Dick Simpson and Alisa Kaplan: Cook County inspector general’s office needs more resources
Recent accounts alleging misconduct within Cook County government agencies show the need for a strong inspector general’s office.
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Dick Simpson: Youth rally in the midterms to carry on the fight for democracy
Now that the U.S. Senate race in Georgia is over, the 2022 elections have finally ended. It is time to recognize that youth are voting to save our democracy. In...
Op-ed: Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City Council — finally, a taste of democracy in Chicago
So, this is what democracy looks like in Chicago. In her first two years in office, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has won City Council approval for all of her important legislation....
Op-ed: Chicago’s next ward map can change a neighborhood’s fate. Let the people draw the lines.
In the upcoming months, the figures from the 2020 U.S. census will be released. Besides giving us a clear view of population trends in the neighborhoods of our city, this...
Commentary: Is that democracy in Chicago’s City Council? What a welcome change.
When Lori Lightfoot took office as Chicago's mayor nearly a year ago, along with a wave of new aldermen, one of the burning questions was how she would interact with...
Is the Chicago machine ‘dead, dead, dead’? Don’t plan the funeral yet.
"The machine is dead, dead, dead." So declared Mayor Harold Washington after winning his 1983 election. Our last progressive, reform mayor did weaken the machine by issuing the first Freedom...
Ald. Ed Burke corruption charge is a challenge to voters: Elect a better City Council
Ald. Edward Burke has been charged in federal court with shaking down a restaurant company. Whether the powerful 14th Ward alderman is proven guilty or innocent, his arrest highlights our...
Chicago voters, do you want change — or more of the same?
Rahm Emanuel’s announcement Tuesday that he will not run for re-election sent shock waves through Chicago. The 2019 election of a new mayor and City Council will be a turning...
THE CON-CON QUESTION
Twenty years ago the people of Illinois adopted a new Constitution to replace the outdated Constitution of 1871. Among its virtues, the new Constitution has a greatly improved state bill...