More on Chicago Governance
City Cast Chicago
ICYMI: Chicago’s Former Watchdog Looks Back on Corruption He Tried to Stop
We wrap up our look back on some the team's favorite stories from this year with a conversation about one of Chicago's most persistent issues: corruption. Lead producer Carrie Shepherd loved that former Inspector General Joe Ferguson held nothing back about how he thinks the city can be better. Ferguson led the office for 12 years, through three different mayors, a federal investigation into the Chicago Police Department, and numerous scandals that have revealed racism, sexism, and political patronage, as well as resulting in indictments of sitting alderpeople. He retired in October. Ferguson tells host Jacoby Cochran how his office kept pushing for more transparency and better government (even when it seemed like nothing would change). He also answers the question: Is Chicago really more corrupt than other cities?
This segment was originally published on Oct. 26, 2021.
WBEZ Chicago
Re Imagine Chicago: Capstone Event
On Wednesday, September 22, WBEZ’s Reset and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government hosted a hybrid in-person and virtual event. Since May, “Re-Imagine Chicago” has asked people to think boldly about the best ways to re-cast our local governing institutions —from city councils, public safety, education, and more. During this event we brought together members of the Chicago community to dive in and discuss the types of changes they believe can most impact the city.
This segment was originally published on Sep. 24, 2021
The Fran Spielman Show
Former Chicago IG Joe Ferguson
Former Inspector General Joe Ferguson is launching a new venture aimed at transforming, what he calls Chicago’s “19th Century machine patronage culture” into a new structure of government capable of solving modern problems.
After a 12-year run as city watchdog, Ferguson resigned last fall to avoid being pushed out by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had frozen out the IG she inherited, openly criticized him and made it clear he would not be reappointed.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
WBEZ Chicago
A conversation with Chicago’s newly retired inspector general
Chicago’s inspector general is charged with getting the mayor and city agencies to be transparent, ethical and accountable. Reset talks with the man who held that job for 12 years.
GUEST: Joe Ferguson, former Chicago inspector general
This segment was originally published on Oct. 25, 2021.