The Tribune recently published a trove of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s text messages with aldermen, offering a clearer view into her relationship with the City Council at a time when Chicago faces tremendous challenges.
Here are additional text exchanges, also obtained by the Tribune in response to open records requests, which provide insight into Chicago government and major events during the Lightfoot administration:
‘Rahm Raid’
Last year ended in scandal for Lightfoot. An errant raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home by police in February 2019 became national news in December 2020 after Lightfoot officials sought an extraordinary order to prevent CBS-2 from airing the footage, setting off a public relations nightmare for the mayor.
City lawyers initially requested sanctions against Young for sharing video of the raid with media, though they later backpedaled, saying they only wanted sanctions against her lawyer. They later dropped the request altogether.
As the scandal unfolded, Lightfoot falsely claimed she “had no knowledge” of the matter and that her administration hadn’t refused to give Young video of the raid.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, after speaking about the Anjanette Young raid, on Dec. 21 of last year. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Lightfoot eventually apologized to Young and the public.
Amid the scandal, Ald. Gilbert Villegas texted the mayor to ask how she was doing.
“It has been a very rough week,” Lightfoot responded. “Hardest that I can remember.”
She received support, though, from an unlikely ally: Former longtime Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, who had just left office and whose tenure was marked by a long-running FBI investigation, though she was never charged with wrongdoing.
“I was contacted today by a Female activist from Englewood who asked me about joining a 1000 Black women March in January against you; asking you to resign and I told her absolutely NOT,” Brown texted Lightfoot. “I told her (that) we need a 1000 Black women to support you and Ms Young and to open a dialogue on what we can do to help you make things better for Black women.”
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“Ridiculous,” Lightfoot responded.
Brown said she told the woman their criticism of Lightfoot would lead to a loss of Black political power in Chicago, as happened after Mayor Harold Washington died and aldermen split between Tim Evans and Eugene Sawyer, which helped Richard M. Daley’s rise at City Hall.
“I told her, then what, you will get what we got after the Tim Evans/Sawyer debacle,” Brown texted.
Shortly after leaving office in late 2020, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, shown the previous year, texted the mayor to say she declined to participate in a planned protest against Lightfoot. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“This is CTU,” Lightfoot responded, seemingly blaming the Chicago Teachers Union. “It will be another 30 years. So stupid.”
Brown asked Lightfoot if she had met Young and encouraged her to “apologize directly to her at her home.”
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In response, Lightfoot said she would call Brown.
Early the following morning, Lightfoot texted Brown to shift blame onto former Mayor Rahm Emanuel:
“The important point is the raid happened while Rahm was mayor,” Lightfoot texted. “3 months before I took office. Rahm Raid.”
“That is the important point,” Brown responded.
‘Calm down’
In fall 2020, Lightfoot’s administration worked with aldermen to pass an ordinance around industrial development. Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson worked to make changes to the law and texted Lightfoot about it, leading to a testy exchange.
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“I talked to my team. We did 4 months of engagement and talked to a number of different developers and many, like Amazon who is building 4 new sites in Chicago, is on board,” Lightfoot said. “I appreciate your clients concerns and if this proves to be a problem, we will fix it. But what we have right now is big polluting concerns ... can get a permit with little oversight and pollute neighborhoods and there is little you as alderman or me as mayor can do about it. That is the problem we are trying to fix.”
Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, shown during a City Council meeting in May, had a testy exchange with the mayor over a proposed ordinance. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Daley Thompson, who is also a private attorney, took offense to the mayor’s text and responded, “I don’t have any clients affected by this. That comment is insulting to me.
“Mayor, I don’t have any issues with you and try to do what is right for Chicago so I would ask you to not go down that road,” Daley Thompson added. “I have a concern for the city and continuing a strong industrial development base.”
He added: “I also believe that we can agree to disagree. I don’t get personal. We probably agree on more than we disagree. I just want to make sure you (hear) from other elected officials who are in the arena and have a different perspective than staff.”
Lightfoot responded: “Patrick my folks told me you said you had been hearing from your clients. It was not meant as an insult. Not sure why you are personalizing this issue. Calm down.”
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That assuaged Daley Thompson, who responded, “Nothing personal. I’m all good and would really like to work with you on this as well as the other issues we jointly care about; making Chicago the best city in the world.”
Several months later, in April of this year, Daley Thompson, nephew of former mayor Richard M. Daley, was indicted on federal charges connected to alleged loans and payments from a now-shuttered bank. He has denied wrongdoing.
Wrangling votes
One of the remarkable elements in the records reviewed by the Tribune is how rarely Lightfoot texts aldermen to ask for their votes for her initiatives.
One example, though, came early in the Lightfoot administration, when the Black caucus led a push to delay legal marijuana sales because not enough Black businesses were benefiting. As Ald. Jason Ervin worked to build support for the postponement, Lightfoot texted Ald. James Cappleman to ask for his vote.
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“Jim, I need your vote today in favor of the cannabis zoning,” Lightfoot said. “The committee is endangering our relationship with Springfield which could lead to a huge property tax increase. If you have any questions, please call me, but I need your vote.”
Cappleman’s responded: “I have a huge problem given the extent of institutional racism to vote against the Black Caucus. They have a viewpoint that I as a white man often can’t see.”
She did not text back, according to the records released by the city. Lightfoot won the battle with the Black caucus. True to his word, Cappleman voted with the Black caucus.
‘No indoor dining’
Ald. Tom Tunney got in trouble last December after he was caught serving customers indoors at his Ann Sather restaurant despite a statewide ban imposed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney texted with the mayor late last year about his restaurant, Ann Sather, getting in trouble for allowing patrons to eat inside, in violation of coronavirus restrictions. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Tunney texted Lightfoot that there was a story on the Crime in Wrigleyville blog “on SATHER serving inside! Will send you statement. Short and simple.”
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But the day after Christmas, he texted her a joke at his own expense.
“Belated holiday greetings from us @ Ann SATHER,” Tunney texted. “Busy but NO INDOOR DINING.”
Lightfoot responded, “Ha! I made potato pancakes from leftover mashed this morning. Thought of you. Yummy! Hope you get a break.”
‘Crickets’
Lightfoot has repeatedly faced criticism for not having enough Latino leaders in her administration, which she has disputed by pointing to Chicago Public Schools head Pedro Martinez and corporation counsel Celia Meza, as well as the mayor’s head of procurement.
In May, city Clerk Anna Valencia texted Lightfoot to tell her that Crain’s Chicago Business was working on a story about the lack of Latinos in the Lightfoot administration.
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“Heads up Crains called me trying to get me to say you aren’t appointing enough Latinos. I didn’t take the bait, nor do I want to play into us fighting one another,” Valencia said. “I praised the fact that we have a Latina as Our chief lawyer and that’s a powerful position. It’s silly and unproductive. Anyhow wanted you to know.”
Lightfoot responded: “Yes, I know. I told them to have them call with their Latino reporter. Crickets.”
Valencia laughed at the text.
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