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May 10, 2026
Dear neighbors,
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. I hope you had a wonderfully relaxing day! Thanks for all you do to make everyone’s lives better. You are loved beyond measure.
We got to honor our 11th Ward Girl of the Year and Boy of the Year this week! This year, we had participants from Bridgeport Catholic Academy, Healy Elementary School, Mark Sheridan Academy, Minnie Minoso Elementary School, St. Jerome Catholic School, St. Gabriel Catholic School and James Ward Elementary School. Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners!
7th Grade Girl:
Winner: Cecilia Hayes, St. Gabriel Catholic School
Runner Up: Ana Marusic, Bridgeport Catholic Academy
7th Grade Boy:
Winner: Ryker Clark, St. Jerome Catholic School
Runner Up: Immanuel Hernandez, Bridgeport Catholic Academy
8th Grade Girl:
Winner: Zoe Liang, James Ward Elementary School
Runner Up: Livia Trifan, Mark Sheridan Academy
8th Grade Boy:
Winner: Hao Bin Situ, James Ward Elementary School
Runner Up: Iso Nguyen, Bridgeport Catholic Academy
This week, we memorialize the anniversary of V-E Day, the end of World War II in Europe. I hope we can continue to remember this monumental date in the history of peace, as well as bring our troops home soon from the conflicts of today.
It was a heavy day on Friday for the city. The funeral of CPD Officer John Bartholomew was held at St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater. I, along with hundreds of family and friends, officers from across Chicago and beyond, and dignitaries attended the funeral service to honor Officer Bartholomew. The officer who was with him is still in intensive recovery, and we continue to send our prayers to his family.
An educator from James Ward Elementary School won the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching this week, one of only 10 teachers in Illinois! Congratulations to Misty Richmond. We’re fortunate to have such a dedicated person putting energy into the 11th Ward’s educational opportunities.
I am alarmed at the news that broke today about the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) returning tens of millions of COVID-19 grant dollars to the federal government. As reported in the Chicago Tribune today, CPDH requested from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that they end a program 6 months earlier than the grant allowed for. The program was with the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity program. According to the article, the City had $81.4 million unspent as of this month. At a time when the City is losing federal funding, I do not understand why we would give back $80 million. I am also deeply disturbed by the news that CDPH has lost some 200 staff under the current commissioner. Given what we experienced with the global pandemic, we know that we need CPDH to be ready and firing on all cylinders–not understaffed and underfunded. I will be looking for answers and I know my colleagues will, too.
Dolce Arte and Freddies on 31st are joining the Foster Care Awareness Month Give Back program for the month of May, so a portion of their proceeds from designated dishes will go to raising awareness for foster programming. Go get yourself a good meal and support an important cause.
Public Safety
There was an unfortunate ATM burglary that occurred at Taqueria San Jose at 5AM last Sunday. While thankfully no one was hurt, the owner was alerted by the police in time to see the live surveillance footage of the crime while it was happening. The whole incident took around 2 minutes. Please stay vigilant, and call CPD.
This Week in City Council
The Zoning Committee has recommenced meeting regularly and began working through a large load of backprojects this past week.
I attended a joint meeting of the Budget and Government Operations and Police and Fire Committees regarding police overtime, the Early Intervention System of CPD and the quarterly Audit of the Office of Public Safety Administration.
The Committee on Police and Fire met to consider the appointments of two people to the Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA). The two candidates were Angelique Guzman and Anjanette Young. I voted in support of their appointments.
Upcoming in City Council
The next full City Council meeting is May 20 at 10AM.
Lots of committees will be meeting this week in advance of the May 20th Council Meeting. Here’s a rundown of what’s scheduled this week:
May 11, 2026:
10:30 AM Economic, Capital and Technology Development*
May 12, 2026:
10:00AM Pedestrian and Traffic Safety
10:15AM Public Safety
12:30PM Workforce Development
May 13, 2026
10:00AM Budget and Government Operations*
10:30AM Transportation and Public Way
11:30AM Joint Committee: Budget and Government Operations, Economic, Capital and Technology Development*
*Committees I serve on.
Around the Ward
Upcoming Zoning Meetings
3540 S Halsted at 6:15PM on May 18.
3834 S Ashland at 5:00PM on May 18.
Both meetings will be available on Zoom or in the Ward Office.
Our Veterans Assistance office hours in tandem with Cook County are this Friday from 12-4PM. Commissioner Daley and I would love for you to join us!
The White Sox will be home all week except for Monday, May 11th, and the Crosstown Classic is this coming weekend! It will be popping in the ward. The Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications may preemptively restrict parking in other areas of the ward for the Crosstown Classic. Don’t forget to pay attention to posted signs throughout the ward.
Enjoy your week,
Alderman Lee
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