Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Chicago mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot is calling for the release of thousands of pages of records from the city’s investigation of an alleged cover-up for Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke after he killed teenager Laquan McDonald,” WBEZ reports.

“There’s no good-faith justification for keeping those reports secret at this point,” Lightfoot said.
The investigation, conducted by Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office in 2016, focused on the Police Department’s handling of the shooting.
Based on the investigation, the most exhaustive probe of the shooting’s aftermath, Ferguson recommended that the city fire Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy, Deputy Chief David McNaughton and nine lower-ranking officers. Ferguson also recommended that four officers be suspended.

Okay, but what is there really left for us to learn about the incident?
“Ferguson told WBEZ last month his probe was ‘a matter of high public interest and importance’ and warned that the public still does not know ‘the full story’ about the shooting’s aftermath.”
Oh. Wow. So in other words, it’s even worse than we already think.
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So what’s keeping Ferguson from making the records public?

Ferguson said a Chicago municipal code that bars his office from releasing investigation records does not apply to the Police Department, which possesses the material.
But the Emanuel administration insists it cannot release the records – in part because of a gag order imposed three years ago by Vincent Gaughan, the Cook County judge who oversaw Van Dyke’s trial. The gag order bars law enforcement agencies from releasing “any purported extrajudicial statement of either the defendant or witnesses relating to this case.”
Last month, Gaughan said the order remains in effect because of plans by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to ask the state Supreme Court to order a redo of Van Dyke’s sentencing. Gaughan gave the former officer an 81-month prison sentence with possible release in half that time, a penalty criticized as too lenient by police accountability advocates.

I’m not sure how releasing the records would impact that request – there is no jury to be influenced, if that’s the concern. But Judge Gaughan has been Judge Gag throughout the proceedings.
“Gaughan’s overly cautious approach ignores a central value the high court has recognized but he seems to ignore: the public’s right to know,” BGA president David Greising wrote for the Tribune in May 2018. “[E]very time Gaughan blocks the path of truth he risks making an insidious impact on society. People lose confidence in the cops, the city government, even courts of law.”
Similarly, the Sun-Times said in an editorial last month that “To this day, the most exhaustive review of how the cops conducted themselves remains a secret. And that is indefensible.”
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I don’t know if it’s exactly “ironic,” but it’s worth remembering that the murder of Laquan McDonald is the central reason why Lori Lightfoot is poised to become our next mayor – and Rahm Emanuel, who appointed her to head his police reform task force in the wake of the scandal surrounding McDonald’s death, is on his way out.
Preckwinkle’s Housing Stories
“At a recent debate with rival Lori Lightfoot before the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board, both candidates were asked about the growing pressures of gentrification and the shrinking supply of affordable housing in Chicago,” the BGA reports in one of its fact-checks. Bear in mind that their fact-checks have been, well, weird. This one, though, seems to, um, bear out.

In explaining how she would attack the problem, Preckwinkle criticized a city-run program aimed in part at increasing the supply of affordable housing in better-off neighborhoods that have high rents. The program requires developers of new residential projects to either set aside a share of units at below-market rates or pay into a special fund to support less pricey housing elsewhere.
“The Affordable Requirements Ordinance – ARO – is really challenged because, my understanding is, in the last 12 years, despite the tremendous amounts of money that have gone into it, only 400 family units have been created. Four hundred in 12 years,” Preckwinkle said. “Clearly, 400 family units in 12 years does not constitute success.”

So what’s the problem?
“When we asked the Preckwinkle campaign for the source of her number, a spokesman sent us a letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun-Times from the director of a local housing group who cited an online list of affordable housing developments the city offers as a tool for prospective renters.”
Yeah, those aren’t exactly great sources, and it turns out those numbers are wrong. You can click through for the details.
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From my notes of that same Tribune editorial debate:
“Preckwinkle: I built 1,500 units of affordable housing in my ward during my 19 years as alderman. Is that a lot? It doesn’t sound like a lot to me – fewer than 100 a year – but I have nothing to compare it to. How does that stack up against the documented need in her ward?”
From Curtis Black, reporting from a housing forum in December:
“In the back of the room where the forum took place, a couple of South Side community organizers were grumbling as Preckwinkle touted her record on housing during her two decades as Fourth Ward alderman. I spoke later with Jawanza Malone, executive director of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, who worked with low-income and public housing residents of the ward during Preckwinkle’s tenure.
“He recalls an alderman who backed development policies that led to the displacement of thousands of low-income working families from her ward. While Preckwinkle says she brought in [1,500] units of affordable housing, he says the actual cost of so-called affordable units was often out of reach for existing residents.
“While Preckwinkle says she worked with public housing residents, Malone points to a KOCO study finding that over 2,500 public housing units in North Kenwood and Oakland were lost while she was alderman.
“And while now, when the CHA’s Plan For Transformation is near completion, she backs one-for-one replacement, he says that when it mattered, she was a major supporter of the mixed-income formula for redevelopment that excluded many displaced public housing residents.”
Re-Runoffs
“They’re called runoffs. But in three wards on the South Side and Southwest Side, they might well be called re-runoffs,” Rachel Hinton writes for the Sun-Times.
“Three sitting aldermen face off April 2 against familiar foes – the same rivals who challenged them four years ago. The grudge rematches are in the 15th, 16th and 21st wards.”
The incumbents are Ray Lopez, Toni Foulkes and Howard Brookins, respectively.
The challengers are Rafa Yanez, Stephanie Coleman and Marvin McNeil.
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In other challenges to incumbents, it’s Rossana Rodriguez against Deb Mell in the 33rd, and Felix Cardona Jr. against Milly Santiago in the 31st.
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Meanwhile, in the 39th its Robert Murphy against Samantha Nugent, and in the 47th its Matt Martin against Michael Negron. Both are open seats with the retirement of Margaret Laurino and the departure of Ameya Pawar, who is in a runoff against Melissa Conyears-Ervin for city treasurer.
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In the 40th, it’s Andre Vasquez challenging Pat O’Connor.
See also:


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In the 5th, it’s activist William Calloway against incumbent Leslie Hairston. One thing they agree on: keeping aldermanic privilege.
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You can see the rest of the runoff matchups at The Political Odds, which is due for an update this week – maybe even later today!
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Posted on March 19, 2019