Saturday in the Park
After more than a year spent painstakingly writing ambiguous ad copy and gobbling up private lots in Washington Park and Woodlawn, the UofC has finally revealed its blockbuster plan(s) for an Obama Presidential Library that will “create a global destination for learning and engagement” not only on the University’s huge stash of private land, but also on public park land that—uh, how to put this?—does not actually belong to the UofC. Seemingly more important to the UofC than this “collaborative” learning center, however, are the “improvements to the area’s infrastructure” that the library would bring. The promotional art for the bid features high rises, chain stores, bike lanes, restaurants, a baby riding its father’s shoulders, a copy of Chicago magazine, and the “Potential of Garfield Boulevard,” but not, apparently, a library. Let’s hope President Obama thinks long and hard about this one. Change, sure, but hope? Not so much.
Bright Spot
Most Chicagoans with a television know that Rahm Emanuel has a lot to be proud of right now. Under his tenure, activists have won a ten-year fight to close coal-fired plants in Pilsen and Little Village, City Colleges have boosted their graduation rates by giving “personal enrichment” students degrees, and just about everyone has come to agree on a $13 (or more) minimum wage. On Monday, Rahm dropped another half-minute spot touting his latest credential. Donning a crisp suit, on a stroll in a sunny Millennium Park, he looks up at the camera and says that he is “very excited to continue his dialogue directly with Chicagoans.” That is why he is pleased to announce that he has just agreed to five debates with his mayoral challengers. He says the time has come for politicians who are accessible to voters. He smiles, continues walking, and reminds voters that his campaign theme is “Chicago Together.”
Cleaning House
Last Friday, City Council took the landlords of twenty properties to emergency heat court following a barrage of heat-related complaints from chilly renters. As a result of the hearing, Rahm Emanuel is implementing a plan to identify landlords who have repeatedly failed to provide important services to their tenants, like heat. These landlords will be publicly shamed on the Internet via a “bad landlords list,” slated to emerge in the next few weeks. New York has established a similar website called the Landlord Watchlist. The new website will also help Chicagoans exact revenge for having to wear three pairs of socks to bed. The site will allow the city to deny offending landlords privileges like obtaining city land, business licenses, and building permits.