…Adding… The dark money PAC New Leadership for Chicago has reported spending $135,500 on direct mail for Chuy Garcia. That means the group has spent almost all the $400K it has reported raising. It’s just one of several IE committees that are spending in the mayor’s race.

* Nice timing. Press release…

JOINT STATEMENT FROM MAYOR LORI E. LIGHTFOOT AND AFSCME COUNCIL 31 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROBERTA LYNCH

“Today, we are pleased to announce that negotiators for the City and the union have reached a tentative agreement that will improve the economic security and working lives of thousands of Chicago’s dedicated frontline employees. These workers are critically important to our city and impact every major department of City government. We have all worked together diligently to ensure that their efforts to help keep our city moving forward are recognized and valued. Terms of the agreement will be released after union members have the opportunity to review and vote on its ratification.”

* Heckuva job, Chicago /s…

About one-third of the city’s election day polling places are fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards, according to new data.

A WBEZ analysis of new polling place accessibility ratings from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners shows wide geographic disparities in access to ADA-compliant polling places.

In some wards, more than half of polling places fully meet ADA standards. In other wards, fewer than 20% of polling places are fully compliant. Voters in the 33rd Ward on the Northwest Side have just one fully accessible polling place. […]

In the 37th Ward, which covers parts of Austin and Humboldt Park, just 8% of polling places are fully compliant. Roughly two-thirds of its polling places in that ward are rated “low or no” for accessibility.

By my count, out of 380 precincts rated “low or no” accessibility, 141, or 37 percent, are in Black-majority wards. Black people make up 29 percent of the city’s population.

* Politico…

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas is taking hits from all sides ahead of Tuesday’s municipal election. He has front-runner status, so it comes with the territory. Vallas is being criticized for his remarks on critical race theory, his social media actions and his latest TV ad.

About CRT: State Sen. Ram Villivalam called Vallas’ comments “the same racist talking points echoed by right-wing demagogues.” And state Rep. Theresa Mah says Vallas is “unfit” to be mayor and owes Chicagoans an apology.

What he said: In 2021, Vallas said, “For white parents, I mean, how are you going to discipline your child when your child comes home and your child has basically been told, you know, that their generation, their race, their parents, their grandparents they have discriminated against others and they have somehow victimized another person’s race.” via Wirepoints. […]

About his new ad: It touts Vallas’ support for the LGBTQ community. But Equality Illinois, LGBTQ Victory Fund and LPAC called the ad offensive, saying it is “a desperate attempt to cover up his anti-equality track record.” They want the ad taken down. Here’s the ad.

* WTTW…

The union representing Chicago Police Department officers paid to send a flyer to voters showcasing that Jessica “Jessie” Fuentes, who is running to represent the 26th Ward on the Chicago City Council, was arrested for battery in September 2008 as a 17-year-old.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7’s political action committee made an in-kind contribution of approximately $10,000 to the campaign of Julian “Jumpin’” Perez, who used those funds to pay for the flyers, said Officer Michael Cosentino, field representative and political director for the union. […]

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas and state Rep. Lilian Jimenez, whose districts include the 26th Ward, accused Perez of “using tired Chicago-machine tactics of intimidation and threats.” […]

Perez is one of 26 City Council candidates endorsed by the police union as part of a push to defend its supporters on the City Council from challengers supported by progressive groups and to defeat their opponents.

Five candidates — Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward); Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward); Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th Ward); Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) and 19th Ward candidate Michael Cummings, a police officer, jointly reported approximately $42,000 in contributions from the police union’s political action committee, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

* South Side Weekly…

Over the past few weeks, journalists affiliated with the Chicago Reader and The TRiiBE have been the targets of harassment campaigns on social media for their coverage of a Police District Council candidate and the shooting of a Black man by Paul Vallas’s son. In January, Jim Daley, a former Weekly editor and then-news editor at the Chicago Reader, published a story detailing racist, sexist, and homophobic comments made online and in group chats by Pericles “Perry” Abbasi, an election attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and FOP-endorsed candidate for the 25th Police District Council. After the article’s publication, dozens of Abbasi’s supporters began harassing Daley on Twitter, with Abbasi retweeting the harassment.

Daley was hired by The TRiiBE in early February and reported a story on mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’s son being one of three cops who shot and killed a fleeing Black man in Texas last year. When the story was published, The TRiiBE was targeted for racist harassment on social media.

These harassment campaigns, which include threats of violence, make clear the importance of the work these journalists are doing as well as the imperative for fellow journalists to show support and solidarity. Reporting on the powerful always comes with risks, but that doesn’t mean we should accept them as inevitable or do nothing. To show your support, head over to The TRiiBE’s website, subscribe and donate.

* Some apparent landlord-tenant tension…

* Disqualifying?…

Paul Vallas’ Portillo’s order is a hot dog with ketchup and mustard pic.twitter.com/p2PkKSRaKd

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) February 24, 2023

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Block Club | Mayor’s Race Could Be Too Close To Call On Election Night, With Mail-In Votes The Deciding Factor: An explosion in people voting by mail and a crowded field in the mayor’s race could leave races too close to call the night of, said Max Bever, spokesperson for the city’s election board.

* NBC Chicago | It’s Not Just the Mayoral Race on Chicago Ballots This Election Day. What Else to Expect: According to the Chicago Board of Elections, advisory referendums, such as the ones that will appear on select ballots on Feb. 28, are designed not to create or approve of laws, but rather “to solicit the opinion of voters on a question of public policy.”

* Sun-Times | Here’s how the 4 mayoral front-runners plan to make the runoff: If the vote total is close to the 556,758 mayoral ballots cast in 2019, the two hopefuls making the runoff are likely to get 20% each. But the four top-polling contenders each have a different formula to reach that benchmark.

* Paul Vallas | Paul’s Plan for Accountable and Transparent Government: Chicago’s chronic challenges – violent crime, burdensome taxes, structural deficits, crushing debt, underfunded pensions, inequitable development practices, empty community engagement and participation mechanisms, lack of transparency, lack of accountability, poor policy decision-making and poor public administration in the implementation of policy – are connected to its system of government.

* Triibe | How has Chicago’s Aldermanic Black Caucus been representing the community?: The CABC is on the brink of a major shakeup this election season, with six of its members either stepping down, retiring or challenging Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her seat. The TRiiBE produced an accountability dashboard that takes a look at the voting records of each Black alder, dating back to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure. The dashboard is the first of its kind in Chicago.

* CBS Chicago | Mayoral candidates take lighter questions at forum at The Hideout: The candidates largely had serious answers as Kaufmann asked them what they were thinking in running for such a misery-inducing job as mayor. But a different side of the candidates came out when it came to “lightning rounds” about Chicago bands and iconic sports teams, among other subjects.

* Crain’s | Money and mud flow into the race for the 25th Ward: In recent days, the Get Stuff Done PAC, a business-backed group that says the city needs consensus-minded aldermen, has dropped just under $160,000 into ads and mailed flyers either bashing incumbent Byron Sigcho-Lopez and/or promoting his rival, public school principal Aida Flores.

* WBEZ | Does Chicago need a Black consensus candidate?: Black folk have never been a monolith, despite them being lumped as one community. In this mayoral race, ideas are varied. Candidates are different. Black voters have stark choices when they go to the polls on Feb. 28. The commonality is that they all paint themselves as different from incumbent Lori Lightfoot. The gospel of businessman Willie Wilson contrasts from young activist Ja’Mal Green. The politically active Chicago Teachers Union backs Brandon Johnson. State Rep. Kam Buckner centers the CTA in his platform. Sophia King and Roderick Sawyer — son of Eugene Sawyer — are giving up their city council seats to run for mayor.

* Block Club | Norfolk Southern Derailment Sent Toxic Fumes Into Ohio’s Air. Now, Chicago’s Englewood Neighbors Are Fighting To Keep Their Community Safe: The company has spent years expanding on the South Side, gearing up to run more freight traffic through a dense residential area shouldering decades of environmental burden.

* Sun-Times | Higher education can do more to help our city’s immigrants: It is hard to know whether we will see comprehensive immigration reform in our lifetimes, but there are steps that higher-ed can take, right here and now, to partner with the organizations that serve immigrant communities.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago pays $40 million annually to private firms, same as entire Law Department budget: Through a public records request, the I-Team found that over the past five years Chicago forked over about $40 million a year to private firms instead of hiring more in-house attorneys who would make significantly less money as public employees. We calculated that the entire Law Department budget is about the same as the total amount the city spends annually on outside law firms.

* Sun-Times | Loop sees its population continue to grow during the pandemic, report finds: The area outpaces other areas of downtown in attracting new residents, but affordable housing is in short supply, and there’s a need for open space and outdoor dining.