To inform voters and to help the baiduhai Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for alderman. See their answers below. See how other candidates answered here.
Name: Angela Clay
Ward: 46th
Current job: Housing Coordinator- Northside Action for Justice
Previous political experience: Joseph Brennemann Elementary School Local School Council
Education: B.A. Public Policy, DePaul University
Spouse’s occupation: N/A
Sources of outside income: None
The rise in violent crime remains a top priority for City Hall. Homicides, shootings and carjackings are all unacceptably high. Tell us how city government can be innovative in combating crime, and explain what measures you would propose if elected.
Everyone in this city deserves to live in safe communities, free of crime, violence and disinvestment. Our approaches to addressing crime and the root causes of crime are clearly not effective. Currently, we spend far more resources attempting to stop crime after the fact when we need to be investing in long-term approaches that address and solve the underlying acts of violence in our communities. When I say addressing the root causes of crime I mean ensuring that people are housed and have access to the basic resources they deserve– food, shelter, great quality schools, safe spaces and health care access including mental health care. This is why I am a strong supporter of the Bring Chicago Home ordinance which would create a dedicated revenue stream for homeless support services in the city. Additionally, I am supporting the Treatment Not Trauma Ordinance which would invest $100 million in mental health services and ensure that emergency response to mental health crises have professionals trained to respond to those specific situations. In addition to allocating resources to mental health professionals responding to mental health crises we need to move away from a one size fits all approach to predicting and preventing crime and instead tailor our approaches to the specific needs of different communities across the city. I do not support renewing the city’s ShotSpotter contract which currently costs $9 million annually because it isn’t preventing crime nor solving it. Additionally, I support ending the use of the City’s gang database which was found by the Inspector General to have major problems with both its use as a racial profiling tool and its ineffectiveness in addressing crime.
When talking to neighbors I consistently hear that crime is a top concern and as a mom of an almost three-year-old I need our City to be safe as she and other children grow within it. This means addressing the root causes of crime such as poverty, disinvestment & lack of basic human needs being met, and doing it in a way that doesn’t further traumatize communities of color.
The CTA, one of the nation’s largest transit systems, remains a troubled agency grappling with issues ranging from violent crime and ghost buses and trains, to flagging ridership. Give us your thoughts on what specific measures CTA should take to make train and bus service safer, more reliable and more equitable for Chicagoans.
The CTA is an essential resource in this city and has a number of critical issues that desperately need to be addressed. Reduced service both from fewer buses and trains on the schedule and ghost buses impacts people’s ability to travel throughout the city and get to and from work, school, doctor visits, etc. This has a disproportionate impact on low-income and working-class people. CTA has not been transparent either on the service available on any given route, or the root causes of this collapse of existing service, which was already inequitably serving black and brown communities within the city.
We need a strong accounting with the CTA of why and how this happened, and how they will fix it. City council has a critical role to play in holding CTA accountable for transparency on these systemic challenges. I will push for accurate schedules and an end to ghost buses; inconsistent schedules and reliability are major contributing factors to decreased ridership. I will also push for a thorough understanding of their hiring, training, and employee retention over the years. They’ve stated that at the root of many of the challenges is an operator shortage. We know that driving a bus is a demanding job with long hours, weekend and evening schedules, and specialty training, with even more training and experience required for train operators. What is not clear is why exactly they are not able to attract and retain enough people in these roles. We need to make sure that wages, scheduling, and other aspects of the job are strong enough to keep workers at the CTA long-term, and that recruitment and training are enough to backfill those who leave.
Additionally, some of the major crises in our city impact our public transit. This includes crime taking place on public transit. It also includes the use of our public transit as a stand-in for shelters for those experiencing homelessness and a mental health clinic for those that are experiencing mental health crises. To address the impacts these have on our transit system we need to address them holistically and ensure there is a targeted approach to their impact on our public spaces including public transit.
I support increased free and reduced fee access to public transit for certain populations. For example, the “First Day, Free Rides” campaign has been a successful CTA effort to encourage mass transit use and school attendance. Nearly 50,000 people took advantage of this program on the first day of classes in 2021. I would support the expansion of free CTA service to all CPS students.
As we re-build public transit services in Chicago, we need to make sure that the service that can be supported with the current workforce is made equitable between different neighborhoods and areas of the city. Looking to the future, we need to plan for more services and more frequent services in communities of color that have long been under-served by the CTA and other city services.
Ten years ago, enrollment at Chicago Public Schools was 403,000 students. In September, enrollment stood at 322,000 students. Enrollment at CPS has dropped for 11 consecutive years. What specific measures should CPS undertake to reverse the trend of ever-dwindling enrollment?
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In order to address declining enrollment, comprehensive strategies must be implemented. In my community, I see a direct correlation between housing policy, housing development and CPS enrollment. When families can no longer afford to live in the neighborhood where their children attend the neighborhood schools it impacts school enrollment. I’m on the Local School Council at Brennemann Elementary where more than 75% of students are low-income and surrounding Brennemann the majority of new housing being built are studios and one-bedroom apartments, which are not suitable to raise a family in. We need to invest in housing policies that take into account the longevity of our communities including the strength of our public schools. As a former student of neighborhood schools in the 46th ward and a product of affordable housing in the neighborhood, I understand these interconnections both at the level of policy and in my own lived experience.
Additionally, the quality of our public schools and the kinds of resources families are able to access by being a part of our neighborhood schools impact the enrollment rate. At the core of this is ensuring that there is adequate funding and staffing for our schools. I’ve been a huge supporter of the Grow Your Own Teacher program which invests in supporting people of color to become teachers; that kind of investment promotes stability in our schools. Last year 40% of schools in CPS had their budgets cut, despite an influx of federal COVID relief funds which could have been used toward schools’ role in pandemic recovery. Misallocation of funds continues to impact the quality of our schools. Additionally, we need to be intentional about how funds are disbursed to schools across the city, this includes the end of student-based budgeting which is a barrier to ensuring that schools have the adequate resources they need.
I have been a strong advocate of the Sustainable Community Schools model and have been involved in advocating for my alma mater, Uplift Community High School, to become the designated neighborhood school. As a former student activist at Uplift, a current LSC member, and as a community leader who has coordinated efforts to connect 46 Ward elementary schools to Uplift and Truman College as a Sustainable Community School village, I see the ways policies impact our school system. At the core of addressing CPS’s reduced enrollment is addressing the interconnected policies that impact neighborhoods as a whole– including affordable housing, violence prevention, and job access in communities. I have been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and will continue to work alongside our city’s incredible educators and parents to address the challenges our public school system faces.
Disinvestment on the South and West sides is a decades-long problem with myriad causes. Give us at least one innovative idea that you believe could play a role in reversing South and West side disinvestment, and explain why the idea is realistic and feasible.
The city has historically struggled to invest equitably in the city’s south and westside communities. Neighborhoods with majority black and brown people have carried this City on its backs and received disinvestment, massive school closures, lack of safe, affordable housing & blight. For example, the lack of safe public parks on the south and west sides is notorious yet we know it’s something that an entire community thrives off having. The recreation areas, which proved particularly important during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, suffer from deteriorating infrastructure and lack of maintenance in ways that would be unimaginable in other parts of the city.
The South and West side of the city is disproportionately experiencing the impacts of toxic waste and polluted air and water. Polluting industries on the South and West side contribute to startling rates of environmental racism and disproportionate health impacts based on where you live in this city. Simultaneously, there are often less accessible, high-quality health resources available in the very same communities that are sacrifice zones to pollution. Additionally, these industries’ permits are approved or are incentivized to locate in neighborhoods on the South and West side in the name of job creation. At the intersection of this problem are the needs for good paying jobs in disinvested communities, the need for health services and clean air, water, and public parks and community spaces.
We should invest in all the things that we know keep communities safe and thriving – which will mean more dollars to the neglected parks, year-round youth programs that are a link between local businesses and good paying jobs, as well as investing more into our schools. One initiative that I would love for the City to implement is an investment in green jobs programs, especially for young people. That way our young people are gainfully employed but also in a field that would help our planet in the long run and repair our communities from the harms that have been caused by environmental racism.
Do you support giving Chicagoans property tax relief? If yes, please explain how you would accomplish it. If no, please explain why not.
Yes, I do support property tax relief for Chicagoans. High property taxes are a huge burden on many Chicagoans, especially those living at or below the poverty line which historically have been people of color and our older neighbors. I’m especially concerned about the role property tax hikes have on the displacement of homeowners, especially elders– people who perhaps have already paid off house payments but are forced to move because of the undue burden from property taxes.
In order to successfully provide property tax relief there will need to be a multi-pronged approach and I am in support of a number of progressive revenue options. Firstly, I support raising the real estate transfer tax on properties over $1 million to create a dedicated revenue stream to homeless support services. Some additional proposals I am interested in exploring in greater depth include a Corporate Head tax, a Polluters Tax, a LaSalle Street Tax, TIF reform, and further exploring Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) for large non-profit institutions that don’t currently pay property taxes.
Give us your take on the city’s use of tax increment financing districts. Do you feel they have been useful, or do you feel that the problems associated with them outweigh their usefulness? What if any reforms would you want to apply to the city’s usage of TIFs?
The misuse of TIF funds has contributed to diverting city resources away from parks and schools as well as city pensions which I see as a huge problem. TIFs need significant reform and oversight if city funds are to be used for their intended purpose to allow for economic development in communities that need it.
I would work with my fellow alderpeople and state legislators to pass legislation that mandates that in gentrifying areas, TIF funds could only be used to support preserving housing and building new housing that is affordable to low-income residents, to support the public schools, community infrastructure including programs for seniors and young people and job creation. I would also work to pass legislation that mandates that all TIF surpluses are returned to the public bodies in the proportions that those funds represent. Finally, I would work with legislators to redefine the requirements and oversight for TIF districts.
Lead in drinking water is a major health concern for the city. It is estimated that in Chicago there are roughly 400,000 homes and small apartment buildings with lead service lines. So far, the city has replaced less than 300 lead service lines. Do you feel the pace of lead service line replacement should be expedited, and if yes, what is the best, most feasible way to accomplish that?
Absolutely, the city needs to expedite the replacement of lead service lines. The current pace does not match the scale of the problem. Access to clean water is a basic human right and exposure to lead through contaminated water is a major contributing factor to environmental racism since lead pipes have such a big impact on zip codes.
As alderperson, I will work to pass the Water for All ordinance, advocate for an overhaul of our lead pipes in the city, make sure residents know their rights and are able to access testing for lead in their water.
The city will need to put forth a variety of solutions to budget for the replacement of lead pipes, which will entail coordination at the city, state, and regional levels (such as the Great Lakes Water Authority). As an immediate step, I am interested in the city pursuing more active replacement of lead pipes during work on main lines when possible and exploring avenues for federal funding to pay for this much-needed infrastructure overall.
Additionally, I strongly support re-establishing the city’s Department of the Environment which was closed during the Emanuel Administration. We need a fully funded and staffed department to coordinate environmental impacts across different city departments, including on issues of water quality.
If you are an incumbent, please explain what is it about your service on the City Council that makes you most qualified for the job. If you have never served on the council, please explain what is it about your background that makes you most qualified.
The work of an alderperson in the 46 ward is deeply personal to me. This is the community where my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents thrived and where I am raising a family. I have a deep and lived understanding of the challenges people face and the resources needed to meet my neighbors’ needs. My own family history in this neighborhood mirrors the broader historic changes in the community and this perspective gives me a unique window into our current moment both for the 46th ward and the city as a whole. My grandmother was an Irish and German woman raising a mixed-race family in one of the few neighborhoods in this city that was genuinely racially diverse. My grandmother was a long-time advocate for affordability in the neighborhood and it was because of our affordable home at Hazel and Sunnyside that I could attend amazing neighborhood schools such as Uplift Community High School and be within walking distance of the Red line to obtain a degree in Public Policy from Depaul University.
I have been an organizer in my community since I was 14 years old. I got my start as a student activist– first advocating for more nutritious lunches and later researching the high school dropout rate where I and my peers put together a set of proposals still being used by Chicago Public Schools to this day. I served as the youngest Board President of Voice of the People and was responsible for a $2 million budget as a 22-year-old. I ran for Alderperson in 2019 with limited campaign infrastructure and missed the runoff by just 367 votes. I currently sit on the local school council at my former elementary school, Joseph Brennemann Elementary, I’ve supported tenants in advocating for their housing rights, protecting our community hospitals and the precious land around it as well as being a leader in weekly mutual aid in the community since the pandemic.
In all of my work, I’ve been bringing together members of my community, from diverse backgrounds and experiences, around the shared concerns that affect all of us. This at its core is the work of an alderperson and the kind of leadership the 46th ward and city needs.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
Every day I hear of more people I grew up with who can no longer afford to live in the community, and I myself have struggled to stay in the community that raised me to be the woman I am. The rapid changes happening in the 46th ward are contributing to the displacement of long-time residents. What has historically been a genuinely multi-racial and mixed-income community is increasingly losing the diversity that makes it so special and has attracted so many people to call the 46th ward home.
As alderperson, I will be responsible for critical zoning and development decisions. I will prioritize community involvement and ensure that the affordability and longevity of the community are central to those decisions. Additionally, I will be a strong advocate in city hall for policies that can address the need for homeless support services and improve tenants rights. This includes the Bring Chicago Home ordinance and The Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. Additionally, as alderperson, I will advocate for more effective use of the Low Income Housing Trust Fund. I will ensure my office prioritizes being a resource for those in the community experiencing housing instability or facing the possibility of displacement and I will do everything in my power to make sure people have access to the resources and information available to them.
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Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
Our next alderperson needs to understand the lives of the residents in every corner of our community, they need to understand the ways our policies affect our neighbors’ lives, and they need to understand the ways the issues we talk about every day impact each other. Our next alderperson needs to be able to bring together diverse communities across the ward and city around shared concerns. From how our housing stock impacts school enrollment to how healthcare access or environmental justice impacts crime and violence– the solutions to the deep challenges our city faces require creative and thoughtful solutions with an understanding of how these issues play out in our lives in communities in interrelated ways. My own lived experience and the work I’ve done over the last nearly two decades position me to take on the kind of leadership our communities deserve.
I’ve been a leader in advocating for solutions and as Alderperson I will take leadership to ensure we address the shared challenges in our communities. This includes addressing issues of funding for homeless support services by pushing for the Bring Chicago Home Ordinance. I will take leadership to pass the Treatment Not Trauma Ordinance which is an innovative approach to addressing the need for mental health support when it comes to emergency and crisis response from the city. Before becoming Alderperson I have been an active leader in advocating for these two proposals, and many more, and will continue this work with the powers of the Alderperson’s office because I believe they are the kind of thoughtful and creative solutions our city needs.
My roots in our community give me unique perspectives on the kind of leadership needed as the 46th ward is in a moment of transition and change. My experience as an organizer and community leader around housing, education, healthcare, and more position me to be a policy leader in city council on issues impacting our neighbors. Through my life and work, I have a unique window into how the issues facing the city are deeply intertwined and interconnected at a community level, and I believe our neighbors are in dire need of a leader who bridges people-powered organizing effective policy.