Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey has resigned from her position as head of the system after 18 years in the role. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already announced her replacement, tapping Brian Bannon, Chief Information Officer at the San Francisco Public Library.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to expand the library, engage new users and build new services beyond the four walls,” said Bannon in a press release. “The Chicago Public Library is already a national leader in educational media for teens and I look forward to working with the Library staff to build on that great foundation.”
The Chicago City Council could soon reach a deal on remapping
the city’s 50 wards, though neighborhood groups and even the alderman in
charge of the remap blast both the map-making process and the final
product.
Ald. Howard Brookins (20th), chairman of the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus, told the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday that two city council factions have come to an agreement on a new City Council ward map.
Who will ensure Walmart holds up its end of last week's tenuous agreement
that apparently cleared the way for a second Chicago store? Ald. Howard
Brookins Jr. (21st Ward), an ardent supporter of Walmart's proposed Chicago expansion, says that the City Council will be on the case. "They
need to live up to what they agreed to," he said during an
appearance on WLS' NewsViews broadcast yesterday. " And if they don't, then all of
us [aldermen] -- and I think all 50 of us -- will step in and try to do something
to resolve those issues." Watch it (full video available here):
The full council is expected to vote on the Pullman development project this Wednesday and, when they do, the public deserves to hear aldermen's specific plans for
holding the retailer accountable. After all, the deal is not
legally-binding, Walmart isn't acknowledging that they made any wage concessions, and the mega-retailer has historically been
very secretive about its wage data in the past.
While Wal-Mart has long been criticized for paying low-wages, the mega-retailer's insistence on expanding its reach in the Chicago market could end up lifting the floor on wages in those large swathes of the city made up of tax increment financing (TIF) districts.
Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey has resigned from her position as head of the system after 18 years in the role. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already announced her replacement, tapping Brian Bannon, Chief Information Officer at the San Francisco Public Library.
