Category Archives: “More Public!”

Special Offer for “Outside the Loop” Listeners!

Tom Co-Designs New Leadership/Candidate Training for Cultural Workers!

I am super proud and excited to announce that I am co-designing and will be part of the delivery of an amazing eight-week leadership/candidate training program aimed at artists and cultural workers that is being delivered by a partnership between the 100K Project, the National Guild for Community Arts Education, and the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium.

This is a civic leadership program designed to equip artists, cultural workers, and creative organizers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to campaign and build people power at the state, local, and national levels. The program is via Zoom for two hours, beginning October 9. Learn more.

Sign up to attend a one-hour info session on Thursday, September 11 at 1pm Central Time.

We Need “More Public!”

In reponse to the Disaster Election, I am hoping to start a movement for “More Public!” and “Great Public!” in America. We need to celebrate, defend, and extend all things “PUBLIC” – so follow and share via BlueSky -> https://bsky.app/profile/morepublic.bsky.social.

Attend a No Games Chicago Book Event!

GET THE BOOK TODAY!

Join me on Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30pm at Temple Sholom Chicago where I will be talking about the book in the context of fighting mega-projects that seek massive public subsidies of land and dollars. Right now, in Chicago, three billionaire sports team owning families want to build three new stadiums and are pushing hard for up to $6 billion in public dollars to help them build these private projects! Hell, no! There is no charge, and the event will be in person plus streamed. Registration is required.

Tom’s Book on No Games Chicago Now On Sale!

I am thrilled to announced that my book on the No Games Chicago campaign from 2009 is now on sale from Routledge Press! Use this link (feel free to share widely)-> www.tinyurl.com/Get-NGC-book. It’s a dramatic story with international intrigue, a few Davids going after many Goliaths, daring tactics, civic thuggery, attempted bribes, and a real-life spy! Although the organizing took place in 2009, the lessons learned and unlearned are striking for Chicago and the rest of the country. For one thing, three white billionaire families who each own a sports team are all angling for BILLIONS of public dollars to build new stadiums! Sound familiar? And, across the USA, another eight cities are proposing massive public subsidies for stadiums – over $10 billion for those places. The price tag for Chicago’s greedy team owners has been estimated to be at least $3 billion and perhaps DOUBLE that! Buy the book. Sign the petition demanding NO PUBLIC SUBSIDIES for stadiums.

Read my op-ed from Crain’s Chicago Business from July 29, 2024, “Let the billionaire owners pay for their teams’ stadiums themselves.”

Subscribe to “CivicNotes” and Keep Up With My Work

Get a copy of “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve” via Issuu (view on your device) for $15. Get a hard copy mailed for $20 (+shipping). Order a copy of my book on the No Games Chicago Campaign (20% discount with promo code “AFLY03”). Make a non-deductable investment in Tom’s work via PayPal.

June 2023 – Dear Civic Comrades, Neighbors, Allies, and Supporters – After ten years of working on the CivicLab, I am stepping back from operations and much of the work of the CivicLab. I will stay involved with TIF training. Health issues have caused me to scale back my activities and I will not be updating this site. If you would like to stay connected and follow my new work, research, and writing (one book coming out in mid-2024 and another in the works), please subscribe to my Substack newsletter at http://tresser.substack.com. Thank you for all your support and interest over the years!

My take on What Happened (Disaster Election) – Part 1. Part 2.
My call to action for America’s progressive sector – from The Nonprofit Quarterly – What Now? It’s a call for a radical change in focus and behavior!

Tom explains TIFs and Illuminates the TIFs of Kane County and Aurora in his 225th public meeting since 2013. He was the guest of Aurora Alderman John Laesch and Working Families Auroura. They are working to stop the city of Auora from giving a billionaire casion operator $58 million in public TIF dollars! Sign the petition.

All Illinois TIF Illumination Covered On WGN Radio

Listen to “Outside the Loop” radio from March 18 for an interview discussing our first-ever all Illinois TIF Illumination! https://soundcloud.com/civiclab/wgn-3-18-23 – Special thanks to our funder, the Muckrock Foundation!

Watch the Video – “Grassroots Campaigning 101”

***We need to win and govern for peace, justice, and equity!***

Hey, want to help stop a Right Wing White Supremacist Plutocracy from taking over America and completely pulverizing safety nets, public education, civil liberties, and other good stuff? The only solution is that people who stand for justice, peace, opportunity, and equity MUST run for local office and then GOVERN. Learn how to start down this path (or help others to do so) at our “Grassroots Campaigning 101” workshop. We had two amazing guests visit and drop knowledge – master campaigner Rebecca Reynolds Williams and Founder/CEO of My Block My Hood My City, Jahmal Cole. Click the image below to watch the video (1 hr. 43 min)>>>

Time To Embrace #More Public

Check out my first post for Medium, “Time To Embrace #More Public” and the related video at https://tinyurl.com/Great-Public-Hoover-Dam.

“Great Public Report” Podcast Now Available!

“The Great Public Report” – Episode #1 – The Hoover Dam by “The Great Public Report” with Tom Tresser
It’s “The Great Public Report” from Tom Tresser. I’m a long time civic educator and public defender based in Chicago. I’m a co-founder of the CivicLab, a “do tank” dedicated to research, training, fabrication, activation, and leadership development to advance government accountability, civic engagement, and social justice. Contact me at tom@tresser.com.

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