One of Chicago’s experts on housing, gentrification and displacement lives at the heart of the debate — in Logan Square, about a block away from The 606 trail, which touched off a real estate boom after being transformed from a defunct railroad track.

“I’d like to say I was very prescient in my housing decision, but I wasn’t,” Geoff Smith, the executive director of The Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University said on the latest episode of The Daily Line’s Aldercast podcast.

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Smith went looking for “someplace affordable and interesting,” bought in 2006 and promptly faced the housing crash and found himself underwater on his mortgage.

The area is now one of the city’s hottest real estate markets, and prices are high along one of its main amenities, the 606, which is set to be extended as part of the Lincoln Yards development.

“Having had a front row seat to that whole process has been both professionally and personally interesting,” Smith said.

“Do I consider myself a gentrifier in Logan Square? I mean, some days maybe, some days not, because I’ve been there for a long time. I don’t know, it’s sort of a complicated question,” Smith said, adding that being a good, engaged neighbor can make a difference.

The institute’s 2016 analysis of the trail’s impact found buyers west of Western Avenue were “willing to pay a 22.3 percent price premium for properties within one-fifth of a mile of the trail, which translated to more than $100,000 of the area's average 2015 sales price.”

Several other neighborhoods are facing displacement pressure, the institute found. Not only do individuals face being priced out by buyers lured by new, expensive developments like Lincoln Yards and amenities like the 606, but homeowners are also fleeing Chicago because of disinvestment in their neighborhoods.

It’s a problem the new mayor and the City Council will have to grapple with in the years to come – here are five takeaways:

A grain of salt needed — A recent study and Crain’s headline, “Gentrification not a big issue in Chicago,” was the talk of the housing world this past week, Smith said. “The study itself, I think, has some problems, especially as it relates to Chicago,” he said. The study’s social and economic data were gathered under the U.S. Census American Community Survey program, covering the period starting in 2000 and until 2009-2013, “The bottom of the market, essentially,” Smith says. It only captures the beginning of Chicago’s recovery after the recession. “It’s old data that doesn’t capture a lot of the key changes that are happening in the city.”  

Displacement v. gentrification — “It’s a spectrum of sorts,” Smith said of the difference between the two oft-used terms. “Gentrification is the investment in a place that causes property values — it causes change in the neighborhood that’s derived from that increased investment in the neighborhood. Displacement is the actual push, the market forces that might push out folks who’ve lived there for a long time.” While some neighborhoods like Logan Square and Pilsen have seen residents pushed out by rising values, “in Chicago you’ve also got this almost other bigger effect of displacement that’s a product of disinvestment,” Smith said. That is occurring on Chicago’s West and South sides, which have seen population losses. The institute built a map to serve as a leading indicator to warn when displacement might occur in Chicago neighborhoods. “We’re trying to look at the market, look at the demographics of a neighborhood and say, ‘Here are a mix of conditions that might help us get ahead of this type of displacement, gentrification if you’re going to build a new 606, or a new kind of big place-based strategy or built environment type project.’” Two projects housing activists are watching closely — the Paseo Trail and the Obama Presidential Center.

Affordable housing requirements for the next Lincoln Yards — “The big debate around Lincoln Yards was how much affordable housing to build on site. When you’re building an entire neighborhood,” the city’s affordable housing requirements ordinance might not be the best vehicle, Smith said, since the ordinance “was designed for single developments where you’ve got a few hundred units, maybe at most. This is thousands and thousands of units. I do think that, especially when city subsidy like [funds from tax-increment financing] money is involved,” requiring a “substantial portion” of affordable units on site would have helped create a more inclusive neighborhood, rather than one fully “oriented to higher income households.” Aldermen and Lincoln Yards developer Sterling Bay ultimately struck a deal to double the number of planned on-site affordable units from 300 to 600. Of the 6,000 apartments, condominiums and townhomes planned for Lincoln Yards, 1,200 must be set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans. Sterling Bay also plans to pay $39 million into the city’s low-income housing trust fund.

How to tailor rent control for Chicago — While legislators in Springfield saw proposals to lift the state’s ban on rent control swatted down, some organizers and voters supportive of rent control measures are unlikely to drop the issue. “For me, at least, I have a lot of questions about how rent control can be applied in Chicago,” Smith said. It’s a complicated proposition that would deserve a unique ordinance, but “I understand it’s appeal, because when you think about the breadth and the size of the affordable housing challenge, no one solution is ever really going to cut it.” Smith has concerns — chief among them how rent control can apply in a city with as diverse a housing stock supply as Chicago. Cities with rent control usually face a uniform rise in values and rents across the board. There are many parts of Chicago where rising housing costs are not the challenge, disinvestment is, Smith said. “Is that going to inhibit investment, potentially, in other parts of the city? You can’t just target it to one neighborhood, it has to cover the entire city, it has ripple effects” on the broader market.

Where have all the two flats gone? — Chicago’s iconic two flats — a key source of affordable housing — are disappearing, Smith said. Preserving those homes is one key plank of maintaining the city’s affordable housing stock. In some neighborhoods, like North Center, Lincoln Square and Lakeview, two- to four-unit buildings are being converted into single family homes. In others, including on the South and West Sides, those homes are deteriorating, while new ones aren’t being built, Smith said. Part of the problem lies with banks — both single family homes and large multi-unit apartment buildings are relatively straightforward to finance, Smith said. Two to five-unit buildings are tougher. “Because it’s a hybrid homeownership rental model, in some cases the end user is a little less clear… it falls into a gray area,” Smith said, adding thathe’s watching how the city’s PEAR pilot – Preservation of Existing Affordable Rental – plays out. PEAR, one of several affordable housing programs Emanuel announced in 2018, “provides city financial assistance for the purchase or refinance of multi-family residential buildings in exchange for affordable rental covenants over a 30-year term.”

Aldermen questioned Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to ink an exclusive deal with Lyft to operate the city’s Divvy bicycle-sharing system on Thursday — and reject a proposal from Uber to offer dockless bicycles and scooters.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel totaled up the overtime spent investigating the report by actor Jussie Smollett that he was injured in an attack he said was motivated by racism and bias. Emanuel sent the “Empire” star a bill, while a Cook County commissioner called for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to answer questions about the high-profile case.

Aldermen will get their first detailed look at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to ink an exclusive deal with Lyft to operate the city’s Divvy bicycle-sharing system on Thursday — as Uber pushes a plan to offer dockless bicycles and scooters.

The Super PAC aligned with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Forward, has quickly pumped a total of $275,000 into aldermanic races to defend allies.

Three Super PACs — which are aligned with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, charter schools and real estate interests — are on track to spend at least $1.5 million in a runoff in an effort to elect supportive aldermen on Tuesday as Chicago enters a new political era after Emanuel’s retirement.

State law defines independent expenditures as any payment made to expressly advocate for or against a candidate. That spending cannot be made in coordination with a candidate, their committee, or the independent organization’s own political action committee.

Super PACs, known as independent expenditure committees in the Illinois Election Code, may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, according to Reform for Illinois, a campaign watchdog group. Those committees can spend unlimited amounts to oppose or support candidates and issues — but are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, according to the watchdog group.

Two independent expenditure committees made big plays in the first round of voting.

Fight Back for a Better Tomorrow, which was aligned with IUOE Local 150, spent $1.2 million on ads against mayoral candidate Bill Daley in the campaign's waning days. The ads might have struck a chord — Daley unexpectedly came in third place, missing a shot at the runoff.

The Economic Freedom Alliance spent more than $200,000 on mail and a digital ad campaign against incumbent Ald. Tom Tunney in the 44th ward, but proved unsuccessful — the business owner won another outright.  

Emanuel Allies

The resurrected Chicago Forward spent heavily defending Emanuel and his allies in 2015. Even with Emanuel out of the race, it’s back, supplementing hundreds of thousands in contributions from the mayor and longtime allies Michael and Cari Sacks to allied aldermen as Emanuel’s tenure winds down.

Related: Chicago Forward PAC is back

The group received $59,000 in seed funding from another Emanuel-supporting political action committee, Progress Chicago, on Monday, followed by a $75,000 infusion on Tuesday. Emanuel and the Sacks have also been personally contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to allied aldermen and those in close races.

Ron Holmes, a spokesperson for Chicago Forward, said the political action committee had come back from the dead because there is “so much on the line for everyday Chicagoans” in the April 2 election.

“We’re confident that each of these candidates will fulfill Chicago Forward’s goals of creating high-quality school choices for families, safer neighborhoods, opportunities for businesses to grow and more good-paying jobs,” Holmes said in an emailed statement.

Although Chicago Forward’s new chair, Michael Forde, has fundraised for mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot, the group will stay out of the mayoral race, Holmes said.

Instead, it will focus on television, digital, and mail in aldermanic races in the home stretch of the campaign, Holmes said.

The group has already disclosed nearly $50,000 in digital and television spending opposing Andre Vasquez in the 40th Ward, who is running against Emanuel’s floor leader Ald. Pat O’Connor, Matt Martin in the 47th Ward, who is challenging former Emanuel aide Michael Negron, 39th Ward candidate Samantha Nugent who is facing Robert Murphy and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), who voted more frequently with Emanuel as his second term progressed.

TFW you're up twenty points and Rahm Emanuel's Super PAC comes after you. pic.twitter.com/SSOA5zU3gW

— Matt Martin (@MattMartinChi) March 26, 2019

Charter Interests

The INCS Action Independent Committee, the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’s political action committee, has taken in $1.45 million from Wheels, Inc. CEO Jim Frank and $1.7 million from Walmart heirs Alice and Jim Walton, according to the Illinois Sunshine database. The fund has more than $1.9 million on hand, according to the database.

Frank is also the chairman of the Intrinsic Network of Charter Schools, which operates a high school on the Northwest Side.

INCS has two funds active in the 2019 election — INCS Action PAC, which donates directly to campaigns, and the INCS Action Independent Committee, the Super PAC dedicated to independent expenditures.

INCS Action Independent Committee has spent more than $725,000 in the 2019 cycle so far on phone banking, mail, television and digital communications. INCS President Andrew Broy estimates independent expenditures alone will top $1 million by the end of the 2019 cycle.

After the general election, it celebrated helping “pave the way” for victories or runoffs for 11 of its 12 endorsed candidates — Ald. Joe Moore (49) was its only outright loss.

After dipping its toes in the 2015 race by spending in only two wards, the group plans to dive in fully in 2019.

“Stakes are high,” Broy said. 

Neither of the two mayoral candidates — Toni Preckwinkle nor Lori Lightfoot — “could be deemed wholly supportive” of charter interests. Both have called for a charter freeze. Preckwinkle has the support of the Chicago Teachers Union, which is unionizing several charter networks citywide.

Charters depend heavily on the local aldermen to usher zoning changes through and to support for new locations with the Chicago Board of Education.

INCS has three different categories for races, Broy said — incumbent protects, incumbent persuades and replacements.

Ald. Pat O’Connor (40) and Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) are in the “protect” category, and both are locked “in very tough races,” he said.

INCS is also looking to persuade voters to retain Education Committee Chairman Ald. Howard Brookins (21) and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15).

Ads opposing Vasquez and Lopez challenger Chicago Police Officer Rafael “Rafa” Yañez make no mention of charter support.

Several Vasquez mailers quote rap lyrics from his time in the underground hip-hop scene, describing them as “homophobic,” “offensive,” “just wrong,” “shameful,” and glorifying the domestic abuse of women. Vasquez has apologized and added a “regarding attacks” section to his website with commitments to fight for women and the LGBTQ community.



The Yañez mailers highlight comments Yañez has made against the police academy and his history as an officer. He received four complaints, including two related to illegal search. The department found those complaints either not sustained, exonerated or unfounded and no action was taken, according to the Invisible Institute's database of complaints. Yañez was not disciplined.



Broy acknowledged these issues do not relate to charter policy.

“I think we’re trying to influence the election,” Broy said. “We poll in these races, we look at what will move voters.”

 

In three other races, they are looking to flip or win open seats by electing Stephanie Coleman in the 16th Ward, Felix Cardona in the 31st Ward and Alex Acevedo in the 25th Ward.

Alds. Toni Foulkes and Milly Santiago are “bad on charters historically,” Broy said.

More than 100 canvassers will hit wards in three- or four-day shifts, Broy said.

The three “take out” race candidates are “almost all charter alums and charter parents who understand the power of a great public school,” Broy said, adding INCS will often microtarget charter households in those wards with canvassers or direct mail.

Among its questions for aldermen on this year’s endorsement questionnaire, INCS asked whether candidates would oppose future City Council resolutions on charter moratoriums.

Broy said his organization was preparing for big changes.

“Regardless of who wins, it looks like Lightfoot would win, we’re looking at weaker mayor vis-a-vis City Council,” Broy said. “We’re going to see some Council changes affecting that dynamic, that’s one big trend. Secondly, we’re fairly pragmatic in terms of what we’d like to see done by the City Council. We want to see progress made, high quality new options in schools built… we want centrists who will make the city work well for families.”

The INCS Action Independent Committee spent:

• Approximately $115,000 in the 31st Ward supporting Cardona and opposing one-term Ald. Santiago. While Cardona supports an elected school board and has sent all four of his children to Chicago Public Schools, he told the Sun-Times he is “a strong supporter of giving parents the options to take their children out of under performing schools and allowing them to use tax dollars to send them to better schools. It is a fundamental platform of my campaign. And I feel even better about that since charter school teachers are now allowed to unionize.”


• More than $110,000 defending Ald. Pat O’Connor (40) and opposing challenger Andre Vasquez. O’Connor said he does not “blindly” support charter schools, but will not turn away any good school that wants to move to the ward.


• More than $70,000 supporting Stephanie Coleman (16) and opposing incumbent Ald. Toni Foulkes (16). Coleman attended both private and public schools and pledged to “fight to make sure our youth receive the high level education they deserve.”


• Approximately $70,000 supporting Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) in his bid to hold on to his seat against Jessica Gutierrez.


• Approximately $70,000 supporting Ald. Joe Moore (49), who ultimately lost to challenger Maria Hadden.


• Approximately $60,000 supporting Alex Acevedo in the 25th Ward and opposing Byron Sigcho Lopez in the open race.


• $50,000 defending Ald. Emma Mitts (37) against Tara Stamps, a member of the Chicago Teachers Union. INCS helped Mitts in 2015 as well.


• Approximately $35,000 supporting Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) and opposing Rafael Yañez (15).


• More than $34,000 supporting Ald. Howard Brookins (21) in his bid against frequent competitor Marvin McNeil.

Real Estate Interests

The Illinois Realtors Fund — a state fund that operates with advice from Chicago members — has spent approximately $425,000 on aldermanic races this cycle, likely double what it has spent in past municipal elections, representatives said.

Its funding comes from the state, national and Chicago associations of Realtors and has roughly $725,000 on hand, according to the Illinois Sunshine database

The group opposes efforts to lift the statewide ban on rent control and a citywide proposal to increase the real estate transfer tax to pay for more affordable housing or services for the homeless, said Michael Scobey, the director of local advocacy for Illinois Realtors.

Preckwinkle supports lifting the ban on rent control, while Lightfoot has said there are other ways to address the city’s affordable housing shortage.

Realtors want city officials to allow property owners to turn garden units into affordable housing and to amend the city’s building requirements to “keep the costs down for new construction or renovation for housing that could be affordable.”

The group also supports state legislation from Rep. Sara Feigenholtz to provide a property tax incentive to owners of multi-family properties who have between 15 percent and 35 percent of units that are affordable.

Neither rent control nor a real estate transfer tax were prominent on mailers in aldermanic races, Scobey said.

The committee’s materials stick to “the issues that would be most salient or most interesting to voters in those wards,” he said. In most cases, that means mailers with positive messages and information about aldermen's biographies.




Brian Bernardoni, the senior director of government affairs and public policy at the Chicago Association of Realtors, said the group is “looking for [aldermen] we can communicate with that weren’t going to hardline, that were open to conversations on those policy matters.”

Its 2019 aldermanic questionnaire is extensive.



While the Chicago Association of Realtors PAC and independent expenditure fund operate independently of each other, Bernardoni said “there’s a level of alignment of trying to make sure we were concerned – as many business groups were – on the rise of Democratic Socialists, progressive types who were very very clear about being anti-real estate, pro-rent control. When you start off a conversation that we’re the bad guy for no reason, we’ve got to do what we can. I think it’s reflected in our spending.”

Compared to 2015, Scobey estimates Realtors “might’ve even doubled” their independent expenditure spend this year.

“I think some of the issues that have come up, candidates that we’re not supporting who favor things like rent control, there’s more of them this time around, and who favor a really steep increase in the real estate transfer tax, more of them are challenging incumbents,” Scobey said. “Some even identify as Democratic Socialists.”

The Illinois Realtors Fund spent:

• More than $65,000 defending Ald. Pat O’Connor (40) and Ald. James Cappleman (46) each before and after the runoff election.


• More than $50,000 on mailers for Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) and supporting Stephanie Coleman in the 16th Ward.


• Between $30,000 and $35,000 supporting failed 4th Ward candidate Ebony Lucas, as well as Ald. Gregory Mitchell’s (7) successful re-election bid and for Ald. Raymond Lopez (15).  


• Spent between $20,000 and $26,000 supporting Alex Acevedo in the 25th Ward, Ald. Deb Mell in the 33rd, Amanda Yu Dietrich in the 35th Ward and Samantha Nugent in the 39th Ward.

The only Chicago Republican in the General Assembly said Tuesday he plans to introduce a bill that would yank state tax credits from any production that employs Jussie Smollett as the political firestorm over the Cook County State’s Attorney’s decision to drop all charges against the actor reached Springfield.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will not ask the City Council to appoint a replacement for convicted Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) before the April 2 election.
TED COX/DNAINFO; KELLY BAUER/DNAINFO

 

A coalition of groups Tuesday called for city officials to delay plans to fuel two massive developments that will transform Chicago’s landscape with 16,000 new apartments and condominiums. The coalition wants to pause a vote on $1.6 billion in city subsidies until a study can determine whether it would “deepen inequity” in Chicago.

Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards, a $6 billion, 6,000-unit mega-project along the North Branch of the Chicago River relies on $900 million to be used for infrastructure from the proposed 168-acre Cortland and Chicago River Redevelopment Area (F2018-72).

Related Midwest’s plans for a new neighborhood between the South Loop and Chinatown dubbed “The 78” relies on $700 million to be used for infrastructure from the proposed 141-acre Roosevelt/Clark Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Area (F2018-71).

The 78 and Lincoln Yards have been approved by the City Council.

Votes to create both tax-increment financing districts are expected to take place at the April 8 Finance Committee meeting, and the full City Council could act as soon as April 10 at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s last regular City Council meeting as mayor.

The Rev. Liala Beukema, the pastor of LakeView Lutheran Church, said the area between Bucktown and Lincoln Park slated to become Lincoln Yards is “hardly blighted and not in need of a city subsidy.”

However, the Community Development Commission and the Chicago Plan Commission endorsed a report from the Department of Planning and Development that found the area was blighted with vacant buildings and a defunct steel mill.

The Racial Impact Equity Assessment would be conducted by Chicago United for Equity, a nonprofit group, that would compile data and hold community meetings.

Chicago United for Equity Executive Director Niketa Brar said the assessment would be similar to a traffic study or environmental impact report.

“Leaders and community members should understand the consequences before making a decision,” Brar said.

Related: Affordable housing becomes flashpoint in fight over Lincoln Yards, The 78 subsidies

Grassroots Collaborative organizer Marcos Ceniceros said the study is needed to determine whether the project will “lessen or exacerbate the divide.”

Only Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) joined the coalition’s news conference. He was one of 14 aldermen to vote against approving Lincoln Yards earlier this month.

Related: Lincoln Yards approved 33-14 as aldermen get personal during debate

Supporters of the projects hope their approvals will signal the final transformation of Chicago from an industrial behemoth to a city poised for growth in the 21st Century, while critics contend the projects offers only “crumbs” to the rest of the city.

During the debate during the City Council meeting March 13, aldermen who voted against the project said it would but barely put a dent in Chicago’s affordable housing shortfall or reduce the economic or racial segregation plaguing the city.

“This is the rich getting richer,” Ald. Harry Osterman said during the debate. “The North Side getting north-er.”

Both Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot have called for both projects to be delayed until after the new mayor and City Council are sworn in May 20.

Spending by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his big money allies, the Sacks family, are roughly the same levels as in 2015, but with the resurrection of the mayor-aligned PAC, Chicago Forward on Monday morning, more is certain to come in the campaign’s waning days. Plus — we’ve mapped aldermanic endorsements and have the latest on TV spending.

• Emanuel & Sacks, big spenders once again — A recent Tribune analysis of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2019 spending found the mayor’s committee, Chicago for Rahm Emanuel, made at least $620,000 in campaign contributions to 28 sitting aldermen, an average of about $22,000 per candidate. But when combined with the more than $200,000 his political allies, Michael and Cari Sacks, have personally contributed to sitting aldermen since early 2018, the average spending is boosted to just more than $29,000 per race in the 2019 cycle. Chicago Forward, a Super PAC Emanuel allies including the Sacks helped fund, spent $1.1 million on 37 aldermanic races in 2015 — averaging out at just under $30,000 per race. Emanuel allies lost 11 of those races. The PAC was resurrected Monday evening with a $42,143 digital and television ad campaign against 47th Ward candidate Matt Martin and 40th Ward candidate Andre Vasquez and supporting Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) and 39th Ward candidate Samantha Nugent. Some funding came from a $59,000 transfer from Progress Chicago PAC, a now-inactive group that ran ads touting Chicago’s educational progress before Emanuel dropped out of the race. Donors to that PAC included Michael Sacks, IBEW Local 134, IUOE Local 150 and LiUNA Chicago Laborers’ District Council.


• Where aldermanic loyalties lie in the mayor’s race — Ald. Deb Mell (33) added her name to the list of aldermen supporting Lori Lightfoot’s mayoral bid on Monday. Prefer a map? Here’s ours – Lightfoot is in green, Preckwinkle is in yellow.
  
  
  
  • With Lori Lightfoot – Ald. Anthony Beale (9), Ald. Derrick Curtis (18), Ald. Matt O’Shea (19), Ald. Michael Scott (24), Ald. Milly Santiago (31), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald Deb Mell (33), Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), Ald. Emma Mitts (37), Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), Ald. Brendan Reilly (42), Ald. Michele Smith (43), Ald. Tom Tunney (44)
  
  
  • With Toni Preckwinkle – Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. Sophia King (4), Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), Ald. Greg Mitchell (7), Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11), Ald. Howard Brookins (21), Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Ald. Jason Ervin (28), Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29), Ald. Carrie Austin (34), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35)
  
  
  
  


• Television ad roundup  — In addition to the money Chicago Forward plans to spend in aldermanic races, here are other updates:
  
  
  
  • State Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin is hitting the airwaves hard in the final week of the race for treasurer. A source familiar with the campaign’s spending says she will spend approximately $400,000 on an ad hitting Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) for his attendance rate at City Council. The ad, which follows a bio spot that ran in the general election, cites a joint analysis of attendance records from The Daily Line and WBEZ. Conyears-Ervin has spent $190,000 on TV since the beginning of the runoff, and the next buy begins Tuesday. Pawar’s campaign did not respond to a request for information about his ad strategy in the final days of the campaign. His ad, “Noise”, can be viewed here.
    
    
    
    • Related: Dueling polls shows close race for treasurer; Candidates for treasurer offer different visions for office that has operated behind the scenes
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • The 43rd Ward candidates’ battle continues in one of the city’s most expensive races and one of few wards where aldermanic hopefuls are on television. Ald. Michele Smith (43) has a new ad up on cable focused on capital improvements made to schools throughout Lincoln Park. Challenger Derek Lindblom is spending $60,000 to air two of his ads on cable: “Disruptor,” about his work in the tech sector, with Sen. Chuck Schumer, and in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office; and “Politics as Usual,” about Smith’s vote for a property tax hike.
  
  
  • Lori Lightfoot’s campaign made a $90,000 buy on Univision and Telemundo for her new Spanish-language ad featuring and narrated by Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. “Ella es el cambio que restaurara la seguridad en las calles, la excelencia en la educación y la prosperidad a todos los barrios de Chicago,” Garcia says. Translated: “She is the change that will restore safety to our streets, excellence to education, and prosperity to all Chicago neighborhoods.”
  
  
  
  


• Early voting behind 2015 — Precisely 49,661 Chicagoans have voted early in the runoff election, with 6,444 casting ballots as of 5 p.m. Monday. With a week left of voting remaining, early voting is up, as compared with this year’s general election, but down from the runoff election in April 2015. At this point in 2015, 82,507 people had participated in early voting. The 19th, 41st, 47th, 4th, and 34th wards currently lead in early voting. The wards with the lowest turnout are the 22nd, 12th, 35th, 14th and 26th. Exactly 57,743 mail in ballots have been requested, but just 6,357 have been returned so far.

Ald. Margaret Laurino’s (39) looming retirement from the Chicago City Council will close the books on one of the most enduring Chicago political dynasties — and usher in a new era of politics on the Far Northwest Side.

Laurino will leave the City Council along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who tapped her to serve as president pro tempore of the City Council in 2013 and to helm the Legislative Reference Bureau, which was designed to help all 50 aldermen craft ordinances and resolutions with “impartial research.”

But come May 20, the 39th Ward will be represented by a rookie alderman for the first time since 1994, when Laurino was appointed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley to replace her father, former Ald. Anthony Laurino (39). He was elected to the City Council in 1965.

In 1995, Anthony Laurino was indicted by federal investigators on a ghost-payrolling scheme. He died before his trial ended, but his wife, Bonnie Rhein Laurino; another daughter, Marie D'Amico; and her husband, John D’Amico, were convicted.

Robert Murphy, who ran against Laurino in 2015 and fell 350 votes short of forcing her into a runoff, had expected a rematch with the veteran Chicago politician. Instead, he faces Samantha “Sam” Nugent, an attorney and former chief of staff for the Cook County Department of Homeland Security, who was the top vote-getter in the first round of voting on Feb. 26, finishing with 33 percent of the vote. Murphy won 29.56 percent.

In 2016, Murphy was elected the 39th Ward’s Democratic committeeman over Patrick Molloy, who is now the director of government and public affairs for the Chicago Public Library. Molloy was Laurino’s pick to replace her husband, Randy Barnette, who stepped down as committeeman rather than run for re-election.

Murphy said he was running to put an end to one-family control of the ward, which includes Sauganash, Edgebrook, Old Edgebrook, Mayfair, Gladstone Park, Indian Woods, Hollywood Park, North Park and Forest Glen.

“I’m running to make sure people have a real voice,” Murphy said.

Murphy has been endorsed by several leaders of the progressive wing of the Chicago Democratic Party, including U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Chicago, and Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, former Cook County Clerk David Orr and 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack, the chairman of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus.

Murphy pledges to hold mobile ward nights in all parts of the large ward, and launch a participatory budgeting process, which would allow residents to vote on how to spend his $1.3 million discretionary capital fund, known as menu money.

“For a lot of 39th Ward residents, the city’s not working for them,” said Murphy, an architect who lives in Forest Glen with his wife and daughter, who attends a Chicago Public School.

The two other candidates in the first round of voting — Casey Smagala, director of community engagement at the Albany Park Community Center, and Chicago Police Officer Joe Duplechin — have endorsed Nugent.

Nugent also won the endorsement of the Tribune, while Murphy won over the Sun-Times editorial board.

Nugent worked as a fellow at City Hall during the administration of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and for former Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s 2006 campaign. Nugent has the support of U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, as well as state Rep. John D’Amico, D-Chicago, who is the nephew of Ald. Margaret Laurino.

Nugent lives with her husband and three children, who attend a Catholic school, in Sauganash.

While the alderman has not endorsed either Murphy or Nugent, D’Amico’s support indicates that the Laurino family is behind Nugent, Murphy said.

Nugent said she was proud to have D’Amico’s endorsement, adding he was just one of several area elected officials she asked for their endorsement. It did not mean she would be a carbon copy of Ald. Laurino. “I’m Sam Nugent,” she said.

Concerned with an uptick in violent and property crimes, Nugent said public safety would be her top priority as alderman. “We’re hitting a tipping point,” Nugent said.

Murphy agreed that more officers need to be assigned to patrol the 16th and 17th police districts, which cover some of the city’s safest neighborhoods.

“We don’t see the kind of patrols that we used to,” Murphy said, adding that he would also work to bring more resources to the 39th Ward in addition to more officers. “I will take a much more holistic approach.”

Neither Murphy nor Nugent have endorsed a candidate in the mayoral contest, and both have vowed to focus on the ward’s roads and other crumbling infrastructure while preparing for a disaster or emergency.

In addition, the rivals are both open to the legalization of marijuana as well as the creation of a casino in Chicago to raise revenue to cover the city’s looming pension bills.

But while Nugent is open to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to borrow $10 billion to start paying down that debt, Murphy said that would be an “irresponsible use of money.”

But while Murphy and Nugent agree on some issues, Murphy said the “contrast is very stark” between the two.

Murphy’s campaign slammed Nugent on Monday for accepting a $4,800 contribution from Anchor Mechanical on Jan. 14.

That violates the city’s campaign contribution limits, since Anchor Mechanical has a city contract to maintain heating and cooling units. City vendors are limited to $1,500 contributions.

Nugent’s campaign refunded the excess to Anchor Mechanical. The company has given money to aldermanic campaigns dating back to 2002, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections — with a $3,300 check dated Friday.

“Our city has been ‘For Sale’ for far too long,” Murphy said in a statement. “Large donations like this are precisely why politicians put corporate profits above community interests.”

Murphy supports efforts to expand the authority of Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to include aldermen and the City Council’s committees.

Nugent returned the excess campaign contribution after an anonymous Twitter account that has criticized her and other aldermanic candidates flagged the contribution.

Nugent’s campaign manager Morgan Macfarlane said Murphy and his supporters “continue to sling mud” rather than focusing on “the actual issues facing the residens [sic] of the 39th Ward. Samantha's positive campagin [sic] focused on public safety, improving our community, and economic development will continue and she'll remained focused on that.”

In the campaign to succeed Rahm Emanuel, candidates Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle talk neighborhoods and look for votes.

ProPublica Illinois reporter Mick Dumke looks at the state’s political issues and personalities in this occasional column.

Lori Lightfoot was running early. Most political campaigns struggle to stay on schedule, especially as Election Day speeds closer. But in the final stretch of the runoff election for Chicago mayor, Lightfoot appeared to be rolling with such confidence that her campaign started holding rallies well ahead of their announced start times.

Meanwhile, Toni Preckwinkle, fighting the perception that Lightfoot had all the momentum, showed flashes of the candor and personality many voters wish they had seen from her throughout the mayoral race.

“This has been an —” Preckwinkle paused during our interview last week before finishing the sentence: “interesting campaign.”

Chicagoans don’t have much experience with open mayoral elections — this is the first in decades that doesn’t include an incumbent or anointed heir. But it turns out that all sorts of things can happen when democracy moves in. After Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in September that he wouldn’t seek a third term, 14 candidates made the ballot to succeed him.

Because none received a majority in the first round of voting in February, the top two finishers — Lightfoot and Preckwinkle — went into the April 2 runoff.

Whoever wins will become Chicago’s first black woman mayor.

On many issues, they share nearly identical positions. Both Lightfoot, an attorney and first-time candidate, and Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board president, present themselves as progressives who will focus on safety, schools and jobs in the city’s neighborhoods. Both say they'll address the needs of South and West side communities desperate for investment as well as rapidly gentrifying areas extending from downtown where housing costs are soaring.

But voters are demanding a change after eight years under Emanuel and 22 years under his predecessor, Richard M. Daley. In response, the two candidates have tried to cast each other as part of the city’s political machine. Lightfoot has hit Preckwinkle for chairing the Cook County Democratic Party and receiving fundraising help from Ald. Ed Burke (14), who was charged in federal court in January with attempted extortion of a Burger King franchisee in his ward. For
her part, Preckwinkle calls Lightfoot “the ultimate insider” for accepting appointments in the Daley and Emanuel administrations.

To get an up-close glimpse of how the race was unfolding, I asked both campaigns if I could hang out with them for a bit. Aides to Lightfoot invited me to follow her to several get-out-the-vote stops, while Preckwinkle's team scheduled me for an interview at her campaign headquarters.

When Lightfoot arrived early for a rally at her campaign field office on West 47th Street, in the working class Brighton Park neighborhood, her volunteers and supporters were ready. As Lightfoot strode into the storefront office in a flash of green — wearing the emerald coat and green-checked fedora she’d put on for the St. Patrick’s Day parade earlier that day — dozens of her backers chanted “LO-RI! LO-RI! LO-RI!”

“We have the opportunity to do something really special,” Lightfoot told the group crowded around her, most of them Latinx younger than 30, as an aide translated her remarks into Spanish. “It’s really clear that black and brown communities are not getting their fair share of resources.”

Lightfoot then led the room in a chant of “Sí Se Puede,” or “Yes, it can be done,” a longtime activist and civil rights rallying cry.

Lightfoot’s critics on the left say her record is anything but progressive. A former federal prosecutor, Lightfoot was appointed by Daley to lead the Office of Professional Standards, which oversaw police accountability from within the department, and then was picked by Emanuel to preside over the police board, which reviews police discipline cases. She repeatedly failed to hold officers accountable for misconduct, her critics charge, with some going so far as to say she’s essentially a cop herself. Lightfoot counters that she worked to change the system from within.

“We can’t just yield the floor to people whose views we don’t agree with,” she said in a recent interview. “We’ve got to be in the room, because if we’re not, our people are always going to get screwed.”

None of that came up when Lightfoot greeted potential voters on the 1600 block of West 47th Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. As Lightfoot bought tamales from a street vendor, a beaming young mother nearby turned to her curious daughter and said, “It’s Lori Lightfoot — in our neighborhood!”

Lightfoot stepped into a supermercado, where shoppers and employees stopped what they were doing while she introduced herself and shook hands. A cashier explained who Lightfoot was to her customers.

“She’s going to be the next mayor of Chicago,” the cashier said. She laughed, then added, “Well, she might be.”

Right. This being an actual election, the voters have to weigh in first, and Preckwinkle vows it’s not over.

During much of the mayoral race, Preckwinkle has seemed defensive, evasive and scripted, even reading talking points from her notes during candidate forums. But when I sat down with her last week at her River North campaign headquarters, Preckwinkle resembled the blunt, confident politician I’d interviewed in the past — including her first two terms as county board president, when she focused on repairing county finances and addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

I suggested she had been playing defense since the revelations about Burke and his fundraising effort for her, and the campaign had not gone as she’d expected.

“That is an understatement,” she said, and then laughed.

Preckwinkle noted, as she has before, that when she served as an alderman from 1991 to 2010, she had an independent record. She was not friends or allies with Burke, who helped advance Daley’s agenda while Preckwinkle often opposed it.

But it’s not clear if that part of the story ever sunk in with voters.

“I don’t know,” she said, though “it’s what I always say.”

Voters have other concerns, Preckwinkle said. “When I go out in the communities, what people are really talking about are their neighborhoods. In Logan Square, Humboldt Park and Pilsen, I hear people say, ‘We’ve lived in this community for generations, and I’m not sure we can afford to stay here.’ On the West Side, all you hear is, ‘There’s never any investment in our communities.’ Both of those challenges have to be addressed.”

When I asked how the city would find the resources to rebuild areas in need, she — like Lightfoot — didn’t have specific answers. But Preckwinkle said her record as alderman and county board president shows she can get things done.

Both Lightfoot and Preckwinkle have said they’re opposed to current proposals for a taxpayer subsidy of as much as $1.3 billion for Lincoln Yards, a development along the North Branch of the Chicago River with 6,000 planned housing units.

Lightfoot vowed in a recent interview to hold up payments for the project if the City Council approves the subsidies before the new mayor takes office in May. Preckwinkle said she too would like to slow the project.

For now, she said, “I’m focused on April 2.”

And that’s when things get truly interesting: After months of visiting neighborhoods around the
city, the new mayor will have to start showing she can fix them, too.

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In Illinois politics, no woman is an island.

Even if she is the mayor of Chicago.

Whether the April 2 runoff election results in a Mayor Lori Lightfoot or a Mayor Toni Preckwinkle, neither woman will be able to accomplish all of her priorities for Chicago without the help of Springfield.

What’s possible, however, remains to be seen.

A Lake County judge ruled that Deerfield officials violated state law with a 2018 ordinance banning semi-automatic firearms, delighting the Illinois State Rifle Association. Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Rahm Emanuel — on crutches after knee surgery — joined forces to announce an expansion of preschool classroom in some of Chicago’s highest-need communities, long a shared passion for the two politicians.

While Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was presiding over what could be one of her last county meetings as president, Chancelor Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper, was across the building, offering his endorsement of her mayoral bid as the most qualified candidate who will “account for the police for victims of gun crime, victims of economic crime.”