To inform voters, the Chicago Tribune politics team posed a series of questions to the candidates running for mayor of Chicago. See their answers below. See how other candidates answered here.
Name: Ja’Mal Green
Age: 27
Born: Chicago
Personal: Lives with partner, raising three sons
Education: Wendell Phillips Academy High School, with some college
Neighborhood: Beverly
Current job: Community activist, president of the nonprofit My Turn To Own, CEO of consulting firm Majostee Marketing
Government experience: Has not held elected office
Political experience: Surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns
Do you support sending more local funding to the CTA or other public transit agencies as relief funding runs out by 2025?
YES / NO
What plans would you implement to improve the Chicago Transit Authority’s bus and train service as well as other avenues of transportation, including automobiles and bikes?
The CTA is a mobile homeless shelter and mental health clinic, and it’s not fair to anyone – from the drivers to the riders. We must get social workers and interventionists onto the CTA to get people off of the trains and provide them access to the services they need. Then, we’ll focus on retaining employees with benefits including free community college college for all CTA employees.
Do you support a ban on closing any Chicago public schools even as school populations continue to decline?
YES / NO
CPS will be transitioning to a fully elected school board in 2027. How do you see the financial entanglements between the city and CPS going forward?
I will work with the elected school board and the CTU to navigate the future of CPS together.
Do you support reopening all of the closed city mental health centers to help with a citywide crisis response program?
YES / NO
If you answered yes, how would you pay for reopening the health centers? If you answered no, why do you think reopening the health centers is unnecessary?
The current budget has money set aside for city mental health services. It’s necessary to put forth this minimal spend to make a maximal impact. Investing in the mental health of Chicagoans is a crucial way to invest in the future of our city.
Do you think Chicagoans feel safer today than they felt four years ago?
YES / NO
Why do you think Chicagoans feel either less or more safe and what is the single-biggest policy change you would make as mayor dealing with crime?
I believe centering the budget on prevention and intervention over reaction and response is the biggest single part of dealing with crime in the city of Chicago.
Do you think the level of compliance for the Chicago Police Department consent decree is progressing at an appropriate pace?
YES / NO
What will you do specifically to ensure that the consent decree for the Chicago Police Department is fully implemented in a timely manner? Do you support any amendments to the consent decree?
I believe that the mayor’s extension of three years to the consent decree implementation window was unacceptable. The city must work harder and do better to ensure it is implemented and that will take leadership turnover.
Do you support amending city tax subsidies for corporations?
YES / NO
What plans do you propose for helping Chicago’s economy recover?
We have put forth comprehensive plans to drive the engine of Chicago’s economic recovery which are available at gogreenchicago.com
Do you support reforming or abolishing some city fines or fees?
YES / NO
If yes, name three fees or fines issued by the city of Chicago you would alter or abolish, including red light or speed cameras? If no, why do you feel that the current status of taxes and fees issued by the city of Chicago is fair?
We will be abolishing the practice of booting cars for nonpayment of violations, ending the red light cameras that keep Chicagoans in poverty via multiplication of fines, and fighting to take back our parking meters from Daley’s “deal with the devil”. Cook County’s personal bankruptcy rate is out of control, and it’s driven by debt to the City of Chicago. This must end.
Do you think the city has kept its promises to residents as it has redeveloped public housing over the past 22 years?
YES / NO
How will you address housing issues and people without homes in Chicago and what is your vision for the Chicago Housing Authority?
We will address housing issues and people without homes with a once in a generation investment into a single family mortgage bond. Furthermore, we will make the CHA work for Chicagoans again by making public land for public housing, fulfill the promises made during the demolitions of the projects, and work to put a floor above existing single floor buildings.
Do you support reinstating a city Department of Environment?
YES / NO
If not, why not? If so, how will you make sure it functions better than the previous DOE that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel disbanded?
We will center the environment as a priority, enacting a city-level Green New Deal for the City of Chicago.
Do you support banning mayors and aldermen from receiving campaign contributions from city contractors or their executives?
YES / NO
How would you improve the city’s ethics laws, including whether you would tighten restrictions on individuals tied to city contractors not being allowed to contribute to the campaigns of mayors or aldermen?
I would start with rigorous auditing of city contracts, to ensure the system of patronage ends, to ensure the needs of the people are met first, including term limits to prevent the rot of corruption from getting deeper within our system.
Do you think enough has been done about aldermanic privilege in which aldermen have final say over projects in their wards?
YES / NO
If not, what specific changes would you make to ensure aldermen and alderwomen don’t abuse their zoning authority as many have in the past?
I believe Aldermanic privilege should be curbed when it comes to vacant lots being held hostage in our wards. The Mayor must be able to override decisions on redevelopment of vacant lots, subject to review and approval of the City Council.
Do you think city government is appropriately transparent?
YES / NO
How would you improve transparency in city government, including responses to Freedom of Information Act requests and responding to decisions made by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
I would mandate strict compliance with the provisions of FOIA, disallowing the redaction of any information not wholly necessary to protect an active investigation, privacy concerns, or extreme matters of public safety. Government agencies should be held to strict deadlines in responding to FOIA requests.
Do you support additional city building code enforcement policies, including toughening the building scofflaw list?
YES / NO
The Tribune and Better Government Association won this year’s Pulitzer Prize in local reporting by showing that more than 60 Chicagoans, many of them Black, died in fires where the city knew of fire safety issues in the building but failed to act in time. We found tenants cannot rely on the city to effectively enforce safety codes designed to protect them from fire. How will you address these issues?
The scofflaw list is a start, but it is not enough. Under a Green administration we will take aggressive action to enforce building code violations that threaten safety- particularly relating to fire safety. We will enforce fines to the fullest extent available, bring suit against owners who are putting tenants lives at risk, and provide relocation assistance to those unable to safely remain in their rentals- billing these shameful owners for the cost.
Do you support ending the city’s policy of providing security detail for former Chicago mayors?
YES / NO
More than a decade since he left office, former Mayor Richard M. Daley still has a police detail. Chicago is the only city that still does that for former mayors. How long should former Chicago mayors receive police security and a driver from the city?
I believe that police details should be kept available to former Mayors, but requests should be handled on a case by case basis. Former Mayors should be required to provide documentation of a substantial threat to their safety or wellbeing. Providing this service automatically is an unduly burden on the taxpayer, costing the city untold dollars over countless years.
