UNC Aldermanic Forum Written Q & A

The following questions were submitted by members of the Uptown Neighborhood Council during their recent aldermanic forums.

What is the biggest challenge facing the new 46th Ward alderman? How will you address it?

We really have two major issues, although I believe they are interrelated. Our two biggest challenges are how we will confront crime and how to entice businesses to our community.

Traditionally, we would confront crime by trying to put more resources into police protection. And I will work to bring more foot and bicycle police patrols onto our streets. But with the city $655 million in the red, we need more creative solutions.

First, we need to try to stop the schools-to-prison pipeline that is funneling so many of our young people through gangs. One of the easiest steps we can take is to keep kids in school longer each day. There is no reason that kids should be out of school and on the streets at 2:45 in the afternoon. With most parents at work, this becomes a prime time for gangs to recruit new members.

Our schools have some valuable after-school programs, but student families must pay tuition to outside contractors to utilize most of them. For some, the tuition can cost $300 a month. Many families don’t have the money to spare. And unfortunately, those families are the ones who often need these programs the most. I will work with local business groups and social service agencies to expand access to these after-school athletic and academic programs for the children who need them the most.

Second, we need to crack down on irresponsible landlords. I’ll set up a hotline in my office where residents can report buildings that are centers for drug or gang activity. A lot of residents, especially in affordable housing, are afraid of reporting problems with gangs for fear of retribution either from the landlord or the gang. My hotline will provide a place where residents can provide information without fear of reprisal.

We’ll share that information with police so they can better enforce the law, and we’ll use that information to hold problem landlords accountable for irresponsible property management. While I was in law school at Loyola, I interned with the city’s Law Department, assisting in the investigation and prosecution of irresponsible landlords who allowed their buildings to become a blight upon the neighborhoods. I’ll go after problem landlords and force them to clean up their act.

I’ll also inform the community about court hearings regarding these problem buildings, and a member of my staff will attend those hearings. When neighbors and community leaders show up to court hearings, it sends a clear message to judges that the community cares and demands accountability.

I’ll also make sure that either I, or a member of my staff, is at every CAPS meeting in the ward, and I’ll work with federal authorities and police to seek prosecution of street gangs as criminal enterprises under the federal RICO Act.

But to help decrease crime, we also need to recruit businesses into our community to create jobs and revitalize our business corridors. Crime thrives in places people avoid. If we can fill the storefronts, we can make our streets inhospitable to crime.

I will hire a business liaison for my office whose sole job it is to retain existing businesses and recruit new employers. The city permitting process can be very confusing and difficult for many small business owners, and my business liaison will help guide them through the process. This has been very successful in other wards, and it can help boost the business climate in our community.

Before those businesses come into the community, I will work with local building owners to donate empty store windows to local artists, turning our sidewalks into outdoor art galleries. It increases pedestrian traffic, promotes local arts and culture, and brings more people onto our streets. This is another strategy that has provided dividends in other neighborhoods, and it can work here.

As another prong of business development, we really need to work on promoting Uptown as the center of the entertainment industry in Chicago and the Midwest. We have some of the best music clubs and theatres clustered right here in our community, and yet, almost nothing is done to promote that. The entertainment industry is a multi-billion-dollar business that employs people in large corporations and small start-ups.

I’ll work with the business community and the 48th Ward Alderman to promote Uptown and its diverse entertainment heritage in a way that encourages further development of the entire industry. There is no reason why Uptown shouldn’t be home to numerous recording studios, galleries, independent labels, and music promoters.

If elected, what are the top five priorities you will tackle during your first hundred days in office? What process will you use? Who will be involved?

I suspect that the crime and business development plans outlined in the answer above will keep me very busy well beyond the first 100 days. I’ll also start working on a community master plan, which I’ll discuss in response to the next question.

And I’ll create a more open and responsive ward service office. My office will have Saturday hours, and we’ll host a ward night every month where you can come and tell me what needs fixing.

And finally, from day one, I will work to begin the slow process of bridging the divisions that exist in our community. I moved to this community because of the diversity that exists here and no where else.

In our community’s unique diversity lies its greatest potential. This can be a special place where people of different races, different social and economic statuses, people of different sexual orientations and different religions can live and work together to create the thriving and safe community we all deserve.

Bridging the gaps that exist now will not be easy. It will take time and hard work. However, I believe it must be done. We can only address the issues in our community if we all work together.

What will you do in your first six months to revive the 46th Ward’s retail streets? Will you create a Master Plan? If so, who will be involved?

First, I will hire a business liaison for my office. That person will work to retain existing businesses and recruit new employers. The city permitting process can be very difficult, especially for a small business owner, and my business liaison will help guide them through the required city permitting process. This has been very successful in other wards, and I use take this simple step to make our community more hospitable to businesses.

Second, from day one, I will work with local building owners to donate empty store windows to local artists, turning our sidewalks into outdoor art galleries. It increases pedestrian traffic, promotes local arts and culture, and brings more people onto our streets. This is another strategy that has provided dividends in other neighborhoods and can work here.

I will work with the community to create a master plan for future development and revitalization throughout all our neighborhoods. Master plans have proven to be hugely valuable tools in identifying community assets and opportunities, as well as providing a guiding vision for moving communities forward.

The first step in creating such a plan will be to talk to other alderman who have gone through the process so we can learn from the mistakes of others. Then, I will organize a committee of representatives from block clubs, business groups, social service providers, property management companies, and other residents to discuss what our community needs and how we can move our community forward.

Will the Wilson El Station rehab and redesign be on your Top-Five Priority List? If so…where will you look for funding the estimated $30-36 Million cost?

The Wilson Red Line stop has amazing potential to serve as a beautiful gateway to our community. I will work with the CTA, architecture preservation organizations, and the business community to restore the Wilson station.

As an example of what can be accomplished with some creative thinking, I look toward the public/private partnership that funded the renovation of much of the North and Clybourn El Station. There, Apple contributed almost $3.9 million toward refurbishing the station in return for advertising rights at the station and naming rights should the CTA ever decide to sell them. That is the type of innovative deal I would like to use to help pay for a Wilson El Station restoration. It won’t fully fund the project, but it will make a significant dent.

What do you think is not being done to address the gangs and violent crime riddling Uptown? What specifically will you do to restore safety to our neighborhoods?

We need an alderman who actively works to address our crime issue. I already have a good working relationship with police in our community through my work as a CAPS beat liaison. As alderman, either I or a member of my staff will attend every CAPS meeting in the ward so that I can ensure that issues are being addressed as quickly as possible.

But, of course, so much more is needed.

First, we need to try and stop the schools-to-prison pipeline that is funneling so many of our young people through gangs. One of the easiest steps we can take is to keep kids in school longer each day. There is no reason that kids should be out of school at 2:45 in the afternoon. With most parents at work, this becomes a prime time for gangs to recruit new members.

Our schools have some valuable after-school programs, but families must pay tuition to outside contractors to utilize most of them. For some, the tuition can cost $300 a month. Many families don’t have the money. And unfortunately, those families are the ones who often need these programs the most. I will work with local business groups and social service agencies to expand access to these after-school athletic and academic programs for the children who need them the most.

Second, we need to crack down on irresponsible landlords. While in law school at Loyola, I interned with the city’s Law Department, assisting in the investigation and prosecution of irresponsible landlords who allowed their buildings to become havens for gangs and drugs. I’ll go after problem landlords and force them to clean up their act.

I’ll also inform the community about court hearings regarding these problem buildings, and a member of my staff will attend those hearings. When neighbors and community leaders show up to court hearings, it sends a clear message to judges that the community cares and demands accountability.

What process would you use to determine how the remaining $49 Million of Wilson Yard TIF money is spent? What role will residents have in this process?

I’ve long advocated for an open TIF budgeting process . The community should know about proposals for TIF spending well before a decision is made, and the community should have a voice in deciding how that money is spent. I’ll create a transparent process where residents can share their ideas and make their voices heard.

I’ll also require that any proposal for TIF funds generate the most bang for the buck. For me, that means job creation. Every TIF dollar we spend should go toward the creation of permanent and sustainable jobs that pay a living wage.

What is your position on the Maryville TIF and the current planning process? How will you address the questionable process that created this TIF?

I’m skeptical about the necessity of most TIFs. TIFs were created to help generate development in depressed communities where private investment would not otherwise happen. I’m not convinced that, without TIF, there would be no private investment on that site.

I’ll seek outside analysis to determine if TIF is really needed there. I will open up the planning process, requiring anyone with a TIF spending proposal for the site to bring it before the community. And I’ll require that any TIF funds spent create permanent and sustainable jobs that pay a living wage.

Lastly, I will not use TIF funds to subsidize condominiums at that site. It seems insulting to use taxpayer funds to subsidize the construction of lakeview condos when so many current condo owners are under water on their units.

If there are other questions, please feel free to e-mail them to mollyp@phelan46.com.