Why Did Wieners Circle Shade the Mayor? Plus, Soxtober Returns

0:00We like to say Illinois is in the middle of everything. You can visit Chicago to soak up them lakefront views, check out our neighborhoods, or indulge in iconic cuisine while discovering world-class museums. You can take the scenic route and chase change in colors across state parks, forests, and trails. You can check out small-town Illinois for quaint shops, cozy eateries and seasonal celebrations, or be nostalgic out on Route 66 with neon lit diners, vintage motels, and historic landmarks. Find exactly what you're looking for and even more at enjoyilanoid.com. This is CityCash Chicago. I'm Jacobi Cochran and here's what Chicago is talking about. The CityCash Chicago monthly guy is brought to you by our friends over at enjoyilanoid. I love heading to their website to check out their fall colors trip planner where you

1:03can find a peak time for fall foliage across the state. They've also got amazing road trips and itineraries for you to download. Jess, I want to ask you, as we are headed directly into fall, we're still reminiscing on the best of summer. What was your favorite thing you did for yourself this summer? Absolutely, it's got to be visiting the late multiple times a week and getting some swimming in and by swimming. I mean floating because I mean not a strong swimmer. I would be honest, I'm not a strong floater. I can get to the edge, get back to the beach if I need, but the minute I stop, it's over. It's over for your boy. I need to continue to work on my floating and I didn't do enough of that practice this summer. Next year. I'm glad you got out to the lake. That is Jessica Mordak, reporter with Austin Weekly News in the Forest Park Review. Thank you for joining us again on the podcast. Thanks for having me. Patrick, over to you. I got to see you out. Plants some softball this summer. Boy, I want to know what is the best thing you did for yourself this summer?

2:04I highlight was definitely going to O'Clair, Wisconsin to go to the O'Clair Music Festival that's put on by Justin Vernon of Boni Verr. It was just like an amazing communal, really kind of like hippie music festival up there in Wisconsin. I got to see one of my favorite artists, Dijon. Come on. Play up there. Then Justin of Boni Verr himself did a whole set as Bob Dylan called Bon Dylan. It just did a whole set of Bob Dylan covers. It was really right in my bag. I love that for you. I spent a lot of time in O'Clair in college. So shout out to the University of Wisconsin, O'Clair speech team. One of a couple tournaments up there in my heyday. So I love any time people get up there and get to enjoy those parts of Wisconsin. That is Patrick Philbin from Block Club, Chicago. Welcome back to the podcast. My guy. Thanks for having me. Hey, today we are talking about a local restaurant adding its voice to the mayor's

3:05race. A new plan to close the life expectancy gap in Garfield Park. And where to find legendary artist Hebrew brandlies newest Chicago statue. You don't have to stick around for the end for the intersection. But Pat, let's start here with the winner circle. Most people I know have been cussed out by the employees at the women's circle. I've been cussed out by Pucci multiple times and have been glad to have her on the show. And in recent years, if you even if you're just walking by, you might see their marquee trolling somebody in town. I saw Pucci cussing out the clips earlier this year. They've encouraged Ben Johnson and the Bears to take the shirt off. But back in September, they weighed in on the mayor's race to what I would call sort of split reaction. What went down? Yeah. So they're kind of like known as you said for like having a neck of using their marquee for these like really viral moments. Like you said, the Ben Johnson took a shirt off for free hot dogs for the whole city.

4:10And a couple of weeks ago, they had used the marquee to lay out a pretty simple question, which was, are you tired of Brandon Johnson yet? And I think this caught a lot of people off guard because they weren't sure where it was coming from. And that's going to when I started to find out and ask who actually owns the winner circle. And I had learned and I didn't know this before. But one of the co-owners is Matt Brewer and Matt Brewer was the former chair and head of CHA. Um, I go housing authority for people who may not be familiar and we covered that a few months ago. Not only was he on CHA, but during his time there, him and Mayor Brandon Johnson didn't necessarily always see eye to eye. Yes, exactly. And just really quickly to recap, Mayor Johnson wanted Alder, um, Walter Burnett Jr. to run the CHA to run the Chicago housing authority. Um, and Matt Brewer, who was running the board at the time, him and his other board members

5:11appointed, uh, someone else, Keith Pettigrew to run that. And Mayor Johnson kind of took that as a slight, demoted Matt Brewer, um, from his post. And I think that's kind of, um, one of the big reasons why I wanted to even cover the story because I think, you know, it's, it's a neighborhood story, but it's also a Chicago city, politics story, you know, the Weeners Circle known as this neighborhood institution that people, um, love and I loved to like be in on the joke with. But then when they kind of went, uh, you know, down this road and, you know, Matt, uh, hosted one of his campaign rallies at the Weeners Circle, people I think were a little confused or phoenix by, um, you know, his intention to use this beloved city platform as a place for his campaign slogan. I think, uh, really kind of, uh, you know, ruffles and feathers. And 100% it feels like it's a win for Brewer, right? To establish himself and remind people, right?

6:14He's on this establishment since 2015. He owns some other businesses in the city, but let's be honest. Prior to the CHA drama and even after it, most Chicagoans, I know had no clue who Matt Brewer was or is. And so him holding a fundraiser at the Weeners Circle, him choosing to use it as his stage makes sense because as you point out, it is a beloved stage for people. And so I understand why he's doing it. But as a business owner, bringing potentially that kind of additional controversy, because we're not afraid of controversy, that additional potential controversy to your doorstep seems interesting. Because again, as you go in the comments, it wasn't one side it. There were people openly campaigning for Brandon Johnson. There were people openly blaming the city council, uh, for, uh, sort of continued gridlock on big issues. There were people who called it out for being tasteless. Of course, there were people in full support of Brewer and the Weeners Circle and thought this is exactly how they should use their platform.

7:15But I don't think it garnered the results. He was necessarily expecting. Yeah, I think that's right. Like you said, I think he's, um, you know, lived a, you know, and worked a really private life. He's been a lawyer for a long time. And I think, yeah, when we think about the Weeners Circle, we think of Poo Chi and the other really big personalities and the fun and having a good time over at the Weeners Circle. Um, yeah, Matt's really putting himself out there in this way. And I asked him about what kind of like risks he is taking. And he did say that he, um, he thinks it would be kind of like a bigger risk to not, you know, put his name out there. But I do think it's like a really interesting test. I do think ultimately the Weeners Circle will be fine, right? Next week, there will be another marquee and there'll be another one. I don't know if we'll have that big splash as it relates to like putting, pushing up his polling numbers. Pat, have you stopped by the Weeners Circle?

8:15Have you heard from employees or customers or how they've taken it? And then my second question is, is it still up? So second question, it's not still up. They changed that those signs out in the marquee out pretty much every day. Some will stay up for two days. Some will be, you know, just an afternoon. Um, so it's not still up. I think it was one of those short-lived ones. Okay. And I did talk to a bunch of customers that afternoon when I met Matt over at the Hotdog stand. Um, and most of the people, you know, did not know that the owner of the Weeners Circle was running for mayor. But I think the, the customer base of the Weeners Circle is just like so broad. And you know, you'll get the young people in Lincoln Park and Lake Fuego in their late night. You'll get kind of the old timers before of Cubs game. You'll get kind of like the classic. But yeah, you're just kind of getting all people from different walks of life. Transplants to receive. Exactly. Yeah. Big, yeah, huge tourist destination. Um, and so I think for that reason specifically, maybe it's like, it's, it's different from

9:22a lot of local businesses in the city because it does attract such a broad customer base that maybe because of that, a, a, you know, like a mark here, a flag planting of this sort is not that much of a hot button or like kind of like a hot rod, um, issue. Um, so I, so I think they'll, they'll, yeah, agree with you, Jacobi. I think they'll be able to withstand this. I'd love to hear from our listeners, 7737A00246. Were you familiar with this story? And if so, what was your reaction? Providence town, 1947, one room to massive ass egos and the moment American theater called fire Johnny, Galecki is Tennessee Williams, brilliant, desperate and searching for his Stanley, Kawalse. Jacob, Moskovitz is Marlon Brando, 23 years old, raw and utterly unpredictable.

10:24Kawalse, the first meeting becomes a razor sharp, dangerously seductive battle of wheels. Every word is a challenge, every silence, a power play on the eve of a streetcar named desire, ambition collides with artistic truth, and neither man is willing to blink before the legend, before the icon, there was this room. Seek Kawalse, the electrifying new play by Greg Ostrin, directed by Colin Hanlon, live on stage at Chicago's looking glass theater. One audition to towering talents, a moment that changed everything. Purchase tickets now at lookingglasstheater.org. That's lookingglasstheater.org. Jessica, over to you, earlier this year, the West Side celebrated the opening of the San Cofo Wellness Center, a multi-million dollar investment that is a campus that offers healthcare resources, the entrepreneurial business hub, a center for arts and activism, a grocer initiative. But the effort to bring more attention, more resources, more investment to West Garfield

11:30Park and broader Garfield Park does not end there. There is a new initiative that I'm really excited to learn about today. Yeah, the Garfield Park quality of life plan, they introduced it rather last month in September. The Garfield Park right to wellness collaborative was kind of the one who spearheaded the effort. And they were also the ones who won the Chicago Prize in 2022, which kind of started the development of the San Cofo Wellness Village. When they started planning out efforts for this wellness village, they also began as with many development projects, holding community meetings to see what residents in the area were looking for both out of this village and on a wider scale. And that is kind of when this quality of life plan first began. The idea of a quality of life plan, right, you see it in many neighborhoods throughout Chicago. But the idea of right is to improve the health of a community, economic opportunity, safety,

12:36et cetera, to improve the quality of life of the area. And there as you point out, there have been ones in I think humble park, back in the yards, Inglewood, Pilsen, other parts of the city as well. Absolutely. And as you said at the top of this episode, Jacobi, it is ultimately addressing the life expectancy gap, right, in West Garfield Park. For example, life expectancy is 66 years compared to the Chicago average that's closer to 78. So this quality of life plan. So it's a couple of years gap. And we're talking about potentially just a couple miles over. Right. So at its root, the quality of life plan does aim to address that gap in life expectancy through multiple areas. After community engagement meetings, et cetera, working groups developed nine different pillars that they were looking to address in this plan.

13:36We've got arts, media and technology, business and economic development, education and workforce development, health and wellness, housing real estate and green space, parent and family support, public safety, recreation and entertainment and youth development. So you've got working groups for each of those pillars that have identified multiple strategies on how to improve those areas in Garfield Park and local groups who have been working in those areas, right? Because you're not starting from scratch with this plan. You've got a lot of organizations who have been working towards improving these areas for years. And then right, each of the areas have a captain that is meeting monthly with collaborative in order to measure successes. While the nine pillars seem like a beast and a half of a plan to me, the executive director of this collaborative that's heading it, her name is Dreas Latter.

14:40And she was saying that it took right four years to develop this plan more or less. And that now that that has completed the implementation of the plan seems very doable against that, which to her point speaks to the nature of this collaborative as like a convener of organizations across Garfield Park. It's not just the collaborative that is working to implement this quality of life plan, but many community groups and residents across both of the neighborhoods. I love that. Can you paint a picture for people who may not be familiar who only know Garfield Park is the conservatory when they go through? You know, why is this quality of life plan needed beyond just that life expectancy gap, right? That's tragic in itself, but can you paint the picture of Brother Garfield Park? Yeah, absolutely. You have multiple Westside neighborhoods that have been systemically disinvested from for the last several decades, right?

15:40You're just not seeing as many city dollars, state dollars headed in those neighborhoods as some others in Chicago by comparison. And specifically when you're looking at Garfield Park, right, you've got East Garfield Park and West Garfield Park. I was going to say there's a East West dynamic here as well. When I was speaking with Dreia, who's the executive director and a little bit older than I am, she was talking about growing up in Garfield Park and remembering it as one neighborhood, right? Not really remembering when it split into East and West. And what exactly that division entailed. And she was saying that one of the only other quality of life plans for the area was in 2005 and was more for East Garfield Park than West Garfield Park. So because of that, East Garfield Park does have, I guess a little bit more development, more options for housing, part of that. I mean, can be chalked up to the quality of life plan, but also you've got initiatives like in 2014, the large lot program, right, where homeowners and organizations could

16:46buy vacant lots on their block for a dollar a pop. You've got East Garfield Park's proximity to West Loop, right? So it's going to say it's closer to the United Center to Fulton Market. The park is in East Garfield Park. Right. You've inherently got a little bit more development, a little bit more housing. And there's also right, the presence of community organizations like breakthrough based in East Garfield Park, right, have had a lot of affordable housing initiatives. They've got a woman's shelter that they've constructed a community center that they've built. So a lot of things that were positioned in East Garfield Park to drive growth that this collaborative is now hoping to bring West Garfield Park up to the same, I guess, level for lack of a better word. Drea was saying that many community members felt that the plan needed to include both East and West Garfield Park, that the whole Garfield Park needs to heal.

17:49Drea said that the whole Garfield Park needs to experience this renaissance that is happening on the West side. So excited to see what's coming in the coming years in terms of this quality of life plan. It might be slow rolling out, but there's already been a couple of successes via the San Cova Wellness Center, a lot of city escaping, etc. As I'm going to say, the wellness center, right, infrastructure improvements. This is thing people in the neighborhood can touch, a new grocery store, something they can touch. We see a plan or a committee, right, people kind of go, what is this ultimately going to result in? Is there anything tangible beyond just improved access to healthcare affordable housing opportunities? Is it anything they want to see built, something they want to see changed in Garfield Park over the next couple of years from the conversations you've had? I think the wellness village absolutely checks those boxes. We've also got the K entrepreneurial business hub, which provides resources for small business

18:56owners and economic banking opportunities, etc. You've got the MoFA Center for Arts and Activism, and then you've got this community Grocer initiative that you briefly touched on, like the physical grocery store or food resource that people are hoping to see in West Garfield Park. So they're often running with this quality of life plan and we're excited to see what's next. Before I move on, Pat, anything you want to contribute to the conversation? I could just jump in and just say, yeah, I think it kind of feels almost, yeah, just kind of really daunting without the work of those local organizations. So it's really just another example, especially in the city, as big as Chicago. These type of, you know, pie in the sky type of plans are really just, you know, don't really kind of reach their goals without the work of the local organizations.

19:56100%. Like if this was a city-led initiative, I may be sitting here with more skepticism, but the fact that it was developed by the community and the community as Jess points out, they've identified neighborhood captains and working groups. There's a system for checking in. There are already organizations that are participating. You've already got a multi-million dollar investment that people can see, touch, and going utilize in the community, but it doesn't stop there. And so I appreciate the collaborative nature of this, the fact that, you know, we can talk about the disparities from one neighborhood to the next, but they're willing to talk about the disparities within their own neighborhood and community area and like, how do we improve that divide? And so my hope is that, you know, during this process of city council elections, right, that the alders in this neighborhood are held to task on how they plan to uplift this quality of life plan. And I just say we support this. But how can you also put some skin in the game, be on simply being the alder who signs

21:02their name on it? And so I'm really looking forward to learn more about this. And if people want to follow, just as reporting, we're going to drop links in the show notes. Enjoy Illinois's pick of the month is enjoying the fall season in champagne or bana, whether it's checking out them fall colors, catching the fight in the line night game, picking some pumpkins at the great pumpkin patch or just enjoying the first and only dark skypark in Illinois. Champagne or bana has the perfect fall activities for you. So plan your trip now and enjoy Illinois dot com. Now let's get into it. Every episode of city cash Chicago ends the exact same way and that is with me. Nicely asking you to bring your ass back here for the next episode. But before we do that, some good news. Pat, what is your good news for us today? My good news is that for the first time since 2005, it's been about 20 years.

22:06The last time the white socks had won a playoff series. First time in MLB history that a MLB team is made to the playoffs after two consecutive 100 loss seasons. It's actually three so that the first time to do that. But yeah, I grew up a white socks fan. It's been a really tough go of it the last few years, including a personal year long boycott for me after they let Jason Benetti go. The beloved TV announcer. I really did kind of tried my best to put my money where my mouth is and did not give them any of my hard earned dollars for a good calendar year. But I'm back. And this team is it's young. They're fun. They're feisty and they're really easy to root for. And yeah, I'm all the way back. So the white socks moving on to Cleveland. I believe the series, the division series starts on Saturday and then they'll play at rate field. I think next Wednesday for game three.

23:08Yep. Wednesday, October 7th. They will be back. Pat, I'm glad this is your good news, man. Like I've covered it pretty generally throughout the week. Like we record the day before. And so I've always had to be like, maybe we're playing tomorrow. Maybe we're not. And now I see here us officially in the next round. And it's really crazy to think that in my lifetime, make the playoffs handful of times. Only one playoff series when I was a freshman in high school and now. One great thing about the socks is when they win a playoff series historically, they tend to go go a little far. They tend to do it when they when they get some W's under that belt. But before I start forecasting the chances of us knocking off Cleveland, I just got to like lean into the one, the swag of this team watching them play baseball. It's clear not just South Sideers and Chicagoans enjoy it, but people around the country enjoy

24:08watching Wysauk's baseball right now. I'm really hopeful and hoping that this story continues that we have more to celebrate. And I want people to know I don't sit here and take joy. And the fact that one team swept and another team got swept and MVP candidate didn't play like one like I'm not sitting here taking any joy from that. Only four times. I think in history, we've been in the playoffs at the same time. Like deep in my heart, I want the cross town series y'all. I want it. Of course, but it's not going to be this year. Not going to be this year. So that till next year, Addison. Until next year. But for now, we down on 30 fifth rocking out. And so I'm really excited. Jess, do you have any skin in the game? Cause versus socks? Um, I do. Well, and our like executive director, Max, Ryan Storff is grandson of Jerry.

25:14So our office culture, though we're a small nonprofit is like. This year, we got to go to a socks game for the first time for like team bonding. And that was very special. But it is, it's very much like if you're not a socks man, you and I, we're going to, we're going to talk to you differently about it. You ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. Man, can't tell me nothing today. Can't tell me nothing. And even if the weekend don't go our way, I'm good. I'm good. I'm, I'm, I'm going to take this all the way through the fall in the winter, all the way through. I feel like we're playing with house money already with this year and with this team. And yeah, anything they do from now on is just icing on the cake. Jess, over to you, what is your good news for us today? Yeah. Mine, good news is about Chicago artist, Teabru Brantley. He grew up in Bronzeville. His most recent piece of public art in Chicago, I do believe is in the Austin community. Yep. Off of, uh, Chicago Lockwood.

26:15Yeah, Chicago. There you go. The sculpture was installed in 2024. So she's been there for a second, but uh, he grew came back in September to see it for the first time since it was installed. So that was very exciting to see pictures on Instagram. Unfortunately, I wasn't there when he visited, but there were a lot of really lovely images of him smiling next to this statue, along with a couple of locals who were also there. He's got, he brantley's got public art around Chicago that listeners have probably seen. Uh, most often he's doing murals of this character fly boy. It's this little guy with goggles and a green cap that was inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen. Um, and his sculpture in Austin is the female counterpart to that. She's called fantastic flying little mama. So it was very exciting for me in, in 2024 when she was installed to see that Austin

27:21got a Hebrew brantley. I mean, there are a lot of great Hebrew either statues or murals. I know it was a great mural up. I think it's near uptown. Um, there is the statue at Navy Pier that I always take a picture of when I'm down to see the good people over at WBEZ. Um, and so yeah, I'm really just excited that he got to come back. That there got to be an event around it. The Austin Power 5 K-Rome was happening during that celebration. And so I just think it was a great opportunity for people in the neighborhood to put a face to the name, uh, to see Hebrew up close. Absolutely. It's impressive to see in person too. It's always, you know, much larger than you think it might be. You see pictures of him standing next to it and you feel like he's like six five. He's a, he's a real big guy. So the style is impressive in person. I have no idea how tall it is off back, but it looks very beautiful. I think people should go and check it out. If you want to see a picture of it, I'm going to drop a link for you in the show notes.

28:22I am going to close us out. My good news today is block club Chicago's end of the summer block party is taking place. Tomorrow they're going to have live music. They're going to food out there. There will be activities for the kiddos. There's going to be games and so much more. It is going down starting at noon till 9 p.m. at half acre beer, 2050, West ball moral. It's free. So pull up. They're going to have some great DJs out there. Ingle with arts collective, live painting, cosmic underground theater and uh, you already know who going to be out there. The tumblers. The tumblers. You can't miss the tumblers when they out y'all. All right. Then they're going to be doing a live podcast recording at five o'clock. Again, I got links for you in the show notes. If you're looking for more events to pack your calendar this weekend, head over to Chicago dot city cast dot FM and bookmark our events calendar. If you want us to send those events directly to your inbox, all you got to do is sign up

29:24for our daily newsletter. Again, Chicago dot city cast dot FM in the meantime and between time. Join me in thanking our wonderful guests today from the Austin weekly news and the forest park review. Jessica Mordek. Thank you for making time for us. Thank you so much for chatting. It was a real blast. And from block club Chicago going to be out at the block party this weekend. Y'all make some noise for Patrick Filman. Pat good to have you back with us. Thanks, Jacobi. Always a pleasure to hang. Before we get out of here, I want to thank the entire team who helps make city cast Chicago what it is. Our interim executive producer is Michelle Navarro. Our creative producer is Emmy Mac. Our audience development manager is Chima Okoro. Post production by none other than PJ Shahamit are roving producers this week. Jessica Puppel-Vac and Laura Condorajian. The music we all love is from Sam Thousand, all the kimonos and Mark Greenberg from the Mayfair workshop. We are going to be back in your inbox and fees bright and early on Monday.

30:26Hopefully you can make some time for us. I'll see you then. Peace. And when I say see you then, I mean it because we on YouTube now.