2023 Chicago Election Voter Guide

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

I am running because I am very involved in my community and want to represent us on the City Council. I am eager to work for my neighbors on the important issues of fighting crime, upgrading the safety and reliability of the CTA, improving public schools, helping small businesses thrive, and combating the scourge of vacant storefronts.

I have had unique experiences to prepare me for this role. I have been a small business owner and resident of the Ward for over a decade, growing deeply involved in the community as the owner and operator of TrueNorth Cafe. I am a member of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce and a Commissioner of Special Service Area (SSA) #22 Andersonville, where I am one of seven SSA commissioners responsible for distributing tax dollars to benefit Andersonville’s business district. In 2018, I was appointed to The Chicago Mayoral Business Council to help shape the Mayor’s small business initiatives. I also volunteer for projects run by the Jewish United Fund (JUF) of Metropolitan Chicago.

I grew up in Berwyn and attended Berwyn-Cicero (Morton) High School, the least adequately funded public high school in suburban Cook County. I then attended The University of Chicago on an Odyssey Scholarship for lower-income students. After college I worked in the Chicago Mayor’s Office where I got to work closely with the City Council, and learned what differentiates the effective from the less effective Alderpersons. I learned how to write and pass ordinances and how to navigate the bureaucracy. I even organized the 2011 aldermanic orientation program to teach new alderpersons about city government, running a ward office, serving on legislative committees, and other things.

I left the Mayor’s Office for the Illinois Restaurant Association where I got to work on legislation that helped the city’s small businesses. In 2013, a federal appeals court ruled Illinois must allow the concealed carry of firearms. We worked to ban concealed weapons from all restaurants that served alcohol, but the state law only banned them in taverns and bars. So we fought for stricter laws in Chicago, and the resulting city ordinance mandated all places with liquor licenses, even if the sale of alcohol is incidental, couldn’t allow anyone to carry a concealed firearm. I also worked on the minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. I’m proud that the Illinois Restaurant Association was the only business group that supported an increase to the minimum wage. 

What does this office do well, and what needs fixing?

Having worked closely with alderpersons for over a decade, I have learned a lot about what differentiates the effective from the less effective. In the past, alderpersons were judged mostly by how clean they kept their ward and how good their constituent services were. While this is still true, people nowadays expect alderpersons to take their legislative role seriously as well. A lot of members of the City Council are only good at one of these two tasks, but I have the personality and experience to be good at both. I am a bridge builder who works for consensus which will be helpful in passing ordinances. I am also a very hard worker and deeply engaged in my neighborhood and will make sure constituent services are performed at the highest level and the streets and alleys are kept clean.

What is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?

Residents of the 48th Ward bring up rising crime and vacant storefronts more than anything else. We take pride in the unique small business atmosphere in Edgewater and Andersonville. But these small, independent businesses that once thrived here are hurting. National chains opening up in the neighborhood, such as Jeni’s Ice Cream and Taco Bell, are salt in the wound.

The 48th Ward needs a plan to encourage entrepreneurship, build small businesses, and create jobs. As Alderperson, I will act as an advocate, concierge, booster, and cheerleader for attracting small businesses and responsible development to the neighborhood. I will employ a small business liaison in the Ward office to help prospective and current small businesses get the attention and resources they need. I will engage the local community to posit potential tenants and business types that are wanted.

I will also use my unique perspective as an entrepreneur who has worked in government to streamline licensing, zoning, and permitting. We must cut red tape and make sure information on opening a business is easily available, updated, and accurate. We also need a plan to address vacant storefronts that removes tax breaks property owners receive for not having a tenant.

What specific steps would you take to ensure your office is accessible and responsive to your constituents?

I will utilize all the traditional channels (email, social media) and be highly visible and accessible in the Ward. I would like to increase the information shared with residents. As a member of the Andersonville SSA I am given quarterly reports on things like vacant storefronts and businesses that are looking to move into the neighborhood. I would like to combine all this information from every Chamber of Commerce, SSA, and CBO in the ward and distribute it to as many residents as possible so that they could have input and help us attract businesses to the ward that there is a demand for.

I will run an Inclusive, accessible, and responsive ward office for the residents of the 48th Ward. We must ensure everyone feels welcome in the community, and that city services are available to everyone regardless of technological barriers, language barriers, or disabilities. The city of Chicago needs to prioritize installing accessible pedestrian signals, which help people with hearing and visual impairments navigate the streets. We must also work to make certain streets, notably Ridge Avenue, more pedestrian friendly. It's also vital to install more protected bike lanes for safety throughout the ward.

Do you believe in the tradition of aldermanic prerogative, which gives each City Council member the final say on issues in their ward?

I believe the community needs to have a voice on all important issues and new developments. Through community meetings and input the Alderman learns what the neighborhood wants and then steers things toward that goal.

Aldermanic prerogative can sometimes place too much power in the hands of the Alderperson and lead to ethics problems. I will avoid that by being completely transparent in my work. For example, I support allocating menu money though the inclusive and democratic process of Participatory Budgeting. Through this process, $1 million of menu money would be directed toward addressing infrastructure project proposals produced by residents and community committees. The remaining $500,000 would be used for emergency repairs and other needs during the year.

Should the $1.9 billion budget for the Chicago Police Department increase, stay the same or decrease?

We must bring the crime rate down, but that’s not as easy as increasing the Police budget. The days of being “tough on crime” are over, but the days of being “smart on crime” are just getting started.

CPD needs to hire more police officers and detectives to address its massive staffing shortage, especially officers from historically under-represented groups that look like the communities they serve. We should focus on Mental Health by hiring mental health professionals and expanding use of “co-responder models” to allow them to respond to mental health emergencies with police officers. At the same time, we need to invest more in mental health support for officers and officer training to decrease the probability of negative outcomes.

A special focus should be given to addressing crime on CTA property by encouraging interagency agreements between CPD, CTA, and Family & Support Services to provide outreach and support services for riders who are unsheltered, as well as those grappling with mental health and substance abuse issues.

The City needs to purchase modern technology such as helicopters with better night vision capabilities and Police Observation Devices (PODs) to view and record potential crime, especially PODs with license plate reading technology.

These are some of the things CPD needs to do to bring the crime rate down. While some things might increase the police budget, others will lower it by doing things like reducing paid overtime and spending less on police misconduct settlements.

Should the city raise the Real Estate Transfer Tax on properties sold for more than $1 million to fund programs to help unhoused Chicagoans?

As a small business owner, I have gotten to know the unhoused people in our neighborhood. I know their life stories and their traumas. I have learned that many people end up unhoused through no fault of their own, and it’s a disgrace how this city treats them.

Efforts to find housing for the unhoused have failed because the efforts aren’t part of a larger vision, lack coordination between city agencies, and because they are usually temporary with unreliable funding. We need self-sustaining, coordinated, and permanent solutions.

I fully support any programs that help unhoused Chicagoans, but I think such programs might be better funded in different ways. I am against raising property taxes, and think property taxes should be kept at the minimum level necessary to stabilize the city’s finances and payoff its crushing pension debts. In my opinion to provide such services, it would be ideal for the State to allow Chicago to institute a progressive sales tax on services to raise revenue, especially since it would be much more progressive than sales taxes on good. 

Should the city open and operate mental health clinics to provide free care to Chicagoans?

The city needs to open and operate a lot more services for Chicagoans in need and mental health clinics are a part of that. I advocate buying hotels or other buildings that can be turned into interim and permanent housing centers complete with Mental Health clinics, drug and alcohol programs, job training workshops, and everything that people might need to live stable lives.

How should Chicago build the 120,000 homes it needs for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans?

The city needs to develop more affordable housing for its residents. This includes everything from Single Room Occupancy Housing (SRO) to larger “family size” units for families with children. We need to focus on Transit-oriented development (TOD) that is designed to be compact, walkable, and centered around a transit station or stop.

Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings provide affordable housing opportunities essential to the quality of life for many Chicago residents. But Chicago has lost half its SRO’s in the last decade. We must insist on the development of more SRO’s and the preservation of the existing stock.

That is why I support buying hotels and turning them into SRO’s. The city spent millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds on a hotel voucher system, but once the money is spent, the program is over. The city should have thought long-term and invested in buying hotels or similar properties and turning them into SRO’s for those in need.

Another way to pay for it is through TIF funds. I am skeptical of many TIFs because they have become too abundant and have been run under shrouds of secrecy to fund pet projects and line the pockets of wealthy developers instead of helping neighborhoods improve or residents find jobs. But when used appropriately, TIFs can be useful funding tools.

What do you see as potential solutions to address the number of shootings in Chicago?

The first and most important thing the city needs to do is hire more police officers to address its massive staffing shortage. To bring down the murder rate, we need to get shooters off the streets. But Chicago currently solves a shockingly low number of murders, leaving the perpetrators of violence free to kill again. Solving more cases will involve hiring more detectives to investigate crime and bring charges. To get more convictions, we must improve the Gang Crime Witness Protection Program.

We also need to expand the “Vehicular Hijacking Task Force” dedicated to stopping carjacking incidents in Chicago, and purchase more PODs to view and record potential crime, especially those with license plate reading technology.

We also must work with the State’s Attorney to make sure people are held accountable for crimes. But making more arrests won’t make much of a difference if we don’t rehabilitate people convicted of crimes. I have tried to do my part by hiring formerly incarcerated people in my cafes and giving them the opportunity to acquire skills and improve their lives.

But individual efforts are not enough. I support robust re-entry after incarceration programs to help with housing, job placement, education support, case management, restorative justice, substance abuse and mental health services. Preventative crime fighting strategies should include expanding early childhood education & quality after school programs, along with promoting universal, school-based violence prevention, de-escalation, and interruption programs.

Should the city do more to encourage residents to live close to where they work and shop by building dense multi-unit apartment complexes near transportation hubs?

Yes, the city should encourage transit-oriented development (TOD) that is designed to be compact, walkable, and centered around a transit station or stop. Even better, we should focus on equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) that benefits all members of a community, including low-income and marginalized populations.

ETOD includes a mix of housing options, including affordable and low-income housing, to ensure that people of all income levels have access to housing near transit. ETOD promotes the creation of jobs near transit, so that people can live and work in the same area, reducing the need for long commutes. It also incorporates green infrastructure, energy-efficient buildings, and sustainable transportation options to reduce the community's environmental impact and adapt to climate change.

Overall, balancing development with the new Connected Communities Ordinance requires a proactive, inclusive and collaborative approach that addresses the needs of all members of the community, and promote the development of sustainable and resilient communities.

Should the city prioritize the construction of bicycle lanes and encourage people to use bicycles to commute to work?

The city should not only prioritize the construction of Bike lanes but go much further to make the city more accessible by cycling, walking, and public transportation. The city needs to make more streets “bicycle only” and “bus only.”

It should Improve pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to reduce potential conflicts between different traffic modes and improve safety for all users.

I support converting one of four lanes of DuSable Lake Shore Drive into a bus-only lane to improve travel times and to encourage our neighbors to use public transit. Even better might be converting one of four lanes into a shared-lane for buses and toll-paying drivers. This would make public transportation faster and more reliable, while adding revenue to the city’s coffers.

All these projects should strive to add extra green space to the lakefront to make the roadway more resilient to climate change, increase accessibility for people with disabilities and others, and make the roadway safer for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.

What steps should the city take to prevent Chicago’s shoreline from eroding further?

Chicago needs to work with the state and federal governments, along with all local stakeholders such as condo boards and neighborhood associations, to develop and implement a comprehensive shoreline management plan that addresses the specific issues and challenges facing the city's shoreline to prevent further erosion. Some necessary steps might include building shoreline structures such as breakwaters, seawalls, or groins to protect against wave action and reduce erosion and planting vegetation such as beach grass or dune grass along the shoreline to stabilize the sand and reduce erosion. It's important to note that the most effective approach will likely involve a combination of strategies and will need to be tailored to our specific conditions and challenges.

I would suggest the most important, but often overlooked, short-term priority is making emergency plans for the safety of residents in the event of flash flooding and other disasters. According to the 2020 Shoreline Assessment, most buildings lacked thorough planning for all contingencies that could occur during emergencies. For example, many emergency plans do not account for residents that may be dependent on electricity to supply medical needs such as power for their oxygen tanks or to keep insulin stored at the right temperature. It is important all buildings educate residents and help them prepare for such circumstances. Evacuation plans should be made and distributed to residents. These plans must avoid the common trap of planning to evacuate to a building next door, as there is a chance that building might be facing the same problems at the same time.