NSR: So who are we going to protest next? (the 2019 Mayor race)

I’m voting for McCarthy to jump off of a cliff.

 

All the favorites are awful , the system heard the complaints on how awful Rahm is..
The system answered " hold my beer "

 

Who’s got dirt on Mendoza? I’m hoping a non-white male candidate can win and Mendoza appears to be have good numbers.

 

She's awful , she's nothing more than a statist opportunist. Her political values and ideology are all based on the maintenance of power. You can't really call her a liberal or conservative , her fluctuating stances are all based on Statist control.

One classic example is red light cameras. She is one if the architects of it , for both the city of Chicago and state of Illinois . This is one of her climb to power feathers and one she is extremely happy about ( she won't put it in her commercials of course).
And no she didn't invent the red light camera, she was a leading proponent first in city hall than the state house .

Also , even in the face of all the wrong convictions she maintained a pro-death penalty stance . She only has recently recanted because no one can get elected in Illinois at the state level supporting it . She has come up with BS on why she supported it , none of it coming close to rationalizing the horrific cases of wrongful convictions .

She is a female Rahm , a closet authoritarian hiding behind a liberal agenda .I just don't think she is as financially corrupt as he is, as shedoesn't have direct connections to banking as he does.

 

Suzana Mendoza has done a great job as Comptroller and her holding Bruce Rauner's feet to the fire prevented even more damage to the State of Illinois by the now Ex-Governor.

Positives-
-She is an actual elected official, so she understands running for office (for contrast, just listen to Willie Wilson's radio ads, they are cringe-worthy and legally/factually incorrect).
-She was a State Rep.
-She was City Clerk of Chicago (but was in favor of red light cameras)
-Her time as Comptroller has been great. She was in favor of transparency and, well, paying bills.
-She is really funny. She has been a frequent radio guest on Ben Jarovsky's (former) radio show and was terrific.
-She seems to be a really no bull crap person.
-Her idea for partially repurposing under attended schools into essentially combination schools/community centers is intriguing to me. Instead of closing schools with low enrollment and simply ship the students elsewhere and tearing down the buildings or leaving them vacant, she proposes taking part of the buildings for job training centers, community centers, etc.
-She attended college (only Truman State, but still) on a soccer scholarship.

-When asked (on her website) about her passions, this is her answer:
"I’m a foodie and love cooking. I LOVE soccer. Traveling with my husband makes me immensely happy.
I’m most passionate about being a great mommy to our 5-year-old son, David Quinten. Did I say I love food?"

Negatives-
-She is very tied to the Democratic Political "machine," with both Ed Burke and Mike Madigan as her mentors.
-She is close to Rahm Emmanuel (and I think that is a problem).
-She is/was in favor of expanding the awful red light cameras.
-She was City Clerk and Comptroller but is NOT an MBA nor does she have any advanced degree. Personally, I think that is unfortunate, but (at least) she really should understand the financial components of government.

Edit: I wrote this while @chiladd was posting. I agree with most of his assessments (which are in my "negatives"), and his comments about not being an actual progressive are well taken.

That being said, she is still my first or second choice at this point.

 

Im not a city resident , and haven't been for years. But if I was I would be voting for

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amara_Enyia

She doesn't stand a chance in hell. I dont know all her positions but I like the interviews I've seen . My 74 year old mother , a lifelong resident of Lincoln Square , retired nurse from Ravenswood hospital , a CPS (lane tech)and UIC grad is voting for her.

 

She is my other top choice and the most progressive candidate, I think.

Also, I think she has a chance. With no incumbent and no clear "front runner," this race is almost certainly going to a run-off. If there are 15 or so candidates actually the ballot, it may only take 40-50,000 votes to get to the run-off. Then it is a fight.

If it came down to Dr. Enyia and Chico/Daley/Vallas, I think Enyia could win.
If it came down to Dr. Enyia and Mendoza/Prekwinkle/(ugh)Brown, I think Enyia would lose.

Her positions:
Economic justice

Restorative justice

Actual governmental transparency

Audit all City functions


Her "unusual" pet project: Ban the Boot. She sees the immobility of a car for unpaid parking tickets as an economic justice issue. Can't drive, can't get to work. Can't get to work, can't pay the fine. I agree with her.

I was listening to a really substantive interview with her earlier this week and was very impressed.
She is extremely bright, very well educated, has great ideas and could be a positive force for change.

She could be an actual change agent for the City, something we have not seen in Chicago in decades.

Negatives:
However, she is super young, has no actual political experience, just "behind the scenes" experience work for Mayor Rahm.

Also, I have professional experience with one of her former projects in the Austin neighborhood several years ago and it was a disaster (although I am not holding that against her).

I think she would have a hard time getting things through the City Council, but I hope she would build a strong progressive coalition.

 

I don't know alot about her , I like her outsider stance . My mother is the one who told me about her when I saw the yard sign while visiting.

This is my mother's final election as a city resident . And her rationalization is that she has voted for nothing but Daley's , Byrne, and then Emanuel . So her swan song as a Chicago voter is an eff you to the system. She doesn't care anymore , she admits voters like herself have enriched the Pols and screwed themselves in the long run .

The candidate she is most fearful of is Chico . He needs to answer for his stance on "making the wealthy pay". Chicago doesn't have an income tax , so just how in the hell is he going to do that?
Targeted real estate taxes? Will certain areas be targeted based on demographics?
My younger brother and his family live in our childhood home with my mother. She's wintering in Texas after this year and lives off social security. My brother is a mechanic and is the sole provider for his family. His wife is at home with the kids.

The demographics of Lincoln square has changed alot since the 70s and 80s. Will it be one of Chico's "wealthy zip codes" to target? Their property taxes are already nightmareish.

 

My few sentence or less opinion on all of the candidates.

Don't take my word for anything. I am attaching links to each candidate's website. Read for yourselves and make up your own minds, motherf*ckers! [just don't vote for McCarthy or Brown, they would ruin this City]:

Lori Lightfoot: I find her intriguing. She was my first choice prior to Mendoza and Enyia entering the race. Very bright, I like her primary positions (invest in the neighborhoods, clean up the police department, expand affordable housing).
Plus, have a black woman lesbian mayor would Awesome!
https://lightfootforchicago.com/

Toni Preckwinkle: Very experienced, absolute insider, formerly pretty progressive, but I really don't like her.
https://toniforchicago.com/

Dorothy Brown: She would be a disaster. Due to my "day job," I have a fair amount of insight about how she has been doing her job as Clerk of the Circuit Court and I have nothing good to say about her job. She and her husband are also corrupt to the core. She claims to be the "most qualified" candidates for Mayor and I suppose she is, but she is also one of the worst candidates.
http://dorothyformayor.com/2019/

Gery Chico: Again, super insider. Close to everyone. Has been within the political system for decades. No idea why he would run, other than he probably thinks it "his time" and the field is wide open.
https://chicoformayor.com/

Garry McCarthy: He is not a fascist, but...from his website: "I’ll be a Mayor who will make fighting crime our first priority." Even his financial statements are about crime. Crime does not need to be "fought" it needs to be addressed. Crime is a system.
Plus, he has spells "Gary" with a second "r". Nobody has time for that shit.
http://garryformayor.com/

Paul Vallas: The architect of the school system and charter schools, but is running away from the debacle that is the charter system. Again, an insider with no real change ideas.
I blame him for Illinois having to suffer through Bruce Rauner, as he was an awful choice as Lt. Governor candidate.
https://vallasforallchicago.com/

Bill Daley: Another Daley? Why? Also, why would he want to run? He has been touting his "private sector" experience (and, in the same breath touts work in the Obama White House). He states: "Leading for the Future" with a bunch old ideas.
https://daleyformayor.com/

Dr. Willie Wilson: Oh,dear, where to begin? He has run for President, his ads are cringe-worthy, I don't think he has a clue what he is doing, but I think some of his ideas are intriguing (a real estate tax "trust fund" is something my office has been working on privately for years).
https://www.williewilsonformayor.com/

Jerry Joyce: One word, "Who"? He does want an elected school board and a "veterans village" for vets experiencing homelessness.
https://jerryjoyce2019.com/

Neal Sales-Griffin: He is very young and has no political experience.
His platform on his website (which is "not secure") is completely void of substance.
https://nealformayor.com/

John Kozlar: He is a kid in his 20's, but has run for office already. No tax increases (great, how do we pay for things).
Seems to want to scrap the municipal employee pensions (converting to a 401k)
http://www.johnkozlar.com/

Bob Fioretti: I always like Bob Fioretti, he seems like a "straight shooter" and was pretty effective as an Alderman.
He does not seem to have a campaign website.

La Shawn Ford. State Rep AND was indicted on 17 felon charges (pled down to a single misdemeanor).
He does not seem to have a website.


For my previous comments:
https://amaraenyia.com/
https://susanamendoza.com/

I would be thrilled with Enyia as Mayor.

I would be happy with Lori Lightfoot as Mayor

I would be satisfied with Suzana Mendoza as Mayor (this may seem inconsistent, but I claimed her as my top choice in my comments about Mendoza as I was considering her chances to be elected)

As for the myriad of Old White(ish) Men, Bob Fioretti might be okay, but McCarthy, Vallas, Daley,and Chico-no thanks.

 

I was leaning towards Mendoza and Enyia but everytime I hear negatives I cringe and want them all to go away.

 

I agree and there is no perfect candidate.
However, the more I read and listen to the candidates, the more that three-Enyia, Lightfoot and Mendoza stand out, although for very different reasons. They are all strong women of color and all have platforms I can support.

I should mention that the election is just over a month away, February 26th is the election.

There is not much time for the candidates to get their message out.

This greatly favors the "established" names of:
Brown
McCarty
Daley
Preckwinkle
Three of whom would be among the worst options.

 

Not trying to be dense, but what is wrong with red light cameras? I can understand the cameras that catch you speeding being too much, but running red lights is deadly. Anything that reduces the rate of people going through red lights is a good thing.

I live in the city and I drive Uber every weekend from 5am-10am so I probably get as much exposure to red light cameras as anyone else and I'm still having trouble why someone would object to them. 4 years of driving from one end of this city to the other and back again and I have yet to get a red light camera ticket. (Also, I'm the son, brother, brother-in-law and uncle of firemen all around the Chicagoland area, and a health & safety professional, so...) If you run red lights you're a bad driver and deserve to be hassled, at the very least, because you can kill people. Most all intersections have counters that you can see for a 100 feet, if not more. Still baffled by this. Is there something that I'm completely unaware of? Every weekend I see people driving like complete idiots, putting other's lives at risk - bad drivers suck balls and should be hassled until they cut that shit out.

Now excuse me, I have some rowdy teens on my train that need to take it down a notch...

 

Everything in the Austin neighborhood is a disaster. I doubt that even a tag-team of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesus could fix it. I think the Austin-Lake area on a hot summer night is the most terrifying place to be in the city of Chicago.

 

There are bunch of issues with red light cameras:

1) They are placed in certain neighborhoods and not other. The distribution is concentrated in certain areas of the city. According to the red light camera map, there 20x more red light cameras in my neighborhood than there are downtown. There are virtually none in downtown, West Loop, Hyde Park, few in Lake View and Lincoln Park, but they omnipresent on the Northwest side and in Austin. Are the drivers in those neighborhoods that much better than on the Northwest side?
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/dep...ocations_of_red-lightcameraintersections.html

2) Running a red light was historically a traffic offense, requiring being stopped by the police, issued a ticket and having the Constitutional right to confront your accuser in court. Those Civil Rights and Constitutional protects have been practically eliminated.

3) There are significant errors in the red light camera system. I have received tickets for things I have not done wrong (I always stop at red lights, as I agree with much of what you said). There is very little chance to fight the tickets. The burden of proof improperly switches to the accused. I have to prove I did NOT run the red light; the City merely has a picture that claims that my car did run the red light.

4) It is clearly a revenue generating operation. We were told that the red light cameras were to "change behavior" and that after a period of time, there would be little need for them. Instead, they have exploded in certain ares of the City. It has become so bad that there have been class action lawsuits against them.

5) They cause accidents, as well as prevent them.

6) It has been completely privatized and I am vehemently opposed to privatizing the government's policing functions.

All of these things apply even more so to the "speed cameras".

There are zero speed cameras downtown (and three in the total downtown area 629 S. State, 400 N. Columbus, 19 W. Chicago), but I have at least 14 within a mile of my house.

 

I want to know how any of these candidates plan to get Chicago out of the red. I hear a lot of them are being spurred to run because of the cost cutting of the Rahm years. That worries me.

 

That is because there has been virtually no investment in Austin for decades.
It was a pretty nice place years ago.
My grandfather lived at the corner of Austin and Lake when I was kid (I could never find the "lake" though when we went to visit).
It has been so neglected that it is a pretty bad area now.
It is not, however, irreversible.
It will require infrastructure spending.
It will require ending the racist policing policies.
It will require ending the racist drug and crime policies.
It will require ending the now third generation cycle of poverty in the neighborhood.
It will require education.
It will require opportunity.
It will take a real effort to improve the lives of the people who live there.

I work in the Austin neighborhood, as well as Englewood (and other neighborhoods) almost every week. None of these neighborhoods should be abandoned.

 

They were a disaster in Atlanta - had to get rid of them. The abbreviated version: technology isn't perfect.

 

I know this is going to sound troll-y. I promise it is not. Why? How does that make her a better candidate?

I'm currently teaching a class about those questions, and various answers to it that have been given. I'm curious why you say so.

 

Just doing a random Google search for “diversity in decision making“ got me this article as the first option:

New Research: Diversity + Inclusion = Better Decision Making At Work

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikla...inclusion-better-decision-making-at-work/amp/

 

While I agree that taxation is needed and fine, any direct regressive tax should be abolished.

Property taxes should be based on income so the city couldn’t force gentrification on poor areas of the city. Bag taxes shouldn’t exist as the cost of waste should be taxed at the business production level making the plausibility of plastic unsustainable as a product. Same with “food”. Tax the manufacturers of “edible products” up front for the cost of health care and twinkies and soda would ultimately disappear, along with their negative impacts on society.

 

Because you’re “liberal”.