Rise Chicago

Rise Chicago advocates for inclusive, innovative & practical solutions to restore Chicago’s future We’re focused on educating our electorate & finding new leadership Join our newsletter & follow us to stay in the loop Together we can rise, Chicago! risechicago.org

Editorial: Brendan Reilly for Cook County Board president trib.al/V5YTq2P

“Former Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who oversaw the electronic monitoring program until Beach took office, said in a statement after the attack that his staff does not try to apprehend people who abscond from electronic monitoring and does not notify law enforcement. Instead, they take note of violations and pass them on to the judge at the defendant’s next court date.” 🚨 Reminder that we are electing judges on 3/17. It is critical to ensure we’re electing qualified, experienced judges.

As we begin 2026, we want to share some important news and express our gratitude for your support as we built and launched Rise Chicago. Over the past almost three years, we’ve worked to bring leaders together, elevate community voices, and strengthen civic dialogue across our city. We are proud of what we accomplished. Together, we: • Supported Eileen O’Neill Burke’s election as Cook County State’s Attorney
• Helped educate voters on the first school board election, contributing to the success of six non-CTU candidates
• Advanced public safety conversations and amplifying effective, data-driven strategies
• Provided civic education through our newsletter and hosted multiple small and large gatherings across the city resulting in over 300K engagements, and a lot of in-person dialogue. These wins reflect what’s possible when civic-minded Chicagoans step into the arena. Across the city, we’ve seen people get off the sidelines. Concerned citizens, community organizers, business leaders, and elected officials, coming together to demand better for Chicago. We are a city of big shoulders, bold ideas, and resilient communities. There is a deep and growing commitment to practical leadership and inclusive, community-rooted solutions. As that civic energy builds, and as our team continues leading in their communities, we’ve reflected on how Rise Chicago can best contribute to this shared movement. As we closed 2025, we made the difficult decision to pause Rise Chicago’s operations. Several other organizations are now focused on advancing the same goals, and we have built strong relationships with many of them. Rather than duplicating efforts or competing for the same space, we determined that our objectives could be met more effectively by supporting this broader coalition without maintaining a formal organizational structure. This decision was also shaped by the sudden and tragic passing of our founding board member, Lisa Schneider Fabes. Her unwavering commitment to Chicago and her dedication to this work were extraordinary. Lisa was a dear friend to many, and her loss has been deeply felt across the community and especially within our Rise Chicago family. As part of this transition, I have stepped back from my day-to-day role at Rise Chicago. Our Substack will remain available, and I encourage you to revisit past newsletters as we approach the next municipal election season. We also encourage you to follow the work of @theurban_center, Common Ground Collective, @1futureillinois, The Last Ward Newsletter (@Austin__Berg) , and @ChiSpectator. Thank you for your support and your commitment to our city. The work continues, and together, we will rise.

The problem with what the feds did was imposing their will and militarization on our city without any cooperation, coordination or inquiry into what we need for our local public safety and crime prevention. Had they reached out to @CPDSupt & @saeileenburke and asked “How can we help” they would’ve gotten a MUCH different response and we would’ve likely made a lasting impact from the collaboration. But that’s not Trump’s nor his admin’s goal. They simply want to impose their brand of hate-filled cruelty on our country and the world and that’s not ok. I vocally opposed their efforts (was quoted several times in @business about it too) and will continue to speak out against Trump’s self-serving and shameful tactics when it’s called for. And I’m not a democrat, nor does one need to be to recognize hate, bigotry, misogyny, racism and a general lack of empathy for others. For Trump and his clan of cultist sycophants, the cruelty is the point and I’m not going to sit back and watch it without speaking up, and nor should our fellow Chicagoans and citizens across the country. I appreciate the authors of this article calling out research from our friends at @UChicago’s Crime Lab, who are leading experts on better understanding and solving the underlying problems that lead to crime in Chicago and cities across the world. We need serious people solving our most intractable problems, like crime and public safety, and one thing is for sure, Trump and his henchmen aren’t in the least bit serious, just bad actors with ill intent for our fellow man.

Nice graphic by @ad_quig on where Chicago property tax money goes. 45% goes to Chicago Public Schools, 20% goes to City of Chicago/Park District. Recent inflation has allowed local governments to increase their levies, without asking, 5%.

DSA Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez claims "the only thing we have done is cut spending every year" which is an OUTRAGEOUS lie. Chicago is an outlier in the country as its budget is up 60% since pre-covid.

Same conference where Byron Sigcho Lopez proclaims: “It is the time to fight capitalism, not with Black capitalism or Brown capitalism, but with socialism and not being apologetic about it.” This conference was held at CTU headquarters, by the way.

Tax bills and tempers are running hot, adding even more heat to the city’s budget drama this week.

Wouldn’t be the first time this administration sweeps inappropriate and unprofessional behavior under the rug. Seems to be the theme.

Thank you to @ChiSpectator for their collaboration on this article.

For this week’s newsletter, we collaborated with public safety champions at @ChiSpectator. Bottom line: With CPD already stretched thin, even modest reductions may ripple through neighborhoods least able to absorb them. Full article linked below.

Cortland bridge: CLOSED Halsted @ Chicago: CLOSED Lake Street bridge: CLOSED There’s a legitimate chance Chicago’s infrastructure companies have launched an undeclared three year war on the north side. chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025/0…

Still unbelievable that we lost such a wonderful person. Thank you, Lisa. We’ll miss you tremendously.

Chicago has a spending problem—the latest from @JennyGooz at @RiseChicagoOrg: 🔗⬇️

What happens when retirees earn more than working families? France is finding out, and Chicago might not be far behind. In Chicago, retirees with 30+ years of service receive more than 120% of the city’s median household income. In other words, the average household would be financially better off retired than working. More in a guest post by @StuLoren.

📢 Opportunity to participate in a public safety survey: In July, a majority of voters on the CCPSA voted to support new PROHIBITIONS on CPD's ability to conduct certain traffic stops. This is NOT the final vote and the Commission has requested additional public input.