THE CANDIDATE SPEAKS…

In an Q & A interview with the Citizen, candidate for the City of Chicago Mayoral Race Brandon Johnson took time to speak with us about where he stands of key issues that are top of the mind with voters as we plan to take to the polls on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

CN: How would you ensure Chicagoans have access to affordable housing and have opportunities for affordable homeownership?

BJ: Everyone in Chicago deserves to have a roof over their head. That’s not just the right thing to do morally, it’s a smart approach to keeping our neighborhoods safe and strong. The Johnson Administration will create public safety by directly addressing the poverty, economic, racial and environmental injustice that creates disorder in many Chicago communities. This will allow us to promote student achievement and grow the jobs and resources Chicago needs. The cornerstone of that vision is our ability to confront our city’s housing crisis.

Homelessness has long been a problem in Chicago, and families have always struggled to make the rent. But Chicagoans know that these days, making rent or the mortgage payment is harder than it’s been for a very long time. Here in Chicago, homelessness is up 12% since 2019. It is a moral crisis that on freezing January nights, we have 1,500 Chicagoans sleeping out in the cold. It is an outrage that one quarter of renters pay more than half of their paychecks just to make the rent, with little left over for other necessities. And it is an injustice that one-in-four Black students in Chicago Public Schools experience homelessness at least once during their lives.

The status quo is unacceptable, and the people of our city deserve better. The bottom line is this: We need more housing for those at every income level, so that from public housing to affordable housing, Chicagoans can afford to stay in our city and raise families here. We need a City Hall that will “Bring Chicago Home,” delivering real funding to house the unhoused and combat homelessness. And we need a Chicago that keeps pathways to home ownership alive, so that Chicago’s homes aren’t all purchased by private equity firms and the wealthy few.

CN: What would you do to improve public transportation and access to public transportation for people across the city?

BJ: A safe, reliable transit system is fundamentally important if Chicago is to grow jobs and employment. Chicago’s transit infrastructure is a tremendous asset, but we need to do better at connecting residents with jobs and educational opportunities. We will need to address funding shortfalls for transit, but at the same time, we can be doing a lot better with the resources we already have. We want to see the CTA as a customer-focused agency with service frequency and reliability as the highest priorities. As just one example, we need to create a citywide bus lane network and bus rapid transit system that gives buses priority over other traffic.

Every stakeholder in the use of Chicago’s sidewalks, railways and roadways must work collaboratively toward safety. The CTA needs a vast overhaul in terms of reliability and increased access, as well as safety for workers and riders. Reducing or eliminating fares for some, and increasing access to transit will increase ridership and mass transit solvency, and increase employment in communities where unemployment rates are high. We must be responsive to trends and feedback from CTA riders, and make changes such as increased late evening hours, trains and trips. We also need mental health professionals and housing advocates with resources to house the homeless and treat those with mental illness by addressing root causes, instead of criminalizing poverty and creating tension between commuters and those harmed by systemic inequity.

The Johnson Administration will also prioritize walking and biking as a public accommodation, ensuring that it is 1) integrated into the architecture of people-traffic with reimagined streetscapes that protect pedestrians and cyclists, and 2) a component of good health, neighborhoods with affordable housing, and access to jobs and schools. This includes reduced speed limits and automobile access in select areas of the city. We will also support a rapid-response CDOT team and municipal sidewalk snow and ice removal program, and create car-free zones in communities to promote safe walkability and recreation for children.

We also need to install well-designed, dedicated bike lanes, so that cyclists feel safe on our streets. By investing in viable alternatives to automobiles, we can reduce congestion and make getting around Chicago faster and more pleasant for everyone.

CN: Please describe how you would bolster small businesses, provide opportunities for more small businesses and what policies would you create to enable small businesses to grow, scale and be sustainable?

BJ: Promote small entrepreneurs. The Johnson Administration will work with vendors throughout the city on streamlining the process to obtain Business Affairs and Consumer Protection licenses. We will engage commercial kitchens and violence prevention programs, and expand spaces like the Discount Mall on 26th Street, so more street vendors can have safe and warm spaces to work. Our public safety plan will reduce inefficiencies in the Chicago Police Department, freeing up officers to protect street vendors in Little Village from violence. And we will work to protect economies and supportive of good jobs in fields accessible to most Chicagoans.

• The Johnson Administration will focus incentives on growing existing businesses and supporting Chicago entrepreneurs rather than subsidizing businesses from outside: It’s unfair to Chicago businesses that the city spends so much of our tax dollars trying to woo outside business instead of investing in homegrown commerce. Consider the Amazon bid – the package totaled more than $2 billion, and consumed a huge amount of time and effort, for no result. What would happen if, instead, we made that kind of commitment – and felt that kind of excitement – for our own companies? We were offering them “concierge service” City Hall permitting for Amazon and its employees; why shouldn’t that be available to every business in Chicago?

• We will stop subsidizing businesses for no reason whatsoever and instead use public funds to encourage the creation of good jobs that pay well and offer real career ladders for workers and working families.

• Make Chicago a leader in sustainability: We need to find new and better ways to support economic growth that is environmentally sustainable, and make our city a center of the growth industries of the future that involve sustainable, green and circular economy principles, where the jobs increasingly will be. We also need to address the legacy of environmental racism that has made some of our neighborhoods “sacrifice zones,” where polluters are allowed to foul the air and water in ways that undermine the health of the entire community. A better environment will mean a more livable city for all – which will mean a better economy. The Johnson Administration will: the social fabric of immigrant communities like Chinatown, Pilsen, Little Village, West Ridge, much of Albany Park and others to continue to be ports of entry by protecting commercials corridors such as 18th Street, and Wentworth and Devon avenues, by investing in them and providing assistance to our s

• Conduct a cumulative impact assessment to advance comprehensive environmental regulations, work to outfit Chicago Public Schools buildings with green HVAC systems, new ventilation solar panels and other renewable energy sources, and reopen and fully fund the city’s Department of Environment.

• Explore job creation opportunities in weatherization, electrification, and air quality retrofitting for schools, healthcare buildings, libraries, major government buildings, and entertainment/sports facilities.

• Ensure green jobs are union jobs, with more training and apprenticeship programs.

• Place solar rooftops on all feasible government buildings and push for them on major parking garages, as well, and require new buildings to meet minimum LEED standards. It’s great that Chicago City Hall has a green roof, but that commitment to environmental sustainability needs to filter down through the entire building.

• Change the direction of what kind of developments the city promotes and pursues, to make them more oriented to the needs and existing composition of each neighborhood. For any development to receive subsidies, we will ensure that it addresses blight and economic disparities in the most underdeveloped areas of Chicago. We will demand specific commitments on local hiring, environmental safety, and good quality jobs. Investing in the neighborhood also will be a condition for developments receiving benefits. And we will support developments that set aside storefront space for small, local businesses. Any new commercial opportunities should prioritize local community residents and business owners.

• Instead of further increasing racial disparities in Chicago (think Lincoln Yards), TIFs will be targeted to be used to address blight in low-income neighborhoods, with clear racial impact analysis of these and all development and zoning issues. We need to start insisting that TIF funds are spent on developments appropriate to neighborhood

• Launch a task force for developing a city-wide composting plan that creates jobs and serves most impacted communities.

•Ensure a vibrant minority business community. While Black Chicagoans make up 31% of the city’s population, and Latinx 30%, companies founded by Black, Latinx, or female individuals have received only 10% of venture capital funding in our city, and only 5% of such firms have participated in any venture capital deals. White-owned firms have a total payroll nearly 100 times that of all Black-owned firms combined. Meanwhile, most of the city’s development dollars and business subsidies go to non-BIPOC individuals and businesses. We must increase African American political influence and access to leadership positions within the City government; protect and grow the Black Community’s socio-economic position; and allow the Black Community to intentionally and acutely address the issues that impact the Community’s obstacles to growth. That means requiring 50% Minority, and at least 30% African American, on:

• contractual spend on goods and services contracts across all City of Chicago agencies under the purview of the Mayor’s Office or its appointees, through both prime and sub-contracting opportunities.

• any TIF or tax credit supported commercial development project, through both prime and subcontracting opportunities.

LEGALNOTICE/ PUBLIC NOTICE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 6 MUNICIPALDISTRICT

Michael Outley v. Brian Miller, Shari Miller

Line No. 7 No. 2022-M6-2659

TRIALCALLORDER

Present before the Court: Plaintiff(s) THIS MATTER having come before the Court, the Court having jurisdiction and being fully advised, ITIS

HEREBYORDERED:

4213: Alias Summons to Issue for BRIAN MILLER, SHARI MILLER

4406: Set for STATUS

All parties must appear 4-62023 at 10:00 a.m. Room 208 9207: It being further agreed that installment payments be made as follows:

POSTING & PUBLICATION

Judge Carrie E. Hamilton (Feb. 16, 2023) Circuit Court- 2144

STATE OF ILLIINOIS CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTYSMALLCLAIMS SUMMONS

Plaintiff: MICHEALOUTLEY v. MR. BRIAN A. MILLER AND MRS. SHARI

MILLER

CASE NUMBER: 22M6002659

AILAS SUMMOONS

1. Defendant/Respondent address and service information a. Defendant/Respondent's primary address/information for service

Name: BRAIN A. MILLER Telephone: 773-580-2885 b. If you have more than one address where

PLAINTIFF/PETITIONER: MICHAELOUTLEY

V. BRIAN MILLER & SHARI MILLER

CASE NUMBER: 22M6002659

ALIAS SUMMONS

Public Information Meeting

Scheduled by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) for the Englewood Nature Trail Project

Grow Greater Englewood (GGE) in partnership with the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Department of Planning and Development (DPD) will host a Public Information Meeting on the proposed improvement of the Englewood Nature Trail between Hoyne Avenue (west) and Lowe Avenue (east), and 58th (north) and 59th Streets (south). This meeting is a part of a multi-year effort by the City of Chicago to convert a former railroad right-of-way into a community trail.

Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Time: 6:00 to 7:30 PM

Location: Evening Star MB Church 2050 W. 59th Street Chicago, IL, 60636

All persons interested in this project are invited to attend this meeting. There will be a presentation detailing the existing conditions, preliminary design, maps and aerial photography, and a tentative construction schedule. The public will have an opportunity to review exhibits, submit comments, and provide feedback directly with CDOTand DPD representatives after the presentation during an open house format. Interested persons can review exhibits and ask questions.

The meeting room is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone needing special accommodations should inform the contact person listed in this notice by March 23, 2023 to make arrangements for participating.

This is a federally-funded project, and the Public Information Meeting is being held in compliance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and the Illinois Department of Transportation's public involvement policy. For more information contact: Taylor Van Nortwick, Chicago Dept. of Transportation, Taylor.VanNortwick@cityofchicago.org, (312) 7442632.