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

When I lived in Chicago a decade ago and would get tickets for being in the wrong spot during street cleaning, my neighbor said to just mark the "contest this ticket in court" box and drop it in the mail. I was assured that the wait for a court date would be so long that it just be stuck in limbo forever and I'd never end up having to pay it.

I tried it and sure enough, never did get a date assigned. I imagine a pretty fair amount of that $1.5b is tied up in a similar fashion.

(xposts)

don't worry, guys, all American cities are doomed, you may just get there first.

We'll let you know how it goes.

http://newcity.com/2015/03/30/checkerboard-city-transit-platforms/

Nothing new here that I haven't shared before, but summarized neatly.

If you're a follow the money type person, these are interesting:

http://apps.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/rahm-emanuel-contributions-2015/?#
http://apps.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chuy-garcia-contributions-2015/#

tl;dr, big corps own Rahm, unions own Garcia. I find both problematic.

Also, lol my place of employment contributing <largish amount of money> to Rahm. Could have just added that to my salary.

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/chicagos-most-gerrymandered-wards%E2%80%8B

the most demented jigsaw puzzle pieces ever

ha, we were just talking about the Second Ward at work after the previous election day, because one of my coworkers lives there and he was so confused about how it could possibly stretch as far E-W as it does. bizarre.

speaking of unions & garcia, guess who has two thumbs and is phone banking for chuy from the office next week

After unprecedented early voting numbers, early reports today say turnout at the polls has been about the same as it was for the primary.

There were 4 electioneers outside my polling place today compared to 1 in the primary.

I work at a polling place so I stopped in to chat with the ppl working there. "Jim" said that turnout has been steady and similar to primary. There weren't any ppl outside either, just signs.

http://www.yasminnair.net/content/rahm-chuy-and-real-problem-chicago-politics

This was a good read. Regardless of whether or not you agree with who she is voting for, I though the points about the power of the mayor were interesting.

But I won’t spend more time on the problems with either candidate. My bigger concern is that the current election is not a harbinger of change as much as a signal of a deeper, bigger problem for Chicago politics: That the desire for change continues to be defined not by real agendas but a desire to mimic and become part of the city’s infamous machine political structure.

The only way for Chicago to emerge from its current morass of deep political, social, and economic distress, the sort so easily papered over by images of its pristine downtown architectural skyline, is to release the stranglehold of the Mayor’s office over this city.

I voted! I was the only person at my polling place, but there's only one thing on the ballot so it's not like people were spending a lot of time on it.

It's ironic to chastise Chuy for not having a real plan behind his rhetoric and then call on Chicago to "release the stranglehold of the Mayor’s office over this city" without discussing how this would happen on a practical level. Like her plan is just ... stop caring about who the mayor is?

That's what we did for 22 years.

I think it's an interesting power balance between the mayor and the city council. Seems like the best chance of reducing mayoral power is to increase the members of the progressive caucus. Seven now, but potential for nine more after today's run-offs. Aldertrack did a good rundown of potential reorganization scenarios a few weeks ago: http://eepurl.com/bi1GYz

Wasn't that the common wisdom of what went wrong with Harold Washington? That he had insufficient power over an obstructionist city council so he wasn't able to get anything done?

Yes, the linked article above touches on that.

CBS called it already for Rahm. http://cbsloc.al/1FcpeCa

Very interested to see all the ward/precinct breakdowns tomorrow.

By ward:

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150407/downtown/live-chicago-election-results-mayoral-aldermanic-races

Data visualization people, please make your maps bigger and stop cramming them in a tiny window.

32nd wards strong showing for Rahm definitely highlights how gentrified Logan Square has become.

I like this one: http://maxrust.cartodb.com/viz/56c84460-ddc8-11e4-88f1-0e0c41326911/public_map Zoom way out for an overview, close in for each precinct. Wish this one showed ward boundries too.

These are good to, brings in demographics. http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/April-2015/Chicago-mayor-runoff-results/

Dan Hertz should have some maps up at some point. Always informative: http://danielkayhertz.com/

Progressive caucus gained 5 members, total 13 now: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150407/downtown/five-wards-chicago-voters-reject-old-guard-aldermen

7 vote difference in the 10th ward: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150406/hegewisch/ald-john-pope-susan-sadlowski-garza-ready-for-10th-ward-runoff

Still not decided in the 43rd ward, Smith leads by less than 100 votes. I have interest in this one because Smith supports bringing back the Lincoln bus. But both candidates said they'd think requiring bikes to have a license, lol stupid. http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150408/lincoln-park/43rd-ward-too-close-call-ald-michele-smith-leads-by-98-votes

A new Daley on city council. I thought it was interesting that he was running against a 26 year old 3rd year law student. How the frickfrack does he have time to be an alderman and go to law school? Anyway, good on him for at least forcing a run off against a Daley with a ward that contains Bridgeport: http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/508058/daley-nephew-grandson-join-city-council-foulkes-fate-unclear

IMPORTANT: Garcia charging 8.50 for a domestic beer at his party, Rahm had an open bar: http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/507803/national-beer-day-garcia-charging-8-one-election-party

Things I think are overblown:

All the articles about Rahm heard what Chicago is saying to him and he'll listen more, blah blah blah. You're not going to see a drastic change in the man, you know what you're getting when you vote for him, for better or for worse.

People saying that Karen Lewis would have won, and even won easily. She probably would have done better than Garcia, and it would have been a more interesting race. But she's so polarizing, I can't see any of the wards in which Rahm winning big changing that much. She would have picked up more votes in the majority black wards that supported Rahm over Garcia, but how much ground could she make up in those wards? Rahm won every majority black ward. He won every ward south of 67th street with the exception of 10. I don't know really, just my guess.

I need a break for politics now. No idea why I got drawn into this election so much. I'm going back to being apolitical for awhile. See ya!

so no Crazy Lefty Money Machine, ie RIP presidential election '16

I have enjoyed Chicago Politics Expert Jeff. Thank you!

A new Daley on city council. I thought it was interesting that he was running against a 26 year old 3rd year law student. How the frickfrack does he have time to be an alderman and go to law school? Anyway, good on him for at least forcing a run off against a Daley with a ward that contains Bridgeport: http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/508058/daley-nephew-grandson-join-city-council-foulkes-fate-unclear

Ran into Kozlar while out walking the dog the other day and talked to him for a minute. Seems like a nice guy. I dunno how he could have the time, either. Also, this is the second time he's run for 11th alderman, so last time he was 22?

http://radaronline.com/photos/rod-blagojevich-prison-photos-mental-breakdown-claims/photo/1033970/

"I want a pack of cigarettes daily, a pillow and bedding, and a quality copy machine."

Okay, RB saying that a Texas gang and the mafia are after him isn't him losing his mind. That's just him being RB. Second, the only thing that could make his hair even more magnificent is for it to be silvery white, so that is a really good look.

And god help me, I feel kind of sorry for him. He seems to harmless compared to Rauner. What's a little corruption compared to cutting vital services that people in IL need to actually survive?

I read one of Blago's letters he sent from prison (don't ask) and the guy is a serial ellipsis abuser. Perhaps this was a sign of his impending mental break.

Thanks to lagoon for this gem.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCFWBAAUsAAxOhf.jpg

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2015/04/what-rahm-emanuels-win-means-for-the-left/389991/

Interesting citylab piece that sees this as a victory for the progressives, despite the loss.

those maps of the mayoral election votes prove at least that the "rogers park hippie" is not just a stereotype -- east RP is one of the few white-plurality areas that didn't go for rahm.

also depressing that Chuy didn't win a single plurality-black area... the media narrative is that there is a sense of competition b/t blacks and hispanics that impeded his success with that demographic. i don't know how true that is.

do any of those maps indicate turnout? I wouldn't be surprised if black turnout was lower than usual.

I read a chart about turnout, I'll see if I can find it again.

Here we go: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150408/beverly/voter-turnout-highest-beverly-nw-side-lowest-west-englewood

Voter turnout is interesting. It's declining for municipal elections in many places. And by today's standards, 40% isn't horrible for a city of comparable size to Chicago.

Sure you'd like more, but it's probably good enough. I don't know if we'd ever see the 82% that voted for the Harold Washington election again.

http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-voter-turnout-municipal-elections.html

Wards with school closures:

Ward 1: 1 Rahm 44.1% Garcia 55.9% Black 6.7% Hispanic 43.1% Asian 3.0% White 45.1%
Ward 2: 4 Rahm 76.6% Garcia 23.4% Black 5.8% Hispanic 9.4% Asian 6.5% White 76.4%
Ward 3: 6 Rahm 65.8% Garcia 34.2% Black 64.1% Hispanic 3.7% Asian 7.6% White 22.4%
Ward 4: 1 Rahm 58.6% Garcia 41.4% Black 63.1% Hispanic 3.7% Asian 7.7% White 22.8%
Ward 5: 2 Rahm 54.9% Garcia 45.1% Black 63.5% Hispanic 3.7% Asian 6.5% White 23.2%
Ward 6: 2 Rahm 56.6% Garcia 43.4% Black 97.3% Hispanic 1.0% Asian 0.1% White 0.4%
Ward 7: 2 Rahm 56.1% Garcia 43.9% Black 91.7% Hispanic 5.0% Asian 0.2% White 1.5%
Ward 9: 1 Rahm 58.0% Garcia 42.0% Black 93.0% Hispanic 4.2% Asian 0.1% White 1.5%
Ward 15: 1 Rahm 31.6% Garcia 68.4% Black 22.1% Hispanic 71.6% Asian 0.9% White 4.7%
Ward 16: 2 Rahm 51.4% Garcia 48.6% Black 68.4% Hispanic 29.1% Asian 0.2% White 1.4%
Ward 17: 1 Rahm 54.4% Garcia 45.6% Black 80.8% Hispanic 15.8% Asian 0.2% White 2.2%
Ward 20: 2 Rahm 53.7% Garcia 46.3% Black 79.0% Hispanic 14.3% Asian 1.3% White 3.9%
Ward 21: 2 Rahm 58.5% Garcia 41.5% Black 97.7% Hispanic 0.9% Asian 0.0% White 0.3%
Ward 22: 1 Rahm 20.1% Garcia 79.9% Black 8.3% Hispanic 87.1% Asian 0.3% White 4.0%
Ward 24: 2 Rahm 52.0% Garcia 48.0% Black 85.5% Hispanic 9.6% Asian 0.2% White 4.0%
Ward 26: 2 Rahm 34.5% Garcia 65.5% Black 12.4% Hispanic 65.8% Asian 1.1% White 19.5%
Ward 27: 4 Rahm 63.5% Garcia 36.5% Black 59.4% Hispanic 10.1% Asian 3.4% White 25.2%
Ward 28: 6 Rahm 57.4% Garcia 42.6% Black 75.3% Hispanic 6.7% Asian 4.8% White 11.6%
Ward 29: 4 Rahm 56.7% Garcia 24.8% Black 68.8% Hispanic 13.1% Asian 1.2% White 15.6%
Ward 34: 4 Rahm 61.2% Garcia 38.8% Black 97.0% Hispanic 1.3% Asian 0.1% White 0.5%
Ward 40: 1 Rahm 53.0% Garcia 47.0% Black 6.9% Hispanic 23.6% Asian 15.8% White 50.9%
Ward 46: 2 Rahm 65.3% Garcia 34.7% Black 19.9% Hispanic 11.4% Asian 8.8% White 57.4%

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150409/norwood-park/chicago-city-council-no-longer-republican-free-zone

A republican on the city council now.

whoa!

http://blackagendareport.com/black-misleaders-re-elect-rahm

that was a great write-up and seems OTM to me.

not so into the anti-semitic comment that follows the blog, though. is that common for that website?

why is it that i so often find myself agreeing with folks on websites then find out they hold other positions or inclinations (or their supporters hold other positions or inclinations) that are completely odious? maybe it's just me.

btw the same comment speculates that the democratic party caused karen lewis's brain cancer, so we're obviously dealing with someone whose screws have come loose.

(actually it sounds a lot like rudy here on ILX.)

I'm not familiar with the website, first time I've read it (saw a link from FB). But yeah, I was like o_O with that comment.

black agenda report is well regarded in some very particular far left (e.g. third worldist/pan-africanist) circles but sadly that sort of comment is not uncommon. it frustrates the hell out of me to see so much that appears there be on point and then see it combined with conspiracist & sometimes antisemitic garbage.