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Walter Burnett
PI Original
by Matthew Blake
9:37pm
Mon Apr 16
1 comment

Finance Committee Scrutinizes, Then Passes, Emanuel's Infrastructure Trust

Chicago City Council

Chicago aldermen spent five hours raising questions that went unanswered about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s “Infrastructure Trust” ordinance, particularly whether it would benefit investors on the backs of taxpayers. Nonetheless, the Finance Committee passed the ordinance with a divided 11-7 vote.

PI Original
by Steven Ross Johnson
3:04pm
Mon Mar 12

Election 2012: A Look At The 5th District State Senate Race

Election 2012

This year’s race for state senate in the 5th District has received much more attention than is usually given to a legislative seat on Chicago’s near West Side – due in no small part to the contentious tone the campaigns have taken in recent weeks, which included a much-publicized war of words between the incumbent and the Illinois Secretary of State.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
3:21pm
Mon Apr 11, 2011

Council Members Pass Again On Approving Daley-Backed Bill

The current group of Chicago aldermen has seemed pretty comfortable bucking the Daley administration on some important mayoral priorities over the last month or so. In March, members of the council's Committee on Aviation declined to take a vote on a proposed 25-year concessions lease at O'Hare's international terminal, worrying about its terms and thinking back to the rushed parking meter deal in 2008. They postponed voting on the deal last week as well. And earlier today, finance committee members declined to take a vote on an ordinance introduced by the mayor that would allow some home buyers to access tax increment financing (TIF) grants to purchase and rehabilitate vacant homes in city neighborhoods.

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
12:18pm
Wed Feb 2, 2011
3 comments

Tricky Tactics In The 32nd And 27th Ward Races

Some of Chicago's aldermanic races are getting intense -- or downright dirty, depending on your point of view.

Take the 32nd Ward, where incumbent Ald. Scott Waguespack is seeking re-election versus three challengers. In a recent e-blast, Waguespack said a Florida-based firm was "push polling" 32nd Ward residents, distorting his positions:

My opponents' push poll begins with a Florida-based caller asking questions about the mayoral election. It then quickly devolves into 15-20 minutes of distortions, personal attacks, and flat-out lies about my record and reform agenda. For example, the caller asserts that our ward "lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that were supposed to be used to repair the ward", because I "never submitted requests to the city to fix potholes and sidewalks." This is false.

Over in the 27th Ward, Tom Courtney, who is challenging Ald. Walter Burnett, created a website that implies an endorsement from the City of Chicago, displaying a big official city seal in the upper left-hand corner, while subtly and not-so-subtly criticizing Burnett. The site does not specifically state it was created by Courtney; you have to click over to his official campaign page for that. While offering "Free Legal Advice," Courtney's site manages to bring up the armed robbery Burnett committed when he was a teenager and tries to link him to ex-Gov. George Ryan, who is in jail for corruption.

The site also -- ahem -- pulled a photo of Burnett from Chicago Journal, where this reporter formerly worked. Here's the original shot from the Journal and the one Courtney's site edited and uses.

(Full disclosure: the SEIU State Council, which sponsors this website, has endorsed both Waguespack and Burnett, as have a number of other organizations.)

UPDATE (4:43 p.m.): Courtney's site has removed the photo of Burnett from Chicago Journal.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
5:40pm
Wed Jan 5, 2011

What's Next For The Festival Outsourcing Pitch

The bid to privatize seven high-profile festivals in Chicago's Grant Park has a few steps to go before it's a done deal. Shannon Andrews, the spokeswoman for the city's Department of Procurement Services, wrote in an email that city staffers are currently reviewing the single response they received for outsourcing management of the fests. If they decide to move forward on the outsourcing proposal, which would create an admission fee for the Taste of Chicago and institute charges for previously free concerts during both the jazz and blues festivals, the agreement would still need go-ahead from the Chicago Park District's Board of Commissioners as well as the full City Council.

There are concerns among some council members about the impact of levying a charge to get into the Taste. Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward), chair of the council committee set up to oversee the city's special events, said he wasn't sold on the $20 admission fee for the event. (Half of the possible new charge would kick back to the entrant in the form of drink and food tickets.) Tellingly, Burnett told the Tribune he doesn't want any repeat of the city's parking meter privatization. It should provide a little cold comfort that following the hurried, now-infamous meter lease that some aldermen are at least once bitten twice shy with regards to privatization pitches.

Tribune food critic Phil Vettel, meanwhile, wrote in a thoughtful column published yesterday that the lakefront fests' "egalitarian nature might be permanently, irretrievably transformed" by the proposed new fees. Here's more from Vettel:

Even if you were broke, you could still pack a picnic basket, find a patch of grass and listen to free music. Consequently, walking around Taste of Chicago provided a more accurate snapshot of who actually lives in this city than one could get while attending Lollapalooza, or a baseball game, or any other admission-based event.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
11:10am
Wed Dec 22, 2010

Burnett's Residency Problem

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward), chairman of the Chicago City Council’s Black Caucus, might not make it onto the ballot this February. According to a piece in the Sun-Times, Tom Courtney -- one of four candidates taking on Burnett in the West Side ward -- has accused the incumbent of failing to pay $2,000 in fees for building code violations at a pair of properties in which he has an ownership stake. A 2008 Illinois Supreme Court case found that any candidate in debt to the municipality he or she is trying to represent is not eligible to run.

Mike Kasper, an election lawyer who is also working for Rahm Emanuel, is representing Burnett. He tells the paper that one of the citations was issued to the "correct address, but the wrong" real estate identification number. "His name got dragged into it,” a source told Fran Spielman. “The citation was for work done without a permit."

No matter what happens in this case, this story is a good reminder that Emanuel isn't the only Chicago pol facing ballot scrutiny this election cycle. For more on the challenge process, check out our piece from last week.

PI Original
by Micah Maidenberg
4:14pm
Mon Nov 15, 2010

Sweet Home Bill Advances

Affordable Housing

Aldermen passed the Sweet Home Chicago ordinance out of committee by a 13 to 8 vote this afternoon, setting up an affordable housing showdown at the next City Council meeting.