It’s official: After ruling out a bid in 2019 & 2023, US Rep. Mike Quigley says he’s running for Chicago mayor in next year’s election.
“The Uptown Theatre, we are here for a reason. … it’s this great asset that needs a lot of our help.”
Quigley: "Well, the easy part is to tell you Chicago is the greatest city in the world. ...
We have everything we need to succeed. But one thing we haven't had is the courage make tough choices. That changes now."
Quigley: "We are not going to tax our way out of it. We're going to grow."
Quigley touts how he fought Trump in Congress, and the “machine for reform and to beat back tax hikes” as a Cook County commissioner under the Strogers
Also says (incorrectly), “I was the first Democrat to tell President Biden he had to step aside” in 2024
During gaggle, Quigley responds to Q on whether he would hold the line on raising property taxes with: “The last option needs to be raising taxes … The first priority has to be no new taxes.”
Quigley doesn’t commit to keeping Bears in Chicago: “This is primarily an issue for the General Assembly at this point ... I'd love to keep the Bears in Chicago. Love to keep the Bears in Illinois. My first priority is going to make sure that we get essential city services done.”
Quigley takes shot at Brandon Johnson: “Mayor Johnson didn't get us into this mess, but it's equally clear he is not going to get us out of this mess. I think the theme in Chicago has been a lack of leadership in the mayor's office.”
“The cavalry is not coming to the rescue.”
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At Mayor Brandon Johnson’s town hall on the 2026 budget in Desmon Yancy’s ward. Some leaders from the alder opposition here too. A community organizer is passing around these questions for the audience to ask:
Yancy, who voted for the alternate budget, says Mayors team “refused” to share agenda presentation against of time: “I’m not sure what the secrecy is all about”
Yancy: “If it wasn’t balanced, why wasn’t the veto power used? … Pardon the pun, something isn’t quite adding up.” Johnson appears to whisper something to Yancy as he walks back to the seat
Mayor Brandon Johnson tells reporters: “I don’t support a budget that places such an incredible burden on working people. At a time when President Trump has made life quite difficult for working people across this country, the city of Chicago should not be adding to that burden.”
Johnson: “There's a reason why we have six cranes up and 18 that are committed.”
Johnson ties to distance himself from Ald. Jason Ervin trying to stop alternative budget group’s meeting schedules:
“When did I say I didn’t want them to happen? … He’s the budget director. He works with City Council to ensure that there’s a schedule that works.”
Full house streaming in for Mayor Brandon Johnson presser unveiling brand new Board of Ed following Friday shakeup
Group of protesters chant “This board is not legit,” “Not legit,” talking over mayor as he’s about to speak. Bishop Larry Trotter asks them for silence
Johnson: “I will just say as I finish my comments, the most legitimate existence of anyone in this county is the legitimate existence of a Black man. …
I was legitimate when I took an arrest against other admins when they were closing down Black schools.”
Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the mayor’s deputy COS, addresses GardaWorld migrant contract: “These are all terrible decisions. That’s the challenge. One thing I learned in government … Procurement is wild. … We don’t have time. We got folks sleeping on floors in police stations.”
Pacione-Zayas argues this was best option bc of ability to skip 6-18mo procurement process: “We have to clear out the police stations. Period, the end. The conditions are inhumane … We had to piggyback on this contract so that we can move and get these pre fabricated structures”
She warns this wknd, Chicago will see the most buses (5) since first one over 1y ago: “It's an attack because of the DNC that's coming in less than a year from now. It's an attack because we have a progressive mayor who ran on a progressive platform, who's also a Black man.”
During committee hearing for his confirmation as next CPD’s next Supt, Chief Larry Snelling gave this defense of cops: “There are a lot of things that we can do better as a police department, but we have to support those ppl who are standing between those who will do you harm.”
Snelling mentions someone who suggested “Imagine a world w/o the police.” He replies: “I would like to be a part of that world, but in order to imagine a world w/o police, I have to imagine a world w/o murder …These are all things that ppl who don’t necessarily want to hear.”
on civil unrest, Snelling said: “I saw the names that they were called. I saw the yelling and the screaming … They responded the way the city needed to respond to stop the city as a whole from burning down. And they went home, and they got up and came back to work the next day”
Chicago has seen over 11,500 asylum seekers since August 2022, city says
5,445 are in city shelters (a 43.5% increase from Jan)
941 waiting in police stations/OHare/Midway
“We inherited a flawed approach to this mission,” new dep mayor for immigration says
Dep mayor Beatriz Ponce De León reiterates Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pledge to move all migrants out of police stations, though no hard timeline: “CPD has been an incredible partner. Not perfect, but a good partner in opening their doors and having people there keeping them safe.”
OEMC manager Matt Doughtie says Chicago is trying to find shelter locations outside of city limits: “We have explored other shelters outside of city limits, but that of course involves engaging in that municipality and county. We’re going to continue to do that.”