* Chuy’s 2015 mayoral candidacy hugely pushed up Latino turnout, but he’s not running the same sort of campaign this time, so we’ll just have to see. WBEZ recently calculated that turnout in majority Latino precincts last November was just 13 percent of the total city vote, about half of this poll’s sample size…

This is Lightfoot’s pollster, responding to new media poll showing Chuy (and Vallas) in a virtual dead heat with the incumbent Chicago mayor https://t.co/toYQnTo2Tl https://t.co/kDNwXN9FZQ

— Dan Mihalopoulos (@dmihalopoulos) February 8, 2023

So, make of this new poll whatever you will…

Garcia led with 20%, followed by Vallas with 18% and Lightfoot with 17%. Businessman Willie Wilson trailed closely with 12% and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson with 11%. Just 2% said they’d vote for activist Ja’Mal Green, and 1% chose either Ald. Sophia King, 4th Ward, or state Rep. Kam Buckner. Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th Ward, drew no support. Another 18% said they were still undecided.

* Paul Vallas attended the Equality Illinois gala last weekend. But Equality Illinois just sent out this media advisory…

Paul Vallas is Wrong for Chicago

WHAT: A diverse coalition of Chicago-based organizations is coming together to expose why Paul Vallas is wrong for Chicago communities.

WHEN: Thursday, February 8 at 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: Outside the Union League Club
65 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL

WHY: Chicago voters deserve to know the truth about Paul Vallas. From Chicago to New Orleans and Philadelphia, Vallas’ budget disasters left taxpayers holding the bag. There’s no place at City Hall for his close alignment with right-wing extremists. He waffles on support for reproductive rights and even on the question of whether he identifies as Republican. Paul Vallas cannot be trusted to lead our city at this critical juncture.

Speakers include: Representatives from the Supporting Organizations as well as leaders in education and on reproductive rights.

Supporting Organizations

Asian Americans for Change, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Equality Illinois, Indivisible Chicago Alliance.

* Tribune…

Chicago Ald. Sophia King will launch her first TV ad of the 2023 mayoral election on Wednesday as she attempts to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

King, who represents parts of downtown and Hyde Park along the lakefront, is the only woman challenging Lightfoot in a nine-candidate field. On the campaign trail, King has argued that her rivals represent an overly polarized view of the issues. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson are too far to the left, she has said, while businessman Willie Wilson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas are too far to the right. […]

Earlier this year, the Tribune published an analysis of 2022 city data that found that tens of thousands of serious calls lingered in the 911 system for longer than it typically takes to get a pizza delivered.

Citywide, the wait for an officer to be dispatched topped an hour for more than 21,000 calls, according to the city’s data. That was roughly one of every 24 high-priority calls.

The ad…

Script…

When you call the police, you shouldn’t have to wait 30 minutes, no matter where you live. I’m Sophia King. If we reject false choices, we can tackle today’s violence and root causes. We can uplift our police and hold them accountable. We can revitalize our neighborhoods and downtown. We can prepare our kids for college, and the trades. We can have safety and justice. That’s the power of ‘and.’ Sophia King for mayor.

* Ja’Mal Green says he has a new TV ad. It’s quite something…

Script…

Woman 1: Ja’Mal Green is gonna ban the boot.

Woman 2: Whaaaat?

Woman 1: And you know he’s really the only one who understands public safety.

Woman 3: But they say he’s too young.

Woman 4: Well, he wasn’t too young when he was leading marches against violence when he was 15.

Woman 2: And he wasn’t too young when he made Chase Bank give back a billion dollars to Chicago communities.

Green: Chicago! We can’t afford more of the same old political rhetoric. It’s time for someone new, so we can get things done and create a better future for our children.

All: Punch 1 for Ja’Mal Green!

* Politico…

The 77 Committee, an independent expenditure group that supports Lightfoot, is behind a new attack ad targeting Brandon Johnson.

Not sure if it’s on TV, but the :15 spot is here…

Script…

Brandon Johnson is too extreme for Chicago. Johnson wants to defund the police, putting our safety at risk. Raise taxes on the middle class. And drive jobs away from Chicago. Brandon Johnson, a change for the worse.

* More Lightfoot oppo on Vallas…

Here’s the truth: Paul Vallas has twenty years of experience undermining public education across the country, including in Chicago.

* Vallas was integral in destabilizing Chicago teachers’ pensions, and his incompetence caused a lasting financial burden for Chicagoans. As CEO of CPS, Vallas oversaw financial manipulations that stripped Chicago teachers’ pensions of consistent funding. His “pension holiday” diverted over $1.5 billion from pensions and, by 2006, the system faced a $3.1 billion shortfall. At the end of Vallas’ tenure, the district faced two years of declining or stagnating standardized test scores and a busing bill that ran $11 million over budget after Vallas awarded a no-bid contract to a company tied to his family.


* Vallas was driven out of Philadelphia after digging the district into a $100 million budget hole. After five years of incompetence and mismanagement, Vallas announced a surprise, massive budget shortfall while simultaneously collecting nearly $400,000 worth of bonuses. Vallas was then forced out by local leaders for his negligence as the crisis threatened to eliminate 100 teaching positions, slash programming, and force pay cuts across the district. In the aftermath, a local reporter called him the “Master of Pretend and Spend,” Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said “Paul’s never seen a dollar that he wasn’t willing to spend three times,” and Vallas himself admitted to taking “his eye off the budget ball.”


* Vallas was fired from the Bridgeport school system over a lack of appropriate credentials. After just eighteen months as head of the Bridgeport, Connecticut school district, a judge ordered Vallas be removed as superintendent after he misled the state Board of Education and was found not to have sufficient credentials required to do the job.


* Along the way, Vallas was accused of abusing public funds. As chief of schools in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, Vallas faced repeated accusations of misusing public funds for his own personal use, working in extravagance, using his access to benefit his friends, and failing to document his expenses.

* IFT and CTU together make up $390K of this A-1…

$495,952 A1 to Friends of Brandon Johnsonhttps://t.co/AMZEjeISdm

— Reform for Illinois' Sunshine Money Tracker (@ilsunshine) February 8, 2023

* Press release…

Largest Self-Funder in City Council History Brags About Personal Wealth

Rebecca Janowitz — who has mounted what is believed to be the largest self-funded City Council campaign in Chicago history — is touting her personal wealth in a campaign message to a purchased list of email addresses (many of which are not even in the 43rd Ward).

“My campaign stands apart in that it is primarily self-funded. This uniquely frees me to remain totally independent. If elected, I will be beholden only to the people I am sworn to represent.”

Despite her claims of being “totally independent”, Janowitz is backed by the members of the far-left political machine — none of whom reside in the 43rd Ward. She touts endorsements from politicians from Hyde Park and Lake County in her ads and website.

Speaking of her wasteful spending, here’s where she’s unloading her $750,000 on ads:

MAIL: Janowitz has sent 15 campaign mailers, at least three of which include Chicago Police Department officers and/or vehicles. The Chicago Board of Ethics warned candidates against this practice, saying ” fines up to $20,000 per violation” could be issued.
TELEVISION: Janowitz has been running cable and network TV ads since mid January — the first aldermanic candidate to advertise to the entire Chicago metro area.
DIGITAL: Janowitz is outspending every mayoral candidate except for Lightfoot on Facebook (yes, even beating fellow self-funder Willie Wilson).

This record-breaking spending is aimed at taking out the youngest member of City Council. Ald. Knudsen, the first openly gay council alderman of the 43rd Ward, is available for interviews via phone, videoconference or in person on this record-breaking spending and the campaign in general.

…Adding… In response to the above…

Wait, the crypto guy is doing this attack!? As the supposed “far left” Hyde Parker, at least we’re not advocating stealing peoples money with a Ponzi scheme. https://t.co/x1sd2KtSYs

— Robert Peters (@RobertJPeters) February 8, 2023

…Adding… Seems bad…

On Planet Jim Gardiner, he claims "opponents" are removing his campaign signs. Always playing victim. In reality, he's putting signs in without permission and lots of homeowners are then throwing them away.

Here are posts from a mom's group just from yesterday… pic.twitter.com/bqx6Q7KKa0

— The People’s Fabric (@peoplesfabric) February 8, 2023

…Adding… Press release…

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is denouncing 50th Ward candidate Mueze Bawany in regards to making anti-Israel comments on social media a few years ago. Bawany, who is challenging longtime Alderman Debra Silverstein for the 50th Ward city council seat, wrote in a Tweet from May 2019, “F— Israel and f— all you Zionist scum.” In other Tweets from the same year, he called a white woman a “Cracker” and wrote, “F— off honky.”

“The Chicago Jewish community, like its counterparts in New York, Los Angeles, and across the US, are in the throes of horrific anti-Semitism directed at them on social media and on the streets of our cities,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at the SWC. “In Chicago, Jews in the 50th ward have also been targets. We denounce Alderman candidate Mueze Bawany for his past anti-Semitic social media posts, including incendiary tweets. Those tweets add fuel to the fires of bigotry.”

“We need leadership that will inspire all our of citizens with diverse backgrounds to work together for a better city. Mueze Bawany’s past outbursts show, at least for now, that he lacks those leadership qualities,” added Alison Pure-Slovin, SWC Midwest Director.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* WBEZ | Lightfoot scolds rivals during testy mayoral forum for trying ‘to mansplain’ and ‘treat me like I’m some child’: “Of course we should not hire, we should not support, we should not retain any officer that is associated with any hate group,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of the officer, who was suspended but not fired for his involvement with the far-right Proud Boys — a move that has been blasted by the city inspector general. […] Vallas, King and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) each said they would fire the officer affiliated with the Proud Boys. “I would have fired him immediately,” Sawyer said. “I don’t care what the unions would do. I don’t care what collective bargaining would do.”

* Tribune | Mayoral candidates bicker over police reform, schools as Mayor Lightfoot criticizes rival for ‘mansplaining’: “Absolutely not,” Buckner said about the troubled repository that the city is in the midst of overhauling. “The gang database has not made us safer. In fact, it has made people in communities, many of whom look like me, not be able to walk around the city and participate in a way that’s fair and equitable.” Johnson, meanwhile, touted his efforts to remove a gang database in Cook County, saying that list included an 8-year old and a 108-year-old. […] Activist Ja’Mal Green also said he would not proceed with a gang database as mayor.

* ABC Chicago | Candidates bicker over crime, CPD, schools, housing and more at latest mayoral forum: “Clearly, clearly there’s this perception - or maybe it’s reality - that downtown is unsafe. And if you talk to everyone, and I’ve talked to all the business groups there, public safety is the number one issue,” said candidate Paul Vallas. “You gotta stop the crime, alright? Lower taxes, keep people coming to shop,” said candidate Willie Wilson. Mayor Lightfoot was taken to task on the Chicago Police Department’s compliance with the federal consent decree.

* Fox Chicago | Chicago mayoral election: Abortion, women’s health taking center stage: Responding to attacks from several rivals, Paul Vallas told female supporters Tuesday he’d work to protect access to abortion if elected mayor of Chicago. Opponents have publicized an interview, from more than a dozen years ago, in which Vallas said he opposes abortion, but then added that he opposes legislation restricting access to the procedure.

* Politico | Chicago’s messy, caustic mayor’s contest has Democrats feuding over crime: The eight challengers hoping to topple Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot later this month are almost solely focused on the city’s violence — hammering on issues such as homicides, carjackings and robberies at every open microphone.

* Block Club | Brandon Johnson Wants To Support Neighborhood Schools And Make The Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share — Not Hire More Cops: Johnson said that in his first 100 days, he will institute a citywide youth hiring program, particularly for Chicagoans 16-24 years old; pass the Treatment, Not Trauma ordinance, which would create a 24-hour crisis response hotline for mental health emergencies; and reopen the city’s closed mental health centers. Johnson on Monday unveiled his public safety plan, which he said focuses on addressing the “root causes” of crime. Among other things, the plan would promote 200 detectives from the rank-and-file, enact the Anjanette Young ordinance to end no-knock warrants, end the department’s contract with ShotSpotter, erase the city’s gang database and establish an illegal guns department.

* WGN | Three weeks before Election Day, a boost for Lightfoot: Three weeks before Election Day, a boost for Lightfoot as the 15,000-member strong UNITE HERE! hospitality union threw its support behind the incumbent. In the early days of the pandemic, Chicago’s hospitality industry was pummeled. But UNITE HERE says Lightfoot had their back.

* Streets Blog | New Better Streets Chicago Action Fund website endorses mayor and alder hopefuls: All of the mayoral candidates but Lightfoot and Willie Wilson responded to the survey. BSCAF has thrown its support behind Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson. “We believe in Brandon Johnson because he listens and collaborates,” the site states. “He recognizes the crisis the CTA is in and is unafraid to tackle the staffing and housing crises that plague it. He understands the epidemic of traffic violence in Chicago, and we trust he will pursue changes to ensure every Chicagoan has access to safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.”

* Crain’s | Higher interest rates, fewer groundbreakings in the pipeline for Chicago’s construction industry: The local construction industry is losing momentum after a strong 2022 as developers hold off on big projects. But contractors aren’t bracing for a major downturn: After rising 12% to $13.4 billion in 2022, construction starts in the Chicago area will dip slightly this year, to $13.3 billion, according to a forecast from Dodge Data & Analytics, a Hamilton, N.J.-based research firm. Nationally, construction starts rose 14% to $829 billion last year.

[If you somehow need it, the headline is explained here by the chairman of the board.]