Spring still hasn’t sprung in Chicago. It is windy and chilly. The wind cuts through you. There is a reason the wind is called the hawk in Chicago. It is predatory.
My photo exhibition was rescheduled and will be held in June. I am finalizing the limited edition prints to be exhibited and will send them to a printer specializing in black and white Giclée printing. Then they will go to the framer. I will set up a website soon to sell more prints.
I am glad baseball is back. Opening day for the Cubs is March 30 and the White Sox opener is April 3. I might splurge and attend a game or two this year. I prefer watching the games in a saloon with friends yelling at the televisions.
I have been tracking the supposed mayoral debates between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson. These are not debates. They are fingerprinting contests between the two candidates. The supposed moderator asks questions. Neither candidate answers them. The moderator stands by stupidly allowing the candidates to avoid answering questions. Some moderators were members of the Chicago news media, which tells you all you need to know about the state of media in this city.
The newspapers sanitize the debates. Evidently, they are afraid of offending tender sensitivities or something. I never believe what candidates say while running. I witness what they do when elected. They never fail to disappoint. Vallas and Johnson will be no different if elected. They will realize the immensity of the job and all the moving parts that go with it.
I hope the Chicago City Council will no longer be a rubber stamp to the mayor and they get to make their own rules and appoint their own committee heads. It would be nice to have an independent council after decades of alderpersons showing fealty to the mayor. They must work with the mayor too and the mayor must work with them.
Public safety is the number one priority on the ballot. Neither candidate is offering much in cleaning up Lori Lightfoot’s mess. There will be no instant change. Chicago will not become safer overnight. Civic messes take time to clean up, and the public safety mess is knee deep. It is going to take more than a new Superintendent of Police to clean things up. With the warmer weather arriving, crime will go up. People will still complain about their personal safety. It may be another long, hot, violent summer until things finally turn around.
Without help from the supposed prosecutor’s office and Boss Toni Preckwinkle’s policies, things may still be bad. Criminals know there will be little accountability for their actions. At worst, they will get a slap on the wrist. How the next mayor will handle this is questionable.
All I can say is get out there and vote. The 30+ percentage of the preliminary election was horrendous. If you do not vote, you have no right to complain. You caused the problems. Not the ones who get elected.