Speaking at an event Monday, Pritzker said the state isn’t involved in discussion of funding a new stadium in the suburbs. “Obviously, there are private business decisions being made.”

“For some seniors, the freeze can be a lifeline. But property taxes in Cook County are a zero- sum game. Whenever anyone gets a break, the difference must be made up by all other property owners. If some property owners get tax breaks they don’t deserve, the rest of us pay.”

Ald. Andre Vasquez said crime is rising because the Chicago Police Department does not have the trust of Black and Latino Chicagoans and cannot solve crimes. “Without that, everything else is window dressing,” Vasquez said, like putting “Band-Aids over bullet wounds.”

The Cook County Medical Examiner says there has been a 50 percent increase in suburban killings so far this year: 100 homicides since January 1st, compared to 66 last year.

Supt. David Brown said police are prepared. “Planning, planning, planning – obviously to the degree that we’re precision deployments around predictable areas for violent crime. That’s the more prominent policing strategy we have, as well as we do want to increase our contacts with public – both with offenders and general public – who need our presence to feel safer.”

“Cherry-picking statistics to minimize PR damage doesn’t help. It only creates the impression that the people at the very top of our public hierarchy don’t really understand the problem and that, ultimately, no one is capable of fixing it.”

“Crime is not out of control in our city,” Lightfoot shot back in a back-and-forth that was contentious at times. “In fact, crime is on the decline. All of our major indices show a decline in our crime and our homicides and our shootings year over year are down; that’s a fact, sir.”

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart: “I am hopeful that the infusion of rental subsidies will prevent a feared “evictions tsunami” from fully materializing…And when we begin to enforce evictions this week, my office will not allow evictions to be scheduled if a housing provider or tenant has rental assistance funds pending.”

Mayor Lightfoot, sounding an all-too-familiar theme, demanded that Chief Judge Tim Evans order the full resumption of criminal trials for the first time since the pandemic. “We still have too many murderers that are not being held accountable — not just in Chicago, but across this country. But, our county is being plagued. So I’m calling our our county partners — and particularly those in the criminal courts. Open up the courts. People need to get their day in court.”

Michael Rachlis and Richard A. Epstein, co-counsel in the lawsuit to protect Jackson Park: “But left unanswered is this question: What happens if the foundation decides to walk away from its new project 20 years down the road when attendance is down and costs of operation are up. Under those circumstances, an overtaxed public will have to bear the high costs of either running or dismantling the entire operation.”

“One aspect of the problem that Biden’s plan did not address: the lack of trust that people in neighborhoods overrun with violence have in police…Two years into the job, Lightfoot has lagged in ensuring compliance with the consent decree, the binding agreement between Chicago and the federal government that mandates an overhaul of police officer supervision, training and accountability.”

Critics argue TIFs divert revenue that would otherwise go to public schools and essential community services to the private sector. In 2019, for example, Chicago accrued $926 million from 136 TIF districts. That’s more than 35% of all property taxes collected across that city that year.

“What this issue is about is cutting red tape and listening to our small businesses who say, the fact that it takes months, months, to get a sign to open up a business, which is unprecedented any place else in the country doesn’t make any sense. And I agree with them,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

For example, the city has fined the owner of one Morgan Park home thousands of dollars over the years, but the owner has not paid a dime. “It’s as if no one really cares,” neighbor Marcella Morrison said of the Morgan Park property.

At least seven of the surviving victims were 17 or younger.