avoid, what many are saying was the sty in the eye to the loss of Chicago’s bid for Amazon HQ2 transition to the East Coast, the imperiled financial state and the unfunded pension liabilities of Illinois being a major factor, although the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, has been reluctant to say so.

This also places education and health behind the largest financial elephant in the room., despite recent changes in funding, to avoid what had been the lowest per pupil funding in the nation for low income students, further compromised by racial inequity.

Despite the strong employment outlook, wages have not kept pace, and Pritzker says that this is also a priority, yet as we have shown, there are a number of factors that he may have overlooked: the big companies like Amazon that “freeze” wages, inflation that is nibbling away at wages.  And, as The Economist noted this June,” inflation is eating up pay increases and that real—that is, inflation-adjusted—wages are therefore stagnant. Real wages in America and the euro zone, for example, are growing more slowly even as the world economy, and headline pay, have both picked up.”

As the Fed keeps an eagle eye on US inflation, wage growth may be out of his hands.

Crain’s Chicago Business focused on one area ripe for reform, and that is Medicaid determination -- or redetermination: “The way we determine Medicaid eligibility each year is “arcane,” said Barbara Otto, CEO of Smart Policy Works. Letters are mailed to beneficiaries and if they don’t answer within 90 days, they lose coverage.

“It disrupts the marketplace,” Otto said. “I’m supportive of having program integrity, but the way we’re doing it isn’t working. . . .It’s easier to cut people off Medicaid in the state of Illinois than it is to keep them on Medicaid in the state of Illinois. What’s wrong with that picture?”

Taking these key areas into consideration, it’s going to be a busy opening for Pritzker, and the traditional honeymoon for a new lawmaker, does not seem like an option.

New lawmakers show diversity and fresh faces

Tuesday’s midterm election proved the pollsters correct, for once, said many, and gave the House to the Democrats, but it also gave a number of firsts, one being a huge voter turnout among the young, and secondly a handful of women that were minority women, of color, and of religion. And, one outlier in the form of the unresolved gubernatorial election in Georgia, where Stacy Abrams, is less than a sliver away from a recount, and in a state where voter suppression ruled, and where her opponent, as secretary, of state that there were 25,000 ballots that had not been counted.

One big surprise was the defeat of Joe Donnelly, in Indiana to Mike Braun, 43.4 to 52.6, for the Senate, considering that he was one of the most conservative Democrats on the HIll; and Ted Cruz fending off a very strong lead from Beto O’Rourke  and the recount in the Florida Senate, where Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum was defeated by DeSantis in an election that was marred by racial animus, with a razor thin victory for Desantis with 49.6 versus, 49.2 for Gillum.

Adding to the mix was the victory on the Cook County Board of Commissioners for an openly gay man, Kevin Morrison, formerly a full-time field organizer for Hillary Clinton, and who seemed to have learned from that experience by knocking on doors, and emphasizing “bread and butter” issues such as health care, and property taxes strategically reached out to working class people.

Kevin Morrison

Welcome news for many was the defeat of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the union busting arch conservative who lost to Tony Evers, by 31,000 votes, and who scaled back Obama era environmental protections.

While veteran lawmaker Nancy Pelosi is poised to resume her role as Speaker of the House, there is also the calls for impeachment by the party’s radical left, and those on the right that want to see democratic governance, and that now faces the absence of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, and an acting AG that says he will not recuse himself from the Mueller investigation, and which is going to give a real push to any moderate efforts that Pelosi may want and to maneuver with a president that does not want to play fair, at all.

While the appearance of malfeasance on the part of Trump can be debated, its apparent that, as with former FBI director, James Comey, that Trump is afraid of the findings of the Russian collusion with he and his family. But, the road to perdition may not happen, with many of his supporters backing him, to the point of insulation, despite the findings of the special investigation.

The turnout by youth also will galvanize the need for gun control, always a hot button issue, with seemingly monthly mass shootings, and the need for health care that most exit polls showed to be of great concern, and that was promulgated by the Democrats.

Women seem to have been galvanized by the Women's March and the #MeToo movement have surged ahead, and in unexpected places such as Illinois, where in the 14th Congressional District, a largely white suburban area, with DeKalb, Du Page, and Lake County, as part elected a 32-year-old black woman Lauren Underwood, who defeated a four-term Republican incumbent, Randy Hultgren, showing not only a step toward racial inclusiveness, but that the profile of women elected officials is younger, browner, and blacker than previously thought possible.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sailed in New York, after her supreme primary victory, as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. And, in another victory for women of color, Jahana Hayes was elected as the first black women representing Connecticut in the House.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Close behind were Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia as the first Latina women to represent Texas in Congress.

Making another historic inroad were Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American as the first Muslim woman elected to Congress, representing Michigan and Minnesota respectively.

While some observers and voters are wary of a divided Congress, this is not an expression of defeat, but more of a battle, say some, and a return to those lessons taught in civics classes across America.  And, Pelosi put it well, when she said, “Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans. It is about restoring the Constitution’s checks and balances to the Trump administration.”

There will be cries for impeachment of Trump, and incoming House Judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler, said last year: “If you are actually going to remove a president from office, you are in effect nullifying the last election. Certainly the people who voted for him will think you’re nullifying the election. It’s OK to do that. It may be necessary to do that—as long as you have persuaded a sufficient fraction of the president’s former supporters, the people who voted for him, that you have to, that it’s necessary.”

For those that expected the millennials to stay at home, there was a big surprise: In Chicago alone, for those aged 25 to 34, there were 162,000 voters from their ranks, just behind those from 55 to 64, with 142,000 votes reported the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

The real clincher was the 18 to 29 year-olds whose votes exceeded 31 percent, the highest in the 25 years of midterm history.

“According to TargetSmart, a political data analysis firm, early voting among 18- to 29-year-olds escalated with a 188 percent increase from 2014. States with particularly close races had an even more intense increase in youth voters in comparison to the 2014 election, with a fivefold increase in states like Texas and Nevada,” reported The Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper at Northwestern University.

Co-president of Northwestern College Democrats Claire Bugos, noted that, “The Marjory Stoneman Douglas students led a revolt against the gun laws we have in this country,” and, “I think that we’ve seen those pockets of youth discontent throughout the presidency. Young people see the midterms as a way to easily have a say in their government, and they’re taking advantage of that.”

In the days, and weeks, ahead, final vote tallies will be had, and then the real work of legislating will begin anew with new faces, as they tackle the challenges of a divided country.

At issue with the issues: Chicago’s next mayor?

Jesus Garcia

In one of the more bizarre sights that Chicago has seen was the recent projection of a giant mustache on downtown buildings, reminiscent of an immediate takeover from space aliens in a Grade B horror film, or one of the many Hollywood films shot on location in the Windy City -- instead, it was a visible push for Jesus “Chuy” Garcia to reconsider running for mayor, after his stated run for Congress to replace Luis Gutierrez, who has tendered his resignation in a move to Puerto Rico, where he owns a home.

As we’ve said before, “Holding an elected office in Chicago has become akin to either death by a thousand blows, or sheer masochism, and those are during the good times. Certainly, the job of mayor falls under that category.”

With the recent news of incumbent Rahm Emanuel decision not to run, the door opened wide to others to run, and the number of candidates has grown to 17, and it is apparent that someone, or many “someones”  will drop out, or be forced out of the race, but the current top slate has been expanded to include, to the horror of many locals, Bill Daley, brother of Richard M. Daley, and son of Richard J. Daley, and who was also chief of staff for President Obama.

Daley’s announcement brought grief to many in the city for the much ballyhooed, and costly, parking meter sale, arranged by his brother, and its management to J.P. Morgan Chase in New York; a move, that, some critics say, resulted in a loss for much needed local jobs, and economic development for Chicago. 

And, this is just one of  the many controversies associated with the Daley name.

Just one step away was Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, announcing her candidacy. She has developed a reputation for many social reforms such as drug sentencing, as well as prison reform, but whose name as a “do-gooder” was embittered by a recent sweetened beverage tax that left Chicago residents reeling from yet one more burdensome tax including a bag tax, and one of the highest sales tax in the nation. And, while the tax was later repealed, it will leave a taint of suspicion, among many voters.

Toni Preckwinkle

Lately, some have questioned, as discussed in a Chicago Sun-Times analysis if there is more spin, than substance, in her position as the de facto frontrunner.

“They point to polls conducted for other Democratic campaigns showing Preckwinkle with an approval rating lower than Emanuel’s and negatives “through the roof” that have never been fully exploited.

Most of all, they anticipate the mayoral candidacy of Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who is 25 years younger than Preckwinkle and a proven vote-getter along the lakefront and among younger voters now dominating the political scene.

Mendoza can’t enter the mayor’s race — or even talk about it — until she is safely re-elected as state comptroller. But after the Nov. 6 election, she’ll have 20 days to gather the 12,500 signatures needing to get on the mayoral ballot.

“Toni starts out in a good place with a sizable base. But it’s not enough to avoid a runoff or make this an inevitable outcome for her,” said one Democratic operative, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of alienating Preckwinkle.”

“She raised the sales tax after saying she wouldn’t and tried to impose a soda tax, only to have it repealed. It’s gonna be hard to convince that same group of voters you’re the person to elect as mayor after two of the most regressive tax increases in history,” the source said.

Preckwinkle does have her supporters, and one of them, is Richard Clough, of Edgewater Beach, who said of his support, “She's run a large local government organization before, and it's about time again we had someone of color and a woman in the office.”

A brief conversation, overheard on the subway, between two middle-aged, and grizzled, African-American veterans, concerning the election said a lot about past behavior: One asked the other who he was going to vote for. The other replied, “I’m going to vote for the sister.”  “Huh”?, responded his friend, then correcting himself, the other said, “Preckwinkle”, but his friend countered with, “Yeah, but she raised the taxes on my pop, so I feel that if she can do that, she can tax anything.”

Another supporter, a retired government worker from West Ridge, said this, in her support for her: “If the election were held next week, I'd vote for Toni Preckwinkle, she doesn't grandstand and I voted for her most recent re-election  Although, the soda tax wasn't successful, I gave her credit for trying SOMETHING to get the budget balanced.”

  

The specter of police reform

Of course, whoever takes the top job, has to contend with long standing problems, and a significant one is the long history of police abuse, stemming from the early days of the 1968 Democratic Convention, to the brutality, and torture of black men, by the late Cmdr. Jon Burge, and the multiple shots fired at the teenaged Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times as he walked away from police, in the by now, infamous video; and whose shooter, policeman Jason Van Dyke has just been found guilty of second-degree murder.

Trying to deal with the perception that all Chicago police are bad, when the reality is that only some of them are, is like wrestling with an alligator, that has been greased before the fight begins..

Coming on the heels of a sunset DOJ investigation, by the Obama administration, that was later rejected by the Trump administration, in the person of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has led to a consent decree constructed by Emanuel, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, to try and heal past wounds, and that has as one of many core issues in Chicago’s long history of racial segregation.

Lightfoot, in particular, has a strong sense of what is needed in light of police reform, and, “She’s got a long track record on police reform. She’s not viewed as being part of the establishment. She has positioned herself to be a change-agent,” said Victor Reyes, the former Daley political operative who ran the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization at the center of the city hiring scandal.

Other residents seem to be distrustful of politicians in general says one senior living in Lakeview, who said, when queried, “I don't believe any politician can be believed, [that] doesn't have hers/his own interests at heart, is beyond being susceptible to bribes ($$$ or in-kind) or doesn't use the patronage system.”

Chicago public schools: making the grade

Moving to another long-standing issue is the quality of the public schools which has seen deterioration, in a system that has changed to a majority of brown and black students, and at best, has led to some vocational success, but less to academics, and in a weakened state, is low fruit for the picking.

While it has faced a dwindling high school graduation rate; yet, this has changed and there has been marked improvement in both areas.

With a proven track record, Troy LaRaviere, turned around a failing school, with increased test scores, and now, after working tirelessly on behalf of students, as well, as parents to give students an equal footing with their suburban cohorts he wants to take that passion and energy to City Hall.

Troy LaRaviere

The enrollment was just under 900, and the school, Blaine Elementary, was recognized by Chicago Magazine in 2010 as the 16th best elementary school in the city, and also the 6th best “neighborhood school.”

But there were obstacles he said that prevented it from reaching the number one slot. And, in this struggle, public enemy number one, at least according to him, was Emanuel, whose tenure has been marked by what he has often failed to do, more than what he did: close city schools in mostly black and brown neighborhoods, and turn some into luxury condos, only to open, or build some, in areas that were being gentrified, or on the brink of; while failing to develop a strong revenue stream to give them equity with suburban schools, not to mention necessary improvements to maintain the physical plant required for a healthy environment.

Taking the mayor head on, with a pointed figure, albeit a virtual one, made LaRaviere a leader outside of City Hall. And, as we wrote, then: “While the mayor has touted charter schools as having the best test scores, the opposite has been true, and the former principal  has “published research that revealed public schools produced significantly more academic growth in students than charter schools; exposed filthy conditions in Chicago schools that were the result of botched custodial privatization deal; and uncovered the manipulation of charter school test score data by CPS officials.”

A vital issue, for many, is a change, from a mayoral appointed, to an elected school board, which as we’ve shown before, has as many pitfalls, as it does gains, especially with racial divisions, trumping other benefits.

As former alderman Dick Simpson, now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has said: “Ninety percent of the students in the system are black and Hispanic, but most of the elected board could be white. Second, with more than 600 schools to supervise, it is unclear how much any school board -- appointed or elected -- can do to really govern the system.”

Follow the money, or lack thereof

The big kahuna in Chicago city politics is economic:  an overburdened pension system that took on added debt under Emanuel as interest cost, from borrowed funds, soared as he created debt to cancel debt, what a generation ago, we called, “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Mired in debt, after a series of pension holidays, and robbing the teacher pension fund to pay for the CTA, was yet another blunder from the Daley legacy, and Bloomberg News did later report on the mixed results: “Emanuel has made progress, pushing through higher property taxes and utility levies to shore up the city’s retirement funds that were on track to run out of money. His plan has the public safety pensions on track to be 90 percent funded by the end of fiscal year 2055, and the municipal and laborers pensions at that level by the end of 2058. As of Dec. 31, the four funds were only about 27 percent funded, after years of inadequate contributions.”

Rahm Emanuel

“As mayor, I will be upfront about the cost of good government, end the practice of indebting taxpayers to big banks and raise enough revenue to adequately fund city services,” LaRaviere says on his website. He did not specify, however, what taxes he would raise, or create, to raise enough money to wipe out such debt, bringing a stinging rebuke from Emanuel’s office that he had no plan.

The financial analysis shows that the Chicago, in 2023,  will need more than $2.1 billion to make its required contributions to the city’s four worker pension funds, up from about $1.2 billion in 2019.

“All in all, the city of Chicago is in a better structural position than prior years,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, which monitors state and local finances, “but it will continue to face revenue and expenditure pressures resulting in projected growth in future deficits.”

That too has changed with the recent stock market free for all, as Crain’s Chicago reported Thursday:  “With his time in office down to just a few months and the credit markets moving the wrong way, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his financial team have decided to at least temporarily shelve plans to borrow up to $10 billion to refinance a part of the city’s yawning pension debt.

Officials insist the idea is not dead but merely set aside while the administration focuses on other financial priorities, such as passage of Emanuel’s proposed 2019 city budget that will be introduced Oct. 17. But with Emanuel's clout fading as the reality of his lame-duck status sinks in, that means he’d have to gather City Council votes in the midst of a heated aldermanic election or leave the final decision to his predecessor—either alternative politically problematic.”

It will also need a mayor that needs to take in more than the proverbial wind from backroom meetings, and to bring in the needed “shock” economic troops to prevent, such mistaken efforts, like regressive taxes, to help fill empty coffers.

Another added criticism is that much of the monies being spent, are in the Loop, the city’s business area, and other parts of downtown, and not in the neighborhoods, and not entering the deeply impoverished areas of the city’s South and West sides; home to much of the black population, and whose level of disinvestment is high.

Back to the schools

Adding to the area of economic development requires an investment in social capital, that is centered on education, and this may be an area for a younger candidate to lead, and one of the less known candidates is Neal Sales-Griffin, whose appearance on WBBM “At Issue” with host Craig Dellimore seemed to give a firm nod in that direction from the self-made man, who at age 31, and who cited the hunger strike to preserve the Dyett high school from closure, as an example of community involvement, especially in light of the 50 school closings by Emanuel in mostly black communities.

Sales-Griffin notes the importance of “preserving and investing in neighborhood schools,” and cited the failure of leadership, without mentioning Emanuel by name, but stressed that “we have to reimagine our community members.”

Neal Sales-Griffin

Without mentioning the debacle of having two school CEO’s leave, in scandal and one serving prison time for bribery and embezzlement, Sales-Griffin, expressed support for new CEO Janice Jackson, but did not reveal that many were not happy with her promotion, and that she was the right hand of the now disgraced, and former, head, Forrest Claypool, and that many of the closings, and the cat and mouse games Emanuel has played with opening schools with lowered enrollment, she was his co-director.

CPS’s Executive Officers have one job: “To get their talking points from the Mayor’s education people, memorize them, and repeat them at every opportunity,” LaRaviere, now president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, said in an email to Chicago Tonight.

“That was Ms. Jackson’s job as (chief education officer), and the only thing that will change as CEO is her salary.”

There were also some that said she might, in fact, hurt black children’s educational opportunity -- and some going further criticized her in 2017, reported the Chicago Tribune, saying that “she has been a vocal supporter of the district’s plan to close four under-enrolled Englewood and West Englewood high schools next year, despite the fact a nearby replacement won’t be completed until 2019.

That proposal has already sparked protests by those who say students have been driven from the area not by a lack of quality options, but by CPS’ own disinvestment in the existing schools in their communities.

“When I look at Englewood, at the experience some kids are getting, I can’t make the case they’re getting a good high school experience,” Jackson told Chicago Tonight earlier this month.

Multiple teachers took issue with that comment, saying Jackson understands what schools need to succeed and “should know better” than to claim there simply aren’t any good high school options in that area. They’ve questioned her involvement in the Englewood decision and are holding out to see if she’ll continue standing by that plan moving forward.”

As previously noted, Emanuel, skirted, or tried to, with these school closings, unlike before, by that cited disinvestment, only to invest, anew in areas soon to be gentrified.

Whoever is elected, besides city finances, and crime, has a looming disaster in dealings with opportunities for educating black school children. Who will it be?