Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families
GRASSROOTS COLLABORATIVE
637 S. DEARBORN, THIRD FLOOR CHICAGO, IL 60605
www. t h e g r a s s r o o t s c o l l a b o r a t i v e . o r g
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2013
Contact:
Nathan Ryan, Communications Organizer, 920-445-3920, nathan@thegrassrootscollaborative.org
HALLOWEEN BURIAL PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS ORDINANCES BURIED IN RULES COMMITTEE. PARTICIPANTS DEMAND VOTE ON TIF SURPLUS ORDINANCE
Over 75 students, parents, and community members joined together at City Hall Tuesday to demand that the TIF Surplus Ordinance be released from the Rules Committee and brought to a vote in City Council.Participants held signs with photos of Rules Chair Michelle Harris and Rule Vice-Chairs calling on them to unbury the TIF Surplus Ordinance and bring it to the Council floor for a vote.
Two protesters were dressed in corporate vampire costumes labeled ‘DePaul University’ and ‘Bank of America’.
The 2014 budget introduced by Mayor Emanuel releases a small percentage of TIF money as surplus back into our schools and neighborhoods, but leaves hundreds of millions of our tax dollars in TIF slush funds.
“Budget cuts have affected my neighborhood tremendously,” stated Vicky Lugo, a parent of a CPS student and community member of Pilsen Alliance. There’s not enough money being put into affordable housing. Last year the city closed half of our mental health clinics, making it harder for people to seek mental help, which can lead to them hurting themselves or others in our communities. Meanwhile Chicago says its budget can’t afford to fund our schools and our mental health clinics, but it keeps hiding our tax money away in these TIF accounts, and giving it to rich downtown corporations.”
“In Brighton Park, budget cuts have hurt our schools and our communities,” echoed Juan Estrada, a student at Kelly High School and leader with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. “Last summer I was going to take a geometry course, but I couldn’t because it got cut. This year we have to use old editions of our textbooks, because our school doesn’t have enough money in the budget to buy up to date textbooks.”
“The crisis of democracy in City Council has caused a crisis in the whole of Chicago,” said Christel Williams, a parent of a CPS student and a CTU member. “It’s not just the TIF Surplus Ordinance that’s buried. There’s an ordinance sitting in the Rules Committee that would stop all new charter school construction in Chicago until we fund our public schools. There’s an ordinance requiring that all contracts between the city and private corporations be subject to close scrutiny in City Council, not signed behind closed doors. There’s a resolution calling for a referendum to ask the people of Chicago if we want an elected school board. For the sake of our children and our communities, we need the Rules Committee to stop burying this critical legislation.”
Grassroots Collaborative is Action Now, American Friends Service Committee – Great Lakes Region, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Teachers Union, Enlace Chicago, Illinois Hunger Coalition, Service Employees International Union Local 73, Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois Indiana, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, UNITE HERE Local 1