Voters may be choosing from a baker’s dozen of mayoral candidates in February if the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners chooses to uphold a hearing officer’s latest recommendation.

The hearing officer recommended rejecting a challenge to the candidacy of state Rep. La Shawn Ford, but the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners still has to finalize the West Side Democrat’s spot on the ballot. That decision could come during the board’s Saturday morning meeting.

If he succeeds, Ford would join 12 others who have secured spots on the Feb. 26 ballot.

Objections are still pending against two other candidates — Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and tech entrepreneur Neal Sales-Griffin — so the field could rise to 15 if both succeed in fending off the challenges.

Entrepreneur Neal Sales-Griffin, left, and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, right. Sun-Times file photos.

A hearing officer recommended objections against Ford be dismissed in part because rival mayoral candidate Willie Wilson had a “rampant photocopy issue” in the objections his camp filed against Ford, including variations being added in or removed on some sheets and changes to page numbers, meaning the objection was “not well grounded in fact and law, and is not pled in good faith.”

Ford said he was “grateful” for the hearing officer’s thorough review of the objection.

“We have so many grassroots folks ready to work, and continue working, with confidence,” Ford said. “It’s difficult when you have a cloud over your campaign — donors aren’t confident in donating or volunteers aren’t confident when they’re knocking on doors because the question of whether or not you’ll be certified always arises. With so many changes coming to city government, this is the right time for our campaign.”

Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said there’s no set deadline for getting through all of the objections, but the board is aiming to have the ballot settled on or around Jan. 21, which he said is a typical timeframe to get through all of the challenges —181 total objections for this election cycle for mayoral, aldermanic and other city offices. That’s a little below the 200 objection average and well below the 426 objections the board had to deal with in 2011, Allen said.

Early voting is set to begin in the wards Feb. 11.

As for the other two mayoral candidates still fighting to stay on the ballot, Brown is scheduled to have status hearings on Friday, and Sales-Griffin is in the affidavit phase, which means circulating letters and trying to verify signatures that have been knocked off by objectors.

The tech entrepreneur said that for the most part the process has been straightforward, but the objection process is a hurdle.

Sales-Griffin says he plans to roll out something to help others who want to run for office to make the process more accessible and to bring Chicago more in line with the election protocols in other cities.

“It seems very inaccessible,” Sales-Griffin said. “With limited resources, or for a regular person who wants to participate in democracy, it can be difficult like it’s not for someone who doesn’t have an immense amount of resources or a big team. I’m excited and grateful that I get to experience this in its entirety because it will allow me to shed light on this.”

Mayoral candidate Bill Daley has a “bigger is better” idea for public education.

Earlier this week, Daley unveiled a sweeping proposal to merge the Chicago Public Schools with the City Colleges of Chicago. The merger would create the nation’s first “pre-k through 14” system.

We’ll say this: Mayoral candidates ought to think outside the box. Chicago needs loads of fresh, creative ideas to sift through if the city is going to solve its most pressing problems, whether it’s lowering the crime rate, paying for city workers’ pensions, or educating our kids.

EDITORIAL

Not every idea will sell, of course.

In Daley’s case, we’re not convinced to buy.

Merging two huge bureaucracies into a single massive one — would that really be more efficient? State law would have to change, for one, and CPS and City Colleges would have to hammer out an intergovernmental agreement. Neither institution has jumped on the bandwagon thus far.

It’s unclear, too, if a merger would generate enough savings to offer free community college to any CPS graduate, as Daley wants to do. He expects to save $50 million, but there are no hard-and-fast numbers here.

Forget the practical hurdles, though. What’s most important to focus on here is Daley’s stated motive: Making sure that every Chicago kid, no matter his or her ward or ZIP code, has ready access to a college education. Money shouldn’t be a barrier to college for ambitious young people, who inevitably need post-secondary education or training to have a decent shot at good jobs.

“Historically, it took a century for high school to become the standard for education. In the 21st Century, the first year or two of college should be the new standard,” Martha Kanter of the College Promise Campaign, which helps states and local municipalities develop free community college programs, told us.

Nationally, 300 such programs are up and running, with business, government and philanthropy all pitching in as partners. “Too many people from low-income families just don’t think college is possible,” Kanter added. “All the more reason for this [free college] movement to become the standard.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel made the same pitch in a just-published op-ed for The Atlantic. “During the industrial age, when high school was the gateway to the American dream, public-school systems covered the costs of earning a diploma,” Emanuel wrote. “If the information-age economy demands a workforce with additional training, we need to begin cutting students and families the same deal: Anyone willing to work hard and earn the degree should be able to attend community college — for free.”

Emanuel’s STAR Scholarship program provides free City Colleges tuition, plus books and public transportation costs, to CPS graduates who earn a B average or higher in high school. Daley’s proposal would provide free tuition to any graduate, no matter their GPA.

That’s another potential red flag. Emanuel argues that the STAR program has been successful because of its high standards, which “change[d] attitudes” in high schools and helped to make sure kids didn’t drop out of college because they weren’t ready for the work.

Indeed, students who end up in remedial college courses — 46 percent of Illinois community college students do so — often end up faring badly. They’re demoralized when they learn they’re not ready for college and have a worse chance of eventually graduating, research shows.

It’s not the job of college to get kids ready for college. That’s the job of high school. College promise programs, too, can help fill in the gap, providing kids with academic support to prepare them for higher education, Kanter pointed out.

The real value of Daley’s proposal isn’t a cost-saving bureaucratic merger.

It’s the enlightened idea behind it that would benefit Chicago’s schoolkids.

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If elected mayor, candidate Bill Daley would eliminate the 500-plus elected groups of parents, teachers and neighbors who oversee public school budgets and principals in Chicago and consolidate their power into neighborhood-based councils that could make decisions for up to 12 schools each.

Elected Neighborhood School Councils would replace the Local School Councils, codified in Chicago under state law since 1988, just before Daley’s older brother, Richard, began his first of six terms as mayor.

“How do you get greater participation from the bottom up in our system?” Bill Daley said by telephone Wednesday. “Right now the LSCs, those that have them — and, as you know, there’s many schools that don’t have … an active LSC — so you would, you would begin to look, not just, ‘Here’s my school, all I care about is my school, and therefore I’m fighting (for) my school,’ but looking in a broader context of a neighborhood, community-wide.”

LSC members are elected every two years to approve school budgets, evaluate whether principals should stay or go and draft school improvement plans. Comprised of parents, teachers, school staff and community members, they serve as volunteers. Eliminating them likely would require a change to state law.

His proposal would mean that positions up for a vote at Chicago Public Schools’ 500+ schools at present could shrink from more than 6,000 to more like 600 — though not all schools can muster a full council. And how Neighborhood School Councils would interact or overlap with CPS’ nine existing Community Action Councils, already tasked with developing strategic plans in each part of the city, isn’t yet clear. Another crucial detail to be determined: how those community lines would be drawn.

Daley also would convert individual school attendance boundaries into 50 to 60 community-wide zones that each would contain open-enrollment, magnet and privately-managed charter schools. Families living in each zone would have preferred admission to those schools, he said.

Currently, every household in Chicago is zoned to a specific school where children are guaranteed admission, though many families choose to attend a different school for a variety of reasons, which include stronger academics than their neighborhood school, safety considerations or a specific focus of study.

Daley plans to discuss his latest schools proposal Thursday morning outside Ogden International School, now the three-campus site of a unique merger proposed not by CPS officials, but by folks from the former Jenner Elementary, which was underenrolled, and Ogden, which was overcrowded.

He held up that merger as example of how he’d like school councils to guide the direction of area schools “because going forward, we’ve got to begin to address some of our issues at a more, at a broader sense than just my school alone.”

Earlier this week, Daley, a former banker and U.S. Commerce Secretary, said he’d also consolidate the governing boards of CPS and City Colleges of Chicago. He also has said he opposed an elected school board, preferring to change the currently appointed one into one where the mayor “has skin in the game” by appointing four members while the school councils choose the other three.

Lori Lightfoot, one of the more than a dozen challengers vying to lead the city after Mayor Rahm Emanuel, supports a fully elected school board.

“We’ve spent a significant amount of time talking to parents, teachers and stakeholders, and not once has an idea like this come up,” Lightfoot said. “From all of these conversations and from my own experience as a public school kid, I know we need to start by welcoming parents, teachers and stakeholders to the table. I support maintaining local school councils to give parents and stakeholders a voice in their schools.”

The Chicago Teachers Union on Thursday accused mayoral candidate Bill Daley of trying to “kill off” the last and most important of former Mayor Harold Washington’s school reforms.

“The Daley machine has worked for decades to undermine Harold’s legacy, and now we see the former mayor’s brother trying to kill off the last vestiges of Harold’s commitment to grassroots democracy,” said CTU President Jesse Sharkey.

Sharkey lambasted Daley’s proposal to replace local school councils that make spending and hiring decisions for one school with neighborhood-based councils that could make decisions for up to a dozen schools apiece.

“This is a terrible idea at a time when we need more democracy, accountability and transparency in our schools, not less,” Sharkey, whose union has endorsed Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, was quoted as saying in a statement.

“This proposal shows complete contempt for parents, educators and neighborhood residents, and is cut from the same cloth as the autocratic control exercised by the last two mayors, to the enormous detriment of our neighborhood public schools and the Black and Latinx neighborhoods they anchor.”

To get “greater participation from the bottom up,” Daley wants to replace local school councils empowered by state law shortly before his brother’s first term as mayor with elected neighborhood school councils.

If the Illinois General Assembly signs off on the change, the power 500-plus elected groups of parents, teachers and neighbors now have to oversee public school budgets and principals would be consolidated into neighborhood-based councils that could make decisions for as many as dozen schools each.

The number of elected positions at more than 500 Chicago Public Schools would be dramatically reduced — from more than 6,000 to more like 600 — though not all schools can muster a full council.

The CTU also took aim at mayoral candidate Gery Chico’s plan to expand, what the union called Chicago’s “separate and unequal public school system” by creating eight new selective enrollment high schools — four by building new schools, four by re-purposing half-empty high schools –– to reverse an exodus that has left Chicago Public Schools with 150,000 more seats than students.

“Chico is proposing to expand the educational apartheid that has robbed Black and Latinx families of well-funded neighborhood public schools, instead of proposing progressive sources of revenue to ensure that EVERY school community has the resources students need,” Sharkey wrote, demanding “well-resourced public schools in under-served neighborhoods.”

“No child should have to travel for an hour or more to get to school. Every parent wants to get off the merry-go-round of trying to maneuver their child into a school that has the academic programs, school nurses, extracurricular offerings and wrap-around supports their children deserve. Chico’s proposal simply reinforces the separate and unequal school district we have today.”

Last month, Preckwinkle rolled out an education agenda that includes a “fully-elected” school board, a freeze on new charter schools and public school closings for the four years until that board is seated and “real progressive revenue” to bolster neighborhood schools.

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.

The following day, the CTU threw its formidable endorsement behind Preckwinkle.

Four years ago, Preckwinkle was the CTU’s first choice to challenge Mayor Rahm 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.

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, a former Chicago Public Schools CEO, argued that Daley’s plan to eliminate LSC’s would be a “serious step backwards.”

“Chicago schools have real problems that need to be addressed and Daley’s proposal does not begin to address them,” Vallas said in a statement.

“His plan would dramatically reduce parent and community representation and participation in their local schools at a time when their input and support is most needed.”

Mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza’s campaign took more general aim at Daley’s latest campaign commercial — dubbed “Neighborhoods First” —that focuses on crime, taxes and Emanuel’s downtown-centric development efforts.

“This is nothing more than an attempt by Daley to distance himself from a career full of attacks on working families while he fought for the disastrous policies that have forced Chicago to the brink of a fiscal crisis,” Mendoza’s spokesman Christian Slater said in a statement.

“From advocating for the failed parking meter deal to standing with Bruce Rauner to criticizing Obamacare, Bill Daley is the wrong candidate at the wrong time for Chicago…a status quo politician running on pandering policies and empty promises.”

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was a no-show at the first televised mayoral debate on Thursday, so organizers of the Northwest Side forum left the traditional empty seat.

They probably should have done the same for Ald. Edward M. Burke.

The criminally charged 14^th Ward aldermen isn’t running for mayor, but his presence loomed as large with some of the candidates as that of the missing frontrunner.

It was the first major forum since Burke appeared in federal court on attempted extortion charges.

“Just about everybody up here is going to say they never heard of Ed Burke,” former White House chief of staff Bill Daley said, referring to the other mayoral candidates crowded onto the state alongside him.

“It’s time now to make fundamental changes to our system of governing. We should have maybe 15 aldermen [instead of 50 in City Council],” Daley said.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza tiptoed around the question of how she would assure voters she could change an alleged culture of clout and corruption in City Hall.

“I’m focused on the future first and foremost. We have to look at this holistically and say we cannot have elected officials who are running for office to profit themselves,” said Mendoza, who has caught flak for having her wedding at Burke’s Southwest Side home.

“I’m focused on the next generation,” she said.

Gery Chico, former chief of staff to Richard M. Daley, touted his “record of performing whenever I’ve been asked to serve.”

One place Chico served was in Burke’s Finance Committee during the Council Wars of the 1980s. And he accepted Burke’s endorsement before the alderman’s legal troubles started.

On Thursday, Chico said he supported reducing aldermanic privilege over zoning changes and licensing within their wards.

“Every piece of data that affects a city contract should be published on the city website,” Chico said.

Absent from the forum at Steinmetz College Prep was Preckwinkle, who is indirectly mentioned in the criminal complaint against Burke. The alderman allegedly muscled a Burger King franchisee to donate to Preckwinkle’s campaign committee.

Lawyer Jerry Joyce Jr. showed up for the final 30 minutes of the 90-minute forum.

The 12 candidates who showed up on time all said “yes” when asked if they supported a ban on aldermen earning an outside income beyond their City Hall paychecks. The feds say Burke was trying to funnel business to his property tax appeal law firm.

But candidates were split on whether Burke should resign from the 14th Ward post he’s held for five decades.

Daley and Chico said it’s up to Burke himself. Former Ald. Bob Fioretti, ex-Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and state Rep. La Shawn Ford said he shouldn’t give up his office.

Mendoza, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, Austin Chamber of Commerce director Amara Enyia and DePaul grad John Kozlar all said Burke should resign, while former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot said 14th Ward voters should decide his fate.

Mayoral candidates Bob Fioretti and Garry McCarthy chat behind Lori Lightfoot ahead of a forum Thursday evening at Steinmetz College Prep on the Northwest Side. | Nader Issa/Sun-Times

All 12 said they support term limits for aldermen.

It was a largely civil debate with virtually no verbal sparring between those who attended.

Chico pounced on Mendoza during introductions in one of the few barbed encounters of the forum, which was hosted by WGN News and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th).

“What I see right now from people like Toni Preckwinkle and Sue Mendoza is raising taxes. We are not an ATM machine for lazy government,” Chico said.

“Just to be clear, Gery, it’s ‘Susana,’ ” Mendoza said in turn. “The ‘s’ is not silent, and neither am I.”

The organizers kept the 90-minute forum moving, limiting the 13 candidates eventually participating to one-minute answers and asking a series of “lightning rounds” requiring one-word answers.

Mayoral candidates Bill Daley and Amara Enyia chat ahead of a forum Thursday evening at Steinmetz College Prep on the Northwest Side. | Nader Issa/Sun-Times

Most — except for Enyia —said they support a Chicago casino, and all were in favor of legalizing and taxing marijuana.

“At the risk of getting hounded by my mother tonight who is watching, yes,” Vallas said.

“Yes,” businessman Willie Wilson said, “because everybody is going to be smoking it anyway.”

Bill Daley is widening his fundraising lead in the mayoral sweepstakes — and becoming the first candidate vying to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel to top the $4 million mark.

In a fundraising drop late Friday, Daley reported another $430,516 in contributions from deep-pockets donors, bringing his total to $4.11 million.

The heavy hitters include $100,000 contributions from each of the following: the Samuel Zell Revocable Trust owned by the billionaire who formerly owned the Chicago Tribune; Byron Trott, CEO of BDT Capital Partners; Christopher Reyes and M. Jude Reyes, executives of Reyes Holdings LLC.

David Reyes, CEO of the Reyes Beer Division, contributed $25,000 to Daley.

RELATED: Chicago mayoral money-tracker: Led by Daley

In 2017, Crain’s Chicago Business listed Reyes Holdings, a food and beer distributor, as the third-largest privately-held company in Illinois.

The latest money drop puts Daley far ahead of the field in the race for dollars.

It also explains why he’s back on the air with yet another campaign commercial — using the theme, “No more excuses” –– hammering away at the issues of crime, taxes and Emanuel’s downtown-centric development.

Daley’s next closes competitors are: Toni Preckwinkle ($2.77 million); Gery Chico $1.57 million; Susana Mendoza ($1.13 million) and Garry McCarthy ($1.04 million).

Millionaire businessman Willie Wilson, whose contribution to himself lifted fundraising caps in the mayor’s race, has raised $998,000, nearly all of it from himself.

He’s followed by Lori Lightfoot ($980,000); Paul Vallas ($833,620); Jerry Joyce ($356,250) and Amara Enyia ($207,520).

Big business appears to be rallying behind the son and brother of Chicago mayors amid fears of new taxes on corporations and high net-worth individuals.

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in late October, Daley, a former U.S. Commerce secretary, argued that the business leaders had helped him to become the fundraising leader because they are “very concerned” about stability, taxation and about Chicago taking a sharp turn to the left.

He subsequently rocked the boat by floating the idea of a commuter tax on suburbanites who work in Chicago to satisfy a looming, $1 billion spike in pension payments that will confront the next mayor and City Council.

Fourteen of the candidates for mayor responded to our questions about Chicago’s finances. Among our questions was this one:

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

• A Chicago casino
• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana
• A LaSalle Street tax
• A commuter tax
• A property tax increase
• A municipal sales tax increase
• A real estate transfer tax increase
• A video gambling tax

We also ask: What other sources or new revenue do you favor or oppose?

Here are the candidates’ full and unedited responses, in alphabetical order:

DOROTHY BROWN

• A Chicago casino YES

To increase revenue for the City, I favor building a casino in Chicago or a neighboring suburb with an intergovernmental agreement to share revenue. I favor this source of revenue because casinos have proven to be a great source of revenue. Many Chicagoans already go to casinos in other states, even all the way to Las Vegas. In addition, it would be a good attraction for convention business. I would, however, ensure that proper programs for gambling addiction would be available.

• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana. YES

I would support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes after conducting a study of the positive and negative effects that have occurred in the states where legalization has been enacted. Also, I support measures to include entrepreneurs from minority communities in the planning and licensing of new marijuana dispensaries to increase jobs in for those  communities most neglected. Lastly, I would earmark marijuana sales tax revenue for public schools, law enforcement and drug treatment programs.

• A LaSalle Street tax YES

A “LaSalle Street Tax” or financial transactions tax (FTT) is a very small tax on the trading (buying/selling) of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives (futures and options) based on these assets. It is essentially a sales tax, such as when we buy/sell shoes or computers. “LaSalle Street” has come to mean the financial/trading district, the “Wall Street’ of the Midwest.

Illinois has two of the largest financial markets in the world, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). Each year the value of products traded on these two exchanges totals well over $900 trillion. It has been estimated that Illinois could earn $10 to $12 billion per year from an FTT which could go a long way in helping with the public school and pension funding crises, according to the Fair Economy Illinois website.

The Fair Economy Illinois website also states that the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, France, and Singapore have a financial transaction tax FTT. These are all large markets, the tax has been in place for years without hurting these markets, and exchanges have not moved away. In addition, 10 other European countries have been working on a FTT. I think the time has come to have some serious discussions about a FTT. I would be willing to work with the CME, the CBOE, the governor and the state legislature to come up with a tax rate that would work for everyone. Solving the school funding and pension crises must be a shared burden.

• A commuter tax NO

Many if not most commuters work downtown because that is where the jobs are located. I see no reason to tax them for coming to and working in the City, where they support retailers, restaurants and other services.

• A property tax increase UNDECIDEDI would consider an increase only upon review and recommendation of a Citizen Budget Review             Commission.

• A municipal sales tax increase. NO

In fact, I favor implementation of periodic sales tax holidays. At 10.25%, Chicago has the       highest composite sales tax in the United States. The City’s portion of the sales tax rate is small   in comparison to the portions of Cook County and the State of Illinois, as noted in Table 1.

Table 1

10.25% Composite Sales-Tax Rate,

by Jurisdiction

To generate consumer spending and build up the economy, the City of Chicago, Cook County and the State of Illinois should work to implement Sales Tax-Free holidays. In 14 states, various blocks of time are designated as sales tax-free for purchases of items such as clothing, computers, footwear, emergency preparedness supplies and other goods. Usually, shoppers do not have to pay city or state sales taxes on those items; there is a cutoff in the amount that is tax-free.

As Mayor, I would work with leaders in Cook County and the State of Illinois to implement a full Sales Tax-Free Holiday program. This would help generate sales and make Chicago more attractive to all types of businesses. This would also make Chicago attractive to consumers during that holiday period. Consumers would come to Chicago during the ‘holiday’ thereby spurring the economy while also benefitting from other taxes, such as motor fuel, hotel, etc.

• A real estate transfer tax increase YES

The Bring Chicago Home Coalition recently launched a campaign to raise the real estate transfer tax by 1.2 percentage points on properties over $1 million.  They have estimated that this new revenue stream could raise $150 million a year for housing and services for people experiencing homelessness.I would support a real estate transfer on property sold for more than $500,000. This would bring in an estimated $300 million in revenue. I would use this revenue for build affordable housing, and to help reduce the homelessness in Chicago.

• Video gambling YES

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

1. Head Tax

Chicago had a head tax (also known as the Employers Expense Tax) until 2014 when it was eliminated. The tax was $4 a month up thru 2012, and $2 a month for 2012 and 2013, per employee, which was applied to businesses that employed 50 or more full-time workers or employees who performed 50% or more of their work service per calendar quarter in the City of Chicago, did not hinder economic growth or profits before the Great Recession of 2007-2009, during the Recession, or in the five years of recovery that followed until its demise in 2014. The tax represents a stable and effective source of revenue and I would consider reinstating it, with the proceeds dedicated strictly to funding the Chicago Public School system and teacher pensions, where the workforce of these very corporations are trained. This tax raised approximately $35 million in 2009 and 2010, and $15 million in 2012 and $10 million in 2013, after the reduction to $2. 

2. City Sponsored Lottery, Naming Rights, and Advertising

I propose a City-Sponsored Lottery. I would hire a technology firm to build a secure lottery ticket sales system that would permit this lottery ticket to be purchased anywhere in the world. I would continue to permit local stores to sell lottery tickets so that they are able to make money from lottery ticket sales. But permitting world-wide electronic sales of lottery tickets would bring a large source of revenue to Chicago. This source of revenue would be easier to implement than a casino or legalized marijuana. I would ensure that there is a gambling addiction program available to help people understand the risk of gambling. The Illinois Lottery brings in about $1.3 billion a year. I would expect a Chicago Lottery would bring in comparable revenue and more since we would permit world-wide ticket purchases.

New revenue sources must be on the table therefore I would hire an advertising agent who would then analyze all of the city’s assets to determine the possibility of selling naming rights to city owned facilities and advertising on the city’s website and on other city assets.

3. Civic crowdfunding

I favor implementation of civic crowdfunding, which is the practice of soliciting and obtaining contributions for public services from a large group of people in the online community rather than traditional resources. The funds can be used for discrete projects such as constructing band shells, upgrading dog parks, installing energy efficient LED lights, developing literacy centers, renovating historic buildings, supporting farmers markets or community gardens, helping small cash-dependent businesses installing credit card payment systems and other initiatives.

4. Mini-bonds

The digital revolution has come to the municipal bond market. Normally, state and local governments sell municipal bonds to finance public capital projects. However, the minimum purchase requirements of most general obligation bond offerings are beyond the means of the average citizens. To engage the average citizen in their communities, progressive cities such as Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts and Denver, Colorado have successfully implemented mini-bond finance programs using digital underwriting service companies.

Mini-bonds are more affordable than traditional municipal bonds for certain potential investors. They are available in minimum denominations of $1,000, as opposed to the traditional $5,000 denomination. Also, the bonds mature in a shorter period of time. For example, the 2018 Cambridge, Massachusetts mini-bonds will mature in five years, whereas most municipal bonds mature after 10 or 20 years. The principal will be paid at maturity. There is no fee to purchase mini-bonds if they are purchased online through a recognized underwriting services company. Other brokers may charge their customary fees.

5. Bicycle Registration Fee

In the last several years, Chicago has seen an explosion in the number of bike lanes created and opened. The lanes clearly demarcate sections of the roads for cycling downtown and in the neighborhoods. This is a wonderful initiative that encourages health and fitness, and may reduce the number of cars on the crowded streets of Chicago.

Like everything in life, the bike lanes came at a cost. It should have been the users—cyclists—who paid since they are the main beneficiaries of the service. They didn’t pay because Chicago does not have a bicycle registration tax.

The cities of Honolulu and Colorado Springs have successfully collected bicycle registration fees and used revenues for bicycle infrastructure improvements. I would create a bicycle registration fee program to pay for improvements to bike lanes.

GERY CHICO

• A Chicago casino — supports
• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana — supports
• A municipal sales tax increase — supports
• A commuter tax — serious concerns
• A real estate transfer tax increase — supports
• Legalized and taxed video gambling — supports

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

To be clear, Chicago faces great fiscal challenges and no one should say “never” when talking about revenue. However, recent tax hikes have hit the families who can afford it the least, leading to our neighborhoods hollowing out while the city center gets richer. We need progressive solutions for revenue. I am interested in a legal tax of Internet sales such as with Amazon stores. We also need to modernize our property taxes, in which the wealthy pay lower taxes with politically connected lawyers. I will look into a rate based property tax that fairly charges properties that are growing wealthier while providing relief to working families.

BILL DALEY

• A Chicago casino – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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?

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.

AMARA ENYIA

Utilizing legalized marijuana as a revenue source should not take place without addressing how marijuana was used to pipeline individuals into the criminal justice system.  Now that it’s legal, what will be done for those populations that have been harmed? I support creating a pathway for individuals harmed by its status when it was illegal, so they can participate in the business now that it is. We also need to revisit economic barriers that preclude most people from industry participation. To the extent the marijuana tax revenue strategy is employed, proceeds would be steered toward entrepreneurial enrichment, violence prevention enrichment programming, as well as other neighborhood reinvestment initiatives for which the city is badly in need of revenue.

A significant number of Chicago residents, particularly low income workers, commute to work in the suburbs because they can’t find jobs in the city. A Chicago commuter tax would cause suburb municipalities to respond with their own commuter tax. The tax would have a disparate impact on those harmed by the city’s failure to create a vibrant economy for all its residents. Enacting a commuter tax must take into consideration that suburban commuters contribute to Chicago’s economy as well.

I fully support increasing the amount and expanding the use the real estate transfer tax to include economic development uses and instituting a collaborative holistic model that tethers homelessness mitigation, substance abuse counselling, mental health services and veteran’s services to this revenue source. We should also explore the levying a municipal sales tax on consumer services, as a majority of the city’s economy is derived from the sales of services.

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

I oppose fine, fee, and forfeiture revenue generation mechanisms (tickets), on the backs of those least able to afford it, without amnesties, and progressive reforms based on ability to pay instead of a flat rate that has a regressive impact on low income populations. I am also opposed to this mechanism without an equity distribution analysis on how, where and to whom tickets are distributed.

I support the following revenue-generating mechanisms:

1. A public bank.
2. Expanding the small business sector.
3. Neighborhood investment (parks, schools, employment) in a way that minimizes population loss: as population declines, the city’s sales and property tax base decreases.
4. Minimizing police misconduct payouts and using the resources to invest in other initiatives.
5. Minimizing expenses paid to private financial institutions and recirculate those resources to fund infrastructure, expand the small business sector, and expand access to home loans.
6. Collective ownership in the form of worker-owned and land trust cooperatives that increase resident income.

BOB FIORETTI

• A Chicago casino — Yes, Chicago should have had a casino long ago. While I am not a huge fan of gambling, it is unconscionable to watch tens of thousands of Chicagoans regularly travel to Indiana or casinos in other Illinois towns. Chicago needs to keep that revenue in the city.
• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana — Yes, I was the only Mayoral candidate four years ago to advocate for this. As with gambling, I’m not a fan of using marijuana, but this train has left the station, and Chicago needs the revenue that will come with it.
• A LaSalle Street tax — No, it isn’t doable or realistic.
• A commuter tax — Yes, I advocated for a small commuter tax four years ago. With a balloon pension payment of nearly $400 million due within a year of the new mayor taking office, the money will have to come from somewhere. If a candidate is against this, then they will be for a property tax increase.
• A property tax increase — No. There will be no property tax increases in a Fioretti Administration. Too often, previous Administrations have used property owners as ATM machines. No more.
• A municipal sales tax increase — No. Because of Cook County’s additional sales tax added by Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago and Cook County already has the highest sales tax in America and it is a hugely regressive tax hitting those at the bottom of the income scale the hardest.
• A real estate transfer tax increase — No. As with the property tax, an increase in this tax will simply do more to drive residents out of Chicago. We should be welcoming people into Chicago, not taxing them out.
• Video gambling — Yes. Again I want to emphasize that I am not a fan of gambling, but other cities and villages in Illinois realize vast revenue from this source, without the recognizable problems that anti-gambling activists have warned about. The time has come to lift the ban in Chicago on video gambling.

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

I would be more aggressive in joining in appeals of egregious errors in property tax assessments. Under-assessments cost every other taxpayer when they have to make up the difference from the error in assessment.

LA SHAWN FORD

I favor:

• A Chicago casino & video gambling: A single casino is not a silver bullet, and it will have its challenges. This nor any other single approach will resolve the pension crises and the investment it will require to be an ethically equitable city. But with careful and ethical stewardship, a casino can be a stable fund that is not the corrupting influence some might expect. Similar to the lottery, with the right protections and supports in place, the funds from such a casino can help. The same is true for video gambling. Evidence within the state of Illinois shows that this can be a more powerful revenue generator than a single casino. But these should be placed carefully, and unintended consequences should be prevented from the start. They should for instance not be set in places that target our less well off residents.
• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana: Societal views change, and substantial research from Colorado, Washington, Oregon and other states suggests that the legalization of marijuana has not caused the harms expected. It has not, for instance, significantly increased new use by youth. And it is the focus of my legislative bill on the expungement of crimes associated with low-level possession of marijuana, criminalization has caused many and disproportional harms to those with less resources. That said, in order for the state to move towards legalized and taxes recreational marijuana, we have to ensure that legal changes previously criminalized our citizens occur first and convictions are expunged allowing all citizens to legally participate in this industry. I think it will be imperative that prior to opening the floodgates on this industry, we legislatively define how tax revenue will be directed.
• A LaSalle Street tax: Each of these possibilities is not either/or responses. Too much dependence on any one as a silver bullet risks and intervention that has unintentional consequences, and we need a more participatory (less top down) democracy in this city. It is an intriguing possibility to be worked out with many different stakeholders.

I am not in favor of:

• A commuter tax: A commuter tax is not by any means my first choice for addressing our city’s revenue issue. We should avoid steps that unduly burden our working men, women, and students coming into the city for employment, city colleges, and universities. Many of those traveling from the suburbs to Chicago may have left the city because of high taxes. A Chicago commuter tax will not help grow our population. Chicago must cultivate a reputation of fairness, not a reputation of taxing working families. Commuters spend money in our stores and our restaurants. In other words, the commuter tax punishes the working class that helps make our city alive and vibrant. This act would also divert money that typically comes from commuters, negatively impacting local businesses and sales tax revenue, which should be accessible to the city for operations. As mayor, I will put Chicago first, but I will always consider our relationship with our neighbors: in our state, outside our state, and internationally. That is why we also need to recognize that a commuter tax discourages the use of our train systems–the greenest option. The CTA and Metra should have a steady flow of passengers, and our highways and streets need fewer cars, less traffic and fewer emissions. A commuter tax would defeat these goals.

It is one possibility to look at carefully, but simply to use this short period before the election to say we will penalize non-voters who are nevertheless an integral part of this city, who keep our city vibrant by being central to the flow of our downtown activity and economy is not a decision to be made for political expediency. None of these decisions should just be clever political strategies.

• A property tax increase: We need some careful, graduated tax increases and ones that protect and attempt to uplift our residents in poverty so we are a more equitable and empowering city. We must ensure we do not displace more of our families.

• A municipal sales tax increase: Chicago is one of the highest sales tax municipalities in the country. It drives residents away. I would be in favor of using some of the revenue generated by new tax platforms to lower municipal sales taxes.

• Real estate transfer tax increase: I am also against a real estate transfer tax increase. There are other ways to drive more revenue into the city by ensuring equity and efficiency in our existing tax systems.

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

Small steps toward a more equitable city can have consequential outcomes on the funding the city receives (and deserves). I favor the following sources of new revenue:

• Accurate city census: I will ensure that every resident is counted in the census, translating into millions of gained base tax revenue. Consistent with legislation I have put forth to remedy the problem, incarcerated Chicagoans who are currently counted in prisons located throughout the state for their full sentence will be counted at their last address on file.
• Adjustment of Chicago’s state funding model: Chicago provides this state with a great deal of its funding, and a greater proportion of these funds need to return from Springfield to the City.
• Accessing existing federal revenue: Illinois ranks 48th in Federal dollars returning to our state from Washington, DC. Some states receive up to $8 for every dollar, while Illinois does not even get $1. We must work with our Chicago Washington delegation to bring back more of those dollars.
• Increasing, by volume, our tax population: Nationally, we lose millions of tax dollars by excluding reformed ex-offenders and others in poverty from fully participating in the job market. They are forced to have our tax dollars continuously subsidize their livelihood instead of them contributing to the tax base.
• Closing corporate loopholes: We need to work toward more honesty and efficiency by partnering with Springfield to close corporate loopholes, to avoid tax dodging, and to ensure everyone is paying their appropriate share.
• Graduated State Income Tax: In my role as State Rep., I supported the graduated state income tax and will continue to do so. We need real solutions that are not simply dreamt up and do not take into account budget considerations.
• Corporate Head Tax in the State of Illinois: The City of Chicago would have to agree on the rate and the particular use of these funds.
• Criminal Justice Reform: If we put effort to reform our criminal justice and policing systems, we will in turn save our city hundreds of millions of savings in lawsuits and waste.
• TIF surplus declaration/TIF program changes: I would start with a moratorium on TIFs. The subsequent conversations would be public, and with experts because TIFs have too long been used outside its original intention—to serve as a transformative tool to improve our neighborhoods. We need to ensure that TIFs are used as they were intended and expand their use beyond the current mechanisms.

We have so much that can be done before the term “bankruptcy” is ever a reality. If we restructure how we operate, we can tap into resources that are already available to us and quite possibly, 1) reduce the tax burden on Chicagoans and 2) attract some of our lost residents back to the city. The repeated theme of shifting the poverty experienced by so many Chicagoans to a stronger degree of prosperity for all is central to my plan as mayor.

JERRY JOYCE

• A Chicago casino — A casino must be publicly owned and all revenue should be dedicated to paying down the unfunded pension liability. This would allow Chicago to capture revenue that nearby states and locales already have access to.
• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana – The Governor Elect and the State Legislature has made it clear they will legalize recreational marijuana. Any portion of the revenue generated by the tax that is dedicated to the City of Chicago I would direct to paying down unfunded pension liabilities.
• A LaSalle Street tax – I don’t think this is a good option considering the importance of the financial exchanges to Chicago’s economy.
• A commuter tax – Perhaps, but further analysis must be done to determine the impact on Chicago’s business community. Alderman Burke has proposed this in the past and it has not lead to positive results.
• A property tax increase — We cannot solve our financial problems on the backs of residential property owners. Doing so would run the serious risk of creating a cycle of relocation.
• A municipal sales tax increase – No.
• A real estate transfer tax increase – I would consider a real estate transfer tax increase on commercial properties that exceed a certain minimum dollar amount. Better, however, is a tax increase on rezoned property whose value is increased due to the rezoning.
• Video gambling – I support video gambling as a means to generating additional revenue, including machines at O’Hare Airport. We must recognize neighboring casinos would oppose this effort and it would need federal rules and legislative approval.

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

Using the City’s own numbers, the city’s required combined pension contributions to the City’s four retirement funds (excluding CPS) grows from $1.184 billion in 2019 to $2.130 billion in fiscal year 2023. As such, all potential new sources of revenue should be considered, and economic solutions are going to come as a result of a package of new revenue and liability management.

Chicago needs new streams of revenue that don’t unfairly burden working families. These revenues must go directly to help lower the cost of borrowing and rehabilitating Chicago’s long -term fiscal health. I favor the following proposals:

• Revenues from a new casino and recreational marijuana legalization should be dedicated to paying down unfunded pension obligations.
• A passenger facility charge at Chicago airports dedicated to pension obligation pay-down. This would require changing federal law. Speaking with members of Congress, I realize this is an uphill battle but is one that must be explored.
• Consider the proposed south suburban airport and explore ways that Chicago could directly benefit from its opening.
• The parking meter deal needs to be aggressively reviewed. Devise a strategy that involves legislation that seeks to bring parties “back to the table” that address this onerous contract.
• In addition, we must maximize the value of our city’s other assets without relinquishing control their associated revenue, like we did with the Parking Meters and Chicago Skyway. For example, the State of New Jersey decreased its pension underfunding liability by $13 billion by transferring the lottery system to its pension funds. Inventory of city-owned assets and consideration of a non-permanent transfer of those assets into the pension funds or entities established for the benefit of the pension funds.
• Acquire by Eminent Domain the 440 acre U.S. Steel lakefront site and use federal funds to remediate the site. Collaborate with the Great Lakes Initiative or an entity comprised of the Great Lake states to greatly expand a “cruise the Great Lakes” recreational industry. A development of this nature is a long-term proportion but so are the pension obligations. It is time to start thinking out of the box.
• Transferring a portion of the Obama Library complex real estate to the National Park Service should be explored. Additionally, utilization of Park Service security officers should be explored.
• At this point, I am not inclined to favor issuance of a pension bond. With the near term market volatility, I am not willing to gamble taxpayer money. I would consider a pension bond if the federal government would avail us of their Full Faith and Credit.

JOHN KENNETH KOZLAR

I support having a Chicago casino, as long as it is city owned and operated. This will allow for maximum revenues for Chicago as well as employ many of our residents. I also support video gambling in our city. However, I do not support any of the listed taxes (above), as we cannot tax our way out of the problems our city faces. The more we tax our citizens, the harder it will be for our families to live in the city. Chicago has become very expensive for many of our citizens, resulting in generations of Chicago families leaving our city and state. We need to stop taking the money out of our tax payers pockets, because of the careless and incompetent decisions made by our elected officials. Marijuana will be legalized by the State of Illinois, at which Chicago will then tax it. My concern will be making sure that this substance stays out of the hands of our children and those most vulnerable throughout our city.

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

The City of Chicago Budget is $10.67 billion. I do not think our problem is solely revenues, as we also have a spending problem, and must reallocate our funds equitably and responsibly.

LORI LIGHTFOOT

• A Chicago casino

A: For more than two decades Chicagoans have routinely traveled to neighboring cities like Rosemont, Elgin, Joliet, Gary and Hammond to gamble. If people in Chicago want to gamble, then they should be able to gamble in Chicago at a city-owned, land-based casino. Casino gambling has now been a reality in Illinois for decades. I know from my work as a lawyer that the Illinois Gaming Board has created a robust regulatory system to combat many of the problems that could arise from casino gambling.

In thinking about a Chicago casino, it is imperative that the construction of a new casino be used as an economic development tool to benefit people and neighborhoods that have been neglected by city government for far too long, including minority and women owned businesses and individuals on the west and south sides. As mayor, I will ensure these groups are involved at every stage of the process, from the design, planning and construction of the casino to its daily operations. Moreover, I will insist that the casino work with Chicago businesses to create a localized supply-chain for goods and services.

• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana

A: I support legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana. We need to make sure that in drafting the authorizing legislation, we are mindful of the experiences of other states where legalization has occurred, like Colorado and Oregon. Furthermore, I support efforts to make sure that minority communities that have been ravaged by the War on Drugs have an opportunity to benefit from legalization in terms of receiving licenses, placement of grow operations and jobs. We also must be diligent and continue the hard work of keeping these drugs out of the hands of our kids.

• A LaSalle Street tax

A: Obviously, given the current pension crisis and the structural municipal deficit, additional revenue is going to be necessary in the short term, and intermediate terms. I am open to looking at a range of progressive revenue streams. My core principals in evaluating revenue sources are (1) what are the benefits and risks; (2) who will bear the burden of the revenue source – I want to lessen the burden for low-income and middle class individuals and families who have been hardest hit; and (3) any short term gain is worth the long term implications. The so-called “LaSalle Street” tax gets regular mention as a possible source of revenue. While I agree that higher income individuals like me and businesses must pay their fair share, I also want to be certain that in evaluating revenue options, we do not drive businesses from Chicago or create a disincentive for businesses to invest in our city.

• A commuter tax

A: I oppose Bill Daley’s commuter tax proposal. As proposed, the tax could adversely impact the city’s ability to attract new businesses to Chicago. While we must consider making sure that people who live outside the city but who work here pay their fair share, imposing an effective income tax on these workers is not the right way to go. In addition, I am concerned about the impact a commuter tax might have on Chicagoans who work outside the city limits, as surrounding cities could respond in-kind by imposing a commuter tax on non-residents. This would place an unnecessary financial burden on many Chicagoans.

• A property tax increase

A: Before city leaders can consider raising property taxes, they first must work with Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi to fix the broken property tax system. As has been widely reported, Joe Berrios, who was endorsed and continues to be embraced by Toni Preckwinkle, oversaw an assessment system that failed to capture increases in the value of commercial and industrial properties. Homeowners, particularly those who are low and middle income, continue to be forced to pay higher property taxes as a result of Berrios’s rigged system. Rahm Emanuel was silent on this grievous wrong, and Toni Preckwinkle consistently excused Berrios and blamed others. I have consistently supported Kaegi’s reform efforts and will continue to press for change as mayor. City leaders cannot ask property owners to pay more until these inequities are fixed.

• A municipal sales tax increase

A: I think we have to look at progressive forms of revenue in the first instance before there is a substantive discussion regarding an increase in the municipal sales tax. If I were to explore this option, then I would simultaneously look into other taxes or fees that could be reduced in an effort to offset at least some part of an increase in the municipal sales tax.

• A real estate transfer tax increase

A: As set forth in my housing policy, which is available here, I have proposed a graduated real estate transfer tax that would generate between $80 and $150 million annually for building, preserving and rehabilitating housing that is affordable, homelessness prevention efforts and building and operating new city mental health clinics. Under the proposed progressive rate structure, approximately 95% of property transactions would receive a tax cut on the sale of properties. Due to the graduated rate structure, a transaction involving a $250,000 property would result in a $1,000 savings and a $500,000 transaction would result in a $2,000 savings, while a transaction involving a $1 million property would result in approximately the same payment as under the current structure.

• Video gambling

A: I am not opposed to video gambling as long as it is properly regulated and regulators are diligent about keeping bad actors from having any involvement with the industry.

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

A: I support a progressive state income tax.

GARRY MCCARTHY

• We definitely need new revenue. But first, we must stop the political spending spree. For example, I oppose spending $95 million on a new police training facility because that is a political response to a serious public safety challenge (not to mention that $95 million is really $190 million because nothing gets done on budget or on time in Chicago); and TIF spending is the most egregious example of political spending, where much of it is actually illegal. Done correctly and legally, TIF funds could provide a large infusion of cash to pay for schools, infrastructure improvements and spurring economic opportunity in neighborhoods where it’s needed most.

For new revenue I support a Chicago casino, legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana and video gambling because these revenues could generate sustainable, reliable revenue against which we could more safely issue government bonds for addressing our pension crisis and for funding large-scale capital improvements. Also, I believe these revenue options have the best chance for approval by city council. Lastly, these options add little burden on existing and prospective Chicago businesses. In fact, I am certain each of these revenue ideas would actually spur economic growth in Chicago, which is the real solution to our revenue woes.

SUSANA MENDOZA

• A Chicago casino

If done responsibly, a casino can be a critical source of revenue with a portion earmarked to address pension payments. I would make this a priority of my Springfield agenda.

• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana

Legalizing marijuana in a responsible way, with the input of law enforcement and community stakeholders, can be a critical revenue stream that can help address funding for social services and pensions. I am in favor.

• A LaSalle Street tax

In today’s digital economy, any meaningful tax on financial transactions will simply lead all trading operations — and the jobs and tax base that come with them — to leave the city. This would be a net loss for the city rather than a new stream of revenue. I am opposed.

• A commuter tax

I am opposed to a commuter tax. It’s an idea that could seem appealing in theory, but it has proven to be legally dubious and rife with unintended consequences, specifically in major cities like Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit. Those major cities have all experienced population decline and economic stagnation since levying their commuter tax.

• A property tax increase

I will look to meet our city’s obligations and invest in our neighborhoods without balancing our city’s budget on the backs of the middle class. Raising property taxes should always be a last resort. I will continue to fight for Springfield to take on greater responsibility for school funding, so that local taxing bodies don’t have to keep going to the same well, property taxes, to fund our schools.

• A municipal sales tax increase

I am opposed to raising the regressive sales tax because it hits low-income families the hardest.

• A real estate transfer tax increase

The real estate transfer tax has been proposed to cover nearly every program imaginable, from pension stabilization to addressing homelessness. Before we turn to the tax, we must fully implement reforms at the State and County level that would allow for a targeted implementation that only affects downtown properties that can afford a minimal increase. I am opposed to a general increase on middle class homes.

• Video gambling

I would consider video gambling if implemented in a way that does not target our most disenfranchised neighborhoods and as part of a larger discussion on a city casino. I am in favor of adding video gambling/slots at O’Hare and possibly Midway airports, although those revenues would have to remain in the airport system.

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

I also support passage of a progressive state income tax at the state level, which will generate significant revenue to help the city address its revenue challenges.

TONI PRECKWINKLE

• A Chicago casino

While I, along with many in our community, have had concerns about the impact of government-sponsored casinos, particularly on low-income residents, the reality is that we already face this challenge via gambling in nearby suburbs and right across the border in Indiana. That’s why I support a Chicago casino as a potential generator for revenue and jobs. My support would also be contingent on the guarantee that a casino would incorporate a substantial share of women and minorities as both contractors and employees.

• Legalized and taxed recreational marijuana

Yes, I have long been a supporter of legalizing recreational marijuana and decriminalizing harder substances. A majority of the arrests for low level drug offenses impact communities of color due to over policing, although studies have shown there is equal use among all demographics. When we legalize marijuana, we need to make sure the pricing is reasonable and accessible for people of all incomes so we don’t have a competing underground market. We also need to make sure the people who have been previously charged and convicted with these offenses have their records cleared. If and when recreational marijuana becomes legalized and taxed, we must ensure there are opportunities available for minority owned businesses to compete in this new market.

• A LaSalle Street tax
• A commuter tax-
• A property tax increase
• A municipal sales tax increase
• A real estate transfer tax increase

I support a real estate transfer tax increase on properties sold for over $1 million. This would have the effect of generating $150 million annually to be dedicated to the city’s homeless population. In one year, the homeless population would be reduced by 10,000 through a combination of vouchers, conversions and new buildings.

• Video gambling

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

I will use the power and influence of the office of Mayor to ensure Illinois passes a constitutional amendment to permit a graduated income tax rate structure. Illinois is one of the most regressive tax states in the country. We need revenue to solve our problems and to ensure the state can live up to its promise to properly fund education. That revenue must be raised fairly by asking more from those who have more. The revenue from this initiative must be used to properly fund education and reign in the growing pension debt obligations.

PAUL VALLAS

I have presented a very detailed comprehensive plan to enable the city to meet its pension funding obligations, structurally balance the budget, reprioritize the budget to ensure investment in the community and cap annual property tax increases on individual homeowners, landlords and businesses to the rate of inflation or 5% whichever is less. The plan also eliminates the Speed and Red-Light cameras while capping fines to no more than the cost of the fees.

The plan includes supporting a legislative agenda that protects the statutory local government share of any increase in the State Income Tax, restores the illegal diversion of Corporate Personal Property Tax revenues and phases in over ten years full State Funding Equity for Chicago teachers. This agenda alone will cover more than half the funding needed to complete the statutory pension funding ramp up. I have also identified almost a dozen specific areas where I believe substantial savings can be secured and have articulated what I would do in each area. On the revenue side of my financial plan I support a Casino, video gaming and sports betting and the legalization and taxation marijuana. I oppose the other taxes listed and will cap property taxes and fees as already stated. https://vallasforallchicago.com/issues/#abalancedbudget

WILLIE WILSON

 In addition to saving we anticipate generating as discussed in the section on ‘Mismanagement, below is a discussion of the major initiative I have in mind to generate new revenue for the City: 

            DEVELOPMENT OF A CITY OWNED, PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED GAMBLING CASINO

There is not much left to debate about a Citizen owned casino in Chicago, Illinois has already passed the base legislation and casino gambling are well established in the state. The question of the issuance of a license to the City of Chicago is purely a political one and will be accomplished. Below is the formula for taxation as established by the state legislature. For the cash needy State and City to continue to postpone this necessary recapture of tax revenue currently being ceded to Indiana and Wisconsin is unconcenable and due to stop now.

My proposal is to locate a Citizen owned / professionally contract operated, casino with no hotel nor full service restaurant, (‘bar snacks only’), on land in the lakefront district. The Sites could include Navy Pier, McCormick Place or the vacant Michael Reese Campus. A commission, including community residents, would be established during the first months of my administration to publicly develop the specific plans.

Our estimation is that this project could add between $600 million up to $1 billion annually to City Revenue (less than twice the casino income of Hammond In.)

PROPOSAL, DEBATE AND LEGISLATION LEGALIZING/REGULATING/TAXING THE USE OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

For the first time (in the 44 years of polling), the majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. As Gallup notes, from a low of 12% in favor in 1969, the latest poll shows a clear majority (58%) now believe the drug should be made legal.

One reason is the so called ‘racial disparity gap’ in marijuana enforcement.

About 70 percent of all marijuana possession arrests last year were for ten grams or less. In the first seven months of 2016, before the statewide decriminalization bill took effect, more than 3,300 people were charged for possessing small amounts of weed. While this figure represents a 74 percent decrease from the approximately 12,800 people who were apprehended in 2014 and an 85 percent decrease from the more than 22,000 people arrested in 2010 (before Chicago passed the decriminalization ordinance), the racial disparity among those arrested for pot hasn’t budged in the last seven years.

Even with the overall drop in arrests, people of color continue to be disproportionately affected. Studies clearly show whites and blacks consume marijuana at similar rates, but African-Americans are far more likely to be arrested and charged for low-level pot possession than whites. The American Civil Liberties Union published a report in 2013 that analyzed marijuana possession arrest data nationwide and found that marijuana use among blacks and whites was roughly equal, with more whites age 18 to 25 saying they’d used marijuana in the last 12 months. But African-Americans, the report concluded, were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for pot possession. In Cook County specifically, the report found that in 2010 African-Americans were about seven times more likely to get arrested for weed possession than whites.

Last year, 78 percent of those arrested for small amounts of weed were black, 17 percent were Hispanic, and only 4 percent were white—virtually the same percentages identified in Reader investigations from 2014 and 2011.

But just 59 people were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession between when the law took effect and the end of 2016—a dramatic drop that could signal the end of possession arrests in Chicago. Even within this population, however, about 80 percent were black.

Widespread acceptance in a short amount of time isn’t a phenomenon unique to gay marriage. Social change in the U.S. appears to follow a pattern: A few pioneer states get out front before the others, and then a key event—often a court decision or a grassroots campaign reaching maturity—triggers a rush of state activity that ultimately leads to a change in federal law.

recreational marijuana stores in Colorado received $575.8 million in 2015 revenue based on tax data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. That’s an 84% comp to 2014, showing robust growth in the industry. Turn to other states in which retail marijuana is legal and you’ll see they have posted impressive growth figures as well, even with less time to mature.

Oregon, the cannabis industry is already becoming as visible as major fast food corporations, with more locations in the state than both Starbucks and McDonald’s. They have 248 and 205 locations, respectively.

states where cannabis is legal continue to push for changes that are friendlier to outside investment.

Oregon medical dispensaries have been subject to a 25% sales tax, which will drop to 17% at the state level when retail stores open in the fall. These rates are lower than Washington’s sales tax of 37%, but some of our Washington contacts said they are taking business from Oregon because they are allowed to sell edibles and concentrates. Oregon dispensaries can only sell flower to those without a medical card, but hope they will be allowed to sell edibles and extracts when retail stores open in the second half of this year. They can also only sell up to 7 grams, whereas customers can buy up to an ounce in Washington.

awarding of licenses to retailers and lower wholesale prices after the tax structure was changed from 25% levied on producers, processors, and retailers to 37% on only retailers. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) raised the former retail store cap of 334 to 556 to help in the process of merging the medical and recreational markets on July 1st.

Bloomberg reports that the Atlanta-based company has been monitoring the cannabis industry for potential partnerships.

In particular, the company is said to be looking at drinks infused with CBD – the non-psychoactive cannabis compound that treats everything from pain and inflammation to epilepsy, but doesn’t get you stoned as there is there is a growing acceptance of CBD-based treatments, as legitimate treatments for everything from pain management to epilepsy have garnered broad support, as well as healthy investments in the pharma space.

Furthermore, there are signs that legalizing marijuana will reduce crime:Marijuana has accounted for nearly half of all total drug arrests in the US for the past 20 years, according to the FBI’s crime statistics. And according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), a large portion of the US illegal drug market is controlled directly by Mexican cartels. The DOJ’s National Drug Intelligence Center, which has since been shut down, found in 2011 that the top cartels controlled the majority of drug trade in marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine in over 1,000 US cities.

Now, those cartels and their farmers complain that marijuana legalization is hurting their business. And some reports could suggest that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is more interested in helping to protect the Mexican cartels’ hold on the pot trade than in letting it dissipate. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that pot farmers in the Sinaloa region have stopped planting due to a massive drop in wholesale prices, from $100 per kilo down to only $25. One farmer is quoted as saying: “It’s not worth it anymore. I wish the Americans would stop with this legalization.”

Lastly, legalization, as was demonstrated after alcohol prohibition, does not increase consumption.

the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment demonstrates — for the second year in a row — that youth in Colorado do not use cannabis any more than teens in other parts of the country. In fact, by at least one measure, they use less.

The Healthy Kids Colorado survey is a “voluntary survey that collects anonymous, self-reported health information from middle and high school students across Colorado,” according to the initiative’s website. Over 17,000 middle- and high-schoolers throughout the state were randomly selected to participate. The survey is conducted every other year, and the 2015 version, released this week, confirmed the 2013 findings that marijuana use among teens in Colorado had fallen flat.

Chicago needs to be progressive and lead in this important area effecting our police, jails and tax base I will lead a full effort through the City Counsel and State Legislature to legalize recreational marijuana.

            Re-Open Meigs Field Airport

Meigs was the second largest business district airport in North America. Meigs Field airport was closed when Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the runway destroyed with bulldozers without the thirty-day notice required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.

during the early 1970s there were up to eight round trip nonstop flights a day between Meigs and the Illinois state capital in Springfield.[5] Other commuter air carriers serving Meigs Field in 1975 included Midwest Commuter Airways with nonstop flights to Indianapolis and South Bend, and Skystream Airlines with nonstops to Detroit City Airport with both small airlines operaring there.

Scheduled passenger helicopter airline service was also available between Meigs Field and Chicago O’Hare Airport and Chicago Midway Airport at different times over the years. From the late 1950s to late 1960s, Chicago Helicopter Airways operated 12-seat Sikorsky S-58C helicopters with frequent flights to both O’Hare and Midway.[7]

Numerous VIPs used the airport in order to maintain security and also to avoid inconveniencing the Chicago traveling public, including President John F. Kennedy. In a common pattern, Air Force One would land at a larger area airport, and the President would then take the Marine One helicopter to Meigs Field to avoid the complications of a Secret Service escort via Chicago’s expressways.

“The issue is Daley’s increasingly authoritarian style that brooks no disagreements, legal challenges, negotiations, compromise or any of that messy give-and-take normally associated with democratic government,” the Chicago Tribune editorialized when the airport was suddenly closed. “The signature act of Richard Daley’s 22 years in office was the midnight bulldozing of Meigs Field,” according to Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn.[20] “He ruined Meigs because he wanted to, because he could,” columnist John Kass wrote of Daley in the Chicago Tribune.

Today the space is mostly unused as a concert venue and hard to reach park yielding only $55 thousand dollars to city operations. When it was opened as an airport, it contributed between $300 million and $500 million income per year.

Now, when there is a race to produce new types of flying transportation called ‘V-TOL’s” that operate like a large drone or small helicopter, already in use in some places and the explosion of small jet aircraft travel, including ‘shared ride’ services, this airport could be exactly the facility that a growing modern city needs. We have seen the proliferation of tourist helicopter services in the past few years that have needed to be based as far away from the lakefront tourist district as Roosevelt road and Ashland. Clearly, the lakefront airport would increase this usage by both tourists and business people.

I propose the restoration of this important third airport with planned enhancements for 21st century personal air travel and much needed revenue source.

Chicago is on the hook for $42 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, which works out to $35,000 for every household, from bungalow dwellers to lakefront swells.

We asked the folks running for mayor where they would find the money.

Not surprisingly, they all called for new or higher taxes on a lot of stuff that won’t be a bother to the average Chicago voter — such as a tax on pot — but won’t solve the problem, either.

EDITORIAL

And who can blame them? We might take evasive action, too, if we were running for mayor.

Our own view, though — safely expressed from the sidelines — is that Chicago’s financial crisis is so severe that another property tax hike is almost inevitable in the next few years. And an expansion of the sales tax is likely, too. All the other solutions are only partial, or unworkable, or could make matters worse.

We generally favor, for example, the legalization and taxation of marijuana, as does every mayoral candidate we asked, except John Kozlar. But nobody can say how quickly a pot tax will come become a reality, or how much money it will really generate, or what percentage of the cut will go to the city rather than the state.

In the same way, we support building a casino in Chicago and taxing it heavily, but casino revenues can be extremely unreliable, a problem that will grow as online betting takes hold. Chicago can’t count on a take of $300 million a year, which is the estimated tax revenue often cited, and even that sum would only begin to solve the city’s financial problems.

Ultimately, as all the candidates say, the solution won’t be a single tax or levy, but some combination of new revenues, and the challenge will be to settle on the right mix. To their credit, most of the candidates don’t entirely rule out a property tax hike, though you get the sense they’d rather not say that loudly. It would be, as they say, “a last resort.”

We asked the candidates where they stood on eight frequently mentioned proposed sources of new revenue. We also asked them to cite at least one other revenue-generating idea of their own. We have summed up their responses in the accompanying chart.

It’s important to stress, though, that the candidates often responded at length — saying far more than what the chart reflects — and we urge you to read their full answers here.

Where the candidates stand on local taxes is, of course, of the utmost importance to all Chicagoans. Our hope is that this editorial package, presenting and contrasting their views, will give a greater understanding.

Among the potential sources of revenue we asked the candidates to take a stand on, they were in the greatest agreement on the need for a Chicago casino. Twelve of the 14 candidates who responded to our questionnaire said they support the idea, and nobody was opposed. Bill Daley wrote that he is “open to the idea,” and only Amara Enyia took no position.

On the other end of the acceptability spectrum, as expected, nobody was keen on a property tax increase, but their caveats were revealing.

Daley, for one, ruled out a property tax hike in his first year as mayor, and said he would then match “every dollar of increased tax with a dollar of cuts.”

Lori Lightfoot said she would not raise property taxes until the “broken property tax system is fixed.” But given that a new Cook County assessor, Fritz Kaegi, is at work doing just that, it’s conceivable to us that a Mayor Lightfoot at some point could declare that system is fixed and raise taxes.

Garry McCarthy did his opponents one better, politically speaking, by saying he would use surplus tax increment financing funds to give the people of Chicago a $400 property tax cut.

And Paul Vallas offered the most thoughtfully precise answer. He said he would cap property tax increases on homeowners, landlords and businesses to the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is less. This would be part of a more extensive financial strategy by Vallas, which he details on his website, and which includes the city ending an “illegal diversion” of corporate personal property tax revenues.

One surprise to us was the cool reception the mayoral candidates gave to the idea of a commuter tax — a tax on suburban residents who work in the city.

In the last few weeks, we have interviewed several dozen candidates for alderman, as part of our endorsement process, and many of them have praised the brilliance of a commuter tax. But among the candidates for mayor, only one — Bob Fioretti — supports such a tax. Most of the others seem to be of a mind with Toni Preckwinkle, who said it’s “not good public policy.” The fear is that new businesses would choose the burbs over Chicago, and the suburbs would retaliate against commuters from the big city.

As you read the candidates’ answers in full, we urge you to give particular attention to their proposed alternative sources of revenue. Some ideas, such as Dorothy Brown’s proposal to register bicycles to make money, strike us as odd. Others deserve serious consideration. We’re thinking here of Jerry Joyce’s suggestion for a passenger facility charge at Chicago airports.

Just about everybody, we should mention, favors amending the Illinois Constitution to allow for a graduated income tax, which would increase the tax rate for wealthier people.

We’re all in with that one, too, and maybe someday it will happen. But not soon enough.

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

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.

In a recent radio interview, Illinois Comptroller and Chicago mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza took a swipe at rival Bill Daley for suggesting a new commuter tax could be one way to help the financially troubled city pay its bills.

Daley didn’t endorse the idea but only said it was worth exploring. Still, Mendoza flatly panned it on WBBM Newsradio.

“Every city that has a commuter tax — look at Detroit, Philadelphia — they are actually stagnating in terms of their economy. It’s been a job-killer,” Mendoza said. “This is just, again, going back to an easy well that panders to a public that doesn’t understand the real ramifications of what these ill-fated policies will do.”

The sweeping nature of her statement caught our attention. Are commuter taxes effectively desperation moves that are doomed in the long run to hurt the economies of every city that implements them?

Commuter tax 101

 It should be noted upfront that the term ‘commuter tax’ is a misleading shorthand for an array of revenue-raising schemes that affect not just those who commute to work from outside a city but city residents as well.

“The only thing that term is really conveying is that non-residents also pay the tax,” said Richard Auxier, a research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Chicago once had what could loosely be referred to as a commuter tax, the so-called head tax, which levied a $4-per-worker monthly charge on larger employers. The fee was imposed regardless of whether a worker lived in or outside of Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel campaigned in 2011 to do away with the head tax, and it was eventually phased out.

Other cities with commuter taxes impose them as add-ons to local income taxes, with suburbanites who work in the city sometimes paying the same rate as city dwellers and sometimes getting a discount.

That scheme is impossible in Chicago because the state does not allow cities and counties to impose income taxes.

Not every city

Central to Mendoza’s argument is her claim that commuter taxes always backfire.

When we reached out to her campaign, spokeswoman Rebecca Evans pointed us to a 2011 Chicago inspector general report that noted how major cities with commuter taxes such as Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia also had stagnant economies. Evans also referenced studies of the commuter tax in Philadelphia that blame it for contributing significantly to job loss there.

However, experts we spoke with said it’s a stretch to blame the economic woes of those troubled cities on their commuter taxes alone.

Mayoral candidate Bill Daley suggested the city consider a commuter tax, a proposal slammed by rival Susana Mendoza. File Photo. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Pointing to the decline of Detroit and Cleveland, Auxier said the commuter tax was likely just one factor amid larger manufacturing and population trends sweeping the Rust Belt.

It’s possible, he acknowledged, that the tax could have aggravated an already bad situation by helping to nudge businesses and residents out of the city. “But (the commuter tax is) often a reaction to some of these other, larger issues that are going on,” he said.

Philadelphia’s commuter tax, for instance, was implemented in 1939 as the city sought to avoid bankruptcy in the wake of the Great Depression.

Evans told us Mendoza doesn’t claim that in every city with a commuter tax it is the sole source of economic difficulties. But she stuck by her candidate’s claim that cities with such taxes all suffer from economic problems.

The problem with that sweeping generalization is that some U.S. cities with commuter taxes are thriving.

Denver, for instance, is frequently lauded for its booming economy, despite operating since 1988 under a $9.75 per worker monthly head tax split between employers and employees.

Employment in Denver is up more than 60 percent since 1990, according to census data. The unemployment rate currently sits at 3.3 percent, below the national average.

What’s more, the average weekly wage in the Denver metro area, which includes both Denver and its adjacent suburb of Aurora with a similar head tax, ranked 8th highest in the nation in 2017. And Denver added nearly 3,000 new businesses between 2007 and 2016.

Louisville, Kentucky, and Columbus, Ohio, are other large, financially healthy cities that impose commuter taxes.

“I think you should always be careful with these taxes, and there’s good reason to not make this your first choice,” Auxier said. “But there’s plenty of successful cities that have these taxes.”

Our ruling

Mendoza said every city with a commuter tax is stagnating economically under a tax that’s been a job-killer.

Mendoza isn’t wrong to point out that commuter taxes carry the risk of discouraging business and employment in a city, and have been proven to do so in select cases, such as that of Philadelphia.

But she didn’t stop there. Instead, she contended that because some cities with commuter taxes are underperforming economically, all cities with such taxes must be doing badly as well. That is simply not the case.

We rate her claim Mostly False.

The Better Government Association runs PolitiFact Illinois, the local arm of the nationally renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking enterprise that rates the truthfulness of statements made by governmental leaders and politicians. BGA’s fact-checking service has teamed up weekly with the Sun-Times, in print and online. You can find all of the PolitiFact Illinois stories we’ve reported together here.

Sources

Radio interview: Susana Mendoza, WBBM News Radio, Jan. 6, 2019

“Bill Daley opens door to commuter tax to help fund pensions,” Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 28, 2018

Email and phone interview: Richard Auxier, research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Jan. 8 – 10

“City Council votes to eliminate ‘head tax,’” Chicago Tribune, Nov. 2, 2011

Email interview: Rebecca Evans, Mendoza spokeswoman, Jan. 9 – 10, 2019

Report: Budget Options for the City of Chicago, Chicago Inspector General, September 2011

“Philly’s city wage tax just turned 75. Here’s its dubious legacy,” Technical.ly, Dec. 12, 2014

“Commuter tax has driven jobs out of the city,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 24, 2006

Report: Local income taxes continue to wane, Tax Foundation, Aug. 31, 2011

“Hickenlooper’s criticism of higher fees isn’t in line with his budget for Denver,” The Denver Post, March 19, 2010

Data: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, U.S. Census, accessed Jan. 10, 2019

“The economies of the 40 biggest U.S. cities, ranked from worst to best,” Business Insider, June 20, 2018

Interactive map: Change in business establishments between 2007 and 2016, Economic Innovation Group

Phone interview: David Merriman, professor of public finance at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Jan. 8, 2019

Phone interview: John Yinger, trustee professor of public administration and economics at Syracuse University, Jan. 10, 2019

Email interview: Katherine Loughead, policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, Jan. 7 – 10, 2019

Five candidates vying to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel clashed on the issues of taxes, cost-cutting, ethics reform and their respective ties to embattled Ald. Edward Burke (14th) during a lively endorsement session before the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board on Tuesday.

The questioning — and the verbal fireworks — began with the federal corruption scandal that threatens to bring down Burke.

Gery Chico is a longtime friend and former employee of Burke’s Finance Committee during Council Wars.

Burke endorsed Chico before a federal complaint accused the now-former chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee of attempted extortion for allegedly shaking down a Burger King franchise owner for legal business and for a $10,000 contribution to Toni Preckwinkle.

That gave Preckwinkle another opening to reiterate her claim that it was Anne Burke who offered to hold a fundraiser at the Burke’s home for Preckwinkle’s re-election campaign as county board president — even though her husband’s name was on the invitation — and point the finger at Chico.

“There are other people at this table who’ve been endorsed by Ed Burke. I’m not. He’s not an ally of mine,” Preckwinkle said.

Chico replied, “Who’s been endorsed by Ed Burke?”

“I think it’s you, Gery,” Preckwinkle said.

Chico countered, “Ed Burke said that I’m the most qualified candidate in this race to be mayor of Chicago. A lot of people have said that. That’s not an endorsement.”

Why, then, did Burke’s ward organization help circulate Chico’s nominating petitions?

“We used people throughout the entire city of Chicago. 750 people in all wards of Chicago to get on the ballot. We can’t skip one,” he said.

Willie Wilson and Preckwinkle clashed over her decision to hire Burke’s son for what became a six-figure Homeland Security job; he resigned from that job after questions were raised about his time sheets.

“There was an opening in the Department of Homeland Security and he met the qualifications and he was hired for that position,” said Preckwinkle, who refused to say whether “the Burkes” or their associates approached her about the promotion for Edward Jr.

“He’d been a county employee for more than 20 years doing similar work in the sheriff’s office. … This is a Shakman-exempt position and we hired him in that Shakman-exempt position.”

Under questioning, Preckwinkle said she would be “glad to have the Personnel Department look into it.”

Wilson was not appeased.

“To me, that is wrong. … It’s the perception. If you take money from somebody and hire someone’s relative, that’s a conflict of interest — whether there’s any kind of law [violated] or not,” Wilson said.

Wilson also took incoming fire from LaShawn Ford — on the millionaire businessman’s habit of giving away money to help struggling Chicagoans pay their skyrocketing property tax bills and get people out of jail.

“Dr. Wilson, it’s more than throwing money around. You must be a part of a solution,” Ford said.

“Some of those people that you bailed out ended up being in worse position than they were when they went in. And you know that.”

Ford also slammed Wilson on state legislation Wilson supported on bail reform.

“Your bill did what? Expanded the RICO law and that is a shame,” Ford said, referring to the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act that, among other things, allows stiffer penalties in cases involving ongoing criminal enterprises.

“Your bill did nothing but hurt black people in the city with the RICO extension. That’s what you did.”

Yet another dispute — between Chico and Bill Daley — centered around Daley’s decision to open the door to a commuter tax on suburbanites who work in Chicago and a constitutional amendment to satisfy a looming, $1 billion spike in pension payments. Daley called it “this anchor around our neck.”

“We cannot do it on the backs of the retirees alone or just raise revenue,” Daley said.

“Everything has to be on the table: casinos, a commuter tax. Everything has to be on the table — along with reforms.”

Chico, who served as chief of staff under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, branded the commuter tax “nothing more than a veiled head tax.”

“I worked a good part of my career with your brother getting rid of the head tax,” Chico told Daley.

Daley countered that was “probably 20 years ago” and that the “financial situation in our city” has gotten worse since then.

“I don’t have a commuter tax plan. All I’m saying is … everything should be on the table. That is one. If you’re taking that off the table — and I see your ad that says, `Millionaires or whoever have to pay more’ — are you for a city income tax now?” Daley said.

Chico said he was not advocating for a city income tax. But he does support raising the real estate transfer tax on the sale of million-dollar homes.

Chico even got into it with newly-re-elected State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a mayoral candidate who wasn’t even at the table. She’s been invited to a different mayoral candidate session; the Tribune is holding several, due to the size of the field of contenders. Mendoza appears Tuesday, along with former alderman Bob Fioretti, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and attorney and former aldermanic candidate John Kozlar.

Chico accused Mendoza, the only other Hispanic candidate in the race, of being the primary roadblock to the proposal he made during his failed 2011 mayoral campaign: to eliminate the elected offices of city treasurer and city clerk. At the time, Mendoza was Chicago’s city clerk.

“They cost about ten millions bucks-a-year and they don’t do very much. … Susana Mendoza fought me on that and she’s cost us a hundred million bucks,” Chico said.

“And where is she now? She’s in Springfield, I think, in another useless office, to be honest about it. That should be consolidated into the rest of state government, too.”

Most Whitney Young High School students won’t be able to vote in next month’s mayoral election.

Plenty of them have thoughts on who should run the city.

“I can still tell my parents how I think they should vote,” said Damani Hood, 16. “I’ve got plenty of friends and relatives who are 18.”

Hood was among the student council members who organized a candidates forum at the Near West Side selective enrollment high school, with students posing their own questions to 11 City Hall hopefuls. Principal Joyce Kenner touted it as the first student-run mayoral debate in the country.

The candidates were hit with a string of questions on fighting corruption, dealing with lead contamination in water and implementing a consent decree for the Chicago Police Department.

But it was a question on the possibility of an elected school board that prompted Gery Chico to pounce on Toni Preckwinkle for her comments at a Wednesday debate calling for “strong neighborhood public schools — not magnet schools, not selective-enrollment schools, not charter schools — but strong neighborhood public schools.”

That drew “oohs” from some of the 200 or so students who took in the forum rather than lunch hour at Whitney Young, one of the city’s top selective enrollment schools.

Students diverged on the merits of bolstering magnet and selective enrollment schools over neighborhood schools.

“It leaves a lot of people behind,” 16-year-old Justin Sanders said after the two-hour forum.

Junior Ricardo Roman said he loves his school but could do without his hourlong commute from Midway.

“If there was a Whitney Young near me, I’d love to go there,” he said.

Damani Hood said he appreciates the citywide population that makes up the student body.

“I like to meet new people. You lack diversity when everyone’s coming from the same neighborhood,” the Washington Heights student said.

Preckwinkle later retorted that she wanted to strengthen all schools — selective and neighborhood.

“I’m not denigrating selective enrollment. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to go to a great school in their own neighborhood. Usually you can tell if the schools are good by their zip code,” Preckwinkle said.

Student Allison Chhay said she gleaned most from the candidates’ “lightning round” responses to yes-or-no questions.

All the candidates — which also included Amara Enyia, Bill Daley, Lori Lightfoot, La Shawn Ford, John Kozlar, Susana Mendoza, Paul Vallas, Garry McCarthy and Bob Fioretti — supported marijuana legalization and the need to maintain open enrollment across CPS.

Daley earned himself some eye rolls from teen pundits as the only candidate who said he was opposed to lowering the municipal voting age to 16.

“Sometimes you just want them to come out and say what they believe, and not necessarily all the rhetoric that comes with it,” Chhay said.

MORE:

• Budget, books and Burke — mayoral candidates discuss pensions, CPS and ethics
• Where 14 candidates for mayor stand on taxes and money — their full responses

Asked how to confront racism in Chicago, candidates for mayor agreed Thursday that it’s something that needs to be talked about, even as they treaded cautiously themselves.

Questions touching on race were front and center at a candidate forum presented by the National Association of Black Journalists—Chicago Chapter and co-sponsored by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Yet when the 10 invited mayoral contenders danced a little too much around a question about the role of racism in the lack of investment in minority communities, the event moderator, Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, demanded they hone in how to “change the racism and the attitudes about the South and West Sides.”

Former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy jumped in first.

“It starts with the articulation and the recognition of how we got here. That’s racism. That conversation needs to be had, and it’s a very uncomfortable conversation that people don’t like to have. We have to stop the polarization. We have to have exposure,” said McCarthy, noting how he had installed a white police commander in a black neighborhood and a black police commander in a white neighborhood.

Mayoral candidates, left-right, Dorothy Brown, Gery Chico, Bill Daley, Amara Enyia, Garry McCarthy, Lori Lightfoot, Susana Mendoza, Toni Preckwinkle, Paul Vallas and Willie Wilson participate in the NABJ Mayoral Forum January 17, 2019. Also pictured are moderator Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times, right, and CBS2 reporter Derrick Blakley, left. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Businessman Willie Wilson argued the only solution is for the city to be fair in awarding jobs and contracts.

“You cannot teach a person not to be racist. You just cannot teach it. It’s just like you trying to tell me to change my religion to another religion. Forget about teaching somebody not to be racist,” Wilson said.

Former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot blamed the lack of investment on Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his economic development team not focusing their efforts on minority communities.

“They don’t recognize the fact that there’s racism,” Lightfoot said.

Community activist Amara Enyia said “the problem with racism is that it’s institutionalized practices and policies that are very intentional,” a point made earlier in the evening by McCarthy. Enyia said the city must “direct” public investment to the neighborhoods and award prime contractor roles to minority companies instead of subcontracting slots.

Mayoral candidates, l-r, Gery Chico, Bill Daley, Amara Enyia, Garry McCarthy, Lori Lightfoot and Susana Mendoza get ready for the start of the NABJ Mayoral Forum January 17, 2019. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said: “We don’t talk enough in this country about race and the impact over time of racism. If you look at investments in the city, we should be looking carefully at black and brown communities to be sure that the same investments are being made in them as more privileged white communities.”

Former Chicago school CEO Paul Vallas got through his answer without ever mentioning the word race.

“We have areas that have been in a depression state for four decades, generational poverty,” Vallas said, arguing that the need is for capital investment by the city in those communities.

Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown Cook said “it starts at the top” with the mayor and has a “lot to do with the diversity” of city employees, especially the mayor’s cabinet.

“I don’t think there’s any magic wand that’s going to erase racism overnight,” said former Chicago Public Schools Board President Gery Chico. “ I think it’s a lifetime job. We have to be on guard every day to look for its signs. We have to confront it heavily.”

Mayoral candidates, l-r, Dorothy Brown, Gery Chico, Bill Daley, Amara Enyia, Garry McCarthy, Lori Lightfoot, Susana Mendoza, Toni Preckwinkle, Paul Vallas and Willie Wilson prepare for the NABJ Mayoral Forum January 17, 2019. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Former U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley agreed that it “starts at the top” but also managed to avoid mentioning race.

“The mayor has to set the tone that he’s going to be fair to every community in this city. That’s the sort of leadership I want to provide,” Daley said.

State Comptroller Susana Mendoza went last.

“I think we do need to acknowledged that race permeates everything in this city,” she said. “Black and brown communities have been victimized frankly by disinvestment for many, many years. I think it’s important to call it out when we see it.”

The candidates were limited to one-minute responses and prohibited from interrupting each other.

Earlier, the candidates registered some disagreements on whether a civilian police oversight authority should be allowed to choose the police superintendent.

Chico, Daley and McCarthy said the mayor should pick the superintendent to maintain accountability. Lightfoot, Enyia and Preckwinkle said they would give the power to a civilian. The others did not directly answer.

There was general agreement among the candidates to reopen community mental health centers closed by Emanuel with most of them saying they would go beyond that in some fashion.

Panelists for the forum were CBS 2 political reporter Derrick Blakley, National Public Radio correspondent Cheryl Corley and Chicago Crusader city editor Erick Johnson.

Like the rest of Chicago, the men and women running for mayor, along with other concerned citizens, were quick to offer their opinions about the six-year-nine month prison sentence given to Jason Van Dyke for the second-degree murder of Laquan McDonald.

Here are some of their statements.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle:

“Today, our justice system failed Laquan McDonald and all of our Black and Brown communities. Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who shot Laquan sixteen times to death, was sentenced to just 81 months in prison, with legal experts saying he will likely only serve three years. This sentence does not reflect the severity of the crime committed or the senseless loss of a young life.

“The sentence comes just a day after the three officers accused of conspiracy in covering up Laquan’s murder were acquitted of all charges. With so many members of our Black and Brown communities criminalized and jailed for non-violent drug offenses, Van Dyke’s sentence today shows that our lives don’t matter.

“Chicago cannot move forward when law enforcement is not held accountable. The two sentences this week show the bias, lack of equity and police code of silence in our criminal justice system.

“My heart goes out to Laquan’s family and the activists whose tireless efforts have helped to expose the injustice of our system.”

Former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy:

 “As I said after the conviction of officer Van Dyke, the justice system has spoken. Now, the judge in this controversial case has rendered his sentence. We all need to accept this decision. Hopefully, the city will now begin to heal and we can begin the difficult conversations that need to be had for that to occur. We must stop the polarization that exists in this city if we are to move forward. We must view each other as human beings, not by our skin color, race, national origin, gender, age, occupation, sexual orientation, language, religion, or political affiliation. We need to come together as a society. The diversity of America – and Chicago – should make us stronger, not pit us against each other.”

Former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot:

“I feel sad and frustrated. Judge Gaughan’s sentence of 81 months for the murder of Laquan McDonald is a supreme disappointment. While the judge gave a long oration on technical legal points, he failed to explain and justify this low sentence. Unfortunately, the lack of explanation will only fuel the perception and reality that police officers who commit crimes on duty, even murder, will not be held to the same standards as other defendants. We must continue our city’s long history of peaceful protest—protest that brought this case to light in the first place—as we continue to fight for justice.”

Former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley:

“The jury clearly found Jason Van Dyke guilty of multiple crimes. The court has an obligation to sentence him in a way that is consistent with other defendants. The appearance of a lenient sentence is a problem at a time when we desperately need to rebuild trust between people and police. We must learn from these situations and work together to repair the relationship between the police and the communities they serve.”

Community activist Amara Enyia:

“Once again, Chicago’s justice system shows a unique sympathy and bias that only seems to apply when the corruption of its law enforcement is involved.

“Jason Van Dyke murdered Laquan McDonald in cold blood and will face no more than 81 months in prison — barely a slap on the wrist for a crime that took the life of a child. Today’s sentence makes it even more difficult to make the case that our city is truly invested in repairing relations with the community when our justice system seems to exhibit a perpetual disregard for the voices and opinions of those very communities.

“We knew that there would be no winners in this case, but this sentence and yesterday’s acquittal of the officers involved in the coverup show just how far our city, and our nation, has left to go when it comes to issuing real justice to those who deserve it most. ”

State Comptroller Susana Mendoza:

“While a historic step forward was taken when a jury convicted Jason Van Dyke of the murder of Laquan McDonald, today’s lenient sentence did not fit the severity of the crime. The fact is that our prisons are populated with individuals serving longer sentences for much lesser crimes. While many are justifiably disappointed with this sentence, this has nonetheless sent a message to police officers that if they break the law, there will be consequences. As mayor, I will work tirelessly to rebuild the broken trust between police and our communities to heal our city. Today is just a start. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Businessman Willie Wilson: 

“Three cops charged with conspiracy. They say no cover up. One convicted for murder. They say six years, which means three. I’ve bailed people out of jail who have been
there for three years for petty theft! I ask “Is that all a black life is worth?” It’s 2019. We can do better. We need to do better. We HAVE TO do better.”

Gery Chico, former president of the Chicago Public Schools board:

“The loss of a child is the worst burden a parent can ever bear. I truly hope the McDonald family can find peace one day.

“I agreed with the special prosecutor, and his sentencing recommendation seemed reasonable. Yet the judge’s sentence is far too light for this crime.

Now, we as leaders of this city, have a responsibility to ensure we lead Chicago to be a more just and fair city to all of our citizens. It is up to us to usher in new criminal justice reforms, world class police training, community policing, and vastly expanded social services. As mayor, I will fight my heart out every single day to achieve these objectives, and I will bring an absolute commitment to implementing the U.S. Justice Department’s consent decree.”

Others also reacted to the verdict.

Former First Lady of Illinois Patti Blagojevich:

“I am speechless. A 17 year old is dead and the sentence is less than half of my husbands sentence for discussions with his staff and attorney about political fundraising.”

Black Lives Matter Chicago:

“Abolish this entire system!”

Nicole J. Johnson, 20th ward aldermanic candidate: 

“This is what happens when you’re not viewed as a FULL human. The law does not fully protect you.”

Good Kids, Mad City, a student led advocacy group:

“Some Bulls–t!!!”

National Black Police Association National Chairperson Sonia Y.W. Pruitt:

“Our position is that the judge wanted to go back and retry the case with Officer Van Dyke. She made some comments about Laquan and his behavior and I don’t know what that had to do with whether or not those officers lied their police report. Frankly, this has been another miscarriage of justice. As an organization, we feel some bias has crept back into the criminal justice system where Laquan McDonald is concerned. His family did not get justice, and nor will they get peace with this verdict.”

Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th):

“A travesty of justice, another bleak reminder that our criminal justice system is failing us. Rest in peace and power Laquan McDonald, we will continue to fight for justice for you and all the victims of our racist policing system.”

Bill Daley on Tuesday proposed a citywide referendum to let Chicago voters decide whether to reduce the City Council from 50 aldermen to 15.

Daley, whose father and brothers managed to get along just fine for 43 years with a 50-member City Council, made the radical proposal after accepting the endorsement of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

“We’ve seen too many city scandals in Chicago, including the most recent ones. And we would not be surprised if there’s more coming,” he said.

“With each new scandal, everyone pays lip-service to reform. But the system stays the same. I believe strongly that it’s time for fundamental change.”

Daley noted that times have changed dramatically since the days when city services were delivered totally through the aldermen “and they were essentially like mini-mayors of their wards.”

Today, city services are tracked online and delivered on grid systems that cross ward boundaries. Requests for city services are made through the newly-designed 311 app with feedback.

Instead of aldermen delivering city services and “single-handedly approving developments without any real consideration for our citywide goals and challenges, they should be more like a legislative body that weighs in on policy” and the city’s future, Daley said.

“So today, I’m calling for a citywide referendum in November 2020 to shrink the City Council from 50 to 15 and empower an independent commission to set ward boundaries,” Daley said.

“If we do a referendum, 80,000 signatures by citizens can get it on the ballot. If we get this on the ballot, trust me. It will pass. Let the voters have something to say about it.”

A reporter noted that during Richard M. Daley’s administration and again under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, controversial referendum questions like term limits have been crowded off the ballot by innocuous questions.

Daley vowed to stop such parliamentary maneuvers.

“I will be mayor and I will veto anything that somebody wants to put on that I believe is being put on a ballot in order to stymie the voters really participating,” Daley said.

“We should not be afraid of the public. Let them make a decision.”

Dean, whose 2004 presidential campaign crashed and burned after his infamous primal scream, said Daley “wants to bring Chicago government into the 21st Century.”

“I’m very much hoping that progressive leaders around Chicagoan will rally behind Bill. For too long, people have been asking, `Is Chicago ready for reform?’ The only way you get Chicago ready for reform is by electing a mayor who wants to bring Chicago into the 21st Century with reform,” Dean said.

“Chicago could be a model in fixing many of the urban problems we have around the country with a strong leader like Bill Daley, who does not worry about his next political office. He does not worry about making some mark because of his legacy. What he wants to do is do something for the city he loves and has grown up in. That is the most important motivation you can possibly have.”

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), the always-outspoken chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee, lashed out at Daley and Dean for daring to propose putting 35 aldermen out of a job.

“He ought to mind his business. If hasn’t walked in the shoes of an alderman. Shut up. … Go away,” Austin said of Dean.

“I feel the same thing about Bill. It’s like, ‘Bill, your brother ruled over this Council.’ And we were saying the same things to him. There’s not enough resources’ [to pave all of the streets]. And then, when [Richard M.] Daley was here, I had 62,000 people. So how are you talking? You think that’s the solution, to cut the Council down to 15? Walk in my shoes first. “

Bill Daley has been trying desperately to prove he is different from his brother and that his administration would not bring about a repeat of the Hired Truck, city hiring, minority contracting and contract cronyism scandals.

The proposal to let voters decide whether to shrink the City Council is another step in that effort.

It is particularly popular now that Ald. Edward Burke (14th) has been charged with attempted extortion for allegedly shaking down a Burger King franchise owner for legal business and for a $10,000 contribution for County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Toni Preckwinkle and Bill Daley are the nominal frontrunners in a crowded mayoral race — but the Cook County Board president could be in trouble should she face either the former commerce secretary or state Comptroller Susana Mendoza in a run-off.

And more than a quarter of the electorate remains undecided in what is still statistically a wide open race.

Those are the key findings of a Chicago Sun-Times poll conducted by We Ask America. The survey was done Monday through Wednesday with telephone interviews of 644 likely voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.88 percentage points.

Taking the lead in the mayor’s race are Preckwinkle with 12.7 percent, followed by Daley with 12.1 percent, former state Board of Education Chairman Gery Chico with 9.3 percent, businessman Willie Wilson with 9 percent and Mendoza with 8.7 percent.

Given the poll’s margin of error, that is essentially a statistical dead heat among the top four. Mendoza is a fraction of a percentage point shy of being included in that tie.

Rounding out the list is former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas with 4.3 percent; former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy with 3.7 percent; community activist Amara Enyia with 3.1 percent; former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot with 2.8 percent; state Rep. La Shawn Ford with 1.2 percent; former Ald. Robert Fioretti with 0.9 percent; lawyer Jerry Joyce with 0.9 percent; and lawyer John Kozlar with 0.6 percent.

Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, who was knocked off the ballot on Tuesday — when the survey was already underway — garnered the support of 4.7 percent. Tech entrepreneur Neal Sales-Griffin was included in the poll, but he received no support.

Mayoral candidates, l-r, Dorothy Brown, Gery Chico, Bill Daley, Amara Enyia, Garry McCarthy, Lori Lightfoot, Susana Mendoza, Toni Preckwinkle, Paul Vallas and Willie Wilson prepare for the NABJ Mayoral Forum January 17, 2019. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Mayor Rahm Emanuel dropped a bombshell in September when he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.

A whopping 21 candidates submitted petitions to get on the ballot during the November filing period.

Since then, the field has narrowed through candidates being thrown off the ballot or voluntarily folding their candidacies. But after all that, 14 remain.

With so many candidates on the stage, grabbing the spotlight has been tough.

If no candidate wins a majority in the Feb. 26 mayoral election, the top two vote getters square off in an April 2 runoff.

With such a crowded field, a run-off is likely, making the many potential head-to-head matches the ones candidates are already anticipating.

The poll sought to measure three of those possible run-offs.

Asked who they’d prefer in a match-up between Preckwinkle and Mendoza — two candidates who have repeatedly targeted one another — voters gave Mendoza the edge. The poll found the comptroller with 43.5 percent compared to Preckwinkle’s 35.1 percent. Another 21.4 percent were undecided.

Susana Mendoza (left) and Toni Preckwinkle (right). | Sun-Times file photos

In a race between Daley and Preckwinkle, the poll found Daley with a slight lead over Preckwinkle — 40.1 percent over 38.2 percent, another statistical dead heat. Another 21.7 percent were undecided.

In a hypothetical match-up between Mendoza and McCarthy, the comproller clobbered the former top cop, 54 percent to 24.2 percent. Again 21.7 percent were undecided.

Respondents were also asked about issues that are most important to them as Chicago residents. Crime, the city’s financial crisis and the quality of Chicago schools were the top three most important issues to voters.

The mayoral race has also been complicated by the federal investigation and criminal charges filed against Ald. Ed Burke. The corruption charges alleging that Burke used his position as 14th Ward alderman to steer property tax work toward his private law firm have dominated the headlines and forced a number of the candidates to answer embarrassing questions about their ties to Burke.

But political corruption was ranked a distant fourth in importance in the minds of voters, chosen by just 9 percent of those surveyed.

The poll also gives some insight into how candidates are doing with different demographic groups.

Wilson received the highest level of support from African-American voters polled, with 20.3 percent. About 11.4 percent of African-American voters said they’d support Preckwinkle, and 8.9 percent said they’d vote for Brown, who is no longer running but has said she’ll back another candidate soon. Another 7.3 percent said they’d vote for Daley. Some 27.6 percent were undecided.

Chicago mayoral candidates Willie Wilson and Dorothy Brown speak to reporters outside the Board of Elections after Wilson withdrew his objection to Brown earlier this month. File Photo. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Mendoza took the lead with Hispanic voters, with 19.5 percent, with Chico following with 17.1 percent and both Daley and Preckwinkle at 14.6 percent. Nearly a quarter of Hispanic voters said they were undecided.

Among women voters polled, Preckwinkle took the lead with 12.4 percent, followed by Daley at 10.2 percent  – with 28.5 percent undecided. Daley had the most support among men voters, with 14.7 percent, followed by Preckwinkle with 13.2 percent and Chico with 10.3 percent.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was accused Friday of being a Democratic machine boss running a “corrupt organization that squelches innovation, doesn’t allow for independents to ever have a voice.”

Preckwinkle answered the broadside from mayoral rival Lori Lightfoot by arguing that she is the only candidate with the credentials to reform Chicago.

“I’m the most progressive candidate in this race, and I’ve taken my progressive values to whatever job I’ve taken on,” Preckwinkle said.

The back and forth over whether Preckwinkle’s progressive credentials conflict with her role as “boss” of the county’s Democratic Party came during a mayoral forum at the Union League Club.  Preckwinkle initially shied away from the boss label, but has tried to turn it into a plus in TV ads.

With federal investigations roiling the City Council, corruption and the role of money in politics were once again front and center at the latest mayoral forum, featuring half a dozen of the 14 mayoral candidates.

Asked about mitigating the harmful influence of money in campaigns, Preckwinkle said the answer would be public financing of campaigns “but we’re a long way from that in Illinois.”

“Unfortunately we’re at a time in this country where the higher up you go the more likely it is that you need to be a millionaire or billionaire to be a successful candidate,” Preckwinkle said. “Even an ordinary person has a real struggle being an effective candidate because they don’t have the resources to fund their own campaigns or they don’t have a network of wealthy friends and colleagues that they can call upon for support.”

Lightfoot, former head of the Chicago Police Board, said the reason the city hasn’t seen changes in campaign finance is because “the entrenched Democratic machine doesn’t want us to get there.”

She also called out Preckwinkle in her role as chair of the “corrupt” Cook County Democratic Party.

“Look at what has happened over the last month that we’ve found out about: a Democratic machine of various factions that allows way too many people to amass way too much power and completely and utterly corrupt our government,” Lightfoot said.

Preckwinkle said otherwise.

“As alderman of the 4th Ward, I worked hard at the City Council to make it as progressive as possible, I was a founder of the Progressive Caucus,” she said. “ I supported every single affordable housing and living wage ordinance that came before the body — actually I sponsored them. … I think I’m uniquely qualified to be mayor of the city of Chicago.”

Though she touted her progressive resume, Preckwinkle couldn’t shake questions about meeting with criminally charged 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke before hiring his son for a $100,000 post in the county, which was reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Preckwinkle said she has many meetings “some of them with local elected officials, some of them with staff, some of them with ordinary citizens and those meetings take up a variety of issues.”

Lightfoot said “that is not leadership, and that is not the person we need to be the next mayor of the city.”

“She may have been progressive at some point in her career, but … she is the machine,” Lightfoot said after the forum ended. “She’s the president of the Democratic Party, which is one of the most regressive organizations in our state. She sided with Joe Berrios, she sided with Ed Burke. There’s no way she can legitimately claim that she is progressive.”

Businessman Willie Wilson, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, former Chicago Board of Education president Gery Chico and former Chicago Police Department Supt. Garry McCarthy were at the forum at the Union League Club, answering questions from WBBM’s Craig Dellimore about a month before they face off in the Feb. 26 election.

State comptroller and mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza and son and brother of former mayors Bill Daley were no-shows. Spokespeople from both camps said that previously scheduled meetings conflicted with the time slot.

The candidates who did attend weighed in on education and elected school boards — Vallas, Chico and McCarthy favor boards that are a combination of elected and appointed members — their public safety plans, economic development in the city’s neighborhoods and aldermanic prerogative and potentially shrinking the size of City Council.

McCarthy argued the city’s “government is too big” and “we have way too many aldermen with way too much power” — Wilson said 50 aldermen is too many. Chico said the number of aldermen won’t matter unless aldermanic prerogative — the unwritten rule that gives local aldermen final control over zoning and development issues in their own ward — is taken away and there are fundamental reforms.

“We have to be cognizant of the size but also fundamental reforms,” Chico said. “Nobody is saying the alderman has no say in these projects, but I just don’t think one man or woman should have the ability to do [thumb’s up] or [thumb’s down] over $5 or $6 billion dollars worth of projects, or a liquor license or a permit. That temptation is simply too great and has gotten us into huge trouble.”

Reproductive rights are an emerging issue in Chicago’s mayoral race, sparked by the City Council’s recent, controversial approval of a $5.5 million tax-increment financing subsidy to Presence Health for its downtown headquarters.

The Catholic health system must hew to the church’s teachings. Opponents of the TIF subsidy argued that Presence routinely turns away women seeking services for birth control and abortions, and therefore should not receive taxpayer funds.

OPINION

Presence has agreed to revitalize its health centers in several Chicago neighborhoods, beefing up medical services for low-income families. Presence refers patients to other facilities for reproductive services, officials say.

Susana Mendoza, the mayoral hopeful and Illinois comptroller, is jumping into the fray. She does not support the Presence TIF and also vowed to deny city subsidies to companies that don’t support reproductive health care for their employees.

“I will not allow the use of city funds for TIF dollars and other support to go to companies that refuse to cover reproductive health care for their employees,” she told me Thursday. “I won’t allow our limited tax dollars to be used in a way … that will have an impact on the health care that every woman deserves.”

Women, particularly those in low-income communities, should not be forced to travel long distances or overcome other barriers to reproductive services, she added.

She will “scrub the books” to identify large companies and organizations that do not cover reproductive health care and deny them city subsidies.

Is that legal? “I will be consulting with legal counsel on what our options are.”

She also took a shot at Bill Daley, a fellow mayoral contender.

Daley was the White House chief of staff in 2011, when the Obama administration was grappling with a regulation in the Affordable Care Act that required religiously affiliated hospitals, charities and universities to provide birth control coverage for employees.

According to news reports, Daley, a lifelong Catholic, organized a meeting with President Barack Obama and then-New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Dolan and other Catholic leaders wanted an exemption to the contraceptives mandate.

“Democratic members of Congress who lobbied the White House said they believed that Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, William M. Daley, and his special assistant for religious affairs, Joshua DuBois, favored a broader exemption,” The New York Times reported. They eventually carved out a compromise.

Now Mendoza questions Daley’s commitment to reproductive rights. “You can’t claim to be pro-choice and then try to use your power to cut off access to reproductive choice for women as a chief of staff to the leader of the free world.”

In the run-up to its Jan. 18 mayoral forum, the ACLU of Illinois issued a questionnaire that asked: “Will you oppose the extension of TIF and other taxpayer-funded resources to expand and advance health care institutions that deny comprehensive reproductive health care services and information on the bases (sic) of religiously-mandated restrictions?”

Daley did not respond to the questionnaire. He did not attend the forum.

Daley is “unequivocally pro-choice,” spokesman Peter Cunningham said. But Cunningham declined to answer other questions about Daley’s role in the White House or his view on tying city funding to reproductive health services.

Is Daley ducking for fear of alienating the Catholics and conservative voters he needs to prevail in the Feb. 26 election?

This is an historic mayoral race, with four women mounting serious bids for City Hall. In Chicago, women cast 56 percent of the ballots in the November mid-term elections, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

If Daley is dodging, will they let him get away with it?

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

Susana Mendoza tried Tuesday to drag her mayoral rivals down into the mud with her after the latest shoe dropped in a burgeoning corruption scandal that now involves three of her powerful political patrons: Aldermen Edward Burke (14th) and Danny Solis (25th) and Il. House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Mendoza went to work hours after the Chicago Sun-Times detailed the federal corruption allegations that prompted Solis, chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee, to spend more than two years secretly recording more than a dozen conversations with Burke, the former longtime Finance Committee chairman, as movers and shakers sought city actions.

The newspaper also reported that the FBI secretly recorded Madigan trying to get business for his private law firm from a developer brought to him by Solis, who was weighing the developer’s request to build a hotel in Chinatown.

Mendoza’s first target was Gery Chico, the only other Hispanic candidate in the field of 14. Mendoza accused Chico of being “part of the very same corrupt system” that includes two of her mayoral rivals, Bill Daley and Toni Preckwinkle.

“Gery Chico worked for Ed Burke at the Finance Committee. He’s contributed over $55,000 to Ed Burke. He also lobbied Ed Burke and his other friend Danny Solis just months before he decided to run for mayor,” Mendoza said in a phone call to the Sun-Times.

“Ed Burke called [former Aviation Commissioner] Ginger Evans on behalf of a Gery Chico client, urging her to expedite payments to that company. … This was happening while he was donating thousands to Ed Burke. His connections to Ed Burke have to be explored.”

Chico’s spokesperson Kelley Quinn said Mendoza’s blast takes “chutzpah” considering her own ties to Burke and Solis.

Mendoza is “clearly on the warpath” after a Sun-Times poll showed Chico as the “leading Latino candidate in the race,” Quinn said.
Mendoza’s major political liability has long been her close and longstanding political relationship with Madigan. Those ties are rivaled only by her close ties to Burke and Solis.

That’s why she has purged herself of $141,550 in campaign contributions received over the years from Solis and from a debt collection firm founded by Solis’ sister and an attorney with close ties to Madigan.

Hours after reading the Sun-Times stories, Mendoza was almost like the pot calling the kettle black.

She tried to change the subject from her own ties to the central figures in the burgeoning scandal by highlighting the connection between Bill Daley and Solis.

“Danny Solis is a creation of Bill Daley and Rich Daley. He was appointed by Daley. … You had Bill handing out grants to UNO back in the day from the bank that he worked for and Danny Solis using that grant money to help register voters in Chicago to help the Daley machine,” Mendoza said.

“Bill Daley and Danny Solis went on to found HDO together with the help of Victor Reyes, who worked for Rich Daley at IGA. This was absolutely a Bill Daley, Rich Daley, Danny Solis, Victor Reyes creation. Victor Reyes today is a key adviser to Toni Preckwinkle.”

Daley’s spokesman Peter Cunningham countered that Daley had “nothing to do with starting HDO or Danny Solis.

“The first time he met Danny Solis is when Rich appointed him,” Cunningham said.

As for the Mendoza broadside, Cunningham said, “Bill Daley is not going to get in the mud with Susana Mendoza. After 20 years in politics she finally releases an ethics plan four weeks before an election and a few days after returning $140,000 dollars in questionable donations.”

Last, but not least on Mendoza’s political hit list was Preckwinkle, who was dragged into the Burke scandal when the alderman was charged with attempted extortion; he’s accused of shaking down a Burger King franchise owner for legal business and for a $10,000 campaign contribution to Preckwinkle.

Preckwinkle has returned the $10,000, but has yet to follow through on a promise to give back all $116,000 she raised during a January 2018 fundraiser for her re-election as county board president held at the Burke’s home.

“She’s gonna return it by the end of March. She’s consciously choosing to use dirty money to fund her mayoral campaign. This marks a stark difference between how I conducted myself,” Mendoza said.

Preckwinkle’s campaign countered that the $116,000 raised at Burke’s home “has been returned and will be reflected in April’s report.”

Spokesperson Monica Trevino accused Mendoza of ”deflecting attention from her money laundering scheme.”

“How can the voters trust a state comptroller taking $122,000 from a company that profited from the state budget crisis?”

Mendoza acknowledged the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization at the center of the city hiring scandal supported her in the legislative races she won and lost.

But, she added: “I have never had a good working relationship with people associated with HDO.”

As for her close relationships with Madigan, Burke and Solis, Mendoza said that for “any elected official who served in Illinois and Chicago, it would be impossible for me not to have working relationships with all of these folks.”

As Mendoza was fighting for survival, Paul Vallas was dragging out his favorite prop — a broom — to make the case that he is the candidate with the integrity and independence to clean up after a “new low” in pay-to-play politics at Chicago’s City Hall.

“We’ve got bribes of Viagra and massage parlors to the powerful alderman of one of the only growing wards in the city,” Vallas said.

“The monied class of the pay-to-play culture is in a panic. … Four of the media’s anointed front-runners are raising money from the usual sources and buying commercials to preach ethics while there exists constant stories about each and every one of them having been baptized and raised in the pay-to-play culture.”

Lori Lightfoot similarly argued that Preckwinkle, Mendoza, Chico and Daley all were tied to Burke and Solis and to what she called the “give-to-get system” of Chicago politics tilted against the average Joe.

The only candidate in the race who has prosecuted corrupt Chicago aldermen, Lightfoot demanded that Inspector General Joe Ferguson be immediately empowered to conduct a “detailed audit of all Zoning Committee decisions going back to at least 2014,” when Solis got caught up in the corruption scandal that triggered his cooperation.

Cubs board member Todd Ricketts was so incensed by marathon negotiations with Mayor Rahm Emanuel that preceded the renovation of Wrigley Field, he suggested moving the team out of Chicago.

Now, the billionaire Ricketts family has apparently chosen a horse in the crowded race to replace Emanuel: Bill Daley.

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts has donated $25,000 to the Daley campaign, joining a parade of business leaders who have made Daley the runaway winner in the mayoral fundraising sweepstakes with more than $5 million raised so far.

Daley’s next closest competitor in the money race is Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, with just over $3 million, most of it from the Service Employees International Union and the union’s affiliates. SEIU is one of the unions with an ownership stake in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The donation from Ricketts came rolling in as part of, yet another $200,000 money drop reported by the Daley campaign.

Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for the Ricketts family, could not be reached for comment about the decision to back Daley.

Peter Cunningham, a spokesman for the Daley campaign, would only say that the brother and son of Chicago mayors was happy to have the Ricketts donation.

Last month, private emails published by Splinter and then discussed in more detail in a Deadspin article detailed the enmity between the Ricketts family and Emanuel.

The Deadspin story claimed Todd Ricketts, a leading Republican fundraiser once slated for a top spot in President Donald Trump’s Department of Commerce, was furious with Emanuel in 2013.

That’s when the mayor rejected the Cubs’ request for a taxpayer subsidy to renovate Wrigley, forcing the team to go it alone.

According to Splinter and Deadspin, Todd Ricketts forwarded a story about Emanuel’s refusal to his father Joe with a blistering comment attached.

“I think we should contemplate moving, or at least recognize that we are maybe not the right organization to own the Cubs,” Todd Ricketts wrote.

That was followed by yet another Todd Ricketts email trashing Emanuel without mentioning the mayor by name.

“I just hate the thought of [Cubs Chairman] Tom [Ricketts] having to grovel to this guy to put money into a building we already own,” Todd Ricketts reportedly wrote.

Family patriarch Joe Ricketts replied, “Yes Todd, it makes me sad, it hurts my feelings to see Tom treated this way. He is way superior to the Mayor in every way. I have been brought up to deplore the type of value system adopted by the Mayor of Chicago. This is stating it mildly.”

At the time, Culloton acknowledged the veracity of what he called the “private stolen emails.”

“Reading those private stolen emails is a reminder that there was an arduous process at the time as the debate went on, how best to save Wrigley Field,” Culloton said then.

“But, in the end, the Ricketts family and Mayor Emanuel came together and 1,000 union men and women of the construction trades have been hard at work preserving Wrigley Field for future generations. And the family has invested $1 billion in the neighborhood and $400 million into those union wages.”

Just how seriously did the Ricketts family consider leaving Chicago?

“It was definitely considered. There was discussion about that at the time. Tom made mention of it at a City Club speech,” Culloton said.

Emanuel’s communications director, Shannon Breymaier, said the now-outgoing mayor told Ricketts in 2013 “the same thing he told the owners of the Hawks and the Bulls.”

That is, “You own it, you pay for it.”

She added: “Negotiations can sometimes be heated, but the end result here was good for both the city and the Cubs.”

Ironically, Wrigleyville residents have accused Emanuel of going too far by giving the Cubs the go-ahead to put up two video scoreboards, four other outfield signs, extend the Wrigley footprint onto public streets and sidewalks without compensating Chicago taxpayers, and play more night games.

At Emanuel’s behest, the City Council also approved the Cubs’ ambitious plan to develop the land around Wrigley Field with a hotel, an office building and open-air plaza with even more signs.

Earlier this month, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), whose ward includes Wrigley, accused the Ricketts family of targeting him — and trying to elect a puppet alderman in his place — to pave the way for a “Disneyland” agenda that will make life miserable for Wrigleyville residents.

Political divisions in the billionaire family that owns the Cubs are on display again — this time in the crowded race for mayor of Chicago.

Cubs board member Laura Ricketts, a prominent Democratic fundraiser and a leader on gay and lesbian issues, on Thursday endorsed Susana Mendoza and agreed to co-chair Mendoza’s mayoral campaign.

The endorsement comes just days after her brother, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, donated $25,000 to Bill Daley’s campaign, joining a parade of business leaders who have made Daley the runaway winner in the mayoral fundraising sweepstakes with more than $5 million raised so far.

Laura Ricketts has long been a lone liberal voice in her family led by arch-conservative patriarch Joe Ricketts.

She was a leading fundraiser for both Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama. She has also served on the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee.

A news release issued by the Mendoza campaign quoted Laura Ricketts as saying she chose Mendoza because of her “strong ethics plan and opposition to aldermanic prerogative.”

That’s the unwritten rule at the heart of the burgeoning City Hall corruption scandal involving the City Council’s two most powerful aldermen. It allows local aldermen to have final say on zoning, licensing and permitting issues.

“I strongly support her proposals to end the arbitrary and capricious Chicago aldermanic prerogative and expand and strengthen the inspector general’s oversight of the City Council,” Laura Ricketts said in the news release.

“Susana Mendoza has outlined an outstanding plan to fight corruption and raise the standard of ethics and accountability in city government.”

Ricketts noted that Mendoza consulted with former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, who helped to undercover the Operation Greylord judicial corruption scandal, before proposing an Anti-Corruption, Accountability and Ethics Commission patterned after the Solovy Commission that recommended systemic changes in the court system.

“Susana’s ethics platform is the most comprehensive proposal of any of the mayoral candidates. She has the experience and determination to ensure her ideas for cleaning up city government are enacted,” Ricketts said in the news release.

“She will be an energetic mayor who brings Chicago together and leads us into the future. Because of this, she is my candidate for mayor and I’m proud to serve as her campaign co-chair.”

Mendoza has been dragged down by a burgeoning City Hall corruption scandal that now involves three of her powerful political allies: Aldermen Edward Burke (14th) and Danny Solis (25th) and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The Laura Ricketts endorsement allowed Mendoza to change the subject and reclaim the moral high ground.

“Laura shares my passion for Chicago, and she knows that we must take bold action to hold elected officials accountable. Chicago deserves better,” Mendoza said in a news release.

“Having Laura’s endorsement, enthusiasm and knowledge will help build a new and stronger future for our city — a future that includes everyone and that restores faith in government.”

Although the Ricketts family is divided on the question of who should replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel, they are united in their desire to unseat incumbent Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), whose ward includes Wrigley Field.

Earlier this month, Tunney accused the Ricketts family of targeting him — and trying to elect a puppet alderman in his place — to pave the way for a “Disneyland” agenda that will make life miserable for Wrigleyville residents.