Chicago News
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JUN 26, 2017
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JUN 24, 2017
UNLOCKEDUpdated: June 26, 2017
Cook County Clerk David Orr’s announcement Wednesday that he plans to retire after 39 years of elected office, 26 of them as Clerk, and not run for reelection in 2018 has set things in motion, next come the quakes.
Political retirements in Chicago are like shifts deep within the Earth’s crust. Starting out as a small movement, the tectonic pressures force a series of cascading rumbles, often resulting in devastation and change on the surface, never again are things the same.
Many have had their eye on the Clerk job, a position with lots of people to hire and lots of goodwill–you don’t collect taxes or fine people, but you make sure elections are clean–it’s the kind of job you could show up for 20 hours a week and the public would never know the difference. Sounds fun, right?
Lots of Cook County politicians think so, and candidates are already lining up, working to gain crucial Democratic Party support before too many commitments are made. Cook County Recorder Karen Yarborough, an African-American from the West Suburbs with close ties to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan had already announced her candidacy even before Orr announced his retirement. It seems like Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, hoping to cash in his high name I.D. and goodwill from his 2015 mayoral campaign loss, is serious about a run. And 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore, an acolyte of Orr’s, told the Chicago Tribune that he’s considering it, too.
We’ll probably hear lots more names before July is out, since the Cook County Democratic Party plans to announce their slate by August 11.
Victories by Yarbrough, Garcia or Moore would set off even more aftershocks.
If Yarborough won, there would still be two years left in her term as Recorder. County citizens voted last November to merge the Recorder job with the Clerk, so someone would get a cushy two year paid gig to just do whatever Clerk Yarborough wants.
If Garcia won, he’d leave behind an open Commissioner spot, which his close friend, Ald. Rick Muñoz (22) has not been shy in coveting. The spot would be filled by appointment by Democratic Ward Committeemen, many friendly to Muñoz. That would leave the 22nd Ward aldermanic job open, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel would fill by appointment before the 2019 election, just a few months after the 2018 general election. But since we’d know if Garcia won during the March 2018 primary, likely a dozen of candidates (if not more) would line up for the Little Village aldermanic campaign. It would be a madhouse.
If Moore won in the Democratic primary, it would set off a mad scramble for 49th Ward Alderman, a position that has attracted at least two serious challengers against Moore for the last 12 years. Lots of people in the highly economically and racially diverse Rogers Park want that job.
Although David Orr is 72, he is only now retiring. Congressman Bobby Rush is 70. Congressman Danny Davis is 75. Toni Preckwinkle is 70. All of them have expressed their intention to run for reelection in 2018. Imagine the earthquakes when they retire.
Corrections: This article originally mis-stated David Orr's age and has been corrected to state that County Commissioner vacancies are filled by Ward Committeemen, not the Board President. -
Did you know that since the start of Mayor Emanuel’s second term, the City Council has supported nearly $93 million in property tax breaks for 60 development projects across the city? We didn’t either, until we dug through all our own data earlier this month. We found out that the county’s property tax incentive program, managed by Cook County Assessor (and Democratic Party Chair) Joe Berrios, is opaque. While the city and county say lower assessments for businesses help retain construction and industrial jobs, it’s appears no one is checking up on those promises.
Why should you care? For every dollar in tax breaks awarded, someone else has to pay. If you’re a property owner, that includes you.
Got questions, comments, corrections, or suggestions? Send us an email: [email protected]. And don’t forget the promo code for 10% off your subscription to The Daily Line’s new Springfield reporting: LAUNCH. -
Aldermen on the City Council’s Transportation Committee spent the better part of the meeting on a favorite aldermanic pet project: roadwork, and the finer points of different kinds of hot mix asphalt, binding materials, and the durability of road improvements. The Committee ultimately approved a resolution that would allow the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) to use other recycled materials in its road projects–including recycled roof shingles.
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Aldermen on the city’s Special Events and Cultural Affairs Committee swiftly approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Parks District Board appointee, millionaire real estate manager David A. Helfand. Helfand replaces Juan Salgado, the recently-appointed Chancellor of City Colleges.
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Projected FY2018 Expenditures, via the Cook County Preliminary Forecast FY2018.Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and her finance team released the county’s Fiscal Year 2018 preliminary forecast Thursday. The mid-year projection of year-end revenues and expenses for the rest of FY17 is a look ahead to the budget that will be introduced in October. While President Preckwinkle promised no new taxes, it’s likely union employees in the county will face tougher negotiations as collective bargaining agreements are hashed out.
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JUN 23, 2017
A coalition of neighborhood community groups that had been tasked by the Emanuel Administration with designing a community oversight board for the Chicago Police Department announced Thursday their support for a consent decree, but then also admitted they haven’t come up with a blueprint for public oversight.
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JUN 22, 2017
The Mendoza Family gathers to testify for their two-flat upzone in Zoning Committee Thursday.
Zoning Committee forged through four hours of testimony Thursday to approve dozens of zoning changes and the first precinct bans on room sharing through online platforms like Airbnb. While much of the meeting’s pace was kept to a slow walk because of repeated testimony by Leading Citizen George Blakemore, almost an hour of testimony came from more than a dozen Jefferson Park residents. They turned out to oppose a planned 13-story mixed use building on Lawrence and Lipps Avenues, near the Jefferson Park Transit Center. -
JUN 22, 2017
The Cook County Democratic Party will meet Thursday and Friday for their “pre-slating” meeting, an opportunity for candidates of countywide and statewide offices to make their pitches to the 80 Ward and Township Committeemen, as they seek the County Party’s endorsement. The speeches, open to the media at 134 N. LaSalle, in the 7th floor conference room, promise to deliver drama and a couple of political shifts. The County Party will hear candidate’s pitches this week, then meet again on August 10 and 11 to vote on slating.
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JUN 22, 2017
Ever since he defeated Esther Saperstein for 49th Ward alderman in 1979, David Orr has held elected office. But Wednesday afternoon, the 74 year-old Cook County Clerk called a press conference to announce that when January 2019 rolls around, he’ll be retiring, since he won’t run for reelection in 2018.
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment to the Chicago Park District to replace Juan Salgado–the new head of Chicago City Colleges–is up for Special Events Committee consideration Thursday. The mayor tapped millionaire real estate manager David A. Helfand to finish Salgado’s term on the Parks Board, which expires June 30, 2022.
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JUN 22, 2017
Ald. Michael Scott (24) will chair the selection committee tasked with appointing a replacement for his mentor, Cook County Comm. Robert Steele, who passed away Monday morning. The district that he and his mother, former Cook County Board President and Commissioner Bobbie Steele, represented for decades spans both the city’s South and West Sides and covers 19 wards. Only two committeemen hold more than 10% of the weighted vote, which sources speculate could lead to a fraught nomination process.
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Homeowners in much of the 13th Ward would be barred from listing their property on Airbnb as mandated in several ordinances that’ll be reviewed by the Zoning Committee Thursday.
Though the City Council approved regulations for the online room sharing company nearly a year ago, this package of ordinances submitted by local Ald. Marty Quinn (13) marks the first effort by an alderman to impose a blanket ban.
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JUN 22, 2017
Council installed a digital countdown clock Wednesday for public testimony.
Lacking a quorum, the Council’s Rules Committee delayed a vote Wednesday on a court-mandated measure that would allow 30 minutes of public comment at monthly City Council meetings. Only 16 of the committee’s 50 members were present for the morning meeting, nine shy of a quorum.
