I may be retired from the CivicLab, but I am still active on a number of fronts! Please do subscribe to my “CivicNotes” email newsletter via Substack – it’s the only way to stay on top of my writing, research, training, and organizing work -> tresser.substack.com. Thanks!
Recent writing:
“CIVICNOTES” SAMPLES
Click here to to see a few recent examples of my “CivicNotes” posts.
DOWNLOAD MY TAKE ON “WHAT HAPPENED?” + “WHAT NEXT?” + “THE FAR RIGHT WON THE CULTURE WARS”
FIGHTING TIFs & MEGAPROJECTS (like the Olympics)
- “How to Stop TIFs and Megaprojects: Stories from the Field” – Nonprofit Quarterly, 3/12/25
- Nonprofit Quarterly essay on fighting mega-projects, based on my book on the No Games Chicago campaign – “The Playbook: How to Organize and Stop Megaprojects” – 11/26/24
CURRENT STATE OF AMERICAN CIVICS
- “What Happened? – Part 1” – https://tresser.substack.com/p/what-happened
- “What Happened? – Part 2” – https://tresser.substack.com/p/what-happened-part-2
- “America’s Nonprofit Sector – Stop Whining!” – https://tresser.substack.com/p/amerucas-nonprofit-sector-stop-whining
- “America’s Nonprofit Sector Documents Its Own Powerlessness” – https://tresser.substack.com/p/americas-nonprofit-sector-documents
- “What now? – www.tinyurl.com/TT-NPQ-What-Now – How the nonprofit sector can rally to save democracy – The 100K Project essay from The Nonprofit Quarterly, 12/18/24
- My recent book, published by Routledge Press on the campaign that spiked Chicago’s effort to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics here – “No Games Chicago: How a Small Group of Citizens Derailed the City’s 2016 Olympic Bid.” See the companion website that contains a Strategic Playbook to fight megaprojects. It’s a thrilling story and, hey, we saved Chicago $24 billion!
- My 2016 book that is still reverberating throughout Chicago’s civic ecosystem, “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve.” UPDATED FOR 2024!
RECENT MEDIA APPEARANCES
- Interview on WVON 1/11/25 – https://soundcloud.com/civiclab/wvon-1-11-25 (18:48) – TIFs, civics servant leadership challengeInterview on WVON, 1/11/25 – https://soundcloud.com/civiclab/wvon-1-11-25 (18:48) – covering TIFs, civics affairs, and the servant leadership challenge to America’s nonprofit sector
- My book on the No Games Chicago campaign was a Chicago Reader “Best Nonfiction Book of 2024” – www.tinyurl.com/NGC-Reader-Yr-End-Review, 12-18-24
- Article on Orland Park TIF Forum (my 246th!), Daily Southtown, 10/31/24 – www.tinyurl.com/Orland-Park-coverage
- “Orland Mayor’s TIF plan will dramatically hike property taxes” by Ray Hanania, with video interview with Tom – 9/8/24
Get the book that tells the story of how we saved Chicago $24 billion!
