The conversations will happen over breakfast, lunch and dinner - or even just drinks.
To begin a yearlong celebration of its centennial, the Trust is once again hosting On the Table, a day of events at which thousands of Chicagoans will come together over a meal to talk about ways we can make our communities stronger, safer and more dynamic through collaboration and philanthropy. On May 12, the Chicago Community Trust, the region's largest charitable foundation, turns 100 years old. I'm not going to rehash it here, because there are limits to how much bullshit I can quote.Įvent Mon Join Your Neighbors for On the Table 2015 You can read that article for more of Alvarez's explanation. Unbelievably, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez gave the answer that she "moved up" filing the charges, saying her original intention was to wait until the concurrent federal investigation had concluded. Within an hour, I saw three other variations on that question asked by other people. If the footage was so blatant that no less than Rahm Emanuel called it "hideous" ( albeit without actually seeing it), then how on earth did it take 400 days for charges to be filed? The charges were filed one day before the court-ordered public release of the dashcam footage showing the killing. Exactly 400 days later, Van Dyke was formally charged with murder in McDonald's death. 20, 2014 by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. Laquan McDonald was shot and killed on Oct. The details of pending and prospective state legislation could therefore be of critical importance for the fate of not only Emanuel but the entire city.Ĭhicago Tue Alvarez Needs to Go, and She's Not Alone Key distinctions regarding different processes may lead to significantly different results in terms of who might replace Emanuel - even if no recall ever takes place. Still, even though it is a largely speculative exercise to consider all of the permutations of how recall legislation might proceed, it is worth stepping back and regarding some of those possibilities. HB4356 is of course subject to amendment, and competing bills could also be introduced that would offer different processes. The credible threat of recall is important enough that enough political operators will allow it to stay on the table. I think it's extremely unlikely that Rahm Emanuel will ever be recalled, but that will not stop legislation from proceeding. It has already lined up some interesting co-sponsors, and prominent politicians such as Lisa Madigan and Pat Quinn have come out in favor of recall at least conceptually. I think recall legislation, whether in the form of HB4356 or some other bill, has a decent shot of passage. While the Tribune took a look at HB4356 this week, publishing what was essentially a hatchet piece, even that article suggests the idea is at least going to stick around for a while. HB4356 now has five co-sponsors - perhaps fewer than might be expected, but perhaps more given that the legislature is out of session. HB4356 provides for a mechanism of recalling the mayor by public election. The leading contender for such a process is House Bill 4356, introduced by State Rep. In turn, some have looked for some other process by which he might no longer mayor.
Emanuel has been adamant that he will not resign. Weeks after the release of the Laquan McDonald dashcam video, calls for Emanuel's resignation have not slackened, and one published poll shows an outright majority of Chicagoans favoring such a resignation. It's all one huge ball of meta.Įlections Thu Recall: What Could Happen Next?Ī lot of Chicagoans want to see Rahm Emanuel's second term as mayor end prematurely. But see: Gapers Block is all about Chicago, and Chicago is especially all about Chicago. But I'm also here at the moment-before-hiatus, which means I get the chance to write about Gapers Block for Gapers Block.
I've been writing about politics here - and, along the way, also about coffee shops, professional wrestling, and bowling balls - for about two years. They provide a lot of context to why this is a big deal, and not just for the people immediately involved. There have been many nice things said about Andrew and Gapers Block across Chicago media circles, including this from Mike Fourcher and this from Whet Moser.
You can read the open letter from our esteemed editor-in-chief here. If somehow you haven't seen the news anywhere else: Gapers Block is going on hiatus effective January 1.