Even though Illinois may not be the most corrupt state in the nation, Chicago is trying really hard to buff up its political image. Two months ago, the City of Chicago's website went through a makeover and became easier to access. Taking one step further this past Thursday on May 13, Mayor Daley announced that the City of Chicago's website now offers additional new information that will give residents better access to Chicago government files. Some of the new access to information that has been added to the website include: more ›

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, who represents the north end of Chicago's downtown, is opposing efforts by the city's commercial property owners to establish a TIF district in the East Loop, bounded by Wacker, Randolph, Columbus and Wabash. "Owner reinvestment and market forces should ultimately decide ‘winners’ and ‘losers,’ not TIF subsidies,” Reilly said in a press release. “The East Loop TIF proposal appears to provide a competitive advantage to those properties within the proposed TIF boundary. The intent of TIF was never to place surrounding properties at a leasing disadvantage. This proposal would very likely have exactly that effect.” Reilly seems to understand that TIFs were intended to combat blighted neighborhoods, not subsidize established business. more ›

Have a safe and happy Halloween! more ›

Mercy Hospital has always had a special place in the heart of the Daley family. Richard J and wife Eleanor fundraised for the hospital in the 60’s and all the Daley children were born there. In a city where patronage is king, should it be any surprise that current Mayor Daley created a special financing district for Mercy when they fell on tough times? The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that when Mercy Hospital faced bankruptcy four years ago, Mayor Daley created a tax-increment financing district around the hospital that would benefit Mercy to the tune of $60 million. The hospital sold a chunk of land to developers who planned to build pricey condos in the area. The property taxes from the condo owners would go back into the hospital. more ›

Saying the Fix Wilson Yard community group waited too long to file, Judge Mary Rochford dismissed their lawsuit against the City of Chicago challenging the TIF that financed the Wilson Yard project. The ordinance for the TIF passed in 2001 but the group didn't file suit until December 2008, a period of time that was far too long, according to Judge Rochford. The controversial Wilson Yard project set aside $52 million for the development of commercial spaces, such as a Target store, and mixed-income housing. But the swelling cost as well as the shift in focus from commercial spaces to residential spaces is the impetus behind the Fix Wilson Yard group's ire. more ›

In spite of a possible $300 million budget shortfall, Mayor Daley took a break from practicing Act Two, Scene Two of Julius Caesar to assure Chicagoans that he really, really, really doesn't want to lay off 1,600 city workers. After all, his love of our great city's fine civil servants is well documented. more ›

According to Ald. Manny Flores's (1st) Facebook status (and confirmed by his staff), a rule that would force the city of Chicago to post information about city development financing online passed committee today. The TIF Sunshine ordinance, would require the city of Chicago to post tax increment financing-related documents online at a purpose-built Web site, goes to city council tomorrow. If it passes that final hurdle, it means a degree of transparency heretofore unseen in city politics. At the moment, concerned citizens, politicians and reporters have to dig through piles of city documents in a labor-intensive and time consuming process. The result, so far, has been a murky slush fund of more than $500 million and inhibited reporting. Da Mayor has yet to say anything about it publicly. For more on the TIF Sunshine ordinance, check out this info from The Reader. Update: Check out Flores' press release [PDF]. more ›

The public has always been in the dark, it seems, about TIFs, the way they are used to pay for city improvement projects and the beneficiaries. Therefore we’re thrilled to hear about a new “TIF Sunshine” ordinance being proposed in the City Council. Wicker Park Aldermen Manny Flores (1st) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) submitted an ordinance - now backed by 22 council members including senior Alderman Bernard Stone (50th) - that would force city government to post all TIF documents, from weekly payroll filings to annual reports, on a city-funded website. The pair argued that the benefits of the service, in terms of time and transparency, far outweigh the small costs of the endeavor. Check out the ordinance here [PDF]. more ›

Just a few days after unsurprisingly going back on his promise that the 2016 Olympic bid wouldn't need taxpayer money, Mayor Daley has announced he's going after some heavy hitters to rally support for Chicago's Olympic bid. more ›

• Roland Burris will be sworn in as Illinois' junior senator Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. (Chicago time) by Vice President Dick Cheney.
• Chicago's "Debonair Bandit", suspected of up to five area bank robberies, was arrested earlier today in Atlanta.
• Work on the city's Michigan Ave. Bridge began yesterday and will interrupt pedestrian traffic likely until June.

The long and heated battle over the Wilson Yard development in Uptown continues as a group of residents sues the city, which they accuse of improperly dolling out $51 million in subsidies to the site’s developer. The group, Fix Wilson Yard Inc., takes to task the city’s claim that the site would never have been developed without some funding from tax-increment financing. “It’s a developer’s dream to have that large of an undeveloped parcel in the city,” said Molly Phelan, president Fix Wilson Yard Inc., to Crain’s Chicago Business. “There’s no reason to use TIF funds to have a developer come in and develop this site.” more ›

• Tomorrow, on Father’s Day, Obama and his family will be attending a new church. At least that’s what he told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Friday.
• Metra expects at $20 million short fall, due to increased costs of diesel fuel. This despite a record 7-million riders. They’ll fix it by delaying plans to increase service, which puts Metra on-track with having standing customers. Huh?
• McDonald’s is reintroducing sliced tomatoes to their menu in the next seven to ten days after yanking them as a precaution. The FDA still hasn’t isolated the source of the salmonella bacteria.
• Cook County foreclosures are now worse than the U.S. average. Foreclosures were up 57% in May. Despite this, officials say we’re still faring better than most of the nation.
• Flooding. Flooding. And more flooding. Amtrak just announced they've suspended service on two lines between Chicago and the West Coast. Track river levels here.
• Daley says CTA’s current rail system is outdated. Really? He says he put the brakes on the downtown “Super Station” until they get the right technology.
• Johnson hits a homer to help the Cubs beat the Blue Jays in Toronto earlier today.
• Alderman Toni Preckwinkle is urging Daley to create a new Tax-Incriment Financing District to generate the millions needed to turn the closing Michael Reese Hospital into a $1.1 billion Olympic Village.