She Votes — Marianne Lalonde

Schools:

Chicago’s school population is declining. This means there are fewer students to educate, but the population shifts are not equally distributed. How will you ensure that students in all parts of the city have access to quality and safe education while taking into consideration changing population and the impact of that?

Schools are not only necessary to serve area students, they’re resources for the entire community. CPS should broadcast the quality of our public school system to achieve better recruitment of students from local families. We need families with students who are enrolled in private schools to consider public schooling as a viable option, and also to attract more families with potential students to neighborhoods where CPS schools are under-enrolled by ensuring there are sufficient family-sized affordable housing options in those areas.

Since schools serve the entire community, we should consider creative use of existing CPS real estate where schools are too large for their populations. For example, the swimming pool at Uplift High School is a shared resource between CPS and the Chicago Park District, and is open to the neighborhood. Portions of other underutilized real estate could be used for new libraries, health clinics, etc. which would allow other sources of revenue/funding to keep schools open for both students and community members.

Environment:

Chicago faces a crisis of water infrastructure and service. Chicago has more lead lines than any other city in the United States and city testing of Chicago homes with water meters has found nearly 1 in 5 have lead in their tap water. In 2015, City Hall considered privatizing the water system after an unsolicited pitch from investment firm Goldman Sachs. Research has shown that privatization of water utilities often see rate increases, workforce reductions, and a backlog of maintenance issues. In Illinois, a typical household with Lake Michigan water pays more than twice for water service using a privatized utility service than from using a public municipality. Additionally, in 2016, 6,351 households had their water shut off, with the shutoffs affecting over 16,000 individuals. What is your plan to address the challenges that Chicago’s water infrastructure system faces? How will you work towards providing safe, accessible, and affordable water service to Chicago residents? (Community Collaborator: Food and Water Action

The only way to eliminate lead from our city’s water supply with certainty is to replace the lead service lines that deliver water to households. This infrastructure replacement will be a massive cost-intensive project that the city must plan for before the problem escalates any further and endangers public health.

Portions of the service lines will require access to private property to replace, so the city must plan not only for the cost of this infrastructure project, but also how to access areas that are not public land.

Service line replacement should be prioritized through an analysis of the highest lead content as measured by GIS overlay between lead screening data from already-mandated school health examinations (kindergarten blood lead levels) and direct testing of lead in drinking water.

As funds are set aside, combined activated carbon and ion exchange resin filters can be used in the intermediary to remove lead directly from faucets. These filters also remove beneficial minerals including calcium and fluoride, so they should be used as a last resort.

Women-Owned Businesses:

As showcased by the numerous reports by the City’s Inspector General over the years, there is a perception by many contractors that the lists of women and minority owned businesses are inaccurate and include many businesses that aren’t truly women and/or minority owned. This reputation discourages voluntary use of the list and also may mean that true women and minority owned businesses are not receiving the benefits of the list. What are your thoughts on continuing the use of the list and, if you believe it should continue to be used, should there be changes to how the list is kept and are there ways the City of Chicago can increase confidence in the accuracy of the list?

As a scientist, maintaining data that is both accessible and accurate is very important to me — including the list of women and minority owned businesses. If the list should continue to be used, there should be additional oversight directed by the Inspector General’s office to improve the accuracy of the list including verification of business ownership by local, neighborhood-based Chambers of Commerce where available. (For example, in the 46th Ward, Business Partners: The Chambers for Uptown, and the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce.)

By maintaining smaller and less overwhelming datasets, we can improve confidence in the list. Businesses and local government should work collaboratively to ensure the removal of barriers to entry for new businesses as well as easing the burdens on business owners to promote and maintain their businesses. (For example, reducing the burden of sign permitting by migrating the process to an online system.) Creating a Business Diversity Ordinance at the ward level can also contribute to a higher percentage of women and minority owned businesses throughout the city.

Community Safety:

Community safety is critical for residents and visitors in any ward in the City of Chicago. Recently, the city entered into a consent decree to address policies, training, practices and accountability of the Chicago Police Department in an attempt to ensure police reform. While our homicide rate is not the highest in the US and gun violence in Chicago has been declining in recent years, it continues to garner national attention and some neighborhoods have actually seen an increase in murders over the past year. Youth are among the highest at risk for violence and women often bear the burden of keeping children in their families and community safe. Recognizing that the issues surrounding safety are complex and multi-pronged, what is your highest priority with relating to safety of your ward’s residents and who are you receiving advice from to address that priority? (Feel free to include any necessary context for your answer — context may, but does not need to, include citywide considerations, feasibility of implementation, political challenges, concerns regarding overzealous implementation of safety protocol, or anything else necessary to understand your answer.)

Violent crime does not know ward boundaries. We need active collaboration with aldermen across the city to combat gun violence and other violent crimes, including armed robberies and carjacking. Specifically, we need to coalition build between the city’s north, south and west sides. I’ve often reached out to fellow women candidates running in these regions to discuss city wide preventative solutions for violence and hope to continue the relationship on City Council. I firmly believe we won’t be able to create a safer city unless we first address the underlying issues of systemic inequality and poverty.

We need to take a proactive approach to violent crime through empowering youth and their parents versus reacting to violent crime by increasing police presence. I’m proposing incentivizing existing after school programs in CPS, Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Libraries to give youth age 9–14 more agency and ownership over how they spend their time outside of school. The incentive program would also track attendance at wrap-around programs, giving the city a system of data on what programs are the most successful. By investing in these programs specifically in underserved areas, we can positively impact safety in a city-wide way.

In Closing…

I invest every hour of my available time back into the 46th ward — as a block club president, on Clarendon Park Advisory Council, on the Associates’ board of Sarah’s Circle, a women’s homeless shelter, on the Lake Shore Drive Study Task Force, and as a member of Uplift High School’s Sustainable Community Schools Leadership Team. The reason I want to be alderman is to have even more ability to affect change — it will allow me to continue the work that I’ve already been doing and also do more to keep our ward affordable, equitable and inclusive.

I firmly believe Chicago deserves a local government free from corruption and I’ve been the most vocal advocate for City Council reform in my race. I was the first 46th ward aldermanic candidate to for the resignation of Ed Burke and independent investigations of the Zoning and Finance committees. I’ve promised not to accept campaign contributions from real estate developers, city lobbyists, or machine politicians.

Even so, I’ve closed every quarter with the highest fundraising cash on hand of any challenger to the incumbent. I’m so proud of my grassroots campaign and my volunteer network, the majority of whom live in the 46th ward. I’ve been honored to receive endorsements from Run For Something, IVI-IPO (Independent Voters of Illinois,) Asian American Midwest Progressives, the Illinois Nurses Association, and mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot.

Electing me is not only advantageous for the ward, but for the entire city of Chicago. I’m the only scientist running in all 50 wards. We need a scientist on Chicago city council not only to advocate for science-based causes like healthcare and the environment, but also because scientists are detail-oriented decision makers that can examine data critically and effectively.

We deserve an independent, progressive voice in City Council to serve as a real “BS filter” and stand up to machine politicians who have become corrupt and unethical. I’ll be that strong, dedicated voice for the 46th ward.