Chicago faces the best and worst of times. The state of Illinois is $13 billion in debt and can no longer pay its bills. Mayor Daley has papered over a $650 million city government deficit with one time revenues. He has left a $1.5 billion annual structural deficit for the next mayor to solve. The new Cook County Board President will face a $300 million gap. As Senator Evert Dirksen famously said, a million here and a million there and pretty soon you are up to real money. Only now it is billions, not millions, of debts and cuts in essential services we face.

These budget debts reflect human misery. Real people face more than 10 percent unemployment. More than 40 percent of the men in our poorest communities are jobless. 1,000 teachers were fired in the county with more teacher firings to come next year. There are home foreclosures, business failures, and personal bankruptcies. You see hungry and homeless people on our streets.

Meanwhile, corruption and waste continues unabated in government. Phony clouted contracts blight county government. The county hires crooks fired by city government. The Chicago Inspector General finds high overtime costs by too many employees at the airports and other government workplaces. Altogether we taxpayers pay a hidden “corruption tax” of up to $500 million a year.

It could be the best of times as well. We are entering a post-Daley, post-Stroger, post-machine era. The transition won’t be pretty and it won’t be easy. The “Council Wars” after Mayor Richard J. Daley’s death should remind us of that. They should also remind us that things only improve if we are willing to fight for better times. We can only have a positive future if we join the struggle to create it.

The first political battles of the new era are the November and February elections. In November we can elect reformers like Forest Claypool over machine hacks like Joe Berrios as County Assessor. We can elect Governor Pat Quinn over challenger Bill Brady in order to gain adequate state government revenues and protect critical social services. Up and down the ballot there are critical choices.

In February, we will elect a new mayor, or at least select the final two contenders for mayor. And we will elect a new generation of at least 20 of the 50 aldermen. We have the opportunity to elect a real reform government for the first time since Harold Washington. A strong city council could actually be a good thing if we elected better aldermen. The many candidates currently running for mayor will be down to five or six real contenders after the petitions are filed at the end of November. Finding the one with the vision for a “New Chicago” and backing him or her in this battle royal will be essential.

We are moving into a new era of Chicago history. CMAP, our regional planning agency, has just released a new regional development plan for 2040 (www.cmap.illinois.gov/2040/main). With new elected officials at every level of government, we can achieve a collective vision which CMAP calls “sustainable prosperity.” The destiny of Chicago is now a regional destiny as we grow from eight and a half to 11 million people. We must embrace our region and act collectively in ways we haven’t in the past.

To shape a better future as we emerge from the Great Recession we have to vote and support reform candidates in the upcoming elections. After these governments are elected, we have to push them to carry out the reforms we have been promised. And work together with all our neighborhoods in the metropolitan region.

When the stock market is down, is the best time to invest. When our communities, city, and state are struggling is the time to invest our efforts to bring about big changes. Better times lie ahead if we act now. The worst of times will come if we don’t.