One of Chicago's six socialist aldermen, Daniel LaSpata, wants to pick the pockets of Chicago’s motorists
Daniel LaSpata was first elected alderman of Chicago's 1st Ward in 2019, defeating incumbent Proco "Joe" Moreno. Last year, La Spata barely avoided a runoff, winning 50.1 percent of the vote over three opponents, including Moreno, who between elections plead guilty to disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice charges -- for which he received probation. Moreno was yet another beneficiary of lenient prosecution by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who thankfully leaves office in December.
The 1st Ward covers parts of Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park.
Are La Spata and Moreno the best that the 1st Ward can offer?
Earlier this month, La Spata was in the news after the City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, which he chairs, voted 8-5 to advance legislation to lower the default municipal speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph beginning in 2026. Expressways and roads that the state controls, such as Lake Shore Drive, are not subject to the measure.
A vote on the bill by the full City Council is not expected until later this year.
Could that be because La Spata doesn't have the votes to pass it yet?
Mayor Brandon Johnson is a supporter of a 25 mph default speed, but he wants it enforced “in an equitable way,” whatever that means.
LaSpata is the lead sponsor of the lower speed limit bill. The alderman, who is frequently seen riding his bicycle in the 1st Ward, says saving the lives of cyclists and pedestrians, not additional municipal revenue, is his primary motivation for slowing down cars. However, La Spata, along with four other City Council socialists, voted against continuing the city's contract with ShotSpotter, the city's gunshot technology system.
ShotSpotter saves lives.
Besides riding his bicycle in the 1st Ward, La Spata was also photographed during a downtown bachelor party bike ride in 2013 dressed in a banana costume with friends wearing monkey masks -- alongside some African American youths. When the photo surfaced during his first aldermanic campaign, he quickly apologized. But the banana bike ride was not a youthful indiscretion, La Spata was 32 years-old when that occurred.
Supporters of La Spata's bill claim that cities that have lowered their speed limits to 25 mph -- those municipalities include Seattle, Boston, and New York -- saw a decline in pedestrian fatalities.
But why stop there? Why not bring Chicago's speed limit down to 20 mph? 15 mph? Would even more lives be saved?
LaSpata has unorthodox views on law enforcement.
The alderman, along with his City Council Democratic Socialist Caucus brethren, favors cutting spending on the Chicago Police. In a group op-ed published by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2020, the socialists wrote, "The police do not make us safer because their fundamental role is managing inequality, not improving public safety."
Really?
Rhetoric such as that, and the knee-jerk overreaction by anti-cop advocates to the fatal police shooting earlier this year of Dexter Reed -- who fired his gun at cops first — has unfortunately led the CPD to less aggressively enforce Chicago's current traffic laws.
LaSpata is one of those politicians who favors a "treatment not trauma" approach to law enforcement.
On the June 22, 2020, Ben Joravsky Show podcast, in which fellow socialist alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez of the 33rd Ward was also a guest, La Spata remarked that their wards shared parts of the 14th Police District. Speaking about that common ground, La Spata said of the cops assigned there, "If we could replace every other officer -- I'll be frank -- with a social worker, or a mental health clinician, or a substance abuse counselor, we are making the job easier for those officers, because we are stabilizing those communities."
LaSpata, in those podcast comments, did not explicitly limit his replace-every-other-cop-with-a-social-worker scheme to only the 14th Police District. It's a fair assumption that he supports that approach citywide.
Earlier this year, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the city is short about 2,000 cops. Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that one of every six Chicago police officers hired since 2016 is no longer on the city payroll.
Chicago clearly needs more law enforcement officers. Do you feel safe?
As for the alderman, there's a new twist on his policing strategy and it involves his speed limit bill.
LaSpata apparently wants to add an unofficial "Karen Brigade" to his proposed social worker army. Perhaps it should be called a "Snitch Legion." One odious part of the speed limit bill empowers residents, including cyclists, to snap photographs of the license plates of cars or delivery trucks illegally parked in bicycle or bus lanes -- and then send those pics on to City Hall. First offenders would be warned, second timers receive a fine.
There are numerous problems with La Spata's Karen Brigades. Let’s start with bike riders. Cyclists for the most part believe traffic laws apply to everyone but themselves. Everyone else on the road, they believe, is the problem. The correct response for bike riders encountering a car or a truck parked in a bicycle lane is to slowdown, maybe even briefly dismount, then go around the offending vehicle. Or call the police.
A bike and bus lane blockage snitch option for residents could lead angry Karens who have scores to settle with neighbors to get even for indignities such as their hosting a loud party but leaving a perpetually offended Karen uninvited. A Green Bay Packer fan who lives on a street with a protected bike lane who plans to unload a large piece of furniture from his car in front of his home might want to remove that Packers lawn sign from his property beforehand.
Many city blocks are plagued with two or more Karens. What happens, LaSpata, if Karen 1 is seen by Karen 2 photographing her car's plates when it's parked in a bus lane and the situation turns violent? Should a social worker be called in to mediate between the Karens?
In her 2019 campaign for mayor, Lori Lightfoot said, correctly, that Chicago government has become addicted to fines and fees related to driving a car. Those charges include parking tickets, tows, and red light and speed camera violations. Some people have been driven into bankruptcy because of their mountain of unpaid tickets. Chicago car owners who have had their vehicles towed and impounded sometimes must pay more than their automobile's Kelley Blue Book value to retrieve it.
Chicagoans, particularly automobile owners, rightly feel like walking ATMs -- they are constantly being compelled to spew out cash into municipal coffers, which are usually empty because Chicago politicians have a reckless spending problem.
During last year's mayoral campaign, both Johnson and his runoff opponent, Paul Vallas, agreed that traffic fines and fees are overly burdensome, particularly for low-income Chicagoans. Now Johnson favors adding to that misery.
LaSpata says that his speed limit legislation is not a cash grab. “We don’t want more money, we don’t want more money,” he claims.
What’s this? A politician who claims not to want more money?
Chicagoans, who may be facing a massive property tax hike, don’t need more cash grabs.
1st Ward voters came close last year into forcing La Spata into a runoff.
Assuming he runs for reelection, they'll have another shot at disposing this rotten banana in 30 months.
