Law Mon Jul 30 2012
Should the City of Chicago deny Chick-Fil-A zoning relief because of the political opinions of its chief executive, Dan Cathy--and the political spending of the corporate parent?
Courtesy of Alderman Proco "Joe" Moreno and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a bit of an internecine row broke out amongst liberals in trying to answer this question. Immediately after the news was announced, I poked fun at the idea of using state power to punish businesses for their political activities, suggesting city officials were being a bit selective in singling out Chick-Fil-A. After all, Boeing, which was in the running to manufacture killer drones, not only is headquartered here, but is feted by the administration and receives tax incentives.
Things escalated after Adam Serwer, Kevin Drum, Glenn Greenwald and others published articles criticizing Alderman Moreno and Mayor Emanuel for setting a dangerous precedent, denying a business regulatory relief to which they would otherwise be entitled because of the political opinions and activities of its chief executive. Count me among those who think the City of Chicago has no business considering the unrelated political activities of applicants for land use relief when making a decision. This comes with several caveats and excursuses.
One threshold issue: Mayor Emanuel did not say he would deny Chick-Fil-A (and can I just take a moment to tell you how grating it is to type "Chick-Fil-A" over and over again?) any zoning relief, only that he opposed their entry into Chicago personally, in principle, because of the politics they embody. Granted, he was treading on thin ice given his rocky relationship with the Chicago Cubs and the staunchly conservative patriarch of the Ricketts family that owns them -- but expressing his displeasure at their business practices and expressing his opinion as to whether they would be welcome or not -- even encouraging a boycott -- is his own prerogative and in fact his free speech right; arguably, what he was elected to do.
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— Ramsin Canon /
Crime Sat Jul 28 2012
More than a dozen people participated in a "flash mob" style robbery of Mildblend Supply Co. on Saturday Night, making off with an estimated $2,000 dollars worth of merchandise.
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— Mike Ewing /
Chicago Fri Jul 27 2012
After taking a close look at the Chicago Cultural Plan draft released last week, I wanted to hear what other people had to say about it. More importantly, I wanted to hear how representatives of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and their consulting firm, Lord Cultural Resources, would talk about such a dense, buzzword-filled document to a room of concerned Chicagoans. So I went to Malcolm X College on Tuesday night for the first of four town hall meetings dedicated to the plan, hoping to get some clarity.
The first sign that something was amiss was when I registered and was promptly given a transponder. I was informed that I would need this to vote during the "audience participation" part of the town hall -- nevermind that the implied goal of a town hall is audience participation.
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— Jason Prechtel /
On July 2, 16-year-old Jose Morales and some of his friends went into the abandoned Ravenswood Hospital, located at 1931 W. Wilson. According to the Tribune, while inside the building, Morales fell from the second floor to the ground floor. Morales died later that day at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
The hospital is currently owned by Lycée Français de Chicago, which has plans to demolish the hospital and build a new school building. According to the Tribune, Lycée Français has applied for a permit for demolition in the wake of Morales' death.
Lycée Français would not comment on the situation with Ravenswood Hospital.
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— Monica Reida /
Op-Ed Wed Jul 18 2012
Today Wheaton College became the first Evangelical organization to join Catholics in filing suit over the HHS contraception mandate. At particular issue is the mandate's requirement that institutions provide their employees with access to contraceptive drugs, such as the "morning after" or "week after" pill. While these drugs do not terminate pregnancies once the egg is implanted, Catholics and some Evangelicals argue that preventing implantation is tantamount to abortion, making these pills abortifacients. While Catholics and Evangelical positions do not completely match on all aspects of contraception (views vary widely throughout Protestant denominations), they do agree on one thing — they want to right to have a position at all.
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— Conor McCarthy /
Wheaton College, in Wheaton, IL, is filing a lawsuit alongside the Catholic University of America in opposition to a birth-control-related mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services. The mandate requires most employers to provide health care that includes birth control coverage.
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— Tyler Davis
The Guardian reports that our "hyperactive" Mayor is looking at turning the Loop into one big wifi hotspot, providing internet access to the public. Attempts to create municipal wifi systems have an ignominious history, in part because cities have not been able to figure out how to build the infrastructure and keep it paid for. When the services have been left to private firms to build and operate, the subscriber system do not seem to provide the revenue necessary to make the concession profitable. By starting with the Loop alone, a municipal wifi service may be more realistically profitable, particularly if it were designed along the models used at big airports, where those wanting fleeting access can pay for services or watch ads.
Reports of the plan discuss turning existing infrastructure, including traffic lights, into "smart poles" that ensure universal connectivity, including in the subway. How the service would operated isn't clear--the plan is clearly in its nascent stage. From the general descriptions, though, it sounds like an initial public investment to create the infrastructure would be the first step.
It would be interesting to see how the city's wireless providers--an increasingly competitive market, with companies like Clear moving in on established providers like Comcast--would react to a municipal wifi that is potentially free or provided at a discount. The externalities of a municipal wifi system cause headaches for technocratic planners; a free or deeply discounted wifi system covering the city's most densely populated area and central business district could effect the cost and availability of wireless services in more outlying areas.
However, having a seamless coverage area in the CBD could undergird a broader municipal wifi system that could extend coverage everywhere, and in that way provide free or deeply discounted wifi access to underserved and impoverished areas. The other possible advantages are also significant: having high-speed wireless service everywhere could improve city services and public transportation.
Given the city's past experiences with municipal wifi, how the Emanuel administration approaches the problem should be enlightening, both here and for other cities.
— Ramsin Canon
Media Fri Jul 13 2012
Some items of interest for you all:
- CPS principals and assistant principals accused of falsifying information to qualify students for free or reduced lunches after internal investigation. [Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune]
- Local governments are feeling out how to enforce "Green" and LEED standards in the courts. [SSRN Papers]
- Union janitors protest granting of contract to firm that laid them off last night at Mayor's Office, push for ordinance to hold contractors accountable. [Progress Illinois]
- The President's "Midwestern Problem." [Whet Moser]
- Mayor Emanuel's new initiative may not be so new. [Mick Dumke--Chicago Reader]
- One for the geekertons: Why Is a 98.6-Degree Day So Miserable? [Slate]
— Ramsin Canon
When news broke last week that Barclays Bank had conspired to manipulate the London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR), and that more banks were under investigation for similar behavior, several outlets lamented that what was a huge scandal in Europe barely registered in the U.S. media.
One might wonder where those same European media outlets were last year, when Bloomberg reported that Chicago trading firm ElDorado launched a lawsuit against several U.S. banks for the same reason.
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— Jason Prechtel
by Rachel Angres
Wearing one of his trademark lavish, tailor-made suits as sharp as his tongue, Cook County Commissioner William Beavers, 77, spoke with conviction early this morning at 330 S. Wells St. in Chicago's South Loop. Beavers, who recently pleaded not guilty to charges of indictment on federal tax-evasion charges, has been postponing the inevitable trial (which still has yet to be announced) that could seal his fate and lips- at least for the time being.
"I'm not a criminal! I haven't stolen a dime. I have had thieves following me for the last three years that couldn't find nothing," said the irreverent commissioner.
While speaking out against federal allegations that claim Beavers is a criminal and tax evader, he simply responded without a twinge of discretion, "I don't have no regrets; I was entitled to take that money since 2009."
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— Mechanics
"Socialist" is the dirtiest insult in American politics.
So when I arrived at a hotel lobby last Thursday night to see what a conference that had the audacity to call itself "Socialism 2012" looked and sounded like, I wasn't sure what to expect. Was anyone actively involved in political and social struggles relevant to the average person going to be there? Or was this just going to be parade of faux-revolutionaries wearing t-shirts with pictures and quotes from radical icons, patting themselves on the back for their own self-righteousness? And more importantly, would anything happening over the next four days actually have an impact in the Chicagoland area (much less the world)?
Sure enough, I immediately found groups of 20-somethings in the hallways hawking t-shirts with sales pitches like "Get your Egyptian revolutionary socialist t-shirts here! Straight from Tahrir Square! $20!" But as the weekend progressed, I found much more than I ever could have expected.
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— Jason Prechtel /
Housing Mon Jul 02 2012
At least 20% of Chicago's public housing units are empty, according to an investigation by the evergood Chicago Reporter. It's a shocking number given the lack of affordable housing in the city--but should not be surprising. Over the last two decades, public housing has been the subject of a controlled hunt, with "mixed-income" housing, often resulting in gentrification, an important agent of neoliberalization.
Nearly one in five of the CHA's 21,204 units is unoccupied, the bulk for planning purposes, and that puts the agency at odds with written federal rules, The Chicago Reporter found.
CHA officials justify keeping a majority of the units "offline" because they've fallen into disrepair and could end up in litigation if they're leased out. The officials maintain that they're eligible to continue collecting millions in operating subsidies even though the units are vacant.
But some housing advocates point out that the disrepair is the result of the CHA's own doing. "The issue is not just vacancies," said Carol Steele, a tenant leader representing residents from the North Side's Frances Cabrini Rowhouses, where the occupancy rate slid to 21 percent this year. "The issue is that the CHA is trying to get out of the public housing business."
— Ramsin Canon
Race Mon Jul 02 2012
In an elegantly simple bit of journalism, Dan Weissman took a camera on the Red Line. Read his full story.
Part of WBEZ's Race: Out Loud series.
— Ramsin Canon
