2023 Chicago Election Voter Guide

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

I am running for re-election for the same reason I ran in 2019 — the working people of the 25th Ward have overcome decades of corruption, displacement, and disinvestment while fighting to preserve their communities, their schools, and their cultural fabric. Just like in 2019, we are the only candidate in the race refusing contributions from entities that have harmed our community — we don't accept contributions from developers, corporate PACs, polluters, fossil fuel interests, charter schools, or dark money PACs.

Voters elected us to deliver on the progressive change that we promised — we have had the opportunity to demonstrate both principled and effective leadership that brought stakeholders across the 25th Ward together and strengthen all our communities. In 4 years, we have created over 800 units of housing affordable for residents in our communities. We passed a law to stop predatory harassment of homeowners to sell from predatory developers. We have increased violence prevention investments from $0 when I took office to $680,000 in our ward. We have voted against every single property tax increase proposed by Mayor Lightfoot. We have held the police accountable for civil rights violations and also used our office to bridge the trust necessary to complete investigations to bring justice to survivors and families. We have walked the block to collect witness statements and videos to ensure better outcomes in investigations. We have created innovative programs to curb violence in our alternative high schools. We have stood up to polluters who have concentrated pollution and it's harmful health effects in our communities and are currently in process to have the first study of the cumulative burden of pollution carried out here by the US EPA and partners. I am the only candidate in this race that has supported our small businesses including businesses in the Discount Mall, and helped over 1,000 property owners and businesses correct their poorly accessed property taxes just in this past year. We created the first magnet dual language school program on Chicago's south side at Whitter Elementary. We expanded the Pilsen Food Pantry to grow its capacity to serve thousands of families every week, and also expanded the health services available at our local UIC clinic to include dental and pharmacy services. We have delivered stellar constituent services and the excellent ward office services that our constituents deserve, while also going above and beyond to provide shelter to both Chicagoans and refugees in times of crisis.

I am running because our communities are worth more than the value that developers and corporate interests want to extract from them. In the past decades, over 10,000 Mexican Americans were displaced from our communities. I am running so that we can have conscious development and safer streets, so we can fight displacement efforts like skyrocketing property taxes, I am running so that we can invest adequate resources in mental health and violence intervention and prevention programs that can lower violence by up to 75%, so we can reinvest in our schools and parks, and to challenge the corruption that endangered our communities in the first place. I am the only candidate who has challenged the status quo and I am proud to be a former educator endorsed by every organization of educators and parents groups in this race. I hope to earn your support and continue to strengthen our communities through democratic and consensus building efforts.

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

In 2019, our office inherited a mess with no formal transition from the previous Alderman who disappeared after his status as a FBI mole was revealed in the papers. In addition to leading on critical issues of public safety, housing, displacement, and property taxes, we have also excelled at addressing long neglected constituent services. We have invested in upgrading our street lights, repairing long neglected streets and sidewalks. We are eager to unveil new protected bike lanes along 16th Street which will also reinvigorate our community’s pride — our historic murals along 16th Street. We have distributed garbage cans, addressed rats and other public health issues, and worked with our city departments to humanely support services to connect people in our ward experiencing homelessness with a transition into housing, health services, and stability.

We receive 100 calls a day in our office, and 200 emails per day. We strive to provide every single person who reaches out to us with excellent constituent services, even when 10% of the people reaching out are outside of our ward we still seek to help. Residents are given the personal cell phone number of the Alderperson because we believe in accountability, and every ward resident and stakeholder has an opportunity to meet with the Alderperson every Tuesday in Ward night. We are always open to feedback to improve our services and strive to demonstrate what good government can look like in our city.

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

Public safety and forces of displacement. When I took office, there was zero state investment in violence prevention programs in our ward. We have brought over $680,000 in investments from the state, county, and even our own menu money in the Alderman’s office to invest in violence prevention. We supported the creation of a violence prevention program at the Rudy Lozano alternative high school that has already doubled in size, diverting young people from being likely to be involved in gun violence to pursuing their passion in digital media, filmmaking, and acting, and developing excellent skills that can be applied in a future career in those industries. We have held the police accountable, and stood with survivors and families of victims to support investigations, including collecting videos and witness statements ourselves to bridge the very real and damaging trust gap in our communities.

We have challenged the corruption that allowed the Speaker of the House to work simultaneously as a property tax appeal attorney, resulting in property taxes in our ward to increase an average of 46% overnight — a deeply unjust and unacceptable increase. We have helped over 1,000 homeowners and small businesses have their property taxes corrected in just the past year and continue to help more every day. We have supported efforts to stabilize rent. We have created and preserved over 800 units of affordable housing in the 25th Ward in the past 4 years, more than my predecessor created in his over two decades in office. As a first term Alderperson, I co-chaired the Affordable Requirements Reform Task Force and supported the expansion of affordable housing development across our city. We dismantled administrative hurdles to allow, for the first time, undocumented Chicagoans to have access to housing subsidies so that all people can have the opportunity to live with dignity.

I am running for re-election to continue to fight for investment in researched based programs that are proven to reduce violence by up to 75%, to invest in mental health care and treatment not trauma, and to end the forces of displacement in our community by standing against institutional corruption and supporting the expansion of opportunities to stabilize housing for all.

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

I am proud to give every constituent and stakeholder I meet my personal phone number — I answer every email, call and text message to ensure I am fully accountable to the people who elected me. Every Tuesday, anyone can schedule a meeting with me directly during Ward night. My office receives over 100 calls a day, and over 200 emails a day. We have addressed thousands of 311 requests and shape our menu money around the requests we hear most urgently from constituents. We have even opened our office to serve as 24hr shelters during polar vortexes when the city took insufficient action to protect unhoused people, and we have also sheltered many refugees and migrants have we have worked with community partners to provide longer term housing for the refugees currently coming to Chicago, to truly live up to our status as a sanctuary city. We have strived to demonstrate the kind of good government that we believe every Chicagoan deserves and are always open to feedback to continue to improve our services.

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 in Community Prerogative. While many Aldermen have abused their prerogative to favor their political donors, we know that replacing Aldermanic Prerogative with Mayoral Prerogative will exacerbate, not reform, the problem. In the 25th Ward, our zoning advisory board facilitates public meetings where neighbors work together to seek consensus on issues of development in our community. We believe increasing democratic participation and having neighbors at the decision making table are critical towards growing our communities while maintaining and preserving our cultural assets.

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

The Chicago Police Department is currently handling crises that they are not equipped to handle. If a person is experiencing a mental health crisis, the last thing they need is an armed law enforcement officer to arrive to address a problem that is not related to law enforcement. It is critical that we take the unused resources sitting for vacant positions, and re-allocate those resources to invest in emergency mental health services. This would improve police response times for true emergencies like mass shootings, while allowing calls for mental health to not distract police from the emergencies they need to respond to. Therefore, the Chicago Police Department budget should decrease to improve our city’s ability to address public safety and other emergencies.

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

Yes. The Mayor was elected on this promise and our city has suffered as a result of her broken promise to support our most vulnerable with basic human services, made even more essential in a city that gets as cold as ours does.

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

Yes. Loreto Hospital has a wait list of over 2,000 people seeking mental health services. Some of the increases in violence in our city can be directly attributed to Mayor Emanuel’s fateful decision to close down schools and mental health clinics in communities that most needed those services and community centers. We must re-open these mental health clinics and stabilize our communities that are reeling from a pandemic that destabilized so many of our most vulnerable communities.

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

Leaders must partner across our city, reaching stakeholders in every sector including our county, state, and federal partners to bring the resources needed to address this housing crisis with the urgency and humanity that our most vulnerable residents deserve. In the 25th Ward, in just 4 years, we’ve been able to create and preserve over 800 units of affordable housing with a goal of reaching 1,000 by this summer. We have proposed a $70m investment in expanding single room occupancy housing. We support a real estate transfer tax on homes over $1m. We support the Chicago Housing Authority keeping their promise to rebuild all the public housing units taken down decades ago that have yet to be rebuilt. We support utilizing resources like TIF to explore options available, and making credit available to innovative programs like the Pilsen Cooperative housing model which has expanded affordable housing options in our community. We support broad expansion at the federal level to bring HUD to the level it needs to invest in housing for families in our city.

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

When I took office, there was zero state investment in violence prevention programs in our ward. We have brought over $680,000 in investments from the state, county, and even our own menu money in the Alderman’s office to invest in violence prevention. We supported the creation of a violence prevention program at the Rudy Lozano alternative high school that has already doubled in size, diverting young people from being likely to be involved in gun violence to pursuing their passion in digital media, filmmaking, and acting, and developing excellent skills that can be applied in a future career in those industries. We have held the police accountable, and stood with survivors and families of victims to support investigations, including collecting videos and witness statements ourselves to bridge the very real and damaging trust gap in our communities. In 2021, we, along with faith leaders, proposed a $100,000,000 investment in violence prevention in our city. Any less will not make the impact necessary to rapidly decrease the frequency of shootings in our city.

Should Sims Metal Management continue to operate in Pilsen?

No. It is a legacy from a time when environmental racism allowed such toxic industry to be operating directly adjacent to homes and families and schools. Residents should not have to bear the externalities of polluting industry with the increased burden of disease that our community members carry. The city must lead on finding a solution that puts the health of residents first.

As the population of Pilsen grows, what steps should the city take to prevent gentrification and help longtime residents stay in their homes?

In the 25th Ward, our zoning advisory board facilitates public meetings where neighbors work together to seek consensus on issues of development in our community. We believe increasing democratic participation and having neighbors at the decision-making table are critical towards growing our communities while maintaining and preserving our cultural assets.

We have created and preserved over 800 units of affordable housing in the 25th Ward in the past 4 years, more than my predecessor created in his over two decades in office. As a first term Alderperson, I co-chaired the Affordable Requirements Reform Task Force and supported the expansion of affordable housing development across our city. We dismantled administrative hurdles to allow, for the first time, undocumented Chicagoans to have access to housing subsidies so that all people can have the opportunity to live with dignity. We ensured that the largest vacant lot of land in Pilsen would be developed with housing that is affordable to residents in the community and no luxury units that residents cannot afford. We passed a law to stop predatory developers from harassing homeowners and seniors into selling their homes.

We have challenged the corruption that allowed the Speaker of the House to work simultaneously as a property tax appeal attorney, resulting in property taxes in our ward to increase an average of 46% overnight — a deeply unjust and unacceptable increase. We have helped over 1,000 homeowners and small businesses have their property taxes corrected in just the past year and continue to help more every day.

Only by coming together and building consensus have we been able to slow gentrification and win the right to stay and grow our community and culture.

How can the city better serve Spanish-speaking residents?

Spanish speaking residents contribute so much to our city. As an immigrant who spoke no English when I arrived in this country alone at 17, I understand how important language access is. All city offices and departments should include fluent speakers of Spanish in public facing positions. Documents must be offered in languages that our residents speak. Our ward office has strived to have fluent speakers of English, Spanish, mandarin, and Cantonese to ensure the languages spoken by our ward residents are welcome and visible in our office.

City council meetings, now that they are broadcast virtually, should provide live Spanish translation so that Spanish speakers can fully engage with the democratic process as it occurs.

Should the city do more to help undocumented immigrants?

Absolutely. I am proud to have been able to lead on dismantling administrative hurdles that previously obstructed undocumented residents from accessing housing subsidies. I have supported street vendors who face barriers when seeking businesses licenses to be able to legitimize their business and become insured and protect from crime and other risks. During the pandemic when undocumented residents had no access to government funds, our ward office coordinated creating an emergency fund to ensure undocumented families in our community could also have access to emergency funds to help their families during a crisis. Our office has housed refugees who have recently come to our city with nowhere else to go. We have proposed a plan to provide essential services in empty churches and schools in our communities. These institutional supports must be expanded city wide, not merely reside in one Alderperson's office with a staff giving 1,000% towards serving their community. Many undocumented immigrants have a critical need for health care services including mental health care services. If we are claiming to be a sanctuary city, we must truly live up to that promise.

Should the city extend the Red Line south from 95th Street to 130th Street and use tax-increment financing from downtown wards to match an expected federal grant?

Yes. It is long past due for our city to invest in equitable transit for all residents of our city. As an Alderperson who include part of the TIF district identified, I fully support utilization of these funds towards expanding the red line to 130th Street at last.