Jesus Garcia CBCO Municipal Candidates Questionnaire 2-09-15

CANDIDATE INFORMATION Name on Ballot: Jesus “Chuy” Garcia Office Sought: Mayor District Name/Number: Chicago Citywide Home Address: 4226 W 25th Place, Chicago, IL 60623 Employer: Cook County Commissioner Phone: Email: press@garciaforchicago.com Candidate signature attesting to the truthfulness, accuracy, and authorship of this Questionnaire: _February 5, 2015___Jesus “Chuy” Garcia ___________________________________ Date Print Sign CAMPAIGN INFORMATION Campaign Manager: Andrew Sharp Phone: 312.207.0152 Email: andrewsharpdc@gmail.com Address: 651 W. Washington St, Chicago, IL Website: www.garciaforchicago.com a.

Have you run for public office before?

Yes, please see my answer to (e) below.

b.

Have you been appointed to any public committees, commissions, task forces?

Yes, after he was elected Mayor in 1983, Harold Washington named me Deputy Water Commissioner.

c.

Have you, are you, or will you be accepting funds from any mayoral candidate or PAC, eligible for campaign use by February 24, 2015?

N/A

d.

Please list top 5 largest campaign contributors SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana American Federation of Teachers Chicago Teachers Union Amalgamated Transit Union Cook County College Teachers

e.

Why are you running for this office? What makes you the best candidate?

Across Chicago, families are suffering from shootings and violence, education cutbacks and a lack of opportunity. I believe it is time to set a new course for our city, and I am the best qualified candidate for the job. I have extensive experience in elected office, as a Committeeman (22), Alderman (22), State Senator (1), and Cook County Commissioner (7). My leadership style would represent a drastic departure from the current mayor’s top-down approach. I would seek community input and take it into account before making major decisions that will impact residents’ lives.

f.

Describe your vision for your constituency.

Rahm Emanuel has failed the working families of Chicago. It is time for the people of Chicago to take back the fifth floor of City hall. I will work to improve the lives of everyday Chicagoans by working with neighbors to create safer streets, better jobs and outstanding local schools.

g.

What policy, legislative, and/or service goals will you focus on achieving during the 2015-2019 term?

My main focus will be reducing gang and gun violence. I will strengthen our local public schools and make them the center of neighborhood life and activity. We will work equally hard to create new jobs and opportunities for our fellow Chicagoans who want to work. Finally, my administration will back fair and equitable pension reform and reduce the city’s massive deficit. This is the kind of leadership the people of Chicago deserve.

h.

Who are your role models and the most important advisors and mentors you access for guidance in business and service life?

My mentors have included, but are not limited to: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cesar Chavez Harold Washington Karen Lewis Tim Black Alice Palmer Rudy Lozano

i.

List the community and civic service experiences that have prepared you for this office?

In addition to my years of service as an elected official, I also have extensive public service experience as Executive Director, Little Village Development Corp (now Enlace Chicago); Co-founder, LIRI (Local Industrial Retention Institute); Assistant Director, Little Village Neighborhood Housing; and as a paralegal at the Legal Assistance Foundation.

j.

Do you support term limits for the office you are seeking to hold?

No.

k.

Would you commit to helping mentor a field of successors?

Yes.

l.

Ballot Referenda yes – paid leave yes- domestic violence yes- election funding yes- ban petcoke yes- TIF advisory council yes- elected school board

m. What reforms to campaign finance laws are you willing to support?

Our city needs politicians that listen to voters, not ones that are beholden to big special interest money.

As mayor, I would call on the City of Chicago to fix the way we do elections by creating a new system

that will not only increase political participation, but will also help ensure voters have diverse, yet viable candidate choices at the ballot box. An ideal system would match small contributions of regular people so that Super PACs and Dark Money don’t drown their voices out. New York and Los Angeles now have similar systems, and in NYC’s last election, every winning candidate used it. It’s time for Chicago to join this movement for a more accountable democracy. n.

N/A

o.

What plans have you made to ensure that your constituents feel heard and heeded?

My leadership would represent a drastic departure from the current mayor’s top-down approach.

I would seek community input and take it into account before making major decisions that will impact residents’ lives for generations to come. I would support the creation of TIF Advisory Councils and I support the use of Participatory Budgeting. In addition, as Mayor, I would restore community advisory councils to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations representing the Arab, Latino, African, and Asian communities.

p.

Would you be willing to attend short, periodic CBCO-sponsored Legislative Briefings?

Yes

FISCAL/INFRASTRUCTURE 1.

TIF Yes. The original design of TIFs in Chicago envisioned the TIF district being used to support development in areas where such development would not otherwise occur within a reasonable timeframe, and being shut down after the main projects in the district were completed. TIFs became a problem when they started being used to support developments that were not contemplated in the original creation of the TIF or commercially viable without it. To the extent that this continues to occur, the City, our schools, and our parks, are being denied important sources of revenue. I understand the impacts on overlapping districts from my work as a Commissioner, as Cook County is one of the affected districts.

My TIF Reform Plan is to keep only those TIFs open that meet specific criteria: (1) The TIF is needed to complete a specific, planned project or development initiative (such as school construction), and (2) Financial analysis demonstrates that the project would not be viable without public assistance.

Since Mayor Emanuel has failed to release sufficient information to determine which TIF districts currently meet these criteria, in my first 100 days as Mayor, I will initiate an independent forensic audit of the TIF program, and I will terminate any existing TIF districts that do not meet these two necessary conditions, regardless of whether the 23 year period has ended.

Use of TIF revenues for specific projects which provide quality jobs and needed services in the neighborhoods and increase property tax receipts is smart fiscal policy. However, using TIFs to hijack money from other revenue-strapped local governments is unfair and unwise. We need to earmark more specific projects for TIF funding, such as support for new manufacturing, the development of affordable housing, and other projects that will improve the City’s economy and help residents live better and more productive lives, but the Mayor’s office should not do so unilaterally as has been the practice to date. It is inappropriate to use TIFs as an ongoing source of funding outside of the budget process to fund the Mayor’s pet projects like the DePaul Arena/Marriot Hotel, and I would bring an immediate end to this secretive, abusive practice.

In addition, to increase transparency and accountability, I would require any redevelopment plans for future districts to contain detailed specifications for planned projects, not open-ended goals subject to the whims of politicians and administrators, and I would make sure that these form part of a broader city capital plan. Absent specific and publically supported plans, districts will be closed and excess TIF funds should be returned to the tax base of the schools and other taxing bodies on an annual basis, and used to increase the respective budgets through intergovernmental agreements that are not subject to tax caps under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law. First 100 Days? Yes 2.

Gramm Leach Bliley Yes. The damage caused by this law can be seen in every corner of this city in the abandoned houses littering so many of neighborhoods, the young workers overwhelmed by student loans, and in the anxiety of retirees whose pensions are at risk. As a longtime community organizer, I take pride in the fact that the “Mother of the Community Reinvestment Act,” Gail Cincotta, was a Chicago-based community organizer. The CRA needs to be protected. For these reasons, and many others, I would support a resolution to repeal Gramm Leach Bliley.

First 100 Days? Yes

3.

Independent Financial Audits Yes, I would support independent audits of all of the City’s public agencies and revenue streams.

First 100 Days? Yes

4.

5.

CTA improvements Yes. No parts of Chicago or the metropolitan areas should be isolated from public transit. I believe the city, state, and federal government subsidies for transit should be increased, and the current formula for funding public transit should be revised. I would support increasing investment in transit locally and establishing a dedicated revenue stream at the county level to fund improvements and expansion.

Public Bank.

Yes. The Mayor’s Chicago Infrastructure Trust has not delivered the results it was expected to produce. We need another approach. One of the more promising approaches that I think is worth looking at is a public sector banking system, like the one in North Dakota. A public bank would use municipal funds on projects that directly benefit our communities.

So, in principle, I completely support the idea of a public bank and would set up an economic task force to consider this and other proposals to redirect our economic energies toward policies that are fair, accessible and uplifting for all of our people.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/JOBS 6.

The Promise of Jobs Yes First 100 Days? Yes

7.

Chicago Broadband Challenge Based on the concerns raised by the Illinois Department of Commerce, the lack of focus on minority communities, and the failure of Gigabit Squared to execute in the city of Seattle, we support a thorough accounting of spending to date.

8.

Obama Presidential Library No. Coalitions of community groups across the country have been involved in similar kinds of efforts -- to obtain Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) from developers that receive public subsidies.

Although I would need to consider the specific provisions of each proposed agreement to see if they are reasonable given the amount of public assistance and the impact of the new development, I support the idea of CBAs in theory. Community residents have few ways of raising valid, local concerns with developers, and they are currently shut out of many planning and subsidy decisions. I would seek to have these concerns written into any agreement that the City signs with a developer, and I would advise my legal staff to that effect. However, in the absence of community benefits language written into City of Chicago redevelopment agreements, I would support a separate legally enforceable contract committing the developer to certain standards of community benefits. In exchange, it would be expected that the coalition support the development project.

First 100 Days? Yes

9.

Chicago Park District Land No. I have opposed plans to annex over 20 acres of public parkland for the University of Chicago’s planned site of the Obama library, because the land grab is neither necessary nor in the public interest.

Washington Park is a jewel in the city’s park system -- where families have gathered for more than a hundred years to socialize, break bread and celebrate. Our kids play baseball, softball, basketball and soccer in the park, and whole neighborhoods gather for events that range from community dance performances to public music concerts. The park is the terminus of Chicago’s annual Bud Billiken Parade, and each year thousands come from across the region for the annual African Festival of the Arts.

As one of our public park system’s most cherished resources, Washington Park is a vital access point for recreation, play and the solace that comes from the natural -- rather than built -- environment. And along with all of our public parks, Washington Park belongs to the people as a free, open and critical antidote to the concrete and brick that dominates so much of our cityscape for so many of our residents.

The people of Chicago are rightly opposed to encroachment on their public parklands. Yet, Mayor Emanuel wants to allow a private institution to confiscate land they do not own: people’s land. This proposal was created behind closed doors under a veil of secrecy with no formal input from either park advocates or the public. Now, the mayor is collaborating with its proponents to push this land grab -just as he supports a land grab for his friend George Lucas on Chicago’s public lakefront.

I embrace the effort to bring the Obama Presidential Library to Chicago, a city that is rightly proud to call itself the home of the nation’s first Black president. But this endeavor does not need to be linked to a private raid on the people’s limited public assets. The University of Chicago is one of the largest landholders in the city, with vast swaths of property in its portfolio, including roughly a city block purchased near the Garfield L stop. They already possess the land and the capacity to create a world class urban-sited and urban-centered library -- without encroaching on the people’s land.

Our leaders should be stewards of our parks’ continued survival. Instead, Mayor Emanuel has broken the fundamental public trust by supporting this unnecessary land grab. That’s the mark of a mayor who neither understands nor cares about our people and their public assets. I reject that position. The parks belong to all of us, and I stand with the growing public campaign to keep it that way.

First 100 Days? Yes

10. Major Investments.

Yes. The new Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute on Goose Island can play an important role in bringing new manufacturing back into the city, but this can only happen if we work with manufacturing innovators, neighborhood community development organizations, new breeds of venture capitalists, and the real estate community to re-shape these old corridors into new manufacturing centers.

First 100 Days? Yes 11. Minimum Wage.

Yes. I continue to advocate for raising the minimum wage to $15/hour now, and having it increase by the annual rate of inflation, because no one who works full time should have to live in poverty.

Allowing businesses to pay substandard wages to their employees only shifts the burden for their care onto the public. A higher minimum wage will help lift families out of poverty and off of the public welfare rolls.

First 100 Days? Yes 12. Youth Employment.

I would make youth employment programs available to all youth in the city, especially those who are most at risk. As a recent study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab demonstrated, a public summer jobs program for high school students from disadvantaged neighborhoods in Chicago reduced violent crime arrests by 43 percent over a 16-month period. Sadly, that same report found youth employment in the summer months is near a 60-year low.

First 100 Days? Yes 13. City Contracts.

Yes. First 100 Days? Yes 14. Chicago First.

Yes. First 100 Days? Yes 15. Black Businesses.

I would support a city program to support businesses that are minority owned, women owned, or veteran owned, and ensure that the companies receiving City incentives share our commitment to equal opportunity.

First 100 Days? Yes 16. Corner Store Institute.

Food deserts afflict low-income communities throughout the city. I would support funding a small business incubator that would devise a template for entrepreneurs to sell locally grown foods to communities that are otherwise underserved.

17. Tax Dollars.

Yes. As Mayor, transparency and accountability would be a cornerstone of my administration.

First 100 Days? Yes EDUCATION 18. Teacher Residency Requirement.

No. While I understand the desire to have teachers live in the city, residency requirements are being challenged in court as an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of city employees.

19. School Repurposing.

I support the concept of schools as centers of communities. The process Chicago Public Schools undertook in 2012 for determining which schools should be closed and collecting community feedback was highly problematic. Any decision on school actions must be informed by 1) thorough analysis of impact on children, families and neighborhoods, and 2) evaluation of evidence-based practices employed at the school to support student success.

As mayor, I would ensure Chicago Public Schools (CPS) develop a more humane and research- based methodology for determining school closures. The current utilization formula employed by CPS does not account for use of schools space beyond formal academic instruction. For example, some schools identified as under-utilized repurposed classrooms for necessary student support services (e.g. mentoring programs, wrap-around services, etc.) and family and community engagement programs (e.g. parent resource centers, child care facilities, adult education programs, etc) with the support of community partners. These critical uses were not factored into the utilization formulas. Additionally, the formula used a class size range well above the state average of 21 (http://www.illinoisreportcard.com/State.aspx?source=Environment&source2=AverageClassSize &Stateid=IL). Furthermore, there was a lack of evidence that CPS took into account unique considerations of schools such as Lafayette Elementary that had a large population of students with autism and low-incidence special needs. Lafayette was subject to the same utilization formula irrespective of the research base that indicates students with these types of needs are best served not only in smaller class sizes, but in highly structured facilities with limited distractions and change in routine.

Although the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, co-chaired by Representative Cynthia Soto, issued extensive guidance based in both research and community input on how to responsibly determine and, if necessary, proceed with school actions, CPS still did a poor job in execution. The public perception of the community hearings resulted in the appearance of the board disregarding extensive student community input in opposition to the school closings. Furthermore, the recommendations of independent hearing officers (http://www.wbez.org/news/independent-hearingofficers-oppose-14-cps-proposals-close- shake-schools-107066) did not appear to impact decisions made by the board. Lastly, the fact that the board and the CEO were not present during hearings and instead assigned central office and network staff to represent CPS, further intensified the negative public perception of the disconnect between decision makers and those who are affected by their decisions.

20. School Board.

Yes. As Mayor, I will advocate for an elected school board in Springfield, and if the legislature fails to act, I will ask the federal courts to intervene, because I believe the people of Chicago have a constitutionally protected right to elect the leaders of any institution as important as the School Board.

I would also support the need for a publicly elected Chairman of the CPS board, and I would insist that the election be done by district to allow every community in the City to have fair representation on the School Board.

I believe the chief executive officer of CPS should be a professional educator.

First 100 Days? Yes 21. School Privatization.

Yes. I believe it is necessary to change course dramatically from the so-called "reforms" offered by Mayor Emanuel and instead take a new, holistic approach to our city’s schools. A sound public education system should the right of everyone one in our society, as it is the very foundation of a functioning democracy and a healthy economy.

My program involves giving the school system back to the people through an elected school board; reducing to the barest legal minimum the plethora of high-stakes, standardized tests by which we falsely judge schools, students, and teachers; placing a moratorium on further charter schools; expanding public education to include pre-kindergarten and even earlier; and reducing class size, which is one of the largest in the state.

First 100 Days? Yes 22. Performance Results.

Yes 23. CPS Curriculum.

Yes, I believe all CPS schools should have a functioning library with certified librarian/media specialists, certified math and science teachers, culturally relevant history curriculums, civic, geography, music/band, art, and gym. CPS leadership would be responsible for creating a publicly available database that provides current information about how well each school succeeds at meeting these goals.

24. Student Health.

Yes, I support the restoration of physical education in all elementary and secondary grades in CPS with qualified and certified PE teachers.

25. Student Medication: Yes. I would work with a parent, community members, and a professional taskforce to address the mental health of CPS students to make sure that established practices are evidence-based and trauma informed and that resources are equitable.

26. Black, male teachers: Teachers are role models for their students. CPS is blessed with many talented and dedicated teachers, both male and female, from diverse communities. However, the percentage of African American teachers has declined significantly over the last twenty-five years.

I would support and fund policies that encourage African Americans and people from other disadvantaged communities to pursue a career in teaching at CPS. Communities deserve to see themselves represented in the teachers who serve them.

I will support stepped up recruitment efforts to encourage African American men to consider a career in teaching.

27. Remedial Programs: Yes. The School to Prison Pipeline must be broken. Too many of our young people, especially youth of color from low-income communities, are pushed out of school and into the juvenile justice system, which becomes a track for adult prisons and incarceration.

It costs $78,000 a year to keep a young person in prison in Illinois. These funds could be better spent on public grade school and high school education, on counseling, and on strategies to set our young people onto a path to college and productive work. We need interventions, including restorative justice programs, that channel youth toward non-violent conflict resolution, counseling, mentoring and job training, while acknowledging the most dangerous offenders belong in prison and not on the streets of our communities. The metrics of success for this work will be the reduction of youth expulsions, suspensions, and arrests at schools as well as in the community.

28. School Services: I will place a moratorium on expanding charter schools and I continue to oppose privatization of any public assets and resources, especially schools. Any such proposal should be coupled with an analysis of government activities to understand how a non-government agency or business can provide the public service at the same or higher quality and the same or lower cost while still paying a living wage.

HOUSING & LAND USE 29. Land Records Audit: No. Foreclosures, receiverships and evictions are remedies granted by courts of law subject to state and federal law. However, as a County Commissioner, I have been a firm supporter of Cook County’s exemplary mediation program, which requires banks to negotiate with homeowners, and use foreclosure as a last resort.

30. Lender Disclosures: Yes. The foreclosure crisis has affected and continues to affect too many Chicago families in neighborhoods all across the city. Those companies with a track record of exploiting city homeowners need to be publicly held to account. I would support an ordinance requiring disclosure by financial institutions of any involvement in illegal mortgage lending programs.

31. Citizen Advisory Committee: No. As Mayor, transparency and accountability would be cornerstones of my administration. The City Council exists to serve the people, and the people have a right to know and weigh in on decisionmaking. I will consider any process that provides for public input of any proposed City privatization plans.

32. Master Planning & Commercial Corridor Committee.

Yes. Chicago belongs to its residents and any decision-making body that affects them should reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the city and respond to the needs and interests of city residents.

33. Neighborhood Displacement.

While some economic development trends are the product of decisions and investments that have been made over generations, as Mayor, my goal will be balanced development across the city. Instead of taking a one size fits all approach, I would take into consideration the concerns and priorities of the residents that would be most affected before making major decisions.

34. Evictions.

Yes. Privatization should not be considered as the first option in improving services and controlling costs, especially when it comes to evictions.

35. Large Lots.

First, I would assess the program’s success to date. Then I would seek input from the relevant stakeholders on ways to improve it.

36. Homeowner Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Yes First 100 Days? Yes CULTURE 37. Great Migration.

Yes 38. Tourism Opportunities.

Yes. The tourism and hospitality business are a central component of Chicago’s economy. We should plan our investments in this field so that they equitably benefit every community. Chicago’s worldrenown for its rich blues and jazz history are examples of how we can attract tourist dollars to diverse neighborhoods.

39. Decade for People of African Descent.

Yes 40. Slavery Era Disclosure.

Yes 41. Czar This matter deserves vigorous public debate and deliberation from the City Council. I stand ready to constructively participate in this conversation and help pursue justice for those affected by slavery, Jim Crow, and racist practices, such as redlining.

42. Immigration Yes. Immigrants from every country deserve to be treated fairly and to have a clear, sensible path to citizenship. I would gladly support this ordinance.

43. DuSable Park Yes. 44. Garvey Day I would consider this once there has been a considered public discussion of the issue.

ORGANIZING/JUSTICE 45. Police Oversight I understand the concerns regarding IPRA and the Police Board. However, my support of such a council would depend on the details of who would serve on it, how it would be selected, and what authority it would be given. Even without a new governing structure, as mayor, I would ensure that the members of the Police Board were selected from candidates that had the appropriate backgrounds to oversee the Chicago Police Department in a manner that was sensitive to the legal rights of all Chicagoans. With regard to IPRA, I would consider naming an Auditor’s office and giving it subpoena authority to look for abusive patterns and practices, not just individual cases, as the LA County Sheriff

has done. The person(s) executing this function would have to be professional investigators trained in ballistics, interview techniques, etc in order to ensure their effectiveness.

46. Police Action Reports Yes First 100 Days? Yes 47. Restorative Justice Yes First 100 Days? Yes 48. Red Light Cameras The key question about each Red Light and Speed Camera in Chicago is this: does this camera improve public safety, or is it only an additional source of revenue for the city?

Public safety should be City Hall’s top priority. Therefore, the onus is on the city to prove that individual Red Light or Speed Cameras add to public safety and are not just another example of the current administration’s many pickpocket taxes. If the traffic light program is simply another tax on city residents required to fund the $1 billion increase in spending under Mayor Emanuel during the last 4 years, then I would end it entirely.

In Cook County, we follow a procedure that requires the municipalities that want a Red Light or Speed camera to prove that the proposed camera would improve public safety. This procedure is about ensuring public safety, not increasing revenue. Cook County does not receive any revenue from municipal traffic cameras.

City Hall has done little to provide compelling evidence to show which of their cameras improve public safety and which cameras are nothing more than a revenue source. In the absence of such data, the Chicago Tribune conducted its own rigorous study and “concluded the cameras do not reduce injury-related crashes overall.” In fact, “the study calculated a corresponding 22-percent increase in rear-end crashes that caused injuries, illustrating a trade-off between the cameras' costs and benefits.”

Under this administration, vehicle sticker costs are up, cable TV and phone taxes are up, water and sewer fees are up. As the Tribune reported, the additional city tax, fee and fine collections resulting from the increases in the mayor's four spending plans “will easily pump more than $700 million annually into city coffers.”

I agree with the Tribune’s analysis that these fee increases amount to a 60% increase in property taxes for the typical Chicago homeowner. I would add the traffic light fines to the cost of this stealth tax put on our families by the Emanuel Administration. Our families have been simply stretched to the breaking point, and it is time for a new direction.

First 100 Days? Yes

49. Booting and Seizure Yes 50. Temporary Driving Privileges Yes 51. Ticket Payment Plans No. I would support settlement agreements that are based on income levels, as opposed to a blanket percentage reduction.

First 100 Days? Yes GREEN & HEALTHY 52. Utility Rates Yes 53. Renewable Energy Yes, especially if they are also cost effective 54. Equipment Payment Plans Yes 55. Weatherization I would support the creation of a funding pool that extended such opportunities to all unemployed or underemployed individuals that were interested 56. Environmental Justice Yes 57. Toxic Hotspots My administration will hold companies accountable for the harm caused by pollution from their business operations. The specific form of remediation will require input from community stakeholders but would certainly contain many of the elements suggested in our question.

In addition, I support a ban on petcoke 58. Trauma Center I think it is important to separate the criteria for Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers. The different levels of these critical services are defined by the State of Illinois and tend to parallel recommendations from professional organizations like the American College of Surgeons. I support a Trauma System and an Emergency Medical Services System. I will use the bully pulpit of the office of the Mayor to call for a system that provides high quality emergency medical and trauma services throughout the region. No part of the City or surrounding areas should be devoid of these critical services. This means that the political boundaries need to be ignored in favor of a regional trauma system. As Cook County Commissioner, I supported a study looking at trauma services in the southern suburbs. As Mayor, I would support our public health agencies analyzing and proposing recommendations about emergency medical and trauma services in our region.

59. Mental Health Yes.

60. Conservation Lifestyle I am running for Mayor because I believe every Chicagoan should live in a thriving neighborhood. I will make sure that every policy my administration enacts advances us toward that goal.