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After weeks of sniping over Chicago’s struggle with gun violence, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she called Mayor Lori Lightfoot to request a face-to-face meeting that could start to settle an ongoing debate.
Don’t expect an immediate detente.
“I personally called Mayor Lightfoot this morning and left a voicemail,” Preckwinkle told reporters Thursday. “As everyone knows, there’s no single remedy to the complex challenges of ending violence. I requested in my message that we have a private, face-to-face meeting to start the process of discussing strategies to combat gun violence, which plagues so many of our communities.”
Lightfoot and Preckwinkle were rivals in the city’s 2019 mayoral election, but tension spilled into the months after the campaign as the veteran County Board president and new mayor tangled over how the region’s judicial system treats alleged gun offenders.
Just last week, during an appearance with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Lightfoot suggested county bond reform efforts allow accused gun offenders to return to city streets after their arrest, as if they “went away for a weekend in a hotel.” Preckwinkle retorted with a statement that said she was “disappointed” the mayor “continues to confuse the issues” of gun violence and criminal justice reform.
On Thursday, Preckwinkle said she requested a meeting with the mayor but hadn’t heard back.
“This is about governance, not politics,” Preckwinkle said when asked if there was a feud between her and Lightfoot. “We all know that there’s no single remedy to stopping the violence, but there’s also no denying that Cook County and Chicago are stronger if we work together to address these issues. I’ve said it all along, and I look forward to hearing back from the mayor.”
“Voicemail received and acknowledged,” a Lightfoot spokeswoman said in an email.
Finding common ground might not be easy. Preckwinkle and Lightfoot are at the center of a debate involving the offices of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Sheriff Tom Dart, Public Defender Amy Campanelli, the Chicago Police Department, the department’s union for rank-and-file officers and criminal justice reform advocates.
Preckwinkle and county Chief Judge Timothy Evans have touted changes to the area’s bond court system that are said to keep poor defendants from languishing in jail on minor charges if they cannot afford bail.
But Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, has joined Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s public campaign arguing that the criminal justice system allows too many alleged gun offenders to stay out of jail while awaiting trial.
Preckwinkle has said Johnson “must stop misleading the public” about gun violence. Lightfoot has responded with calls to change the county’s system for bond eligibility and publicize information on who gets arrested and who gets bond. The county public defender, meanwhile, has called for the removal of a city police “Gun Offender Dashboard” database.
At least 44 people were shot, and nine of them killed, over the Labor Day weekend.
Twitter @PerezJr
