CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[the urban politician]

^ I guess I like Rahm for the very reason he is unpopular among 'Chicawgoans'. To be honest, the more he pisses off the vested interest groups, the more I like the guy.

My father in law visited Chicago with us a few weeks ago and was curious why there are so many people employed to direct traffic at intersections downtown, when we already have traffic lights. I couldn't answer it. Interestingly, 100% of them are African American. Something kinda fishy about that.

Vested interests, people, on the public dime...

[sentinel]

Maybe Rauner can set a new record, for being indicted without even being sworn in first.

http://www.businessinsider.com/illin...e-rule-2014-11

[bnk]

It should be noted ex mayor Jane Byrne passed away today.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Maybe Rauner can set a new record, for being indicted without even being sworn in first.

http://www.businessinsider.com/illin...e-rule-2014-11

Rauner's team will argue, rightly, that state money is invested in a myriad of different firms and it would be unreasonable for him to reject all donations from the financial sector.

Anyway, shouldn't the penalties fall on the donors here and not the recipient?

[the urban politician]

Well, the courts have ruled that the Illinois Pension Reform is unconstitutional.

Onto the Supreme Court? Or should we just amend the Constitution?

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, the courts have ruled that the Illinois Pension Reform is unconstitutional.

Onto the Supreme Court? Or should we just amend the Constitution?

I guess we'll find out if the Illinois Constitution is a suicide pact.

[Steely Dan]

now that the candidate filing deadline has passed, here are the 10 candidates who have filed to run for mayor:

Rahm Emanuel (incumbent) - candidate website
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia - candidate website
Bob Fioretti - candidate website
William "Dock" Walls - candidate website
Amara Enyia - candidate website
Frederick Collins - candidate website
Willie Wilson - candidate website
Robert Shaw - candidate website
Gerald Sconyers - candidate website
Fenton C. Patterson - can't find a website


some of these candidates may not make the final ballot cut if they're petition signatures are challenged, as usually happens with some of these lesser-known filers.

so now that we have a final roster of the players, let the game begin!

[Justin_Chicago]

Is someone running for the 2nd Ward? Is Fioretti officially out of the alderman election since he is seeking bid for mayor?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Is someone running for the 2nd Ward? Is Fioretti officially out of the alderman election since he is seeking bid for mayor?

There were 6 candidates a while ago, but I'm not sure how many were able to get their petitions in correctly and on time.

More interestingly there are a whopping 10 candidates who have filed to run for office in the 38th Ward to replace Tim Cullerton. Should be a fun shitshow to watch.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^^
Well, of course; poor minorites make up a big, juicy voter base. Wouldn't you choose to buy them off if you were playing with other people's money? It's policies like this that make me want to move into a Republicans-only city somewhere in Texas. Furthermore, and in respect to skyscraper fans, affordable housing requirements essentially take 10% off the potential height of every residential PD in town, if not cancel them altogether. Real Estate is meant to be a free market system. Let it be. Fucking morons.

^ What I find, sad, of course, is that the Rahms of the world feed into this perception that you have to create affordable set asides (again, the vast majority of which will probably go to African Americans, likely Section 8 tenants) to pick up the black vote.

Because after all, all black people are CHA, Section 8 recipients

This only widens the void between the two "sides" of the city and creates greater perception issues, not to mention that it doesn't even really solve the affordable housing problem, as LVDW described above.

With the higher minimum wage and this new affordable housing push, one can clearly see that Rahm is scrambling to repair his damaged reputation with the city's black community. But it still comes off as kind of...condescending

[ardecila]

Just saw this on DNAInfo... awesome pic. These protests are going on all over the country, often they are reminders of how we drive at 65mph through these neighborhoods blithely unaware of what is happening.

instagram/jahco1980

[the urban politician]

Well, looks like Rahm is going in full force to win back the black and Hispanic vote.

Too bad real estate development in Chicago is going to suffer.

[LouisVanDerWright]

I'm actually now starting to rethink my support of Rahm. I'm certainly cutting off my financial support at this point. I just sent him a letter the other day letting him know that I'm not donating another dime if he passes that stupid affordable housing law.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I'm actually now starting to rethink my support of Rahm. I'm certainly cutting off my financial support at this point. I just sent him a letter the other day letting him know that I'm not donating another dime if he passes that stupid affordable housing law.

^ If you read that article, it is spurring a shitload of commentary. A lot of people are passionate and unhappy about this issue.

Rahm needs to remember that a lot of the money behind his reelection is coming from these kinds of people, not a good idea to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

In addition, if you read between the lines of his new Affordable Housing Proposal it is essentially like saying that Chicago's neighborhoods are not good enough for the poor. Why not renovate more housing in the neighborhoods for more moderate or lower income people? Instead, you're putting low income people in luxury highrises downtown for virtually free. It's the worse idea ever, and you're basically sending the wrong message.

Definitely the worst thing Rahm has done as mayor.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by sentinel

RIP Judy Baar Topinka - I met her a couple of times in the past few years and she was always so kind and engaging and pretty hilarious too. I really liked her

yeah, that was some sad news this morning.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Rahm needs to remember that a lot of the money behind his reelection is coming from these kinds of people, not a good idea to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Rahm already has amassed a giant warchest that outsizes any of his rivals' by an order of magnitude. he's probably betting that he doesn't need a whole lot more in the money department. what he does actually need is some good old fashioned progressive red meat rhetoric to throw to the minority voting blocs in the city.

besides, i agree with sentinel that this issue is either forgotten about or severely watered-down after the election is over. rahm has probably said as much behind closed doors to his friends in the development community.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I'm actually now starting to rethink my support of Rahm. I'm certainly cutting off my financial support at this point. I just sent him a letter the other day letting him know that I'm not donating another dime if he passes that stupid affordable housing law.

Oh no! What is Rahm going to do for money if you turn off your personal spigot?!?!

Your characterization in previous posts of Rahm being a reformer and at least somewhat implying that he's not fully part of the machine (mentioning Karen Lewis as 'machine' was pretty bizarre) is highly off-base. Rahm's been an absolute disappointment as a reformer - at least in his first term. I realized this completely a couple years ago.



For the record, this is not the way to address housing affordability - I agree with those who have already said as much. It's also quite a poor 'bang for the buck' so to speak.

However, even if enacted as currently proposed, this will not "shut down" residential development in the city. It could and would impact - delay, make more challenging, and for some - kill - more financially marginal projects, yes indeed. But residential development in Chicago would go on.

That stated, I agree that it is definitely a possibility that this gets held up in Committe a while through the election(s), and may change - perhaps substantially - afterward.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, looks like Rahm is going in full force to win back the black and Hispanic vote.

Too bad real estate development in Chicago is going to suffer.

A couple things:

Since the black and hispanic vote probably represent at least around 55-60% or so of the overall Chicago vote, I'd say he should probably be concerned about this component of the electorate!

Also, it's not as if this won't be popular too with some not at all insignificant parts of the white electorate. So, why don't we go ahead and tack on another 10-15 pct pts there. Perhaps not at all a bad political move.

As I've mentioned it's really not a good policy move however.

It's a modest - perhaps very modest - net negative impact overall on development. The boom of course will carry on irrespective....
But it's a pretty darn poor funding mechanism for affordable housing initiatives.....you could design much more effective schemes that deliver much more bang for the buck

[sentinel]

RIP Judy Baar Topinka - I met her a couple of times in the past few years and she was always so kind and engaging and pretty hilarious too. I really liked her

Regarding Rahm and the new Affordable Housing initiative, I feel like this is nothing but pandering at it's very worst - once the election is over, assuming Rahm wins again, this edict will disappear; I can almost taste the insincerity...

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Ugh. Agreed that this is pandering at its worst. It's not like there's a shortage of issues facing people of color that would actually benefit the city to address. Marijuana decriminalization hasn't gone smoothly. Check out those stats. Those kinds of arrests have a noticeable impact on everyday life for Black Chicagoans.

[Steely Dan]

and then there were 8....

Former Ald. Robert Shaw ended his mayoral campaign and threw his support behind entrepreneur Willie Wilson. The 77-year-old Shaw said he decided to back Wilson because of his business experience and to help unify African-American support.

"Splitting that vote isn't in the best interest of the city of Chicago," Shaw said.

Wilson, the wealthy CEO of a medical supply company, has contributed $150,000 to his campaign but has not reported raising any other money, according to state campaign finance records.

full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...229-story.html


here's how the candidate list currently stands:

Rahm Emanuel (incumbent) - website
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia - website
Bob Fioretti - website
William "Dock" Walls - website
Frederick Collins - website
Willie Wilson - website
Gerald Sconyers - website
Fenton C. Patterson - can't find a website


dropped out:

Robert Shaw
Amara Enyia