Thread by @czech_mex_

So much #pilsen drama going around ahead of the 2023 #ChicagoElections cycle officially starting in a couple weeks.

I won't go into it all here, but it's worth recapping (and contextualizing) some of the major news from this week. 🧵

The @25thWardIPO celebrated "4 years [of] building" with a fundraiser last night that was also billed a "relaunch and rebrand". Considering it was just 2 years ago they didn't have enough members 2 form a steering committee, "relaunch" seems more fitting

https://twitter.com/25thWardIPO/status/1560620082698588160?s=20&t=BDQ64R2iLisoy9BQGve8Lw

They spent most of the primary organizing *checks notes* outside the new ward boundaries and failed to even pass an INTERNAL organizational endorsement of @YanezJavy after their leadership apparently chose to leave @UWFIllinois in protest of their endorsement of @SenatorCelina

After letting their PAC lapse, shutting down bank accounts, and apparently losing control of their twitter page, the org set up a new PAC last Fall under the stewardship of @UgoOkere with a modest war chest hovering around $5,000

elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclo…

Despite having maintained an office space since roughly Feb, the org has reported no rent expenses nor in-kind contributions covering that obvious expense. Eagle eyed observers may notice that the "independent political organization" has a conspicuous roommate in @SigchoFor25

Weird optics for an "independent" org aside, the owner of that building, Mr. J. Gentil, an executive for a scaffolding company, also received a rent payment from @SigchoFor25 for $2,000 back in February, right around the time the @25thWardIPO set up shop there.

Similar storefronts go for at least $2.5k, but either way, that would leave at least $14k of in-kind contributions from a local landlord to the @25thWardIPO unreported, or it would mean that the @25thWardIPO is being funded with dark (ie. unaccounted for) money.

Maybe most troubling is the final alternative which is that, since @Sigchofor25 located his aldermanic office in the same space, his taxpayer funded rent money could be going toward the rent for his political organization.

One last wrinkle is that building owner, J. Gentil, was able to reduce his building’s valuation by $400k in 2021 by claiming it was partially unoccupied, just months before the @25thWardIPO took up residence.

cc: @AssessorCook

cookcountyassessor.com/pin/1719324041…

All of this comes on the heels of @PilsenAlliance's ED getting pushed out days after holding a members meeting 2 discuss the organization’s ongoing relationship with the alderman as evidence of his cozy relationships with developers & allegations of abuse have surfaced

Even the most casual observer of Pilsen politics knows that the @PilsenAlliance board is stacked with Sigcho loyalists, so the excuse of fiscal mismanagement as the reason for removing an ED who had begun pushing back on Sigcho feels flimsy at best.

For this week to end with the @25thWardIPO endorsing Byron with “90% of members voting in favor” is just too fitting as the formerly independent organization has been wholly co-opted by the self-styled progressive alderman.

https://twitter.com/25thWardIPO/status/1560672949950189568?s=20&t=ppwB5BKBaKYuSgSvmisilA

Byron was fond of calling former Ald Solis, “Soldis” for selling out the ward. It seems we’ve traded that for “Buyron” who is intent on buying his way to re-election.