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About $16.5 million of the worker debt is owed by employees of sister agencies like the Chicago Transit Authority, where roughly one in four workers is carrying an outstanding debt — by far the highest rate of any of the agencies. Among the deadbeat city workers are a tree-trimmer with about $13,000 in old parking tickets; a building inspector with more than $20,000 in administrative hearing fees; and a police detective with more than $23,000 in outstanding water bills.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
29 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The city is issuing their paychecks, so garnish wages … now that wasn’t so hard, was it?
It’s a concept that seems foreign to those managing the city. Your spot on Pat, garnish the wages of city workers who owe money and direct those funds to the pension system—simple, effective, and resolves two issues.
The -1 Goon Squad feels it’s a Union benefit to pay fines and fees.
Why am I not surprised? My neighbor rented his deluxe single-family house to a former Chicago police officer. He didn’t pay any rent for almost a year and then moved out. They took him to small claims court–and they still haven’t seen any money.
I started paying attention to this trend when Mayor-to-be Johnson was questioned about his unpaid bills. Chicago people can make six figure salaries yet refuse to pay their water bills, parking tickets…etc. etc.
Too many deadbeats and scofflaws in Chicago. And the attitude is spreading.
It starts at the top. When Johnson was asked why he was a deadbeat not paying this bills, he said, “Look, having student debt and credit card debt, that makes me a Chicagoan.”
A total buffoon that spends 30 Grand on makeup. The city is doomed but lets all make the right choices in the rest to the state and elect people that will work for us, not against us. When a party has a monopoly they don’t have to care. Lets as least make the rest of Illinois a place to raise a family and start with the toilet removing tax cheat in the Governors mansion.
I guess both of us ticked off the -1 Goon Squad.
It would not surprise me if more than “makeup” is going on there.