Public Safety
Transportation
Accountability
Business Development
Affordability
Education
Public Safety
I am committed to ensuring safe streets and neighborhoods for the 44th Ward and the broader Lakeview community, which has been my highest priority as Alderman thus far. During my tenure, we’ve worked closely with the 19th District Police, the State’s Attorney, and our neighbors to improve safety across the Ward.
Our court advocacy program has played a key role in securing convictions and greater pre-trial monitoring measures in high-priority cases involving repeat violent offenders. And as we’ve seen, major crime in the 19th District is trending downward.
In partnership with CPD, my office has hosted events to distribute catalytic convertor theft-prevention tools and steering wheel locks. We also continually run donation drives for clothing to domestic violence victims, winter coats for families in need, and food to pet owners. My office also works with local residents to distribute “We Call the Police” and “No Loitering” signs to help address problem locations upon request.
In our coordination with the 19th Police District, we’ve been able to add additional cameras and license plate readers in our neighborhood to help enhance safety for residents longterm.
[What we want to do more of]
Transportation
Our community is one that has a well-balanced mix of transit options - from our Brown/Red/Purple line stops, to our many bus lines, to our lakefront bike trail and pedestrian-friendly streets. It has remained a priority to me to maintain and improve this infrastructure throughout our community by keeping strong public transit options, as well as safe and sustainable options to walk, roll, and bike as we strive to improve the health of people in our community and improve sustainability in the face of climate change.
I work closely with neighborhood Chambers of Commerce and community group partners throughout the 44th Ward to keep our entertainment corridors strong, and expanded programs like Dine Out on Broadway, which has proven to be an asset for our neighborhood. As I’ve said before, safe biking infrastructure remains a priority for me and my office, and in the last year we have installed 10 Divvy and E-scooter docking stations in the Ward. We’ve also completed the Grace Greenway, and installed additional bollards and bump-outs to increase pedestrian safety.
From my time as Chief of Staff until this year, I oversaw the CTA Red-Purple Modernization project in our Ward to decrease the daily delays that riders experienced due to bottlenecks at the junction of the Red, Purple, and Brown lines. With this modernization project in place, the CTA can service 7,200 more riders per hour. I will continue to advocate for improvements of our L stops, to keep them clean and safe, and work with higher city officials to hold the CTA accountable for buses and trains running on time.
[What more do we want]
Accountability
In fostering transparency and accountability within the Ward, it is important to increase the community’s capacity to have a voice in neighborhood issues. Since becoming your Alderman in 2023, I created two advisory councils within the Ward: Smart Streets and Planning & Zoning, to allow residents to provide feedback on projects (or what they’d like to see) happening within the Ward. I have also worked closely with our Ward’s various neighborhood associations to connect community members to already-created infrastructure to remain involved in their communities. These neighborhood associations help me make decisions that are best for our community, and the public’s input is invaluable in making those decisions..
It is also important to install community members into positions where they can act as the voice of their block. There are many park advisory councils, local school councils, CAPS and other positions that are vacant throughout the 44th Ward. These positions are the building blocks of true community-first, democratic decision-making, and will remain a priority of mine to engage neighbors in more community roles.
[What more do we want]
Business Development
The 44th Ward is a vibrant hub for small business activity, and my office has worked hard to cut red tape for residents wishing to open up their own businesses within the Ward. Just this past year, we welcomed nearly 100 new businesses to the Ward.
I will continue to encouraging transit-oriented developments that contribute to the vibrancy of our community and make it easier for residents to open their own businesses. I will also continue to support programs like Dine Out on Broadway that brings thousands of visitors to the Ward every year, and ideally expand the program to other blocks and weekends throughout the year. In the last four years, I have worked to reduce permit wait times and cut red tape for our residents, because slow government should never be the barrier between someone’s dream of a storefront.
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Affordability
Lakeview thrives with a diverse housing stock that creates livable options for residents, and it is essential that we preserve our existing affordable housing options - both subsidized and naturally occurring. As your Alderman, I fought against developers trying to tear down LGBTQ+ affordable units at the _____ and worked with the city council to financially stabilize the building to ensure residents weren’t left with nowhere to go. I have always supported an 80-20 model for larger developments, where 20 percent of units would be affordable and 80 percent market rate to ensure Lakeview continues to be accessible for all.
The density of our neighborhood is one of our greatest strengths. I support transit-oriented development to enhance our pedestrian and commercial corridors and will work to maintain the character and scale of our neighborhood side streets. This also means working to preserve significant structures in our community and encouraging rehabilitation and adaptive reuse whenever possible.
[What more of]
Education
I am the product of the public school system and the son of a retired public high school teacher.
I will seek to improve the public schools that make the 44th Ward a desirable place for families - increasing their funding, supporting our teachers, and ensuring that they have all the supplies necessary to educate our city’s future leaders and greatest asset - our youth. Our neighborhood elementary schools are some of the strongest in the city and we must help support them with capital funding to improve facilities for future generations. We must also continue to bolster Lakeview High School so it reaches its potential to meet the needs of secondary education for our community.