In yet another Chicago City Council race heralding a changing of the guard, two candidates late Tuesday were vying to represent the South Side lakefront’s 5th Ward that includes the University of Chicago and the future site of the Obama Presidential Center.
Desmon Yancy, a community organizer with the backing of major progressive groups, was stuck in a tight race with Martina “Tina” Hone, an attorney whose most recent job was heading up engagement for outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Voters are picking the successor to Ald. Leslie Hairston, who is not seeking a seventh term.
With 96% of precincts reporting, Yancy had 51.2% of the vote to 48.8% for Hone, according to unofficial results from the Chicago Board of Elections.
The campaign focused a significant amount on questions of gentrification near Jackson Park, where the Obama Center is being built.
Voters in nearly a dozen precincts in the Feb. 28 general election overwhelmingly supported an advisory referendum asking the new alderman and mayor to support legislation creating a community benefits agreement, or CBA, to prevent displacement in the South Shore neighborhood that might result from construction of the Obama Center. They also backed another referendum to build “truly affordable” housing on a city-owned vacant lot on 63rd Street and South Blackstone Avenue in Woodlawn.
Yancy said he was supportive of the CBA to protect housing in South Shore.
“You’re talking about 90% of voters in South Shore who are concerned about displacement,” Yancy said. “That’s a real concern. So (I’ll be) making sure in discussions with the Obama presidential library that those concerns are heard and that there is a remedy that makes people feel less concerned about it.”
Hone told the Tribune she does not support that CBA “wholeheartedly.”
“I don’t agree with reserving every city owned vacant lot for building affordable housing,” Hone said. “Other people need vacant lots, businesses need vacant lots.”