United Working Families: CPS Board Member Quazzo Must Resign

Progressive political org renews call for elected school board

CHICAGO (January 27, 2015) -- It’s time for Quazzo to quit. That’s the message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and CPS Board Member Deborah Quazzo.

A recent Chicago Sun-Times investigation revealed that companies in which Quazzo is invested have seen profits triple since Emanuel appointment her to the Board 18 months ago.

“Quazzo and her companies are hitting paydirt, and taxpayers and CPS students are the ones footing the bill,” said United Working Families (UWF) Executive Director Kristen Crowell. “This is a clear conflict of interest, and we urge Mayor Emanuel and CEO Byrd-Bennett to demand her resignation immediately.”

“It’s grossly inappropriate for millionaire venture capitalist Deborah Quazzo to use her clout as a CPS board member to make a profit,” said David Moore, aldermanic candidate in the 17th Ward, who is part of United Working Families’ slate of endorsees.

UWF endorsees also pointed to the Quazzo scandal as more evidence that Chicago needs an elected representative school board.

“Again and again, we see that the millionaires, billionaires and bankers who Mayor Emanuel has appointed to the CPS Board of Education don’t have the best interest of Chicago’s students or families at heart,” said Carlos Rosa, UWF-endorsed aldermanic candidate in the 35th Ward. “This is exactly why Chicagoans need to turn out and vote yes on the elected school board ballot question on February 24.”

Ballots in the February 24 municipal election in 37 of the city’s 50 wards will feature the referendum, which asks voters whether Chicago should have an elected school board instead of the current mayoral-appointed board.

United Working Families was formed in coalition by the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Action Now and Grassroots Illinois Action in 2014 to recruit, train and support candidates running on a progressive platform, including strengthening public education and advocating for public investment in all Chicago’s neighborhoods.

UWF has endorsed Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for mayor against Emanuel, as well as aldermanic candidates including Progressive Reform Caucus incumbents Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), Ald. Toni Foulkes (16), Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. Nick Sposato (38) and Ald. John Arena (45) and challengers Tara Baldridge (8), Sue Garza (10), Rafael Yanez (15), David Moore (17), Juanita Irizarry (26), Zerlina Smith (29), Tim Meegan (33), Carlos Rosa (35) and Tara Stamps (37).

New Video Shows Ald. Rey Colon's Wobbly DUI Defense: "Unfit to Drive"--Or Lead

CHICAGO (January 29, 2015)--Breaking new video shows just how Ald. Rey Colon beat his SECOND drunk-driving rap, even though he failed a field sobriety test after he was pulled over in the wee hours of the morning with his lights off, crossing the lines and driving without a valid driver's license.

The cringe-worthy new video, revealed late Wednesday by DNAinfo Chicago, shows the 35th Ward alderman failing several elements of the field sobriety test-for which he subsequently was arrested with "bloodshot glassy red eyes," and being found "unfit to drive."

It would have been Colon's second conviction for such an offense-but he refused a breathalyzer test. That would have caused his license to be suspended-if it hadn't been already.

In the aftermath, Colon took no responsibility for his actions.

Watch Rey Colon fail his field sobriety test here.

Following is the response of Kristen Crowell, executive director of United Working Families, to the video.

"The new video casts total doubt not only on Ald. Rey Colon's judgment, but his truthfulness with the people he's supposed to serve. The fact of the matter is he shouldn't have been on the road in the first place.

"As a mother, I join countless 35th Ward parents who are appalled that Rey Colon took no responsibility for putting lives at risk. The police found him 'unfit to drive.' The new video shows that he's unfit to serve as alderman for the 35th Ward."

United Working Families Files Complaint Over Father-Daughter Mell Contributions

Lobbyist limits exceeded in shady rent deal

CHICAGO (February 4, 2015) -- United Working Families (UWF) late Tuesday filed a complaint with Chicago's Legislative Inspector General over in-kind contributions given by former 33rd Ward Ald. Richard Mell to his daughter Deb, whom he engineered to have appointed as his successor.

In the period since she was appointed alderman, the father Mell has gifted the Kedzie Avenue office, where both share space, as an in-kind contribution to his daughter.

Richard Mell is registered as a lobbyist with the City of Chicago and is prohibited from making contributions of more than $1,500 annually.

The monthly in-kind contributions of $300 apiece exceed the $1,500 limit.

"We are filing this complaint because we believe that while Deb Mell may benefit from nepotism and the advantages that come with being her father's daughter, being able to break the law should not be one of them," Kristen Crowell, UWF's executive director, said Monday.

Rauner-Rahm Agenda: Shared Prosperity For 1% at Working Families’ Expense

CHICAGO (February 4, 2015) – United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell issued the following statement in response to today's State of the State address by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

"Whether it’s Rahm Emanuel in Chicago or Bruce Rauner in Springfield, the lessons of the recent past are clear—cutting taxes for corporations and billionaires like Rauner, while asking the rest of us to pay higher taxes and cutting vital services, is a slap in the face to countless working families.

“We’ve seen this before: Regressive taxation. Privatization of public services. Fire sales of public resources to private interests. Self-dealing deregulation. Charter-mania and a war on public education. Attacks on the rights to collective bargaining. Lip service to a real living wage, and only in exchange for giveaways to big corporations.

“This agenda has been tried, and tested, and it’s failed.

“For someone who spends more per year on wine than other Illinois families spend on EVERYTHING, it’s outrageous to hear Rauner invoke other wealthy CEOs to justify his trickle-down agenda, the same agenda adopted by his wine-sipping partner Rahm Emanuel.

“It’s time to get serious about joining the rest of America in a fair economic recovery and to create real living wage jobs for working families across Illinois. The Rauner-Rahm vision laid out today represents exactly the wrong approach. Illinois' working families deserve better."

United Working Families was formed in coalition with the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Action Now and Grassroots Illinois Action in 2014 to recruit, train and support candidates running on a progressive platform, including strengthening public education and advocating for public investment in all Chicago’s neighborhoods and beyond.

On WTTW, Rahm Emanuel Disappears His Record of School Cuts

CHICAGO (February 4, 2015) – Following is the response of United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell to Rahm Emanuel’s evasive appearance Wednesday night at the WTTW mayoral debate.

“Rahm Emanuel presided over the biggest cuts in modern memory to the Chicago Public Schools system, but on Wednesday night, he sought to 'disappear' this record.

“Fifty schools were closed under his knife, most of them in majority-minority and low-income neighborhoods. He alluded to these as 'efficiencies' and 'reforms.'

“In fact, Emanuel made the future worse for tens of thousands of Chicago school children. It makes sense that he would run from what is the lasting part of his legacy. It’s shameful to watch him in action.“

United Working Families was formed in coalition with the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Action Now and Grassroots Illinois Action in 2014 to recruit, train and support candidates running on a progressive platform, including strengthening public education and advocating for public investment in all Chicago’s neighborhoods and beyond.

Will Rahm Address His Real Record at ABC Debate Tonight?

Three Questions We Bet He Fibs, Fudges or Evades

CHICAGO (February 5, 2015) -- On WTTW last night, you saw Mayor Rahm Emanuel at his most deceptive, misrepresenting his record on everything from his broken safety promises, to his thirst for red-light camera cash to fudging the regressive realities of the city's TIF shell game.

You even had him "disappear" his record of school closures outright, having him refer to the devastation as "reforms."

Rahm didn't get to where he was by telling the truth. Here are three questions for Mayor Emanuel that we bet he sidesteps during the ABC-7 debate.

1. Will You Acknowledge That You Shut Down 50 Schools?

You presided over the closing of 50 neighborhood, public schools, the vast majority of them in African-American, lower-income and Latino neighborhoods. You behave as if though this-perhaps the most infamous chapter in your mayoralty-didn't even happen. Can we expect the same tonight?

2. How Are You Going to Run Away from Your 1,000 Cops Promise?

You said it, not us, that you were going to put 1,000 more uniformed officers on the street, and you've failed to deliver. Period. At the same time, you're claiming safety successes that people in the neighborhoods just aren't feeling. Will you acknowledge your failure to meet one of your signature promises?

3. Do You Even TOUCH the Fact You've Created Two Chicagos?

Increased fees for services, hidden taxes and gimmicks like your red-light cameras have shifted the tax burden in Chicago from those with the most on to the backs of those with the least. Do you have a credible reason why your fellow 1 percenters like Ken Griffin are paying less even of their fair share in taxes while services are cuts to our neighborhoods-and the tax burden is yoked to our working families?

Rahm’s Debate Smoke and Mirrors Hide Rubble Left Behind

Chuy Wins Debate By Telling Truth, Laying out Clear Vision for Working Families

CHICAGO (February 5, 2015) -- Following is the statement of United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell following the ABC 7 Chicago mayoral debate Thursday evening.

“Rahm Emanuel has asked working families in Chicago to give up more and more in the name of balanced budgets. He has promised improved services and stabilized finances. He has achieved neither, though you wouldn’t know that by watching him Thursday night.

“Underlying Rahm’s claim to balancing budgets is a dangerous reality, his use of dangerous ‘scoop and toss’ accounting schemes that have merely pushed the debts onto the backs of future generations, even while regressive taxes and fees and red-light cameras have abounded.

“Rahm continued to deny the grim consequences of his policies. Schools and mental health clinics shuttered. Core services cut. Pensions under attack.

“Rahm has spent millions on television commercials to construct an alternate reality, one that he continues to conjure during these debates. But none of his smoke and mirrors can hide the rubble Rahm has left behind.

“Chuy Garcia would have won the debate over Rahm merely by telling the truth. But why he REALLY won Thursday was laying out a clear vision to  protect education, make our streets safer and create real opportunity for Chicago’s working families.”

United Working Families was formed in coalition with the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Action Now and Grassroots Illinois Action in 2014 to recruit, train and support candidates running on a progressive platform, including strengthening public education and advocating for public investment in all Chicago’s neighborhoods and beyond

ICYMI: The Company He Keeps: Chicago Sun-Times Links Ald. John Pope to Crooked Contractor

CHICAGO (February 6, 2015) -- Tenth Ward machine Alderman John Pope, who already has raised eyebrows by hiring as his assistant someone who allegedly threatened to rape a co-worker, is back in the news, this time for associating with a crooked contractor.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Pope's been "taking help from a corrupt city contractor and thanking him publicly on Facebook."

From the report:

"Cappello is a corrupt city contractor-turned-FBI informant who’s been barred from doing business with the city after using his wife as front to cash in on $2.3 million in contracts earmarked for minorities and women."

Cappello recently made a $2,482 in-kind contribution to Pope.

Here's United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell on the Pope-Cappello ties:

"John Pope won't listen to the citizens of the Tenth Ward when it comes to jobs or schools, but he'll surround himself with questionable characters and praise sing the praises of dirty contractors. At best, it raises questions about his judgment, his total lack of ethical standards and a machine contempt for clean government.

"It's clearer than ever that it's time for change in the Tenth Ward."

Read the full report here.

Here's the earlier story about Pope's hire of a troubled staffer.

United Working Families Condemns Bruce Rauner's Illegal Assault on Unions

Union-Busting Executive Order Must Be Overturned

CHICAGO (February 9, 2015) -- Following is the statement of United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell in response to the illegal executive order issued by Bruce Rauner Monday.

"It didn't take long for Bruce Rauner to display his contempt for workers. We condemn his illegal assault on the public servants who make our state run, and stand with our sisters and brothers as they fight for workers to have a voice.

"This is part of a right-wing playbook written by Rauner "heroes" such as Scott Walker and Mitch Daniels, and we all know that this has nothing to do with the budget issues facing our state. It's a union-busting salvo meant to end labor peace in Illinois, and it must be overturned."

Ahead of Final Mayoral Debate, United Working Families: Rahm Emanuel Has Failed African American Community

Shuttered Schools, Lost Jobs, Cut Services and Unsafe Streets

CHICAGO (February 10, 2015) -- As the mayoral candidates prepared for Tuesday's mayoral debate focusing on issues particular to the city's African American community, Rahm Emanuel was undoubtedly preparing for his most vigorous spinning yet.

That's because while Emanuel's pro-rich policies have hurt ALL Chicago's working families, they've had a disproportionate impact on African American neighborhoods and citizens.

  • An estimated 88% of students affected by Emanuel's closing of some 50 neighborhood schools were African American.
  • Black unemployment is a crisis: In West Englewood alone, the latest unemployment stands at 35%.
  • Almost 70% of African American students attend schools with concentrated poverty.

This is not to mention inequities in health care, affordable housing and the closing of mental health facilities. And the public-sector pensionstargeted by Emanuel disproportionately represent the retirement income of Chicago's black middle class.

Meanwhile, Emanuel continues to support diverting millions of dollars away from the aforementioned services and diverting it into an out-of-control TIF program.

Said Brandon Johnson, Chair of the Black Caucus of the Chicago Teachers Union, a United Working Families member organization:

"Rahm Emanuel will have a chance tonight at the DuSable Museum to answer for policies that have utterly failed all Chicagoans, but African American citizens in particular. From school closings and cut services to lost jobs and unsafe streets, Emanuel has favored the very rich at the expense of a community that has borne the historic ill effects of neglect, segregation and inequality.

"Rahm's legacy for the African American community: He made things worse."

Final Mayoral Debate Again Highlights Rahm’s Failed Policies for African-American Communities--and Everywhere Else

Mayor carries on tired justification of school closings, pay-to-play

CHICAGO (February 10, 2015) -- Following is the statement of United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell following the CBS Chicago mayoral debate Tuesday at the DuSable Museum of African American History.

“It’s not that Rahm Emanuel has failed African Americans in Chicago, it’s just that he’s failed them worse.

“He failed ALL of Chicago again Tuesday when he failed to talk straight about why he closed schools and mental health clinics serving African Americans; diverted tax dollars to rich developers and bankers instead of investing it equitably in all Chicago neighborhoods; and left Chicago’s streets less safe as a result of his mismanagement.

“Rahm also distinguished himself by NOT distinguishing himself from Rod Blagojevich’s crooked pay-to-play practices.

“A panelist asked Rahm why communities in Chicago feel that he has abandoned them. The answer was on the stage Tuesday: Because he has.”

United Working Families was formed in coalition with the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Action Now and Grassroots Illinois Action in 2014 to recruit, train and support candidates running on a progressive platform, including strengthening public education and advocating for public investment in all Chicago’s neighborhoods and beyond