Skip to content

Tag: Toni Preckwinkle

Chicago is a long dark dangerous alley

Rush Steet alley at night Image: PV Bella

Would you walk or drive down a dark Chicago alley? Chicago is turning into a proverbial dark alley. The well-lit streets are as dangerous and fearsome as nighttime alleys.

“We deeply understand how important it is for our residents to feel safe within our neighborhoods across the city,” said Brown said in a statement. “We are retooling our crime-fighting strategies to stop the spike in crimes that we are seeing so we can bring a greater sense of safety to our communities.” (Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown/WGN)

Retooling? is that the new word for another plan? When all else fails, change the vocabulary. He had plans. Now, he is retooling. His retooling will fail too. Brown does not get it. The violence in Chicago is wanton and has nothing to do with the supposed root causes of crime or gangs, guns, and drugs. The violence is caused by people just because they can do it. There is a sub-culture of violence all across the city. Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites are fueling violent crimes, depending on the neighborhood.

This cultural violence cannot be curbed. The people committing violent crimes believe this is what they should be doing. They are like the Taliban. Instead of violence on behalf of Allah, these terrorists are committing violence on behalf of themselves. They know there will be few if any, repercussions.

We are heading into a three-day, four-night holiday weekend. If the 4th of July was an indication, this will be another bloody, violent, and deadly weekend in Chicago. Some are projecting that by year’s end, over 1000 people will be killed by gunfire.

I talk to many people. They all say they used to feel safe in the city. They no longer feel safe. They lost confidence in the police department to keep them safe. Many blame Mayor Lightfoot, Brown, Kim Foxx, Toni Preckwinkle, and the court system. Their blame is well-founded.

The street cops are confused, overworked, understaffed, and distraught. They no longer know what is allowed, and they will not risk their jobs or lives because of the confusion. They do not trust that the Chicago Office of Police Accountability performs fair, balanced, accurate, and legal investigations. They do not trust that Brown has their best interests in mind. He is an outsider mercenary.

Some of the alderpersons are fed up. They see what is happening in their wards, yet, the mayor controls the police. They have no power. Since the City Council is fractured into various caucuses, there is no large block of alderpersons to demand the mayor hold Brown accountable or send him back to Texas.

The question is, when will enough be enough for the citizens? When will we demand better from the mayor and Superintendent of Police? She is accountable, and there is no accountability. There is no transparency. There is only talk, and talk is cheap.

The criminal element has no fear. They are taking every opportunity to prove who has the power in Chicago. They do. They are wielding their power and exploiting the leadership vacuum. Vacuums create chaos. Chicago is a city in chaos. Havoc rules.

We deserve better. We need to demand better. The reformers, activists, and news media lied to us. They claimed criminal justice reforms would not impact public safety, even though they knew better. Instead of public safety, we have criminal safety. The criminals are safe from arrest, prosecution, and punishment. The citizens are not safe from murder, mayhem, or violent death.

This violence is a pandemic, now worse than COVID-19. Masks, social distancing, and lockdowns will not curb it. There is no vaccination. If anything is taking away our freedoms, it is the criminal element in this city. They rule with impunity. We live in fear, and if you do not, there is something wrong with you. Anyone, no matter where they live, can be a violent crime victim in Chicago.

Chicago is nothing more than one long dark dangerous alley, too dangerous to walk or drive down.

Lori Lightfoot Comes Clean

Image: City of Chicago

“Lightfoot doubled down saying that it will be a condition of employment, making it clear that she will require all city workers to be fully vaccinated by October 15 or they will be fired…. 

“Let’s be clear. We always want to engage with our unions on any issue that’s going to affect their members, and certainly their workplace, but it’s a condition of employment,” Lightfoot said.” (abc 7

Once again, Mayor Lori Lightfoot shot herself in the foot, making the COVID vaccine a “condition of employment” while still negotiating with the public employee unions. What is she negotiating?

She threw down the gauntlet. She threw out the perception that employees could be fired for refusing to be vaccinated. Perception is the reality in today’s world. The unions must be fuming.

Unlike the private sector, public employees, except exempt appointees, are not at-will employees. They can only be fired for just cause. They have due process rights. Even the perception of termination will blow up whatever negotiations she is in with the unions.

There should be no argument. Every city employee should be vaccinated unless there are health issues. Very few religions prohibit vaccinations. Yet, members of her staff are not vaccinated. That is not leading by example. Every appointed member of her staff not vaccinated should be fired immediately. That would be leading by example.

Image: City of Chicago

There are better ways to enforce vaccinations. Employees could be put on unpaid administrative leave until they get vaccinated. Making vaccinations a condition of employment means she can and probably will try to fire employees to set an example for others. That might be one legal battle she will lose.

Once again, Lightfoot is doubling down on being right. Her hardheaded stubbornness is losing the confidence of city employees. This will not end well. The vaccine mandate should have been negotiated while the vaccines were developed. This is not a mandate. It is an edict. Obey or else. 

Her arch nemesis, Toni Preckwinkle, is chuckling. Her political machine is well-oiled, firing on all cylinders, and ready to run a candidate worse than Lightfoot. The dumb voters in Chicago who believe Preckwinkle is a reformer will follow her off a cliff. The city will become a catastrophe.

Lori Lightfoot made one wrong decision after another on too many issues. She handled the pandemic well until this point. I do not know who is giving her legal advice, but they are not the best or the brightest.

Lightfoot is turning into a disaster of her own making. So far, there is not a peep from the alderpersons. Some may weigh in today or Monday. They must be furious, as they rely on many city employees to provide services in their wards.

Lightfoot’s my way, or the highway style of management is failing. The voters see it, contenders see it, and the unions see it. She is an elected official, not an imperial monarch. She cannot issue edicts without sound legal standing or defined consequences. She is an attorney and should know better.

There is not much to salvage from Lightfoot’s numerous mishaps. The city is a junkyard full of Lightfoot’s wreckages, including rampant citywide violent crime. Maybe Lincoln Towing should step in to tow them all away.