2023 Chicago Election Voter Guide

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

My parents raised me to believe in Service - to your family, your community, your city. Both of my parents were educators, then my father went on to lead a life in elected public service. My mother spent 35 years with CPS / CTU as a special ed teacher. I want to carry on that legacy embodied in my father's motto: Sawyer Means Service!

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

I'll keep this simple: Nothing and everything. My campaign motto is #ResetChicago and what I mean by that is we have to re-imagine every single thing we do as a city. We have agencies that can't work together in ways that seem obvious to everyone else. Social service agencies aren't nearly involved enough with police and emergency services, for example. These bureaucratic deficiencies are part of the reason problems such as crime and homelessness have been intractable in Chicago for generations.

From a democratic and legislative perspective: Why does the mayor preside over a legislative body and pick its committee chairs? You only need a 7th grade civics class to tell you that's wrong. #ResetChicago is designed to stop the foolish idea that we need to keep governing a certain way because that's how we've always done it. I want to blow up the current model of Chicago government and replace it with a system that works for the people.

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

The most important issue in Chicago right now is crime, though I like to address it as public safety because it's broader than just the criminal acts. People don't feel safe in Chicago right now, whether you're in Edgwater or Englewood. This "crime anxiety'' as I call it is part of what is keeping people from coming back to the CTA and abetting its continued decline. It's part of what is driving Black Chicagoans out of the city and causing declining CPS enrollment and the further erosion of our public schools. And it's creating an economic malaise that is harming our economy city-wide and in each of the 77 communities.

My plan makes Chicago safer on Day One of a Sawyer Administration and takes bold steps to do several things, and some of them I have already begun as an alderman;

1) I was the architect of Chicago's sweeping police reform and civilian accountability that is taking effect right now. When you go to the polls this year you will vote for members of 22 local police district councils - and that is the product of an ordinance for which I fought seven years -- and got passed over the mayor's objection. Our police reform, the most significant in the nation, is a first step in creating more equity in Black and Brown communities that have been traditionally over-policed and under-protected. It's a key factor in getting people in marginalized communities to buy into the idea of police as protectors and servants rather than a force to be feared. A reformed police department is a stronger police department.

2) We need to stop the mass exodus in our police department, and that requires new leadership that isn't always fighting with them, as well as: *New leadership from WITHIN the ranks of CPD - someone know to and trusted by the rank and file who understands Chicago's culture and crime. I will have that person advise me on how to improve working conditions, shift scheduling, community policing, geographic integrity (keeping officers in areas where they become familiar with residents and residents grow to trust them), and other issues. *Vastly improved mental health services for police - both from within the department and through their medical insurance. The rash of police suicides in the last several years is the most tragic evidence of how our current mayor has mismanaged this department. *Making CPD a destination department that will draw the best talent from around the nation. In addition to improved training under my police reform and including the most up-to-date techniques in community policing, positive engagement and de-escalation, I'm going to give police full pension vesting in 20 years, instead of the 25 or 30 it takes now, depending on age. Elected officials in Chicago are vested in 20 years, why shouldn't the people who do our most important and dangerous work have the same plan? This will ensure a vibrant force more educated in current tactics and allow us to develop further diversity. I'll ensure police have access to low- or no-cost loans to buy homes in the city, to take continuing education in preparation for post-police careers in law, education, social services, or anything they'd like. Of course, there will always be room for experienced officers who want to stay in positions of leadership.

3) I would start an auxiliary police force that includes retired officers, other first responders and a cadet core to handle non-emergency calls. For example, we had more than 29,000 911 calls that took more than an hour for a reply, or were never replied to. Assuming the danger is over and the victim is no longer in danger, these auxiliary officers could respond to the calls, get vital information and begin searching for criminals much more quickly, improving our dreadful case clearance rate.

4) As an immediate improvement to CTA security, I would have the federal government replace the 250 mostly senior officers we have patrolling our airports and put them back into higher-priority roles. That would free up another 250 younger officers to immediately begin patrolling the most dangerous parts of the CTA.

5) Longer term, would cancel the $100 million, completely ineffective CTA security contract that has low-paid, inexperienced security officers with no arrest powers on the lines and use that money to add more sworn officers in a transit detail.

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

As I've discussed many times, I want to have a panel of advisors from every part of the Chicago, including our most marginalized. In addition to the civilian overseers of the police, who will report to me on how our officers are doing in their geographic communities, I'll have representatives who tell me how they are doing when interacting with Black People, Latinx people, Asian-Americans, members of the LGBTQ* community, etc. And I will expand that model to issues such as property tax and other fines and fees, the deliver of city services, home affordability and all the most pressing matters.

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

For the most part, no. Aldermanic prerogative doesn't exist to the extent it once did, and that's a problem because many citizens don't know that. They come to me as an alderman expecting I can get a service delivered immediately, when I can't. I usually have to go through 311 or simply contact the related department. Alders have a better perspective on their wards than the rest of the City Council, so they should have a strong voice in the matter. But the rules can't be so limiting that an alder can run their ward like a fiefdom.

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

It should be re-imagined, and I don't know what that means until we have a full audit on how we spend our money and make sure it's going to fighting crime and making people safer, and not bureaucracy. Of course I want CPD's budget to include mental health and drug counselors who assist or even take the place of police on some calls. As many as 40% of our 911 calls are for mental health crises. But I'm by no means saying I want to defund. I want to invest in a department with more officers, more resources, and more trust. We do need more officers, we need more incentives for them, and we need to make sure we are keeping them healthy, both physically and mentally. For years we have had more police per capita than any other city, and yet our crime rate is always high. Something isn't working.

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

No. While I'm extremely sympathetic to the mission, there are quite a few flaws in this particular legislation: First of all, it calls for new structures when there are thousands of available housing units across the city we can rehab and use for this purpose. Too much of this money goes to builders and developers as middle men, not directly to the homeless. Second, the tax itself would be a disincentive for people to build long-term futures in Chicago and add to the city exodus. The way to make Chicago better is to grow it, not continue shrinking it.

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

Absolutely, yes. But we are far to attached to this idea it has to be six, or the same six Mayor Emanuel closed. We don't have the current six clinics fully staffed or at full use. After Mayor Emanuel closed six clinics I toured the remaining six, and at the time I was told I was the first elected official ever to do so. Part of my #ResetChicago plan is to make sure we are providing mental health where the people who need it can find it. In some cases that might be these single use clinics, which we must fully staff and market. That means enhanced outreach from every city office, from social services to aid to the DMV. It also means meeting people in their own neighborhoods. Rather than making people travel to a single-use clinic, counselors, therapists and other mental health professionals could offer rotating services in well-know community centers. For example - Tuesdays in Humbodt Park, Wednesdays in Englewood, Thursdays in Austin, etc.

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

This requires us to be innovative and it's a chance to be a model for all American cities. The answer, of course, is through a variety of methods. First, though, we should use the thousands of vacant and abandoned properties we already have. We can have those prepped for occupancy very quickly and get the most urgent cases off the streets - mothers with children, the elderly, etc. Then we can work with small lots, tiny homes, non-profit groups and a variety of organizations to begin creating housing solutions for those who need more help in mental services and other ways to get off the streets. Homelessness is affront to our humanity, and we need to find a real solution, not just recycle the same ideas that have failed for decades.

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

This is a complex problem, of course, and it requires a full #ResetChicago plan to address the causes at the root of this systemic issue and the issues exacerbating the underlying problems at the moment. When we talk about crime in Chicago, we are talking mostly about youth crime. As a young man I started working in violence interruption, dealing with gangs and getting intervening to reduce violence. I'm the Alder who introduced the Peace Book Ordinance which was given to me by Good Kids, Mad City, an amazing youth organization in Chicago. We don't do enough outreach with our youth, and that would be a priority in a Sawyer Administration. We also have to work with state legislators and other agencies to increase the penalties for illegal and unlicensed guns.

Of course, some of the things I mentioned previously are very important here. We need a police department with a reformed mentality, a full complement of officers who aren't overworked, and new strategies on community policing and engagement. Every element of police management has been mismanaged, not just by this administration, but by those before it. And of course, we need to invest in all of the root causes. Chicago can't continue to let it's public education system decline. We must develop affordable housing policy that isn't just a thrown-together patchwork, and we must create vocational programs, re-open trade schools, create work-study opportunities for every child who wants one and simply re-imagine the way we run Chicago.