There’s been a lot of concern about the amount – and the source – of campaign money that’s finding its way into the fourteen aldermanic runoff races currently underway in Chicago. Both Rahm Emanuel and Ed Burke have stated their intention, through political action committees, to funnel cash into their favorite candidates’ campaigns. A third group, known as For a Better Chicago, also has money to spend, although the sources of its funding aren’t officially disclosed.

And  then there are the unions, who have been very active in recent elections.

But our panelists say there aren’t all that many closely contested races, and although there’s lots of money to spend, there may not be that much need for it. If only 3 or 4 thousand voters will turn out in these races, a $50,000 contribution is pretty hefty.

Our panelists are Cindi Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Hunter Clauss of the Chicago News Cooperative, and Ramsin Canon of Gapers’ Block.

There’s an emphasis on education on this week’s show, and to help us sort through the challenges facing the incoming Emanuel administration, we have two experts from Catalyst Magazine – Editor in Chief Lorraine Forte and Deputy Editor Sarah Karp. Hunter Clauss also joins us from the Chicago News Cooperative to bring us up to date on who’s funding whom in the aldermanic run-offs – and to help figure out the sudden switcheroo at the top of the Police Department.

We have fourteen aldermanic runoff races to follow in the next few weeks, so we get started with a special one-hour edition of the Newsroom this week.  It’s a high-powered panel of political operatives, journalists and experts, and we take the fourteen wards with runoffs, one at a time, discussing the candidates and the major issues.

There’s also time for a detailed retrospective on the Mayor’s race and the decisive victory for Mayor-elect Emanuel. There’s even an assertion  from political consultant Delmarie Cobb that the White House intervened with African-American business leaders to pull their financial support from Carol Moseley-Braun’s campaign.  It’s a spirited discussion. (Actually, that’s an understatement.)

In addition to Delmarie, guests include Alejandro Escalona, Sun-Times columnist, Chicago magazine blogger and author Carol Felsenthal and Nadig Newspapers columnist (and attorney) Russ Stewart.

Lou Ransom is Exectutive Editor of the Chicago Defender, and his paper endorsed Carol Moseley-Braun for Mayor immediately before this appearance. The mold, he said, is Richard M. Daley. The Defender asked – do we want another Richard Daley or something else? They decided it was time for something else, and that Carol Moseley Braun offered the best qualifications.

Maria de Los Angeles Torres (Director of Latin American and Latino Studies, UIC) joins the panel, too. She says Rahm Emanuel represents a new breed of Chicago politician – autocratic (like Mayor Daley), but also elitist. He represents a new sector – the super rich.

Jimm Dispensa’s also on this week’s panel. Jimm is with Early and Often, Chicago News Cooperative’s specialized, and highly detailed, election coverage. Jimm gives a compelling tour of the most hotly contested ward races, and talks about the outsized influence external money will have on the coming ward runoffs. By the way – Jimm says there will be no fewer than twenty of ’em.

Dick Kay and Sam Hudzik join us for this week’s discussion.  Dick was political editor for 38 years at Channel 5, and today he holds forth every Saturday afternoon with “Back on the Beat” on WCPT radio. Sam is the political reporter at WBEZ-FM. We talk about the politics of snow and the politics of Chicago municipal government. We also spend a generous amount of time speculating about back-room dealing, legal maneuvering, and all the things we love about local politics.

We also take a moment to celebrate the remarkable work of City spokesperson Lisa Schrader with a special award for her attempt to convince Chicagoans that they should still stuff their credit cards into the parking meters even though the City’s not enforcing them and no tickets will be issued. She received our first-ever Award of Public Relations Valor .

We’ve assembled a powerhouse panel this week to discuss the Rahm Emanuael Residency Question.  It happens that we finished taping the show a few hours before the unanimous Supreme Court decision returning Emanuel to the ballot. But the show’s still really interesting to watch, and here’s why.

Our special guest is Joe Morris, the hearing officer who conducted the Board of Elections hearings a few weeks ago – and concluded that Emanuel should be on the ballot. It’s his finding that the Supreme Court upheld overwhelmingly.

Our other panelists are Chicago Reporter Publisher Alden Loury and Tribune columnist/blogger Eric Zorn.

The panel was aware that a decision was imminent, and there was a detailed discussion of the actual issues facing the court.  We also talked briefly about some of the issues that simply aren’t being addressed by any of the candidates – such as disproportionate minority unemployment.

We’re pleased to have Chicago Reporter Editor Kimbriell Kelly and Sun Times Columnist Mark Brown in the Chicago Newsroom this week.  Mark admits that he actually spent some time reading the entire Office Of Federal Housing Enterprise Authority Dec. 2003 Report of the Special Examination Of Freddie Mac. He did that so we wouldn’t have to, and we’re extremely grateful.

He concludes that the report doesn’t blame Rahm Emanuel for precipitating the housing collapse, as certain of his opponents have implied.  But the likely next Mayor of Chicago did make $320,000 for his 14 months of service on the Freddie Mac Board, and that work involved as few as nine meetings, Brown says.

Kimbriell expands on several pieces the Reporter has done recently, including a chilling story about what the actual jobless rate is among men in Chicago’s African American communities.

Our conversation today reignites the rhetorical question – why would anyone actually want to be Mayor right now?

We also salute our partners at the ReBuilding Exchange, who built our fine new table using salvaged lumber from recently-demolished Chicago houses.

Andrew Patner (critic-at-large for WFMT and Sun-Times classical music critic) is our distinguished solo guest on today’s show. We talk about the death penalty in Illinois, the mayoral election and the fallout from the Tucson shootings.

But we spend the bulk of our time discussing the baffling changes at the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which has essentially ceased to exist after its brutal merger with Special Events.

Andrew laments the dismantling of  a highly-renowned Department that produced hundreds of world-class events every year – especially since the reorganization didn’t really save much money.  It’s an interesting, and highly recommended, conversation.

It’s our first really detailed look at Chicago’s Ward races on this week’s show. Ten of the Council’s fifty seats have no incumbent this time, and at least another ten seats are so strongly contested that some experts believe forty percent of the City Council could change hands in May. That’s pretty dramatic, and today we look at the most heated races.

Three experts join us – Kathy Chaney, Web Editor of the Chicago Defender, Fernando Diaz, Managing Editor of Hoy newspaper, and Nadig Newspapers’ political columnist Russ Stewart.

It’s our year-end program, and we enjoy a relaxed conversation with Chicago Reader columnist and author Ben Joravsky. We talk about the state of education in Chicago and the legacy of Mayor Daley. Tax Increment Financing, the CHA and President Obama’s Lame Duck legislative juggernaut are also up for discussion.

And if that’s not enough, Chicago Newsroom scores a major scoop – an exclusive, if wholly unwanted, interview with the charismatic Alderman of the 53rd Ward, Ed Bus. Ald. Bus is running for Mayor, or so he claims. And why is his campaign gaining in popularity?  Well, he’s always voted for everything Mayor Daley has wanted, and he carries a couple of bags of Sakrete around in the trunk of his Cutlass in case he sees a pothole in his idyllic ward.

Is Ed Bus for real? You decide.