Tim Meegan's campaign retains strong loyalty, but what next?

On Saturday afternoon, April 11, 2015, Tim Meegan's campaign gathered 40+ people to discuss creation of an independent precinct organization & ways to organize Chicago's Ward 33 communities going forward.

After an hour I had to leave to visit a friend at Marianjoy Hospital in Wheaton.

[Below the jump is my reaction to the meeting.]

creating an elected commission to deal with airport noise

One thing I've learned from knocking doors: for the people who have airport noise as their #1 issue, it's their #1 issue. And not everyone is equally sensitive.

I live in Albany Park. With the new approach pattern, we get airport noise. But it doesn't bother me that much. But I met a woman in Albany Park equally far from the airport, and for her it's a huge issue.

I've also learned: airport noise is not just an issue for Chicago's northwest side. In addition to O'Hare generating noise, Midway generates noise complaints. And that new helicopter business going into Bridgeport is going to generate a bunch of noise complaints.

Proposal: create an elected commission to make suggestions about airport/aircraft noise that is elected from all precincts where airport/aircraft noise is a problem.

Questions for WTTW about Phil Ponce's conduct in the March 31, 2015 candidate debate

Last night Phil Ponce moderated a candidate forum that has been widely panned.

Some of the media outlets that covered it:

• Did Phil Ponce Win Some Votes for Garcia By Bringing Up His Son? [Chicago Magazine (Carol Felsenthal)]

• Who is the loser in the Chicago mayoral debate? Phil Ponce [Chicago Now (Teresa Puente)]

• There's no debate: Phil Ponce blew it last night [Crain's (Steve Rhodes)]

• WATCH: Debate moderator booed when he asks Chicago mayoral candidate about son’s criminal history [Raw Story (Arturo Garcia)]

  The outlet I liked best captured the reaction on Twitter:

  WTTW’s Phil Ponce Crossed the Line in Asking Chuy García About His Son’s ‘Gang’ Past [Latino Rebels]

  Using MoveOn.org's petition feature, I created a petition calling for Phil Ponce to be fired. Within 20 hours it had 1,288 signatures.

  A number of people who signed the petition called for people to call WTTW and leave messages. Messages are good. Questions are better.

  Below the fold are some questions I came up with. But please suggest questions in the comments. Write in the comments the questions you asked and the responses you received.

new revenue for Chicago, taxing sales of some homes

Because City of Chicago is in debt to its pension funds, Chicago needs new revenue.

The following proposal will bring some revenue and it should be passable.

Tax sales of homes (properties that have taken the "homeowners exemption" which saves $250-2,000/year).

Here's the catch: if the owner buys another home in Chicago (residential property where owner qualifies for and takes homeowner exemption) the owner gets 100% of the tax rebated. Also, if the homeowner lives there for 20 years or longer, the sale would be exempt from taxation.

How much would the tax be?

1% on value up to $250,000 of sale price
1.5% on value between $250-500,000 of sale price
2% on value between $500K- $1 million
4% on value between $1-2 million
8% on value over $2 million

There would be a step down for people who owned the property over 16 years.

If property owned:
16 years ==> only 80% of the tax paid
17 years ==> only 60% of the tax paid
18 years ==> only 40% of the tax paid
19 years ==> only 20% of the tax paid

The tax would not apply to seniors that have lived in Chicago for 20+ years and downsized to a more modest priced home in the last twenty years.

If an owner sells a home and then rents in Chicago, s/he would get the tax rebated one third at a time at the 12, 24 & 36 month points, if s/he still maintains her/his legal residence in Chicago.

This tax would apply to the heirs of an estate, even if the deceased did live in Chicago for 20+ years.

reforming evictions in Illinois: having government sell eviction insurance

Recently two bills have been introduced in Illinois General Assembly to make evictions suck more for the tenants. Sen. Thomas Cullerton (D-Villa Park) introduced SB 0871, to expand who can conduct evictions from county sheriffs to all peace officers and private detectives. Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago Ward 6) introduced HB 0160, which makes at least three changes to Illinois law that harms the tenants interests (functionally making eviction more likely to happen and to make it happen faster).

While it may be emotionally satisfying to make evictions more punitive to tenants, the interests of the landlord/property manager are usually served by getting the tenant out expeditiously (or coming to an agreement), not making the process more punitive for the tenant.

What could help the landlord and the tenant? Eviction insurance.

To defeat Rahm, get more people (you plus 347,860) to vote against him

Today, Monday, February 9, 2015 is the first day of early voting in Chicago’s municipal elections.

Whether Rahm Emanuel is re-elected as Mayor of Chicago turns on something simple: how many people vote?

There will be 250,000 Chicagoans who vote against Rahm no matter what. If 350,000 Chicagoans vote against Rahm, he will be forced into a run-off with the strongest not-Rahm candidate. If 350,000 Chicagoans vote against Rahm in the first round (February 24 election), the not-Rahm candidate will be the favorite to win the second round (April 7).

If you want to beat Rahm, your mission is simple. Get a list of the registered voters in your precinct and contact them. Make sure they vote.

Below the fold for analysis.

Ward 33 election: who does Deb Mell see as "us" & "them"?

Letter found in snow. Shared by email January 28, 2015.

Elections are about framing the elections between "us" and "them". This is the line Alderman Deb Mell uses:

I will take on the difficult decisions facing Chicago and fight for what is rightfully ours.

According to Grassroots Illinois Action Mell voted with Mayor Rahm Emanuel 100% of the time 2011-14. So, a more truthful way of Mell saying it would be,

"I will take on the decisions Mayor Emanuel wants decided and vote the way MRE tells me to vote."

But I would rather focus on the second half of Mell's statement.

1. Who is included in "ours"?
2. What is "rightfully ours"?
3. Who or what is the threat to us getting what's "rightfully ours"?