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: Jim Ascot
Ward: 34th
Current job: Commercial Real Estate Broker – Ascot Realty Group Inc
Previous political experience: Chairman of Lane Tech School Council, Chairman of State of IL Election Day Voter Registration Commission
Education: BS, MA, and PHD
Spouse’s occupation: Not answered
Sources of outside income: Ascot Realty Group Brokage
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.
community policing, data-driven allocation of police resources, incentivize police living in their patrol beat
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.
More police presence on trains and platforms, reliable real-time tracking schedules of busses and trains, all busses and trains must be cleaned on a daily basis. (Security, Reliability, and Cleanliness).
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?
We need to sufficiently fund CPS to cap classroom sizes, provide mental health services, provide multilingual support, incentivize teacher hiring/retention, and fund arts and trades classes.
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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.
Fill empty lots with new housing and then retail will follow. Financial and communal investment in neighborhoods will help the communities grow and thrive. Government Services from fixing streets, lighting walkways, and community policing will reinvigorate the community leading to investment.
Do you support giving Chicagoans property tax relief? If yes, please explain how you would accomplish it. If no, please explain why not.
Yes, we would work for more transparency in how the assessor evaluates commercial and residential property taxes. The assessor over-reached and is pushing out long-time home and business owners from their communities. By lowering and subsidizing property taxes we would be incentivizing community growth and investment.
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?
Yes, they are useful, but we need to address the issues associated with them. TIF money should be open to the whole city to increase equality and city-wide investment. We need better transparency in how the money is collected and spent.
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?
Yes, the lack of progress in replacing lead service lines is unacceptable. We need the Water Department to present a comprehensive plan to complete this replacement in the next 10 years.
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.
My experience in Crisis Management has prepared me to deal with problems as they arise in City Hall. I have been in leadership positions in many organizations, which has prepared me to work with my fellow City Council people to find solutions to the city’s issues.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
Public Safety. I will work with City Hall and the CPD to implement community-based policing initiatives including foot patrols to better understand the community on a daily basis. I will prioritize delivering city services such as cleaning streets, lighting walkways, improving public spaces, and installing sufficient traffic lights all which will help improve the overall safety and strength of the community.
Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
As a Greek immigrant, serving as alderman is the culmination of my long career of service in Chicago and my community. I am not looking to run for future governmental positions. I care about this ward. I live in this ward. I work in this ward. I am committed to serving the community that has provided me with so much. I will be dedicated to providing accessible, transparent, and reliable services to make this ward the best possible example of what a Downtown Chicago ward can be.