Looting along Chicago's Mag Mile raises ire to mayor

 

Tuesday proved to be a cleanup day for downtown Chicago businesses in the aftermath of a well-coordinated looting that hit the smartest and most expensive shops in the city’s Magnificent Mile district, a result of the shooting of a young black man on the Southside, but many observers have credited it as an excuse to loot, and less concern about avenging what some saw as police misconduct, and misinformation, of what was believed to b a 15 year old boy, but in reality was a 20 year old.

Regardless of the reasons, the damage, estimated to be in the millions hit Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale, Yves St, Laurent and Gucci, and a clutch of pricey boutiques along side streets in the posh area, and a viable tax base.

It has also opened up a further discontent with the nascent administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who received a raft of bad press after the tailgating rioters on the peaceful protest in May after the George Floyd murder.

 ABC 7 News located at the corner of State and Lake streets, another area that was hit, had reporters and cameraman on the scenes as cars and vans gathered around the stores, disgorging crowds of people  to break windows and grab the goods; suggesting a well coordinated attack; and, in fact, another television station showed a screenshot of what appeared to be a Tweet saying the looting would begin at 12 midnight that Monday, and would avoid the South and West sides of the city, which are predominantly black.

While new police Chief David Brown said in a press conference on Monday that it was an attack on the police, the opposite appeared to be true, and while it was obvious that both location of the press conference and Brown leading with opening remarks, that the mayor is standing behind her man.

But, City Hall observers are wondering for how long, as this is the second attack, and many of the same damaged stores, had just recovered from the May attacks and are now boarding up again, and some including local Ald. Brian Hopkins are wondering for how long these stores and the resulting glamor will remain.

He also commented on the area’s residents, who have helped buoy the local economy after much of Chicago’s black middle class has left the city, and as he told the Chicago Sun-Times, “sense of security stolen from them. … They can’t walk out the door without risking their lives — even in the middle of the day.

Lightfoot and her team, or teams seem to be stumbling on how to handle scenes like this, and while they have been mum on who was part of the planning, it is a safe bet that she and others will face some damming and blaming in the near future, even beyond a local society columnist who in a community newspaper called her a Bolshevik.

In what was the opening salvo of words, Hopkins noted: “That is not to criticize the blue shirts on the ground. It’s to criticize the strategy and the tactical decision-making of the senior command who were unprepared for this. … They acknowledged they had intelligence that this was going to happen. Yet it happened. So, if there was an attempt to intervene at the earliest stages and to stop it, it failed. … And once it started, there was no stopping it,” the alderman said.

Most residents are beginning to acknowledge that there might be more truth than heat to his words as the mayor’s office has not acknowledged who was part of the decision  making in May that proved to be a debacle that reached the national media.

Lightfoot reacted, “Alderman Hopkins has a penchant for letting his mouth run before he actually gets the facts,” the mayor said. CPD “got the intelligence, acted on it quickly, brought 400 officers downtown. And what we need now is not Monday-morning quarterbacks and sideline critics. What we need is to come together as a city and have a united strategy and focus.”

Name calling aside, a city already battered by the endemic and in a state with growing numbers of COVID infections, plus a budget in deep arrears, and an economy that is struggling to recover, does not need images such as people hauling off armfuls of clothes, an ATM machine, and designer handbags, not to mention flat screen televisions, from a near Northside electronics dealer, that was also robbed.

 Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said that a “major course correction on resource deployment is necessary,” along with a “deep review of police intelligence-gathering capability.”

 “Caravans and U-Haul trucks. Stolen vehicles lining blocks. Divvy bikes scattered everywhere. ... All of this was pre-packaged and ready to go. All it took was an all-systems go on social media for this thing to play out,” Reilly said.

This also has political echoes from a mayoral election that had two back women running and where only 21 percent of the electorate voted, some saying because there were no white candidates in a city long divided by race. And, it will be easy fodder to day that local black leaders, including the mayor and the State's Attorney Kim Foxx may not be able to manage the city.

Foxx has been heavily criticized for lowering the financial threshold for felony shoplifting that some shop owners have said increased the raft of shoplifting, even before the Floyd murder, with bands of youths smashing and grabbing along Michigan Avenue.

Lightfoot’s predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, faced with the shooting of another black man, 16 year old Laquan McDonald, hid a damning video with the completeness of the former state’s attorney and got  widespread anger in the black community, and even with liberal lakefront liberals, and many say that the fallout was one reason he chose not to run for reelection.

Crime may be the new snow for Chicago mayors, (a reference to the blizzard of 1979 that cost Mayor Bilandic a chance to remain in office) ) that has political implications for a voting bloc that may, or may not stand behind Lightfoot if she and Brown continue to have an inadequate plan for what may be another targeted event in a city that is boiling over with dealing with the pandemic of the coronavirus, as well as billions of dollars of indebtedness, a legacy of poor race relations, and an increasingly high cost of living, and lacking affordable housing.

Adam Skaf, a spokesman for the Magnificent Mile Association in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, now known as WWD, “We need a more comprehensive security plan from the city. We need assurance for not only our stakeholders and for visitors — as many as are possible during a pandemic — but also for the 100,000-plus residents who live around the Magnificent Mile and Michigan Avenue,” Skaf said. “It is a very scary time for them as well.”

In a related event, police were attacked they said, during a protest at Millenium Park, where police and those wanting to defund the police department met in violent clashes, but news reports vary, depending on who is telling the story, but all things considered equal there seems to be issues on both sides, and with protesters protecting themselves from expected tear gas, and police saying that they were used to hide objects of attack, and it was also determined that one policeman was hit repeatedly in the head with a skateboard, matters more than appearances warrant in the court of public opinion.

Also there were reports that a nine year old boy was injured and in the aftermath, the move to defund has gained traction. On Tuesday there was a "coalition of community and labor organizations including Grassroots Collaborative, Black Lives Matter Chicago, SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana, and Black Youth Project 100 held a rally and car caravan ahead of city budget negotiations this fall," according to their statement.

As the demands grow louder, Chicago seems to be at the crossroads for change as they noted, and added, "At Grassroots Collaborative, we demand the City of Chicago defund the Chicago Police Department and invest in community services. We have seen that the police only serve to protect the property of the white and wealthy few while brutalizing protestors who march for change. We demand the CPD budget be defunded to fund life affirming public services such as health care, mental health, housing, good jobs, restorative justice, and more " said Amisha Patel, Executive Director, Grassroots Collaborative.

 Updated 18 August 2020, CDT

 

 

Chicago schools under pressure go remote

In a swift turnabout Chicago Public Schools announced on Wednesday that they were going to begin the new school year completely remote, rather than the hybrid version it had approved with input from local health officials and a poll of parents and caregivers.

The move has the support of many teachers that are fearing a return to the classroom; especially those that are older, or have pre-existing health conditions to consider, but some are also saying that CPS, as well as Mayor Lori Lightfoot caved under the threat of a threatened strike vote from the Chicago Teachers Union, that had already decided to present the issue for a vote in their House of Delegates.

Mayor Lightfoot

It’s no secret that CTU has no love for the mayor, and in turn, Janice Jackson, the school superintendent, the former because they backed her rival, Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle, and the latter as being in cahoots with ousted former head, Forrest Claypool.

The resulting bad blood has spilled into the arguments on how and when to begin the new school year for elementary and high school students, and then there is the memory of the recent strike, where there were chants of “Lightfoot get on the right foot!” and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, coming to town and proclaiming, “We’re going to teach the new mayor a lesson!”

While those voices have receded into the background, the political winds have not abated and the harsh words of Stacy Davis Gates during the mayoral campaign also remain in memory..

To be fair, there were many understandable fears on both sides of the fence, but the specter of another teachers strike amidst the pandemic and its grip on public health, plus the increasing homicide rate would have created a public relations nightmare with the world watching, and President Trump sending in federal help, with a major tweet about the demise of a great city, for all to hear.

Sharkey’s own tweet seemed to secure the enmity: “. We have to strike or threaten to strike to be heard, but when we fight, we win.” 

Mr. Sharkey

The mayor on the other hand struck a more unified tone when she said, “The decision to begin the 2020-2021 school year remotely during the first quarter is rooted in public health data and the invaluable feedback we've received from parents and families,” said Lightfoot in a statement.

Politics aside, and that is only momentarily, Jackson has promised that the new remote learning model will be one that is vastly improved from the earlier effort in March, which faced a variety of technical and accessible issues, and that many families did not have the necessary hardware, or access, needed for remote learning.

This time there will be an emphasis on teacher training for remote instruction, plus the baselines seen with in-person learning: accountability on both sides of the desk and including attendance, to name but a few.

“CPS’ remote learning plan must vastly improve on student and family experiences from the spring, and experts on the ground — our members — must be equal partners with the district in crafting those remote learning plans,” Sharkey said.

With legitimate safety concerns, the city’s health commissioner, Allison Arwady, noted “we’ve added between 80 and 100 cases and not seen signs that turning around makes us concerned.”

Also concerned were many teachers who in a Chicago Tribune poll said some of the following in reaction to the initial news: :

“What if a student or educator dies? Or what if a 14 year old comes to school with COVID and is asymptomatic, passes it onto his best friend and kills his best friend's mom?”

“What people don’t realize, outside of actual classroom instruction, is there is a huge nurturing portion of pre K that outsiders normally aren’t privy to.”

“These students who are missing school right now will move past this. . . and may even benefit from experiencing this unusual time in history. The greatest education in the world will mean nothing to our students if they are dead.”

Many of those teachers may not have been comforted by the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci who told a collection of educators in a recent virtual town hall meeting, “In many respects, unfortunately, though this may sound a little bit scary and hard, I don’t mean it to be that way, is that you’re actually going to be part of the experiment of the learning curve of what we need to know.”

Dr. Fauci

Cross infections cannot be ruled out, and the emphasis on masks and social distancing might not have worked in the lower grades, and the probability of a hybrid model, still a possibility for Nov. 9, maybe a nod to that reality.

Of course, there are those that advocate for the role of social interaction in K through 5 classes to help them form social skills later on, and as a developmental tool, and this has been adopted by the American Pediatric Association.

The concern is still there and in some southwestern states there have been accusations that with in person learning, there might be blood on the hands of school administrators.

On the other side of the equation, a report from the National Academy of Sciences, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also underscores this point, but also said that “health risks to school personnel and students’ families,” should be take into consideration, but also that a partnership and task force should be considered to address the costs.

For Chicago with its racial, and financial polarization, not to mention that over 90 percent of the student body in its public schools are black and brown decreases the support that might be garnered in a whiter and wealthier city.

With a $700 billion deficit in the city budget, simply paying for the costs of cleaning alone, is problematic and one of the sticking points in the Congressional debate for another rescue package, is the size of the increase for state and local governments that the Republican Senate has balked at, and that the Democrats have advocated for, in situations, such as these, in dealing with the pandemic.

In a joint study the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital and the University of Chicago noted that children under five years old, “with COVID-19 have a higher viral load than older children and adults, which may suggest greater transmission, as we see with respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV.”

Specifically, they noted that those children “with mild to moderate COVID 19 have much higher levels of genetic material for the virus in the nose compared to older children and adults.”

While they are careful to note that the study was no proof positive that children spread the virus as much as adults, “but it is a possibility.”

Chicago cops get to stay in schools

In one of those peculiar moments in local government, that seem endemic in this atmosphere, what some are calling the “new normal” world of  race and pandemics, the Chicago City Council decided to renew the $33 million dollar contract with the Chicago Police Department that places police in many of the city schools, despite ongoing controversy,and  where there have been more than 2,354 complaints against the officers, and a long history of hasty, and often violent classroom confrontations, that have pockmarked the schools, and given many students a criminal history. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, firmly, “yeah, we’re not going to do that” in response to questions from the local media, if she favored the city council ending the long held and controversial contract.

Uncharacteristically, she did not elaborate on the reasons why she held that position in advance of Wednesday’s meeting, only saying, ““Unfortunately, we need security in our schools.”

Left unsaid is that in Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle, these contracts have been suspended, or terminated in light of the abusive, and often deadly actions by their local police departments, including the death of George Floyd.

With violent incidents abounding, and the mayor usually so vociferous in her condemnation of violence in a school district that is predominately black, and brown; her silence is deafening, and many of her critics, and supporters alike, are thinking that she feels the CPD presence might save the lives of students in a possible Parkland, or Columbine like attack. 

Yet, she did not say that, and after her long tussle with the Chicago Teachers Union, over contract negotiations last fall, many are saying that both sides, but especially the CTU, is sharpening their knives for another bare knuckle fight, for some foreseeable fight.

But, as the “good book” noted, “all politics is local”, and with America on edge, over the murders of George Floyd and Rayshaard Brooks, in Minneapolis and Atlanta, nerves are on edge.

What is known since the program of School Resource Officers has begun, is that the once ideological underpinnings of an “Officer Friendly” program in 1966, which began even earlier in Flint, Mich. (in 1953), was designed to give a community focus has disintegrated into one where students have often been thrown into gulag like detention rooms for such “crimes” as wanting to retrieve a forgotten coat, from a classroom, or in a much publicized case, where officers threw a female student to the ground for refusing to give up her cellphone, after talking in class, that made national news with the airing of the videotaped confrontation..

This is clear indication that this is a huge problem, not just in Chicago, but in other cities as well, and it’s also painfully evident that these officers have been often improperly used by teachers not equipped to handle adolescent behavior, and have been too quick to call the school cops that are not trained to handle criminals, and not kids that are talking back and being sassy.

Historically, from 1990 to 1991 there were 9,882 arrests made in American Schools. And, from 2012 to 2016, there were $2 million in misconduct settlements, on or off school grounds noted the Shriver Center in a 2017 report.

Lightfoot has said that she wants the local school councils to decide for themselves, yet this Pilate like move, also belies that last year when the LSC’s, as they are known, voted in favor, they were offered no alternatives, and had very little information going into the vote.

Mayor Lightfoot

That action, from her predecessor, is an old Washington trick: give a short timeline to gather information, and then, without offering an alternative, say in effect, “C’mon we are giving you the freedom to vote, so do it.” and then, of course, there is the resulting announcement that makes the evening news.

With 72 out of 93 Chicago high schools that have two police officers assigned, and a student body that has 40 percent black and 45 percent Latinx students, contact cards are issued by the police to document the “contacts” with students, said the report and notably Chicago has had four times the amount of these documentations, than their counterparts in New York.

Currently, there are 144 school resource officers in Chicago schools,and 66 percent of the police contacts are with black students, but they are only 36 percent of the student population; and, with incidents involving black girls, several times higher than white girls.

What has been left largely unsaid is that these contacts can create a record of criminality, in combination with other student choices, that can further increase the pipeline from school to prison.

“Last year, a pair of CPD officers came under fire following an incident at Marshall High School where they dragged a 16-year-old girl down a flight of stairs and used a Taser on her. Police alleged the girl had attempted to bite one of the officers, but juvenile criminal charges against her were eventually dropped,” reported local station WTTW.

Furthermore the use of surveillance and record keeping that is not accessible to the public add to the fears of many parents, that their children will be easily marked for life.

While the Chicago Teachers Union  was firmly opposed, and held demonstrations outside of Lightfoot’s home, and that of Chicago School Superintendent Miguel Del Valle, plus a downtown protest march, the narrow vote of 4 to 3, was disappointing.

CTU as well as some members of the LSC’s wanted to take the money spent on the school police, and use them instead for more counselors, school nurses and case managers, was met by a firm no, from Dr. Janice Jackson, CPS superintendent, said, if that was done the money would go back into the general funds noted by WBEZ in its coverage.

Dr. Jackson

There appears to be some sense from City Hall as well as the school district,  of the need for change, and Jackson has said that there would be changes in officer training and teacher conduct training, plus an adjustment of roles and responsibilities in schools, or to use her words, “more critically evaluate” the role of the SRO’s.

Some of those opposing the SRO’s have suggested using Restorative Justice, which has shown some success, in area schools, and that involves  peer problem solving, the use of peace circles, and addressing unmet needs, among other techniques, that is not only cost free, but shown a 31 percent decrease in misconduct, and a reduction of school suspensions in half.

A possible solution might have involved a partial suspension, allowing for differences in schools, and an evaluation of the problems and input from the LSC’s and CPD, but this seems to never have been a part of the discussion between Lightfoot and Jackson, or not been released to the public, or parents.

Jackson has seemed to say, but not been specific on how changes can be met, critically, or otherwise, on an issue whose final cost has not been calculated.

In a 2-4 vote, the Chicago School Board voted to continue with the SRO program, on Wednesday, Aug, 26, but cut the budget to $12.1 million, and as an add-on asked the schools to draft alternative plans for school safety, that pleased almost no one; especially the students that demonstrated in the street outside their offices.

One of the dissenting voters, Elizabeth Todd-Breland noted that while deferring the decision making to a process using the LSC's that many of them, 17 in total, did not have enough members to have a quorum, and that some were barely extant.

As the Chicago Tribune noted, 73 percent of students arrested last year were Black versus 36 percent district wide, and many have noted that the "remain" votes seemed to be centered on the perception that black schools need more policing, but as we have noted before many of those arrested for minor infractions result having their names listed in police database records for gang members, giving a false mark against students whose behavior mirrors that of adolescent behavior.

For Brown students they compromise 23 percent of all arrests, but represent 47 percent of CPS students; and, as has been seen before the historical legacy of race and politics in Chicago makes for uneasy results.

Ald. Rosanna Rodriguez seemed to say it all when she noted to the Tribune if a decision as integral to the health of Chicago Public School students could be delegated. But, Jackson has said that the move is part of a "holistic approach to school safety."

Updated 08.28.20 2:30 p.m. CDT

Lightfoot and COVID19: Chicago at the crossroads

When we first offered our support to then candidate Lori Lightfoot, giving her kudos for her idealism and chutzpah, we asked the rhetorical question of why one would want the job of leading the nation’s third largest city, as it lay adrift in legendary corruption, legacy issues and historical economic problems. We could also ask that question again, as she deals with the Covid19 pandemic, and the myriad of problems that she has encountered in trying to tackle, the challenges of managing that, plus the pitfalls of merely running the daily operations of a city that needed to turn the corner.

Fresh from the last battle with the Chicago Teachers Union, and the subsequent strike, Lightfoot is grappling with a near Greek chorus of woes: not the least of them is the still enduring belief, among some African American residents, that the virus is a hoax and that the wearing of masks, and other personal protection equipment, are unnecessary, as the old adage, from the black community states, “When it’s your time to go, it’s your time,” and that wearing a mask, or other face coverings, is pointless, as death is all in the hands of the Almighty.

Ironically, it’s Chicago’s black community that was initially the one that was hit the hardest, but now, the Latinx community is leading in infections and deaths among the city’s minority groups.

Adding to the mix is the anger of many of the Chinese community who feel that the black community has blamed them,and their relatives, for bringing the virus to the US, and one self identified Chinese public transit rider was overheard saying, “if they are going to call me a Chink, then I am going to call them the N word.”

In a city of deep racial and economic segregation, these existing racial tensions have begun to worsen with the virus, creating even more tension; and the backlash from the black community is virulent, with some saying that, “no one will ever eat at a Chinese restaurant again!”

Worsening still is the protest from some residents of the stayathome order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and who are saying that he has violated the US Constitution, by overreach, and that not only  are they illegal, but unconstitutional; a mantra that has been repeated over and over again, despite national infection rates of over 80,000 that far surpass that of Europe.

Some social observers,and public health officials, have seen this misunderstanding as a sad and unfortunate reality, that has made many Chicagoans feel that the regulations, and orders, to stem the thrall of the pandemic is no more than an inconvenience.

Also the political divide in a blue state has taken an unwelcome tone, and as one elderly NorthSide white woman told us, “this is all a plot by Pritzker and Lightfoot, who is in cahoots, with Bill Gates, and as Democrats, they hate America, and all it stands for.”

Continuing along the political divide was the sight of a middle aged white woman, walking along a major commercial avenue, again on the North Side, with a white paper plate pinned to the back of her winter parka, stating, “I admire and support President Trump.”

Next up on the dissatisfied list are two local churches who defiantly held Sunday services, despite the stay at home order, and newspaper photos showed them, at one service, without masks, and not always meeting the minimum 6 foot distance for the required physical distancing, in what seems a thumb nosing act toward Lightfoot, that said, in effect, not simply, “dare me” but “double dare me.” and in response Lightfoot fined them for their disobedience that continued on  Sunday.

Adding to the mayor’s woes was that proper test kits have only recently been acquired, and the still weak effort of contact tracing for those that are asymptomatic, making a course towards matching Pritzker’s phased in plan for reopening business, more of a minefield than a reality, despite all best intentions.

Chicago, like many older urban core cities in the US, faces a pandemic of its own with a backlog of pensions, and some mandated; not to mention the loss of sales revenue, and loss of convention and tourism dollars, especially from the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Center, known locally as the McCormick Center.

Reported loss of revenue was $11.3 million in March, according to Crain’s Business, versus $1.6 million in February, with expected revenue to drop by 30 percent, to $ 225 million in the future.

Current estimates are that there has been a $7 million loss of total revenue to the city.

Close on that same page is the loss of Cook County taxes that have been given a reprieve by board president, Toni Preckwinkle.

Crain’s noted that “Preckwinkle is waiving a series of county fines and fees and deferring tax collections, '' she said in a release, adding it "will assist our businesses in terms of cash flow to the tune of $35 million during these trying times."

The deferral will not stress the county's budget, Cook County Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki said. "We can provide this relief and delay of collection because we're in a relatively better financial position than most other entities. Our businesses can use this money now that would otherwise be coming to the county. They can use this to cover payroll, rent or just to keep the lights on."

Within the national framework, recent testimony to the US Senate by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell there seems to be a commitment to help cities and states like Chicago and Illinois, as he promised to provide whatever help the Fed could provide, but as economists have noted, he needs help from the Trump Administration, and the Congress to make that commitment a reality.

Joined to that was the passing by the US House of Representatives by the Speaker Nancy Pelosi of a $3 trillion bill that contained $3 million for local and state governments that would help to reach some of the goals from the Lightfoot administration.

The mayor is also facing some criticism for a slow response to the Latinx community, now 42 percent of all Covid19 cases, in Chicago, despite being only 30 percent of the population, reported the Chicago Sun Times last week.

They also noted that many members of this community are working in jobs that cannot be done at home, and often are working shoulder to shoulder that further exposes them to infection. And one local activist Jorge  has suggested that Lightfoot send the police to the various factories ringing the city to ensure that protective measures are being enforced.

Another glaring problem is that of the homeless, who cannot shelter in place and are often the only people on the streets, sitting in bus shelters, or sprawled on the sidewalk, with piles of shopping bags, and old suitcases of belongings by their side.

There was a suggestion by some that the Chicago Housing Authority house them in empty CHA units, but that suggestion was met with silence by the mayor’s office, as well as the agency, reported the local alternative newspaper, The Reader, who also quoted one official that said those units were not habitable, a statement that spoke volumes about the stock of units, but also a much troubled city agency, with less than a solid reputation.

Most advocates have said that homelessness is a public health problem, and now with the pandemic it is a twinned problem for the city. And, with most experts stating that a vaccine may not be seen until July of 2021, the problem for that population will only increase.

Rounding out the challenges in meeting the virus, and its effects, is the Chicago Transit Agency and the cleanliness of its trains and busses, all of which have faced a public relations test between what is shown  smiling sanitation crews with mops and suds, versus the reality of dirty seats, and an eternal bedbug problem that makes for some painful rides for essential workers.

Bus rides are now free, during the virus crisis, and with the drivers area roped off, passengers are required to enter the rear door, with the exception of seniors, the disabled and those with baby carriages; yet since those issues are enforced, or not, by drivers, as most seasoned riders know, there are glaring exceptions; for example, we have seen elderly women told by drivers that they must enter through the back, and some passengers, seemingly, in their 80s, attempting to haul themselves up the back steps as the driver stares straight ahead, ignoring all requests for help to allow them access through the front door.

The change in boarding and free rides seem to spring from an agreement to keep the bus drivers from walking out of their jobs, in protest of health concerns, and Lightfoot’s promise to keep trains and buses running.

Meanwhile CTA trains are, paradoxically, still suffering from thefts, stabbings, and general lawlessness, despite former interim police chief, Charlie Beck, along with the mayor, saying in March, that police would be riding trains, as well as staffing the platforms.

David Brown, the new permanent police chief, has not yet addressed the problem.

Within a recent 72 hour period CTA text alerts showed “police activity” up and down the red line, but also on the blue lines, crisscrossing North side stations as well as those on the South, and on trains going to and coming from O’Hare airport, making the trains an unsafe way to travel  for essential workers.

Chicago public libraries have recently reopened but with hour long visit restrictions, and only one hour long internet sessions for the public terminals,some have wondered why they bothered to reopen.

The racial and wealth gap has already stretched internet access to the limit, especially for children, and many residents see this as fostering the gap. Certainly the fact that the overwhelming majority of librarians are white, and in a city with a greater than 30 percent African American population, lacking an increase in black professional librarians further adds to the displeasure of many black residents.

It’s not over till it’s over is an old saying, and despite increases in flattening the curve for Chicago, the future can’t promise much, until the advent of a vaccine, and in the interim, Chicago, America’s most quintessential city, is struggling to maintain even a new normal during this pandemic. 

Updated 15 June 2020 at 1:05 p.m. CDT

Politics, race and Coronavirus meet in Chicago Primary

Kim Foxx

For the Illinois Primary elections held this Tuesday, it was business as usual despite the presence of the Coronavirus, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker became embroiled in a battle of words with election officials on whether the elections should be held at all.

Adding to the anger and confusion, for some, was that many judges of elections, especially those over the age of 65, decided to call off rather than face exposure, and causing officials to beg for healthy adults, 60, or under to volunteer on the spot.

Stakes are relatively high for Chicago as the states attorney office has come under fire for the role, or some say lack of a role, in the handling of the Jussie Smollet case, the gay black actor on the hit show “Empire” who was accused of faking a homophobic and racist attack, replete with noose, as the assailants purportedly yelled “this is MAGA country,” which rang false, in this bluest of blue American cities.

Kim Foxx, the incumbent has been openly bashed for her handling of the case, and also for handing off the case for a relatively small fine, and some community service. All of which changed when Smollett is now “facing six new criminal charges, including that he planned and participated in the staging of a hate crime and made four separate false reports to the Chicago Police Department,” reported vulture.com.

Some local observers are saying that this has more to do with race: Foxx is black, as well as Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot as well as the city’s treasurer Melissa Conyers-Ervin, and Attorney General Kwame Raul, plus a local woman, Lauren Underwood, elected to federal office from a suburban, mostly white district, and Jesse White as secretary state; and, last but not least, Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president and former mayoral candidate, to name only a handful..

The concentration of black elected officials has historical underpinnings with newly freed slaves being able to vote in Illinois and in Chicago, Mayor William Hale Thompson welcomed them with open arms to counter the Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants, support that was held by the Democrats.

Irony maybe three-tenths of the law in Illinois, and now we segue to that support being held by the Democratic majority, and it was that majority that was the issue on Tuesday.

“To come out and this moment and say there shouldn’t be gatherings of 50 or more people and even small establishments should close, even as we have to hold an election and wipe down screens, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions,” said Chicago Elections Board spokesperson Jim Allen, reported local station WTTW reported.

Pritzker Chief Of Staff Anne Caprara was furious and in a later statement, a full argument was made: “The Governor’s Office offered to provide the National Guard to help staff the election and we also worked to recruit volunteers. 2,000 young people from the Mikva Challenge were turned away from volunteering because the board wouldn’t reduce red tape,” press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement. “So instead of accepting help or offering any solutions of their own, the Chicago Board of Elections decided to wait until Election Day to get on a call with press and make politically charged accusations. The Governor cannot unilaterally cancel or delay an election. Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and we could not risk confusion and disenfranchisement in the courts.”

In a city where racial tension is not far from the surface, witnessed by the mayoral election, where some voters, it was surmised, decided to stay home rather than have a choice between two black women, Preckwinkle and Lightfoot.

Along with the feelings of some white voters, there is a long-standing tradition of electing Irish American lawmakers, the “Murfia”, a term once coined by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to describe all of the Irish Americans in her husband’s administration.

Leery about Lightfoot, most of Chicago’s business community favored Bill Daley, who was not only Irish American, but also the brother of former mayor Richard M. Daley.

With so many black women occupying key positions in local and state government and its effect on state government, and with their power electing, on the federal level, Doug Jones of Alabama, and the recent huge push by that same group for Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, the force and power of black women cannot be underestimated.

While Foxx is determined keep her office and has a groundswell of support, on many levels, there is discontent with her handling of many of the perpetrators of crime on the CTA, the city’s transportation system, and the roving gangs committing retail theft along posh Michigan Avenue, where perps escape with armloads of designer duds and handbags, and some fleeing on the famed L trains.

Some are objecting that the issue is not equivalent with the mishandling of Smollett, and that by not separating the two has not only simply racial undertones, but a desire to break the power of black elected officials in the city.

There has been lower voter turnout, and on another cold day, but also had a huge surge of early voting, 118,000 according to officials but only 10,000 voted in the first hour. Polls have not closed, and it’s calculated conjecture to see who will vote on the side of history.

Recreational Pot comes to Illinois

The first day of 2020 in Illinois will bring more than a hangover to many victimized from the previous night’s revelry, it will also be the first day that recreational marijuana can be sold, as it becomes the 11th state in the nation to allow recreational marijuana for sale, a dream come true for those who smoked it furtively in 1970s college dorm rooms, and who are now grandparents, with maybe just a hankering for what was known to them as “killer weed”,  used either as a term of jocular affection, or a description of the herb’s superior quality.

With the support of State Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) who labeled themselves, affectionately, as “The Cannabis Queens” in a concerted effort to fill the state coffers with much needed funds to solve pension deficits, for both the state, and the third largest city in the United States, but who are first in pension woes, which have made a dent of $838 million in an already weak financial base.

Reception to the news has brought both picks and pans with the roll out, some worried about the dangers of over consumption, and some about the health of teenagers, and some feeling that it’s just plain wrong.

All of that fell beneath the push from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker who made it a legislative priority, after his inauguration, with expected revenue of $5 million, or more, but two Chicago aldermen felt that those who were promised priority licensing, and who had been the  target of the old illegality were not going to gain the promised priority for licensing and help for facilities, but all things being political, in Chicago, there was more than meets the eye, to jaundiced City Hall observers..

The law stipulates that only those 21 years old, and above may purchase 30 grams  “of marijuana plant material, edibles totaling no more than 500mg of THC, and five grams of cannabis concentrate products. Non-residents will be able to purchase half those amounts,” reported ABC 7,

While advocates, including lawmakers, say that the new law will help drive street dealers away and thus reduce crime, some are saying that isn’t so and a recent interview with one such dealer in the alternative paper, “The Reader” gave support that some buyers will not want to pony up the necessary id, face the retail outlets, or just plainly speaking, sustain an ongoing relationship, and possibly lower prices. Only time will tell, but long lines are expected and as of this notice only cash will be accepted.

One of the fiercest debates surrounded social equity of sales to black and brown people who were the frequent targets of illegality, and that is where a great deal of heat and light was debated.

The piles of paperwork and rules and regulations and money were daunting for many people and in other states, where it has been tried, the success rate has been mixed.

Added to the mix were consultants at the ready for advisement, but also at high prices, high enough to keep those desiring entry, out of the entrepreneurial feeding trough.

What made the effort distinctive, as well as difficult was highlighted in recent coverage by Crain’s Chicago Business, where it noted that “As the 11th state to approve recreational marijuana, Illinois has taken the concept of social equity to a new level. While other states scrambled to implement legal weed after it was approved in voter referendums, Illinois was the first to design legislation with the social equity goals in mind, something advocates promised in order to win enough votes for passage last spring after months of intense negotiations.”

Furthermore was Pritzker’s statement: "I want to create millionaires in communities that have been left out and left behind," said Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Getting it right is paramount for Illinois, but yet, reality bites, and “Social equity efforts have largely come up short in Colorado, Washington, California and other states that have tried before Illinois. And the states own record of diversity with marijuana entrepreneurship has not been promising: None of the first 55 medical dispensary licenses awarded by Illinois is held by a minority-owned applicant. The same is true for cultivation licenses.”

Steans when interviewed, said, somewhat ruefully, “"We're not going to know until the licenses are issued whether it worked and we really get the diversity we were hoping for."

“Marijuana Business Daily, a trade publication, found in a 2017 survey that African Americans account for just 4 percent of cannabis business owners and founders, though they make up more than 13 percent of the population,” was the harsh fact reported by Crain’s.

Taking it from the top, this is big business, and “With the recreational market estimated to generate $2 billion in annual sales, a single dispensary could bring in $5 million to $10 million a year in revenue, potentially making a license worth $5 million to $15 million,” noted.Crain’s.

The nitty gritty revealed some good intentions, but as St. Theresa noted, good intentions can often lead to hell, or in this case more for the alleged “man”, than the man on the streets.

“During negotiations, advocates came up with a novel approach that says applicants who qualify for social equity status will get 50 points toward the possible 250 points available for a dispensary application, based on where the majority owners lived or a prior marijuana arrest record. But it doesn't set out a quota of how many of the 75 licenses they will receive.

Social equity applicants also will be charged an application fee of only $2,500, half of what the state will charge others.”

That road also led, perhaps, to the law of unintended consequences, or simple expedience, that the 55 dispensaries that are currently selling medical marijuana, the right to also sell recreational stuff on Jan. 1, and they are mostly white men.

As a footnote, “The first new dispensary licenses won't be issued until May, and it could be a full year after recreational sales begin before they're operational. That gives incumbents a head start, especially when it comes to locations in the city, which are limited by zoning.”.

Keeping it real, Crain’s also reported one of those intended targets, who said, "How is this not rigged? It doesn't make sense," Jonathan Smith, a Chicago resident, said during a public hearing in October at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. "If it's just for some people, just say so."

Trying to gain traction was another rule: “One is for principal owners to have resided for five of the past 10 years in an area that has high rates of poverty and unemployment and that was “disproportionately affected” by the drug war, in which for decades law enforcement targeted people of color for arrest and incarceration despite research showing that marijuana use is fairly equal among racial groups.”

In late December, the State of Illinois began the application period for the first $21 million Low Cost Loan Program, that was part of the law. The resulting Cannabis Business Development Fund supports social equity applicants and licensure., and are living in a Disproportionately Impacted Area, and the revenue stream is from the licensing fees of the first group of dispensaries, among other resources.

These low-interest loans are part of the Pritzker support.

Stepping up to the plate is Cresco Labs who have vowed to work as “a catalyst for some incredible, positive change,” said CEO Charlie Bachtell, in interviews.

The train has not left the station, and the jury is still out, but taking some political shots at Chicago’s new mayor, Lori Lightfoot, two local aldermen, using equity goals as political cover, tried to derail the Chicago effort, in an effort to embarrass her, was Alds. Carrie Austin and Anthony Beale, who in December wanted “Chicago sales of recreational marijuana . . . pushed back until July 1 under an ordinance that squeaked through a City Council committee.  . . at the behest of black aldermen demanding diversity among dispensary ownership.”

“The 10 to 9 vote by the City Council’s Committee on Contract Oversight and Equity was a political embarrassment to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, whose administration tried desperately to appease the Black Caucus during negotiations that continued during the meeting” reported The Chicago Sun Times

That was later defeated and attentive observers noted that Austin, whose office was raided by the Feds recently for footloose games with property ownership, faced further scrutiny by Lightfoot, and Beale who lost his prime spot as Transportation, and the mayor replaced Austin as Budget Director, with Pat Dowell.

Beale had warned Lightfoot “that if she insisted on pushing Ald. Scott Waguespack as Finance Committee chairman, whom Beale claimed doesn’t “play well with others,” she might be picking a fight with the new City Council she cannot win.” And, he learned a lesson, as well, according to the Sun-Times.

As local Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass noted, when covering the recent teachers strike that the mayor learned that “revenge is a dish best served cold.”

One key issue, for those living in federally subsidized housing is eviction for using; not just a joint, but even cannabis infused gummy bears, or cosmetics containing CBD, even though the latter was legalized last year, and especially pain relievers, used by senior residents.

Various approaches have been suggested but there is, as of this date, no uniform policy, despite a much publicized eviction of a New York man in 2018, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 2011 advised a case- by- case determination.

To no one’s real surprise the Trump administration “rescinded an Obama administration policy that had eased enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that legalized the drug,” reported Inside Publications, a Chicago community newspaper.

Local law enforcement has also not found an unequivocal method of testing impaired drivers.

With increased anticipation and those long lines of cash bearing buyers, some in the local business community have criticized the mayoral designed zoning districts that prevent sales from along Chicago’s famed Mag mile, notably Joe Cahill in Crain’s who blamed it all on Lightfoot’s desire to spread investment along the city’s South and West sides, what he called her social equity agenda.

Here is her plan: “the city would be divided into seven zones for recreational marijuana dispensaries. Each zone would be allowed up to seven dispensaries, with an increase to 14 in May. Dispensaries would be prohibited, however, from locating in a downtown "exclusion zone" in most of the Loop and Magnificent Mile,” according to the Tribune.

“Lightfoot's exclusion zone would squander her greatest opportunity for marijuana tax revenue. It also would blow the best chance to squeeze tax dollars out of suburbanites and out-of-towners, groups Lightfoot has singled out as free riders on city services.”

Ouch!

Yet, the mayor has said that she wants those areas to be “family friendly”, and we concur, as the blowback with the first incident of someone toking up outside the Disney Store would wreak public relations havoc, just as she tries to solve Chicago’s moribund finances.

All of this supports a change in attitude among Americans regarding pot usage, and has moved away from nearly thirty decades of disapproval to decriminalization and now recreational use of marijuana, and yet this seems like just the beginning for long term advocates, but a new day, as well, as a new year for many.