Rahm Emanuel: C/D? (probably going to be a Chicago politics complaint thread too)

Two positive Garcia articles:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/03/the-rahm-slayer.html
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/04/rahm_emanuels_political_nightmare_jesus_chuy_garcia_tells_salon_why_hell_oust_the_mayor/

Also, I don't know who this woman is, but she goes off on Willie Wilson:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/March-2015/Hermene-Hartman/

some of garcia's answers strike me as a little weasely (sp?) but nobody said he wasn't a politician. he's certainly no visionary, but he seems like a reasonably honest guy with many of the right instincts, which puts him several miles ahead of rahm.

Sort of how I look at it too.

I hope he comes around on a lot of issues where his primary stance is "not Rahm", the transportation issues in particular. Probably one of the best things Rahm did was the Complete Streets Design Guidelines and pursuing a Vision Zero initiative. Unlikely Garcia will take as bold of a stance until after the elections to keep the votes of the cranky drivers and NIMBY's that would oppose such initiatives.

yeah, rahm has done some good things as much as I'm loathe to admit it. i agree that Garcia would be wise to acknowledge them, while still hammering the point about Mayor 1% (which is completely true). it would make him seem like the adult in the room.

Garcia really pandering hard to the anti-RLC crowed on twitter today. Says that the cameras will come down on day one of his administration because he has seen new evidence that they have nothing to do with safety. New evidence that he fails to cite.

yikes

will that secret detention facility come up in the election? in the debate? will there even be a debate?

Three debates:
March 16, sponsored by NBC-5 and Telemundo in conjunction with the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and the Harris School of Public Policy.
March 31, on the WTTW-TV Channel 11 program, “Chicago Tonight.”
A date to be determined on WFLD-TV Fox 32.

Meanwhile, not much local reporting on the detention facility:
http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/guardian_homan_square_chicago_media.php

https://preaprez.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/rahm-screams-at-mental-health-activists-youre-gonna-respect-me/

Ugh.

i have no doubt that rahm is an arrogant, bullying shitheel, but fred klonsky is kind of a professional cranky/shit-stirrer and i'd take his account of things with a grain of salt (or two).

crank, i mean

Another Not Rahm policy from Garcia, wants to shorten the school day that Rahm lengthened.

I don't have a strong opinion on this since I do not have a school aged child at this time. I'm sure I will 3 years from now.

Someone tell me the positives and negatives for kids/parents/teachers.

I know there's a lot of info out there about how a later start is much better for kids (which I am obviously all for) but I don't know about a longer school day.

teachers go home and grade/plan stuff for hours after school, so it's not like they're working 8-hour days anyway. adding to the school day seems kind of over the top to me.

http://www.wbez.org/page/education-question-4

Interesting that most of the candidates in the last election were for the longer school day. Except for CMB, who is vague as hell about it.

Obviously Garcia, who is backed by CTU, is going to have a different opinion.

A very cursory websearch suggests that IL elementary school kids have the shortest school day in the nation (5.something hours) and that is not enough for a "rich curriculum."

something something stop teaching to standardized testing eyeroll something something

i would agree w/ getting the illinois school day in line w/ other states

Garcia's red light camera angle must be working, Rahm announcing "reforms".

I'm so turned off by both candidates at this point. I just need to stop paying attention until they move on to another issue. What's next? O'Hare noise?

Property tax, I guess. Doesn't directly effect me, unless it grumps out my landlord enough to raise the rent. Whatever, got to pay for these pensions somehow.

Read today that it's only 20k per Chicago resident to fix the pension crisis. We can do this! I'll set up a gofundme.

Everyone should just take the year off and donate their salary to the city. We can spend the time filling potholes pro bono.

I'd prefer to repaint crosswalks. If I can get subsidized childcare and an interest-free suspension of my student loans, I'd consider it. I could use some time off.

Bummed today about the two new people Rauner is putting on the CTA board. Neither with any sort of transit job experience or even advocacy.

Oh great. We definitely need more people who have no idea what riding public transit is like to make major decisions regarding public transportation.

I agree, it's insane, but I'm expecting nothing but absolutely terrible moves from Rauner from here on out.

They'll fit right in with Forrest Claypool.

They don't want ppl w experience -- they want hawks :(

Rauner makes me feel so hopeless and depressed.

Me too

Me three

I guess it's possible these people could do a good job without any specific experience, Huberman didn't have any and he did good as CTA prez. But they are coming from Rauner.... so skepticism is warranted.

rauner is like walker in that he favors putting people on the boards of public assets that have open hostility for those assets

call it the margaret thatcher approach

Hey, we've tried it with people who cared. Let's give someone that does not give a fuck a chance. What's the worst that can happen?

BTW, that Senate Bill 1 is like the sword of Damocles hanging over every city, town, village and municipality. Everyone should call their rep and make sure that shit gets shut down

is there a link to an article that explains it well?

That's the pension reform bill, right? I figured it would anyway, since it seems unlikely that they can get around the whole "diminishment or impairment" thing.

I've been looking for something clear, but I understand it's a pretty complicated issue relating to pensions but also to cutting funding to school districts based on ... property values? Maybe I am thinking of SB16?

Maybe it lost already? I'm confused myself. Was at a school board election meeting last night, and at least the meat of the bill seemed very much a concern. Maybe the new Gov is bringing it back?

I'm sure he will keep trying to gut pensions in a way that will avoid being overturned.

Wtf is "soho house"!?

Oddly, I was actually there Sunday night. It's a private club (lol) that no doubt started in New York, but which opened up in Chicago not long back. The Chi version has a public component, because their research basically showed that Chicago would laugh a truly exclusive members-only club out of business. My understanding is that they recruit or attract hipsters/folks in the arts/cool people/whatevs. (I went with a member.). It's honestly a neat space, with a really cool gym, a great bar/space, some restaurants, a heated outdoor pool, etc. Very boho fancy-pants beardo chic. We had a few drinks after dinner somewhere else and then played ping pong. They had three really nice ping pong tables.

http://www.sohohousechicago.com/

https://twitter.com/moniquegarcia

covering IL supreme court and the pension bill

On wbez they keep playing this quote of a woman calling it a treehouse for adults that cost 44 million bucks and counts as neighborhood development acc to rahm.

when soho house first opened a lot of artists i know were offered membership in exchange for artwork, lol

Looooool

omg that soho house thing is so incredibly odious. I guess there are probably many worse things out there (like any suburban country club) but c'mon

It really wasn't as bad as I expected, but I was there during the off hours. I'm sure the fancy and well-scrubbed DBs come out during peak hours. For the record, I saw no treehouse, though it would be super cool if they did this in Chicago: http://www.citymuseum.org/ Which of course is one of the best places in the world stuck in the middle of one of the worst cities (imo) in America. But man would it liven things up here.

Actually, the lamest thing about Soho House is that on top of the membership, which is now ... $2000 a year?, you still have to pay for everything inside. Food, gym classes, drinks, etc. They apparently have good cultural programming, though. Speakers and bands and events and stuff. My friend said the hotel is great, too. In fact, if it was all free it would probably be the most hippest place in the city, but of course, gotta keep the hoi polloi in check. Plus, pay off that $44mil or whatever.

i don't say this much but that place can kiss my ass
neighborhood development? it's a private club that costs $2000 annually just to go there and stare at the wall. and they require a headshot and approval from a board!
fuck that place