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: Lori Lightfoot
Born: Massillon, Ohio
Personal: Married to Amy Eshleman with a teenage daughter
Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Michigan; Juris Doctor, University of Chicago
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Current job: Mayor of Chicago
Government experience: Assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (1996-2002); chief administrator, Chicago Police Department Office of Professional Standards (2002-04); chief of staff and general counsel, Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (2004-05); first deputy procurement officer, Chicago Department of Procurement Services (2005); co-chair, Chicago Police Accountability Task Force (2016); president, Chicago Police Board (2015-18).
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?
As we move from the pandemic, the CTA, like other urban transit systems, is grappling with a range of circumstances, some outside of its control, but which are all impacting the delivery of services. We have taken significant steps to make CTA bus and rail service safer and more reliable across all of our neighborhoods.
Last year, the violent crime rate on the CTA began to drop. We made progress because we deepened our collaboration and communications with both Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) locals. Both locals have identified a number of steps we could take to improve safety. We strongly believe the people closest to the challenges are closest to the solutions. That strong candid partnership continues and has resulted in concrete, tangible actions. For example, the CTA doubled the size of our contracted, unarmed security guard staff from 150 to 300 and deployed 50 canine teams, primarily at turnstiles because data demonstrates that fare jumpers are a significant source of later problems. CPD increased the number of sworn officers patrolling train and bus routes, and CPD is conducting police roll calls near bus stops and train stations to ensure that they have a visible presence on and near transit.
Another challenge facing the CTA is staffing shortages. 84% of public transit agencies across America are facing labor shortages that affect their ability to provide the full schedule of service promised—and ours is no exception. The CTA has more than 100 openings for rail operators and more than 600 openings for bus operators. The CTA has been working diligently with the ATU, City Colleges, and others to recruit for and fill these vacancies. The CTA is offering hiring and retention bonuses and raising starting pay to attract new operators and increase service reliability. As a result of those efforts, the CTA hired nearly 400 bus operators in 2022.
The CTA has ambitious plans to continue to modernize system infrastructure to improve service reliability and equity. The 2023-2027 CTA Capital Improvement Program includes $3.4 billion in investments in public transit. The CTA is prioritizing Better Streets for Buses, a comprehensive plan for expanding bus-priority streets (for instance, we recently made the bus only lanes along Chicago Avenue permanent), and continuing Refresh & Renew, our train station improvement initiative.
After decades of promises from City Hall and others, my administration has secured important funding through a new transit TIF to move forward on plans for extending the Red Line to the Far South Side—a milestone achievement for public transit equity in Chicago. This plan has been discussed since the time of Mayor Richard J. Daley’s tenure, but through our hard work with federal partners, we’re capturing needed infrastructure dollars to make this decades-long aspiration a reality.
I am also a strong proponent of investing in bike infrastructure to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution while promoting physical activity and active transportation. We have added more than 100 miles of new bike lanes, 75 percent of which are on our South and West Sides. I also announced the largest expansion of concrete-protected bike lanes in city history, upgrading all protected bike lanes to concrete barriers by the end of 2023. We also unveiled a citywide vision for a connected network of trails and corridors that will connect to transit, housing, and parks citywide, creating new outdoor assets and catalytic community investment.
Lastly, we just announced an agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation to streamline the implementation of safety improvements along approximately 400 miles of Chicago roads that are under state jurisdiction to make our streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. We are also ensuring a safer pedestrian experience by increasing the number of Accessible Pedestrian Signals across the city and adding pedestrian islands. We invested in the $3.7 billion Chicago Works plan to improve infrastructure and create jobs for Chicagoans. Chicago Works’ investments include repaving some 165 miles of streets and alleys, 6,000 ADA compliant curb cuts, and 1,950 new streetlights. Chicago Works funding has already helped install 45 new miles of bike lanes and bring improvements to another 110 miles. We have been relentless in advocating for more federal funding for additional transit, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure, and we have no intention of stopping now.
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?
First, I support a transition to an elected school board. As I have asserted, financial independence between CPS and the city was not properly addressed by Springfield. To be clear, I have deep and abiding concerns that the current legislation as written could have catastrophic consequences for CPS and thus for our city. It is important that the school district is financially independent of the city once the transition to an elected school board is complete. This matter is one source of concern about the legislation that Springfield passed on this matter—it did not adequately address CPS’ longstanding dependence on the city. Another big area of concern is the disenfranchisement of non-citizens. Non-citizens are a significant part of CPS communities, and non-citizens are integral as parents, Local School Council members, and elsewhere. In my view, in a welcoming city like Chicago, it is unconscionable that Springfield banned non-citizens from serving on the elected school board. I hope to work closely with Gov. Pritzker and the legislature to establish clarity and ensure that our schools, teachers, and students receive the resources they need and deserve.
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?
Our current approach to providing citywide, culturally competent services far exceeds the limited services previously available to those in need of mental health care. I am proud to have increased mental health funding more than sevenfold since the previous administration, from $12 million in 2019 to $89 million in 2022. Sixteen times more Chicagoans receive mental health care annually from us compared to when I took office, and we are now funding resources in all 77 community areas. We have made sure that the full range of mental health services is available without regard to insurance, ability to pay, or citizenship status. This is incredibly important to me personally, and I also feel strongly that it is an important component of our citywide plan to make Chicago safer and address the root causes of crime and violence.
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?
The most important responsibility of any mayor is public safety. My goal is to make Chicago the safest big city in the country by creating lasting peace, not just episodic periods of peace in certain neighborhoods. We must get to a place where every resident, regardless of where they live, feels safe because they are safe. There are no simple solutions, and anyone who suggests there are either does not understand the complexities of crime or is not being honest.
I spend much of my time in communities across our city, listening and learning from Chicagoans and implementing solutions driven by residents, as well as continuing to push for the execution of our larger strategies. In my experience, residents want to know that there is a plan that makes sense and is getting results and that their unique experiences and concerns are being heard.
Now here’s our plan that we have been executing: we are taking a comprehensive approach to violent crime by tackling the scourge of illegal guns, holding violent dangerous people accountable, and investing in communities to address the root causes of violence.
The number one driver of violence in Chicago is the proliferation and ready access to illegal firearms. There are no simple solutions to this problem, particularly in the absence of federal common-sense gun reform. There are, however, impactful, multi-tiered solutions we have and will continue to deploy at the local level such as the recently passed ban on assault weapons in Illinois. These weapons of war are a clear and present danger to Chicagoans.
We must continue to seek additional ways to stem the flow of illegal guns into our city. For this reason, we do not hesitate to hold gun dealers—whether in-state or out-of-state—accountable for illegal guns that end up on Chicago’s streets. For example, we sued Westforth Sports, Inc., a Gary, Indiana gun dealer responsible for a pattern of illegal gun sales that were used in crimes in Chicago.
We also need to continue collaborating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to take advantage of federal laws against gun trafficking and straw purchasing. I will continue to advocate for additional resources to the ATF’s Chicago field division.
In addition to these efforts, our strategy centers on stopping violent people who use guns before they strike, pressing the courts and prosecutors to hold these people accountable, and making investments that give people, especially young men of color, an entrance to the legitimate economy. In 2022, we made progress in this important mission of public safety, but we have many more steps in our journey.
We’ve made progress because we focused on accountability in every part of the public safety ecosystem — accountability for me as Mayor, CPD leadership and officers, as well as the prosecutors and courts. This has meant using data-driven strategies to determine weekly police deployments and make nimble adjustments as necessary, with a focus on CPD working with other law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and county levels, and other municipalities, as well as street outreach workers, to proactively stop crimes before they happen, cut off the cycle of retaliatory shootings, take illegal guns off the streets, and hold violent individuals accountable.
Toward this end, we continued our investments and commitment to police and public safety. We created the new CPD Gun Investigations Team in 2021 to interrupt the illegal flow of guns into the city with our federal partners, and to seize expired Firearms Owners’ Identification Cards and guns from individuals in Chicago who no longer can legally possess them. Every patrol district is also focused on seizing illegal guns. Last year, CPD removed more than 12,700 illegal guns from our streets, including more than 1,000 assault weapons and 750 ghost guns.
We secured a $63 million increase in the CPD budget for 2023, bringing the total budget to nearly $2 billion, with funding set aside for additional recruitment and retention efforts, two new police helicopters, new technology and equipment for our officers, as well as resources to meet our consent decree obligations. We also continued our critical investments in officer wellness. CPD placed strict limits on canceled days off and imposed mandatory rest periods between shifts. In addition, CPD improved dated policies and procedures which facilitated the hiring of more than 950 new police officers in 2022, to keep pace with promotions and retirements, all amid a nationwide police staffing crisis. CPD also promoted nearly 300 new detectives.
CPD expanded the Vehicular Hijacking Task Force, which includes Chicago Police, Cook County Sheriffs, Illinois State Police, other regional municipalities, as well as federal law enforcement, to take on the increase in carjackings that Chicago and cities across the country have experienced in recent years.
A retail theft task force that we stood up in the face of the summer 2020 looting remains active, collaborating with businesses and security personnel from commercial districts citywide and particularly in the Central Business District and along Michigan Avenue.
In August 2021, we constituted the Community Safety Coordination Center (CSCC) which coordinates public safety investments and responses both inside city government and with community partners. The CSCC convenes city personnel responsible for any aspect of public safety with emphasis on the reality that every city department — from infrastructure to public health, the Department of Family and Support Services, the Department of Housing, Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, schools, parks, libraries, etc — has an integral role to play in community safety. City departments now understand that they must work together, not in silos, to bring a coordinated whole-of-city approach to public safety.
The CSCC has been focused on the 15 communities that historically experience almost 50 percent of violence. In all of these communities, we work with key stakeholders, and ask “what will it take for you to feel safe?” The answer differs in each community, but we work to capitalize on the assets and opportunities available, working hand in hand with the community.
My administration has recognized that after decades of what was, in essence, a law enforcement first and only strategy, we cannot just arrest our way out of the problem – but we can and we must couple strategic use of law enforcement with a targeted investment strategy to build our way to lasting peace. We have focused on the root causes of violence and treated the problem as the public health epidemic that it is. The CSCC plays a key role in building up community capacity through tangible investments.
For example, we have committed to unprecedented investments to support youth and their families, such as the Service Coordination and Navigation program, which connects youth to mental health services, housing, education, training, and legal services. We dedicated 50 percent of our summer jobs to at-risk youth, and we expanded funding for CPS initiatives like Choose to Change and Back to Our Future, two programs that provide paid employment, mental health services, and mentors for at-risk youth. We also expanded the Narcotics Arrest Diversion Program, which redirects people with substance use disorders away from the criminal justice system and into medical treatment and rehabilitation. We launched the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement pilot program to respond to 9-1-1 calls related to mental health crises. Response teams include specially trained paramedics, mental health clinicians, and police officers who have completed the city’s crisis intervention training. To support families at the earliest stages of a child’s life, we have scaled up the Family Connects program in which an R.N., in coordination with obstetrics hospitals, makes in-home visits within two to three weeks of a baby being released home after birth to do a well-being check to assist the mother and the baby and, where needed, to connect the family to social services.
In 2022, homicides dropped by 14%, shootings dropped by 20%, and carjackings by 10%. In the 15 communities which were the focus of the CSCC, we saw, on average, homicides drop by 24% and shootings by 25%. In addition, there has been a measurable reduction in violent crimes in entertainment districts in River North and Motor Row, due in part to crackdowns on local businesses, especially those with late-night liquor licenses.
We must continue to focus on juvenile offenders. Rather than simply locking up juvenile offenders, we must give young people an off-ramp from criminal conduct through social services and other supports. This must be a part of the adjudication of their cases, and we will continue to push the courts to take a more holistic approach, rather than simply releasing these young people back to the streets without any meaningful intervention.
In addition, we saw an alarming spike in domestic violence-related homicides and shootings which drove the city’s violence statistics. These are tougher crimes to prevent and require deeper investments and collaboration with advocates and enhanced public marketing and engagement to help victims leave dangerous situations before a shooting or homicide occurs. We will also continue to press the criminal courts to do their essential part to hold violent people accountable pre-trial so that they do not continue to wreak havoc in our communities.
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 have devoted much of my career to fighting for police reform. During my tenure as mayor, we have made significant strides in reform and accountability.
The most visible manifestation of reform is our consent decree compliance. The CPD has gone from 73% compliance to almost 80% compliance in the last Independent Monitoring Reporting period. This is up from 22% compliance when I took office. CPD has built a solid foundation to continue moving forward on consent decree compliance and has able leadership in key areas such as the head of constitutional policing, the training academy, and the research and development unit, among others. Compared to other police departments in year three of a consent decree, the CPD is significantly farther along.
Chicagoans deserve a police department they trust wholeheartedly. We have laid a solid foundation for police reform, but we know we have more to do. We’ll continue to work with our community partners, the Independent Monitor, the court, and other partners to ensure that every officer is equipped with the tools they need to do their jobs constitutionally, effectively, and equitably.
Do you support amending city tax subsidies for corporations?
YES / NO
What plans do you propose for helping Chicago’s economy recover?
I have undertaken an ambitious agenda of expanding opportunity and driving inclusive economic growth across every neighborhood. The unprecedented challenges of a pandemic only made us double down on our efforts. Through our Chicago Recovery Plan, we are investing $451 million to catalyze and sustain an equitable economic recovery from the pandemic, in addition to $1.32 billion toward essential city services and $776 million toward thriving and safe communities.
We have the most diverse economy in the nation. From day one of my administration — and especially during the pandemic — we leaned into supporting our core industries. In 2021 and 2022, we saw 353 “Pro-Chicago decisions,” where companies relocated to Chicago or expanded their existing footprint in Chicago. We set records in growth capital and other investments and minted 12 unicorns (privately-held startups with values of over $1 billion) in 2021. We recognize that small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods, and that’s why our Chicago Recovery Plan is committing an additional $67 million toward providing grants and support services for small businesses and new small business owners, beautification projects for our commercial corridors, on top of the over $100 million committed during the height of the pandemic.
Being a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars is an important component of our economic strength. We abandoned the mentality that getting our fiscal house in order was a problem we could leave to future generations. Our strong stewardship has earned our city ten credit rating upgrades since August and brought all our ratings to investment grade. These rating upgrades mean tens of millions of dollars of savings for taxpayers and new possibilities for the city.
As part of our recovery, we are continuing to make historic neighborhood investments and support a pipeline of residential and commercial development, such as through our signature economic development program, the $2.2 billion and growing INVEST South/West initiative, and our $1 billion investment in affordable housing (the largest affordable housing investment in city history). INVEST South/West is an unprecedented collaboration between city government, community organizations, the business community, and philanthropy to marshal resources toward South and West Side neighborhoods. To date, through a pandemic and resulting economic meltdown, we have mobilized more than $2.2 billion in public and private investment commitments in these communities. INVEST South/West projects range from infrastructure redevelopment, reclaiming public spaces, vacant lot beautification, as well as vertical construction like the redevelopment of the former Laramie State Bank building in Austin into a mixed-use site that will house a bank, a museum, commercial space, and affordable housing to the construction of the Thrive Exchange in South Shore which will include a tech incubator, health care center, and dozens of new condos and apartments.
We have aggressively marketed development opportunities in INVEST South/West communities to developers, national retailers, banks, and others and provided economic data to make the business case for these investments. In addition, in our next phase of work, through the Chicago Recovery Plan grants, we are funding “in-fill” developments to continue the catalytic investments on blocks and in neighborhoods.
The essence of INVEST South/West is using city dollars to spur private and philanthropic investments, building wealth and capacity of Black and Latinx developers and their teams, permanent jobs in the footprint of the vertical construction, but also fundamentally saying to these resource-starved communities “we hear and see you and help is on the way.” I could not be prouder of what this initiative has accomplished in three short years, and I am ready to continue that historic work in a second term.
We are also working to revitalize and draw visitors back to our downtown area in the wake of the pandemic. Chicago was named the Best Big City in the U.S. for a sixth straight year by Condé Nast Traveler. We’re intensifying civic and public life and boosting foot traffic through new experiences like the Sueños Music Festival, NASCAR, Sundays on State, and Lollapalooza (for which my team has negotiated an unprecedented 10-year extension which will mean billions of dollars of economic impact over the life of the contract). The new Bally’s Casino, located close to downtown, will support 3,000 union construction jobs and 3,000 permanent union jobs after opening. This summer, our downtown hotel room demand was nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Demand for hotel rooms occupied by delegates of large meetings and conventions exceeded summer 2019 levels. Additionally, we are thinking creatively about repurposing legacy office districts following the pandemic. We are moving forward with plans to use the LaSalle Central TIF District to create more than 1,000 residential units downtown (with at least 30% being affordable housing).
Last but by no means least, improving public safety in every ZIP Code is vital for our city’s continued economic recovery. You can read more about how we are directing unprecedented resources into community-based violence prevention and law enforcement as part of our ongoing work to build a safer Chicago in my responses to the public safety questions.
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?
As someone who grew up in a working-class family, I was alarmed by how the City of Chicago was balancing its budget in large part on the backs of working families through regressive fines and fees. This horribly regressive process started in the 1990s and continued until I took office. Chicagoans, particularly low-income and working-class ones, lost driving privileges, lost their vehicles, and were driven into bankruptcy by that fines and fees regime. Throughout my time in office, we have taken historic action to reform fines and fees that disproportionately impact low income residents. In 2019, we launched New Start Chicago to take on the regressive fines and fees that left too many Chicagoans trapped in cycles of debt. The Chicago Public Library also became one of the largest fine-free library systems in the nation. Our administration also created the Clear Path Relief Pilot Program to assist Chicagoans with accumulated delinquent ticket debt. Specific measures we have implemented in our programs include reducing and limiting fines and fees for impounded vehicles, decreasing the number of situations in which a car can be impounded, ending the doubling of city sticker tickets, reinstating the 15-day grace period provided for city sticker tickets, ending driver’s license suspensions for non-driving violations, providing low-income Chicagoans with a reduced rate on their water, sewer, and water-sewer taxes, and utility bill debt forgiveness. These comprehensive reforms are providing Chicagoans across the city with a second chance and an opportunity to get ahead — and we look forward to continuing to build on this work.
On the topic of speed cameras, a UIC study demonstrated that speed cameras were effective at reducing both injuries and fatalities. Raising the speed camera ticketing threshold, i.e., allowing cars to go faster around schools and parks, would raise the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities near schools and parks and put our children at risk.
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 are advancing a comprehensive set of solutions to combat homelessness and housing instability. For example, our 2023 budget increased funding for homelessness support services, with $200 million dedicated to investments, including rapid rehousing programs, the development of permanent supportive housing, non-congregate housing programs, low-barrier shelter, and additional positions for our homelessness services team. These are historically large investments to address homelessness.
We are placing the largest single investment in affordable housing in city history, pledging more than $1 billion to build new and preserve existing homes across the city. I also led the charge to pass the Connected Communities Ordinance to catalyze the development of new housing (both affordable and market rate) near public transit. The city is addressing rapid development and gentrification to prevent the displacement of long-time residents through our revision of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance. The ordinance creates much-needed affordable housing across the city and helps address the legacy of racial segregation. Our administration has also been a vocal supporter of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to promote naturally affordable units across Chicago. I passed an ordinance ending the city’s ban on the construction of new ADUs, which had been in place since 1957. We approved 328 applications for new ADUs in the first four months of our ADU pilot program, and I am eager to expand the program across the city.
I view the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) as a vital catalyst for creating sustainable mixed use, mixed-income communities that welcome Chicagoans from all walks of life. That requires both accelerating our current pipeline of affordable housing developments and protecting and preserving our existing public housing buildings so they can continue to serve future generations of Chicago families.
Right now, the CHA has 778 apartments under construction across a dozen sites. Last year, we opened nearly 400 new apartments, 143 of which were Project-Based Voucher apartments, and we announced plans to fund more than 230 additional units. The CHA also delivered more than 350 new homes with nearly 150 of those for CHA families and seniors. The agency led all major public housing agencies in America in leasing Emergency Housing Vouchers, providing hundreds of Chicagoans who experienced homelessness with a place to call home. We also rehabilitated over 900 units in our buildings for senior residents, modernized one hundred elevators, and enhanced security across CHA properties.
Lastly, we also recognize that supporting CHA residents has to go far beyond just providing high-quality, affordable housing. We’re focused on improving the support we provide our CHA residents, like the Family Self-Sufficiency program, which helps residents achieve financial stability and puts them on a path toward economic independence.
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?
Yes, but creating a new department must be thoughtfully done so it is set up for success. In our 2023 budget, we secured $677,000 in new funding for staff to create an Office of Climate and Environmental Equity led by the Chief Sustainability Officer. The office is charged with continuing our equity-focused environmental policy agenda, guiding departments in creating policies and programs, and more. They will provide recommendations on establishing a department in our 2024 budget.
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 talked about the need for unprecedented ethics and good government reform throughout my 2019 campaign — and when I took office, I implemented exactly that.
During my first 100 days as mayor, I took action to ensure that city officials were operating with the highest standards of transparency and in the best interest of taxpayers. Our sweeping ethics reform ordinances gave the inspector general more authority to investigate aldermen and City Council committees and banned outside employment for aldermen that interferes with their public service.
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 value the insight of local aldermen, but they shouldn’t have an unchecked veto over economic development and affordable housing. Our groundbreaking Connected Communities Ordinance limits the ability of alderpersons to block new housing, including affordable housing, near public transit. However, there were items in the ordinance that was originally introduced that had to be removed to secure enough votes for the ordinance to pass, such as automatically allowing two flat and three-flat construction in transit-rich parts of the city. We’re still eager to pass these measures.
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.
As a strong believer in the importance of government transparency and accountability, I am committed to full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. In the Mayor’s Office alone, we have responded to over 2,300 FOIA requests and counting during my tenure. We have a dedicated team whose job is exclusively to handle the high volume of requests with fidelity. We have also worked to publish many sources of city data to allow residents and media to find information easily without needing to go through the FOIA process.
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?
That reporting reflected historic issues, many of which arose before my administration took office. Every Chicagoan deserves to be safe in their own home. I have no tolerance for building owners who fail to follow the Chicago Building Code and put their tenants in harm’s way. That’s why I worked with the City Council to pass an amendment to strengthen the Building Scofflaw ordinance. Our ordinance updated eligibility criteria and added mandatory inspections to expand our oversight over buildings with severe and chronic code violations. We also passed legislation requiring landlords to install 10-year, sealed-battery smoke alarms in non-owner-occupied residences. Lastly, we enhanced our public education efforts through a fire safety campaign and are exploring new ways to ensure all homes in our city are equipped with functioning smoke alarms.
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?
There is no “magic number” that should guide how long mayors should continue to receive their security detail after leaving office. I believe in regular threat assessments for both current and former mayors to help determine the level of protection that is appropriate and necessary.
