Progress Illinois

Through a public information request, the Chicago Tribune obtained Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s daily calendar between January and August of 2012. The Tribune’s focus on the hundreds of pages of documents is almost identical to the Chicago Reader, which did a two-part review of Emanuel’s public schedule between January and November of 2011. In a nutshell, the publications noted that Emanuel meets a lot with business leaders.

Emanuel’s ties with business are important given his policy record of ramming the Infrastructure Trust through city council in April, a nebulous effort to use private money for public projects, and expanding his own role as chairman of World Business Chicago, which coordinated the NATO summit in May.

But perusing through the calendar, available on the Tribune Web site, reveals other elements of Emanuel’s tenure including his national profile and approach to the Chicago Teachers Union labor dispute. Read more »

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police reached a deal with the Chicago Police Department, which will allow members to receive compensation for overtime worked during the NATO summit.

However, there are still three outstanding grievances and lingering acrimony between the city and FOP, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, even as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City Council continue to deify Police Department head Garry McCarthy for his work during the summitt. Read more »

After months of local government, and media, focus on Chicago hosting the two-day NATO summit, it might be time for the city’s political class to focus on more parochial concerns like the reconfiguring of public housing, a highly possible teacher’s strike, and the neighborhood impact of state and city government budget cuts.

On the other hand, the city could just re-live 2009 and put a lazer-like focus on getting the Olympics. Read more »