Chicago News
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OCT 29, 2019
The 16 extra staffers budgeted to join the Cook County Board of Review next year won’t be enough to handle the grueling workload imposed by an unprecedented spike in property tax assessment appeals, the board’s three commissioners told members of the county Board of Commissioners on Monday.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot struck an ominous note Friday morning when asked about the state of negotiations between Chicago Public Schools officials. If there wasn't "significant" progress on Friday, it would be "difficult" to get reach. deal and get students back in class "quickly." That warning proved prescient, as the strike stretched into Monday — one day longer than the 2012 strike — and became the longest teachers work stoppage since 1987.
- 'We're stuck' — Although negotiations stretched for 14 hours Saturday, CPS Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade told reporters Sunday morning "quite frankly, we're stuck." McDade said the two sides agreed "philosophically" that Chicago schools needed more resources — but were far apart on how to enshrine those promises — and pay for the additional staff and programs.
- Dollars and cents — Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey on Saturday said the union and the city were only $38 million apart, but Arnie Rivera, chief operating officer for CPS, said the two sides were separated by more than $100 million. CPS CEO Janice Jackson joined the negotiations late Sunday for several hours and students announced a rally at 10 a.m. City Hall.
- SEIU deal done — Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced late Sunday that the city had reached a tentative agreement with Service Employee International Union Local 73, which represents approximately 7,500 support staff workers. Once the deal is ratified, those workers will return to work — but schools will not reopen until a deal with CTU is reached. Lightfoot said she was "enormously disappointed that CTU simply cannot take yes for an answer.” However, in a series of tweets, union leaders said the mayor could meet the union's demands by having the city pay $33 million to cover the cost of police officers to be assigned to Chicago high schools and $60 million toward teachers' pensions, as the city has in the past. Lightfoot has consistently said the city can't afford to cover any more of the school district's costs. CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates responded to Lightfoot that agreeing to the city's current offer would mean "saying yes to inequity."
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Facing an historic budget gap of $838 million, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had three options: cut spending, raise taxes or borrow funds.
But Lightfoot’s $11.65 billion spending plan relies on a fourth, less conventional option to fill the shortfall by counting on $213 million from the state and federal governments that may not materialize before aldermen are scheduled to approve the budget Nov. 26.
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Starting on Monday, dozens of county officials are set to splay open their offices’ budget books for a marathon week of scrutiny by the Cook County Board of Commissioners. And unlike previous years, they won’t be begging commissioners for mercy from layoffs and belt-tightening.
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Officers continued to disproportionately stop African Americans three years after Chicago Police agreed to document all investigative stops, according to a new report.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson field questions from reporters. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
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For weeks, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has distanced herself from her predecessor, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, even as tension between her administration and the Chicago Teachers Union. Lightfoot may be charting a vastly different course than Emanuel, but — as of Friday — the two now share the distinction of presiding over a seven-day teachers strike.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot Thursday defended her plan to expand mental health services in Chicago without reopening the six city-run mental health clinics closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011.
Health and Human Relations Chair Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) meets with Dr. Allison Arwady, Mayor Lori Lightfoot's pick for health commissioner before Thursday's confirmation hearing. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
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OCT 25, 2019
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Students will spend their sixth day out of class Thursday, as negotiations between city officials and the Chicago Teachers Union remained in neutral as teachers brought the picket line to City Hall in a show of force designed to keep the pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot with CPS CEO Janice Jackson, Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24th) and Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th).
PASCAL SABINO/ BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Aldermen across the political spectrum breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday as Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled an $11.6 billion spending plan for 2020 that does not ask them to hike taxes on Chicago property owners to fill the city’s $838 million budget deficit.
Instead, Lightfoot’s plan calls for the city to cut $537.6 million while raising a host of taxes and fees to generate $352.2 million. But $50 million in new revenue relies on state lawmakers allowing the city to change the way it taxes property sales. That proposal would offer relief for those who sell homes for less than $500,000, while increasing the tax on the sale of more expensive properties.
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OCT 24, 2019
Ald. George Cardenas (12), right; State Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago) [Submitted]
