FRONT PAGE
The Chuy Factor: PRO
The Chuy Factor: CON
By Robert T. Starks
By Maze Jackson
“I propose a complete overhauling of the way the city budgets and spends – one designed to free our government from the current administration’s addiction to irresponsible borrowing and budgeting.” Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. Incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel and mayoral hopeful Jesus “Chuy” Garcia are each hoping to have the necessary Black voters on election day, April 7, to take them to victory. Neither can win without a substantial increase in the number of Black votes they received in the primary election on February 24. Their fate also depends on increases in the number of progressive white and undecided voters. A recent poll showed Emanuel with 51 percent of voters likely to vote for him, Chuy Garcia at 37 percent and 11 percent undecided. Thus Garcia’s campaign has launched an aggressive person-to-person ground offensive. The major message being carried by this army of foot soldiers is a five-point platform that his team has determined is key to gaining support in the vital demographic areas that will lead him to victory. ON CRIME – Garcia is committed to hiring 1,000 new police officers and implementing a real community-policing program. His supporters and potential supporters in the Black community welcome a commitment to reducing crime and especially a program that will make real a decades-old promise. This is especially important in Black communities that experience increasing numbers of Blacks males being killed by police and the skyrocketing amounts of taxpayers’ dollars being paid to the families of victims. AN ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD – Garcia advocates an elected school board so that citizens can participate in how schools operate and educate children. The elected school board non-binding referendum that was on the February 24 ballot in 37 wards throughout the city gained more than 80 percent approval. The school closing issue remains a hot button in the Black community and one of the main reasons for the massive defection of Black voters from Emanuel in the February election. Thus, boosted by the support of Karen Lewis and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the Garcia campaign feels strongly that he and Blacks are on the same page. ABOUT RED LIGHT CAMERAS – The speed and red light cameras issue was hotly debated in the run-up to the February election and has continued since. Garcia wants to abolish red light and speed cameras that he says fail to make streets safer and mostly serve as a revenue stream that preys on poor and inner city residents. Garcia has said that if he is elected, he will remove all of them. Emanuel has since announced he is removing 50 cameras from 25 sites throughout the city. Garcia says that the Mayor’s removal of 50 cameras is “too little and too late”! He feels that this is a winning issue among voters in all sections of the city. ON MINIMUM WAGE – Garcia supports a $15 an hour living wage for workers versus Emanuel’s passed legislation that will raise the minimum wage in the city to $13 an hour in 2019, which Garcia contends is too far away to benefit most workers who are now desperate for a needed pay raise. Many Garcia supporters agree and believe that by 2019 the cost of living and inflation may have increased to exceed the benefits of a $13 minimum wage rate and a $15 an hour rate may be barely enough to keep up with inflation. ABOUT PENSIONS – Garcia pledges to protect the pensions and health benefits of municipal employees. He has accused Emanuel of slashing workers’ pensions and health benefits. Garcia has assembled a panel of economic and financial experts who are in the process of studying all of the budgetary and financial issues. Last week, he unveiled a report called Towards Fiscal
With just under three weeks until the run-off election, Chicago’s Black community is faced with making the choice between Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been forced into the first ever run-off election in Chicago’s history ort Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, the activist and Cook County Commissioner. Many the would acknowledge that Mayor Emanuel suffers from a likeability issue in the Black community, but is a national player that has brought international spotlight to the city, and attracted business and jobs to the city. Conversely, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was virtually unknown to the Black community six months ago, but has risen to international notoriety by forcing one of the world’s most formidable politicians into a runoff that no one outside of Chicago could have ever imagined possible. Mr. Garcia is relying heavily upon his connections to the Harold Washington legacy to garner the much-needed support from the Black community if he is to be successful. Candidates, analysts, and pundits all agree that the Black vote is crucial to the success of either candidate hoping to occupy the 5th Floor. For the Black community this vote is crucial because it could very well chart the course of Black political empowerment in the city of Chicago for decades to come. The US Census Bureau already reports that the Latino population has surpassed the African-American population in Chicago and is projected to continue growing at a steady rate, while the Black population in Chicago will continue to decline. These factors put Chicago’s Black community at risk of losing political capital and power in a city, where in spite of its population, the Black community has only been able to elect one Mayor of it’s own, Mayor Harold Washington, whose endorsement Mr. Garcia is claiming post mortem. As the Black community moves to make this momentous decision in less than three weeks, it is important to examine some of Mr. Garcia’s history with the Black community. In 1980’s, Mr. Garcia was elected Chicago Alderman with the support of Mayor Harold Washington. When Mayor Washington died, Mr. Garcia joined with the Progressive Caucus of Chicago City Council. That same Progressive Caucus eventually attempted a coup of Mayor Sawyer and nominated Ald. Tim Evans. Mr. Garcia sided with the Progressive Caucus, which eventually fractured the Black political unity that had been created under Mayor Washington. That fracture lead to the “Black political disunity that has lasted over thirty years,” said noted Black activist Dr. Conrad Worrill. That rift is also what allowed for the election of Mayor Richard M. Daley and the creation of the non-partisan election, which diminished the influence of the Black vote in primary elections, rendering the Black community unable to elect another Black Mayor to this day. Mr. Garcia also served as an Illinois State Senator in Springfield, IL. During that time, the Latino community only had two State Senators, so they were welcomed to join the Black Caucus as a sign of Black/Brown Solidarity. During this same period the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus launched a variety of initiatives and programs that benefitted both the Black and Brown communities, culminating with the creation of the African-American Family Commission. Soon after, as the Latino representation in Springfield increased, Mr. Garcia left the Black Caucus to form the Latino Caucus and the Latino Family Commission. Since that time, the Black and Latino Caucuses and Family Commissions have been competing for resources not collaborating. Additionally since that time, the Latino community has received over $100 million dollars from Springfield to build new schools in their communities, while 50 Chicago Public Schools were closed in predominately Black communities
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THE FIVE POINT PLATFORM
2 March 18-24, 2015 • THE CHICAGO DEFENDER
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