Chicago mayoral candidate Bill Daley is campaigning as a reformer, but he can't quite escape the Daley family's legacy of tightly controlling the city's Democratic machine. The Tribune opened up the history books to look at how he got caught up in an insurance test scandal, which sees a 1970s machine firing on all cylinders with allegations of fixed test scores, patronage jobs, an older brother speaking on behalf of a younger brother in the hot seat, a court case — and beer. Good grief, there've been a lot of mayoral debates — there was one this morning in Lincoln Square and there's another one tonight. If you're going to read just one for education and entertainment value, check out what Bill Ruthhart and Gregory Pratt wrote from Wednesday's debate, which showcased the other candidates going after Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and talk about restoring integrity at City Hall amid the ongoing federal corruption probe. And we now know why a Grant Park activist has been under fire. Welcome to The Spin. |
 From the Tribune's Todd Lighty: "Bill Daley has passed the bar to practice law and cleared security checks to work in the White House. But when he tried to pass the state exam to sell insurance in Illinois as a young man, he faced failure, scandal and embarrassment. First, the youngest son of Mayor Richard J. Daley flunked. And when he passed on his second try, in 1973, the validity of the insurance test later was questioned amid allegations he received inside help. Today, Daley is campaigning for mayor as a reformer, putting forth several good-government proposals and criticizing an entrenched political culture that he says can breed corruption. He's pitching that message even as opponents say his father and brother helped foster that very system." Read the story here. The debate machine: Daley took it on the chin early this week from opponents who say we don't need another Daley — his brother Richard M. Daley alone served a record six terms — in office. But on Wednesday night a panel of mayoral candidates went after Preckwinkle, revealing that she's no doubt a threat to them. As Ruthhart and Pratt wrote: "If facing the most political attacks were the sole measure of a candidate's chances of winning, then Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle would have emerged Wednesday night as the undisputed front-runner in Chicago's crowded race for mayor. During a debate hosted by Crain's Chicago Business and WGN Radio, Preckwinkle found herself on the receiving end of a number of opponents' political shots, from her status as a leader of the Cook County Democratic Party establishment to her ties to embattled Ald. Edward Burke, who faces an attempted extortion charge amid an ongoing federal investigation that continues to shake City Hall." Read their story, including the candidates talking about whom they'd vote for if they weren't in the race, here. Debating the debate: Who is and isn't invited to these debates has become a sticking point in recent years — and when a media outlet sponsors it, accusations of favoritism and bias fly. Nine of the 14 candidates were invited to participate in the debate hosted by Crain's Chicago Business and WGN Radio. Another debate Thursday night, this one televised by WFLD-Ch. 32, has drawn sharp criticism from former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and activist and Austin Chamber of Commerce Director Amara Enyia. They are among the nine candidates not invited. On the invite list: City Hall veteran Gery Chico, Daley, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Preckwinkle, and businessman and philanthropist Willie Wilson. Other things to do: Enyia, along with two of her high-profile backers, Chance the Rapper and Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, will hit the phones and dial up voters. Mayoral money: Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot lent herself $200,000, according to state campaign reports, a dollar amount that no doubt helps her get that new ad of hers on television — or keep it there. On Wednesday she released her debut TV ad, aimed squarely at public corruption. Read about it and watch it here. And if you want to keep tabs on who's contributing to which campaign — locally or across the state — you can click here or here. Endorsement: Lightfoot picked up an endorsement from Equality Illinois PAC, which noted that she's the first LGBTQ candidate for Chicago mayor. |   |
 Last weekend, Target put up the "Closed" signs for good at two South Side stores — one in Chatham and another in Morgan Park, as it has promised last year it would do. When the Minneapolis-based retailer "announced the decision to shut the two locations in late October, Mayor Rahm Emanuel fought it with both carrots and sticks, offering millions of dollars in tax assistance to the retailer to stay open while also signing an executive order that could punish retail developers if a tenant is closing stores elsewhere in the city," the Tribune's Lolly Bowean writes. And U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush called for boycotts. But it's over. As Bowean writes: "Now those empty storefronts represent a lot worry and sadness for local residents. Some fear there won't be another large retailer to fill the voids, and that the setback will delay or derail other redevelopment investment in South Side neighborhoods." One resident said: "I feel cheated." Read the story here. | |
 From the Tribune's David Jackson: "Lawyers for the Chicago Board of Education wanted to question the family of a student who had reported being raped about the boy's prior sexual history. On Wednesday, a judge said no." Read the rest of the story, including judge's strongly worded response, here. The background: "The family of the student had filed a lawsuit against the board after the boy, at the age of 15, allegedly was raped three times in 2016 by a classmate at Bogan High School who had a history of sexual aggression. The case was featured in the Tribune's 2018 'Betrayed' investigation, which examined hundreds of police reports about alleged sexual abuse of students by school workers and by their peers," Jackson reports. Both students had developmental disabilities and should have been closely supervised, according to school records reviewed by the Tribune. Gov. Pritzker, legislators vow sweeping changes to address CPS sexual abuse scandal: In response to the Tribune investigation, lawmakers are vowing to push legislation that would call for a number of changes, including revoking the licenses of educators found to have sexually abused children and making it a crime for a school employee to have sexual contact with a student, no matter their age, the Tribune's Jackson reports in another story. Read the story here. And read the Tribune's "Betrayed" series here. CPS teacher, friend beat fourth-grader in bathroom, according to lawsuit: "Asia Gaines, the mother of the 9-year-old boy, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Thursday morning, alleging his homeroom teacher at Tilton Elementary School helped her friend attack the child on Sept. 20," the Tribune's Elyssa Cherney reports. | |
 A Chicago Park District watchdog has put the spotlight on Bob O'Neill in his role as head of the Grant Park Conservancy, of which he is the founder and sole employee. He's accused of raising money on behalf of the Park District and its centerpiece — Grant Park — though none of the money found its way back to the city. He allegedly obtained special event permits at discounted nonprofit rates, only to turn around and resell them them at markups of up to $25,000 to promoters of for-profit festivals. And, without permission, he's accused of having fitness equipment installed in Grant Park. For its part, the Park District doesn't come off smelling like a rose either, the Tribune's Morgan Greene writes. It raises questions about how the organization "came to occupy a unique space in which the Park District's rules did not apply and very few questions were asked," Inspector General Will Fletcher wrote in a report summarizing his office's investigation. You can read Greene's story, and what O'Neill has to say about the report, here. O'Neill's push was always to get people into Grant Park. He not only ran the nonprofit conservancy but also was president of the Grant Park Advisory Council, a citizens board that reports to the Chicago Park District; he was suspended from the latter role just over a year ago amid the inspector general's investigation. Back in the 1990s he was viewed as something of an activist. He took and shared with City Hall pictures of a litter-strewn Grant Park, nudging then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to clean up the city's front yard ahead of the 1996 Democratic National Convention. But over the years he also seemed cozy with City Hall as he cheered on the city's failed 2016 Olympics bid, praised Lollapalooza's organizer for fixes to the park after fans tore it up and put a positive spin on the removal of 900 mature trees to make way for what is now Maggie Daley Park. At the time, O'Neill said that 1,000 trees would be planted in their place: "It's difficult to see all those trees being removed … but what we have is actually a positive situation, because eventually what we will get is an amazing diversity of different species of trees. So that's a gain." | |
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