Civic Federation

We've made sure that this is streamlined, it's above board, it's triangulated in a way that this is the direct voice of the people of Chicago saying what they want their city to look like in the future.

More supporters of a city charter are Chicago mayoral candidate Mike Quigley and the Civic Federation.

Joel Hamernick, the executive director of a more just Chicago, is here to tell us more about this.

And I'm so appreciative of your time this evening.

So why are we talking about this in 2026? I mean, why now? Why hasn't it happened before now? What's different?

Yeah, well, it's really been proposed basically twice in the past 120 years.

120 years ago, the Civic Federation, working with something called the National Civic League, which was established in the 1800s to help growing cities avoid corruption, create efficiency, create effectiveness.

And out of that, basically all of our peer studies, in the early 1900s adopted charter, that was proposed here in the city in 1907, and it was turned down.

The change would also drop the dwell fee overnight, so drivers could leave cars in charging spaces from 10:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. It's on the agenda for Saturday's board meeting.

The Arlington County Civic Federation may renew its push for state legislation letting the county change its form of government.

A draft resolution to be introduced Tuesday seeks powers to resize the county board and school board, move to district representation, change the election schedule, and separately elect a board chair.

That may run into opposition from the county board, whose chair has asked lawmakers to hold off while the county studies its options.

A statement from Mayor Johnson's spokesperson notes the history of the original deal, reading in part, "It's no surprise members are being vigilant with a focus on due diligence and deliberation.

The administration will continue to support the process to get a better outcome for taxpayers." Joe Ferguson with the Civic Federation is a former inspector general for the city and says the reason to approve this sale by September 30th is to avoid litigation by the seller and possibly the buyer.

What we would have almost immediately are lawsuits, um, fines coming out of that, damages of all sorts, um, but also the reputational injury to the city for failing to have actually followed through on its contractual obligations here.

As negotiations continue between alders, the ordinance to approve the transfer of the parking meter deal goes before full city council on Tuesday.