Meanwhile, in Chicago...
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@LuFins-Dad, Lightfoot lost in the election in February. This was a run-off, with the top two candidates to choose from.
Johnson's opponent was an old white guy, Paul Vallas, who used to be in charge of the Chicago Public Schools (NOT the union). He is a pretty moderate guy, and had the support of about half the aldermen, the police....
The Detroitification of Chicago continues apace.
@George-K said in Meanwhile, in Chicago...:
@LuFins-Dad, Lightfoot lost in the election in February. This was a run-off, with the top two candidates to choose from.
Johnson's opponent was an old white guy, Paul Vallas, who used to be in charge of the Chicago Public Schools (NOT the union). He is a pretty moderate guy, and had the support of about half the aldermen, the police....
The Detroitification of Chicago continues apace.
Detroit? You wish…
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https://apnews.com/article/chicago-mayor-election-johnson-vallas-838d2740994587d0eb0cbbfb04cd55cc
The 47-year-old says that instead of investing more in policing and incarceration, the city should focus on mental health treatment, affordable housing for all and jobs for youth. He has proposed a plan he says will raise $800 million by taxing “ultrarich” individuals and businesses, including a per-employee “head tax” on employers and an additional tax on hotel room stays. Vallas says that so-called “tax-the-rich” plan would be a disaster for the city’s recovering economy.
Vallas, who finished in first place in the February election, was the only white candidate in that nine-person field. The 69-year-old was endorsed by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, as well as the local Chamber of Commerce. The grandson of Greek immigrants, he grew up working in family restaurants. He has two sons who have worked as police officers, one of whom is now a firefighter.
- $98 million from “making the big airlines pay for polluting the air” in Chicago neighborhoods
- $400 million from raising the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales on properties worth more than $1 million over four years
- $100 million from new “user fees on high-end commercial districts frequented by the wealthy, suburbanites, tourists and business travelers.”
- Over $20 million from reinstating the $4-a-month-per-employee “head tax” on “large companies” that perform at least half their work in Chicago.
- $100 million from taxing financial transactions at a rate of $1 or $2 for every “securities trading contract.”
- $30 million from increasing Chicago’s already nation-leading hotel tax
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The decline of Chicago.
According to Redfin, the average sale price of a home in Magnificent Mile was $365K last month, down 50.6% since last year.
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@Mik said in Meanwhile, in Chicago...:
As i said, a mayor who is in bad need of cash. In Chicago.
What could go wrong?
Now you're just being silly.
"Not paying your bills" ≠ "in need of cash."
Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson is currently set to receive a pension worth an estimated $1.1 million through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, even though he only taught for four years.
But he could boost his pension significantly beyond $1.1 million if he keeps his job as a Chicago Teachers Union organizer or uses a state law to leverage his service as a Cook County commissioner.
Johnson was previously employed as a teacher at Chicago Public Schools, where he was a Tier 1 participant in the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund. Johnson was only a social studies teacher for four fiscal years, from 2008-2011, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. Then he went on to work for the Chicago Teachers Union as a paid activist.
Because of a loophole in Illinois’ pension code, Johnson appears to have been allowed to continue to participate in the Chicago teachers pension, even though he was no longer a school employee. Normally, teachers must work at Chicago Public Schools for five years to become eligible to retire with a pension.
The Illinois Pension Code allows Johnson to continue to accumulate creditable service towards his pension as a result of his employment with CTU, because he was a participant in the teachers pension system prior to 2012. This loophole has since been closed for those who began participating in the pension system after Jan. 5, 2012.
As a CTU employee, Johnson has received an additional 12 years of service credit with the pension system – enough time to become eligible to receive a pension in retirement. Johnson’s retirement benefit from the teachers system will likely be based on his union salary, which has averaged nearly $90,000 annually during the past four years. He earned an average of less than $58,000 during his four years of teaching.
Johnson’s current service credits with the teachers pension make him eligible to retire at age 62 with full benefits. If he does so, he would be expected to receive nearly $1.1 million in pension payments during retirement.
If he keeps his job with the Chicago Teachers Union, it would raise his pension payments substantially as he accumulates more years of creditable service.
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According to Redfin, the average sale price of a home in Magnificent Mile was $365K last month, down 50.6% since last year.
Wow. I used to live there, it was expensive and considered high end.
@jon-nyc said in Meanwhile, in Chicago...:
Wow. I used to live there, it was expensive and considered high end.
The building I used to live in, on east Erie, has a 2 bedroom condo for $360.
The building I lived in on E Chestnut has a 2 BR for $705K.
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@Horace said in Meanwhile, in Chicago...:
George and Kluurs are you making plans to get out of there?
We're here till my spouse retires. That should be in about 5 years, but health issues could make that happen sooner. We live in a suburb adjacent to Chicago. But clearly, there's no iron border, and 85% of the crime in our town is from Chicagoans who make a quick exist back to the west side of Chicago.
As I've been in the house for 30 years, I'm pretty settled in - know the neighbors and enjoy things - but I wouldn't mind paying less tax and feeling safer.
As for my Chicago friends, I suspect there will be a bigger exodus now. Twenty years ago, it looked like Chicago might make a comeback when Daley Jr took over - but he stayed too long and did made some stupid moves that may have set the city back.
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Two years ago, the mayor wannabe talks about looting.
Link to video
