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JCUA's Aldermanic Candidate Voter Guide

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JCUA's Aldermanic Candidate Voter Guide Aldermanic Candidate Voter Guide JCUA believes the upcoming municipal elections are critically important to the direction our city takes and will have a major impact on what is politically possible in Chicago. Our next mayor and city council must share our values and support the issues JCUA and our community partners care about. We need elected officials who feel accountable to us in order to create an equitable Chicago. This election is an important opportunity to move forward our immigration justice and police accountability work, as well as our programmatic work with affordable housing and economic development. From the Welcoming City Ordinance, the Chicago Gang Database, community oversight of the Chicago Police Department, reforms to Fraternal Order of Police Union contract, to the proliferation of gentrification in Chicago’s neighborhoods-- so much is at stake in our city. Please use this voter guide, representing eleven wards across Chicago, to help you and your community learn more about candidates’ positions on issues related to JCUA’s work and mission. Jewish Council on Urban Affairs 4700 N. Ravenswood, Suite B Chicago, IL 60647 www.jcua.org 1 Candidate Questionnaire Candidate Statement Please describe yourself and why you are the best candidate for Alderman of your ward. (Max. 300 words) Welcoming City Ordinance* ​ The Chicago Welcoming City Ordinance limits collaboration between Chicago police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), directing the police to disregard ICE warrants and detainers and to restrict ICE access to City facilities and information. The current ordinance includes four exceptions to the general rule to not arrest or hold anyone based solely on an ICE warrant or hold request. These exceptions involve individuals with prior felony convictions, pending felony charges, open warrants, or a listing in the city’s gang database. Do you support or oppose amending the Welcoming City Ordinance to remove these exceptions? Please state support or oppose and elaborate on your position. (Max. 100 words) Chicago’s Gang Database* ​ The Chicago gang database is a list of 195,000 Chicagoans who have been “tagged” as gang members. Individuals tagged in the database often suffer harsh consequences, including loss of job opportunities, harsher sentencing, and, for immigrants, detention and deportation (under an exception to the Welcoming City Ordinance). Ninety seven percent of individuals listed in Chicago’s gang database are Black and Latinx. In March 2018, the Office of Inspector General announced its own independent investigation into Chicago’s gang database, confirming advocates’ concerns about the database as a tool to criminalize communities of color, with zero accountability, due process, or oversight. Do you support or oppose ending the City’s gang database? Please state support or oppose and elaborate on your position. (Max. 100 words) Police Community Oversight Board The Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) is a coalition of community organizations working in more than 30 wards throughout Chicago, committed to making our neighborhoods safer, improving police practices and accountability, and transforming community-police relations. GAPA’s proposed community oversight fulfills the recommendation as laid out by the mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force, to create a community-driven “oversight board” with “power to oversee CPD, the new CPIA [now COPA] and all police oversight mechanisms.” The ordinance proposed by GAPA, currently in city council, outlines the creation of a Community Police Commission selected by district council members whose role will also involve fostering connections between the police and the community and ensuring regular community input for Commission efforts. The Community Police Commission will make or participate in key leadership decisions, establish goals and evaluate progress, play a role in policy, and promote community engagement and transparency. 2 Do you support or oppose GAPA’s proposed community oversight of the Chicago Police department? Please state support or oppose and elaborate on your position. (Max. 100 words) Fraternal Order of Police Union Contract The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Chicago’s police officer union, has been operating under an expired contract which perpetuates a code of silence, making it easier for police officers to lie about misconduct. The contract makes it difficult to investigate and be transparent about misconduct, and it allows repeat abusers to burden taxpayers through huge settlement payments without sufficient accountability. The Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability (CPCA) has fourteen recommendations (www.cpcachicago.org/the-recommendations) to reform the police union contract. Do you support or oppose the recommendations put forth by CPCA? Please state support or oppose and elaborate on your position. (Max. 100 words) Affordable Housing According to a recent study by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, while developers in the City have been building new apartments, most of them cater to higher-income renters. Meanwhile, in neighborhoods across the city, Chicago is losing too many lower-priced apartments due to rising rents, conversions of small apartments to single-family homes, and neglect. What specific strategies will you use to promote affordable housing in your ward, for both rental housing and homeownership? Please share the strategies you would prioritize for implementation in your ward and on a city level. (Max. 300 words) Poverty, Racism, and Antisemitism For over 50 years the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) has been committed to our mission to combat poverty, racism and antisemitism. Please speak to how your candidate is committed to fighting poverty, racism, and antisemitism in Chicago. (Max. 300 words) *These questions are from the Chicago Immigration Policy Working Group and Campaign to Expand ​ Sanctuary City-Wide Candidate Questionnaire 3 Candidate Responses Table of Contents Click the links below to go directly to each candidate’s responses. All answers are shown in full, except for those that exceeded word limits. Candidates that did not respond are listed at the end of each ward section. 3rd Ward Candidates 46th Ward Candidates Ald. Pat Dowell (incumbent) Ald. James Cappleman (incumbent) Alexandria Willis Angela Clay Marianne Lalonde 4th Ward Candidates Erika Wozniak Francis Ebony Lucas Justin Kreindler 5th Ward Candidates 47th Ward Candidates Will Calloway Eileen Dordek Ald. Leslie Hairston (incumbent) Jeff Jenkins Gabriel Piemonte Heather Way Kitzes 34th Ward Candidates Matt Martin Ald. Carrie Austin (incumbent) Michael Negron 40th Ward Candidates 49th Ward Candidates Dianne Daleiden Maria Hadden Ald. Patrick O’Connor, Jr. (incumbent) Ald. Joe Moore (incumbent) Maggie O’Keefe 50th Ward Candidates Ugo Okere Andrew Rowlas Andre Vasquez Ald. Debra Silverstein (incumbent) 43rd Ward Leslie Fox Jacob Ringer Ald. Michele Smith (incumbent) 44th Ward Candidates Austin Baidas Elizabeth Shydlowski Ald. Tom Tunney (incumbent) 4 3rd Ward Candidates Ald. Pat Dowell (incumbent) ​ Originally from New York, I have lived in Chicago since 1978. I attended the University of Rochester where I received a BA in Developmental Psychology. I earned a MA in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. A former Urban Planner, I was the Deputy Commissioner in the Department of Planning and Development and have served as Executive Director of Near West Side CDC, Mid-South Planning and Development Commission and Public Allies. Elected Alderman in 2007, I have a record of accomplishment in every area from community engagement and service, infrastructure improvements, community safety, economic development, park expansion and improvements to my schools. I’ve sponsored and/or co-sponsored significant pieces of legislation and am growing in leadership potential. Welcoming City Ordinance Support. As the Chairman of the Human Relations Committee in the City Council, I think the Welcoming Ordinance should be amended. Currently, the advocates and the Mayor’s Office continue to discuss how these exceptions should be addressed within the ordinance. My personal opinion is that all the exceptions should be removed with the possible exception of pending felony charge and open warrants. I am committed, however, as Chair of the Committee hearing the issue to holding an open, fair discussion of the matter and taking a vote of the Committee members. Chicago’s Gang Database Support. The database disproportionately targets black and latino men and is the vast majority of people on the list have never been arrested of violent offenses, unlawful use of a weapon and drug crimes. These are the offenses that CPD deems gang related and can land an individual on the list. The impact on one’s chance to obtain employment and fair treatment in the criminal justice system is severely diminished by one’s inclusion in the database. Police Community Oversight Board Support, although I think more discussion is needed on elements of the proposal related to the selection process of members to the oversight board and the specific powers and duties of the board. Clearly more community involvement and oversight of the police department is needed. Of the ordinances presented to the Council for approval, the GAPA version provides the best opportunity to improve police accountability as laid out in the task force report. Fraternal Order of Police Union Contract Support. As a member of the City
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