Chicagoans drink leaded water; rising rents displace long-time residents; children are not safe at school and do not receive the world-class education they deserve; our parks, streets and public transportation need major repairs; rising inequality is pushing people out of the city and out of the middle class; Black and Brown people are segregated in neighborhoods without good jobs, schools or city services; police murder Black people with impunity.
These crises are not unique to Chicago’s neighborhoods. People everywhere are struggling because developers, CEOs and private equity managers control governments at every level. As we increasingly struggle to make ends meet, we often blame one another, rather than the elites who run government for their pleasure and profit. To create a safe, healthy and equitable city for everyone, we — the people living in Chicago’s neighborhoods — need to run city government.
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Let’s transform City Hall in 2019.
Rahm Emanuel’s decision not to run for mayor in 2019 gives us a rare and precious opportunity to chart a new course for Chicago. If each of us steps up to volunteer our time and money for a candidate we believe in, we could elect a progressive majority, transforming city council from a mayoral rubber stamp to a body accountable to our communities. Rahm may be gone, but if we don’t transform city council, the next mayor will continue to cater to the developers, bankers and CEOs.
In this election, WE will chart a new future for our city. Together, we can determine whether Chicago has the resources and the political will to do the things that should be easy – cleaning and paving all our streets — and the things that will be difficult — providing a safe, world-class education to all our children. Together, we can ensure city government serves all people by investing in our neighborhoods, especially in communities of color that have been deliberately exploited and excluded.