Fran Spielman interviews Chicago Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda and Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th) about competing renter-protection proposals as rents rise and landlord ownership becomes less transparent. Castañeda backs Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO), citing skyrocketing rents, corporate consolidation, and the need for a rental registry, expanded inspections and landlord services, just-cause protections to curb 10,000 annual no-fault evictions, and relocation assistance for certain no-fault displacements. Villegas supports an alternative packaged as the FAIR ordinance, agreeing on an annual registry but arguing PRO adds bureaucracy, creates unfunded mandates that will raise rents, and risks litigation; he emphasizes increasing housing supply, cutting red tape, and tiering obligations by landlord size. 

Fran Spielman interviews Chicago Civic Federation president and former inspector general Joe Ferguson about the pending sale of Chicago Parking Meters LLC’s remaining 57 years to Stone Peak Partners, which City Council must authorize by Sept. 30. Ferguson says the city has limited leverage and should negotiate marginal contract improvements—especially reducing “true-up” reimbursements—rather than reject the transfer and risk lawsuits, financial damages, and reputational harm. 

Fran Spielman interviews Ald. Marty Quinn of Chicago’s 13th Ward, who announces he will not seek re-election after four terms and 15 years on the City Council, citing the demands and unpredictability of ward service, sacrifices to family life, and readiness for new challenges with no job lined up. Quinn reflects on the council’s evolution from a seniority- and ward-focused body under Rahm Emanuel to a more legislative, independent, and coalition-driven council under Lightfoot and Johnson, including opposition to Johnson’s head tax and last year’s budget coalition. 

Fran Spielman interviews attorney Matthew Brewer, former interim CHA CEO and current board chair, who announces his first run for Chicago mayor and argues Brandon Johnson has made residents feel unseen, framed false either/or choices between business and communities, and failed at collaborative leadership amid agency vacancies and budget conflicts.

Fran Spielman interviews Dr. Lisa Nee, a Chicago-born cardiologist and MBA who is preparing to run for mayor to deny Brandon Johnson a second term, arguing voters want a non-insider with real-life experience. She recounts whistleblowing at the Hines VA over unread cardiac tests, facing retaliation while pregnant, and later helping secure bipartisan protections, while also battling breast cancer and returning to health. 

Fran Spielman interviews Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza about her renewed bid for Chicago mayor, revisiting her 2019 loss and associations with Ed Burke and Mike Madigan, which she says she condemned. Mendoza calls Mayor Brandon Johnson’s tenure a “blizzard of incompetence,” citing credit downgrades, heavy borrowing, TIF “raids,” staffing vacancies, and strained Springfield relations, and says she’d impose fiscal discipline, consider workforce reductions, stop using TIFs for operations, hire more police, restore ShotSpotter, and improve police-community trust. 

Fran Spielman interviews Emmanuel Andre, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s newly appointed deputy mayor for community safety, about preparing for Chicago’s summer public safety challenges as CPS ends the school year. Andre discusses fears about tragedies, cycles of revenge, and key dates like Juneteenth and July 4th, describing a “full-of-government” approach with CPD, OEMC, Streets and Sanitation, elected officials, and community violence intervention partners to plan for incidents and large youth gatherings such as a potential lakefront “teen takeover.” 

In the final days of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session, host Fran Spielman interviews State Rep. Kam Buckner about last-minute legislating, the $59 billion budget, and the House-passed Megaprojects Bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois by allowing negotiated property tax payments. Buckner discusses mayor–governor tensions, other pending bills on housing, school cell phones, hemp regulation, and revenue ideas, and calls for smarter responses to teen takeovers.

Fran Spielman interviews newly confirmed Chicago transportation commissioner William Cheaks Jr. about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed EV-charging-only parking spaces pilot with Cheaks Jr. noting autonomous vehicles are not authorized in Chicago and saying demand is uncertain. 

Fran Spielman and WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel mark Brandon Johnson's three-year anniversary as Chicago mayor. Mayor Johnson discusses his family milestones and argues his administration has improved its messaging while citing a 60-year low in homicides, reopened public mental health clinics, increased downtown visitors, and stabilizing census trends. Pressed on CPS’s $732 million deficit and potential classroom cuts, he insists the State of Illinois must fully fund schools through progressive revenue such as a digital ad tax or billionaire/millionaire taxes, rejects school closures as repeating past failures.