Lightfoot marks 100 days in office
Wednesday, Aug 28, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mayor Lightfoot’s press office…
* Creation of a multifaceted comprehensive crime-fighting strategy centered on unprecedented citywide coordination that has resulted in nearly 7,000 guns recovered year-to-date, a three-year low in murders, shooting incidents at their lowest count since 2015 and 20-year lows in robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.
* Directing a significant expansion of school staffing and resources, including an unprecedented equity-focused budget, commitment to increasing social worker, nurse and special education case manager positions, and one of the largest capital budgets in recent history with investments to upgrade classrooms and facilities at over 300 schools across the city in 2020.
* Passing the most comprehensive worker scheduling law in the nation that will finally give lower-wage workers and their families predictability in scheduling and fairer working conditions.
* Begun reforming an historically regressive fines and fees system in order to help people move into payment plans and compliance, instead of into bankruptcy.
* Overhauling the workers’ compensation program to improve benefits to workers and reduce liability and claims costs to the city.
* Achieving passage of a series of ethics and good governance reforms to ensure the City operates more efficiently, transparently and in a way that is accountable to all residents and taxpayers.
* Doubling down on protections for immigrant and refugee families by issuing an executive order to terminate ICE access to citywide databases and city facilities, increasing legal aid funding by $250,000, and uniting with community and business leaders to address fears in the wake of threats.
* Working with partners to secure authorization on a Chicago casino, and taking additional steps toward creating a long-term sustainable financial plan for the City.
* Creating the City’s first-ever Office of Racial Justice and Equity to oversee the development of policies and practices to advance racial and social equity for the City.
* Creating the City’s first Chief Risk Officer position, which will focus on launching an enterprise risk management system to reduce the cost of legal settlements to the City.
* Beginning steps toward a comprehensive redevelopment strategy to tackle years of disinvestment on the City’s South and West sides, including creating a coalition of over 40 business leaders to participate in a corridor reinvestment strategy.
* Launching a new and improved Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) which for the first time makes explicit collaboration with the Continuum of Care, resulting in a coordinated application process for addressing homelessness.
I’m not sure claiming credit for the guns confiscated since the beginning of the calendar year is accurate, but your thoughts otherwise?
* Related…
* Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot holds panel discussion to mark 100 days in office
* Quig: Lightfoot grades herself
* Tribune: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot 100 days in — reform at City Hall still a work in progress: ‘We haven’t declared victory, but I think we’ve taken some very positive steps’
* Greg Hinz: 100 days and counting: A hard look at how Lightfoot is doing
* Fran Spielman: Lori Lightfoot’s action-packed first 100 days
* CBS 2: Mayor Lightfoot Reflects On 100 Days In Office
* Critics give Lightfoot D grade as she nears 100 days in office
- NotRich - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:21 am:
She is correct “I am not like Rahm”!! Nope, Rahm’s political operation didn’t strong arm as many donors in his first 100 days as this Mayor is doing…
- Shemp - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:25 am:
Fluffy.
- Shemp - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:26 am:
In fairness, 100 days in office is not much time. And if you do get much done in the first 100 days (aside from starting projects), how thorough and well are you doing it?
- Steve - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:28 am:
The Mayor’s ethics reform is very significant. That’s a real achievement by attempting to put future Ed Burke’s out of business.
- Sonny - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:28 am:
I thought she called it a ‘Hallmark holiday.’
- My New Handle - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:31 am:
Mike Schutzbach has been mayor of Effingham for 114 days. There must be an elephant (or very large donkey) in the room.
- Juvenal - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:34 am:
The credit for reduction of crime belongs to Rahm, the chief and the force. Her multi-faceted approach should work but needs to be funded and has not been implemented.
Kyle Hillman and Stacey Davis Gates can speak to school resources. Gates announced this am on Twitter that CPS eliminated the librarian and the PE teacher at her school.
Her casino is in a coma right now.
Lots of new beginnings, but not much you can hang your hat on.
And lots of negatives counterbalancing the positives. Lying to the homeless didn’t pan out well for Blagojevich and has not planned out well for anyone else really. They literally have nothing to lose, and that makes them a formidable adversary.
After telling Crain’s And Sun-Times that “First 100 Days” does not really matter, is a “Hallmark Holiday,” why this list of incompletes?
Should have focused on the one thing, Ethics maybe.
- JoanP - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:41 am:
Frankly, I don’t expect much in slightly over three months in office.
- NIU Grad - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:47 am:
I’ve always been weary of this this barometer of success. The first 100 days set the course for the rest of the term, but by no means should there be a long list of accomplishments that aren’t fluffy…otherwise they’re just rushing things.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:47 am:
Trying to bestow lifetime achievement awards after 14 weeks is not a good use of time, but it is safe to say the Mayor has taken some good steps in the right direction.
Next line is opening schools on time, but keep in mind some new faces at the top of CTU may need a strike to establish their cred with membership.
The move on work comp is a major step that few understand.
Good to see someone still has Don Rose’s #. TeeHee
- @misterjayem - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:49 am:
* Flip-flopped on Rahm Emanuel’s $1,300,000,000 tax subsidy for the Lincoln Yards mega-development.
– MrJM
- Roman - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:54 am:
So sick of the “100 Days” trope. It’s become a crutch for lazy journalists and political spin doctors. I was hopeful when the mayor called it a “Hallmark holiday” a week or two ago, thinking she wasn’t going to participate in the cliche ritual. Guess she caved in.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:54 am:
Being a candidate for mayor of Chicago is a lot easier than being mayor of Chicago.
Mayor Lighfoot is finding that out the hard way. (as many others have).
- Amalia - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:22 am:
fine stuff. but I want to add snark to it. shutting down Ald. Burke for the first time in City Council. getting on mic with comments on a constant critic from the police union. making the Chicago Sky relevant for those who want to get close to the Mayor. ……
- BR91 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:23 am:
She is cooking the books on crime, just like Rahm. They’re also using guns that were forfeited or seized for news conferences, just like Rahm.
Lori says she isn’t like Rahm, but the barometer isn’t just the yardstick with which we measured them in feet and inches from the ground. No. It’s the countless press releases that flow out of city hall. The separate attacks via press on CTU and the FOP.
The more she says she ain’t like Rahm, the more she’s proving to be…just like Rahm.
- Just Me 2 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:28 am:
Can’t help but notice none of her accomplishments include reducing any costs.
If she wants to raise taxes she has to at least pretend to try and cut costs.
- Jose Abreu's Next Homerun - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:41 am:
Remarkably no mention of the failure that was Gator Bob.
- Colin O'Scopy - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:44 am:
If she found the bathrooms and located the light switches in the first 100 days, I say that warrants a solid “A” grade.
- Roger Abbott - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 10:47 am:
Pity, she only has 1360 days left in her first term. /s/
If she can’t accomplish everything for everybody without upsetting anyone, how is she going to succeed with so few days remaining?
- Jocko - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 11:25 am:
Like Shemp was saying, I would argue that “the first hundred days” and “are you better off than you were four years ago?” have reduced our elected officials to sitcom characters.
- Juvenal - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 2:11 pm:
=== reduced our elected officials to sitcom characters. ===
She touted meetings with police leaders every seven days to hold them accountable, but Chicagoans are going overboard by checking in every three months?
Mayors, governors and presidents that believe everyone is accountable accept themselves usually fail and do not deserve a second term.
- Dr X - Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 4:29 pm:
So exhausted in her first 100 days she had to take a vacation while telling others to cancel theirs enough said