On today’s episode we sit down with 49th Ward Alderperson Maria Hadden for a wide ranging conversation about justice issues in Chicago. Hadden coming in to office at the same time as Mayor Lightfoot understands the impact the pandemic had on public officials and how the pandemic transformed their first terms in office.

We start the episode by asking Hadden to give Mayor Lightfoot a grade on police reform to this point in her first term. It is pretty clear that Mayor Lightfoot pulled somewhat of a bait and switch when it came to police reform as her rhetoric during the campaign not really matched the her actions while in office. There is little doubt that she has confronted the Fraternal Order of Police and their alt right regime that is running the union. While this is something those that voted for her to push police reform would want her to do that is hardly the extent of the reforms her supporters were expecting.

We also discuss with Hadden how the Mayor uses the consent decree to some extent to limit the range of legislative reforms that can pass the city council. Reforms like Hadden’s Anjanette Young ordinance that would reform the Chicago Police Department’s warrant practices including eliminating no-knock warrants and forcing the officers to actually wait 30 seconds after knocking to kick doors down. Hardly radical reforms but reforms non-the-less that Mayor Lightfoot is doing whatever she can to block the legislation from passing.

We end our conversation discussing Mayor’s very recent announcement that the Christopher Columbus statute will be returning to grant park. Hadden talks about how this is just another failure of process by Mayor Lightfoot because the city has a monument committee supposedly working on a city wide plan for all monuments and yet the Mayor makes a unilateral announcement before the process has been completed. Sadly this is very typical for the Mayor and is just one reason her approval ratings are not where she wants them.