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Mark Brown biography

Mark Brown is a local news columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times who writes about everything from political corruption to family life. Roger Ebert once called …Read More

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  • Brown: Upset about soaring property tax bills? At least yours didn’t go up $86,313

    If some of you experience sticker shock when real estate tax bills show up in the mail in a few weeks, I can only offer this solace: Your tax bill didn’t increase as much as Thomas Gross’ tax bill. Gross, vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Cleveland-based Eaton Corp., will see the taxes on his Trump Tower penthouse jump by $86,313 this year. That will be the single largest property tax hike for any Chicago residence, according to preliminary county tax data obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

    • Brown: Bill Daley a familiar face in one Illinois county — only 101 to go

    Bill Daley is a stalwart of the national Democratic Party, a former Cabinet member to President Bill Clinton, chief of staff to President Barack Obama and campaign manager to almost-president Al Gore. But DuPage County Democratic Chairman Robert Peickert has never met or spoken to …

    BROWN: Catholic Church playing hardball with groups that supported legalizing same-sex marriages

    In an eye-opening display of hardball, the Catholic Church is threatening to cut off funding to local groups that work with the poor for being part of an immigrant rights coalition that endorsed legalizing same-sex marriages in Illinois. The groups in question receive grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

  • Rauner says gay marriage view ‘irrelevant,’ but candidates need to take stand on hot-button issues

    No shortage of preparation went into Chicago businessman Bruce Rauner’s official announcement Wednesday that he will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. A two-year buildup orchestrated by professional consultants culminated in Rauner’s campaign releasing a slickly produced online introductory video in place …Read More

  • Brown: Quinn’s tough call could not be completed as dialed

    Gov. Pat Quinn put on his best tough guy act Tuesday to show reporters he is holding Democratic legislative leaders accountable for the latest failure to fix the state’s pension system. In his first public comments since the General Assembly adjourned its spring session last …Read More

  • Brown: Parking meter swap nothing to brag about — but something to accept

    Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to get political mileage from a revamped Chicago parking meter contract by swapping longer hours for free Sundays falls under the category of too cute by half. But if I were an alderman, all things considered, I’d vote for the deal …Read More

    • Brown: Gay-rights failure is shameful

    SPRINGFIELD — Lee Suarez and Char McAllister drove Friday morning to the state Capitol from the small southern Illinois town of Jerseyville, hoping for nothing more than to return home one step closer to being recognized as full and equal citizens of this nation. Instead, …

    Brown: Springfield ain’t a bad place to be

    SPRINGFIELD — I found myself Wednesday wandering down a long subterranean corridor filled with a bright white light. Far up ahead were two gray doors and behind them, well, not darkness exactly, but definitely a darker place. The doors opened, and heat rushed out to …

  • Brown: UNO’s Juan Rangel takes ‘full responsibility’ but not full penalty

    A whole lot of people have a whole lot invested in making sure the United Neighborhood Organization and its CEO Juan Rangel survive the scandal over insider dealings in its handling of a $98 million school construction grant. From the politicians who benefit from Rangel’s …Read More

  • Brown: No such thing as free parking?

    Free Sunday parking in the neighborhoods. That’s the sweetener Mayor Rahm Emanuel is offering Chicagoans and their aldermen to help swallow the bitter pill of a revised parking meter lease deal. But on Friday the Emanuel administration opened the door for some aldermen to over-ride …Read More

    • CPS closings vote shows it’s time for an elected school board

    Mark Brown: Before Wednesday, I’d never thought it would make much sense for Chicago to switch to an elected school board, given the problems we already face electing good people to the offices we now fill. Then I changed my mind while watching Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s six appointees to the Board of Education vote unanimously to close 50 schools next year despite thoughtful and impassioned pleas from community members begging them to reconsider.

    Brown: Are CHA changes common sense or attack on poor?

    In the Chicago Housing Authority of the near future, rents will no longer vary along with a family’s income, and limits may be placed on time spent living in public housing — all part of a strategy to move tenants “up and out.” For most …

    Brown: Rosemont mayor questions sense of DePaul arena at McCormick

    Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens wanted to be heard Monday on the subject of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to build a $173 million arena at McCormick Place. “I don’t know that it’s economically viable,” Stephens said. Well, that’s not very neighborly of him, I thought, which …

    Brown: Are jabs at Rahm early campaigning? Or just healthy dialogue?

    Former school teacher Toni Preckwinkle may have only been trying to get Rahm Emanuel’s attention with a sharply worded rap on his knuckles on the front page of this newspaper Friday. But in a city still unaccustomed to anyone talking back to its mayor, Preckwinkle’s …

    Mark Brown: Welcome to Rahm’s Grand Illusion

    Appearing soon at a new 10,000-seat arena at McCormick Place: The Amazing Rahm, Grand Illusionist. He’ll razzle and dazzle you with mind-bending feats of job expansion, financial wizardry and most of all, public relations packaging. Was that our mayor last seen trapped in a glass-encased …

    Mark Brown: Vanecko judge should step down — or explain why not

    The elephant in Room 201 of the Rolling Meadows courthouse Tuesday was what the judge handling the trial of Richard J. Vanecko might have to say about a judicial ethics investigation into the circumstances surrounding debts her ex-husband escaped through their divorce. Unfortunately, McIntyre said nothing about either the Sun-Times’ stories or a resulting Judicial Inquiry Board probe.

  • Will ex-judge’s opinion reverse decision to close two CPS schools?

    David Coar served 16 years as a federal judge in Chicago, presiding over such important cases as the city patronage abuse trial of Robert Sorich. That doesn’t make Coar infallible in matters of law or judgment, but it does mean he’s someone to be regarded seriously. And I took it very seriously last week when Coar, serving as an independent hearing officer to the Board of Education, ruled that proposals to close two schools next year should be denied for failing to specifically address student safety issues involved in the move to a new school.

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