Mayoral Candidates Voice Positions at Forums

Thelma Sardin |

While recent mayoral forums have been an opportunity for candidates to state their positions on the issues, forums have also resulted in some clarifications.

Last week on WVON, State Senator James Meeks, who appeared with a panel of other mayoral candidates said only African Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

Meeks campaign was quick to issue a statement clarifying that Meeks, strongly believes all minority and women-owned businesses, deserve their fair share of City contract opportunities, but that Chicago has a history of systemic corruption in its minority and women-owned business program.

African-American owned businesses are the most underrepresented among city contractors, the campaign said in a release, arguing that lucrative contracts have historically gone to companies disguised as minority- or women-owned. The result of this has been multiple investigations, firings and imprisonment on this issue, as well as African American businesses receiving a disproportionately low number of city contracts, the statement further clarified.

While the comments drew fire from Hedy Ratner, co-president of the Womens Business Development Center, who argued on Thursday that, if anything, the 5 percent set-aside for women should be higher, by this weekend, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun was on the campaign trail revealing her ideas about minorities and city contracts.

Braun told WGN News, When you get through adding up all the groups that are covered by this law, youre talking about a majority of the population. And the question again is are we going to be a city of inclusion and diversity? Or are we going to be a city of cabals and exclusion? And I think we have to move out of the business as usual mode, she said. Additionally, Braun plans on repairing the failed minority set aside program by unbundling contracts and holding department heads accountable.

Congressman Danny Davis who also campaigned over the weekend attended a fundraiser where he focused on Chicagos neighborhoods. If elected mayor, he said he would like to see fewer boarded up homes: One Chicago where empty homes are not boarded up, but being repaired, he said.

In between campaign stops, candidates have been using forums to address the issues including one of the latest forums on education at Walter Payton College Prep last week. Participants included Meeks, Braun, City Clerk Miguel del Valle and former Chicago Board of Education President, Gery Chico. Davis who was in Washington, D.C. voting on legislation did not attend nor was Rahm Emanuel present.

At the forum, candidates touted their ideas for education reform in Chicago. Tax increases for education reform and longer school days were among the topics discussed.

Meeks, a member of the states Education Committee, wants accountability to ensure revenue from an income tax increase will go to schools. The people of Illinois dont mind spending money for schools, but they just want to know how its going to be spent. They just want to make sure its going to improve the quality of education and so we have an obligation to make sure you know how your tax dollars are going to be spent before we ask for them, Meeks said.

Braun is not absolutely sure if raising taxes are a good thing. I know this is against my governor but were still in the middle of a recession and I think a recession is the absolute wrong time to ask people to raise taxes, Braun stated.

However, del Valle believes a tax increase is the only way to enhance educational resources. We need additional revenue in the state of Illinois. We are facing a 13 billion dollar deficit. Anyone who says that they are opposed to an income tax increase, they are not coming face to face with the reality here in Illinois.

Chico drew from his school board experience to explain why he supports a long school day and year. Ive proposed lengthening the school day from 6 to 8 hours and school year from 176 days to 200 days. The reason for that is that all the research shows that the more time spent teaching, the more time children learn.

At press time, Joe Morris, the hearing officer presiding over the Emanuel residency case was scheduled to make his recommendation to determine if Emanuels name should be taken off the ballot. Although the recommendation was not handed down by Citizen deadline, an election board of three attorneys appointed by the chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court will decide on Thursday to uphold or overturn Morris recommendation. According to reports, the decision will be followed by a court challenge that is expected to reach the Illinois Supreme Court.

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