CTU leaders take the wrong side in sexual harassment scandal

Machine boss Mike Madigan & whistle-blower Alaina Hampton

Chicago unions have no choice but to work with House Speaker Michael Madigan if they want to get anything done in Springfield. But working with Madigan is one thing. Embedding within what's left of Madigan's political machine and colluding with him to blackball his victims of sexual harassment is something else. And that appears to be exactly what CTU leaders have done.

Case in point -- CTU's collusion with Madigan's gaggle of sexual harassers in the Alaina Hampton case. First, after offering to hire Alaina as a political consultant, CTU withdrew its offer, apparently under pressure from Madigan. Then they foolishly held back documents implicating themselves from investigators until they were forced to make them available.

After Alaina sued and won a settlement in the case, which cost Madigan's political committee about $900,000 (Alaina received $75K with the rest going to the lawyers), the teachers union picked up a large chunk of the tab.

As for Madigan, the powerful Southwest Side Democrat likely won’t be holding any benefits to pay for the settlement and his own court costs. Since September, labor unions have stepped up to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to Friends of Michael J. Madigan, the same fund used to pay the settlement. -- Sun-Times

And this from Politico...

The case is now settled, but Hampton says CTU has continued to disparage her on social media, so her legal team filed a cease and desist order. Hampton revealed the legal move Monday in a tweet directed to CTU after a spokeswoman described the case as having "factual distortions, hyperbole and outright lies." The spokeswoman's tweet was deleted, but not before Hampton responded with her own tweet: "You can't hide from the truth. That's one reason my attorneys sent you and CTU a cease and desist for defamation a month ago."

Even with reports finding bullying, inappropriate behavior and fear pervasive in Springfield under Madigan's rule, union leaders are reportedly still currying favor from the machine boss and still apparently following his lead on who to hire and fire.

CTU leaders are on the wrong side of this one.

CTU hit with defamation cease and desist letter https://t.co/O2eNh5W3dl

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) December 17, 2019

Can someone please explain to me why @CTULocal1 and @stacydavisgates/@SharkeyCTU1 can meet with Madigan weekly and never criticize him, but relentlessly attack @LightfootForChi at every turn? #twill

— Jeff O (@JeffO773) December 16, 2019

Looking for something better to come from vitriolic contract talks

Striking CTU members gather over two days to study the 2012 contract offer before voting to end the strike. 

The contract talks between CPS and the CTU are going pretty much the way I expected and just the way I feared. In some ways, they are a continuation of the contentious and divisive campaign tactics that marked the mayor's race between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle.

Lightfoot’s victory — winning every single ward — was a blow to CTU’s power and perceptions about its influence. And the union has been struggling to get some of its mojo back ever since. CTU’s dilemma is that it’s trying to wage a war with a mayor who’s not Rahm Emanuel — an enemy CTU knew how to fight. -- Illinois Playbook

The CTU and SEIU Local 73, cornerstones of the progressive movement here in Chicago, both backed Preckwinkle who was soundly defeated by the current mayor. Both candidates ran as "progressives" but in the end, Lightfoot and a group of insurgent city council candidates rode an anti-machine wave to victory.

But as I predicted at the time,

With election day only a few weeks away, and Lightfoot apparently pulling far ahead, internecine warfare has broken out among the progressives to such a degree it's going to be hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again when the election madness is over.

As we approach the Oct. 17th strike date set by the unions, the past nine months have unfortunately proven me right. The current negotiations are largely being carried out in the media and on Twitter as both sides scramble for public support. These tactics of grandstanding, personal attacks and demagogy increase the level of antagonism which in turn, tends to cloud the real contract issues and the systemic, rather than the personal nature of the struggle.

I have made no secret of my disagreement with some of the mayor's as well as the union's views on education. For example:

Actually, shortening the amount of seat time, giving teachers more planning/collaboration time is good sound practice. Better than Rahm's longer school day, as I pointed out back when. It's how they do it in the rich kids' progressive schools. https://t.co/2Ztyh2TMVv

— Mike Klonsky (@mikeklonsky) October 4, 2019

I support the demands of the teachers for decent pay and working conditions as well as for adequate and equitable staffing, teacher prep time, and wrap-around services for schools. And as I've said many times, if the negotiations break down leading to a strike, I will be walking the picket line, as I've done in 2012 and '16 with my CTU daughter Jennifer and her colleagues over at Telpochcalli Elementary in Little Village.

But I am also cognizant of the fact that this struggle is taking place within a system that criminally underfunds public education, erodes public space and decision-making while supporting all manifestations of corporate greed. It also encourages antagonistic relations between those that should be united in common cause.

I believe that the mayor and her team are committed to the goal of public education, including racial desegregation, better pay for teachers, adequate and equitable staffing. But how to fully fund all these and how much is contractual and/or budgetary are matters for collective bargaining. It's the very process that Republican governors have liquidated in Wisconsin, Ohio and other red states as well as the main issue behind the wild cat teacher strikes in right-to-work states like Oklahoma and Arizona.

It's these conditions that have led to the contentious relationship between some union leaders and the most progressive school board in Chicago history.  All this, while teachers voice their righteous anger and the board tries to grapple with its own inadequate budget. The only short-term resolution lies in serious collective bargaining by both sides.

The mainstream and corporate media attacks on the teachers and their union have been disgraceful and have made things worse, especially when you consider that the Sun-Times, which ran a greedy-teacher editorial, is partially owned by the CFL.

Then there was Greg Hinz at Crain's who has the hutzpah to equate the union with Trump.

Crain's @GregHinz must be vaping some weird flavors. Just lost all credibility equating Trump's high crimes with the CTU asking for librarians and social workers. https://t.co/c3qc0gszec

— Mike Klonsky (@mikeklonsky) September 30, 2019

It's also no secret that I've had sharp disagreements with the leadership of the union over their own false equation of Mayor Lightfoot with Rahm Emanuel. I've also been critical of the union's unfocused and personal attacks against, CPS negotiators, and progressive board members like Miguel del Valle and Elizabeth Breland.

CTU mocks Board Pres. del Valle

 The forces at the table at this year's contract negotiation are far different from those in 2012 and '16 and I'm encouraged by the fact that educators now dominate the table on both sides.

According to the Sun-Times:

Former teachers and principals now make up the bulk of CPS’ team, which both sides say is a welcome change from the bureaucrats negotiating for the schools in 2012 when just one teacher attended the talks, and only a second, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, joined in after the CTU walked out. In 2016, three educators were on the CPS team that struck a deal with the union minutes before a strike deadline.

 “The tone behind closed doors is very productive, very respectful for the most part,” said Arnie Rivera, CPS’ chief operating officer. “This contract for both parties isn’t just about compensation, it’s about making the school system better.”

Teachers, parents and community members have no interest in sharpening the hostilities some in leadership seem to relish, or in rehashing last year's election.

I'm hoping against hope that both sides can reach an agreement in the next two weeks and avoid a strike. My greater hope is that the energy and turmoil created around this struggle, strike or no strike, will drive an even greater vision of democratic schooling that transcends the current contract issues as well as the leadership necessary to push that vision forward.

Congrats to the victorious CTU CORE Caucus

CTU Pres. Jesse Sharkey

As expected, Chicago Teachers Union Pres. Jesse Sharkey and his CORE caucus easily defeated the opposition Members First slate to retain their control of CTU leadership. Now it's on to the contract negotiations which hopefully can be resolved sooner than later.

Obviously feeling charged from his victory, Sharkey issued a threat to Chicago's mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot.

“We hope that the new mayor makes good on her promises to transform our public schools — if she does, she will find us to be a steadfast ally. If she does not, she will find us to be an implacable foe,” Sharkey said.

Remember, the CTU leadership had backed Lightfoot’s opponent, Cook County Board President and Democratic Party chief, Toni Preckwinkle, who lost to Lightfoot in a landslide. During the campaign, Sharkey claimed that the choice to endorse Preckwinkle was made at least in part because Preckwinkle “gives us better leverage in a contract fight."

Even if that were true (which I doubt), it made the early endorsement that much more problematic. If Preckwinkle would have won, I suspect Sharkey's quote would have been all over the media during the contract negotiations, putting added pressure on the mayor to be "tough" on the unions.

Actually, with the exception of Preckwinkle's early support for charter schools, both candidates had pretty much the same stand on ed issues and their positions corresponded closely with those of the union.

Here's Lori Lightfoot as a guest on Hitting Left back in June, 2018.  

If you look at what's been happening in the Chicago Public School system, especially this past six or seven years, you see epic failure after epic failure. You can't have a good, well-run public school system when you have five CEOs in the last seven years...Yes, I do support an elected school board. 

I wish the CTU best of luck in negotiating a great contract for its members and as always, I will join the teachers on the picket line if there's a strike. I also hope one isn't necessary.

Tune in to Hitting Left this Friday, May 24th 11-noon CDT, when our in-studio guest will be, newly-elected socialist alderperson from the 33rd Ward, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez. 

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle met downtown for a private lunch to discuss ways the city and county can cooperate as they try to move past the lingering hard feelings from their bruising mayoral campaign.

Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot

“I would say that we, obviously the city and the county have a lot of overlapping things in common, and I wanted to make sure the president [Toni Preckwinkle] and I started off in the right direction a week out from my inauguration." -- Chicago Tribune

 David Greising, BGA President

If [Lightfoot] continues leveraging the capacity of civic and business leaders, without abandoning the progressives who helped elect her, she could have the formula for a lasting impact on economic equity in a city that badly needs it. -- BGA 

Laura Washington

[Congressman Bobby] Rush could be a potent ally for Lightfoot. He must be. Lightfoot needs every iota of power, access and wisdom the veteran congressman can offer. Rush needs “Landslide Lori,” who was elected Chicago’s first African-American woman and first LGBTQ mayor with nearly 74% of the vote. Many of Rush’s constituents have even more dire needs. In this supposedly robust economy, African American families on Chicago’s South Side are buried in a landslide of violence, joblessness and poverty. -- Sun-Times

Clint Krislov, IIT Chicago-Kent’s Center for Open Government

“If the city had just hired LAZ Parking directly to do the pay-and-display system, the city would probably have $2 billion-to-$4 billion more over the course of the deal above the merely $1.16 billion it got up-front.” -- Sun-Times

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

 “The “opioid war” is a medical problem rather than a behavioral or law enforcement one, Warren argued....But we got a second problem in this country and it’s greed. People didn’t get addicted all on their own, they got a lot of corporate help. They got a lot of help from corporations that made big money off getting people addicted and keeping them addicted.” -- Politico

Kate Oronoff on Green New Deal

Critics have smeared the Green New Deal as a colossal waste of money, involving a level of spending sure to crater the economy and pass an unnecessarily cruel financial burden down to future generations. They seem to be confusing it with business as usual. -- Guardian

Robert Kuttner

 The problem is not that “Democrats” fail to appreciate unions. It’s that the corporate and Wall Street Democrats who have dominated the presidential wing of the party since Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton actively loathe unions. -- Diane Ravitch Blog

 Cary Huang

Worse can happen than just material loss to the countries directly involved. While a country may try to destroy another by targeting its economy rather than its military, history suggests that a full-blown trade war inevitably leads to a shoot-out between nations. -- South China Morning Post

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Following public outcry, hundreds of families of asylum-seekers are no longer being detained in an enclosure beneath an El Paso, Texas, bridge

Shaw Drake, policy counsel for A.C.L.U.' border rights center

“We are demanding an immediate investigation by the inspector general into abuses inflicted on asylum seekers by Border Patrol agents in the outdoor facilities." -- NY Times

Latino Caucus Chair, Ald. Gilbert Villegas endorses Lightfoot

“I think you have certain pockets of the Latino community that are tired of the status quo and then you have others that feel that, taking a look at President Preckwinkle, someone who’s viewed as a powerful politician maybe potentially having the ability to do something for their community." -- Tribune

Rev. Al Sharpton at Rainbow/Push

...portrayed Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a hypocrite Saturday for criticizing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case when the mayor long was silent on the police murder of Laquan McDonald. Sharpton described Emanuel’s behavior as “Hypocrisy 101.” -- Chicago Tribune

CTU's Stacey Davis Gates declares victory

“I feel like we have already won,” said Stacy Davis Gates, the group’s vice-president, who counts as a victory the propulsion of two black women who support one of her group’s most cherished causes — an elected school board — to the runoff. -- Chalkbeat

Don Rose predicts win for Lightfoot

Preckwinkle's strong attacks tended to fizzle if not backfire--which brings us up to today. Lightfoot has become a phenomenon, which is why I make my prediction. -- Column: It's all over but Toni's concession. 

Will there be Tic Tacs? https://t.co/yy9LNwkptK

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) April 1, 2019

Future looks dim for Cook County Dems without a change at the top.

New #ChiMayor19 Poll

Lightfoot 53%
Preckwinkle 17%

(+-4.4, 500 likely voters, Temkin/Harris Poll for @CrainsChicago and @WTTW)

Also asked: if Rahm Emanuel were running would you vote for him?

No 63%
Yes 25%
Undecided 12%

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) March 25, 2019

Polling around the Chicago mayor's race has been pretty accurate. In the first round the pollsters were nearly perfect. But I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around latest numbers showing Toni Preckwinkle Polling at only 17% with just over a week to go.

I know she's run a terrible campaign, but still. I mean this is a sitting prez of the Cook County Board, running with endorsements and big money from the CTU and SEIU. She's also the successor to Boss Joe Berrios as chair of the Cook County Democratic Party. How in the hell are her numbers so low? Lower even than Mayor Rahm Emanuel's, which reached the point where he had to drop out of the race to avoid an embarrassing butt kicking.

What's happened to the mighty Chicago Democratic Party machine?

This raises more questions...1) If she loses this election as big as expected, can TP hang on to her party post? Lots of Democrats are facing tough races next year. Can she garner their support after such a dismal showing in her own election campaign? 2) Consider question #1 in light of TP's failure to repudiate Cong. Bobby Rush's outrageous attack on Lori Lightfoot voters, claiming that all thousands of these mostly liberal and progressive voters have "blood on their hands". Will TP be able to rally these bloody voters behind party candidates? 3) Will her most avid supporters running for re-election, pay a price for her defeat, especially after they to remained silent after Rush's absurd comments. Most also stayed mumm after hateful, anti-gay flyers were spread over south-side churches and neighborhoods by Lori-haters.

All this isn't likely to go away after April 3rd.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

This is the REAL conversation we need to have as a country.

As horrific as this president is, he is a symptom of much deeper problems.

Even foreign influence plays on nat’l wounds that we refuse to address: income inequality, racism, corruption,a willingness to excuse bigotry. https://t.co/wtebX4Tfld

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 24, 2019

CA public schools chief, Tony Thurmond

“There has been, for many districts, a significant fiscal impact and loss of revenue directly attributed to the growth of charter schools...We have to have tough conversations including the fiscal impact of charter growth on the traditional districts and come out in a way where we can do what’s best for all of our students in the state.” -- CALmatters

Laura Washington

Ironically, if Preckwinkle had not made her late mayoral entry after Rahm Emanuel’s exit, she would likely have supported Lightfoot for mayor. -- Sun-Times

Cong. Bobby Rush at Preckwinkle rally

"This election is really about what type of police force we're going to have in the city of Chicago, and everyone who votes for Lori, the blood of the next young black man or black woman who is killed by the police is on your hands." -- Tribune

Lori Lightfoot responded

"There is no room in this campaign for hate-filled rhetoric, and I call on (Preckwinkle) to denounce the tactics of division and fear-mongering as this campaign enters its final days." [She didn't]. -- Press Release

Shia Kapos

What it all means: As Preckwinkle trails in fund-raising and polls, she’s allowing surrogates to attack Lightfoot in an attempt to weaken her numbers among black voters. -- IL Playbook

Congressman Rush needs to apologize for suggesting that more Black people will be killed at the hands of Police if she was elected.....that rhetoric is UNACCEPTABLE

— Fr. Michael Pfleger (@MichaelPfleger) March 24, 2019

I think it’s disgusting that @RepBobbyRush would say that you’re “pro murder” if you vote for Lori. Toni has taken money from AECOM who is building the cop academy. She hasn’t said anything different from Lori on policing and we’re you pro-murder when you supported Daley? #Please

— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) March 24, 2019

Preckwinkle promised Rahm she wouldn't run against him. She kept her word.

Chicago's progressive movement, unified for a short time around the Sanders campaign, has become badly divided during current mayoral election. 

Well, the split amongst progressives over (of all things) the Chicago mayor's race, is now complete and likely irreparable. The unity that was built behind the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016 has been obliterated. It's way past the point now where Humpty Dumpty can be put back together after the election. The FBI's '60s Operation COINTELPRO couldn't have done a better job of creating disunity by spreading lies and disinformation.

It culminated at a south side Preckwinkle rally yesterday organized by vestiges of the old political machine and Rahm Emanuel supporters who four years ago pushed the anti-Chuy vote in the black community, that carried Rahm to victory. Can they do it again? It's possible. I've been sceptical of polls showing a Lightfoot blowout. Overconfidence is the worst enemy of any political campaign. Ask Hillary Clinton.

The worst of the bunch, I'm sad to say, was old friend, Cong. Bobby Rush, who accused Lori Lightfoot of being "pro-police" and suggested more black people would be killed at the hands of cops if she’s elected.

A week earlier, it took 19 hours before Preckwinkle repudiated the mass distribution of hateful, anti-LGBTQ flyers at southside churches. Her followers (except for a small few) remained silent on that one.

Rush, who backed Rahm Emanuel last time around and endorsed Bill Daley in the February election, is now blaming potential Lightfoot voters for the city's string of police murders. His repulsive comments drew cheers from many lefty Toni supporters.

"Everyone who votes for Lori, the blood of the next young black man or black woman who is killed by the police is on your hands,” claimed Rush. 

I'm waiting to see if Toni and her supporters repudiate that absurd claim. Don't hold your breath. Things have gone to far.

Preckwinkle & Burke

Rahm backer and old party warhorse,  Secretary of State Jesse White compared Lightfoot to Republicans former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump. How ironic since he and all the above can be tied to old party boss Joe Berrios and indicted Ald. Eddie Burke.

Burke worked for Trump for 12 years, persuading Cook County officials like Berrios, to cut the property taxes on the president’s namesake downtown skyscraper by a total of more than $14 million.

Burke and his wife Anne raised more that $116K for Preckwinkle, which she reluctantly returned after Burke was indicted. She took care of Burke's son, and, as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, gave the son of Burke a $100,000-a-year county job at taxpayer expense.

Remember, it was Preckwinkle who cut her deal with Rahm back in 2014, promising him that she wouldn't enter the race for mayor against him.

Emanuel has said Preckwinkle told him privately earlier this year that she wouldn’t run for mayor, a point Emanuel made Wednesday when asked whether he was concerned about her as an opponent. “I trust her when she’s said multiple times that she’s not running,” Emanuel said. “I think she’s a person of her word.”  — Bill Ruthhart in the Trib 

She kept her word.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Garcia endorses Lightfoot

U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia 

 “A new mayor in City Hall and across the hall, on the fifth floor, a very competent president of the (county) board who I had the great honor to work with for eight years and move Cook County government forward, leaving behind the old reference that it was Crook County... But Garcia also said Lightfoot “ushers in a new era that Chicago has been waiting for a long time.” -- Tribune

Lori Lightfoot

I support eliminating cash bail. Our jails should not be debtors’ prisons for the poor, and I've long supported the work of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and others to advocate for the elimination of this system. -- FB post

 White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney

"The president is not a white supremacist. I’m not sure how many times we have to say that." -- FOX News Sunday  

U.N. Anti-Nazism Resolution 

"Combating glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," was approved by the U.N.'s human rights committee on Friday with 131 in favor, 3 against [U.S. was one of the three] with 48 abstentions. -- CBS News

White Nationalist Rep. Steve King echoes Trump's call to violence

One side has about 8 trillion bullets, while the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use...Wonder who would win...” added King, apparently not noticing that his home state was depicted on the losing side. -- Huffington

NOW: @SacTeachers announce 92.3% of @officialSCUSD teachers have authorized a strike @kcranews pic.twitter.com/S6RUhiAepz

— Vicki Gonzalez (@KCRAVicki) March 15, 2019

***** 

Coming up Friday on Hitting Left with the K Brothers. Live at 11am. 105.5fm and streaming world wide at lumpenradio.com and then on our podcast. Flint Taylor, the people's lawyer and author of the new book, The Torture Machine. Racism and Police Violence in Chicago.

Some unsolicited advice to both mayoral candidates

Despite protests, plans for the $95 million West Side police academy sailed through the City Council on Wednesday

As readers know, I've pretty much committed to voting for Lori Lightfoot in next month's mayoral election. I won't rehash all the reasons why right now. Suffice to say that while I have big issues with both (all) candidates, I find Lightfoot, basically a good-government candidate, (no radical or @AOC by any means) to be the most unchained to the old, corrupt machinery. In a race with no true hard-core progressives or lefties in it, that's good enough for me.

On key policy issues of police and neighborhood violence, as well as on education issues, both Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle appear about the same. At yesterday's mayoral forum hosted by the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, both stressed more community investment as a response to street violence.

According to Chalkbeat's report on the forum:

Both candidates pledged to devote more staff and resources to public safety, and honed in on underlying issues that contribute to violence, like poverty, housing and disinvestment, while emphasizing the need to provide mental health resources in communities wrestling with trauma. 

On police reform, both oppose the Rahm Emanuel's $95M Cop Academy. But they both see more police training as at least part of the solution, in step with with the DoJ report and the negotiated consent decree. Lightfoot said yesterday, that she would even consider using some of the city's shuttered schools for decentralized, community-based training, rather than the new cop academy, just approved by the city council.

While I'm OK with more and better cop training, I can think of at least 10 better re-uses for those buildings. I'd like to push the discussion beyond training. Racist police murders, like the killing of Laquan McDonald are not mainly "training" issues. They are systemic issues emanating from a system of white supremacy and class power, where cops are the enforcers. I wish we had some candidates who would talk about systemic change. But we don't. That's left to us.

On school policy, each candidate opposes charter school expansion and further school closings. Each call for an elected school board. Neither appear to be over-influenced by the school privatization, vouchers lobbyists -- so far at least.

It's true that Preckwinkle won the early endorsement of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), an endorsement I respect, if not agree with. I think it was a mistake, on par with the AFT's early endorsement of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in 2016. Feeling confident back then, that Hillary would have the best chance of defeating Trump, union leaders thought they were putting a lock on a seat at the table under the new administration. They were wrong on all counts. All they succeeded in doing was splitting the rank-and-file.

The CTU endorsement of Preckwinkle was understandable in the first round of the campaign when it looked pretty certain that Bill Daley, the man from JP Morgan, would be in the runoff and the hope was that Preckwinkle would have the best chance of defeating him. They and many of us were wrong about Daley who turned out to be a paper tiger despite his massive campaign war chest. He folded like a cheap suit, paving the way for a late Lightfoot surge into first place and a significant lead in the runoff polls. It now appears Lightfoot leads Preckwinkle in every demographic with three weeks to go.

But as we all know, anything can happen

*****

Now we have two African-American women, one openly gay, running for mayor. How great is that! But it's a situation fraught with danger. The campaigns have split the progressives into two pretty hard camps. In my mind, the progressive movement in Chicago, at its peak after the Bernie Sanders campaign, might have unified around it's own candidate for mayor and IL governor two years ago. But it didn't. Instead of building on the Sanders insurgency within the party, which produced successful electoral revolts in N.Y., Detroit, and other cities, we are fighting pitched battles over which mainstream candidate will take us to the promised land.

Now attacks are flying back and forth on FB and on Twitter, including sharp personal attacks which won't easily be forgotten.

Soon after the election, the camps will hopefully be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again and unite to roll back Mayor Emanuel's boondoggles like the Cop Academy and Lincoln Yards, and to support the teachers union in their upcoming contract negotiations, and possible teachers strike.

Here's some unsolicited advice to both candidates. Whoever wins will unfortunately, at least for a while, have autocratic control over CPS -- control that neither claims to want. But the contract negotiations won't wait for the passage of stalled elected school board legislation to be passed or for the elections to follow.

Both candidates should make it clear now that their election won't mean a continuation of Rahm-ism without Rahm. First it means having a democratic (not autocratic) style of work. Second, it means clean house, if not immediately, soon after the election. Bring in your own team and tell us now who they will be. Next, it may already be too late, but playing the stall game on Lincoln Yards and the Cop Academy and call for an immediate stop to both.

In other words, show leadership now and not wait until you are elected.

Also, please stop the anti-teacher rhetoric about "supporting teachers" but supporting students "even more". The CTU has been in the lead when it comes to negotiating smaller class size, more nurses and social workers in schools and special ed resources. Teachers, students and parents have the same interests in the upcoming negotiations.

The Preckwinkle campaign, like watching a slow-motion train wreck

Berrios & Preckwinkle...breaking up is hard to do. 

I realize, despite my best intentions, I'm a little preoccupied with this mayor's race. I've never really had a handle on it. I admit, I expected a Daley/Preckwinkle or Daley/Mendoza runoff and was amazed by Lori Lightfoot's come-from-behind charge in the opening round.

I loved it that the big-money guys like Daley and Chico turned into big losers. I was a little disappointed that Paul Vallas didn't make the cut. He couldn't even get out of single-digits. But only because over the years of battling his influence peddling in the field of education reform, I have so much unused op-research filed away on PV that I was itching for a chance to use it all.

But in the end, I was overjoyed to see two African-American women, one openly gay, and both with progressive credentials, make the cut. The inevitability of a black, woman mayor taking charge of what Carl Sandberg called, the city of "stormy, husky, brawling...big shoulders" still leaves me high as a kite -- Harold Washington high.

All the post-op pain killers I've been taking have also helped.

But another reality, not opioid-driven, is now setting in. With election day only a few weeks away, and Lightfoot apparently pulling far ahead, internecine warfare has broken out among the progressives to such a degree it's going to be hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again when the election madness is over.

While both campaigns are going negative in their TV ads, (as Harold used to say, "politics ain't bean bag") I mainly put the blame for this on a self-righteous, dispirited and angry group of Preckwinkle supporters who can't believe they are losing and that the rest of the progressive left doesn't see Lightfoot in their one dimensional way.

Now I'm likely overreacting. I know it's probably just a small group of Facebook lefties that are portraying former Police Board chief and former prosecutor Lightfoot as a "cop" or "defender of killer cops". But the tone of the official campaign ads is nearly as negative and reactionary.

This isn't necessarily the case with the CTU leadership, which endorsed Preckwinkle when it looked like she was the only alternative to a Daley victory. I likely would have voted "strategically" for her if it came down to Toni/Daley as well. My god, I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

CTU leaders while still strongly backing Toni, seem to be taking a more savvy and seasoned approach while still showing leadership where it really counts, in community battles, like stopping plunder of the city by Sterling Bay Corp. around Lincoln Yards.

They must realize that in three weeks there's going to be a new mayor on the fifth floor at City Hall and whoever wins, it will be a mayor who, in sharp contrast to the current one, the union can work with, one who opposes school closings, charters and vouchers, and favors an elected school board.

The union will also need its school/community base to stay unified if it is to keep the pressure on whoever's elected, especially with contract negotiations coming up and possible strike on the horizon.

FINALLY, I'M STUNNED at the ineptitude of the Preckwinkle campaign. Every day, I feel like I'm watching a slow-motion train wreck. It's not just about the reactionary overreach of anti-Lori negativity in their propaganda, which can't help but backfire. It's the daily miscalculation, the ducking a dodging, and misreading of the depths of anti-machine hostility directed at Preckwinkle on the part of voters.

"Change agents", White, Burnett and Preckwinkle

Take the past two days which saw the campaign accept official endorsements from Sec. of State Jesse White and and Ald. Walter Burnett. No matter what you think of this pair, it's impossible for most of us to consider them as change agents. Yet, the campaign pitched them both as "representatives of change".

S-T's Fran Spielman writes:

The state’s leading vote-getter and his political protege stood with Toni Preckwinkle Wednesday to help her make the case that she is the candidate for change in a change election because she has already delivered it.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) endorsed Preckwinkle, but that was hardly surprising. Both men are longstanding Preckwinkle allies and stalwarts of the Cook County Democratic Party she chairs.

 On Wednesday, Burnett made a dramatically different argument. He argued that Preckwinkle’s decision to succeed her longtime ally, former Assessor Joe Berrios, as chairman of the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization would pay handsome dividends for Chicago taxpayers if she becomes mayor.

Then, the second shoe dropped...

Never mind that White’s office hired Joe Berrios’ sister and friend when newly-elected Assessor Fritz Kaegi fired them.

As the Tribune reported in December...

 The secretary of state’s office, which has around 3,700 jobs, has long been known as a patronage haven under both Democrats and Republicans. The two women will each make $37,992 a year as public service supervisors in the Vehicle Services Department, said Dave Druker, White’s spokesman.

Yes, change agents.

These latest endorsements are going to make it even tougher in the final three weeks, for Preckwinkle to unhook from her own ties to Burke, Berrios and the rest of her old machine pals in the eyes of the voters.

Election thoughts...Blaming the messenger.

Who thought it was a good idea for Toni Preckwinkle to duck the S-T debate?

Who on Team Toni thought it was a good idea for her to duck out on the Sun-Times debate? Her lame excuse? The S-T has already endorsed Lori. But so what? That makes no sense.

With all early polls showing Toni running far behind, you would think that there's no better place to be than in the home of the opposition, appealing directly to their base. But Toni backed away, lashing out at Lori as she ran for the door.

"Starting with the NBC debate Thursday night, we look forward to hearing corporate lawyer Lori Lightfoot defend her record representing a Wall Street bank accused of massive discrimination and of defending Republican politicians trying to hold onto their power," spokeswoman Monica Trevino wrote in a statement.

There are plenty of valid criticisms of Lightfoot, but trying to make her look like the monied, Wall Street candidate was another misstep by Team Toni. That was Bill Daley. Daley and Preckwinkle outspent Lori in the first round by 3 and 4:1.

Preckwinkle has been the most aggressive and negative campaigner so far. It's a style that misreads the times we're in, and she's used it to whip up her Facebook supporters, lashing out with personal invective against Lori voters and neutrals. This has only helped her opponent look reasonable and likeable while further dividing Toni's base.

The latest polls show Preckwinkle trailing in every demographic. Lightfoot leads among women (60%) and men (56%). Lightfoot leads among all age groups: 54% of voters younger than 50; 55% of voters between ages 50 to 64, and 55% of those 65 and older favor Lightfoot.

Team Toni's response: They say that since the poll was paid for by the pro-school privatization group, Stand for Children, it can't be trusted. Their takeaway is that SFC supports Lori and therefore they produced the poll. The argument rings similar to the Sun-Times argument. Since S-T endorsed Lori, the debate must be rigged.

Actually, the polling was done by respected Democratic pollsters FM3. Their poll found that while both candidates are viewed favorably by a majority of voters, 64% view Lightfoot favorably and 53% have a favorable opinion of Preckwinkle. However, Preckwinkle also has a greater number of detractors. While only ten percent of voters view Lightfoot unfavorably, more than one-third have an unfavorable opinion of Preckwinkle (37%).

They might have had a point about SFC popularizing the poll results, except for the fact that SFC has every reason NOT to support Lightfoot. After all, like Toni, she's running on a promise to end charter school expansion and to support an elected school board.

There's also the problem for Team Toni that everyone now has done internal polling that could easily refute FM3's poll if theirs were divergent.

Team Toni says she's not running scared. She says she's prepared to debate Lori 5 more times, including in an event sponsored by the rival Tribune. But why? Remember, the Trib endorsed her opponent Bill Daley before he was knocked out of the race last week.

Strange game they're playing. May be time for Team Toni to retool.

Progressives split in Chicago race. Can they unite against Daley in a runoff?

With the first round of the mayoral election only a week away, things are starting to get hot and heavy. Progressives are split at least three ways (Toni Preckwinkle, Lori Lightfoot and Amara Enyia) and there's lots of vitriol back and forth among their camps..

Cook County party boss Toni Preckwinkle, with early support from many progressives, including the CTU and SEIU seemed like the clear front-runner a month ago.  The SEIU endorsements alone translated into roughly $2M in cash and in-kind contributions to Preckwinkle and nearly two dozen full-time campaign workers and upwards of 500 part-time volunteers.

Bill Daley, the man from JP Morgan and the candidate without a shred of progressive pretense, has replaced Rahm Emanuel as the darling of Chicago's 1%-ers. They've gone all in on Daley because, 1) they fear a takeover of the city by left-wing insurgents of the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez type and 2) his early lead in fundraising has them believing he's a for-real candidate, who can win.

The irony is that the modern notion of Democratic Partyinsurgency they're so afraid off, goes back to Harold Washington's victory over the Daley machine in 1983. But the latest attempt at building a progressive electoral coalition petered out after the collapse of the Bernie Sanders coalition in 2016 leading to the election of J.B. Pritzker as governor with no real progressive opponent.

The current internecine warfare over mayoral choices results from progressive groups not being able to unify around candidates for mayor and governor two years ago.

Instead, Rahm, their main electoral target with plummeting poll numbers following his Laquan McDonald cover-up and his school-closing debacle, pulled a slick move and abandoned the race altogether, before we had a chance to beat him. Even though #RahmResign was exactly what progressives had been demanding, it took many of them them by surprise, as Amisha Patel of the Grassroots Collaborative admitted on our show on February 1st.

Without Rahm as a unifying target, the door was left open for a gaggle of old-line, well-financed Democratic Party regulars to jump in and suck up all the money and organizational support.

Mendoza, Chico, Daley and Preckwinkle, none of whom dared enter the race while Rahm was still in it, all jumped in and immediately got the support and credibility from the party bosses and powerful donors who had been sitting on the sidelines. Daley was the biggest beneficiary with $7M in big-donor money. $2M coming directly from Republican billionaire Ken Griffin.

But the good news is that despite their swollen campaign coffers and TV advertising, none of the party machine regulars or great-white-hope alternatives (Paul Vallas & Gary McCarthy) have been able to create any excitement at the base and break from the pack.

If the vote were taken today, undecided or none-of-the-above would be the clear winner. According to most recent polling, the top 5, including underdog and party outlier, Lori Lightfoot are all with a few points of each other and any two could make it to the runoff, especially if this becomes a low-turnout election.

Lightfoot, who if elected, would become the city's first black, woman, lesbian mayor, is a clear underdog. But she's gained momentum and funding in recent weeks, especially after picking up the Sun-Times endorsement, while Preckwinkle and Mendoza have failed to improve their numbers since being connected to the Burke/Solis scandal.

Progressive Preckwinkle supporters, including those in the CTU and SEIU, who backed her early when union haters Rahm, Vallas and McCarthy seemed like her main opponents, probably did so more because they thought she would win rather than  because of fundamental political agreement. But now they're stuck with her even as her campaign falters and stumbles towards the finish line.

They fear a Lightfoot victory next week will lead to Daley's election in the finals and are training all their tactical guns and money on Lightfoot. For her part, Lightfoot sees Preckwinkle as part and parcel of the Burke/Berrios party machinery and has been gunning for her from the start.

Lori Lightfoot goes head to head with Toni Preckwinkle ally, Rep. Martwick: “You were a Joe Berrios surrogate for the entire campaign. You filed this bill [to appoint rather than elect assessor] to profit yourself. Who benefits from a system that’s not changed?” Lightfoot said.

Things really came to a head this week when State Rep. Rob Martwick, closely tied to Berrios and Preckwinkle, tried to disrupt a Lightfoot presser and ended up in a well-photographed head-to-head, David vs. Goliath confrontation with the candidate. Martwick is authoring a bill that would make the County Assessor an appointed, rather than elected position. The bill is obviously meant as payback against anti-machine guy, Fritz Kaegi who defeated Boss Berrios in the assessor's race.

But the damaging confrontation instead meant more bad press for Preckwinkle and the machine. Martwick had to back off, claiming that his bill was only meant as a "conversation starter" while Preckwinkle was forced to issue a joint statement with Kaegi, opposing the Martwick bill.

If all this has your head spinning as you enter the voting booth, join the crowd. Daley seems like the main beneficiary of all this mayhem in the progressive camps, if he and Preckwinkle wind up in a runoff. A Daley/Mendoza runoff is also possible if Preckwinkle continues to stumble.

Amara Enyia, running with big campaign donations from rappers Chance the Rapper and Kanye West, hopes to pick up support from young black activists and hard-left organizers. But she doesn't seem to be gaining traction as the race draws to a close.

But if somehow, Lightfoot pulls an upset on Feb. 26, the whole thing is up for grabs. The progressives only hope is for some kind of reconciliation between Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and Enyia supporters and that's not likely.

But in a close, low-turnout election, anything can happen.

Buckle up and vote.


I'll be AWOL for Friday's Hitting Left show when brother Fred tries to make some sense of all this with Chicago campaign strategist, Joanna Klonsky and Progressive Caucus leader, Ald. Scott Waguespack. But I'll be tuning in to WLPN 105.5 FM, via live streaming on www.lumpenradio.com from 11-noon CT. I hope you will join me. 

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Raise Your Hand on return of PARCC

“To have the Illinois test ready for spring, ISBE has basically adopted PARCC for one more year,” the group said in a statement. -- Sun-Times

John Dingell's last words

Opponents of the Medicare program that saved the elderly from that cruel fate called it “socialized medicine.” Remember that slander if there’s a sustained revival of silly red-baiting today. -- Washington Post

Amy Klobuchar's poke at Clinton

"I think we're starting in Wisconsin because as you remember there wasn't a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. With me, that changes." -- The Hill

Toni Preckwinkle

 “Can we count on you when it’s needed to say no to the teachers union?” Flannery asked. “Of course,” Preckwinkle said. “Of course.” -- Chicago Tribune

Robert Reich

 America will never be a socialist country,” Donald Trump declared in his State of the Union address. Someone should alert Trump that America is now a hotbed of socialism. But it is socialism for the rich. Everyone else is treated to harsh capitalism. -- Guardian

Hard to get a handle on mayor’s race. Some polling please.

Polls show community support growing for striking L.A. teachers.

Why no serious polling on Chicago mayor’s race since the Burke debacle? Before Burke, poll leader, Preckwinkle was at only 18%. Could someone make the runoff with 12-15%. Maybe candidates are embarrassed to learn their numbers are so low.

Yes, interest in the race is waning since Rahm dropped out and current front-runners are all late-comers to the race with strong machine ties.

Progressives have no real horse in it despite early CTU/SEIU endorsements of Preckwinkle. But her team’s campaign stumbles have some lefties moving towards Amara Enyia and Lori Lightfoot. Voters yawning. Am I wrong? I’d like to see some polling, please. Media seems just focused on the money race.

Brother Fred and I will be talking about all this and more on Friday with BLM and Assata’s Daughters organizer, Page May along with Tom Gradel, co-author of Corrupt Illinois: Patronage, Cronyism, and Criminality. Tune in 11–noon at WLPN 105.5 FM in Chicago. Live streaming at www.lumpenradio.com.

Speaking of polling, this one shows strong public support for striking teachers in L.A.. The SurveyUSA poll found that almost two-thirds of people polled support the strike, with 15 percent opposed and about 20 percent unsure.

LAUSD Supt. and corporate shill, Austin Beutner is trying his best to scab-out the strike. That could make things hot on the picket lines and even hotter once the strike is settled.

Top Democrats are split on the strike, with DNC Chair Tom Perez, Sens. Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren supporting the teachers and corporate-wingers led by Arne Duncan attacking them. Several progressive House members have also declared their support with Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Mark Pocan (Wis.), as well as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ro Khanna (Calif.) tweeting their solidarity.

Remember in 2010, when Duncan came out in support of the L.A. district posting pictures of teachers in the LA Times? It was an attempt to "shine a light" on teachers whose students had lower than average standardized test scores. Duncan claimed there were thousands of teachers longing for their scores to be posted in the new media. He even predicted that in the years ahead, hundreds of school districts would be doing the same.

What a crock that was. 

After the lights came on at the Burke affair

Best quote on the Burke(s) affair comes from S-T columnist Neil Steinberg:

Corruption is like rust. It spreads, both coming and going. When the party’s on and the lights are low, lots of people wander into the dim tent to help themselves at the long tables of pie. When the lights are snapped on, those same people are caught standing there with pie on their faces.

He adds,

It’s almost comical to see the casting call of mayoral candidates lunging for napkins to smear away Ed Burke’s money, or try to. It’ll be interesting to see how long that stain lingers around their mouths.

Yes, it would be comical if the cost of corruption at the highest political levels didn't weigh so heavily on the city's poor and working people facing severe cuts at their schools and city services. Dick Simpson and Tom Gradel, authors of Corrupt Illinois, put the "corruption tax" at $500M. Many experts believe it is much higher.

Examples include the costs of the Jon Burge police-brutality scandal, which has already reached one hundred million dollars and counting. The cost of Chicago police corruption averages more than $50 million per year. Since 2004, "Chicago has paid a staggering sum -- about $662 million -- on police misconduct, including judgments, settlements, and outside legal fees," according to the Associated Press' examination of city records. In 2015, the payment for the fatal police shooting of LaQuan McDonald cost the city $5 million in a settlement, while the cost to investigate and prosecute Police Officer Van Dyke is ongoing. Also, following that shooting, Chicago's legal and consulting bill for the subsequent Department of Justice investigation of city police practices totaled $760,000 through the middle of March, 2016. 

It's especially not funny when the lights come on and you see pie on the faces of the top three or four (at least) candidates for mayor, including the one being supported by many progressives, unions and community orgs.

I put an (s) in parenthesis above after Burke's name because Eddie's wife Anne Burke, the liberal IL state supreme court justice, who Steinberg once referred to as the “the platinum bar of probity” (look it up), was the one (not Eddie) who threw the fundraising party for Toni Preckwinkle, that netted $116K for her campaign war chest. She had already run and won her campaign for Cook County Board President, jumping into the mayor's race only after Rahm dropped out.

Burke (r) endorsed Gery Chico

I suppose Burke's fundraiser was legal and hopefully legally reported. Although you would think a supreme court justice would keep a money arm's length from Chicago politicians, especially when she's already married to the platinum bar of profiteering in the city council. It's not a good look. But Chicago reporters haven't even broached the subject. It seems, she's untouchable.

It was only after that backyard party at the Burke's house was revealed than Preckwinkle announced she would return ALL the money. Previously she copped to receiving only $5.8K.

Preckwinkle also removed Burke from the Cook County Democratic Party's judicial slating panel, a post he held for decades. Good for her. Although without demands for accountability coming from below, who knows if she and others like Bill Daley, Gery Chico and Susana Mendoza would have even bothered bailing on the Burkes for appearance sake alone.

Preckwinkle's progressive backers seem unfazed by the latest scandal. Some are just cynical, claiming "they all do it, so why pick on Toni?" Others blame it all on the "culture of corruption". 
S-T columnist Phil Kadner writes:

Let us remember Burke has not been convicted of anything, although he has been a symbol of Chicago political corruption for decades. He has had the best people into his home. He has done favors for scores of politicians who were happy to accept his support and his money. Maybe they are all victims of the culture of corruption. As someone once said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

SEIU Illinois State Council, unfazed by Burke affair, just dropped another $500,000 into Preckwinkle’s mayoral campaign, more that making up for the Burke money she was forced to return. The new money brings the union’s contribution to Preckwinkle to $1.5 million with more money on the way.

Progressives like Rep. Will Guzzardi and socialist Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th) were among the first to endorse Preckwinkle and at least Rosa is now lashing out against his fellow left-wing critics of TP in the press and on social media.

 “There’s nothing here,” Rosa said of the campaign contribution investigators say Burke illegally solicited on Preckwinkle’s behalf. “Do people think she called Ed Burke and said, ‘You’ve got to shake down these guys for $10,000?’ Come on. Let’s talk about what’s important to the people of Chicago, which is who can bring change to City Hall. That’s Toni Preckwinkle.”

Burke scandal aside, it's hard for me to fathom this city's progressives and socialists pinning their hopes for change on the head of the Cook County Democratic Party. It just seems to run counter to national trend of victories by young, insurgent candidates, many of them women of color or immigrants,  over party regulars across the country.

My brother Fred traces the history of the problem in the inability of the Chicago left to unify early on around insurgent candidates in opposition to the old-guard machine.

 In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, there was no single candidate that truly represented the politics of the Bernie movement and you could find Bernie supporters dispersed among all of the candidates, painfully diluted and with little apparent influence. The same can be said about the current race for Chicago’s mayor.

Who knows what more fallout will come from the Burke trial itself or who will be implicated or left with pie on their faces if he decides to roll over for the feds. But by that time we will have elected a new mayor and most likely, one still tied to the old machine by a thousand threads.

You can bet we'll be talking about the Burke(s) affair tomorrow on Hitting Left with a group of insurgent Chicago teachers who are now running for political office. And then again next Friday, January 18th with in-studio guest, author, political consultant and expert on Chicago corruption, Tom Gradel.

Tune in to Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers, Friday on WLPN 105.5 FM Chicago, streaming live at www.lumpenradio.com