4th Ward special election challenger Gregory Livingston takes a call from a volunteer for Ald. Sophia King, who asked him for his vote. (Photo: Mike Fourcher)

Updated, February 13, 2017, 10:41 a.m.

Fourth Ward Aldermanic challenger Gregory Livingston was midway through explaining why Mayor Rahm Emanuel was wrong for Chicago when his cell phone jingled. Livingston, sitting in his campaign office, put the call on speaker. The caller made a pitch, then asked, “Are you willing to support Sophia King for 4th Ward Alderman?”

Legal experts have extensive questions about the enforceability of two executive orders on immigration and sanctuary cities issued by President Donald Trump today. While White House officials are publicly threatening to revoke federal grants from cities like Chicago that fail to assist with strict enforcement of federal immigration law, the actual effect of the executive orders may be considerably different than advertised.

Ben Winick is no longer moving to a position with the Illinois Comptroller’s office and is seeking to stay in his current position heading up the City Council Office of Financial Analysis, according to City Council sources. Contacted by The Daily Line, Winick was unwilling to confirm or deny his plans, or why he is no longer moving to the Comptroller’s office, but sources confirmed his plans to stay put.

Tuesday morning, members of the Budget Committee are expected to receive a letter from Winick requesting they allow him to rescind his resignation, which was submitted last week.

Last Friday, The Sun-Times reported Winick was leaving his City Hall position to take up an analyst job with Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office.

Winick was appointed to head the newly-created office of Financial Analysis in spring 2015, after serving as as a senior advisor to former Gov. Pat Quinn and as the director of the Illinois Office of Management and Budget.

Multiple sources who work closely with the Chicago Law Department say city legal staff have been informed that Corporate Counsel Stephen Patton is preparing to leave his position as head of the department. Spokespersons from the mayor’s office and Law Department have flatly denied that Patton is leaving.

According to Daily Line sources, Patton will reportedly leave by the end of this week, or early next week. Also according to those sources, a replacement has already been chosen, and will be announced when Patton’s departure is announced.

“I’ve spoken to Steve Patton about this and he says it is simply not true,” said Law Department spokesperson Bill McCaffrey when reached for comment late Tuesday afternoon. Later that evening, Adam Collins, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Director of Communications, emailed this reporter, “This is not correct,” reinforcing McCaffrey’s statement.

Informed of City Hall’s response, Daily Line sources doubled down on their story, named an unconfirmed replacement, and reported the alleged new corporate counsel’s spouse has already found a job in Chicago.

Patton was one of Emanuel’s first appointments, in May 2011, and is one of his closest advisors. Prior to joining city government he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where he led the firm’s Litigation Management department. Under Patton’s leadership, Chicago’s Law Department earned a reputation for ferocity, adopting many practices that had long become standard in the corporate arena, such as resisting disclosure and pressing opposing attorneys as far as possible, for the sake of defending the city’s interests.

Updated: 5:24 p.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2017

As Chicago grapples with an ongoing crisis in the police department and attempts to negotiate a consent decree with the Department of Justice, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s senior staff for public safety is undergoing upheaval, creating confusion in and out of City Hall.

On the same day as the Department of Justice unveiled its findings of unconstitutional conduct at the Chicago Police Department, Mayor Emanuel’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety, Janey Rountree, served her last day at City Hall, according to multiple sources. Already, Mayor Emanuel’s other senior policy advisor on public safety, Katie Hill, left City Hall in December to work a similar position for newly elected Cook County State’s Attorney Kimm Foxx. Earlier this month, Anne Kirkpatrick, hired in June to lead CPD’s reform efforts as part of the new Bureau of Organizational Development, decamped for Oakland, California to head up its police department.

As of Monday evening, non-government legal experts who worked with City Hall on public safety issues were unaware of new public safety leadership in the Mayor’s office. That changed after The Daily Line called the mayor’s office for comment Tuesday morning.

“Right now [as of Tuesday morning], in respect to police policy stuff, there’s nobody in place. Janey Rountree and Katie Hill, who is with the State’s Attorney [Kim Foxx] now, they have yet to replace those people,” said Craig Futterman, who leads the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project at the University of Chicago. Futterman has been a legal advisor to many groups seeking police reform. “The people ostensibly in charge of police reform, Anne Kirkpatrick, there’s nobody in place for that either. Short answer is, I don’t see the folks at City Hall level. The person put in charge of overseeing police reform is gone and isn’t being replaced.”

Appearing on Chicago Tonight Monday evening, Lori Lightfoot, President of the Police Board said, “That team needs to be augmented. The person who is primarily in charge of public safety in the mayor’s staff, their last day was Friday,” referring to Rountree’s departure. “I want to know who that new team is, not one person. I want to know what the strategic vision is, and the time frame is, and what the resources are to be brought to bear to change this problem.”

“It's been public that Janey was planning to leave for several weeks,” said Emanuel spokesperson Julienn Kaviar. “Janey has been an incredible asset to the administration and the city for four years, and while she moved on to pursue another opportunity in life the Mayor is grateful that she agreed to stay on board until the DOJ report was released.”

Kaviar then explained that Jadine Chou, Chief Safety and Security Officer at Chicago Public Schools, would fill Rountree’s role in the short term while the mayor sought a permanent replacement.

Later, after publication of The Daily Line’s original story, about an hour later, Kaviar backtracked, to say Chou was never, nor will she ever be an interim senior policy advisor. In fact, there are already two senior public safety advisors in place, "We are fortunate to have a strong team in place, that includes Brandon Nemec and Deanne Millison, to advise on public safety policy until her replacement is named. Additionally, Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp has considerable experience in this area and will also assist."

Nemec has been on staff since November 2016 and Millison since December 2016. They will both hold the title of Senior Advisor and Counsel.

A quick round of calls to legal advocates who work with the city regularly on public safety issues found that Nemic and Millison have not been taking a lead role yet. Most advocates have yet to meet either Nemec or Millison.

Ed Note: The original version of this story, published at 1:52 p.m., reported that Jadine Chou would be the interim policy advisor while the mayor’s office sought a permanent replacement.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at the release of the U.S. Department of Justice's release of an investigation into the patterns and practices of the Chicago Police Department. Also pictured to left, CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson and Civilian Office of Police Accountability Director Sharon Fairley. (Credit: Aaron Cynic)

The Department of Justice’s report on the patterns and practices of the Chicago Police Department issued last Friday is an enormous beast. Not just because of its 161-page heft, but also because the problems detailed within are likely to consume Chicago’s politics and budget for years to come.

Black Lives Matter organizer Kofi Ademola speaks at a press conference calling for immediate police reforms following the release of the DOJ investigation report on the Chicago Police Department on Friday, January 13, 2017. (Credit: Mike Fourcher)

African-American community activists presented a collective yawn Friday to the results of the Department of Justice’s report on patterns and practices of constitutional violations in the Chicago Police Department. The report, in their eyes, was only a repeat of many of the findings presented last spring by the Police Accountability Task Force (PATF), and lacked force of action.

Legal advocates for police reform uniformly applauded the Department of Justice’s report on Chicago policing, but generally expressed concern that without the force of a federal consent decree, the DOJ’s calls for change would be significantly weakened.

Only a few hours after the release of the Department of Justice’s investigation on Chicago policing, aldermen began to receive briefings on the content of the report from the mayor’s office. Of those willing to speak on the record about the report so soon after it’s release, there was broad acceptance that the report’s conclusions were true, but officials hedged on expectations that reform would be coming quickly to the Chicago Police Department.

There were dozens of smart quotes and insightful comments made in the hours of interviews we conducted of community leaders across Chicago during December. Here, in raw form, is some of stronger commentary from our interviewees that did not make it into the first four articles. The comments are organized by topic.

The Neighborhood Perspective: A Five Part Report From The Daily Line

Monday, Part 1 – Community Leaders: Frustrated With Emanuel Administration, But Waiting, Hoping For Improvements

Tuesday, Part 2 – A New Group Of African American Influencers Taking The Stage

Wednesday, Part 3 – Challenges For Mayor Emanuel: Trust, Violence And Development

Thursday, Part 4 – Chicago’s Wedge Issues And Emerging Challengers

Friday, Part 5 – Their Words: Raw Comments From Our Interviews With Community Leaders

Need For Development

If you live on the West Side and look at Morgan and Madison today, versus what it used to look like, he’s not doing anything. Those people know the area was built up on their TIF money. We all know University Village, the UIC area, was built off porting our TIF money. If Rahm was serious, since they love doing bonds, why haven’t they floated a bond to get black folks to work with the unions to rehab some of these grammar schools?  Go ahead and look at William Penn Elementary’s gymnasium. It looks like it hasn’t been rehabbed since the 1950’s. They don’t think Rahm is serious. – Frank Bass, Lawndale resident and one-time 24th Ward aldermanic candidate

A lot of people think they just want to push black folks out so the yuppies have a new place to gentrify. Rahm will have to build trust with people on the West side by doing things for people on the West Side. How come he hasn’t gotten with his rich friends in Hollywood to coordinate and fund some of these after school programs. – Frank Bass

One thing people haven’t really talked about is the Infrastructure Trust. That was his big shiny startalk piece when he ran the first time against Miguel del Valle. He certainly knows how to raise money for political purposes, why isn't he raising money for the trust? People need to hold him accountable for that. What movement has there been on that?  – Far South Side Aldermanic Campaign Manager, who asked to remain anonymous.

There is a real disconnect between Rahm and these communities. When they go outside and see the crumbling sidewalks and viaducts and they hear him say how prosperous Chicago is, there is a real disconnect there. I don’t think the people in the ward are going to vote for him again unless there is drastic change. – Far South Side Aldermanic Campaign Manager, who asked to remain anonymous.

The entire piece around what’s happening in Chicago, rate increases, taxes, are shifting in Chicago, it’s not all of his fault. There has not been real commitment to invest resources in the city, like stemming the violence. Like systematic, looking at policies that are hurting these communities, like more charter schools, gentrification, businesses coming into the community like a one trick pony. He hasn’t really committed to any innovative ways to move the city forward. Here’s the perfect example for today: they create a special TIF to rebuild the Red Line on the South Side. That’s a foil for me. When there’s will, there’s a way. There has not been a will for this kind of investment. – Anton Seals, Jr., South Side organizer

This is where when people talk about institutional racism. People don’t see it, “I don’t see race, it’s just the market”. The market is based on theories and thoughts people have about the system. A culture that slowly erases what a neighborhood used to have, into whiteness. Akin to the ghetto, what people conjure up as people of color. The raising of the property tax for homeowners will spur gentrification, because young artists, white people are going to find places they can find to get more out of their money. You can start to see the fringes of Pilsen, Bronzeville. There’s no rapid run for white folks to live in all black communities. You do see some of the major projects happening in these communities, if they aren’t thought about in equitable ways, you exacerbate who gets X to improve these neighborhoods. – Anton Seals, Jr.

We’re getting hit with all of it simultaneously. Taxing people who have a chance to own something. Some of this stuff is just hitting. It’s hard to pinpoint how we’re being hit. We put a lot on our folks, who have been through a lot. We have these high expectations on us, we’re going through a lot. There’s no particular point you’ve been hit by. Failed schools, upon graduation from school, unemployment. All of this stuff is part of the disparity and emptiness on the streets of Chicago. How do we track how these guns get into the neighborhoods, how do we report on that? Which hole do we plug up first? – Karl Brinson, Executive Director, Chicago West Side Branch of NAACP

I think that people’s voices want to be heard, they want to see action based on their voices heard. They want to see policy changes from our school system, to housing policies, jobs, economics... People want to see an equitable opportunity to thrive. They want to see that downtown isn’t the only place resources are poured into. Until those challenges are met, it will be a really hard sale. This is his second term. I’m looking out my window and I’m looking at dilapidated homes, tons of vacant property, not many policy changes to address that. But then downtown I see the exact opposite. Looking out our window, we haven’t seen that become a reality yet. It’s great to have Whole Foods and all that, but he has a long way to go...Where I live, I’m around vacant schools and there’s no real strategy for how they’ll be repurposed. It’s been going on a year and there’s no plan to redevelop it. We just don’t see a push. We just don’t see it. – Ayshia Butler, executive director, RAGE Englewood

The black community has totally destabilized. It’s a shame how proud the Chicago black community has been. Embarrassing. There’s a lot of people fighting to get out. We’re very unstable. We’ll have much less of a voice in the conversations trying to figure out who the next chief executive will be. That’s a tragedy. – Rev. Marshall Hatch, pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park

People are incredibly stressed about the schools and it’s all about money at this point. Money from whom for whom. Figuring out creative ways to bring in revenue from big corporations and the richest people. Because the state isn’t funding our social compact. Thy city could have made a lot of choices. They figured out how to fund the Red Line through a TIF, but that kind of creativity isn’t coming across for funding the schools. If he could get the schools well funded and really turn around how people perceive the kids in impoverished neighborhoods. If there was some sort of belief that he was on the side of helping those schools to flourish and not just privatizing our school system. If he was going to hold corporate friends accountable to bring in revenue, in real ways, not slush fund ways, by changing tax policy, to pay for things working class people in Chicago need, that would go a long way. – Jennifer Ritter, executive director, ONE Northside

Trust Issues

That problem is that he has done little or nothing except show and tell stuff to address the issue that he often talks about. That is the distrust that the community in Chicago have in him and his administration, not just dealing with the Laquan McDonald case. That was a gutter moment in the politics of the city. It’s school closings, the policies and programs of his administration over the last several years. So there’s a large section of dissatisfied people, and then there are people who–How do you trust a mayor who suppressed crucial evidence in a murder case so he could be reelected? And he thinks he can overcome that by putting on task forces and road shows that haven’t really done anything to seriously address the problems set out by his own task force. He poses himself as some who don’t live in the South and West Side ghettos as a great social reformer who realized what his mistakes were. He did apologize, but he didn’t change anything. We still don’t trust him.There’s no trust in the African American community for him. I can speak very firmly for that. –  Frank Chapman, organizer for Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

Everyone knows if you are a Democrat and you pay attention, you know Rahm Emanuel is not a bread and butter Democrat he is a business Democrat. Southeast side is mostly blue collar, union workers, folks that are doing whatever they can to get by, and that’s not the lifestyle Emanuel is used to. – Far South Side Aldermanic Campaign Manager, who asked to remain anonymous.

What he’s done in the black communities is the biggest issue. It’s not just violence, it affects people downtown and on the North Side when a police officer shoots to kill someone, taxpayers all over the city have to pay for it. The investment in urban communities and keeping up the tale of two cities, the corruption going on in City Hall. His appointments have been horrible all around from the CPS to the superintendent of police. So many people can say, it’s not just one issue, it’s so many that Rahm Emanuel would have to battle with. He’s one arrogant guy that doesn’t listen to anyone. It’s his way or the highway. We can’t have a mayor that’s not universal enough and doesn’t listen to the issues that matter to us. – Ja’Mal Green, South Side activist

I’ve reached out to the mayor’s office. I’m ready to work. It’s time to be effective for the neighborhoods. Not give you a pass, but focus on the office and what it can do for people’s lives. The mayor’s office is working on a date, but there’s a concern with the mayor that I would attack him. I was told that. I’ve been going to my network and my neighbors, and people are discouraging me, “Let’s leave Emanuel dead in the water. Let’s not give him a chance to gain strength.” My sentiment is we need somebody at the table that has a clear sense of what we need. But people feel, anything he touches tarnishes. They feel it would be destructive for my brand. – Rev. Jedidiah Brown, South Side activist

He’s still vulnerable, in big pieces of the Little Village community, and it’s not lost that the kind of policies that Trump is advocating about immigration are not too far away from what Rahm himself was recommending to Clinton and everyone else, so he still has a lot of ground to cover there. In some of his emails, memos, to Clinton and to Obama, he’s essentially telling them immigration is third rail, if anything you need to show how tough you are on immigration, not how forthcoming you are to the immigrant community. So a lot of people here blame Obama’s, or as the call Obama in the neighborhood, the deporter in chief, that’s one of the things that’s talked about. For us, it’s a huge deal because so many people have been deported, currently in detention centers, privately run ones. There seems to be a connection to things Rahm has been saying and things Trump has advocated for. If you’re in the circles of people who are active politically, especially immigration activists, you hear that. You hear that from the DREAMers, young folks really upset about what has happened. Appreciative of DACA and DAPA but also know that a huge amount of families have been broken up and a lot of people have been put in detention centers unnecessarily. From that vantage point, and Rahm has still not shown that he understands how to deal with neighborhoods and communities. – Dion Miller-Perez, a Little Village-based political consultant who has worked on aldermanic campaigns.

I think Laquan was very telling, about how he responded politically to a deep, systemic issue. Regaining his credibility will be fundamental. I think a lot of people distrust his leadership when it comes to public schools, police accountability, housing. I think the biggest challenge he faces is his lack of credibility. A lot of opposition of people who question his commitment to neighborhoods, and his commitment to donors, close allies, corporations… funding for downtown, for tourist, for richest people, everyone else has been basically squashed. How he’s going to create equity, more sustainable, more inclusive city, is a city he hasn’t been able to answer yet. Just talking in the community, any credit. – Byron Sigcho, organizer in Pilsen, one-time 25th Ward aldermanic candidate.

Look, I think at the end of the day, to the electorate in the South and West Sides… politics is not important to them. They’re not gonna maintain this political grudge against the mayor. What they really care about is economic vitality in the neighborhoods, are there opportunities for jobs and education? And do they feel safe? If the mayor can make real efforts that yield verifiable, tangible results, that people can feel and see in their everyday lives, and experience a change. If that can happen, then I do think people will be ready to hear the mayor out as he advocates for a third term. If it doesn’t happen, people are gonna make a choice. There’s an x factor there on who the other candidate is, or who the other candidates are. It will be a tightrope, if he wants re=election he’ll have to run the tightrope, but there is a universe where he succeeds. I think it would be unseemly for anyone not to want him to succeed. I believe he is serious about trying to get inclusive growth in Chicago neighborhoods. I hope he’s successful. Whether that’s enough for him to win re-election. Lots of things at play. It’s jobs, safety, and education. But I do think that regular voters, the thing they care about most is their livelihoods. That’s jobs, education and safety. – Young leader within the Democratic party in Illinois, who asked to remain anonymous 

I think he has done a good job of regaining the trust he lost in the African American community.I think appointing Superintendent Eddie Johnson as police commissioner. Even before that, firing the previous Superintendent Garry McCarthy. The community called for his firing and he acted on that. That established some credibility. The dismantling of IRPA and bringing in COPA and extending time before his decision to have community input on that. The investment in additional mentoring in the black and brown young boys in 8th, 9th and 10th grades. The huge investment in Becoming A Man, but also all the other non-profits in the city serving that population. – Rev. Torrey Barrett, executive director of the K.L.E.O. Center and pastor in Washington Park

Tax Increases

Taxes. Our community per se, we tend to say out of trouble because of how it is back home. They teach you at young age you don’t bother them. As for my community. I don’t think policing is a major issue. A lot of our kids are home by 11 o’clock. I think people are getting taxed. Everywhere you look you’ve got a tax. I could go on and on with taxes the residents are getting. You’re going to tax people out of the city. – Majid Mustafa, 50th Ward precinct captain and restaurant manager in West Rogers Park

When you hear about the South Side or the Southeast Side, the media does not differentiate from certain neighborhoods, the good on the South Side happens in Hyde Park. You don’t think it happens over here. While I think the stigma would be, it isn’t really the wild, wild West. Like the rest of the city there are still safe moments and good things going on here. The chamber has been busy trying to talk about the good things that happen over here. Every business owner is concerned about their taxes. If they can’t see that transparent connection, they’re not going to be happy with what’s happening. – Frankye Payne, executive director of Southeast Chicago Chamber of Commerce

It’s a combination of the taxes raised by Cook County and city of Chicago. It’s especially hard for the city of Chicago because in a lot of ways a lot of people don’t understand the differences and the different taxing bodies. It comes down to, “The mayor’s raising my taxes.” But it’s not only the mayor. Outside of that we can have the conversation about whether taxes need to be raised. Most people if you look at the financial situation our city is in. Most people looking at what the situation is, they say we need to raise taxes, and at the same time our government needs to be more effective. As a government administration it would be a benefit to the mayor to really sell the public as to why these taxes are really necessary. And we should do a better job of that. Educating people to where their money is really going. – Tom Elliot, former campaign staff for Illinois GO & Chicago Forward

Violence

One of the biggest challenges that he’d have to resolve is regaining the trust out of the African-American community. The Laquan Mcdonald shooting, the reform of the Chicago Police Department and the investigation by the Department of Justice is all hovering over his [Rahm’s] head. And as long as that stuff is hovering over his head and we have these activist out here continuously marching in the city and those things are not just going away. – Richard Wooten

Violence. You know the whole thing with Laquan McDonald and the video tape. The whole thing with the city council signing off on the amount of money that was awarded to his family. And then there’s another case just recently in Mount Greenwood. Violence should be the number one priority.  – Linda Hutton, one-time 8th Ward aldermanic candidate

You know how many mentoring programs you got in the black community? As many churches as you have. As many community organizations as you have. For Rahm to go and get another group, and bring it in, it’s very paternalistic. You go get another group and bring it in and say ‘Great White Father is going to save you, we’re going to now mentor you.’ Are you kidding me? Why didn’t he give the same dollars to some people that were doing it. Enhance them, strengthen them, call this guy Phillip Jackson, Black Star Project, incredible stuff what he does. That’s all that is is a mentoring program. Give him $100,000 and see what he does with it. And I’m not talking about paying rent and run the office, and so on. Give him some money where he can go get some kids and say, ‘Let’s do this.’ Brazier’s church. He built a whole wing. Give him some money for programmatic stuff. Give Corey Brooks some money for mentoring. You’re going to give another group, that you and Barack twiddle your thumbs over, and say to these kids, ‘Read a book?’ Give me a break. – Hermene Hartman, publisher N’Digo newspaper

The whole mentoring for black children. For him to have mentoring and then in same breath to say be nice to police and hire more cops, instead of putting it to mental health and doing things to bring jobs to the community. He’s also over-policing the community. We don’t need a mayor to do that. We need a mayor to spark development in areas outside of the North Side and downtown. – Lacretia Birts, South Side organizer

With [Mayor Richard M.] Daley, he always had a buffer with the police superintendent. He’d say, “Talk to him it’s him”. Right or wrong, in the early 90’s Daley was always able to deflect it with the community. By and large he had police superintendents who were willing to wear that jacket and take that role. Terry Hillard, was the most incredible superintendent we ever had. He was masterful and still able to command the respect of rank and file. I don’t know Rahm has had that respect. Rahm is very hands on in ways Daley never was. By involving himself so deeply, he has kind of owned it. – David Doig, president, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, in Pullman

That’s his number one challenge, safety. Whether he’s talking to the black community, white ethnic communities on the outer parts of the city, lakefront people. Crime is an issue that everyone sees and worries about. Because everyone thinks something bad’s gonna happen to them. People inherently think something bad could happen in a big city. I think he’s found his topic to sidestep it. –Political consultant for aldermanic and countywide campaigns, who asked to remain anonymous

I think what he can do to be helpful is figure out what he can do to get CPD to treat communities fairly. We can’t deny that Democrats have power in big cities. It’s up to Rahm Emanuel and others in big cities to figure out how police officers can deescalate situations rather that just, bang-bang, deal with things that way. Even if it’s unpopular in the department and the FOP, that’s something he can go with to churches on Sundays in African American wards before the election to show a less dramatic arrest disparity, fewer stops of African American men. I think he has a real opportunity to do something meaningful. Whether he’s going to do that I doubt it. – North Side Democratic Operative, who asked to remain anonymous

What they’re saying now when you go to people in the barber shops and the doors: People are concerned about violence. All the gun violence is endemic of the responsibility of the people doing violence. People are realizing now that the result of what’s going on is a microcosm of all the neighborhoods across the United States. People are scared. At the end of the day, people say he’s doing the best that he can. I think the number one thing people are concerned about is safety. People feel like hostages in their own homes. Hell, I own rental properties in Chicago and I’m scared to go to them in the evenings. In Auburn-Gresham and Englewood. And I hate it. It’s a problem. I don’t even feel safe driving on the expressways at night with all the highway shootings. It’s horrible. People are smarter than that, I think. They don’t think he wears the jacket down south for those things. – Victor Robeson

Police Reforms

I thought the new police coming in would concentrate on youthful black and brown people first. That would be the priority. You can’t get these people from the suburbs to deal with what they call “rappers”. They don’t know what’s going on. If you’re from the neighborhood or if you have some cultural relationship with the neighborhood, you know the difference. You know the characteristics...

They can see, and tell and hear. Have a conversation because we’re wearing the same hoodie or pants. It doesn’t mean we’re the same kind of person. I’m just stylish. – Homer Lyons, West Side activist and construction contractor

I would go with the community police relations as a bigger issue, because we need to address first of all the lack of opportunity for young people, which is why they need to reach for weapons to protect them. If there were jobs, so we could truly address systemic racism, we wouldn’t need as many police and the billions we spend on it, because people would have jobs and regular life...Do we need people to trust police again? What you’re hearing from people in communities is the no snitching rule. I think think this is terrible, but at the same time people don’t want to talk to police because they’ve at times murdered people that are unarmed. If we go through it quick in a legitimate manner, some people see them as an occupying force and total strangers. – Union organizer, who asked to remain anonymous

Organizing Opposition To City Hall

It’s in complete chaos. I’ve never seen anything more undisciplined and disgusting. I attribute it to the older leadership not passing their batons, and now you have a bunch of charismatic young people like myself having trouble because we’re too busy fighting one another. There is this deep-rooted, deep-seated distrust of people’s motives and the benefits to them. We’ve not been able to reclaim the success of the Laquan McDonald event because now we’re concerned about who is your partner, who is going to come with you. Rather than what issue are we working on. And people can’t agree on what solution we’re working on. There’s a skepticism and paranoia that plays out in every meeting. A lot of fighting. – Rev. Jedidiah Brown, South Side activist

What you have now, people who just are speaking out. When there’s someone making sense, people support it. Right now it’s people signing off on whatever’s moving them at that time. It’s not the who, it’s the what. These boycotts, they are not called by a person, people say someone’s doing something, and I’m against that too, so I’m going to go there. They get it from social media. Not from some spokesperson. I’m there because I don’t like that, or I’m interest in that. It wasn’t a who. – Karl Brinson

I think that we are seeing the emergence of a new generations of activist leaders some of us are working to build bridges. Because I don’t think they need to be absolutely disconnected from the older leaders. So we need to be intentional about investing in new leaders. So Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project and there are several groups that are very active and have a lot of energy and are thinking strategically with that energy. And they need to be tied to more institutions and communities of color. We are seeing a new generation of leaders. Some of them very young. Probaby not connected to churches and civil rights organizations. – Rev. Marshall Hatch

Desire For New Leadership

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say that [early 2016] was the nadir of [the Emanuel] administration thus far, there would likely be still some bitterness over some of the tax hikes, many in the media thought that would be a bigger issue that it was, but the violence and presidential race clouded that out. I would imagine at the door you would have some folks who have their minds and opinions set. A lot of people who recognize this is a challenging city to run and they’re hopeful the new police officers and anti-violence measures will be successful. I don’t think people are measuring who is going run against him. People are burnt out on politics. A lot of the progressive leaders and on the North Lakefront, they are so concerned about the Trump policies on immigration, there’s an opportunity for the mayor on down to come together. You would hear quite a bit about that on the North Lakefront. – Sean Tenner, North Side political operative

First and foremost, the person [a potential challenger] has to be honest about the condition of the city’s finances, has to be honest about the conditions of the city’s finances. They have to find other ways to solve problems other than raising taxes. There has to be a way. There has to be some serious cuts some places, but not so much cuts that would hurt people. There is a lot of waste in city government. There are so many things the city wastes money on. The person doesn't necessarily have to have a solution for the problem, but at least be honest about it and say we have a problem, and be sincere about working on solving the problem and not ask the taxpayers to solve the problem when they didn’t create it. Like this pension mess, this is not a problem that was created by the taxpayers, so why are the taxpayers being asked to solve it? That’s ridiculous and it’s wrong. – Jerry Brown, President of the South Area Civic League, Worked on Dorothy Brown’s re-election

It seemed like for a couple of months there Rahm was on a roll, a gracefully introduced budget that flew threw, the police accountability report which we need to see more coming from that effort, it got done with some significant changes. He must have breathed a sigh of relief when the teachers didn’t strike. I am unwilling to predict who might take his place. I just don’t think he has come back in other significant parts of the Latino community and certainly not in the black community, and if you want to label us progressive whites, but he hasn’t won us over either. – Thom Clarke, Rogers Park activist and radio host

When Chuy Garcia stepped out to run, a lot of people thought it would be Chuy’s to win, but let’s be honest, Rahm blew him out. But a lot of people think he does an OK job. He had a lot of baggage when he came in because of his brash style. But let’s face it, when you look at it at the end of the day I have not seen noone step up at this point with alternatives they would do. With the pension, is there an alternative? With schools? It’s a difficult job to do. If somebody was going to do it, I’d like to hear alternative plans. How they can address police violence. It’s easy to say what you’re going to do, but police violence has been going on for a long time and it’s been getting worse and worse and worse. – Victor Robeson, lobbyist and former South Side constituency director for Gov. Rod Blagojevich

The Possibility of Emanuel’s Third Term

I think it’s also evident by his stance that he has had on immigration in light of the recent Trump Administration, and I think that the fear in the communities right now is that the Democrats, although as imperfect as they may be, they’re the protectors of the immigrant community. And I think that fear goes to his favor, because of his stance that he is taking with [Congressman] Luis Gutierrez and other well known Latino leaders. I think that the Latino vote would overwhelmingly go to him, as well as the African-American vote, just because of those reasons–the fears in the communities. – Manny Diaz, organizer for Arise Chicago and former campaign staffer for Rafael Yanez’ campaign for 15th Ward alderman

Today, he [Rahm Emanuel] wouldn’t win votes in my area. We have to be realistic about the fact that black and latino racism is real against each other, and if you don’t run a campaign based on healing those divisions, it’s going to be a problem. If [Jesus “Chuy” Garcia] and progressives were interested in running, they would be courting the Black vote now. If they don’t know you, they go with the devil they know. – Former Aldermanic Chief of Staff from South Side, who asked to remain anonymous.

Well, the only reason I think he will win is because there is no one out here positioning themselves to run against him. I believe he will win re-election for the mere fact that there’s no one that has been very credible or who has a name that has come out. Everyone who has a name, they’re pretty much already in their positions and I don’t believe they’re going to run against him, because they’ll lose their positions. Toni Preckwinkle, for example, I don’t think she’s going to give up presidency of the county board to run for mayor because then she loses her power in the county. So it’s one of those things that either they are going to go at it toe-to-toe and lose out on one position or they want to maintain their positions and keep the power base connected amongst one another. – Richard Wooten, one-time 6th Ward aldermanic candidate and retired police officer, organizer with Gathering Points Community Council

Right now there’s a lot of things the mayor’s got going on right now that he’s doing. Spending a lot of money in the city with his infrastructure work, increasing of youth programs in the city. So he’s directing a lot of money into communities that have been ignored. So that tells me he is going to be running for a third term, because he’s focusing in on areas that he wasn’t so popular in. And he’s focusing on areas that have a lack of trust [with him]. At this time he’s giving them some necessities to remember them by. – Richard Wooten

No, I don’t [think he would win again]. The first time when he ran, people were sick of the Daley’s and we wanted something different. He [Rahm] got in office and we were very disappointed in him. But by the same token, there were those that didn’t want to vote for Chuy. I personally backed Chuy, and then Emanuel had this whole spin that Chuy didn’t have a plan when in reality, Emmanuel doesn’t have a plan. And so we gave him another chance. I don’t think it’s going to happen again. People are very upset. He closed our schools, our mental health facilities, and he’s just not going to get a third chance to disappoint us.–Linda Hudson, 8th Ward community organizer for the “Eighth Ward Accountability Coalition”

I think there are people who have influence that in the past have gone along with the mayor and his agenda. I think this is going to be very different this time around. There are a lot of individuals that I know that have a lot of influence and they are not going to be voting for the mayor. For instance: Me. I think a lot of professionals who supported the mayor, I really do believe those professionals along with the groundswell of individuals who normally don’t get involved in politics. Those people are going to make sure he does not get elected. – Rev. Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church in Washington Park

I’m going to say something I hardly ever say, because it sounds arrogant. There are certain individuals who have the ability to bring all of those groups together. And all of them have, the one things they do have in common is broken promises by the mayor. That will be enough to unite them. They all have a common enemy from their perspective, it’s not about being friends, it’s about having a common interest. I think that will bring them together. Especially if they can see the biggest picture. There are very few people in our community at this time that can bring them together. I think if he underestimates them, it would be the biggest mistake he’ll ever make. If I were mayor, I’d take lessons from what just happened to Hillary Clinton. It is not impossible. – Rev. Corey Brooks

Rahm Emanuel came in giving this appearance that he was going to be a reformer and he fell right into the old groove. And people see that, people are tired of it, and people are sick of it. I don’t think he can solve anything. I don’t think there is anything that he can do. He has just proven himself to be a liar. It’s that simple. He has proven himself to be a liar. Okay, he came in as a reformer. There’s been absolutely no reform in city government. He ran in 2011, he ran on a platform on reform and there’s been absolutely no reform. It’s pretty sad when people are saying we wish we had Rich Daley back. That’s pretty sad. [Emanuel] has given no focus on the communities, no focus on the neighborhoods. At least Rich Daley did that. He would talk to the little people, the small groups, but Rahm Emanuel gives no credence to the little people. Nothing. If you’re not a big donor he has nothing for you. If you are not coming in talking about how you can swing thousands and thousands of votes, he has no time for you. – Jerry Brown, President of the South Area Civic League, Worked on Dorothy Brown’s re-election

I’m not going to say he can’t get any black folks to vote for him, there are still some black aldermen who publicly say they are in his corner, but I heard behind closed doors different things, but they don’t want to alienate a sitting mayor. When you’re sitting poolside having a cold beer with them, they don’t have anything nice to say about him. “I can’t make an enemy of him.” – Wendell Huston, former S. Side campaign manager.

Everyone is playing the political game, the dog and pony show. If anyone is talking right now I don’t take them seriously. I don’t take anyone seriously until I see those papers in the Board of Elections. Everyone will talk, but I won’t take them seriously. – Kevin Bailey, recently elected 20th Ward Democratic Committeeman

Highly likely he'd win (and I really don't see a scenario he doesn't run again, but it's super early) He's talking about the issues that are key/core interest points to the electorate here (schools improvements, cutting waste, reducing budgets, fixing pensions, etc). People aren't happy about paying more in taxes but can deal with it, provided they see some tangible benefits in the city. – Aldermanic Staffer from North Side, who asked to remain anonymous

I think it depends on who the candidate is going to be, but I really don’t think there’s any chance that he could win. I don’t know anymore. Trump won. I want to say I think he wouldn’t win, but I think people are so just like done. Apathetic, at this point… frustration that they might not go out and vote. I deal with workers all day and talk to them and everybody hates Rahm. I’ve not heard anybody, any workers be like, "Oh Rahm is great," especially after the shooting. That really impacted the African American community. I think there were major issues. I’m not a political strategist, but I think that people were led astray by their leaders, a lot of religious and community leaders that I think Rahm paid off and now they’re seeing what’s happened. Nothing’s coming of us… I don’t know how his re-election has impacted in a good way. – Union organizer on the city’s South and West Sides; asked to remain anonymous

People connect him with increased fees for parking their trucks. They connect him with the red light cameras, the speed cameras, people connect him with the property tax increases, the water tax increases, the garbage tax increases. This is not a wealthy ward and people feel those. They don’t feel their input has been solicited. They see CPS schools having their staffs cut. People aren’t happy. I think any challenger would beat Rahm emanuel in the 12th Ward. Any latino challenger would mop the floor with him. – Pete DeMay, a one-time aldermanic candidate who is now active in the 12th Ward Independent Political Organization (IPO)

The short answer is no. The longer answer is it depends on who runs against him, not everybody can beat the mayor, even today, but he’s certainly vulnerable. If it was some of the other contenders, it would be true. Tom Dart, I think Rahm would lose. Rahm is not the Rahm he was during the election in terms of strength. And even in the election, his support was wide but not deep. That was proven in how fast the black community turned on him once Laquan came out. Black community was a big part of his winning coalition. He basically did very well, incredible numbers on lakefront, might not have done as well in 48, 49, but besides 49th ward, 48th ward was more ambiguous, I think he was winning 80, 89% in 42,43, 46, incredibly well with more affluent whites, lakefront whites, Republicans, also very well with African Americans. Chuy also did better with working class, bungalow belt types… than he did in lakefront….Problem I’ve seen with Rahm is long term residents vote. It’s a long term voter. If you go to changes in neighborhoods… a lot of the people who vote are long term residents, residents who are hipsters, not those that have bought a town home in bucktown, they vote. Hipsters, college students, those type of people are more transient. He’s favored newer residents to the detriment of the older residents in terms of taxation policy, bike lanes… the way he did it is horrible for traffic accidents, we’re not Copenhagen or the netherlands. THe other thing about Rahm he didn’t realize, Daley did this too, he was a dictator, but he also gave things. There was patronage. Contracts, brick and mortar things, a library, a park. Some of those are the reason we have an economic problem, but that also had to… Rahm isn’t giving anything, he thinks everyone will go along. Even his allies will confidentially, quietly tell you that he doesn’t get it. He’s not Daley, he can’t ram things down people’s throat. – Frank Avila, a Mexican-American attorney who lives in Pilsen

Yes [he could win a third term]. Based on the landscape, potential competitors. Based on his ability to raise money, based on the fact that he’s weathered a storm unlike any politician. When the Laquan McDonald video came out, people were talking about the next mayor. Four months later people said he might run again, two months later it was, “He’s going to win.” I don’t know how anybody could go from that low to front runner without some kind of skill set. – Craig Chico, executive director, Back of The Yards Neighborhood Council

As he attempts to unify the city and rebuild trust, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is encountering a number of wedge issues he’ll need to overcome if he wants a third term, say community leaders across the city. From the recent election of Donald Trump as president to the upcoming gubernatorial race in 2018, these wedge issues will likely intensify in the years leading to the 2019 mayoral race, forcing Emanuel to make new allies and tough political choices.

The next municipal election is still more than two years away, tying Chicago’s destiny to Mayor Rahm Emanuel until 2019. But for many community leaders throughout the city, continuing problems with crime and police reform and a lack of equitable development are causing people to lose patience with his leadership. Increases in property taxes and fees have well-to-do parts of the city grumbling more than before. And many black community leaders are still so alienated from Emanuel following the Laquan McDonald video release that they’d rather have nothing to do with him.

Since taking office, Mayor Emanuel has faced a series of bad or worse choices: to balance the city’s books, he has to increase revenue through taxes and fees, or cut government services. To bring accountability to law enforcement, he has to balance scrutiny of the police department without further jeopardizing morale among the rank and file–who also feel overburdened by the city’s crime wave.

“I think Chicago crime is on the top of mind for every resident… whether they live in River North or Englewood,” said one young Democratic politico who asked to remain anonymous. “I think a lot of people are hoping that not only will we turn the crime around in the neighborhoods, gang violence and whatnot, but that we will build trust between police and communities on both sides. I think if you talk to mothers of Englewood, folks who are in church on Sunday, who are living in the communities, they want jobs, they want to be able to go to work, go to school, feel safe in their community for themselves, their children, their families. Right now they don’t feel safe.”

The Neighborhood Perspective: A Five Part Report From The Daily Line

Monday, Part 1 – Community Leaders: Frustrated With Emanuel Administration, But Waiting, Hoping For Improvements

Tuesday, Part 2 – A New Group Of African American Influencers Taking The Stage

Wednesday, Part 3 – Challenges For Mayor Emanuel: Trust, Violence And Development

Thursday, Part 4 – Chicago’s Wedge Issues And Emerging Challengers

Friday, Part 5 – Their Words: Raw Comments From Our Interviews With Community Leaders

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This issue impacts those communities the mayor has lost most credibility in. Those young mothers in Englewood, that politico said, “feel endangered by the gang violence, and they feel targeted, discriminated against” by police officers too often. The mayor has to negotiate a difficult situation: fight crime with the help of a police department that feels unsupported by the Mayor, in neighborhoods where trust in both the police and the mayor are low.

“His number one issue now is the police department, right behind that is CPS [Chicago Public Schools]. The biggest hurdle is the police-involved shootings, and so-called reform of the police department,” said Richard Wooten, a retired Chicago police officer and one-time 6th Ward aldermanic candidate.

“I think if the mayor is able to fully reform the police department before the next election, he has a good chance of winning reelection. Short of that, in a pool of weak candidates, he will get re-elected,” added Wooten.

“I think for the most part, people are going to be pretty unhappy,” one anonymous consultant for aldermanic and countywide campaigns said. “People don’t like taxes. Doesn’t matter if the purpose is to stabilize government. People inherently distrust when they say they’re raising taxes to help keep government going. A lot of people see Chicago as a body of government that has wasted a lot of money.”

These observations are the result of dozens of interviews The Daily Line conducted of neighborhood-level political leaders across Chicago. During December 2016, hours of interviews of pastors, not-for-profit leaders, former aldermanic campaign staffers, activists, precinct captains, fundraisers and ground-level organizers were held over the phone and in person.

Rising Violence & Mistrust of Police  

More than anything, demands to stem the city’s wave of violence and to visibly reform the Chicago Police Department overshadow any other concerns among Chicago’s community leaders, especially those in largely black and Latino wards.

“That’s his number one challenge: safety,” that anonymous campaign consultant said. “Whether he’s talking to the black community, white ethnic communities on the outer parts of the city, or lakefront people, crime is an issue that everyone sees and worries about. Because everyone thinks something bad’s gonna happen to them, living in a big city.”

Fear of crime is pervasive in minority communities, because violence has pervaded every element of daily life. That fear is compounded by a general distrust of the police, says Asiaha Butler, Executive Director of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE). “I think the police piece is very prominent in Englewood. We have a large amount of violent cases still happening. It doesn’t mesh really well. You’re driving down the street and you can get stopped, but violence still occurs in our area.”

“I was in the gym the other day, and a guy was talking about how in the Englewood area he was emptying his garbage and found a crate of guns–A crate of guns! Just left in the alley. Now this crate of guns was for those guys on the street killing each other,” said Homer Lyons, a former West Side organizer and now a construction contractor.

Leaders outside of black South and West Side communities are concerned about crime too, but their concern is more existential, usually linked to concerns about not receiving their fair share of police protection. As one aldermanic chief of staff from the Northwest Side who spoke on the condition of anonymity explained, “All it takes is for one shooting and people feel like our neighborhood is falling apart and that we don’t have enough police.”

“People always say crime is one of their top concerns. There’s places in the city, where you ask them what do you mean? They say, ‘My car was stolen,’ something specific to them. In other parts of the city, they just have a sense that crime is bad, that something may happen to them,” said Carl Nyberg, who leads Northside Democracy For Action, a grassroots organizing group. “Crime is also a codeword that whites use to say ‘I’m uncomfortable with the number of blacks and people of color in my community.’”

“The worst trend is spreading of crime into the Northwest and Southwest Side neighborhoods that didn’t get it in the past. I don’t think there’s the same sense of security there was ten, twenty years ago,” said Southwest Sider and journalist Ray Hanania.

“Crime has been going through the roof. Murders on Devon, this sort of stuff was unheard of. We’ve never seen this before,” said Majid Mustafa, a 50th Ward precinct captain and restaurant manager. “Residents are asking, what plan do you guys have to not help, but stop and get the crime down? As of right now, I don’t think there’s a real plan. Sure the mayor’s got his plan of hiring 1,000 police officers to man the city, but I think people forget that’s barely going to keep up with retirement.”

“We were down to one car in the entire 41st Ward,” said 41st Ward Chief of Staff Chris Vittorio. The ward is home to a significant number of police officers and firefighters, and is generally considered a safer district, but many noticed the lack of visible patrol presence, he said. “This blew up on social media. That’s another thing that now our resources are being sent elsewhere in other districts where crime is uncontrollable, and [residents] feel like, ‘Why aren’t we getting resources?’ I believe 41 is seventh on list for [the amount of] property taxes they pay out of 50 wards, but they’re last on the list for officers, even though they’re the bigger district.”

Robert Murphy, the Democratic Committeeman of the 39th Ward, said Northwest Side aldermen had been lobbying for more police for a while before the Mayor pitched adding 970 officers to the force. “I don’t know when those officers are supposed to come online. For Emanuel, and this is like everything he’s ever talked about, the devil is in the details. He rolls out this big promise, and two or three years down the road, it only saved us half as much money or made us back half as much [as was initially promised],” he said, pointing to the city’s take in the parking meter deal. He says there are more non-violent crimes like robberies and burglaries in the neighborhood, and there have been more shootings than in the past.

Mayor Emanuel bears more of the burden for fixing crime problems than his predecessor, some argue. There’s a sense among community leaders that Emanuel is more personally involved in the police department, said David Doig, president of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, a nonprofit developer in Pullman and Roseland who also worked in the Daley Administration.

“With [former Mayor Richard M.] Daley, he always had a buffer with the police superintendent. He’d say, ‘Talk to him, it’s him’. Right or wrong, in the early 90’s, Daley was always able to deflect it with the community. By and large, he had police superintendents who were willing to wear that jacket and take that role. I don’t know Rahm has had that respect. Rahm is very hands on in ways Daley never was. By involving himself so deeply, he has kind of owned it.”

Owning the issue of crime and police reform has become a two-edged sword for the mayor. While it allows citizens to draw a direct line to him for problems, it also gives him a boost when things are fixed, says Rev. Torrey Barrett, a pastor in Washington Park and the Executive Director of the K.L.E.O. Center.

“I think appointing Superintendent Eddie Johnson as police commissioner [added credibility]. Even before that, firing the previous Superintendent Garry McCarthy–the community called for his firing and he acted on that. That established some credibility. The dismantling of [the Independent Police Review Authority] and bringing in [the Civilian Office of Police Accountability] and extending time before his decision to have community input on that. The investment in additional mentoring in the black and brown young boys in 8th, 9th and 10th grades. The huge investment in Becoming A Man, but also all the other non-profits in the city serving that population” all helped with the mayor’s perception around crime and prevention, said Barrett.

But close behind violence and police reform concerns, the city’s record property tax increases and new fees are drawing attention–often in economically challenged communities as much as in wealthier North Side neighborhoods.

“People connect him with increased fees for parking their trucks. They connect him with the red light cameras, the speed cameras. People connect him with the property tax increases, the water tax increases, the garbage tax increases,” said Pete DeMay, a one-time aldermanic candidate who is now active in the 12th Ward Independent Political Organization (IPO). “This is not a wealthy ward and people feel those. They don’t feel their input has been solicited. They see CPS schools having their staffs cut. People aren’t happy.”

“Hey, if you’re going to squeeze water from a stone, if you add taxes, we want to see something for it. We don’t see it in the 12th Ward. In McKinley Park, Brighton Park, Little Village… we’re not seeing the change,” he said.

“In 41, they feel that they’re taxed to death and it never ends. It’s not so much the continual taxes and fees, it’s just they feel they don’t get anything for their money,” Chris Vittorio said. “The condition of streets… we can’t put a dent in what needs to be done. Not only are they getting an increase [in taxes], they don’t feel like they’re getting a return.”

Taxes are a big issue in the 25th Ward as well, according to former aldermanic candidate Byron Sigcho, who is still an organizer in a gentrifying Pilsen. “Not only increases across the board, people are feeling pressures of water and sewage bills, the cost of living has gone up dramatically. In Pilsen in particular, home prices have gone up dramatically. Taxes have gone off the roof because of assessments.”

The city’s new property taxes and water fees were adopted to pay long-ignored (and compounding) pension debts. But unlike other city revenue increases, there’s no tangible benefits for citizens to see, only filling in a deep financial hole created by past mismanagement. Water rates and property taxes will both continue to increase–according to the consumer price index (CPI), and to match actuarial needs in the city’s police and fire pensions.

But in the eyes of some community leaders, Mayor Emanuel has not and still is not doing enough to convince residents that they’re getting something in return for their tax dollars. Even though almost all understand Chicago’s poor fiscal position, most residents just don’t understand their increased taxes are going to pay long-standing debt.

“A lot of people feel water isn’t billed fully. You go the Southwest Side, we’re paying 100%. And what do we get for it? Crime is spreading all over the place,” said Ray Hanania.

“It’s more to me a question of education, but people that aren’t really involved can’t find the tangible things the mayor has done for us, but the majority of people just don’t understand and aren’t aware of how those things work,” said Frankye Payne, Executive Director of the Southwest Chicago Chamber of Commerce. “Every business owner is concerned about their taxes. If they can’t see that transparent connection, they’re not going to be happy with what’s happening.”

But the mayor, like he did in the 2015 campaign, has an opportunity to bill himself as the city’s fiscal steward in 2019, according to Dan Shomon, a political consultant who has worked on aldermanic, county, legislative, and three of President Obama’s campaigns. “The criticism against the mayor has never been that he’s a poor fiscal manager, it’s been his responsiveness,” he said. With “CPS on brink of financially disastrous situation, it’s a good chance for the mayor to show off fiscal skills.”

Desire For Development & Critiques of TIFs Loom Large

Chicago is in the middle of a building boom, making gains not seen since before the Great Recession. There’s a record number of construction cranes and building permits, mostly within the city’s central business district, but the building upswing hasn’t hit predominantly low income areas, where boarded up buildings and vacant lots are still common.  

Since taking office in 2011, Mayor Emanuel has contended with charges of “Two Chicagos”, where the majority-white North Side and downtown areas receive the vast majority of development and city resources, while the minority South and West Sides receive short shrift. Perceptions that the fifth floor cares more about improving the city’s downtown–the Mayor often touts Chicago is the number one city for corporate relocations and foreign investment–looms large among many organizers and community activists who also describe the city’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) system as a mayoral slush fund, and contend many large scale projects in low income areas are more ceremonial than substantive.   

“If you grow up in West Englewood or on the Southwest Side, Gage Park or even Archer Heights, and you go downtown, it’s like, man, they’ve spent a lot of money. That’s nice, that’s sweet, but it’s just now that we’re getting viaducts repaired after decades of neglect,” said Dion Miller-Perez, a political organizer and consultant based in Little Village.

“The number of cranes up, that’s true, it’s some testament to the downtown boom. That’s the disconnect, said Craig Chico, Executive Director of the Back of The Yards Neighborhood Council. “But [Mayor Emanuel has] been talking about that since the first term, that he wouldn’t be a mayor of the tale of two cities. Is it working yet? It’s not working like anybody wants it to.”

“If we could write the Tale of Two Cities again it would be Chicago. North Side: downtown, Michelin star places, that’s one part of Chicago,” said Frank Avila, Jr., a Southwest Side activist and frequent office-seeker, but “I see a ton of homeless now. I see a lot of hurt. I think unemployment in Chicago is very high. Foreclosures are high. Loans are still not being met. Bankruptcies are high.”  

“Density drives development, but with so many single family units, we’re not made for that kind of density [in Southeast Chicago]. So how do you create commercial projects and programs for businesses that work here? We haven’t really solved that issue. That’s one of the things I want to personally spur with the city of Chicago,” said Frankye Payne.

Regularly, Emanuel and his team roll out new development plans, ranging from the Method factory in Pullman, a new Whole Foods Distribution Center, a massive capital program for streets and sewers, strengthened affordable housing requirements, ribbon cuttings at parks, businesses, and initiatives, and plans to modernize and expand the city's busiest CTA line.

To address the large swaths of city-owned vacant land, the city rolled out a program that sells those lots to neighboring homeowners or businesses for $1, or adjacent lots for a low, negotiated price. Since its inception in 2014, more than 550 lots have been sold in the Greater Englewood area, East Garfield Park, Austin, Roseland and Pullman under the Large Lots program. And in November 2016, the Emanuel Administration announced it would expand the program to include more than 4,000 lots in other South and West Side communities.

“He is going overtime to bring developments to the black community, many people see this as too little to late,” explained Wendell Hudson, a former reporter and campaign manager for Richard Wooten’s aldermanic campaign in the 6th Ward. “You’re doing it now because you think you need us, but when you thought you didn’t need us, particularly with the schools, it’s too little too late.”

On the West Side, which still shows visible scars from the 1968 riots after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr, “We never fully recuperated,” said Karl Brinson, Executive Director of the NAACP West Side Chicago Branch. Many buildings burned in those April riots were never rebuilt and looted businesses were boarded up. “The West Side never replaced stuff after that. Lawndale and Garfield [Park] have the highest number of vacant lots in the city. We never recuperated… We just didn’t get here today. We have been suffering trying to get on par, we never caught up. Those buildings and businesses never returned. That has an impact, mental and physical on generations… Some people say God left the place a long time ago.”

“I’m trying to think how can we include these communities in the investment portfolios of the flow of capital in the city. I’m in West Garfield Park,” said Rev. Marshall Hatch, pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. “We have here the least number of building permits of any neighborhood area in any one of those in the city. And correspondingly, there’s lower life expectancy and there’s higher infant mortality and lower employment and lower income and losing the most population. Thirty percent of housing stock is unoccupied. It’s also ripe for development. Vacant lots… If you focus on the weakest, everything flourishes from there.”

Mayor Emanuel has made gains to address the disconnect during his second term in office. In addition to those major projects listed above, his administration has designed a new system to link downtown development to some of the city’s poorest areas, created a new Community Catalyst Fund, and revamped the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, a private-public partnership aimed at offsetting the cost of infrastructure improvements.

Designed by Department of Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman, a former zoning attorney with DLA Piper, the city’s new Neighborhood Opportunity Fund is one of the most significant changes made to the city’s zoning code in decades, and could lead to substantial catalytic projects in some of the city’s most underserved areas. The fund collects fees from developers who want to add more density and height in downtown projects than would be allowed under the zoning code, was designed to use that money to finance projects in low income, investment deserts

The fund has already collected millions of dollars in fees from major downtown development projects, like the team building McDonald’s new corporate headquarters in Fulton Market. But it has yet to invest that money in any projects. Downtown alderman Brendan Reilly (42) raised concerns that it would be nothing more than another mayoral slush fund, while South Side alderman raised concerns it would be used as a political tool to reward aldermen that side with the mayor.

Similarly, the city’s TIF system, created specifically to spur development in blighted areas of the city, remains a sore subject for many of those interviewed for this series. Although the critiques are often hyperbolic–some people interviewed tended to inflate TIF subsidies provided to developers or accused the entire system of siphoning away property tax revenue they believe should go to Chicago Public Schools–many perceive the TIF system as opaque, and a pot of money the city uses to subsidize projects in areas that don’t need incentives. One project mentioned frequently: a $55 million subsidy to fund development around DePaul’s new sports arena.

“One institution. And he’s proposing to give $100 million dollars to 23 communities, and that’s going to take up a third of the population of Chicago,” said Jerry Brown, president of the South Area Civic League, referring to the new Community Catalyst Fund, in which the city will invest $100 million over three years. The fund will in turn invest in other funds that invest in lower income areas. “That does not really pan out to be as equitable, it doesn’t pan out to be fair. It’s not going to actually be a textbook economic development.”

“His investments with TIF funds are criminal,” added Brown. “The whole TIF plan was brought about by the state to help impoverished and deprived communities. None of that money is going toward that, it’s all going downtown.”

“We don’t feel like the city has our interests at heart. It feels like our well-being is largely being ignored,” said State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-39), a recently-elected official that echoed common concerns he hears from Northwest Side residents. “They can’t trust city government to give equitable opportunities to people while nickle and diming people while turning a blind eye for using our TIF funds.”

Until these communities see a steady stream of tangible development projects, the perception that that the Emanuel Administration “doesn’t care” about poor people will remain a dominant issue in the next mayoral race. And it’s likely to intensify, as many interviewed see economic development and the city’s crime surge as part and parcel: no developer would dare invest in a neighborhood no one wants to visit.

There is a “sense of lawlessness when order breaks down” explained Rev. Hatch. “That affects development, investment. All of that together affects quality of life of families, creates a sense of desperation. People not feeling invested in where they live, they’re trying to get out. It’s very difficult to live in this kind of environment.”

“You go to the South Side of the city, West Side, it’s a different city, it’s a different place.” said one union organizer, calling for Emanuel to establish a larger economic vision. “The violence in this city is out of control, but it’s not like, “Oh, we need to get guns off the street.’ No, you need to solve the problem of poverty. It’s the root cause of so many issues in our city. If we could address them in real ways and not put bandaids on them, we’d have a different city.”

Gentrification Fears

With every good deed comes suspicion of an ulterior motive, our sources said. While there has been development in once-impoverished neighborhoods like Pilsen, Bronzeville and East Garfield Park, some community leaders see the changes as concerning. Labeling it “gentrification”, there are worries the development will only bring white, wealthy residents and reduce the original character of their majority-minority neighborhoods.

Emanuel’s administration has not done a good job of engaging community members to inform them of how development will improve and stabilize the original character of their communities, says Lawndale resident and former aldermanic candidate Frank Bass. “A lot of people think they just want to push black folks out so the yuppies have a new place to gentrify. Rahm will have to build trust with people on the West side by doing things for people on the West Side.”

“You can start to see the fringes of Pilsen, Bronzeville. There’s no rapid run for white folks to live in all black communities. You do see some of the major projects happening in these communities, if they aren’t thought about in equitable ways, you exacerbate who gets X to improve these neighborhoods,” said South Shore activist Anton Seals, Jr.

Byron Sigcho said the increased assessments in Pilsen have squeezed landlords and tenants out. “How [the mayor’s] going to create equity, a more sustainable, more inclusive city, is a question he hasn’t been able to answer yet.”

And then for some, there’s just flat out suspicion of any development motives, according to Mark Carter, a West Side activist. “In North Lawndale near the Center Space movie studio, there are people coming in that live near the movie studio. Where they work, where they play, is where they stay. They’re looking to create this model in communities like North Lawndale where they work. Sports lodges and clubs on Ogden Avenue.”

Restoring Trust

Repeatedly, black community leaders from across the city, even those who openly support Emanuel, told us that the Mayor lost the trust the African American community by first closing schools that were the bulwarks of their communities, and then mishandling the Laquan McDonald video release. They point to the lengthy, and still incomplete, rollout of police reforms, and public comments on the issue, like his prime time public address in October on the city’s surge in violence, and question his sincerity.

“The biggest challenge is for people to look at [Mayor Emanuel] and believe he is genuine. Even when he cried on TV about the whole situation of people dying [during his speech at Malcolm X College]. A lot of activists took it as a joke. ‘He’s not really crying for real.’ I don’t know what it would take for him to gain respect,” said Melanie Brown, an activist and talk radio producer.

“There’s a growing awareness in our community of how much things like police violence impact people with disabilities. A lot of people of color being killed by police are those with disabilities, including Laquan McDonald,” said Adam Ballard, the Advocacy Manager for Access Living, a disability group. “Police violence is an issue that impacts us. A lot of communities are underwhelmed by the mayor’s response as a whole on that issue.”

“Restoring trust. That’s the biggest. The first year he was in office he made the decision to close fifty public schools and you know, it may have been the right decision to make, in terms of–were those schools being actually utilized? Were they vacant? Does it make sense to consolidate schools when you have a public school budget that’s severely in deficit? What he did wrong was not having community buy-in and trust before making that decision,” said Tom Elliot, a former campaign staffer for the pro-Emanuel super PAC, Chicago Forward.

The famous “sweater commercial” has become a cultural touchpoint for many Emanuel opponents. Once known for its personal appeal, for some it has become an indication they were being sold a false bill of goods.

“I think it will always be difficult for him to be the cashmere sweater leader; I think the central problem is trust. I don’t know how he gets over that. In my estimation he’s not come close to offsetting the trust factor,” said Thom Clark, a Rogers Park activist and radio host.

“Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on you. The African American community gave him a second chance. He wore the sweater in the video, but it hasn’t brought anything to the benefit of the black community. We have suffered way more,” said Rev. Jedidiah Brown, activist and pastor of the Chosen Generation Church in Woodlawn.

But some, like Rev. Torrey Barrett, think Emanuel has turned a corner when it comes to trust.

“I sit on a lot of round tables, I sat at one hosted by [U.S. Attorney] Zach Fardon yesterday, the new State’s Attorney [Kim Foxx] and the police commander [Eddie Johnson] was there, and the rest around the table were youth from the South and West Sides. And we were just listening to those people, trying to learn how can we make sure they have a better future. Just by what we heard from that table alone, and hearing their stories of police interactions prior to police interactions prior to the Laquan McDonald video and their interactions after shows there’s been some change and improvement. And I think the challenge now is to go a little bit above and beyond that.”

There’s a growing new political power infrastructure in Chicago’s African American communities. Led by young activists in their teens and early twenties, it is characterized by coordination through social media, management by individuals rather than organizations, and strengthened by a network of people fed up with Chicago machine politics. This network of protesters, as many have told The Daily Line, could play a critical part in 2019, if only they were less fractured, and more concrete in their demands.

While Mayor Rahm Emanuel waits to announce his replacement pick for City Clerk Susana Mendoza, practically every Latino politico in Chicago has some piece of the rumor mill declaring their front runner status. And since Clerk Mendoza will be sworn in as Illinois Comptroller Mendoza on Monday, December 5, it seems likely Mayor Emanuel will make and announce his choice soon.

A Cook County Chancery Court judge ordered an additional hearing for one count and promised rulings next month for five others regarding a preliminary injunction charging the City Council has repeatedly violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA). Plaintiffs Andy Thayer and Rick Garcia charge they and other protesters were kept from attending the May 18 and June 22 City Council meetings because city employees packed the Council gallery, preventing members of the public from getting in. Monday’s hearing was a follow up to one held in October.

A group of O’Hare Airport workers voted to walk out on the job sometime during the holiday season, says a spokesman from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1. The workers, which are employed by five companies contracted by airlines and the city, are not part of a collective bargaining unit, but are threatening a walkout as part of a drive for a $15-per-hour minimum wage and better working conditions.

In a mere fifteen minutes, the Workforce Development Committee approved a collective bargaining agreement for the city’s non-emergency public safety personnel, although a third of the time was taken up by testimony from public hearing gadfly George Blakemore.

An independent analysis of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed 2017 budget from the Council Office of Financial Management (COFA) is generally supportive of the mayor’s proposals, with only a few minor critiques, according to a draft obtained by The Daily Line. The COFA report has been held, awaiting Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34)’s approval. Because Austin has not reviewed the report, it was held for a Wednesday early morning release, the day of the budget vote, leading some aldermen to question the value of the report at all.

UPDATE: Only a few minutes after The Daily Line spoke with COFA Director Ben Winick, he emailed the report to Council members.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel got thirty minutes of airtime to answer a series of softball questions on  dozens of Chicago radio stations last night. The first ever “radio roadblock” hosted by former news anchor Bill Kurtis was simulcast across 47 radio stations commercial-free during the 6:00 p.m. drive-time half hour. Kurtis, who has recently become better known for light documentaries on the A&E cable channel than his 1970’s hard-hitting newsman days, posed seven easy questions from Chicago-area residents, and sometimes lent a sympathetic ear to the Mayor during the interview.