Happy Friday Neighbors!
Friday is here, neighbor! Every day is an opportunity, and today I’d like to share a glimpse into some of the challenges we have had to face in the last week, along with the opportunities to address them.
1) As has now been reported by the Tribune, the Johnson Administration has begun shifting the cost of pension benefits to ward offices after seeing that the city is required to cover benefits for Part Time staff once they exceed 700 work hours a year, which amount to 13.5 hours a week.
This impacts the bottom line for ward offices across the city of Chicago to the tune of approximated $15,000 additional cost per employee, leading offices to have to decide whether to have to let people go or cut back hours to a point that would be untenable for an employee.
I want to thank our Chief of Staff Cat Sharp for being on top of this and bringing it to our attention. Yesterday we met with the Johnson administration to identify paths forward that could help address the issue in a way that doesn’t lead to loss of wage or work for our team members or a loss of service and execution for the neighbors of the 40th Ward and across the city. You all deserve a standard of service that improves as your taxes pay for those services. It is my job to make sure we are moving in that direction, while making sure the hard choices we make are thought out and transparent ones.
2) Due to the rising cost of living, the lack of housing options for the unhoused, and the tendency for even city government to shift around challenges rather than address them, we have an encampment of unhoused neighbors at River Park. This was a consequence of Legion Park being “swept” by the Park District to remove the encampment there.
I and my office have been in contact with the unhoused population to identify what services are needed as different city departments work to identify housing options for them. None of this is simple or easy, as some folks have had negative experiences in the past when offered services, due largely to the conditions of the existing shelters and lack of resources to stabilize their lives enough to help them find permanent homes.
I’ve spoken to the unhoused residents, and we are identifying what heating resources we can find that aren’t propane tanks, as those are clearly not the safest option. The folks in the tents are concerned with staying warm at night and having the ability to cook and heat food. As we come up with options, I will communicate out to the neighbors adjacent to the park.
I want to be clear: the problem isn’t our unhoused neighbors. The problem is a system that doesn’t prioritize addressing homelessness. We have folks who suffer from real economic challenges, which can also be accompanied with challenges related to mental or physical health challenges, that make finding stable housing situations even more difficult. The reality we live under in American capitalism is that many folks are just one medical bill away from not being able to afford food or housing. For those who do not share that reality, I ask that you please appreciate the privilege many of us have in being able to afford stable housing. There isn’t a profit to be made from building housing for the unhoused, so it is up to government to address and ultimately raise the revenue needed to do so. We will continue staying in communication and on the ground as partner with city departments and non profits to create a livable balance as we connect neighbors to long term services. This is why I’m so excited about …
3) The Haven on Lincoln! The city’s first non-congregate stabilization shelter pilot will be completed next month! The Haven on Lincoln was a priority of mine from my first years in office, when I saw the opportunity presented by the motels on Lincoln that needed to be reimagined, and the opportunity presented by pandemic grant funding that was made available after COVID. The motel was purchased and rebuilt into the Haven on Lincoln, which offers 37 individual units that neighbors can stay in, and support services to help them treat their health challenges, look for employment, find stable housing, and make the journey to self sufficiency with the support and dignity they need to succeed. We will host a ribbon cutting next month, once the development is complete. I look forward to the day we welcome our neighbors to their new stable shelter and celebrate their road to progress.
4) We are almost at the finish line for the Ainslie Arts Plaza and Lincoln Avenue Arts District! This has been a multi-year, multi-phase, and multi-faceted project wherein we create a vibrant arts district on a stretch of Lincoln that needed some loving, while also reimagining a space that used to be a parking lot into a public performance and event space/pilot program. Currently we are working on a celebration for the Plaza itself, but also the legislation to activate it and incentivize programming. I can’t share too much yet, but I’m excited about what will come!
This is just some of the work I and the team are doing in 40, along with making sure potholes get filled, protecting our neighbors, and reckoning with a fascist President and weaponization of the Federal government. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our ward.
Next Saturday we have our Good, Shredder, Best SHRED EVENT, so go gather your items (2 box maximum) and get ready to Shred it and Forget it! Look forward to seeing you all there.
Yours in Service and Community,
Andre Vasquez
