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“Rarely in Mr. Emanuel’s more than five years as mayor has he given a speech with stakes as high or circumstances as tense.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered one of the most anticipated speeches of his tenure Thursday evening at Malcolm X College on the city’s Near West Side.
When Illinois is compared with other states, it’s not often that it makes the top third of a list. But that’s where the Land of Lincoln landed in a survey of state government use of technology. Illinois Chief Information Officer Hardik Bhatt said that’s partly because Illinois has been leapfrogging decades-old, outdated technology to modernize its systems.
Amid growing violence, Chicago now escorts one in five students to school.
Comment: Just an advisory referendum and it will never happen, but still…. Dozens of other suburbs would love to do it.
Still plagued by late and overcrowded school buses, McLean County Unit 5 may turn to National Guard members, police and firefighters as possible fill-in drivers, and to Gov. Bruce Rauner and other officials for help streamlining the hiring process.
By: Mark Glennon* “Rukaiyah Adams, the normally polished investment professional who is vice chair of the Oregon Investment Council, broke down in tears last week as she spoke of passing a record $22 billion in unfunded promises to future taxpayers.” The full story on that is linked here. Notice the candor of the discussion: “Experts openly acknowledged they’re understating the magnitude of Oregon’s problem. They’re relying on optimistic assumptions about investment returns. And they’re holding down required pension payments below what’s needed to keep pace with the debt.” The facts sound familiar, but the acknowledgement? “We’re
The Policy Circle is an interesting, expanding group of smart women who meet to learn and discuss policy issues.
Some steps have been taken to dissolve unnecessary units of governments, but taxpayers need an easier path to eliminate wasteful governmental bodies.
The Texas Economic Development Corporation announced a “recruitment mission” to Chicago to meet with businesses that might be interested in what Texas has to offer, as well as site selection consultants who play an outsized role in corporate location decisions. The delegation includes Texas companies like CenterPoint, BNSF, and Oncor as well as economic development groups from a range of cities, including Houston.
“It’s a raid, basically.”
Nine aldermen from Chicago have proposed a property tax rebate for military veterans, Peace Corps volunteers and AmeriCorps volunteers.
“I’m not gonna propose something that is not paid for. … I have all four pensions paid for. … We are gonna do the tough and necessary things to go line-by-line and find the resources,” Emanuel said. Comment: “I have all four pensions paid for.” He’s pathological.
Comment: Rauner remains committed to trying to honor all earned benefits while fixing the crisis. Kudos for trying, but it won’t happen.
Comment: A horribly burden on developers that, for years, has gotten few results.
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