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: Matthew “Khari” Humphries
Ward: 4th
Current job: Consultant
Previous political experience: Community Representative Local School Council Doolittle Elementary School
Education: St. Xavier University, Bachelor of Science
Spouse’s occupation: CPS School Teacher
Sources of outside income: Chicago Public Schools
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 firmly believe, if people had true alternatives to meet their individual and collective needs, we would witness a precipitous drop in violence and crime. There are 2 communities in the 4th Ward that have consistently been among the top 5 communities with the highest unemployment rates throughout Chicago. That is a travesty, and reflects poor leadership. None of us should be comfortable with those rates; nor should we be surprised by the incidences of violence when there are such glaring examples of the system failing its residents. Efforts to strengthen the “safety net” initiatives (e.g. affordable housing, youth employment) in major metropolitan areas like New York City and Los Angeles have significantly reduced crime. A contemporaneous study by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Public Policy at New York University suggested crime fell the furthest in low-income communities where the community began to hold elected officials and law enforcement accountable, and demanded government investment. That investment took the form of a real estate boon – with retail closely following the increased density, and the increased income levels that resulted from local hiring and job training initiatives.
Crime is only reduced when we actively remove the factors that contribute to criminal activity. I was excited a few years ago when the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization launched the Bronzeville Nia Project as a mechanism to get youth, particularly Black men between the ages of 16 and 24, who were court-involved or at-risk of being court-involved); receive training at the intersection of technology and sustainability. Youth were learning the fundamentals of business management and computer science in practical, project-based, hands-on, fully-applicable ways to give them a real opportunity to earn an income, and inspire them to commit to further education and/or a different track in life. Instead of just telling youth to make different choices, we have to provide them with the means to make those different choices. In my personal and professional life, I’ve worked to give youth pathways to a better future where they’re in positions to positively impact their communities. As alderman, I would work with my colleagues in government and community experts to promote these initiatives throughout Chicago.
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.
The CTA is troubled for a few key reasons: political appointments, dismissive attitudes towards the staff and ridership, and challenges with revenue given declining ridership. CTA’s seemingly arbitrary service cuts along routes that were popular is the result of a dismissive attitude towards its ridership; which acts against its self-interest. By cutting routes, it forces lower ridership, which reduces revenue; while simultaneously creating ill-will among its consumer base. There’s not a successful business that treats its consumers in a similar way. This dismissive attitude is at least partially spurred by staff and appointees in key leadership positions being more accountable to a political “sponsor” than to the consumers themselves. I also contend the revenue constraints are also a function of poor consumer relations. I believe the entire system could use an overhaul. However, the challenge with doing so is the size of the system itself. How to dismantle and rebuild such a sprawling institution? Consequently, the changes would have to occur in a targeted and phasic approach. One key area would be increasing ridership. That would require an in-depth analysis of travel patterns facilitated by: a traffic study examining the busiest routes of vehicular traffic in the city; a robust survey of Chicagoans utilizing a combination of social media, key websites, QR codes in print media, automated phone calls, etc. to determine a myriad of things including where people are going, how they’re getting there, and routes taken; and key community forums held in partnership with community groups to gain feedback every step of the way. It confounds me the amount of planning and execution that currently takes place in our city without intentional engagement of the target audience for these initiatives.
This data collected from the study, surveys, and community forums would then be used to redesign the bus routes to better align with the needs of residents and possible non-residents who work in the city, and to better align with the rail lines. For example, high-speed direct access to O’Hare and Midway airports would increase ridership from travelers, but also employees. Going back to the economic development question, just imagine how much easier it would be for the various operators/vendors to recruit and retain employees if transportation access improved considerably; which would then translate to increased revenue in communities throughout Chicago. These changes would positively impact ridership, which would positively impact revenue; creating the opportunity to turn our attention to staffing and oversight. There are long-standing issues held by the bus and rail operators that have not been adequately addressed. Those issues need to be resolved through engaging their union leadership. Similarly, there needs to be one-on-one engagement with the administrative staff to address long-standing issues that impede progress. We don’t need leaders who propose quick-fixes as much as we need strategic solutions that strike at the heart of the problem – not continuing to tinker around the edges to just keep winning elections. We need problem-solvers!
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?
CPS continues to lose students because communities have lost faith in CPS. Decades of experimentation has led to a lack of confidence in the system. Simply put, confidence has to be restored. As the husband of a CPS teacher, and the father of 2 Black boys enrolled in CPS schools; I am highly sensitive to the needs of educators, the communities where they teach, and the promise of quality education for our future. Confidence has to be restored in some very key and fundamental ways. Educational outcomes have to improve. This can only be achieved through increasing the resources at the disposal of the faculty and staff inside the buildings, but just as important, is the cultural connection the students and their families feel toward the teaching staff. This is often overlooked as we strive toward a color-blind society. However, numerous studies have found a direct correlation between the students’ perception of their instructor, and their ability to learn. Dismiss it if we like, but science is science. There has to be a concerted effort to bring the community inside school buildings in very real and intentional ways.
Through my time as a board member with the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), I learned about the work of the Grow Your Own Teachers (GYO) initiative, and their strategy to invest in community residents to formally provide them with training to become school teachers. However, one of the impediments to the initiative scaling successfully was an unwillingness for the school district to enter into a contract with GYO to hire its graduates in the same way similar contracts existed with alternative teacher preparation programs. I would work with the GYO team, fellow city council members, state legislators, the school district, and the CTU to ensure GYO is adequately resourced, and its graduates are highly recommended by the district to teach in their neighborhood schools. I would also work to bring the concept of sustainable community schools to the entire school district. Distinct from traditional “community schools” in a number of ways; the primary difference for me is that sustainable community schools invite parents and community members to have a say in curriculum and instruction in a much more robust way. That deeper engagement and vested interest similarly transforms the families from which the students come in impactful ways to create an overwhelmingly nurturing environment wherein the students learn and grow.
Lastly, we can’t ignore the declining population numbers for nearly a decade. There is a direct correlation between education access and housing access. My previous work with a nonprofit affordable housing developer was rooted in the belief everyone needs safe, decent affordable housing. As such, I also would advocate for city government to invest in the communities where schools have been closed due to “underutilization” and there is an abundance of vacant properties; utilizing the Real Estate Acquisition Program within the Chicago Housing Authority to acquire and rehabilitate those abandoned properties to house people, and eventually reopen the schools in those neighborhoods.
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.
Key to improving economic development is ensuring local residents have the resources and support needed to help them build and sustain businesses and workforce development initiatives. There are obvious solutions, such as: subsidized rent for new business owners, grants for new construction and rehabilitation of commercial space, support for marketing and back-office essentials. However, there also needs to be a survey and audit of what currently exists to determine how effective these efforts are in supporting business owners and job-seekers alike. Goals of this effort would include increasing diversity in hiring and procurement; especially intentional creation of opportunities for youth. As a teenager, I worked at Mr. G’s in Hyde Park. It was critical in launching my employment skills, but more importantly, helped shape my understanding of community, and the role locally-owned businesses play in community stability and development. We have to also start thinking about economic opportunity in more holistic ways; including legislative means by which we also ensure discrimination no longer exists in the workplace, in contracts and procurement, in housing, etc. As we develop systems to hold employers accountable for discriminatory practices, we can start inching closer to wage parity. As we strengthen our systems to help entrepreneurs successfully launch their dream businesses, we automatically begin to ensure parity is realized. Statistically, small business owners hire locally, have increased pay scales, employ people who look like themselves, and contribute most robustly to the communities from where the owners originate. Many of the solutions to the problems we face are simple once we remove the structural inequities from the system.
Do you support giving Chicagoans property tax relief? If yes, please explain how you would accomplish it. If no, please explain why not.
Yes. Until we identify alternative revenue sources, including the exploration of a public bank, we need to collect property taxes; but in a much more fair and equitable way. In my role as advocate, I will work with my counterparts in Cook County and the state legislature to address long-standing flaws within the property tax system. While the assessor’s office and the review board often point the finger of blame at each other, there are strategies that should be implemented to help both function better. There needs to be better coordination between the two offices. Because tax appeals have a direct impact on tax collections, there needs to be clear guidelines established to curtail some of the adjustments made on the properties with the highest tax responsibilities. When those property owners benefit from hefty reductions in their tax liability, it’s at the detriment of everyone else who sits below them economically. I would advocate for clear guidelines to tier the level of adjustments that can be made via appeal; thereby reducing the amount of tax relief that can be offered at the highest levels of tax collection. There also needs to be greater investment in ensuring the assessor’s office can make timely and fair assessments of all properties. As a city councilperson, the levers of power I have to wield are limited; but my ability to work with my colleagues in the city council, and the collective influence we have with the county and state officials is where our power can be best realized.
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?
There are a couple of key reforms I believe are important to implement in the TIF program. We need to set more stringent guidelines around the ability to “port” dollars from one TIF district to another. Historically, this practice of porting has further disenfranchised so-called blighted communities in favor of development-rich communities. I would reform the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program to allow tax revenue raised in communities to stay in communities, and more importantly, to ensure tax revenue support the 14 bodies intended to support (including public schools), instead of “pet projects.” Tax dollars should be prioritized for the communities in which the dollars were generated. There needs to be triggers for what happens with TIF surpluses that involve public process to ensure the community has a say in what happens with their tax dollars. There also needs to be a threshold established that sets an amount of “increment” created within a TIF district whereby one it’s met, the TIF sunsets, and dollars are able to begin returning to the taxing bodies that lost the increased revenue.
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 hazards of lead service lines are clearly documented. As such, service line replacement should be a priority. Federal money has been available for years to address this urgent public health crisis, but our leadership has largely chosen not to take full advantage of it. Not only is this an opportunity to prevent harmful contamination to the bodies of future Chicagoans, but it’s also a vast opportunity to engage local residents in a public works project to spur economic activity and help increase household incomes by training people and putting them to work. Cities across the country are finding ways to replace lead service lines much cheaper than Chicago has. We need to engage those city leaders to learn from their experiences.
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.
For the past 20 years, I’ve lived a life of service to the Fourth Ward. In so doing, I’ve built a reputation as a leader who can execute, and a strategic thinker who is collaborative by nature. I also have the relationships to yield results; having worked hand-in-hand with organizers, academics, bureaucrats, advocates, etc. These relationships and a wealth of experiences has given me an array of perspectives from which to view problems and solutions. As such, I’m not prone to echo chambers or dogmatic approaches to governing.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
The concern I hear most often when talking with residents throughout the entire ward, which stretches from the Loop into Hyde Park, is public safety as a result the lack of communication, coordination and community people feel. Now, this may be observed through incidences of violence (or a generalized lack of feeling safe), or a dearth of amenities to help people keep their dollars in the ward instead of having to travel outside of the ward, or not knowing where to send their children for recreational or educational opportunities.
Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
I see my role as an alderperson to be an independent legislator, representative and steward. My job is to best represent the residents of the Fourth Ward in service to these three essential functions of the role. As a legislator, I am largely responsible for introducing and passing legislation to help the families of the Fourth Ward live healthy productive lives, and to block any legislator that would threaten that potential. As an representative, I see my job as fiercely advocating for the resources, services and opportunities needed for all of the residents of the Ward regardless of who may stand in the way. As a steward, I have to protect the resources generated in the Ward – whether it’s the human capital, financial capital, or local amenities. To hold myself accountable to this standard, I commit to maintaining my current practice of intense approachability and presence. I can regularly be found in community meetings, volunteer initiatives, and local efforts; and have held this track record for decades. Those who know me, can attest to my natural impulse to be a consensus-builder, and someone who takes a measured approach to drive growth. The voices that influence my decision-making will be the residents of the Ward – not a special interest group or party leader.