Inside Chicago Government

In an audio interview with an inquisitive Chicago voter, Dave Glowacz explains one way to choose Cook County judges in a general election: by using the bar association recommendations found at voteforjudges.org. This episode is reprised from an October 29, 2016 interview. Length 16.1 minutes. (For the full-length video version, subscribe at chigov.com.)

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave react to audio from October 2020 meetings of the Chicago City Council. In the standard version, aldermen want more say in approving TIF-funded projects. In the premium version: how minority-owned businesses get city contracts; how a proposed affordable housing ordinance got sidelined; and a proposed end to funding for cops in schools. (For the full-length version, subscribe at chigov.com.) Length 7.8 minutes.

In these audio interviews, award-winning journalist Dave Glowacz talks with Chi insiders to reveal the unreported, sort the outrage from the outlier, and suggest that to which Chicagoans should pay closer attention.

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave react to audio from the August and September 2020 meetings of the full Chicago City Council, including: whether an emergency resolution attacks the mayor; demands for hearings around the police budget; a start on combatting South Side gentrification; and a surprise TIF sunshine proposal. Length 11 minutes.

In an audio interview with veteran Alderman Anthony Beale of Chicago's 9th Ward, Dave Glowacz explored the Lightfoot administration's relationship with some of the more independent-thinking members of the City Council. Length 4.3 minutes. (For the full-length version, subscribe at chigov.com.)

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave listen to audio from the July 2020 meeting of the full Chicago City Council, including: why council members fear tenant protections; how (and whether) the mayor blindsided an alderman around a landmark district; the city gropes toward a police complaint database; and a lengthy tribute to a mayoral staffer. Length 9.1 minutes.

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave listen to audio from the June 2020 meeting of the full Chicago City Council, including: more votes against the mayor; a reparations commission vote prompts pleas and scolds from black aldermen; cops in schools and out of some wards; and more leaks from a "confidential" mayoral conference. Length 7.4 minutes.

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave listen to audio from the May 2020 meeting of the full Chicago City Council, including: aldermen not "brought in" on TIF funding of parks; grousing about minority contracting at the new Trib Tower development; one aldermen chides colleagues for asking too many questions (a "slippery slope"); a mayoral speech on collegiality; and new aldermen use an old tactic. Length 7.8 minutes.

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave listen to audio from the first-ever videoconference meeting of the full Chicago City Council. We hear pushback on a COVID-19 emergency powers ordinance proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot--from Alds. Jason Ervin (28), Ray Lopez (15), Emma Mitts (37), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), and Michele Smith (43). Length 6.1 minutes.

In an interview with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben and Dave listen to audio clips from the last meeting of Chicago aldermen before the city's "shelter in place" edict. We hear an administration critic choke on an attempted attack; a South Side alderman wins a dramatic TIF concession; and, in the face of a dire pandemic, Dave and Ben embrace the aldermanic routine. Length 7.9 minutes.