Friday, November 18, 2011
Politics / Clout City Mayor Emanuel tallies his City Council yes votes
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 11.18.11 at 05:22 PM
Sorry, that was really wrong of me. I must learn to control myself.
Breathe, Ben, breathe. Feeling better—ahhhhh!!!!
All right, look, I get it. There's roughly 40 aldermen who would never vote against the mayor, any mayor, if he were proposing to do something really stupid like jacking up the regressive water and sewer tax, firing library employees and closing neighborhood mental health clinics.
While paying his top aides more than Mayor Daley paid his and keeping hundreds of millions of TIF dollars in reserves.
Oh, wait, that's what Mayor Emanuel's budget does.
And I know there are about five other aldermen who might have voted no but didn't vote no because they were looking to cut some sort of deal with the mayor.
That leaves about five aldermen who thought to themselves—you know, I don't really need this f-bomb-dropping lunatic mad at me. Especially if I'm only one of five voting no.
That adds up to a 50 to nothing vote.
In the aftermath, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and see how things worked with Mayor Daley's first budget.
I wound up reading a great article in the Sun-Times by Ray Hanania that starts: "Mayor Daley's record $3.02 billion budget sailed past its first City Council hurdle Wednesday, prompting one alderman to complain that the hosannas sounded like 'the millennium' had arrived in Chicago."
Great lede, Ray!
The article goes on to quote Alderman Lemuel Austin Jr. (34th) who praised Mayor Daley for making a bunch of changes that reflect an administration "concerned with tackling the city's problems."
If that sounds familiar, it's 'cause Alderman Carrie Austin—the former alderman's widow—said pretty much the same thing about Mayor Emanuel.
All together now—the more things change . . .
By the way, eight aldermen voted against Mayor Daley's first budget.
So either Mayor Emanuel is really, really better than Mayor Daley at crafting budgets. Or we've regressed as a democracy.
People, you decide.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
Wasn't there a guy running for mayor who actually thought the city council was supposed to, you know, put up a bit of a struggle? Yes, I'd say we've regressed. There's probably a teacher to blame somewhere.
like
dislikeI expect nothing less then the commissars of the Peoples' Democratic Republic..............
And to think that Chicago is supposed to be a weak mayor/strong city council form of government. Well, I'll tell you, it isn't Emanuel that scares me as much as the pathetic members of the city council. And yes Ben, the more things change... however, a great British "poet" said it best...
"New boss, same as the old boss"... guitar riff please
Pete Townshend
Hi Hoe Hi Hoe...its off to work I go....let me help you with the 7 dwarfs that claimed they were Independents and reformers! Alderman Waguespack-Sposato-Amaya-Cappleman-Moreno-Fioretti-Silverstein....They became Matlak-Banks-Schulter-Schiller-Granato-Haithcock.Stone.
After the budget passed 50-zip, there was a 3-second video on the evening news showing one alderwoman praising the mayor, praising the proceedings, and saying how wonderful it all was with the "bright future" and the "collaboration" and all the other good stuff. I nearly crapped my pants. I, too, thought that at least some of these guys would be as furious as I am about all the massive increased fees and especially those speeding cameras that will soak the average joe and jane out of any discretionary income and basically make criminals out of them. Those #@!?* politicians!
There's supposed to be opposition by the aldermen and the media. Except for a Joravsky article and a Kass article here or there, the media only echos the propaganda of that office in print and on TV. What is going on here? Whatever it is, it is unholy!
"There's supposed to be opposition by the aldermen and the media."
That only happens when the mayor is black, sorry.
The beginning of Totalitarianism? Here's another item in the budget:The Chicago Fire Department will have a "voluntary" Wellness program in which if you don't participate you have to pay $50/ month, another $50 if your spouse doesn't participate as well. I'm for a healthy lifestyle but I'm against being forced to do so. Where does it stop?
Ok, totalitarianism is when they shoot you in the head, not when they make you pay an extra $50/mth for health insurance.
"Ok, totalitarianism is when they shoot you in the head, not when they make you pay an extra $50/mth for health insurance."
That's the end of totalitarianism, not the beginning.
I haven't heard very many complaints from people about the closures of six of the 12 mental health centers. This is cruelty to the one of the most defenseless segments of our society.
Supposedly Rahm will save $3 million by closing the clinics. But $7 million in TIFs were given to a grocery store in Greektown and Cappleman is considering a $31 million TIF for a developer who seems to stay in bankruptcy. If we have this much money to throw at rich realtors, why can't we fund mental health clinics?
I have seen several complaints from residents on EveryBlock about Rahm raising money by putting advertisements on city landmarks. Chicago is a beautiful city but it won't be once our landmarks are loaded with advertisements. There has got to be a way to pressure our aldermen against this action.
Besides, I hate Bank of America.
Speaking of Cappleman, I saw him harassing the casual laborers who solicit work over by the U-Haul on Broadway. Happy Holidays!
http://twitpic.com/7jly74
"and Cappleman is considering a $31 million TIF for a developer who seems to stay in bankruptcy." dialogue1
D1, I missed the memo that Cappleman is considering this. I got another one stating that his zoning and development committee was considering it instead. Where did you get your information?
However, I love your idea about using TIF money to fund the mental health clinics. I wasn't aware that TIF funds could be used to fund operating expenses. Doesn't state law about TIFS forbid this?
Cappleman seems to be pretty happy with the idea of dropping tens of millions in TIF money on the white elephant known as the Uptown Theatre which had been closed 20 years by the time he moved to the neighborhood. Cappleman used to post on here under his real name until I called him out on the matter. He later changed the name of on his profile to "citizen" on this site and others to mask his efforts from Internet searches and switched to using a couple of sockpuppets to attack me which continued until either the Reader stopped him or Brenden Shiller contacted him on my behalf.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Profi…
"James Cappleman, aldermanic candidate in the 46th Ward, will you come out against TIF money being used to rehab the Uptown Theatre or is that OK with you because it's not public housing?" -FGFM
The Uptown Theatre is in the 48th Ward, not the 46th.
I will always support affordable housing when its placement, design, construction, and management rely on evidence-based, best practice standards.
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Anita Mandalay is sort of a sockpuppet itself because its the drag queen name of a D. Stratis who produces half-baked Uptown booster videos.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DStratis
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And the link is dead on Jon Trott's blog page, but thankfully I can still find this analysis of Cappleman's activities on Uptown Update featuring his comments on the casual laborers who hang out by the U-Haul on Broadway north of Irving Park via Google Reader caching of the RSS feed.
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A reader of Uptown Update, irritated by the site's anti-poor emphasis, complains about a story regarding a handful of men who ask folks outside a U-Haul rental facility for work. Without further comment from me, his post followed by James Cappleman's response:
Center said...
A couple years ago, I hired a couple of these guys to help me move some furniture I purchased. The original movers didn't show, and I was left stuck. And then I remembered the guys always across the street from the UHaul. Talking to them, they were pretty nice guys. No moving equipment, but steady hands, strong backs and an eagerness to earn some money. They did good work. Most, it turns out, were having some hard times. Two of the three I talked to spent time in prison for drug possession when they were younger, and the felony convictions makes it really tough for them to get a job now. I'm not excusing that, but the stuff that they got nailed for holding is present in about 50% of the dorm rooms and apartments on our college campuses. Mine included. But the cops in Champaign didn't make a habit of randomly searching the college kids whose tuition made their entire town's economy go. Lucky us. Poor moving guys. Anyway, you get the picture. I couldn't disagree with you more. These guys are polite, sober and looking for work. What could you possibly have against that? Or maybe there is something about the way they look you just don't like? Hmmm...
July 7, 2007 11:57 PM ]
James Cappleman responds:
James said...
If you believe they are all looking for honest work to provide themselves with food and shelter, you've been duped. Plenty of people, including neighborhood children, have witnessed many of them urinating, drinking, and participating in drug sales. However, even if 1 of these guys is only doing this for food and shelter, you also damaged this one person's motivation to get lasting help.
Please do them a favor and the community a favor and do not hire these men.
July 8, 2007 1:46 AM
And there are some real gems to be found at that original article on Uptown Update.
http://www.uptownupdate.com/2007/07/neighb…
James [Cappleman] said...
IDS,
If begging worked to help stabilize people's lives, social workers would be pushing that approach. But it doesn't work and you won't find any research literature that will have social workers promoting it.
You drifting off about doctors, cops, the war in Iraq, and the races of people is sounding strange. I don't go around murdering or torturing people and I never supported the war in Iraq. I was the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from the University of Chicago Medical Center, I'm a family advocate at a children's hospital in a predominantly African-American community, and as a former Franciscan friar in a parish that was 100% African-American, I sang in the gospel choir. I first started promoting civil rights as a high school kid 40 years ago. Your lame attempts of trying to paint me as a racist don't work.
July 12, 2007 11:42 PM
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Gee, does that remind anyone of the basketball hoop fiasco? Uptown Update did, however, claim that Helen Shiller might be homophobic because she to run for re-election after a gay guy who just moved into the neighborhood 5 years ago challenged her. I attempted to rebut that by pointing out that by the same logic, Cappleman might be considered an anti-Semite for running against a standing Alderman who happened to be Jewish, but oddly enough, my comment was not approved.
Ben, I'd be interested to hear if any aldermen were interviewed for this article. 28 of them signed some letter protesting the budget and they all voted to approve it after some conversation with the mayor. A few aldermen come to mind who are quite outspoken so it makes me think there's more to this story than what's being reported.
BTW, most people hate the begging that goes on and probably 99% of the folks in Uptown and now Rahm want the Uptown Theatre rehabbed. Maybe that's why Cappleman got elected.
Here's another hilarious Capplequote:
http://www.uptownupdate.com/2008/04/my-how…
James [Cappleman] said...
In this new age of blogs and YouTube, we can now expose and unmask those who want to believe they can create their own reality.
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Like public officials and their supporters who use multiple sockpuppets so they don't have to own their words?
