Illinois Education Chief Decides Against Chicago Schools Takeover

Illinois Education Chief Decides Against Chicago Schools Takeover

Governor Bruce Rauner launched a probe of the nation’s third-largest school system in February.

CHICAGO, May 6 (Reuters) – Chicago’s cash-strapped public school district is not in sufficiently bad financial shape to warrant a state takeover, according to an Illinois State Board of Education staff report.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner launched a probe of the nation’s third-largest school system in February, contending it could lead to state oversight and a suspension of borrowing at debt-dependent, “junk”-rated Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

However, the report from state school Superintendent Tony Smith, posted on the board’s website ahead of a monthly meeting scheduled for Wednesday, said CPS does not meet “any of the criteria” to be certified in financial difficulty.

“The district has not realized two consecutive years of negative operating fund balances nor is it forecasted in this model,” the report stated.

It noted that negative operating balances are possible in fiscal 2018 and 2019.

“It’s clear in our analysis CPS has financial challenges and a spending problem,” state board spokeswoman Laine Evans said on Friday. “However, at this time they do not meet the criteria for certification of financial difficulty, as defined per statute. ISBE will continue to monitor the situation and the district’s finances.

The state education board’s recommendation undercuts a series of strident remarks made by Republican Rauner in January and February, asserting at one point the school system faced a “financial disaster” that would prevent it from remaining solvent through the end of its fiscal year in June.

The staff report also comes as Illinois remains in a crippling 11-month budget deadlock between Rauner and Democrats who control the state legislature. The impasse has hit the state’s higher education and social service systems particularly hard. Illinois is the only U.S. state without a full operating budget.

Rauner’s office continued to insist on Friday that CPS is in a financial mess.

“You don’t need an actuary or an accountant to know CPS has financial problems, otherwise the district wouldn’t be repeatedly asking the state for an additional half a billion dollars. It’s clear the district is in financial distress,” said Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly in a statement.

CPS said the report vindicated the district.

“This decision demonstrates that Governor Rauner’s attempts to drive CPS into bankruptcy are misguided and wrong. While CPS faces a $1 billion budget deficit next year, it can be solved if we all work together, as we are committed to doing,” said a statement from CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner.

The deficit is mostly due to escalating annual pension payments that will reach $676 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The district’s efforts to gain an additional $480 million in state dollars to pay its pension bill became entangled in the ongoing impasse between Rauner and Democrats.

CPS officials, who have maintained the district is exempt under Illinois law from state oversight, are calling for a revamp of the state school funding formula to ensure poor children are not short-changed.

The decision not to declare the district in financial difficulty could suggest recognition by the Rauner-appointed state school board that it lacked proper legal footing to take over CPS in the first place, a Democratic legislative source said.

In April, Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an opinion that the state lacks the authority to take control of the school system’s finances, including its ability to borrow to help fund operational costs.

Above is from:  http://fortune.com/2016/05/07/illinois-education-chief-decides-against-chicago-schools-takeover/

Ex-Gov. Pat Quinn supports recall bill

By Charles Thomas

Wednesday, December 16, 2015 05:39PM

CHICAGO (WLS) --

Former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said he supports a bill that would allow the recall of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The bill was drafted in response to the crisis involving the Chicago Police Department after the release of a video showing a police officer shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Quinn, 67, spoke Tuesday after the Cook County Board meeting where he accepted condolences on the death of his mother, Eileen Quinn, 98.

"She did the hardest thing in life and she did it very well. God bless her mortal soul," Quinn said of his mother.

As he left, Quinn, who rarely speaks on state issues since leaving the office 11 months ago, said the only way to resolve the state's budget impasse is with a tax increase.

:You can't have a government that doesn't pay its bills. In order to do that you have to have revenue," Quinn said.

He also spoke about Gov. Bruce Rauner's demand for reforms.

"When you call reform trying to break unions, that's not reform and everybody knows that," Quinn said.

He also said he supported a recall bill filed in Springfield last week that would make it possible for city voters to un-elect Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel before his term ends.

"Frankly, I think we should have all offices subject to recall because that keeps every office-holder on their toes, 24 hours a day, every day of their term," Quinn said.

The mayor, who is facing calls for his resignation due to inaction in the Laquan McDonald case, said he had more important things to do than worry about recall.

"This is a time for real solutions to a real challenge. My focus in on the challenges ahead of the city of Chicago, building a stronger future," Mayor Emanuel said.

If passed by the general assembly and signed by Governor Rauner, the recall bill would make it possible to circulate petitions and gather enough signatures to authorize an up or down vote on the mayor.

"I believe in petition-passing and giving people a chance to have their say on issues as well as candidates and I look forward to doing that in the future," Quinn said.

The former governor said he now spends most of his time volunteering, but did not specify for what programs or projects. He said he has no plans to run for another elected office

 

Above is from WLS Channel 7:   http://abc7chicago.com/politics/ex-gov-pat-quinn-supports-recall-bill-/1125568/

Canadian pension funds buy Chicago Skyway for $2.8 billion - Chicago Tribune

 

Bloomberg

Three of Canada's largest pension plans have agreed to buy Chicago toll-road operator Skyway Concession Co. for $2.8 billion from a group led by Spain's Ferrovial SA.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan said they will each own a third of Skyway under the terms of the deal, contributing $512 million each.

"Skyway represents a rare opportunity for us to invest in a mature and significant toll road of this size in the U.S.," Cressida Hogg, Canada Pension's head of infrastructure, said in a statement Friday. "This investment fits well with CPPIB's strategy to invest in core infrastructure assets with long-term, stable cash flows in key global markets."

The Canadian pension funds, which collectively have about C$499 billion ($374 billion) in assets under management, have been acquiring alternative assets, such as toll roads, ports, and other infrastructure, for the long-term, stable returns they offer.

Canada Pension, for example, is currently part of a group led by Qube Holdings that is trying to acquire Australian rail and port operator Asciano.

Madrid-based Ferrovial is selling its 55 percent stake alongside its partners Macquarie Atlas Roads Group and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, which own the remaining stake. The transaction is expected to close after it receives the necessary approvals from the City of Chicago, Ferrovial said in a statement. Ferrovial said the sale will return roughly $269 million to the company.

Skyway is a 7.8-mile (12.6-kilometer) toll road that forms a link between downtown Chicago and its south-eastern suburb. The Chicago Skyway Concession was awarded to Ferrovial and its partners for $1.83 billion in 2005. The concession was the first privatization of a highway in the U.S. and the sale process began in June, Ferrovial said.

Ferrovial, through its subsidiary Cintra, manages 1,300 miles of highway across 28 concession in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia and Colombia, including the 407 ETR concession, which it owns in partnership with Canada Pension and SNC-Lavalin Group

Canadian pension funds buy Chicago Skyway for $2.8 billion - Chicago Tribune

Illinois governor, Chicago mayor feud leads to dead fish - Yahoo News

 

October 30, 2015 5:21 PM

• CHICAGO (Reuters) - A war of words between Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel over which government is in the worst financial shape took a bizarre turn on Friday with the purchase of fish.

"I bought a gift for a special person," the Republican governor told reporters at a Chicago market. "I bought some fish...to send some dead fish to the mayor. I think he will deeply appreciate that as only he can."

Early in his political career, Emanuel once sent a message to a pollster via a dead fish. In Mafia lore, a sent dead fish signifies someone is sleeping with the fishes and no longer alive.

While Rauner acknowledged his fish plan was all in fun, he continued to criticize the mayor for pushing through a city budget this week with a record property tax hike, calling the move "a massive mistake" because it was not coupled with cost-saving reforms.

Emanuel on Wednesday blasted Rauner for opposing measures he needs from the state for the new budget, including a bill to shield lower-valued residential properties from the tax hike.

"It's a very strange economic strategy to try to hurt your economic engine to try to grow the economy," the mayor told reporters. "Name me a governor in the other 49 states that is attacking the economic engine of their state. Is Washington state going after Seattle?"

Rauner's pro-business reform agenda for the state has been met with opposition from Democrats who control the legislature and the two sides have yet to agree on a budget nearly five months into fiscal 2016.

Both Illinois and Chicago have severe financial problems stemming largely from unfunded pensions for their workers. Emanuel and Rauner have been close friends and even political allies, with Emanuel appointing Rauner as chairman of the city's tourism agency soon after he became mayor in 2011.

There was no immediate comment from Emanuel's office concerning the coming gift of fish.

(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Illinois governor, Chicago mayor feud leads to dead fish - Yahoo News

Chicago Public Schools enlists parents for unprecedented blitz on Springfield | abc7chicago.com

 

(WLS) --

After nearly four months without a state budget in Illinois, a new front has opened in the war on Springfield.
Chicago Public Schools officials are mobilizing parents to press state leaders for a solution to the standoff between the governor and democrats.
It is an unorthodox frontal assault on Springfield by CPS officials - with the blessing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. CPS is drafting parents to lobby for a solution to the state budget crisis, arming parents with bullet points that include a 22 percent cut in teachers if the standoff doesn't end.
The ABC7 I-team got an exclusive look at the planned blitz on state leaders by a coalition of school leaders, principals and parents that has angered the Chicago Teachers Union.
"This is an extraordinary fiscal crisis. There's been nothing like it ever in the history of the Chicago Public Schools," said CPS CEO Forrest Claypool.
As Illinois' budget hole deepens, Chicago schools are sucked into the abyss.

On top of a $1 billion long-term CPS deficit, there is a $500 million hole in the current budget that has to be plugged by Feb. 1, 2016.
"Chicago has been cut by hundreds of millions of dollars by Springfield. Those policies are wrong. They're potentially illegal, they're immoral... if Springfield doesn't act, we cannot keep those cuts out of our classroom," Claypool said.
According to a version of a letter being sent to parents, there will be an imminent cut in teachers if there is no Springfield budget by November; a cut of 5,000 teachers by the start of the second semester.
So CPS asks parents to "call upon" Gov. Bruce Rauner, House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, and flood Springfield with emails, letters and phone calls.
"This is a Hail Mary pass to parents to shift blame," said Jesse Sharkey, Chicago Teachers Union.
The union's response to this CPS initiative: school officials are trying to "goad parents into lobbying; trying to shame Springfield" in acting. They say the effort would be "laughable, if not so offensive" and is "disrespectful to concerned parents."
"The CTU has sat on the sidelines and declined to join us in Springfield even though their members have the most at stake," Claypool said.
"In every way teachers have skin in the game. I mean, we've never had anything but skin in the game! Who goes to work every day in these schools? Who has to struggle under difficult conditions? Who tries to make school work every day when we're not given the tools that we need to make it work?" Sharkey said.
A spokesperson for Gov. Rauner says since last Friday, about 15 percent of the emails and letters they have received have been about state funding to Chicago schools.
"Constituents call, email and send letters to the Governor's Office on a daily basis, and since last Friday about 15 percent of those have been about state funding to CPS. Education is extremely important to the governor, which is why he signed legislation to increase education funding to record levels this year while presenting the only comprehensive plan to save CPS more than $400 million, while helping districts across the state. We urge the Mayor and members of the General Assembly to work with the Governor to help pass the reforms the district needs," said Rauner spokesperson Catherine Kelly in a statement.
Speaker Madigan's spokesperson says there has been a steady flow of public calls about the budget situation, but no uptick this week.
The ABC7 I-Team did not hear back from Senate President Cullerton.

Chicago Public Schools enlists parents for unprecedented blitz on Springfield | abc7chicago.com

Chicago Woes Could End State Budget Crisis - Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-

 

Decatur – Chicago’s financial woes could bring an end to the state budget stalemate.

Governor Bruce Rauner told WAND’s Doug Wolfe while visiting Decatur Friday the problems faced by Chicago could provide the leverage needed to get the legislature to finally agree to a deal.  The state has been without a budget since July 1^st.

“I’m cautiously optimistic because of Chicago’s financial challenges,” Rauner stated.  “They need help in December.  That maybe in December of January maybe there will be some incentive to compromise and we’ll get something done.”

Rauner cited Chicago’s inability to handle its pension liabilities.

“They don’t have the money to pay their police and fire pensions fully in December, he said.”

The Macon County Health Department expressed concern over the budget stalemate saying they had to layoff employees recently due to a lack of money.

Chicago Woes Could End State Budget Crisis - Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-

Rauner: Time to sell Thompson Center; Architect, former governor less than thrilled – Illinois News Network

 

SPRINGFIELD — Need a full city block in Chicago’s Loop?

Gov. Bruce Rauner may have a deal for you.

Rauner, R-Winnetka, on Tuesday announced his plan to sell the James R. Thompson Center, the state’s massive office and retail building at 100 W. Randolph St.

Although home to about 2,200 state employees, the 17-story building of nearly 1.2 million square feet is expensive to heat and cool, needs about $100 million in repairs and is inefficient as an office complex, the governor said.

“We intend to close and sell the state of Illinois building, the James R. Thompson Center, move our people out into existing space … in Springfield and in the city of Chicago and put this building onto the market to be sold to a private developer,” the governor said.

The sale, Rauner said, would probably mean demolition of Thompson Center to be replaced by a “more impactful, positive, commercial office building and retail space.”

Rauner declined to say how much he believes the state can get for the property because his plan calls for public auction, but he described the location as among the best in the city and state.

“It’s attractive,” the governor said. “We can can get good value for taxpayers by selling this building and moving out.”

Even without cash from a sale, the state cannot afford to stay in the building, Rauner said.

“We could pay people to take this building from us and save a lot of taxpayer money,” he said.

The state’s cost to keep its people in the Thompson Center are two to three times that of putting them in comparable office space in the city or elsewhere in the state, Rauner said.

By moving out and using existing or even newly leased space, the state could save $6 million to $12 million per year, Rauner said.

Redeveloped and put to better use, the property could also generate as much as $20 million in tax revenue for the city and for Chicago Public Schools, Rauner said, adding that new construction could generate 8,000 short-term jobs.

“By any measure we’re high cost here and need to move,” Rauner said.

Rauner said the proposed sale has nothing to do with the state’s budget crisis or his “Turnaround Agenda” but simply represents good financial management.

He also said it’s not part of some larger plan to move more state jobs to Springfield.

The plan would need legislative approval, and the Republican governor said he’d spoken with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, both Chicago Democrats. He described them as open to the idea.

Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan, said the speaker was aware the governor was announcing his plan and remains willing to listen.

That said, Brown added, there are questions still to be answered, including where workers would move to and to what ends the sale revenue and savings would be put.

Rauner said he’d also notified both Gov. James R. Thompson, for whom the center is named, and the building’s architect, Helmut Jahn.

Thompson, a Republican and the governor from 1977 to 1991, didn’t sound overjoyed about the idea in a short conversation with Illinois News Network.

“Well, as to Gov. Rauner’s proposal, I don’t have any comment because that’s up to him and the Legislature to determine the reason why deferred maintenance is so high,” Thompson said.

That maintenance was neglected during the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn, a Chicago Democrat in office from 2009 to 2015, Thompson said, “and that’s the problem.”

Quinn’s predecessor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, at one time essentially proposed a complex mortgaging scheme for the building, but that plan fell through.

Gov. Rauner on Tuesday declined to characterize the aesthetics or architectural significance of the Thompson Center, instead telling the media, “I’ll leave that for you to discuss.”

Architect Helmut Jahn criticized the state for not maintaining the building and said it should be repurposed, not demolished.

The architect suggested the building’s restaurants and retail outlets be upgraded and part of the building be converted for round-the-clock uses including a hotel, apartments and condominiums.

“Architectural history is full of examples where such repurposing has brought new life to structures like this,” he said in a prepared statement. “The building will only survive this way, and will become a landmark for the 21st Century.”

James R. Thompson Center

Originally: State of Illinois Center
Renamed: In 1993 to honor James R. Thompson, governor from 1977 to 1991
Architect: Helmut Jahn
Built: 1979 to 1985
Cost: About $172 million
Size: 17 stories tall, 1,193,163 square feet
Location: 100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago. Occupies the block bounded by LaSalle, Randolph, Clark and Lake streets
Materials: Steel, pink and gray granite, concrete
Houses: About 2,200 employees from dozens of state agencies, plus shops and restaurants
Called: Everything from “visionary” and “a strong, powerful and important statement ” to “The Cash Register” and an “impractical monstrosity”

Rauner: Time to sell Thompson Center; Architect, former governor less than thrilled – Illinois News Network

Why Chicago is shuttering anti-violence programs amid spike in shootings - CSMonitor.com

 

It might be politics as usual, but to some it’s a matter of life and death.

A prominent Chicago anti-violence program has lost its funding due to a political stalemate in the Illinois state government. 

Operation CeaseFire deployed former gang members and felons to intervene in confrontations that can often lead to violence. It was brought to national prominence by the 2011 documentary “The Interrupters.” Researchers say gang involvement, shootings, and retaliatory killings have dropped since the introduction of the program.

 

When Illinois began running out of money because of a severe state budget deficit, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner froze money for the anti-violence program. CeaseFire was cut off before it could receive all $4.7 million it was allocated for the previous fiscal year.

Governor Rauner and Democrats, who control the legislature, are waging a political battle over the state budget while programs in Chicago and elsewhere are shuttered.

Chicago is grappling with gun violence nearly unmatched by any other city in the United States. Shootings and homicides are up 20 percent in the Midwest city compared to this time last year.

"Our kids in our communities are still dying," Autry Phillips told the Associated Press. He is the executive director of Target Area Development, a nonprofit organization on Chicago's South Side that was forced to end its CeaseFire program. "We're going to do what we can do, but we need funding. That's the bottom line."

Before this current freeze in funding, Rauner proposed cutting CeaseFire’s budget by nearly $3 million. A spokeswoman for the governor held Democrats responsible, citing their opposition to Rauner’s business-friendly agenda, which includes weakening labor unions. Rauner is a first time office holder and former venture capitalist.

"The governor has asked for structural reforms to free up resources to balance the budget, help the most vulnerable and create jobs," spokeswoman Lyndsey Walters said earlier this week. "Unfortunately, the majority party continues to block the governor's reforms and refuses to pass a balanced budget."

After Chicago police criticized the program because they said the staff wasn’t collaborating with law enforcement, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2013 canceled a one-year, $1 million contract for CeaseFire programs in two neighborhoods.

Today, six Chicago neighborhoods still have CeaseFire programs, while more than 12 have closed in nearby communities because of funding

Why Chicago is shuttering anti-violence programs amid spike in shootings - CSMonitor.com

Miller: State lawmakers need to face reality | Northwest Herald

The Illinois Senate had been scheduled to return to Springfield on Tuesday after not being in session since Sept. 9. Last week, however, the Senate president postponed session until Oct. 20. The reason is pretty straightforward. The Senate has overridden several gubernatorial vetoes. It’s pretty easy for the majority party because the chamber has 39 Democrats, three more than the three-fifths required to override a veto.

The House has 71 Democrats, the exact number of votes required to overturn a veto in that chamber. So, although Senate Democrats can be missing a few people or have some folks who don’t want to go along, they still can override the governor on partisan votes. The House Democrats need every member in town, and they all need to be voting the same way to succeed.

Because of that tight margin, and because Republicans have marched in lock step with their party’s governor, the House has overridden only one veto this year: the Heroin Crisis Act.

The House was able to override that bill only because Gov. Bruce Rauner allowed House Republicans to vote against his amendatory veto, which stripped state Medicaid funding for heroin addiction treatment. Rauner now gets to portray himself as fiscally conservative, while the Republicans got to do the right thing and make the much-needed criminal justice reform legislation an actual law.

To date, the governor and his staff have successfully fought off 62 override attempts, mainly in the House.

So much for Speaker Mike Madigan’s much-vaunted veto-proof House majority. Because of this House failure, there are no vetoes requiring Senate action during the constitutionally mandated 15-calendar-day period after successful House action. Since the legislative leaders aren’t meeting with the governor, and no other visible progress is being made to end the months-long stalemate, there really wasn’t much sense in coming back to town.

Just to show you how divided the statehouse is right now, the governor used his amendatory veto powers on 20 bills, but the Democrats adamantly refused to accept a single one of those changes he made. The Democrats even ignored a plea from the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws to accept the governor’s amendatory veto of House Bill 218, which vastly reduced penalties for pot possession. The governor tweaked the marijuana legislation to increase some of the penalties, but Illinois NORML said those changes were acceptable, and called his veto “a very easy win” for proponents.

The bill received only 62 votes in the House when it passed in April, so there was no way to override the governor. Instead of just accepting his changes, the legislation was allowed to die. Months of hard work came to diddly squat.

The House speaker traditionally is loathe to accept amendatory vetoes as a way of discouraging the governor (any governor) from using that broad power, which was long ago upheld by the courts. Rauner, for his part, is proving to be just as stubborn.

The end result is nothing happens.

We have a whole lot of nothing going on these days. For instance, a minor fuss was made recently at the statehouse when a city of Chicago honcho showed up to testify about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s property tax proposal without having actual written legislation to talk about.

In reality, that thing ain’t going anywhere. So far, the governor is opposed to the plan, which would exempt homeowners with houses appraised at $250,000 or less from Emanuel’s massive property tax hike. The main burden would fall on commercial property owners, and Rauner has said their opposition is valid, and everyone’s property taxes should be capped at current levels – despite Chicago’s horrific fiscal problems.

As long as Rauner remains opposed, it’s highly unlikely the House could pass such a bill. House Democrats have yet to convince Republicans to break with their party’s governor on anything, and they’re surely not going to do so over a vote for Chicago, and it’s doubtful all downstate and suburban Democrats will go along without some relief for their own taxpayers.

The city is simply going to have to find another way to solve its problem, unless, and until, the governor and the legislative leaders work things out, which may be never at the rate they’re going. The Democrats can’t go around Rauner, they can’t go through him, they can’t go over him. Rauner, however, can’t get anything done without them. They all need to start facing reality here.

• Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Miller: State lawmakers need to face reality | Northwest Herald

How Chicago's Neighborhoods Got Their Names | Mental Floss

Nick Greene

 

Image credit:

Wikimedia Commons

 

It's often said that "Chicago is a city of neighborhoods." This may seem redundant—isn't every city a city of neighborhoods?—but Chicago really is a big, wonderful amalgamation of unique enclaves. Where do the names for all these neighborhoods come from? We sought to find out.

Keep in mind that there are at least 200 neighborhoods in Chicago. While this list is extensive, it isn't absolute. For example, some areas were left off because they were obvious extensions of other neighborhoods (hello, West Rogers Park), while others lacked reliable info (or any information at all). If you don't see your neighborhood below, please write your alderman, who will then negotiate with us and we'll hash out an under-the-table deal.

The Chicago History Museum's Encyclopedia of Chicago and the Chicago Park District's parks database were extremely helpful resources for this—be sure to check them out.

Andersonville

Wikimedia Commons

After the Chicago Fire, many of the city's Swedes moved to this area on the North Side to rebuild their lives. It's believed that the neighborhood is named after Reverend Paul Andersen Norland, who was integral in attracting folks to join the community during its early years (neighborhood's pros: not engulfed in flames).

Archer Heights

Named after Archer Avenue, which itself is named after William Beatty Archer, the first commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

Ashburn

Not the most glamorous of origins, but in the 1800s, Chicago families would dump their furnace ashes in this area, and the name "Ashburn" stuck.

Austin

reallyboring via Compfight cc

Named for Henry W. Austin, the real estate mogul who acquired and subdivided the land in 1866. The area was originally in the township of Cicero. Austin held the most power in that municipality, and its politicians brought major roads and elevated trains to the neighborhood. The other Cicero citizens objected and voted to expel Austin and have it annexed into Chicago.

Un-fun fact about Henry W. Austin: He was an ardent temperance advocate and worked to ban all saloons and liquor sales within his community.

Avalon Park

This neighborhood was originally named "Pennytown" for Penny, a local general store owner who sold popcorn balls. The area's Avalon Park Community Church lobbied to have the name changed, and Pennytown—and Penny's popcorn balls—are no more.

Back of the Yards

Union Stock Yards, 1947 via Wikimedia Commons

Named for its location in relation to the famed Union Stock Yards, this neighborhood was home to most of the Yards' workers. It's where the hog butchers for the world rested their heads at night.

Beverly

There is some argument about whether this neighborhood is named after Beverly, Massachusetts, or Beverly Hills, California. It's often referred to as "Beverly Hills" because it sits on a glacial ridge that, at 672 feet, is the tallest natural point in Chicago.

Boystown

Wikimedia Commons

See more by clicking on the folowing:  How Chicago's Neighborhoods Got Their Names | Mental Floss

Rauner, Emanuel spar on CPS pensions, Springfield stalemate - Chicago Tribune

 

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner called out Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday as "unwilling" to help him pass his agenda, prompting the mayor to offer the rookie governor advice on how to get out of the budget stalemate he's created.

The back-and-forth illustrates the nature of the impasse that's enveloped the Capitol and City Hall: The politicians meet privately and then publicly posture as they seek leverage to emerge victorious.

Rauner gave the first glimpse behind the curtain, saying Emanuel has not done enough to persuade Democrats to get on board with the governor's pro-business, anti-union agenda in return for financial help for Chicago Public Schools.

 

"We're eager to help the city of Chicago," said Rauner, who wants a "two-way partnership." "But at this point, the city of Chicago and the mayor have been unwilling to help us in our reform agenda to help the state."

Emanuel returned fire during a Thursday evening appearance on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight," suggesting he's been willing to work with Rauner on portions of his agenda. The mayor singled out the governor's push for workers' compensation reform as an area of potential common ground.

"So, I say to the governor — having worked for two presidents and as mayor — there's a way to get some of the things you want done. I stand ready today. He has my cell number," Emanuel said. "You want to work on workers' comp? Like May 6, when you came to the City Council at your request and we made that happen, like then, three months later, I stand ready to work with you on workers' comp."

The mayor also suggested that Rauner should ditch efforts to pit Democrats against each other.

"I mean two weeks ago, the governor said that with me and (Senate President) John Cullerton, he'd get a deal already. Now, I'm the problem this week," Emanuel said. "I don't look at those things as news items or by trying to use people. ... Don't call any names, don't point any fingers, build trust and confidence so you can share ideas."

At issue is Rauner's proposal to freeze property taxes while allowing local governments, including school boards, to decide what benefits are collectively bargained with teachers and other public workers. It's one of the items on Rauner's legislative wish list that have stalled budget negotiations at the Capitol.

Meanwhile, Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool are in the midst of contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union as the district faces a $1 billion shortfall driven by ballooning pension obligations. As part of those negotiations, Emanuel wants teachers to cover the full cost of their pension contributions, instead of the small portion paid by teachers currently.

Rauner charged Thursday that the city is seeking the state's permission to take pension contributions out of the collective bargaining process, which would allow the school board to unilaterally force a higher contribution from teachers.

"That's a special deal for Chicago," Rauner said at a news conference at the Thompson Center. "Why does Chicago ask the state to take things out of collective bargaining to benefit Chicago, but it doesn't allow the state to authorize all communities, all school districts, to manage collective bargaining as they see fit?"

Rauner's remarks came as he tries to bat back an alternative bill moving through the General Assembly that would freeze property taxes statewide and pick up roughly $200 million in CPS pension costs. Emanuel has argued that the current system is unfair to Chicago because CPS pension costs are paid by the city while the state picks up the employer cost of pensions for the other systems in the state.

Cullerton, who crafted the bill, left out Rauner's provisions on local collective bargaining, saying it would not have had enough votes to pass if they were included. The Senate approved the measure Tuesday, and it now heads to the House, where its future is uncertain.

Emanuel encouraged Rauner to "roll up your sleeves" and use the bill as an opportunity to score a victory on a property tax freeze instead of "trying to hold the children of the city of Chicago hostage."

Rauner contended that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is to blame for the state's budget holdup because his allies control a large number of seats in Springfield and have refused to budge on the governor's agenda. Emanuel, Rauner said, could help sway his fellow Democrats.

"The city needs to help the state," Rauner said. "The mayor is very powerful in the legislature, more than folks like to talk about. And Speaker Madigan is right out of the Chicago machine. … Chicago's running the state. They're controlling our budget. Chicago is powerful."

Rauner, Emanuel spar on CPS pensions, Springfield stalemate - Chicago Tribune

Governor Rauner says he can hold as many secret meetings on public time as he wants | Bleader | Chicago Reader

Governor Bruce Rauner believes he can hold secret meetings on public property.

He also maintains that taxpayers have no right to know who he's consulted, even long after the conferences are over and policies have been enacted as a result.

A lawyer for Rauner staked out those positions in a letter last week to the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

It was submitted as part of a battle with the Reader over whether copies of the governor's past calendar and meeting schedule should be released to the public. I requested the records in May under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, but Christina McClernon, an assistant general counsel for Rauner, says he has the right to keep them private.

"The Governor's Office was under no obligation to provide the requested appointment calendars to Mr. Dumke because these documents are not 'public records' under FOIA," she wrote in a July 16 letter to the Public Access Bureau, a division of the attorney general's office that rules on FOIA disputes.

If the governor's position is upheld, it would be a setback for anyone who thinks taxpayers should get to know who has access to public officials conducting business with public funds. The letter suggests the calendars and meeting schedules of every other public official in Illinois could also be kept secret.

I'm writing about the back and forth to keep the legal dispute open and public.

During his $57 million campaign for governor, Rauner promised to bring a new level of openness to state government, painting incumbent Pat Quinn as a product of the corrupt Democratic machine that conducted public business in backroom deals. "This is about transparency and accountability," Rauner declared.

Since taking office, though, Rauner has worked to conceal how he operates.

He's made good on vows to fight for a probusiness "turnaround" agenda that would tighten the rules for union organizing, worker's compensation, and filing lawsuits. Since Democrats have rejected the proposals, Rauner has refused to work with house speaker Michael Madigan and senate president John Cullerton on a budget deal, resulting in a state shutdown during which the governor has remained largely out of public view.

At the same time, he has refused to disclose who has access to his office, let alone what he's working on. In some cases, he also won't say who's being compensated with taxpayer money to do work for the state.

In May I submitted a FOIA request intended to see who has Rauner's ear. Specifically, I asked for copies of his daily schedule and meeting calendar from his inauguration in January through early May.

The governor's office eventually provided copies of the schedules, but more than 150 appointments were blacked out—an average of more than one secret meeting a day, as Ben Joravsky and I wrote last month.

An attorney for Rauner argued that the redactions were justified because the information was "preliminary" and protected by attorney-client privilege, two loopholes in the FOIA frequently invoked by officials to avoid releasing records.

We then asked the public access bureau to weigh in, arguing that citizens have a clear right to know what the governor is up to. We stressed that we never asked what was said at the meetings—only who was in on them—so it was illogical to claim that releasing the information would reveal confidential discussions.

But last week the governor's office responded that the public doesn't have the right to see his daily schedules in any form.

In a five-page letter, McClernon—Rauner's assistant general counsel and freedom of information officer—cited old cases from federal court, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in arguing that the governor's schedules and calendars are off limits. She also claimed that releasing the documents could violate the governor's security, even long after the events are over.

But the letter also indicated that the governor simply doesn't want the public to know who has access to him. The calendars "reveal the identities of people with whom he has met and consulted and thus can be read to determine the substance and direction of his judgment and mental processes," McClernon wrote.

The arguments have a familiar ring. Five years ago I went through a similar battle with lawyers for the city of Chicago over schedules for then-mayor Richard M. Daley. They argued that releasing them would be too "burdensome" and could endanger the mayor.

But the attorney general's office eventually rejected those claims and determined that the mayor's schedule and meeting calendar were indeed public records. "The public has a legitimate interest in learning of its Mayor's public meetings held in City Hall," wrote an assistant attorney general.

I cited the ruling in a lawsuit against the city over its FOIA denials. City officials now cough up Mayor Rahm Emanuel's schedule when asked.

Yet Rauner's administration is fighting over more than copies of his meeting calendar. Previously it's refused to disclose which legislators attended policy planning meetings.

And last month I requested a list of private-sector law firms hired to do state work—that is, firms paid with taxpayer money. McClernon refused to provide that information either, saying it too was protected by attorney-client privilege.

Is the governor really claiming that the public doesn't have the right to know how taxpayer funds are spent? Public contracts are among the classic and longstanding examples of "information regarding the affairs of government" meant to be disclosed under the Illinois FOIA.

The public access bureau will have a chance to weigh in on both FOIA matters in the coming weeks.

So far, we know this much: Rauner is being transparent about what he thinks of open government.

Governor Rauner says he can hold as many secret meetings on public time as he wants | Bleader | Chicago Reader

Some Democrats say Governor Rauner is 'personable' when he's not gutting services for the poor and infirm

Some Democrats say Governor Rauner is 'personable' when he's not gutting services for the poor and infirm

Posted By Mick Dumke on 06.12.15 at 07:30 AM

• Peter Holderness / Sun-Times
• Alderman Danny Solis (above) says Governor Bruce Rauner is pretty friendly for a "conservative, right-wing Republican."

Governor Bruce Rauner scheduled time to meet with Chicago alderman Danny Solis on Friday, January 23, just a week and a half after he was inaugurated.
Solis says a Rauner aide got in touch and asked him to have a chat in the governor's office at the Thompson Center. Like almost every other elected official in Chicago, Solis is a Democrat, while the governor is a Republican who campaigned by attacking entrenched Democratic leaders in Springfield.
Still, members of the two parties have been known to speak before they start cursing each other's children, and the alderman welcomed the meeting. "I thought it was a good idea," Solis says.
Solis says he sat on a couch in the governor's office as they talked casually and agreed to keep the lines of communication open. "He told me there were a lot of issues that we were going to have different positions on, and he understood that I would be publicly against him, and he would appreciate some contact with his staff," Solis says.
When Rauner asked Solis for his input, the alderman says he advised him not to attack President Obama's immigration reforms, as other GOP governors have done. Rauner appeared to listen. "He is very personable," Solis says.
Unless, he adds, you're house speaker Michael Madigan or senate president John Cullerton. Rauner is ripping them by name as he tries to turn the state budget impasse into a referendum on machine politics.
"I feel that he is definitely a conservative, right-wing Republican," Solis says. "And on the issues I'm going to be more with the speaker and John Cullerton."
While Rauner pushes his "turnaround" agenda of restricting union rights and workers' compensation, he's filled his daily schedule with meetings, briefings, and phone calls around the state. And he's made it clear that he's interested in hearing from a range of elected officials.
That's the part of the story he wants you to know.
Here are the parts he doesn't: the governor is also consulting people whose names he wants to keep secret. As Ben Joravsky and I reported this week, Rauner redacted more than 150 appointments from the copies of his daily calendar that he released publicly—and that's just for the first three and half months of his tenure.
At the same time, elected officials from both parties are listed by name on his meeting schedule. But that's not all it appears to be either.
Reaching out to legislators and local officials is something Rauner should do as the state's chief executive. It's also something he wants to do as the state's political blamer in chief: it allows him to claim the high road while blasting Madigan, Cullerton, and "the legislators they control" for putting politics ahead of Illinois.
Several of the Democratic pols who met with the governor describe him as friendly and attentive—and committed to scoring points against the Democratic leadership.
A couple weeks after his talk with Solis, the governor sat down with freshman state rep Pamela Reaves-Harris, another Chicago Democrat. She says she requested the meeting after Rauner proposed axing $6.7 billion from the budget, including funds for day care and mental health services.
Reaves-Harris grew up in the former Cabrini-Green public housing development before working her way through the University of Illinois and becoming an attorney. "I wanted him to see me as evidence of what government can do," she says.
She says Rauner seemed concerned when she spoke of how social service cuts would hurt people in her near-north and west-side district. But he noted that state finances are a mess, and "he made it clear that he has an issue with legislators who have made a career out of politics."
Reaves-Harris argues the state needs to bring in more money, yet the governor won't discuss it while his probusiness proposals flounder in the Democratic legislature. "Most of the conversations he's having in the public are more about his turnaround agenda, and I have a problem with him holding the budget hostage."
Cook County commissioner Richard Boykin also made the governor's appointment calendar, on March 13. Boykin says he too requested a meeting so he could ask the governor not to cut mental health funding.
He was pleased when Rauner agreed to declare May 31 "No Stigma Sunday" as a way to encourage people to seek help for mental health issues. "He not only responded to me verbally—he responded in deed," Boykin says.
But when May 31 came around, the governor was fighting with Madigan and Cullerton as the deadline to pass a budget came and went. His office didn't even send out a press release about "No Stigma Sunday."
Boykin argues that legislators should give the governor something he wants—as long as he agrees to sign off on a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for social services. "That's called compromise."

FROM:  http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2015/06/12/some-democrats-say-governor-rauner-is-personable-when-hes-not-gutting-services-for-the-poor-and-infirm

CTA looks to bridge $28M Rauner budget gap | abc7chicago.com

 

(WLS) --

The CTA is looking for ways to bridge a budget gap - one that board members fear will be at least $28 million in state funding cuts.
"Based on what Gov. Rauner has done, the full $28 million will disappear," said outgoing CTA President Forrest Claypool.

Claypool says that money represents the reduced and free-ride subsidy the governor wants to end.
At Wednesday's board meeting, the agency discussed contingency plans to try and absorb the expected cuts without having to raise fares.

CTA looks to bridge $28M Rauner budget gap | abc7chicago.com

Obama to Build Presidential Library on Chicago’s South Side - WSJ

 

The nation’s third-largest city was the front-runner from the start and, although stumbling at points, emerged from a shortlist that included New York’s Columbia University, where Mr. Obama did his undergraduate studies, and the University of Hawaii, located in the state where Mr. Obama was born.

“All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago,” Mr. Obama said in a statement Tuesday.

ENLARGE

President Barack Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, speaks in the East Room of the White House. President Obama will build his presidential library on Chicago’s South Side, choosing the city where his political career was born. Photo: Associated Press

The president worked as a community organizer in Chicago and later was elected to the Illinois state senate and U.S. Senate while a resident of the city’s South Side. His wife, Michelle Obama, grew up on the South Side and worked as an administrator at The University of Chicago, which spearheaded the winning bid. The children of the president and first lady also were born here.

The library spurred not only a national competition but one among Chicago neighborhoods, with bids coming from various sections of the city, including Bronzeville, the near West Side, and the far South Side. And while the winning proposal is tied to the University of Chicago, library organizers said they plan to work with the three finalists that weren’t selected, including establishing a presence at Columbia and collaborating with University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Barack Obama Foundation still has to decide on a final site, saying it will choose between land in Washington and Jackson parks in the coming months. Plans call for the library to be part of a larger facility known as the Barack Obama Presidential Center, which will include the library, a museum and offices, and activity space. The foundation will raise the money to build the center, and after its completion, the National Archives will take over operation of the library and museum like with other presidential libraries.

While Chicago was the leader from the start, the use of parkland drew criticism, raising concerns the city would lose out. But elected officials, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel who served as Mr. Obama’s first chief of staff, took steps to make the public land available, and in the end, the Obamas’ deep ties to the city won out.

“Every value, every memory, every important relationship to me exists in Chicago. I consider myself a South Sider,” Mrs. Obama said.

Tuesday’s decision is likely to renew speculation on where the Obamas will live after the White House, and whether they will return to Chicago or settle elsewhere such as New York City.

Attendance at presidential libraries vary with those of recent Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attracting large numbers of visitors and the libraries of Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy remaining popular. The lowest attendance last year came at the Herbert Hoover presidential library, which was the nation’s first such library. In total, 2.5 million people visited the 13 presidential libraries last year, according to the National Archives.

Part of what went into Tuesday’s decision is the potential economic boost the library could provide to Chicago’s South Side. The area is rich in history and remains the heart of the city’s black community, but has neighborhoods that have long struggled with high unemployment and violence.

Mr. Emanuel described the library as a once in a lifetime opportunity “that will bring tremendous cultural, economic, and educational benefits to the South Side.”

Read the entire story:  Obama to Build Presidential Library on Chicago’s South Side - WSJ

Illinois governor says no bailout for Chicago - Yahoo News

 

By Fiona Ortiz and Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner told the Chicago City Council on Wednesday that the state's "terrible financial crisis" means there is no money to bail out the city from its own fiscal mess.

The governor, in an unprecedented address to the Democratic council, said the city and state need to work together to address problems that include big unfunded pension liabilities facing both governments.

Rauner has been touring the state to sell his "turnaround" agenda that includes cuts to public pensions and controversial proposals like creating local right-to-work zones where union membership would be voluntary instead of mandatory.

Ahead of his speech, Chicago aldermen adopted a resolution against that proposal.

Though Rauner is a Republican and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel a Democrat, the two have been close friends and even political allies in the past, and they share an agenda of strengthening government finances.

Emanuel, re-elected in April, faces growing deficits in the city and school budgets.

Rauner and Emanuel both said on Wednesday that the city and the state must make sacrifices to reach a joint solution, but neither provided much detail of where compromise may be found. Illinois has the lowest credit rating of any U.S. state, which makes it expensive to borrow money.

"For Chicago to get what it wants, Illinois must get what it needs," Rauner said to a city council chamber packed with union members.

"It's not easy," he told reporters, who asked him where he was willing to give, after his 8-minute speech to the city council.

The governor was not receptive to Emanuel's pet tax reform proposal aimed at ending Chicago taxpayer funding of both the Chicago Public Schools' teacher pensions and those of school districts outside of the city. Rauner said Chicago schools receive a disproportionate amount of funds relative to other school districts in the state.

Rauner also told reporters he accepted the city council's rejection of his turnaround agenda. He said his plan is to encourage local Illinois governments to decide on the issue themselves.

"That's my point ... local communities should be empowered to decide how their economies compete," the governor said.

Rauner's proposed fiscal 2016 Illinois budget would cut state funding for Chicago by about $135 million as part of a plan to fill a gap of more than $6 billion

Illinois governor says no bailout for Chicago - Yahoo News

Union leaders use City Council hearing to bash Gov. Rauner's right-to-work zones | Chicago

 

Two weeks ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel flatly declared that, “As long as I’m mayor, Chicago will not be a right-to-work city.”

On Tuesday, union leaders who helped the mayor get re-elected added an exclamation point at the end of that sentence.

They turned a City Council hearing on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed right-to-work zones into a bash Rauner fest that was so lopsided, it was over in 35 minutes.

They argued that right-to-work zones that limit prevailing wages and workers’ compensation laws and eliminate project labor agreements would reduce annual employee income by 6 percent, with minorities suffering most, and increase workplace deaths by 53 percent.

They poked holes in the governor’s claim that his “turnaround agenda” would put more people to work, noting that seven of 11 states with the highest unemployment rates are right-to-work states.

“Let’s turn around Gov. Rauner’s turnaround agenda, because after all, right-to-work is nothing more than right to work for less for all working people in the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago,” said Don Finn, business manager of IBEW Local 134.

James Ellis, business manager for Laborers Union Local 1001, added, “Right-to-work doesn’t work. It has never worked. Right-to-work works for who? Corporate America.”

Dan Allen serves as executive director of the Construction Industry Service Corporation. That’s an organization representing 6,000 union contractors and 140,000 members of the building trades in Northeastern Illinois.

“Gov. Rauner’s turnaround agenda is an attack on the entire middle class . . . It is an attempt to unfairly demonize working people as the cause of the state’s financial woes. It is a slick, divisive, deceptive, well-packaged campaign that will have a detrimental effect on our city and state’s economy and greatly weaken already-struggling middle class families,” Allen said.

“It is a law to rob us of both our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and freedom of collective bargaining, by which unions have improved wages and working conditions for everyone. Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights.”

After the hearing, Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), the Emanuel floor leader who chairs the Committee on Workforce Development, said he finds it hard to believe that right-to-work will become little more than a bargaining chip for the rookie governor.

“I’m not quite sure what the strategy is because this was part of the campaign. This was part of his inauguration message. If one thinks that what he’s set forth as a premise all along was always meant to just be a bargaining chip, I think that’s a stretch,” O’Connor said.

“I think he truly believes that this is something the state should engage in. His past practices in terms of his business would indicate that this is a true belief — not a bargaining chip,” he said. “But it may become a bargaining chip when they find that they can’t accomplish what it is they really set out to try and do.”

O’Connor didn’t miss a beat when asked about people in job-starved, inner-city neighborhoods who believe Rauner when he says he can create jobs, if only union shackles were removed.

“What do you say to people who already have these jobs who own homes, who pay taxes and tuitions for their children who will then be out of a job or making less money?” O’Connor said.

“Shouldn’t we all be about creating more good-paying jobs as opposed to saying `I can offer you a whole bunch of half-jobs, but I can’t offer you a good job?’ Clearly, that’s what the governor’s offer is.”

In an emailed statement, Catherine Kelly, Rauner’s press secretary, wrote: “The Turnaround Agenda is about empowering local communities and voters to have greater control over the costs inside government and their ability to compete for more jobs. If Chicago doesn’t want to compete and drive value for taxpayers, that shouldn’t prevent other communities from having that right.”

Union leaders use City Council hearing to bash Gov. Rauner's right-to-work zones | Chicago

Rauner tries to distance himself from CPS contract scandal - Chicago Tribune

 

…records show that Rauner was a key player in the group and that the group played a key role in bringing the executive training program to the public schools.

Rauner's family foundation gave the Chicago Public Education Fund $500,000 in 2012, according to federal tax records, and Rauner said Monday that he and his wife have given the fund "many millions of dollars" over the years. Rauner also was chairman of the nonprofit for a time and said he served on the board for at least 10 years.

In 2012, the Chicago Public Education Fund issued a news release saying it provided $380,000 to fund the first year of the SUPES Academy program, which it described as a "pioneering effort to create the nation's first district-based academy for managers of principals."

The Rauner-connected group also stated that "following a successful first year supported by The Fund, CPS absorbed the cost" for the program during the 2012-2013 school year and that CPS "is further expanding the program during the 2013-2014 school year to become the primary source of support and development for all CPS principals."

In her statement, the fund CEO said the nonprofit organization has made more than $50 million in grants over the past 15 years, primarily to organizations working with teachers and principals in Chicago's public schools.

"In 2011, our organization made a $380,000 grant to SUPES Academy for a one-year pilot program to train CPS network chiefs and their deputies. Network chiefs are the CPS employees who supervise and manage school principals," Anichini said. "In 2012, following the completion of that pilot program, we declined a request by CPS leadership to provide a second year of funding for SUPES Academy training of principals. The Chicago Public Education Fund, its directors, and its staff have had no involvement with SUPES Academy since 2012."

The Chicago Public Education Fund is made up of a broad list of the area's most influential politicians and business leaders — all of whom have made restructuring education a top civic priority over the past decade. Many have become key political supporters of Rauner, Emanuel or both.

Indeed, Rauner was a board director and is currently a director emeritus. Last week, the governor's hand-picked board of education named Tony Smith the state's new superintendent of schools. Smith, who has spent most of his career in California, was appointed to the fund's board of directors last year and was on Rauner's transition team after the November election.

Launched in 2000, the group was first led by then-Chicago Tribune Publisher Scott Smith. Rauner joined the board the next year and later was its chairman before becoming an emeritus member of the board, along with future U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who is a former member of the Chicago school board, and current school board President David Vitale.

Others currently on the nonprofit board include Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, who has financially backed both Rauner's and Emanuel's campaigns; Mellody Hobson of the powerful Ariel Investments; Helen Zell, wife of real estate magnate Sam Zell; Susan Crown, a principal of the Chicago investment firm of Henry Crown & Co.; and Beth Swanson, a former top education deputy to Emanuel.

"But the investigation, I hope that the potential wrongdoing that I've read about didn't occur," Rauner said Monday. "I don't know. But I hope anybody that did wrongdoing gets fully prosecuted."…

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Rauner tries to distance himself from CPS contract scandal - Chicago Tribune#page=1

Feds Target Corruption at Pace - Patronage & Contractor Kickbacks - McHenry County Blog

Very interesting article from Cal Skinner regarding the RTA and PACE buses.

 

Read all of the article by clicking on the following:  Feds Taget Corruption at Pace - Patronage & Contractor Kickbacks - McHenry County Blog

CTA ‘L’ sees highest ridership in 50 years, yet budget cuts loom

 

More than 238 million people rode the ‘L’ in 2014, the highest number in over 50 years.

Yet it is also a number that could be affected dramatically with Governor Bruce Rauner’s recent proposal to cut $130 million in the state funding for mass transit, of which the CTA would face the brunt of the cuts, about $105 million, or seven percent of its overall operating budget.

This could result in deep service cuts and possible fare increases. Less train and bus services at a higher cost could have a substantial effect on the many DePaul students who use the CTA on a daily basis.

“If I had to start waking up earlier just because the train takes longer, I’m by definition going to be a less happy person,” said senior Robert Martin.

Martin takes the ‘L’ almost every day for class and work and thus relies on it as his main source of transportation around the city.

For senior Charles Wynne, the bus is his main mode of transportation during the winter months. He relies heavily on the bus to get to work and school.

“I think it’s important to have a frequent line,” Wynne said. “If it doesn’t come as frequently, I would have to schedule my life way stricter and leave my house at a certain time which would overall lead to an inconvenience.”

One of the major problems Wynne could see potentially arising with the CTA, as a result of Rauner’s proposed budget cuts being passed, is the environmental impact.

“From an environmental standpoint, you are able to commute tons of people on one bus on just one tank of gas,” Wynne said. “Without it, you’re promoting people to get cars, which is going to be worse for the environment. I’m definitely for public transportation as a whole.”

For Martin, the main concern is how many people will be put out of a job.

“Cutting jobs is not a good thing in a city where everyone is struggling to find a job,” Martin said.

There has been no word yet on how Rauner’s plan will affect jobs within the CTA but usually major budget cuts can lead to major job cuts as well.

For example, according to Progress Illinois, Rauner’s proposed budget cuts in Medicaid could mean, “a 10 percent spending cut to hospitals alone (which) would mean the loss of more than 8,200 jobs and $1.1 billion in economic activity.”

According to CTA spokesperson Brian Steele, Rauner’s proposal “would risk reversing improvements the CTA has made in recent years.”

Martin feels, as a result, the CTA needs to “cool it” with the big changes they are going to be going through, although he gets where they are coming from because they might have no other choice.

“I realize it’s difficult cause there’s no easy way to run an operation that big,” Martin said. “If (the CTA is) being sanctioned by Rauner, then I don’t know, what can they even do?”

At the same time, Martin also believes that riders will have no other choice but to accept what is going to happen next with Rauner’s proposal.

“So many people rely on (the CTA) so whether or not it’s screwing them over, they’re going to be taking it everyday still. They have to get to work or (wherever), so I feel like in that sense they can do whatever they want and people are still going to be their customers. No one is going to stop riding or just start biking all the time. I’m not going to do that. (So) they’re kind of in a position where they can do anything but they’re (also) definitely going to piss a lot of people off in the process.”

CTA ‘L’ sees highest ridership in 50 years, yet budget cuts loom