Chicago: The Midwest Epicenter of the Migrant Crisis

2.8 million migrants have come to the United States seeking asylum, mostly from Venezuela seeking freedom from political corruption, a ruptured economy, and financial extortion, and, reaching the border state of Texas, they have been used as political pawns by Gov. Greg Abbott, beginning in 2022 has bused them to Democratic strongholds such as New York City and Chicago, who earlier declared themselves sanctuary cities.

In moves calculated to get the maximum bang for their political buck, the optics are strong, and a target was the much maligned Vice President Kamala Harris, who has seen busloads dropped off in front of the gates of her home in Washington, DC.

As we have noted before the asylum seekers have made dangerous journeys from their homelands facing robbery, and extortion from those purporting to help them, only to make them even more vulnerable; and, many of them are women with children, some in various stages of pregnancy with little more than the clothes on their back.

Deliberately not coordinating with the aforementioned cities, Abbott has seemingly enjoyed the ensuing panic in Northern cities to find them shelter, food, and clothing, (especially for the coming winter months), and also the firestorm of resistance among many Americans.

Growing Resistance

This summer residents of the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago fought hard, but to no avail, to prevent the Broadway Armory being used as a migrant shelter, and in Brighton Park, another neighborhood seemingly destined for a winterized base camp to house them, residents attacked Ald. Julia Ramirez, and the ensuing melee sent her assistant to a local hospital for injuries.

These and other incidents across the country, have created another political and social rupture to an already divided country;  and, taking sides against the migrant arrivals has become increasingly prevalent, and also a high degree of ignorance, with some seeing asylum seekers as illegal immigrants, and not through the legalized system of admission that the United States has created.

Irony also abounds as some of the most vocal opponents have family members that have been, or are recent migrants, and in some cases, illegal immigrants from some South American countries. And, while the political landscape has become a minefield of issues, this one is threatening to the social fabric of many major American cities.

Republicans are markedly singling out President Biden as responsible for the increase in migration and not the political and economic battles that have ensnared Venezuela.

For many Americans the role of the presidency is misunderstood,and they forget that in America we have the rule of law; and that Biden is not an autocrat, and Congress is the lawmaking body with duly elected representatives.

A primer on immigration in the U.S.

Efforts at regulating immigration began shortly after our independence from Great Britain, and have waxed and waned with the first laws imposing “limits that favored Europeans” as the Pew Research Center has noted.

In 1965 a law was passed, expansionist in scope, that “opened doors to immigrants from other parts of the world. In more recent years, laws and presidential actions have been shaped by concerns about refugees, unauthorized immigration and terrorism.” 

Looking back we see that in 1790 a naturalization law limited those who could become a citizen to free whites, of the ill defined “good moral character,” and who had lived in the country for at least two years. And, it was not until 1870 that the right was “extended to those of African origin.”

For the Chinese, a law was passed in 1943 to give them limited access, and in 1952 race was eliminated as a reason for exclusion.

In 1965 the Immigration and Nationality Act favored skilled immigrants and family reunification rather than a country quota, and in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized “millions of unauthorized immigrants, mainly from Latin America, who met certain conditions.”

Since that time Congress has failed to pass comprehensive immigration law and new rules for asylum seekers, bringing us to this current juncture.

Seeking shelter

Affordable housing is at a premium for most of the nation, but especially in New York and Chicago, and proposals for even temporary shelters in unused buildings across the latter have resulted in angry public meetings, such as those in Edgewater and Brighton Park, but also hinges on long histories of racial segregation against Black and Brown people, versus Northern European whites. As one wag told us, “this would not happen if the immigrants were from Sweden.”

Current figures show that since August of 2022, there are 8,367 migrants living in city shelters, and nearly 3,000 are sleeping on the floors of police stations, often whole families, with limited access to bathroom facilities, food and water.  There are also 12,251 migrants living in shelters, plus another 2,175 staying at O'Hare and Midway airports.

City officials are struggling with the daily arrivals and coordination has been fraught to provide adequate coordination of efforts, and volunteers are burnt out trying to meet the needs of even adequate nutrition, to name but one need.

In their frantic efforts,Chicago seems to have been ripped off by vendors providing security, case workers, janitors and others. In a recent investigative report by The Chicago Tribune,they described a security guard working 56 days in a row, 12 hours a day.

He is employed by Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a national employment firm, the lead contactor for these services, with pay rates of $60 to $150 an hour; and records show that hundreds of these workers “logged 84 hour work weeks with the overtime, paid at a 50% premium, helping ballon bills that topped at least $56 million.”

Perhaps out of embarrassment, the city has not released most invoices and media and volunteers are not allowed into the shelters, but the Tribune said that “the $56 million billed by Favorite Staffing from September 2022 through June 2022, reflected roughly two thirds of all funds the city spent on all migrant services.”

While the hours logged are questionable, the conditions of the facilities are less than optimal, say some, and others feel that the company is bleeding both the city coffers as well as burdening the staff, to gain more revenue, and Ald. Maria Hadden has noted that audits need to be done to monitor expenses.

Ald. Brendan Reilly whose downtown ward houses a former hotel, the Inn of Chicago, which is now the city’s largest shelter, told the Tribune that the charges were “insanity” and added, “The conditions that exist there are deplorable,” saying he has also had reports of intoxication, drug sales and prostitution outside the shelter doors.

Brandon Johnson, already under the microscope as the city’s third Black mayor, shortly after his election, has had to face down a number of his most ardent critics, first on increased crime, and now on his handling of the migrant crisis.

In September he inked a new contract with GardaWorld Federal Services to put up winterized tents or “yurt” base camps to deal with the nearly daily arrival of buses of migrants.

Brighton Park residents once again, voiced their opposition to migrants being housed in their neighborhood, this time at a standing room only meeting this past week; and, most were in an ugly mood, but there were some that questioned the wisdom of building the tents on land previously used for industrialisation, citing safety and environmental concerns.

Weeks later the mayor's office announced that there was a series of assessments carried out by an independent environmental group, yet there has still been opposition, and some confusion since construction has begun, but the final reports on any toxic materials left by the prior use of the site, will not be release until a week later.

This has prompted concern by some neighborhood representatives question the wisdom of the timeline, but also the fears that there will be thousands to be housed at the site in the future citing lack of transparency from the Johnson administration in previous discussions, and actions. They also say that the city has not done due diligence.

Critics have noted that these concerns are really objections to the tents couched in the language of concern. And, in an 111th hour reprieve by the Illinois state government and statements from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, they have now squashed the tents as being built, due to environmental concerns about dangerously high levels of mercury by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and voiding the $91,400 monthly lease, which was to have been funded by the state, but operated by the city.

While the city did have its own its own environmental study, Pritzker said that they "do not satisfy IEPA standards," and had earlier said that, "we're stepping in here to try to help accelerate the process. It is not moving fast enough." adding "that is why you are seeing people still on the street, and we just can't have people on the streets."

This is still the case and Friday's announcement that 350 migrant families would be housed in the previously shuttered St. Bartholomew's Catholic school in the Portage Park neighborhood has elected mostly positive reactions among neighborhood residents, but some have cautioned that they hope that the Archdiocese of Chicago does not gouge the city coffers.

In Brighton Park most, however, feared crime, and decreased property values,and perhaps presaging objections, the city has said there would be no single men, only families, to assuage resident those fears.

With a mixture of various Latino citizens, and some Asians, these fears were met head on, and local media reported that one person, Ada Zhu, reading from a script, said that Johnson’s actions, “clearly showed the mayor’s disrespect for our district. You are taking our rights away. This is not right.”

Protestors then tried to block the entrance to the construction site for builder assessment and one woman received a minor injury in the melee, and police had to be called in those early morning hours to clear them away.

City deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant, and refugee rights, Beatriz Ponce de Leon has said, “This is not a Chicago issue, This is a national issue,” but you would not know it from resident ire, with its potent mix of xenophobia, as well as racism.

Not all is rosy with Portage Park residents and as nbcchicago.com reported on their website, Friday:

"Outside of the former St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Portage Park, a group of residents and community members shared their concerns and complaints with city leadership, now that the building could be slated to become a temporary migrant shelter. “They have no clue what they are doing,” said Patrick Gibbons. “They have to take care of their own people before they take care of anyone on the outside.” Residents said a lack of safety is their main issue with the plan. “I really don’t feel safe with any new strangers walking around the neighborhood,” said Wally Prusko, a longtime resident. “I wish things wouldn’t go in this direction and I hope things can worked out.” People want to see the school used for children in the community or to help house some of Chicago’s homeless residents, but that likely won’t be the case."

This and other planned efforts is a planned partnership between the archdiocese and the city of Chicago.

As the winter cold approaches, there is concern on both sides for the safety and well being of the migrants, but with many residents refusing to house them in their neighborhoods, the dilemma is apparent.

The local NBC News affiliate interviewed volunteer Lydia Wong who said, "We have significant fears of things like frostbite [and] hypothermia," and added speaking of the migrants, "People here aren't used to the cold at all."

Racial Conflict

Race is never far from the surface in Chicago, and its Black residents, many from long disinvested and disenfranchised communities on the West and South sides, are up in arms at any proposals to house migrants in their areas.

Misinformation is rampant, and one elderly Black woman told us that the migrants, “are getting $7,000 a month and we get nothing.” And, a middle aged Black man said, falsely, “Last week the mayor went to Washington to get more money for the migrants and that shows me who he is,” and uttered an expletive. Johnson is scheduled to meet with White House officials, and possibly Biden, in early November.

At that meeting Johnson was joined by the mayors of Los Angeles and Denver, and Eric Adams, the mayor of New York who had to return to his city for an internal emergency.

Meeting with White House senior staff, they practically begged for more money for housing and care of the migrants, far beyond the $1.4 billion that Biden has asked Congress for. and most importantly, "accelerated approval of work authorization and a more coordinated entry process for migrants," reported Cbsnews.com.

Johnson told reporters that "The 40 million that it's costing the city of Chicago every single month to provide care for those individuals who are seeking asylum, that is not sustainable."

Current monies spent are $270,000 for the Park District, $1.4 million for Chicago Public Schools, and $15.8 million for the Cook County Health System, resulting in a funding gap between $158 to $201 million.

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Annette Guzman, Budget Director for the city of Chicago all but admitted in an interview with Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun Times that there was no plan B if the Federal Government did not provide more money for migrant aid. The only other source, absent that, would be a property tax increase.

Last week Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that the state will give $160 million to address what he called were the "bottlenecks" in the "pipeline" of housing the asylum seekers, plus $65 million for case management and legal services.

Long simmering resentments between Black and Brown residents have bubbled to the surface with the arrivals of migrants, and perception has bumped against reality.

Much of that reality has been that historic disinvestment in Black neighborhoods, but also they have lost the anchor of many of their neighborhoods, schools when the Rahm Emmanuel administration closed nearly 50 of them.

Local ABC affiliate included this in their earlier coverage of a public demonstration:

"For them to be sympathetic to their needs, saying it's a humanitarian issue crisis when Black people have had a humanitarian crisis for housing, employment and everything else," community organizer Jessica Jackson said. "How do we get pushed to the back?"

"We are taxpayers. We are property owners," Jackson [also] said. "Our money should be going to our communities, not supporting people who haven't put a dime into our communities."

To note, as of that date, a month ago, the coverage said: “According to data analyzed by the ABC7 I-Team, there are more than 20 active migrant shelters across the city, seven of which are located on the South and West sides.”

In a statement, the mayor’s office said in response: “"We are committed to continued investment for all residents, but especially communities on the South and West sides that have long experienced disinvestment. We are the City of Chicago, and our shoulders are big enough to support both new arrivals and those who have long called this city home."

Tensions are reaching a fever pitch between newly arrived migrants and longtime immigrant and minority communities over perceptions of unfair distribution of government benefits.

The Hill recently reported that, “as new arrivals become eligible for work permits, and in many communities of color, spending on shelter for asylum-seekers is viewed in contrast to scarcity in other social programs.”

“Mixed-status families, people who have lived here for 10, 20, 25, 30 years, who have been working, paying taxes, sending money back to Mexico, abiding by the laws, laying low — probably being better citizens than most Americans — are frustrated,” said Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D)."

Linking urban violence with with perceived threats of lawless asylum seekers has also created tension and further division, and each time one commits a crime, all migrants are seen as community threats.

García, in his interview with The Hill, also discussed that other refugees were much more easily assimilated, and said:“We’ve been able to, in Chicagoland, integrate about 30,000 Ukrainian immigrants who came to Chicago, and they did not get this much reporting over that period, much less stories about crime and drugs and prostitution.”

Absent from his remarks is that the Venezuelan asylum seekers are people of color and the Ukrainians are white.

Challenges to cultural assimilation 

These efforts are not going to go away quickly, say most observers, and concerned residents are worried about cultural assimilation, as well as educating and supporting students; and, this has become a huge challenge with only 5 percent of area social workers speaking Spanish, forcing some students trying to harness learning by using Google Translate on their phones.

To make matters worse there was a physical altercation in early October when two Venezuelan migrant teens were attacked with a baseball bat after school, resulting in broken ribs, a black eye, and kicks according to local media reports.

The fight was with students from Afghanistan, and after initially being thought of as a hate crime, Hadden, their alderperson, said it was “over cultural differences” and that the Venezuelan parents thought that it was because of their immigration status, and went to the media instead of talking to Sullivan school officials.

She also said, in her statement, “The school is adept at helping newly arrived students adjust to their new home and culture, but it’s not a process without conflict.”

Indeed citywide conflict in Chicago seems to be the norm, as migrants arrive in droves each day.

Updated 8 December, 2023 at 11:18 p.m.. CSDT.

New Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling's challenges

A popular advertising slogan in the 1960s and 70s was that “sex sells”, as voluptuous female models cavorted across double spread magazine ads, purring with delight over a range of products from cologne to cars, and even designer jeans. Now, over 50 plus years later, in a politically divided country, crime sells, especially in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, where many a dollar is earned in the media as crime headlines blare danger lurking on practically every corner. 

There are real numbers behind those headlines, and crime nationwide has increased, and is of grave concern to residents and lawmakers alike.  The words “law and order” might seem benign enough but they have also been a dog whistle to white voters in majority Black urban areas, and that fear, followed by panic, has fueled a narrative designed to not just make media bucks, but also to score votes among the electorate, and especially, but not wholly, on the local level.

This was especially seen in the recent mayoral election in Chicago between the “tough on crime” candidate Paul Vallas and his progressive opponent Brandon Johnson; and, then adding race to the mix, with Vallas white, and Johnson Black; the result was a mixture of racial politics designed to not only appeal to each other’s political base, but also to voters in this long segregated city.

The win by Johnson has galvanized the political and racial rhetoric of the city, even weeks after he was sworn in, with many white residents claiming that he was “no good”, a mere pawn of his former employer, the Chicago Teachers Union, and other unprintable names, the kindest being that he was a socialist.

Johnson’s latest, and most targeted, appointment is Larry Snelling as Chicago Police Superintendent to replace former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s chief, David Brown, who faced a barrage of criticism, from all sides, after a series of missteps that cost her, and him, national negative headlines, (including her primary loss, and his subsequent resignation) as the city’s crime rate soared, especially after the looting following the death of George Floyd, when after peaceful demonstrators went home a rag tag force of looters swarmed downtown shops on posh Michigan Avenue, as well as State Street.

Snelling who has garnered rave reviews from within the force as well as without, was confirmed by the Chicago City Council in a 48 to 0 vote, and the 54 year old Chicago native earned a strong approval rating during the NATO meeting in 2012 when world leaders gathered in the city among a swarm of protestors, and news cameras, anxious to catch any disturbance of the meeting. By all accounts Snelling coordinated the security efforts with the Secret Service to great acclaim.

That success behind him, he has promised to make accountability his watchword for police actions, and to be fair in its application, and after being sworn in he told those gathered in the hall, “Anybody will tell you this. I hold officers accountable. [B]ut when our officers are held accountable, they have to be held accountable fairly.”

Snelling also said that he needed the public to understand that police officers often face dangerous situations, and, in that vein, to judge them fairly. He asked listeners to imagine, “five, six officers in the middle of a crowd who want to hurt you, and you’re outnumbered 100 to 5, you don’t really know what that feels like.”

Chicago crime was once primarily seen in Black and brown neighborhoods on the West and South Sides, has now spread to the more affluent areas Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and River North, where armed gangs, using stolen cars, suddenly appear to rob citizens walking their dogs, going to and from work, or exiting their vehicles. 

Subsequent resident fears have notably enlarged the racial rhetoric, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, those fears have reached a fever pitch, fueling an already heated atmosphere.

The Chicago Police Department, for the month of August of 2023 reported that murders decreased to 37 percent; criminal sexual assault increased by 35 percent; non violent thefts increased to 29 percent, with year to date murders reaching 26 percent; and robberies to 20 percent, and motor vehicle theft, to 22.8 percent.

Perception, as many a sage has said, is one tenth of the law, and local media, the Chicago Tribune, as well as the Chicago Sun Times, and especially CWBC Chicago have given priority to crime news, but often do not show that other large American cities face the same dilemma, and many residents are led to feel as if their city is the only one traumatized by crime.

Looking at those other cities, The New York Times recently reported that other large cities have seen their largest increases "in modern life." but while some readers might have considered this hyperbole, the stats do show that violent crime is still higher than before the Covid pandemic, said the nonprofit Center on Criminal Justice, showing that Chicago joins Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Denver in increased rates.

There are exceptions: in the first half of 2023 there were fewer homicides, across the nation, a 9 percent drop, and assaults have also dropped to 5.6 percent in the ten cities that the Council examined.

The Brookings Institute has noted that “while stoking fears on crime is an age-old American election tactic, something feels different about its salience in the pandemic era landscape. Faced with slow recovering urban cores,” there is a redeployment of crime “as the primary cause of a host of complex and interconnected issues,” be they pandemic office closures, general mayhem, or fear itself.

Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, seemed to have hit the accelerator when he moved headquarters from downtown Chicago to Miami, followed by Boeing, Inc., moving its headquarters to Texas from the nearby suburb of Deerfield. While these moves are a “fraction of Chicago’s 1.3 million jobs, the fact that it happened scored national headlines, reported Bloomberg in September 2022.

Rebranding, as well as reallocation, will be a monumental task for the new chief, as he faces the hot lights of the media, as well as those social media voices.

Brookings did say that the perception of crime was a major concern and fear in downtown areas was growing, their qualitative analysis of Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and Seattle., not helped by “high profile incidents of violence that occurred downtown as exacerbating factors.”

These incidents notwithstanding the study also told only one part of the story, and while “Respondents overall perceptions of rising crime were not wholly unfounded, but they tended to reflect national and citywide crime rhetoric and sensationalized media coverage rather than understanding of where and how crime actually occurs within their cities.”

Notably for Chicago, the Brookings staff found that in 2019 and 2022, “there was a 48% increase in property crimes in Chicago” and similar increases in other cities, Philadelphia, New York and Seattle, but ”downtown Chicago accounted for just 6% of the citywide increase in property crime and less than 1% of the citywide increase in violent crime.”

Likewise a small change in downtown crime can have an outsized public perception.

A significant impact on public perception is that of burgeoning retail crime, but history has shown that surges are not unique to this time, and while political conservatives and liberals disagree on what measures should be taken: tougher sentencing, versus, addressing poverty, investment in poorer areas, or tougher sentencing, among other steps, the numbers that we see may not always be accurate.

As Yahoo News pointed out in August, “Skeptics say there’s strong reason to doubt that the supposed shoplifting surge is even real. They point out that the only data to support the idea comes from retailers themselves, who have a strong financial incentive to blame underperformance on theft rather than mismanagement or poor business strategy.”

Taking another look at retail crime that has plagued cities like Chicago, and other cities is this from themessenger.com: “. . .  solid figures are elusive, and a lack of good data isn’t just a headache for statisticians. Information scarcity means misdiagnosis of the problem and misallocation of resources, experts say.”

“For example, if a store owner mistakenly believes shrink is the result of theft when the real issue is a delivery problem, they might squander money on extra security when a stern conversation with a supplier is the more constructive solution, experts say.”  And, add employee theft, and a misreporting of smash and grab type robberies, after hours, which are often mistakenly recorded as shoplifting not the robberies that they are.

It’s going to be a tough haul for Snelling, and it will take his legendary humility, skill, and patience to conquer both the perception and the reality of crime in Chicago..

Edgewater protests Broadway Armory migrant conversion

Thursday night's community meeting to inform Chicago’s Edgewater community of the city’s decision to use the Broadway Armory, operated by the Parks Department, a follow up to a letter sent to area residents on Tuesday informing them of the decision brought out a standing room only crowd, preceded by a raucous demonstration by the Save Our Broadway Park Coalition complete with yellow placards, saying “Don’t displace Us” as television camera captured the noisy mostly white demonstrators as local reporters captured the scene.

As the crowds poured into the gymnasium, both the temperature of the packed space, and that of the crowd was raised to a fever pitch, as newly elected Alderwoman Lenni Manna Hoppenworth tried valiantly to silence the crowd to begin the meeting and was subjected to taunts, incomprehensible, but angry comments, amidst “Save Our Park” and as the yellow signs and placards waved it was clear that this was to be a contentious meeting.

With a host of city officials including Deputy Mayor for Immigration, Beatriz Ponce De Leon, and Parks head, Rosa Escareno tempers flared in the unbearable heat, and while there was some who felt blindsided by the announcement, it was also clear that many had not read, or were unaware of Tuesday’s letter. 

Petitions had been circulated against the transition by Ginger Williams, executive director of Edgewater Village, whose office in the building will close.

it was clear that the massed officials had prepared a tightly organized presentation, replete with handouts on the details of the planned 6 month shelter conversion, and the ubiquitous Power Point presentation giving targeted bullet points to the assembled crowd, on three separate screens; but, that was not enough to quell the mumbling and the comments, including, the familiar shouts of “shame”, so much so that those trying to speak from the top table had to ask to be respected.

When the move in date was announced, also on the handouts that attendees were given, on August 1st, the noise level increased and groans were heard, and more people screaming shame, and feet stomping on the floor, and taunts of ‘you sold us out!”

Hoppenworth and Ponce De Leon were targeted in this verbal onslaught, but kept their cool, as they and others including Chicago Deputy Police Chief Stephen Chung assured the community that there would be security within, and without for the expected 350 families to be sheltered and that those who would break the rules would be removed to another shelter. At that the crowd seemed to calm a bit more, and bit by bit, looking at the nodding heads and murmurs of support, it became apparent that there was much support for the plan, but the vocal minority got the most attention.

It was also noted that there was a visible police appearance by some stern faced, and beefy policemen; but, no one was handcuffed and taken away, at least not when we were present.

Chicago’s declaration of being a sanctuary city has been used to score political points by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, as well as Florida Governor Ron De Santis, to bus these migrants to Northern liberal cities, using people, mostly from Venezuela’s economic disasters: the lowered price of oil, as the world’s third largest oil reserve, political change of leadership, resulting along with corruption and repression, against those that opposed him, in a rigged win by Nicholas Maduro, including Juan Guido, (who was swept aside as the duly elected president), and with the rising inflation, over 1,946 percent, residents fled, to the United States through Mexico, and crossing the dangerous Darien Gap into Central America and Mexico, some drowning,many on foot, and with small children, and babies in tow.

Once at a port of entry, many lingered in Texas, and other border states as asylum seekers to await trial dates, often far from those locations. Those that were lucky enough to have friends or relatives here, were able to go to those locations.

The Armory will help those residents with work visa applications, family reunification, mental and physical health care.

While some programming will move to other locations, mostly youth athletics, adult athletics, will, or have, had their last sessions, but the senior congregate hot lunch will continue, as well as some services on the second floor ballroom, youth athletics will move to Margate Park, less than 3 miles away, and some to the Peterson Gymnastics Center further West.

These facts did appease many present, but not all, and the yellow signs stopped waving, although for some, nothing was enough.

Ponce De Leon noted that “This community is a rich community of multiple identities and ethnicities, people who love their community. It is hard for us to repurpose space, but these are the times we’re living in.”

Her statement was met with cheers and boos.

The heat intensified with the comments and question session, as people began to line up to the microphone they were cautioned, in the interest of time, they were limited to one minute and their mics would be turned off, if they exceeded. And, many were.

While many comments  focused on the need for compassion, others became politically partisan: “Where is the mayor, Brandon Johnson, he should be here, after all this is his baby!”

“Put ‘em up in the Hyatts, our billionaire governor can do that!”

These were the comments that could be printed, there were others, but there was also much support, from an elderly Asian woman, of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association who begged for compassion, food, and shelter for the newcomers.

Presently, there are 950 families and individuals sleeping on the floor of some police stations.

Others, like Pat Sharkey of the Coalition of the Edgewater Neighbors Block Association, an umbrella organization, and one of the organizers of the protest said she supported the idea of the Armory being a welcome center, and not to take programs for at risk youth, prompting us to recall the acronym, N.I.M.B.Y, not in my backyard, when efforts to help the less fortunate are considered in neighborhoods across the country.

She noted that “the process was a disaster, and that she and others “waited patiently for a discussion with the administration” that did not happen.

Another resident said, “I think this is an opportunity for this community to show some compassion.

Hoppenworth noted that while she was disappointed with the closed-door process, but instead wanted one with the community, and added that while she disagreed with the process, she does “agree" with” the mission of supporting new arrivals wholeheartedly.”

Johnson win as Chicago mayor is a game changer

Tuesday’s mayoral election in Chicago proved to be a watershed for Brandon Johnson, a virtually unknown Cook County Commissioner,who kept his head down and did his work, and in the space of a few short months, became one of two candidates in a runoff election between he and former Chicago Police Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas, in a race that had increasing violence and crime as the top issue, but also, despite a razor thin win brought Johnson out of the shadows to not only emerge victorious, but also as the progressive leader of a new era that has surpassed the old guard pols of yesterday dominated by the Irish American ascendancy, notably led by the Daley’s, both father Richard J, and son Richard M.

Election Day provided a steady share of morning rainstorms that might have kept some voters at home and the final tally of voters came to 35 percent, which as ABC 7 reported, that figure was only a third of registered voters. In that report some interviewed, who did not vote, said they were “just too busy”, or “I just didn’t no particular reason. . ..”

In that same report the Chicago Board of Elections says once all mail in ballots are counted, that figure could rise to 37, or 38 percent. But, what might have led to a Johnson win was the increased voting among 18 to 24 year old voters, and spokesperson Max Bever said, “They added 5,000 votes. That is a big percentage point jump compared to the February election.”

Despite the low turnout in some predominantly Black and Latino wards, with historically low turnouts, the Johnson victory, as an old saying goes: a win is still a win. And, while Johnson cannot claim a mandate, the paradigm shift is one that portends a greater trend across the nation, as evidenced by support from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, whose endorsements gave a national focus to the campaign.

It also shores up new wins on the aldermanic level, both with incumbents such as Marian Hadden of the 49th Ward, as well as Alderwoman elect of Ward 48, Leni Manaa Hoppenworth, who beat old school rival Joe Dunne, by 600 votes despite Dunne’s refusal to concede waiting for mail in and absentee ballots, but with the removal of his campaign signs in the ward, that might provide a concession of its own.

For Democrats across the country, this win also shows that progressive candidates can win, despite some of the more conservative tropes about those candidates being soft on crime, or wanting to defund the police, both of which were used against Johnson.

The new mayor will subsequently face a far more progressive city council, than before and as Manaa Hoppenworth told listeners in a candidate forum, and to Block Club Chicago, “she’s excited to work with amore progressive City Council and to work on providing more affordable housing and mental health support to Chicagoans.”

In that vein we spoke with Saqib Bhatti, the co executive director of Action Center on Race and the Economy, in a telephone interview, following up on his remarks from a press statement where he noted, “we believe that the people of Chicago have spoken loudly and clearly in this election, voting for a candidate who supports unions, higher taxes on corporations, and a vision of public safety that is not solely dependent on law enforcement.”

Bhatti said that key to the Johnson victory was “because he really had a worldview [of the city] that “you win by listening to people, and that what we saw was the fighting back against the neo liberals by those in the Black and brown communities.”

Asked about the national outlook for Democratic candidates he said, “It shows you don’t have to run to the right of your opponent, but listen to what people are telling you. The future for Democrats is to open those spaces to win because of our values.”

Bhatti emphasized that part of that winning formula was “the strong GOTV [get out the vote] operation led by United Working Families , and with each election cycle we are learning more and more."

For the effect on the incoming city council, he said, “today as progressives, we can open up space to the left and moderate that effect to increase room for progressive policies, with the help of Brandon on the fifth floor, and consolidate in partnering with ways to respond to constituents, and listen to the people, and not on special interests or developers.”

The beginning of a new day for Chicago.

Updated with a correction on 4.8.23  at 12:38 p.m. CDT

Showdown for Vallas and Johnson for Chicago mayor

It’s a mere stones throw till the April 4 runoff election between Former CPS School Superintendent Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson in what promises to show not just the top issues of crime and education in Chicago but the racial divisions in this long segregated city, with many whites following the Vallas trope of “law and order” and the a broader based coalition that has gathered around Johnson with his Black and Brown backers, but also heralds greater support from the so called Lakefront Liberals gathered on the North Side of the city.

A recent poll by Chicago based Victory Research dived into the details of support for both candidates showing the tight race with 44.9 percent for Vallas and 39.1 for Johnson, with 16 percent undecided. But, that also shows some telling endorsements with Ald. Ray Lopez of the 15th ward supporting Vallas (true to his tough on crime stance) and Matt O’Shea of the 19th for Vallas; indeed, the Irish American community with the long reign of Richard Daley and his son, is seemingly bent on seeing their support for traditions of old, represented by Vallas, even if he is Greek American.

With the election of 35 elected police district council people, they have taken the other side of the coin, from middle and lower income communities and thrown unanimous support to Johnson, showing their suspicion of the Vallas trope, and his support from some right wing figures such as the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 president, John Cantanzarra.

Johnson has fought back against charges that he wants to defund the police, a tag hung nationally on Democrats, and talked about taking a holistic approach to examining the root causes of crime, be it housing, employment, and the like.

Taking an even closer look the poll revealed that 58.4 percent of progressives have shown support for Johnson, favoring that progressive approach to crime fighting, but in sharp contrast to those smaller numbers, from the same group for Vallas, 21.92 percent.

Along racial lines African Americans polled 63 percent for Johnson and 29 for Vallas, along with 61 percent for Vallas among whites, with about an even division among Latinos, who have shown low historical turnouts in previous races.

Geographically, Vallas dominates on the Northwest and Southwest sides of the city and Johnson on the South and West Sides, along ethnic and racial lines. And, for age demographic, Vallas captured more than 15 percent of voters over 60 years old, and Johnson in the 30s, 40s and 50s.

This past week has shown the two candidates crisscrossing the city in a series of forums, and debates, beginning with last Saturdays candidate forum by Chicago Women Take Action Alliance, and moderated by Cheryl Corley of NPR and local progressive radio WCPT host Joan Esposito, where both gave some contrasting responses to hot button issues, and showed what political consultant, and advisor to former president Barack Obama, Dave Axelrod called Johnson’s “big personality”, and, as he gave strong answers with statistics, it showed a relatively weakened Vallas who stood on his “law and order stance” and while he hit some punch lines, he never seemed to drill down the way Johnson did.

To wit: “The city is in crisis, [with] a degraded demoralized police department, the problem is on the 5th floor [of city hall], seemingly forgetting that Lightfoot was defeated,and while this might appeal to the Lightfoot haters, it seems to have been a tag line from an earlier speech, and not one pertinent to the current situation.

Contrast this with Johnson who said that he had a “dynamic interest in this city’s history” and that “we need to build a stronger and safer one.”

To which Vallas countered that with the “problems of the city, [we have to] build something better and brighter.”

It’s apparent to many that for Chicago, and other cities of comparable size, that public safety and education, quality education, are paramount, and with the backing of both the FOP and the Chicago Teachers Union, for both Vallas and Johnson these are front burner issues for voters, and the community at large.

Vallas has called for increasing police as a seeming mandate, and to also recall retired officers to stem the tide of those who have retired, or moved to other states, but Johnson countered that the plan was unworkable since it would take time for both to get up to speed, at least two years, by his research.

Vallas also wants the return of beat cops to neighborhood patrols, something that our research has shown to be given a mixed reaction by  residents, thinking that the old model had shortcomings, and that a return to the “officer friendly” model for aging baby boomers may have had its day.

In another forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago, organized by some anti violence groups on Tuesday Vallas again called for “community based policing” perhaps a nod to beat cops, but Johnson has said, accurately, that police officers cannot do it all, and that there is a role for social workers counselors, and the like, because to not do otherwise is a “recipe for disaster.”

At both forums Johnson had to clarify earlier remarks from a 2020 radio interview that defunding the police as an “actual, real, political goal,” not just a slogan as The Chicago Sun Times reported, and he replied at UIC that “it was a political goal, I never said it was mine.”

In an awkward moment for Vallas at UIC, he was questioned by former Chicago Tribune columnist, Eric Zorn by what he meant by “take the handcuffs off police” and that it might provoke some resident anger, and legal issues for the city.

Vallas said that his statement was a mischaracterization, and that “the bottom line is I have talked about restoring proactive policing that is consistent with the consent decree, and I’ve said that over and over again.”

He later backtracked to reiterate that proactive policing to meet the demands of the consent decree was what has consistently wanted but, as any trial lawyer knows what the jury heard, even if overruled, they heard, and the fact check was what forum listeners heard.

A later fact check revealed that he had actually told the Sun Times that, “police officers we do have are demoralized and handcuffed. There is no incentive to engage in proactive policing. And the criminals know it, and they’ve become bolder. There is an utter breakdown of law and order.”

He also ridiculed Johnson’s goal of hiring 200 detectives to aid police to solve crime, and that it’s “not going to solve the problem of crime in Chicago.”  Johnson replied, “So, having detectives to solve crime doesn’t solve crime in Chicago.”

They also heard Vallas say that if elected he would go beyond getting back to pre covid murders as progress, but instead, “if I don’t get us under 500 murders a year, then I will have been a failure [as mayor].”

Chicago had 695 homicides in 2022 and 804 in 2021, according to CPD, “up sharply from 500 in 2019 before the COVID 19 pandemic,” reported Block Club Chicago.

Rounding out the week was Thursday’s televised debate on local ABC affiliate, where the Sun TImes reported Vallas took the gloves off in an often spirited debate, perhaps because the of the latest Johnson endorsements: Chuy Garcia, his earlier rival, Illinois Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, and on the national level, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and On Friday, longtime civil rights leader, The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Right out of the gate, Vallas, once again, told Johnson he wanted to defund the police, and Johnson defended his record saying that was a political goal and not his own.

On stronger ground with a return volley, he added that 40 percent of all 911 calls are related to mental health, and that the police are “asked to do their job, and somebody else,” 

He had earlier noted, at the CWTA forum, that “200 calls each night” are for women suffering domestic violence.

Called smart policing, Johnson has used this fact, to which Vallas has said, “smart policing is not defunding the police,” but at this point it seemed like a shopworn line, and the expression on Johnson’s face seemed to reveal the same feeling.

In a retort, he noted that it takes two years to train police and put them on the streets, and that “we need police now.”

Vallas met that by saying that it would only take 6 months, incredulous to many viewers, and that it, seemingly “would improve morale,and that police officers will return, and can be counter on, and not be punished when they make arrests.”

Sometimes all roads in local politics, as well as national come down to money, and Johnson stated that he was the only one on the stage who had a budget, but Vallas accused him of wanting to raise property taxes to $800 million, and that the tax on hotels and motels was unfair to which Johnson replied he was looking at a dollar a room, and that even his own frugal father could come up with a dollar.

Vallas did mention, accurately enough, that Tax Increment Financing monies should be used to improve lower income neighborhoods such as Little Village, and while true enough, as was their intent, the financial distribution, has often been used to prop up high income venues, such as the French Market, hardly in an impoverished area.

Helping in those areas, and beyond is his support for Bring Chicago Home, a proposal to raise the real estate transfer tax to increase affordable housing and to end homelessness in the city, which Johnson said was a population of “20,000 unhoused people.”

Vallas touted his budget record in Chicago schools, as well as that in New Orleans and Philadelphia, but the appearance of New Orleans and Philadelphia officials, and a spate of reports and articles belie that claim. One of them, ACRE Action Center stated that when he was CEO at CPS, he “started a pattern of skipping pension payments, which ultimately led the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund to go from being fully funded to having a $9.6 billion shortfall.”

For Philadelphia, the report stated that the Vallas leadership “took out a series of toxic swap deals, which ultimately cost Philadelphia Taxpayers more than $161 million.”

Chicago has the nation’s third largest school system, and one of the major issues for both candidates, and for previous mayors, is how to harness the best financing for each student and to keep the quality high, and support needed wrap-around services such as tutors, librarians and social workers. 

As the system has changed over the last few decades, with control given to the mayor, the school population is now mostly Black and brown, and much of the will to improve is compromised by race.

The funding formula is mostly dependent on property taxes, and while the formula has changed, the needs and costs have increased. Vallas has often said that he wants the money pushed down, his term, “to the school level”, but has been vague on how to do this.  And, as the records have proved in both New Orleans and Philadelphia, most of his success was done with charter schools, at least for a while, and he has, in some older interviews suggested that he is a supporter of school choice, read as vouchers, something critics say whose ultimate goal is to destroy the American public school system.

Even more damaging is his alignment with the Illinois Federation for Children PAC, and a $59, 385 contribution from former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a staunch advocate of school choice, and vouchers, and as American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, a Johnson supporter has said, “I don’t care what he [Vallas] says, for Betsy DeVos and her PAC to come in and support Paul Vallas tells you everything you need to know about him.”

In a subsequent debate with WBEZ radio Vallas denied having any contact with DeVos, yet the two did serve together as host s at at an event in conjunction with the Urban League of Chicago honoring the superintendent of Chicago Catholic schools.reported the Network of Public Education.

Johnson has direct classroom experience as a teacher, and this lived experience gives him more credibility in the eyes of many voters and his design for a more holistic approach for funding and accessibility.

For many progressives, Vallas’s statements to the right-leaning, Wirepoints, during a podcast in November of 2021, appears not only insensitive to the hot button subject of Critical Race Theory, which is not taught in elementary or high schools, and also racist.  Here are excerpts:

“Critical Race Theory - or call it whatever you want, woke-ism, anti-racism . . .nut number one, when it distracts from quality instruction in the core subject areas - which it is, because we seem to be too preoccupied, too much focusing on these things, rather than focus on a core curriculum - our standards suffer and damage is done.”

Vallas also states that CRT, “further undermines the relationship of children with their parents.” And, when the host of the podcast attempts to link CRT with criminal behavior, Vallas says, “You’re absolutely right,” and that it’s “a justification for everything.”

Stay tuned.

Updated April 4, 2023 at 1:15 CDT