PLEASE MAKE SURE to go to Page 2 of the ballot and vote for Jessica Biggs for Chair of the Chicago Board of Education. Every vote counts.

Chicago is one of the few cities in states in which the federal mid-terms are quite secure for Democrats. As a Democrat, I’m satisfied that the performance of all of our State and County elected officials will be superior to that of their Republican opponents. So it is no surprise that I recommend voting a straight Democratic ticket this election.

I say this as an independent Democrat, as I have had a history of going against the Democratic party establishment in Chicago when I believed we could do better. You can share this list with friends by forwarding it or using this “share” button. My recommendations are arranged by ballot number. Since our Ward contains several Congressional districts and several State Representative districts, your ballot will not list all these races.

Please vote the entire ballot. I hope we will all support our terrific Governor, J.B. Pritzker. Let’s show our support so he gets as many votes as possible.

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My Endorsements

GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT

United States Senator: (2) Juliana Stratton
Governor & Lieutenant Governor (5) JB Pritzker & Christian Mitchell

Our terrific Governor. J.B. Pritzker has used his influence in Springfield to get good things done “in his lane” – like getting Illinois much-needed credit rating increases, delivering balanced budgets, getting that rapid transit deal done the right way (by having the road-building folks agree to more money for mass transit), leading us safely through the pandemic, bringing new business and industries to Illinois and continuing to push for pension funding.

J.B. has been a moral leader too – by standing tall against the unconstitutional and illegal actions by the Trump administration. We are proud to have him as our Governor.

Attorney General: (8) Kwame Raoul
Secretary of State: (10) Alexi Giannoulias
Comptroller: (12) Margaret Croke
Treasurer: (14) Michael W. Frerichs
U.S. Representative, 5th District: (22) Mike Quigley
U.S. Representative, 7th District: (22) La Shawn K. Ford
State Senator, 5th District: (32) Lakesia Collins
State Senator, 6th District: (32) Sara Feigenholtz
State Representative, 9th District: (42) Yolonda Morris
State Representative, 10th District: (42) Jawaharial “Omar” Williams
State Representative, 11th District: (42) Ann M. Williams
State Representative, 12th District: (42) Paul Kendrick
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Full 6-Year Term (vote for 3):
(54) Precious Brady-Davis
(55) Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda
(56) Beth McElroy Kirkwood
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Unexpired 2-Year Term: (57) Cameron “Cam” Davis
President of County Board: (62) Toni Preckwinkle
County Clerk: (64) Monica Gordon
County Sheriff: (65) Thomas J. Dart
County Treasurer: (67) Maria Pappas
County Assessor: (68-69) no endorsement

I’ve been a strong supporter of Fritz Kaegi and worry that the Assessor’s office will go backwards. But I have no confidence that the opposition candidate would be any better.

County Commissioner, 3rd District: (72) Bill Lowry
County Commissioner, 12th District: (72) Elizabeth Granato
Board of Review, 2nd District: (82) Elizabeth “Liz” Nicholson.

Judicial Candidates

Judge of the Appellate Court: (102) Judith C. Rice
Judge of the Circuit Court: (103) Steven Q. McKenzie
Judge of the Circuit Court: (104) Luz Maria Toledo
Judge of the Circuit Court: (105) Ashonta C. Rice
Judge of the Circuit Court: (106) Ava George Stewart
Judge of the Circuit Court: (107) D’Anthony “Tony” Thedford
Judge, 8th Subcircuit: (112) Kathleen Cunniff Ori
Judge, 8th Subcircuit: (114) Lester Finkle
Judge, 20th Subcircuit: (112) Michael J. Zink
Judge, 20th Subcircuit: (114) Jon Stromsta

Board of Education

President of the Chicago Board of Education: (122) Jessica Biggs

For the first time ever, Chicago will have a fully-elected Board of Education. The role of the President of the Board will be to lead the 21-member Board, representing every part of the City, to deliver fiscally responsible governance to our schools.

After being elected to the Board in 2024, Jessica, who had run as an independent against both a CTU candidate and a charter school advocate, showed leadership by uniting the five non-CTU supported board members and building influence on the board. She was then selected by the whole Board to lead the independent process to identify a new CPS CEO. Importantly, she voted against the irresponsible 2027 CPS budget that assumed that CPS would win $150 million extra dollars in state funding. Earlier, she voted against taking out a high-interest loan pushed by Mayor Johnson.

The other two candidates are either solely supported by the CTU or lack the organizational experience to tackle this huge new job. When I spoke with Jessica recently, she said that her first job as President is to continue building working relationships with her fellow board members and engage the knowledge and participation of those board members in actual independent governance. That’s the talk of an experienced leader who knows she must build a coalition to pass the difficult reforms that will be needed to get CPS’ financial house in order and increase basic literacy and math skills.

You can learn more about Jessica Biggs at her website. Also, please read the Substack A City That Works, by two guys I respect, Connor Durkin and Richard Day.

Chicago School Board District 4 (131) Ellen Rosenfeld

I supported Ellen for this School Board race in 2024, and she has been part of the coalition led by Jessica Biggs.

Public Questions

PLEASE NOTE - none of these resolutions are binding. They are generally used as a way to gauge public opinion.

COOK COUNTY

The Cook County Millionaire Amendment for Property Tax Relief and Education

This would seek a 3% Illinois income tax surcharge only on millionaires and use 50% of the revenue for property tax relief and the 50% for the state to increase school funding. This would require an Illinois constitutional amendment, so I’m not sure how realistic this is.

I support a more progressive Illinois income tax, so I am comfortable voting “Yes.” (P.S. Massachusetts actually has this law).

CITY OF CHICAGO

Restart Chicago Gunshot Detection:

Should the City of Chicago restart the use of gunshot detection technology?

University of Chicago research has demonstrated that there is now faster police response in the districts where Spot Shotter was turned off. Homicide rates have actually fallen, due, possibly to violence interruption programs and the Chicago Police Department’s “hotspot” program. You can read a news story and look at the analysis here. I’m voting no.

Permanent Chicago Festival Space:

Should Chicago develop a permanent festival and outdoor event space for large-scale events?

This is motivated by those who are upset with the frequent use of Grant Park and our larger parks for festivals that rip up the lawns and disrupt neighborhoods for festivals.

Chicago already has many festival locations, some City owned, such as Northerly Island and Soldier Field. But I’m sympathetic to the plight of Douglass Park and the attempts to use Lincoln Park for destructive festivals. Let’s investigate this. I’m voting yes.

Chicago Cost Recovery from Midway Blitz

Should Chicago pursue all lawful means to get financial compensation from the federal government for the costs caused by the Trump administration’s violent ICE operations, including for families affected by those operations?

The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have already filed suits against the Trump administration. I think this is a symbolic matter. I’m voting Yes.

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS QUESTIONS

Advisory Question Regarding Millionaires Surcharge

Should Illinois use revenue from a surcharge on millionaires to increase funding for public schools?

This is a similar question to the Cook County question, generated by Mayor Johnson and the new Chicago School Board at a hastily-called and ill-attended meeting. It would require a constitutional amendment.

Advisory Question about Chicago Land Owners

Should the City of Chicago require owners of long-term vacant or undeveloped commercial or investment properties to pay an additional annual charge that would support Chicago Public Schools?

This was also put on the ballot by the Chicago School Board. It’s a fanciful idea. I’m voting No.

What justifies a surcharge on only some properties to fund education? In general, specific charges on some businesses and not others require some relationship between the business and the regulation. There’s none here. Plus, the complexities of devising and implementing such a law, even if used to try to force development or sale of the land, are daunting. I know this, because Alderman Deb Silverstein and I tried to do it. The lawyers and policy people (including us), could not surmount the issues about the amount of the charge, the cost of administration and the classification of which properties could be charged or not.

Frankly, the easiest way to deal with vacant lots is to make it really easy to build on them. Then owners will pay real property taxes and grow the city.

Note: Assessor Kaegi did create a rule that owners of commercial properties with vacancies got a smaller reduction in assessed value than previously and limited the number of years it could be taken. It’s been somewhat successful.

COOK COUNTY JUDGES RETENTION BALLOT

Has the Cook County Judicial System Gotten Better? - Yes. But be cautious.

For the first time in the 20 years I’ve been doing endorsements of judges, every judge running for Countywide judicial offices and running for retention has been rated Qualified by all the City’s major bar associations.

After much review, I am recommending that you vote to retain all the judges on the ballots in this Ward, with one exception: Tiesha L. Smith (314). Judge Smith did not agree to be evaluated by the bar associations when she ran in 2020, and other candidates were endorsed for that seat. She won.

Six years later, she is up for retention. While the major bar associations rated her qualified, six other groups found her unqualified, stating that her judicial temperament in Juvenile Court was hostile. The Chicago Council of Lawyers asked her to take a Stress Management course, and she agreed. With that, the Chicago Council of Lawyers found her to be qualified, but I’m not satisfied. Being reversed by Courts of Appeal is not a disqualification. Judicial temperament is.

I’m very pleased with the progress made in our local judicial system. The Cook County judicial system has gotten better - but I do have cautions.

When I became Democratic Committeeman in 2008, former Alderman Ed Burke essentially controlled the process for both appointing and electing judges in our County, and Joe Berrios, as Chairman of the Cook County Democrats, worked with him. Together, they ran a system that “made” judges based on politics. .

As I attended “slating” sessions for Cook County judges, I and some other Committeemen, including Committeeman Toni Preckwinkle, asked about judicial evaluations. Some judges were routinely slated despite poor ratings or their refusal to participate in that process.

I decided to focus my efforts as Committeeman on the qualifications of judges for office in Cook County. I wrote and published a series explaining the arcane way judges attain office in Cook County, and routinely recommended a NO vote on unqualified judges.

Two big moments made change fully possible: the April 2018 defeat of Joe Berrios by Fritz Kaegi as Cook CountyAssessor and the January 2019 indictment of Alderman Ed Burke. Berrios’ primary defeat by Fritz Kaegi led him to resign as Chairman of the Cook County Democrats, and Toni Preckwinkle was voted in. Shortly after Burke’s indictment, now-Chairman Preckwinkle removed him as head of judicial slating, and began requiring candidates to show qualified bar ratings.

With each passing year, more of the less-qualified judges have retired or moved on, and more recently elected judges are now up for retention, including judges I have recommended.

Three caveats:

The requirement for bar ratings does not seem to apply in the ”subcircuit” races, because the local committeemen in the subcircuits control those endorsements. This year, some candidates for judge in the 3rd, 5th, 16th, and 17th Subcircuits were found unqualified. We had an unqualified judicial candidate in the March primary, but he was defeated.

The fight to have qualified judges in Cook County has been going on for over 50 years. It has taken legions of courtwatchers in the 1960s and 70s, the indictment of numerous judges in Operation Greylord in the 1980s, and finally, the indictment of powerful Cook County leaders to change from a completely patronage-based system to one with minimal legal qualifications. We now have many, many good judges in Cook County - but that can change quickly. Keep being diligent, and thanks for reading my post.

When and Where to Vote

VOTE NOW at LOOP SUPER SITE at Clark & Lake - 191 N Clark

VOTE NOW with your mail-in ballot

In Person Early Voting in the Wards begins TODAY, October 19 - through Election Day, Nov. 3

Vote at these most convenient locations:

• Lincoln Park Library
  1150 W. Fullerton

• Near North Library
  310 W Division

You can see a full list of early voting sites here.

HOURS

• Weekdays: 9:00am - 6:00pm

• Saturday: 9:00am - 5:00pm

• Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

• Election Day: 6:00am - 7:00pm (November 3)

You can register to vote and vote on the same day. Any voter who needs to register for the first time or file an address update or a name change must show two forms of ID, one of which shows the voter's current address.

Please vote.

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PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATION LIST

Early voting only takes a few minutes. Stop by the Lincoln Park or Gold Coast Library to vote! Hours are:

• Today and Monday: 9:00am - 7:00pm

• Saturday: 9:00am - 5:00pm

• Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

• TUESDAY, Election Day - 6:00am - 7:00pm

  • Vote at the early voting site or your precinct, which you can find here.

These are my recommendations in the contested races. If you’d like to print out the entire list, here it is. If you’d like to see my earlier Substack with my explanations, click here.

Recommended Democratic Candidates March 17, 2026 Primary (with ballot numbers)

United States Senator: (2) Robin Kelly

Comptroller: (15) Stephanie A. Kifowit

U.S. Representative, 7th District: (34) Jason Friedman

STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEEPERSON

Please vote for two people - one man, one woman.

State Central Committeeperson, 5th District

(51) John Cullerton

State Central Committeeperson, 7th District

(51) Emma Mitts

(52) Emanuel “Chris” Welch

State Senator, 6th District: (62) Sara Feigenholtz

State Representative, 12th District: (74) Mac Lebuhn

I’ve already expressed my strong support for Mac Lebuhn. But he is up against BIG TECH in this race. Your mailbox and social media has been flooded with content for Paul Kendrick. It’s mostly paid for by outside PACs, especially Facebook, which wants state legislators to ban regulation of social media and AI. In the last week, they have given him $60,000 more, for a total in a month of over $230,000!

What do they see in Paul that they are giving him the most of any State legislative candidate? I don’t know. But Mac Lebuhn is THE reform candidate in this race. Stop big Tech and vote for Mac.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Full 6-Year Term

(81) Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda

(82) Precious Brady-Davis

(84) Sarah Bury

President of County Board: (92) Brendan Reilly

County Assessor: (96) Fritz Kaegi

I’ll say it again – stick with Fritz and don’t let the Assessor’s office go backwards. Vote for Fritz Kaegi. And my taxes went up a bit - here’s how that happens and why we need Fritz to make it fair.

County Commissioner, 12th District: (101) Jose “Che-Che” Turrubiartez Wilson

Board of Review, 2nd District

(111) Samantha Steele.

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Cobbs): (133) Luz Maria Toledo

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Coghlan): (136) Michael Cabonargi

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Gamrath): (141) Kathleen Cunniff Ori

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Mikva): (144) Lester Finkle

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Converted from Associate Judgeship of Miller): (142) Jon Stromsta

Remember, NOT ALL THESE CANDIDATES WILL BE ON YOUR BALLOT, because the 43rd Ward has several legislative and judicial districts.

Thanks for reading these recommendations. If you are thinking of voting by mail, please deliver your mail-in ballot to one of the drop-boxes at early voting sites. You can also take your ballot to the post office and have them hand stamp the postmark.

The Post Office (under the leadership of a Trump-appointed person), has changed the rules. MAKE SURE YOUR MAIL-IN BALLOT counts.

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PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS LIST

PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATION LIST

Don’t blow off these elections! Early voting only takes a few minutes. Stop by the Lincoln Park or Gold Coast Library to vote!

For easy use, I’m repeating my recommendations in the contested races. If you’d like to print out the entire list, here it is. If you’d like to see my earlier Substack with my explanations, click here.

Recommended Democratic Candidates March 17, 2026 Primary (with ballot numbers)

United States Senator: (2) Robin Kelly

Comptroller: (15) Stephanie A. Kifowit

U.S. Representative, 7th District: (34) Jason Friedman

STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEEPERSON

So please vote for two people - one man, one woman.

(52) Margaret Croke (only woman on the ballot)

(52) Emanuel “Chris” Welch

State Senator, 6th District: (62) Sara Feigenholtz

State Representative, 12th District: (74) Mac Lebuhn

I’ve already expressed my strong support for Mac Lebuhn. But he is up against BIG TECH in this race. Just 7 days ago, I reported that Meta (Facebook) was spending over $80,000 to support Paul Kendrick. NOW, it’s up to $172,000. THAT’S OUTRAGEOUS. Here is the list from the Illinois Board of Elections. You’ve seen the floor of mailers and social media posts from various interests. The only way to beat back the influence of Big Tech over our lives is to defeat their candidates. Mac LeBuhn is completely independent.

META payments to support Paul Kendrick:

2/18/2026 $20,793.18

2/18/2026 $19,380.44

2/20/2026 $41,906.86

2/25/2026 $19,380.44

2/25/2026 $20,152.18

2/27/2026 $20,152.18

3/3/2026 $16,750.11

3/3/2026 $13,980.30

TOTAL: $172,495.69

Source: Illinois Board of Elections, B-1 filings of “Make Our Tomorrow” PAC.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Full 6-Year Term

(81) Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda

(82) Precious Brady-Davis

(84) Sarah Bury

President of County Board: (92) Brendan Reilly

County Assessor: (96) Fritz Kaegi

I’ll say it again – stick with Fritz and don’t let the Assessor’s office go backwards. Vote for Fritz Kaegi. And my taxes went up a bit - here’s how that happens and why we need Fritz to make it fair.

County Commissioner, 12th District: (101) Jose “Che-Che” Turrubiartez Wilson

Board of Review, 2nd District

(111) Samantha Steele.

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Cobbs): (133) Luz Maria Toledo

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Coghlan): (136) Michael Cabonargi

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Gamrath): (141) Kathleen Cunniff Ori

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Mikva): (144) Lester Finkle

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Converted from Associate Judgeship of Miller): (142) Jon Stromsta

Remember, NOT ALL THESE CANDIDATES WILL BE ON YOUR BALLOT, because the 43rd Ward has several legislative and judicial districts.

Thanks for reading these recommendations. If you are thinking of voting by mail, Please mail it NO LATER THAN TOMORROW. The Post Office (under the leadership of a Trump-appointed person), has changed the rules.

Better yet, deliver your mail-in ballot to one of the drop-boxes at early voting sites. You can also take your ballot to the post office and have them hand stamp the postmark.

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PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS LIST

According to the Times, in Illinois, “Making Our Tomorrow” (a PAC) “is set to begin spending in at least four State House races, according to a representative for the group. The money will go toward positive digital ads and direct mail sent to voters.”

We know now who they are supporting. In two different filings with the Illinois Board of Elections, Making Our Tomorrow PAC disclosed their biggest one spending: over $80,000 for pro-Paul Kendrick mailers and digital ads, which you have undoubtedly have or will receive in the mail and seen on the internet. That’s the biggest contribution they have made so far by far. And guess what else? In its Statement of Organization, Making our Tomorrow says that its purpose is to support four candidates - and first one is Paul Kendrick, a candidate running for our State Representative in the 12th District.

Meta is funding this PAC with $750,000, so I expect more spending to be coming Paul Kendrick’s way, as well as other candidates.

Why is this important? On July 1, 2025, the U.S. Senate defeated by a 99-1 vote a proposal to stop the states from regulating AI for ten years. With that defeat, the AI “industry” is trying now to influence state legislatures by buying candidates.

This is an outrage.

I don’t think we should elect people who are so plainly in the camp of one of the most powerful companies in the world. We want our legislators to be independent and to work to protect OUR lives, our privacy, and our security.

And frankly, this reminds me of one of my own campaigns. In 2019, Airbnb gave $13,000 to my opponent - because I led the charge to get decent regulation of Airbnb (which we now have).

We are only now beginning to learn the impact of AI on our lives. Even if you use AI, and like it, it shouldn’t have free reign over your data and information. If the federal government won’t do it’s job with these big companies, we have to do it at home. Illinois has already enacted some restrictions of and protections against AI companies. (against using AI to create child pornography, images and sound of people for commercial purposes without their consent, prohibiting discriminatory practices in employment decisions influenced by AI).

I wrote ethics legislation with Mac and he helped clean up City Hall. He rewrote the Welcoming City Ordinance to protect our immigrants. I think I know his values.

I’m disappointed to learn about Paul’s.

P.S. Legal footnote: Since the Meta PAC is an “independent expenditure” PAC, someone might claim that their expenditures on Mr. Kendrick’s behalf were not approved by his campaign. To this I say, Illinois has no guidelines as to what is or is not an “independent expediture” or “coordination” by such a committee with a campaign. Basically, anything goes.

PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATION LIST

This primary election is more important than ever, with many open or contested seats including Congressional and state-wide races.

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Yet, even with vigorous campaigning, it’s hard for voters to get information about the candidates. Debates are few. Unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune no longer holds editorial board interviews or does much research beyond the top races. Much of the Trib’s experienced political staff has been eliminated, and the Trib’s endorsements have been riddled with inaccuracies in the more local races.

In the absence of debates and reliable newspaper endorsements, I tried to carefully examine voting records, listen to the debates on-line, and of course, talk with people I respect.

Some local people coalesce around the Cook County Democratic Party recommendations. I’ve never felt tied to those recommendations, and this year, I am largely disagreeing with them in the contested races.

Thank you for asking for these recommendations, which makes it even more important that I do the work to back up my picks. There’s no doubt that some will disagree with me. But I’ll always try to recommend the most-qualified, least-conflicted candidates with the highest integrity I see.

I confine my recommendations to those who would be on various ballots in the 43^rd Ward, since boundaries for the many offices vary. If you want to skip my analysis and just print out the list, here it is.

Here goes:

Recommended Democratic Candidates March 17, 2026 Primary (with ballot numbers)

United States Senator: (2) Robin Kelly

Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL 2^nd) is the definition of a workhorse, not a show horse. Having served in Congress since 2013, she has focused on issues of health, poverty, and is a nationwide leader against gun violence. Right now, she is a leading Congressional advocate against the overreach of ICE. The outrageous helicopter attack on a rental building by Homeland Security in early October 2025 took place in her district. In response, Rep. Kelly became the first to introduce a resolution to impeach DHS Secretary Kristy Noem – and gathered 187 co-sponsors, the most of any call for impeachment in the House.

I respect the other major candidates, Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and Raja Krishnamoorthi. Lt. Gov. Stratton has the advantage of getting to know communities state-wide in her current job. But successful Representatives, like Kelly, work routinely with elected officials nationwide - a key metric to be effective in the Senate.

I compared Representatives Kelly and Krishnamoorthi’s voting records with those of our current local Congressmen, Mike Quigley and Danny Davis. Kelly, Krishnamoorthi and Quigley all have very similar voting and leadership records (see https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/robin_kelly/412595) Kelly has been effective as a legislator to get more bills passed than Krishnmoorthi and gets as many people on board her proposals as Quigley. Vote for Robin Kelly.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor (11) JB Pritzker & Christian Mitchell

Though unopposed, I have to say a few things about our terrific Governor. J.B. Pritzker has used his influence in Springfield to get good things done “in his lane” – like getting Illinois much-needed credit rating increases, delivering balanced budgets, getting that transit deal done the right way (by having the road-building folks agree to more money for mass transit), leading us safely through the pandemic, bringing new business and industries to Illinois and continuing to push for pension funding.

J.B. has been a moral leader too – by standing up and standing tall against the unconstitutional and illegal actions by the Trump administration. We are proud to have him as our Governor.

Attorney General: (12) Kwame Raoul

Secretary of State: (13) Alexi Giannoulias

Comptroller: (15) Stephanie A. Kifowit

The Comptroller pays the State’s bills and has a key role to play in helping the State of Illinois get a good credit rating, which reduces our costs of borrowing. Comptroller Susana Mendoza did a terrific job leading the office since December 2016, turning it around and initiating good policies, much as she did when she was City Clerk.

The job is largely technical, and demands that the incumbent be a good manager, and fiscally organized.

State Senator Stephanie Kifowit, who is from Aurora, has chaired the Illinois Senate Committees that oversee the Comptroller’s work, and has the most substantive policy recommendations. She said the State’s “rainy day fund” (the State’s reserves) should be increased to at least $5 billion. As the lead negotiator on pension reform for House Democrats, Kifowit also said that when bonds the state is currently repaying expire, she wants to dedicate those revenues to paying down pension debt.

The other candidates have a broad range of experience, and some raised concerns. Both Margaret Croke, and Holly Kim, unfortunately, have been involved with crypto currencies. Rep. Croke “was the main sponsor of the 2021 legislation that would have allowed financial services companies that deal with crypto assets to work with the state” while her husband’s law firm “offered and still offers services to help clients navigate government regulations and structure deals and investments in the cryptocurrency space.” That bill did not make it through the Illinois Senate.

Kim, meanwhile invested $8300 in campaign contributions in crypto, which ended poorly.

Crypto is highly suspect, and while some have gotten rich speculating, that’s hardly a recommendation for stewardship of government funds. I could not endorse candidates who support its use.

The final candidate is a social worker with no financial experience.

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Treasurer: (18) Michael W. Frerichs

U.S. Representative, 5th District: (31) Mike Quigley

An outstanding public servant, from his time on the County Board through his career as one of our Congressmen.

U.S. Representative, 7th District: (34) Jason Friedman

There’s a very crowded field in the 7^th Congressional District, which runs from the lakefront, goes way west along the Eisenhower to the border of Cook County, with a leg that runs from the South Loop down the Dan Ryan to West Englewood. It includes some of the poorest areas of Chicago, as well as downtown Chicago, West Loop, South Loop, and Fulton Market.

Now is the time for for a leadership change that will be a force for growth throughout the District. Jason will be a progressive voice for change. Here is a well-done description of his ideas.

Retiring Congressman Danny Davis has had a distinguished career representing one of the most liberal districts in the U.S. Now is the time to harness the success of parts of the 7th District to bring the entire District prosperity.

STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEEPERSON

The Democratic party of Illinois is formally run by the Democratic State Central Committee. Two members, one man and one woman, are elected for each congressional district in Illinois. The race is won by the man and woman who gets the most votes in a district. So please vote for two people.

State Central Committeeperson, 5th District

(51) John Cullerton

(52) Margaret Croke

State Central Committeeperson, 7th District

(51) Emma Mitts. A former colleague of mine in City Council. I really respect her for her hard work on the West Side.

(52) Emanuel “Chris” Welch

State Senator, 5th District: (61) Lakesia Collins

State Senator, 6th District: (62) Sara Feigenholtz

The hardest working State Senator in Illinois. I’ve worked more closely over the years with Senator Feigenholtz than any other legislator. Whether getting money for our neighborhood schools (LaSalle) or community buildings (Old Town Triangle and Care For Friends are just two), teaming up on legislation (stopping sprinklers in historic high-rises), pressuring Gov. Rauner to sign pro-choice legislation, developing a funding mechanism for community mental health centers, groundbreaking support for the LGBTQ+ community, defending pluralism and religious tolerance, environmental leadership or getting funding to make Lake Shore Drive safer, she has been on it. Vote for Sara Feigenholtz.

State Representative, 9th District: (71) Yolonda Morris

State Representative, 10th District: (71) Jawaharial “Omar” Williams

State Representative, 11th District: (71) Ann M. Williams

State Representative, 12th District: (74) Mac Lebuhn

I’ve already expressed my strong support for Mac Lebuhn. He’s prepared on day one to work with legislators on protection against ICE, ethics reform, affordable housing and pension reform. Vote for Mac Lebuhn.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Full 6-Year Term

(81) Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda

(82) Precious Brady-Davis

(84) Sarah Bury

I look closely at the Sierra Club’s recommendations for the MWRD, as this Commission is responsible for waste water treatment and has improved its environmental stewardship steadily over the years.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners Unexpired 2-Year Term: (85) Cameron “Cam” Davis

An outstanding Commissioner and former Obama EPA official.

President of County Board: (92) Brendan Reilly

President Preckwinkle helped clean up Cook County when she became President in 2010. At the time, John Stroger (and then his son Todd) ran the County as a patronage farm. Cook County Hospital was broke, lacked basic bookkeeping, and rarely collected insurance. Toni brought new leadership into the county hospital to change all that, including creating County Care. County Care remains a huge part of health care in this County, and is now threatened by Trump‘s cuts.

But some of her cost-savings measures have proven very costly. President Preckwinkle created the electronic monitoring system as a means to lower costs at Cook County Jail. It has largely been a failure for public safety.

And the long-delay to modernize Cook County’s data systems, again to save money, has also been a failure due to the overwhelming size of the problem - and a very bad contract with Tyler Technology, leading to overdue tax bills and millions in costs to municipalities.

President Preckwinkle also decided to expand her reach from County-wide work to County-wide politics, and pushed for the election of two people I do not support, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Fox, and Mayor Brandon Johnson. Both have led the Chicagoland area in the wrong direction.

Brendan Reilly, the long-time Alderman of the 42nd Ward, achieved early fame by dramatically standing up to Mayor Daley, when Daley wanted to give up Grant Park land to build a new museum. More people than ever know about “Forever Open Free and Clear” because of that fight.

Since that time, Brendan is known for his excellent stewardship of downtown Chicago, working with neighbors to enhance the quality of life and at the same time being a detail-oriented legislator focused on the City budget. He is a fiscal watchdog, and will get into the details of these costly errors and put Cook County on track.

County Clerk: (93) Monica Gordon

County Sheriff: (94) Thomas J. Dart

County Treasurer: (95) Maria Pappas

County Assessor: (96) Fritz Kaegi

I’ll say it again – stick with Fritz and don’t let the Assessor’s office go backwards. Vote for Fritz Kaegi.

County Commissioner, 3rd District: (92) Bill Lowry

County Commissioner, 12th District: (101) Jose “Che-Che” Turrubiartez Wilson

Our current County Commissioner, Bridget Degnan, has stepped down, and I enthusiastically endorse Jose Wilson to replace her. Jose has been a community organizer working in the Latinx community and now works for Equality Illinois. He is a hard-working, enthusiastic young man who has worked with Lambda Legal. He has worked largely on health care issues directly related to Cook County.

Jose’s opponents in the race are unqualified. Isaiah White, a CPS teacher, is also a campaign operative. Elizabeth Granato is married to State Senator Ram Villavalam and is a member of a machine Chicago family, facts which she does not reveal in her campaign literature. I am against partners serving in political offices at the same time. Vote for Jose Wilson.

Board of Review, 2nd District

(111) Samantha Steele. No endorsement

(112) Elizabeth “Liz” Nicholson. No endorsement.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend either candidate. Samantha Steele, while apparently skilled as an assessment expert, has been mired in a succession of ethics issues. On the other hand, Liz Nicholson is a long-time campaign operative and fundraiser, likely to follow the lead of Fritz Kaegi’s opponent in this race. Hers is not a good qualification for a job that has been subject to constant concerns about property tax attorneys and developers giving campaign contributions to influence property assessments. I’m reluctantly voting for Steele, and hope that a better candidate emerges in the future.

Judge of the Appellate Court (Vacancy of Hoffman): (131) Judith C. Rice

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Burke): (132) Steven Q. McKenzie

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Cobbs): (133) Luz Maria Toledo

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Coghlan): (136) Michael Cabonargi

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Hooks): (137) Ava George Stewart

Judge of the Circuit Court (Vacancy of Karkula): (138) D’Anthony “Tony” Thedford

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Gamrath): (141) Kathleen Cunniff Ori

Judge, 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Mikva): (144) Lester Finkle

Please note that Dan Balanoff (145) was found “Not Recommended” by the Chicago Bar Association. He is not qualified to be a judge.

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Converted from Associate Judgeship of Haracz): (141) Michael J. Zink

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Converted from Associate Judgeship of Miller): (142) Jon Stromsta

Thanks for reading these recommendations. Please fill out your mail-in ballot right away and don’t delay. The Post Office (under the leadership of a Trump-appointed person), has changed the rules.

Instead of a postmark being applied the day you put your ballot in the mail, it is now putting postmarks when the envelope is “processed at central processing facilities and not necessarily at the local offices where mail is dropped off.”

A cost-savings measure? Maybe. Potentially impacting thousands of mail-in ballots? For sure. PROTECT YOUR VOTE. GET YOUR MAIL-IN BALLOT DONE NOW.

In Chicago, you can deliver your mail-in ballot to one of the drop-boxes at early voting sites. You can also take your ballot to the post office and have them hand stamp the postmark.

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PRINT THE VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS LIST

Monday, February 9th - 6:30 p.m.

Mac LeBuhn for State Representative

Mac is running in the 12th State Representative District, which largely runs in the East side of Lincoln Park, and all of Old Town and the Gold Coast. Here’s a map. Mac has proven himself ready on Day One to represent our District, having worked as a policy maker in City Hall. He’s committed to navigating the state’s fiscal realities, high housing costs, and threats from the Trump administration. He’ll fight to make Springfield more transparent and ethical. Mac is endorsed by a raft of reformers, including our friend Ald. Scott Waugespack (32nd), Personal Pac, and Planned Parenthood Action, Northside Democracy for America, and former Better Government Association President (and 43rd Warder) Andy Shaw.

Take a look at this new video:

Coffee for Mac LeBuhn

At the home of Michele Smith

(address provided before the event )

Monday, February 9

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Click here to R.S.V.P. (Required)

Wednesday, February 11th - 6:00 p.m.

Juanita Irizarry for Board of Review

Click here to R.S.V.P. (Required)

Come meet a great reform candidate who believes in true fairness in the assessment system. Don’t let the fundraiser scare you away. Come! And see why you’d be delighted to help Juanita beat an entrenched imcumbent.

Onward!

Michele Smith

I can’t find a detailed list of the demands that the Senate is making to keep the govt. open. The Hill reports that they are:

• First, end roving patrols by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and tighten rules governing the use of warrants by officers targeting migrants.

• Second, enforce accountability by establishing a universal code of conduct governing federal law enforcement officers’ use of force.

• Third, prohibit federal officers from wearing masks and require them to wear body cameras and proper identification.

While these are absolutely necessary, they are far from the actual needs – a “universal code of conduct” is not the same as rules of the use of force that federal officers generally have, as one example. And it’s clear to me that Senate Leadership has no idea about the unbelievably intrusive forms of surveillance that are being used.

Here are the facts:

Here is a quick article distinguishing ICE from CBP (El Pais) and a longer article by author Garrett Graff explaining why these enforcement agencies are so messed up. Even worse, are the unbelievable surveillance tools ICE and CBP (Washington Post) are using to target Americans. WIRED magazine explains Facial Recognition, AI tools, and social media surveillance.

The history of abuse (detailed in these articles) by these agencies makes the call to “Abolish” ICE a REASONABLE call to action. The former Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was reorganized into ICE and other agencies after 9/11, was a flawed agency as well, but it’s miles different from what’s happening with ICE and CBP.

At the very least, the Senate should hold firm until they achieve EVERY demand they are making today. Splitting off the Homeland Security part of the budget would be the best way to keep the government funded and allow reform efforts to continue. Of course, hard-line Republicans are against that, but the vote this morning, which needed 2/3 to pass, lost 45-55 – so 15 Senators have to change sides.

I think we should all flood our Senators with phone calls and emails to demand they stand firm and then demand further reforms -even if you know they are on our side already. Elected officials need to hear from us!

Here is a draft email.

Dear Senator,

Thank you for standing up with others to hold up the budget bill until reforms are built to rein in ICE and CBP, which have murdered US citizens and terrorized thousands for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Body cameras, a “code of conduct”, no masks, and clear warrant requirements are important. AND they are wholly ineffective against Kristi Noem. These officers are completely unqualified to be carrying guns given their training and job requirements.

Plus, the reforms do not TOUCH the now-rampant abuse of American privacy rights – these agencies are using AI to create a database of protesters, and taking pictures of everyday people who are resisting their abuses.

This is the LAST POINT at which Dems have leverage in this process. PLEASE do not vote for any capitulation, and exercise your leadership to unite Senate Dems to STOP these lawless agencies.

Do not let Dems disappoint us again by backing down. THE PEOPLE ARE BEHIND YOU ON THIS, PLEASE STAND TOUGH.

Thank you.

As you know, I usually stick to local government - but the cries of the people have awakened our political establishment in Washington. Let’s keep our voices heard.

Here’s an easy way to find a Senator: https://www.congress.gov/members?q=%7B%22congress%22%3A119%7D

Michele Smith

Mac LeBluhn for State Representative

I am hosting a coffee for Mac LeBluhn on Monday, February 9th at my home at 6:30 p.m. and I hope that you can join us! More details are below.

Mac is running in the 12th State Representative District, which largely runs in the East side of Lincoln Park, and all of Old Town and the Gold Coast. Here’s a map. As I’ve already said in an earlier Substack, Mac will not be a “get along, go along” type of office-holder. He’s committed to navigating the state’s fiscal realities, high housing costs, and threats from the Trump administration. He’ll fight to make Springfield more transparent and ethical. Mac is uniquely prepared to meet these challenges on day one.

Learn more about Mac and his campaign here.

Local politics are important - even if you don’t usually vote in our Democratic primaries (if you are a Democrat), please take the time to learn a bit about these races - and vote! I’ll be posting my full endorsements soon.

Coffee for Mac LeBluhn

At the home of Michele Smith

(address provided before the event )

Monday, February 9

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Click here to R.S.V.P. (Required)

Neighborhood Forum for 12th State Representative District Candidates

Several neighborhood associations are hosting an upcoming panel forum of the 4 candidates for 12th District IL State Representative, including the Old Town Triangle Association, Lincoln Central Association, Gold Coast Neighbors Association, and the Old Town Merchants & Residents Association. The four candidates are Paul Kendrick, Mac LeBuhn, Litcy Kurisinkal and Karim Lakhani. The forum is on Monday, February 2^nd from 7-9pm at The Triangle Center (1763 N North Park Avenue at Menomonee). Register to attend the 12th District Candidate Forum.

Juanita Irizarry for Board of Review

Onward!

Michele

Part of the change to that system requires new members of the Board of Review, which is the place where property owners can appeal their assessments. According to a 2025 study by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, between 2021 - 2023,

"Businesses won larger reductions in their properties’ assessed values than they had in the past from the Board of Review . . . while reductions in residential properties decreased, contributing to tax increases for homeowners.”

There are three members of the Board of Review. One of them is former Alderman George Cardenas, who represents the district that includes Bucktown, Wicker Park, and lots of suburbs. Juanita Irizarry is challenging Cardenas, and she deserves to win.

On Wednesday, February 11 a group of us dedicated to reform are hosting an event for Juanita. I’m hosting with former 43rd Ward Alderman Marty Oberman and Edwin Eisendrath.

Another former Alderman (and 43rd Ward resident) Dick Simpson, former Cook County Clerk David Orr, plus Dan Lurie and Marisa Novara, all who have impressive records of reform in the City of Chicago, are also co-hosting.

For more details and/or to RSVP, click here! Even if you can’t attend, you can show your support by making a contribution today.

For more than 30 years, Juanita has been a leading voice for equity, accountability, and advocacy across Cook County. She’s built affordable homeownership programs and fought for fair and stable housing policies across Cook County. She knows how to make government work. Here are just some of the highlights of her life in service:

• Beat powerful interests: As Executive Director of Friends of the Parks, Juanita stood up to billionaire George Lucas to protect Chicago’s public lakefront from privatization – and won! She also convinced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop the expansion of a toxic waste dump threatening Chicago’s water supply. I was proud to partner with Juanita on these projects and also on the fight to get park space in the former Lincoln Yards project.

• Fighter for Fair Housing: As the Executive Director, Juanita strengthened Latinos United, helping a vital organization focused on fair housing policy and stronger tenant protections for the Latino community further its mission.

• A Vision for Fair Taxation: Juanita is running to fix a property assessment and tax system that has been rigged for too long. She will make sure big corporations and those politically connected pay their fair share while homeowners and families get the relief they deserve.

I hope you will come to the event to learn about Juanita, with the hope that she will persuade you to help with her campaign to get fairness in our property tax system. I know many are mad and want someone to blame.

But rather than blame, come meet one of the people who want to work to fix the system. With your help, she can catapult this people-powered campaign with her experience and integrity to the Board of Review – and make Cook County work better for everyone.

Checks can be written to Friends of Juanita.

Thanks - I hope you will attend.

Michele Smith

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi ran to make the system fairer for homeowners, and he’s made real progress. But powerful special interests have blocked a number of his reforms, and now they’re bankrolling a primary challenger to stop him.

In 2018, Fritz took over a notoriously corrupt and opaque Assessor’s office. Political donors and corporations got special treatment and prominent politicians at each level of our Government — Speaker Madigan in Springfield, and Alderman Ed Burke in Chicago, all had private businesses that made money winning tax breaks, and the previous Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios granted assessment reductions for their clients while he lobbied Madigan and Burke for legislation that benefited Berrios’ private lobbying clients.

Fritz immediately cleaned house and has turned the Assessor’s office into a national model. As the Cook County Assessor, Fritz Kaegi:

• Ended decades of pay-to-play corruption with day-one ethics reforms, including a ban on gifts and campaign donations from property tax lawyers and appraisers

• Made assessments fairer by hiring actual data scientists and publishing

  the office’s assessment models and underlying data online for everyone to see, winning national awards for transparency

• Stopped valuation schemes that let commercial landlords keep their properties and storefronts vacant and dodge property taxes (I brought this issue to Fritz’s attention)

• Created more than 15,000 units of affordable housing, at no cost to taxpayers, with a new special assessment program

But obstacles to Fritz’s work remain. The pay-to-play system, where political donors get special treatment, is still in place at the Cook County Board of Review, which has the power to undo Fritz’s work by appeals. The Board of Review commissioners have been handing out massive cuts to big corporations, driving up property tax bills for homeowners across Cook County.

The fact is, property taxes and assessments are a zero-sum game in Cook County. If one group of property owners has their property value lowered, it just pushes their tax burden onto everyone else. Making the system FAIR is what Fritz Kaegi is all about.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my time in government, it’s that reform is very hard-won. It took over a decade just to get full powers for our City Inspector General, and it took a criminal indictment of a powerful alderman to FINALLY stop many abuses of aldermanic power.

The tax assessment system is even tougher to crack, but Fritz is using every opportunity he has to stand up for homeowners:

• He championed an expansion to the Senior Freeze program that recently passed in Springfield, helping thousands more seniors get relief and stay in their homes

• He’s leading the charge on “circuit breaker” legislation to cap how much property taxes can spike in a given year

• He’s working with other county offices to reform to how commercial properties are assessed and appealed by the Board of Review

Fritz is running for another term to keep up the fight and stand up to the corporations and property tax lawyers making your tax bills higher. He’s working to make sure commercial properties are fairly assessed and paying their fair share in taxes so their tax burden is no longer shifted onto you.

Special interests still hold too much power over our property tax system, and right now, they’re all laser-focused against the one public servant who is trying to put the taxpayers first: Fritz Kaegi. That should tell you everything you need to know about who to support in this race.

I’m sticking with Fritz in the March primary, and I hope you will, too.

Michele Smith

Former Alderman, 43^rd Ward

Former Chair, Ethics Committee, City Council

This year, there is an open seat for State Representative for 12th District, which includes the eastern half of Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and the Gold Coast. (You can find a map of the district here.)

I’m proud to endorse Mac LeBuhn for State Representative in the 12th District.

When I was alderman, Mac and I worked together in the aftermath of Ald. Ed Burke’s corruption conviction. During that moment of reckoning for our city, I saw firsthand Mac’s commitment to ethical, accountable government. He authored an executive order that eliminated ham-fisted alermanic power over internal city processes, like permits and signs. And together, we strengthened Chicago’s ethics ordinance and finally expanded the Inspector General’s authority - to best-in-the-country standards.

Mac began his career as a fourth-grade teacher. The challenges he saw as a teacher—economic insecurity, higher housing costs, and a system that too often left people behind led him to go to law school, then public service, where he worked as a lawyer and advisor in City Hall. Today, he’s a partner in a law firm and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, where he teaches legal ethics and underscores the importance of integrity in public service.

Mac will not be a “get along, go along” type of office-holder. He’s committed to navigating the state’s fiscal realities, high housing costs, and threats from the Trump administration. He’ll fight to make Springfield more transparent and ethical. Mac is uniquely prepared to meet these challenges on day one.

Learn more about Mac and his campaign here.

Mac is having regular volunteer meetings at his campaign office at 2630 N Clark. Join them TOMORROW, Saturday, Jan 10 from 10-3 and Tuesday, January 13 from 4-7 to meet and learn more!

I’ll be hosting a coffee for Mac on February 9th. Stay tuned for details.

Sara Feigenholtz

Sara Feigenholtz is hands-down one of the most impactful legislators in Springfield.

I know so. In my years as your Alderman, Senator Feigenholtz worked personally with me on spearheading laws very important to our community - and state. Some examples:

• She led the fight on House Bill 40 to enshrine a woman’s right to choose - even in the face of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. She and I had fun urging former Governor Rauner to sign the bill.

• She authored and passed a ground-breaking law allowing local communities in Chicago to create and fund their own mental health centers.

• She led the fight against mandatory sprinkler systems in older high-rises, which were unnecessary and prohibitively expensive.

• She’s a recognized leader on LGBTQ+ issues, beginning in the ‘90s with anti-AIDS activism

• She is a nationwide leader on adoption reform, creating the law allowing Illinois adoptees to get their birth certificates for the first time

• She got special legislation through to allow noise and speed monitors on Lake Shore Drive.

• She defended our restaurants and bars throughout the COVID pandemic, and promotes tourism, helping to create new business models and special business improvement districts.

There’s so much more. Look at her website and see the scores of awards she has won from activists honoring her work.

We are very lucky to have such a hard-working and passionate person as our State Senator. Let’s make sure she can keep up the good work and re-elect her in the March 17 primary.

Sara’s Campaign Kickoff is tomorrow, Saturday from 11-2 at her campaign office at 906 W. Belmont. See you there!

We are blessed to have talented and ethical people in our many elected representatives. Let’s do the work to get them elected.

The primary is March 17, but early voting begins February 12th downtown, and in the Wards on March 2. You can get a mail-in ballot right now - But please be sure that you vote your ballot EARLY.

Let’s keep our democracy by voting!

Michele Smith

Former Alderman, 43rd Ward

I’ve published my voting recommendations for this election, and I want to highlight the importance of voting for Ellen Rosenfeld for the new elected Chicago School Board.

Ellen is smart, tough, and knows alot about the Chicago Public Schools from her decades of work with Bell Elementary as LSC Chair, her four kids’ attendance at Bell and several selective enrollment high schools, and her work at CPS as an advocate for local school councils. She is running to keep school choice and to defend our excellent schools.

I agree with Ellen that “Mayor Brandon Johnson should not control the School Board, and the Chicago Teachers Union should not be on both sides of the negotiation table.” She is “the only candidate independent enough to listen and champion the needs of students and parents in the 4th district, not the Mayor and CTU.”

The Chicago Teachers Union has been sending highly negative mail about Ellen. CTU has accused her of being a Trumper and other assorted lies. Ellen says, “As a lifelong pro-choice Democrat, it’s egregious that my opponent and her key supporters are trying to tie me to Trump’s extreme agenda. My team and I are doing everything in our power to refute these dirty claims spun by the Chicago Teachers Union.”

While there are other candidates on the ballot, I encourage you, if you want independents on the Chicago School Board, to vote for Ellen Rosenfeld so as not the split the vote and allow the CTU candidate (Karen Zaccor) to win.

If you’d like to help Ellen win by handing out literature on Election Day and at the Early Voting sites, click here.

Voting Recommendations

Last Chance to Help in the National Races

With only a week until Election Day, there is still a chance to volunteer to help bring out the Democratic vote in Wisconsin and Michigan. If you’d like to help in those states, sign up at Operation Swing State or Indivisible.

Women’s March Rally November 2nd, Federal Plaza, 210 S. Dearborn, 10 a.m.

Join Women’s March Chicago to declare that “We are Not Going Back” and encourage everyone to vote this Election Day. More details here.

Hope to see you out there, and thanks for all the volunteering and donating you have been doing to help get our national ticket elected.

One plea: the ballot is long, and many races are uncontested. PLEASE, MAKE SURE go to page 2 of the ballot and vote for Ellen Rosenfeld for Member of the Chicago Board of Education, 4th District. Every vote counts.

You can share this list with friends by forwarding it or using this “share” button.

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My Endorsements

Advisory Referenda:

These three referenda have no binding value, but they are placed on the ballot to gauge public sentiment (and to draw political support):

“Should any candidate appearing on the Illinois ballot for federal, State, or local office be subject to civil penalties if the candidate interferes or attempts to interfere with an election worker's official duties?”

YES

“Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”

NO - raising our income taxes to provide property tax relief doesn’t solve our State’s economic problems, unfortunately.

“Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?”

I support health insurance covering women’s reproductive issues, including abortion.

GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT

President and Vice-President of the United States
(1) Kamala Harris and Tim Walz

U.S. Representative, 5th District
(11) Mike Quigley

U.S. Representative, 7th District
(11) Danny Davis

Illinois State Senator, 5th District
(21) Lakesia Collins

Illinois House of Representative
(31) 9th District - Yolanda Morris
(31) 10^th District - Jawaharial Williams
(31) 11^th District - Ann M. Williams
(31) 12^th District - Margaret Croke
(31) 26^th District - Kam Buckner

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)(Vote for three)
(41)   Kari K. Steele
(42)   Marcelino Garcia
(43)  Sharon Waller

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)
(48) Precious Brady-Davis

County Clerk of Cook County
(51) Mariyana T. Spryopoulos

Chicago remains one of the few cities in the country without easily searchable judicial records in criminal cases.  It is very difficult for citizens to participate as court advocates and almost impossible to get accurate statistics about the outcomes of all criminal cases in the County.

While the process to get these records into a computer system has begun, I trust Mariyana Spryopoulos will get the job done.  

State's Attorney
(54) Eileen O’Neill Burke

Eileen O’Neill Burke is a distinguished judge who stepped down to run for this office.  She is a former State’s Attorney who is committed to restaffing the depleted and discouraged office, and to training prosecutors and police to make effective cases.  She will seek even-handed justice on behalf of victims.

County Clerk (Unexpired 2-year Term)
(57) Monica M. Gordon

Judicial Candidates

Judge of the Supreme Court
(71) Joy Virginia Cunningham

Judges of the Appellate Court - each of these is running unopposed, but they are all good candidates.
(72) Mary Lane Mikva
(73) Cynthia Y. Cobbs
(74) Celia Louise Gamrath
(75) Carl Anthony Walker

Circuit Court Judges
(76) Pablo F. deCastro
(78) Corinne C. Heggie
(79) Sarah Johnson
(80) Deidre M. Dyer
(81) Arlene Y. Coleman-Romeo - not recommended by Chicago Bar Association
(82) Neil Cohen
(83) Edward Joseph Underhill
(84) Debjani “Deb” Desai
(85) Jennifer Patricia Callahan
(86) James S. Murphy-Aguilu
(87) Chloe Georgianna Pederson

8th Sub-Circuit Judicial Vacancies
(91) Loveleen Ahuja

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Budzinski)
(164) Nadine Jean Wichern

Chicago Public Schools

(102) Ellen Rosenfeld

I’m proud to support Ellen Rosenfeld for this critical race. I’m very concerned about Mayor Johnson’s effort to steamroll the board of the Chicago Public Schools. We need a person with strength to stand up for our schools. That person is Ellen Rosenfeld, a businesswoman with four kids, all who have gone to CPS schools. She was LSC chair at Bell Elementary and knows the importance of supporting the excellence of our local schools and selective enrollment schools.

COOK COUNTY JUDGES RETENTION BALLOT

Illinois law provides that judges who are elected are put on the ballot every six years for a determination whether they should be retained in office. 60% of the vote is required to keep the judge in office.

Some of these judges were elected while I was in office, so I base my recommendations on my own review and on bar association recommendations. I found the analysis of The Chicago Council of Lawyers and Injustice Watch to be very helpful.

Being a judge in the county system can be a difficult job; many judges have huge caseloads, and of course, judges have controversial cases. Reversal of their decisions alone is not disqualifying, but issues around judicial demeanor are.

Rather than reproduce the entire ballot, I am recommending that you vote to retain all the judges on the ballot EXCEPT:

(206) Kathy M Flanagan - Concerns about “judicial temperment” have led several bar associations to not recommend her for retention.
(214) E. Kenneth Wright, Jr. - Judge Wright, a long-standing judge, does not apparently live in Cook County as he is required to under law.
(220) Maura Slattery Boyle - Judge Boyle was not endorsed in 2018 for retention, and has not improved according to the Chicago Council of Lawyers. I recommended voting against her in 2018.
(272) Lisa Ann Marino - Judge Marino was also not endorsed in 2018 for retention and has not improved according to the Chicago Council of Lawyers. I recommended voting against her in 2018.
(328) Ieshia Eshale Gray - Concerns about '“judicial temperment” have led several bar associations to not recommend her for retention.
(340) Shannon O’Malley - Changed his name to Shannon O’Malley to improve his chances of winning a judicial election. He has been rated not qualified “over concerns about his courtroom management and legal knowledge.” (Chicago Council of Lawyers). He is also accused of not living in Cook County.

When and Where to Vote

VOTE NOW at LOOP SUPER SITE at Clark & Lake - 191 N Clark

VOTE NOW with your mail-in ballot

In Person Early Voting in the Wards begins October 21 - Election Day, Nov. 5

Vote at these most convenient locations:

• Lincoln Park Library
  1150 W. Fullerton

• Near North Library
  310 W Division

You can see a full list of early voting sites here.

HOURS

• Weekdays: 9:00am - 6:00pm

• Saturday: 9:00am - 5:00pm

• Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

• Election Day: 6:00am - 7:00pm (November 5)

You can register to vote and vote on the same day. Any voter who needs to register for the first time or file an address update or a name change must show two forms of ID, one of which shows the voter's current address.

Please vote.

‌

Let me tell you a story.

Three kids who regularly attend YBF programs, ages 16, 11, and 10, lost their mother to cancer at the end of July.

Unfortunately, apartment management served the family with a notice of eviction the day their mom died. The kids had to move to their grandmother’s one bedroom apartment in a senior building on the South Side, taking the older child from Noble Charter high school and the younger ones from Newberry Academy.

Fortunately, I was able to contact the building’s owner, and over the next three weeks, the grandmother worked with management and the US Dept of Housing and Urban Development to bring her and the kids back into the building with a lease.

This kind of issue comes up frequently for the families that have kids in YBF. Employment instability, low wages, and educational barriers plague this neighborhood just across North Avenue from where we live. Loving moms, grandmas, and dads try their best.

YBF has given these three kids the hope, stability, skills and confidence they need to power their own lives and build a future for themselves. They are thrilled to be back.

DONATE TO YBF

SUMMER at YBF

This summer, YBF ran summer programs for high schoolers in fashion design and music production, as a partner to After School Matters. Youth aged 14-15 explored fashion design for six weeks. They learned sewing basics, then designed and created their own clothing items.

Other students created unique music including composing, recording, arranging and editing with sophisticated software.

At the end of the summer, both groups of students showcased their accomplishments before friends and family with a fashion show, hosted by Old Town favorite Orso’s Italian Restaurant. The fashion design students modeled their creations, strutting down the runway to the beats of the music production students. Much pride!

YBF will continue this partnership this academic year.

YBF also hosted a summer sports camp program for basketball and flag football.

How Can We Help Our Community?

Now that the school year has started, YBF is offering after-school care and homework help two days a week. They’d like to do much more.

Can you help us raise $15,000 now to help expand YBF’s work to five days a week, and buy 15 IPads for use in the program? Please support an organization that will help African-American children a block away from our Ward succeed. Donate here. Any size donation is welcome.

Learn more at: www.youthforabetterfuture.org    https://www.facebook.com/Youthforabetterfuture and https://www.instagram.com/youthforabetterfuture/. 

Thanks so much.

Help Our Country

I’ll keep this short - I’m supporting Kamala Harris. Like so many of you, I’m writing post cards and making some calls. Now that my knee is better (long story), it’s time to go door-to-door.

Want to join in? We are going to Wisconsin THIS SATURDAY, September 14. Sign up here. Just fill in your info on the form.

Can’t go this Saturday? Here are more dates in Wisconsin.

I’m also signed up for Oct. 6 in Michigan. Here are other dates in Michigan. Canvassing is fun!

Can’t canvas? Phone or text! Here are dates.

Onward,

Alderman Debra Silverstein

I am honored to co-host an event supporting 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein on Wednesday, July 10th at 5:30 pm and I hope that you can join us! More details are below.

In addition to leading the most diverse ward in the city of Chicago, Ald. Silverstein is also the only Jewish member on the City Council. As a caucus of one, she has taken on the responsibility of representing the Jewish community and its allies during these challenging times. I am proud to be one of her supporters and I hope you can make it to our reception on July 10th.

Even if you cannot make the reception, I hope you will make a contribution to Alderman Silverstein so she can continue her important work in City Council. She has bravely represented her ward and Jewish people in the face of increasing anti-semitism in our City.

Support Ellen Rosenfeld for Chicago School Board

For the first time, Chicagoans will have the opportunity to vote for members of the Chicago Public Schools Board in the November general election. The State Assembly passed a law creating a 21-member Board to govern our schools. In November, we will have a chance to elect one member to represent our area and much of the North Side.

I enthusiastically endorse Ellen Rosenfeld for this seat and urge you to learn more about her. Over the course of her career, She has been a CPS teacher, parent of 4 CPS students, Local School Council member, and a CPS employee family and community engagement specialist (should she win the seat she would step down from CPS employment).

Ellen has sent her own children to neighborhood, magnet and selective enrollment schools. She believes in having the types of schools necessary to meet the varying needs and talents of our students.

Why is this seat important? What if you have kids in private schools or don’t have kids?

CPS is the largest recipient of our property taxes. Having good public schools, is as you all know, a very important factor in property values. Declining public schools are almost always accompanied by lower property values.

When I was your Alderman, one of my primary missions was to support our public schools to keep families in our neighborhood. The number of children under 18 grew by 50% during my terms in office. We expanded Lincoln Elementary and Alcott Elementary transitioned to a full neighborhood school to support this growth, and many pre-schools opened. Our mix of neighborhood and magnet schools is enviable, and Lincoln Park High School keeps getting better and better. We must support these schools, and Ellen Rosenfeld is the best choice to fight to make our schools as best as they can be.

Please contribute to her campaign and sign-up to get her email updates.

That’s all for now. Hope to see you soon,

Michele

My endorsements are arranged by ballot number. Since our Ward contains several Congressional districts and several State Representative districts, your ballot will not list all these races.

You can share this list with friends by forwarding it or using this “share” button.

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My Democratic Primary Endorsements

President of the United States
(1) Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
On the ballot, you will vote for a candidate and a slate of Democratic delegates for each candidate.

United States Senator
(21) Richard J. Durbin

U.S. Representative, 5th District
(32) Mike Quigley

U.S. Representative, 7th District
(12) Danny Davis
Danny Davis has served our district with honor for many years. As generations change, we should have a mixture of strong experience and newcomers to continuously energize our U.S. Congress. While I might have supported a new person in this race, I do not support any of the people running against Rep. Davis. Melissa Conyears-Ervin has had ethical issues, and I am frankly uncomfortable with married couples (her husband is an Alderman) both serving in public office simultaneously. Ms. Kina Collins is a progressive choice, but I admit I do not share her views on the conflict in the Middle East.  Congressman Davis has had a worthy career and enjoys the support of leading individuals in his district.

Delegate to the National Nominating Convention , 5^th Congressional District
Vote for all 8 delegates, all of whom are pledged to President Biden:
(21) Marcelino Garcia
(22) Sara Feigenholtz
(23) Timmy Knudsen
(24) Margaret Croke
(25) Brian J. McPartlin
(26) Aurora Austriaco
(27) Eli Moog
(28) Valerie Alexander

Delegate to the National Nominating Convention, 7^th Congressional District
Vote for all 8 delegates, all of whom are pledged to President Biden
(21) LaShawn K. Ford
(22) Anna Valencia
(23) Kam Buckner
(24) Emma M. Mitts
(25) Walter Burnett Jr.
(26) Patricia Dowell
(27) Rory Hoskins
(28) Nicole T. Lee

Illinois State Senator, 5th District
(61) Lakesia Collins

Illinois House of Representative
(71) 9th District - Yolanda Morris
(71) 10^th District - Jawaharial Williams
(71) 11^th District - Ann M. Williams
(71) 12^th District - Margaret Croke
(71) 26^th District - Kam Buckner

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)(Vote for three)
(81)  Sharon Waller
(82)   Kari K. Steele
(83)   Marcelino Garcia

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)
(85) Precious Brady-Davis

County Clerk of Cook County
(92) Mariyana T. Spryopoulos

This job is important to the administration of justice.  Chicago remains one of the few cities in the country in which the public is unable to easily search judicial records for criminal cases.  This makes it very difficult for citizens to participate as court advocates, and it makes it almost impossible to get accurate statistics about the outcomes of all criminal cases in the County.

While the process to get these records into a computer system has begun, I trust Mariyana Spryopoulos to get the job done.  

State's Attorney
(94) Eileen O’Neill Burke

It is time for a change at the Cook County State's Attorney. Eileen O’Nell Burke is a distinguished judge who stepped down to run for this office.  She is a former State’s Attorney who is committed to restaffing the depleted and discouraged office, and training prosecutors and police to make effective cases.  She will seek even-handed justice on behalf of victims.To hear an interview with Judge O’Neill Burke, listen here. To hear the debate between Judge O’Neill Burke and challenger Clayton Harris, click here.

Commissioner, Board of Review, 3rd District
(111) Larecia Tucker
Please tell your friends in Streeterville and south to vote for Larecia Tucker for Board of Review. Current long-time Commissioner Larry Rogers has benefited from large contributions directly from real estate attorneys who appear before him to see assessment reductions, according to the Chicago Tribune. (“County property tax official running for sixth term rakes in cash from appeals industry”.)

This office directly affects our own property taxes, as unwarranted reductions result in higher taxes for everyone else. I’ve been a strong supporter of Assessor Fritz Kaegi as he strives to make property taxes as fair and transparent as possible. Larecia Tucker pledges to ban contributions from real estate attorneys who practice before the Board of Review. I strongly endorse her, and hope you will vote for her.

Judicial Candidates

Judge of the Supreme Court
(121) Joy Virginia Cunningham
I have followed Judge Cunningham’s career for some time and have the utmost respect for her abilities.

Judges of the Appellate Court
(131) Mary Lane Mikva
One of our finest jurists.
(132) Cynthia Y. Cobbs
Rated well qualified.  Her opponent is rated not qualified by several of the bar associations.
(134) Celia Louise Gamrath
A very well-qualified jurist.
(136) Carl Anthony Walker

Circuit Court Judges
(141) Pablo F. deCastro
(143) Corinne C. Heggie
(144) Sarah Johnson
(145) Deidre M. Dyer
(146) Arlene Y. Coleman-Romeo
(147) Neil Cohen
Judge Cohen’s opponent on the ballot did not participate in the bar association reviews, so she should not receive our vote
(150) Edward Joseph Underhill
Judge Underhill has received good reviews since he was appointed to the court in 2023 and is a very experienced lawyer.
(151) Debjani “Deb” Desai
Two well-qualified candidates are on the ballot
(153) Jennifer Patricia Callahan
(154) James S. Murphy-Aguilu
(156) Chloe Georgianna Pederson

8th Sub-Circuit Judicial Vacancies
(161) Loveleen Ahuja

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Budzinski)
Vote for One
(164) Nadine Jean Wichern
One of the candidates, John Poulos, did not participate in judicial evaluations and should not be supported.

Ward Committeeperson
171 Lucy Moog

Referendum Question

“Bring Chicago Home”

This referendum question, which seeks to modify the real estate transfer tax (the tax imposed whenever a property is sold), has been put on hold while the Illinois courts determine the legality of the question on the ballot.  

I’m sure many wonder why this item is on the ballot. Illinois law mandates that an increase in the transfer tax can only be passed via a referendum.  This keeps decision-making in the hands of the public. Please vote on the question anyway.  If the referendum question is ruled proper, then the outcome of the vote will likely be valid.  If it is not upheld our votes will still inform the future public discussion.

The proposal would slightly reduce the transfer tax for sales under $1 million to 0.6%, down from the current rate of 0.75%. It would hike the rate from .75% to 2% for the portion of any sale amount between $1 million and $1.5 million and would increase the rate to 3% for the portion of sale amounts over $1.5 million.  There is no doubt that transfer taxes would rise dramatically for properties over $1,500,000.  (Here is a calculator).

This tax is proposed as a measure to address the overall housing shortage in Chicago. Without going on a long policy discussion, here are the factors I look at:

• Part of the reason for the success of our ward was the building of affordable housing in the 1960s and 70s, allowing young people (like me) to live here.  444 W. Fullerton (where I lived in 1979) and the townhomes in Walpole Point are just a few of the developments supported by federal funds and mortgage insurance in those days. Those programs lasted 30 years and afterwards many of those developments were converted to condos, leading to less such housing citywide. Plus, studies show that Chicago has lost significant numbers of “naturally occurring” rental affordable housing, often 2-4 flats, across the city to gentrification or to slum clearance.

• Today, states and cities nationwide have had to take a much larger role in helping housing because:

  • The federal programs have been eliminated, narrowed or changed over the years, resulting in a smaller federal commitment to affordable housing. Same thing for programs to help mentally challenged persons, also adding to homelessness.

  • “Over the last fifty years, tax rates for the wealthiest Americans have declined by 40 percent.” (The highest marginal rate was $70% in 1982. See tax rates see here.) This has also decreased funds for housing nationwide, especially in cities, which are disfavored by Congress.

  • Meanwhile, rising prices and stagnant wages have made housing more expensive for lower and middle income people.

This tax is therefore an indirect way of making taxes a bit more progressive, freeing up funds for a much-needed program by keeping it “lock-boxed” for housing. (Today, our gas tax funds are lock-boxed for transportation).

The opposing argument is that commercial development would be hurt by this transfer tax, because the top rates are higher than Chicago’s peers. According to the Better Government Association, Los Angeles passed a tougher measure (being litigated in court now), and similar taxes have been passed in New York City (Chicago’s would be very similar to NYC’s), Washington State, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Connecticut, and Vermont. Base rates in all those cases are higher than Chicago’s today. Texas has no real estate transfer tax, and Florida’s is .7%, similar to our base rate today.

I’m voting yes, even though I appreciate the argument.  Washington is not going to bail our city out on housing and these projects take time to come to fruition. If we don’t spend money on affordable housing, our city will hollow out, like Detroit. Having dedicated funds in Chicago will make it possible to leverage whatever federal dollars come our way to build or finance some of the housing we need for average citizens that private enterprise cannot do alone.

VOTING IN PROGRESS in the Wards

Vote at these most convenient locations:

Lincoln Park Library
1150 W. Fullerton

Near North Library
310 W Division

NEW LOOP SUPER SITE at Clark & Lake - 191 N Clark

You can see a full list of early voting sites here.

HOURS

·     Weekdays: 9:00am - 6:00pm

·     Saturday: 9:00am - 5:00pm

·     Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

·     Election Day: 6:00am - 7:00pm (March 19)

You can register to vote and vote on the same day. Any voter who needs to register for the first time or file an address update or a name change must show two forms of ID, one of which shows the voter's current address.

Please vote.

‌

Come to a community meeting about two proposed high-rises Oct. 19, 7 PM at at Binny’s 1720 N Marcey

Read on for Reform for Illinois dinner next week

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do,” said Michael Porter, a Harvard Business scholar. For any goals to be achieved, the strategist needs to pick the areas of focus where their product or service makes a difference. Porter adds, “A Sustainable Strategic Position Requires Trade-offs.” That means prioritizing and making choices, particularly “what not to do.” 

Our city should not assist or encourage the development of the Lincoln Yards area and the area covered by the Cortland/Chicago River TIF^[1] until and unless the terms of the Planned Development and TIF are substantially renegotiated for the benefit of the city and the communities adjacent to it.

Failure to do so will set the stage for vast unmanageable development from Clybourn to the Chicago River that will inevitably pull resources from areas of the city that must be prioritized.

Background: The City’s priorities

The City’s development strategy is focused on two goals: to rescue the Central Business District and to lift up under-invested parts of Chicago (Invest South/West) and .

The Central Business District is the beating heart of our city, and is the economic engine of the entire State of Illinois. The district has been the recipient of billions of dollars in transportation infrastructure and TIF investment that revived live theatre, installed public art, and made the downtown core an attractive place for worker and visitors. As manufacturing jobs left the city, service jobs, tourism, and the arts filled some of the gap, and the central core became the single most important area in the city for employment. 

It is now severely under-utilized. We should, as Mayors Lightfoot and Johnson agree, rescue/rehab/reimagine buildings that have failed, using TIF and other government money as necessary. These buildings are selling at depressed prices, making private investment more feasible - but not enough for 100% affordable housing, neighborhood schools and other amenities needed as the Central Business District becomes more residential. Using government money to support real estate development in other “popular” parts of the city makes no sense in light of this reality. 

Improving the South and West sides of the city is the other goal. Mayor Emanuel began the process with the 2013 Red Line rehab, the 2018-19 95th Street Station, bridges across the south part of Lake Shore Drive to make the lakefront more accessible, and, finally putting in place the plans for the Red Line Extension.

Hard-won developments, including the Method manufacturing plant in Pullman, the Pullman National Monument, and the Obama center, were steps to revitalize these communities. (The failures include the ill-fated Englewood Whole Foods - another reason to avoid relying on private industry to do all the heavy lifting). 

Mayor Lighfoot’s signature effort, Invest South/West, was an important step to increase investments which will hopefully grow under Mayor Johnson.

The Central Business district and the Invest South/West are the two development priorities that deserve sources of funding wherever the City can find them. They are both very big dollar items in a time of scarce resources and other priorities.

The Lincoln Yards Development and the Cortland/Chicago River TIF are at odds with the City’s strategic focus.

The massive Lincoln Yards development is a pre-pandemic plan establish an additional downtown central business district to house a potential Amazon or Google campus. The plan has no mass transit, except a weak bus line concept (the “transitway” – water taxis!), and weak road and bridge infrastructure. To get mass transit would require hundred of millions of dollars to move the Metra station. There are no funds in the TIF or any of the plans for this crucial element. Proof: Google preferred the downtown State of Illinois building for its Chicago headquarters.

Without an anchor tenant, Lincoln Yards is just a collection of downtown – style high-rises – without funding for mass transit, police station, fire station, school, library or public park to serve the estimated 50,000 people the development was to bring.

Even Mayor Emanuel, Sterling Bay’s supporter and apologist, wasn’t willing to commit the City’s funds for the new roads and bridges the development needed – because he could not get support from the rest of the city. The Cortland/Chicago River TIF deal was good, he said, because Sterling Bay would have to pay for $1.3 billion in infrastructure themselves and recoup the investment only after the development generated adequate tax revenues. ^[2]

Since 2019, Sterling Bay has built only one office building – a so-called Life Sciences building - at Lincoln Yards and it is completely unleased, a victim of the bad initial plan and the collapse of the commercial real estate market. 

Now Lincoln Yards and Sterling Bay are facing financial trouble. In June, Crain’s Chicago Business detailed the financial distress over mortgages and financing of Lincoln Yards due to the failure to find tenants for Lincoln Yards and the substantial decrease in value of its properties throughout Chicago.

Rather than face the music, Sterling Bay wants to completely redo its TIF deal and have the taxpayers, or some other investor, finance at least $800 million in infrastructure. If the development is not successful or fails to generate enough property tax dollars, the city (or some other investor playing the same role) would have to honor the bonds, with total payments expected to be $1.3 Billion. Sterling Bay also asked the Chicago Teacher’s Union Pension Fund to bail them out. Wisely, the Fund declined, politely stating, the “investment did not align seamlessly with the goals of our fund.”

There are, and should not be, any takers.  Sterling Bay wants a taxpayer bailout of a project in the wealthiest area of Chicago, that is office focused, transit poor, and most importantly, would pull $1.3 billion in infrastructure costs that could be best spent downtown or on the south or west sides.^[3] It’s madness to invest in a new central business district when we are not properly using the one we have.

But Sterling Bay has continued to lobby successfully with friendly City departments to support a plan whose reason for existence has passed. As AD Quig reported in the Chicago Tribune, the City “ported” money from adjacent TIFs to the Lincoln Yards TIF District. “A portion of the TIF transfers mean the city and not Sterling Bay could bear upfront costs for some of the new infrastructure as opposed to previous plans that Sterling Bay would pay for the infrastructure work first and be paid back with TIF funds later.” 

Unfortunately, government sometimes falls folly to the insistence of the most persistent. And our friends at Sterling Bay are nothing if not persistent. While Mayor Lightfoot unfortunately did not stop the deal as she became Mayor, the changes in the economy make it possible now.  A signigicantly smaller and reimagined Lincoln Yards area would require far less infrastructure spending and could be a more focused neighborhood plan - and would not detract from the needs of the Central Business District and underserved communities.

Sterling Bay’s development proposals for areas just outside the Lincoln Yards boundaries are completely out of scale when faced with the failure of the Lincoln Yards project.

Failing a bailout thus far, Sterling Bay has started to promote plans on their other properties that are not part of the planned development, and which presumably could be funded without having to build infrastructure first. These plans, none of which have been approved by City Council, are no doubt intended to try to build “buzz” for Lincoln Yards, and to try to attract new master investors. At the very least, these dense projects could create enough traffic woes to gain constituent support for the city to build the infrastructure without Sterling Bay having to live up to its commitments in the planned development. Zoning approvals for these projects when today there are no buildings of this size in this area – and none planned for construction – are premature.

Sterling Bay has released plans for three projects:

·      2100 N Southport, a 130 unit, 9 story building, across the street from Lincoln Yards. No zoning application has been filed, and its status inside the Department of Planning is unknown.

·      2013-33 N Kingsbury, also directly across the street from Lincoln Yards. That 25-story development would have, 359 apartments and 200 parking spaces.  That plan has advanced inside the Department of Planning, but has not been taken up by the Zoning Committee. Both these plans were initiated prior to the Johnson administration, when the area was still in the 2^nd Ward under Ald. Hopkins

·      In its most audacious move, Sterling Bay is now proposing to build a 600-unit development at the old CH Robinson site 1840 N Marcey. The plan calls for a 27-story and a 16-story tower. https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2023/07/14/sterling-bay-plans-609-apartments-near-lincoln-yards/ Sterling Bay has worked on these plans with the Department of Planning with zero community input and without discussing the plans with the new Alderman of the area, Scott Waugespack. A community meeting is new scheduled for Oct. 16th at 7:00 pm at the Binny’s tasting room at 1720 N Marcey.

Here is the submitted plan for 1720 N Marcey.

Here is the view from Lincoln Park (grey buildings) of Lincoln Yards (green buildings) as planned, along with new buildings proposed by Sterling Bay that are not in the Planned Development (in blue). (picture credit, Urbanize Chicago)(1840 N. Marcey only identified by the blue marker):

Lincoln Yards as envisioned by the Planned Development would have up to 6,000 residences.  The three buildings proposed by Sterling Bay outside of Lincoln Yards would have 1000 units.  The entire 60614 zip code has 37,000 residences today.  If Lincoln Yards fails, these buildings will be dramatically out of scale with existing buildings and would encourage other large scale development in the area. There are no new buildings in the area of the size or scale of the Sterling Bay buildings.

Mayor Johnson said yesterday that he wanted to take an independent look at plans Mayor Lightfoot approved for reinvesting in several Loop high-rises. According to Crain’s, “his administration would continue work on creating a ‘comprehensive central business district plan.’” However, Johnson “will evaluate each proposal on its own merits without feeling compelled to fund each project Lightfoot selected this spring.”

In the same manner, Alderman Waugespack has the responsibility to evaluate all the plans on the table for the Lincoln Yards area, and is due to co-operation from the Department of Planning and the Mayor’s office.

Sterling Bay could take a substantial loss on its initial investment in the land, as have other developers in these times. A restart would allow the market to naturally develop this land in a manner more consistent with the City’s current, and future strategies. 

As the pleas for public financing or outrageous zoning giveaways continue, the correct reply to Sterling Bay is: “Thank you for your request, but this doesn’t fit with our current strategy.”

^[1] The Lincoln Yards Planned Development is entirely inside the Cortland/Chicago River TIF, but the TIF includes more land adjacent to Lincoln Yards.  Sterling Bay owns several of properties inside the TIF but outside the “Lincoln Yards” Planned Development.

^[2] Sterling Bay admitted it agreed to pay upfront for the infrastructure, but said it did so only because “the city, under former mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lightfoot, was ‘unwilling’ to build it itself.” 

^[3] Sterling Bay made a lot of promises to other communities to gain political support: to open a pre-fab housing business to bring affordable housing to the South Side  using a new pre-fab technology. “Sterling Bay’s initial phase of 10 buildings will be constructed on vacant lots throughout Ald. Walter Burnett’s 27th Ward in the next several months, Gloor said. The first three-flat will be built at 640 N. Ridgeway Ave. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, according to Sterling Bay.”  Chicago Construction News, May 28, 2019. That business folded in 2020, and nothing has been built. A promised development on a parcel in Englewood  also never happened.  

Please Join Me on October 19th at Reform for Illinois

I’m honored that Reform for Illinois has decided to honor me for contributions to ethics reform in the City of Chicago. I, along with three others, will be feted at Reform for Illinois’ annual dinner on Thursday, October 19th, at the Fremont, 15 W. Illinois, from 6-8 p.m.

Reform for Illinois (RFI) has recently won major reforms in the State, passing a referendum adopting ranked-choice voting in Evanston. Just recently, RFI also helped pass a people-powered public campaign financingto encourage small donations.

RFI is a 501(c)(3) organization, and it would sure appreciate your support. RFI would appreciate it if you might make a donation to RFI in my honor.

You can buy a ticket to the dinner or otherwise contribute here.

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