For my many Democratic friends who continue to praise Gov. JB Pritzker, a reality check is needed.
To date, Pritzker’s only accomplishment has been to bait President Donald Trump — at every opportunity — in national forums. Pritzker has done nothing to relieve overburdened taxpayers or to improve the state’s financial woes. He proposed a graduated income tax plan via a constitutional amendment, but that fortunately failed. Indeed, last year, he signed a bill that will cost Chicagoans over $10 billion to boost the already underfunded firefighter and police pensions. And he has done nothing to address the more than 8,800 local governmental bodies in Illinois, a total that far exceeds that in more populous states and further burdens taxpayers.
And recently, Pritzker endorsed and bankrolled his lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton’s U.S. Senate bid over two more qualified candidates, saddling Illinois with a left-of-center representative for the next six years (e.g., Stratton has advocated for a $25 minimum wage, which will never gain traction).
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For Pritzker, who apparently has presidential aspirations, a reality check is needed as well. Leaving aside personal liabilities, any presidential run undoubtedly will focus national attention on Illinois and Chicago’s dismal, perilous financial state. And, as with his first governor run, his offshore holdings — not to mention his attempt to game the property tax system by claiming a home of his was uninhabitable after the toilets were removed — surely will be raised.
Instead of blindly praising Pritzker, all residents must hold him accountable. Instead of dreaming about the White House, Pritzker must forgo his national appearances and focus his efforts on Illinois and Chicago, relieve overburdened taxpayers, address our costly number of governmental bodies and develop plans to retain businesses as well as encourage more to locate here.
— Ava Holly Berland, Chicago
Public’s safety in garages
A 20-year-old woman was violently attacked in an attempted sexual assault inside a Millennium Park parking garage. Thankfully, the Chicago police quickly made an arrest in the case, but the crime raises questions about what type of monitoring and physical safety measures are used in these underground garages.
The sprawling complex of four underground garages at Millennium Park has 9,176 parking spaces. Although the city owns the garages, a contractor — Millennium Park Garages LLC — has operated the garages since 2016 under a 99-year lease. The city should demand answers from the garage operator about measures used to ensure the physical safety of garage customers and an explanation of how criminals could enter the garages and carry out violent attacks without any intervention on the part of garage personnel.
Victims of crimes in these garages and the residents of Chicago deserve answers about how the garage operator is monitoring and addressing physical safety issues.
— Sue Connaughton, Chicago
Get peacekeepers involved
I am writing to inquire as to whether government-funded peacekeeper organizations are involved in addressing the issue of teen takeovers. Engaging with youth early is a critical step in preventing further community instability.
The current economic climate appears to be a significant factor in these challenges. As the cost of living rises, many parents in underserved communities are required to work multiple jobs to meet basic needs, which limits the time available for active parenting and guidance. Until there is a more efficient use or reduction of taxes, it is likely that these communities will continue to face these difficulties.
I believe that addressing these systemic issues and utilizing peacekeeping resources effectively are essential for the well-being of our youth and our neighborhoods.
— Nick Ferraro, Des Plaines
Importance of mental health
As a state, we do a phenomenal job promoting physical health. We have campaigns to show people the dangers of smoking and how to quit, we push for women to get mammograms to check for breast cancer, and we encourage people to get frequent checkups to ensure they stay healthy. For children, government insurance plans may offer a gift card incentive for well-child checks and shots. All these things make people pause and see the importance of their physical health.
Physical health is imperative to people’s well-being. But mental health is not considered as having the same importance, and it should be.
People’s mental health is not a luxury. It is a huge part of their overall health and well-being. However, there is a huge deficit in the encouragement of people to seek mental health treatment and the number of services that they can access and afford. When you have the flu and call your local doctor’s office, they get you on the schedule as soon as possible, but finding mental health treatment is not the same. Long waiting lists, affordability issues and stigma often lead to people giving up on seeking help.
When a person’s mental health is not maintained, it doesn’t affect just them. It has a way of affecting their family members; they also take it into their workplace, which leads to it becoming a community and eventually a state problem.
We need policies that prioritize mental health treatment, including having providers who can offer early intervention. We need affordable treatment options; most insurance companies do not have adequate mental health provisions. We as communities and overall as a state must be willing to invest in bringing trained professionals into our cities and towns. We must support our community-based programs so that they have the resources to fund mental health programs. We must also advocate for better mental health coverage from insurance companies and hold them accountable for people’s mental health and well-being.
When we comprehend that mental health is just as imperative to treat as physical health, then we will see the urgency in correcting these issues. We will fight for the strengthening of mental health policy so that we can have a healthier and more accessible Illinois, where nobody fights alone.
— Jessica Sexton, McLeansboro, Illinois
Fund science, not warfare
I was 2 years old when I watched humans land on the moon in 1969 with my parents. I still remember it to this day. As a physicist, I am ecstatic that we are returning to the moon to learn even more about our only natural satellite, which is critical for the Earth (and the life it supports) because it stabilizes our rotation and thus our climate.
I only wish I could encourage my fellow humans to be as excited to look through the bore of a telescope into the amazing and enormous cosmos instead of looking down the barrel of a gun to kill one another.
If our leaders were more like scientists instead of myopic power-hungry politicians, they would realize just how precious, rare and unique life is in this mostly empty universe and would support science as a means to prolong, continue and expand life instead of fomenting war to destroy it.
— Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada
A costly mission in space
I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. Almost $100 billion has been spent on Artemis II, and we have people in this country and around the world going hungry. Is it more important to find cures for cancer than sending four people around the moon? Why can’t a billion dollars be given to food banks around this country?
I was around watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, and it was super exciting. But it was a different time and a different world.
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— Marsha Lieberman, Chicago
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