CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

I think it's the things that are unsaid in the contract that tell the real story.

--There's a charter school moratorium but not a school closure moratorium.

--Classroom sizes are capped at 28-32, but only a few North and Southwest side schools are actually overcrowded while South side schools are half-empty. In a school district with ranked choice.

--Nurses, ect. being added but only in limited numbers.

--On top of that, current birth rates show the eligible student population dropping by at least 30%.

In other words, the CTU union leaders have knowingly left the door wide open for school closures either by force or natural attrition when the financial squeeze really hits. But they've done so in a way that they can still protest CPS when the time comes.

Looks like CTU didn't really get anything.

There are very few schools with the 40+ classroom size that CTU kept harping about. I have never seen a class size over 30 other than Gym in High School. The system will need to close schools in the near future, if not now, so I could care less if we don't open more charters for the next 5 years. As long as we can close schools that are 50% utilized.

So it was really about money and political power.

Good negotiating Mayor Lightfoot!

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

I am NOT completely ignoring it. I don't really care if your property has gone up in value. I certainly don't care that you've chosen to live in an expensive home with high taxes instead of a less expensive home with lower taxes. And I care even less that you prefer New York City.

But I don't know why you think that living in New York is going to save you taxes. The city income tax rate there would probably cost you $30,000 a year. And if you want to buy a nice Victorian there in a pleasant neighborhood where you can walk to Michelin starred restaurants and neighborhood theater, your taxes are going to be more than $50,000 a year.

You didn't ask, but personally, the reason I don't live in New York or London or Frankfurt is because I find the quality of life to simply be better in Chicago than it is there. If I had kids I'd have no problem sending them to local public schools, which are better than the average U.S. public school, though this of course depends on the neighborhood. And I also would have no financial problem retreating to a lakefront home in suburban Minneapolis, but I'd rather quit my job and be a bartender someplace with character and people, instead of retreating to something akin to a fortress behind a moat. Now, that's a choice that everyone is free to make for themselves. You, however, are posting on skyscraperpage. Look inward.

I never stated my taxes would go down living in NYC, nor did I even imply that. You made that up. Actually I’m not even sure what the point is you are trying to argue. Happy Halloween fella.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Handro

Can someone help me understand this:

I live in the 47th Ward, and was reviewing the devlepments in the pipeline on the alderman's website. I found that some were subject to ZAC (zoning advisory council) review. From what I can see, this council is an anonymous group appointed by the alderman that meets once a month(?) behind closed doors to approve or deny zoning changes and permits.

Is there any good reason for having an anonymous council appointed by the alderman meeting behind closed doors beyond simple corruption? I e-mailed the alderman's office (which didn't have simple contact info anywhere on the site, I had to dig around online) and am awaiting a response, but I'm sure I won't get a straight answer. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt though and perhaps I'm not thinking of an important detail as to why this would be necessary...

How is this any worse than the alderman making decisions unilaterally?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by ardecila

How is this any worse than the alderman making decisions unilaterally?

I mean it's exactly the same, these faux community councils are often just a puppet for the alderman to hide behind. It's all theater...

[ardecila]

^ Exactly. For every unelected “community board” made of anti-development NIMBY Napoleons, there’s another “zoning review council” made up of business owners, nonprofits and campaign donors who are pro-development. Carlos Rosa vs Danny Solis, they’re both playing the same tune even if the words are different.

None of it is really democratic, but I’m not sure we want the community making decisions by mob rule on each and every proposed building... that’s why we elect officials to make these decisions for us.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ Exactly. For every unelected “community board” made of anti-development NIMBY Napoleons, there’s another “zoning review council” made up of business owners, nonprofits and campaign donors who are pro-development. Carlos Rosa vs Danny Solis, they’re both playing the same tune even if the words are different.

None of it is really democratic, but I’m not sure we want the community making decisions by mob rule on each and every proposed building... that’s why we elect officials to make these decisions for us.

We absolutely don't want the "community" making these decisions. Most people have no understanding of real estate development and markets at all. I see it all the time in my neighborhood, with people constantly lamenting what gets built or what doesn't.

"Ugh, more luxury condos just what the neighborhood needs".

"We need more affordable housing".

"I really wish a cute bakery would take over that long vacant space".

It all comes down to economics. Affordable housing costs the same as market rate housing to build and operate (sometimes more). The reason there is no artesinal bakery is become we don't have enough people with high disposable income. All basic concepts that flies over the head of the vast majority of people.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by ardecila

How is this any worse than the alderman making decisions unilaterally?

well:

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I mean it's exactly the same, these faux community councils are often just a puppet for the alderman to hide behind. It's all theater...

This. It's a lot easier to hold the alderman accountable, but when he can claim "it was members of the community who said they didn't want this!" it takes some steam out of the case against him. I think this is what happened to the senior living project at Six Corners.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Handro

well:



This. It's a lot easier to hold the alderman accountable, but when he can claim "it was members of the community who said they didn't want this!" it takes some steam out of the case against him. I think this is what happened to the senior living project at Six Corners.

This project got elected out of existence which is EXACTLY why Aldermen should not be in charge of urban planning. Voters should have zero say in zoning and planning decisions. It should be something like building permits which is handled by beauracrats. The Alderman can call downtown and push to speed this up or consider that, but there should be paid professionals who know the mechanics of how cities work that make decisions based on a prescribed set of policies. If the Aldermen want to change the policy, that's fine, but they should have ZERO say over specific decisions or projects. The only interaction Aldermen should have with planning is "we like TOD so let's pass a TOD ordinance" rather than "I like TOD so let me unilaterally use a PD to zone a 20 floor building wherever I want"...

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

We absolutely don't want the "community" making these decisions. Most people have no understanding of real estate development and markets at all. I see it all the time in my neighborhood, with people constantly lamenting what gets built or what doesn't.

"Ugh, more luxury condos just what the neighborhood needs".

"We need more affordable housing".

"I really wish a cute bakery would take over that long vacant space".

It all comes down to economics. Affordable housing costs the same as market rate housing to build and operate (sometimes more). The reason there is no artesinal bakery is become we don't have enough people with high disposable income. All basic concepts that flies over the head of the vast majority of people.

haha yes.

I see this all over the country. My moms town in Arkansas, Jonesboro, constantly runs stories on the local news talking about this or that new store or restaurant. There are *always* constant complaints by people saying "why aren't we getting something fun for the kids" etc. etc.. They act like this is a communist country or something where there is like one person or board who decides what every parcel of land gets lol

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

haha yes.

I see this all over the country. My moms town in Arkansas, Jonesboro, constantly runs stories on the local news talking about this or that new store or restaurant. There are *always* constant complaints by people saying "why aren't we getting something fun for the kids" etc. etc.. They act like this is a communist country or something where there is like one person or board who decides what every parcel of land gets lol

I know it's not Chicago centric, but I hear these things all the time in my area.

[Handro]

So Eddie Johnson spent the evening getting drunk before falling asleep behind the wheel. He always struck me as a guy not up for the job, but a reliable pigeon for political purposes--which may not be a fair judgement from so far away but hte proof is in the pudding. I do feel a little grossed out with his personal life being hung out there for public shaming beyond just the drinking stuff.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/polit...66y-story.html

I wonder if this Beck guy from LA is going to make any meaningful impact on the department?

[Handro]

https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/12...litical-rival/

Also I must say Jim Gardiner really seems like a strangely agressive guy. He's combative with media, secretive, etc. He had that restraining order taken out by an ex, and now he's accused of staring down a comitee member in the middle of a meeting:

Sobor has also accused Gardiner of attempting to intimidate her during a Nov. 21 meeting of the SSA’s commissioners when she objected to the change.

“At one point late in the meeting, he locked eyes with me and tried to stare me down, for several long minutes,” Sobor wrote to city officials. “This was intimidation. His aggressive behavior was intended to tell me that he didn’t like what I said and he had more power than me.”

However, Gardiner said that accusation was “patently false.”

Taken separately I'd be more skeptical of it all, but the combativeness, restraining order, staring... it all starts to paint a weird picture.

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by Handro

https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/12...litical-rival/

Also I must say Jim Gardiner really seems like a strangely agressive guy. He's combative with media, secretive, etc. He had that restraining order taken out by an ex, and now he's accused of staring down a comitee member in the middle of a meeting:



Taken separately I'd be more skeptical of it all, but the combativeness, restraining order, staring... it all starts to paint a weird picture.

Yea, he sounds like a weird and aggressive guy. Ald Arena seemed pretty on the level by comparison. This is just one more reason why we don't need freaking 50 alderman in Chicago! All these guys on power trips running their tiny petty fiefdom like dictators, the systems just begs for corruption and power hungry people. Please can we just have 10-15 alderman max.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

Yea, he sounds like a weird and aggressive guy. Ald Arena seemed pretty on the level by comparison. This is just one more reason why we don't need freaking 50 alderman in Chicago! All these guys on power trips running their tiny petty fiefdom like dictators, the systems just begs for corruption and power hungry people. Please can we just have 10-15 alderman max.

How much money would Chicago save by getting rid of 40 of these people?

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

How much money would Chicago save by getting rid of 40 of these people?

Well just in direct salary Alderman make around $120,000 per year, so $4.8 million per year savings if we got rid of 40 alderman. Plus they each have a staff and office, most of the offices could be merged and reduction in redundant staffing could save millions a year. Many alderman also get $100,000 pensions in retirement, so we could save millions in lifetime pensions for the alderman and staff.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/15-fo...gure-pensions/

[sparklingsnow]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...icagos-economy

What are the incentives being offered to encourage an additional $250M in private and public capital investment in these neighborhoods? Does anyone have any insight beyond what's posted on the city's website?

[Handro]

Originally Posted by sparklingsnow

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...icagos-economy

What are the incentives being offered to encourage an additional $250M in private and public capital investment in these neighborhoods? Does anyone have any insight beyond what's posted on the city's website?

The 10 neighborhoods targeted for the unprecedented infusion of city capital are: Auburn Gresham, North Lawndale, Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, Quad Communities, New City, Roseland, South Chicago and South Shore.

Factors analyzed in choosing the neighborhoods included: local business activity; retail and institutional anchors; transportation amenities; historic buildings; recent and pending public improvements; potential community partners.

The $250 million, Lightfoot said, is “re-prioritized money already in the pipeline” from: tax-increment-financing; the moribund $100 million Catalyst Fund; the Small Business Improvement Fund; and the share-the-wealth, Neighborhood Opportunity Fund generated by developers paying a fee for permission to build bigger and taller buildings downtown.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10...ides-lightfoot

[Hourstrooper]

https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/12/1...-all-ordinance

hopefully they find out a way to get this figured out bc as we all know there is no affordable housing crisis in Chicago lol.

If the requirement cuts too aggressively into profit margins, builders won’t be able to recoup already soaring construction costs or get financing from banks. Whether the city requires 10 percent affordable housing or 30 percent, the number of units is zero if a project never gets off the ground


This is scary stuff to be lead on to by freshman alderman such as the crazy sigcho-lopez and la spata whom have no experience at all with development and are pressing for this to be adjusted.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by Hourstrooper

https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/12/1...-all-ordinance

hopefully they find out a way to get this figured out bc as we all know there is no affordable housing crisis in Chicago lol.

If the requirement cuts too aggressively into profit margins, builders won’t be able to recoup already soaring construction costs or get financing from banks. Whether the city requires 10 percent affordable housing or 30 percent, the number of units is zero if a project never gets off the ground


This is scary stuff to be lead on to by freshman alderman such as the crazy sigcho-lopez and la spata whom have no experience at all with development and are pressing for this to be adjusted.

I can't shake hte feeling that Chicago is teetering on the edge here--wind blows one way and the city is in full blown decline, wind blows the other way and could be a nice 50 years ahead.

City leaders with no sense of city planning or economic development are a major, major threat. It's entirely possible to be equitable and progressive without waging war on development. It worries me that so many people think it's a battlefield and not a symbiotic relationship.

[Hourstrooper]

https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/12/1...-all-ordinance

hopefully they find out a way to get this figured out bc as we all know there is no affordable housing crisis in Chicago lol.

If the requirement cuts too aggressively into profit margins, builders won’t be able to recoup already soaring construction costs or get financing from banks. Whether the city requires 10 percent affordable housing or 30 percent, the number of units is zero if a project never gets off the ground


This is scary stuff to be lead on to by freshman alderman such as the crazy sigcho-lopez and la spata whom have no experience at all with development and are pressing for this to be adjusted. how could they raise it to 30 percent when half of the time the 10 percent doesn't even get built, these people need to figure this out.

good news is this does not affect hospitality or office developments and it sounds like the main alderman running this osterman, is open to the developers standpoint. , but this is scary as heck for the future of tall residential buildings and for ruining the feasibility of them in our city.