The Back Room Deal features radio personality and longtime Reader political writer Ben Joravsky arguing local Chicago politics with Reader staff writer Maya Dukmasova. With sharp wit and stinging analysis, Joravsky and Dukmasova cut through the smoky haze of the elections to offer you a glimpse of the current Chicago races—ward-level and, of course, mayoral. Will these historic elections be determined in back-room deals, like so many in Chicago’s past? Let Ben and Maya talk you through it. v
The front man on all those TIF deals: the 40th Ward
The public face of some of Chicago’s worst deals—the Olympics, ongoing TIF deals, and the parking meter sale—is City Council’s new finance committee chair, and Ben and Maya have plenty to look at in his ward.
