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Preckwinkle, Mendoza favorites to face off in mayoral runoff, CFL poll shows

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If the mayoral election was held today, Toni Preckwinkle and Susana Mendoza would make the runoff and Mendoza would win that Round 2 rather easily.

That’s the bottom line from a poll of 600 likely Chicago voters conducted earlier this month for the Chicago Federation of Labor.

From Dec. 4 to 9, ALG Research, a leading pollster for Democrats across the nation, took a snapshot of the crowded race to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel before petition challenges narrow the field of 21 candidates.

Asked whom they would vote for if the election were held today, Preckwinkle came out on top with 21 percent of the vote. Mendoza was second with 16 percent.

That was followed by: Bill Daley (9 percent); Willie Wilson (8 percent); Garry McCarthy (7 percent); Dorothy Brown and Paul Vallas (both at 6 percent); Amara Enyia (5 percent); and Gery Chico (3 percent).

Voters were then asked to identify their second choice. Preckwinkle finished on top with 14 percent, followed by: Mendoza (13 percent); Daley (9 percent); McCarthy (8 percent); Vallas and Wilson (7 percent each); Lori Lightfoot, Chico and Brown (each at 6 percent); and Enyia (3 percent).

ALG then tested a series of head to head match-ups.

Although Preckwinkle comes out on top in the crowded field, Mendoza beats the County Board president one-on-one with 45 percent to Preckwinkle’s 39 percent.

Preckwinkle crushed Daley by a 51-to-32 percent margin. Mendoza did the same with 56 percent to Daley’s 29 percent. Mendoza also creamed Chico by a 58-to-23 percent margin.

Results didn’t vary much, even after positive descriptions of Preckwinkle, Mendoza, Chico and Daley. Preckwinkle and Mendoza made the runoff, with 22 and 20 percent of the vote, respectively. That was followed by Daley (12 percent); Wilson (7 percent); McCarthy (6 percent); Brown, Enyia and Chico (each at 4 percent); and Lightfoot (3 percent).

The positive “push” did impact the second choice. Mendoza finished first with 18 percent, followed by: Preckwinkle (15 percent); Chico (14 percent); Daley 11 percent; McCarthy (7 percent); Lightfoot and Vallas (6 percent apiece); Wilson (5 percent); Brown (4 percent); Enyia (3 percent) and Bob Fioretti (2 percent).

Head-to-head match-ups were impacted heavily by the favorable description. Mendoza and Preckwinkle ended up tied at 44 percent apiece with 12 percent undecided.

Preckwinkle and Mendoza still trounced Daley by margins of 50-to-34 and 56-to-32, respectively. And Mendoza still clobbered Chico with 58 percent to Chico’s 28 percent.

The pollster then tested two very negative scripts about Daley.

The scenario that attempted to tie Daley to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s marathon budget stalemate and battle “to end organized labor” was branded as a “very convincing” reason not to vote for Daley by 36 percent of those polled and “somewhat convincing” by 18 percent of those questioned.

The second negative push tried to link Bill Daley to the widely-despised parking meter deal by his brother, Mayor Richard M. Daley.

A whopping 47 percent of those polled found the slanted and, partially erroneous, narrative a “very convincing” reason to vote against Daley. Another 16 percent found it “somewhat convincing.”

Bill Daley once defended the parking meter deal with a mega-bank that employed his own son.

But he told the Sun-Times in late October that it was a big mistake and one of several “big differences” between his own style and the way his brother ran Chicago for 22 years.

“He did a lot of things wrong. He didn’t solve the pension problem. I gave you the headline,” Daley said then of his older brother, Chicago’s longest-serving mayor.

“He sold the parking meters. … The way they did it was absolutely a mistake. When he was faced with allegedly laying off 5,000 city employees, including police and fire, he looked for revenue. [But] they should have done it differently. … I would not do that deal.”

Bill Daley is trying to convince Chicago voters that his election would not be four years of the same, and the parking meter deal is an easy place to draw the line between brothers.

Not only is the deal widely despised and a symbol of the financial mess Richard M. Daley left behind, the crisis that Emanuel inherited was exacerbated by the former mayor’s decision to spend the proceeds to avoid raising property taxes, and investors got the better end of the deal.

Chicago’s parking meter system raked in $134.2 million last year, putting private investors on pace to recoup their entire $1.16 billion investment by 2021 with 62 years to go in the lease.

Chicago Federation of Labor is one of several labor groups that owns the Sun-Times. CFL President Bob Reiter is a Sun-Times board member.


Paul Vallas ridicules Bill Daley for saying he’s not his brother’s keeper

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There wasn’t a decision made by former Mayor Richard M. Daley that his brother didn’t influence, mayoral candidate Paul Vallas said Thursday, ridiculing Bill Daley’s claims that he would be a different kind of mayor.

“You can’t defend your brother on the one hand and then, when you announce that you’re running, throw him under the bus,” Vallas said.

Vallas recalled Bill Daley’s emotional tirade against Mayor Rahm Emanuel last spring after Emanuel blamed Richard M. Daley for the $2 billion avalanche of tax increases that have only begun to solve the pension crisis Emanuel inherited.

“We all remember the, `Put your big boy pants on’ [admonition] before he decided to run where he was defending his brother,” Vallas said.

“After — whether it was parking meters, Meigs Field or whatever — it was, `I’m not my brother’s keeper. My brother made those decisions. I’m a different candidate,’“ Vallas said.

RELATED:

Vallas portrayed Bill Daley’s ethics plan as particularly laughable.

It includes a two-term limit for a candidate whose brother and father together occupied the mayor’s office for 43 years.

It would prohibit members of his immediate or extended family from doing business with the city or other agencies of local government.

Never mind that the Hired Truck, city hiring and minority contracting scandals cast a giant shadow over former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 22-year administration.

So did the steady drumbeat of contract cronyism benefiting Daley’s friends, political allies and members of his own family.

That included money-losing pension deals that lined the pockets of Daley’s nephew, his son’s hidden interest in a city sewer deal and the emergence of his brother’s law firm as Chicago’s preeminent zoning firm.

“Oh my God. We’re gonna have a ban going forward. That’s like closing the barn door when the horses have already fled. I mean — who are we trying to kid?” Vallas said.

Daley could not be reached for comment on the Vallas broadside. His spokesman, Peter Cunningham, said Daley “has said all he has to say about” the differences between the way he would govern and his brother’s administration.

Vallas lowered the boom on Bill Daley during a City Hall news conference called to demand that Daley and 15 other mayoral candidates release their tax returns, including the supporting schedules detailing investment income and charitable donations.

He accused Daley of skipping community forums as part of a “Rose Garden strategy” while using his $3 million-plus campaign war chest to blanket the airwaves.

“Running commercials talking about how you’re gonna focus on the West Side and the South Side when you’ve ignored those communities for decades,” Vallas said.

“Or how you’re gonna freeze property taxes for a year when we’re still pretty much paying the bills that we inherited from the previous administration.”

Vallas served as Richard M. Daley’s revenue director and budget director before being dispatched to the Chicago Public Schools as CEO in 1995 as part of a dream-team pairing with then school board President Gery Chico.

At one point during that period, Vallas recalled a retreat was held for the mayor’s cabinet.

“The mayor didn’t attend that retreat. Bill Daley ran that whole retreat. He was there. He was like chairman of the board. He’s been his brother’s closest adviser for decades so, who are we trying to kid?” Vallas said.

“I don’t think there has been any major decisions that have been made in this city that Bill hasn’t had some influence on.”

 Bill Daley

Mayoral hopeful Bill Daley | Rich Hein / Sun-Times file photo

Since belatedly entering the race after Emanuel’s exit, Bill Daley has been trying desperately to convince Chicago voters that his election would not be a four-year extension of his brother’s 22-year administration.

Bill Daley once defended the parking meter deal with a mega-bank that employed his own son.

But he told the Sun-Times in late October that it was a big mistake and one of several “big differences” between his own style and the way his brother ran Chicago for 22 years.

“He did a lot of things wrong. He didn’t solve the pension problem. I gave you the headline,” Daley said then of his older brother, Chicago’s longest-serving mayor.

“He sold the parking meters . . . The way they did it was absolutely a mistake. When he was faced with allegedly laying off 5,000 city employees, including police and fire, he looked for revenue. [But] they should have done it differently . . . I would not do that deal.”

Vallas’ decision to take the gloves off against Daley is not surprising.

It comes one day after a Chicago Federation of Labor poll showed Toni Preckwinkle and Susana Mendoza as heavy favorites to square off in a runoff. Daley was the next closest challenger, with Willie Wilson, Garry McCarthy and Vallas breathing down his neck. The Chicago Federation of Labor is one of several labor groups that owns the Sun-Times.

Should the Dan Ryan Expressway be the Barack Obama Expressway?

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Mayoral candidate Bill Daley made a surprising proposal Friday: rename the Dan Ryan Expressway on Chicago’s South Side after former President Barack Obama.

“Barack Obama is from Chicago. He owns a home here. This is where the Obama library is based,” Daley said in a statement. “I’d like to see the legislature act on this early next year.”

But a section of Interstate 55, south of the city, was already named after Obama last year — the winner among competing plans from legislators to rename different Illinois highways after him.

Daley, who was the president’s chief of staff in 2011, thinks renaming the expressway after him is more appropriate, said Peter Cunningham, Daley’s spokesman.

But State Rep. La Shawn Ford, (D-Chicago), who proposed the legislation that led to part of I-55 being named after Obama, slammed Daley’s proposal as a “political stunt” and a “ploy to try to cater to black voters.”

Furthermore, Ford, who is also running for mayor, said renaming the Dan Ryan actually cannot be done.

“This just speaks to Daley’s inexperience in the process,” Ford said. “After you have a street dedicated to someone you can’t change it, otherwise we’d be doing it all the time. That’s one of the reasons we didn’t do the Dan Ryan, because it was already taken.”

Ford said that’s also the reason only part of I-55 was named after Obama.

The state has authority to change the name of a bridge or roadway in three different ways: governor proclamation, legislative resolution or designation from the transportation secretary, according to Jessie Decker, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

“As a general policy, IDOT discourages naming two roads near one another for the same person because it causes confusion for motorists,” she said. “We are not aware of any existing resolutions or dedications being rescinded in order to rename a road.”

But, “technically, it is possible” to rename the Dan Ryan after Barack Obama, Decker said.

Cunningham said Daley has not yet discussed the idea with any members of the General Assembly.

“It’s an idea Bill has been thinking about for a while,” he said. “Our other expressways are named for presidents. Bill hopes that the people of Chicago will give it serious consideration.”

Dan Ryan, the road’s current namesake, was a longtime commissioner on the Cook County Board from 1954-61. A South Side forest preserve, the Dan Ryan Woods, is also named after him.

“Renaming the highway for President Obama will be a daily reminder for all of us that America’s first African-American President was shaped by Chicago,” Daley said. “We were part of history.”

This year was the state’s first celebration of Barack Obama Day on Aug. 4, an honor to Obama signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Where 13 mayoral candidates stand on gun crime sentences — their full responses

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Thirteen of the candidates for mayor responded to our question about gun crime sentences. We asked: What is your view as to the appropriate length of incarceration and punishment for gun offenses in Chicago?

Here are their full responses, in the order we received them:

BOB FIORETTI

Bob Fioretti, Cook County Board president candidate in February. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mayor candidate Bob Fioretti. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Supporting longer sentences for criminals who commit violent crimes with guns is an easy call. As a civil rights lawyer, I strongly support efforts to reform the criminal justice system. But victims and their families have rights, too, one of which is to be able to walk to work, school or the store without being shot to death. One of the first, most important steps in getting illegal guns off our streets is to enforce the laws we already have on the books, which means sending the message that illegal use of guns to commit crimes will not be tolerated here.

DOROTHY BROWN

Dorothy Brown in the Sun-Times newsroom Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Dorothy Brown. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

I support the new law that requires the higher sentencing for the most serious gun crimes. Although, in the current state of society, incarceration in some cases is necessary but may not be the most effective way to combat gun violence in Chicago. Recently, the prestigious Police Executive Research Forum (Forum) issued an action plan to reduce gun violence in the United States. The Forum identified key measures to keep guns out of the hands of people who are legally prohibited from owning them, (see Police Executive Research Forum, Key Findings and an Action Plan to Reduce Gun Violence, June 8, 2018) Among the measures are:

  • Strengthening federal and state background check systems to include information on drug abuse and mental health
  • Conduct background checks for all private sales and transfers
  • Provide sufficient time for law enforcement to conduct background checks, and
  • Expand criteria for denying a firearm purchase to include stalking and intimate 
partner domestic violence 
I support these measures and would add a requirement that companies who terminate an employee for violent or threatening behavior must report the incident to law enforcement. In turn, law enforcement would determine if the now-terminated employee poses a threat of violent retaliation to the former employer and co-workers. 
In addition, the Forum calls for support of victim and witness protection programs for individuals who were subjected to intimidation with an illegal firearm. I support the proposals and would organize a Mayor’s Office campaign to raise awareness of the consequences of possessing a firearm illegally and services available to victims and witnesses. 
The Forum emphasized that individuals can be subjected to gun violence at home when guns are unsecured and unstable family members have access to them. The Forum called for expansion of Orders of Protection laws to allow family members to ask the Courts to remove firearms temporarily from unstable homes. I support the strongest measures possible. 
Most gun crimes are committed by a small number of criminals. This is significant. It is up to all of us to support the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in deterring the small number of individuals who inflict carnage on our streets and communities. A good place to start is with vigorous investigation of non-fatal shooting and gun possession cases to prevent future shootings and homicides. I support efforts by CPD to strengthen these types of investigations. 
Advancements in ballistics technology have significantly improved law enforcement. The Forum noted that advanced technology has made it easier to identify weapons that were used in multiple crimes and the original owner. Experts can compare and analyze guns, bullets and shell casings recovered from crime scenes and help police officers trace the origins of firearms to the owner or seller. I support efforts by CPD and other law enforcement agencies to adopt advanced ballistics technology.

WILLIE WILSON

Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson speaks with reporters while people wait in line for up to $500 in Cook County property tax assistance from the Willie Wilson Foundation at City Hall, Wednesday morning, Aug. 1, 2018 | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

We are a law-based land and I will always follow that law as a law-abiding citizen. However, I believe that in many cases, individuals are treated as guilty until proven innocent – particularly people of color who are not able to afford proper representation. And because of that fact alone, I worked tirelessly to have a state bill passed on bail reform. My work on this subject resulted in the passing of a law that made it illegal and unlawful for inmates with non-violent misdemeanors to stay in jail for months (and sometimes, years) on end because they are unable to afford very minimal bail fees. The old system made being poor, criminal.  The three strikes rule is a “camouflage” made to help the for-profit prison system. As long as you pay your debt for the crime committed, you should be a free from any further punishment. Furthermore, I believe that the expungement process to remove records after a full sentence has been served should become easier to access so that ex-offenders can return to productive lives and find employment that helps them re-join society.

NEAL SALES-GRIFFIN:

Mayoral candidate Neal Sales-Griffin.

There is sparse evidence supporting longer sentences leading to a reduction in crime and recidivism rates, or as a deterrent from future criminal activity. Longer sentences are undoubtedly a burden to the families who have to pick up slack on behalf of their incarcerated relatives. I’ve personally observed and experienced the immense impact these extended sentences can have on loved ones. Policy intended to scare people into correct behavior is fundamentally flawed. Without qualifying evidence, I cannot support incarcerating people for longer periods of time.

Instead of longer sentences, we need more evidence-based methods for preventing individuals from becoming embedded in criminal activity. Chicago’s approach to violence has long been piecemeal, which is why I’m advocating for an Office of Violence Prevention. We cannot rely on our criminal justice system alone to deter our citizens from criminal activity. We need restorative and compassionate alternatives.

LORI LIGHTFOOT

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot speaks with Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times at City Hall on August 10, 2018.

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot. | Colin Boyle / Sun-Times

I do not believe there is a one-size-fits-all answer as to the appropriate length of incarceration and punishment for gun offenses in Chicago. As a former federal prosecutor and lawyer who represented, on a pro bono basis, people who had been wrongfully convicted, I know that context matters.

Of course there is a role for incarceration and punishment as a deterrent for people who have committed gun crimes, as a deterrent for others, and as a demonstration to victims and the public that there is justice. When possible, we should use diversion programs for first-time offenders and low-level offenses. I also support eliminating cash bail—our jails should not be debtors’ prisons for the poor. I have long supported the work of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and others to advocate for the elimination of this system. Lastly, we’ve got to educate children about the dangers of gun violence to prevent these crimes from being committed in the first place.

More details about my plans to address gun violence are available in my public safety plan.

JOHN KENNETH KOZLAR

Mayoral candidate John Kenneth Kozlar. | Al Podgorski / Sun-Times Media

In the summer of 2017, Gov. Rauner signed a bill that instructs judges to impose sentences at the higher end of the range for serious gun crimes — the unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The legislation also created a diversion program for first-time gun offenders and expanded probation eligibility for first-time drug offenders. The Sun-Times editorial board has argued consistently for shorter sentences for many crimes, but we supported this legislation. But we struggled with our decision. It was not an easy call. QUESTION: What is your view as to the appropriate length of incarceration and punishment for gun offenses in Chicago?

We have to come to two realizations in Chicago: 1. There are some bad people in our city who make it hard for others to live a safe life, and 2. Illegal guns are a problem in Chicago. Therefore, we need to tackle both issues. My solution is to send a clear message to people who terrorize our streets and/or carry illegal guns – there will be a strict penalty.  The penalty will act as a deterrent to carrying illegal guns, with the intent to change the habits and outcomes in Chicago. The outcomes have been too many illegal guns on our streets, thousands of shootings each year, and many deaths. Jail-time will be a part of the policy change for anyone who carries an illegal gun, with a stricter penalty to anyone who carries an illegal gun that is loaded. One to three years seems like an appropriate length of time for a first time offense, but will work with our community members and law enforcement professionals to formulate a fair policy for all of Chicago.

PAUL VALLAS

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

I am pleased that there has been a major reduction in the Cook County Jail population due to reformed sentencing on non-violent drug violations like possession. But I don’t think Chicago is in any position to relax its treatment of gun crimes when it is suffering 3,000 largely unsolved shootings a year. If anything we need to be more vigilant of judges to make certain they are treating these cases with the toughness they deserve. We also need to work as closely as possible with Federal prosecutors to make certain that the full effect of Federal law is brought to bear on this issue.

SUSANA MENDOZA

State Comptroller Susana Mendoza meets with the Sun-Times Editorial Board in 2017. File Photo. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

We should focus our efforts on serious gun crimes, particularly those committed by repeat violent offenders and members of criminal organizations. Penalties for serious gun crime in Chicago should remain strong. We should also go after illegal gun traffickers, who bring cheap and illegal guns into the city with little regard for future consequence. However, if we strengthen punishment for gun crimes across the board and our efforts only result in increased incarceration and not safer streets, then our policies have failed. Changing the length of punishment will not stop the epidemic of gun violence in the city.

A study by the Center for Disease Control in 2013 found that community programs and on-the-ground policing were more effective at reducing gun violence than mandatory sentences. That’s why we must invest in our neighborhoods. I’ve proposed the 50NEW (Neighborhood Education Works) initiative, which would transform under-utilized schools into a community school concept, ultimately helping to close the achievement gap, create opportunity in neighborhoods that for too long have been left behind, and attack the root causes of violence. Community schools give children new opportunities through daycare programs and wraparound services like healthcare and nutrition programs, while offering their parents job training and help with language skills. These are the types of investments we need to make to truly go after gun violence in Chicago.

BILL DALEY

Mayoral candidate Bill Daley. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Every neighborhood in Chicago needs to be safe. I support tougher sentencing for first time and repeat offenders to get them off the street. Federal, state, county, and city governments must do better, and the courts need to start implementing longer sentences as demanded by the law. I cannot accept our city’s devastatingly high shooting rate, but I don’t want to see more Chicago residents languishing in prison. We need high-impact re-entry and treatment programs that help transition ex-offenders back into our neighborhoods and reduce recidivism. I am committed to diversion and violence prevention programs for low-level offenders and high-risk youth that offer alternatives to crime, which is why I pledged $50 million annually to a Mayor’s Office of Violence Prevention and Reduction. A coordinated, citywide violence prevention effort is critical to addressing gun violence.

We have the talent and the will in Chicago to make a significant impact on crime in our city. We just need a leader in City Hall who is ready to get it done.

TONI PRECKWINKLE

Toni Preckwinkle

Mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

It’s no secret that violent gun crime in Chicago has exploded. Far too many families lose loved ones, even children, to gun violence every year, and many more families live in fear. This has been a major factor in a growing exodus of population, particularly from the south and west sides.

That said, as County President, I opposed this particular legislation. I believe the legislation would not have reduced gun violence. Illinois has raised gun possession penalties six times since 2000, tripling the number of people in prison for possessing a weapon, mostly in Cook County.  Yet Chicago is experiencing near record levels of violence. State assessments find that longer sentences do not make us safer.

Rather than specifically targeting the shooters, the legislation targets gun possession.  The reality is that weak federal gun laws and lax enforcement have failed in communities where it is often easier to buy an illegal gun than it is to buy fresh produce. These same communities are the most plagued by violence. We shouldn’t compound the failure to regulate illegal guns and keep people safe with mandatory sentences that break-up families, robbing children of parents and critical income earners. We’ve already experienced the negative (and racially disparate) consequences of the overly punitive strategy with the failed “War on Drugs.”

Some say that as long as gun offenders are behind bars, they can’t reoffend. But unless we are willing to engage in cruel and unusual punishment by locking folks up for 15 or 20 years for mere gun possession, longer sentencing won’t prevent recidivism.

What does prevent recidivism is programs to help returning citizens re-integrate into society.  Instead of adding years to sentences and spending millions of dollars on prisons, I propose we invest resources helping the most at-risk citizens flourish in the legitimate economy.

For example, we should invest in programs like READI, the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative by the Heartland Alliance, which takes Chicagoans most likely to shoot or be shot and for 18 months gives them transitional jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy and legal and social services to help them forge a better future. These kind of acute interventions must be supplemented by overall investment in public education, public health and mental health and jobs.

Tougher laws and longer sentences for non-violent offenders won’t make or communities safer. Investing in schools, public health, mental health and economic development will.

GERY CHICO

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

I believe that we need to keep nonviolent offenders out of jail, but he also believes its we’ll past time to get tough on gun crimes. The criminal justice system must become far more aggressive in taking guns, gang members and violent offenders off our streets. To get tough on gun crime, Gery will focus on:

I will create a Chicago Police Department Deputy Superintendent for Gun Violence Prevention. This Deputy Superintendent will oversee officers who are specifically trained to hunt down illegal guns and take them off our streets permanently. The person will create and coordinate a gun violence strategy with state and federal prosecutors to curb gun violence and tackle the flow of illegal guns. Finally, we must work with legislators in Springfield to ensure that anyone who commits a gun crime goes to prison for at least three years.

I will also push legislation in Springfield that requires gun dealers to safely store firearms, and make copies of FOID cards or IDs and attach them to documentation detailing each gun sale. New legislation should also require dealers to open their places of business for inspection by state and local police.

AMARA ENYIA

Amara Enyia

Mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Sentencing length – both anecdotally, and according to research – does little to deter gun possession and gun violence. Anecdotally, I’ve had conversations with young men who have stated that they would rather take the risk of being picked up by law enforcement for carrying a gun for safety reasons, than risk being without protection in dangerous neighborhoods. The refusal to acknowledge that reality only ensures that our policies as it relates to gun violence will continue to be reactionary and less than effective.

Efforts to curb gun violence would garner more significant impact if they focused on licensing gun shops and addressing loopholes that create easy access to guns. We also must direct our efforts to identifying where the guns that flood communities are coming from. I had a conversation with a community organizer recently who stated that he hadn’t known just how easy it was to access a gun – that with $60 and “a friend of a friend” he could obtain one. Gun access precedes gun possession. Laws that focus on sentencing without focusing on access and the entry points and flows of guns will not be effective in reducing gun violence.

Moreover, comprehensive community-based approaches are more effective than limited interventions. Since 2000 Illinois has increased penalties for gun offenses several times. The state spends $4.5 billion on incarceration. A study called “Million Dollar Blocks” found that the State spent $1 million incarcerating individuals from one block in the Austin community. The study also found that more than 50% of prisoners eventually return to prison within three years (called “prison-cycling”). Many of these individuals are returning to the same disinvested communities which have become hotspots for mass incarceration and are also the areas of the city experiencing the highest levels of gun violence (I live in one of them – Garfield Park).

The “appropriate length of prison time for repeat gun offenders” strikes me as the secondary question to how we tighten up the points of gun access. Moreover, the overarching question should center on how the city of Chicago will counter gun violence through actual investments in communities that address economic distress, housing instability, lack of access to healthcare, lack of quality education options, etc. We should be implementing a comprehensive plan to address gun violence at the root, such as the plan put together by The “Building a Safe Chicago” coalition a few years ago. These sorts of interventions should be supported tangibly through specific allocations of resources to the entities at the frontline of doing this work. Scaling up working models should be a top priority. Without that kind of plan, measures that increase sentencing – though good political fodder – will ring hollow.

Focusing our efforts on increasing sentencing ensures an increase in spending on incarceration, at a time when we need to be increasing spending on scaling up comprehensive violence prevention measures, diversionary measures that prevent incarceration and recidivism, and investments in communities that reduce violence at the root.

JERRY JOYCE

Mayoral candidate Jerry Joyce

The homicide and violent crime rates in Chicago are outrageous but, as the Sun-Times has indicated, we need to find a balance between punishment and deterrence on the one hand and the need to provide second chances for first time offenders, recognizing the hazards that accompany one sentenced to prison time and branded a felon, on the other. Because the misdemeanor UUW statute and the Aggravated UUW statute are almost identical, I would allow first-time UUW offenders to receive probation along with appropriate mandatory diversion programs to steer these individuals away from guns.  Currently, a first-time offender of the Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapons statute must serve 1-3 years in prison.  I don’t agree with that.  First-time offenders deserve a second chance before they are sent off to prison. For second me UUW offenders, their sentences should mirror the current Unlawful Use of Weapon by a Felon Statute.

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EDITORIAL: Mayoral hopefuls show their human side with holiday memories

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For Bob Fioretti, it was a handmade gift from his father. For Bill Daley, it was his mom’s homemade bread.

For Dorothy Brown, it was a brown bag of candy and fruit beneath the Christmas tree. For Lori Lightfoot, it was the joy of a new book.

For Willie Wilson, it was the satisfaction of giving his parents a big gift, for all they had done for him.

EDITORIAL

We asked 19 of the candidates for mayor to share a holiday memory, and 13 of them did. We thought their stories might reveal to you something about them as people, not as politicians, and for the most part they do.

Here are their holiday memories, presented in the order we received them.

‘The coolest thing’

I still recall the excitement I felt on the Christmas Day when I was five or six and my dad gave me the simple gift of a wooden maze with rolling marbles. Every kid on my block thought it was the coolest thing — maybe because no one else had one. We, the kids in the neighborhood, would get together and just watch the marbles slide back and forth.

It was years later that I learned my dad had made it for me by hand, which made it all the more special.

I still have it to this day. Another gift I still have is a telescope that I received as a Christmas gift when I was 10. I set it up in the snow in my backyard in Roseland to look at the stars and the moon. It was so cold outside that the area around my eye almost stuck to the lens.

But it instilled in me a love for exploration and curiosity about the world. I think that excitement for Christmas as a child is what has inspired me to host my annual children’s luncheon with Santa.

— Bob Fioretti

Bob Fioretti, Cook County Board president candidate in February. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Bob Fioretti | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file photo

‘We were the most blessed children’

My favorite memory is very simple. My parents, David and Dinkie Rabb, who did not have a lot, would put treats in large brown paper bags for each of their eight children. They would put our names on the bags and have them under the Christmas tree when we woke up. This, for us, was like a Christmas stocking. My parents would fill the bags with apples, oranges and raisins (tossed in separately, not boxed), coconut candy (my favorite), candy orange slices, walnuts, pecans, and other nuts, peppermint and many other kinds of candies.

We thought we were the most blessed children in the world.

My parents were so special; they did everything to make their children happy. This still brings a smile to my face.

— Dorothy Brown

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Dorothy Brown meets with the Sun-Times Editorial Board in 2016. File Photo. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Dorothy Brown, now a mayoral candidate, meets with the Sun-Times Editorial Board in 2016. File Photo. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

‘I was able to give back’

After a hard life and finally getting to the point of being financially sound, I was able to send for my mother and father, who still lived in our hometown of Gilbert, Louisiana, and move them up here to Chicago.

It was a proud and loving moment for me to be able to give back to them for all the hard work and sacrifices they had made for me and my 10 siblings. It was a Christmas to remember when I was able to give back to them by buying them a home (free and clear of a mortgage) and making things a bit better for them in their twilight years.

— Willie Wilson

Willie Wilson speaks with the media while in line for the first day of the filing period for the 2019 municipal elections. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

‘I sold Christmas trees … and learned so much’

For several years in middle school and junior high, I sold Christmas trees from a parking lot on 55th Street in Hyde Park. The money went toward the Circle Pines Scholarships fund, which a classmate’s parent had organized. From the Friday after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, I would sell hundreds of trees to neighbors and friends.

I learned so much in doing that job, such as how to think quickly on my feet, how to read people for their preferred trees, and how to make the experience extra special. I even sold Toni Preckwinkle a Christmas tree and helped her tie it to her car! Each tree was sold by the foot, and there were a variety of trees with different prices, so I had to do a lot of mental math. This convinced my mom that the long hours of work after school were worth it.

That first year when I had a little extra pocket money to buy my family Christmas gifts was unforgettable.

— Neal Sales-Griffin

Mayoral candidate Neal Sales-Griffin. | File photo

‘I stepped into a new world’

When I was young, my family didn’t have much money for presents or a bountiful dinner. What I cherish most was the time spent with my family at home, because it was a day that my father didn’t have to work.

Because of our limited resources, I always asked for books for Christmas. After our holiday dinner, I would sneak out, crack open my new mystery book, and step into a new world that allowed me to dream.

— Lori Lightfoot

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot speaks with Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times at City Hall on August 10, 2018.

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot. | Colin Boyle/Sun-Times

‘My brother and I built an igloo’

I remember being very young and sledding throughout Chicago. It was always a thrill to find the tallest hill to slide down, and I enjoyed not being out of breath when running constantly back to the top of the hill.

Another favorite memory dates to the blizzard of 1999. My brother and I built an igloo on our street corner. It was magnificent!

— John Kenneth Kozlar

Mayoral candidate John Kenneth Kozlar. | Al Podgorski/Sun-Times file photo

‘He put up hundreds of lights’

When I was a young boy, all my Christmases were days of great anticipation and excitement. But perhaps my fondest Christmas memory is of my dad’s determination to outdo everyone when it came to decorations for our home at 113th Street, across from Palmer Park in Roseland. He put up hundreds of lights, a lighted life-size Santa Claus, and a second Christmas tree on the front porch.

Chevy Chase must have modeled his Clark Griswold, in the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, after my father.

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas is interviewed by Sun-Times reporter Fran Spielman at City Hall in August. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

— Paul Vallas

‘Gifts from the Three Kings … were in our shoes’

Every Jan. 5 when we were young, my brothers and I would sit with our parents and write letters to the Three Kings to tell them how grateful we were for the arrival of Christmas, and to ask them to visit our home on the way back from delivering gifts to Baby Jesus. We would put our notes inside shoes outside our door and go to bed. The next morning, our shoes would be gone, but gifts from the Three Kings would be in their place.

It was such a fun thing to do, and it’s a tradition celebrated in the Hispanic culture. Now, my husband and I very much enjoy continuing this tradition with our own six-year-old son.

— Susana Mendoza

Mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza is interviewed by reporter Fran Spielman in the Sun-Times newsroom Thursday, November 15, 2018. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Susana Mendoza. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

‘Homemade bread’

My mother’s homemade bread.

— Bill Daley

Mayoral candidate Bill Daley in the Sun-Times newsroom in October. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

‘Getting a tree on Christmas Eve’

Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, my father would take us to get a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t until years later that I realized we were getting a tree on Christmas Eve because they were discounted or being given away for free, but it was my favorite tradition because it meant getting to spend time with my dad.

That memory taught me that quality time with the family is the most important thing around the holidays. I’ve kept my favorite memory alive every year by taking my kids and grandkids to get a tree — specifically a Fraser fir — and cooking from scratch for my family.

— Toni Preckwinkle

Toni Preckwinkle

Mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle gets interviewed by reporter Fran Spielman in the Sun-Times newsroom this month. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

‘A traditional Cuban meal’

On Christmas Eve, my family gets together and enjoys a traditional Cuban meal of pork, beans and rice, and then we exchange gifts.

After that, we all — and it’s mandatory — watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” in a cozy room. I usually make it five minutes into the movie, take a nap and wake up just in time for George to realize that his is a beautiful life.

The next morning, we sit around our Christmas tree and exchange more gifts. There is absolutely nothing that beats the sheer joy of watching our five children — and especially our grandchildren — open presents and scream when they get that one gift they’ve been waiting for all year. Those two days are the happiest of my year, hands down.

— Gery Chico

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico

Gery Chico. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

‘A bootlegged Santa Claus’

My favorite holiday memory is every Christmas from childhood. I come from a large family of eight, with six kids all fairly close in age. Christmas always started with mischief as my siblings and I (usually me and my twin) would sneak under the tree the night before to shake boxes trying to find out what was in them. Many times we accidentally ripped wrapping paper (my dad is not the best gift wrapper).

The Christmas morning tradition involved my dad dressing up as a bootlegged Santa Claus. One time he had to use a paper towel as his fake Santa beard. He and my mother then would dole out our gifts one by one. Christmas morning was always a mess of paper, boxes, candy canes and noise.

These days, since my parents have now resorted to our annual scarf, hat and gloves as gifts (creativity waned as we aged!), my siblings and I relive past Christmases through the grandkids, nieces and nephews.

Now they get to see my dad dress up as a bootlegged Santa Claus and, with my mom, dole out gifts to everyone.

— Amara Enyia

Amara Enyia

Mayoral candidate Amara Enyia in the Sun-Times newsroom. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

‘The phone rang … we had a son’

It was December 2000. My wife, Jannine, and I were newly married and we had just completed the mountains of paperwork to adopt our first child and start our family. We were anxious and checked email minute-upon-minute. We kept every phone call short so the line was free. It was Christmas Eve morning at our townhouse and the phone rang — the best present we could have asked for. News that we had a son and he was coming home.

— Jerry Joyce

Mayoral candidate Jerry Joyce | File photo

RELATED:

• EDITORIAL: Even if Ald. Burke survives all this, next mayor could have it in for him

• EDITORIAL: No matter who’s mayor next, property tax spending is in for overhaul

• EDITORIAL: A tax on commuters? Here’s what Chicago mayoral candidates say

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.

 

Dan Ryan family ‘shocked’ by Bill Daley proposal to rename expressway for Obama

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For decades, two families worked hand-in-hand as the top political powerhouses in Chicago.

The Daley name is still synonymous with Chicago politics.

And while the name Dan Ryan might remind more Chicagoans of their daily commute than their political history, the former Cook County board president teamed with former Mayor Richard J. Daley for years to pave the way for the expressway that became his namesake.

So it came as a “shock and disappointment” to Daniel B. Ryan III on Friday when Bill Daley — the son of Chicago’s legendary boss — proposed removing his grandfather’s name from the highway after 56 years and renaming it in honor of former President Barack Obama.

The Dan Ryan Expressway looking north from 31st Street, several months before construction was completed in December 1962. | Sun-Times file photo

The Dan Ryan Expressway looking north from 31st Street, several months before construction was completed in December 1962. | Sun-Times file photo

“I’m hurt. I feel bad that he didn’t try and contact us to see what we would think,” Ryan III said. “We feel very honored to have this named after our grandfather. Why would you take an honor away from one man to honor another?”

In his quest to become the third Daley to reign on the fifth floor of City Hall, Daley issued a press release saying “Chicago expressways are named for towering figures in out history: Kennedy, Eisenhower, Stevenson,” suggesting the 11.5-mile stretch of Interstate 90/94 should instead be named for Obama.

The campaign statement noted that the namesake Ryan was a longtime Cook County board member and its president from 1954 to 1961, pointing out “that a forest preserve is also named for Ryan.”

Bill Daley

Mayoral hopeful Bill Daley. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

What the campaign didn’t mention is that Daley’s father was the one who chose the Dan Ryan Expressway name in the first place, according to Ryan III. It also was incorrect in its assertion about the forest preserve. The Dan Ryan Woods aren’t named for the same person as the highway; they’re named for Dan Ryan’s father, who also had a career in Chicago politics.

The Ryan family was a political dynasty in its own right when Dan Ryan took his late father’s position on the county board in 1923. Three decades later, as board president, Ryan was considered second in power only to Boss Daley himself.

Ryan helped lead the fight for a “superhighway” connecting interstates 90 and 94, but died unexpectedly in 1961. The expressway opened about 18 months later, on December 15, 1962.

Mayor Richard J. Daley (left) and Cook County Board President Dan Ryan (center) look at a concept model of a downtown development in September 1958. | Sun-Times file photo

Mayor Richard J. Daley (left) and Cook County Board President Dan Ryan (center) look at a concept model of a downtown development in September 1958. | Sun-Times file photo

For his widow Ruby Ryan — who was appointed to her late husband’s board seat with Daley’s support, and went on to serve for two decades — the expressway title proved a fitting tribute.

“It will run right past the home where he grew up, at 66th and Stewart,” his wife, Ruby Ryan, was quoted as saying in the front-page Sun-Times story about the newly christened highway.

Cook County Commissioner Ruby Ryan, Mayor Richard J. Daley and county board President Seymour Simon congratulate Theresa Waicosky, a Back of the Yards resident who became the first person to drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway at its December 1962 opening. | Sun-Times file photo

Cook County Commissioner Ruby Ryan, Mayor Richard J. Daley and county board President Seymour Simon congratulate Theresa Waicosky, a Back of the Yards resident who became the first person to drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway at its December 1962 opening. | Sun-Times file photo

Ryan III recalled finishing a high school entrance exam and then hurrying downtown to meet his grandmother for the expressway ribbon-cutting.

“It would’ve meant a lot to him to know it was named for him. That was a true honor bestowed on him for all the work he did. It was the culmination of a great career,” Ryan III said Friday.

The Dan Ryan's opening was front-page news for the Sun-Times in December 1962, framed here with the scissors and a strip from the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. | Provided by Dan Ryan III

The Dan Ryan’s opening was front-page news for the Sun-Times in December 1962, framed here with the scissors and a strip from the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. | Provided by Dan Ryan III

“These families stood together for many years. I guess it’s been forgotten,” said Tara Ryan, the expressway namesake’s great-granddaughter.

A Daley campaign spokesman declined to comment on the Ryan family’s reaction.

Beyond political business, Ryan III said his grandfather and Richard J. Daley were good friends. He remembers the families taking in a 1959 White Sox World Series game together at Comiskey Park, and working alongside Bill Daley as pages at Chicago’s notorious 1968 Democratic National Convention, he said.

Cook County President Dan Ryan (front left) and Mayor Richard J. Daley (with mitt) attend Opening Day at Comiskey Park in April 1958. | Sun-Times file photo

Cook County President Dan Ryan (front left) and Mayor Richard J. Daley (with mitt) attend Opening Day at Comiskey Park in April 1958. | Sun-Times file photo

“We did a lot of things together. We were old friends,” he said.

Since then, “everybody’s gone their ways,” according to Ryan III, age 69, now retired after a career in insurance. He suspects the renaming idea is a vote-getting tactic.

Ryan III insists he’s an Obama fan. “But you don’t change something just to change it.”

Three generations of Dan Ryan today; from left to right: Ryan III, Ryan V and Ryan IV. | Family photo

Less clear is whether the state legislature would get behind Daley’s proposal, especially after a stretch of Interstate 55 already was named after Obama last year.

“And I don’t think President Obama would ever want someone else’s honors and accomplishments to be taken away for him,” Tara Ryan said.

Representatives for the 44th president did not return messages seeking comment.

“I don’t want this to sounds like sour grapes,” Ryan III said. “Our family has been honored by this for 56 years, and we’d like to keep it that way.”

Dan Ryan Woods

The Dan Ryan Woods, part of the Cook County Forest Preserves, stretch from 83rd Street south to about 93rd Street, between Western and Damen avenues. | File photo

EDITORIAL: Should gun offenders do more time? Here’s what candidates for mayor say

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This editorial was updated to include the response of state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford. It had been omitted in error. 

Last year, we threw our support behind a proposed state law to lock up repeat gun offenders longer.

We have long argued for shorter sentences and alternatives to incarceration for many crimes, as a matter of fairness, class and racial blindness and even greater public safety. Prisons excel at making hardened criminals. But gun crimes, we had come to believe, were a different matter, given the gun violence in Chicago.

Specifically, we supported a bill, signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner, that instructs judges to impose sentences at the higher end of the range for serious gun crimes — the unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The law allows judges to impose shorter sentences, but they must put their reasoning in writing.

EDITORIAL

It was a difficult call for us, as it should have been. There is no one indisputably correct balance between the “law-and-order” and “social justice” approaches to reducing crime rates.

Now we thought we’d put the same question to the folks running for mayor. What, to their thinking, is the “appropriate length of incarceration and punishment for gun offenses?”

Nine of the 14 candidates who responded to our emailed question said they support the tougher sentencing law, though most of them included caveats and expressed reservations. Five candidates flatly said they do not support the stiffer penalties.

What was most telling, however, was the level of nuance the candidates brought to their answers. Nobody wanted to be seen as soft on crime, but nobody just wanted to lock everybody up. Their answers didn’t always reveal exactly where they stand, but certainly how they lean.

Among the candidates who got back to us, the five who most pointedly said they favor the tougher sentencing requirement were Bob Fioretti, John Kenneth Kozlar, Paul Vallas, Bill Daley and Gery Chico.

Fioretti wrote, “Supporting longer sentences for criminals who commit violent crimes with guns is an easy call.”

Kozlar wrote: “My solution is to send a clear message to people who terrorize our streets and/or carry illegal guns — there will be a strict penalty.”

Vallas wrote: “I don’t think Chicago is in any position to relax its treatment of gun crimes when it is suffering 3,000 largely unsolved shootings a year. If anything, we need to be more vigilant of judges to make certain they are treating these cases with the toughness they deserve.”

Daley wrote: “Every neighborhood in Chicago needs to be safe. I support tougher sentencing for first-time and repeat offenders to get them off the street. Federal, state, county and city governments must do better, and the courts need to start implementing longer sentences as demanded by law.”

And Chico wrote: “The criminal justice system must become far more aggressive in taking guns, gang members and violent offenders off our streets.”

Yet Vallas and Daley also hastened to stress that they’re not keen on incarceration as a general rule. Vallas wrote that he was “pleased” to see “a major reduction in the Cook County Jail population” due to sentencing reforms for non-violent drug offenses. Daley said he supports programs that offer a diversion from incarceration for “low-level offenders.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, strongly arguing the social justice approach to fighting crime, were Amara Enyia, Neal Sales-Griffin, Toni Preckwinkle and La Shawn K. Ford. All three made the point that there is no evidence longer prison sentences lead to less crime and lower recidivism rates. And all three wrote that longer sentences just tear up families while ignoring the reality of why some otherwise law-abiding people carry illegal guns.

RELATED:

EDITORIAL: Even if Ald. Burke survives all this, next mayor could have it in for him

EDITORIAL: No matter who’s mayor next, property tax spending is in for overhaul

EDITORIAL: A tax on commuters? Here’s what Chicago mayoral candidates say

“I’ve had conversations with young men who have stated that they would rather take the risk of being picked up by law enforcement for carrying a gun for safety reasons,” Enyia wrote, “than risk being without protection in dangerous neighborhoods.”

“Some say that as long as gun offenders are behind bars, they can’t offend,” Preckwinkle wrote. “But unless we are willing to engage in cruel and unusual punishment by locking folks up for 15 or 20 years for mere gun possession, longer sentences won’t prevent recidivism.

“What does prevent recidivism,” Preckwinkle continued, “is programs to help returning citizens reintegrate into society.”

The 2017 legislation included a diversion program for some first-time offenders, which is a positive in Ford’s view. But he likened the rest of it to the war on drugs. “This over-reliance on harsh punishment will result in more people of color behind bars without addressing any of the root causes of why people are carrying a gun in the first place,” he wrote.

Lori Lightfoot stressed that stiff sentences can serve a purpose, but that the 2017 gun sentencing law amounted to a simple-minded “one-size-fits-all” approach. “Context matters,” she wrote.

More difficult to categorize were the responses given by Willie Wilson, Dorothy Brown, Jerry Joyce and Susana Mendoza. All four signaled at least a tepid acceptance of tougher sentences for gun crimes, but they all were quick to emphasize what a woefully limited part of the solution incarceration is.

Wilson wrote: “We are a law-based land I will always follow that law as a law-abiding citizen. However, I believe that in many cases, individuals are treated as guilty until proven innocent.”

Mendoza wrote: “We should focus our efforts on serious gun crimes, particularly those committed by repeat violent offenders and members of criminal organizations. … We should also go after illegal gun traffickers.”

We urge you to read the candidates’ answers in full. We could only touch on their views in this editorial.

One of these 14 candidates likely will be the next mayor of Chicago, and he or she will face no bigger challenge than bringing down the city’s violent crime rate.

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.

Bill Daley: daleyformayor.com
Paul Vallas: vallasforallchicago.com
Gery Chico: chicoformayor.com
Amara Enyia: amaraenyia.com
Robert “Bob” Fioretti: bobforchicago.com
La Shawn Ford: fordforchicago.com
Willie Wilson: williewilsonformayor.com
Ja’Mal Green: greenforchicago.com
Dorothy Brown: dorothyformayor.com/2019
Susana Mendoza: susanamendoza.com
Jerry Joyce: jerryjoyce2019.com
Lori Lightfoot: lightfootforchicago.com
Toni Preckwinkle: toniforchicago.com
Garry McCarthy: garryformayor.com
Neal Sales-Griffin: nealformayor.com
John Kenneth Kozlar: johnkozlar.com
Roger L. Washington: www.washingtonformayor.com

EDITORIAL: Politics aside, renaming Dan Ryan Expressway for Obama has appeal

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Bill Daley, who is running for mayor, is playing politics in proposing that the Dan Ryan Expressway be renamed to honor former President Barack Obama.

He’s also on to a good idea.

Daley’s primary motivation is obvious: He’s trying to score points with African-American and liberal Democratic voters. But Daley also was once Obama’s White House chief of staff, so it’s only natural that he would champion Obama’s legacy.

EDITORIAL

And, frankly, what matters more than where the idea came from is the idea itself — and it’s an appealing one.

With all respect to the descendants of Dan Ryan, almost nobody driving that South Side expressway today knows who he was. Nor should they. Cook County board presidents, which is what he was, come and go.

It makes entirely good sense, whatever the hassles, to rename the expressway for the only American president ever to call Chicago his hometown — and an admired and historic president at that. It’s just a matter of time before Chicago honors Obama in some big way, really putting his stamp on the geography of the city, and renaming a major expressway would be one appropriate way.

A couple of things should happen first:

* The state should rescind the naming of a stretch of I-55 — outside Chicago — for Obama. Two roads with the same name within proximity of each other makes no sense.

* A full airing of the renaming proposal should be conducted in both Chicago and Springfield. Let’s hear all arguments for and against it. Let’s be sure it reflects the popular will. Let’s avoid a replay of the closed-door process by which the Obama Presidential Center found a home in a city park.

Once that’s done, though, it’s apparently a straightfoward matter to rename an expressway. As Alexandra Arriaga reported in the Sun-Times, it can be done by gubernatorial proclamation, legislative resolution or designation from the transportation secretary.

Chicago expressways, as Daley said in a press release, should be named for “towering figures” such as President John F. Kennedy and Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson.

Barack Obama belongs to that club; Dan Ryan not so much.

Daniel B. Ryan was president of the county board from 1954 to 1961, dying while in office. His good pal, Mayor Richard J. Daley — Bill Daley’s father — arranged to have the expressway named in his honor the next year.

As it happens, there also is a Dan Ryan Forest Preserve in Chicago. It was named for the father of the expressway Dan Ryan, who also was a member of the county board.

Maybe the Southwest Side forest preserve, as a sort of consolation prize, could be renamed — for both the father and the son.

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.


No honor in Bill Daley’s proposal to rename Dan Ryan to honor Obama

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If Bill Daley wants to use Barack Obama’s good name on his quest to be the third Daley to run Chicago, he should think a lot bigger.

After all, Interstate 55, from Interstate 294 in the Chicago burbs south to near the city of Pontiac, is already named for the nation’s 44th president.

But more than that, how does the 11.5-mile highway that is derided as the “Damn Ryan” reflect the historic nature of the Obama presidency?

I can hear traffic reporters now:

“Whatever you do, avoid the Obama Drama.”

I understand that in such a ridiculously crowded field of mayoral candidates, it is not enough to belong to a political dynasty.

But while Daley’s “Obama Expressway” idea got him a front-page story, it also exposed him as being surprisingly uninformed.

But I’ll let fact-checker Kirkland Burke tell you about that.

“Bill Daley is in error. I would appreciate it if you would inform him of the following,” Burke requested in an email.

“All expressways in Chicago are not named for presidents. Dan Ryan and William G. Edens were not presidents of the United States. He was also in error regarding Dan Ryan Woods and Dan Ryan expressway. They are not named for the same person. Dan Ryan Woods is named for Daniel Ryan Sr. and Dan Ryan expressway is named for his son, Daniel Ryan Jr.,” he said.

For all his “I’m not my brother talk,” Bill Daley appears to be taking a page from former mayor Richard M. Daley.

Daley pushed for the renaming of the Calumet Expressway when Bishop Louis Henry Ford — an influential player in Chicago politics — died in 1995.

Ford, an African-American, was an international leader of a Pentecostal denomination and an unapologetic supporter of Mayor Richard J. Daley at a time when Daley was under fire in the black community.

A year after his death, Ford became the first African-American to have an Illinois expressway named after him.

In 2008, Richard M. Daley joined religious leaders at an opening of an exhibit at DuSable Museum of African American History to highlight Ford’s contributions to the city.

Obama will have the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side to memorialize his legacy as the first African-American president of the United States.

So really, Daley is going to have to go after something much bigger.

For instance, how about changing the names of O’Hare or Midway International Airports?

O’Hare is named for a war hero — Lt. Cmdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare — who was shot down in 1943.

Midway was known as “Chicago Municipal Airport” until 1949, when it was renamed to honor veterans of the Battle of Midway, a naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation website.

But even if Daley ups his game, he won’t be the first mayoral candidate to use the Obama name in an effort to attract black voters.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel floated the idea of renaming one of the city’s airports in 2015 for Obama during his fierce run-off campaign.

Then Emanuel noted that rather than “transformative” figures, Chicago’s airports were named after “battleships.”

Unfortunately, naming things in Chicago to honor the city’s most famous son has proven to be rather difficult.

Emanuel was forced to back off naming a new elite high school slated for the North Side after people in the neighborhood complained about losing part of a park and parking in the area.

But the Dan Ryan? Please.

If Daley thinks renaming this particular expressway would make African-Americans flock to his campaign, well, he has another thing coming.

Never mind that you feel like you are on a suicide mission when trying to merge on or off the Dan Ryan, but the expressway has a dubious history.

While urban planners dismiss the notion that the Dan Ryan was built to reinforce the division between the predominantly white neighborhoods on the west and the massive CHA public housing high-rises that were built on the east, I grew up in that area and I’m not convinced.

Additionally, many people who lived near the Dan Ryan believed it was built to help white people zip past the projects to get to neighborhoods that were predominantly white.

Either way, Daley ought to know that the Dan Ryan’s link to the city’s segregation makes renaming it for Obama an unfitting tribute.

RELATED

EDITORIAL: Politics aside, renaming Dan Ryan Expressway for Obama has appeal
Dan Ryan family ‘shocked’ by Bill Daley proposal to rename expressway for Obama
Should the Dan Ryan Expressway be the Barack Obama Expressway?

Where 14 candidates for mayor stand on charter schools — their full responses

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Fourteen of the candidates for mayor responded to our question about the future of charter schools in Chicago. We asked: What is the appropriate role of charter schools within the Chicago Public Schools system?

Here are their full responses, in the order we received them:

JOHN KENNETH KOZLAR

Mayoral candidate John Kenneth Kozlar. | Al Podgorski / Sun-Times Media

The following steps should take place in education when it comes to school selection: 1. Let the parent(s) and student pick the school that he or she will like to attend, 2. Let the principal pick his or her teachers with the LSC members in that specific school, 3. Let the best schools remain for all of our students. Competition within our education system is much needed, so that schools in every area can be good schools. Some students simply may not want to attend a public school or a charter school, so we should make it possible for them to receive the best education as possible. Our current problem is that we force children to attend under-performing schools, because of economic and environmental barriers. The bad schools need phase out, with the good schools flourishing all across Chicago. With holding our individual schools accountable, there will be less and less of low-performing schools in the system.

LORI LIGHTFOOT

Lori Lightfoot

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot | Colin Boyle/Sun-Times file photo

I support a freeze on new charter schools. We must hold existing charter schools accountable for educating our children just as we do Chicago Public Schools. We must change the relationship between CPS and charters. Charters play a significant role in the education of our children, but CPS’ approach is often to treat charters like just another vendor. That must change.

PAUL VALLAS

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Charter schools are public schools without some of the State and local collective bargaining restrictions that impede their ability to do innovative things that can help improve education services. They are also vehicles to expand school choices for families that do not have the means to secure other options. The problem in Chicago is the way the City has used Charter schools. The Renaissance 2010 program, initiated in 2004, was designed to close almost one hundred neighborhood schools and reopened them as charter schools without guaranteeing that the displaced children could return to their neighborhood schools. Later as CPS enrollment declined the district continued to open new charter schools with no thought to its impact on neighborhood schools or the growing overcapacity of the school district. While I was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, I only opened 15 charter schools. When I left the District after six consecutive years of increased enrollment, we had 558 schools and over 435,000 students. Today the district has one hundred more schools and over seventy thousand fewer students. At this time, I would not support the opening of new schools of any type until the district has a long-term plan to deal with over capacity. With over 120 charters, I would support existing high performing charters taking over failing existing charter schools with “no displacement of children” and would under certain circumstances support the opening of a new charter to address the needs of displaced students who are currently not being served.

TONI PRECKWINKLE

Toni Preckwinkle

Mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

During the last administration, charters have become a weapon for corporate privatization of education. Given the scandals that occurred around Uno, Noble and other networks, it’s time to stop the expansion of school privatization so we can focus our efforts on improving oversight and ensuring that all our schools treat families, students, and teachers with respect. I support a freeze on any new charter schools until a fully elected school board can be implemented.

DOROTHY BROWN

Dorothy Brown in the Sun-Times newsroom Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Dorothy Brown. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

I have never been a proponent of charter schools because they have contributed to a reduction in enrollment and closing of Chicago Public Schools, and diverted funds that should have been dedicated to a higher quality public education for all children. However, since charter schools exist, and those workers are charged with teaching and caring for some of the children of Chicago, it’s important they are well-trained, well-supported and well-compensated to prepare students for their roles as citizens, providers and workers. Therefore, it is appropriate for teachers at charter schools to organize into unions as needed so that they will receive the support they deserve from unions, and be treated fairly by school administrators and elected officials.

GERY CHICO

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico. | Rich Hein / Sun-Times

It is no secret that I have been involved with and helped found many charter schools throughout the city. I believe charter schools can be an effective tool to address situational needs in individual neighborhoods. Recent events have cast doubt on many of the city’s charter schools, and I would order a full review of all charters before opening new ones.

LA SHAWN FORD

Mayoral Candidate LaShawn Ford speaks to community members and the media at a mayoral candidate forum at Greater St. John Bible Church, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate La Shawn K. Ford. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Charter schools, and selective enrollment schools, can be excellent, and I believe they are more like public schools than many people know. Nevertheless, some of them have seemed to weaken our neighborhood schools and contributed to the current epidemic of closures. Charter schools can create a view that neighborhood schools are the selection of last resort. This seems to have, in cases, weakened our neighborhood public schools, and contributed to the epidemic of school closures. We may have enough charter schools for now, and we need renewed attention to our neighborhood schools. What has in the past been seen as schools that are “chronically low-performing” do not, and never needed closure. They need to asset-based scientific evaluation, holistic best practices, and caring attention. Some schools need repurposing, such as additional room for mental health services and other programs, and innovative ideas the students, parents, and the teachers desire. Still, other neighborhoods require new schools such as the new comprehensive high school in Austin that I have worked hard on as state representative.

JERRY JOYCE

Mayoral candidate Jerry Joyce

Nationwide charter schools in large part resulted from the dissatisfaction with the public school system. The question is, does Chicago want a neighborhood public school system? I am in favor of that. Presently enrollment in CPS is 290,000 and approximately 75,000 students are enrolled in charter schools, 80,000 attend parochial schools and 4,000 – 5,000 are homeschooled. I am in favor of strengthening neighborhood schools I believe every neighborhood should have a viable public school option. Having said that, charter schools that utilize innovative educational programs, such as Waldorf Education, can be an appropriate alternative for parents. However, to avoid unfair competition with neighborhood schools, the field should be leveled. Things like residency requirements and administrative pay should be subject to similar regulations as traditional CPS schools.

SUSANA MENDOZA

Mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

I believe that we need to first prioritize our neighborhood schools and ensure that we have a comprehensive conversation that includes every stakeholder in our school system to help shape the future of the district together and best serve every student in CPS regardless of where they live and the school they attend. I support the work that CTU did to negotiate a charter school cap in their contract. And, I support the right of teachers to organize in charter schools.

While my focus will be on empowering CPS principals and teachers, charter schools have historically played a role in testing new educational models that, if successful, can be scaled to larger districts. Charters can remain a piece of that overall strategy when needed, as long as they are held accountable to the same high standards and do not divert resources from our neighborhood schools.

AMARA ENYIA

Amara Enyia

Mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Privatization shifts the various duties of government from the public sector to private, for-profit entities.

Rather than private sector on-ramps that use public resources to generate profit (to the detriment of predominantly underserved children of color) charter schools are most appropriate for piloting and evaluating education innovation approaches that increase education quality.

The charter school model of education is a product of privatizing what was previously a government-provided public good. In poor communities of color, the provision of charters is based on the faulty notion that expensive public-sector bureaucracy and unqualified union-protected personnel are to blame for underperforming schools and students. And what started out as cost-saving, performance enhancing pilots unencumbered by governmental standards, rules and policies, have morphed into scantly-monitored education models of operation where corporate profit and shareholder returns on investment take priority over resource availability, academic performance, and future preparedness of students of color to remain competitive.

Chicago Public Schools seemingly favors pulling the plug on public education as we know it in favor of a “school reform” system. This new system prioritizes public money being put into private pockets over one that adequately prepares predominantly poor, Black and Brown kids to compete for 21st century top tier

employment and job creation opportunities. This approach to public education gives up on first-class, top-tier education for all children while allocating contracts in the form of charter school designations.

With few exceptions, the reliance on charter school education, as a standard (rather than experimental) education model, submits to a two-tiered, millennial remix version of “separate and unequal”: except this time, class bias is baked into it as much as racial bias.

WILLIE WILSON

Reporter Fran Spielman interviews Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson in the Sun-Times newsroom, Friday morning, Nov. 9, 2018. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

With the recent horrific revelation that over 500 of our children have been sexually abused in our schools under the noses of our ‘professional educators’, it is clear that we have a failed school system and the basic concept of keeping our children safe while in our charge has not been fulfilled. Clearly we need a complete overhaul of our system as well as our expectations and accountability.

I would, in a similar manner as the CPD, involve the communities with the Board of Education and an elected School Board to determine which of the 50 schools closed by Rahm should be reopened or rebuilt and like other departments, participate in forming the direction of all major decisions. Community based parent organizations in conjunction with an elected school board and the CPS staff will determine the proper number, size, location and staffing of each school and each community. This include curriculum design. I also expect that community driving issues such as ‘pryer in school’ would be properly discussed and decided jointly by the educators and the parents.

It will then be the responsibility of my administration to find the funds and implement the plans. The issuance of debt for a fairly developed school system plan is a higher priority use of financing than is public debt for private business expansion such as gates at O’Hare or a new sports stadium, these examples are often unaffordable/unusable by a large portion of our citizens.

The State of Illinois announced that Chicago Public Schools must turn over control of its special education program to the Illinois State Board of Education. The board voted to appoint a monitor who will have final say on all policies and budget plans related to special education for the 52,000 with disabilities , children with learning issues and physical handicaps need a properly run school system.

The CPS analysis released Friday breaks down 16 regions of the city, and shows South Side and West Side neighborhoods have the lowest concentrations of highly rated elementary and high school programs. All of the schools in a large North Side region defined by CPS as Greater Lincoln Park have the district’s highest performance ratings. In one West Side region, however, only 35 percent of the schools achieve those high ratings.

Citywide, 45 percent of black students attend Level 1 or 1-plus schools, while 91 percent of white students attend the top rated schools.

BOB FIORETTI

Bob Fioretti, Cook County Board president candidate in February. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Charter schools have a role to play in that parents who are unhappy with their educational choices should have an opportunity to choose a different school for their children. I support, however, the current recommendation for a moratorium on new charter school applications until at least a new Mayor has been chosen and a comprehensive education strategy can be implemented.

BILL DALEY

Mayoral candidate Bill Daley. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

It’s time to move beyond the debate of charters vs. traditional public schools and recognize that they are all public schools. Parents just want a good school and the debate should focus on what is in the best interests of kids. Charter schools offer different learning options for families. They offer laboratories of innovation from which the traditional system can learn. There are over 150,000 open seats in CPS, and 60,000 open seats in tier 1 schools. We should be working together to give as many kids as possible the best educational fit close to home, whether it is traditional neighborhood schools, charters, magnets, or schools with a special focus, including ARTS, STEM, dual languages or IB.

GARRY MCCARTHY

Mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy. | Sun-Times files

My views on charter schools have evolved since I’ve observed more labor union involvement in charter school employee negotiations. I now believe that charter schools can be good neighborhood schools, especially in communities where neighborhood schools have been closed.

EDITORIAL: Why charter school supporters worry about the next mayor of Chicago

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When we read what 14 mayoral candidates had to say about charter schools, we better understood why wealthy supporters of charters are pouring money into the city elections.

They want to save a movement that’s in hot water and likely to get hotter. Only a handful of the candidates expressed much enthusiasm for charter schools.

Members of the pro-charter Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, are shoring up — with $1 million in December and counting — the PACs associated with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, as Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet recently wrote.

EDITORIAL

Chicago has 122 privately run, publicly funded charter schools, and they’re losing a strong ally in outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

They’re also in a battle for survival, just like neighborhood schools, as enrollment in Chicago Public Schools continues to plummet and a five-year moratorium on school closings draws to a close. Meanwhile, CEO Janice Jackson has promised tougher scrutiny on charters that fail to meet academic standards

In an Editorial Board questionnaire emailed to the 18 mayoral candidates, we asked, “What is the appropriate role of charter schools within the Chicago Public Schools system?” Fourteen candidates responded. 

Only three candidates expressed support of charters without pointed caveats: Bill Daley, Garry McCarthy and John Kenneth Kozlar. Kozlar didn’t mention charters specifically, but he embraced a central tenet of the charter movement: giving parents school choice through competition.

“Competition within our education is much needed,” he wrote, “so that schools in every area can be good schools.”

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Daley wrote: “It’s time to move beyond the debate of charters vs. traditional public schools and recognize that they are all public schools. Parents just want a good school and the debate should focus on what is in the best interests of kids.”

And McCarthy, saying that his views on charters “evolved” as he saw more labor union involvement, wrote that charters “can be good neighborhood schools, especially in communities where neighborhood schools have been closed.” McCarthy, though, didn’t say why charters might make sense in those neighborhoods, and the logic is not obvious, given that those neighborhood schools usually were closed because of under-enrollment.

Dorothy Brown, Amara Enyia and Toni Preckwinkle clearly are more skeptical, having little or nothing good to say about charters.

Brown wrote that she opposes charters and supports more unionizing by charter school teachers. That’s a trend in full swing here in Chicago, where the nation’s first strike by charter teachers recently was settled.

Preckwinkle, who has been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, wrote that charters are “a weapon for corporate privatization of education.” She called for “a freeze on any new charter schools until a fully elected school board can be implemented.”

Enyia did not make clear what role charters should play in Chicago, but she offered an extended critique. “With few exceptions,” she wrote, charters create a “separate and unequal” education system that reinforces class and racial bias.

Six candidates took more of a middle ground on charters. Gery Chico, Bob Fioretti, Jerry JoyceLori Lightfoot, Paul Vallas, La Shawn Ford and Susana Mendoza saw some good in charters, with caveats or restrictions.

Chico, a longtime charter supporter, said he would call for a “a full review of all charters before opening new ones.” Fioretti said there should be a moratorium on charters until the next mayor has an “education strategy.”

Lightfoot wrote that charters “play a significant role in educating our children,” but she said she would impose a freeze on new charters. “We must change the relationship between CPS and charters,” she wrote, somewhat vaguely.

Joyce wrote that charters can play a role in education, but “to avoid unfair competition with neighborhood schools, the field should be leveled. Things like residency requirements and administrative pay should be subject to similar regulations as traditional CPS schools.”

Vallas, also known as a charter schools proponent, said Chicago shouldn’t open new schools “of any type until the district has a long-term plan to deal with over-capacity.” But Vallas also left the door open: “I would support existing high-performing charters taking over failing existing charter schools with ‘no displacement of children’ and would under certain circumstances support the opening of a new charter to address the needs of displaced students who are currently not being served.”

Ford wrote that he sees advantages to charter schools but believes the city has enough. “We need renewed attention to our neighborhood schools,” he wrote.

Mendoza, too, wants to prioritize neighborhood schools. She wrote that she supports the charter school cap that the CTU won in its latest contract, as well as unionization by charter school teachers.

Willie Wilson wrote nothing about where he stands on charter schools. In his response to our question about charter schools, he focused on other education issues.

We urge you to read the 14 full responses here.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

Mayoral candidate Fioretti proposes renaming Daley Plaza in pointed jab

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Mayoral candidate and former Ald. Bob Fioretti made his own pitch to rename an already-named Chicago landmark for Barack Obama Friday.

Fioretti held a tongue-in-cheek press conference Friday morning outside of the Daley Center, which he proposed should be renamed for the former president.

The press conference was intended as a jab at fellow mayoral hopeful Bill Daley, who suggested last week that the Dan Ryan Expressway should be renamed to honor Obama and said he’d “like to see the legislature act on this early next year.”

“I think if we’re going to start un-naming our public institutions that memorialize 20th century politicians and re-naming them for 21st century politicians, we should start un-naming with the ancestor of the mayoral candidate who thinks it’s such a good idea,” Fioretti said Friday at the press conference, which was described in official releases from his team as a “facetious” event.

Mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti holds a press conference in Daley Plaza, Friday morning, Dec. 28, 2018. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti holds a press conference in Daley Plaza Friday morning, Dec. 28, 2018. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Bill Daley is the brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, and the son of longtime Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, for whom the plaza is named.

RELATED: No honor in Bill Daley’s proposal to rename Dan Ryan to honor Obama

Daley’s announcement late last week made headlines and stayed in the news after the Ryan family condemned the idea, expressing “shock and disappointment” at the suggestion that the former Cook County board president’s legacy be erased from his namesake highway.

At his press conference Friday morning, Fioretti called Daley’s proposal to rename the Dan Ryan after President Obama “ludicrous” and “a shameful attempt to pander” to African-American voters.

Fioretti and Daley are competing in a crowded race for mayor, with 18 candidates currently in the vying for a spot on the ballot in February.

Mayoral candidates’ rhetoric on gun violence, other issues needs close scrutiny

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This year there’s no point in looking in the rear view mirror.

And with 18 people still on the ballot, we’re no longer talking about a mayoral race. We are talking mayoral marathon.

As with any political campaign, you’re going to hear some bold promises. It will be more important than ever to listen to what the candidates are proposing.

Now is not the time for pie-in-the-sky.

OPINION

Chicago has some huge problems, beginning with a $276 million pension payment due in 2020; festering inequities in the public school system; disinvestment on the city’s West Side and South Side, and last, but not least, a criminal element that grows bolder by the day.

When two men can snatch a woman off the street in Brighton Park, drive to an alley and sexually assault her without being seen by anyone, then throw the woman out of the car and drive off, no one should feel safe in any neighborhood.

Police described one of the assailants as a 250-pound black man with a “pot belly.”

And while we have heard of cases where a woman lied about the race of an alleged rapist, the police haven’t canceled this alert.

As a mother, a grandmother, and a citizen, I’m worried — so worried that I would like to see girls being taught self-defense in gym classes at all public schools.

And then there is the proliferation of guns.

The Chicago Police Department announced that it is on track to have taken a total of 9,500 illegal guns off the streets by year’s end.

So far this year, 4,249 people have been arrested on gun-related charges.

But in many cases, these people are back on the street before the paperwork is completed.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, speaks at a news conference following a violent weekend in which 71 people were shot. | Colin Boyle/Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, speaks at a news conference. Some candidates for mayor already have said Johnson will be out if they are elected. | Colin Boyle/Chicago Sun-Times

A recent editorial about where the candidates stand when it comes to gun offenders getting more time shows a divide in their views on punishment.

For instance, the candidates favoring tougher sentencing were Bob Fioretti, John Kenneth Kozlar, Paul Vallas, Bill Daley and Gery Chico.

The candidates outright rejecting the idea that longer sentencing would reduce gun crimes: Amara Enyia, Neal Sales-Griffin and Toni Preckwinkle.

Preckwinkle, an early champion of criminal justice reform, said “unless we are willing to engage in cruel and unusual punishment by locking folks up for 15 or 10 year for mere gun possession, longer sentences won’t prevent recidivism.”

Enyia said she’s had conversations with young men “who have stated that they would rather take the risk of being picked up by law enforcement for carrying a gun for safety reasons than risk being without protection in dangerous neighborhoods.”

That’s easy to say when you’re looking at probation.

And, you have to wonder why a law-abiding person couldn’t get a FOID card or a concealed-carry permit so they can legally protect themselves.

Other candidates, — Willie Wilson, Susana Mendoza, Dorothy Brown and Jerry Joyce — appeared to have a foot on both sides of the debate.

But the most disingenuous solution to surface so far is the call to fire Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson.

Chico claims there are “too many questions swirling around” Johnson, while Preckwinkle argues that Johnson has to go because he “refused to acknowledge that there was a code of silence in the Police Department.”

That’s just showboating.

Johnson, who managed to hang on through strident calls for reform and through his own health challenges, will be out because that’s the way it’s been done in the past.

And every mayor wants to choose his or her own police superintendent because ultimately it is the mayor who is held accountable when things go wrong.

Mayor Richard M. Daley forced out former Supt. Philip Cline after a public uproar over Cline’s inaction when videos surfaced showing police officers beating civilians.

When Emanuel was elected, he made it clear that Cline’s replacement, Jody Weis, had to go. Emanuel appointed Garry McCarthy in 2011, but fired him in the midst of the uproar over the Laquan McDonald police-shooting.

Emanuel was so determined to choose his own police superintendent, he bucked the recruitment process to appoint Johnson — who hadn’t even applied.

As Ja’Mal Green points out, promising to fire Johnson is a “political move for everyone to get cool points.”

So don’t even go there.

Tell us something we don’t know.

EDITORIAL: Best Chicago book ever? We asked the folks running for mayor

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“The Jungle” and “The Devil in the White City” win, hands down, as the favorite two Chicago books of the candidates for mayor.

“The Jungle” was picked by three candidates, and “The Devil in the White City” was picked by four.

Good choices both, we’d say.

Nothing beats “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair, as an expose of the unbridled industrialism that built this city for good and for evil, making a small club of fat cats rich while armies of working people struggled to survive. If you believe Sinclair, more than a few stockyard workers fell into the lard vats, where they lost body parts that went out into the world as Durham’s Pure Leaf Lard.

“The Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson, strikes a cheerier note, at least in the parts about how the brilliant Daniel H. Burnham created one of the most magnificent world’s fairs ever, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. But the uplifting stuff is inter-spliced with the story of a psychotic serial killer, giving the book an unsettling balance. Chicago is complicated that way.

In an Editorial Board questionnaire we sent to 18 candidates running for mayor, that was our final question — name a favorite Chicago book. Specifically, we asked: Other than “Boss” (because everybody says “Boss”) what’s the best book ever written about Chicago, nonfiction or fiction. There are no wrong answers, of course, so we hope you’ll have some fun.

Almost all the answers we got back — 14 candidates replied — were thoughtful, and they all revealed something about the candidates, which is the value of such a question. What people read, or don’t read, says something.

EDITORIAL

We certainly think Lori Lightfoot, for example, should consider teaching English Lit on the side, whether she wins this election or not. Her choice of Stuart Dybek’s short story collection, “The Coast of Chicago,” was unexpected and welcomed, and her take on the book — that Dybek “did a wonderful job painting pictures of his youth and neighborhood that are so quintessentially Chicago, but it’s also universal about young people trying to find their way” — struck us as exactly right.

La Shawn K. Ford’s comment about Alex Kotlowitz’ book about kids growing up in public housing, “There Are No Children Here,” also jumped out at us as especially well said: “We need good stories combined with hard truths.”

And we appreciated Bill Daley’s droll response to our instruction to choose any book except “Boss,” Mike Royko’s take-down of Bill’s dad, Mayor Richard J. Daley. “Don’t worry,” Bill Daley wrote. “I was not planning to say ‘Boss.’ ”

Here are the candidates’ picks for a favorite Chicago book, presented in the order we received them:

JOHN KENNETH KOZLAR

“The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair

I remember doing a research project in grammar school about Chicago’s stockyards. One of the books that I read was “The Jungle,” and I truly enjoyed the historical references throughout the book. I am a big fan of history, and the fact that I grew up not far from where the stockyards once stood added to the excitement as I read about Chicago’s history.

LORI LIGHTFOOT

“City of Scoundrels,” by Gary Krist; and “The Coast of Chicago,” by Stuart Dybek

 

When I was younger, I thought seriously about being a history professor, then I worried about getting a paying job after all that schooling. I decided to be a lawyer instead, but my love of history has never diminished. That explains my choice of “City of Scoundrels,” a complicated historical account of Chicago that very few know about. The time period in the book depicts the city as it was very much in transition into the modern age. I thought Gary Krist did a very good job interweaving a number of micro and macro stories lines to detail a teeming city at a critical time in its history. And truly, it has a little bit of everything — race, class, industrial advances, machine politics, etc. A good read.

As for Stuart Dybek’s work, I heard him read from the collection when the book was chosen as part of the One Book, One Chicago series. I have found that hearing an author’s voice reading from his work, the cadence and inflections, give particular insights into the written word that you would not otherwise get. After I heard him speak, I bought Dybek’s collection and other work. In this short story collection, I thought he did a wonderful job painting pictures of his youth and neighborhood that are so quintessentially Chicago, but also universal about young people trying to find their way as their individual lives evolve while in some ways the world around them both changes and stays the same. Dybek’s writing is spare but conjures engaging visual images.

PAUL VALLAS

“Chicago: City of the Century,” by Donald L. Miller

This is the book that best shows what a truly amazing role Chicago has played in the history of the world. Chicago was — and still is — a major center of innovation that has produced incalculable good for all of humanity. I think the only thing currently holding us back is a political industrial complex that is heavily dependent on the “pay to play” system and has to put preservation of the status quo ahead of effective city management and the long-term planning needed to ensure the city and our children a brighter future.

TONI PRECKWINKLE

“American Pharaoh,” by Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor

“American Pharaoh” is a great book about Chicago’s roots and how they have affected our current political landscape. As a former history teacher, I love the political history genre, and this one is exceptionally well-written.”

DOROTHY BROWN

“The Haymarket Affair: The History of the Riot in Chicago that Galvanized the Labor Movement,” by Charles River Editors

Few things were as controversial during the late 19th century as the Haymarket Affair. Depending on one’s perspective, the riots and the violence that ensued were the result of anarchist terrorists attacking law enforcement authorities with a homemade bomb that was detonated during a large public event, killing a police officer and wounding several more. Or, in a view more sympathetic to the plight of the people protesting for better working conditions that night in Haymarket Square, it was a peaceful rally marred by a heavy-handed response.

Workers and those advocating on their behalf were galvanized by the events to push for what they thought to be much-needed reforms, many of which would come over the next few decades. As professor William J. Adelman put it, “No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket Affair. It began with a rally on May 4, 1886, but the consequences are still being felt today.” This is a great book. It captures an embarrassing day in Chicago’s history, but also speaks to how an event like this changed the lives of many.

GERY CHICO

“Plan of Chicago,” by Daniel Burnham

I have several copies of the Burnham’s Plan of Chicago, and I regularly look back at them. He was a visionary planner, and I got my start in government in the Planning Department of City Hall. So many of the great things we take for granted in our city came from Burnham’s Plan. I encourage every Chicagoan to read the Plan at least once; you will be amazed to learn that many of the streets in Chicago today are still following his plan.

LA SHAWN FORD

“The War on Neighborhoods: Policing, Prison, and Punishment in a Divided City” by Ryan Lugalia-Hollon and Daniel Cooper; and “There Are No Children Here,” by Alex Kotlowitz.

We need good stories combined with hard truths.

“The War on Neighborhoods: Policing, Prison, and Punishment in a Divided City,” speaks to why I decided to run for mayor. Chicago is known as a tale of two cities, and this book gives a detailed explanation of why there are starkly different realities in many West and South side neighborhoods compared to other places in and around the city. It lays out the ways in which decades of harsh justice-system policies have harmed generations of families and led to disinvestment and less public safety. For example, in just a five-year period we sentenced 6,700 people from the Austin neighborhood to prison, compared to just 311 in nearby Oak Park (which I also represent in Springfield). Removing so many parents from the lives of young people has had devastating consequences for families and neighborhoods. As mayor, I want to see more investment in human and community development, and much less punishment.

“There are No Children Here” was important for me because I was born in the Cabrini-Green housing projects, which were very similar to the Henry Horner housing projects in which this book is set. When I was a social studies teacher in the Chicago Public Schools on the Northwest Side, it was required reading for my seventh- and eighth-grade students. I remember the very real and profound discussions we had about this book — and the hope that things could be totally different, and the expectation that it would be one day.

JERRY JOYCE

“The 20 Incredible Years,” by William Stuart; and “Eagle Forgotten,” by Harry Barnard.

 

“The 20 Incredible Years” is a fascinating, in-depth account of the pivotal period in Chicago’s history. It does a great job of capturing the interplay between politics and government and is a testament to the adage, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I first read “Eagle Forgotten” while taking a college seminar course on Chicago history. I reread this biography of Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld, with greater interest,  after reading the elegy, “The Eagle That Is Forgotten,” by Vachel Lindsay. Altgeld displayed the rare combination of courage and judgment seldom found in famous political leaders. Among his first acts in office as governor was to undertake a review of the convictions of the three remaining men convicted in the Haymarket Square bombing. This review led him to pardon the three, fully aware that the act of pardoning would doom his political fate. This act of political courage, against self-interest, is but one example of the many good traits exhibited by this man of humble beginnings who emigrated to our country as an infant and became governor of Illinois.

SUSANA MENDOZA

“The Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson

Awesome. Couldn’t put it down. Needed eye drops to soothe the redness in my eyes from lack of sleep from staying up too late reading it.

AMARA ENYIA

“The Devil In the White City,” by Erik Larson; “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair; and “The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition” (Revised edition), edited by Paul M. Green and Melvin G. Holli

It’s a three-way tie.

WILLIE WILSON

“What Shall I Do Next, When I Don’t Know Next What To Do?” by Dr. Willie Wilson

The book is about the personal trials, tribulations and triumphs of a black man who came from very, very humble beginnings, with all odds against him, only to rise up (through self-determination, tenacity and perseverance) and become a multi-millionaire. Never to forget those humble beginnings nor his traditional southern upbringing, he chooses to live his life by Christian principles of blessing those less fortunate.

Not a perfect man, he deals with his own personal struggles and breath-taking tragedy, he pulls himself up (as he has done his ENTIRE life) and continues to push forward, with the help of God, to live an inspirational and influential life.

 

BOB FIORETTI

“American Pharaoh,” by Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor

This book chronicles the rise and reign of Mayor Richard J. Daley, warts and all. It was a different time, and the authors do a thorough job presenting a biography of a man whose decisions led to many achievements but also to many of the problems we still face today of a racially and economically divided city. “American Pharaoh” is a must-read for anyone who Ioves this city and wants to better understand how we arrived where we are today.

 

BILL DALEY

“The Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson; and “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair

And don’t worry, I was not planning to say “Boss.”

GARRY MCCARTHY

“The Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson

Even though this story is set in a period more than a century ago, much of the same problems persist in Chicago, including corrupt politics, editorializing, murder and rampant crime.

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EDITORIAL: Should gun offenders do more time? Here’s what candidates for mayor say

EDITORIAL: Mayoral hopefuls show their human side with holiday memories

EDITORIAL: Even if Ald. Burke survives all this, next mayor could have it in for him

EDITORIAL: No matter who’s mayor next, property tax spending is in for overhaul

EDITORIAL: A tax on commuters? Here’s what Chicago mayoral candidates say

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.

Daley family, friends and associates have long been generous to embattled Burke

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As longtime political rivals, Ald. Ed Burke and former Mayor Richard M. Daley never seemed to trust each other much and weren’t always on the friendliest terms.

But Daley’s family, friends and associates have been among the generous donors to Burke’s campaign funds over the past year, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis.

Some of those dollars flowed after Burke’s ward and City Hall offices were raided by federal agents Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, as part of an investigation that on Jan. 3 saw criminal charges unsealed against Burke for allegedly trying to muscle Burger King — while it was seeking city approval for a restaurant remodeling in his ward — into hiring his law firm.

And some of those campaign dollars flowed after Daley’s brother, Bill Daley, announced he’s running for mayor in February’s election against, among others, Gery Chico, Susana Mendoza and Toni Preckwinkle — candidates with close political ties to Burke or his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke.

A campaign fund for Daley’s brother, Cook County Commissioner John Daley, donated $1,000 to Burke’s 14th Ward Regular Democratic Organization in a contribution recorded Dec. 27, records show. A spokesman for Bill Daley said the contribution was actually made in October but recorded later.

That appears to be the first donation from the Committee to Elect John P. Daley to any of Burke’s three main political funds in a decade.

The 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization, also run by John Daley, donated $1,500 to Burke’s 14th Ward group in a contribution recorded in May.

That’s the largest of eight donations from the 11th Ward to Burke’s funds since 2005, though the Committee to Elect John P. Daley also gave $1,500 to Burke’s Burnham Committee in 2007.

The law firm of another Daley brother, Michael Daley, has been a consistent donor to Burke over the years, though 2018 saw largest flow of cash in recent memory.

Daley & Georges, Ltd. — whose attorneys also include Mara Georges, Richard M. Daley’s top City Hall lawyer for years — made three campaign donations to Burke’s political funds in 2018 totaling $9,000.

In addition, the firm gave $5,000 early in 2018 to the campaign fund of Burke’s brother, state Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago), who ended up losing his bid for re-election. The firm donated to Dan Burke in 2014, 2016 and 2017, but no more than $1,500 at a time.

Daley and Georges also employs Michael J. Synowiecki, a City Hall lobbyist who is married to a great-niece of Anne Burke and was hired by the firm roughly four years ago.

Georges said Michael Daley is still affiliated with the firm but has retired, and she’s the managing partner and makes “the day-to-day business decisions . . . it is my firm.”

Asked about the Burke donations, Georges said, “We give a lot of money to a lot of aldermen . . . they all have my phone number.”

She said Burke had nothing to do with Synowiecki being hired by her firm, and Synowiecki had nothing to do with the Burke donations from the firm.

Another law firm with long ties to the Daley family, Mayer Brown LLP, has donated for years to Burke, including $1,500 to one of Ed Burke’s political funds, Friends of Edward M. Burke, in 2018.

Bill Daley used to be a partner at Mayer Brown. His campaign treasurer — long-time Daley family friend Roger J. Kiley Jr., who also worked at Mayer Brown for years — made six donations to Ed Burke in 2018 totaling $12,000, records show.

While Kiley has made numerous donations over the years to Ed Burke, his 2018 total may be a single-year record.

Kiley, who didn’t return calls, donated $10,600 to Bill Daley’s campaign in 2018.

Bill Daley has donated to Burke, but not for a decade, records show. Despite his family history of patronage politics and cronyism, Bill Daley has been positioning himself as a reformer in the mayor’s race, and even before Burke’s charges, Bill Daley suggested that it was time — after serving as alderman for 50 years — for Burke to go.

Bill Daley released a statement Friday that said, “Back in October in the Sun-Times, I suggested that 50 years is long enough and Ed Burke should retire. I have no influence over any other donors. I am focused on the future of Chicago.”

Richard M. Daley’s current law firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, also has donated for years to Ed Burke, including $750 over the last year. One of the former mayor’s closest friends who worked at the same firm, Terry Newman, gave $1,500 in 2018.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, a nephew of Richard M. Daley and his brothers, works for a law firm that’s also given to Ed Burke’s campaign funds, but not in 2018.


4 candidates looking over shoulders after Burke scandal erupts

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Those who live by the Burke will die by the Burke.

The uber-powerful Chicago Ald. Ed Burke has been charged with attempted extortion. In a 37-page criminal complaint, federal prosecutors allege that Burke used his position as chair of the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee to snare business for his tax appeals law firm.

OPINION

He may be innocent, but Burke is going down, one way or the other. He has already resigned from his Finance Committee perch. He is likely to lose his aldermanic re-election campaign, if he doesn’t resign first.

When he goes down, he’ll take somebody with him.

For starters, the Burke scandal could be enough to knock some mayoral aspirants out of their front-runner status.  It could be enough to bury them.

It’s an irresistible saga that will overshadow and color the 2019 mayor’s race, sucking up precious media coverage, while putting a glaring spotlight on endemic City Hall corruption.

Four prominent mayoral candidates have direct, up-close-and-personal ties to Burke, and have long enjoyed Burke’s largess.

Burke granted his once-treasured endorsement to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza when she first ran for an Illinois House district adjacent to Burke’s Southwest Side ward. Mendoza has called Burke a mentor.

Mendoza was married at Burke’s lavish compound, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Burke’s wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, presided over the civil ceremony.

After the FBI raided Burke’s offices last November, Mendoza was forced to dump $10,326 in campaign donations from Burke. She donated the cash to the families of three Chicago police officers who were killed in the line of duty.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has long worked with Burke, the clout-heavy alderman and Democratic committeeman — for the two decades she served as 4th Ward alderman and now, as Cook County Democratic Party chair.

Last year, Burke threw a fund-raiser at his home for Preckwinkle’s county board re-election campaign. She later disavowed Burke’s generosity, donating the $12,800 in donations from him to charity.

One charge in the criminal complaint is that Burke strong-armed the owners of a fast-food restaurant chain into giving Preckwinkle a $10,000 campaign contribution. She says she returned it.

Then there’s Gery Chico, former president of the Chicago Board of Education. Thirty years ago, Gery Chico was a young researcher for Burke’s Finance Committee. Chico has called him “a friend and supporter for decades.”

Burke endorsed Chico in his 2011 mayoral run and recently declared that, in this race, “there’s probably nobody more qualified than [Chico].”

Don’t forget Bill Daley, of Chicago’s leading political family dynasty, which has wielded power in City Hall even longer than Burke.

Burke “has made at least $30,000 in contributions to Daley family political funds over the years,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Now they’re all running away, demanding Burke’s resignation, calling for his electoral defeat.

They can’t run fast enough.

The extortion charge is just the beginning. A federal grand jury will be convened. A formal indictment will come. Perhaps, a guilty plea. The government was recording Burke’s cell phone conversations for a year, according to the complaint.

Perhaps, much longer.

Burke knows many things. For 50 years, Burke and his Finance Committee have interacted with thousands of government staffers, corporations, small business owners and ordinary citizens.

Burke’s long City Council run has earned him a vast repertoire of the government’s machinery, skeletons and secrets.

At 75, Burke might want to avoid doing serious jail time.

He might want to share what he knows.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.

Where 14 candidates for mayor stand on ‘sanctuary cities’— their full responses

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Fourteen of the candidates for mayor responded to our question about Chicago’s status as a “sanctuary city.” We asked:

Chicago, by ordinance, is an official “welcoming city.” This means the Chicago police are generally prohibited from detaining undocumented immigrants on behalf of federal immigration authorities. What’s your position on this policy? What more — or less — should be done with respect to undocumented immigrants who live in Chicago?

Here are their full responses, in the order we received them:

JOHN KOZLAR

The first people we need to deport are all of our corrupt politicians. Chicago should remain a welcoming city for all law-abiding individuals. We should not kick any families who follow the law out of our communities. We need a better federal process to make our immigration policies sufficient. As Mayor, I will work with our members in Congress to move comprehensive and efficient immigration policies forward.

 

LORI LIGHTFOOT

Lori Lightfoot

I have spent many years working in support of the immigrant community. For instance, I took on a pro bono case representing a Liberian immigrant who testified in federal court against his principal torturer. More recently, I’ve helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the National Immigrant Justice Center. These issues are very important to me.

I support amending the Welcoming City Ordinance to remove the four exceptions to the general rule not to arrest or hold anyone based solely on an ICE warrant or hold request. As mayor, I would only allow for compliance with valid warrants or court orders that are signed by a judge.

Also, drawing on my background as a federal prosecutor, one of my first priorities would be to meet with the head of ICE in Chicago and the U.S. Attorney’s office to express my views and the city’s position regarding ICE’s politicized role in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

I also support, among other things, efforts to protect undocumented immigrants from unscrupulous businesses that seek to take advantage of a person’s undocumented status, including businesses that commit wage theft, overcharge for services provided to undocumented immigrants, or which do not provide services they have been paid to perform.

 

PAUL VALLAS

I support the “Welcoming City” Ordinance. When I was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, we were a “Welcoming School District” and didn’t need an ordinance to ensure that. This means students and their families were provided the same supports and building access regardless of their immigrant status. I will continue that approach city wide as Mayor. I will however cooperate with outside agencies on issues related to violent criminals and individuals who pose a potential threat to the community. All too often the immigrant community is victimized.

 

TONI PRECKWINKLE

Toni Preckwinkle

We absolutely must do more to protect undocumented immigrants and ensure their safety in our city. I have called for the end to the carve outs in the Welcoming City ordinance that empowers Chicago police to work hand-in-hand with ICE. I’m working with the lead sponsor of the City’s Welcoming City ordinance and the broader community coalition to make this a reality. As Cook County Board President, I oversaw the approval of an ordinance that allowed uninsured Cook County residents earning under $48,000 and undocumented immigrants to see primary care physicians within the Cook County Health & Hospital System, that helped nearly 40,000 people in 2017. This ensures that undocumented immigrants have access to necessary care and protection without fear of law enforcement retribution.

 

DOROTHY BROWN

Dorothy Brown in the Sun-Times newsroom Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

I believe Chicago must reduce the fear of deportation and possible family break-up among people who are in the country without documentation. The goal is to encourage undocumented immigrants to be more willing to report crimes, use health and social services, and enroll their children in school.

I will ensure strong enforcement of the Welcoming City Ordinance(Chapter 2-173), which prohibits the City from considering citizenship or immigration status as a factor in the provision of City benefits, opportunities, or services, unless required to do so by state statute, federal regulation, or court decision. The Ordinance requires agencies to accept foreign driver’s licenses, passports or matricular consular (consulate-issued documents) as valid forms of identification for all purposes except completion of federally mandated I-forms. In addition, the Ordinance prohibits agencies from investigating or assisting in the investigation of the citizenship or immigration status of any person unless such inquiry or investigation is required by Illinois state statute, federal regulation, or court decision. Lastly, the Ordinance prohibits agencies from disclosing information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any person unless required to do so by legal process or for other specified reasons.

Also, I will continue the City’s Office of New Americans, which reports directly to the Office of the Mayor and provides comprehensive information about immigration and the Sanctuary City Policy, as well as ensure continuation of the Chicago Municipal Identification Program (Chicago CityKey Program) and expansion of services for transgender immigrants. I will also create an Advisory Committee of the various immigrant groups so that I can be assured that I am addressing their specific needs.

 

GERY CHICO

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico

Let me be clear: what is happening to migrants and refugees to this country is an atrocity. As mayor I will fight it with every tool available. The city should not act with or on behalf of of Trump’s immigration enforcers in any way. Additionally, to the extent that we can do so, we must provide effective oversight and resources for migrant children who are brought to Chicago. This is an ugly chapter in our country’s history, and the next mayor has a moral duty to fight it.

 

LA SHAWN FORD

Mayoral Candidate LaShawn Ford speaks to community members and the media at a mayoral candidate forum at Greater St. John Bible Church, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in Chicago. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

At the state level I have always supported our sanctuary state model: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=SB&DocNum=35&GAID=14&SessionID=91&LegID=98878

And one of the ways I am proud of prior Daley and Emanuel administrations is their work toward Chicago being a sanctuary city. Yet the Chicago Welcoming City Ordinance has its loopholes and a true sanctuary city goes beyond protection from ICE on the outside to the sense of freedom of all of residents to get the services they need, and, when humanly possible, in the languages in which they need those services. Our schools need to be sanctuary schools. We can work toward the purest sanctuary city model in the country by it being designed “with” and not “for” those without documentation and their allies. A real sanctuary city will be inclusive in every meaning of the term at new and more protective levels.

 

JERRY JOYCE

The concept of a “welcoming city” is an important tool that helps enforce basic human rights and safety for all Chicago residents. I agree that Chicago police officers should not waste time or resources investigating civil violations related to immigration status. There must, however, be a careful balance so that local law enforcement is not curtailed from investigating criminal activity or accessing past criminal behavior of individuals living in Chicago. Any city ordinance that limits collaboration between CPD and federal immigration authorities should not conflict with the process of investigating criminal activity — regardless of immigration status.

 

SUSANA MENDOZA

I’m the daughter of hard-working Mexican immigrants. As mayor, Chicago will remain a beacon among sanctuary cities in this country, celebrating our city’s rich diversity as a destination for so many cultures and ethnicities from across the globe. I’ll ensure it remains so and will stand up to ICE and Donald Trump at every turn as they attempt to bring harm to immigrant families. I support expanding Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance with due process put in place for those who may have pending felony charges or open warrants. I believe in striving to keep families together.

 

AMARA ENYIA

Amara Enyia

The Chicago Welcoming City Ordinance includes four exceptions to the general rule to not arrest or hold anyone based solely on an ICE warrant or hold request. These exceptions involve individuals with prior felony convictions, pending felony charges, open warrants, or listing in the city’s gang database. I support removing the exceptions. ICE’s policy related to arrest and detainment is rooted in xenophobia and has an adverse and draconian impact on people of color. It’s institutional bigotry disguised as a race-neutral matter of national security, of which our campaign vehemently condemns.

The Chicago gang database has 195,000 Chicagoans who have been “tagged” as gang members. Individuals tagged in the database often suffer harsh consequences, including loss of job opportunities, harsher sentencing, and, for immigrants, detention and deportation. Almost 100% of individuals listed in Chicago’s gang database are Black and Latinx. The Office of Inspector General’s independent investigation into the database confirmed advocate concerns about it being used as a tool to criminalize communities of color, with zero accountability, due process, or oversight. As such, I support abolishing the database. Policies long on maligning people of color at a rate of 100%, and short on accountability, due process, and oversight add insult to the injury past administrations have incurred on Chicago’s households and communities of color.

I come from an immigrant family, so this issue is especially relevant to me. The city is not a sanctuary if we can’t be safe in our neighborhoods, access the type of healthcare necessary, or get a quality education (because the school system is cutting services). The city is not a sanctuary if policing morphs into a form of draconian xenophobic abuse in communities of color. We need to think more broadly about what “sanctuary” means, as the city hasn’t done a very good job at insuring “sanctuary” for anyone at this point. So making this city a sanctuary for everyone requires new ideas that actually move us forward.

We must ensure Chicago is an equity, fairness, and opportunity sanctuary for ALL residents; Ensure training, protections, and protocols are in place to serve undocumented immigrants and protect them from harassment and deportation; and enforce asylum mechanisms for undocumented immigrants.

 

WILLIE WILSON

Reporter Fran Spielman interviews Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson in the Sun-Times newsroom, Friday morning, Nov. 9, 2018. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

No response to this question.

 

BOB FIORETTI

Bob Fioretti, Cook County Board president candidate in February. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

I am not for Chicago police doing the work of ICE agents. As a long-time civil rights attorney, I support the current policy that unless there is a valid warrant to hold detainees, it is a violation of that person’s civil rights to detain them.

 

BILL DALEY

I support immigrants and will keep Chicago a welcoming city. Immigrants built Chicago and give our neighborhoods their character. My goal is to grow Chicago to a city of three million, and to do that we must attract new people to the city. Immigrants — documented or otherwise — are an important part of that goal.

I will maintain Chicago as a sanctuary city, but I will not rest there. I will invest in communities that will continue to attract immigrants, and I have emphasized the need to include the undocumented in building a hybrid school board.

 

GARRY MCCARTHY

CPD officers should not be pressed into service by federal law enforcement agencies to do the job they are charged to do. Not only is this unconstitutional but it is impractical for reasons that include CPD officers’ lack of training on immigration law enforcement. However, all undocumented persons facing felony charges should be tried, prosecuted and deported, if found guilty. No exceptions.

Obviously, immigration is a very important issue nationally. However, the practical components of these policies are being played out in America’s urban centers, especially here in Chicago. As mayor, I would lead a council of big city mayors to advise Congress on

how these policies are impacting immigrant families, local law enforcement and the delivery of social services and benefits.

Bill Daley proposes merging CPS and City Colleges

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Bill Daley wants to turn America’s third-largest school system into what he calls the “nation’s first pre-K-through-14” system — by merging the Chicago Public Schools with the City Colleges of Chicago.

By turning two giant bureaucracies into one, Daley hopes to generate as much as $50 million worth of administrative savings — enough to provide free community college to all CPS graduates, not just those who maintain a B average.

But the ground-breaking merger is not about saving money. It’s about positioning CPS to produce more students prepared and trained for jobs without the back-breaking burden of student loans.

“In the private sector and not-for-profit entities, if you don’t move fast and big, you usually die. Governments are the only entities in existence primarily structured as they were 70, 80, 90 years ago. But it’s not working as well as maybe it did” long ago, Daley said.

“We’ve got to look at things differently . . . When you look at public education and the preparation for careers and jobs in the future, our system as it’s structured hasn’t served the kids well.”

Daley acknowledged the merger would require both a complex intergovernmental agreement as well as a change in state law.

CPS has roughly 35,000 employees. City Colleges has about 4,315 employees.

He did not say how many of those jobs would be eliminated by merging the two bureaucracies. Nor would Daley say whether he would retain Schools CEO Janice Jackson or City Colleges Chancellor Juan Salgado.

“I don’t underestimate the challenge of this. But we’ve got to start to think more out of the box than just, how do we bend this rule or bend that rule a little,” Daley said.

“When this system was probably started, all anybody tried to do was get through a couple years of grade school. High school probably came later. All I’m trying to do is say to people we’ve got to look at this system a little differently.”

On the eve of his 2015 re-election bid, Mayor Rahm Emanuel rolled out a Chicago Star Scholarship that offers free City Colleges tuition to CPS students who maintain a B average.

It has since benefited 4,500 CPS graduates from 75 ZIP codes and more than 200 high schools.

Emanuel has also made “having a plan for post-secondary success” a graduation requirement for CPS high schools without fully remedying a shortage of trained guidance counselors needed to help high school students develop those plans.

Daley argued that it’s time to take the Star Scholarship “to scale so that every” CPS graduate “has the skills to find meaningful and rewarding work or pursue a four-year degree.” He noted that only 18 percent of CPS students currently earn a four-year college degree.

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico served Daley’s brother, former Mayor Richard M. Daley, as both school board president and City Colleges chairman.

Chico argued that merging the “two statutorily-created bodies” just to save $50 million would not be worth the monumental effort it would take to accomplish.

“I don’t see the savings as much as I do the cost involved in combining these places . . .  It’s rearranging the chairs to not come up with a substantive difference,” Chico said.

“Rahm has most of that issue solved with his Chicago Star program. People who are getting C’s and D’s — I don’t know where they’re going in City Colleges anyway.”

Instead of merging the two bureaucracies, Chico proposed a “massive expansion of vocational and technical education” at CPS.

“We’re not waiting for community college to do that. We have to start earlier,” he said.

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, a former Chicago Public Schools CEO, said he, too, doesn’t see “the logic” of merging “two struggling and shrinking school systems — both of which are still in severe financial distress, lacking in essential resources and not producing effective results.”

“To claim that you are going to magically save enough money to give everybody free tuition shows that Daley has no practical experience in educational systems,” Vallas wrote in a text message to the Sun-Times.

Daley has already unveiled a strategy to grow Chicago out of its financial crisis — to a population of 3 million within the next decade — even as he opened the door to a commuter tax to solve a looming pension crisis.

He’s also established a goal of reducing both shootings and homicides by 75 percent over four years.

Now, he’s setting an equally ambitious goal for the mega-bureaucracy he hopes to create to run both CPS and City Colleges: raising the percentage of CPS grads earning both two-and-four-year degrees to 50 percent over the next 10 years.

CTU poll shows union with public support going into contract talks

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The Chicago Teachers Union is heading into contract talks with the wind at its back: A new poll that shows likely voters have a favorable view of the union that stood toe-to-toe with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and overwhelmingly embrace the union’s “educational justice agenda.”

The telephone poll of 600 likely primary voters was conducted Dec. 11-through-16 by Lake Research Partners and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

It shows 62 percent of voters surveyed have a favorable view of the union that led its members on a seven-day 2012 teachers strike that was Chicago’s first in 25 years after Emanuel instigated the walkout with his bullying missteps, including cancelling a teacher pay raise.

That’s compared to a favorability rating of just 31 percent for the City Council, 41 percent for the Chicago Board of Education and 33 percent for County Board.

Emanuel’s handling of education issues was viewed as fair or poor by 66 percent of those surveyed.

The poll also concluded that:

•93 percent of responding voters branded new investments in education, teachers and neighborhood schools as an “extremely important issue.”

•56 percent say it’s important for the next mayor to do something to confront the “unequal concentration of wealth” in downtown Chicago and the displacement of working-class African-American and Latino families.

•An identical 56 percent believe racial segregation “should remain an important factor when determining attendance boundaries for Chicago Public Schools.

•A so-called “millionaires’ income tax” is the most popular source of additional funding for CPS, with 73 percent calling the idea “good or excellent.”

•61 percent support a new tax on large corporations that pay their employees less an $12-an-hour.

The poll was conducted three weeks before a criminal complaint filed in federal court accused Ald. Edward Burke (14th) of shaking down the owner of a Burger King franchise for legal work and muscling a $10,000 campaign contribution for Toni Preckwinkle from fast-food kingpin Shoukat Dhanani.

Before getting caught up in the Burke scandal, Preckwinkle was the frontrunner with 18 percent of the vote, followed by state Comptroller Susana Mendoza with 12 percent and Bill Daley with 10 percent.

They were followed by Amara Enyia and Garry McCarthy (both at 7 percent); Paul Vallas and Willie Wilson (both at 6 percent); Lori Lightfoot and Gery Chico (each at 5 percent); and Dorothy Brown at 4 percent.

Among black voters, Preckwinkle had 23 percent to 11 percent for Wilson and everybody else in single-digits.

Among Latino voters, Mendoza led with 23 percent, compared to 14 percent for Preckwinkle, 12 percent for Chico and 11 percent for Daley. White voters were divided between Preckwinkle (13 percent); Daley (12 percent); Mendoza (14 percent); and McCarthy (12 percent).

Nineteen percent of voters surveyed were undecided.

Four years ago, Preckwinkle was the CTU’s first choice to challenge Emanuel. When Preckwinkle took a pass, then CTU-President Karen Lewis stepped up to fill the void, only to drop out after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

The CTU’s third-choice, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, managed to force Emanuel into a runoff but fell short.

Last month, the CTU threw its formidable endorsement behind Preckwinkle one day after the former school teacher embraced the union’s education agenda.

Preckwinkle broke with the CTU on only one issue: She declared her opposition to a so-called “LaSalle Street tax” now prohibited by state and federal law amid concern that it would drive the financial exchanges out of Chicago.

William M. Daley, candidate for mayor

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The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board sent mayoral candidates a list of questions to find out their views on a range of issues facing the city. William M. Daley (who goes by “Bill”) submitted the following responses (the Sun-Times does not edit candidate responses):

Who is Bill Daley?

His political/civic background: Commerce Secretary 1997-2000, White House Chief of Staff 2011

His occupation: I’ve spent most of my career in the financial services industry, but I have also served in two different roles in the federal government.

His education: Loyola University Chicago, BA, John Marshall Law School, JD

Campaign website: daleyformayor.com

Twitter: @DaleyForMayor

Facebook: facebook.com/DaleyforMayor/

Pensions

Chicago is on the hook for $42 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, which works out to $35,000 for every household. Those pensions, in the language of the Illinois Constitution, “shall not be diminished or impaired.” Should the state Constitution be amended to allow a reduction in pension benefits for current city employees or retirees? How about reducing pension benefits for new employees? Please explain.

Bill Daley: Yes. Our existing pension system is unsustainable. Our current liability is an anchor holding Chicago back, and a threat to our public employees’ future benefits. If we don’t solve this now, the problem will continue to grow, impacting tax payers and workers. To protect pensions, we must reform them and to reform them we must amend the Constitution. Current benefit adjustments give retirees raises that outpace inflation. We cannot find a sustainable, long-term fix without changing the constitution.

I’ve talked with unions across the city, and I’ve told them face-to-face that we must revisit pension payments. Voters and pension recipients deserve an honest discussion of this issue and I’m committed to having it. We are past the point of cheap political promises. I’m considering every viable source of additional revenue and studying ways to save money that can pay for our pension obligations, but there are no silver bullets. The sustainable solution is a combination of additional revenue, more efficient services, and amending the constitution to revisit pension obligations.

New employees are an important part of this discussion. They city needs to continue attracting and hiring talented employees, but private companies do not offer the same increases we see today in city government. Chicago can hire great public servants without mortgaging our future.

Revenue

Of the following often proposed sources of new revenue for Chicago, which of the following do you favor, and why?

  • A Chicago casino

Bill Daley: I am open to a Chicago casino, but it should not be the first source of new revenue. It must be publicly-owned and professionally-managed. As with all options in this list, a casino will not solve all our revenue issues, and it must be part of a larger set of new revenue and reforms.

  • Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana

Bill Daley: I support recreational marijuana. Other states have made this change and I will work with the governor-elect to carefully manage implementation. Most importantly, Chicago must get a fair share of the tax revenue, and we must carefully consider the social costs, equitable licensing, criminal justice reforms, and employment rules that may accompany recreational use.

  • A LaSalle Street tax

Bill Daley: I am opposed to a LaSalle Street tax. It is not viable. This tax will raise very little revenue and push business out of the city.

  • A commuter tax

Bill Daley: I am studying a commuter tax. I am not committing at this time, but nothing on this list will solve our financial issues by themselves. We need to look at all viable options.

  • A property tax increase

Bill Daley: I have committed to not raising property taxes in the first year. After year one, I’ve committed to matching every dollar of increased tax with a dollar of cuts.

  • A municipal sales tax increase

Bill Daley: City residents face a high sales tax burden, and the tax impacts those least able to pay. While I can’t rule out a sales tax increase, I would prefer to start with other options first.

  • A real estate transfer tax increase

Bill Daley: I am open to a progressive Real Estate Transfer Tax that increases the rate for high priced properties but will not impact the majority of Chicago home buyers or sellers.

  • Video gambling 

Bill Daley: I am open to video gambling, but we must take a close look at the share of revenue that goes to the state. Unless Chicago gets a greater share of the revenue, this option is not viable.

What other sources of new revenue do you favor or oppose?

Bill Daley: Chicago deserves its historical share of state income taxes. Chicago is the economic engine of the state, and today we get only $0.80 of every $1 of taxes we pay back from the state. Part of the issue is that Chicago’s percentage of Illinois income tax revenue is lower today than it was eight years ago. Especially as Springfield considers additional tax changes, and the potential for a graduated income tax, Chicago revenue must be part of the discussion.


SUN-TIMES 2019 CHICAGO VOTING GUIDE


Police reform

The City of Chicago has entered into a federally monitored consent decree to overhaul the training and practices of the Chicago Police Department. Civil libertarians say it is long overdue, but others say it is unnecessary and could make it tougher for the police to do their job. What’s your view?

Bill Daley: The consent decree is an important step that can go a long way toward rebuilding trust. I support increased training for Chicago police, greater emphasis on community policing, and better transparency as outlined in the consent decree, because we can’t continue with the status quo. Too many Chicagoans don’t trust the police, the clearance rate for shootings and murders is unacceptable, and officers aren’t getting adequate mental health support. My goal is a more professional force that has the trust of communities they protect. The consent decree is a useful tool to build that trust.

Chicago will succeed in implementing the consent decree by investing in our police. My crime plan emphasizes professional development for police, and I call for immediately requiring 40 hours of annual training. The consent decree only calls for 16. Some district commanders in Chicago are innovative leaders who have built relationships in the communities they police. In line with the focus on community policing in the consent decree, I will emphasize better information sharing across districts, and continue to create a results-oriented culture in the Police Department.

I support the consent decree, but it will be expensive to implement. Improving any organizational culture is difficult and it takes time. Meeting the requirements of the decree could take a decade, and I think the city’s cost estimates are too low. For the consent decree to be successful, every part of the police force, city leadership, and monitor must be on the same page. The next Mayor and Police Superintendent must commit and gain buy-in from the commanders and cops.

Guns

What should Chicago do to reduce the number of illegal guns?

Bill Daley: I am a strong supporter of tougher gun laws and increased focus on violence prevention. I realize the importance of reducing our jail population, but we cannot afford to treat gun possession or the use of a gun as a minor offense. These crimes should be treated as felonies and sentencing must follow tougher state guidelines. I’ve called for better enforcement from all levels of government. Federal, state, county, and city law enforcement must not shy away from the task of getting guns off our streets.

Part of this effort must include a closer look at the sources of guns. One in ten Chicago guns connected to a crime come from just two Cook County gun stores. Tougher enforcement for gun possession must be paired with increased scrutiny on sellers.

Lastly, I am committed to better intervention and increased focus to keep people out of situations where they would need a gun in the first place. I’ve committed $50 million to create an office of violence prevention. It has worked to curb violence in other cities, and it will work in Chicago.

Violent crime

In addition to your thoughts on how to stem the problem of illegal guns, what else should the next mayor of Chicago do to reduce the rate of violent crime in our city?

Bill Daley: Chicago’s crime numbers are unacceptable. We’re going to end another year with over 500 murders and nearly 3000 shootings. To reduce the rate of violent crime in our city, we need to set ambitious goals and demand safer streets. My goal is a 75% reduction in shootings and a comparable reduction in murders. We can do this. Reductions of this magnitude would put us on par with LA and New York.

In addition to tougher gun enforcement, my crime plan includes an increased emphasis on police training, better use of technology, and commitment to violence prevention. Like any other profession, Chicago police officers need annual training to stay current on best practices, update their skills, and learn lessons from others’ experience. As I’ve mentioned before, my crime plan calls for 40 hours of professional development training per year. I’ve also highlighted the impact of increased technology including drones. Our police need the best tactics and best tools to do their jobs.

I’ve met with experts and advocates across the city and from other parts of the country. It’s clear to me that the police cannot solve violent crime by themselves, and we must better engage the community. I will create an office of violence prevention to resolve conflict, provide alternatives to crime, and teach the vital skills to get a job and avoid criminal involvement.

Schools

What is the appropriate role of charter schools within the Chicago Public Schools system?

Bill Daley: It’s time to move beyond the debate of charters vs. traditional public schools and recognize that they are all public schools. Parents just want a good school and the debate should focus on what is in the best interests of kids. Charter schools offer different learning options for families. They offer laboratories of innovation from which the traditional system can learn. There are over 150,000 open seats in CPS, and 60,000 open seats in tier 1 schools. We should be working together to give as many kids as possible the best educational fit close to home, whether it is traditional neighborhood schools, charters, magnets, or schools with a special focus, including ARTS, STEM, dual languages or IB.

Should the Chicago Board of Education be solely appointed by the mayor, as is now the case? Or should Chicago switch to an elected school board or some hybrid? Please explain.

Bill Daley: Chicago needs more community involvement in the school board, but the mayor must also be held accountable. I support a hybrid board — with the mayor appointing four seats, including the board president, and the local school councils feeding up recommendations for the other three seats. The process to recommend community board members must include all Chicagoans including permanent residents, and undocumented individuals. An election administered by a board of elections would leave important voices out of the process.

Major votes, including budgets, tax hikes, and school closings, would require a super-majority of five meaning at least two board members appointed by the mayor or one from the local school councils must support the measure. Chicago Public Schools has difficult problems to solve including enrollment issues, and poor college or career outcomes, but we can fix these issues. It will take buy-in from the mayor and input from the community. This hybrid school board provides both.

What else would you do as mayor to improve the quality of public school education?

Bill Daley: You can’t have a great school without a great principal, and today we do not have 623 great principals. In concert with my neighborhood school focus, I will recruit and empower better school leaders. I will shrink the CPS bureaucracy and shift dollars to the school level so great principles have the resources they need to succeed.

Immigration

Chicago, by ordinance, is an official “welcoming city.” This means the Chicago police are generally prohibited from detaining undocumented immigrants on behalf of federal immigration authorities. What’s your position on this policy? What more — or less — should be done with respect to undocumented immigrants who live in Chicago?

Bill Daley: I support immigrants and will keep Chicago a welcoming city. Immigrants built Chicago and give our neighborhoods their character. My goal is to grow Chicago to a city of three million, and to do that we must attract new people to the city. Immigrants—documented or otherwise—are an important part of that goal.

I will maintain Chicago as a sanctuary city, but I will not rest there. I will invest in communities that will continue to attract immigrants, and I have emphasized the need to include the undocumented in building a hybrid school board.

Environment

What are the top three environmental concerns facing the next mayor of Chicago?

Bill Daley:

  • The top environmental issue is lead in the water supply. Tackling this will take long term and coordinated investment to improve our water system and replace aging infrastructure.
  • Asthma rates in parts of our city are unacceptably high. I am exploring ways to grow and innovate Chicago’s manufacturing and logistics sectors, in a way that creates new jobs, and reduces negative impacts on air quality.
  • Flooding on the South and West sides causes significant property damage and hurts investments in neighborhoods. I am studying innovative solutions to better capture rain water and improve green spaces.

Building bridges

Chicago is famously a city of neighborhoods, which is part of its charm, but also in some ways a weakness. It can make it hard to build bridges across racial, ethnic and social lines. What would you do to build those bridges?

Bill Daley: My goal is to grow Chicago to a city of three million by investing in the diverse neighborhoods that make Chicago unique. Building bridges across racial, ethnic, and social lines starts with this investment. Disinvestment in the South and West sides have created economic isolation, and it has started Chicago down the path of becoming two different cities. While Chicago is a leading destination for white millennials, 400,000 African Americans have left since 1980. To start building bridges, we need to change paths.

I plan to coordinate $1 billion of public investment across departments and sister agencies and use those investments to attract an additional $6 billion of private investment. The creation of economic opportunity zones, opportunity to better focus TIFs, New Market Tax Credits, and City-controlled programs like the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund present a unique opportunity for the next mayor. I will coordinate City-controlled programs and convene civic leaders to end economic isolation and make these neighborhoods the home of future economic growth.

Future industries like advanced manufacturing, next generation food production, or advanced logistics can thrive in Chicago if we leverage our existing strengths, bring good paying jobs to people who need them, and take advantage of the talent we have all across our city.

Economic bridges are the crucial starting point, but we also must continue to nurture the unique civic pride that makes Chicago great. I love this city, and I want all Chicagoans to share in the city’s prosperity and story. Building bridges across neighborhoods is about trust, education, and community. It includes better policing, better schools, cultural preservation, and neighborhood development. Everything I’ll do as mayor will impact the bridges we build between communities. I will keep that in mind.

Role model

What past or present Chicago mayor would you model yourself after or take inspiration from? Please explain.

Bill Daley: In addition to my father and brother, who brought fairness and efficiency into government, I am inspired by Harold Washington who built a multi-racial coalition.

Best book

Other than “Boss” (because everybody says “Boss”) what’s the best book ever written about Chicago, non-fiction or fiction. There are no wrong answers, of course, so we hope you’ll have some fun.

Bill Daley: My favorite books on Chicago are “Devil in the White City” and “The Jungle” and don’t worry, I was not planning to say “Boss.”


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