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: Ayana Clark
Ward: 21st
Current job: Community Advocate – Office of Congressman Bobby L. Rush
Previous political experience: Not answered
Education: B.A & M.A – Communications, Purdue University Northwest
Spouse’s occupation: N/A
Sources of outside income: 1 investment building in Englewood and contracted with Hope Center Chicago to recruit for R3 – Youth Employment Program
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.
I don’t the problem with combatting crime is lack of novel ideas. There is a well-documented link between poverty and crime. Extreme divestment specifically on the south and west sides have created an environment for crime to thrive. We just need elected officials that implement the solutions we know work. Police can only intervene once an individual has already decided to commit a crime and I think our current government places too much emphasis on filling the shortage of officers in CPD instead of creating a city where we don’t need them. The role of the police officer looks different on the far northside than it does on the far southside where I live.
The city should focus on reopening closed mental wellness facilities, funding our park districts to provide free programming for youth, expand the youth employment program, and emphasize wraparound services that target the entire family when an individual comes into contact with our criminal justice system.
The peace book ordinance proposed by GoodKIdsMadCity is the perfect example of the approach city government should take to combatting crime. 51% of all individuals arrested by CPD in 2021 (2022 data not available yet) were age 30 and under and over 73% were African American. The peace book ordinance would allow the group most represented in the criminal justice system, black youths of color, to take a direct role in leading crime reduction efforts in the city. The data also proves that emphasizing programs and economics for youth will bey key to reducing violence in the city of Chicago.
Data from the One Summer Chicago youth employment program further supports my platform of using employment and youth programming to reduce violence across our city. My office will focus on collaborating with businesses and schools across the ward to fill vacancies with young people who live in the ward.
In addition, I support diverting 911 calls for nonviolent offenses to alternative response teams to connect offenders with resources to treat underlying causes of violence.
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.
Audit current routes and schedules to reassign route times based on demand.
Expand program for ex-offenders to hire new workers.
Collaborate with CPS & City Colleges to recruit and train workers.
On Safety:
Hire and maintain private security to patrol routes during the highest crime times.
Collaborate with city agencies to activate resource tables at busiest platforms.
Create a oversight system to prevent trouble passengers from utilizing the system until certain conditions are met.
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?
The selective enrollment process at its core an inequitable policy. CPS needs to remove the selective labels from their schools and make ALL schools neighborhood schools. Many parents especially in divested communities are hesitant to send their kids to schools that cross neighborhood boundaries for fear of violence.
CPS needs to provide free before and afterschool care for families. The CPS school day ends most times before 3pm meaning most families have the burden of arranging additional childcare when students are done with the school day.
Provide extended wraparound services and trauma support for families, specifically for student parents to provide free childcare and other resources.
Invest in the infrastructure of neighborhood schools to bring all buildings to ADA compliance and at minimum have functional HVAC systems.
Empower teachers and educators to activate the community to recruit and retain students.
Institute full-day pre-k for 3 year old children
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.
Residents will never divest from their own communities. Instead of empowering developers and companies that don’t have a stake in the well-being of our neighborhoods, we should shift those financial resources to training and supporting residents that want to open small businesses.
The City of Chicago offers millions in grants and tax breaks to companies who come set up shop, reap the benefits and then leave without investing in the long term success of our wards.
The city should prioritize requests for community members who live in the ward and support the creation of co-ops to promote community ownership and success.
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 believe the property tax system is predatory and allows city government to fill budget holes on the backs of already struggling chicagoans. I support tax exemptions for seniors and veterans. The money lost can be reclaimed by closing the tax loophole that allows vacant commercial and residential properties to pay low tax rates while remaining eyesores to the community.
In my ward there are almost whole blocks of vacant houses that are owned by out-of state developers who hold on to the properties and wait for gentrification so they can sell or rent them at elevated rates, the result is that the tax burden is shifted from developers to the homeowners that call Chicago home.
If the city aggressively targeted these buildings, we could not only spur development, but return them to the tax rolls to fund the resources our communities need.
In addition, I propose placing a cap on the percentage property taxes can increase at a single time and prohibiting city council from implementing increases in consecutive years to allow property owners time to adjust to new rates before an increase occurs.
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?
I feel that the initial idea of TIF districts to spur development in divested communities is a good one, however; over the years the use of TIF districts has been abused in a way that has been detrimental to the initial use of the district.
I think the major problem with TIF districts is that in historically divested communities, it redirects tax-funds that could be used to address immediate needs, often holding onto the additional dollars for several years without assigning it to projects in the district. In addition, the 23-year term in which the finances are held before automatically returning them is an insane amount of time.
I think with additional reform, TIF districts can be restored to their initial purpose. I support the following reform efforts.
Return any unassigned funds at the end of 2 years back to the property tax-based departments for use in that specific TIF district. Placing a shorter timeline on assigning money will force the city to take a more active role in creating developments in the districts in which the money is intended for.
Increase transparency on the process for choosing developments and create a community council made from residents in the district to oversee proposals and gain community feedback.
End the practice of porting money to spend in districts outside of the TIF area to reduce the amount of money being pulled from one community to pay for development in another.
Place a moratorium on all new TIF districts until an audit is done of all current ones and the money either allocated or returned to the community.
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?
I do feel the replacement process needs to be expedited and I support the following measures:
Automatically waiving permit fees for any small residential or apartment building in the city for the next 5 years and expanding the cost assistance program to add cost matching for owners who don’t meet the income guidelines. Currently there is an application process that creates an additional step for homeowners and excludes mixed-use and residential buildings.
Require all property renovations to replace lines before new plumbing permit can be approved.
Identify and do a targeted mailing to all homes identified as having lead issues and inform them about the programs offered. I have spoken to residents in my ward and many of them are unaware the city is offering replacement for the lines.
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.
I firmly believe that experience is the best teacher. As both a formerly homeless youth and a current single mother, I have experienced many of the voids that exist in current city services and I know the ways in which we can approve them to make them more equitable for citizens across the ward. I was an educator at Purdue Northwest and gained intimate knowledge of the shortfalls of our education system and as a mother and active PTA member of a CPS student, I am all too familiar with the inequities in our city education system.
As the Community Advocate for Congressman Rush, I spent the last few years connecting with residents and walking them through navigating federal departments. I was credited with expanding our newsletter, implementing and “on the block” approach and set up resource tables directly in the communities that need them to the most.
I have a demonstrated history of showing up for our community. During the pandemic my friends and I coordinated covid testing and PPP giveaways and following the George Floyd unrest we coordinated community clean ups and provided over 10,000 families with fresh food boxes when our grocery stores shut down.
I have been working in the violence prevention and youth space since I was 15 and currently work with families who have lost loved ones to gun violence to recover and access resources for their families. I worked with Young Invincibles to advocate for and pass legislation at the state level to provide youth workers more protections and I am a member of the Justice 20/20 coalition where we have been working on solutions to prevent recidivism.
I am the most qualified because I navigated my way out of poverty and learned how to access resources at all levels of government. I am old enough to support the generations that raised us and young enough to connect with our youth and give them a voice at the table.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
The biggest issue facing people in my ward is access to financial resources. A large portion of our residents are seniors with limited incomes, or families struggling to deal with the rising costs of living in a community that does not have an abundance of high-paying middle class jobs, most of the feedback I have heard from residents has revolved around the scarcity of resources or the amount of red tape that exists surrounding current city programs like the roof and porch program in which many residents are still waiting for the work to be completed.
I have a communications background have built a database of over 400 community and government based resources that I use to assist residents with their financial needs. I already created a community resource guide after speaking with hundreds of residents and seeing a need for information. I plan to expand this guide and use it to rebuild our community one block at a time.
In addition, I have committed to donating 20% of my salary back to residents to help fund small projects and correct building violations they receive from the city. We will expand distribution of new programs and grants and coordinate with local community – based organizations to help disseminate information.
In addition, I want to follow the example of our neighbors in the 19th ward and address the generational divide by sponsoring and mailing a bi-weekly newspaper to all residents. This paper will include programs, events, upcoming deadlines, and a “did you know” section to break down how to navigate a specific city program.
Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
All of my policy approaches have been created from my experience working with the community for the last few years, my experience navigating city services as a resident on the far south side, and the feedback from residents about how to best service our ward.
I am the only candidate who has experienced both sides of what our new ward boundaries has to offer: the divested neighborhoods and lack of resources for modern families & the proud middle class blocks that feel unsupported by current leadership in regard to their vision for the collective community.
I am committed to uplifting the voices of residents in our neighborhoods and supporting the policies they identify as important. I will work aggressively to identify and clean overgrown lots, target abandoned property owners to redevelop those houses, and collaborate with our young people to stop the uptick in violence in our ward by activating spaces and canvassing blocks directly to distribute information.
I am committed to this community because I am raising two Black boys in this community. As a mother I promised my sons they would not have to experience the struggle I did growing up, as a neighbor I promise my community that they will no longer experience the cold shoulder and divestment they have been subjected to.
I can’t promise change will happen overnight, but I do promise to continue working with my neighbors to get it done.