Chicago Newsroom

The Klonsky Brothers - Fred and Mike - join Ken Davis for a conversation about the incoming Lightfoot administration and the controversy that erupted over the Lincoln Yards/78 TIF vote in City Council yesterday. Both insist that the Mayor-Elect did not "cave" to pressure from Rahm Emanuel, and that she will have many opportunities to put her imprint on the projects as they get constructed over the years. They also discuss Governor Pritzker's efforts to pass a graduated, or "Fair" tax through the legislature and a perception some have expressed that, since the tax requires a Constitutional amendment, legislators who oppose the current pension provision could amend it "while they're in there."

Their weekly radio program/podcast "Hitting Left With the Klonsky Brothers" airs on Lumpen Radio WLPN-FM 105.5 (and live streaming) on Fridays from 11 AM to noon.

This program was recorded by CAN TV.

Three of Chicago's most knowledgeable observers of the mayoral political scene convene this week for a conversation about the Lori Lightfoot landslide. Panelists include Delmarie Cobb (the Publicity Works); Bruce DuMont, host of Beyond the Beltway; and the Daily Line's A.D. Quig. We discuss the factors that led to Lightfoot's overwhelming victory, the challenges she faces with labor contracts, the raising of revenue for pensions and other needs and the curious fact that she drew strong support from just about every economic, racial and philosophical corner of the city. We also discuss the critical issues she faces with the Chicago Public Schools and Police Department.

This program was produced by CAN TV.

Sarah Karp, WBEZ education reporter, tells us about her most recent story in which she dissects CPS' claim that graduation rates are quickly improving in the city's public schools. A major part of the success, Karp reports, is the use by CPS of commercial "alternative schools" that take at-risk students from traditional high schools. The curriculum, she tells us, is considerably less challenging, sometimes consisting of little more than sitting in front of a laptop for to or three hours a day. There are serious questions about how meaningful a high school diploma from one of these schools can be in today;'s complex job market. Nevertheless, there is good news to report, because the overall graduation rate has risen by more than ten percent in just five years.

Jawanza Malone, Executive Director of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, echoes concerns about the value of this "alternative" schooling, and laments the fact that these troubled, at-risk teens are not being given a higher level of more intensive instruction.

Malone tells us that displacement and gentrification are already serious problems near the site of the Obama Center, as real-estate speculators are flooding in to buy inexpensive properties before the Center opens. Malone Says that what's needed is a comprehensive community benefits agreement that would stipulate compensation for people who are displaced and standards for property preservation. He says that KOCO has not taken a position on whether a location in the park or in the community is preferable, but he says that putting the OPC in the neighborhood would be highly disruptive,with potentially 800,0000 visitors annually coming into a residential community. Malone says that, no matter where people stand on the controversial Presidential Center, the one thing he believes everyone agrees on is that there's no need for a Tiger Woods-designed PGA golf course in Jackson Park.

Audrey Henderson, writing for Next City, has surveyed the current status of the Obama Presidential Center development. As Chicago prepares to install a new Mayor, there's renewed emphasis on the

demand for a Community Benefits Agreement, something the Obama Center developers have so far refused to accept. We also discuss plans to eliminate seven blocks of Cornell Drive, the lawsuit seeking to prohibit construction in Jackson Park, the proposed "world-class" golf course and significant concerns about displacement and gentrification.

In our second segment, business writer Robert Reed (Chicago Magazine)talks about the serious implications for Boeing in light of the Company's role in the development and deployment of the

737-Max and possible legal troubles for the company. We also discuss casino gambling, and how it's losing its luster in the face of stringent Internet competition. Reed says the hope that tax revenue from casinos may help bridge the infamous pension gap may be seriously overblown. And he tells us that the business community in Chicago is staying largely on the sidelines in the Mayoral race, because they see Preckwinkle as an energetic taxer and Lightfoot as an unknown quantity.

This program was produced by Chicago Access Television.

Maya Dukmasova (Chicago Reader) and Paul Vallas join Ken Davis this week for separate conversations about the April 2 Mayoral election. Dukmasova says that twin votes taken yesterday in the City Council tell a lot about the way some alderman facing runoffs are reading their electorates. In several notable matchups, aldermen who would never normally vote against the Mayor's key initiatives did so yesterday because they believe they're facing strong progressive trends in their wards. But Dukmasova also reports hat there is a perceptible split among progressives when it comes to supporting either Toni Preckwinkle or Lori Lightfoot.

Paul Vallas, the former City budget director and revenue director who ran for Mayor in this round, tells Ken that there are a couple of ways in which the City could defeat the crushing pension obligation the City faces. The issue, he explains, is not that the City is paying too much in pensions. It's that the City has chronically underpaid its loan repayments over the years and today the pension debt alone is fully ten percent of the City's budget. Vallas offers several prescriptions, including working with the State to assure the prompt delivery of funds Vallas says are due the City of Chicago but are not being paid. Vallas believes that, using a number of financial processes in tandem, the City could get out from under this crushing debt in four years.

This program was produced by Chicago Access Television.

Willie Wilson and Ja'Mal Green, both former contenders for the Mayor's office, appear in separate conversations this week about the upcoming election that will settle once and for all who's about to be our new Mayor, Treasurer and, in about a dozen Wards, the next Alderman. Wilson tells us that he's about to endorse in the Mayoral race, which can be significant since about 60,000 Chicagoans voted for him, mostly in the City's black communities. Although his decision won't be announced until Friday, he drops broad hints when he criticizes Preckwinkle for her association with Joe Berrios and for the failed "soda tax." Wilson says that Berrios inflicted severe damage on low-income communities, African-Americans in particular, by assigning higher tax rates to poorer communities than to the City's highest-income areas. He also describes his own personal journey, in which he came to accept that gays and lesbians should be judged by God, not by mortals such as himself. He says he has spent a great deal of time in his communities attempting to persuade ministers that they shouldn't judge others by their declared sexual preferences.

Ja'Mal Green didn't make it into the election itself, in part because Wilson challenged his petitions. Green talks with us about the petition process and how it discriminates against those who don't have expensive lawyers and consultants to navigate the approval process. Green says he isn't pleased with either of the remaining candidates, because Preckwinkle imposed the soda tax and other regressive taxes and Lightfoot was not respectful of the young activist community while she was head of the Police Board. However, Green says he intends to endorse a candidate before the April 2 election. In the meantime, he's busy working with the newly-reconstituted Bernie Sanders campaign, he tells us.

This program was produce by Chicago Access Television.

Bruce DuMont (Host, Beyond the Beltway), Jacky Grimshaw (former advisor to Harold Washington),

Bill Ruthhart (Chicago Tribune)and the Daily Line's AD Quig join Ken Davis for a wide-ranging conversation about Tuesday's municipal election. They consider whether the twelve losing candidates will endorse either Lori Lightfoot or Toni Preckwinkle and what the political composition of the City Council might be after the runoffs. They also ponder whether Chicago has advanced beyond the Council Wars period, since many white people voted to elevate two African American women to the mayoral runoffs.

This program is produced by Chicago Access Television.

WGN-TV's Tahman Bradley and the Daily Line's Heather Cherone join Ken Davis for a final analysis of next week's municipal election. They agree that Chicago should brace itself for a long night next Tuesday because the two candidates emerging in the Mayoral runoff might not be known for a week or two if neither commands a clear, decisive victory. This is due in large part to the fact that more than sixty-thousand mail-in ballots have been requested, and they won't be counted until after election day. So, if the top vote-getters fail to score enough votes to make the potential mail-in vote irrelevant, we'll all have to wait - possibly two weeks - until the mail-in votes are counted. In addition, there are as many as a dozen hotly contested Aldermanic races, many of which could also end up in a runoff - all of which adds to the intrigue of Chicago's second-only runoff-style election. This program was produced by Chicago Access Television.

Melissa Sanchez (ProPublica Illinois) and Elliott Ramos (WBEZ) join Ken Davis for a discussion about their multi-part, multi-platform series of investigations about spiraling fines and impoundments in Chicago. These City policies, they report, are driving thousands of Chicagoans into bankruptcy and creating intractable indebtedness. They reveal that 67,000 cars were booted in Chicago in 2017 alone simply for failure to pay City sticker fines and non-moving violations such as expired license plate stickers. They discuss the fact that, as the City has raised penalties for these infractions since 2007, Chapter 13 bankruptcies have risen from 1,000 to more than 10,000, and that individual debt to the City has risen from $1,500 to $3,900. This program was produced by Chicago Access Television.

Chicago Newsroom 2/5/19 by