Chicago Politics

49th Ward Day 7.25.25

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Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson attends the 49th Ward Day in the Ward Press Conference.

Transcript

3:16 Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. My name is Hugo O'Kerry. I'm Director of External Affairs in Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's office. I want to thank the members of the press for being here today. Today, you know, we're going to be talking a little bit about our 49th Ward Day in the Ward. I want to thank Alderman Maria Haddon and all of the folks that we have here with us on stage today for the really incredible day that we had, you know, focusing on the environment. I will let everybody else speak a little bit more about what we did during the course of the day.

3:48 But just so that for the members of the press, this is a series created by Mayor Brandon Johnson to highlight investments that have been made across Chicago's wards. And today was our stop in the 49th Ward. So without further ado, I will introduce our first speaker, Anne Hintzerman of Family Matters. Anne? Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Thank you so much to all of you for visiting the 49th Ward and for all of my colleagues who have been doing work in the 49th Ward for many years.

4:24 I'm really happy to be here with you. My name is Anne Hincherman. I'm the Director of Community Engagement at Family Matters. Family Matters is a youth development and community leadership organization. We've been based in the north of Howard area of Rogers Park for nearly 40 years. And one of the things that I'm most pleased to share about our organization is that all of the steps that we've taken to grow are based on what our community says they're looking for. So from our one-to-one tutor mentoring program, to our teen job skill building and leadership development initiative,

4:56 to our new Family Matters School, which is a school for kindergarten through third graders focused on individualized learning, to our newest initiative having to do with environmental sustainability. We do this because this is what our community is looking for. We are very grateful to be the recipient of a City of Chicago Climate Infrastructure Fund grant. And with that work and the support of Elevate and the City's Department of the Environment, we are embarking on a multi-phase project to completely decarbonize our vintage three-flat.

5:34 We plan to break ground on this project later this summer, and when you see us next, we will have solar panels on our roof, new insulation, and hopefully soon heat pump HVAC so that we can completely eliminate fossil fuels at Family Matters. This is really important to us because we are a demonstration project for the city of Chicago. We live in a building that's a lot like much of the housing stock in Chicago. And so we want to demonstrate what it takes and what kind of support is necessary to be able to undertake this work

6:09 so that more of our colleagues in other three flats can embark on these projects as well. Thank you so much to Mayor Johnson for coming to Family Matters and ringing the Family Matters community bell with us. We look forward to ringing it again when our project is complete. Thank you so much. And I'm pleased to introduce Anne Whalen, who's also working on environmental projects here in the 49th Board.

6:41 And welcome to Cooler by the Lake. One of the things that we've been really working on for the last several years in the Park District has been to naturalize, to bring nature to this community that's pretty urban. And we've done that while at the same time protecting the shoreline. So those of you who walked by, you saw these tall grasses. When we had high water a couple of years ago, we gained sand where many other beaches lost sand.

7:16 So we were really pleased. We have had a lot of support through the Park District and their Department of Natural Resources. They've been tremendously supportive, both by providing us plants and expertise. And the Park District staff here, our superintendent, Christian Resney, and our grounds manager, Kishan Crowley. You can tell I'm getting old.

7:48 And we've just been fortunate to do that. We are also working on getting the Lyon Park Fieldhouse open as a nature center. So we have some money set aside for that, and we're really looking forward to that opportunity. So in appreciation of all the Park District does for us, we volunteer back and are taking care of the trees and the plants and enhancing the opportunities for the neighborhood and those who come here

8:20 because a lot of people come to this beach for barbecues, for picnics, and sometimes for things, you know, they come here to grieve. And all this natural habitat helps people work through whatever their issues are, whether it's celebration or it's sadness. And that's really helpful to us. And it's not only helpful to us. Millions of birds migrate up and down this shoreline, and this is a stopover point for them.

8:53 And we see millions of birds here as they stop off to feed, rest, et cetera, on their way north or south, depending on the year. So thank you again to the mayor for coming out, for the aldermen for inviting our participation, and to Carlos Ramirez Ramos for Rosa. It's okay. You're doing fine. I'm old. Who is the superintendent of the parks and who is speaking next.

9:29 Thank you so much. And, you know, our 600-plus parks here in the city of Chicago, we would not be able to do everything that we do without the active participation of Chicago residents. And so please give Ann and Jen a big round of applause for serving as Park Advisory Council leaders. You know, Chicago is a park city, and this community here in the 49th Ward, this is a park ward. Five percent of the city's parks can be found here in the 49th Ward. Nine of 22 total beaches

10:02 And then six wonderful community field houses Loyola, Passion, Potawatomi, Schreiber, Tui, and Willie White We have nine baseball and softball fields We have seven outdoor basketball courts One dog-friendly area Three soccer courts And 14 playgrounds So this community has so many beautiful treasures And we would not be able to care for these treasures As the Chicago Park District without the leadership of Alderwoman Maria Haddon and the leadership of our mayor, Brandon Johnson.

10:34 In the past few years, the parks in the 49th Ward have received $5.35 million in park capital improvements, and we're so excited to be working on improvements for the Leon Beach House renovation. We're so thankful to Alderwoman Haddon for all of the Aldermanic menu dollars that she has delivered to our parks through her participatory budgeting process here in the 49th Ward. And then it's a scorcher, y'all. And we know that we need places where people can cool off. And so we're so excited that at Willie White Park,

11:07 thanks to the leadership of our mayor and thanks to the leadership of our alderwoman, we are slated to have a new water play feature added to that park with construction beginning next year in 2026. So we didn't make it for this summer, but we're going to have it for next summer. And that's in addition to the new roof at Loyola Park. That was a $775,000 investment completed this year. And then, of course, we have a new basketball court slated for this park and benches, bike racks and bollards. So our park district is a gem.

11:40 Taking care of that gem, we need a lot of help. We need a lot of support. It takes a community to take care of the garden in the city in a garden. And so with that, I want to bring up one of our top champions, if not our biggest champion, in the Chicago City Council. Please give it up for Alderwoman Maria Haddon. Good afternoon. It is a scorcher today. I've been told I have a nice complexion, like nice skin, and the secret to that is just sweating.

12:13 Sweating. Just clear your pores. So I'm Maria Haddon, Alderperson here in the 49th Ward, and it's a great honor to be here today. I just want to give a shout-out to a few of the other people standing with us. So this day in the ward, this initiative of the mayors, we got to sit down with this team and plan, and it's really hard to pick a short schedule because there's so many places in the 49th Ward that we wanted to go. But with this focus on some of the city investments in our community,

12:44 we were able to stop at Cafe Con Amour, meet with the business owners of Marone and Jarrah, who fed us delicious Ethiopian food, right? We took a walk to Wild Onion Market, our community-owned grocery store, right, our community co-op, where I am a member. How many other people are members here, Wild Onion? All right, all right. We then went to Howard Street, one of the just historic commercial corridors for the 49th Ward. North of Howard, that's where we got to spend time with Family Matters

13:15 and not only see their commitments and investments to sustainability, but, of course, meet with youth leaders and see that great legacy of their 40-year history. And with community members, leaders from our North Point Tenants Association and Northside Action for Justice, Ms. Brenda Duncan and Beulah are with us. And before coming to Loyola Park, we got to stop at the site with our partners from Housing for All. I think we got Shelly Tucciarelli with us here.

13:45 about for the site where next year we'll also break ground on 80 units of 100% affordable workforce family housing at the Red Line, Howard Stock. The theme today and a lot of what we're ending with at the lakefront is about our environmental sustainability. And I think that there's a broader picture here that we see with our community leaders, right? Our sustainability, it's solar panels, it's decarbonization, it's natural solutions to shoreline stabilization and stewardship of the land,

14:24 but it's also stewardship of the people, by the people, for the people. And I think that's what we really exemplify here in the 49th Ward. So it was an honor to have you up here, Mayor. I'm always recruiting people for the 49th Ward, so I'm just saying, you're the mayor of the city of Chicago. Austin may be your home, but Rogers Park I hope you'll think of as a second home, because this entire city is here to welcome you. So it's my great honor to bring up to the mic Mayor Brandon Johnson, and you guys can pop quiz him about all the things we taught him about the 49th Ward and see what he remembers.

14:59 Thank you. No quizzes on Fridays. Thank you, Alder Hatton, for your leadership and your commitment to not just to the people of the 49th Ward, but your understanding of our assignment as an entire city to build the safest, most affordable big city in America. And all that are standing alongside of me this afternoon here in the 49th Ward is really a reflection of the diversity and the strength of our city.

15:34 This is what I call the soul of Chicago. And if there's ever a place to vacation, you got to come up to the 49th Ward and get you a lakefront view of the best freaking city in the entire world. I do want to thank all the local business leaders, but I also want to first give a special thanks to our deputy mayor, Kenya Merritt. We also had our commissioner, Ivan Capofalli, here earlier today.

16:06 But standing alongside of me now, we have our Department of Environment Commissioner, Angela Tovar. Thank you for being here. And then to our park general superintendent, Carlos Ramirez Rosa. Thank you for your leadership, sir. And so to Mehran, Njare, Inc., Wild Onion Market and Family Matters, Inc., this is really truly a reflection of the beauty and the strength of our city. And throughout my time here in the 49th Ward, we were able to see the realization of $31 million of total new investments in the 49th Ward.

16:43 And since 2023, the city committed $14 million in infrastructure investment and another $1 million to support the 49th Ward businesses. And today we began at Cafe Con Amor with Moran and Jera, Inc. to discuss our commitment to small businesses. And, you know, Moran was able to receive $52,000 from the Small Business Improvement Fund through our Department of Planning and Development, which Commissioner Boatwright was here as well.

17:15 And so I'm grateful to see how the business is flourishing. And then, of course, the Wild Onion Market, a 2,100-member co-op grocery store that aims to provide quality food from all local source food spaces. And so, again, these are shining examples of how organizations are committed to serving their community and uplifting all of Chicago. I'm also really excited about the work that we have done for One Summer Chicago, and we are really excited at the fact that we were able to hire almost 29,000 young people for summer jobs,

17:51 of which almost 400 of them come right out of the 49th Ward. So these opportunities for our young people help them learn job skills and grow their network and really plan for their future. And Family Matters, let me just say, what an incredible space for families. And what we were able to experience, just a glimpse of what Family Matters offers to so many families right within the 49th Ward community.

18:28 And to see, of course, all the beauty of the Park District, CHA, and Chicago Public Schools, the Transit Authority, and our city colleges all coming together to ensure our young people are loved and seen. Family Matters is a staple organization in Rogers Park, offering educational support and a safe place for our children and our young people to go after school as well. You know, having visibility on our young people and them having the ability to be in safe spaces is so critical to their development and to the person whose dream really came alive,

19:03 who has spent 40 years, I believe, embarking upon this effort. And she's not standing up here with us, but if we all can just give a wave to Kim, right? Let's give a wave to Kim. Thank you for your work. But they do so much more, and I'm grateful that they are a partner with the city of Chicago and our young people. You know, we proudly awarded organizations $250,000. from our Climate Infrastructure Fund so that they can invest in energy retrofit,

19:35 ensuring that they are lowering the energy consumption and using the cost savings to put back into our young people. So again, I'm grateful to Family Matters. And our last stop, the Long Beach part, this is where I'm probably going to get some quiz questions, but where we discuss the storied history of our shoreline in the 49th Ward and how, unfortunately, the past practices of segregation and disinvestment have run amok and have created these stratifications that we're ultimately working to break down. Look, let me close with this. Climate change is real, and it has hit the shore pretty hard.

20:11 And the beautiful lakefront is something that we have to cherish. We have to ensure that, you know, the erosion that, of course, potentially threats our shoreline, that we do everything in our power to prevent that. And so the city's effort to address these issues will be ongoing. And we're here to ensure that the 49th Ward residents are included in the city's commitment to improving the shoreline. I do want to give a thanks again to Chairwoman Hatton, Commissioner Tovar, and all the members of my administration,

20:41 and our community partners who have done an incredible job to protect our shoreline and all the work that they do as an advisory board. Let's give them another one more round of applause. And so with that, we are steadfast in our focus and investing in climate justice, particularly in communities that have long suffered disproportionately from the climate change and pollution. And so I'm proud that we are starting off, you know, a new wave of investment

21:12 to ensure that all of our public facilities are powered by 100 percent renewable energy, from our airports to our public buildings. And so thank you for all of the hard work that you all are doing. We're going to continue to build more affordable housing. Our green social housing infrastructure is designed to create more sustainable, affordable rent. And what an incredible place to be, the 49th floor and the greatest free-can-city in the world, the city of Chicago.

21:43 Thank you all very much. We have time for one question. One question from Jake. Hey, Mayor. Your CFO said Monday that you were likely to propose property tax hikes. You said yesterday that you don't plan to propose property tax hikes. What's the change? Do you feel like you don't have the votes in the city council? Nothing has changed. We've always made it very clear from the very beginning that we are going to invest in people and use progressive revenue to ensure that we build the safest, most affordable big city in America.

22:14 You know, look, the ultra-rich in this city and this state have an opportunity to do a better job in investing in our infrastructure, investing in community safety. As you know, violent crime continues to go down in the city of Chicago. Homicides are down 30 percent. Shooting victims are down almost 40 percent. Robberies are down 34 percent. We're moving in the right direction as we build more affordable homes. So we're going to find and work with city council to come up with progressive revenue ideas. I have a number of them, and we're going to receive those collective proposals.

22:47 And we're going to ensure that the progress that we have made as a city, safe and affordable, big city where people feel loved, seen and supported. That's the vision. And that's what we're going to accomplish. Thank you all. One final question, Mayor. One final question. Mayor, one final question here. Hi, Mayor. I'm Madison with Block Club. Thanks for being here in the 49th Ward. I have a question for you and Alderwoman Haddon. There's a city-owned lot at Howard and Ashland that I wrote a story about this last fall,

23:17 that it was being sold, hopefully something for housing. I was wondering if there was any update. My understanding is that it's still empty, still being sold. Okay. Thank you for that question. Paula, one more. Thank you. So it's still city-owned, and it's actually the home for right now, just wonderful Hello Howard community garden. So we did get to work with our community members, the Rogers Park Business Alliance, who was with us earlier today, Metropolitan Planning Council.

23:48 We've done several years of community planning that led to the creation of an RFP that we put out with the Department of Development last year. We did have two people apply. And what we're trying to develop there, and this is just in line with a lot of the work that we've been doing on community wealth building, right, and community-centered decision-making. We want to have new housing. We want to have new home ownership opportunities that are affordable. So we're looking to model a new low-equity co-op development.

24:20 So we've had great partnership with the Department of Housing and the Department of Development, as well as our community members, in getting closer to that goal. We had responses to an RFP. Two great ideas that didn't quite hit the mark, but we're going to continue to work with those partners. So right now it's still a fantastic community garden and space, and we're going to continue our efforts to create those community, affordable homeownership opportunities, hopefully with another RFP coming out next year. Well done.

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