Author: pvbella

“On behalf of the City of Chicago, we express our deepest condolences to the families and the Grand Crossing community mourning the lives lost in the shooting that took place this morning,” Johnson said in a statement. “We will continue coordinating with our partners at the Chicago Police Department, 5th Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy, and victim services partners to support this community on a path of healing from this tragic incident.” (Sun-Times)

Early Thursday there was a mass shooting in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood. Shooters fired pistols and possibly a rifle into a home. Two adults and an 8-year-old boy were killed. Two other children, 5 and 7 years old were wounded.

Over the 4^th of July weekend, there were 100 people shot and 19 killed.

“We are devastated by the recent violence that has left our city in a state of grief and we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and communities impacted by these recent events,” Johnson said in the statement… “The City of Chicago is committed to ensuring the safety of all residents and visitors.” (Sun-Times)

All the mayor can offer is weasel words. Child victims do not count in this city of scoundrels. Shooting and murder victims do not count.  Scoundrels run city Hall and the City Council. Scoundrels run the supposed social justice organizations. No one cares about the victims of crime in Chicago. There will be no mass protests in the neighborhoods where these atrocities occur by concerned organizations. The social justice warriors will not march in the neighborhoods where children are being shot and killed. Nothing will be shut down in those neighborhoods. There is little to no justice for the child victims in Chicago.

Besides being a city of scoundrels, Chicago is also a city of cowards, especially those social justice organizations and their hordes of squishy white-bread supporters. They will do nothing to curtail or stop the violence against children in Chicago. They fear becoming victims if they march and stand up for something real, like children. They are all useless

When it comes to children, Black and Brown lives do not matter. No child lives matter. Politicians do not care about children. They can’t vote and they do not contribute to campaign funds. Supposed socially conscious people do not put signs in their windows saying, “Child Lives Matter.”

How many more children will die before the cowards cowboy up and let the police do their job? How many more children will die because Kim Foxx will not prosecute people or charge unlawful use of a weapon and shooters with felonies, unless the weapon is a cup of root beer? How many more children will die because judges keep releasing violent offenders with no bail? How many children will die because the cowards and scoundrels in Springfield will not revisit the supposed SAFE-T Act and make the necessary adjustments. The SAFE-T Act is meant to keep criminals safe and free, not the public. Not the children.

One of main priorities of government and its agencies is to care for and keep safe the most vulnerable in society. Children are some of the most vulnerable. When I was a police officer and a child was harmed, the full weight of the police department, prosecutors, and judges came down hard on offenders. Now, the offenders are treated as victims and the victimized children are cast aside. There is no accountability for crimes against children.

We need change and we need it now. Unfortunately, we will not see change. Our politicians, especially the mayor and State’s Attorney, are stuck on their failing policies. They are stuck on stupid.

Cook County State’s Attorney, Kim Foxx, got into a “mutual verbal confrontation” with a driver while on her daily walk through her leafy suburban enclave Friday Morning. The driver yelled for her to get off the road. Foxx “flipped” the driver off. The driver threw a cup filled with soda at Foxx. Those are just the basics.

The driver, William Swetz, was arrested later and charged with two felonies, Aggravated Battery and Aggravated Assault. Foxx has refused to charge violent criminals for felonies. There were shootouts where she claimed “mutual combat” was the reason she refused to charge the shooters.

If you read the story linked above, you will realize that this ridiculous case only rises to the level of Foxx and Swetz taking part in mutual anger management through restorative justice and sitting at a Peace Circle. The same things she advocates for actual crime victims. Her heart bleeds for the violent criminals in Chicago. But now she is a victim, ready, willing, and able to prosecute (persecute?) over a cup of soda.

It appears only she and she alone can be the victim of a “crime” and only she can approve felony charges for herself. Real crime victims be damned. Foxx only cares about herself. She does not care about the victims of violent crime or their surviving families.

This case should be assigned to a Special Prosecutor, as Foxx and her office have a blatant conflict of interest. Better, it should be dropped. Both Foxx and Swetz mutually publicly embarrassed themselves and provided the public with much needed humor at her expense. Maybe after she leaves office, she can go on the comedy circuit or become a circus clown. She has plenty of contacts in the entertainment industry.

In other news, former alderman, Ed Burke, the “Dean of the City Council”, was sentenced to 2 years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $2 million dollar fine over his conviction on corruption charges. He could have faced anywhere between 61/2 to 8 years per sentencing guidelines. Burke must report to prison in September.

Noted Chicago philanthropist, Ann Lurie passed away at age 79. “Ann was the president of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation in Chicago that provides funding for medical treatment, research, education and prevention.” (Fox 32) Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (former Children’s Memorial) is named after her and her late husband because of the $100 million dollar contribution the foundation made to help build the hospital.

The list of charities and non-profits the foundation she ran is too long to list here. She and her late husband did great things for the people of this city. Ann Lurie was a remarkable woman and Chicago is a better place because of her and her late husband.

“We need to stop listening to all of these activists… where White progressives are making a whole bunch of money to tell Black people what to do in their community and telling them to stop things like car stops in order to get guns and drugs off the street.” (Ald. David Moore/Fox 32)

17^th Ward Alderman David Moore camped in a tent for two days in his ward. He wanted to draw attention to open an air drug market in his ward. After gunshots rang out near his tent, the Chicago Police Department dissuaded him from camping out. Instead, they promised to work with him on a plan to remove the drug market.

Under the Johnson administration, street crimes and drug markets have increased. It is a pity a council member had to pull a political stunt, endangering his own life, to drive that point home. Moore is one of the most outspoken alders in the City Council and is not afraid to back down.

Moore is advocating for taking the handcuffs off the police and using technology, like Shot Spotter, to decrease violence in the city. Moore also lashed out at White progressive activists- whatever that means- who put the mayor in office and do not know how to make changes in Black communities. Moore accused the White progressive activists of “profiting from poverty” while pushing their supposed reform agendas.

3000 police officers are being trained to handle protests during the Democratic Convention. That is 3000 police officers who will not be on patrol. The city is still short of officers to patrol the streets. It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the city, especially the highest crime areas and downtown during the convention.

Latino alders are demanding Mayor Brandon Johnson stop evicting migrants from shelters. In a letter sent Monday, the City Council’s Latino Caucus demanded the 60 day evictions should end.

“We believe that since the City has the capacity to house new arrivals, it should do so with the budget allocations we agreed upon without subjecting them, especially families with kids, to the humiliating and traumatizing experience of repeated evictions,” the letter said. (Chicago Tribune)

Managing the migrants has been a failure, starting with former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and getting worse under Johnson. Instead of contacting organizations and NGOs with experience in handling masses of people, they relied on agencies with no experience and high price tags. Johnson commandeered substandard buildings, like the shelter in Pilsen, to house migrants. There were complaints about staff abuse, including inferior medical care. Under Johnson, the migrant crisis went from incompetent to inhumane. Now he is worsening the inhumanity through evictions.

Just some stats from HeyJackass as of June 17th, 2024:

Year To Date
Shot & Killed: 214
Shot & Wounded: 1053
Total Shot: 1267
Total Homicides: 248

June to Date
Shot & Killed: 28
Shot & Wounded: 186
Total Shot: 214
Total Homicides: 30

Last Week: 6/9 – 6/15 (vs WoW)
Shot & Killed: 10 (-9%)
Shot & Wounded: 83 (+36%)
Total Shot: 93 (+29%)
Total Homicides: 11 (-8%)

A person is shot every 3:15 minutes

A person is murdered every 16 hours:24 minutes

“Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren reiterates city’s “need” for a new stadium.” (CBS Chicago)

Chicago Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren pitched his snake oil about a lakefront stadium to the Lincoln Forum at the Union League Club. Chicago does not need a new lakefront stadium for the McCaskeys and their miserable team.

The Bears could have had a new stadium anytime over the past five decades. George Halas and his cheapskate and chiseling grandkids would not put up the financing to make it happen. Now, since the team is worth billions, they want to despoil the lakefront and rob the taxpayers.

It is time to tell the McCaskeys hell no. We want our lakefront open and free. We want to be able to navigate DuSable Drive on Sundays without all the traffic the games create, before and after. We want to enjoy the lakefront without the nuisances the games create.

Leave the lakefront alone. Find some place else in the city or move to Arlington Heights.

“Video evidence and three eyewitnesses have been presented” to prosecutors, Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) said on Twitter after prosecutors rejected the case. He continued: “This family deserves justice as well as the hundreds of families who have unsolved murders pending #pleasedoyourjob.” (CWB Chicago)

One again, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx refused to do her job, prosecuting murders. It took the Feds to charge gang members with the murder of 19-yea- old National Guard member Chrys Carvajal.

Foxx’s two terms as State’s Attorney have been an epic failure. She failed the victims and families of crime victims. She failed the citizens of this county. It might be a good idea to turn over any major felony cases Foxx’s office refuses to prosecute to the Feds. November cannot come soon enough to elect a new State’s Attorney. Hopefully that person will end Foxx’s practices of non-prosecution.

“Riot Fest to leave Douglass Park following years of community tension, founder says. “(Chicago Tribune)

It is about time. Having Riot Fest in Douglas Park was a huge mistake from the first year. The residents and Mt. Sinai Hospital have complained about the park being used as a concert venue since day one. It appears the Chicago Park District had enough of the complaining and refused to issue the necessary permit(s). The park once again can be used by neighborhood people. Douglass Park, despite its size, is a neighborhood park.

Mike Petryshyn, owner, and co-founder of the fest is moving the event to Bridgeview. He and his fest will not be missed. It is good to see the people win for a change. Buh-bye Petryshyn. The community can enjoy their park and neighborhood.

Petryshyng gave an “exclusive” whiny toddler account of his reasons for moving the fest.
He blames everyone but himself and his greed. These fests are not about music,
the “community” or anything else. They are about the money. Losing Riot Fest is
no great loss for Chicago. Petryshyn, don’t let the door kick you in the arse
on the way to Bridgeview.  You and your fest will not be missed.

Joey Chestnut, the hot dog devouring champion was banned from competition over his receiving an endorsement from Impossible Foods to promote their meatless hot dog. What was he thinking?

Impossible Foods Company Spokesperson: “It’s OK to experiment with a new dog. Meat eaters shouldn’t have to be exclusive to just one wiener.” (NPR)

Major League Eating (MLE), the organization that oversees professional competitive eating events (including but not limited to hot dogs), said in a statement that Chestnut had “chosen to represent a rival brand” rather than compete in its storied Coney Island contest.

First the good news. Controversial and much reviled umpire, Angel Hernandez, is retiring. Hernandez is known for making some of the worst calls in baseball during his three decades plus career. LASIK, the eye surgery company, threw shade on Hernandez on X. “We tried to give Angel free LASIK, but he missed the call.” According to Sports Illustrated, Hernandez blew 161 calls in 2023 out of ten games (He was out for a while because of a back injury. Hernandez was the MLB lowest ranked umpire per Umpire Auditor.

Now the bad news. Forty-one people were shot, nine murdered over the Memorial Day weekend. One of the murder victims was a five-year-old child. This month, 304 people were shot and 51 killed. Year to date there were 1056 people shot with 186 killed. (Figures per HeyJackass! As of 6/1)

Save-A-Lot (Yellow Banana) received millions in city subsidies to remodel and open its closed stores in Southside neighborhoods described as food deserts. Not one store has been reopened. Where did the money go? Inquiring minds want to know.

Embattled CTA President Dorval Carter showed up to his quarterly City Council meeting loaded for Bear. He was defiant over the 29 Alders, who demanded his ouster in a resolution. Many were supporters of Mayor Brandon Johnson, including Blacks and Hispanics. “As an African American man, this city has a history of attacking and trying to bring down their African American leaders.” He played the only card he had, the Race Card. Many Alders, including some who opposed the resolution, fired back at his inappropriate attitude.

Carter should have been fired during the Lightfoot administration. His incompetence became worse during the current administration. Instead of listing any accomplishments for correcting the problems the CTA is facing, he complained he is being treated unfairly because he is Black. He refuses to be held accountable and responsible for his failures. He just angrily complained he was being treated unfairly. It is time for Johnson to fire Carter.

Did Brandon Johnson lie to Illinois Senate leader, Don Harmon, or was there a “misunderstanding?” When politicians lie it is usually thought to be a misunderstanding. In politics the two words mean the same thing. Johnson sent a letter to Harmon saying that no selective schools would be defunded or considered for closure until the elected school board takes office in 2007. Yet selective schools were reduced while under enrolled schools received more funding and staff. One example is LaSalle Language Academy in Old Town. They are losing several language instructors. Douglas High School in Austin has a total enrollment of 35 students. They are getting nine new staff members, to bring the total staff to 31. Two Southside high-performing schools, Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep and Poe Elementary had their budgets cut.

The long game plan of Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union is to close or repurpose selective enrollment and high-performing schools. They want all schools to be the same. They are also against school choice. They want students to go to neighborhood schools. Except if you are Mayor Johnson and CTU President, Stacy Davis Gates. They sent their children to schools outside of their neighborhoods. It is the same old privilege game. What’s good for them is not good for the rest of us.

Maybe someone should tell those two that parents get to make choices for their children’s education, not bureaucrats, unions, and politicians. Parents want the best for their children, especially if they are gifted. If Chicago Public Schools and the CTU demand parents only send children to neighborhood schools, the city should pass an ordinance, or the state should pass a law enacting school choice.

This Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer season. This is also the beginning of Chicago’s violent and crime ridden season. It also kicks of a season of silly ideas coming from Springfield and the Chicago Mayor’s office.

“Illinois legislators have passed legislation that would change the word “offender” to “justice impacted individual” in state law, a move Republicans say disrespects victims of violent crime.” (CWB Chicago)

Justice impacted individual? One could wonder what those legislators are smoking down in Springfield? What next? Impacted connotates it is the justice system’s fault that offenders commit crimes. What about the victims of crime- the offended? They get no consideration.

House Bill 4409 amends the language of the Illinois Crime Reduction Act. What does changing offender to justice impacted individual have to do with reducing crime?

In this new “progressive”- whatever that means- era it is mandated that names are changed so as not to offend. Evidently, it is offensive and stigmatizing to call an offender an offender. Will the addle-brained legislators change the name of the criminal justice system to the justice impacted system? Will offenses be relabeled mistakes? Will criminals be labeled victims of societal ills?

How about we change the name of prosecutors to justice enablers since prosecute sounds like persecute. Judges could be called justice impact mediators. Should change the entire system to eliminate any mention of crime or the victims of crime? This way, “justice impacted” individuals will not feel stigmatized by the system. They can feel better about themselves and not feel threatened by their “mistakes.”

Our lawmakers, mayor, and current State’s Attorney, Kim Foxx care more about the tender sensitive feelings of criminals than they do about the victims of crime. Chicago will not be a safer city if these trends keep up. The mayor believes that investing in people will make Chicago safer and stronger. He does not specify what investing in people is. It is just the typical gobbledygook he pontificates when he cannot or will not answer a question.

The Chicago City Council voted 34-14 to keep the ShotSpotter contract and take the approval out of the mayor’s hands. Mayor Branson Johnson in reply, said he and only he has the power to approve and end contracts.

There is a lot of noise and hot air about the ShotSpotter including over-policing- whatever that means, systemic racism, flaws, and on and on and on. There is one and only one reason Johnson wants ShotSpotter gone. The Chicago Teacher’s Union, his former employer and biggest cheer leader, wants it gone. Why? Adam Toledo. The 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer who with his partner responded to an accurate ShotSpotter alert of shots fired. Toledo’s older companion was shooting at cars before he handed off the gun to the teen, leading to Toledo’s death.

 CTU has been lobbying the city from the day after the shooting to eliminate ShotSpotter. When Johnson ran for mayor, he made ending ShotSpotter a top priority. Apparently, he will cancel the contract to obey the orders of and satisfy the CTU who helped him get into office.

Mayor Johnson unveiled his safety plan for Chicago, “The People’s Plan for Community Safety.”  Johnson has this proclivity for naming everything “The People’s This, the People’s That,” The People’s” Whatever. It reminds one of the old Soviet or Maoist appellations of programs, laws, and other things.

There is nothing about the “People” in this plan. The people, citizens did not vote on or approve of it. The alders, the representatives of the “People” did not approve of the plan. “The People” have no say in this new non-sensical boondoggle experiment. The plan reads more like his campaign speeches than a detailed plan. Johnson thinks he can wave a magic wand and undo decades of issues leading to the root problems of crime overnight. He will fail.

“When he becomes challenged about this by other people, his baseline is, ‘I know this stuff better than you do.’… It’s like he’s offended that people are questioning his leadership.” (Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th)/Sun-Times)

It is past time for Mayor Brandon Johnson to demand Dorval Carter resign or he should fire him as president of the CTA. Carter’s replacement should be someone who has experience in running and financing transit systems. We do not need another political hack running one of the gems of this city.

Some of the alders are fed up and making their demands known through a resolution.

Brandon Johnson has little to show for during his first year in office. He bungled too many issues, including the migrants. Chicago is not a safer city under his rule. He went to Springfield to tout the Bears boodle and boondoggle lakefront stadium. He could not convince the smarter people down there this was a good idea.

Rick Tealander wrote this piece on why the new stadium should not be built. A friend of mine posted on social media that the plan would destroy bird habitat and kill birds. Johnson should move on from this fiasco. It will not benefit the city or the taxpayers.

Then Johnson went to Springfield claiming the state “owed” Chicago $1billion dollars for Chicago schools.

“It’s not as if CPS has been suffering a decline — or even a leveling off — of state funds since Pritzker took office in 2019. State contributions to CPS have increased 14% in that time frame to more than $2.1 billion, from less than $1.9 billion. The percentage increase is substantially more when one accounts for the 10.4% decline in students attending Chicago Public Schools over that period. Looked at that way, state contributions per CPS student are up 30%.” (Chicago Tribune)

Maybe Johnson should get his financial facts straight. He should also read “How to Make Friends and Influence People.”

Johnson has thinner skin than Lori Lightfoot. He also has an overblown sense of entitlement. He is the mayor. He forgets we citizens are his employer. Everything is his way or the highway. They name streets after people like Johnson, One Way and Dead End.

Johnson is a narrative of his progressive ideas- whatever progressive means. Ideas, wherever on the political scale they are, do not always make good policy. Worse, when they are enacted and problems or failures arise, politicians do not make the necessary changes to make the policies effective. A perfect example is the Safe-T Act. The no cash bail policy is not working. It would not take much to tweak this. Yet, like little children, our politicians refuse to listen, stamping their little feet and banging their chubby little hands.

“Moving forward, a better, stronger, safer Chicago requires us to collaborate and work together. And that’s what we’re doing,” (Brandon Johnson/Sun-Times)

Chicago is not a stronger or safer city and will not be one under Johnson. Neighborhoods all over the city are experiencing violent robberies, car jackings, and other assaults on a daily basis. His “People’s” plans will take years- if they come to fruition- to work. You cannot solve decades old issues overnight. Johnson talks a good game. He is all talk and no action.

Summer is coming. We will see if Johnson’s pipe dream will make Chicago a “stronger and safer” city. Do not get your hopes up.

“From the very beginning, I hit the ground running,” Johnson said. “If there’s another administration that has accomplished more than what I’ve done in the first year, I would like to see it.” (Brandon Johnson/Block Club Chicago)

Ok, Richard J. Daley, Jane Byrne, Richard M. Daley, and Rham Emanuel. Harold Washington would be on the list if 29 members of the City Council did not stymy him.

Brandon Johnson was giddy as a hormonally charged teen aged groupie at a rock concert over the McCaskey Ken Doll’s proposal for a stadium to ruin the lakefront. At a press conference with Ken Doll officials, he touted the $5-$6 billion dollar project and he will do anything to bring it to fruition.

“This is going to reinvigorate the entire city of Chicago,” Johnson said. “It will be the crown jewel of the city of Chicago.” (Chicago Tribune)

Ken Doll’s president, Kevin Warren, led the mayor by the nose and hawked benefits of the stadium like a cheap con artist, charlatan, and fraud. He is so glib he could sell snake oil to snakes.

The stadium, hotel, and other so-called improvements will not be the “crown jewel” of the city. They will be an ugly eyesore. The lakefront is the crown jewel of Chicago and Brandon Johnson is doing whatever he can to destroy it.

“They described a lush and reimagined Museum Campus with 14 acres of new parkland they claimed would add a worthy new chapter to the Burnham Plan.” (Sun-Times)

 Invoking the name of Daniel Burnham to build a repulsive structure is an insult to the father of the City Beautiful Movement in Chicago.

The McCaskeys are “willing” to put up over 2 billion dollars. The NFL will kick in some money. The McCaskeys want to bilk the taxpayers to finance the rest for their monument to fiasco. As I have written before, they could have had a new stadium over the past five decades. They refused to put up money or take out financing.

Why should the Ken Dolls despoil the lakefront? Why not use the former Michael Reese hospital property or partner with the White Sox and build on the 78? There are other large tracts of land in Chicago that would support a stadium and other amenities. Why the lakefront?

The McCaskeys ran away from Arlington Heights because they did not want to pay millions of dollars in property taxes to support local school districts. So, their scheme is to screw the taxpayers in Chicago. The majority will get no benefit from this monstrous plan.

With Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration standing with the Bears, it is clear the city is willing to put private interests ahead of public benefit and cheer-on this ill-conceived and expensive effort to build a gargantuan domed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront… The size almost makes the Museum Campus buildings look like neo-classical LEGO blocks in comparison. (Lee Bey/Sun-Times)

Lee Bey is a noted longtime architectural critic in Chicago. While he likes the design rendering, he says the obvious. “It’s the right building but the wrong spot.”

The mayor and the Ken Dolls made a major faux pas. They did not invite Governor Pritzker to their medicine show. They need his and legislative approval for this boondoggle to get off the ground. Good luck with that. Pritzker made his thoughts known. He is against the lakefront project. He believes money could be better spent providing critical services to the people. The state legislative leaders are not very warm to the project either. Warren will have to up his sales pitch to sell Springfield.

“How can a mayor — an allegedly progressive one, at that — allow a billion-dollar football franchise to build what it likes on the lakefront, then charge taxpayers for the privilege? It’s outright ridiculous.” (Lee Bey/Sun-Times/Emphasis mine).

Truer words were never spoken.

Lakeview resident, Dan Boland wants to establish a mechanism to recall Chicago mayors. He needs to get over 54,000 signatures on a petition to place the recall on the November ballot. Mayor Johnson blasted Boland’s effort. Johnson claimed the effort was from a “dude” in the suburbs. Evidently, Johnson thinks the Lakeview neighborhood is in the burbs. He knows nothing about Chicago neighborhoods.

“Johnson also attacked Boland’s motives, saying, “apparently the extreme right wing in this country, they are not very pleased with the fact that 60 percent of my administration are women, 43 percent of those who make up my administration are Black. (NBC Chicago)

Brandon Johnson’s go-to excuses for criticism or his failures are mythical right-wing, right-wing political rivals, mythical Trump voters, or racists. It is all he has to explain why the citizens of all races of Chicago are angry with his administration. No one cares about the diversity of his staff if the city that used to work is not working. There are no right-wing political rivals against him in Chicago yet. There will not be next time either. It is a myth. The big lie too.

Mr. Boland had help from former governor Pat Quinn, who has been a champion of recalls and term limits. Quinn is the furthest person from the far right-wing as anyone could be.

“So any individual who is somehow insulted by this progressive agenda that is being led by one of the most diverse cabinets in the history of Chicago — I just call into question anyone who would be motivated to see this type of transformation disrupted… “Apparently, they’re intimidated by the crew that’s with me right now. I plan on being here for the next 23 years.” (Sun-Times)

23 years? Brandon Johnson is at the height of hubris. Maybe he should look into the Good Book. Something about pride goeth before the fall. His arrogance and hubris will be his downfall.

People are not insulted by or care about his so-called agenda or the diversity of his administration. They are insulted and angry over his incompetence and refusal to answer questions or deflecting them with rambling bumbling combative nonsense like mythical right-wing or racism. His administration is neither accountable nor transparent. Promise made. Promise broken.

He should be reminded his polling ratings are in the toilet- at 20%. At the rate he is going, he may not be around after his first term, let alone 23 years.

“I believe that current CTA leadership is failing Chicago riders, and that we need a new CTA President to lead the CTA to recovery.” (Ald. Matt Martin/47^th)

The CTA is woefully mismanaged and the mayor does not care. The president of the CTA should have been fired during the Lightfoot administration. Since then, Dorval Carter got a raise to his already bloated six-figure annual salary. He now makes$376,065 a year. Governor Pritzker weighed in calling for a change in leadership at the  CTA. Johnson responded in his usual combative style justifying failure. “It’s my job to determine the leadership of the CTA, that is my job,” Johnson said when asked about Prizker’s comments. “If people want to be mayor, they should run for it.” (Block Club Chicago)

That statement sums up Johnson’s mayoralty. He is the boss. If he decides failure is an option, so be it. Johnson does not get that the citizens of this city, including those who voted for him, are tired of combative mayors and failure. Johnson is Lghtfoot, Emanuel, and Daley. all rolled into one. There is no difference. The same old same old.

It is time for the news media and citizens to fight back. We need more transparency, accountability, and less blaming the mythological figures for Fifth Floor failures.

Seventeen years ago today I retired from the Chicago Police Department and joined the KMA club after almost 30 years of service. I left the best job in the world. Every day was an adventure, education, and sometimes humor, even dark humor. I was lucky. I was not killed, seriously injured, fired (Came Close), or indicted (Came close).

I worked with and for great people. We took care of and cared for each other. There was camaraderie and esprit de corps. We did the things no one else wanted to do or could do. Some say we did God’s work. That is a lie. We did the work God did not want to do. Were we necessary? You are damn right.

The worst thing you could do was tell a citizen there was nothing you could help them. We were masters of applied psychology, quick thinking, and making people believe we solved their problems. Sometimes it was as easy as giving them the right phone number to call. Other times we relied on our wits.

Occasionally I reminisce and cannot believe some of the hair-raising things I/we did and survived. There were laughs and sorrows. Dealing with the public daily is one of the most difficult things imaginable. It is worse when people are mad at you for the problems they caused and expect you to solve them.

I worked in some of the poorest and wealthiest areas of the city. No matter what their station in life, people have the same problems. They are crime victims, fight with their spouses, and violate various laws. In effect, they are all the same. Working with many types of people, I learned how to converse with anyone. You cannot be shy and be a police officer. The gift of gab is one of the most important tools you have.

Being a Chicago police officer is an all-access pass to all the things you never wanted to see, feel, or experience. I saw and witnessed some horrible things that humans do to one another. Every time you think you saw the worst, human nature says hold my beer. Some of the worst things are either evil or recklessness. The horror inflicted on the most vulnerable among us is the worst..

I am still in contact with some of the people I worked with through social media or run-ins. Sometimes we play remember when. Most times, we are just happy to see each other and talk about our families, hobbies, or activities. Some have left us. I keep track of the police department through the news and a few police officersI know.

Though the job was good to me, the day I retired was joyful. I was ready after all that time to move on. I never looked back. I do get nostalgic occasionally. It does not last long. I look forward to creating fresh memories rather than dwelling on the past.

When I retired, I realized I did not have to be anywhere on time or worry about being late. I only have two speeds now, slow and stop.