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“Access to government offices, hospitals and hotels cannot be impeded by illegal parking, including metered spaces,” states the letter signed by Jennie Huang Bennett, the city’s chief financial officer. “Police, fire and other first responders performing essential public safety functions cannot be hampered in their duties due to any type of illegal parking in these zones.” In effect, City Hall was suggesting that a vehicle parked at a paid meter was safer than a car parked at an unpaid one.
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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
24 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.
For years I would do 10-15 business dinners downtown each year costing hundreds of dollars and sometimes thousands each and put up with paying exorbitant parking, food and liquor taxes. Not any more. Haven’t had a big expensive business or personal dinner down there in two years. I feel sorry for the restaurant owners and workers, but my colleagues and I just gave up on being taken advantage of. And if you ask anyone in the suburbs lately, almost 100 percent of them will say they don’t go down at all for exactly the same reasons. Truly tragic what the… Read more »
Legal extortion.
Someone has to pay for Million dollar pensions at age 45.
Suckers who live in Illinois will pay, pay, pay.
Not going to stop anytime soon, only going to get worse.
Droning again! See my earlier response of a minute ago.
I remember when this first happened. My wife and I were parking downtown, for a doctor’s visit. I said to her, “Remember yesterday when Lori said that they wouldn’t ticket cars, unless it was for a “safety reason?” She nodded, and I said, “I won’t DARE not pay this meter. If I know this city, they will still ticket everybody anyway. You know why? Because this is exactly how they treat businesses here — they say one thing and then play “GOTCHA” to get their money.” So we paid the meter. We came out about an hour later, and walked… Read more »