I’ve been thinking about “public” and working to define, defend, and expand it for the past 12 years. Here is the first of a new series of webisodes I’m calling the “Great Public Report” as a way to talk about and stimulate dialog around the concept of “public.” Please watch it at our YouTube Channel and subscribe. Follow me at @tomstee and post using #MorePublic. If we don’t protect the Public, it will be taken from us.
I gave these short remarks at the April 2019 NewFounders Conference in Chicago. If you agree, please follow me @tomstee!
Check out the multiple perspectives on economic development for Chicago in the April 6, 2020 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business. I call for the abolition of TIFs and a new approach to grassroots economic development. The CEO of Sterling Bay has a different idea!
The utter failure of the Trump Administration to deal with the global pandemic is a stark reminder of why we need a strong, competent, nimble, and service-oriented PUBLIC sector – ready to act powerfully for the public good. Take a look at Douglas Amy’s book “Government is Good – An Unapologetic Defense of a Vital Institution.” If you want a great response to these times, then check out the movement for a Green New Deal and help make it happen!
“Chicagoland’s civic health is on life support.”
That was the grim assessment from the 2010 report “Chicago Civic Health Index.” The report was prepared by the McCormick Foundation and the Citizen’s Advocacy Center. “The 2010 Chicago Civic Health Index demonstrates the failure of the region to prepare its youngest citizens for their adult civic responsibilities, along with the effects of endemic political corruption and the widespread cynicism and disengagement it spawns.” Ouch.
Fast forward to 2019. How are we doing?
Not so well.
What an amazing night.
Merle and I were in the Hilton Hotel overflow ballroom to witness and be part of history. The huge numbers for Lori Lightfoot went up a little after 7:00pm and soon the race was over. Lightfoot would carry all 50 wards!
It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve been working to defeat and dismantle the Chicago Machine since 1990 when I did volunteer work for my professor from Roosevelt University, Hank Rubin who ran for Alderman in the 1991 municipal elections.
I saw the Machine field workers all over the ward to protect incumbent Bernie Stone. But the amount of Machine feet on the street for Alderman Stone was eclipsed by what I saw when I helped Professor Dick Simpson run for Congress in 1992. He challenged the most powerful Democrat in Chicago (right next to then Mayor Richard M. Daley), Dan Rostenkowski, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
I recall covering three precincts on primary day and seeing men at every polling place handing out literature, walking people into the polling places, ferrying signs and supplies back and forth and being present inside keeping track of the votes. I approached two large men, one who I recall had a well tailored coat and a large pinky ring and said “Hey, are you guys volunteering for Rosty?” “Nah, kid, I work for Streets and San” said the taller guy and the second guy said that he worked for the Forest Preserve.
They were actually doing their paid work right there. They were soldiers of the fabled Chicago Machine doing what they’ve been doing for sixty years. Working on the public dime to maintain and extend the power of chosen and connected elected officials.
Despite being outspent eight to one, Dick pulled 42% of the vote. Dick challenged Rostenkowski again in 1994 and again lost. A few weeks after the primary the Congressman embroiled in a scandal involving embezzling public funds which landed him an 18 month prison sentence in 1996.
This led to a Republication representing the 5th District for two years and then, in 1996 then Illinois State Representative Rod Blagojevich was elected to that seat. Blago is the son-in-law of powerful Machine leader Richard Mell who essentially put his handsome son-in-law in public office. Blago ran for and became Illinois’s governor in 2002, leaving his Congressional seat open.
in 2002, with the help of Daley’s patronage army, Rahm Emanuel was elected to that seat in Congress. From the Chicago Tribune (6/1/06): “By dangling the promise of public jobs and promotions, a high-ranking city official recruited a “white ethnic” patronage army of almost 300 campaign workers controlled by Mayor Richard Daley’s office, according to testimony Wednesday in the City Hall corruption trial. Daniel Katalinic, a former top official in the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department, described how his political group of city employees crisscrossed the Chicago area for the mayor, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and pro-Daley candidates in suburban state legislative races. Testifying against former Daley aide Robert Sorich, Katalinic said he got election-season orders from Sorich and Greg Goldner, who managed the mayor’s 2003 re-election campaign and also worked to send Emanuel to Congress.” Sorich was convicted of corruption in 2006 and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
So, let’s review. Machine workers – people on the public payroll – helped keep Congressman Rostenkowski in office. If it had been a fair fight – would Prof. Dick Simpson have been elected to Congress in 1992? And if so – would he have been re-elected mutliple times after serving with distinction. And if so – then two OTHER politicians, Blago and Rahm, would NOT have been elected to that same Congressional seat. They would’ve had a different path to power.
My next brush with the Machine was in being part of the city-wide coalition to stop casino gambling from coming to Chicago in 1994. I was part of a coalition led by Douglas Dobmeyer and Rev. Tom Grey, I started a small effort “42nd Ward Citizens for Chicago’s Future” and organized along the Gold Coast to build opposition to the proposed casino. The efforts worked and the casino was never built.
In 1997 I was a consultant for the Chicago Park District leading the transformation of Douglas Park into a community cultural center. I led some 70 meetings in and out of the park and connected the park to a wide range of cultural partners and curated many new partnerships with local artists and performers.
A full time job doing cultural development and planning opened up inside the Chicago park District. Before applying I had lunch with the director of cultural and arts planning for the district, Helen Doria. She told me that leadership loved my work but “Don’t bother applying for this position,” she said, “You’re a known Daley-basher.”
“What?” I said “Known by who?” She assured me there was a “no-hire” list at City Hall and that my name was on it. This list has never surfaced – unlike the 59 page “blessed” list of 5,743 names that was at the center of the corruption scandal that took down Robert Sorich. You can download your own copy below!
The list never surfaced but I know I’ve suffered because of it. I suppose I did not advance my case with Mayor Daley and his allies as I co-led two very public civic projects that further attacked and embarrassed Machine backed projects. These were the efforts to stop the privatization of Lincoln Park through the establishment of Protect Our Parks in 2008 and the No Games Chicago campaign to derail the bid for the 2016 Olympics in 2009.
In 2010 I was the Green Party candidate for Cook County Board President and I ran against Roger Keats, the Republican nominee and Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic nominee.
At the meeting of the Tribune Editorial Board in September of 2010 I sat with Mr. Keats and then Alderman Preckwinkle. I produced a copy of the recent issue of Chicago Magazine featuring a scathing investigation of Cook County Democratic Party Chair Joe Berrios who was then a commissioner of the county’s Board of Review and was seeking the Democratic Nomination to be Cook County Assessor.
I reminded the editors of Alderman Preckwinkle’s role in placing Todd Stroger as the outgoing Cook County Board President in 2006. The elderly John Stroger, the outgoing President of the County Board had disappeared from public view right before the primary then won the primary then resigned from his position and from the ticket. The Democratic Committeemen voted to replace the older Stroger with his son. Preckwinkle was a powerful and influential Committeeman. They passed on the opportunity to replace Stroger with the man he had just defeated in the primary, Forrest Claypool. I chastised Preckwinkle for her role in that scam. Todd Storger’s time in office was a litany of scandal and incompetence. She indignantly replied that she just DEFEATED Todd in the primary. “Sure, Todd was so toxic he lost the backing of the Machine and was not slated.”
With all that in mind I challenged Preckwinkle to renounce her support for Joe Berrios – who she was supporting in his campaign fro Assessor – and, instead, to support the challenger, none other that Forrest Claypool!
She said she could not support Claypool and then launched into a speech proclaiming Berrios “a reformer because he championed Latinas in elective office.” “Which Latina do you mean, Alderman?” I asked, ” Do you mean his daughter,State Representative Toni Berrios?” Preckwinkle replied “He is the leader of my party and I am a party loyalist.”
“I rest my case,” I told the Tribune editors. “That’s the definition of the Machine. Party over the people. Alderman Preckwinkle is the new face of the Democratic Machine.
In their editorial endorsing Preckwinkle for the job published on October 2, 2009 the editors said they were “tempted” to endorse me. But, they resisted temptation.
President Preckwinkle maintained her loyalty to Assessor Berrios over the years even after more scandals, investigations and a damning report showing his assessment system was racist and punished the people who lived in poorer communities and communities of color.
All this history replayed in my head as I listened to Lori Lightfoot’s victory speech. During her campaign she pledged to kill the Machine and end Chicago’s reign as America’s most corrupt city. She repeated that pledge Tuesday night.
Oh, it’s SO time to kill the Democratic Machine and its web of corruption, injustice, inequity, racism and disinvestment in our communities.
I gave this speech at the CivicLab’s 2018 Civic Harambee. I sum up everything I’ve learned about fighting for justice in civics and public life in America. I call for MorePublic! and announce my second book and launch our first membership drive for the CivicLab! Whew!
Tom Tresser at 2018 Civic Harambee
Tom Tresser gave these remarks at the CivicLab’s second Civic Harambee on August 25, 2018 at the Lutheran School of Theology. If you are watching this video or have found any of Tom’s work useful or if you have ever attended a CivicLab event or public forum, then we are asking you to become a MEMBER today!
Listen to this 8 minute interview with Tom Tresser on the need for progressives to come together from across the city…
Today I turn 66 and I realized that I’ve been doing civic work for 45 years.
My first voter registration campaign was organized at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, following the passage of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18. (https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxvi)
That’s me from 1973!
Since then I’ve pretty much been on a tear to create civic stuff. I’ve started or led 15 nonprofit enterprises in the arts, community development and civic engagement.
I’ve had the privilege to work with an amazing range of talented and passionate champions for justice, equity, creativity and sanity.
I’d like to share some thoughts from these projects, campaigns and start-ups.
IT’S THE INFRASTRUCTURE, STUPID
It seems that the Left or Progressive America has not learned an essential lesson from our opponents on the Right. The radical religious fundamentalists have formed a perfect storm of civic effectiveness by aligning with the business class and the Republican Party. As a coordinated and coherent block of civic players this coalition has moved the country right and is rolling back the New Deal and shredding the public sector at every level of government. The Republican Party is returning America to the glorious 1830’s – seeking the return of slavery (OK, an exaggeration – but they are trying to get us to work for as close to zero dollars/hour as they can!), unregulated business, unchecked and untaxed wealth and a Manifest Destiny of imperialism and interventionism abroad. We are embroiled in wars and conflicts across the globe such that our security budget is approaching a trillion dollars annually. It’s war without end in the United States.
How did this happen? How can we – who seek justice, peace and equity – have been so feckless and unprepared? What did they do right and what did we do so wrong?
It’s about infrastructure. It’s about building, funding and maintaining a holistic eco-system that delivers civic results and changes minds and drives policy. This infrastructure’s net output is elected representatives at all levels of government who will drive this Rightist, 1830’s agenda forward without fear of defeat.
Civic infrastructure needs a blueprint – a guiding mind and hand. It lays out a path to sustainable operations. It speaks of coherence, coordination, collaboration and ongoing sources of revenue. Once in place, this civic infrastructure needs leadership and stewardship and re-freshing and maintenance.
If you DON’T have a sustainable civic infrastructure then you are doomed to re-invent the wheel over and over again, whacking moles of crisis perpetually and you will never have the funds and the time to reflect and prepare for the future. You are doomed to react and to fail in pushing your agenda. Consequently, your vision for civics and justice fails.
Sound familiar?
I would date the start of the rise of the current “Bring Back the 1830’s” crew from the circulation of the Powell memo in 1971. See https://tinyurl.com/Infrastructure-Part-1.
Since the writing of the Powell Memo we have seen the rise of a tightly interlocking set of players to articulate and activate the civic work Lewis Powell was calling for.
Their overall message goes something like this: Government is an evil – it constrains and compels. Government is a taker and an overreaching rule maker. Business knows best and must be unconstrained to deliver jobs and profits. Authority to decide what’s best resides principally with white, straight Christian males and the Christian Bible is the best source for morality and decency in public life.
We social justice champions and idealistic Progressives who believe in the Public Good and who still believe government can and ought to work for the betterment of all have no such guiding principal or play book or set of players who interlock to provide a similar robust infrastructure to grown, fuel and further our civic work.
MESSAGE, MEMBERS, MONEY
Part of the magic of civic infrastructure building lies with a very human response to calls for alarm and inspiration. But just getting people angry and outraged over and over again does not get the job done. It tends to exhaust your supporters and gives them no clear path to power, to victory, to the better country we all want.
I believe we serve our public and our allies and constituents best by planning, articulating and voicing a powerful and uplifting message of civic potential. A message that is positive, energizing, forward looking and breath-taking in its picture of what a better America looks like.
Once we have devised a play book that can compete with the message of the 1830’s crew – then – and only then – will we be able to gather members and, from them, resources to sustain our civic work.
People can and will enroll themselves in a fight against the 1830’s crew and their public policy agendas – but ONLY if we give them a powerful reason to do so.
ATTENTION GETTING
You might say that the major fight of the 20th Century and the 21st Century has been the fight for people’s attention. That is, how to get people to pay attention to what you are saying. Before people can act, they first must attend. This is true for America’s marketers and her industrial-entertainment complex. This has become increasingly true for our civic players and cause-fighters. How do we get the attention of people so they stop what they are doing and attend to our many calls for action and involvement? Why SHOULD they listen? Why should they act and do what we want them to do?
I can say that my experience in the arts and theater have helped me in my civic work. We know that the arts and performance have been part of America’s social change movements for centuries. Our connection to our creative brothers and sisters is a powerful weapon in our arsenal for justice.
The stronger and more potent our core message for change is, the more creative we can be in delivering that message to the public – and the more likely it will land, be attended to and trigger desired action for change.
THE LADDER OF ENGAGEMENT
In 1969 sociologist Sherry Arnstein wrote an article for the Journal of the American Institute of Certified Planners (later merged with the American Planning Association) entitled “A Ladder of Citizen Participation.” In this now famous and oft-reprinted piece she articulated a spectrum of ways to engage people in planning and public work. She was looking at levels of authentic participation where folks have agency and authority.
At the bottom of this ladder is “Manipulation” where people who are included in civic efforts are mere rubber stamps for pre-ordained decisions.
At the top of the ladder is “Citizen Control” where people involved in planning and public work have authority over the matter or program being examined.
In our civic work we should always be working at the TOP of this ladder.
Many thoughtful practitioners have taken this idea of a ladder and extended it to bringing people as individuals along in their own civic journeys.
The way I approach civic work is this – think of a continuum of engagement – where at one end of the spectrum one is asleep and unaware and uninterested in public life – and at the opposite end is running for President of the United States.
As people move along this spectrum they step up and deepen their personal tasks and roles required for increasingly deeper and broader public activity.
Our goal is to move people along this personal civic engagement spectrum – from being unengaged and uninformed to being critically engaged, fully informed and super-engaged. We want to help people evolve from spectators to participants to leaders. So as more and more people move along the spectrum, as a whole, people in a given community move UP the ladder of civic engagement and are not vulnerable to being manipulated by outside agents.
CIVIC LITERACY AND MASTERY
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the question of “What does it mean to have civic literacy?”
Thirty years ago, if you asked what it meant to be “literate” you might have been told it’s about reading a daily newspaper for comprehension or being able to follow directions on a medicine bottle or following a map. But today, with the Internet spewing data and fact-like statements in torrents – the bar has been raised for literacy. Today we think of a person with excellent literacy skills not just being able to read printed materials but to bring some critical intelligence to the material found on the Internet and, to an increasing extent, to be able to AUTHOR original content online.
Now, what about the definition of civic literacy?
I’ve taken my cues from the Civic Mission of Schools campaign. They look at civic engagement with a three-part lens: (1) Civic disposition & civic participation: What is your mindset or appetite for doing public work and civics? Are you generous and optimistic and likely to participate or are you cynical and selfish and disinclined to participate?, (2) Civic knowledge: What do you know about civics for your community, for the country?, and (3) Civic skills: what can you do that advances democracy and civic life in your community? [see https://civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/GuardianofDemocracy.pdf]
Our job is to get people to go DEEP on all three of these domains. Many people would say that they are doing good citizen work by voting every two years, paying their taxes and obeying the law. Others might add occasionally volunteering for a cause or donating to a cause or campaign. But there is MUCH more here and we need to give people hearty civic meals and engage them in all the manner and level of civic work.
I believe I have done pretty well at finding ways to reach, engage and activate people for justice. Since 2005 I’ve done over 150 public meetings and curated 100 workshops. Over 10,000 people have been impacted by this work. We launched the CivicLab and the TIF Illumination Project in 2013. We published “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve” in 2016. We launched the POWER Institute in 2017. This work has made some headlines and caused people to run and win elective office.
We are seeking to re-launch the CivicLab as a physical space in 2018 to deepen and expand this work.
I hope you will join me and my civic colleagues on this journey. Please consider:
Let’s all move along on the civic spectrum!
Tom Tresser
July 10, 2018
April 2, 2009 in Federal Plaza, Chicago at the No Games Chicago anti-Olympics rally