IN EARLY DECEMBER, Ben Joravsky interviewed mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle. Now chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, and president of the Cook County Board since 2010, she withstood the overturn of her soda tax to win reelection in 2014. Prior to her election to the board she was the longtime alderman of the Fourth Ward, and prior to that a CPS history teacher. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When you close a school it’s not just closing a school, it’s withdrawing a community anchor. It’s not just the education that’s withdrawn—it’s a very public way of disinvesting in a community, especially if, after four or five years, the school is still vacant, boarded up, abandoned, an eyesore, and a blight in your community.
Mayor Rahm, as he’s heading out of office, has a proposal for a new TIF district on the north side of Chicago, the Lincoln Yards TIF district. It could bring in $800 million to a billion. He’s trying to rush it through before he leaves, during the lame-duck session. Are you willing to stand up and oppose that TIF district, at least until you become mayor and can review it?
No, it was the night in which I had three or four other things.
