Ford has an affable personality and a resonant bass voice that usually makes him seem relaxed and confident. But lately he can’t avoid showing some frustration.
“Things were getting better when the real estate market was good. Everybody was doing renovations. Look at this one.” He points to a frame house with a new roof. The house is boarded up. “When the bubble burst, the people who did the new renovations, they lost their homes.”
Only substantial public investment can stop the bleeding, he argues—like incentives for new businesses. Instead, the government seems to be cutting its losses. Ford waves toward McNair Elementary School, a recently rehabbed brick building that stands out on a troubled stretch of Cicero Avenue. It’s on the list of schools that Mayor Rahm Emanuel may shutter this spring. “That’s not a good sign, when you’re going to close a school you just spent $50 million to renovate,” Ford says. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
It’s not the only thing that doesn’t add up right now for Ford. Not so long ago, he was one of the feel-good stories in politics. Now he’s hoping to avoid prison.