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: Kimberly Egonmwan
Ward: 6th
Current job: Host- Midway Broadcasting Corporation, Licensed Attorney
Previous political experience: N/A
Education: JD- The John Marshall Law School (now UIC Law), BA-Political Science- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, HSD- The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Spouse’s occupation: N/A
Sources of outside income: Legal fees, commentary, debate moderation
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.
Having walked through ten cities in 2021 to request that President Biden make Violence (in all forms, not just gun violence) a Public Health Crisis, I was able to draw upon the lessons learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic: any crisis of the highest magnitude can be solved when the will is there to find the solution. We didn’t know what the Coronavirus was when it hit our shores, but because the scientists, the public, the business community…. because everyone decided we would beat COVID-19, all resources were employed to do so. At the center of the effort was government making the demand to save lives. It’s time for us to replicate the same effort by 1) Identifying the causes and triggers of violence including untreated trauma, desperate poverty and living conditions, miseducation and a history of violent legacies in families and communities; and 2) Triage violence by category, i.e., a) form a plan to treat acute crime and violence such as demanding a higher crime and murder solve rate from our law enforcement, shorter response times (the 3rd CPD district has the longest response time in the City), support good policing and hold officers accountable to increase public faith in and respect for law enforcement, and deal with repeat violent offenders accordingly, keeping the streets and innocent citizens free from fear of living amongst criminals; and b) form a plan to treat the chronic long-term issues of crime and violence by flooding long-neglected communities with resources that will end the desperate poverty and despair that so many on the South and West sides have been expected to live with, fund all schools and create a uniform high standard to make all schools competitive, so children will succeed regardless of zipcode or whether they win a school lottery, and offer trade schools in ALL neighborhoods and high schools (as they once existed) to create other pathways to debt-free, great wage, highly skilled careers.
Finally, parents and families need help and support in the form of community service centers that offer skills training, free homework assistance, organized sports, arts and music, and parental workshops. We have to rebuild community through relationships, respect and a showing of care for our residents.
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.
No bus or rail driver should feel so threatened that they think they need a weapon at work. No passenger should have to witness open drug deals on platforms. Yet, this happens everyday on public transit. There must be policing on these lines and platforms to show that law is the order of the day. I don’t exactly understand how there is “ghost busing” if the GPS system can be set up properly to track where buses are. If we did things right, there would be equity. We have to look out for our CTA workers- we relied on them to be they’re for us during Covid-19, without proper PPE or protocol, they did their job to get us where we needed to go and they deserve to be identified as essential workers just like the doctors and nurses they had to transport.
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?
Build a better product. Right now, students get the education that reflects the color of their skin and the zip code they live in which means if you live in a “Black” or even a lower-class zip code, you get a lower-class education. If we say we are committed to offer public education, we can’t be satisfied with miseducation thousands of children to be deficient readers, writers or have defective math skills. The biggest government experiment of the last two decades has been public education. Enough! ALL schools must be fully funded and have a uniform, high standard of expectation for success. No parent should have to pray that their kid hits the education lottery, as neighborhood children walk past great schools they cannot attend to go to a crumbling neighborhood school. Black people want to buy in neighborhoods that have successful schools like everyone else. They’re forced to seek life elsewhere to find what they need. We want to keep our residents by giving them the great educational options others have.
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.
Grow your own neighborhood businesses: why don’t we support our own residents with the capital they need to fund businesses necessary to our community with the commitment that they will fill up vacant storefronts, build on vacant lots and employ other community members. So much investment has been missing from our communities for so long, we don’t need to spend a lot more time and effort “convincing” anyone that they need to come to us… let’s work with the business people and developers whom we already know and know us; those who have the drive and the hunger to be successful but only need to build capacity.
Do you support giving Chicagoans property tax relief? If yes, please explain how you would accomplish it. If no, please explain why not.
First, I want to know the real state of our city’s finances to see if there can be tax relief. Having worked with budgets, the City’s budget is always a mystery because there’s little transparency. Let’s see the real numbers.
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?
They were originally proposed to help rebuild blighted neighborhoods. Today every neighborhood from downtown to uptown must be blighted because there are countless TIFs. It is a strain on taxing bodies. I would revisit the original intent and make future proposed TIFs fall under the original definition.
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?
This issue is not being taken seriously and the health of our families and growing children is in jeopardy. Too often our City must be forced to do what we already know is right. Before the US Environmental Agencies have to get involved, our Department of Public Health must follow the science and make this a top priority for the Mayor and her administration. Why aren’t the Aldermen voicing their concerns about lead in the water system? Once again, anything this City has the will to do, it accomplishes without hesitation. We had Covid-19 dollars (still do) that could be justified in funding this potential heath crisis. If we can make capital improvements on the river front and bike paths, surely we can save the health of our residents.
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.
Not answered.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
With hundreds of thousands of Black people being forced to leave this City because of a low-quality of life, it is obvious that there is no strategic plan for our Ward’s residents to be healthy or to have a future in this City. I For the first time ever, I would engage an Urban planner to come in our ward and work with our residents to decide exactly what is needed for our community to thrive. How many and what kind of stores are necessary for our ward with our density. Where do the businesses need to be located. How do we feed our community with grocery stores instead of kill our community with liquor stores (we’re currently at a 30-1 ratio). What community centers are necessary? Where do the trade schools go. This was supposed to be a City of big plans according to Daniel Burnham, but in Black communities, the sheer neglect of our residents by our leadership is killing us. We are a proud community; once the bastion of Black political power and a shining example of black- middle class dreams and hard work. We are still here and committed to keep our community moving forward but we need a fighter to bring us the resources necessary to thrive, to fix our schools, to stand with us against those who prey on our most vulnerable, to keep our area clean, well-maintained and to be our voice in City Hall in EVERY conversation. We need a true leader to put the Sixth Ward first again.
Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
Advocacy, public policy and serving constituents is my life. From the early days, working as a Staffer, then Director of the Illinois Senate; to being a manager and sheparding all the ordinances through Chicago City Council that make O’Hare and Midway what they are, including my work on the now-complete O’Hare Modernization Program; to creating, negotiating and passing entire legislative agendas on behalf of the Illinois Department of Public Health, creating and passing strong bipartisan public policy to help my community thrive is what I have trained to do and being that person to actually make the decision is my dream. I have spent the last six years hosting the largest listening tour possible, discussing solutions for our community’s problems and challenging those who can do something about it. I have stood with my community offering policy solutions for Laquan McDonald, for Anjanette Young, to keep Mercy Hospital open, to bring civic education to all high school students…I am ready to represent my community. No one in this race will have my skill set, preparation or passion for the job and the people of my ward.