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* My last weekly syndicated newspaper column before the holiday break…
Matt Chapman, a self-described data nerd who runs a not-for-profit group called “Free Our Data,” recently filed Freedom of Information Act requests with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. He wanted everything received by the Chicago Tribune this year via their FOIA requests.
Chapman’s trove included text messages sent back and forth between Lightfoot and state leaders, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Most of the conversations were innocuous or polite. The governor thanked the mayor for sending him a bottle of tequila, for example.
But some of the conversations are revealing. On July 14 of last year, Lightfoot informed the governor that the city was “toying with a mandatory mask order for Chicago.”
The governor responded: “Just want you to know we already have a statewide mandatory mask order. It is the law right now during the emergency.”
Pritzker had, indeed, issued a mask order more than two months before Lightfoot was kicking the idea around.
I thought that was weird, but then last week Lightfoot introduced a city ordinance that was basically a copy-and-paste of a bill Pritzker had recently signed into law. Oops.
In August of 2020, during violence and looting, Pritzker sent Lightfoot a text message saying the two should talk about the situation. An hour later, Pritzker sent her another text saying, “I’m hearing reports of activity downtown and want to reiterate my offer of assistance of state police tonight.”
There was no reply. Billionaire Ken Griffin has heaped scorn on Pritzker for not intervening in the city’s violence, but that message shows he was at least trying to convince the mayor to accept state help on one occasion.
In late September, Pritzker told Lightfoot that the state police and the National Guard were “coordinating closely” with the Chicago Police Department through the weekend. “Hopefully we are all over-prepared,” he wrote. “Thanks so much for your leadership,” she told the governor. “I hear from lots of folks that they like to see us working together. Gives them confidence.”
“Agree and also I like working on the same page with you. So there’s that.” Pritzker wrote.
In January of this year, before vaccinations became widespread, Chicago resident Pritzker sent the mayor a Block Club Chicago story about a massive indoor party in the Old Town neighborhood. “How brazen?” he wrote. “This looks ripe for a visit by CPD. !!!”
“On it,” Lightfoot replied.
But there were clearly moments of tension. “Just hearing from one of my city council chairmen that your team is trying to move something on [the sale of the] Thompson Center without presenting a plan to me and my team,” Lightfoot told Pritzker. “We should discuss because that will not happen.”
Instead of replying to Lightfoot’s text, Pritzker sent a link to an online opinion piece written by a political enemy that trashed both him and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike. The piece was believed at the time to have been generated by Lightfoot or her allies because it also heaped praise on Lightfoot’s public health director.
“Thank you,” was all Pritzker wrote. There was no reply.
Organized labor worked last spring to kill a proposal by Pritzker and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association for a statewide mandated paid sick leave law. Lightfoot was also opposed, and she made that known in a text to the governor in late May. “I would like to talk about the paid sick leave bill. We strongly oppose. Let me know when you can talk.” There was no recorded reply.
Senate President Don Harmon often didn’t reply to the mayor’s texts, although that doesn’t mean he didn’t pick up the phone or talk to others.
Lightfoot sent several terse but one-way text messages to Harmon this year, including these in January of 2021: “Don, my folks are bringing me comments that are concerning. If there is no personal issue, you want to address, then let’s have the discussion. … Correction: if there is a personal issue that is of concern, let’s put it on the table.”
A few days later: “A courtesy call regarding the fire pension bill would have been helpful, particularly since there is no funding for it. When that pension fund collapses, I will be talking a lot about this vote.”
And then in May: “It is important that we talk early. The direction things are going is totally inconsistent with what you committed to.”
All of Lightfoot’s texts with House Speaker Chris Welch were cordial. Former House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t do texts.
* But the Tribune had texts going back a couple of years…
In spring 2020, for instance, Lightfoot texted Pritzker a news report analyzing tensions between their administrations as the city was negotiating for a Chicago casino and criticized his employees.
“Gov, this is petty and unnecessary and why we have serious issues with your staff,” Lightfoot texted. “Not smart.”
The next morning, Pritzker responded, “I woke up and saw your text. Texting probably not the best way to communicate. You should call me when you can.”
A day later, Lightfoot texted Pritzker a Sun-Times opinion piece with the headline, “Mayor’s gaffes won’t help Chicago get a lift from Pritzker and Springfield.”
“Super helpful,” she wrote.
Pritzker responded: “Mayor. I didn’t write this nor did I foster it. I get bad press too. Call when you would like.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:16 am
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Lesson. If you don’t want embarrassing stuff to come out like this don’t text or email….
Comment by Levois J Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:30 am
Does she not have staff members begging her to stop texting, or does she just ignore them? I’m guessing it’s the latter, which explains the turnover rate.
Comment by Roman Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:34 am
If you have something to say that is going to make you look like a fool try doing it in person. Text and e-mail never go away.
Comment by Nieva Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:39 am
You’d think someone who was on the board of the BGA which does most of its work with FOIA would know that texts can be FOIA’d. Geez.
Comment by New Day Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:49 am
Lightfoot…the name seems to be a misnomer, or is it just me?
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 9:50 am
When serving as an elected official or other public official only write text messages that you are interested in having recorded in the annuls of history. Don’t be like Governor Hogan of Maryland, and other GOP officials, and utilize encrypted messaging services which automatically delete your messages in order to prevent the public from the benefit of those public records.
I never would have thought Governor Pritzker was a tequila guy but thanks to public records maybe he is, or maybe he’s just polite about confusing gifts.
===The governor responded: “Just want you to know we already have a statewide mandatory mask order. It is the law right now during the emergency.”===
In fairness to the Mayor there wasn’t exactly a whole lot of uniform enforcement or compliance with the statewide mandatory mask order that would have caused the casual observer to believe that such a statewide mandatory mask order was in existence. I imagine that the discussion of whether or not a statewide mask mandate really is a statewide mask mandate if there isn’t statewide action to enforce the mandate could set off entire classrooms of Polisci students.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 10:22 am
We should be glad Lightfoot doesn’t use Wickr: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/12/30/hogan-wickr-messages-disappear/
Comment by JoanP Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 10:36 am
Kudos to the Gov and Harmon. He smart enough to realize its a matter of public record. Kudos to Harmon for just plain ignoring her. If she had any clue she would have a decent lobbyist in springfield keeping her informed about pension bills etc
Comment by Regular democrat Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 10:36 am
Pritzker rocks.
Comment by 33rd ward Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 10:43 am
Honestly, who talks to people like that? Weird. And ineffective.
Comment by Lew Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 10:49 am
===Former House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t do texts.===
Seems like President Harmon took that advice and maybe the mayor should too.
Comment by People’s Republic of Oak Park Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:02 am
===Former House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t do texts.===
Didn’t he also still use a flip phone? I also wouldn’t be surprised if he still uses a rotary dial phone at home too.
Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:30 am
Lightfoot has 0 redeeming qualities.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:37 am
Mayor Lightfoot went from being well under one percent in her first election campaign to winning every ward in the City of Chicago against a very well qualified opponent.
Her background is a lesson for young people in the city and the state that hard work pays off. You don’t need to be a trust fund baby like Trump or Pritzker to succeed in life.
Clearly the texts show if you are going to do harm to the city and it’s citizens Mayor Lori is going to stand up and push back.
In terms of the Mayor’s comment about Team Pritzkers being “petty” - - that was spot on.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:43 am
an elected official without staff who protect/handle her, or who turns over staff quickly, and has little filter/gravitas in every day communications is on her way out.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:45 am
Thank you for posting on the forum, Ms. Mayor. By the way, don’t know if anybody’s texted you about it, but your school district is about to explode with COVID, and the people in charge of it and in charge of coordinating testing appear unable to find their hindquarters with two hands and a Garmin.
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:51 am
Is Back to the Future bizzaro Louis Atsaves?
Comment by AlfondoGonz Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 11:57 am
AlfondoGonz
Hope not. I am usually more temperate.
I just like Mayor Lori.
She really came up the hard way and I feel like she is in my corner as my Mayor.
Pritzker stuck Chicago taxpayers with a $840,000,000 increase in pension expenses and appeared to do a really weird deal on the Thompson Center. Those things along with lack nursing home regulation, underfunding of the hospitals in poor areas and the veterans home failure are things that bother all Chicago voters.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 12:16 pm
I saw Mayor Lightfoot during the primary debates and was very impressed. I thought she was smart and tough.
I spoke with 2 people who worked with her, one at Mayer Brown and one in the Northern District. Both told me she was the exact same thing: a [banned word] idiot.” I substituted my judgment for theirs and supported her election.
She has been the worst mayor in my lifetime and by a wide, wide margin. Unprofessional, incompetent, incapable.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 12:20 pm
Y’all, no way is Back to the Future the Mayor. S/he is way more temperate than our disaster of a mayor would be in this comment section
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 12:20 pm
=Pritzker stuck Chicago taxpayers with a $840,000,000 =
Here’s a thought. If she treated others with respect, had a competent (and consistently-employed) legislative staff, and engaged with both legislative leaders and the rank and file, maybe, just maybe, she’d have a legislative win or two and not just a string of humiliating losses.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 12:22 pm
Joe B
Thanks for the compliment (I think).
Agree to working respectfully to make Chicago a better place to live should be a priority for our elected officials.
Respect is a two way street.
For example, Pritzker designs and implements a program to creat a marijuana business in Chicago and his “design” (passed by the General Assembly) creates an industry that has over a billion dollars in sales and excludes ownership opportunities for every Black, Latino and Woman in the City of Chicago.
I would hardly call Pritzker’s treatment of the majority of groups in our diverse city respectful.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 12:50 pm
Back to the Future? Wow, you’ve got a rather creative view of the Mayor and the governor. Almost like you’re staff or a consultant. Attacking the governor for the Thompson Center deal? Really reaching there, don’t you think. And on pot, perhaps you’ve heard of the Illinois General Assembly - ya know, the people who wrote the original bill.
Pro tip: when defending your person, people take you more seriously and you have a lot more credibility when you acknowledge flaws in your person.
Comment by New Day Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 1:30 pm
It’s quite simple;
Do not text, email, do not write what you can say. Also, take away Mayor Lightfoot’s phone already.
The rest is a narcissist, with an ego, lacking, with a need to say everything in a FOIA way. That’s not great for any elected.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 1:46 pm
Not a consultant or staffer.
Just a voter in Chicago.
I genuinely hope I didn’t come across as representing the Mayor as perfect.
I do admire her life story and think it is important for young people to have an example of how hard work, the pursuit of a sound education and having integrity are things that can be a
good way to set goals and live your life.
IMHO, Chicago doesn’t need a life time insider go along Mayor who puts politics ahead of people.
Comment by Back to the Future Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 1:52 pm
BttF, Lightfoot’s good intentions and admirable background are enough to get her elected apparently, but her lack of self-control, and total lack of political awareness and leadership (see staff leaving in droves and numerous intemperate texts ) are going to make her a one term mayor. What she does have going for her currently, is that you can’t beat somebody with nobody.
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 3:15 pm
==Those things along with lack nursing home regulation, underfunding of the hospitals in poor areas and the veterans home failure are things that bother all Chicago voters. ==
And yet, the Governor is very popular in Chicago.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 3:37 pm
She might not use Wickr, but she does use Signal which is the same thing.
Comment by Anon Monday, Jan 3, 22 @ 4:34 pm