Meet Your Alderman

We welcome 26th Ward alderperson Jessie Fuentes to the podcast. We talk to her about her prior community engagement work, her policy priorities in Council, and great places to visit the 26th Ward.You can find your alderman at this link.Follow us on Twitter/X @TweetUrAlderman.

We welcome 48th ward alderperson Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth to the podcast to kick off the new season. We talk to her about her first year at City Hall and her policy priorities for this session.You can find your alderman here: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/lookup_ward_and_alderman.html

On the final episode of our Meet Your Government Miniseries, Hannah Bernick interviews 2nd-year MPP student Kristina Matysik and our co-host Eric Geber about Chicago's City Council: how it operates vs. how it was intended to operate, and how it stacks up against other cities.Special thanks to Eric and Kristina's teammates: Jayson Cayanan, Meredith Gavin, Colin Maloney, and Julian Varo.

Sarah and Jeff talk to Tina Hone, one of two runoff candidates for alderman of the 5th Ward. Be sure to check out the interview with the race's other candidate, Desmon Yancy here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-14-desmon-yancy-candidate-for-the-5th-ward/id1608576910?i=1000605362524Link to Tina's campaign website: https://hone5thward.com/Follow us on Twitter (@TweetUrAlderman) and DM us any questions you want us to ask future guests!

Sarah and Eric talk to Desmon Yancy, one of two runoff candidates for 5th ward alderman. Be sure to check out our interview with the other candidate, Tina Hone, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-15-tina-hone-candidate-for-the-5th-ward/id1608576910?i=1000605712332Link to Desmon Yancy's campaign website: https://www.yancyforthe5th.com/Follow us on Twitter (@TweetUrAlderman) and DM us any questions you want us to ask future guests!

Sarah and Eric talk to Heather Cherone, political reporter for WTTW and current Prtizker Fellow at the Institute of Politics. Heather provides the inside scoop on the upcoming mayoral and aldermanic elections in the city. If you've got any questions about the election or just Chicago politics in general, this episode is for you.For a comprehensive guide on the Mayoral and City Council Candidates: https://news.wttw.com/elections/voters-guide/2023?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=adwords&utm_content=voter-guide&gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy1mYd_4sgyPI2ui1LkP_GprtuASeQnnsHvZdxUIJ-qwOBgipW2dtSRoCS8EQAvD_BwEYou can find more information on where to vote in Chicago on February 28, 2023 at: https://chicagoelections.gov/en/home.htmlFollow us on Twitter (@TweetUrAlderman) and DM us any questions you want us to ask future guests!

Sarah and Eric sit down with David Axelrod to talk all things Chicago. They covered the city's 2023 elections, David's career in journalism and political campaigns, and the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. For a comprehensive guide on the Mayoral and City Council Candidates: https://news.wttw.com/elections/voters-guide/2023?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=adwords&utm_content=voter-guide&gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy1mYd_4sgyPI2ui1LkP_GprtuASeQnnsHvZdxUIJ-qwOBgipW2dtSRoCS8EQAvD_BwE You can find more information on where to vote in Chicago on February 28, 2023 at: https://chicagoelections.gov/en/home.html Follow us on Twitter (@TweetUrAlderman) and DM us any questions you want us to ask future guests!

On this episode of our Meet Your Government Miniseries, Jeff Bittle talks to Jack Carey and Evan Eising about the city's massive municipal budget: what goes into it, how its crafted, and how the process could be made better. Special thanks to Jack and Evan's teammates: Gabby Meyers, Tomo Yano, and Jiae Myung

Kristan Wong Karinen talks to Oswaldo Gomez about the community engagement (and community organizing) landscape in Chicago. Oswaldo Gomez currently serves as the Vice President of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. Special thanks to Tatum McCormick and Anna Kenig-Ziesler, the other members of the Community Engagement team of the Chicago Governance policy lab.

An interview with Molly Smith, who joins us to talk about what police accountability looks like in Chicago and how the city stacks up against other US cities. Molly Smith is a Master of Public Policy Candidate at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She is also the Editor-In-Chief of the Chicago Policy Review.Special acknowledgement goes to Ally Hardebeck, Quinn Kelly, Emilia Porubcin, and Jack Reams, who contributed research and writing to the final policy memo Molly references throughout the episode.