46TH WARD CANDIDATES 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 46th Ward Candidates Ald. James Cappleman (incumbent) Candidate Statement I have spent the past eight years taking on complex issues and seemingly impossible tasks in the 46th Ward – and I am proud of what we have accomplished. I have fought for vital infrastructure improvement projects, like the $203M Wilson L reconstruction, which has transformed a 119 year old facility into an updated station that can serve our community for the next 100 years. I worked to ensure that the rehabilitation of the Uptown Theatre would be a project slated for completion during my term in office – and I am proud that is now a reality. I have fostered the development of Uptown’s Entertainment District, which now includes a $6M Streetscape of the Broadway/Lawrence Corridor and the addition of entertainment venues: Double Door, Baton Lounge, recently reopened Carol’s Pub. We have accomplished all of this while protecting and adding to our current stock of safe, subsidized, affordable housing—the most affordable housing options in the city. Additionally, I know how to facilitate smart economic development that creates jobs for all residents Welcoming City Ordinance I am supportive of all of our “Welcoming City” programs. Chicago’s Gang Database I support the IGs conclusions and believe that additional oversight and accountability in the process of adding an individual to the list can be done while still providing law enforcement with the necessary tools to fight gang violence. Police Community Oversight Board I strongly believe that there is a need for greater transparency, accountability and oversight of our city’s police department. I am supportive of the reforms offered by GAPA and remain committed to ensuring that we continue to seek innovative ways to improve the relationship between the police and the communities which they serve. Fraternal Order of Police Union Contract It is imperative that we fix the CPD contract. I look forward to working with CPCA to ensure that their proposals result in the most substantive and beneficial reforms. Affordable Housing The Uptown community I serve ranks first in the city in terms of HUD housing, with 2,750 units. That’s seven times more than the average amount found in the other 76 community areas within the city. The 46th Ward also ranks first with in terms of having the most Low-Income Housing Trust Fund units that house people with an annual income of less than $16,000; that number surpasses the total number of 43 LIHTF units found in 28 other wards. Additionally, my ward is home to numerous CHA, Voice of the People, Heartland Alliance, and Mercy Housing units. We also have 50 units of housing for people diagnosed with a mental illness who are also alcohol and /or drug dependent. We still need more affordable housing and I am committed to adding an extra 100 units in 2019. I seek more, but at the same time remain committed to advocate to my colleagues the need to step up and do their fair share as well. The housing crisis is a city-wide issue that requires a city-wide response. I intend to continue to lead on this issue. Poverty, Racism, and Antisemitism I share the JCUA’s commitment to combat poverty and to ensure that in a community as diverse as mine, and in our current political climate, that we stand together against those who would wish to divide us. Uptown, in its diversity, and in our commitment to keeping it an affordable place to live, embodies the principles that drive your organization and my commitment to service. I also understand that combatting poverty requires permanent solutions, not temporary fixes. That is why I worked with the city to ensure that nearly 100 individuals who were living under the Lake Shore Drive viaducts in my ward were not simply relocated or provided temporary shelter, but instead found permanent housing solutions within our community. I will continue that commitment during my next term. Angela Clay Candidate Statement As the only candidate from this community the 46 Ward has been home to me for twenty-seven years & home to my family for over eighty years.