behavior or speech, which in the judgment of the meeting's chair
or the sergeant at arms may lead to a breach of the peace
or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting actions such as the stomping of feet,
waving of arms, throwing any item, whistling,
booing, shouting, or other loud utterances are not
permitted when, in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at
arms, such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly
conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the sergeant at arms. City
of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the sergeant at arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings
are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when, in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed twelve inches by six inches by
twelve are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting by
the sergeant at arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the sergeant at arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the judgment
of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms may lead to a
breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting
is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting actions such as the
stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item,
whistling, booing Shouting or other loud
utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's
chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly
conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet,
waving of arms, throwing any item, whistling,
booing, shouting, or other loud utterances are not
permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at
Arms, such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly
conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting by
the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the judgment
of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may lead to a
breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting
is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the
stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item,
whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud
utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's
chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters.
Four, backpacks, large bags, and sealed packages.
Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not exceed 12
inches by 6 inches by 12 are permitted and subject to
search. And five, firearms, ammunition,
fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns, tasers,
mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by twelve, are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon
request. Individuals must remain seated at all
times except, one, when entering or exiting the
gallery. Two, when providing public comment during the
portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a
member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing,
abusive, or defamatory behavior or speech,
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at
Arms, may lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the
orderly conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet,
waving of arms, throwing any item, whistling,
booing, shouting, or other loud utterances, are not
permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at
Arms, such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly
conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by twelve,
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting by
the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arm-
Good morning.
The Subcommittee on Youth Employment will now come to order.
Today we have one item on the agenda, a subject matter hearing
on teen trends. I will now conduct a roll call to establish
quorum.
Alderman Robinson.
Alderman Yancy.
Alderman Chico.
Alderwoman Ramirez.
Alderperson Gutierrez.
Chairperson Fuentes present. Alderwoman Cruz.
Alderwoman Rosana Rodriguez Sanchez. Alderwoman Mitts.
Alderwoman Coleman.
Alderman Curtis.
Vice Chair Rodriguez.
Alderman Cecil Lopez.
Alderwoman Clay.
Alderman Martin.
We have eight members present. We have a quorum.
Alders Gutierrez, Yancy, and Clay have requested to attend the meeting by
remote means under Rule 59 due to unrelated emergencies.
All those in favor permitting Alders Gutierrez, Yancy, and Clay to attend
remotely, please respond by saying "Aye."
Any opposed, say "Nay."
In the opinion of the chairs, the ayes have it.
Alders Gutierrez, Yancy, and Clay are allowed to attend this meeting by remote
means and will be added to the roll call.
Do we have any non-committee members present?
Alderman Quezada is recognized as non-member.
Alderman Salihah Farrell recognized as non-committee member.
Any other alders? Alderman Hall recognized as non-committee member.
Any other
non-members present?
Alderman Caldona
recognized as non-committee member.
He's on committee.
Non-committee.
At this time, we will begin public comment period.
The public comment period is 30 minutes.
Out of respect for everybody's time, each speaker is
limited to three minutes.
If you hear your name, please approach the
microphone. Taiwan Sims.
Is Taiwan Sims in the gallery?
All right. He's making his way.
Good morning, committee.
We didn't receive agendas, so
I'm not sure exactly what the subject matter is, but there is a issue
that we are dealing with as Chicagoans, especially in our youth,
the disregard, the divestment, and
this narrative that our children are uncouth, unruly,
and just unmanageable.
It's in the news, the violent teen takeovers.
This was, what's his name? The
reporter journalist guy that's always arguing with the mayor.
The violent teen takeovers or the teen takeovers.
Well, yesterday I was involved in one of those on 119th.
But what I realized is this, is that they're manufactured.
Because where the Joan Kroc Center usually allows for the youth to come
in and play basketball and use it as a rec center, they closed the
doors yesterday. Cut these children off to
safety, a safe space as it should be called,
for whatever reason. And so as they started amassing, because usually it's
about 75 to 100 youth in the
facility, and that 75 to 100 youth ended up outside the
facility, along with another element of youth.
And so as it all became chaotic, all of them was
lumped in together.
All of them was herded out of the back of the Joan Kroc Center, and that
element or that small contingency of youth that are there to set up or cause
problems, oh, they did. They robbed a man in the
street. They ran unruly. Oh, no, no, we not going to pay attention, Mr.
Hall, because you're a Southland representative.
Stephanie Coleman should be here. Curtis should be here.
Every Black representative should be here
because this is in regards to you all.
But I can address Fuentes because instead of standing
up for the Chicagoans, you're going to stand up for the undocumented.
You're going to run in and impede federal agents.
Well, try to impede what's going on with this narrative, as they paint our
children, foundational Black Americans, as menace,
but have cut them off from every resources, whether it be job development
training,
safe spaces, or anything.
And yet we have a mayor who has deflected in every which way. What did he say?
He said, "Trump made all of these promises to the foundational Black Americans, and
he hasn't kept any of them." Well, I've kept all of them.
What
He said transportation. Foundational Black American children use the transportation
as sanctuary and housing because of the housing crisis here in
Chicago, produced by Byron C. Joe Lopez over there, the chairman of
housing and real estate.
The workforce development, why you have so many unruly youth or
supposed unruly youth in the street is because they have no
jobs,
nothing productive to do. And this is workforce development, Michael David
Rodriguez. But they've given all the consideration to the
undocumented, up to the point of $2.5 billion.
Right?
So now we have a narrative being painted out.
Thank you for your comment. Next, we have Zolena Smith.
Good afternoon. I'm just here, first
of all, as a parent, but I'm here for Black Men United.
When you think about what's going on with our teens, because I don't think we
should put color on our children at this moment, because they're all partying
together. Everyone who is
really concerned about our communities, I think we should come together as one.
And when we look at organizations that have these beautiful buildings that are
funded by state, federal, and city dollars, we need to be
asking them to open up these spaces after hours, because our
kids have nowhere to go in any community.
And if they have buildings that we've given anything
to, we need to make sure that those buildings are open, like the Boys Club used
to be in the YMCA, from 9:00 at night to maybe 2:00
in the morning. We know curfew restrictions and violations.
As a parent, I want to know my child is safe.
I don't want to be fine because my child is out trying to have a good time.
And as a
community convener for Austin, I also want to make sure that we have a part
in using the city resources and advocating and making sure that the
organizations in that community put their due diligence
forward and open up their doors because they have the space.
And just try to work with not just the parents, but a holistic approach with the
whole community, because communities are worried.
Me as a parent, a homeowner, I want to make sure that my windows stay intact.
I don't want to see my daughter and her friends out just roaming around wasting gas
with the cost of gas. I'm opening up my back door.
So I'm going to ask parents to do the same.
If you have space, let these kids find somewhere in their
home and bring them in, because right now we know violence is
going up when it comes to the teen takeovers, and no parent should have to worry
about their kid leaving and making it not back home.
And just be mindful. It might not be your problem today, but it can be your
problem tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you for your comment. Up next is George Blakemore.
Thank you.
The responsibility of our youth.
I'm seeing two, four, five, six
alternates.
The responsibility stop with us.
Chinatown, they didn't have no teen takeover.
All on the north, these other ethnic group control
their children. They have family values.
They have mamas in the home, dadas
in the home, uncles and
aunties. And they have a
community.
They have a community that love them.
Big Mama couldn't even read and write,
but she made sure that her children would learn to read
and write.
It's not the children at fault, it's
these old,
sellout Black house n****s. It's not
Trump.
It's a mental problem that Black people have,
a mental problem. It takes a village.
I came from a ghetto. We had banks, we had hotels, we had
motels, we had w****s, we had prostitutes.
We
had insurance companies.
We had Black Wall Street. Black people have gotten too low
down.
The Chinatown, there's no teen takeover.
Black people, look in the mirror. It's because of you
that those teens are acting a certain way.
When I get to acting a fool in my house, my mama, my
daddy say, "You the man of the house." I get to bossing, trying to
boss my mama and my sister around. My mother checked me
real good.
And she'd say, "You take that little son of a
to work with you. Nobody takes over here." But I had my
own village, my own mama,
not my baby daddy. We've
gotten too low down,
too low down as a people.
As the preachers low down, the teachers are low down.
Who educated you and taught you to read and write?
A Black teacher in a Black school. We had
excellent schools. No, and he's over there.
Walgreens moved out. It gives you all to Mr.
Hall to open up your own pharmacy. Where I came from,
they owned their pharmacy.
They owned them. If something happened to the Black man
on the plantation, what did the white man make to some of them?
You got mental problem. You don't love your nappy hair, your
big nose, your thick lip, and your Black booty hole.
You're going by somebody else's hair.
You know it's a mental issue here.
It's a mental issue.
Thank you for your comments. Up next is Jack Weiss
Before Jack makes his comment, I want to acknowledge Chairwoman Pat
Dowell as a non-committee member present today.
Hi.
Thank you,
Madam Chairman. I'm Jack Weis, the executive director of the Alternative Schools
Network. The two things we've done over the last
half-century is help students who dropped out of school come
back, and we've helped over 29,000 students who are on the streets to come back
and get their diploma, and to help them get their first jobs.
The joblessness of black youth in the city is about
75%.
I'm going to tell a quick story to make my point.
God and Moses are playing golf. It's the first hole.
It's a long 500-yard hole. Moses hits a great
drive. It goes almost 400 yards. He's excited.
God steps up. He hits a shank right toward the woods.
Out of nowhere, an eagle picks the ball out of the air, drops it a
foot from the hole. From the rough comes a
turtle and pushes the ball into the hole.
Moses turns to God and says, "Are we going to play a round or just screw
around?" In my testimony, I said we need $80
million to help employ the youth in the city who
need money. That sounds like a lot, but again, the story
I told is, are we going to really get serious or screw around?
This will provide 20,000 more youth with jobs.
The University of Chicago did a study that showed
with a six-week
job,
they followed these students, 1,600 students, out 16 months.
Their violent crime dropped by 42%.
42% dropped. So the point is, are we serious,
are we going to fool around, and put serious money to get the youth who are
jobless, not just Black youth, Hispanic youth, to get
them a job and get them moving forward and stop the violence?
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your comment today. Up next is Tamisia Drummond.
Good morning.
My name is Tamisia Drummond. I'm the teen engagement manager at the
Chicago Park District, and
this is my 25th summer working there.
I just wanted to let everybody know that I truly am a product of my environment.
Not only was I a teen in a park, I grew up in the park as far
as them providing opportunities for me to be where I am today.
With that being said, at the Chicago Park District, we understand that summer is
one of the most critical times in a young person's life.
It's a time when youth are seeking opportunities for recreation, employment,
social connection, leadership development, and safe spaces to
simply be teenagers.
Through our Teens in the Park initiative, we are committed to ensuring that young
people have access to meaningful experiences in every corner of Chicago.
This summer, we've listened to teens everywhere.
We are investing in a wide range of programs and opportunities designed
specifically for teens. These include the Summer Teen Tour,
which provides access to parks, pools, extended seven days a week now,
recreational facilities, cultural experiences, and citywide
destinations, teen opportunities that connect youth to jobs, scholarships,
internships, and educational pathways, teen centers
that serve as a dedicated space for recreation and personal development,
workforce development opportunities, leadership programs, sports
leagues and tournaments, esports, arts and culture programming, and a large
scale of events such as our TIF Fest this summer, our field days,
movie nights, and a plethora of community activations that we support.
Our goal is simply to create opportunities that keep young people connected,
engaged, and invested in positive experiences throughout the summer.
We do welcome and want our teens in our parks.
Last year alone, our programs engaged thousands of teens across the city, and we
continue to expand our reach by partnering with schools, community organizations,
city agencies, and private sector partners.
We've been opening our doors, extending our hours, and accommodating thousands of
requests.
We are intentionally creating programming and events that reflect what
today's young people are interested in, while also introducing
them to opportunities and access to spaces that they may not have
otherwise experienced.
We are meeting them where they are to guide and engage them
into other pathways. We're also very
intentional about how we gauge teen participation and engagement.
We monitor attendance, participation trends, program
utilization, event registration, social media engagement, and direct
feedback from young people themselves.
We regularly speak with teens, conduct surveys, engage our teen ambassadors,
and evaluate what activities are attracting participation so that we
can remain responsive to their needs and interests.
At the same time, we must acknowledge the reality of the environment in which we
operate. Across the city, nationwide, social media has
changed how young people communicate, gather,
and organize.
I'm sorry.
Thank you for your comments today. Up next is Janicia Williams.
They say young people who are not embraced by the village will burn it down to
feel its warmth.
Mm.
This African proverb reminds us that youth behavior is often a
reflection of whether they feel seen, valued, and connected.
Good morning. My name is Janicia Williams, and I'm a youth advocate as well as
I serve as the lead for Austin My Chi My Future.
Since 2020, I have worked alongside young people, families, schools,
community organizations, and city stakeholders to better understand what keeps
youth engaged in positive activities outside of school.
I connect with our young people every single day, including Sunday
and they've shared their stories.
We've all heard them, and what we need now is a formal way to
synthesize their voices by turning it into data that can push real
policies. Through a series of community focus groups under
Project Systemic 2.0, we've collected data from more than 10 different
stakeholder groups, like nonprofits, parents, CPS
principals and teachers, park district supervisors, police officers.
You've named it, we've asked them all about barriers to out of school time
participation. And this research gave us a well-rounded view of the
issue. We learned all about transportation challenges, communication gaps,
safety concerns, and all the obstacles that prevent young people from connecting to
programs. But recently, we've begun to learn something even more
important. With support from researchers at Northwestern University, we've
developed a youth interest survey to better understand what young people want to do
in their time away from school, how they find out about programs, and what
motivates them to participate. And after collecting nearly 300
surveys, a clear message is emerging.
Young people are asking for opportunity, purpose, pathways.
And when asked what they want to do after school, the majority tell us one of two
things. They either want paid work or they want to go home.
And that answer should stop us in our tracks, because if a young person would
rather go home than participate in programming, we have to ask ourselves a
difficult question, which is, are we creating opportunities that reflect their
interests, their dreams and their goals?
And when we look deeper into these surveys, we see young people interested in
entrepreneurship, in healthcare, in media, in trades, in fashion.
The talent is there. Creativity is there. The ambition is there.
What's missing is our understanding.
And we cannot build pathways if we do not know where young people want to go, we
cannot create belonging if we do not first listen, and we cannot solve teen
takeover challenges by only responding to the behavior.
We must respond to the conditions that shape behavior.
So my ask today is simple. Help us listen.
Help us survey more young people across your wards, and gather the data that
allows us to meet youth where they are instead of assuming where they should
be. Because when young people see opportunities that connect to their
passions, lives change. So when we talk about teen
takeovers, let's not only ask where they're gathering, let's ask where they feel
they belong, where they feel they're being heard, and where they feel they are
being invested in, and let's double down on those investments.
Because youth, when they feel the warmth of opportunity and mentorship and purpose,
they don't burn down cities to be seen. They build them. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments today. Up next, we have Robert Castaneda.
Is Robert here?
I see. All right.
Good morning, members of the committee. My name is Robert Castaneda.
I've been working with teens in Chicago for the last 30 years.
Thank you for your role in this and your leadership and taking the time to
talk about this important thing, which so many people in Chicago are passionate
about our young people because there's so much promise in them, so much hope in
them, and
there's so many of us in Chicago rooting for our young people.
I just want to share a couple of things with you in my time.
Like I said, I've been doing this work for 30 years.
When I first started doing this work 30 years ago, everything I did was indoors
because Chicago wasn't safe enough to be outside.
But after we were working with 1,000 kids a year,
on a regular basis, there were no indoor spaces big enough, and so we
took our work outside. And so I want to talk about, number one, the
importance of investment in public spaces.
Our young people cannot rely on adults to have to unlock spaces for them in
order for them to be safe, which means our public spaces need to be safe for them.
But they also need to
have caring adults who are in those spaces who are providing things for
young people to do. And so we have our parks, we have our school campuses.
We need to make sure that we're being very strategic with those public local
locations. I also want to talk about teen jobs.
Teen jobs are very important.
This summer, Beyond the Ball, we'll be
engaging 20 teens, for employment, for working in the community,
for offering youth programming for other parts of the neighborhood.
But it's that gap between when school gets out and teen
jobs start. It's like we're starting the summer with a little
bit of lag, right? If we could do something to address that time in between
school getting out and teen jobs starting, it'll increase our
capacity in the neighborhood to be providing a lot more opportunities, not just
for the young people who are doing the teen jobs, but for all the other parts in
the community where those jobs...
We can't really ramp up our summer programs until we get all of those teen
workers on board. So if we could work on getting that started sooner, that would be
really helpful. The other thing I want to talk about is we're
seeing great investment by the city
in things for young people and community-based organization,
grassroots organizations. But because of federal disinvestment and a lot of
corporates shifting their investment into following
federal
priorities, we're getting hit really hard.
And so even though the city investment is there, we're getting
hit hard on the other end. And so our budgets are way lower this year
than they were in previous years, not because of city investment, but because
of federal and corporate disinvestment.
And so just something to put on your radar as well. Thank you.
Thank you for your public comments today. Up next is Dr. Marlin Maywood.
All right. I see Dr. Maywood making his way across the gallery here.
And then after Mr. Maywood, our last speaker will be Janice Cannon.
So if Janice can make her way to the mic to speak after Mr.
Maywood
Sorry, I tried to be real quick sprinting across the room.
But again, my name is Dr. Haywood. I am the CEO founder for Urban Male Network,
also board member for BE, Bringing to Excellence, and BK Chicago.
I just wanted to be here advocating for Safe Spaces My Shot My Future,
which has been phenomenal. We actually serve as a Safe Space
organization in the Englewood community, and we have seen the impact that it has
made. With the youth that we have worked with, we have helped youth to go into
trade programs, go to college,
help them get full-time employment once they have left the program.
And with the mentors that work with the youth within the program, we have
been able to actually provide a space for them to just be themselves.
To have fun, to feel safe. And so when I think about just the
continuation of it, I just ask the city council to continue the support of the
program, because, again, when we look at what's happening right now with teen
trends, I think it's very important to not be reactive, but to then think
about how we can be proactive when it comes to including the youth
voice, and then making sure that we're providing these safe spaces within our
own communities. Because oftentimes when you think about the resources that are
available, it's limited, and Safe Spaces helps to provide the funding, the
resources, and the support in our own community.
So again, I just wanted to say thank you to the city council for the support for
those programs and hope to continue the program that we have going on.
Thank you.
Thanks.
All right, our last speaker for today is Janice Cannon.
Thank you. Good morning.
My name is Janice Cannon,
and today, I want to speak about my lost.
I am here today as a mother who lost her son to gun
violence. When I hear about teenagers being shot or involved in
violence, I don't just hear a news story, I
think about the family whose lives may never be the same.
Everyone deserves quality life and ability to live
peacefully in their community. We need solutions that keep
people safe today while also keeping our young
people hope, opportunity, and positive alternatives for
tomorrow. My concern is not only what has
happened, but what is still to come if
we do not address these issues together.
I ask our leaders to continue working on both public
safety and opportunities for youth so that few
families experience the pain of losing a loved
one to gun violence. Thank you for listening.
Thank you so much. I want to acknowledge that we have Commissioner
Arfa, who is here with us with four summer interns from Chicago
Youth Works and two interns from Mikva Challenge, all working with the
Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities.
If you all can just wave. Thank you all for being
here.
As the time for public comment has expired, I want to
acknowledge we have received several written communications sent to the
committee. Every committee member should have copies of the written comments we
have received in your packets today.
Before the subcommittee today is a subject matter hearing on teen
trends. As chair of the Subcommittee on Youth Employment, I have
called this subject matter hearing because the ongoing dialogue about teen
trends has lacked the very people who are directly impacted by
our legislation, young people,
teens. The closest to the problems are the
closest to the solutions, which is why this hearing will be distinctly
different from previous hearings about so-called teen takeovers
and behavior of young people. We will be putting young people at the
forefront of this conversation. They are the true subject
matter experts who will give their direct testimony to the
alders present today. We ask them to use this
space to define the problems and offer concrete
solutions. We know that addressing root causes is
pivotal. We also know that we cannot simply incarcerate young
people. This tactic has been tried and has led to the
school to prison pipeline and mass incarceration of Black and brown children.
So today, I look forward to our committee listening and asking
solution-driven questions. This record will guide city
council's legislation and budgetary solutions.
Today with us,
I want to acknowledge that we have Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor
online with us. She has business in the ward and regrets
her absence today, but will be participating virtually.
So today, we are going to hear from several youth experts to
speak to this subject matter. We will hear from Jaelyn Mendez,
a youth leader with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
Jaelyn comes from the community of Humboldt Park.
We'll hear from Damarion Span, a youth leader with My Block, My Hood,
My City. Damarion is from North Lawndale.
We'll hear from Ramaya Simone, a youth leader with Communities
United,
from Garfield Park. Fabian Walker, a youth
peacekeeper with GoodKids MadCity.
Fabian joins us from South Shore. We'll also hear from
Deja Williams, a youth peacekeeper with GoodKids MadCity,
and Deja is from Roseland. Also in the box we
have Jamal Cole, founder and CEO of My Block, My Hood,
My City. Jamal is working on visiting every single one of Chicago's
77 community areas. He's visited two of mine already
and is currently staying in Little Village.
Emmanuel Andre, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety, Kahari
Humphreys, Deputy Mayor of Education and Youth Development, and
Dr. Amelsia Franklin, professor and researcher with the
Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy with
UIC. We ask that every subject matter expert who has joined
us today to keep their comments at three minutes.
Today we will begin with Jaelyn Mendez.
Hi, my name is Jaylen Mendes. I'm 18 years old, and I'm with
the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
Jaylen, just real quick, if you could get a tad bit closer to that mic or pull it
to you.
Yeah, I got you.
Thank you.
When we are engaging in conversations surrounding policing teen
trends, I like to think back to my time at Lincoln Park
High School, which I hope you guys know is a school on the northeast
side of Chicago. A wealthy neighborhood, majority
white, where many of the students in that
neighborhood and students in surrounding neighborhoods and high schools
went to large gatherings on the city's lakefront and in
local neighborhoods. At these gatherings, we were not
faced with police force. We were not
awaited for at the lakefront by police officers.
Our parents were not threatened with fines.
And this is obviously biased because that is
what the teen trends on the south and west sides of Chicago are
facing. There is not this type of backlash when
majority white teenagers are gathering downtown for St.
Patrick's Day or Lollapalooza. There is no police officers
awaiting their arrests. There is no one in the media portraying them
as criminals.
And
this is because the police and the city dictate
who to criminalize and paint as disruptive based on
their race and class status.
The driver of these large gatherings of youth are the
lack of resources and spaces for youth to just
enjoy themselves. We have a handful of employment
opportunities thanks to the Chicago Park District and programs like
One Summer Chicago, but we need more.
Teenagers deserve a space where they can just relax and be
authentically themselves without feeling policed or controlled
by adults. These spaces also need to be
free and be able to withstand years, because
as we've seen, many community spaces, such as the Boys and Girls Club
in Palmer Square, have been shut down.
La Casa Puertorriqueña in Humboldt Park on California and
Crystal have been shut down, and we are constantly losing community
spaces. This leaves children with no options but
to go to the streets unauthorized.
They're also making downtown not
welcoming for youth. The Water Tower Mall has a
curfew of 4:00 PM. You can't be there under 18
without an adult. These are creating hostile spaces
for youth.
And I want the city to create more spaces that are accessible
for all, free, and allow teenagers
to relax without being controlled.
And yes,
that's how I feel.
Thank you, Jaylen. Up next, we have Demarion Span.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Demarion Span.
Graduating senior from the Collins Academy STEM High School, incoming man
of Morehouse.
In North Lawndale, young people like myself are growing up in a moment where
opportunities to belong, to participate, and to be heard are still too limited.
After losing almost two years of our lives to the pandemic, we're rebuilding our
sense of connection piece by piece, and when there aren't enough places to
go or things to do, it can feel like the world is shrinking around our potential.
But when we do have spaces, real intentional spaces, everything do change.
Organizations like My Block My Hood My City show exactly what is possible.
Their annual Downtown Day has brought nearly 1,000 teens downtown every
year for the last three years, and every single time, there have been no fights, no
altercations, or incidents. But it's young people exploring the city,
their city, laughing, learning, and feeling like they belong everywhere their feet
can take them.
Downtown Day is not just social impact, it's economic impact, too.
On average, at Downtown Day, we pour more than $56,000
into downtown businesses, proving that when you invest in youth, you're also
investing in the entire city of Chicago. That's what community looks like.
That's what shared prosperity looks like.
When we talk about teen trends, or as some city council members call it, teen
takeovers, the real trend is that when you give young people community,
we rise. When you open school buildings after hours, when you follow models like
the Sustainable Community School model, when you support organizations like My
Block My Hood My City that's already doing the work, we show up and we gather, but
we create joy.
We build the kind of Chicago that all want to live in.
I just want to say something really quick.
Alderman Monique Scott from the 24th Ward, you're not here, but last year you
called us, you said we're not regular kids.
You made that statement and said we're not regular kids, but your daughter is
because she's going to Stanford. Your regular daughter can't celebrate with us
downtown, or she can't come downtown. You owe us this time.
Alderman Lopez, you proposed the
ordinance to fine parents $1,000 if their teen
attended a teen trend.
Parents barely can keep their head above water right now with all these bills and
all these taxes that's coming their way.
And Monique Scott, again, you supported that ordinance.
You voted yes on that ordinance. Just imagine if we had an
entire city council that supported youth with the same energy as they had
going against youth. Imagine a city council that didn't label us as
problems to be managed or try to police their way out of challenges that require
investment, opportunity, and trust.
Imagine leaders who see us not as threats, but as
partners in building a better future.
Because the truth is, some leaders already do, and I'd like to acknowledge
them. Alderwoman Fontes, Alderwoman Taylor, Alderman Hall,
Mayor Brandon Johnson, Jamal Cole, and a few others, we thank you
because you have consistently stood up for young people, advocated for us, and
believed in our potential. Their support shows what real leadership looks like when
it's rooted in community, not fear.
We're not just asking for miracles or handouts, we're asking for opportunity that
we deserve. And when you give us that, we don't just take it, we
transform it. Again, thank you. My name is Demarion Spann.
Up next, we have Ramaiah Simone.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Ramaiah Simone.
My gender pronouns are she, her, hers.
I am a recent graduate of 2026. I am also a youth leader with
Communities United and Voice,
Workbench Project, and also Bikes and Roses.
But living in the Garfield Park community, I have seen many gaps in what
my neighborhood offers to young people.
I would love to see more programs like mine that I am able to participate in
outside of school. These spaces give us a chance to be
ourselves, to continue to express our identity through art,
and to tell our lived experiences so we can build and thrive as a community
and start our healing process.
We learn leadership skills can be used in our everyday
lives, and at the same time, we do get paid to enjoy
what we do and not feel judged with these programs.
Especially as a young Black woman, it is hard to find spaces where we
feel welcome to learn and be creative.
When spaces like these disappear, young people tend to disconnect,
and we tend to be pushed aside. When young people attend youth gatherings
or attend trend, it is not to bring harm or to bring danger
to the city. But instead, we want to find a place where we feel safe, where we can
have fun, and we can be ourselves. Feeling connected to our city,
finding friends, and meeting new people shows young people that we can be
connected and that our city sees us as assets to
grow.
If our
city was to give funding to
my community and across our neighborhoods, I would put into a year-round paid
programs for students and youth to have mental health
resources. And then because we will feel more needed with
mental health resources providers who can connect to our lived
experiences. Like many community leaders and organizations and work
developments and leaders in this space already do.
We belong in this city, and we need places to where we can truly
belong and where we can feel like we can heal.
Thank you so much.
Up next, we will hear from Fabian Walker.
Good morning.
Well, afternoon.
My name is Fabian Walker. I'm 19 years old, and I grew up in the South
Shore neighborhood. I graduated from Innovations.
And in the South Shore neighborhood, there's no free spaces or safe
spaces for kids to chill or be their self apart.
They took all the free spaces from us, and they expect us not to go to the
beach or go downtown,
but there's nowhere for us to connect or meet new
people. And growing up as a teen in Chicago, you
always want to meet new people and grow up and have fun.
I'm a youth organizer from GKMC, Good Kids Mad City, where we
organize meeting with people from the city to have free spaces, so we can
plan to have safer spaces for teens to go in their
neighborhoods. We do peace circles, and we hold safe spaces
where we give kids a free space to connect with
others, get a clear mind, have fun, and do what they want.
I also feel that they shouldn't
blame the parents for what the kids are doing downtown because parents are doing
their best. And parents got to work three jobs, all
that just to make sure their kids is good, and that's probably not their only
kid that's downtown.
And I also feel
city councils need to pass the peace book so teens can help
make our community safe. Youth
peacekeepers, as a part of their work, will host
events in the community for teens at least once a week.
GKMC has been considered
this before trends got popular. We understand that youth need
safe spaces to go and hang out and have fun.
They will trust a kickback or a party if other youth are hosting
it and adults who they trust are there to help keep it
safe. And that's all.
Thank you.
Up next is Deja Williams. Deja, make sure that mic is nice and close to you, okay?
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Deja Williams.
I'm 18 years old, and I'm from West Englewood.
I've recently graduated from Hyde Park Academy.
Growing up in my neighborhood, one of the biggest challenges for young
people is the lack of things to do. There are not many programs,
safe spaces, or activities available for us.
Because of that, most weekends or after school, I go straight
home. It's not because I don't want to be outside or spend time with
friends, it's because there are few places to go.
And when you do go somewhere, you often have to worry about violence and whether
you will be safe
or if you will be profiled and harassed.
When people ask why teenagers attend large
gatherings or attend trends, I think the answer is simple.
Young people want somewhere to go.
We want to have fun, meet new people, and enjoy our city like everyone
else. Many teens are looking for opportunities and connect with
others
and be a part of something positive.
When there are not enough activities, programs, or safe
spaces in our neighborhoods, young people naturally look elsewhere.
I believe large gatherings
can be safe. GoodKids MadCity made it happen before 2019,
where we were able to host an event, over 1,000
teenagers gathered for a free beach party at 31st
Beach.
Local artists and DJs, including Corporate, King Key,
No Fights, No Shoes, No Violence. Through recent stories,
we will have our community believe teens
are accountable of these kind of peaceful gatherings, but
instead we show what is possible
when we as teens invest in. Safety comes from creating
environments where teens feel welcome, respected, and protected.
Instead of focusing on restrictions, we should focus on creating more
opportunities for young people.
If the City of Chicago gave my neighborhood $1 million,
I would invest in
community centers, programs, job opportunities,
mentorship programs, and mental health resources.
I would invest in safe spaces where young people can learn, grow, and build
relationships in a safe environment.
Too often, young people are told where they cannot go instead of
given places where they belong.
If the other person
was to tell me to tell them something about my life,
it would be
we're not asking for special treatment, we ask for opportunities,
and we're asking for safe spaces to spend time, resources
that support our growth, and invest in our
city.
Yo.
When young people given support and opportunities, we can thrive.
Thank you.
Leave the room.
Thank you. We will now hear from Jamal Cole, who's the founder and
CEO of My Block, My Hood, My City.
Yeah, I just want to say thank you guys for opening up this space for youth.
Alderman Fuentes, Alderman Rodriguez, and
definitely Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Andre.
Just the way y'all looking at the teenagers right now and the way that they are
getting this exposure, that's amazing.
Exposure is violence prevention to us, and exposure is key, so just salute to
you guys for opening up this space and making teenagers feel welcomed.
Means a lot to me. Downtown belongs to everybody.
City Hall belongs to everybody. Hyde Park belongs to everybody.
The Lakefront belongs to everybody, not just people with money, not just people
that
live there already, not just people that work in office buildings, not just people
that feel comfortable being there already. It belongs to everybody.
So it belongs to kids from South Shore over east.
It belongs to kids in Englewood, Garfield Park,
Hermosa, Little Village, Albany Park.
It belongs to everybody, right? And at My Block, My Hood, My City,
we prove just that. Every year we have something called
Downtown Day, where we invite over 1,000 kids downtown, and we give them
$50, and we tell them something very simple but powerful.
We say, "Go explore the city." Right? And it's not just about giving them $50.
The $50 gives them ownership. It gives them agency.
It gives them a choice of their own experience.
So we say, "Hey, man, you belong here.
You should be able to walk through Millennium Park.
You should be able to walk through the Riverfront.
You should be able to
enjoy some new food, try out a new museum.
You
deserve to
evolve as a person." Too many times we're telling young people where they can go,
where they can't go, who they should be afraid of, what they can do.
Downtown Day says something different. It says you belong here, too.
And the proof is in the pudding. This is year four.
Every time you make kids feel welcome, connected, and accepted, they rise to the
occasion. Last year, we had over 1,800 kids come downtown for
Downtown Day. We had no issues at all.
But the
issue really is us not investing in the neighborhoods.
If there's no mental health clinics, if there's no cultural centers, if there's no
basketball hoops, if you're not investing in my neighborhood, you can't get mad at
teenagers for going places that have been invested in.
So again, I just want to say thank you for Downtown belongs to everybody.
City Hall belongs to everybody. This is Chicago, and the youth
are the biggest stakeholders in the neighborhood, and they actually are,
on Downtown Day, they're going to be bringing a lot of economic power to the
Loop area. Thank you.
Up next, we will be hearing from both deputy mayors of Community
Safety
and
Education and Youth.
Following their presentation, we'll be hearing from Dr. Franklin.
I will be turning it over now to Deputy Mayor Andre and Deputy Mayor
Humphreys.
Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon, Madam Chairwoman.
Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Deputy
Mayor Emmanuel Andre. I'm the Deputy Mayor of Community Safety.
I'm here with my colleague.
Good morning. Deputy Mayor
Humphreys, Deputy Mayor of Education and Youth Services. Honored to be here.
Madam Chairwoman, if we may, we'd just like to run through a couple of quick slides
just to be able to summarize everything that we have.
So I think in large part, some of
the energy has already been set. Thank you so much for the guests.
Mr. Cole just really stressed this idea of belonging and how many times that
word came up. So as we think about summer and summer safety in
Chicago 2026, this year we wanted to really center
this idea of the collective call. This issue of safety is an issue
that's for all community members to be able to be responsible for,
and what does that look like, and being able to center that around belonging.
If you want to go to the next slide. So with that said, the vision for this summer
in particular, we are moving beyond just the absence of violence, but
really just centering the presence of belonging, and how do we
build community through that, and how is safety
I'm really defined by this vision of belonging.
You go onto the next slide. But when we talk about belonging, and some of this has
already come up, Madam Chairwoman, words like agency
and access and accountability, these are the three key values that
really guides all of our work. And as we think about what are
the offerings that we are putting out forward in terms of safety
mechanisms, we want to continue to center these values, this idea of
access, how do we expand access to things?
This idea of agencies, who are we centering in terms of our work,
and what that looks like. And also, this idea of accountability, specifically
around transparency, which we'll get to in a little bit.
How can we have the transparency needed to be able to guide us
as we're thinking about what policies we should be furthering to be able to help
improve safety?
For the mayor's office Community Safety, we have four key pillars that we
want to continue to focus in on. Hopefully, you've all heard a lot
about the People's Plan. These are all under the People's Plan that we want to
continue to focus on. One of which is Nimble Youth Engagement, which I'm
going to spend a few minutes talking about right now.
But the others include Victim Services and Gender-Based Violence, our work
in Reentry, and also a lot of our work in Community Violence
Intervention and Wellness, and the such.
But as it relates to Nimble Youth Engagement, I
think the topic here today is teen gathering.
So what is it exactly that the city is doing
about teen gatherings? But before we jump into that, Deputy Humphreys, can you just
say a little bit about what are we hearing?
Yeah.
Thank you. So just when we-- One, we want to
say we appreciate hearing the young people in the box,
firsthand what they said, and the folks in public comment.
But we also, we've engaged with youth extensively to hear more
about their experiences, perspectives on large gatherings, and
safe third spaces. In 2024, we started with
the Mayor's Youth Commission, a group of 40 young people from all over
the city to advise us, including Demarion Spann over there,
who served for two years. We also had conversations and
distributed related surveys to young people from
various organizations. Some of those young people who are also employed to work
and created engaging events in their own communities.
With both of these groups, we've engaged them around escort
policy
and curfews as ways to understand the problematic
behavior seen at some of the large gatherings that include
teens. Last summer, we engaged young people in
several focus groups as well. These young people,
with our promise of maintaining their anonymity, talked about their
experiences going to large gatherings that include teens, their
experiences with police, and what they look for
in safe and fun spaces.
And this year, just a few weeks ago, we met with a group
of young people from the Black
Researchers Collective Data
Justice Academy,
who presented to us on their research around third spaces for youth,
showing us
an interactive map that they worked on to make sure that
young people have options to enjoy our city safely, and
for spaces that they see and feel are safe.
We also spoke to them about why some young people find large
gatherings that teens are involved in enjoyable, and why others
don't.
So these engagements, some major themes that came up
that emerged, were young people
don't feel welcome downtown, as we heard from
folks in the box. We also heard that young people really want jobs,
paid opportunities. Many don't see a way to find fun in a
productive way given their current circumstances and
resources. And then also many of the resources and places that they want to
enjoy cost money.
There's times when they feel overpoliced and
surveilled in their communities and the broader city, and
this extends to businesses and traditional youth third
spaces like malls.
They also understand and appreciate many of the safety measures in place,
but those aren't working and don't feel
like anyone really understands young people.
And they also, the quote is, "They wish that more was done to
make them feel safe in spaces where they have fun."
Many who attend large gatherings that have youth are not aware of
other late-night activities.
Many find it difficult to identify safe third spaces where they can
have fun around young people,
and they feel as if being punished for the behaviors of others
is the focus, and
the quote is, "Most young people are not doing the things they show on social
media and the news that are in these spaces." And then lastly, many
are aware that some youth don't have resources or support, and they think
that it's why many of the problematic behaviors
at large gatherings where teens are, occur.
Thank you. And we realize, though, first that what we're talking
about is not necessarily a new phenomenon, people wanting to
be together, and this idea of gathering.
So we just wanted to focus really quickly in terms of what's been the response.
What are we saying about gathering young people?
Go on to the next slide. So this is April 20th, 1989.
I know some of you might say, "Well, this is not necessarily Chicago." We wanted to
stop at April 20th, 1989, given just the age group
here, but this is the title Wilding.
Again, describing a group of young people who are navigating
from one part of another state to be in their downtown
area. And some of you might be saying, "Well, that's not Chicago." But if we
fast-forward to April 18th, 2019,
this is some of the headlines that came out of that.
Just this idea of if we switch, it's our soft
on crime approach that's been blaming some of this, and to be
able to fast-forward on that to see what that looks like.
And then as you go on forward, as recent as this past
May,
go on to the next slide, this is what the headlines that came out of 57th
Street. You can go on to the next slide also.
So again, just to keep in mind in terms of what is being reported and
how does that look like. But very briefly, in terms of just some of the data, if we
want to just look at this past weekend, this is just for this past weekend alone,
and this actually, Madam Chairwoman, this is large gatherings in general
throughout the city of Chicago. We saw approximately 78 of them, and
out of the 78, we had approximately 25 arrests.
Out of 25 arrests, this gives you a little bit of breakdown on what that looked
like, mainly for disorderly conduct.
So that's just an example, just citywide, what large gatherings look like.
Specifically for the mayor's office, if you go on to the next slide,
one of the things that we touch on a lot is specifically looking at teen
trends. And as you look at it just for the month of June right
now, what we're expecting throughout, you can go on to the next one, is we're
expecting about 49 trends and what does that look like.
Just focusing on what has been the city's response to some of this.
If you look trend check-ins, so every week, twice a week,
every week there's a group of city agencies in addition to
outside partners who are reviewing up and coming possible
trends to figure out how can we make sure we keep them as safe as
possible on the prevention side. But in addition to that, I believe My Chi, My
Future has-
Yep. Kahari Humphreys, Deputy Mayor of Education and Youth
Services. So the other prevention tactic
funded out of the Department of Family and Support Services
is safe space activations that are youth led through
the My Chi, My Future strategy, which has
been focused in 15 community areas that are over
19 actual neighborhoods where there have
been recorded disinvestment over the
past
5 to 10 years, as well as
historic high areas of crime.
In those focused 15 areas, which again is 19 community areas,
there is safe space activations as well as there's a network
that include a network of the youth ecosystem that both
includes
city agencies like libraries, parks, and public schools, in addition to the
youth serving organizations in that particular village or
ecosystem and neighborhood.
And that's only if we see that or if we feel there's
real safety issues related to
prevention. But what happens during a trend?
Actually going out to one of these.
So right now, in terms of some of the tools the city already has, which
many people already know, once again, Deputy Mayor Emanuel Andre, Community
Safety.
Teens 17 and under are subject to a 10:00 PM curfew,
so that is something in place. And beyond the curfew itself, I
myself just went to a trend
this past Saturday. If
it's deemed to be unsafe in real time, law enforcement always has the
opportunity to break it up early, even earlier than the
curfew. So that is something that is a tool that's being able to
be used in real time. There's also guidance around youth interaction, which is
general order, how CPD should be interacting with young people.
Then we also have at these trends themselves, sometimes we're able to
have Crisis Prevention and Response Unit.
This is specifically a unit that shows up to help
deescalate any fights, any other violence that may come
up in a trend. Although this group, CPRU, is not law enforcement
specifically, but they show up to be able to help deescalate.
And then one last thing in terms of post-trends, what the city does, as I mentioned
earlier, before every Monday, we're looking at just sort of the data, what
came out of it, sort of lessons learned and how we could better
meet the challenges of some of these
trends.
And with that, I'm going to pass it on just really quick to talk to investing in
safe spaces.
Again, Deputy Mayor
Kahari Humphreys, Education and Youth Services.
So
with the city, the city has been investing in safe
spaces to really ensure that we can create those
third spaces for young people, opportunities for young
people to actually be in
spaces with caring adults just to
kind of be themselves. So when we think about
prevention, we know that intentional programming, that's
intentional programming that gives young people opportunities to express
themselves, to see themselves as leaders, to do the things that we did
when we were children, just hang and to socially connect.
One way that we try to do this is through the My Chi, My Future Safe
Spaces initiative. This is a year-round program that gives
funding to community-based organizations to employ young
people in their communities to plan and host events for young people
in their communities,
so that young people have walkable third safe
spaces to enjoy themselves. In 2025, this initiative
employed 296 young people across the
city that planned 135 events for
over 14,000 attendees
in over 14 different community areas,
including a citywide event hosted downtown at the Harold
Washington Library over winter break.
But also in addition to investing in safe
spaces that are youth-led in neighborhoods, we also
need citywide spaces, which we've
heard from young people. And so while they've told us this,
that having fun and safe events in their communities,
we've had types of events in downtown.
So in addition to what we heard
from
My Block, My Hood, My City in the Downtown Day,
the city invests during spring break.
Usually on the last Saturday of spring break, we host an
annual teen bash at Navy Pier, and we've done that for the
last four years.
This event annually brings over 1,000 youth to
Navy Pier, and each year it brings them for free
fun events and activations. There's food, there's live music, there's
video games, and there's a resource fair and other
activations in Navy Pier, one of the jewels
of Chicago.
This year, we had over 1,400 young people attend, and one of the
reasons that this event is so successful every year is because
youth help to plan it, and city agencies support
getting young people there. And this might be surprising to some people,
considering how our young people are portrayed, but this event
has not had one single reported incident since it started four years ago.
Also, we have regular communication out to
the citywide ecosystem that supports youth and youth development.
And these are not only safe spaces being held by
community. The Mayor's Office of Community Safety and the Mayor's
Office of Education, Youth Services
collaborate to create weekly share outs on safe
space events around the city for youth and for those
caring adults that work with youth.
Over 100 dedicated safe space events and thousands more opportunities
are available on the My Chi, My Future website and
app. Also, 15 of those communities that have My
Chi, they have their own neighborhood-based websites that
geomap the opportunities and activities and
programs in their community. The My Chi, My Future Instagram account
promotes weekly safe spaces events, and they're also
sending weekly email newsletter every Friday to
thousands of
people that receive that email.
In 2026, the youth summer flyer promoting various
youth summer spaces and opportunities have been distributed widely and are
continuing to get them out to more stakeholders.
On Saturday, July 25th, the Mayor's Youth Commission will be hosting
their Youth Voice, Real Change Summit, and we
have some printed flyers here as well because we continue to need
to hear from young people about what they want to see in their
communities and across the city, and what we as a city can do to help.
In addition to having spaces to
be themselves and to grow and develop and to socialize,
as we heard from young people, they need
employment, they need financial resources, and the
mayor has been committed to growing youth employment opportunities
because youth employment is a vital component
of our strategy to make sure youth see themselves as a
vital part of this city.
Since the start of this administration, every year, we've made
substantial increases to the numbers of young people
employed through the Chicago Youth Force Initiative.
And even
with these increases, it's important to note that young people are letting us
know that the demand is still much higher than
the number of positions that are available.
Here on this next slide, you can see a strong correlation
between employment opportunities for young people and positive safety
and violence prevention outcomes.
The five community areas with the highest number of
hires through the city's
Summer Youth Employment Initiative, Austin, Auburn Gresham,
Roseland, South Shore, and North Lawndale.
The city recorded double-digit percentage declines in shootings
and homicides of youth victims from the summer
2024 to 2025.
And you will even note that there is 100%
decrease in Roseland.
And to further demonstrate the impact of Youth Employment Initiative, Chicago
Youth Force participants were surveyed at the end of their program,
reporting overwhelmingly positive impacts in areas directly
related to feeling safe and fulfilled, with around
90% of surveyed youth reporting that their experiences gave them a sense of
belonging as they developed their confidence and strengthened their
relationships. We know that investing in young people in
this way directly influences a variety of factors that increase
safety-related outcomes for young people,
and when they get off
work, they're tired. Go
home.
I could go.
Once again, Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Andre, Community Safety.
So a phone call works only if the person on the other
side picks up. So with this call to action, what is it
that people could do right now? One of the things that we wanted to
focus on is this idea of messaging and narrative,
connecting with young people in your ward to continuously collect their feedback
and experiences with safety and trends.
Also, safe space activations. Just being able to support more
youth awareness around safe space activations throughout your wards we
think is also critically important.
In addition to that, late night activations, working with young people and
community-based organizations in your wards to identify and create events
for teens between the late evening hours, between 6:00 PM and 10:00
PM, we think is also critically important.
And last but certainly not least, but the idea of working with business and
corporate partners to be able to engage with local businesses and
corporations to build partnerships to support youth-based
initiatives and events as we move forward.
Yes. Deputy Mayor Humphreys,
Education and Youth Services. Just in addition to this call to
action, this call to action is
working in many ways. So even when we talk about working with youth in your ward,
we've just heard from Alderman Robinson, who has actually engaged young
people that have planned large gatherings to actually be
involved in his ward. So we know
that this works when folks respond to the other
end of the call. Also, with late night
activations, we've worked to open up public
spaces. The Park District, just this last weekend, had a late
night basket-- kicked off the late night basketball both in
Washington Park and at the Homan Square Park, where they had over
300 young people and adults playing basketball
until midnight.
And then lastly, this need for both public...
We just had an announcement a few weeks ago where a
key citywide partner
that provides youth spaces and fitness opened up free
memberships to young people
for teens throughout the duration of the summer,
while a corporate and philanthropic partner actually
committed to provide additional resources.
So we can only do this if we all do it together, so wanted to just
add that.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to both Deputy Mayors Humphreys
and Andre. We are going to close out our subject matter
hearing with Dr. Amethia Franklin, professor and researcher with the
Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy with UIC.
Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Amethia Franklin.
I am an assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology at
Concordia University. I'm also a senior research
associate at the Institute for Research on
Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
I am a Chicago native, born and raised here in Chicago.
So what we're sitting here talking about today, these are my communities.
Again, where I grew up. And
I've spent the last few years studying what we are
calling teen trends and gatherings in Chicago and
in other cities across the country.
I want to be direct with this body about what the
research shows and what it does not show.
What it does not show is that these gatherings are primarily
about violence, chaos, or criminal intent.
That's what it doesn't show. But what the research does show is that young
people are gathering in these spaces because they
have nowhere to go. Their communities have been disinvested in.
So this past weekend alone, let's talk about the numbers.
Across Chicago's five police districts, there were documented large
gatherings that took place. Juneteenth gatherings took place.
Of all the arrests made across these gatherings, the charges
were predominantly disorderly conduct.
Not weapons, not organized violence, disorderly
conduct. That matters, because the policy
responses that's being proposed, these curfews, these ordinances,
parental accountability laws, is not proportionate to what the
data is actually showing us, what the research is actually showing us.
Cities that have relied primarily on enforcement to address these
gatherings have not seen them decrease.
What happens is that the gatherings move, they disperse, they reappear
somewhere else.
If you're telling young people to go home at 7:45, what do you think
they're going to do? They're going to gather somewhere else.
So the question, this should be the question driving every
conversation in the room, "Where do we want our young
people to go? What do we expect for our young people to do?"
What the research is showing is that young people are not gathering
randomly. They are gravitating towards specific places,
spaces that are accessible, visible, and in many cases safer
than the communities that they're coming from.
So when we're talking about safety, we have to think that our young people
are looking for safe spaces. Not just a space, but a
safe space.
One young woman said publicly a few weeks ago on record,
"We are not safe in our own communities." When we invoke
public safety to justify sending her home, we should be
honest about what we are actually doing.
What are we actually sending her to?
So the structural conditions driving these gatherings are documented and well
established. School closings, the destruction of public housing,
the defunding of recreational centers, after school
programs being cut. These are not background details.
They are the story.
What we're seeing with these teen gatherings are the result of that
disinvestment that has happened throughout the city, throughout
these Black and brown communities that our kids are coming from,
where they're gathering from. And these conditions
have to be addressed if we want the gatherings to look differently, if we
expect something different from our kids, from our youth.
And again, we're talking about children here.
I want to leave this body with a couple of questions that the research
says we need to be asking. What is CPD's
documented criteria for classifying something as a large youth
gathering?
How consistent is that criteria? Of all the large youth
gatherings documented this year, how many of them have actually resulted in
arrests? And of those, what were the charges?
What is the evidence that curfew ordinances actually work?
How do we know that these things are even going to work?
What investment have we done in programming, accessible public
spaces? And when we talk about these spaces, it's not just about
having the space, but what's happening in those spaces.
If we're just sending kids to spaces that have nothing for them to
engage in, we're only spinning our wheels.
And then we have to ask ourselves: Are these young people not part of the
public we claim to be keeping safe?
When we talk about public safety, how can we not keep our
kids safe? We owe these young people.
And so this is our opportunity as we're talking about these teen gatherings, as
we're seeing young people gather, we need to ask ourselves: Are we doing
enough to keep them safe? Because they are part of the
public. We can't talk about them in the peripheral.
We can't talk about them as a side piece to public safety.
Hmm.
They are part of our public safety initiative.
So Chicago has an opportunity right now to lead this national conversation,
not with the loudest enforcement response, but with the most
research-grounded response. The young people
gathering in this city are not the problem. They are the signal.
And what they are signaling to this city is that the
city owes them more than it's giving them.
We owe them a place where they can feel safe
outside of their communities, where they can feel welcome.
Who are we to say that they can't enter into certain spaces, downtown
spaces, uptown, Lincoln Park? Why can't they
go into those spaces? What is it about them entering those spaces
that becomes so threatening for society that we cannot allow them to
enjoy these spaces the same way that we do?
I am committed to this research and to this city.
I look forward to continuing my work with the Mayor's Office of Community Safety,
with this council, to build a response that's data-driven, that's
evidence-based, that's not just based on the behaviors that we're seeing,
but is being based on what the youth are telling us.
Thank you.
Thank you to the young people who have provided their
expertise in this subject matter hearing, for making history, for being the
first to talk about teen trends and teen gatherings as the ones that are
most impacted. We're going to enter a round of questions.
I ask my colleagues
to be
respectful of the young people and their experience, as well as their
expertise. Young people are here and ready to answer
questions from my colleagues, so let's provide grace.
First up, I have Alderman Rodriguez, and by a show of hands,
I'll take you up next. Thank you, Alderman Rodriguez.
Thank you, and congratulations to chair of the
subcommittee for putting this together, Alderwoman Fuentes.
It's an absolute pleasure to work with you and work with
you on such a critical matter.
Our young people deserve our investment.
Our young people deserve for us to treat them
as if they are our future, because the fact is,
they are. Not just our future, but also our
present.
They are our present. They are a present to
all of us. We need to treat them as such.
They are a gift to our world, to our spirits,
and when we have an abundance mindset, when
we know to invest in our young people, that's
when they succeed.
So I want to thank all of my interns for being here today.
My daughter's here as well.
I wanted them to see
democracy in action, and I wanted them to
see themselves represented on this panel.
And thank you for representing our young people across our city of
Chicago. You deserve an applause.
I want to recognize a good friend, Rob Castaneda, who's in attendance.
He's on the board of the Chicago Park District, runs Beyond the Ball,
and is an example of what it is to organize young people.
I moved into my house on 30th and Lawndale in La Villita back in
2003. I've lived in Little Village since 1979, so
that dates me.
But right across the street from my house was the Gary Ortiz Field,
which was a very abandoned space.
Violence was prevalent.
What Rob and his wife, Amy, and their organization did, is they organized the
community.
They now have hundreds, if not thousands, of
individuals at the Gary Ortiz campus
in pro-family, pro-youth activities.
And guess what?
Violence across the country is down 20%, in the city it's down
30%, in Little Village, it's down 70%.
And that's because of the work of people like Rob.
It's because of people like Matt DeMateo in New Life, in Last Chicago, and the
work that they do in our schools, the countless volunteers we have in our
community.
In the 1980s, we had a war on drugs that
was really a war on inner city communities.
It was a war on Black and brown families.
And we had increases in violence in the decades subsequent.
But now we are smart on crime. Now we are
learning how to invest in communities, and that's why you get to
see these drops in violence.
So I just wanted to commend you, Chairwoman, for having this
conversation. I want to commend those who are representing our young
people. I do have a question. Sorry, I do have a question.
Instead of doing things that don't work,
what are the things that do work? What are the
things that we need to be doubling down on? I have a thought on it.
I've given some of that in my comment, but I want to hear from you on what that
is.
And thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity.
Thank you, Chairman.
For whichever young person wants to answer the question, you may take the mic,
and just a reminder to reintroduce yourself.
Can we have maybe two of you, maybe the first two on the right, if that's okay?
I want to make sure I respect the
Chairwoman's prerogative.
Yeah. And then, Chairman, can you just restate your question?
Yeah. Look,
we're here in this democracy, we're here in this body,
and we hear from our colleagues on what they think works, and some of that stuff
I think is
counterproductive. What do you think is productive at keeping streets safe,
keeping young people engaged and on a positive trajectory to do good things
in their lives?
Hi, my name is Jaylen Mendes, and something
that I think works are our youth programs in the
city, like the ones we have here today, GoodKids MADcity, My Block,
My Hood, My City, because it allows a space for
teenagers to, yes, express themselves and be
free,
but it also has trustworthy adults that aren't
very
just criminalizing and dictating youth.
They're more working with them and understanding.
So I feel like
it's not that the youth wants to throw out adults completely, it's that we
just want adults that work with us and understand and
are able to regress to their own youth in order to do
that. And yeah, along with the programs, just holding
spaces, like physical spaces for us to exist,
talk about problems, like social problems,
personal problems. I think that's very important because
it creates a healthy power dynamic.
Not so much power, but just a healthy dynamic with the difference in
age groups. And also in a lot of these programs,
it's free. It's free to participate.
Sometimes they provide food and other activities, and it's free of cost.
You don't have to throw out an arm and a leg to have fun or to build
community. It's something that's accessible.
It's in your own neighborhood, easy to get to.
And yeah, I think just more programs engaging with
the youth, but also trustworthy adults.
And yes, thank you.
Damarion, do you want to respond? If not, that's okay.
I'll respond. What works? It's generally when you're not met with a
gun and a bulletproof vest.
At teen trends, the
Chicago Police Department often form this line, and they walk towards you in this
large line and say, "If you cross this line, we going to take you to jail." And
they curse, and they make threats.
And it's like we coming out here to enjoy ourselves.
We met with this sense of aggression.
So how
are we expected to respond?
So just when you met, again, like it was stated earlier, met with
trustworthy adults, adults that you can trust. When you met with adults who cares?
The police just doing it because that's what they're demanded to do.
That's their demand.
And so we just don't want to be met with the gun because you all say
it's 1,000 of us out there, and we causing all these problems, but it's
also 500 police with guns on their hips.
So we don't know what could be next.
Chairman, do you have another question?
I have a ton, but I think for the interest of time, I will
defer to my colleagues.
Thank you. I want to acknowledge Chairwoman Taylor, who has raised her hand
online. Chairwoman?
Thank you, Chairperson.
Good afternoon, everybody.
I want to say a couple of things, and then I have a couple of
questions for both deputy mayors.
To the young people in the city of Chicago and our community,
you all are not lost. You've been neglected, and we, as adults, got to
own that. And that's hard to own. And we got to own it because
we put you in spaces where you were hurt, disrespected,
mistreated,
and while some of us looked the other way, nothing was really done.
This is your city. You are allowed to go into those spaces
because, like everybody else, you pay taxes, and you should be able
to enjoy the city.
There are parts of the conversation that we're not having, that I
think we need to
speak openly about.
Most of the times when the police are picking up young people, those young people
are not even from the city of Chicago.
If you remember the first set of teen
trends that happened, that young person who was starting them was
not from the city of Chicago.
But that is never in the conversation.
There is always this thing about what young people are doing.
And when you see news and media, who do you see?
Black and brown young people.
That is not the narrative. And if you talk to the organizers,
they clearly tell you they want a safe space for their young
people to hang out, and they should be able to do that.
What's the even bigger elephant in the room is a bunch of the young
people that they're actually picking up are not in
schools. And so where is CPS in this
conversation about making sure young people are actually in school?
And so we're talking about accountability, but it seems more
like punishment and foolishness that has been
introduced to the city council, which you can see
people who actually know what it's like to be a young person and
respect young people have not signed on or co-signed any
of those things that have been proposed.
But we are not going to leave out the conversation around accountability.
As a young person, I know when my peers saw me do something I wasn't supposed to
do, they pulled my coat.
I'm asking you all to do the same with your buddies and friends.
The young lady said it earlier, there was this thing at
Lollapalooza where they tear up every year and knock over gates.
They ain't seen as unhuman.
They ain't seen as bad people. It's only when the young people look like
me that we have an issue, and that is a problem.
And the bigger conversation is, with all the amazing
things that are happening in the city, are we actually reaching the
young people who actually need them?
When we think about young people who sign up for One Shot Chicago and who go to
After School Matter, are they just the kids that we see as good?
Are we making sure there's opportunity for everybody?
To the amazing organizations that do this work, first and foremost,
thank you. Second of all, us having a conversation with you all
about what the city should or should not be doing.
The next campaign I feel like the city needs to take on is
year-around employment. We got to have that.
We can't have it just during the summer, because these young people have needs
beyond the summer.
And so,
while I don't see somebody from CPD here,
I want to see the data of who is being picked up and where they're coming
from. Because there's this bad narrative about young people from
Chicago, and that's just not what's happening.
At the end of the day, as adults, it's all our responsibilities to work
together. And I want to make sure, Chairperson, that
young people, before they leave here, they have access to all of the
information. There are apps. My Chi My City has
one. There are plenty of apps that young people could use.
Part of the Peacekeeper app.
The PeaceBook. The City of Chicago piggybacked on
their
work and made an app. Are we making sure young people are signed up for it?
They're actually using it. Because there are a lot of things.
But also young people, it's your responsibility to be able to engage with
us, talk to us, and tell us what you need.
I am a 50-year-old woman. I am not going to begin to say what young people
want. I don't know.
I am not on Snapchat. I don't know how to use it.
I'm still on Facebook and using TikTok. That's as far as I can go.
I barely know how to use Instagram.
And so if I got that type of information, I can't make good decisions for
you. I can mother you, I can love you, I can parent you, and
I can mentor you. But you all have to be just as vocal to sell the
City of Chicago what you want. Thank you, Chairperson.
Thank you, Chairwoman. I want to acknowledge Alderman Villegas, non-committee
member here, is present. Up next is Alderman
Hall.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and to the voices in the box, thank you for
being that voice to Chicago, and then to our
two
grown folks who have laid sacrifice and made work
so powerful on the lives of our young people.
Before I go into so many different things I wanted to mention, I wanted
to go to the deputy mayor of safety.
On page eight of your presentation, well,
slide number eight.
Earlier, you mentioned that there are 54 large
gatherings in Area Four.
Can you expound upon what 54 large gatherings
look like, and
could you describe what's the boundaries in Area
Four?
Certainly, and this is-
Deputy Mayor, reintroduce yourself for the record, please.
Thank you. For the record, Deputy Mayor
Emmanuel Andre, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety.
Thank you for your question, Alderman.
This is preliminary data that we've gathered from CPD.
It represents 54 large gatherings in Area Four from this past
weekend alone based on what they have
collected, and Area Four consists of those police districts in
that space. So this is not completely conclusive,
but this is just from this weekend alone, from this Juneteenth and Father's Day
weekend.
Yeah, got you. So what constitutes a large gathering according to CPD?
Thank you.
I think CPD would be best to be able to answer that
question. This is based on what we've already been able to collect.
Got you. Do you know the districts in Area Four?
Off the top of my head, Alderman, I don't, but I can certainly get you that
information in short order.
Okay.
Alderman, we'll take those questions through the chair.
Okay.
And then we'll get those responses to the committee.
All right. I do want to just bring light on something
also on
page, well, slide number nine.
Yeah, the slide number nine. Next
one. So before the month ends, there
is anticipated 49
teen gatherings. Is that correct?
That is correct. For the record, Emmanuel
Andre, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety.
Alderman, what I mentioned before was every Monday and
Thursday, so twice a week, we have a running list of gatherings that
we're either tracking or that's come to our attention.
So right now, we have about 49 Expected for the month of June.
Yes, sir.
Teen gatherings.
Yes, sir. I do want to just highlight that for the record to
commend you.
You got a lot of work that you've been doing and have done, and I've
experienced it firsthand, you on the ground, 71st Street.
Your office has been very responsive to just innovative
ideas that have come from young people in our ward.
So I do want to commend you
for stepping in and stepping up right away.
And to that end, I do want to go to the young people,
and just simply whosoever will that wants to answer the question.
I even see the language teen trend, teen takeover.
Could you express what's the difference between the two,
and what's the difference that oftentimes
we as grown folks or the media doesn't
really tell the difference? What's the difference between a
takeover and a trend?
Ain't no difference. That's just what they calling us.
I would also like Dr. Franklin to answer the
question. She has provided a great deal of insight on why we
shouldn't be using the term takeover. Dr. Franklin?
Hi, Dr. Franklin here.
So when we talk about teen trends and takeovers, it's the
language that's being used. So when you hear the term
takeover, that automatically implies something.
So we're trying to change the narrative, or we want to change the narrative
around this word takeover because it's pitting
us
against the youth, and that's not what we want to do.
So using teen trends and teen gatherings, that's more aligned with
the language that the young people are using themselves when they're
attending these things, when they're organizing.
And if we start to move the conversation beyond
this word takeover, we can start to
have different responses because that word takeover elicits a certain
response from adults, a certain response from residents in
these communities in which these gatherings are happening.
When you hear takeover, you automatically think there's going to be chaos,
mayhem, violence. So if we start to drop that
narrative, drop that term, and start to go back to
these are young people coming together.
They're having their kickbacks. They're having their fifis, they're having
their parties, right? Their twerk-offs, their dancing.
They're just coming together, building community, building their own community
where adults are not there setting the parameters for these
gatherings. So that's why when we talk about takeovers,
takeovers is what we're trying to move away from, what we want to move away from
and move more toward teen gatherings, teen trends, teens
getting together, community. Why can't we just refer to it as community-
Got you
... building of community?
No, thank you. Just two more questions then I'm done.
For the record, all of the young people, what neighborhoods do you all live in?
If you don't mind sharing with us.
We could go down the line starting with Jaylen.
Hi, my name is Jaylen Mendez and I live in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Demarion Spann, North Lawndale.
Romya Simone, and I stay in West Garfield Park.
Fabian Walker, and I stay in the South Shore neighborhood.
Thank you.
Deja Williams, and I live in Washington Heights.
Thank you so much. As I conclude, first of all, again,
young people, you all have really inspired us grown folks.
And what you've inspired us to do is to continue to show up, and thank you
for showing up, taking time out of a beautiful summer
day to speak up for those who don't have the seat that you all are sitting
in. And I just want to commend you all for doing such, and I want to remind you all
to keep doing it. This is how change happens.
And your voice has been heard. And what I do want to echo
what we've heard from our young people is the fact that number one in Chicago, so
536,000 young people.
Out of the 536,000, which is 19% of our total
population, over 25%, that's over
139,000, are living in poverty.
All of the neighborhoods that was just mentioned from which the young
people come from
are homes in which families are making less
than $40,000 a year.
So if we have to be honest, these young people
are living against all odds.
They're living in neighborhoods, again, where mom and
dad, grandpa, grandma, guardian,
are literally robbing Peter to pay Paul
just to survive. I think that it is incumbent
upon us to really evaluate what does
investment look like in some of the poorest parts of Chicago.
And again, all of the neighborhoods in which these young people come
from are literally neighborhoods in which parents
are not making above poverty level
income.
So to tell a child who lives in a neighborhood
where, number one, schools were closed, and
literally they did not have a place to get educated
in arm's reach. To tell children who come from neighborhoods where there
is no hospital or quality healthcare.
Matter of fact, Walgreens have left your ward, 24,
all three of them are closed, and that's over 40,000 people that don't have access
to medicine.
You tell young people who don't have a grocery store.
I think South Shore is the only one in the box that has
a grocery store. That's 71st Street.
You tell young people to go to outdated parks.
Now we commend our parks for sure, and leadership
has done a great job of new innovation,
but if you go into the neighborhood parks that they come from
The swings are outdated.
The field houses are not
havens. And so young people, what
we hear today
is that your neighborhoods, you don't want to stay in them either.
And as a former youth pastor who pastored kids, and we had to go to Hyde
Park because there was no gym in the neighborhood in which the kids came
from, Nichols Park, I saw firsthand a teen
trend 20 years ago, and all were
kids who did not have the basic amenities in their
neighborhoods. And so as our sister, Chairwoman Taylor,
reminded us all, accountability is key.
But I think that those who wrote policies
to make their neighborhoods the way that they are should be held just as
accountable as those who have been deemed as
breaking the law. And so I just want to conclude by saying that there has
been a lot of failures in the neighborhoods that you have not
seen the correct investment. There's been a lot of failures
in providing for you all the basic needs to imagine a new future.
And so thank you for sharing, thank you for painting a picture,
and I think there are a lot of us in these chambers that are going to fight like
hell to make sure that your neighborhoods are not living hellholes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. Up next is Alderwoman Ramirez.
Hello, everybody. Good afternoon.
To everybody in the box, my name is Julia.
I grew up on the Southwest Side in Brighton Park.
As I was preparing for this meeting, I really thought how special it
was that we were convening young people.
So really out of the three years that I've been in elected office, this is
probably going to be the most memorable in terms of inspiring,
something positive that we're bringing to council.
I was thinking about all the free programming events that my parents put
me through, because it was all the people that laid a hand
on me to get to the position I'm at. But I do realize
that even that impact that they try to make on me,
it didn't always get to my neighbors, didn't get to my classmates,
and those opportunities didn't even make it to my own brother, somebody that lived
in a house with me. And that's why I'm strongly opposed
to making parents pay fines when they're trying their
hardest, and even sometimes they can't give to all the children in the
house.
To my brother, my brother passed away in 2014.
He was killed by gun violence. And a reporter came to my house
after my brother passed away, and my brother didn't even pass away in the
neighborhood as we all had assumed.
He actually passed away in Wicker Park,
and he was,
whatever, 15, 20 years ago, when I was younger, we would go up north to
Wicker Park to hang out because it always felt more
positive. It felt less dangerous for us. And so my brother did that.
He went with his friends, and unfortunately, he was killed on the north side of
Chicago. And a reporter came to my house, and I said just
that. I said, "My brother wasn't even looking for trouble.
He was just actually just looking to hang out on a Friday night."
And that report went on Facebook, and the comments, it was like, "Why
was he there? He's a gangbanger. He had a gun."
All these negative things about my brother was invoking
violence upon himself just because of the way he looked and where he was
from. And so since 2014, I was really
passionate about this. This is why it's very important for me to be here today.
As you can see, a lot of my colleagues aren't here,
so we have to continue implementing spaces like this, not just
today.
But in addition too, I want to just hear from you
guys, because growing up, I think about some of the events
that we put on. It's a little cheesy. A lot of people don't want to come.
They give you little free popcorn, and there's a bubble
station.
And I feel like we do need things that are a little bit more fresh.
So I have a few questions, and you guys can just tell me.
One, I want to know how you get your social media, or what social media platform do
you like? Do you guys want to shout out any particular person that you
follow that maybe we can collaborate with, so that way we can spread the
word? And then third, outside of these third
spaces of nonprofit organizations or parks, is there
a restaurant that you really like, or just a cool space that you want to see the
city invest in further that's not really a typical place to
hang out? That's important for me to know to be sort of more up to
date in our offerings to you guys.
Those are great questions, Alderwoman.
Just a reminder to the young people in the box, reintroduce yourselves when you
answer.
Damarion Span. Again, one restaurant that I always
go to, and it's very welcoming that I think the city should look at
restaurants like as such, Solé Chicago.
I've worked there for some time, but it's also the man who I work in the
kitchen with. They all had a background, and they'll tell you that
Solé and Soul Food saved their lives.
A host of young people was hired. Not just myself, I think it's about
five of us on staff who was hired before we came out of high school, and that
just gave us a year-round job just to keep our head above water and get some
things that we need. Solé also hired me and prioritized my
hours for the summer so I could have funds going into college.
So just investing in supporting businesses like Solé Chicago,
located on Roseville and Central Park, by the way.
Love that. And Damarion, can you tell us your favorite
social media platforms and influencers that you follow?
I love Instagram, and I just follow local
organizations a lot. I keep up with the Mayor's Youth Commission for
updates and things of that sort. I keep up with My Block My Hood My City.
Jacquez Thomas is another one. I keep up a young leader throughout the city of
Chicago. And it's just looking at those things and being
inspired by my peers and the work that they do.
Ramaya Simone. I can also answer your question about my favorite place I like to
get food.
When I don't spend my time downtown, I mostly get food from Chinatown
over there, right there off the red line.
I take the red line, I get off, and I go get some boba, or I go get the
bao. I think it's B-A-O. I just don't really know how to pronounce it.
That's one of the favorite things that I like.
But I do hate that I have to go so far to-- I do stay in West Garfield
Park, so it's a blue line. Then you transfer over to the red line, and you get off
and walk across that big
freeway. So I do wish that I can see more things like that in
my community, so I can just go enjoy some food not too far from home when I get out
of school. Because I also do go to school up north.
And just like how, I forgot his name, but how he was saying how everything is
just an arm and a jump away, when I have to go to school, and I have to
get re-- and I have to find something to eat.
Or even when the Walgreens closed, because the Walgreens did just close.
Not did, but it closed a few last year, around by my house, and my
mom do get prescription from there.
So having to travel on two buses just to go to a Walgreens just to
pick up a prescription and give it back to my mom is a lot.
So I do wish that places can be closer.
And then something that I follow on Instagram,
something funny that I like to follow is I follow a lot of cat memes.
I just like cat memes and I'll be up watching them at three o'clock.
I like that.
Yeah. And then I do follow my organizers, like
Communities United and Voice on Instagram and TikTok, because we
like to
create TikToks with youth to get out, things like that.
So we did the ice bucket challenge and stuff like that, so that's what I like doing
with
my organization.
Thank you. Do other young people want to answer that question?
Go ahead, Deja.
Deja Williams.
I can't really answer the food question because I don't eat
much at all.
I usually go for some fries or some little chicken. That's about it.
That's all I eat for real. But
the apps I be on is mainly TikTok for real.
I get on Instagram every now and then.
Instagram got a little dry, but TikTok, I follow
mainly influencers, funny influencers, the people that be
going live.
But one person I can say that y'all should connect with
is Corporate. Even though he do skits and
all that, he really is for the youth.
I had a college trip.
I forgot what college I went to, but it was when I was a junior,
and he came to the college trip and was really for the youth.
He was giving back to us. It'd be events that we
host, he'll pop up randomly, and he really is for the youth and
making an impact for the kids, for real.
Thank you.
I know you said youth. Dr. Franklin here.
And just speaking for the youth, and I've talked about this with the city before,
is that as adults, we need to go into the spaces that they're in.
They're already gathering in those spaces.
So we need to enter into those spaces with them.
And entering into those spaces with them means bringing these resources that
they're talking about into those spaces already.
So if they're on 57th Street, we're taking
the Solé truck there. We're having Solé bring the
food there to them. We're bringing Chinese food in.
We're bringing the food trucks. We have partnerships with Red
Bull to come out and hand out Red Bulls in their Red Bull truck there.
We've been to college, and we know what that looks like, so we need to go
ahead and bring those same resources that we give to our college students to
these young people throughout our city.
They deserve that same access to those same resources.
Yes.
Khari Humphreys, Every Mayor Education
Youth Services, for the record. Just wanted to respond,
Alderwoman, when I talked about the group coming to speak to
us from the Data Justice Academy, that presented a map of safe
spaces. They had two instances where they had
Chili's that were reported as places that they saw as hubs to
come and hang. And they did also mention that there
were places in the downtown area that they didn't feel welcome, and they had to
be come in one at a time or couldn't be in there without
parents after a certain time.
Mm-hmm.
So they did mention that.
Thank you.
Any other questions, Alderwoman?
And to this point, I do think that
we have to freshen up our options, our offerings to our young people.
I hope that we do get corporate leaders, chambers that
are normally here on a very frequent basis, that they
commit to also creating third spaces.
Just this morning, Jessie and I were just-- Alderwoman Fuentes and
I were just at an opportunity to give grants to small
businesses. So it's like there should be a criteria for all the investments
that we have, not just specifically to youth, but how are you implementing
youth space? How are you going to offer youth X, Y, and
Z? So that way, whatever dollar that we are giving back out to the community,
that it's all interconnected and that the offerings
are impacted that much more. So thank you so much, Alderwoman.
Thank you, Alderwoman. Up next is Chairwoman Dowell.
And thank you,
Alderman Ramirez. Those were great questions.
First, Chairman, I wanted to thank you for
having this conversation. I think
this is an important conversation to have.
It is, I think, a beginning,
because we need more conversations around this.
I want to thank Mr. Cole in the box, and acknowledge
his commitment and work in the city of Chicago.
He's made an impact. GoodKids MadCity. Dr.
Franklin, thank you for your research.
And I want to thank the young people for coming out today and
sharing. It's important.
I'm probably the oldest person in the room,
but I-
Pleasure
... think that this is an important topic, and we really can't
sugarcoat it, right?
So
I will say this. I agree, and
somebody here said, "Pathways to opportunities,
opportunities that connect young people to their passion." One of the
young people in public comment said that.
And so I agree that we need to have more investment in our
communities. We need to have more investments in the schools, the parks.
I hear what you're saying, Dr. Franklin, about creating spaces and
then bringing those resources
for young people to
enjoy.
That's all good,
but there's another side to this. I think we need to acknowledge
that. For example, the teen gathering that happened at
57th Street,
how many guns did the police recover there? 53.
Okay? We don't talk about the
problems that our good kids
might be covering
for some of the bad kids that are integrating into
those events and creating some havoc,
right? So we need to have conversations about
that. I'm interested in seeing some of the data on these other
teen trends. I want to know how many guns were
recovered. Where are the people who were arrested?
Where are they from?
So
I guess my point is, this is the start of a
conversation, but we can't have this
conversation with blinders on because we've got
people who are my age, for example, who are
concerned about people jumping on cars
and running into stores and
taking things out of the stores, because that has impact
also on the economies of our community.
So
I want to say that I appreciate the beginning of this conversation, but
we cannot have this conversation with...
We have to be clear-eyed about this and not just have blinders
on about
just because we improve these spaces and give young people things to
do and
connect to corporations and all that, that is going to
solve what we see happening in the city of Chicago.
Lastly, to Mr. Emanuel, I want to thank you
publicly for
last week, as you know, or a couple of weeks ago, I had an
unauthorized
teen gathering of 12, 13,
and 14-year-olds. And I had
four young boys, 12, 13,
shot by a 14-year-old.
And that hurts.
So we're going to have to do stuff with these businesses
that are not functioning well in our community and
don't have the heart to really serve young people.
All they're thinking about is a quick buck.
Mm-hmm.
We have to
work more with parents.
So
I'm not
the cheerleader today,
but I want to be, and I want to be supportive of
this, but we have to do it in a way that is balanced.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chairwoman.
We have a point of clarification or an additional point by Alderman Hall, and then
we're going to go to Alderman Cichil Lopez.
Again, thank you so much, Chairwoman, and again, job well done.
And again, to all of you all. I want to go to the deputy real quick, who's
doing a great job. When your office
goes out and does resources
for the community around whatever the
safety strategy is, but I want to zero in on young people, because
again, 49% of Fuller Park underneath
poverty, 47% Washington Park beneath poverty,
46% East Garfield Park beneath poverty, 40% of
Englewood are beneath poverty. How much of the
safety plan includes bringing
jobs
for grown folks into the neighborhoods where the kids
are gathering? Now, I heard what was said earlier about
corporations showing up. If Red Bull is there, and
then we want a Red Bull truck because that's where kids are, but
where's Red Bull's job recruiters?
We say, for example, young man talked about he had a job at Soleil,
which is a business, and that business brought him money.
So I know recruiters have specific routes that they
run and specific events that they go to.
But because this is clearly a behavior health crisis of
those in poverty-stricken communities, is there a strategic plan
to take jobs into communities after
5:00 so that those parents who are
still or looking for a second job can actually get a job
while children are playing and doing what they do with the city
activated, the gaming trucks, which are very good, by the way?
Is there a component there to bring jobs for parents of the
children that are showing up to have fun through your office?
Deputy Mayor Emanuel Andre of Community Safety.
Thank you for your question, Alderman.
In our plan, it specifically speaks to this idea of nimble youth engagement,
and we do acknowledge the importance of not just jobs for young
people, but jobs for the elders in their lives and the people who are
closest to them. So that is something we're continuing working with
in ask other city partners to be able to evaluate what that
looks like and how to properly prioritize that.
One of the things we are doing this year is we're really focused on
the juvenile temporary detention center and looking at what does 100%
engagement look like with those young people who are navigating out of that
space with part of the intentionality around that,
around engaging with parents. So this is where that collective
call is so important, Mr. Alderman, to be able to, if you are a small
business or if you're a big corporation, to be able to help us, and we are
absolutely all ears in looking to expand in partnerships on that. Got you.
So in concluding, area four, I believe,
just as a suggestion,
area four has boundaries and they have businesses.
And area four is probably hiring somewhere,
somehow. If 56 gatherings have happened in area
four, where it seems to be a hotbed, having
every recruiter known to mankind and every business that's
hiring in area four accompany you when you show up,
so that as much as there is support for young people to have the
games and whatever other resources, parents meet here with
your kids for a job. And I believe that if we want more parent
accompaniment and more parent participation, give the parents something to show up
with, too. So if there is a gathering, it comes with job
application, because also kids are 18 and up, too, that are looking,
and I think that job recruitment is an attractive
piece to level a playing field in a community
where 46, 48, 49, 52% of the
people are at or beneath poverty. Just food for thought. Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Kahari Humphreys. I just want to hop in for a quick
second, Alderman. Just want to also acknowledge when we say youth employment
as well, we're talking 24 and under.
So as a-
That's right
... son of a 16-year-old mom,
my first eight years of my life, if my mom had been a part
of our summer youth job program, I would have benefited as a
family. And also, we think about some of those 18 to
24-year-olds, they're parents and they're heads of household.
So it's not just a nice fun kind of
amount of money for what some may say good kids, right?
It's really infusing financial resources into
households, and we know that
over $1,200 in the summer could make all the difference with the
family. So just wanted to also acknowledge that.
Thank you for that.
Thank you, Alderman. We have Alderman Cesar Lopez.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to listen more for
our young people. I think we oftentimes don't listen enough
of what the solutions are on the ground.
And I want to also thank the administration for
the expansion of the youth employment.
I think that is one of the successes in terms of helping young
kids.
So I'm going to talk about, I'm going to ask directly because we don't have often
enough opportunities to listen directly to the young kids, to our youth.
I think most of our solutions come from there.
In terms of the space activations and
events and activities that you see have worked, and I
see that almost 90% of the time, young people
feel safe in those spaces.
And Good Kids Might City, all the wonderful groups that are doing this work,
for the panel, what is it that City Council could do to create
more safe spaces, opportunities that are out there?
At least in our community, we like to see more of that.
So I'd love to hear from you,
what is it that has worked, what we can expand, and I want to
thank you for doing this work. I'm really proud of all of you.
So young and so bright, and I hope that City Council listens more to you.
For any young person that wants to take the question, just a reminder to
reintroduce yourself.
Say your name again.
Ramaya Simone. May you please repeat your question?
Yeah. My question is, in terms of the activities and
activations that you already done or you would like to
do, what can City Council do to help with these activations,
opportunities that you already see, perhaps, that we could be helpful?
At least in our community, we love to see more of this, and I commend you for what
you're doing.
Ramaya Simone, thank you for repeating your question.
I would say some activities that I would
like to see is, I think that it's great that there is
Teen Bash, and that there is a game truck, and that there is
activities for us to do, and that's great for youth
that's 15 and 16. But I would say for the youth that's 17 and
18, beginning to become a young adult, I would say that we want more hands-on
learning, like the
workbench project that I participate in when we do welding,
we do wood shop, and we do Bikes and
Roses, when you build bikes and stuff like that.
I would say more hands-on things get us ready for the world, and more things
like book learning and stuff like that, stuff that we can actually
do. So AI, because we rely a lot on AI and
ChatGPT.
We rely a lot on that, and I would say, for the
young adults, we would want something that could help us get started instead of the
games and stuff like that. Stuff that actually help us
to start our successful journey of becoming a young
adult. Yeah
Demarion Spann. I think first just identifying the
strong areas of what you rely on right now and following the model as
such. For example, Downtown Day, Team Bash,
job opportunities like Solé. Following that model of what they do, how they
do it, and just continue supporting and even bringing more
opportunities that follow what they do.
I know
coming in the door, working for Solé Chicago, like I was told, we
under some dollars, so we sitting on some debt, but
we going to try to keep you. I
feel like in my community, we always have this fear of
it's leaving or it's not going to be here too long, instead of
the city pouring and supporting that initiative. Because, it's a good initiative.
Why not help this business come out of this debt or support this business?
Or why not have or host more Team Bashes or support My Block, My Hood,
My City? For instead of bringing 1,000 youth downtown, we going to target 2,000
youth, 3,000 youth, and just pour more into those organizations.
Thank you.
Alderman, any other questions?
Yeah.
And thank you. I would like to ask maybe, and thank you so much.
I'm really
grateful for you being here.
In terms of the
collaboration between agencies, I think one of the concerns that I've
gotten from constituents, not only young people, is access
to the beaches. In the South Side in particular, when
areas are restricted, are not accessible,
people, especially young people, don't feel
welcome.
How can we work with the Park District, with CPS, other
agencies, to create and activate already spaces that
perhaps
could be used, I think with the collaboration with such groups.
My Block, My Hood, My City, we collaborated in the passing award.
Maybe you can add, too, about areas where
we could be partnering. I would love to hear
ways that we can activate those spaces and maybe hear also what are some of
those challenges.
Deputy Mayor
Kahari Humphreys for record.
I know for one, we have been, so I mentioned earlier
the late night basketball and the Park District
actually being able to have it. One of the reasons why they're able to
do the late night basketball is because they have a program.
They're able to open the building, but they have a program partner that is
actually able to come program that space later night
than what they were initially operating.
So being able to have those either businesses
or nonprofits be able to support those spaces if we
get the public spaces open, being able to help to program that.
Something else that we've seen over the past few weeks
is youth leadership. If these spaces have
built-in youth leadership, like the libraries.
Harold Washington Library just hosted a Gamers Universe that had over
1,300 young people at Harold Washington Library a few weeks ago.
But it was planned by their youth council, and it
required them working with that youth council for months to get that planned.
In addition to that, a public
space, a museum, the Art Institute just had a big teen night.
They do the same thing, Exuberant, where they actually have a teen council
that helps to plan it, but they make it available.
So we're asking them: What would you need?
What do you need to keep those spaces open later?
To have them open more frequent, especially over the summer.
And one of the things is just additional resources, right?
So
there's the call out to either corporations, philanthropy to support
in partnership with community-based orgs when these
institutions and these spaces are made available.
Something else I just want to also recognize, got had a chance to hear some
of our subject matter experts last night in community
at the collaboration. They were hosting a meeting
around with neighbors in Hyde Park in response to
things that have been happening in and around Hyde Park.
Neighbors, I think it was almost 100 last night, and they've had several
meetings to think about how to better receive young
people in the neighborhood, welcoming.
And there were a few business owners there who said, "Hey, we would love to
keep our business open later, but we just need some partnership
with city, potentially resources." They would provide the space
open. So I think those are what we've heard.
I think, again, Demarion Spann. I think, again, for Park Districts, just working
more in partnership with Chicago Public Schools.
I know the two high schools in my community, North Lawndale College Prep
and Collins High School, they both use the Park District fields
for football practice, track practice.
And it's just when those fields are not available, these students don't have access
to those things. I know we host Oriole Fest every year around
football season, but neither of those schools could practice on a turf field.
I know, again, North Lawndale College Prep just went to the state finals and
still don't have proper accessibility to a proper track.
I know Collins High School gym athletic building is
closed for a
large part of the summer, but they haven't had a backup plan, and
no organization around the community has opened their doors for those
students to utilize a gym space. Again, the Park District
in my community, we have a swim pool at Douglas Park.
The park can seem unwelcoming at times.
I know what we do is Douglas Park has a schedule where they host teen swim,
camp swim, family swim. But I always wonder, why do we have a
family swim when we don't have a large turnout of parents who come?
So you're just locking these teens out, leaving them outside the pool, and we see
where that got us last summer when a student was fatally shot by a lifeguard
in response to that. So just instead of pushing our youth away and
having them
At my elementary school, Johnson, and at Collins, we were so
used to this teacher not going to be here next year.
That's a problem because that's untrustworthiness in a
school setting. So just using
partnerships with Park District, UCAN, and other
organizations as such to build a sense of trust with students and community
members.
Thank you. That was wonderfully said.
Chairman, anything else?
Yeah, no. Lastly, I just want to end.
First of all, I am very impressed
by how
great it is to see young people speaking so clearly about the needs that
we have. I am not even going to go about the issues that I have with Chicago Public
Schools, because we'll have a different session with that.
But just by listening to you,
it is clear that there's a lot of work that we can do together,
so I am very grateful and also grateful, I know both deputies have been
very active in our community. We've had some difficult times, but your response,
I know Deputy Mayor Cahari was in our community looking at
street activation with street soccer activation and other initiatives.
I know late night, I think
I see the results. I think that we have a good trend, and I'm really worried
about cuts that will affect that. We're hearing from championship
teams that are having difficulty
accessing fields. These are things that I think that we can work together
to address. So I would like to ask Park District
activations, CPS activations, especially
late night activations, I really think they're super
critical. So I'd love to see if with the chair
of the subcommittee, maybe having ongoing conversations about this,
how we can have CPS, Park District, and really worry about these
cuts that are coming because it's going to limit our ability and you already see
the issues. So I'm thankful for the wonderful work, and I look forward to keep
working together.
Thank you, Chairman. Alder Rosana Rodriguez Sanchez
will close out our questions.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair. I want to
apologize to all of you on behalf of my colleagues that didn't come here
to have this conversation. I think that it was very
important that
more people were here to listen.
So thank you so much to all of you for having been here and
serving as subject matter experts for the work
that we have ahead of us.
I want to say that
I have spent a lot of my life working with young people.
When I moved to Chicago, I was a high school teacher in Puerto Rico, a middle
school teacher. I came to Chicago to work for the Albany
Park Theater Project, and I worked there for seven years.
And in those seven years, my role was essentially receive
young people when they came out of school, and they would stay with us until
about 10:00 p.m. We did not have auditions.
It was incredibly low barrier. So we did the plays with
whoever shown up, and we looked
at what gifts people brought with them, and we helped them develop those gifts,
and we put plays on that made it to the Goodman Theatre.
We had multiple seasons at the Goodman.
And we had a kitchen, and I would stock that kitchen
every week, and there was snacks, and there were meals,
and there was counselors that would come and
help young people with whatever issues they were having.
And they had reliable adults in their lives that
loved them and that helped them be successful.
And then after that, I went to Humboldt Park,
and I work at the Albizu Campos
Alternative High School alongside my colleague, Jesse Fuentes
there.
I want to say that with all due respect to Alderwoman Pat
Dowell, who just left, I reject the
notion of good kids and bad kids. I reject
it completely. We have young people
who have the resources, who have the mentorship, who
have the parents, and the people around them to hold them, and then there
are young people who have nothing.
And then when those kids that are
functioning in this world without any support,
those kids that are in our
communities scared,
and many of them I met at Pedro Albizu Campos High School in Humboldt
Park, who would carry knives around because they were scared for
their safety.
Not because they wanted to hurt anybody.
They were armed because they were scared, because they had to go through
neighborhoods where they didn't feel safe.
So branding kids as bad because
of what they are doing to be able to survive a
world that does not show them love or care,
I think is misguided. And I want to make sure that whatever we
do in this council
is about supporting young people and not judging them
or branding them as bad human beings.
I remember having the opportunity to work with a lot of young people at
Albizu Campos that could be classified as
bad
kids. And then when you sat down with them and you
listen to the struggles that they have, you can't even imagine the things that
young people are carrying in this city.
It was desperation,
it was lack of services, it was falling through the cracks of an
education system that could not cater or provide for them.
And we would be there serving as witnesses and
trying to support as best as we could.
And a lot of those kids that were classified as
bad now are doing really great in life because they actually
found a home and a place where people cared for them.
And that's what we need to be doing, not
telling the city that there are really bad kids that are
doing these terrible things. We're the adults.
That's our responsibility-
Mm-hmm
... to care for children and to develop human beings that are going to
be good actors in society. That is our
job.
I have a question for the young people, and then I
want to ask a question to Dr. Franklin.
If you were going to get
a community youth center in your community, and you
were given an opportunity to design it,
to think about what is going to be in this center,
what are the things that you would bring into that center for
yourselves?
Hi, thank you for that.
Ramaya Simone. I would say for something I would bring into the community,
if I was able to
create a place out of my imagination that I would think that would be fit for my
community is, like I was talking about earlier, is having those hand
learning, like building projects and stuff like that.
When you get to create things, you get to build things.
It's not even about building, it's just about having that knowledge that
we don't get in school. In CPS, when we just go there, and
we just learn general like math, reading, and stuff like that.
I feel like if I was to go to school and they taught me
about the stuff that I got to wait to college to get into, about business, about
engineering, and stuff like that.
If I could just learn, if I could just have a class or, how do you call it, an
elective that I can have that on, because how
school, they be having choir and stuff like that.
I feel like if I had, instead of choir, I had a business or engineering class, I
feel like I would've been better prepared.
I wouldn't be nervous to start college, or I wouldn't be nervous to go off into my
adult career. So I feel like I would have that type of program.
Okay, maybe after school, you get done with all that math and reading, maybe you
want to learn something you can actually do with your life.
Okay, you can come here and you can learn how to build, or you can learn how to get
into interior design. Maybe you want to be a realtor when you get older.
Maybe you can learn about how to budget and stuff like that, because
budgeting is a skill that you need to know when you're applying for college because
you have things that you need to pay for.
So I'd just have that.
Thank you. Does any other young person want to give it a shot?
Go ahead, Jaelyn.
Jaelyn Mendes. I also appreciate you bringing up how
your colleague is that, who was talking about bad
kids versus good kids, because I feel like that's unproductive and
especially inappropriate when we're talking about something that is specifically
about labeling teen trends as takeovers.
So yeah, thank you for bringing that up.
And if I had to choose what to include in a cultural center in
my neighborhood, I would cover
education, physical well-being,
and
socializing. So, socializing, I'm a big music
person. I would like some live music, like open set
DJ, have people come in, a space where people can dance,
include cultural dances that are especially prominent in the
neighborhood. For the educational aspect, I think free
tutoring is very important because if you're doing good in
school, it really can set you straight for other aspects of your
life and take that stress off for you.
And then,
everyone loves food, have some nice
food, and make sure it's healthy because a lot of our
neighborhoods that we come from, they do not have a lot of healthy food
opportunities. And if it is, it's like that new
Whole Foods that they just built, and everything's expensive.
So I think it's important to have affordable food opportunities
and keep our neighborhoods healthy mentally and
physically. Thank you.
That's beautiful.
Thank you.
Alderman, you had a second question?
Yeah.
I wanted to know about how media shapes the
narrative of teen trends.
I think
a lot of what we discussed here is deeply tied
to the way in which these narratives are being understood
because there are things that are said
in the media
and the framing of these issues.
So I wanted to see if you had thoughts about how
it is being shaped and what we are seeing.
Dr. Franklin.
So the way in which the media is reporting, again, the media is
taking those moments of
negativity, of something that they're seeing just
out of context, and they tend to run with that narrative
and label all teen gatherings as being chaos,
as being mayhem happening.
To the alderperson that left, again, when we're talking about
53 guns being recovered, where is that data coming from?
Where is that information coming from?
We're never getting that scenario of, is CPD
gathering those weapons? And if so, how can we access that
information?
Who are the people bringing those in?
Are these repeat offenders that's coming in with these weapons to these
gatherings and disrupting them in that particular way?
And so the media takes that narrative, and it paints this
picture that our kids are causing
property damage in these areas, that they're jumping on cars.
When I watch those videos and watch those things, what I'm seeing is young
people standing around, taking pictures, clapping with their
fingers, talking to each other, building community.
I'm not seeing chaos and mayhem. I'm seeing a lot of kids
in a certain location, in a space, enjoying life,
enjoying themselves. And one thing that I think that we
haven't talked about in this conversation is that we're talking about
resources that are from 9:00 to 7:00.
Our kids are out there at 10:00 PM. They're out there at 11:00.
They're out there at 1:00. What are we doing at those times to
engage our young people in activities that they want to engage in?
Again, they're going and they're creating these spaces, and we're
asking the reverse question. We're asking, "How can we create spaces
for you?" But they need to create the spaces for themselves, and that's what
they've been doing. And they're visible, and they're not going anywhere, and
they're showing us that they're not going anywhere.
So the media narrative needs to change around what are these
youth actually engaged in when they're in these spaces?
What's drawing them to Area Four? What's
drawing them there? What does Area Four have that Englewood doesn't have?
What does Area Four have that Garfield Park doesn't have?
And once we start to have these real conversations and really
get at the
reason that they are going into these spaces, the things that they're
looking for in those spaces, sometimes it's nothing. "I'm just there.
I just want to be around young people who are my
age, that's not adults, that's not telling me what to do,
and that I'm in a community that I feel safe." That yeah, you recovered
53 guns, but how many people were shot that day in that
space that we were in, right? Compared to if I was in my community and those
53 guns were there, 14 people were probably shot.
When we talk about Roseland, right, how many guns were recovered
then? We're not having those conversations.
I just-
Well, my-
I just want to finish. Oh.
Yes.
Demarion Spann. I think the thing with the media is that when it's something
positive, we have to seek media, but when it's something negative, they're already
there.
For the last couple of years, I've seen two high schools in my community that
has two seniors who graduated with a million plus dollars in
scholarships, but no media was there to recover that.
But you pop up at a Tren Tam without being asked to be there, or you just come
to capture the bad. I've seen North Lawndale College Prep, again,
seek media after they won the state championship.
Media wasn't there to highlight that on their own.
So just having that instead of being asked to highlight the good and not being
asked to highlight the bad, let's switch that.
How about you seek the good and highlight the good of Black and brown children
instead of just going to seek out the bad?
Thank you for that. I don't have any more questions, but I do want to
say that I understand where Alderwoman Dowell,
Chairwoman Dowell is coming from, and I don't want
to
sound disrespectful to what she said.
I understand her fear, and I under- and one of my
main worries in this council is that whenever people are
scared of something, instead of trying to figure out
what the root of the problem is and what the research is that help us solve the
problem, we immediately just drop the hammer.
Yeah.
And we can't have a healthy society if that's how we go
about the problems in the city.
We need to make sure that we are looking at what are the things that actually work,
what are the problems that we have and what the root of them
are, and then get the evidence that we need in order to
solve them. And today was one of those days.
We talk a lot about government as a
bureaucratic, complicated, boring kind of space, and today,
we made government beautiful. This is the work of government.
This is what we need to be doing, and I'm so proud of all of you for
being here with us today. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Chairwoman. I want to acknowledge Alderman Peter Chico as a
member present for committee.
I want to thank again Jaylen Mendez, Demarion Spann,
Ramaya Simone, Fabian Walker, Deja Williams, Jamal Cole,
Deputy Mayor Andre, Deputy Mayor Humphreys, and Dr.
Amiteo Franklin for providing their subject matter expertise
today. Yeah, I want to just close the subject matter hearing with a couple of
comments. I was-
Madam Chair, I think Ramaya had something she wanted to say before you close.
So sorry. Ramaya, go ahead.
Oh.
Thank you so much. I was nervous to talk on the mic, but I was going to
say, oh, Ramaya Simone. I was going to say
that I do understand what the other person when she had left, when she
had said because my mom, she's older, and she was talking to me about the teen
takeover, and she was telling me about her concerns too as well, and it sounded
exactly like what she had said. And I was going to say, when
there's 53 guns that's recovered from that teen takeover, there is guns
recovered from literally almost every takeover.
There's always been a gun, or even if it is not a teen takeover, there's
always when there's police stops, there's always been guns recovered.
And I don't want to say, I don't want to bring the 35 guns up now
as if it's like,
as if it's just came up, as if this is now a concerning issue to public safety
when gun violence has always been an issue.
Gun violence has always been an issue before teen takeovers, before they started
even popping off for real. Gun violence has always been an issue.
There's always been youth dying. So it just hurts my heart now that
now that there's teen takeovers, now we want to start pulling up all the
people, all the young people that have died to gun violence when gun
violence has always been an issue.
And
the curfew isn't going to stop gun violence.
If we was to have a curfew, that's not going to
stop the gun violence from happening.
Or how are these young people getting 53 guns? We are young people.
We have to think about our adults. We can't legally go
into a store and purchase a gun. There are young people who are buying guns from
adults. There are adults who are selling these guns to young people.
So how can we
better make adults our role models?
Because we are a reflection of our city. Mm-hmm.
That's what the young people are. So if
we're constantly getting guns, if we're constantly doing all this, is our city a
safe place for us? How are we
easily getting accessible to guns and all this stuff, and
how are we making these places unsafe? That's all.
I just don't know how to say it else.
Great.
Thank you.
Well said. Well said
So I want to leave this subject matter with
a couple of comments. I'm the 16-year-old kid that was expelled from
Carl Schurz High School. I attended over six schools in my
lifetime. I was privileged enough to land in a space
like Albizu Campos Alternative High School that didn't view
me as a problem child. They chose to see me for
everything that was right with me, and it was in that moment
that changed the course of my life, and I think we can take
those experiences as examples of what this city can do.
Our young people are right. We still have neighborhoods in the city of Chicago
where young people can get a gun faster than they can get a healthy meal on the
table,
and if we are going to continue to
strategize and critically think about how we address safety
concerns in the city of Chicago, it doesn't begin with the
demonization of young people. It begins with ensuring that we
can get the communities that are facing these challenges the
infrastructure and the resources that they deserve.
So when we hear our young people saying, "I don't
have a basketball court," or, "I don't have a community space,"
or, "There's not a space for me to be authentically myself and
sort of just hang out and be among people that look like me and
understand my experiences," that's a call-out for this
city council to do things about that.
This subject matter hearing is the first of a series, a
first of many conversations that I believe we need to have as
legislators around how we are addressing the
concerns that many of our communities have.
Look, it's not a secret that Area Four has the most teen
gatherings in the city of Chicago, because we need to look at all the things that
Area Four does not have.
The community centers, the restaurants where young people can hang out, sit in,
right? Not just walk-in restaurants where you have to take your food
out, but authentic spaces for you all to be yourselves.
I want to challenge us to not think about legislation as something we
should be utilizing to punish people, but think about legislation as
a opportunity to give communities more resources.
And this is a timely conversation because we should start thinking about the
budget, and it's no secret we're going to face an immense challenge
this budget cycle. But how do we make sure that we are prioritizing the
communities that need us the most, and the young people that need us the most when
we're making those decisions?
I believe that it is truly important that we continue to center the
voices of our young people.
Young people gathering is not the problem.
It is how they gather, and what are the resources that we are providing
so that they can continue to gather safely.
I think they gave us a lot of answers today on what we can do as a
city. For the young people who are here, I don't want this to be the first
and the last time that you engage with government.
You are not a client of government. You are a co-author of it.
You are leaders. You are agents of change.
If there is something you need in your community, you should be demanding that of
your local alderperson. Remember to continue to organize and to
be confident in your voice. Don't let no news channel,
no adult, no law enforcement officer diminish the
power of your voice. Your presence here
today was powerful, and I hope that
our colleagues who chose to attend this subject matter hearing took
away a lot of information that they can utilize as legislators,
and we will continue to create spaces like this so that some of the colleagues who
were not able to make it today can ultimately listen.
So I want to thank you again. I want to thank Jamel Cole from My Block, My Hood,
My City, for getting it right, for having a program and a
system that acknowledges our young people, affirms
them, makes them feel proud of the skin that they're in, and shows
us that young people can be everywhere around our city, that they should
have access to the Lakefront and Downtown, and that they can do that safely.
Dr. Franklin, again, thank you for your research, your expertise, your voice.
Continue publishing the things that I think the city needs to hear.
I appreciate your presence today, and of course, to the administration for the
support of this subcommittee's work, and their work on youth employment,
violence prevention intervention, mental health, and everything else that young
Black and Brown people deserve in the city.
With
no further business
before the committee, may I get a motion to adjourn?
So moved by Alderwoman Rosana Rodriguez Sanchez.
All opposed, say nay.
All right. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The subject matter hearing on Subcommittee of Youth Employment is now adjourned.
Young people don't go nowhere. We want to take a picture in front of the dais.
So if folks who were in the-- And then my colleagues, if you want to come take
a picture here with everyone.
Mary, I appreciate
it. Cool